The Thief and the King (reserved)

[ERedBoyd]

For a thousand years on the continent of Malasia during the second age, there stood two mighty kingdoms. On the one side where the humans of the Kingdom of Mayane, mighty and fierce, passionate, and craving power above all else. This Kingdom had been ruled by a lineage of warlord Kings, known for their desire to acquire and consume all resources about them and conquer and destroy those who stood in their way. The latest in this ferocious line of men was King Leo Dracuul.

On the other side of the continent was a Elvish Kingdom of Elglarest led by a mighty noble lineage of strong, just, and mighty Kings. The elves believed in balance and nature, choosing to living within nature rather than clearing out nature to building on top of it.

For nearly a thousand years, these two mighty kingdoms had held a tentative relationship with each other with a the best of times, a state of non-aggression would be held and at others, all out war. The last 80 years had seen more of the latter than the former. It was lost to record what triggered this particular iteration of war, but reasons barely held any weight anymore. The Elves and the humans would never live in peace...

Nearly 10 years ago as the war was reaching it's climax, the humans had pushed into the Elvish lands all the way to the Capital itself forcing the Elves to retreat and regroup in the towns and forests of the land. This had given the human's time to raid and plunder much of the wealth and possessions of the Elves themselves. The humans, however, underestimated once again how ferocious and quick elves could be at regrouping and had driven humans back out of the Capital and back into their own lands once more. They had been able to retrieve some of the plunder from the Capital, a great portion did make it back to the Human Capital of Katar.

It was during this retreat in which King Leo Dracuul's father, Aries Dracuul had been slain by the elves, cutting the head off the snake so to speak and leaving Leo to take over the reigns. Leo was not seen as a warmonger like his father had been and one of the first acts he had done was to hammer out another tentative non-aggression pact with the elves. This is where the kingdoms currently reside.

Both sides forces are heaviest along the central borders, armies poised and ready to strike should the other side choose to break the agreement. This bought King Leo breathing room to help rebuild and rearm his forces.

During this time of peace, the King began to prepare another plan. Though he was not a warmonger, he had no love for the elves and should an opportunity arise for him to strike, he would. That was why it was only too good to be true when he learned that those items his father had stolen from the Elves had become an matter of interest to the Elves themselves and had set out bounties to be paid upon the recovery of said items.

A plan form in his head and he reached out to his Magical advisor to help him prepare his little plan. Once it was prepared, all he could do now was wait for the trap to be sprung.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

She was a disappointment to her father. Always had been. From the moment of her birth he had held her responsible for the passing of her gentle mother Mayla and she wasn’t a son. While Queen Mayla was pregnant the king had bragged loudly and to anyone who would listen, how he was going to have a son and his son would rule their kingdom eventually. Only it hadn’t happened like that. Her mother had labored long and painfully. In due course, their baby daughter was born and just before she died, Queen Mayla had named the daughter she was going to leave behind, Linara. Admidst her father’s disappointment, Linara was turned over to nannies and seldom did King Dalaris see his daughter, instead, he chose to battle humans, for whom he had a huge dislike for.


Linara grew into a young lady and the scholars did their best to teach her lessons she needed to know as the future ruling queen of Elglarest. It was proving to be a helpless quest. Linara always found a way to get out of her lessons. However, there was one part of her lessons that fascinated her. There had been a time, during the war that had raged between humans and elves when the humans were winning and had actually taken over the Elven Capital. Her countrymen had been forced to retreat into nearby forests and the small towns along the way. Elven spirit had taken a blow but they had rallied and retaken their Capital, sending the humans back from whence they had come. However, the humans during their time in Elven territory had taken possession of a great many of Elven treasures. The recovery of her homeland had not been without bloodshed. Both sides had suffered. The human leader, Aries Dracuul had been slain by her countrymen and his son Leo stepped into the kingship. Leo, from the start, was unlike his father. The son negotiated a pact with the Elves. The borders between their kingdoms rang with an uneasy stand down as proven by the heavily guarded borders of each. Both sides were ever ready to do battle once more.

One day, having eluded the scholars, Linara was pacing by a lake. It was her favorite spot in all of her father’s kingdom. With hands behind her back, her troubled mind wandered as she paced back and forth. Personally, she had never met a human and she didn’t want to. There was one thing her father had driven into her head through her teachers. Humans couldn’t be trusted. Ever. There was something else she had learned. Somewhere in the human king’s castle, in his royal treasury, she assumed, were items that belonged to her father. Her father had never ceased speaking of them, especially the dagger her mother had once given him on his birthday. She was determined to recover them. At any cost.

​

It had taken her months to form a plan. Far longer than the end of her patience. However, strategy was another thing her father insisted she learn. As she got older, she saw more of her father. By no means was it a lot, but there were more times than when she had been a child. Linara often wondered if it was because she had been such a disappointment to him and perhaps coming to terms with his own mortality, knowing his daughter would become queen one day, he started to see where his duty lie and spending more time with his daughter was a necessity. Whatever it was, she never spoke of her future plans with her father. She wasn’t certain how he would have reacted if he had known, but he couldn’t claim knowledge he didn’t have. In secret and under the cover of darkness, Linara honed her skills of stealth and hunting. In daylight, with her father, she played chess. Her father played exceptionally well and Linara was learning the crucial art of thinking ahead of her opponent in order to win, an essential art needed by rulers.



Linara had thought about this for awhile. She had told her father she was going to visit her cousins. The journey would take about five days, going then returning so ten days altogether. Her father insisted she take a pair of guards with her for protection. One couldn't trust humans, of course. Linara agreed. Her plans didn't include telling anyone at all.

Dressed in dark leathers, her bow slung over her shoulder and a dagger slipped into her belt, Linara slipped out of her father’s castle. She marched past the guards, went to the stables, saddling her horse and rode into the forest. Once there, she moved with silence and kept to the shadows as she traversed enemy territory. She was careful not alert anyone. There was no telling where or when patrols would come by. For five days and nights, she moved through the forest not at all afraid. In fact, she had always felt at home in the woods. She had spent a lot of days wandering them as a child but this was the first time she had been so far from home for so long. She was careful to conceal her face as she traveled during the day. Her cloak's hood covered it nicely. It kept her features shaded from view. At night, she hid among the tree roots, building only a small fire. She found a stream to drink from when she was thirsty and ate only what the land provided when she was hungry supplemented by what little she had taken from the kitchens of her father's home, like cheese and bread. On the fifth day she waited for night to set in before she set off toward the human king's castle. She hobbled her horse in the surrounding forest and left him to graze. Finding the king's castle wasn't hard. It could be seen from some distance away.

Linara was proud of her ability to step up behind an animal in the forest and slit its throat before it even knew she was there. It was that stealth that took her up to King Leo’s castle on that fifth night and allowed her to watch for a good time to throw her rope and grappling hook, secure it, and then scale the wall from the backside of the castle. Without the guards knowing she was even there, she made her way inside. Linara squished herself into dark corners and held her breath as guards walked by. Of course, the palace wasn’t under heavy guard. None of them expected an elf to intrude into their king’s castle. Still, there were a number of them on duty. The night was young but time was ticking as Linara made her way through the castle trying to locate the Treasury. How many doors had she opened by now? Finally, she had come to one that was locked and with a little help from the tools she had acquired from a friend in a nearby town along with his knowledge of picking locks, Linara opened the door and slipped inside, closing the door softly behind her.

