TWO HEADS TWO SPIKES (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga) (12 page)

“Let me ask you a question first. Do you believe in dragons?”

Russell Seabrook responded without hesitation, “No.”

Dragon-Eyes peered at him for a moment before he asked, “Why?”

“Well, I have heard stories of them. I’ve seen drawings and paintings of them. Yet no one I know or know of has ever seen one in the flesh,” Russell firmly stated.

“Aahh,” the wizard contemplated for a second, “Until a brief while ago you never saw fire surge from a mortal man’s eyes, did you?”

“Well, uh, uh, uh, no,” stuttered a puzzled knight.

“What if I say I can show you proof that dragons exist?” offered the Imp.

“You can show me a live dragon?” asked Russell sarcastically.

The Imp sternly retorted, “I can show you proof that dragons exist, yes. And it coincidentally happens to be where my things are stored as well.”

Sir Russell Seabrook carried two bags over each shoulder as he followed the little guy. The wizard struggled to keep the cloak from dragging on the ice. He didn’t look like a wizard with an almost square head and flat nose, but his long hair and fiery eyes were proof enough for Russell. A light horizontal snow started.

Russell pulled his hood up and asked, “So what is our grand adventure? You distracted me with that talk of dragons.”

The Imp stopped in his tracks, looked up into Russell’s eyes, and mysteriously asked, “My young knight, have you ever heard of the Pearl of Wisdom?”

She felt the hot liquid love run down the inside of her thigh and leak into the garter belt. Her right foot was propped up on a chair with her lover positioned behind her. She would need to wash the smell of sex from it before the tossing ceremony, but that seemed miles from her mind at this point. Today marked Elisa Burke’s wedding and she was being pleasured by the man she loved. A lusty waterfall now cascaded down, damming in the lacy decoration. The sex felt hotter than usual due to the extreme sin involved, she had convinced herself. Brehan Castaway always made her feel safe in his presence. He knew exactly how to treat a lady, and by all standards he was desirable. Everything about Brehan appeared perfect for Elisa except for his parents. If only he had a last name of nobility, it would be his wedding day. Brehan kept driving the new bride wild in ecstasy.

Elisa Burke, a gorgeous woman of eighteen, had arrived in the Capitol only a few weeks ago. She was of considerable height and her paleness gave her a virginal glow. Her rosy red lips, brown eyes and long, oak colored hair were a Burke family trait. Her mind drifted as the steamy sex continued.

That fat oaf swore to protect me in the presence of the Gods. He can barely walk through a room without assistance for the Gods sake. Give me sons, hah, that is pure folly for everyone but me
.

She snarled audibly.

“Alright, my love?” grunted Brehan.

“Just fine, don’t stop, don’t even think about stopping,” Elisa seductively pronounced.

Most women would have returned to their own wedding party, but Elisa Burke, a terribly ambitious female, wanted everything.

If father elects to marry me to a mental cripple, I shall at least enjoy part of my day of matrimony. Brehan could carve him up like a pig.

She giggled internally, picturing an apple in Ali-Varis Wamhoff’s mouth as he turned on a spit.

Aston Burke delivered his daughter to the King like a sack of market goods. The King needed a bride for his son, Ali-Varis, so that he would stop pestering him. The royal family had claimed that his last bride died in her sleep, but it was widely speculated that the rotund Ali-Varis had smothered her when he rolled over in his sleep. Duke Burke offered up his daughter at once, despite all her objections.

A daughter born to Donegal had no say to whom she was betrothed. It was the father’s prerogative. Political and monetary alliances dominated matrimonial decisions as love was stabbed in the back throughout the social landscape. Occasionally people had married for love at the cost of being ousted by their family. Love developed for some matches, but Elisa Burke knew she would never love Ali-Varis Wamhoff.

Elisa had enjoyed the royal treatment since arriving in Falconhurst but wondered how long it would last. She wasn’t actually a princess, more like a queen in waiting. Elisa felt that she was a prisoner for the King to keep her father in his place as Duke of Burkeville. From the way her father had been talking lately she realized there was growing tension between her father and the King. Now he had thrown her right into the foxes den. Elisa wore the black bear pin of Burkeville on her dress with pride, but she knew that only the Queen and a few other Burkes that lived in the Capitol could be trusted. The Wamhoff foxes lurked everywhere. And in the few places where they didn’t, their spies did.

