Queen Collector 2, page 9
Carter rose back up and said, “Traditionally, the happy couple would kiss upon the woman’s acceptance of the man’s proposal.”
As she wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her heels to meet his lips, she said, “You’ll have to teach me more of your homeland’s customs, they agree with me.” They kissed passionately on the bridge, Carter sneaking a handful of Alidona’s bare, plush buttock, a move that engendered delicious moans from the empress.
When they finally separated, Alidona plucked his bottom lip with her teeth, then said, “Seema will obviously be happy to hear that her plan bears fruit, but you’re going to have to smooth things over with that moody priestess of yours.”
“Linn,” said Carter. “Yes, that is a small, domestic hurdle to overcome.”
A twinkle glinted in Alidona’s stare. “I’ve got an idea that might help.”
Chapter 12
* * *
Before Carter returned to his private room, he made a stop in Berrin’s makeshift office. It was a cramped room in the attic of the administrative building where Carter’s retinue were quartered. The space was cluttered with junk, boxes of old scrolls, staffs, and curios Berrin amassed over the years. The only items not coated with dust were the crates of liquor the Riathan High Priest had city guards bring here over the previous day.
“Your Grace!” Berrin greeted emphatically, his cheeks ruddy with drink. “I wouldn’t have expected you to pay me a personal visit up here. This was my overflow until the Spire collapsed. Now it’s my only workspace.”
The lush occupied a stool by the window, taking nips directly from a bottle while gazing wistfully at Satarra. Carter perched on the edge of a chest pressed up against the wall and reached for the bottle. Berrin offered it happily. Carter swigged, then said, “It’s cozy up here.”
A guffaw burst forth from the priest. “You truly are the world-hopper. No royal of this world would say such a preposterous thing.”
“You don’t like it?” Carter asked, handing back the liquor.
As he lifted the drink to his wet lips, Berrin replied with a vague air of disdain. “Suits my needs.” He tilted the bottom of the bottle toward the ceiling, glugged, then belched. “Apologies for my uncouth demeanor, Your Grace. I wasn’t expecting you.”
Carter nodded. “You said that. And don’t modify your behavior on my account. I appreciate a man who wears his mood plainly.”
Berrin’s mouth curled slowly into a grotesque grin. “Honesty,” he said, “the world lacks for it.”
“Hear, hear,” said Carter.
Berrin’s glazed eyes constricted, whether from suspicion or to better see through the haze of his inebriation, Carter couldn’t be sure. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” he asked.
“Those neat little communications devices,” said Carter. “I was wondering if you might be able to produce a few for me.”
“Did the empress show you my handiwork?”
Carter nodded. “She did and I was impressed. I was hoping—” He cut off when he heard footsteps ascending the staircase.
A moment later, Naer appeared, strained smile on his lips. “Good day,” he said with a bow.
“Ah, my old friend,” said Berrin. “I’m too lucky to have such excellent company when I was only just moments ago bemoaning my loneliness.”
Naer averted his gaze. “I received some important news, Your Highness.”
Carter raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”
Naer flicked his eyes at the other High Priest. “It pertains to matters of a sensitive nature.”
Carter looked at Berrin, then back at Naer. “Whatever it is, feel free to say it in front of your old friend, Berrin. This guy’s job is to manage secrets.”
Naer cleared his throat. “Very well. Ohla has uncovered the traitor responsible for the attempt on your life.”
Carter clapped his hands together. “Excellent!”
“He will be apprehended this evening,” Naer reported. He then bowed once more and descended the staircase.
Carter rose from the chest, clapped a hand on Berrin’s shoulder. “I knew my shrewd mother-in-law would solve the mystery. This calls for a celebration!” He snatched the bottle from Berrin’s grasp, swigged, then shoved it back into the priest’s hands. “I have to tell my wife! Enjoy your night, Berrin.”