The princess grinned. The room contained chests. They, themselves, weren’t locked. One by one she opened the lids and searched the contents and each time, she was disappointed. The items she was looking for, so far eluded her. At the far end of the room was another door and cautiously opening it, she peered inside. Blessings of the Ancient Ones! On a soft inhaled breath, Linara stepped further into the room. In here lay a golden dagger that had once belonged to her father, given to him by her mother. This she slipped into the waistband of her tunic. Looking about the room, she noted it was filled with Elven gold and other treasures. She had come for her father’s dagger and her mother’s brooch. The brooch had been in her family for a very long time. This, too, she found and took, slipping it into the pouch tied at her waist. As she turned to retreat her eyes spied something else she couldn’t seem to turn away from. Glancing about the room, careful to be sure she was alone, Linara moved toward a dome of glass. On a woven cloth of purple and gold lay a golden bracelet, etched with ancient Elven runes. She couldn’t take her eyes off of it. Lifting and setting aside the glass dome, she lifted the cuff and on impulse, clasped it to her wrist. Lifting her arm, Linara admired it and knew she was going to steal it back. Low voices from the outer room made her motionless. She quickly moved to press herself against the wall behind the door but it never opened. When the voices left, Linara slowly cracked open the door and looked about. Nothing. They had left. Quickly she slipped into the outer room and started back the way she had come. Twice more she had almost encountered guards and had eluded them. At one point, one of the King’s guards passed by her so closely she could have easily touched him. Thinking she was safe, she stepped out of the shadows, her hood drawn up over her head, shading her face.

"You! Stop!" The guard yelled.

(continued next post)

 

[DarkWarrioress]

She ducked back into the shadows. He ran back toward where he had spotted her. Linara knew a moment's panic, knowing his shout would draw attention to them and she couldn't have that. In her desperation, her fingers felt around and found a piece of timber leaning against the wall. He took two steps past her and was starting to turn back but before he could, she hit him on the back of his head with the solid piece of timber. The guard went down and was silent. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the moon slide behind some clouds. She winged a silent thank you upward and quickly glanced in either direction before she slithered down the rope she had used to climb upward in the first place. When she hit the ground, it took a few flicks of her wrist to loosen the grappling hook before it fell to the ground at her feet with a soft thud. Gathering it up, Linara slipped into the welcoming coverage of the forest. She moved quietly until she found her horse. Swiftly she unhobbled the horse and mounted up, moving as quickly as she dared to. Once she was deep in the woods and quite the distance from King Leo's castle, she stopped. Sliding from the horse's back, she hid and slept. When the sun started to rise, she was back on her horse and headed for home.

Getting back to her private quarters was very little trouble. After having turned her horse over to the stable boy, she headed for the castle. Not many paid attention to her. Not the guards, not the maids. The sun was just sinking beyond the horizon when she got to her rooms. She took her father’s dagger and her mother’s brooch and slipped them under her pillow before she stripped off her clothing and went to bathe. Her hunger was curbed by all she had recently done and also the fact that she still had her father to face once he had found out about her "trip". Still, she basked in her accomplishment even while realizing how foolish she had been. If something had happened to her, what would have become of her father's kingdom without an heir?

Stepping from the bathing chamber, she dressed in her nightgown and crawled into bed. With a soft yawn and turning on her side, Linara’s eyes closed. Her mind whispered a silent prayer of thankfulness that she had gone, done what she set out to do and gotten out as easily as she had. Now, she had to think of how she was going to tell her father what she had done. There was no doubt in her mind that her father was going to be angry with her.

As she drifted off to sleep, moonlight streamed into the room and danced upon the bracelet on her wrist.

 

[ERedBoyd]

King Leo Dracuul stood in the treasure room next to his own magical advisor, Ruxor the Elementalist. Ruxor was elevated to Advisor during Leo's father's reign and had been instrumental in the assault on the Elvish Capital. It had been him who had been been personally went through the Elvish treasures selecting specific things that he needed to possess for his own archaic projects. Ruxor had been disappointed when Aries had been killed, but he had continued his services with the King Leo as his advisor as well. He wore brown robes with silver highlights that covered his entire form, his eyes were crackling white as if electricity found a home inside his eyeballs. He carried a number of talisman's and pendants, each serving specific purposes.

They stared down at the glass dome which pedestal that had been where the bracelet had been resting. Leo said, "You were right Ruxor. The bait was taken."

"Ruxor is pleased his prediction came to pass." The elementalist said in an annoying third person way. One of the irksome traits that Leo didn't like.

The King reached into a small pocket sewn into his vest under his coat and pulled out a ring which looked very similar to the bracelet which had been stolen. He looked down at it and said, "So how does this work again? I want to make sure of exactly what I can do with it?"

Ruxor smiled as he picked up the glass dome and returned it to the pedestal. He said, "You see how the runes are glowing red... it means someone is wearing the bracelet right now. Once you put the ring on, it completes the bond. The bracelet on the thief's wrist will seal on their wrist making it impossible to remove. It will hurt when it happens. You will be able to sense the thief, no matter how far away that person is. The longer the connection remains in tact, the more you will be able to control of the thief. Initially, you will sense the thief and the thief you. In a few hours, you will be able to connect into the thief's mind and communicate telepathically. I cast a spell on both of them so you can transfer sensations and emotions onto the thief. This is strictly one way. You want the thief to feel like their skin is on fire, then you can just will it onto them."

The King looked at Ruxor saying, "What about their thoughts? Can I read them?"

"No. You will be able to talk to the thief and make the thief feel things, but not actually read their minds. That kind of magic comes at a terrible price." Ruxor said.

"So I will not automatically know who this person is or anything or see through their eyes or hear what they hear?" Leo asked.

"It is hard enough just doing that with your own senses for yourself. Doing that with more than one would break any mind. No. They are their own person, you can talk into their head and make them feel what you want them to feel." Ruxor said calmly.

"I see. Well... Here goes then." The King said as he took the ring to his middle finger and slid it on. Both men watched the ring as the runes shifted from glowing red to a pasty white glow. For a moment, it felt like nothing had happened. For nearly a minute, nothing else happened. Leo turned and started to say, "I don't feel...."

His eyes widened in shock as a powerful sensation crashed into his mind! His brain felt the same as if you had hit your funny bone! Pain crashed through his head as a new sensation burrowed it's way into his mind! A sensation that was new... different and alien to his own mind. The pain lasted only a moment though as he staggered to the pedestal to use it as support only to cause the glass top to tip off a shatter!

He looked back at his advisor and said, "You didn't tell me it was going to HURT?"

Ruxor only smiled and said, "Magic always hurts, My Lord. Are you feeling better now?"

"I do..." Leo said as he pushed off the pedestal and glanced around a moment. He made a slow circular turn about holding his hand up and pointing to the East saying, "The thief... is that way. I think the thief is female."

Ruxor nodded saying, "The bond needs to secure. The pain you felt will be mild to what the thief feels. They won't even be able to chop their arm off to save themselves. They will feel a looming growing sense of doom... when the connection completes and you can reach into their mind, the bond will be complete."

"What if they try to run?" King Leo said calmly.

"They can't run from their own mind. Where they run too, their mind goes with them." He said.

Leo nods and says, "So now what?"

"Now... we wait for the bond to complete." Ruxor says.

The King nods and says, "What about the other items?"

"The dagger meant nothing as it was just a dagger." Ruxor glanced over to the chest that had been opened.

"And the brooch?" Leo said.

His advisor grimaced. He had been unlocking the power within that brooch and thought he had been close to it. There was something about that brooch that had power in it. He could sense more power oozing from it that any other items he possessed... He looked to the King and said, "It's nothing either. Just a brooch, My Lord."

King Leo nodded and said, "I am going to head back up to the court. I have business to tend too while this bond finishes." With that, he turned and walked out of the vault and onto his day.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

She suddenly woke with a frightened gasp. What had she been dreaming? There was a lingering sense of worry in her mind. Glancing out of her window she saw that the sky was painted in early morning colors. Linara eased herself back down into bed and lay there staring up at the ceiling of her room. Her hand slid under her pillow and found her mother’s brooch and delicate fingers wrapped around it, squeezing it tightly as if seeking some sort of comfort.

