The Last Princess of Lorrea Ch. 04

Elena couldn't breathe. She tried to calm herself but to no avail. She was breathing so quickly yet she felt like she wasn't getting any air... her lips and fingers started to tingle as she continued to gasp for air. She started to feel dizzy...

Henry had watched her reaction, at first it caused him an odd sense of satisfaction, that his discovery of her heritage was so distressing. However, soon he started to worry as her face turned white and her breathing more laborious.

"Private, hand me your wineskin, immediately!" ordered the prince. The soldier unbuckled it from his belt and handed it over, perplexed as to the prince's need for his wine.

The prince quickly removed the top and upended the skin, spilling out it's wine onto the floor. He pressed the opening against the Elena's mouth. "Breathe from this" he said.

Elena shook her head, looking wild eyed at the prince, as she gasped for air. He must be a cruel man she thought, to tell her to breathe from a place that has no air supply when she needed it most.

"Do it or you will suffocate! this is the only way to slow your breathing, now do it!" he growled, pressing the skin's opening hard against her lips.

Elena felt that she had no choice. To her, either option ended in her death so she did as she was told and breathed in and out of the wineskin. The Prince signaled to the soldier to remove her ties to aid in her breathing.

After a minute of breathing in and out of the wineskin, Elena noticed that her breathing had indeed slowed, and her heart was not racing as much. She became more aware of her position, lying naked at the feet of two powerful men. Blushing, she wrapped her spare arm around her chest and crossed her legs before curling into the fetal position while still pressing the wineskin to her lips.

Prince Henry lowered himself into his large leather chair, behind his broad mahogany desk. He placed his elbows on the edge of the desk and rested his chin on his fingertips, as he surveyed the naked girl before him.

"My prince" said the private, breaking Henry from his confused thoughts, "What should I do with the girl?"

"Take the Princess to the bedroom in the north tower. Arrange for appropriate gowns to be brought up, along with some food... I think she is on the verge of fainting again" he sighed.

"As you wish, sir." he threw the towel over the naked princess and heaved her over his shoulder again. This time, not a word or complaint from the princess, she didn't have the strength to protest.

"Oh, and Private" called the prince, before the former disappeared through the double doors, "I will not forget this. You have proven yourself worthy of the rank of captain".

"Thank you sir!" said the newly appointed captain, bowing his head in farewell.

The prince, now alone in the room, walked slowly towards the roaring fireplace. He gazed into it's depths hoping for the answers to his many questions, yet none appeared. He sighed and wandered over to his desk, picking up a map and yelled at the closed doors "steward - call the council back in, we shall continue".

*

The king was in the Great hall, listening to his advisors on the newly proposed taxes for the citizens of Lorrea. It was a decision he had come up with himself, as a way to punish the people for supporting their phantom leader, the Princess.

Prince Henry cut a path through the many advisors and people of the court, to approach his father. King Xander held up his hand, silencing one of his advisors mid speech.

"Henry! What a surprise! I'm glad you've returned safely from Lorrea. However you have returned earlier than expected, no?" The king asked of his heir.

"Yes father, for a good reason as fate would have it." the prince replied.

"Well then, what is it? Some intelligence information?" the king asked.

"No sir. However, I wish a private audience with you to discuss it further." said the prince, looking up at his father.

The king waved his hand and the crowd immediately left the hall.

The prince cleared his throat, nodding his head at the concubines at the King's feet.

The king rolled his eyes at his son, but snapped his fingers, signaling for the departure of the slaves. Ever since his mother passed away, his father always seemed to have a concubine or slave hanging onto his arm or laying at his feet. Henry thought it an insult to his mother's memory, however the king declared that it demonstrated his power. Henry knew better than to argue with his father.

The doors closed behind the last of the girls, leaving a ringing silence.

"What is it son? Is something wrong?" asked the king, as he picked at a fruit platter at his side.

"On the contrary father, I think there has been a positive turn on the Lorrean front" said the prince, carefully choosing his words.

"Good. That country has caused us nothing but grief since the moment we attacked it. What has changed?" inquired the King.

