Marie Harte - Gale Season

Zartic frowned, staring from B’alen to his queen. “If that is so, why was the sorcerer not tainted with her energy?” His eyes narrowed. “And why does my queen appear so Dark of late?”

B’alen thrust his will through Lidra’s mind and took control, infuriated she’d let the upstart warrior speak to him thus.

“Zartic,” she said sharply. “Watch your tongue. Because of you we have lost another opportunity to return Alandra to her rightful place. What she has done could cause harm to all our people. Trust me, her punishment at my hands will be a kindness.”

“Is not living in that hideous world torture enough?” Zartic murmured.

“Zartic!” She stood, glaring down at him with fiery blue eyes that took on the brilliance of Netharat flame. “Show Lord Sava what our Light Bringer empathiser has done to you.” She glanced at B’alen, as if waiting for his help. He was happy to oblige. Crushing his fist, he mentally increased pressure on Zartic’s face, breaking his nose and cracking his left cheekbone.

The warrior cried out and staggered, unable to brace himself from the overload of pain B’alen poured over him.

“Failure is not to be tolerated,” B’alen said in a low voice, pleased when the warrior finally showed a lick of sense by kneeling in deference.

“Once Sava and the others take note, hie yourself and two dozen of our men back to the xiantope plane,” Lidra ordered. “Do not return until you find her. If you step one foot on my soil again without her, I’ll give you to the Dark Lord to do as he pleases.”

Zartic, wisely, said nothing. He slowly rose but kept his head bowed.

“And Zartic,” she added with a cruel twist to her mouth. “B’alen doesn’t like you. So pray you return with the girl quickly.”

Zartic paused, then reached for the Mir charm at his throat and vanished.

Alone with the queen at last, B’alen sealed the small clearing with a privacy spell and waited for her to come to him.

He saw the resistance she tried to hide behind a wide, sensual smile and laughed low in his throat. He did so love the games the Aellei played, and none were as skilled as their queen.

Each time he took hold of her mind, he enabled her to see what he did, showing her his immense power while she struggled to be free. Obviously she was no match for his sorcery, but unlike his brother, B’alen would not underestimate his allies.

Aellein magic, he knew, ran deep. And though Lidra gave him plenty of energy to further his plot against the Storm Lords, he knew only with Alandra, the only living Aellei with ties to the Storm Lords, would he have a real chance at ending this farcical battle for Tanselm.

His brother had started too early. ‘Sin Garu hadn’t listened as he should have, convinced of his right to rule, and that he could overtake both B’alen and the Storm Lords at the same time. Unfortunately for him, their sister had decided to share his intentions.

Lidra moved, and he watched, his desire growing, as she played with her gown, toying with the fastenings holding her dress closed. As the silken fabric slithered to the ground at her feet, shadows played over her skin, like dark hands inviting B’alen to join them.

Instead of going to the queen, however, he sat down in her throne and watched her touch herself as she encouraged him to participate without actually approaching him. Ah, brother , he sent the mental taunt to ‘Sin Garu, who according to B’alen’s last report, lay near the Aellein healing pool, trying desperately to steal some of its healing properties. You could have been with me, brother, experiencing this lusty queen side by side. But greed made you clumsy.

Lidra’s hands cupped her breasts before sliding down her stomach and between her legs, her breath catching as her fingers delved into her slick, hot folds.

B’alen shed his clothes with a thought, his needs growing as the shadowy royal lit his desire like flame.

“Come, sweet,” he murmured and began stroking his cock. “Come sit here.”

She grinned, no doubt thinking she’d won their little game because he asked for her first. As if she could hold sway over a Dark Lord as powerful as he. B’alen smiled, his lids heavy as his hunger increased. Blessed Dark, she was lovely. The pulse in her neck beckoned, and he licked his lips, aware she desired him as well, though she didn’t want to.

Sauntering to her throne, she allowed a flash of glittering annoyance to show at his indolent slouch. “This is my land, B’alen, though I have given you leave to play here.” She glanced meaningfully at her throne. “Kindly remember who I am.”

Straddling his lap, she sank over him with ease, engulfing him in her magic and desire. He couldn’t help the groan that escaped and merged his will with hers.

He gripped her hips and began controlling her movements, plunging her up and down over his weeping cock. Her eyes locked on his as he fucked her, the pleasure of their game making her skin flush, her nipples hard and throbbing. He could feel her heat, her need to dominate and to win.

“Oh, Lidra, I know who you are.” He roughly yanked her down and shuddered when her walls closed around him. She came hard, squeezing him into a powerful orgasm that drenched her womb with sorcerer’s flame. As she gasped her pleasure, he twisted his hand in her hair and yanked her head to the side. Exposing her smooth, white virgin neck, he prepared to feed.

Baring his teeth that had lengthened with each pleasurable cock-stroke, he grinned. “But do you know who I am?”

Sinking his teeth in her neck, he stifled her thrashing, his cock twitching and hardening as one hunger fed another. And as he drank liquid life from her veins, he thought her aged magic as fine as any Aellein wine.

Moments ran together as he feasted, awash in her sensuality and submission. Swallowing her cries and terror, he swelled and came again, drenching Lidra with the Dark. She shivered in his embrace as he withdrew his teeth, the taste of her tender flesh making him wonder what other delights he might partake of the exotic queen.

She lifted her head, her eyes wounded as she stared fearfully at him for the first time. “Why, what—you took my blood .”

“I did.” He smiled, knowing he looked like the monster she thought him to be. Dark red blood stained his teeth and ran down his chin to his chest. He was still firmly embedded within her, his cock not realising it should have been flaccid by now.

Pleased at the discovery, he decided to share with the queen his plans for her young niece. Having correctly gauged her selfish tendencies, he murmured encouragement when she let go of her fear and began riding him again, stirring his lusts anew.

Lidra wanted Alandra dead, but more so, she wanted the young princess to suffer, an unlikely feeling for a shadowy Aellei. Pleased he’d had some influence over the lovely monarch, he proceeded to fuck her until she could no longer function, the beauty of her pain and pleasure too tempting to ignore.

As he watched her magic dim under his Dark presence, he wondered, not for the first time, how Alandra would taste when he finally brought her to heel.

On her side, Alandra snuggled closer into the warmth, seeking solace. In dreams she had seen her aunt being mauled by a Dark Lord, a being very like ‘Sin Garu, yet her aunt’s Dark Lord was not the sorcerer Alandra had sent into the beyond.

The queen had a reputation as a woman who liked her passion rough, but never before had she been known to cater to blood drinkers. And something about the Dark Lord with her had seemed familiar.

A hand stroked her belly, and she lost her hold on the dream to a sudden flare of desire.