Dragon's Breath

Elias knew he was never this clumsy, he always made his peers look incompetent standing next to his precision. What is wrong with me? he asked rhetorically. All of the reassurance he had worked into his subconscious with the aid of the Empress's words quickly became discouraged to a shrivel. It was hard to imagine how he could further ruin the day.

"Is everything alright?" the bold voice of the Empress shouted from afar. In a panic Elias grabbed his prepared dish, absent of his half prepared garnish. His finger throbbed within the rag but he pressed on, hiding it behind his back ever so slightly as he exited the door. No empress was to be seen within the living chamber.

This fact both relieved him but also filled him with dread at the understanding he must take further time reaching her with the freshly cooked dinner. He only took a few steps towards the terrace door before the bath became visible to him where the empress ascended from the water. As she made her way up the stair slabs, the remaining water flowed down between the curves of her muscle and bust like a river.

Her hips swung with every step with her thighs cradling her dark bushy womanhood. Her stare made Elias understand his presence was known. With a deep breath, he ignored the searing pain and approached her. Even if it were not for the privacy of the towel she was wrapping around her, the attention that Elias's finger demanded was more than enough to distract him from the alluring sight before him.

"You are fast. I was not expecting a plate already." She commented as Elias reached her.

"Should I come back in a moment?"

"No, it's quite alright. Don't you have a dish as well?" The Empress caught Elias off guard by the remark. He had never been taught the assumption of dining with his employer. "I heard you yell, what was that about?"

"I nearly tripped," Elias lied under the full influence of his pain as she grabbed the steaming plate from his hands. She lifted the plate up to her nose, her eyes closed.

"Good choice," she smiled. Perhaps one of my favorites. An appropriate response might have been to smile or respond with words of satisfaction, instead his heart dropped. He felt his face go pale, not due to blood loss for the cut was not nearly bad enough, but because he felt a drip cascading down his finger.

With only a moment of passing time he felt it fall. it might be assumed that something as subtle as a drip might be easily missed, especially in the presence of this woman who was already dripping with water. But Elias was not so lucky. Just a moment after the drip fell, the Empress's head shifted to meet its splash on to the tile beneath his feat. Elias anticipated a rush of fear, anxiety, or perhaps just dread. But none of these emotions made themselves known.

He felt defeated under the pressure of all that he had felt throughout the day. He felt as if all of the thoughts and emotions he had conjured were mocking him for the joke he had made of his opportunity here. "Why are you bleeding?" She stood stern, her focus no longer on the meal. For a second Elias contemplated making something up or stooping low enough to act surprised. But none of these things had an urge greater than to just move on.

"I cut my finger by mistake." Elias drew his eyes to hers, anchoring them there as he awaited her reaction. If the past day had taught him anything, he had no idea what was going to come out of her mouth. Her expression remained blank, her only action taken to set down the plate beside her before reaching out her hand.

"Let me see it." She waited patiently. Reluctant, Elias reached out his bleeding hand. The amount of blood that had soaked into the rag surprised even Elias. It was nearly fully saturated in his crimson essence. The eyes of the empress became wider. "It is not very clear to me why you would hide such a wound" she sternly spoke as she unraveled the cloth. It was not a pretty sight but she insisted with her actions that she pressed further.

She began speaking words Elias had never heard before. Incantations of magic. Elias was familiar with the arcane, even if what he knew was for niche scenarios. The verbiage she spoke flowed like a poem and caused the very sound from her mouth to glow with power. As her spoken spell extended further, she lifted Elias's to her mouth, the wound to her lips. With a final word spoken she pressed her midnight plums to the wound.

Elias felt a deep and sharp pain before it rapidly subsided. Her lips were soft and the glow that emitted from them was warm and soothed every second she pressed further. Dragons breath, that's what they called it. It was a forum of magic Elias had never seen. The bleeding ended in its presence, leaving his finger intimate with her lips absent of any pain.

Elias stood in shock, not because of the use of magic for that was not new to him. The arcane talent itself was unique but that was not the reason either. He stood surprised by the sheer absurdity of the situation. Was it possible that the empress was this kind? This patient? Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself. She had not spoken yet. Elias retained the contact his eyes had with hers, waiting, for he had nothing to say. He was speechless. "Go prepare yourself a meal too" She broke the silence. "We need to discuss some things." These words were not much of an answer to Elias so much as they were postponing what he was waiting to hear. But he turned away just as she had asked.

He did not want to keep her long so he made quick work of an easy meal for himself. It was no lamb but it was more than enough to suffice. His wander from the servants quarters was a slow one. It's not a proud moment by any means. He is over twenty for god sakes, how could he be such a mess. The empress sat at the large round table off to the side of her bed. Her plate was nearly finished, only a bone accompanied the last few bites. Her demeanor was not so much annoyed although that felt present.

Her attention became immediately aware of him. "Take a seat," she paused as Elias found rest in a chair beside her. Only a few seconds passed before she began to let out what she clearly was waiting to say. "Do you know why you are here?" She waited, Elias himself waiting for her to continue. "I mean, you must find it odd how you were pulled from your education so soon. It's not a normal course of action after all." Elias, although not speaking, acknowledged her words with the language of his body. "I guess I owe you some sort of explanation." Elias felt an underlying gratitude at the notion of her words. The confusion simmered by the events surrounding him held a weight over his head.

"Your my experiment of sorts" she let out.

"What?" Elias let out confused.