"I have captured Princess Elena, father" said the prince, looking up to witness his father's reaction.

It did not disappoint. His father's jaw dropped, stunned into silence.

"Hah! Brilliant! Fantastic! Just the thing we need to bring the people to their knees" Boomed the king, as he descended the throne and approached his son. He clapped him on the back and steered him towards the doors. "You shall take me to her at once! Oh the things I've dreamt of doing to that girl! Is she beautiful as her people claim, or as ugly as her father?" asked the king, giddy as a child.

"Princess Elena is quite beautiful" the prince said slowly. "Father, I wish to make a request of you. I wish to be entrusted with her captivity - only I would have the power over her, no one else."

The king stopped short, a calculating look on his face. On one hand he thought, as king he deserved first go of the girl, on the other, his son caught her and is her royal equivalent in status. In addition it would be good for the boy's character and increase his notoriety.

"All right, son. She's all yours, but if you tire of her, send her my way" he chuckled, turning back to his throne.

"Yes father. Oh, I feel obligated to inform you that she's a virgin too, so you should not think i'm keeping her from you" murmured the prince.

"A virgin! Oh son, you tempt me so! Go before I change my mind." cried the King, feigning chest pain on the idea of a virgin princess.

"Thank you sir" said the prince, before exiting the Great hall quickly.

*

Blearily, Elena opened one eye after another, her mind working very slowly. She had no idea how long she had slept for. Her eyes cast about the circular room, taking in the many oil paintings featuring noble men and women, a fireplace with a fiercely burning fire, a loveseat and a few chairs arranged near the fire and finally, a table covered with food.

Immediately Elena slid off the large, comfortable bed and padded barefoot and naked across the thickly woven carpet and reached for a slice of melon, taking a large and heavenly bite, causing the juice to run down her chin and throat. She took five more mouthfuls of melon before she noticed a bundle of garments at the foot of the bed. Elena wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and walked over to the bed to examine the parcel. She lifted up the powder blue dress and examined the material in the firelight, watching it shimmer as if lit by a thousand candles. Elena looked but could not see any undergarments left for her. Obviously the Prince's perverted idea, she fumed. Clearly, she was meant to wear the dress and although it irked her to accept anything Kravaolian, she didn't fancy the alternative, so she slipped the dress over her head and tied it's many ribbons into place.

The material was soft against her skin, but she didn't know the name of it. It hugged her body as if tailored for her, accenting her every curve.

Her stomach rumbled and broke the spell of her musings, so Elena turned back to the table of food. She had never seen so much food in the last two years, some of which she didn't even know the name of. Elena ate and drank until she felt full, a feeling long forgotten by her. Her unexpected feast finished, she once again felt inexplicably tired. However she did not return to bed. Instead, she crossed over to the wooden door and pressed her ear against it. Hearing nothing, she gently pulled on the brass handle but it remained closed. Not defeated, Elena pulled with all her might against the door but it wouldn't budge. She hammered on the door with her fist -"let me out!" she yelled in frustration, feeling just as trapped as she had felt when they had thrown the net on her after she had fallen from the tree.

The sound of a key in the lock caused Elena's heart to skip a beat. How foolish of her, to seek a confrontation, not knowing with whom, when she was unarmed and in such a vulnerable state. Clearly, despite having rested and eaten a little, her common sense was still tailing her compulsions. She looked around for a weapon, but clearly someone had thought she might seek one because the room was very basic and devoid of anything she could put her weight behind. Her eyes fell on the silver platter that once held the food and lifted it up. Standing behind the door, she raised her arms high above her head and waited.

The door creaked open and a soldier she didn't recognise walked in, his eyes sweeping the room for her. Elena brought the silver platter down hard on the soldier's helmet-free head, just as he turned towards her. The impact sent shocking vibrations up her arms and the noise was quite loud. The soldier groaned and clutched his head in his hands.

Elena brought her arms up again, determined to overpower this simple soldier. Just as she was about to take a swing at the man's face, a voice rang through the room. "PUT THAT DOWN, NOW!". Elena looked for the source of the voice, spotting the soldier from her earlier encounters, pointing his sword at her. She knew that a tray was no match for a sword, so she slowly lowered her arms and tossed the tray aside.