Carter departed, wondering whether his play had been a wise or foolish one. But his mind quickly flitted to the next order of business. Linn. He found both the priestess and his wife in their suite, Seema lounging on the bed, Linn seated at its foot studying a scroll. Some religious text, no doubt, thought Carter. Though he lacked her piety, he admired it in her. It was one of a great many qualities he admired about Linn.
And it was past time she understood that.
“Linn,” he said, stepping into the room.
She lifted her brown eyes from the text to meet his gaze. “Carter.”
“I have something for you,” he said, revealing Alidona’s crown from behind his back.
Linn gasped, rising from the mattress. “Carter! What did you do? The empress will be furious!”
“She’s the one who suggested I give it to you,” he told her.
She eyed him dubiously. “What do you mean?”
As he fit the crown into Linn’s brunette tresses, he said, “She knows how much you mean to me and understands that, in order to make this work, the two of you will have to get along.”
Seema leapt up excitedly from the bed. “Did she accept?”
Carter nodded and Seema beamed. But he held his attention on Linn. Taking hold of her shoulders, he said, “Linn, no matter how many wives I take, your place in my heart will never shrink.” Tears welled in her eyes, which Carter swiped away before they could stream down her cheeks. “I love you, Linn.”
Her face lit up like a firework. “I love you, too, Carter.” He kissed her, then squeezed her against him, lifting the elf girl off her feet for a twirl. When he set her back down, he caught Seema’s eye. She was smiling at them.
“Come here,” he said to her.
Seema drifted over to her husband and kissed him. “I love you, too, Seema.”
“Oh, Carter,” she replied, “I love you, too.”
At that moment, the door eked open, and a sinewy, green figure slipped into the room to join them. With her hands held behind her back, Alidona said to Linn, “It looks good on you.”
Linn blushed. “Thank you.”
“I see it, you know,” said Alidona. “There’s a royal air about you.”
Linn laughed bashfully. “I don’t know about that.”
“No, really,” Alidona insisted, striding toward the priestess. “Maybe you never saw it because you’ve never really been treated like a royal. Perhaps we could fix that?” she questioned, glancing at Carter.
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” he agreed.
Alidona dropped suddenly to her knees at Linn’s feet. “When you’re a royal,” she said, “people are always kneeling in front of you.” She placed her hands against Linn’s thighs and the priestess gasped. “And they’re always trying to please you.” The empress rode her palms along Linn’s smooth legs until she reached the strings of her thong. “May I, Your Highness?”
Linn’s eyes shot to Carter. “You have a servant at your feet,” he said. “Would you like her to service you?”
Her cheeks turned crimson as she peered down at Alidona. She nodded. The empress grinned. “Your wish is my command.” She yanked the bottoms down Linn’s legs to expose the puffy, hairless cunt. Then she thrust her face between Linn’s legs, diving into her pussy.
“Oh, my!” Linn shrieked, gripping Alidona’s head to keep her balance.
Carter grew stiff watching his betrothed eat his girlfriend’s pussy. He loved the way Linn’s pale body quaked with pleasure, how Alidona moaned while savoring the snowy flavor of the priestess.
In the midst of this exhibition, Seema reached a hand down Carter’s pants to stroke his burgeoning erection. “The show’s turning you on, isn’t it?” she enquired.
He slapped a hand against her warm ass and gave it a firm squeeze. She mewled against him. “Yes, it is,” he replied. “It pleases me to see my women getting along.”
Seema stripped away her clothes then dropped onto hands and knees to crawl up behind Alidona. She looked back at Carter, wiggling her ass invitingly, before burying her face between Alidona’s green cheeks. As she ate the empress out from behind, Carter shed his clothes and knelt before his wife, teasing her wet slit with the tip of his rock-hard cock.
Their elven moans filled the room, a mellifluous symphony to Carter’s ear. His eyes met Linn’s as he entered Seema. The queen moaned into Alidona’s pussy while her own was filled by the king’s rod. Carter gave her ass a swift spank, a bit of percussion to punctuate their collective melody.
