The night was black and silent engulfing the castle in a traitorous state of peace. As the royal family of the ancient city of Mamafé slept, a looming threat was at its gates. Near the small south entrance of the legendary, impenetrable Wall of Arms, there was a wishing well only used by superstitious merchants hoping to sell their goods to the rich citizens. A group of free fighters descended down the well and made their way into the sewers that ran under the city. Having traveled hundreds of miles from their mine worker village, the armed men knew the fragility of dirt and stone better than the elite who felt protected by it. With foreigners entering in the capital, so would begin a rebellion...
Danomas, his captain called him Dany, had just been selected to the prestigious Guard of Queens. A training that started when boys blew first seed and lasted until manhood had been achieved by killing someone in the Guard Games. It was the only way a low born like Dany could find himself in the great castle of the royal family. Dany wasn't big or muscled like the other men that were selected. His shoulders didn't fill his armour and he never had a maiden offer him her womanhood for free. But, he found, his thin sticks hit just as hard as thick ones. He even had the benefit of being swift and lean, flexible where others were stern and slow. Still, it was no surprise that he was assigned to guard the servant entrance of the castle instead of the guard duty of one of the members of the family. Oh, how Dany had longed to be one of Princess Setifia's guards. He would protect that beauty like she was his and hold her close when danger loomed. Perhaps she would thank him by letting him underneath her silk dresses and touch her supple breasts, her presumably equally soft stomach and down her... No! Dany stopped his fantasy. The only thing more painful than longing for a love he would never feel, was to feel his member grow hard in his tight iron armourcup. He controlled his thoughts by focusing on his actual duty. Listening to the silent soothing summer night.
It was in that moment a swoosh, not louder than a gush of wind, drew Dany's attention. He turned away from the gorgeous endless view over the city and into the dark hall. Had he imagined it? A splash of water. It wasn't obvious but it was there, Dany was sure. He checked his surroundings and with the weight of punishment for abandoning one's post crushing down on his conscience, Dany entered the long hallway.
The servant quarters had no night candles, leaving anyone blind. Dany relied solely on his excellent hearing, achieved over many nights guarding his father's stock on their farm during his childhood. Unfortunately, the unavoidable rattle of his own armour betrayed his presence and clouded his hearing. Dany waited, perhaps it was all just a cat. Indeed, for a good ten minutes nothing happened and Dany thought it best to return to his post. With his turn, he heard the unmistakable choke of a man who's throat is slit. Dany would never forget the sound since that day in the Guard Games. An enemy was near.
Without hesitation Dany, against all discipline, stripped himself of his breastplate and kneecaps. If he were to win this hunt in the dark, he needed to play into his strengths. This is how it came to be that when Dany neared the chamber of the servants dump, the unflattering stench more apparent than ever before, he managed to trick the intruders that had crawled out of the hole in the ground. He threw his armour to the other side of the hallway, with screeching clunks and scrapes that seemed to echo throughout the city, causing his prey to look the wrong way. Dressed in nothing but his linnen, Dany breathlessly sneaked up to every breathing person he could hear and slit their throats without hesitation. One, Dany ducked swiftly. Two, he rushed across the room. Three. Dany tripped over a body and fell beside it. In the darkness he could spot the empty eyes of Pennydal the cook. Distracted, Dany too late heard the unshielding of a sword, but soon enough felt the cold of the blade against his skin. When death didn't come, he dropped his knife and surrendered. A husky, baritone voice filled the room.
"Show me the way to the princess."
***
Dany pumped as much water into the bucket as he could, dreading the moment he'd return to his captor. If only he had a way to alarm his fellow guards upstairs. To escape, Dany hadn't been in the castle long enough to know every route, and he was sure that his attacker would catch up to him, this time less merciful. He returned with the full bucket of water and found the man, buck naked, standing in the room. Reluctantly, Dany showered the bucket of water over the dirty man. When the man didn't move and looked at the cloth, Dany squeezed it and started to clean off the dirt off the intruder. As water seeped through his fingers over the hard, muscled chest of his enemy, Dany plotted what to do next. But no thoughts came. Instead, he was distracted by the rounded hardness of the man's body. His shoulders, bulged and steady, his arms wide and strong, his stomach ripped and smooth. In the darkness, cleaning this male body purely based on touch, Dany felt his member grow again, only this time it had the freedom to do so.
"If you're on a mission it's better to feel fresh and clean, don't you think?" the man said to Dany with an inappropriate coolness. Dany nodded, only then realizing the man might not see his reaction.
"I had planned to kidnap the princess covered in shit, but this is way better." Rubbing the water out of his eyes, the man casually walked towards Dany's amor. They had already disposed the bodies down the sinkhole and washed away the blood. There was no trace of the infiltration. Dany looked at the sword, shimmering in the moonlight, which lay close enough to reach, especially now the man was occupied putting on Dany's damn armour.
"Go ahead, you'd be quick enough, I bet", the low voice said while barely fitting Dany's skirt over his own broad hips. Dany waited for a trick, but the warrior in front of him seemed wholly unconcerned. Without hesitation, Dany reached for the sword and put it on the muscular neck of the man.
"Like I said, go ahead." That casual smile Dany could see annoyed him. He wanted to cut off the man's head, long wavy black hair and beard and all, but something in him resisted.
"You do not fear death?" is all Dany could think of.
"Of course I do, I'm not an idiot." That damn smile again. "I just take life as it comes. I expected my men and I to kill every guard on the way up, and yet we are, them already slaughtered by the first slave we meet. Forcing me to carry out a suicide task with you as my prisoner. If you kill me now, it will save me quite the hassle."
"I am not your prisoner or a slave", Dany sneered, observing the man in front of him. His eyes were piercing blue and friendly. He put his long hair into a bun as Dany lowered his sword, revealing huge biceps and shoulders that filled the armour perfectly. Dany was in awe. This was exactly the kind of man that maidens would offer themselves to.
"I will not kill you. You will face the judgement of the king," Dany said, remembering the City Law he learned by heart.
"Forgive me, but I'd rather not." Dany had stared into the blue eyes too long and the man grabbed his wrist and twisted Dany around like a girl in a dance, putting his sword hand up in the air while Dany's own knife was drawn against his throat from behind. Dany could feel the warm breath of the man in his neck, his cool iron plate against his naked back.
"You really have to be quicker if you want to surrender me to that bloated fool," the man quipped. Dany felt challenged. He laid his head back on the man's shoulder, creating space between his throat and the blade. He filled it with his wrist, pushing the knife away, ducking down quickly and swinging the sword like a stick.
