Page 22 of My Princeling Brat (Tales from the Tarot #2)

Prince Cedrych

Ishifted in my seat, silent in my suffering, but even with the plush cushion underneath me, there was no relief to be found. The sly grin on Lord Vasil’s face conveyed more than words about his perverse desire to torment me. How long was the ride to the tournament grounds?

“You’re awfully fidgety, Cedrych,” Vasil said, playfully taunting me.

He was impeccably attired in a dove gray suit topped by a royal cloak in elvish blue and matching wide-brimmed hat, all of which set off his dark skin handsomely.

His beard was freshly trimmed and his eyes flared with that dark desire, at turns terrifying and intoxicating.

In his right hand was his vanadium rod, the same material as the cage around my cock and its newest addition, a pear-shaped plug tucked snugly inside my hole.

I’d need training if I was to accommodate his girthy cock. Or so he’d told me.

“Torturing me in private wasn’t enough for you, my lord?” I asked.

His smile widened, making him look positively demonic. “Not when I could torture you in front of my entire kingdom. How are you feeling three days into chastity, Your Highness?”

Gone was the stiff formality. Now, my title was said with a teasing banter and infused with affection.

“I’m terribly pent up,” I admitted. Contained and penetrated, I was wholly incapacitated by the smug sorcerer sitting across from me, but at the other end of this agony was my reward. All I had to do was follow Vasil’s exacting instructions.

“Anything else?” he asked, eyes glittering.

“Damp,” I said, for that was my other condition.

We fae eliminated our waste through sweat and urine, which meant our interior sex organs were purely for pleasure (and childbirth.) My tissues were slick with serum and the walls of my channel ached with a desire to be filled.

My ex had never inspired such a response, and I’d never craved to be the receptive partner before Vasil.

These revelations were an adjustment to say the least.

“Cedrych,” he rumbled and smoothed one hand over the bulge in his trousers, “Are you trying to abbreviate my timeline?”

“No, my lord, but I could surely help you with that too.” I eyed his crotch hungrily, longing for another taste of him.

“Tempting, but we are both practicing restraint today.”

“So boring,” I said snottily and my lord only grinned.

Rather than focus on my very internal predicament, I inspected our mode of transportation.

Another elvish marvel, the carriage was made entirely of metal and powered by steam created by the eternal flame.

A driver steered and braked at intervals, but the machine moved entirely of its own power.

“Your machinery is remarkable,” I said to Lord Vasil. Many an intrepid fae had attempted to steal the eternal flame from the elvish, but it always died during passage across the Lunar Straits as if tethered to the land itself, a phenomena that has vexed my mother unendingly.

“We are pioneers of industry, but we borrow heavily from other cultures and add a smidge of sorcery here and there. The humans called this one an ‘automobile.’”

“Human artifacts are banned in Emrallt Valley,” I told him, something he probably knew already. “My ex used to watch human programming with his summoner, but it was too risky for me.”

“Was your summoner surveilled?” Vasil asked with a perturbed look.

“I’m sure of it,” I said, not wanting to go into all the ways in which my mother attempted to control me against my will. Perhaps sensing my mood, Vasil deftly changed the subject.

“There is much prejudice against humankind in your realm. Understandably so.”

“We lost an entire generation to the War of the Realms,” I reminded him.

We were nearly decimated by the humans before the other realms joined in the fight, which our people are still bitter about as well.

“And so, we hang onto our petty hatreds and make it very difficult, if not impossible, for humans to settle amongst us,” I concluded.

“Perhaps that is why your people cling so rigidly to tradition,” Vasil mused. “To preserve a culture that was once on the brink of extinction.”

“There are many social ills I wish I had the power to remedy, but my mother doesn’t take my ‘radical’ opinions under advisement. She’d rather feed into the fae hysteria that the other realms are out to conquer and enslave us.”

“Very short-sighted of her,” Vasil said. “I rely on my advisors heavily for their insights. And my spies for their intel. Both help me to make the most informed decision.”

“A scientist as well as a philosopher,” I teased.

“Here is a question: why don’t your subjects call you king?

” I knew the historical reason; the Treaty of the Realms granted the elvish independence from the fae as a concession for their participation in the war but that sovereignty came with several conditions.

