The Shadow Queen (12 page)

“Of course I will give him strong sons!” Zagiri said. Now that she knew a little more about this man she was so eager to wed she would ask him about his past, and about the poor lady who would soon die. It was obvious Lady Farah didn’t like Lady Vilia, but Jonah seemed devoted to her.

The litter came to a stop, and the curtains were drawn back by a servant. The two women exited their transport, following the servant into the house.

“You are now in the Golden District where the Lord High Ruler lives,” Lady Farah told Zagiri. “This is the house where Lady Vilia has lived in her last days. She did not want to die in the palace lest it be tainted. Come along, Zagiri.” And Lady Farah hurried briskly up a flight of marble stairs to an upper hallway.

A plump young man hurried forward. “Is this she?” he asked.

“Aubin Prospero, I present to you Princess Zagiri of Terah. This is Lady Vilia’s elder son, my dear,” Lady Farah said.

“I am so sorry about your mother,” Zagiri said to Aubin Prospero.

“It isn’t your fault,” he told her. “My half brother will get her life force shortly, and be strong again. She gives her life for him. That is the kind of mother she has been. She has chosen you to be her successor. Know that I hold no ill will toward you, Princess. And you will have the loyalty of the Merchants Guild. We honor your grandfather John Swiftsword of famed memory.”

“Thank you,” Zagiri replied. She knew little of her mother’s father but that he had sold her mother in order to further his career, and he had won his place in Hetarian society with his skills.

They had reached the door of a chamber at the end of the hallway.

“Go in,” Aubin Prospero said. “She is waiting for you. Nay, not you, Lady Farah. My mother specifically asked that the princess come alone.” He opened the door to the room and ushered her through, closing the door behind her.

Zagiri walked slowly to the curtained bed where Lady Vilia lay pale and gasping. “I have come, my lady, as requested,” she said.

“Come closer, and let me see you.” Vilia beckoned with a clawlike hand. “Aah, you are even more beautiful than I imagined. You will make Jonah very happy. Now, Zagiri of Terah, you must promise me that you will take the finest care of my husband and my son, who will shortly belong to you.”

“I promise, Lady Vilia,” Zagiri said earnestly.

“Why, you love him already,” Vilia said, surprised. “That is your innocence, and loving upbringing. Tell your mother that I thank her for that.”

“Why me?” Zagiri asked softly.

“Harder times are coming to Hetar, little princess. My Jonah will need a good woman by his side advising him, supporting him, if he is to survive, if Hetar is to survive. No ordinary woman will do, and we may need Terah’s aid. With you the
First Lady of Hetar,
your mother and brother are more apt to help. He already cares for you, Zagiri of Terah. He has given you a title. I have never had one despite all the years I have looked after his interests.” Vilia grew very pale, and slumped deeper against her pillows. “Watch over my son, Egon. It was foretold that he would be a great conqueror one day.”

“I will!” Zagiri said.

“I will die shortly, little princess. Take that small lavender crystal bottle from the table. Catch my life’s essence quickly, and see that my little son, Egon, drinks it. Aah! My time is finished,” Vilia cried suddenly.

Zagiri gasped as the light faded slowly from the older woman’s eyes. She quickly took up the container, blinking as a thin wisp of fog seemed to stream slowly from between Vilia’s blue lips. Zagiri captured whatever it was in the bottle as she had been instructed. When no more of the substance came forth she stoppered the vessel, tucking it into the pocket of her gown. Then she ran to the door. “Someone! Quickly!”

Lady Farah hurried forward, putting an arm about Zagiri. “Quickly. You must leave this house.”

“Wait! I have something from his mother for your grandson. He must have it now. Is the boy here?” Zagiri asked anxiously.

“Aye. Very well, we shall find him.” Taking Zagiri’s hand, Lady Farah led her through the house until finally they came to a pleasant apartment where a young boy sat quietly reading.