When morning had fully set in, the sunlight softly flooding her room, Linara rose from her bed and set about getting dressed for the day. The bracelet weighed on her wrist and she gazed down at it and smiled. It was a reminder of what she had accomplished for her father. She stopped at her bed before leaving her room and reached under her pillow. She drew out the treasures she had recovered. She slid her father’s dagger into the pocket of her dress. Her mother’s brooch was hidden in the closet. It was hidden among her clothing, hopefully somewhere only she could find. Pausing to put earrings into her ears, Linara went to join her father for breakfast.

She and her father, for as long as she could remember, always had shared their morning meal. She entered the room and walked straight to her father, leaning down to kiss his cheek.

“Good Morn, Father.”

“Good Morn, My Child. How was your visit to your cousins?”

Linara had a fit of coughing as she sat down. She waved away a servant with the reassurance she was fine. She waited until she had been brought her morning tea and after taking a sip, hoping it fortified her, she told her father the truth. She winced as he came out his chair, his voice raised, which was unlike her father at all. Trying as hard as she could, Linara strove for calm. Reaching for her tea cup she took another sip before she drew enough courage to reach in her pocket and slid the dagger down the table toward her father. It came to a stop at his end of table with a spin. Her father sat in his chair and stared at his most prized possession, once more in his grasp.

“Linara-----” her name was drawn out with a tone she had never heard her father use before. She dared, at that moment, to look down the length of the table at him. His fingers were wrapped around the hilt of the dagger.

“Linara, I don’t know what to say. Of course, I am happy to see this again but child, you put your life in danger to regain it. If anything had happened to you---”

“But nothing did, Father. I am fine and well. I had to do it. I know what that dagger means to you. Please forgive me…”

She wasn’t sure why she was asking for his forgiveness, but she was. Maybe it was for worrying him just now as her tale of adventure unfolded for him. As an only child, heir to his kingdom, in his eyes, she had been foolish. In her eyes, she had to get it back. It was the only thing, beside his memories and his daughter, that he had left of his beloved queen. In Linara’s mind, there was no doubt, no hesitation, no fear, just the burning need to retrieve what belonged to him and perhaps, deep down, if she was honest with herself, she was looking for some way to get her father’s approval. Something. Anything, from him. Since her mother’s death, he had little contact with her. It felt like he held her responsible for her mother not being here.

Her father got up from the table and came around to her side, standing behind her. Awkwardly, or so it seemed, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. His hand patted her shoulder before he left the room. Had she done the right thing? No longer hungry, Linara left the room and headed to her favorite spot by the pond. Once there, she had barely sat down when a blinding pain entered her head. With a gasp, Linara slumped on the bench and held her head in both hands, moaning in excruciating pain. By the gods, what was happening to her? All she could do was lie on the bench by the pond, holding her head and wishing she would die…..

 

[ERedBoyd]

24 hours later

Ruxor the Elementist walked into the court of the High King Leo. He was listening to a pair of nobles arguing over the claims of a parcel of land that both cattle feeding on. Behind these two farmers, was a line of citizens of the kingdom all wanting the King's final authority over some pathetic issue of theirs. People were so small minded in their little plots and schemes. They were nothing like him.

The King glanced over to the Ruxor and smiled, waving at him. He turned his attention to the farmers and said, "The plot is 1/4 mile by 1/4 mile is it not?"

They both nodded saying, "Yes sir."

The King said, "And you will not agree to rotating your herds on the land, every other day?"

They glanced at each other and finally shook their heads saying, "No sir."

"Very well. By my proclamation, I claim both herds for myself. You will merge both herds together into one herd and you will both share in responsibility of maintaining my new herd. Do you have any objections?" The King said.

Both men looked aghast but said nothing as they glanced back and forth at each other. I said, "Good. Be gone. Next."

Ruxor raised a hand and stepped up to the King and said, "Sir, may I have a word in private?"

King Leo nodded saying, "You may. I will return in 10." He got up and the two left for a small antechamber near the back of the main court. Once they were alone, he turned and said, "What is it Ruxor?"

"It is time." He said with a dark grin. He said, "You have had sufficient time now to let the link secure. You need to use the bond now in order to make it work."

"And what how do I do that?" he said.

Ruxor said, "Put your finger on the stone in the middle of the ring. That is all there is to it. Can you feel the thief?"

The King closed his eyes a moment and just felt. His brain had adjusted to the little wedge in his brain that was the female thief. He could feel pain and fear in her though not much more from that far away and she was a considerable distance now from him.

Ruxor pointed to the ring. The King did and he felt something different in his mind. He said, "Female thief. Can you hear me? Can you hear my voice in your head?"

 

[DarkWarrioress]

Over the next few hours the pain in her head was easing enough to allow Linara to stand up and move about the kingdom as she had always done. Throughout the day she kept trying to figure out what was wrong with her, if anything. By the time the evening meal came around, the pain in her head was nothing more than a whisper. Still, she excused herself from her father’s company early on the pretext that she had a headache. King Dalaris shooed his only child off to bed and bid her fair repose. Apprehensive still, Linara’s sleep was uneasy.

When she awoke the next day, her head no longer held pain. While Linara was brushing her hair, she would pause and gingerly touch her forehead. Nothing. So strange. While it was something not to shrug off, she set the whole incident to the back of her mind and met her father as they had always done. Linara wasn’t sure how to hold a conversation with her father. It seemed like since her excursion to the other kingdom to steal what was rightfully theirs to begin with, King Dalaris had been deeply in his own thoughts. He had absentmindedly greeted his daughter as she came to the breakfast table but that was all. Normally, they talked a little but now, he seemed to be locked into his own silent world. After the morning meal was complete, she informed her father she was going riding. He didn’t protest although he did threaten her two personal guards. If they let her out of their sight or came back without her, he would have their heads. Linara was silent. She supposed she deserved that.

With horses saddled all three of them trotted off. Linara had a place in mind. She wanted some peace and quiet to think. There was a field off wild flowers not far away and that’s where she headed to. Handing the reins to one of her guards with the assurance that they would be able to see her because she wasn’t about to risk their lives, they let her go. She sat among the wild flowers and began to make a flower crown, weaving the stems of various flowers together.

"Female thief. Can you hear me? Can you hear my voice in your head?"

She didn’t register what he had said to begin with. Instead, as she heard his words, she glanced from left to right sharply. No one was about. Her hands stilled in her lap as the words, spoken by a male voice, came back sharply to her mind.

“Who are you? How is this possible? What do you want from me? And how dare you call me a thief?”

Linara would never have believed that a person could invade another’s mind, let alone speak to them in such a fashion. At the moment, she didn’t know whether to be awed by this practice or insulted. She was no thief. How dare they? Her temper flared to the fore. She had always had problems containing her anger. Elves were known for their cool, calm demeanor. Not Linara. Perhaps it could be blamed on the color of her hair. It flamed with the bright colors of a bonfire. It stood in direct contrast to the blueness of her eyes.

“Answer me,” her voice had a sharp note to it, “Who you are you and how dare you communicate with me in such a fashion? Are you a wizard or perhaps a mage? If so, begone! I have little use for the likes of you.”

It was true. Linara had little use for the magical realm. More importantly, what did this person want with her? Why and how was he able to communicate with her. While she didn’t care for magick, long ago her father had had the court mage put a ward upon her that no magical being would be able to enter Linara’s mind without her permission. Something was different here. She eased her mind into calm and sat listening. There must be a way to get to the bottom of this and then she would deal with him as she dealt with all her enemies or at least, the few that had dared enter to enter her life.

From a young age, Linara had begged and pleaded with her father to allow her to train with his men. At first, her pleas fell on deaf ears. He would hear of it. She was a lady. His heir. In time, she would marry and eventually govern his kingdom. However, he hadn’t counted on Linara’s determination. She was resolute that she would not depend solely on a man or men to protect her. She was convinced that a time would come when her guards or her father would not be around to safe her and so she needed to depend upon herself. Essentially, Linara wore down her father and was allowed to learn self defense and combat. Linara thrived in this area. Few knew of her training. The less, the better was her father’s thought. Still, it gave her a sense of freedom, perhaps too much so.

