One Flame

And here was a woman who seemed to have even less Faerie blood than her father. Not only that, but she was also gorgeous, powerful, and... commanding. Boots hadn't stopped replaying that moment when she was ordered to kiss the Empress in her mind since it had happened. Clephesia wanted this woman... she wanted to please this woman, like she'd never wanted anyone before. She wanted to do everything she was told so well that she could earn her Empress's kisses, and her...

Tanaquil's finger under her chin jolted her out of her near-meditative trance, that she'd fallen into getting lost in the Empress's eyes. The Empress was shorter than her, so her face was tugged down into range. Boots was treated to another fierce kiss as the Empress's tongue entered her mouth like she owned the place, sampling Boots's taste and then pressing on. Boots felt her knees shaking, and then the Empress's fingernails dancing down her collarbone, slowing along her breasts. They sank in far enough to leave scratches, and Clephesia gasped at them. Then the kiss ended and she lunged forward to get it back, but both nobles at her side pulled her back.

"Something wrong, my Princess?" Tanaquil's fingernails made circles around Boots's areola, but stubbornly refused to continue their journey lower.

"No, no, nothing wrong. Please keep going?"

"Hmm..." Tanaquil's hand continued its journey, lightly grazing their way down Clephesia's ribs and down her stomach.

"Please keep going... what?"

"Empress," Clephesia breathed. Tanaquil grinned and her fingers went lower. Her other hand pushed Clephesia back against the wall of the tub, bending her backwards a bit. "Well, you do look so delicious when you're squirming for me..." Domina Flamecaller's fingers parted Clephesia's folds and used the pad of her thumb to tease the Princess's clit. Clephesia's body shuddered and she held in a moan, embarrassed at how far along she was already. "Keep leaning back," the Empress ordered. "Cleïs, Mirai, dig in."

In a split second two total strangers were sucking at her nipples and Boots couldn't even try to suppress a moan that she hoped her sister couldn't hear... before she lost all thought to anything other than the three women working her once the Empress slipped a long, delicate finger inside. The Empress pressed gently and slowly thrust her fingertip in and out.

"Oh, they like you," the Empress breathed into her face, noting the eagerness that her two servants had in devouring Boots's chest. "Watch out for Cleïs, she's a biter."

Almost as if she had just been given permission, the woman sucking on her left breast started lightly nibbling. Clephesia tightened her hands into fists and shut her eyes and gave into the bliss as the Empress stirred her insides and found just the right spot to pull moan after moan from her new princess.

Already? She found herself thinking as she felt herself start to buck. She was caught between wanting this to go on forever and needing release, and the walls of her resistance were battered away with a flick of Tanaquil's thumb across her clit. Clephesia gave in and opened her mouth for a final scream... then it stopped, all at once. The heaven going on between her legs was pulled out and the mouths going at her chest let her go. Boots gasped and sat up, eyes wide in desperation and wonder.

"Did... did I do something wrong, Empress?"

A finger soaked from the bathwater and Clephesia pressed to her lips.

"Shh," Tanaquil shushed her, and took her hand. "We'll finish you on the bed... if you're a good girl, that is."

"Lig do na haislingí sileadh isteach," Alifa whispered, creeping closer to the bars and staring at the guard. "Ag tic do shrón agus tú ag sileadh..."

He perked up and began aiming a crossbow bolt. Alifa lunged forward and stuck her hand out through the bars of the cage. "Tá tú i do chodladh anois!"

The bolt flew out of the crossbow... and bounced off the ground as the guard slumped over. Alifa pulled her arm out of the iron and swore. "Danu's Derriere." All along her hand and down her arm where the iron had touched it, her skin was burning up and starting to swell. She seethed and shook her arm. "Wenny?" She called.

The Puca dropped from the rafters overhead and landed next to the guard with a thin sliver of wood. "Got your message, Majesty!" She smacked the key on the guard's belt and scowled. "It's not coming off, and I can't grab it!"

"Can you get the belt off?"

"I'd touch his armor," the Puca shook her head.

"His knife," Zaria piped up. "The hilt's likely made of wood or bone. Cut off his belt and scoot it over here."

Wenny nodded and pulled out the dagger, only hissing a little as the iron was exposed from the sheath. As soon as the belt was in reach, pushed across the floor by the Puca's long stick, Zaria took the key and deftly unlocked the door.

"Alright, what's step two? We can't sneak around long, he'll be found," Zaria nodded to the sleeping guard, "and you're green."

