by Jade Astor
“Precisely my point. Your mother, his queen, returns to him in the only way she can when he sees you, Talek. You have always believed your visits cause him pain—in reality, they probably do exactly the opposite.”
“Now ’tis you who are speaking madness. The memory of my mother, and all they felt for each other, has destroyed my father from the inside out. Each time he sees me, I remind him of all he has lost.” Talek’s shoulders slumped, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Sometimes I feel I should stop visiting him. Yet that is no real solution. The guilt would tear at me either way.”
Tentatively, Kevris rested a hand on his arm. Talek did not pull away. “In some cases, guilt is a good thing. The pain teaches us to do better in the future. But think of this—if a great sorcerer traveled to the palace and offered the king a spell to make him forget or undo the past, removing your mother from his life, do you think he would accept?”
Talek opened his mouth to bark out a retort, but paused and instead spent a few moments considering it. “I believe the answer is no,” he said at last. “I think he would want to keep the memory of her, despite the terrible pain that clings to it.”
“I believe you are right.” Kevris’s fingers tightened briefly on his arm and then dropped away. “Prince or stableboy—or concubinus—we must all learn to value what we have before it is too late. Perhaps that is what drove your father mad—that he realized her worth to him only after she was gone. Perhaps that is the lesson you should draw from his agony, rather than interpret it as an admonition against love.”
Talek said nothing, and Kevris stepped back. He wrapped the drying cloth a bit more tightly around his waist.
“And now you must excuse me. I shall go to my own chamber and dress.”
After he left, Talek lifted the jug in trembling fingers. For a moment, he considered smashing it against the floor. Instead, he lowered it to his chest and seated himself on the edge of the bed.
For some reason, his sight soon grew blurry and his eyelashes felt wet. Resting his cheek on top of the jug, he sighed and closed his eyes.
* * * *
For what seemed like days instead of hours, Lyrion remained in the bathing room, huddled in front of the fire with his legs drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. At least the servants hadn’t brought the chains back.
They did, however, bring his clothes eventually.
“The prince requires an audience with you,” one of them said, holding out the bundle. Lyrion accepted it and dressed with trembling hands. Was he about to be sentenced to the dungeon for the remainder of his time here? With the mark on his middle still growing, he doubted Talek would sentence him to death—but, from what he had heard and seen lately, there were worse things.
He felt a bit relieved when the two servants accompanied him to the throne room without binding him in any way. His chest tightened when he found himself standing again in the very room where he had first been brought as a naked captive. The prince was again in the same spot, leaning back in his ornate chair, and Kevris stood beside him.
For once, Kevris wore a normal tunic and leggings, though a bright red sash around his waist betrayed a lingering touch of sartorial impudence. Apparently, he was aware of, and possibly approved of, whatever punishment Talek was about to impose. Lyrion fought back tears, recalling how Kevris had hated him when he had first arrived. The bond they had formed had been an illusion, much like the prince’s affection, and the love Lyrion had begin to feel for both of them would now go to waste, locked only in his own miserable heart.
At least none of the prince’s council was present to witness his humiliation. Aside from two armored guards at the door, and the servants who had delivered him and withdrawn to the back of the room, he was alone with his two former lovers.
Finally, the prince spoke.
“I have reached a decision as to your future,” he announced. “I have decided to send you back to your village. The guards will escort you in the morning. You and Kevris were correct all along—I should never have taken you from your family by force. There are gentler and better ways to woo a man. I ought to have availed myself of them, but it is too late for that now.”
Lyrion could hardly believe what he was hearing. Instinctively his hands went to the center of his tunic. He could feel the warmth of the mark through the fine threads of the fabric. “But what of the heir?”
“What of him? He will be my son wherever you choose to raise him. I intend to live for many years yet, and when the time comes for me to pass the crown, I shall send for him. And I shall not have him brought back here in chains, I can assure you.”