The silver lining in this torture was that she would one day rule as Queen Elisa. Nobody in the power positions would let Ali-Varis make crucial decisions unless they wished to perish. The King looked like he was soon to die in her estimation and Elisa had a plan for Ali-Ster too. She set out to make the best of this situation. Elisa realized she would see Sir Brehan much less now that she had stationed herself in the Capitol. Elisa hoped that it only created a temporary inconvenience. She intended to remedy the situation the minute she took control of the realm.

And even though she hated her match with Ali-Varis, he remained her key to the throne. Ali-Ster was fitter to be king, but luckily for her, Donegal had ruled as a land of primogeniture. The same laws of the land that took from her today might also give back later in spades.

Her body shuddered as orgasm shifted to the forefront. Her foot slipped off the chair as she felt Brehan’s intense love filling her up. Her skin sizzled like hot dragon’s breath and pleasure filled tingles flowed freely throughout her entire body. Elisa’s satisfied soul collapsed into the plush, purple chair while a concoction of passion mixed inside her and slowly flowed from her reddened vagina. The two looked at each other, breathing heavily, permanent smiles attached.

“I suppose you will need to get back to your reception?” Brehan asked.

“I suppose, although I wish I could ride off with you and we could be together.” Elisa knew that Brehan was the man for her. He had amazed her by sneaking into her powder room before she arrived.

How did he get past all the guards and know which room was set up for me?

BREHAN

Sir Brehan Castaway searched the small room for his apparel.

“I wish you could come with me too. You know Mattingly is a safe haven for many people,” he said to Elisa Burke with a clever smile.

“Don’t tempt me,” she returned, “I am in too deep now, but we are meant for each other. I know I married another man today, but it was only out of a sense of duty. You saw me today at my wedding reception. Just the fact that we could be together, today of all days, convinces me that you are the only man for me.”

“Let’s just hope I can make it out of this castle alive,” Brehan said in a sober tone.

“Don’t ever say that. You die, my heart dies, and a person without a heart is already dead.” Elisa grabbed both of his cheeks and kissed him deeply. “Did you find all your things?”

“I can’t seem to find my belt,” Brehan said as he looked around.

“Here it is,” exclaimed Elisa as she bent over to retrieve it from under the purple chair.

Seeing her bend over in just her undergarments got Brehan excited again, but he knew he must get out of there.

Sir Brehan Castaway was a knight of Mattingly. The twenty-two year old of average height stood just slightly taller than Elisa. The polished warrior had a body sculpted by the Gods themselves. Muscle definition dripped from head to toe. Green eyes and black shaggy hair provided the perfect foil for his dark brown skin. He had turned down advances from several girls over the years due to his allegiance to Elisa.

Brehan Castaway was born on the Seventh Island of the Pearl Islands. The large, main island had eight smaller ones surrounding it. Castaway was a bastard’s name but he wore it with pride. Brehan’s father left before his birth and his poor mother worked at the docks but could barely support him. When the wealthy Burke family had passed through, she begged them to take Brehan with them to work in the castle and have a better life. He served the Burke family diligently for eight years. It was a long enough time to know that he loved Elisa, but he also realized he would never achieve a higher status than servant in Burkeville.

He had traveled to a place where merit was accorded precedence over birth status. He sneaked into Mattingly to enter a skills tournament. Brehan, already muscular at thirteen, fooled the Mattingly men into thinking that he was older, and they allowed him to enter. He had impressed Duke Colbert to the extent that he invited Brehan to train in Riverfront to become a knight. He lived in nice quarters in the Colbert castle and they immediately treated him like a family member. Brehan achieved knighthood at seventeen and took an oath to protect the Colbert’s, but he was also a son and brother of the family.

Part of Brehan wished he just put a baby into the woman he loved, but the rest of him wanted to be there to raise the child with her. Today, he had dressed himself in fancy garb to pass unnoticed on the way out of the castle. A black tunic clung to his heaving chest and was tucked into long brown pants. He wore no family symbols or markings on his person to attract any attention. His dark skin would make the guests think that he was a performer for the reception.

They held each other in the middle of the room as Elisa playfully smacked Brehan with his brown leather belt.

He said, “Remember the night I had to tell you I was moving to Mattingly and you cried all night long.”