"Pick the plate up, private" ordered the captain. The soldier did as he was told, still clutching his head with his free hand.

Elena's heart pounding, the adrenaline still coursing through her veins, she stumbled back as the captains took a few deliberate steps towards her. Elena fell back against the loveseat, lifting her hands up in a gesture of submission. "Please... I'm sorry I won't-" but the rest of her sentence was cut off as the captain wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed. Instinctively, her hands clawed at his iron clad grip, her eyes watering as she gasped for air.

The captain's brown eyes bore into hers as he lowered his face to her. "Do ... not... do... that... again" he hissed. Frantic for air, Elena nodded rapidly. The captain released her and signaled for the other soldier to leave. As he followed, he turned at the door and looked back at Elena satisfied that she was not even daring to look up at him. He crossed the threshold and closed the door after him, turning the key, the lock echoing ominously in the circular room.

Elena threw herself down on the loveseat and wept bitterly, her sobbing loud and it surely carried through the door. After a while, the cold reality of the past two years set in and she realised that no one was going to come and comfort her. She rose off the couch and slipped under the covers of the goose down blanket, pulled it up to her chin as she shook with silent agony. After an hour or so, she soothed and fell into an exhausted slumber.

*

The Prince was sitting in one of the armchairs near the dying fire, staring at the slumbering princess. It occurred to him that he had never really watched a woman sleep before - the women he slept with knew to leave his bed shortly after their coupling ran it's course. Not so much sleep together, he mused, as much as lay together.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, just as the local lore told her to be. Her golden hair fanned out over the pillow, her soft full lips slightly parted as she breathed. No woman had ever piqued his curiosity so.

He replayed the conversation he had earlier with Damian, the newly appointed captain. He had informed the prince that there had been an incident involving the princess and one of the guards.

He remembered his anger at the thought that she had found the tenacity to try and injure, perhaps even kill a Kravaolian soldier, considering how well she has been treated so far, as a prisoner of war.

However, after the captain finished recounting the tale, something seemed amiss. "After she backed down, what did you do?" he asked of the captain.

"I... um... I told her not to do that again, sir." he replied shiftily.

"Hmmm, told her not to do that again" mirrored the Prince.

"Uhh yes, sir" added the captain in a shaky voice, clearly realising that something was not to the prince's liking.

The Prince nonchalantly unsheathed his sword, tilting it this way and that, catching the glimmer of the oil lamp on his desk. He raised his sword slowly, bringing it inches from the private's nose, as he stared into eyes.

"I'll ask you one more time. I am a very good judge of character as i'm sure you know and I can tell that you are hiding something from me Captain" he said, as he pressed the tip of the sword to the tip of his nose.

"I'm.. i'm sorry sir.. but my emotions may have gotten the better of me.. I umm" sputtered the soldier.

"Yes... and what exactly did you get carried away with?" the prince asked in his falsely cheerful voice, which at the moment was just as menacing as his roar of fury, as he steadied his hand holding the sword.

"I was angry that she tried to hurt one of the men sir, so I thought the girl, umm... needed to be... to be.. to be reminded of her place, sir." he said.

"And how did you remind the PRINCESS of her place Captain?" growled the prince.

"I just sort of, grab-- I mean - held, I held her by her neck" he said quietly. "I left no mark on her, my Prince, I swear upon your sword, she is not blemished in any way." he said quickly, trying to soothe the prince's temper.

"That was most fortunate of you captain, for if you had, I would have run you through with this sword" he growled. "Tell your men, that no one is to lay a hand on MY Princess, or they'll be meeting their maker much sooner than they would have wished." he hissed.

"Yes sir!" croaked the soldier, his eyes still on the sword, as it started to move across his face, pressing against his cheek. With a quick flick of the Prince's wrist, a small gash appeared on the captain's face, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Let that be a reminder to you Captain" he said, sheathing his sword, "and to your men too" he added as an afterthought.

The prince waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal - the captain gave him a curt bow and walked quickly from the room.

