An Epic Story: Hannon and Binti Ch. 04

"Princess Binti, your parents await you at the table for breakfast."

Enado, my waiting maiden informed me, for what was possibly the third time in ten minutes.

The sun had come up a few hours ago, but my spirits hadn't risen with it. The night before, I had lost a bet to Dinga, and I was understandably in a sour mood from that event, so much so that I did not think sitting at a table and eating the first meal of the day with my family would remedy my troubled state. It was the third bet I was losing to one of the boys, and as with the last two, Dinga had not hesitated to remind me that I was losing so much because I was a girl.

"The older we get, the wider the divide will be between us men, and you women. You are of inferior strength and build, do not think you can outrun a man."

It was all nonsense. The idea that I could not beat Dinga in a race at 15, despite winning him at 10 did not resonate with me..I simply refused to believe there was some physiological difference between us that had come about due to aging.

"Tell them I'm unwell and won't be joining them." I replied, suddenly feeling truly sick, from recalling Dinga's smug look after he grabbed the flag at the top of the hill we both ran.

Enado cocked her brow at me, clearly in disbelief at my obvious lie, "What do I say you're down with?" She asked.

I shrugged, unwilling to stress my thoughts beyond the reply that I was sick.

Enado gave me a long stare, like a truly exhausted mother would give their child, "As you wish, Princess." She finally said, just before she left my room to deliver my response.

As you wish Princess.

I longed to hear those words once again. As I walked down the staircase leading to the banquet hall. I longed for the days I could simply skip breakfast, and have Enado relay my message to the rest of my family.

Not for the first time since I was thrust into this repulsive new life of mine, Niasse had ignored my command earlier, when I told her I wanted to skip breakfast. She wasn't Enado. She didn't answer to me. She answered to Hannon, and he had demanded my presence at breakfast.

You'd think a sharp smack to the face would have discouraged him from demanding my presence, alas, that was not so.

I stepped into the dining hall of the palace, to a multitude of eyes. I halted in my movement, momentarily shocked by how many people were seated and waiting for my arrival.

I had not given thought to the possibility of guests at the table, a truly foolish thing considering my last encounter with Hannon's guests.

My eyes traveled over all of the persons seated, each as pale as the Mediran people were known to be. The warrior Khan, was the darkest person seated, and even he was considerably lighter than I was. It was a harsh reminder that I wasn't at my home, surrounded by my people. Marriage or not, these people were strangers and they owed me no loyalty save for what their king allowed.

Speaking of....

Said King, who was seated at the head of his table, sharing words with a brown-haired man I hadn't noticed yesterday, cut short his discussion and raised his gaze to me.

He looked me over, as if assessing my outfit, and I know he was seated a distance away from where I was standing, but I could feel the heat in his gaze, burning through the fabric and onto my bare skin, causing warmth to spread over me. This feeling was so unfamiliar, I instantly pegged it to be the loathing I felt for him.

"Have you gazed upon Medusa's serpentine hair my queen or are you experiencing paralysis?" Hannon suddenly called out.

It was only then I realised Niasse had scrambled away and left me to my fate. And as usual, Hannon hadn't missed an opportunity to ridicule me in the presence of his guests.

The light chuckles I heard were my confirmation that some of these men had only come to enjoy some more comedy at my expense.

"The Medira people are blessed I see, they got a king and a Court jester in one person. Usually, the king doesn't possess the gift of the village idiot." I responded sharply.

His deep frown and the ensuing silence was all I needed to jut my chin in the air and gracefully walk towards the only empty chair at the table- the one by Hannon's left.

I gave him a tight smile, before my eyes took in the spread before me. Nothing looked particularly familiar, and I instantly found myself wishing I could get some meals from my kingdom.

I looked up at Hannon, realising he wasn't making any moves to fill his plate, "You insisted I make it to this breakfast, shouldn't you be making some recommendations for me?" I asked pointedly.

Prior to his insistence that I show up here, I had imagined I would be able to convince Niasse to get me bits of food while I remained in my chamber. I suppose I was Hannon's problem now.

"As long as your mouth is stuffed with food, so, no more insulting words escape them..." he responded, as he reached for an empty plate and, in a rather aggressive manner, dumped different foods on it. Once he was done, he dropped the plate before me so hard, the clash of the plate and the table echoed in the hall.

"Eat." He said.

And then, he dished his own meal, as did everyone else at the table. The table grew rowdy, as random conversations happened around me.