As he pumped Seema, gripping the queen’s soft hips with both hands, he stared back at Linn. It was as if they could feel each other through the two bodies between them, joined by some less studied spellcraft, a magic born of sex. This furtive sorcery synchronized their approaching orgasms, so that Linn’s euphoric convulsions became Carter’s.
He watched with rapt attention the way Linn’s sweat spread a sheen across her slender body, how his wife and his soon-to-be second wife glistened from their efforts. Three exquisite bodies subsumed under a single desire.
“Carter!” Linn screamed.
She was about to come. He knew this, because he was on the verge, as well.
A wave passed through them, starting in Linn’s hips as they bucked against Alidona’s face. Then Alidona’s green body writhed, the motion transferring into Seema, who shivered in Carter’s hands. He felt her pussy tighten around his shaft, as if squeezing his seed from his cock. It burst forth in several, powerful shots while Carter held Linn’s gaze. The priestess gripped Alidona’s head as she came, and Alidona thrust her ass back against Seema’s face to heighten her own climax.
As their collective orgasm gradually subsided, a light rapping on the door distracted Carter.
With a groan, he slid out of his wife and padded over to the door. He cracked it to reveal Talik standing on the other side. “I was told Alidona was with you.”
“She is,” Carter replied.
“Berrin sent me to inform her that Sal requested a meeting, urgently.”
Chapter 13
* * *
When Carter turned back into the room, he saw that his three elven obsessions reconvened on the bed, their nude bodies entangled with a space between them meant for him. Alas, he would not be able to occupy it just yet.
“Alidona,” he said, coming to the foot of the bed. The green elf woman crawled along the mattress until her face hovered before his crotch. She waved her naked ass in the air behind her. Carter couldn’t help himself and reached forth, slapped a hand down on one of her shapely buttocks. The resulting spank rang out with perfect resonance.
“Is the king ready for a second round?” she enquired. “So many holes left unfilled.”
Carter sighed. “Unfortunately, you and I are called away on other business.”
Alidona pouted. “What could possibly be more important?”
“The fate of the world,” he answered.
“That is pretty important,” Alidona agreed.
“Berrin sent a message through your bodyguard that Sal wants to meet as soon as possible at the goblin cave we blew up.”
Alidona stood, plucked her brassiere and gold thong from the floor, and dressed. “Does she have some more intel?”
“No,” Carter replied. “In fact, she won’t be there.”
Alidona shot him a look. “What do you mean?”
“What’s going on, Carter?” Seema asked from bed.
“Whatever it is, is it dangerous?” asked Linn.
“Only a little,” Carter replied.
“Carter,” said Alidona, “what’s going on?”
He considered delivering the ugly news any number of ways, but found all of them wanting. “It’s best if you see for yourself.”
And so they scurried up the side of the building where Carter called Garth to retrieve them, then flew north to the rendezvous. In transit, Carter could feel the tension gripping his betrothed, a nervous worry clouding her thoughts. That’s alright, he thought. We only need my mind clear and attentive.
Ahead, Carter saw the headland where the cave had been. A low depression dipped in the middle where the roof collapsed and the mouth was filled with boulders. The scene was bathed in the blood-red light of sunset.
Garth passed it, then circled back, landing in the center of the depression. After Alidona and Carter slid down his wing, the dragon asked, “You need me to stick around, bro? Something doesn’t feel right.”
Carter shook his head, replied directly into Garth’s thoughts, “I’ve got it covered.”
“Holy shit, my man! Did that just happen?”
Carter smiled. “It did. Now go, I’ll call you when it’s time to head back.”
Garth angled his enormous head at the sky, stretched his wings, and took flight, soaring through the evenfall.
Alidona turned to Carter. “Why don’t I feel like this is a routine spy rendezvous?”
Carter pressed his forefinger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
Then he shut his eyes and listened.
A breeze drifted across his face.
The ocean lapped against the beach.
Gulls squawked and mewed.
