Twelve Realms Ch. 03-04

Chapter 3: The Citadel Wilds

That evening the Dowager Duchess presided over a dinner in honor of the princess. As honored guest Fiona was seated at the long table next to Jacob. It was not lost on either of them that Jacob's mother's insistence on following protocol put the two of them next to each other. Fiona enjoyed her meal and engaged in conversation with Jacob and his vassals who sat near to her. The two elderly men had known her father when he was a Page and later Squire to Jacob's grandfather and tried their best to entertain her with stories of their childish exploits. They set her to giggling at images of her papa as a little boy getting into mischief. Every time she stole a glance to her left toward Jacob and was able to catch his eye, he'd give her a smile or nod in encouragement. Duchess Anna, however, had a deep scowl on her face every time she saw Jacob and the Princess exchange glances from the other end of the table. Fiona was determined not to let it take all the joy out of what was an otherwise pleasant meal.

"Lord Santos, I do wish that I had known these stories when I was a child and getting into trouble!" Fiona exclaimed. "I am now more sure than ever that Papa and I were kindred spirits. He just had learned to hide it by the time I was the one that required discipline."

"I am sure he would not have approved of us telling such secrets to his daughter when you were a child, princess," responded Lord Adrian.

"He certainly would not have appreciated his own Page knowing," Jacob said, smiling.

"Ha! You are right, I'm sure. He had to maintain his dignity!"

"Your father left us all too soon, my dear. Our old duke as well."

"Not that your brother and our dear Jacob here are not completely capable men, of course. But we miss William and Benjamin."

"I miss them, too," the princess agreed, tears in her eyes.

Lords Santos and Adrian looked at each other in consternation having caused their beloved princess to cry.

"My dear princess, we do apologize. We should have known that speaking of your father might cause you pain."

"No, my lords, it is I who should apologize. You have entertained me with wonderful stories of my beloved papa. I will treasure them. I like to be able to smile at his memory, but the wound of his loss still opens unexpectedly. It is hardly your fault."

"It is quite all right, Your Highness.

"How long do you expect to be here with us on Citadel," Lord Santos asked. "It is not often we have such illustrious visitors as yourself."

"Never any so beautiful, it's certain."

"My goodness, aren't you the charming ones?

"His Grace tells me that my dear brother insists I stay here until I am healed of my wounds," Fiona said, inclining her head towards Jacob. "I was told by Jake's field surgeon that would be several weeks. I don't know that I agree. The surgeon here in the Kype seems far more optimistic. I do tend to heal more rapidly than most. I have some healing magic of my own that helps to speed things up.

"Not that I am in a hurry to go. I want to see more of Citadel," Fiona met Jacob's eyes as she spoke. "My father always spoke highly of it. Of the people and of the natural beauty."

"That is good to know, princess. We would love to have you visit more frequently."

"Yes. I'd love that, too," Fiona said, making eye contact with Jacob again and smiling shyly.

After dinner everyone was invited into the music room to enjoy some entertainment. A small ensemble played and couples started dancing. Lord Santos asked Fiona to dance and soon she was twirling and laughing in his arms. She danced the next round with Lord Adrian and then found herself Jacob's partner for a reel that left her breathless and giggling. The next dance was slower to allow the dancers to rest. Jacob held Fiona close in his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed in contentment, feeling safe in his embrace.

"You seem tired, princess," Jacob murmured to her as they gently swayed together.

"Oh. I guess I am. It has been a very full day," she said, gazing up into his blue eyes.

"My mother tried to have you moved out of the Lady's Chamber."

"That... that doesn't surprise me, Your Grace."

"I stopped the move. I would like... well, if you want to sleep in the Lady's Chamber... I mean. I understand." Jacob got more embarrassed as he spoke and then fell silent.

Fiona looked into his face, her brows arched. He could see from the smile in her violet eyes and the mischievous curve of her lips that she had no intention of making this conversation easy for him.

"What I'm trying to say is... of course it's your choice about where you sleep, but I would welcome you in my bed... ." Jacob's ears burned pink and he squeezed his eyes shut as they danced.

"Of course I don't want rumors to fly around Citadel," Fiona informed him. "My mother will not be pleased, to say the least, should it become common knowledge that we have been intimate.

"Because of that, I do think it will be best if Elias escorts me back to the Lady's Chamber this evening."

"Of course, Your Highness," Jacob agreed, but he could feel his heart constrict in his chest.

Fiona circled her hands behind his neck and pulled his head down so his ear was next to her lips. "I'll be discrete when I come to you later."

Jacob sighed in relief and grinned at her.

"But don't be surprised when news gets back to your mother. The Dowager Duchess will not keep our secret for long. Especially if I do not inform Edward first myself."

"But once Edward knows, I will be forced to leave Citadel. I can't leave you, Jake. Not now that we've finally shared our love."

The dance ended at Sir Bartholomew asked to dance with the princess and both Jacob and Fiona happily obliged. Jacob partnered with Lady Amber who made sure to let him know how much she liked the princess, giving him her seal of approval. Next Jacob danced with his mother. The dowager was far less enthusiastic about Jacob and his princess.

"Jacob. Dear Jacob," the Duchess said as she danced with him, "you know very well that a relationship with the princess can only end in sorrow. For both of you."

"Mother, I really don't want to talk about it. She and I are both adults now. What we do together is no one's concern but ours."

"That is not true and you know it. She is Princess Royale and regardless of her age the Crown is Warden of her body until she marries. You must send the girl back to Terra. Or you must return to your army immediately. You cannot be together. Better to end it now than to let it continue."

"I already know what you think, mother. No need to hash it out again."