 

[ERedBoyd]

The first response he had gotten was too garbled for him to hear at first. Broken and incomplete so he didn't bother to respond to it.

Answer me! Who you are you and how dare you communicate with me in such a fashion? Are you a wizard or perhaps a mage? If so, begone! I have little use for the likes of you.

King Leo smiled as he looked to his Elementist and nodded. He let the stone go and said, "I can hear her in my head."

Ruxor said, "Good. The bond is such now you should be able to make her feel what you wish her feel and hear what you want her to hear."

The King said, "So if I make her feel nettles on her bottom, will she actually be hurt?"

"In her mind, she will feel the pain of the nettles as if they are real, however, no actual damage would occur. Be careful though as the more intense the pain or pleasure could cause her mind to actually shut down. Every mind has it's limits." Ruxor had as he studied him.

He smiled and touched the stone once more said, "Little thief. I am the one in which you stole a dagger, a brooch and a bracelet from a few days ago. Surely you have not forgotten. It was a very daring act of thievery. Your work had not even been detected till the next day. My guard you attacked though, he is dead from your actions. So, not only are you a little thief, but you are a little murderer too."

Ruxor knew he had the means to listen into the talk with his own enchanted item, but didn't want to give his cards up just yet.

King Leo said, "Now that you have had your bit of fun, it is time to return those items back to me. I expect you to return them in 2 days time. Otherwise." He thought very hard for a moment of a switch, thin and flexible smacking the backside of the female thief.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

She was stewing with anger. How was he contacting her in her mind? At least now she knew who she was dealing with and HE had the audacity to call her a thief when he was the thief to begin with? He further had the nerve to demand she return her father’s dagger, her mother’s brooch and the….. her eyes fell to the bracelet on her wrist. It was the only thing she had stolen. She had been brought up better than to be a common thief. She couldn’t explain the draw to the bracelet. It was as if it was meant to be hers. There had been some sort of connection from the very start. The more she studied the bracelet the more she knew she couldn’t return it. She further realized that the very one talking to her was none other than King Leo, son of the late King Aries Dracuul. She had never met King Leo but she had seen him once as they came through her father’s kingdom on their way home. She had pretended illness so she didn’t have to greet him when her father met them personally. How her father endured it, she didn’t know. Humans and Elves would never get along, too much bad blood had spilled between them. Still, diplomacy never goes out of fashion and although both sides will smile and say all the right words, resentment flowed under the skin. Linara had never been good at diplomacy. She was who she was and wasn’t about to change for anyone, Human or Elf. She hadn’t heard a word from the man in some time. She got up from her place in the field with a sigh. Her day was ruined. She might as well head back to the castle. Her guard handed her the reins to her horse and the other helped her mount. The three of them made short work back.

The residue pain that filled her made Linara bite her lower lip to keep from whimpering aloud. Her father’s mage was locked in the study with her.

“So, you’re telling me I have no way of taking off this cursed bracelet?”

Linara looked at her father’s mage in consternation.

“Not unless you wish to lose the arm.”

Madroux gazed back at Linara quite calmly.

“Well, bloody hell.”

Her head shot around looking for her father because she knew he would chastise her for swearing and probably for claiming the bracelet to begin with. Linara’s fingers rubbed her forehead lightly. What the hell was she going to tell her father. Surely if her father knew she had the brooch, he would demand she turn it over to him as well and Linara wasn’t ready to do that. King Leo was the only other person to know she had it as far as she knew and she rather keep it that way.

“Tell me Madroux, is there a way I can initiate a conversation with this king as he can with me?”

The mage studied the bracelet closer and longer, turning it about on her wrist.

“Because you two seem to have some sort of connection because of the bracelet, there should be. The magick in this case, works both ways. If he can speak with you, then you should be able to do the same with him. The mind has many levels and it’s a matter of finding the right level.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you are trying to say, Madroux.”

“It’s like this. You have seen our troops in exercise for combat, yes? How does one push beyond their fear or their limits to achieve their aspirations? It is the same principle here. First you must accept the principles of magick do exist then you must accept that all or anything is possible. Thirdly, you simply try to connect with his mind. There is an invisible thread between you two now. It never breaks. Find it, follow it and you will connect with him again.”

“You make it sound so easy and I know it is not.”

The mage shrugged.

“Magick is not easy. You are Elven and Female. You hold inside you many Mysteries that we Males will never understand.”

Linara sighed and slumped in her chair, dismissing the mage. He quietly took his leave with a bow. Her mind was already on other things as she idly twisted the bracelet.

 

[ERedBoyd]

King Leo had let the spanking with the switch sink in a couple of hours before reengaging with his little thief once again. He sat on his steed out on the grounds behind the kingdom with half of his Lords, all of which were hawking. He kept his arm level with his magnificent hawk of white and grey sitting on it. He removed the blinders off the bird and threw his arm into the air and let the bird take off and go after it's prey.

As the court watched, he pressed his finger onto the stone once more speaking in his mind, "My dear little thief. Can you hear me?"

He sensed confusion and anger from the little spot in his mind that was her. He said, "I know you can hear me. I trust you are on your way back to return what you have stolen from me. It would be a shame if a I have to punish you further."

He could feel the growing anger and fear in her mind and waited for her to say something. Ruxor had said she would be able to talk back to him, but not exactly how. He said, "If you wish to talk to me, there is a red stone on that bracelet. Put your finger on it and it should allow you to talk back through your mind." He figured it if worked like that for him and his ring, why not on her bracelet.

The King turned his attention to his hawk that was making a dive near the base of a tree. He smiled as the bird lifted off into the air with something struggling in his talons. He said, "No? You don't wish to talk to me? Very well. If you are going to choose not to talk, from this point on, every hour on the hour, you can expect to feel something from me... It could be pain like this..." He gave her the sensation of a switch crashing into her hips a couple of times... He smiled when she felt the shock of the sensations validating she actually felt something. He then said, "Or pleasure like this..." He imagined a pair of high stout hands massaging her breasts and rolling her nipples once. A greater shock grew in the little bond between them.

He chuckled to himself and said, "You will return the dagger, the brooch and yourself personally to my court within 2 days or I will ensure the pain you feel it continual and never ending."

King Leo raised his arm as the rabbit dropped into his other hand and the hawk landed on his arm once more. Oh this was going to be fun.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

She continued to sit there, turning the bracelet over and over on her wrist. A small sliver of, not fear, but discomfort perhaps, followed by renewed anger as her mind recalled the image he had mentally sent her of a switch followed by the image of it smacking her backside. Her fingers curled into a fist just thinking about it. Was he threatening her with some sort of physicality if she didn’t return the items to him?

"My dear little thief. Can you hear me?"

She jumped a little in her seat as his voice filled her head again. Blast the gods! Was he going to sneak into her brain whenever he felt like it? There had to be a way to block him. It was her mind after all.

"I know you can hear me. I trust you are on your way back to return what you have stolen from me. It would be a shame if I have to punish you further."

His arrogance! She might have been bold enough to sneak into his castle and steal back what truly belonged to their family, despite the additional treasure of the bracelet, but he was just plain arrogant.

"If you wish to talk to me, there is a red stone on that bracelet. Put your finger on it and it should allow you to talk back through your mind."

Linara frowned as she twisted around the gold circlet on her wrist until she found the red stone and stared at it. Interesting. Her fingertip brushed over the stone but didn’t apply any pressure. Yet.

"No? You don't wish to talk to me? Very well. If you are going to choose not to talk, from this point on, every hour on the hour, you can expect to feel something from me... It could be pain like this..."

Her breath drew in sharply as she felt the sensation of a switch hitting across his hips. Linara jumped up from the chair with a sharp yelp and then slapped a hand over her mouth, glancing around. She could feel the sting of the switch against her skin, yet there was no switch and no one to administer it. Her breasts were rising and falling rapidly.