I looked down at the untouched meal before me, and tried to make sense of the combination and what I was supposed to eat first, eventually, I settled on a meaty piece, covered in some sauce.

I don't know what I expected the meal to taste like, but it certainly lacked the spice I was accustomed to in my kingdom. The Adavi people were not known to spare on spices, apparently, in Medira the opposite was the case.

My face must have carried the displeasure I felt at the taste of the food, because one of the people at the table made a comment, "What's wrong princess? Our meals don't match up to your taste?"

I looked up to find a pale male, with stringy hair the color of wheat, he was smiling at me, showing off highly unimpressive dentition that made me wonder if he had spent a good part of his youth drinking corrosive substances.

I glanced over to find Hannon's gray gaze on me, as if awaiting a response to that question, "It could be better, but I don't blame you lot for your lack of taste. Not every kingdom is blessed with culinary brilliance." I stated pointedly, and capped my response with a tight smile.

Hannon's jaw ticked, clearly displeased with my response.

The blonde fellow however, gave a hearty laugh at my response, suffice it to say, his widely opened mouth did not make for a good sight, however, I was quite interested in hearing what caused him this laughter, "My King, if this was the best the Adavi could send to you, I can only imagine what other mongrels can be found in that kingdom of barbarians."

His response elicited laughter from the rest of the table. After Hannon's little show yesterday, I imagined word had gone round that the king's new bride was free game for every upcoming jester in Medira. It was a given that Hannon's disrespect would birth even more idiots, looking to take their shots. I had taken disrespect from Hannon, and it was a folly I regretted since it happened, but even more so now, that this rotten-toothed cretin had taken the stage.

"I can't imagine there are any words with which to qualify the women of Medira, if their king found none worthy of his bed, and had to go all the way to the kingdom of mongrels to find himself a bride. Did your wench of a mother tie her womb after she birthed a creature as repulsive as you, so that you couldn't have a sister to offer your king?"

The words escaped my lips before I could stop myself, and the ensuing silence was all I needed to know that I had possibly touched a nerve. At another time and to someone else, I may have quickly apologized, but considering all of the circumstances before me, it would be an act of folly to retract my words or apologize for them.

The mouthy fellow who had made the error of mentioning my people, stared at me with his jaw dropped, and I was all ready to go back to eating my food like nothing happened, until the silence in the room was broken by Hannon.

"Apologize immediately." His tone was hard, unyielding and demanding.

Defiant dark eyes turned to him, his grey ones blazed with a fury I had not seen since I arrived this kingdom. One would think that would be enough to jar me into doing as he said, but I was just the person who wanted this man in a constant state of anger. I wanted him to feel the same frustration I did after his humiliating act at my arrival.

"Or what? You'll send me back to my 'barbaric" people?" I asked pointedly.

Hannon narrowed his eyes at me, "You will not disrespect me or any of my guests at my table, in my presence princess. Now, open that filthy mouth of yours and apologize like you have been told."

"Nobody at this table is worth the rags on the back of the lowest of the Adavi people. You will sooner have my corpse than my apology, king." I responded.

We both stared each other down, the silence of the entire room giving the impression that only the both of us were present.

I watched Hannon signal for a maid to bring him a washing bowl. I assumed the conversation was over on my note, and returned to eating my meal. Imagine my shock when this brute literally snatched me off my sitting position and dragged me along like I was no more than a piece of cotton.

I gave him a good fight as he pulled me along, but none of my struggling caused him to even miss a step or falter. I had been 5ft. 6" for sometime, and it had never occurred to me that I was small enough to be so easily dragged, perhaps because I had never imagined I would be in a position like this. No, being forcefully married to a man who easily hit 6ft. 4" and weighed possibly twice whatever I did, had never been something I envisioned.

I only stopped fighting him off when I realised how stupid I must look, trying to fight off a man even men wouldn't be able to fight off. Instead, I kept mute and waited for his end game. What was the worst Hannon could do?

His worst was his chamber.

He pulled me inside and tossed me on the bed like I weighed nothing, "You're an insufferable wench, you know that?" He spat.

I flew off the bed like I had been burnt, and walked up to him, a resounding slap landing on his cheek. The echo in the room would have caused a smile on my lips if I didn't feel so tired and frustrated at being tossed about by someone I had only known for 24 hours. I had been ridiculed, shamed and my people disrespected by this man and his subjects. All my life, I had never known such disrespect.

