Bertrice Small - Crown of Destiny

Marzina shuddered delicately. “I don’t care what you say,” she remarked. “The whole thing is simply barbaric.”

“I am inclined to agree,” Prince Vaclar said, and Dominus Cadarn nodded.

“Nonetheless, it is our custom in Hetar, even as naked bridal couples are yours in Terah,” Palben responded tartly. How dare these two foreigners criticize Hetar? Hetar was the more civilized world, and always had been. What was Terah but fjords and farmlands. A place of simple artisans and craftsmen. They had nothing that Hetar had. They might not be savages, but they were certainly not urbane.

“My goodness, those two sex slaves are well hung,” Marzina noted. “Perhaps I shall take advantage of their services afterward. Who owns them, I wonder?”

“They come from the Pleasure Mistress Helena’s house,” Palben told her. “They are quite well-known for their expertise. When we are finished here I will arrange it for you, my lady Marzina.”

“Actually I am your great-aunt,” she told him mischievously knowing how the presence of magic upset him. “I thank you for your aid. It shall make this day a perfect one, nephew.”

Palben flushed at the word nephew. She was young and beautiful. Hardly a creature one would think of as a great-aunt. He had actually been considering the possibility of seducing her. But she was not a child, after all. She had been his grandmother’s sister. It was just too disturbing to even consider.

“IT’S BEGINNING,” PRINCE KALIQ SAID, BREAKING into the Lord High Ruler’s thoughts, and freeing him from his distress.

The witnesses turned toward the viewing window. The bride, naked now, was laid upon the large bed that was covered with white silk and scattered with several plump pillows. Her slender, delicate arms were spread and bound with blue silk cords to the narrow bedposts above her head.

“Why has the girl been bound?” Lara inquired. “What is to come is no surprise to her. Why is it necessary to restrain her.”

“The defloration needs to be done in relatively short order,” Palben replied. “By restraining her, she is prevented from acting on any last-moment panic on her part.”

Lara shook her head disparagingly. Nyura didn’t look in the least panicked.

The two male sex slaves now joined her upon the bed. They kissed her lips in turn. Then each moved to play with one of her breasts. They kissed and suckled, kissed and nibbled upon her nipples. Their hands stroked her voluptuous young body. Now one of the pair moved to kiss Nyura’s mouth once again. His kisses were slow and deep. It was obviously he was quite good at what he was doing, for the girl’s body began to move slightly as his kisses grew more heated, evidenced by his burgeoning cock against the bride’s shapely leg.

The second male sex slave began to lick and kiss the girl’s torso, moving slowly down until he reached her plump rosy mons. His hand reached out to squeeze it several times, and the witnesses heard Nyura make a small sound of surprise. Then the sex slave pulled the girl’s nether lips apart, licking the insides of them, seeking out that tiny nub of flesh that, properly cajoled, could offer small pleasures. Nyura began to make little whimpering sounds.

Lara’s eyes moved to where Kolgrim stood naked. In his arms was one of the most beautiful Pleasure Women she had ever seen. The body Kolgrim caressed was flawless and perfectly proportioned, with two lovely round breasts, a narrow waist from which flared two rounded hips and smooth, plump buttocks. He kissed the woman passionately as her hands caressed him seductively, touching him in places that brought a virile man to full lust.

The Pleasure Woman finally eased from the Twilight Lord’s embrace and slipped to her knees before Kolgrim, taking his manhood into her mouth. They watched as her cheeks moved slowly, rhythmically, in and out. It was obvious she was taking her time with him in order to bring him to a perfect pitch. Kolgrim’s eyes closed with the ecstasy she was giving him. His large hand with its long elegant fingers dug into the tangle of her thick dark hair, kneading her head.

On the bed Nyura’s little cries were becoming urgent as the sex slave between her legs worried her little jewel with a skilled tongue.

The Pleasure Woman held up her hand and, releasing the enormous cock she had been sucking, said, “Is the bride prepared and ready for her bridegroom? I cannot hold him back any longer.”

“She is ready,” the sex slave licking at Nyura said, backing away from the girl. Both he and his companion arose from the bed, each taking one of the girl’s legs and pulling it up and back so her sex was fully accessible to her bridegroom. The two slave men had done their work well. Nyura was wet, her juices copious and visible to the witnesses in the other chamber.

The Pleasure Woman took the Twilight Lord’s great hard manhood in her hand and led him to the bed. Kneeling next to the bride, she guided Kolgrim’s cock to the opening of Nyura’s sheath. “The prize awaits you, my lord,” she said, sliding off the bed.

Kolgrim looked into Nyura’s face. He saw in her face that her lust matched his. It would have pleased him to tease her for a bit, and while he could not see the witnesses, he knew they were watching; he could feel their eyes upon him, their anticipation. He wondered if his mother was remembering his father at this moment. Did she recall her mating when she conceived him? Or was it that time upon the Dream Plain when his father had ravaged her, impregnating her with his sister?

His thoughts excited him even more. His cock ached. He pressed it a little way into her sheath. She squealed, and he saw a sudden fear in her eyes. He pushed a bit farther, and met the resistance of her maidenhead. The knowledge that his would be the only cock to ever know her almost caused him to lose control of himself.

“It hurts,” she whimpered at him.

“Does it?” He smiled into her face, drew his throbbing cock back and thrust forward hard. He felt her maidenhead give way as he ripped it asunder. Her scream was so loud that it was heard in the banqueting hall, and Nyura did not cease screaming for several long moments as her bridegroom thrust over and over and over again into her. But then her cries died away, and instead they heard her moaning as Kolgrim brought her the pleasures she had listened to other woman gush about since she was twelve, and old enough to understand, at least partly, what they were discussing.