He was very pale and slender. Looking up, he smiled as they entered the chamber. “Grandmother, how nice. Have you come to visit me?”

“Your mother has departed,” Lady Farah said without preamble. “This is Princess Zagiri. She brings you something from your mother.”

“What is it?” the boy asked. His dark eyes had grown large with the news of his mother’s death, but he did not cry.

Zagiri withdrew the crystal bottle from her pocket. “Open your mouth, little one,” she told him, and when he obeyed without question she poured the foglike substance from the vessel into his open mouth.

The boy swallowed it eagerly. “It tastes like berries,” he told them when he had finished it all up. “Leave the crystal, Zagiri, for I shall retain it as a keepsake from my mother. Thank you.”

“Now we must go!” Lady Farah said. “You cannot be seen here. Your half brother is here, Egon. Go and find him. You must send to your father now.” She practically dragged Zagiri from the chamber, through the house and to her litter. “Quickly, quickly!” she told her bearers. “We must not be here when word gets out,” she said to Zagiri. “The simple people are so superstitious. When they learn that the Lord High Ruler has taken the Domina of Terah’s daughter to wife, and she was with his dead wife when Vilia died…” She paused. “Well, you know the rumors that will arise. Especially since the common folk are not privy to certain information.”

Zagiri was surprised by what Lady Farah said. Hadn’t she been told that poor Vilia could not die until she had met the Terahn princess? Did the people of Hetar not realize that Vilia had done a noble thing in order to preserve her son’s life? That she had personally chosen Zagiri of Terah for Jonah’s new wife? Why would anyone suspect her of…of disposing of Jonah’s old wife so she might be his new one? Her mother had not wanted any marriage between Terah and Hetar.

And then Zagiri began to recall little things that her mother had said when, curious, they would ask her to tell them about her girlhood in Hetar. Lara would tell them of the riches and magnificence of the Hetar of her youth. But she would also warn them that often the most beautiful things covered up the ugliest. Hetarians are manipulative, she’d said, and Zagiri was certainly seeing it in Lady Farah. For whatever reason Vilia could not die until she had met and spoken with Zagiri. And the longer she lingered the weaker her little son became. Why was that? What dark force was at work here? It had been powerful enough to bring her from the Dream Plain to Hetar. Suddenly Zagiri was afraid.

“I want to see Jonah,” she said.

Lady Farah did not notice that the girl had become pale with fright. “He will probably come to see you tonight,” she said. “And when he does we must sit together and discuss what to do with this foolish virginity of yours, my child. Vilia has a marvelous sex slave, Doran, who will be without a mistress now. He might be of help unless, of course, Jonah wants to sell him off. We have several Pleasure Houses that now cater to women here in The City. My son could make quite a fine profit on Doran. But we shall see what he wants to do. Gracious, you have become very pale, Zagiri. I imagine being transported via the Dream Plain from Terah to Hetar must have been quite exhausting. We’re almost back to my house. You must have a nice rest when we get there. You will want to be at your best when you see Jonah tonight.” And she smiled at her young companion, but the smile, Zagiri noticed, did not quite reach to her dark eyes.

CHAPTER FIVE

Z
AGIRI
TRIED
TO
sleep, but she could not. She needed to see Jonah. She needed his reassurance that everything was going to be all right. She did love him. She did! But suddenly she was beginning to wonder if she had perhaps acted too hastily in agreeing to come to Hetar. Everything was so different here. She already knew she was not going to like her mother-in-law. But she would hide her dislike. The woman was too aggressive, and her constant nattering on about Zagiri’s virginity distressed the girl. In Terah women did not give themselves quite so freely as they obviously did here in Hetar. Nor were they as consumed with sensual matters as in Hetar. Finally she fell into a restless sleep, but she did not dream.

A serving woman awoke her. “Princess, the Lord High Ruler is below in his mother’s private salon. He wishes you to come to him,” the servant said.

