“Dur yihi mani quem wer esses fios er. Dur ghaim ha deveria meg da pozoves,” Alarick told Levon in a drawled voice.
(You don’t know who this is. You should have called me before.)
The big man shivered at the bad omen.
Alarick clicked his tongue at him and turned to the ‘whore’ and grabbing the trembling man by the elbows to forcefully turn him around.
Severn was a tall, eighteen year old boy that was all angles, bones sticking out everywhere. Curly black hair and bluish eyes. He was one of the princes of Gytha, a country south of Maud.
He looked more like the Knight than the King, more manly than other Gythaeans in his manners, but more wicked as well. They said he ran away from his family to become a whore but everybody doubts it’s the truth and that rumor didn’t last long.
Soon after, he started to work for the Temple of Cyndel owned by his brother, Prince Erriene.
“Xiath Alarick,” Severn said shakily in Maudinian with such a weird accent he almost didn’t grasp it. Scared blue eyes looked up at him.
(King Alarick)
“Severn, wo vas du nima karata haikalin bapart?” Alarick spat, angry. “Wie er dun mae dy sheni bror?”
(Severn, what are you doing so far from the temple?)
(Where is your brother?)
Severn just shook his head, not understanding a word and searched his clothes for something. He brought out a letter and thrusted it in Alarick’s hands.
“Erriene sent me,” Severn said in his own language, and Alarick snatched up the letter.
Whatever it is that made Erriene send Severn into Maud’s fortress just to give him a letter was probably worth to read.
The letter was a simple folded paper that said ‘King Alarick Lyall Nirmolak, Son of Randal’ in the front and it was sealed with golden wax. Only Erriene called him by this long, complete title.
He opened it and was faced with a maudinian that Erriene had managed to look soft even when written.
Alarick never understood his need to do that, but he supposed that, like everything the prince did, it was designed to throw him off his guard.
The letter opened with a simple ‘Alarick,’
It was followed by,
‘Dir er a feum mi bruidhinn det am bidh zo agam ri du, a thaobh Tìr Kalise. Du leis na tha agam ri wo am ha zo run; a ràdh du gabh i sibh. Den seo gus tele ni a taua, mea. Du bidh zo e le zo iinei dis ri meg.’
(There is a very important matter that I need to discuss with you, in regards of the Kalise Land. You will certainly be pleased with what I have to offer; in case you accept this mission. It cannot be said in a letter, however. You need to be here to discuss this with me.)
The ink got thick, as if it took a lot of time for Erriene to spell the words.
‘Du lava peita Alarick, det du luwo eb ma afai uiga am luwo reve kas phelp zo. Ach mar den duine ort, iarrainn, am bidh du.’
(You must know Alarick, that you would be the last person I would ever ask help to. But as it happens now, unfortunately, I need you.)
‘Molim vas thigibh.’
(Please come.)
Then, in quick sentences, as he seemed to get back to his element.
‘PS: Am fada nur mura peanas fi du oir dhut Severn rof mhisean, don teampall du meg gessam awh shi lyon bagairt. Den fada nur mura nik fo du zo nach mhi zo ve bapart ronf Maud. Du kwon han er nie toirt, kame ress du let Levon het mesa aige.’
(PS: I would be very grateful if you didn’t punish Severn for trespassing, as giving you my message was his only mission. It would be very kind of you to escort him to the temple from Maud. You know he is no threat, make sure you tell Levon the same thing.)
‘Am liw, fo dearbh, nach du a rinn val dun teagamh, a ràdh du non te twan zo ais thu e fhein. Am ha e reyv thugam wors am deama meger, thiw e God bhith. Fo thusa, du bidhzo eb ere zo gheibh ti. Nad am aisig du, niet a feumaidh, nietr a krigga. Du agus meg Severn, du teg a bhami seo.’
(I will, of course, give you a refund for your troubles, in case you do not want to hear about the mission. I have a very priceless sword I made myself, with the God’s blessings. Of course, you need to be here to receive it. And I meant you, not a messenger, nor a soldier. You bring me Severn, you get a shiny gift.)
Alarick growled at the letter, even as his heart ached in memory of the familiar insults. He wasn't an animal nor a stupid brainless beast.
Erriene must be itching for trouble; he could almost see his little smirk growing as he wrote these words.
‘Ghne, aobhar Maudian’s cuiribh zo e mele dregen, kema ros nieter fo dun krigga, nietr du, yla shan no Severn. Ewe ha a cruet det am lamh tha zo latha, nad am ruse sethe nek, do lewe sa du, twan zo ha chall et yda. Tis lam eb e raidh zo osle e nase zo.’
