Chapter 15
"Oh yes… oh, fuck… haa…" my princess moaned behind me as she drove her length to the very hilt within me. "What a tight pretty cunt."
"Nhn!" I gasped, my hands braced against the back of a garden bench. She was taking me from behind through the parted slit of my drawers in broad daylight. We were tucked near a quiet lake within the temple grounds. My habit was rolled to my waist. With each thrust, my breasts bounced freely beneath me, my vision flickering with shameful delight. Glancing downward I could even see a bulge rise in my belly each time she pushed in deep. My essence leaked down my thighs, trailing toward the tops of my stockings.
I had advanced to the third largest of the dilators. It was five inches in length and thick enough to stretch me wide. It remained lodged in my rear as she moved within my other entrance. The fullness was immense, and yet… I did not mind it. For soon, I knew she would claim me in the place she longed for most.
"Naevia… eut… I am coming… oh, fuck, yes… take my big fat cock… yes… heugh…"
…as of late, I found myself stirred by the very filth of her words.
I could form no reply. My body was slick with sweat, my mouth parted, a thread of saliva slipping down my chin as moans escaped me.
At last, I felt her warmth pour into me. She trembled behind me, her hips giving a few uneven thrusts before she withdrew. Then she turned me to face her, one arm circling my waist, the other reaching down. Her lips found mine just as her fingers grasped the base of the dilator still nestled within me. While our mouths were joined, she drew it out then pressed it back inside.
"I shall miss you dreadfully," she whispered against my lips, continuing to move the instrument in and out of my rear with mounting pace.
"W-why?" I breathed, trembling with the sensations stirring deep within me.
"My father has summoned me back to the palace. His second bride has been chosen."
Even as she spoke, she slipped her still hardened length back inside my drenched flesh. The fullness made my legs quake, her rhythm never ceasing as she continued to pleasure me both front and rear.
"I shall be gone for a week."
"I will wait for you," I gasped, nearly undone by the overwhelming delight. "Y-Your Highness… I love you."
I felt her length swell within me and a whimper escaped my lips. She paused her movements entirely and drew me into a full embrace, her face buried against the side of my neck, as though trying to memorize the moment. I could feel the quiet joy radiating from her, the way her body softened, how dearly she cherished this closeness.
I wrapped my arms about her.
"May I hear it again?" she whispered.
"I love you, Your Highness," I said softly.
"Say my name."
"I love you… Yseldra Valebrinth."
---
The following day, I sat in the nave, my cheeks warm with color. I had permitted her to press the tip of her manhood into my rosebud and received her release. I was not yet ready to receive her fully, but I wished to offer her something to look forward to.
"Sister Naevia?" Sister Alethea leaned toward me. "Are you even praying? You have been staring at your hands and look thoroughly flushed."
"Does she not always look like that?" came Sister Juliara's voice from the pew ahead.
"Use your hands, nghh… haa… spread those plump aristo-cheeks wide for me. I want to see your slutty hole swallow me."
I brought my hands to my face. Her vulgar words would be the death of me, I was certain of it.
---
A week passed with dreadful slowness, each day stretching longer than the last. But at last, this day came to mark its end. My heart fluttered with anticipation, for I knew Her Highness would soon arrive. I had missed her dearly. Even a single day without her presence felt difficult to bear.
All morning I paced near the entrance of the nave, my heart alight with restless joy. Sister Alethea, having just returned from her errands in town, stopped beside me, looking rather weary.
"Are you waiting for Her Highness?"
"Yes," I replied, nodding eagerly.
"I shall take a nap. I am quite spent," she said, patting my shoulder before disappearing within the building.
When noon came, I chose to forgo luncheon. I could not bring myself to leave my place, not even for a moment, lest I miss Her Highness. And it was well I stayed, for not long after, I saw the royal carriage drawing through the temple gates.
My heart leapt. I ran to meet it, unable to contain my joy. I reached it just as the carriage came to a stop, and she stepped down. My happiness turned to concern. Her complexion was far too pale.
"Your Highness, have you been unwell?"
She took my hand and led me swiftly into the carriage, where she sat me down and clasped both of my hands within hers. I could feel the faintest tremble in her grip.
"Naevia, why do we not elope? I would cast aside my title, my name, all of it to live quietly by your side. Will you abandon your family… and Ombrithar… to be with me?"
My thoughts spun. I could not gather them.
"What has happened?" I asked, searching her face for any clue that might give shape to the fear in her voice.
"Will you?" she asked again, her voice trembling ever so slightly. I had never seen her thus before. I withdrew my hands from hers and lifted them to her cheeks, gently pressing my palms to her skin in search of fever.
"Please," she whispered, and the plea in her voice struck me with force. I could feel the rawness in her tone, the urgency of something unspoken.
"Your Highness, I do not understand. What has come to pass to bring you to this state?"
"Something will happen if we do not act. Please, Naevia…"
"W-what is that something?"
"Can you trust me?" she whispered.
"I trust you," I said, and I meant it truly. I did trust her. Yet to abandon everything was not something I could agree to without thought.
She leaned into me then, resting her head upon my shoulder, her body slack with weariness. "It is awful," she murmured. "So awful I cannot speak it aloud. The words will not come. They die upon my tongue."
I drew her into my arms, holding her close while my mind struggled to make sense of her fear. I thought long and hard, but no matter how I turned it, I could not imagine what might have happened. Our days had been joyous. Our love, steady. What could possibly have brought her to this?