"Or pleasure like this..."

She gasped again. Her hands covered her breasts. Her eyes widened. NO! This wasn’t possible. Yet it was. He had just proven it. He was beyond arrogant.

"You will return the dagger, the brooch and yourself personally to my court within 2 days or I will ensure the pain you feel it continual and never ending."

Her lips pressed together in a thin line. Her eyes flared with anger. How dare he? Once again she tried to remove the bracelet and pain like none she had ever experienced shot up her arm and made her fall to her knees with a moan. As soon as she caught her breath, she sat back on her heels. There had to be something she could do, other than what he wanted. Once more calm, Linara got off the floor and sat back down, striving for calm.

Her fingers found the stone and this time, a fingertip pressed upon it.

“I am not your dear little anything, King Leo,” she spat out his name in disgust, “furthermore, the dagger and the brooch belong to my family so I did not steal those items. As for this cursed bracelet, I wish I had never set eyes on it. If you have someone who can remove it, then I will gladly travel forth and meet with you, but it won’t be on your timeline, King.”

As much as she hated to make that concession, she didn’t see any other choice, not if she wanted this thing off her wrist now. The draw that it had on her when she first set eyes on it, was gone. As if the bracelet could sense something, Linara was overcome by this deep sense of sadness. She shook her head. What was going on here and why? There was no doubt in her mind that magick was at play here but she didn’t understand it.

As for King Leo? That son of a pig could go ----

She cleared her throat and sat back in the chair and reached for her tea.

 

[ERedBoyd]

"I am not your dear little anything, King Leo. Furthermore, the dagger and the brooch belong to my family so I did not steal those items. As for this cursed bracelet, I wish I had never set eyes on it. If you have someone who can remove it, then I will gladly travel forth and meet with you, but it won’t be on your timeline, King."

King Leo smiled. A critical clue just landed in his ear. Her family line. That could only mean the thief was one person. Princess Linara! She admitted she had taken them and they belonged to her family. To the best of the King's knowledge, the King had no other offspring. This day just got better and better..

He stood in front of the mirror in his chambers, looked down and touched the ring again saying, "Ahh... Well, now I know who the thief really is. It is nice to meet you Princess Linara! Such a pleasant surprise!"

The king chuckled as he felt the surprise from her coming through the bond. He said, "Yes, I wasn't sure who the thief was. Someone who was talented no doubt. Someone who could slip in unnoticed, slip into my vaults and steal what is mine, then kill a guard on the way out. I think the guard you killed might have been a mistake though. It matters not though. Your actions alone have given me all I need to launch a new war if I so chose too."

He smiled as he heard nothing come back to him. He sense her general direction and her sensations, but the bond hadn't developed deep enough to make telepathy possible yet without using the gems. He touched the stone again saying, "You have nothing to say? Well, that is okay I guess. Now I have a new task for you. On our retreat, your elves stole my father's signet ring, it was gold with the King's seal on it. It was your elite guard who stole it. You will steal it back and bring it along with the knife and brooch back to me."

He fell silent and waited for a response. Any response. He knew she had sensed him and had reacted to him. But she had chosen not to speak. He touched the ring once more and said, "Still nothing. Well then, you leave me no choice my pretty thief."

I took a moment and imagined a leather strap that a blacksmith would used to clean his blades. He then imagined her ass being strapped by this belt! He imagined it over the tops of her breasts, on her shoulders, her thighs, her calves. Ever 10 seconds, he would strap her again in his mind in a different location of the body and would continue to do so until she responded. It was time for a breaking of a will.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

The moment she had said it, she wished she could take it back. She had made a colossal mistake in telling him that the dagger and the brooch belonged in her family. Now he knew who she was and he confirmed it.

"Ahh... Well, now I know who the thief really is. It is nice to meet you Princess Linara! Such a pleasant surprise!"

She gritted her teeth. Hells bells. Linara sighed. Well, it was her own fault. She had given him the information to begin with.

"You have nothing to say? Well, that is okay I guess. Now I have a new task for you. On our retreat, your elves stole my father's signet ring, it was gold with the King's seal on it. It was your elite guard who stole it. You will steal it back and bring it along with the knife and brooch back to me."

She was still upset with herself that remained silent. Perhaps too long, but Leo was not going to run her life. Her father had raised her to be someone who thought for themself. She did not take kindly to someone telling her what to do. It didn’t matter if the man was a king. Besides, he was human and humans and elves did not mix. She had been brought up to distrust humans. Nothing good came of believing a human. Ever.

Linara suddenly jumped up and yelped. Her hands swiftly went to her breasts. What in hell? It felt like someone had taken a---a strap to them. Images filled her head and at the same time, she actually felt them. The sting of someone hitting her across the shoulders, against her thighs and her calves. It was as if he was standing in the same room with her and was abusing her. Each time she saw, in her mind, a blow to her skin, she whirled about. Just as suddenly as it happened, it stopped. Damn him to hell! She wasn’t sure how he was doing it, but she knew he was in her mind. Now, she was spitting mad. Just who did he think he was? He might rule his subjects like this but he sure as hell wasn’t going to rule her. When her father found out…. Linara stormed out of the study and abruptly stopped. She couldn’t tell her father anything about this. Humans and Elves held an uneasy truce as it was. Her father, if he knew, would storm the human’s kingdom and start a new war. Linara didn’t want to be the reason a war started but at the same time, she refused to turn herself over to this… this… pompous human king.

She contemplated his words as she made her way to her room. The elite guard had stolen his father’s ring? Now where would she find such a thing if she cared enough to find it? Once in her room, she sat on the side of her bed and pressed the stone in the bracelet.

“I told you, I will not bring you the dagger nor the brooch. The dagger belongs to my father and it has been returned to him. The brooch was my mother’s and I refuse to give it back into your possession. As for your father’s ring, I have no knowledge of it, but I will ask around and then see if I can locate it.”

A shiver rolled down her spine as she thought about actually meeting this man face to face. It simply wasn’t going to happen, not if she could help it. She did say she would try to find out about his father’s ring and she that she would do. If it was in her power to return it, it was the least she could do.

She released her finger from the bracelet and hoped it would buy her some time to speak again with her father’s mage. There had to be something he could do to release her from the bracelet. In the meantime, she was going to stay out of the human’s grasp. She hoped.

With the evening meal not far off, she went to her closet to find something to wear. Half of her clothing were leggings and tunics. She spent a great deal of time in the outdoors, either hunting, riding or hawking. The other half of her closet was taken up with gowns. She ran her fingertips over the gowns with a sigh. Spun from the finest silk and made by the best seamstresses of the kingdom, her gowns shimmered and swayed. They felt like a second skin on her body. Her father always expected her to dress in one of them for the evening meal. It wasn’t always her wish to do so but he insisted, telling her that she was a lady and a princess. It was his wish that she, at least, looked the part. One by one, each piece of her current clothing fell to the floor at her feet. A slight turn of her body and Linara was staring at her naked body in the mirror and she studied it carefully. There were no marks on her at all. Everything King Leo made her feel was apparently in her mind only. However, it had felt so blasted real, as if he had been standing before her, laying the leather strap to her body. Could her mind assert itself over his will? There had to be a way.

 

[ERedBoyd]

The King smiled as she finished her little piece and opted not to respond for a time. He stared into the mirror and said, "Okay young lady, you want to play a game with me? I will play a game with you. Game on."

He turned and left his chambers and headed to the great hall. He met up with a few of his great commanders and then took at seat in his throne at the center of the room. As the great feast was being served up, he watched as plates of roasted boar and pheasant, roasted potatoes, peas and turnips, cakes and large loaves of bread were laid out at the high table. Servants with large pitches of ale and wine circled filling drinks as the King and his immediate courts began reaching for their meals.