*

Henry was confused, he did not know where his anger had come from. Slaves and other prisoners had been roughly treated in front of his eyes and occasionally at his hands, but it had never caused him to feel righteous anger before. He pushed himself out of the chair, trying to shake of the confusing emotions. She was a princess... no - a prisoner... no- his princess... his prisoner of war. Frustrated he stoked the fire with a poker, making more noise than was necessary. He jumped as he heard her cry out "Please, let me go!"... he turned around to look at her, preparing for the inevitable conversation but stopped short.

The princess was not standing defiantly or sitting up in bed, as he expected. She was lying exactly where she was a minute ago, her eyes shut tightly, her hands clutching the sheets, she whimpered softly "Captain we must help them... they are hurt" she said as her arm reached out to no one but air. Comprehension dawned on the Prince's face, she was clearly having a nightmare. He moved closer to the bed staring at her pained features as she cried out into the night "You must keep moving!".

Tears started to flow as her body shook with her silent sobbing. The prince was confused, he did not know what to do... should he wake her? from one nightmare to another (in her eyes)? He stared at her, as she wrapped her arms around herself, hugging herself in her sleep. The prince moved to the other side of the bed, slowly lowering himself onto the mattress as to not startle her awake with a sudden shift of weight. He inched closer to her quivering back, slowly pressing his body length against hers, wrapping his muscular arms around her, holding her tight. He felt her breathing slowly calm down, her whimpering subside

"I promise" she breathed in her sleep, before falling into a peaceful sleep.

The captain held her tightly in his arms, the fragrance of her hair and skin intoxicating. He cursed himself for not removing his clothes... the material of her dress was heavenly, almost as much as the soft skin of her neck, as he pressed his lips against it.

She shifted slightly in her sleep, causing her bottom to brush against Henry's hips, bringing forth a guttural noise from his throat, his member hardening within his pants, pressed up against her backside.

Henry, just as any prince, was never left unsatisfied sexually, but he was in uncharted territory, somehow he didn't think it a wise move to satisfy his urges with a virgin princess while she slept. He lay his head back and closed his eyes, drifting off into a lust-filled sleep.

*

Elena blinked. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was and the events of the previous day. In those few seconds she was at peace, albeit an unsure one, but it was heaven compared to the grief that clenched her bowels as the memories of yesterday came crashing back to her. Worse yet, she realised that there was an arm wrapped around her waist. Her heart pounding, she wracked her memory for an explanation. Satisfied that she had no lapse in memory, she concluded that the man must have come to her as she slept. She wriggled out from underneath the muscular and tanned arm, slipping to the edge of the bed, trying to put as much distance between herself and whomever the arm was attached to.

The princess was about to turn around and glimpse the man who violated her privacy, but just as she was going to, he spoke.

"Good morning Princess" said the voice. There was no need for Elena to turn around now, she knew that voice, but she was not reassured, on the contrary. To her, that voice meant danger and power. She sat frozen with indecision- should she acknowledge his presence? should she attempt to flee? Elena chose nothing. She sat perched on the edge of the bed in silence.

Elena felt the bed shift slightly, still, she ignored his presence. Suddenly, she felt his hot breath against her neck as he breathed "I said, good morning Princess", followed by the lightest of kisses against the area connecting her neck and shoulders. As light as the touch had been, to Elena it felt like a scorching brand - she jumped up from the bed and backed away from the prince, bumping into the furniture in her haste.

"Stay away from me!" she cried but at the same time taking note that the prince was fully clothed, confirming her hopes that nothing indecent, relatively, had happened last night.

"Come now, it doesn't need to be this way" purred the prince as he continued to lay across the bed, the picture of masculine virility.

Elena reached the door and pulled on it with all her might - it remained locked. She turned back around to face the prince, who was watching her with amusement in his eyes.

"Let me out" she said in an even, steady voice.

"No" he said, cocking his head to one side, as if sizing her up.

"Let me out" she repeated, anger audible in her voice this time.

The prince slowly climbed off the bed and started towards her. He looked her straight in the eye as he approached her.