Still stunned, and half expecting the prince’s words to form some sort of trap, Lyrion took a deep breath and bowed. “I would very much like to see my village again—my Da and Fa,” he said. “However, the main reason is that I would like to take my leave of them honorably. As for the raising of the future prince, of course I want him to know his grandparents, and for them to enjoy him when the time arrives. But I think, on the whole, he would be happier and better served to live with you and Kevris—as I know I would be. I can only hope you will allow me to return once my visit to my home is completed.”
Lyrion held his breath as Talek stood, stepped down from his chair, and strode purposefully toward him. Kevris followed, obviously biting back a smile. Lyrion hardly had time to consider what his expression might mean before he felt himself swept up in the prince’s strong arms and crushed against his chest. He did not think he imagined the mark growing warmer as it incubated between their bodies. He wondered if the prince felt it, too.
“I should be honored and pleased beyond all measure to raise the prince in my own palace,” Talek said, stroking his hand through Lyrion’s hair. “And my heart will be honored to invite both of my consorts to raise him along with me. We will have much to teach him—including lessons I myself did not master until it was almost too late.”
“The prince and I have been discussing the future of your village, too,” Kevris said. “We would like to suggest that the enchantment that has hidden them from us for so many years be lowered, at least temporarily, so our communities may reunite as one elven people. Then you—and the future prince—may visit whenever you like.”
“I think that is a wondrous idea,” Lyrion said without releasing the prince from his arms. “My people will hardly believe the things they will see here. Your way of life is, after all, most peculiar.”
“The first step is for me to visit your village in person,” Talek said. “As soon as I can arrange to be away for a suitable period of time, leaving both my father and the kingdom in trustworthy hands, ’tis my plan to accompany both of you to this wondrous place. Lyrion, will you be able to gain us entry?”
“As you know, the territory is hidden by an ancient spell that renders it invisible to strangers,” Lyrion said. “However, I know how to slip in and out and have done it many times. That was how I ended up here, in point of fact. I am certain I can lead you through it as well.”
“Excellent. Then we shall do exactly that.” Talek’s smile grew radiant. “It has been so long since I have been away from the palace. I am quite looking forward to our shared adventure.”
“But what of the…ah…the future prince?” Kevris asked, his gaze flicking to Lyrion’s midsection.
“We must proceed cautiously, of course, and see that Lyrion neither taxes nor harms himself as we travel. We should leave soon, before his condition becomes more advanced.” Talek looked up at Lyrion. “Do you agree?”
“Yes,” Lyrion said, struggling to hold his emotions in check. “I confess, I long to see my village, my family, and my friends again.”
“Come,” the prince said at last. “Let us go and plan our journey to the Forest of Shades. We shall bring Mulciber and Arowan as guards—only them, and not a full army. We do not wish to alarm Lyrion’s people. Additionally, I think it best if I accompany you in disguise, so that we may introduce the idea of amalga
mation to your people gradually. What shall be a suitable cover for a prince?”
“Travelers from other enchanted lands occasionally pass through our village,” Lyrion said. “We keep an inn for just that purpose. My dear friend Gregar will no doubt be on duty there.”
“Then that will be our story. We shall say that you wandered from the village and Kevris and I discovered you in the forest. We shall tell your people we considered it our duty to bring you home.”
“That should work well,” Lyrion said. “My people are altruistic and would find that quite believable.”
“Then it is settled! I find myself growing more eager by the moment!” Talek stepped back clapped his hands in excitement. “I also look forward to meeting the two men who created and raised such a son as Lyrion.”
“No doubt we can learn much from them,” Kevris added. Laughing, he stepped forward and joined their embrace.
THE END
WWW.JADEASTOR.WEBS.COM/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jade Astor is a longtime fan of male/male erotic love stories and got her start writing paranormal and scifi fan fiction back when such publications were still run off on photocopiers, stapled together, and shipped out to other fans in manila envelopes. Years later, she was delighted to find a thriving population of like-minded writers and readers in the e-book community. When she is not writing, Jade enjoys sculpting, tinkering with computers, and training (and retraining) her small herd of unruly but adorable rescued Chihuahuas.
For all titles by Jade Astor, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/jade-astor
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