A discordant note grated on his ear, like a cat pouncing on the keys of a piano. He traced the noise through the air, turning his head until at last he opened his eyes and saw it, a deadly strand of magic, gossamer thin, swimming through the air on a course toward the empress.
With lightning speed, Carter shot out his hand and grabbed it, turned, saw Berrin revealing himself from behind a boulder, released the death spell back to its interlocutor.
The string fed itself down Berrin’s throat. He coughed, stumbled forward, then collapsed. “Berrin!” Alidona cried, rushing to his side.
But Carter intercepted her, knowing it would be too dangerous yet for her to approach. She looked between his eyes and saw the story written there.
Her face slumped.
“No,” she said.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Berrin choked out.
Carter turned, edged toward the sprawled High Priest. Berrin lay on his back, limbs akimbo, the usual red cast of his features now pallid.
“How—” he coughed again.
“Did I know?” Carter finished. “I didn’t, I only had a hunch. One I hoped was wrong. But when I thought who might’ve provided the assassin to kill me, I quickly eliminated The General. His power is blunt, never subtle. And while the plot required a traitor in my court, they would’ve needed outside talent to pull off the hit because we run too tight a ship up in the mountains. Who better than the disillusioned master of spies, Riathan High Priest Berrin? He knows every secret his empress does, because he’s the one overseeing all the communications between her operatives. All I needed to do was to create a false sense of danger for the Riathan traitor, force his hand. Now,” Carter crouched down beside the dying priest, “tell me how you saw this unfolding.”
Berrin sucked in a ragged breath. “Kill the empress, frame the king. Then it wouldn’t matter what Hael said, because Riatha would hate you. I would remain safe here.”
Hael. Carter thought he should’ve known. The cantankerous, human-hating councilman would be the elf to betray him. “How did you see yourself escaping this situation?” Carter asked.
“Oh, I would have killed you, too. Make it look as though she got her revenge with her dying breath. You didn’t need to be alive to hate. And Riatha’s hate of you would’ve invalidated everything your countrymen said about me.”
“Why, Berrin?” Alidona demanded through tears.
The color began to drain from his irises, leaving behind gray-white rings surrounding the pinpricks of his pupils. His vision waned as he returned Alidona’s scornful glare. “Terynos has become so…static, its people complacent. It needs to burn the old religions, kill the old ways. Break free, start anew.”
Alidona stormed toward Berrin with murderous intent, but Carter held her back. “So you thought you’d give the world a clean slate by sowing chaos? By killing your own empress?” she spat.
“To be fair,” said Berrin, “I originally planned to die beside you in the Spire, Your Grace.”
Alidona looked queasy as she turned away.
“Carter,” Berrin called out, unable to see.
“I’m still here,” Carter replied.
“I was rash,” said the priest, “I know that. But my heart was true. Remember what I told you, outsider. Remember…” With that, Berrin’s head rolled to the side, his cloudy eyes losing focus as they peered into the abyss.
“Is he dead?” Alidona asked, unable to look.
“Yes.” Carter wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry.”
As she squeezed herself against him, she whispered, “Thank you.”
Chapter 14
* * *
The wedding was a grand affair. Pieces salvaged from the Satarran Spire were recycled for the construction of a floating pier. Boats crowded around to watch Naer officiate the ceremony joining not just two people, one human and one elf, but two nations.
Carter stood at the head of the pier, watching with anticipation for his second wife to join him. The ceremony became a medley of customs borrowed from three disparate cultures. Carter leant the traditional Earthling walk down the aisle. Seema provided the complex floral arrangements used in mountain weddings. Linn wrote the liturgy, including a poetic speech read by Naer, paired with a few lines of his own, extolling the virtues of love, faith, dedication, resilience. It spoke to their bond, but also included a message for Satarra, a city that had won the hearts of its guests.
Alidona incorporated Riathan dancers who opened the ceremony with a balletic routine that transfixed Carter. And now, as they cartwheeled away, revealed the empress, adorned in a diamond-studded one-piece, its thousand beads glimmering in the sunset.