We remained that way for quite some time, the sunlight shifting softly across the floor, marking the quiet passage of the hour. Her full weight pressed against me now.
I glanced down.
She had fallen asleep.
To rest so heavily in such a position could only mean one thing. Whatever burden she carried, it had robbed her of rest for many nights.
A knock came at the carriage door.
"Your Highness, we must depart," came the voice of one of her guards.
I moved gently, careful not to wake her, and laid her upon the seat with all the tenderness I could muster. Then I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her brow before stepping outside into the fading light.
"She is sleeping," I said quietly.
Sir Lorcan gave a long sigh. "About time," he muttered. "Thank you, Sister Naevia. We must go."
He closed the carriage door with softness, as though mindful of disturbing her rest. Then, to the one holding the reins, he said simply, "Go slow."
"S-Sir Lorcan, what has happened?"
He looked down at me. "Forgive me, Sister. I am sworn to Her Highness. I may not speak of such matters without her leave. Pardon us."
He inclined his head with polite finality and mounted his horse.
They departed, and I was left behind, the weight of uncertainty pressing upon my chest.
Something will happen, she had said. Something unspeakable.
I made my way back to the temple in a daze, my thoughts fragmented and restless. But I had not even reached the temple steps when Sister Juliara appeared in my path.
"A letter for you," she said quickly, handing me a folded parchment sealed in red wax, then vanished without waiting for a word in return.
I looked at the seal. It was my family's. I broke it open and unfolded the letter.
"Naevia,
Your closeness with Princess Yseldra is unacceptable. If you do not stay away from her, I will send my men and have you dragged back to Baymoon.
This is your final warning.
If you hear any troubling news concerning myself, do not be alarmed. Your mother and I are handling it.
Your father."
That was all. No fond farewell. No expression of love. The letter was brief, but its message struck like thunder. My father was no longer merely displeased. He was furious. Never before had he ended a letter to me without at least a word of affection from either him or Mother. This felt like the end of his patience.
Princess Yseldra had begged me to flee with her, warning that something dreadful would come to pass if we did not go. Now my father demanded I stay away from her without explanation.
I turned to the one person I believed could make sense of it all.
"Alethea, wake up," I whispered softly, giving her shoulder a gentle shake. A pang of guilt pricked at my heart, for she had only just returned from town and her rest was well earned. Yet I could not bear to wait another moment.
"Uggh..." she groaned, shifting beneath her blanket.
"Please," I said, more urgently now, shaking her again. "I beg you, Sister Alethea, I am in need of your guidance."
After a few moments more, she sat up at last, though her eyes remained closed and her brow furrowed in sleep's protest.
"I must trouble you with something rather serious," I said, settling beside her. "Please do forgive me. I know how tired you must be."
"How might I be of service to you, love?"
I clasped my hands tightly in my lap and recounted all that had transpired between Her Highness and myself, though I omitted the intimacies which would shame me to speak aloud. I told her of Her Highness's strange sorrow, and lastly, I handed her the letters my father had written.
Sister Alethea stared at me as I spoke, her expression slowly shifting from confusion to disbelief. When at last I fell silent, she blinked, wide-eyed.
"You and Princess Yseldra are in love?"
I looked down at my hands, fingers nervously twisting over one another. "Might we discuss that matter at a later time? I beg you, Alethea. What I truly need now is your counsel."
She looked down at the letters once more, then darted to the door, locking it.
"The second bride… Naevia, it is you. Can you not see that?"
I swallowed, my heart beginning to race.
"The crown seeks strength, and your family holds it. They have an unmarried daughter, namely, you. And from all you have told me, the princess loves you. Truly. Enough to flee the throne if it meant being with you. She did so because she learned you had been chosen to become her father's bride. Her stepmother."
She began to pace.
"Your parents love you dearly as well. And from what I can gather in this letter, they are not in agreement over this arrangement. They are doing everything in their power to ensure you are not bound to that fate. It would explain why they have not come. They are managing the matter privately. That is why they warned you to avoid the royal family altogether."
She paused, hugging her arms tightly to herself.
"This… this is nobility at play," she said with a shiver. "And if you have no wish to share a bed with an aging king, then by Ombrithar's grace, stay away from the princess."
"Alethea… I love Princess Yseldra," I said with quivering breaths. "She confessed her heart to me long ago, and only recently have I found the courage to return the words. And now this… It is all happening so terribly fast."
Sister Alethea took hold of my shoulders. "If you remain by her side, you shall become her stepmother. Your parents may do all they can to prevent it, but if you do not aid them… heavens, Naevia, I shall be forced to address you as Your Majesty."
Tears gathered in my eyes. "Sister Alethea… why are you not a scholar? You speak as one far wiser than the rest of us."
"The temple is the safest place for me," she replied quickly. "And truly? I say all that and you choose to praise me?"
"If the temple is so safe," I murmured, voice cracking, "then why has ruin fallen upon me…?"
My chest ached.
"Because you are the daughter of a powerful lord," she said gently. "Now look at me, Naevia."
I met her eyes.
"Let her go. If you cannot, then elope. But I know you. You will never abandon your family."
"They have stood beside me always…"
"Then you must part from her. The sooner, the better," she said, wiping at my tear-stained cheeks with her sleeve.
But how could I?
How could I cast her aside, when she had entered my life with a heart so open, so unafraid to love me? When she courted me with such devotion and offered me warmth? When I had given her my first kiss… my first touch of intimacy?
How could I abandon her, when she was prepared to relinquish all for me?
I lowered my gaze to the floor.