Zagiri’s head ached, and her mouth was dry. “Frine,” she said, and drank down the goblet the woman handed her. “I need to bathe my hands and face,” she said, and the servant brought a basin of water and a cloth. Zagiri felt slightly restored after washing her face and hands. She smoothed the wrinkles from her gown.

“Let me brush the tangles from your hair, Princess,” the servant said.

Zagiri sat down, and, picking up a brush, the woman tended to the girl’s beautiful golden curls. “There isn’t a woman in this house that has hair like yours, Princess,” she said. “Men would pay a fortune just to touch such hair.”

Zagiri said nothing, but she gave the servant a small smile. Finally, her hair once again in order, she arose. “Will you take me to your mistress?” she said.

“Please follow me, Princess,” the servant said, leading the girl from her chamber and down a gracious flight of stairs.

They passed several beautiful women coming up the stairs with gentlemen. All of the men stared at Zagiri but she ignored them.
How rude!
she thought.

“Here we are,” the servant said, opening a door and gesturing for Zagiri to enter.

She saw him at once. “Jonah!” Zagiri ran toward him.

“My beautiful golden girl,” he greeted her, and, taking her into his arms, kissed her. “Aah, how sweet your lips are, my lovely princess. Let me drink my fill of you.” He set her back, and his black eyes surveyed her. She was lovelier in reality than she was on the Dream Plain. “You are perfect, Zagiri. And I am so proud that you were brave enough to come to me. In just days we shall marry. Come now, and sit by my side.”

“I told them I was going to my grandmother Persis for a visit. I shall not be missed for several days,” Zagiri told him. Reaching up, she stroked his stern face. “You are everything that I dreamed, my lord. I was frightened earlier. I thought perhaps I would want to return to Terah, but now that I am with you all my concerns are gone.” She lowered her voice so that only he might hear her. “Your mother is a forceful lady.”

Jonah barked a harsh laugh. “You are kind in your judgment, Zagiri. However, you are a virgin. You have no skills at giving pleasures. If you are to be my bride you must know how to please me. Tonight, if it pleases you, we shall enjoy each other’s bodies for the first time. Then my mother shall have you trained properly so that on our wedding night you and I may enjoy each other fully.”

“What do you mean
have me trained,
my lord?” Zagiri asked him nervously. Coupling with him did not frighten her, but this talk of training her did.

“You will be taught how to please a man with your hands, your lips, your tongue and your most intimate female parts,” Jonah told her. “On our wedding night you will show me all you have learned, my golden girl, but tonight I shall have your virginity of you. We call it First Night rights. A beautiful, well-trained virgin commands a high price, Zagiri, here in the Pleasure Houses of Hetar.”

“I do not know…” Zagiri began. Then she gasped. “I am in a Pleasure House?”

“My mother is a Pleasure Mistress,” he replied. “She is head of her guild. As such she has access to many resources. She will see you attain perfection for me,” Jonah told the girl. “Only the most skillful of male Pleasure Slaves will be chosen to tutor you.”

Zagiri was at first speechless. Then she said, “But I am a virgin, my lord, and I want only you for a lover!”

“You are sweet, my golden girl,” he responded. “But once I have taken your maidenhead you are no longer virginal. Ignorance in the bedchamber is a great sin.”

“Why can you not teach me what I need to know?” Zagiri asked of him.

Jonah laughed. “I am the Ruler of Hetar, my precious girl. I have no time, nor do I have the patience to teach.”

“But if I know other men, I may find one that is preferable to you,” she said to him. “I should be unhappy then, and so should you,” Zagiri cried.

“I am considered a lover without peer,” he reassured her. “And if you are truly unhappy with my performance then I shall buy you the sex slave who best pleases you,” Jonah promised her. Then, standing, he took her hand. “Let us go now to your chamber, my golden girl, and we shall rid you of your troublesome virginity. Tomorrow you will begin your lessons in pleasures. All Hetar will be fixated on mourning Lady Vilia. No one will pay any attention to you. Then when the mourning is over I shall announce our wedding. You will come to the palace then. For now you will live in my mother’s Pleasure House.” He led her from the chamber where they had been speaking and up the stairs and to a different wing of the house. “Would you like to see?” he asked her as they moved past various doors.