"We don't need long, just long enough to get to my pack. The components I need to call upon the creatures of the sea are within."

"What, we're going to ride to safety on dolphin-back!?" Zaria asked excitedly. "That's amazing! But... I mean, unless you and your sister can breathe underwater, you'll be followed."

"I'm sure we would be," Alifa agreed. "If they're able to pursue us. Wenny, find my backpack. Zaria... tell me everything you know about these 'cannons.'"

Clephesia was guided onto Tanaquil's bed next to the Empress, and given three long, sweet kisses before Domina Flamecaller rested the Princess's head on her chest. Clephesia moved to kiss the chest, but was interrupted.

"So... Boots. Tell me more about you, about your home."

Clephesia's legs quivered and impatience boiled under her skin, but she tried not to let it show. "What do you want to know?"

A charged silence filled Tanaquil's chamber until Boots added: "Empress."

"Tell me about your title. 'Winter Court, Sundered Throne of the Split Horizon, Emerald Forest, Scion unseelie.' Is there a court for every season? Why are they named for seasons? What split the horizon and sundered the throne? What is the emerald forest, and if you are the heiress of the unseelie, then what is the Seelie?"

Clephesia's heart sank. The explanation would take awhile, and she was acutely aware of her naked body pressed up against Tanaquil's. She resolved herself to answering as quickly as possible.

"There are two courts, Summer and Winter, or Seelie and Unseelie. Originally there was one unified court of all Faerie, and a word that referred to all fae is... or rather was... Seelie. We are the Seelie peoples. Under Áine the Great, it was just one throne and one Horizon. After her daughter, Áine of the Summer, took over, she ousted all Faeries who didn't meet her standards of beauty from the Seelie Court. Those Faeries flocked to my mother, Queen Mab, and she established the Unseelie Court. Most of those under the Unseelie were creatures of winter, be they related to cold, like the snow-sprites, or death, like the Baba. So while Áine the Second kept only the Summer, the Winter was left to her sister." She spoke a little too fast, stumbling over her words in places, but was pleased with the abridged history of the Schism Seelie.

"And the Emerald Forest?"

"Oh, that's one of the regions under my mother's Queendom. Well, a subregion I guess. The Crystal Dryads grow their orchards there, we have groves for rubies, onyx, amethyst, diamonds, all sorts of things."

"Wait, are you saying that gemstones grow on trees in your homeland?"

"Well... yes, where do you get them?" Clephesia asked, confused. But the Empress's disbelief was apparent.

"So you can just go wandering about in Faerie and pluck an Opal off of a branch?"

"No, of course not. Opals are root crops. Why, do you really like shinies?" Clephesia started brainstorming gifts she could make for the Empress once she was back home.

Tanaquil's eyes glinted. "Yes, I do... Thank you for telling me about your home." She pulled Boots's face in for another deep, conquering kiss. "Such a good little Princess... Mirai, eat her." The silver-clad noble buried her face in between Clephesia's legs and the Princess Heir arched in surprise, belting out moans until the Empress kissed her again. "Yes, Clephesia... give me those delicious moans..."

Clephesia was brought swiftly to the edge and started to close her eyes, but she felt a sharp slap across her face.

"Look me right in the eyes." And Tanaquil gripped her chin and stared into Clephesia's soul as waves of pleasure cascaded over her, shaking her until she could handle it no more. The Princess quivered into an orgasm that lasted longer than she remembered any of her others going for... it helped that Mirai didn't stop, and kept slurping her up and licking at her now hypersensitive vagina.

Clephesia kept rocking as the Empress applied few more possessive kisses before sitting back. "Mirai, feed her."

Boots stared as the noblewoman climbed up her, cheeks puffy with the Princess's own nectar. Clephesia opened her mouth and extended her tongue expectantly as Mirai kissed her deeply, baby-birding the Scion Unseelie her own cum for the Empress's viewing pleasure. Clephesia eagerly reciprocated, swallowing herself to get to the taste of Mirai, but her eyes were locked on Domina Flamecaller.

"Such a good girl..." Tanaquil leaned down and nibbled on Cleph's ear. "You see, Clephesia, life with me can be a paradise." She pinched her nipple gently. "So you don't have to worry about Mirai and Cleïs. They escaped their obligations, their responsibilities, their complicated problems... and enjoy myself and each other. They've traded hardship for ease, difficulty for pleasure. So, Clephesia, is it such a bad thing to be my slave?" The question came with a twist, and Boots let out a yelp, which Mirai took as an opportunity to start sucking the half-nymph's tongue. Boots could only shake her head gently in response.

