Marie Harte - Gale Season

“Dammit, get your hands off me, you piece of—”

“And good luck to you as well,” Arim said with a knowing glance at Cadmus. He nodded to Aerolus, and they stepped down together, both ready to fight for what might be the last time.

“What do you think, Lexa, is she or is she not a suitable queen for the Dark King of Tanselm?” B’alen nodded to Lidra lying still beneath the dark canopy of leaves in her inner court. The dais and several tables still stood where they had only hours ago when the council had debated Alandra’s homecoming. He still found it intriguing that only weeks here had passed while an entire year flew by in the magicless plane where the Storm Lords had hidden.

“You’re kidding me, right?” His sister sounded amused. At least she’d lost that rosy glow of innocence that had been so vexing when they’d first found her.

B’alen sighed. “She is pathetic, isn’t she?” He and Lexa studied Lidra, aware an Aellein blood drinker, while rare, was not entirely a new creation.

“What did you do to her?” Lexa stared at Lidra dispassionately, no fan of the Aellei in the first place.

“A bit of this, a bite of that,” he mocked, grinning at the sight of Lidra’s glowing form bathed in darkness. He’d fed too long, had ingested too much of the Aellein queen’s magic. But she’d been so very tempting. Even in her downward spiral towards madness, she retained her beauty, her need for youth and grandeur her last handhold to sanity.

“Next time finish her off so I don’t have to witness such waste.” Lexa looked peeved, her pale eyes blinking like stars in the shadows. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing the Light Bringers soon.”

“But of course, sister mine,” B’alen said with a buoyancy he was far from feeling. Much as he longed to finally kill Arim and his hated kin, he couldn’t quite extinguish his fear of the notorious sorcerer. “I look forward to dealing with them all, especially with you by my side.” He laughed as her face darkened, and watched her walk away without another word.

He knew Lexa well enough not to trust her. Oh, she’d told him what ‘Sin Garu had been doing, but not until the last possible moment, when it seemed his brother had lost his way.

Her allegiance shifted with the wind, floating one way then another. The key to Lexa was knowing what made her tick. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Once he’d commanded her obedience to the letter. But now, now he didn’t know where she went when she left their stronghold on Malern. He would have asked his brother, but he hesitated to give ‘Sin the impression he wasn’t as in control as he ought to be.

He still held sway over the queen, however. He toyed with her, sending her a command she readily obeyed. Both appalled and aroused, he glared at Lidra’s sultry face as she played with herself for any passerby to see. He saw Lexa shaking her head from the queen to him before she disappeared into the woods. Disapproved, did she?

One thing he did know about his uptight sister, she had a history with Arim, one that he intended to use to his advantage should the damned sorcerer finally show his face.

B’alen watched Lidra bring herself to orgasm and nodded to several of his wraiths standing in the shadows. They dragged a hapless Aellei with them, an immature Der still sparkling with the bloom of youth. The young warrior stared with helpless fascination at the writhing queen, forced to lie prostrate beneath her as she wormed atop him.

Watching with amusement as she fucked the pretty, younger man, B’alen waited for his favourite part of the act to unfold. The young man cried out and spent himself inside the queen, and as he caught his breath, he closed his eyes. Not seeing the sharp treat Lidra held within her gums, he shot up and flailed when she took the first bite out of his neck.

A sloppy blood drinker, Lidra ate as much flesh as she drew blood, a disgusting combination that drew delighted laughter from the wraiths as she ate her lover to death.

B’alen sighed and shrugged, this enjoyment growing tedious while he waited for Alandra to be brought to him. Tired of Lidra, he wandered away towards the Aellei’s dungeon, an ostentatious display of how prettied up a dungeon could be.

Just as he approached the entrance, the doors opened to reveal Alandra le Aelle guarded by half a dozen Der warriors led by Zartic.

Zartic’s eyes widened when they met his, and the captain bowed his head, causing his men to do the same.

Pleased, B’alen bowed back. “Captain, were you perchance escorting the princess to see me?”

Zartic nodded immediately. “Yes, my lord.”

“Then it seems I’ve saved you a trip. Take a few of your men and clean up the queen and her new plaything. The council should be gathering in a few hours, and we want Queen Lidra to look her best.”

Zartic’s lips pressed tight, but he said nothing, acquiescing to B’alen’s demeaning task. Well, wouldn’t the Der captain be in for a surprise. B’alen smiled wickedly. Normally her majesty’s ladies took care of the queen, but in Lidra’s current state of mind, she’d see the help as no more than dessert. At least Zartic knew to keep his mouth shut, and he’d treat his former lover with care enough to preserve her illusive dignity.

“And speaking of queens,” he murmured as he stared at Alandra, who was studying him as intently. By Dark’s own breast, she was stunning, a paler version of Lidra, but one more lively, absolutely vibrant with a winsome grace and deep-rooted sensuality.

“B’alen Van Nostren, I presume?” she asked softly.

Staring at her mouth, he wondered how soft her lips would feel around his cock, if she would milk him as hard and as often as her aunt had before he drank her blood.

“In the flesh.” He walked around her, taking in the power that fairly thrummed with each breath she took. Excitement flared within him as he realised how very close he was to finishing with this mess and recapturing Tanselm.

She was a small thing for such a powerful creature, but she had a woman’s body. Full breasts and a round backside made him ache to take her now, to fulfil the destiny to which he’d been born.

He reached out and would have grabbed her to him when she danced out of reach. Grinning, he bared sharp teeth accentuated with eight sharp fangs, four on top and four on his lower jaw. The trepidation he expected from the frail girl didn’t appear, making her that much more interesting.

“So, you’re familiar with my kind?”

“With what? A blood drinker? A Dark Lord? Or a morbid, pathetic sorcerer so afraid of his own brother he tried to have him killed?”

B’alen blinked, astonished at her lack of respect. “I think there’s been some mistake,” he growled, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her to her knees. “I am B’alen Van Nostren, your future king and ruler of Tanselm. Beg for mercy, that I allow you to show me the respect I am due.”

She looked bored, stoking his anger. “Respect you’re due? How can I possibly respect a male who cannot stand up for himself? You used your brother’s small setback as the bottom rung in your ascension to power. And what strength is there in a man who cannot beat a simple Storm Lord?”

Her words kindled his fury. “You should be asking ‘Sin Garu that very question. He had his opportunity twice, first with the Prince of Fire, and again with the River Prince. But both times he failed to do what I have done with one simple mind leech.”

“Who, Queen Lidra?” she asked with humour, as if the pull on her neck didn’t pain her, when by rights he knew it did. “She’s been in thrall to her sex for a millenium. Nothing you’ve done thus far is impressive in the least.” She shimmered and an image of Lidra took her place.