(Furthermore, knowing Maudian’s inclinations to the male gender, make sure none of your soldiers, nor you, lay hands on Severn. We have a truce that I wouldn’t want to break, and I am sure these men, as well as you, want to have heirs one day. It would be a shame to lose the means to.)
As if he would touch Severn’s scrawny arse, Alarick snorted. It ended with a quick elegant scrawl.
‘S deimhinn,
Prince Erriene Ycel Kyslie.
(Sincerely)
Alarick frowned, pursed his lips, then glanced to the whores.
The letter hadn’t mentioned them. He shook his head and called the soldiers.
“Take the women to the dungeons. I’ll take Severn to the Cyndel Temple.”
Severn gasped in outrage.
“No! They will come with me to the temple!” Severn said, and the soldiers looked at him in confusion, and then to Alarick for further instructions.
Severn turned his pleas to him too. “They were lost, trying to reach the Temple of Cyndel, I swore to show them the way, please!”
Alarick furrowed his eyebrows at the Gythaean, his temper rising.
“Severn, they’re going to the dungeons and that is my word. Do not challenge it.”
Severn looked at him in defiance.
“Am ayt dweud aman Erriene!” he squeaked in faulty maudinian.
(I will tell Erriene!)
Alarick huffed like a very pissed old lion.
After settling Severn and the whores in a wooden cell connected to the horses, Alarick ordered his soldiers to get them some blankets so they wouldn't freeze and went to gather some personal supplies from his own stash that he usually take on every long trip.He stopped at the library to warn his father he was leaving for some time.“Han zove uvek agus dur liga, como ele inide hulemi,” Randal said from his seated position on the big poltro.(He calls and you go, just like always.)The powerful stature and posture hadn’t left his father, though his hair was getting whiter every year, along with the sadness and despair in his black eyes. Alarick remembered this poltrone, it was his mamkka’s favorite.He shook his head from the memories, refusing to be caught in the same depression, refusing to look at the portrait on the wall beside his father.“Yimesilali asifelagi. Han neberi ha teria conhece nu ar. Dur fost iarraidh alehi,” he said, walking away from the comforting warmth of the plac
When Alarick told Thorne that he had decided to hear Erriene out about this mission, the man winced in sympathy.Thorne, who had a long hair that he kept tied and a black beard that he trims, trotted his horse along with him in the front line. He supposed his party of soldiers was too big, but you never knew with Southerners.It wasn’t as if he was showing off.Maybe he was, a little.“Det taj aquele, hein?” Thorne said, walking on thin ice.(That one, eh?)No one ever knew where the line crossed when the subject was Erriene.Alarick was confused himself.One thing was for sure, no Northerner ever wanted to speak with Prince Erriene.It wasn’t because he was rude and spoke nasty about them, no.It was because the prince could be extremely pleasant, and use that against you. Also because he could manipulate and twist your own words when he wanted something from you, and he would never tell you what it was.Any other person like that wouldn’t survive a week in Maud because they tended t
Alarick’s party arrived in the Temple of Cyndel with very low panic from the citizens. Actually, most of them bowed for him, and even said some Maudinian words of praising. Interesting, but supposedly expected since Cyndel was joined at the hip with Maud.The temple was a big building made to train druids and hunters, different from the ones where priests studied the old books.Alarick saw the people gathered in front of the temple moving inside, while some of them called Erriene's name. They seemed wary but trusting all at the same.Alarick watched a familiar figure walking from inside of the temple, and the afternoon sun lazily shone over the silver white hair.Those violet suspicious eyes narrowed over the amount of soldiers Alarick brought along, but Erriene’s expression and slight nod said he was already expecting it.The regal creature waited for everyone to settle with a patience Alarick didn’t had.Erriene was always so proper, so put together. The right rings on his long ar
They entered through the temple and Alarick noted that a lot of people from Gytha were laying around, completely at ease.Something else he noted was that almost all of them had bruises and wounds all over, some still in bandages- still healing.Erriene showed the dinner spread around in low tables by the floor to the soldiers and Alarick’s mouth watered at the sight of food.They ate in the travel, alright; they were good hunters. But it was something else when it was done with vegetables, herbs and whatever it was that Erriene and the others put in the food to make it smell like that.“Don’t worry. You are free to eat now if you want to, but I saved some for you,” the Prince said, an urgent tone in his voice. “I wish we could talk first, if you don’t mind.”Alarick looked at him. “I don’t mind. Let’s get this over with.”The temple was a very solid construction made of wood and rock, and the floors were clean as if they spent the whole day mopping it. It was dirtier now with the so