"I could dedicate days at a time to your pleasure, my sweet Princess. Have everyone in my collection fuck you until you pass out... then wake you up again with my fingers. When I'm away, you and my other nobles would still have each other, as much as you wanted... and I'm sure they'll all love you as much as Mirai loves your taste... Cleïs, your turn."

Boots, still stimulated into sensitivity, felt a new set of lips touch hers, and just from that small brush she moaned, long and loud, into Mirai's mouth.

"There'll be art, travel, books, theater, exotic foods... and you can enjoy my rewards or my punishments every night. Every want you may have, every need you can think of, I will satisfy it if you satisfy me." Tanaquil stood up from the bed despite Clephesia's whine.

"Oh, I know, my sweet Princess. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. I just have to write a letter to my husband. Mirai, Cleïs, take care of your new Princess while I'm gone." Tanaquil slipped on her robe and opened up the door, casting one more glance over her shoulder. A bemused smile lit up her face. "And by that, I mean take turns eating her out until she can't think of anything else."

Clephesia couldn't even reply with her tongue firmly trapped in Mirai's mouth... even if she could, all she'd be able to get out would be a series of belts and moans from the passionate sucking of her clit courtesy of Cleïs. She could only watch, her gaze interrupted by her own convulsions and a screen of mist over her eyes, as the Empress left her there in bliss.

Despite Zaria's insistence that it was the worst hiding place, Alifa had brought them straight to the "Captain's Quarters" that she supposed was just the map room here. "Their navigator went over to our ship," She reminded Zaria. "And the... Captain? Empress? Of the ship is trying to get information out of Boots."

"Do you think she'll get any?" Zaria cracked open the door and swore. "I didn't think it would actually be empty."

Alifa pushed the doors open, ushering them both in quickly. "They're going home. They know the way." She unrolled the large map that filled the center table. "As for my sister... she's very tough and fiercely loyal to Mother. I think we'll be alright." Alifa shut the doors gently.

"There's... nowhere to go if they check here," Zaria pointed out.

"Not true." Alifa nodded to some double doors. "There's the sea. Now cannons: You say they're full of dust that explodes?"

Zaria nodded. "Black Powder. Just a spark and it lights up with enough force to propel a cannonball uh... pretty far."

"We don't need them to go too far," Alifa mused, not concerned over the range. She leaned on the table. "Where are we now? Can you tell?"

"If I had to guess?" Zaria pointed out a location on the map. "We're going about the same speed as the Canard because it's sailing right next to us, so we should be HERE by now."

Alifa tapped a spot ahead of them where the seas narrowed between parts of a landmass she didn't recognize. "Will we go between here? And... when would we?"

"Not until tomorrow. I doubt we can evade capture for that long."

Wenny fell on her face in front of them, a backpack larger than her strapped to her back.

"I got it!" She shouted.

"She's the one you send to sneak around?"

"Wenny is a Puca. Mild shapeshifting abilities, she can blend into any environment."

"How did you meet her?"

Alifa paled a bit. "Uh... we caught her sneaking up on us."

Zaria's stare went up to Alifa then down to the little wingless bat grinning at her. "Wonderful. So we don't have anywhere to go after we sink the ship, we don't have anyone who can work the cannons unseen, and no backup plan, is that right?"

Alifa frowned, then glanced up as the doors started opening. "Quick." She snatched Zaria's arm and took them out to the balcony, shutting it behind them. They watched the sea while Alifa pulled a small crystal jar out of her pack and rattled it.

"What's in there?"

"The ear bones of a long-dead Fomori... parts of them, anyway, ground into dust."

"Ears aren't made of bone."

"Not the outside part, but there's tiny bones inside," Alifa explained. She rattled the vial and pressed it to the door, then opened the cork and the events inside the room became loud and clear. Alifa lifted a finger to her lips as they heard... a drawer opening. Then a pen scratching on the desk.

In short order, the door opened again and Alifa heard... the ruffling of feathers.

Batillian words, Alifa reasoned, were exchanged. She didn't recognize any of them, but she had a guess on one -- Imperatrix. Empress.

After a few more minutes of scribbling, footsteps followed -- headed toward them. Alifa stoppered her hearing charm and nodded to the side. Half-nymph, human and puca ducked into the fold of the door as it opened, remaining behind the wood as Empress Tanaquil stepped out onto the balcony, an eagle in her hands with a letter tied to its ankle. She released it into the sky and it pealed as it circled up, flying over the ship.