I wanted to know why Vasil hadn’t pursued it.

“If I rose to the title of king, war between the elvish and fae might break out,” he said.

“Do you truly believe that?”

He shrugged. “True power isn’t guaranteed by titles.”

In some ways, Vasil was a humble man, one I was growing to admire more and more the longer I knew him, but he was, at times, too modest for his own good. “Titles make a difference, my lord. You should be king.”

“If it pleases you, Cedrych, you may call me, ‘Your Majesty.’”

Smiling, I said, “You would enjoy that, wouldn’t you?”

“Perhaps I’ll negotiate it the next time I have something your mother wants,” he said with a wink.

Arousal surged to my cock, which was immediately blocked by the bars of Vasil’s cage.

The sensation was altogether frustrating.

Vasil only smiled at my predicament. “We will be arriving soon. Repeat my security protocol back to me.”

I sat up a little straighter, wanting to impress him. “I’m to stay by your side the entire time, and if any sort of threat presents itself, I follow the direction of Commander Farrow.”

He nodded. “And why is that?”

“Because I’m a fae prince.”

“And your safety is paramount. You are my betrothed and an irreplaceable treasure.” He drew my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. Despite his outward sternness, I was beginning to think Vasil was a romantic at heart.

A troubling thought occurred to me. “How will that look to your subjects, my lord, parading me around as your intended when our future is so uncertain?”

His smile vanished and he looked pained by my question. “I suppose when the time comes, we can say there were… irreconcilable differences.”

I detested the idea of it, the lying and the fact that we might be separated.

“We could always blame it on my famous temper,” I said in an attempt at levity.

“I have found your temperament to be quite pleasing, especially when caged and plugged and sitting so handsomely in my carriage like a very good boy.”

His voice rumbled through me, warm and intimate, causing me to shiver while a familiar heat flared in my nether regions. The strain against his cage intensified, as did my arousal. “I believe you say these things to provoke a reaction from me, my lord.”

His devious smile only widened. “Guilty.”

The carriage stopped then and Lord Vasil parted the curtains with his rod to peer outside, squinting from the muted light of the overcast sky.

Elemental sorcerers had spun the clouds to block the worst of the sun’s rays for the comfort of Lord Vasil and his vampyre relations.

A man who could command the skies surely deserved the title of king.

Outside our window were a dozen or so people dressed in drab gray robes, chanting, each of them holding a book in one hand and a scepter with a crystal prism in the other. The crystals refracted light from all angles, temporarily blinding me.

“Keepers of the Light,” Vasil said before I could ask. “The prisms are meant to ward off the vampyre. If you’re blinded by the light, then your blood is impure.”

“Light reflected off a prism would blind anyone,” I said, scoffing at the utter nonsense. “Why don’t you have them arrested?” I asked, for my mother would have swept the area clean of their insubordinate presence before even arriving.

“That would only embolden them, and as I’ve said before, it’s poor form to arrest people who’ve committed no crimes. In the elvish realm, you are free to have contrary opinions, lucky for you, Cedrych.”

I appreciated his attempt at humor, but the presence of the Keepers put me on edge. “What do they want?” I asked.

Vasil said with a long-suffering sigh, “At best, my removal from lordship and a replacement with one of their own. At worst, my death.” His admission chilled me to the bone and I was struck silent as Vasil continued, “Remember to stay close and follow all of Commander Farrow’s instructions.”

“Yes, my lord,” I said with a renewed commitment.

“You know what will happen if you disobey me,” he warned.

“The welts on my ass have only just healed,” I said with some remorse. It wasn’t that I’d enjoyed the punishment, but his attentive care afterward had been absolutely lovely.

“And I won’t hesitate to stripe your ass again,” he said sternly.

“I will follow your protocol to the letter,” I promised.

He smiled warmly and took my hand. “Then come with me, Your Highness. An adventure awaits us.”

A sea of vibrant banners fluttered in the breeze, creating a colorful spectacle against the backdrop of the ancient forest surrounding the tournament grounds. Despite the overcast sky, the mood was merry in the sprawling meadow where Lord Vasil’s Tournament of Champions was being held.