Page 50 of The Ivory King

She lifted a small hand. The wash of the tide over nearby rocks rolled over us, the mist settling on our clothing as the common elves still waited on the other side of the golden gates.

“She surely is. It is my mother who refuses to cast the final vote to see the three noble houses voting unanimously. It is most vexing when any fool can see that my brothers are too dimwitted to find their cocks in their breeches most days, and I am unable to produce a full-blood heir. You are the wisest choice, Aelir, and one that I would most graciously endorse if my say were given any credence.”

“I thank you, Bonnalure.” I kneeled down beside her and took her hand between mine. We had known each other for many years, she and I, and her calm presence had always been a pleasant diversion from my grandfather’s curmudgeonly temper and her brothers’ loud crude ways. “Once things are settled, we shall have a party to celebrate our vows. We’ll be sure to send invites to you and your future husband.”

“That would be lovely. I wish you all well. I find that I’m chilled and tired. I’m going to retire to my chambers to await the decision of the elders.” She raised her hand and a guard wearing the Mossbell crest appeared to wheel her back to Avolire. When the gates were opened, we made our way back to the castle as well, the four of us with Fylson and Tezen. The pixie was flitting about our heads like a honey bee drunk on pollen.

Fylson was quiet. I did not think he would be chatty after standing at the back of the shrine as his love was lowered into the ground. Tezen made up for it.

V’alor walked at my side, his gait slow to accommodate Raewyn’s and my shorter legs.

“I hope I can attend the vows! I’ve not been to a wedding in many years. We pixies have wedding fetes that go on for a fortnight. The couple sneaks off to a private spot to fuck like rabbits while their families and friends get drunk in the royal hall and fuck like rabbits! The last time I was at a wedding it was for a cousin, dumb as a dust mote he was, but a likable male. I may have overindulged a bit, for when I woke up the next morning I was tangled up with two lovely lasses on the back of a sleeping duck. If we fucked on the duck, I cannot recall, but I did have down betwixt my arse cheeks.”

“We should be wary of the twins’ invitations to a ride,” Fylson said as we moved through the throngs of elves going to prayers or heading to the village market to sell their wares. His helm hid his face well, only allowing his eyes and chin to be fully viewed. Flocks of gray geese waddled by driven by barefooted elven children with sticks, men rushed past carrying sacks, and women pushed around us with baskets filled with fresh bread or clothes to be washed at the shore. My guards moved us along with speed. A shame really, for I had always enjoyed the street stalls set up in the heart of Renedith. “And of being among this many people. We should have left with the other nobles.”

“I concur.” V’alor moved us along with more speed, his hand on my back. “This is not at all safe.”

“Well, it is what it is, for we had to speak to the exalted cloisterer. As for the twins, I do not trust either of them as far as I could toss them. I’ll take V’alor along for the ride. Fylson, you can get some rest. It was a long night. Pasil and Tezen will split the watch of Umeris in the council meeting,” I said.

A young boy ran up to Raewyn, gaunt and in shabby rags, his brown eyes huge in his slim face. On his arm, he had a basketfilled with seashells as large as he was. “A copper for a shell, my lady?”

“I will take a dozen and wear them in my hair,” Raewyn said, dropping down to pat the lad’s dirty cheek before dropping a dozen copper coins into his basket. The sale was made, and the shells were placed in her palm. The boy grinned and shot off with a hoot, leaving Raewyn smiling after him, twelve sandy, rather ordinary seashells in her hand.

“You are too softhearted when it comes to begging waifs,” Merrilyn said as she stood on guard behind Raewyn. V’alor agreed with a huffing sound. “Be warned, my lord. Your home will soon be overrun with stray kittens and warblers with mending wings.”

“That is why you love me,” Raewyn tossed over her shoulder as she rose. “That and my ability to use my whip to remove the ash from a cigar and not harm the cigar.”

Merrilyn grunted, a sound so much like V’alor’s huff of a yes that I chuckled. This new menage I was about to be joined with would work well. If only I could be so sure of what awaited me when I joined the twins for a ride along the shores of the Silvura Sea. I trusted them not at all and was glad that Raewyn would be with Bonnalure in the safety of a garden sipping tea and eating tarts, her skill with a whip notwithstanding.

MIDDAY ARRIVED WITH A WARM WIND OFF THE SEAand my beloved pacing my chambers.

“This is not a good idea, Aelir,” V’alor stated yet again. I’d heard his concerns for the past two hours as we ate our midday meal in my room. He’d voiced his dislike of taking a ride with the Mossbell twins at least a dozen times. “We should take more guards.”

“Then it would look as if we suspect them,” I pointed out while standing in front of a dark wood wardrobe trying to decide what to wear on an afternoon excursion with two people who had paid assassins to eradicate you. Was royal blue too much of a slap in the face? Not that I had any knowledge of my name being finalized to be king. None but the noble elders were allowed into the small council chambers in one of the highest towers in Avolire. Umeris had complained bitterly about another day stuck arguing with the heads of the Dewfall and Mossbell houses.

“We do, and they should well know it. This pretending to be simpletons does not sit well with me, Aelir. Being prepared is a good defense. Taking a horseback ride along cliffs is not a good defense. I think Fylson’s mind is addled by grief, for he surely cannot think that dangling you in front of the muzzles of the rabid twins like a haunch of venison is a sound plan!”

I turned from the wardrobe, walked over to my lover, and took his head between my hands. His jaw was so tense I could feel the muscles seized up along his neck.

“Aelir, now is not the time to think of intimacy,” he softly snarled.

Rising to my toes, I placed my lips to his. Once, twice, thrice. Slowly he began to respond to my tender pecks, his hands coming to rest on my ribs.

“I can think of no better way to fritter away some time, my betrothed,” I whispered over his soft lips. “Take me to bed.”

“You have just bathed. Would you ride out smelling of sex?”

“The smell of horse would hide it,” I purred as I rubbed my nose over his. I could feel him weakening slightly when a sharp knock on the door sent him back a full step. I sighed, then reached down to adjust my half-hard cock before calling to whoever was on the other side to state their business.

“My lord Aelir, it is just I, Bonnalure Mossbell,” she replied in her soft, sweet, cultured voice. “I had hopes that we could speak about Lady Frostleaf before our tea later today?”

I gave V’alor a nod and hurried to the wardrobe to pull on a pair of dark green riding breeches with a white shirt. Bonnalure smiled at me as she wheeled herself in, a large wicker basket on her lap, the wheels of her chair silent as a brown wood mouse moving across the stone floor.

“I hope I did not disturb your rest?” she asked, then thanked V’alor as he lifted the hamper from her lap. A soft knitted blanket covered her legs, as was usual, for she was very anxious about her fellow nobles viewing her useless limbs.

“No, I could not find sleep, so I read a bit and then decided to find something to wear for the outing with your brothers,” I explained as she made her way out to the wide balcony. She tipped her head back to gaze at the sky, her long hair falling tothe floor as her lashes came to rest on her pale cheeks. A look of utter serenity settled on her pretty face.

“I could not rest either, and so I sent my handmaids out to find some trinkets for your affianced,” she said, eyes still closed before she opened her eyes to glance back over her shoulder at V’alor and me standing in my room like dullards. “Although whispers have reached my ear that I should have looked for trinkets for more than one intended as you are going to wed three this eve?”

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