King Leo leaned back and just watched though not touching anything thinking about how to really disrupt the Princess in ways she would not expect. He could feel her in his head. Her wariness, her fear and anger all seemed to roll into each other again and again. He suspected she was preparing for pain. Elves had an unusually high pain tolerance. It didn't mean they didn't feel pain, just it didn't effect them as much as it did with humans. So his perceived pain levels would probably not do too much more to her than annoy her. He needed something else. Something she couldn't prepare for... something she could build up a wall of defense around.

"Your majesty, you have an invitation sire." One of the page boys said as he knelt to one knee and offered the scroll to him with both his hands.

"Thank you. Grab a plate of dinner in the kitchen and run along." King Leo said.

After the boy left, he opened the scroll and began to laugh. This drew the attention of those at the high table with him. He looked to his General and said, "Tomorrow, we ride to the Elvish Kingdom of Elglarest. We have been invited to a banquet to celebrate the 5 year peace treaty we have signed with them."

Fire! That could work?!?! No ... that is also pain. The king's mind was on the princess more than anyone else.

"Could it be a trap?" His general said as he took the scroll and read it.

"Could be. But I got an ace in my sleeve. Prepare our mounts in the morn." King Leo said and then he began to chuckle once more. The idea hit him on what to do! Not pain... not pleasure something else. Oh this was going to be mean...

"Aye sir!" The General said as he returned to his meal.

The king then rubbed his fingers along the stone and thought into her, "You will return all three of my items when I come to visit in 3 days time for our banquet. See you then."

He felt the outrage coming through the bond once more and he firmly placed an image in his head. The image of a hundred peacock feathers, rubbing on the bottoms of her feet, behind her knees, under her armpits, her nose, her ears, her breasts and between her thighs. He began to tickle her on nearly every part of her body, starting slow but quickly picking up in intensity.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

“Father, you have to be joking?! How can we possibly entertain…. Humans and for what? To simply celebrate five years of peace, if you can call it that.”

She slumped in her chair at the dinner table. Setting aside her fork, she stared at her father in disbelief. Her father on the other hand, showed little on his face as he continued to eat before he answered her.

“Linara, I understand your feelings but even the Elven Nation must show diplomacy when it is called for. So, yes, we will be hosting a celebration to commemorate five years of peace, as uneasy as it has been, with the humans.”

“And if I simply refuse to attend?”

King Dalaris sipped from his glass and set it aside. He gave his only child such a direct look that she squirmed in chair.

“You are my only child and heir. You will attend the ball.”

His voice was low and calm. That made her squirm ever slightly more. She continued to hold his look for another moment or two so he could read in her eyes, her reluctance, then looked away.

“Yes, Father.”

“Go and see the seamstress and have a new gown made.”

Linara tossed her napkin on the table. She was finished eating in any case. She had suddenly lost her appetite. Striding from the dining room, she headed for the gardens. Right now, she didn’t trust herself to remain in the same room as her father. How he could even tolerate having that king here, was beyond her and more than that, how was she going to avoid King Leo for the entire time he was staying here? With a resigned sigh, she realized, she couldn’t, not without being rude and inciting her father’s anger. Having to pretend to be polite to those beings made her skin crawl.

​

Sitting by the pond even as the moon rose in the growing night’s sky, her thoughts had taken her in a few places. How was he doing it? He could talk to her via some sort of device he had at his disposal, much like her using the bracelet to communicate with him. She had felt the sting of a leather strap on her body as if it had been ever so real though her body bore no marks. The feelings she had felt of someone massaging her breasts and rolling her nipples between his fingers had given her such unexpected pleasure that she blushed even now thinking of it. The last image that had filled her mind was of exotic peacock feathers. So soft. So ticklish. Making her squirm over and over, especially when they stroked between her legs. Scandalous! Linara pressed her legs together tightly. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

It had to be coming from King Leo but how was it possible? Dear gods. She wasn’t looking forward to this ball. Or meeting King Leo. Definitely meeting the human king was the last thing she was looking forward to. She would send for Mage Madroux in the morning. She had some questions for him. For the moment, simply watching the moon dance across the silent pond in front of her brought a sense of peace she hadn’t felt in a while now.

 

