Page 28

I wish there had been a way for him to learn I’d been freed before he was killed. I wish he could have gone to his death while staring me in the eye.

I feel bad for Queen Lorith, Taelyn’s mother, however. She didn’t deserve to lose her life like this. The queen was a beautiful woman—almost as beautiful as her daughter—and I don’t blame her for what happened to me. Maybe Lorith and Taelyn were brought here to take my place, but they wouldn’t have known the blackness of my father’s heart.

The castle isn’t the only part of Highdrift that’s been damaged. Looking out across the city, one quarter appears to also be badly damaged. Black smoke coils into the sky from numerous fires, and, even from this distance, I can tell that many homes have been flattened.

A knock comes at my door.

“Enter,” I call.

A moment later, a member of staff cracks the door, and then pushes it open fully with her hip. She carries a tray, a silver cloche covering the contents.

The woman ducks in a small curtsey. “Princess Taelyn requested I bring you something to eat and drink.”

“Thank you. You can set it over there.” I nod at a low, mahogany table.

The maid hurries over and sets down the tray where I’ve indicated.

Does she know who I am? How many of the original staff remain, other than damned Cirrus Planetree?

Is it a good or a bad thing that people don’t know me? I balance the options. A fresh start might be just what I need. My reputation wasn’t exactly glowing before.

I reach into myself, feeling for the magic that always gave me such a bad name. It’s weak, weaker than I’ve ever known before, but that’s hardly surprising considering what I’ve been through. It’s still there, though, a tiny, glowing ember deep inside my chest. It wouldn’t take much for me to relight it.

I could pull this slip of a girl into my bed and have her naked within a minute. She’d feed the magic inside me, helping to make me as strong as I ever was, but then the rumors would start again. Okay, maybe they weren’t rumors…more like facts. Do I need to make a good impression this time around? How much will my reputation have preceded me after all these years?

Besides, there’s only one person my cock is stiffening for, and that’s the princess. She seems so prim and proper, and hearing that I’d fucked one of the staff only minutes after I’d been released wouldn’t go down well with her. I need her to trust me. I plan to make my way onto the throne, but first I’ll need to figure out how to get her out of the way.

I thank the girl, and she scurries out of the room.

I go to the tray and remove the silver cloche to reveal a variety of food. There’s coffee and orange juice. A pastry with a fruit jelly filling. Boiled eggs, and slabs of thick cut toast and butter.

I realize I am famished. Whatever magic subdued my appetite and need for food while in the cage has worn off. Now I’m ravenous. Though I take my internal strength from the sexual energy of others, my body still needs food and water, just like any other man.

I make short work of the meal, devouring every crumb and licking the plate clean. I gulp down the sweet orange juice and chase it with the bitter coffee. I can’t remember food ever tasting this good before. I could eat the whole lot all over again.

With a sigh of pleasure, I throw myself onto my back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

I’m still wearing Taelyn’s cloak; in fact, it’s the only thing I’m wearing. I turn my head and duck to my shoulder, inhaling the scent of her imbedded in the material. My cock jumps in response.

She’s really something else.

How old is she now? I’m guessing around one hundred and eighty now, give or take a couple of decades. How is it possible that she has lived this long and still is not comfortable around the form of a naked man? Has she ever even been with a man? That she remains in Highdrift, and is still a princess, has me assuming she has never taken a husband. But surely that doesn’t also mean she’s never had sex?

My cock jolts again at the thought.

She’s so beautiful, so perfect. Unsullied. As pure as the day I first met her.

Is it fate that I’ve come into her life now? Am I to be the one to defile that perfect pale body, to knot my fist in that long, white hair, to claim her mouth?

I let out a groan and reach down to fist my cock. Fuck, it feels good to be able to touch myself again after all these years. I stroke my length, admiring my dick. It’s long and thick, ridged with veins, the head a darker, smooth dome. A bead of precum glistens from the slit, and I swipe my thumb over it, gathering the moisture, and use it to help lubricate the head.

If only Taelyn were here now.

I picture her standing in the doorway, or perhaps hiding behind the drapes, watching me touch myself. How she wouldn’t be able to look away, though all her upbringing would be telling her how wrong looking at me would be. Would her mouth water, wanting a taste?

The dream I’d had about her before I’d met her remains clear in my mind, even after all these years. It seems impossible that I would be able to dream about her fucking me when I didn’t even know she existed, but that’s the thing about magic—it brings the impossible to life. Technically, I should be dead by now, after spending ten years with nothing to eat or drink, or never breathing fresh air, or seeing sunlight, but here I am.

I squeeze the base of my cock, and pleasure floods through me. What I’d give to have Taelyn straddling my thighs now. I picture her leaning over me, her long hair tickling my skin, as she opens her mouth to take my cock between her lips. In my imagination, she keeps her blue eyes on mine, a new wickedness in their depths.