Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeThaelen threw back his head and laughed as Harithen stole the flag at the top of the pole, winning the challenge for his team to a roar of approval from the onlookers. He leaned back onto the arm of his throne as the game ended. “He is quite the game player,” he observed to Freanya who was keeping him company during the event.“Harry has always enjoyed games,” Freanya replied turning to look at him as the players congratulated each other. “But he does not always play fair.”“Hmm,” Thaelen was not paying attention, his eyes on the beautiful Harithen. He rose to his feet as the players approached the dais and stepped forward to lean against the elaborately carved balustrade that encircled the platform that had been raised to afford the royal onlookers the best view of the field below.Sigrid, hovering in attendance, brought over the chest with the prizes, standing beside him as he greeted them. He could feel her disapproval rolling off her in waves,
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeAt the evening feast, Thaelen sat with Freanya at his side and pushed his food about his plate in an effort to appear to eat more than he did, whilst his eyes lingered on the lower table where Harithen entertained a blended group of Concordian and Greibron nobles with an animated recounting of some humorous event. Hopefully not spreading rumors about seducing Thaelen on the cliff, he thought grimly.The sky was heavy with cloud, and Thaelen saw Sigrid and Meguitte talking intently, Sigrid gesturing at the sky whilst Meguitte shook her head. He imagined that Sigrid was trying to persuade Meguitte to use her magic to turn the clouds away, and Meguitte, terrified of using her magic around the priests of the One God, was refusing.“Mother apologises for her absence,” Freanya told him for the third time. “She had to return.”“I understand,” Thaelen said absently as Harithen threw back his head in laughter, his hair fanning out behind him. It had been l
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeThaelen paused, his hand on the ties of his coat. Things had been going so well with Freanya and he’d felt hopeful about the union with Greibron for the first time since meeting the princesses. He was entirely certain that if she found out that he had f-ked her brother, there would be trouble down the line. He’d seen the mess that indiscreetly taking lovers left behind too frequently and did his utmost to avoid the situation.And yet… He wanted the man as he could not remember wanting anyone, ever, and that had to mean something.“Were you discrete?” He asked as he undid the ties and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it over the back of a chair so that it would dry overnight.“Of course. It’s not the first time I’ve bribed my way into a lover’s bed,” Harithen rose smoothly to his bare feet. Even his feet were beautiful, long and lean, with neatly maintained nails, Thaelen observed as he watched him walk across the bed and step down.They were reall
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeHarithen lay between Thaelen’s thighs, his cheek on his chest, their wet c-cks trapped between them. They had f-ked themselves empty, f-ked themselves to the point of contented somnolence, and they lay listening to the rain striking the canvas in the peaceful lull left behind the satiated lust.“I should go,” Harithen sighed eventually. “But it’s miserable out there.”“Stay,” Thaelen invited immediately. “I would like for you to stay.”“Hmm, and risk me being seen leaving your tent in the morning? My sisters would love that,” Harithen laughed into Thaelen’s chest.“I will ensure you return to your tent unseen,” Thaelen told him. It was nice to lie skin to skin, warmed by another body, with the damp cold seeping in through the canvas, and he was still fascinated by the man, not yet prepared to let him slip from his bed potentially forever.“How will you do that?” Harithen wondered, amused.“I will wake you before dawn. No one will be around in this
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years Before“This was your doing,” Thaelen said under his breath to Sigrid as they waited for the horses to be brought by the squires. Quite a crowd had gathered, and what Thaelen had originally intended to be a private horse-ride had become a spectacle, with many nobles and guards preparing to ride with the royals of both Concordia and Greibron.“Of course,” Sigrid replied complacently without looking at him, smiling politely and inclining her head to those who entered her field of vision. “Nothing happens in your life, Thaelen, without my hand in it somewhere, surely you know this.”“Believe me, I do,” he replied resentfully. “I will remind you, however, that I am a man grown, and capable of making my own decisions on occasion.”“And what decisions would you have made today, precisely, Thaelen?” She arched a brow at him. “You made a decision many weeks ago and charged me to ensure the success of your endeavour. Everything you see before you, every event tha
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeAs if in recognition of the events of the day, the rain resumed, the heavy drops seeking to penetrate the canvas of the tents, and setting a chill into the air.Alandra’s body lay on the bed where Thaelen had f-ked her brother only the night before. Her brother sat on the arm of a chair, Freanya pressed against his side. She wept brokenly into the fine fabric of Harithen’s coat. Her priest hovered behind them, having been brutally rebuffed by Harithen when he had offered “It was the One God’s will,” as comfort to Freanya.“The One God wanted his faithful followers torn to pieces by flying fragments of metal in an explosion?” Harithen had demanded. “How blood thirsty of him.”“We should not be here,” Father Gedina complained, wrapping his fingers around Freanya’s upper arm. Harithen tugged her back against him, hissing at the priest. Their eyes met and there was a battle of wills between them. “They were to blame for this,” Gedina accused spitting
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeThere was a shocked silence in the tent as both royals and their priest stared at him gape mouthed.“Thaelen,” Sigrid said darkly, her tone promising a thorough tongue-lashing when they were alone. “You have had too much to drink and are in shock. Excuse him, please,” she said taking the glass from Thaelen’s hand as she stepped passed him, and set it down crisply on the tray. “He thinks that he is being clever, thinking outside of the problem before us, but does not realize that what he has suggested is in bad-taste and…”“Flattering,” Harithen’s smile was stiff but warm, his pleasure tinged by his grief for his sister. “It is flattering, my king, your offer, but…” He shook his head. “Not a solution for any of us, and considerable trouble for you. I thank you,” he inclined his head as he lifted Freanya to her feet, and began to guide her towards the tent entrance. “But this is Greibron problem, and not a Concordian one. We will call upon loyal Gre
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeThe rain had driven everyone into the tents and, due to the lack of space within them, early to bed – other than those which had injured from the explosion within them. Light spilled from those tents, and door flaps opened to the night revealing the activity within, servants carrying out bloody water to cast out onto the sodden earth, and others leaving bowls out to collect the falling rain.Thaelen and Meguitte paused in their path. Their own injured had already been tended and were on the mend, however, miracle recoveries amongst the humans would only risk exposing the Concordians for that they were, and helping the humans would bring danger to his own people so they had left the humans to their own devices.“How are your injured?” Thaelen enquired pausing in the awning of one such tent. The broken wails from inside chilled his bones. The roaring percussion of rain against the canvas and ground had stolen the sound from the tents until they drew