He pumped her for several more deep strokes, and then his body stiffened momentarily as, groaning, he released his juices into her. Reaching up, he undid the bonds holding her, nodding to the two sex slaves to release her legs. Then, standing up, he smiled down upon her. “You did well, Nyura.”

Dazed she looked up at him. “Did I please you?” she asked softly.

“You have much to learn, but I will teach you,” he said. “Get up now, Nyura. The evidence of your honesty must be presented to our guests so they may go home. Then so will we, my pet.”

Nyura managed to gather herself together. She climbed from the bed. Looking down at the large stain of blood upon the white coverlet, she appeared startled. There was blood upon her thighs, too. Ripping the silk from the bed, she handed it to the Pleasure Woman, who bowed politely. Then with the two male sex slaves the three facilitators left the chamber.

“Our part in this is over,” Palben said. “Will you all agree that the bride’s claim to virginity was a legitimate one? And that the bridegroom was not cheated?”

His companions nodded.

“Then we will return to the banqueting chamber with the proof,” the Lord High Ruler said.

Stepping into the corridor from the viewing room, they found the three facilitators waiting for them. The Pleasure Woman bowed to Lara, handing her the bloodied coverlet.

“Thank you,” Lara said, nodding to her.

The Lord High Ruler snapped his fingers at the two male sex slaves. “You belong to the Pleasure Mistress Lady Helena?”

“We do, my lord,” one replied.

“Tell your mistress that this noble young lady would avail herself of your services this evening. You are to both come to the palace.”

“Yes, my lord,” was the reply.

“Why thank you, nephew,” Marzina said, smiling sweetly at him.

Behave yourself! Lara scolded her daughter, but her mouth was smiling.

He lusts after me because he sees me as young and fair, Marzina said. And it truly troubles him, Mother, because I am his great-aunt. She swallowed back a giggle.

They reached the banqueting hall. Lara entered and walked directly to the High Board, followed by the other witnesses. Moving to the table’s center, she was lifted atop it by the four male witnesses. Once there Lara unfurled the white silk coverlet, its crimson bloodstains now beginning to turn brown. “The bride was true!” she cried.

The banqueting hall erupted in cheers, and as she was helped down from the High Board she saw Grugyn Ahasferus being congratulated. Lara shook her head in wonder. Hetarians encouraged their daughters to take pleasures early so they might be contented wives; they loved their Pleasure Houses; yet one maid who retained her virginity was celebrated for it on her wedding day though she had been scorned for it in the years prior.

“Are you coming back to the palace with me?” Marzina asked her mother.

“Nay. I think Kaliq and I will go home to Shunnar. Will you come and see us soon, my darling? I need to speak with you.”

“Is it about Kolgrim?” Marzina asked cleverly.

“Aye, it is,” Lara responded candidly. She would not lie to her child now. Not when what she must say was so important. She wanted Marzina’s cooperation.

“I will come,” Marzina replied, “but, Mother, you must not worry about me. I know what Kolgrim is. Really is. I know as much as he desires a family, a little sister, he would kill me if it suited his purposes. I am aware of it.”

Lara nodded. “I trust your judgment,” she said.

“Now let me go. Those two delicious sex slaves are awaiting me, and I am eager to take pleasures with them,” the young faerie woman said with a twinkle in her violet eyes. “Do you think they are as sturdy as they look?”

“You will tell me when you come to Shunnar,” Lara told her daughter.

Marzina laughed and, turning, hurried away.

“Great-grandmother!” Dominus Cadarn had come to her side. “We need your help in the matter of my son’s betrothal.”

“Your uncle is expert in all matters Hetarian,” Lara said. “Can he not help you?”

“It is he who calls for you,” Cadarn said.

“Very well, I shall come.” She turned to Kaliq. “Will you wait or go home?”

“I will await you in Shunnar,” he said, bending to kiss her mouth. Then, stepping away from her, he swirled his cloak about himself and disappeared.

Cadarn’s mouth fell open. “What happened to him?” he asked.

“He returned home, which I should like to do, so take me to Lord Amren so we may conclude the matter of Vaclar’s marriage. If I know your uncle, there is something he knows the Hetarians will consider unpleasant, and he wants me to press the point.”

The wedding guests had all gone, and the house was virtually empty but for the family and their servants. Cadarn led Lara to a large library where Grugyn Ahasferus was now seated with her grandson, Prince Amren. She nodded to them both then said, “Well, what is it that I am needed for, my lords?”

“Will you not be seated, Domina,” Grugyn Ahasferus invited Lara. “And I have not thanked you for being witness to my granddaughter’s defloration ceremony.”

Amren rolled his eyes at Grugyn’s polite speech. The Hetarian magnate was just attempting to get on the good side of his faerie grandmother. “They want the wedding here in The City,” Amren said, his tone annoyed. “But the wedding must be held in Terah, in the castle of the Dominus. Lady Yamka will one day be Terah’s Domina. Her marriage must be celebrated where she will rule.”

“Has neither of you heard of the word compromise?” Lara asked them tartly.

“She must be wed here among her family,” Grugyn Ahasferus said.

“Nay, she must be wed in Terah,” Prince Amren replied.

“She can be wed in both places,” Lara told them. “Let the first marriage be performed here in this house in the hour before sunset. Then I will transport them by means of my magic to Terah in time for the sunrise ceremony that is our tradition.”

“But what of the wedding feast?” Grugyn demanded. “Is my family to be made a laughingstock because we do not celebrate Yamka’s marriage as we have celebrated the marriages of my other two granddaughters?”