"I curse you!" I spat with all the venom I could muster, "You brought me here for your entertainment, you rabid mutt!" I shoved at him, knowing I didn't have it in me to actually move this mountain of a man, but caring little of that fact, "What do you think I am? A silly little girl, with whom you can regain whatever male pride you've lost?" I asked. I shoved him again, "Answer me!"

"It is you who has been acting like a child since you arrived! Throwing tantrums, being disrespectful, speaking carelessly, you have been nothing but a child since your arrival!" He fired at me.

"You stole me!" I shoved him again, "You took me away from my home to ridicule me!"

"I would advise you to refrain from putting your hands on me princess."

"Or what?" I asked, "What more can you do, oh great king of Medira?"

He closed the space between us, his look and aura menacing, so that I had to steel myself to not step back in the face of intimidation, "Your father warned me of your petulance, so, be rest assured that none of your tantrums will get me to return you to Adavi, as you came. So you can kick, you can scream, you can bring down the roof of this castle, but the only reprieve you will get is when I lock you up in a dungeon like the animal you are, after you bear me a child or two."

For the third time today, my hand shot out and slapped Hannon, but even the sting of my palm meeting his cheek did nothing to placate my bruised ego. I wanted so much more, I wanted to pluck his eyes out and feed it to crows, I wanted to cut his tongue off and throw it to hyenas, I had known rage, but this heat moving inside me was nothing like I had ever felt. So, I moved to slap him again...because I was foolish, and angry, and anger made me impulsive. This time, Hannon wouldn't let me. He caught my wrist mid-air, and pulled my hand behind my back with a force that sent a sharp pain at my shoulder. The second hand quickly followed suit, so that my chest was thrust out at him.

He had my hands bound behind me, one hand easily holding down both my wrists. I could hear my breathing, ragged and loud, although I couldn't say now, if it was from how much I had argued or something else.

His free hand came up to cup my jaw, and his thumb stroked my bottom lip, sending an involuntary shiver down my spine as I was immediately transported back to earlier this morning, when he had had me in an almost similar hold.

"Having you submit to me will be most enjoyable, princess." He murmured.

I had a rebuttal on the tip of my tongue, but it was snatched when Hannon's lips crashed onto mine. I was ill-prepared for everything. The instant tingle I felt, and the surge of some foreign feeling when his tongue gained access into my mouth.

I didn't know what the warmth I felt was in my tummy, nor the throb between my legs, as his delicious tongue traveled through my mouth in a manner I never knew possible. I just knew I liked this strange feeling. I knew I wanted more of it.

By the gods! Why did I want more?

Why did my lips move with his, wanting to have more of this elixir he was feeding me? Why did a moan tear out my throat when that hand that had been holding down my wrists grabbed onto my bum? Why did my legs instantly come apart when Hannon's body covered mine on the bed?

And...."oh!"

My back arched, and I felt something wet ooze out of me at the first stroke of....

If I hadn't heard Hannon's grunt above me, I'd have thought it was just my imagination, but even with the obstruction that was our clothes, I had indeed just felt the hardness of my husband and my body welcomed the invasion.

"What in the heavens...?" His voice was gruff above me, even as he took another stroke, as if to confirm what he had felt...what we had both felt. I let out a soft gasp, my hands fisting the sheets beneath me. Was it his length? Was it the fabric? I had no idea, all I knew was that throbbing had intensified, and I felt more wetness. What was happening to me? Why did it feel this good?

"Your lips say you don't want to be here, yet your body is warm, wet and willing princess."

I would have denied him, denied whatever my body was reacting to, if Hannon's hand hadn't snaked up my thighs and cupped my middle.

"You're soaked."

My ragged breathing was probably the loudest sound in the room, as I fought off whatever Hannon was doing to me. His determined hand continued to knead at my centre, and my treacherous hips moved to meet him, seeking a high I had never experienced.

"By the gods! I'm going to enjoy burying myself deep inside you."

Was it his hands? Was it his words? I couldn't say, all I know was, one minute I was chasing a high and the next...the next I could feel my entire body stiffen and a moan escape my lips

What was that?

I lay still on the bed, my mind reeling from whatever Hannon had just done to my body. Somewhere in my consciousness I heard Hannon release a bunch of expletives, and then his weight eased off the bed and he charged out of the bedroom.

Where to? I had no idea and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I felt a mixture of relief and some other emotion I refused to give life.

By the gods! What had I found myself in?