Chapter 20
"I do not want to leave Dunverra," I said, my eyes filled with sudden tears. "I want only to remain near you. Stay with me. I miss you."
She slowly turned to me, her golden eyes searching my face. "Naevia… are you toying with me?"
"I am not. Take me, Your Highness. As you did with Nerissea at the hotel."
Her expression hardened in surprise. "She told you?"
"No. I saw."
"You saw?"
"Do you love her?"
"Do I love her?"
"Kiss me, and take me as you did her. I am ready now to bear you in that place."
I hardly knew what I was saying. My heart and my very body had yearned for her for so long that speech came without thought.
"How did you even see us?"
I let her go and stepped back, wiping my tear-stained eyes with trembling hands. "I am so sorry. I came to the hotel and rented a room, but they gave me the wrong key. I walked in by mistake… upon you and Nerissea. Please forgive me." I could not bring myself to lift my eyes to hers.
"Naevia…"
"I do not mind if there are others, Your Highness. Only… love me again. I am so very lonely without you."
A knock sounded at the door. "Your Highness, we must depart," called one of her guards.
She cupped my face with a gentleness that made my heart ache. "I must go. We shall speak again when I return."
"Where are you going?" My hands clutched at the folds of her cloak. "Stay with me."
"I am going to bar my father from entering the town."
"I know… I know that I was chosen to be his wife. Is he coming to take me?" I felt no fear, for my family have given me their word that all shall be managed, and I know in my heart that they will keep it.
"I will not let him take you," she said, and she bent and pressed her lips to mine in a kiss so deep and ardent that my soul felt it.
Oh Ombrithar. I had missed her so. Her lips, her warmth, the way she holds me. She is perfection itself.
Another knock sounded and she drew back at last, her eyes slightly red. "I truly must go."
I had no chance to tell her that His Majesty shall have no power to take me, but she was already gone. I could only watch as she departed, leading her royal guards away.
---
Several days had passed and still my princess had not come. I bought every newspaper in town, searching in vain for some mention of her or of the King, but there was nothing.
Tonight, my body ached for her once more. I tried to sleep, yet heat consumed me, a shameful longing. I was so wet that the sheets beneath me felt damp. My gaze fell upon the finger of Ombrithar resting upon my bedside table. The moonlight touched it gently. I swallowed hard. It was near in size to hers. Long, thick. No, it was bigger than her size.
With shaky hands, I grabbed it, my heart beating far too fast. I pushed the blanket away, lifted my nightgown to my waist, and with a whispered apology to Ombrithar, pressed its length to my soaked flesh.
The first touch made me shudder with bliss. I set it down upon the bed and straddled it, lowering myself onto its hard shape. Slowly, I rocked my hips forward and back, the smoothness gliding against my tender slit. Every movement stole my breath.
I imagined it to be Princess Yseldra's, and the moment the thought took hold, my breath came faster and I moved in fevered haste. My legs grew weak. I rose and hurried to my dresser, pulling forth the largest of the dilators I had hidden there. Without a pause, I pressed it into my rear. I was already so wet that I needed no preparation. Shedding my nightgown entirely, I returned to the bed and sat with my legs parted wide. I could bear the ache no longer. I guided the smooth finger into my throbbing sex, and a moan escaped my lips the instant it filled me.
Her Highness had taken me thus many times before, with the instrument lodged within my rear while she possessed me, and the memories alone drove me to ruin.
Yet, in my clumsy desperation, I could not manage to work it far inside. Sweat dampened my skin. Frustration overcame me. I rose to my knees, braced my left hand upon the wall, held the finger with the other, and lowered myself slowly. My body trembled with delight as it slid deeper, my stomach begin to swell from its fullness.
At last, when I had taken almost half of it, I sank back upon my bottom. My hands gripped the jagged end of the finger, and I began to thrust it within me. The work was clumsy, the effort taxing, but hunger lent me strength. My body that was aflame with longing would not be denied.
"Your filthy little cunny is crying out for this cock."
"Mhmh!" I moaned, quickened my movements, my thighs quivering.
"This greedy little slit is so tight."