[ERedBoyd]

~~~ Three Days Later ~~~

You could have heard his approach from a 50 miles away. 3,000 soldiers and Calvary marched down the main roads leading into the Capital of the Elvish lands. It was true, there was peace which was tentative at best, but it was clear there was little trust. King Leo's carriage rolled down the middle of the group as at least 4,000 Elvish guards also could be seen staggered along the roads, armed and ready for a fight should one happen.

By the time the King and his entourage reached the courts of the Capital it was clear that everyone in the elvish lands were going to be attending in one fashion or another.

King Dalaris stood at on the steps of the capital along with his only daughter who looked quite apprehensive. King Leo stepped from the carriage along with some of his court citizens. Along with the guards, the King had brought along another 1,000 citizens of the courts.

In his mind, he pushed the feeling her his hands grabbing and cupping her breasts, her nipples gently rolled. As he approached the King, he said, "KIng Delaris, we have journeyed from afar in this effort to maintain peace. I see your daughter stands here at your side as lovely as ever."

As the King introduced her to him, King Leo took her hand and kissed it gently. As he did, he pushed that sensation of her breasts groped once again before letting her hand go saying, "Are you well? Your face seems a bit flush."

Her father turned to see her and said, "Actually, King Leo is right? Are you well?"

King Leo pushed that sensation again a third time more noticeable. Oh he was going to have fun with this girl.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

Linara had only three days remaining to get her father’s castle ready for King Leo and his entourage. There was so much left to do. The King’s men would make camp outside of the main castle. There, they would find, upon arrival, a lavish meal or so it would seem to them. They would also have their own cooks from the elven castle for the remaining of their stay. A ball. What was her father thinking? Still, while having no mother to have guided her in such things when she was younger, she still knew plenty and could pull this off, honoring her father. The guards outside of the castle cognizant of where the visiting tents were to be pitched. There were stableboys assigned to care for the human horses. There was resistance in the kingdom, of course there was, but Linara charmed her way through it as any good princess would do. In those three days there had been no “mental word or deed” from King Leo. She wasn’t foolish enough to think it was over, far from. In her spare time, she tracked down his father’s ring. It hadn’t been easy. It wasn’t in the royal treasury as she had hoped. No, she had bought it back from the scoundrel who had possessed it. Linara figured it was worth the time and money since she had recouped her father’s and mother’s belongings. However, she stared down at the bracelet attached to her slender wrist. She still had no way of returning to the king of humans, the bracelet and she was beginning to think he didn’t want it back since he could continue to torment her while she wore it.



The day of King Leo’s arrival was everything she imaged it would be, the pompous ass. 3,000 soldiers and a calvary unit could be heard coming long before they were physically spotted. The King’s carriage travelled in between his men. For security, she supposed. That had been a wise decision on his part. Linara could feel the tension drawing tight amongst her own kin kind. There were no taking chances. Elven guards had been posted in front of the Keep’s steps. In the bailey’s grounds, people milled about. All were wary of the humans. She and her father stood on the steps of the capital as they waited for King Leo’s arrival. Linara had donned a gown of moss green in which one shoulder was bare. Her burnished, auburn hair flowed in strands down her back as if they had a mind of their own. Her blue eyes, compliments of her mother, held a distrustful look. Her chin tilted upward as King Leo stepped from his gilded carriage. Suddenly, she felt it. As if someone was cupping her breasts and fingers were rolling her nipples. Her hands that had been gracefully folded in front of her were now folded over her own breasts as if she could stop the feelings of intrusion from happening. As Leo approached the steps they were standing on, she heard him speak to her father as if nothing was happening. The deviant. Her father turned to introduce her and try as she might, as the human king kissed her hand, Linara found herself blushing. Her eyes narrowed at him and in them, burning brightly, was all the anger she could summon. Leo was finding this whole situation amusing.

"Are you well? Your face seems a bit flush."

Before she could think of a reply her father chimed in.

"Actually, King Leo is right? Are you well?"

She cleared her throat, glancing toward her father, her lips parted to reply when she felt it again. Her eyes hardened as she jerked her hand from Leo’s grasp and folded both of them over her chest once more, hoping the human hadn’t seen her nipples harden, much to her dismay. Her body was not behaving itself at all. She spoke quickly to her father.

“I’m fine Father. Shall we go in?”

Linara made a half turn and glanced over her shoulder, sparing King Leo a hard look of animosity. She looped her arm through her father’s so that Leo wouldn’t offer his. The last thing she wanted was the human touching her. It was bad enough she had to endure his presence for this ball.

 

[ERedBoyd]

King Leo smiled as she glared back at him and he glanced to one of his commanders saying, "Set up camp please. As I understand it, quarters have been provided for me inside."

"It shall be done." The subcommander said as he turned and began to issue the appropriate commands to the team. King Leo began to walk up the steps on the castle wall.

It had been while since he had been in this castle and then the conditions were different with no elves around, but he was vaguely familiar with the layout. He kept glancing at the princess as she walked along with her father. He rolled the ring so the gem was near his thumb and pressed it. {{ 'I have come a long way to see you Princess. }}

Her stumbling was met with great satisfaction by him and concern from her father. Oh this was going to be fun for him. Catching a glare from her again, he kept his thumb on the stone saying, {{ You know the real reason I am here. I wanted to see the thief who stole those precious things to me in the flesh. The last time I saw your pretty face, you were but a child. You have grown into a magnificent woman. }}

King Leo found immense amusement in the seemingly intense ignoring of him. King Dalaris was going on about some of the latest renovations the castle had had done recently and other such useless topics seemingly ignoring what was happening with his daughter. King Leo politely would say, "Yes. and ... 'That's lovely'" at the appropriate times while his mind worked feverishly.

{{ A lovely woman indeed. I would be very pleased to find you in my quarters this night, preferably with my things, though I would accept without for now. I could think of plenty of things you can do for me to appease my impatience at your lack of progress for returning what you stole. }} He thought as he pushed the sensation of a long slow tongue flicking her engorged clit. From this close, he could feel a LOT more of what she was feeling and he thought {{ I can feel what you are feeling... or shall I say struggling to not feel. }}

He stifled as chuckle as she seemed to stagger a bit from what he was making her feel. He thought, {{ This will never stop until you do as I command. You will come to my quarters this night and you will speak of this to no one. }} He knew he couldn't force her to do anything, ultimately she still had to make the choice, but enough pressure on her woudl make her make the choice he required of her.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

The man was insufferable and she was suppose tolerate this for the whole time he was here? The thought made her teeth clench. There was simply no way to answer him, not with her father at her side, looking at her in concern. What she wanted to do was turn around and slap that smug look off his face.

He thought as he pushed the sensation of a long slow tongue flicking her engorged clit. From this close, he could feel a LOT more of what she was feeling and he thought {{ I can feel what you are feeling... or shall I say struggling to not feel. }}

Struggling not to feel? How could she not feel that? Damn him. The urge to press her thighs together was strong but then, she wouldn’t be able to continue to walk with her father. She bit the inside of her lower lip instead.

When her father finally seated her, she let out a soft sigh and crossed her legs. While her father was speaking with a servant about drinks, she glared at the human king and folding one hand over her other wrist, she pressed the stone on her bracelet.

::I will not come to room this night. I am not some---some--- whore you can command, Human and those treasures are no longer up for discussion.::

Her father rejoined them, seating himself on the other end of the couch on which she sat. Linara couldn’t have been happier for his company.

“Are you sure you are well, Linara?”

There was concern in her father’s voice as his eyes studied her. Linara cleared her throat and smiled.

“Of course, Father. Nothing to worry about. I am fine.”

She was anything but fine. This---this--- human was making her feel things she had never experienced before and from the looks of him, there wasn’t one ounce of regret in him for it. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely at her expense. At the moment she was experiencing things, feeling things, that were strange to her. She could only guess they were things that a male and a female shared with each other. She felt confused, enraged, violated and…. strange. She was relieved when a servant brought her drink. Gratefully, she took a sip. She glanced at King Leo over the rim of her goblet. She wished she could just make him disappear. Playing the diplomat was not fun. Not with him. Now if only Madroux could find a way to remove this infernal bracelet from her arm.

 

[ERedBoyd]

First there was the formal dinner, then the formal concert by the Elves and their little wooden flutes and strings. Then there was another concert by a quartet of string artists who used dulcimers of various varieties. In all honesty, it bored King Leo. The only two events during the entire dinner that held the King's interest at all was the constant sensations he would flood the princess with and the twin dancers. Sometimes, it would straps across parts of her body, other times a tongue or fingers tormenting her most sensitive areas, sometimes he would make her body feel like it was in a warm pool, other times ice would caress her skin. He would caress her face with his invisible hand, thump her nose with a flick, tug on her ear, cup her breasts, even began to feel a way to make her cum though it was still too early. He smiled as she continually shifted positions and tried to get comfortable.

The other two distractions were Delilah and Angelik. Dancers that enflamed the minds and souls of men with the curves of their hips, their rhythmic dancing, the sensual need to draw in the dancers. They had been dancing about the tables though most heavily in front of King Leo himself. King Dalaris had, in fact, imported them in from the coast. Word was the women had been taken captive of some tropical island continent across the Ellis Oceans. They enticed the men and the women alike and seemed to cast their magical spells over anyone they danced before.

King Dalaris had purchased these ladies specifically for a purpose. The event he had planned were not entirely above board and these two women were key to his plans.

As the evening drew on, King Leo checked his men to make sure all was well with them and they were feasting with roasted boar on a spit, songs and dances. To the King's mildest surprise, everyone seemed to be getting along. There were tensions in the air and his guard were prepared in case of an ambush, but nothing was happening.

