All characters in sexual situations are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!
*
They dressed in the gloom of Vel's chamber. The soft chime of Dellia's scale armor mixed with the rustling of clothes. Vel pondered what a pleasant, reassuring sound it was in that moment. Only hours ago, it had been the sound he most feared.
"Where do you think Mother is?" Naevia rested her bow and quiver in the corner. She didn't think they would be much use back home inside their castle. She lifted her stola and strapped her dagger to her thigh, where it could be easily reached through her stola's false pocket. "Her chambers?" She lowered her stola and smoothed it out. The dagger was well hidden.
"That is possible, but I... felt she was somewhere else when I saw the blue light back at our tower in Kart Hadasht." Vel slid his sword into his scabbard and tightened his belt. He eyed his cousin as she did the same.
Dellia caught his appraising look, gave him an enigmatic half-smile, and then slid her dagger into its home on her other hip. "Where then, Your Grace?"
Vel shook his head. He couldn't live his life fretting over her loyalty. He would choose to trust her. He could see that she had changed. Her body language was different, more deferential maybe. And her smile had carried a hint of longing. Of course, he would also keep a close eye on his cousin. He wasn't a fool. "The library, I think. Let's try there first."
"Are we ready then?" Naevia looked around at them. Cast out from the euphoria at the top of the tower, they all looked tired and diminished. She wanted nothing but to curl up in bed with Vel and sleep a good long while. But this was not that moment.
"To the library tower." Dellia led the way out of Vel's room, her hips swaggering almost like a man's. The other two followed her out.
They ran down the corridor, their sandaled feet slapping at the stones. The oil lamps flickered in the breezy wake that passed just after them. Vel slowed to a stop as they passed though the long gallery. The bank of doors were open to his left and he could see the remnants of a party out in the courtyard. "Was the fete today?" He looked over at his companions. Naevia's face fell, but Dellia simply cocked her head, and narrowed her eyes as if she were calculating.
"We missed it." Naevia frowned, looking at the lanterns dangling from the olive trees. "I mean, I thought we would miss it when we left. But still. We were very close."
"Well, it must have been a happy day here." Vel wondered at the gods if they had let something happen to his mother on such a special day. Perhaps she was fine and the tower's magic had confused him. "Let's go." They trotted through the gallery.
Dellia took the lead again to protect the other two. Her cousins were nearly helpless in a fight, unless Vel planned to bed every assailant that meant to do him harm. She smiled at the thought, his magnificent cock standing proudly in her mind's eye. But a less pleasant thought pushed that image aside. If that day was the fete, then the queens were at the castle. Her father had told her of their plans to visit Ostia Novus before she left. What would she do if they questioned her?
"To the right, Dellia." Naevia waved her daydreaming cousin into a stairwell. "It's this way."
"Oh, of course." Dellia stepped ahead again. They climbed one flight and sprinted out into another hall near the temples. "Someone is coming," Dellia said in a hush. She put out her hand and her cousins ran into the back of her. She stumbled forward, caught her balance, but a soft feminine shape was already coming into view around the corner. There was no time to hide.
"By Jupiter, what have we here?" Cesphea walked slowly with her back very straight. Her green crown, somewhat askew, was nestled in her raven hair. She still wore her gown from the fete. Beside her, with her head down, Merope waddled. She was quite bow-legged after the way the queen had treated her the past twenty-four hours. "And lo, the young duke as returned," Cesphea said in mock awe.
"Your Majesty." Vel bowed, and he watched his sister and cousin curtsy out of the corner of his eye. "We concluded our mission across the sea and returned on the fastest ship to make the fete. But, sadly, it seems we missed it by a few hours." Naevia gave him a glance that conveyed warning.
"Sad indeed." Cesphea stopped a few feet from the trio, and Merope stopped next to her like the obedient bitch she was learning to be. Gods, how Cesphea loved training them. "Strange that I did not hear of your impending return upon your departure from Kart Hadasht." The queen regent turned her piercing, dark eyes on Dellia for a fraction of a second before looking back at Vel with an amused expression.
"I would have sent a pigeon had I known you would be here. But --" Vel stopped as Cesphea waved her hand dismissively.
"What was the name of this fast ship?" Cesphea smiled broadly at Vel, like they were fast friends. "It must have been quite a swift vessel indeed. I must add it to my fleet."
Vel and Naevia exchanged a glance. Any lie here could be easily discovered. They should have come up with a cohesive cover story before leaving Vel's chambers. But who could have known they would have run into one of the queens?
"Pardon me, Your Majesty." Cassia moved down the hall quickly from behind Cesphea. "I haven't yet seen my children upon their return." Her face was quite solemn despite the fact that she was beyond thrilled to see Naevia and Vel. She shivered as she stepped by the strange woman that had so savagely rutted in the library stairs. What was Cesphea, really? "I do not mean to interrupt, but I must greet them." Cassia stepped up and hugged her daughter first. Then her tall son, her face buried in his chest. And then, because she was relieved to see them all, she hugged Dellia, too. The smell of sex was heavy in the corridor. Cassia turned and looked Cesphea in the eye for the first time. She tried not to quake at the strangeness of this royal. The queen should be ashamed giving off such a scent in another's house. It never occurred to Cassia that everyone but her was spreading that particular miasma.