"Ah… haaa… ngh… heungh…"
"Yes, fuck my arsehole with that pretty tongue, deeper."
"Argh… uhm!"
"Good girl. Every grape I press between your slit makes your sodden quim drool. You love it, do you not?"
"Haugh… haa… ha…"
"Now bounce on this thick royal shaft. Show me how starved you are."
My insides clenched as the memories of her voice returned to me. I moved the finger faster, the shameful sound of wetness from my own doing filling the quiet of the chamber.
"Spread those aristo-cheek wide for me."
"Ha… haaa… ngn!"
"Mmm, your cunt tastes sweet. Rub that swollen little pearl until you squirt for me, let me watch you debase yourself."
"Ungh! Eut!
"I love you, Naevia."
"Nghhh…" A cry escaped me as my body arched and convulsed. My trembling core tightened greedily around the finger, grasping and holding as though it longed to keep it there forever.
Oh heavens. It was as though I had been lifted to paradise. The fullness within my sex felt exquisite beyond words. I reached down and brushed my pearl with trembling fingers, and at once my body jolted, still quivering from the peak I had so newly reached.
At last I drew the slick finger out. In truth I longed to surrender myself to it once more, yet the size had worn me utterly. My chest rose and fell as though I had run a great distance.
When I had gathered a little calm, I sat up and thrusted the tip inside a few times, shamefully reluctant to part with it, before setting it away with the dilator in the dresser. I had no strength left to tend to their cleaning.
At last, weary and spent, I lay back and allowed sleep to claim me.
---
A new day broke. I rose with reluctance and carried Ombrithar's carved finger and the instrument with me to the morning bath. When my ablutions were done, I sat for a time in the nave, listless and without purpose.
When shall Sister Alethea return? The loneliness pressed heavily upon me.
At length I wandered into the town with no plan in mind. As I passed an inn, the savor of fish cooking drifted out through an open window, and my empty stomach gave a plaintive cry.
"Come in, come in! The dish of the day is beef soup!" an older woman called out brightly from the doorway to the people.
I had half a mind to step inside when a flash of brilliant crimson caught the edge of my vision. My heart gave a start. I turned, but the color vanished round a corner. I hurried after it, my pulse quickening. It must be her. Though red hair is not uncommon, something in me knew.
I rounded the corner and stopped. There she stood before a flower shop, Nerissea at her side, and her guards keeping watch a little distance away. Sir Lorcan said something to her, and at that she turned. She gathered a bouquet of white roses and came quickly toward me.
"Your Highness," I whispered as she reached me, tears rising to my eyes. I reached out and caught a small fold of her golden robe between my fingers.
"Flowers for you," she said, placing the bouquet into my hands, and I accepted it with a heart that fluttered like a bird.
"I was on my way to visit you," she said softly. "There is much we must speak of."
"I have missed you. I feared you would never come to me again."
"Come," she said gently, and led me into a modest inn, where she secured a private chamber. She drew me to sit beside her upon the bed. I could not restrain myself. I set the bouquet aside and wrapped my arms about her waist, pressing my face into the hollow of her neck. She held me back in turn.
"I have kept away because I needed time to gather my thoughts," she said quietly. "I wished to explain to you about Nerissea and myself. Before you, I-"
I shook my head quickly. "I am at peace with it. You may have as many as you wish, only love me again, I beg of you."
She sighed. "Naevia-"
I could not bear it. I caught her lips with mine in desperation, and she answered for a moment, deepening the kiss. But soon she drew back. "As much as I desire you, there are things that must first be said."
"You are making excuses," I whispered, my voice quivering.
"I am not. We must speak of us, of what we are now, of my father's intentions and I must make clear what Nerissea is to me-"
I kissed her again. "I told you, I do not mind," I said against her lips and tried to part them with my tongue, but she pulled away once more.
In that instant, clarity returned to me like cold water. What was I doing? I was clinging to her like a child, shameless and unworthy. She did not wish for me.
I sprang to my feet, consumed by anxiety and sorrow. "Pray, forgive me."
I grabbed the bouquet and fled the chamber, holding back the tears that threatened to fall. My heart ached as though it would break.