Truly curious, Zagiri nodded. She was suddenly very excited. He was going to make love to her. And when he did she would convince him that this
training
nonsense was ridiculous. It had probably all been his dreadful mother’s idea, anyway. Why kind of mother wanted her son’s bride used by other men? It was unthinkable!

Jonah stepped before a door and carefully undid a small panel. He drew Zagiri to stand before the panel while he stood behind her. Zagiri peeped through the panel to see a beautiful woman with long, dark red hair kneeling before a man. As the girl watched the redhead took the male’s manhood in one hand. She kissed it tenderly, and then her tongue encircled the mushroom-shaped tip several times. She ceased briefly to look up at her partner, smiling. He smiled back. The redhead began to take the manhood into her mouth. Soon she had absorbed it all, and from the way her cheeks were working Zagiri realized the woman was sucking on the manhood. She turned away, confused.

“Why is she doing that?” she asked Jonah.

“Because it gives him pleasure,” he answered her. “It is a woman’s duty to give a man pleasure when they enjoy each other’s bodies.” He closed the panel and drew her before another door opening the panel in it. “What do you see here, Zagiri?” he asked her.

Zagiri peeped into the room. Another beautiful woman lay spread wide upon a bed. There were two men with her. One had crawled between her legs and was licking at her mound. The other man was kissing the woman while fondling her breasts. Zagiri felt Jonah’s hands slip up to cup her breasts. Even covered by her gown his actions excited her, and she pushed her buttocks back against him. “She is entertaining two men,” Zagiri whispered breathlessly. The tableau before her was exciting.

“Aye,” he responded, his fingers taunting her thrusting nipples. “Both will have her in a variety of ways, and they will all gain pleasure.” He turned her so that she was facing him. “I will watch you take two men before you complete your training, my beautiful golden girl. But once we are wed, other than your personal sex slave, you are mine, and mine alone, Zagiri.” His mouth came down hard on hers. Zagiri almost swooned in his arms, and, feeling her weakness, he picked her up and hurried down the hallway, kicking open the door at its end as he entered the chamber with her.

He set her down, and then to her great surprise he began ripping her gown from her. Zagiri cried out, shocked, and he slapped her lightly. Then he pushed her upon the great bed in the chamber, tearing the remaining shreds of her garment from her. “Lie still!” he said sharply. “The first thing you will learn is obedience to your lord.” Then he began to remove his own garments slowly, setting them carefully aside. “Spread yourself, Zagiri. I want to look at your treasures as I disrobe.”

To her own amazement, Zagiri obeyed him. In her imagination she had always considered lovemaking a slow and elegant process where one kissed, and caressed, and finally joined. This wasn’t anything like she had imagined. It was rough with a tinge of cruelty. She was both excited and fearful, but she spread her nether lips so he might view her, gasping when he reached out to finger her dainty love bud. She squealed as, standing over her, he began to tweak it until she was squirming uncontrollably.

“You will remain perfectly still while I play with you,” he said in a hard voice.

“I cannot! It is too exciting,” she half sobbed.

“Obedience, Zagiri, and discipline are two of the most important facets of taking pleasures,” he told her as he removed his finger so she might recover herself. When she lay still again he said, “I will begin to touch you again, my golden girl. This time you will not wiggle. You will allow your feelings to burgeon until they burst. Trust me.” His finger began to once again play with her.

Zagiri closed her eyes, and struggled with all her might not to move. What he was doing was pure torture, but then suddenly that tiny nub of flesh began to burgeon and burgeon until just when she thought she could stand no more a burst of perfect, pure pleasure drenched her. “Oh! Oh! Ooh!” she cried as wonder lit her face.