“Yes. I was just a little girl,” Elisa quickly answered.

“I guess tonight it’s my turn,” said Brehan with a slight smile.

“Don’t make me cry. I know you are kidding, but I am emotional right now. I have to go out there and pretend I am happy to be married to Ali-Varis Wamhoff,” Elisa sobbed.

“Alright, I just need a few things before I depart,” he stated.

He put on his sword belt with the long sword missing and pushed his hair down over his eyes. He had four other knives on his belt but the long sword would have attracted too much attention. He grabbed an empty chalice as a keepsake from the makeup table and kicked the purple chair aside. This exposed a secret door on the floor and Brehan flipped it open. He rose, smiling at Elisa. They embraced one last time.

“Well, this is it. I’ll miss you, Lady Wamhoff,” teased Brehan.

“Stop it,” whispered Elisa, as she kissed him slowly and softly. “I love you,” she pledged.

Brehan kissed her again and said, “And I love you. Now be strong in this dirty Capitol. I must take leave now, my past and future Queen.” He grabbed a torch and slipped into the hole in the floor as he waved goodbye to his love.

Brehan hoped to only see a few people on his way out of the castle and the nice clothes would hopefully make the guards believe he was invited to perform for the Prince. He knew they wouldn’t believe that he was an invited guest because his skin was so much darker than those attending the wedding.

Sir Brehan didn’t like this marriage in the least. He knew Elisa had no option in the matter so his anger shifted to Aston Burke. Brehan hated Duke Burke. He felt the leader of Burkeville had treated him like a slave and was a drunken slob.

Brehan now needed to get back to Mattingly to serve the Colbert’s. He hoped the family had already squashed the Fritz revolt. It hurt him not to be there to support his brothers in arms. He pushed open the door at the end of a dark path because the torch died out, and daylight streamed in.

Sir Brehan walked out only to notice that two armored guards had spotted him coming out of the secret door. He took off in a sprint. He easily outran the two guards and used the crowds to shake them completely. A smile came over the face of Sir Brehan Castaway, realizing he would always risk his life for his lady, as she had just done for him.

As he walked south, down a familiar path, he saw a friendly face. Sir Gunnar Pine of Mattingly stood there, waiting for Brehan.

He asked, “Did you enjoy your time, Sir?”

“Yes I did, and you, Sir? Did you enjoy your first visit to the castle?” Sir Gunnar courteously asked back with an over-exaggerated bow.

Sir Brehan Castaway unleashed a wide smile and declared, “I certainly did.”

EMILIA

“Hurry, we have to get back to Elisa now. The nosy guests will start to ask questions,” the Queen said to Sir Anderley Ellsworth.

“Alright, here it is, all ready.” Anderley had the potion poured into a large cup. He had made a quick little fire to boil water for the mushrooms that grew on the trunk of the blue-leaf trees. Anderley knew to boil them for at least five minutes to kill the poison.

“It is still steaming hot, so be careful,” cautioned Anderley as he gave her the handle of the thick white cup.

The Queen held it in her left hand and grabbed a large spoon resting on her dresser. She took a spoonful, blew it cool, and drank the nasty nectar. She continued until the mug was half-full and handed it to Sir Anderley.

“No, my Queen, I told you I cannot do that today.”

“Just a few spoonfuls,” insisted the Queen of Donegal.

He knew it was best to oblige or she would fly into a rage. She always got her way. He took a few warm sips and almost threw up. Queen Emilia snatched the potion back and finished the rest. The mushroom tea brought on euphoric feelings and a distorted sense of reality. Emilia decided she needed it to deal with her so-called friends at the wedding, but right now she just felt nauseous.

“My Queen,” said Anderley as he led her from her room.

The Queen grew up a simple farm girl. Even eighteen years of being pampered and fitted in the finest dresses hadn’t succeeded in molding her into a social butterfly. Emilia was a shy girl on the fateful day when King Ali-Stanley had locked eyes with her in Burkeville and she remained that way to this day. She had a few people in the Capitol that she felt comfortable talking to. But to the rest she just nodded and smiled so she didn’t appear rude. As they arrived at Elisa’s powder room, the mushroom beverage really hit the Queen. Everything looked a little fuzzy and quick movement left wavy trails in the air. Her mouth became parched, palms began to sweat, and her feet buzzed as they made contact with the ground.