Alarick nodded slowly while Erriene trembled and tried to gather a little of his dignity. A troll invasion was more like a plague taking over than anything else. They were dumb, ugly,hairy creatures that moved around forests, and when they grouped together, usually to the command of a big leader, they went to the bigger cities to find food. That could be anything from bread to vegetables and meat. The more crazy ones would even eat humans, but it wasn’t their preference. Trolls could take over an entire country given the time and the right luck. They reproduced fast and the younger ones were ready to fight pretty quickly. It was unlucky that they caught the little villages because they couldn’t defend themselves. A city would handle it better. If the invasion of the land wasn’t contained fast, they would leak to other places and then it would be impossible to track them all. On the other hand, Alarick thought troll
Two YearsAgo… Alarick found a nymph on his garden. Or so he thought, at first glance. It had been a tough afternoon; his father hadn’t joined them at yet another hunt for a couple of ogres trespassing the forest ever since his mamkkadisappeared a couple months back. He was angry at the world and depressed. They both were. But instead of locking himself in one of the rooms in the fortress like his father, he was out there, raising his sword and killing everything in his way. They may be father and son and share the same blood, but right now, the both of them have different ways in coping up with the devastating loss. His clothes were damp, there was mud in them, and he’d been circling around the fortress trying to find anything he could show his wrath toso it wasn’t too far off to saythatstumbling acros
Back to the present… “Clay-brained orc,” Errienemurmured to the empty room. He closed his eyes and breathed one more time. Alarick’s scent was still in the room, making his head spin. A leathery smell, mixed with an animalistic scent. It had something to do with his confidence. Alarick had a presence that often muddled his string of thoughts. His figure much reminded him of Fourthly, the ogre that worked in the well who had a thick neck and broad shoulders like a bull. Alarick was built like a strong bull, but way taller than Fourthly. A giant. A young, reckless and inconsequential giant bull. It unnerved Erriene how tall he was, how strong he was, how he treated him like he owned him. Alarick wasn’t ugly exactly. Far from it actually. It shouldn’t matter to him but one may argue his strong jaw and straight nose were attractive, if one was slightly drunk. Or so he wan
Erriene stood in front of Alarick, hands firmly clasped behind his back as his soldiers stood outside ready to leave.“Is it done?” Alarick asked, watching the blue magic that surrounded them minutes ago disappearing.The words were a little tricky to say, unknown to him, and the thrill he felt at his guts when the magic circled him and Erriene was overwhelming, in a good way.Erriene had handed him the contract and he had dropped a little of blood on it, and it was a little unusual with land binding contracts. But he would send it to Maud, and it would be protected.“Yes, yes,” Erriene said with impatience. “Now tell me, why are there soldiers all over the temple?”Alarick had spent the last two days sending letters to Maud to let his father know of his plans, and waiting for a good amount of soldiers to travel to the Temple of Cyndel. He had sent some men around to find the trolls’ positions
Aefstine’s breath hitched and his hands trembled as Randal moved towards him.Randal was only in his undershirt, his black hair still wet from bathing. His eyes was full of adoration a few minutes ago, but now… it was mixed with desire.Randal stopped in front of him while he slowly put his pen and paper aside. For a moment, they were just staring in silence, there was nothing but the flow of the river nearby.And their breathing… their pounding heartbeats."Randal…" he whispered in a soft voice.Randal let out a grunt as if something hurt and in a move too fast for such a huge man, he was suddenly in front of Aefstine and lifting him by his waist.He rested his hands on Randal’s shoulders as the man placed him over his lap, his legs automatically went on each side of Randal’s thighs. As he straddled the man, he immediately felt Randal’s arousal beneath him.Randal moved his h
Present Day…Aefstine smiled wide as he stared at the bustling city as the carriage stopped.Another city that he had yet to explore. He can not wait to check the new place out.The hand holding his tightened its hold, making him look to his side where his spouse was sitting. Randal had on an amused expression while staring at him. Aefstine squeezed back on the hand holding his and grinned at Randal.They had left their horses at the border of Maud when they left a few years back- Alarick will take the horses back to the fortress and take good care of them until they return. And from there, they would hire a carriage or hitch a ride from passing carts. It was really fun.Ever since he came back from being captured and detained, five years had gone by and now, Randal had developed the habit of always holding on to him- more than before- and he can’t blame the man for being clingy.He was not complai
Aefstine heard the sound of someone running irregularly along the corridors, and turned around already expecting his brother.He heard the knocking on the door, and called out. A limping Kynanentered his room. He felt a pain in his heart, and was surprised to notice he had missed his older brotherthat much."Kiddo!" Kynancalled, smiling.The guard immediately appeared behind him and shifted, hand going for the sword, looking threateningly at his brother.Kynanlooked at the guard, bemused. Aefstine was surprised too."It's okay. It's just Kynan," he told the guard. "Close the door," he said and the guard namedTyke-he recalled- hesitantly closed it.Kynanshook his head at him."I'm... so sorry, Aefstine. We were staying in another wing of the castle. People here are so nasty, no one speaksour language. I tried to get to you, but a little chubby lady said I wasn't to ‘bo