As if she were in a terrible rush to get back to something, Tanaquil shut the doors hard.

Alifa immediately scattered pebbles onto the deck.

"What are you doing? She could hear you!" Zaria hissed.

"I don't have long..." Alifa explained, and started chewing on some feathers.

"What the fu-" but Zaria was cut off when a long, eagle shriek came out of Alifa's mouth. Wenny hid under Zaria as the bird of prey swooped back onto the deck.

"It's gonna eat me! Oh sweet Tuatha why must my flesh be so delectable and healthy? It means to strip the flesh from my bones and obtain all of my delicious nutrients! There was so much I wanted to do, so many things I wanted to light on fire, so many people I wanted to steal the pants of! And yet now I am to be consumed by the only thing I never prepared for! An eagle!"

While Wenny kept bemoaning her misfortune, Alifa approached the bird and gently stoked its gold-brown feathers. The bird went still at her touch, and she untied the letter. "I don't suppose you can read Batillian?" She asked Zaria hopefully.

"Not a word."

"Alright. Well, I should be able to find what I need to translate this in that office... map room? In the part of the ship we just left." Alifa took her hand off the eagle and it took to the skies again, back on its original course.

"Won't it get suspicious when a messenger eagle arrives with no letter?"

"If we're still around to be suspected by the time the Imperatrix finds out, we're already sunk," Alifa reminded Zaria.

"Oh joy, my fears are assuaged."

"Gather up any writing you can, especially if it's got multiple languages on it." Alifa sighed and took out a few clay pots. "I need to mix them into some eye drops."

Wenny laughed. "That sounds unpleasant!"

"Yes... it does."

Clephesia didn't stop missing Tanaquil as the nobles kept pushing her into orgasm after orgasm, not letting up as the Princess Heir felt herself getting closer and closer to unconsciousness. It was only her knightly responsibility (that she made up) to her bed-mates to offer encouragement and kisses that kept her going long enough to see her Empress come back. With the limited range of motion available to her, she tried to look around Cleïs's head to catch Tanaquil's eyes. Domina Flamecaller laid a hand on the noble's shoulder, and she immediately backed away to let her Empress take over kissing the Princess's eager lips.

"Sorry for leaving you, Boots," she whispered, "but your Empress is back now, and you've been such a good girl that I think you deserve something special. Mirai, give her a break. Cleïs, go get the platinum."

While Clephesia felt a whine in her throat build up when Mirai stopped sucking on her clit, she was able to calm down and actually start thinking.

Cleïs approached the bed and bowed a bit as she held out a metal collar, gleaming white. Tanaquil took it almost reverently in both of her hands. She noticed the seed at the end of Clephesia's necklace. "Take off the necklace, I'm going to give you something better."

"Silver? Like Mirai's?" Clephesia asked, catching herself glancing at Cleïs's golden bondage with envy.

"Silver? For my princess?" Tanaquil kissed Clephesia possessively until the Scion Unseelie forgot all about being jealous of anyone else. After all, she was the one with Empress's lips at that moment. "No, this is platinum. The rarest, purest metal known to humanity... unless there's a secret special metal on Faerie?"

"No, Empress. I suppose the closest we have to metallurgy is growing and training plants to become what we call Living Armor." Clephesia held the seed dangling from her neck in her hand, turning it over and loving the feel.

"Well then, while you may have grown up destined for a crown on your head... I think we both know you'd rather have a collar around your neck. Just take off that necklace and I'll wrap this around you so that everyone knows that Boots is Empress's new favorite."

Boots started lifting the necklace over her head, almost getting the thread past her ears before she froze. "What about Lif? What about Lala and Mother?"

"Oh, you'll see them again I promise you," the Domina whispered. "But until then, Clephesia, it's time for you to stop being who you're supposed to be, stop letting everyone else's expectations and demands shape your decisions... forget trying to please everyone. Focus on pleasing me... and I promise I'll make it rewarding for you every time. Your Mother, your Lala, Lif, they all want you to be someone, don't they? Mother wants you to be a Queen, aloof and alone on a throne. I just want you to remain yourself... a gorgeous, bright, eager-to-please beauty who makes Empress proud." Tanaquil kissed her again. "Take that necklace off, Clephesia. Stop being the Unseelie's Princess... just be mine."