She heard his laughter, and then suddenly his head was between her thighs, and his tongue was lapping up the juices she had released. He groaned with his obvious delight. When he had satisfied himself he looked up into her shocked face. “Your first juices,” he told her. “Virgin juices! They are rare, and nothing tastes like them.” Then he put his head back between her legs, and sucked on the nub of flesh until she was shaking with what she realized was her own desire.

“Oh my good lord, please couple with me,” Zagiri begged him. “I believe I am now ready to shed my troublesome virginity.”

“Nay, not yet,” he told her. “This is why you need training, my lovely one. You are like a child eager to have a sweet. You want to grab with both your hands at the bowl held out to you. When you are trained you will learn how to prolong the little pleasures so that you and I may enjoy greater pleasures. Tonight I will enjoy your innocence, but on a wedding night our coming together will be entirely different for you will have learned how to give pleasure, not just receive it.”

She pouted up at him, and he chuckled. “I want to know your manhood,” she said to him. “Why do you deny me?”

“Hush, my golden girl,” he replied. Then without another word he pushed a long finger into her passage.

“Oh! Oh!” Zagiri’s green eyes widened with surprise. The finger began to move back and forth, and her juices flowed again.

He withdrew the finger, sucked upon it for several moments, then drove two fingers into her passage, moving them back and forth while she strained against his hand. He played with her like this for several minutes, but then he abruptly ceased, saying to her, “I want you to take my manhood in your hand, Zagiri, and caress it.”

Her nether regions were throbbing with their need. “Why are you being so cruel to me?” she asked him.

“Obedience, Zagiri. Take my cock, and caress it,” Jonah told the girl sternly.

“No!” she said defiantly.

Without a word Jonah sat up, yanking Zagiri over his lap. Then he began to spank her while she shrieked and swore at him. Her bottom was small, round and plump. As he brought a fine pink sheen to the fair skin he was surprised to find himself becoming very excited by her struggles and cries. He was sophisticated enough to know that a certain amount of pain could sometimes be considered pleasurable, but he had never really considered it something he would enjoy. But he certainly was enjoying punishing Zagiri’s disobedience. His manhood was now hard, aching and ready to be satisfied.

He shoved the girl from his lap and onto her back. Her pretty face was tearstained. “Spread yourself, Zagiri!” His knee pushed between her closed legs.

“I…I hate you!” she sobbed. “No one has ever dared to spank me. I am a princess of Terah! I hate you!”

He levered her legs apart. She struck out at him with her small fists. He caught her wrists, and yanked her arms above her head, imprisoning her with a single hand. His other hand pinched her nipples, causing her to squeal and buck. She was the most exciting creature he had ever known. “You are my beautiful golden girl,” Jonah said as he now positioned his manhood at the mouth of her channel, “and your juicy virginal little cunt is ready to be plundered by your master.” He pushed into her slowly.

Zagiri’s eyes widened. She felt as if she were being split asunder. “You are too big!” she gasped.

“I have but inserted the tip,” he told her. Then he pushed into her farther.

“Oh! Oh!” Zagiri exclaimed. She had not imagined anything like this, she thought, but then she could not remember at all what she had thought having a manhood pierce her would be like. She had envisaged a heavenly floating sensation when two bodies were joined so intimately. This was nothing like that. And when he pushed into her again she gasped at the feeling of fullness, wincing as he reached the barrier of her maidenhead. “You are too big!” she repeated.

“Your body will adjust to accommodate me in a moment or two,” he promised her. “Tell me when you are ready to give me your virginity, Zagiri.” He pressed his mound down against her.

The fur upon it was dark and rough, but as he pushed himself onto her soft, smooth mound a bolt of desire shot through her, and Zagiri’s eyes widened again, and she gave a little gasp as she felt the manhood within her throbbing lustfully. Her breasts felt tight, and her nether regions ached with need. “Yes!” she hissed at him. “Yes, my lord Jonah! I need you! I need you!”