Page 38 of Dead Crown
Jaki’s tail flicked in agitation as he scoured the room to see if there was anything else. He tested the baseboards with his dagger, and when he crawled under the bed to check those too, he found a loose one. Behind it was a glamor soap to make hair grey along with a jar of black dye.
Lumi’s ears and tail were black. Even the skin of his ears was black like the fur. He’d changed his appearance enough to avoid suspicion. Since he’d been gone for so long, nobody questioned or noticed other similarities to the family, and Elswere was clueless. His poor vision helped with that, and he hadn’t seen Lumi since he was a toddler.
Next to the dye, he found a little ragdoll. It was a boy in a teeny tunic and trousers. It looked like it had been kicked around the city streets and run over by a cart a few times. He wondered if Lumi had found it somewhere on the streets and decided to keep it.
He’d left it like everything else. Maybe he didn't see a point in bringing it or wasn’t allowed to have stuff like that.
Jaki sat on the bed with the items while he willed his eyes to stop stinging. He would not cry because it wouldn’t help anything. It hadn’t helped when Father had been imprisoned for “treason,” and Mother had fled with him. They hadn’t been sure if King Reesing would spare his sister-in-law and his secret, bastard son. He likely would have, but Preti hadn’t taken chances with her precious boy.
She’d told him many times not to cry and tried to make him feel better. At the time, his whole world had been turned upside down, and he’d thought he’d never see Elswere again, so he hadn’t been able to stop his tears.
“Fuck.” Jaki took a deep breath and told himself he was a grown-ass man. Crying wouldn’t help Lumi. His throat still tightened when he looked at the dirty little ragdoll boy in his lap, alone and forgotten.
No wonder Lumi had kept it. He’d wanted someone to save him too. When Jaki had offered him safety in the tower, he’d had the look of a desperate man who wanted to take what was offered. The way he’d pressed his face against Jaki’s palm had said it all too in the end.
The stab had been because he was too afraid to disobey Tivar who had owned him for so long.
It was no wonder he'd never said a word despite being there for three years. Jaki would have kept his half-brother safe, and not just because he’d lusted after him.
He could tell Father now and try to get him off his arse, but he wasn’t sure what result he’d get. He wasn’t sure what to do anymore at all.
Chapter Eight
January, 1657
It was so much harder.
Sure, Lumi could lie in bed and enjoy it. The heat made it all possible after years of being warped and forced to think he loved it. It was the only way he could fuck now, but something was different.
After three years of being a pleasure slave and spy, he wanted to go back. He wanted his freedom and to pretend nothing else existed besides his main goal of getting to slurp on the Prince’s cock or ride it.
Except maybe more would have existed. If Jaki had only wanted info, why had he cupped Lumi’s face and been so gentle with the spy? People didn’t act like that to those who were committing treason. He’d even promised Lumi would be safe. He’d seemed so genuine, and Jaki didn’t have a reputation for lies.
It wasn’t like Lumi had a choice. He had to do what Tivar wanted.
Tivar said he had one last chance to try. If he wasn’t pregnant in one year, that was it. Tivar would go ahead with other plans. He didn’t say what they were.
Lumi figured he partly meant war, not that he cared. His life wouldn’t truly change unless he died, and even though he focused on surviving, it wasn’t like he had anything to live for at that point. Why would he care what Tivar planned? Maybe he’d die in the war. If so, Tivar likely had a way to ensure Lumi would never be rescued or free.
At least Jaki had lived. News of his death would have been heard everywhere within a short time, and Tivar would have said something so he could gloat. Lumi had aimed for the lower ribs to ensure he didn’t hit the heart or pierce the lungs.
The memory still jabbed his chest. Hecouldhave killed Jaki, and he didn’t want the only person to have shown any real warmth and care to bleed out alone in the forest.
He hadn’t been back for a full month when he woke up one night. The chain rattled slightly as he rolled over, and the cuff on his right wrist was heavy. He had enough slack in it so he could wrap both arms around his midsection. The cramps in his stomach didn’t feel like the ones that came after a bad meal or if one had to sit in the privy.
They were deeper and where his uterus was.
It was a sign of pregnancy for an abundant male and happened at the four-week mark. It meant they’d already conceived, and the uterus, unused until then, was preparing itself to grow and accommodate the baby that was already forming. They would likely pass after several hours or last a day at most.
His breath came in short gasps as he tried to think back. He hadn’t wanted to have a random courtier's baby, or worse: his half-Uncle’s child. He knew Tivar had intended for anyone to fuck him because it didn’t matter who the other parent was thanks to Lumi being a true Cleel. If he became pregnant, he would have been forced to leave earlier. If not…well, it was Lumi’s fault for being unable to conceive. Tivar would never admit it if he were infertile.
Tivar made all the rules, but with his freedom, Lumi had managed to find a little gumption in him to make sure he could avoid something he didn’t want.
He’d found a way to get the good herbs to prevent abundant males from conceiving. Women only needed one serving a day,but the ones for abundant males were a little different. They only lasted a few hours, so he’d taken them as needed. They did nothing for sperm, so if he had fucked a woman, it would have been possible to impregnate her.
When the guards came to get him that one morning, he hadn’t had time to take them, and the last dose had worn off by then. Prince Jaki had fucked him in his sitting room. Lumi hadn’t worried about it and figured he’d be fine. After all, it was just one time, abundant males weren’t absolutely guaranteed to get pregnant if they had sex with their heat, and maybe he was the one with an issue. Just like with women, there could be an internal issue, and he’d have no clue.
The first few brutal rapes at a young age could have wrecked him inside even though Tivar had healed him. Some said that it was possible for stress and trauma to forever ruin something in an abundant male.