"You don't know that, you don't know Maudians. You assume that's what they want!" Aefstine cried."And you know them so well, don't you?" Cheanamocked. "Befriending those animals, you deserve to be here," she moved narrowed eyes at him, looking at him from head to foot and back again as if scrutinizing him. “Do you have any idea how insulting this is for me? I am a beautiful lady from the ElsyanneHouse, a noble one, and I get rejected, by a king. All because of you!”She pointed an accusing finger at him, as if it was all his fault. Maybe it was. May be notHe doesn’t know anymore.She took a step towards him, gritting her teeth. “How could he choose you? How could he like you?Over me?!”Aefstine had never seen his sister so angry before- no, she was not angry. He had seen her furious before. When things don’t go her way or there’s something she want but was not able to
In the midst of his tears and dizziness, Aefstine had barely heard the rushed, desperate words the warlord king had said over and over again, barely felt himself being lifted and curled in the naked man's lap.When the tears had dried and the panic gave way to anger, his waist was red and sore from the way Randal's arms clung to himtightly. The king’s worried eyes were searching for a reason, looking around the roomas if the one making him feel this miserable could be found aroundand then back to Aefstine, and he had felt something he never felt before.A deep, mysterious thing that uncurled from his chest like a newborn sparked to life.Aefstine felt a little better by it, a little comforted, and caressed the man's jaw with small trembling fingers in appreciation for something he didn't know how to pronounce yet.But saying ‘I'm okay now’ over and over hadn't quieted the big man down. Aefstine had to spen
The finger went deeper and when it rubbed against something strange inside, Aefstine shivered all over and arched his back like a cat.He spread his legs further apart, bum sticking out and seeming to fit perfectly in the man's big hands."Randal…" he whispered.Mind blanking out, Aefstine wanted it again. He heard the king’s chuckle and felt himself get even hotter with arousal.Randal only held him tighter, and he felt a hardness at his lower back that wasn't there before, but now that the king was closer, Aefstine could feel it. It could only be Randal's cock, and he shivered with the knowledge.It felt really big, and the fact that it was probably going inside him made him shiver in fear and curiosity.Soon,there was another finger joining in, and the burn came back again. He shifted uncomfortably, and Randal growled softly at him, leaning and bending his bodyoverbehind him, tucking his chin i
Finally looking around him after a tense ride, Aefstine could see the woods up ahead, but he wasn't in the forest anymore.Randal had slowed the pacing. This hidden place was full of stones and bushes, nestedon itwas some kind of pond, a lagoon that was surrounded with dark slippery rocks.The lagoon itself was beautiful and he noticed hot steam in the surface. Actually, this place was warmer than the forest. Aefstine could see the shade of the castle in the distance.It must be the hot spring.Still with the arm around him, Randal leaned in to kiss the skin at the back of his ear a few times, which made Aefstine's heart set off again into an unhealthy pace. He tried not to move, and Randal didn't seem to notice.Randal dismounted from the horse and Aefstine saw him carefully take his own cloak, boots, and shirt off. Aefstine, with his head still pounding, managed to take his fill of the muscular chest in front of him.
Aefstine looked closer, walking up to the border of the stream, and saw that small silver fishes were jumping up and down the river.The bigger ones were at the bottom.Randal brought with him a quiver that was as beautiful as the bow, but Aefstine spent less time looking at it, quickly taking an offered arrow.The first arrow went straight into the river, but came floating after some seconds. Aefstine gave Randal an embarrassed smile and the king’s lips twitched again in that almost smile of his.He went to take the arrow back, but looked down at his new clothes and frowned. He didn't want it to get wet. The water was probably really cold too.Randal appeared in his vision with a thin and sharp long lance. He threw it at the river with such an easy, calculated strength that made Aefstine take a step back.The lance went straight into a big one at the bottom. The fish trashed a little but the lance had gone through
Aefstine walked to the dinner table guided by Phye, and was surprised to see his family already there, having an early dinner.He walked up to themand took an apple from the fruit bowl on the table-this freakishly tasty maudian apple - and sat on a chair. There was no sign of Syteiner, nor the WarlordKing.Aefstine nodded to his father, and did a double take when he received a smile back. His mother was also smiling, looking relaxed for a change. Cheanawas a little downcast, but that was to be expected.Kynanlooked at him curiously."Those clothes are strange.""His Highness Randal invited me for a hunt today. He told me to wear these clothes," Aefstine said, picking at the fur and the oversized brown cotton shirt.It looked like it was made for a Maudian but it was pleasantly warm, something that Aefstine was unwillingly starting to associate with the Warlord King.