"I don't normally look for servants similar to yourself. I was sick of what was the standard shown to me, so I experimented with you."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to know that I have been pleased with the experiment so far... pleased with you. Pleased in the sense that you are absent of the qualities I grew to hate in others before you. I anticipated someone of your level would bring other issues so that alone is not the problem."

"So your not frustrated with my clumsiness?"

"I suppose I should make myself clear. Your nerves have clearly been outrageously out of hand. But that is an issue I believe that you can improve. Besides I have come to an assumption there is a deeper story there. Please tell me, what is it that makes you so erratic?" She asked, leaning in. Elias did not even know where to start.

Explaining that he was flustered by her body was not so simple to explain to the queen herself. Even that, Elias knew was slightly dishonest. Although it was true he never expected for her to be so open in his presence, he was also beyond nervous he would somehow lose the role here. Furthermore, her demeanor intrigued him endlessly. The way she spoke in his presence made him feel a level of comfort that the un-waning world never could. He had never had a family to give him such a luxury. Her words were reassurance that perhaps he had made the right decision in choosing to pursue being a servant.

"I... I..." Elias stuttered, "I don't know. A lot of things." he sat in thought trying to formulate what to say. "This is all new. It feels as if I was taught for a role elsewhere. The nuances of what I don't understand here are vast. We did not work under such conditions in the academy."

"Under situations?" The Empress's gaze turned softer, her stare sharper as she unfaceted the towel around her body which dropped to the floor. Elias readjusted himself in his seat. The torchlight flickered upon her sleek round features. Her nipples perked up, perhaps because it was cold but nonetheless they held a bold presence no more than a foot away from Elias. He had just began acclimating to her menial private living but this was no doubt a taunt to his very ability to stay composed. "Have you never seen the body of a woman?" She pried, lifting an eye in curiosity.

"No that's, not it" he said, the Empress relaxing a bit further into her seat, crossing her nude legs, her thighs pressing against each other. "I never anticipated my work to include such intimate settings. I don't know how..."

She cut him off, "Then you are fired."

Elias's heart dropped. His weary mind saddened under the shame of failing. Doing so within a week was far worse.

Eleanor continued, "You are no longer my servant," she paused. "That being said, if you wish, this will be your home. If you accept however, you must operate under the alias of my servant anywhere outside this chamber... Do you accept the terms?"

Elias considered what she had said carefully, running through the possibilities within his mind. It was something he had never even dreamed of. Living like a royal? Of course there were strings attached, but this was quite the proposal. But why? he thought. In not many worlds did this make sense within his mind.

He liked to think it was because she enjoyed his cooking or attention to detail. But a clearer picture was forming in his head. With her "requesting him" and writing off his wandering eyes, his mind began to draw further conclusions. "I am too busy to take care of the work within my house, however, that much will not change. But you could consider yourself relieved of all formalities." Elias peeked lower to her body once more as if it was instinctive, a force that his subconscious carried out without him.

"Ok" Elias accepted her notion, not knowing what to say further. Elias never perceived himself to be naïve but the sheer power she held over him complicated things. Perhaps this train of thought was a fantasy created within his mind. Even waking up to this entire scenario having been dreamt did not seem crazy.

With a grin of utmost pleasure the Empress spoke further, "To start... My name is Eleanor."

All scenarios he formulated within his mind pointed to one desire that boiled up within him. He wanted to respond but he was speechless. Her look was becoming far more enchanting each second, longing for his gaze with a call far stronger than that of her body. Elias leaned over slowly, grabbing her gently by the chin. His mind raced, his heart pumping faster.

This is going to get me killed, he thought as he pulled her in, his lips opening to accept hers. Letting a deep breath in, he pressed his lips against hers. The wild sensations that flew through his body and his face filled him with a euphoria that every human dreams to be true. Elias contemplated pushing further, waiting. She stood still briefly, before pressing her face further in to his.

This was the sign he so desperately wanted. Not only because he wanted her, but because it reaffirmed, he had not thrown his life away. He reached up blindly, their kiss slowly transitioning to something more ferocious. With his hand held firm cradling her jaw, he placed his other hand on her waist, hesitant but listening to every silent word spoken by her body.

Her skin was soft and warm. With her unyielding pressure she shrew at his lips, he moved his hand lower to caress the wavy features that sat below. She was thick and her ass fitted within his hand, his palm hugging its curve. The Empress gently pulled her lips away from his embrace, letting her eyes open to his sight. His mouth dangled to a gentle gape; his eyes opening to find hers. In doing so, Elias was met with a grin so sensual it held a persuasive power over him that rivaled that of hunger. Her body was in the open, this time Elias refused to contain his actions in the presence of the attracting lure her body had on his eyes.

"It's getting late." The Empress said, smiling with her lust ridden face. "Now, can I expect you to keep this secret?" Elias nodded, being met with a final passionate kiss, this time initiated by the Empress herself. She got up spinning to walk to her bed, her hips swaying her bulbous behind as if to tease him. "I will see you in the morning Elias" She said, as she slid under her covers.

He began to make his way to his quarters, looking back one last time to her. She sat up in her bed, sweeping her hair over her right shoulder. Although her attention was elsewhere, her eyes glanced off to the side, finding Elias motionless in the door.

"Goodnight Miss" He paused further, trying to find the words to say, "Eleanor."

A smile formed on her face, "Goodnight Elias."

With that, he made his way to bed, shaken by if not the fact of what had transpired, the brevity at which things unfolded.