CHAPTER FIVE

The clutter of clanging and chatter filled the dining room as King Kaelric sat amidst noble members of his court. He invited them over for dinner at the castle as they each murmured their opinions about Arkenholt's situation.

"My king, the court wants to know your thoughts." Advisor Maevin spoke at the right-hand side of King Kaelric, his food untouched and going cold since the meeting began.

"I have nothing to say," Kaelric replied almost instantly, waving the maidservants over to pour more grape wine in his chalice.

Advisor Maevin watched Kaelric consume his fifth serving of wine, unused to seeing the king act so nonchalantly about the people of Arkenholt.

"There are rumors of unrest outside the castle gates. We need desperate measures to keep the people silent." One of the court members addressed and the others concurred with nods among themselves.

"An oracle lives in the next village, we can invite her for a ritual." Another court member suggested.

"What is another ritual going to do?" Kaelric's sharp words disrupted the court and three members choked in unison, emptying their glasses of water as their eyes watered red.

"She can point out the chosen maiden to carry your heir," Maevin answered after the choking commotion had subsided.

"Our priestesses also need the oracle's magic to sustain the pregnancy." A member added to Advisor Maevin's comment.

"And if she fails?"

"My king, we haven't even tried." Advisor Maevin turned to Kaelric, worried about his sudden cynical behavior towards Arkenholt.

"You need to have hope, my king." A court member spoke out and others supported, their overlapping comments on "hope" drowning out each other in a cacophony of noise to Kaelric's ears.

"I can't allow another death on my account!" Kaelric banged a fist against the table, sending the wooden table shaking at its hinges.

Hauling out his chair, he stood up and tossed the napkin at the table, "Thank you for honoring dinner with me." he said and walked out of the dining room.

"My king." Advisor Maevin stood up as well and trailed behind Kaelric.

"Yes, Advisor Maevin. Yes?" Irritation seeped into Kaelric's strained tone as he gnashed his teeth together.

"If we don't do this...the kingdom will die, the people—"

“Then let Arkenholt die with me,” Kaelric uttered in final judgment, as though the weight of the crown crushed more than his shoulders.

Advisor Maevin's mouth opened and closed in speechlessness, feeling his blood run cold as Kaelric advanced towards the flight of stairs, heading to his chamber.

"Go find somewhere else to guard," he dismissed guard Welum and Rynth who stood against the door. The guards exchanged hesitant glances but quietly left their positions.

Upon entering the room, Kaelric sighted Elira sitting on the vanity mirror, finger-combing her long brown curls. He stood there, wondering how in dragon's hell she got into his room, rather than realizing he was in hers.

Elira caught his brooding shadow from the corner of her eye and jumped to her bare feet. Her frightened gaze meandered around his dominating features; 6feet"8inches of hardened steel, glaring ember iris, and raven hair pulled back with a leather strap.

He fit the description of the king Nireya spoke about—Kaelric: the king who took possession of her from the goblin. She assumed Karleic planned on keeping her locked up forever.

But now, his sudden appearance unnerved her.

"How many maidens have to die under my touch for this curse to be lifted?" He gave her a dead, unblinking stare and she shuffled out of the vanity seat, certain he was going to kill her.

"How many virgins will I taint until the noble men have no wives to claim?" He inched closer to her and Elira sauntered backwards, her back against the wall, fear trembling her body as she scanned for anything to defend herself.

"What's a king—" he towered over her and she slowly reached for the candlestick on the vanity table, "—without his kingdom?" he said and Elira clutched the metal with both hands and shoved it into his left chest.

He clasped her grip around the candlestick and withdrew it from his left chest, stabbing and twisting it into his right. "If you want to kill me, at least do it properly."

His ember eyes blazed like coal in a dying fire and she let the candlestick drop in regret.

Blood seeped out of the wounds, soaking both sides of his shirt and his head dipped from drunkenness whereas Elira worried that her action was leading to his death.

She held his face, trying to look into his drowsy eyes. "I'm sorry." She whispered, brushing tendrils of hair away from his face.

He glanced down at her, trying to see beyond his drunken blur. “I have been cursed longer than I’ve been king.”

Kaelric's calloused palm clasped the side of her fair face, his hand the size of her head as his thumb stroked the softness of her lips.

“Every curse can be broken,” Elira confessed, sensing the darkness and bitter pain within him.

He leaned in and her breath hitched, her knees weakening from his closeness, “Can you break a dragonblood’s curse?”

“I—I—” She stuttered as the tip of their noses gave way, Kaelric slowly claimed her lower lip in a first kiss—testing the water, and deepened the second kiss.

She kissed him back, eagerly drowning in his soul-quenching lust as he wrapped an arm around her waist, carving her into his chest.

Unsure if she was edging for his taste or the wine on his tongue, she grasped onto his shoulders as he stole every breath from her, fondling her backside and rubbing their sexes together.

He reached under her thighs, attempting to hoist her onto his hips but the chains pulled at her ankles. "Ouch!" She threw her head back, reaching for the agonizing sprain.

Kaelric sat her on the vanity and knelt before her, gripping the chains around his knuckles and breaking them with his bare hands.

A sigh of relief escaped her, lips ajar as she wondered what kind of man he was. Kaelric seized the opportunity to reclaim her lips once more, effortlessly lifting her off the vanity.

She straddled his waist as he lay her flat on the bed, his moist lips caressing kisses behind her ear, trailing down to the crook of her neck. "Oh!" A warm wetness soaked her core as he kissed her breasts, teasing her nipples with his tongue.

Kneeling between her legs, Kaelric drew back to take off his shirt, exposing his torso and Elira gaped at the brutal scars on his body, her fingertips tracing along them.

He became hard, body tensing under her tender touch, watching her curious eyes observe him as blood surged through his veins, erecting his manhood.

Undoing his belt, his pants dropped to his knees and Elira swallowed, turning her eyes away from his bulge. "Look at me," he commanded, picking up her chin to meet his hazy eyes.

She stared at him, quivering in tension as he raised her dress above her belly, parted her labia with his tip, and squeezed into her tightness in a single thrust.

Kaelric was shocked when she held onto his arms instead of clutching the bedsheets as he rammed into her frail body.

Her grip on him tautened with each rapid shove as his pace increased, bracing a firm hand on the wooden headrest.

A silver tear escaped her eye as his intense penetration jabbed pain in her insides, she could almost feel her walls bleed. "Slow, please," she muttered, her fingernails digging into his biceps.

He heard her plead and stopped abruptly, looking her in the eye. In that vulnerable moment, Kaelric believed he would burn the five kingdoms if her teary blue eyes desired.

His thumb wiped away the tear on her cheek as he lowered himself to her again, rolling his hips in circular stirs, thrusting slow and deep.

Her moans filled the room and he muffled her cries of pleasure with a kiss, feeling her tighten and spasm around his throbbing firmness.

"K—Kaelric." She gasped his name like a forbidden prayer, the heat in her core firing up an orgasm as he tenderly slid in and out of her, threads of sweat dripping from his hard back to her belly.

Groaning softly into her mouth, his body jerked as he reached his end, withdrawing and smearing his semen on her warm thigh.

Kaelric collapsed breathless beside her whilst Elira held his head to her beating chest as they drifted into quiet slumber.