As the festivities drew to an end, King Leo was surprised once more by King Dalaris's generous gift of these two pleasure dancers. The King hadn't known that the elves even practiced in slavery any longer. Regardless, when King Leo grew tired, he bade a retreat to his private rooms with his guards and officers to theirs. The pleasure girls would not be all that King Leo would expect them to be... if the plan worked.

The human found himself in the privacy of his quarters, both pleasure girls in the room with him, enticing him with their seductive dances.. and he began to think about the princess once more. As they knelt at his feel and pull his cock out, he thought of the princess. As they stripped him and lay bare for him, the princess remained in his mind. He was VERY curious what she was feeling during all this as he watched his property servicing their Master...

 

[DarkWarrioress]

It had become a long evening. Her father was pulling out all the stops as a diplomat of the Elven Nation. Frankly, Linara was becoming bored and irritated. The human king kept pestering her so when her father called for Delilah and Angelik, she breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the human now had a distraction. As the women’s dance came to a slow end, she slipped from the room. Her father could chastise her later for leaving without being excused and for her show of rudeness toward King Leo. Frankly, she could have cared less by this point. The human king was wearing her down. He was tormenting her with a multitude of imagery and feelings.

Once the kingdom settled down for the night, she found herself unexpectedly restless. Letting herself into her father’s private study, she poured herself a glass of something that would help her sleep. On the way back to her own bedchambers, glass in hand, she paused and pressed a hidden button in a panel of the hallway. It slid open and Linara slipped inside the dark corridor, the panel sliding closed behind her. Being careful to keep quiet, she crept along the darkened hallway until she found what she was looking for and carefully, silently, slid open a small panel and peeked inside. It was the rooms given to King Leo for his personal use while he was here in her father’s home and what she saw inside, she found she wanted to walk away and yet couldn’t, Delilah and Angelik had joined the king in his private bedchambers. She continued to sip her drink as she watched the three of them. Together.

 

[ERedBoyd]

King Leo looked down at his naked little sluts who stared up at him. Each of their hands either massaged his cock or his balls while their tongues lapped and licked on either side of his hard shaft. There was an eagerness to their actions which appealed to him. These women were not women who were forced to do anything, they wanted to. They served him well.

He ran his fingers gently into Delilah's hair and said, "You get to go first."

With a giggle, she stood up and turned around, giving the King a glorious view of that magnificent ass before Angelik guided his dick into Delilah nice and slowly as she sat down. He pressed the stone on his ring and pushed a sensation of his dick sliding into her just as he felt Delilah might feel it. He thought, "This is what you are missing my little princess thief..."

He watched Delilah's moves as she slid up and down, wiggling her hips, guiding herself on him. He tried to mirror the sensations as closely as he could through the stone. He felt Angelik's tongue lapping on Delilah's clit as well as his soaking wet ball sack now! He thought, "I can sense what you feel. This close to me I can sense what you feel far more than afar. I know this is driving you insane. I can make it worth your while to obey me and bring me what you stole..."

The King felt his cock swelling inside Delilah though as much as he concentrated on the stone, he managed to prevent himself from cumming. He thought, "You riding my cock, getting closer to orgasm. You are close to me... aren't you?"

He turned his head in the direction of where she was hidden, though he obviously did not see her at all, but he knew she was there somewhere. He said, "Come to my chambers. I will make it worth you... oh... fuck..."

He felt his own body betraying him and his little slaves tormented his cock ferociously as he exploded into Delilah! His seed burrowed deep into the slut. He was holding the stone too when it happened and when he orgasmed, he accidentally caused her to orgasm too whether she wanted it or not.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

A soft gasp reverberated in the hidden hall as she felt her own body betray her.

“Damn him.”

Her forehead rested against the wall, her eyes closed. He knew she was hidden somewhere close by. He probably even knew she was spying on him and his little party. A deep breath in and out and her eyes found the small slits in the wall. She saw Delilah lying prone on the bed. The palm of one of his hands was caressing the rounded mound of her ass while Angelik knelt between his legs, her mouth going up and down on his cock, reviving it. Linara had seen, let alone experienced, enough. She crept from the secret passage and back into her own room where she crawled into her bed, pulling the covers over her head. Her last conscious thought was, what was he doing to her? And why was she finding some joy in it.

The first rays of daylight broke through a crack in her closed curtains before one of the maids came in and opened them up, pushing them back. Linara pulled the covers over her head tighter and groaned. She just couldn’t face that smug look on the human’s face over breakfast. She just couldn’t. Linara wasn’t allowed the opportunity to sulk in peace. The covers were tugged from her.

“Linara, come now. It is time to get up and get dressed. Your father expects you at breakfast. Hurry now!”

With another groan, Linara rolled out of bed and headed for the bathing chamber. As she sponged down her body, her mind reverted back to the night before. She could feel a dull ache forming between her legs. Her fingers trailed down to touch herself. Linara leaned back against the closed bathroom door and let her fingers roam between her pussy lips. Her fingernail flicked against her already swollen clit and the sensation it caused, made her take a sharp, soft indrawn breath. The fingers of her free hand slid down to touch the gem in the bracelet she wore, transmitting her own feelings to him. Her fingers alternated between rubbing her clit and sliding into her body, fucking herself. She remembered watching him the night before as he orgasmed into Delilah. She furiously finger fucked herself and ended up sliding down the door to sit on the rug, breathing hard.

​

“Good Morning, Father,”

Linara leaned over her father and kissed his cheek before she took her place at the breakfast table. The maid brought her tea and she gave the elf a soft smile of thanks. Her breakfast quickly followed and still she didn’t look at the King who sat at the other end of the table. A soft blush tinted her cheeks.

“…. And you, my dear girl, will escort the King around the castle.”

That made Linara’s head shoot up and she frowned at her father.

“Oh, but Father I have pl----”

Her father held up his hand to stop her and gave her a stern look.

“My daughter, I have some business that came up abruptly. I am assigning you this in my stead. I’m sure a leisurely walk around our grounds before you head to stables will be just the thing the King would enjoy.”

Linara grumbled under her breath.

“Speak up, Linara. I didn’t hear you.”

She offered her father a small smile and coughed.

“It wasn’t anything important, Father.”

She slumped back in her chair, cradling her hot teacup. She didn’t even dare glance over to where King Leo sat. The very thing she hadn’t wanted to happen, did. Now she was stuck with him all day. Heaven help her.

 

[ERedBoyd]

King Leo hid his smile under this cup of tea as he sipped. The unfortunate business would require a detail of his honor guard to take him to the coast which would be at least a 6 hour ride, then a 6 hour ride back. So he would expect her father to be at least tomorrow afternoon. If the King deemed the ride not an emergency, the ride would take 8 to 10 hours. He knew this Elven King to enjoy spending time with his people, visiting them, showing his generosity to them which always took time. While King Leo didn't know the specifics of the issue he had to deal with, he knew that it had to weigh heavy on his mind to leave his castle while his greatest threat sat parked around the walls. It was a good thing that they were at peace.

He looked to her father saying, "Is there anything me or my people can do to aide you in your journey?"

"No. It will be okay. It's a civil matter involving a border dispute between towns. Nothing I can't handle. However, if I intend on being back her for the farewell banquet the day after, I must depart now. My dear daughter, I trust you with handling things here." He got up and walked to her, kissing her on the top of the head before turning and making preparations to depart.

After the King left, King Leo smiled and said, "I look forward to a tour. Do you have any more of those... what did they call them? Umm... Kitsune I think? Smart Foxes with many tails. I would be pleased to see one in person. Or, perhaps your Saberclaws mounts I have seen so many times across the field of battle before?" He set his tea down and pressed the stone in his ring under the table saying, {{ I felt you last night after sneaking away from my quarters my thieving little princess. Admit it, what you saw aroused you a great deal. I could help you with that need tonight if you wish.}} He smiled as he caressed her hips with the feeling of a tongue. He said, "You look flush, are you okay?" He smiled as several of the nobles were trying feign disinterest in their conversation.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

"I look forward to a tour. Do you have any more of those... what did they call them? Umm... Kitsune I think? Smart Foxes with many tails. I would be pleased to see one in person. Or, perhaps your Saberclaws mounts I have seen so many times across the field of battle before?"

Her eyes met his across the table. She didn’t want to entertain him. She would rather leave him to his own devices. However, he would either make a point of hunting her down or continue to harass her via the bracelet. Then there was her father to consider. If King Leo reported back to her father should she avoid him and her royal duty, her father would be less than pleased with her. As his heir, she was honor bound. With a soft sigh, she sat straighter in the confines of her chair. Her head dipped in acknowledgement as she set her teacup on the table, reaching for her eating utensil.

“The kitsune run deep in the forests and are rarely seen these days. Your armies ran them to ground and almost made them extinct once we retook the capital. It would be doubtful for us to see them.”

Which was not completely true. There were a few that came to her when she was walking in the woods. It had taken her months to get their trust. Even now, they were still skittish around anyone else but her.

One of the servants returned with her breakfast and she picked up her fork to start eating.

{{ I felt you last night after sneaking away from my quarters my thieving little princess. Admit it, what you saw aroused you a great deal. I could help you with that need tonight if you wish.}}

She almost choked on her fruit as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She felt herself squirm in her chair as he pressed the feeling of his tongue caressing her hip. Her eyes closed briefly as she took in a deep breath before she opened her eyes and glared at him.

“I’m fine and will you please stop doing that!”

Linara reached for her teacup and took a hasty drink. It was a lost cause, she knew, to demand he stop teasing her as had been doing. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get him to stop such matters. Obviously talking to the man did little good. She tossed her napkin to the table after dabbing at her lips and rose.

“I’ll meet you at the stables in an hour, if that is good for you, King Leo?”

By the gods, it was so hard just being civil to the man. How, by the Universe, was she suppose to entertain him in her father’s absence?