"Very well, Jacob. Then what should we talk about?"

"How is the Memorial Park you are planning in father's honor coming along?"

***

The following day dawned crisp and glorious. The sky over the city of Citadel was cloudless and an intense blue, the sun and the smallest sliver of a crescent of one of the moons shining down on the land below. Jacob decided to declare a Free Day for the city, not least because he had promised Fiona that he would show her his home.

"What do you want to see, princess," Jacob asked Fiona once he'd sent Elias to inform the city guards of the Free Day so that the news could be spread.

"I want to see the land around your city. I want to see the Wilds. Will you take me there?"

"Of course, my love."

They went down to the stables where Jake had two horses saddled for them and they set out along the groomed paths, across the green landing fields, and down to the broad boulevard of trees leading to the unsullied Wilds of Citadel. They dismounted and tied the horses at the edge of the ancient forest. The trees towered over them, the leaves just starting to change to the colors of autumn. Jacob and Fiona walked silently together, fingers entwined, in the dappled sunshine that filtered to the ground.

"Do you visit here very often, Jacob?" Fiona's voice sounded even more musical next to the sounds of birds and the wind that rustled the leaves of the wood.

"Not as often as I'd like," Jacob acknowledged. "Father would bring me here when I was small, before I went to Terra to be page to your father. And I would visit every time I came home while I was Squire. But in the two years since... well, since I became Duke, I haven't come here as often. I've been wrapped up in the war." Jacob turned a sad smile on her. "And the happy memories make me miss father even more."

Fiona brought his fingers to her mouth and kissed them softly, her violet eyes sad at their shared loss.

"I am sorry, Jake. In my own pain at losing Papa, I forget that you lost your father, too."

"The Emperor has a lot to answer for," Jake said, his voice fierce.

"Yes, he does. But not today," Fiona said, her eyes bright.

"I want to feel the earth on my toes," she said, releasing his hand and sitting down on a felled tree. She drew off her shoes and then her stockings. Then she stood, arms outstretched, and dug her toes into the dark loam of the forest floor, a contented smile on her face.

"Beautiful Citadel. I already love you," she murmured.

"Take your boots off, Jake," she directed him. "You need to feel Citadel's life through your feet. I know you can taste it on your tongue right now. And breath it into your lungs. And smell how alive it is. But you need to feel it on your feet."

He looked at Fiona, one eyebrow arched, but did as he was told. He sat and pulled off his boots and socks and placed them neatly next to where Fiona had placed her shoes and stockings. Then he stood and buried his toes, letting out a long breath and then sucked one in and opened his eyes in wonder.

"Fi. Fi. How did you know," he whispered.

"Jake. I... Jake, I don't know how I know. I just do. You need to feel Citadel on your skin. It gives you strength.

"Let's walk a bit."

They walked for several minutes, hand-in-hand, the only sounds of nature around them.

"Do you remember when I used the Land Law magic when I was a little girl?"

"Of course, beloved," Jake said, smiling. "How could I forget? You saved my life."

"How long was I in a coma after that before mother thought to bring me to the Wilds? It was many days. But once she brought me in and lay me down on the bare soil... I healed and felt whole in no time at all."

"No one living understands the Land Law. Certainly I don't."

"But I am sure that the Land Law and the Wilds are linked somehow.

"I tried to use it on D-702 but it didn't answer my call. I don't know why. It makes me wonder whether... well, whether I'm not worthy any more," she said with tears in her eyes. "Did I defile the land somehow? Maybe being gone from Terra for so long... I haven't communed with the Wilds there since... since I was banished to Academy. And I'm not allowed anywhere but the Kype and University on Academy, so I haven't communed their, either.

"Being here, in these Wilds, feels like coming home. I've missed this so very much."

They could hear the babbling of a brook somewhere off to their right. Suddenly they burst into a clearing at the edge of a wide pond that sparkled in the morning light.

"Oh, yes," Fiona murmured, then turned a grin to Jacob as her fingers bunched up the fabric of her dress so she could pull it off over her head. "Suppose it's warm enough for a swim?" she asked before taking off at a run, directly toward the water.

"I'm sure it's plenty warm," Jake said, grinning as he pulled off his tunic and trews and dived in after her.

"It's fed by a hot spring, you know," he told her. "It's warm enough to swim even in the dead of winter."

"It feels wonderful," Fiona sighed, leaning back to float on her back.

"You look wonderful," Jacob said, his deep voice rough with desire. He looked, fascinated, at the droplets of water that dotted her skin, from the tips of the dark red nipples on the peaks of her bare breasts down to the pewter curls between her legs. She sparkled in the morning sunlight. She flipped over and swam towards him. They kissed passionately for several minutes, her hands on his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his hips.

"I will drown us both if we try to make love in the water," Jake said apologetically.

"Mmmm. I don't want that," Fiona smiled. "Follow me," her voice was low with her desire. "

She led him to the edge of the water and pulled him down to lay on his back and slid her hands over his chest, her fingers combing softly through the coarse hair there. They kissed, their tongues tasting each other, their lips tugging on each other. Her plump breasts squeezed against his chest. She leaned back and swung her leg over his hips and straddled him, rocking her hips, sliding the tip of his cock along her wet folds.

Jacob stared up at the goddess above him. He was entranced by the sparkles of water in her hair, the droplets falling from the tips of her nipples onto his chest, the rivulets of water that slid between her breasts and down her torso to splash on his abdomen. He met her eyes and groaned as she slid down on his cock, her lips parted in a soft sigh. His hands went to her hips and he thrust hard up into her.

"No!" she cried out, sitting down on him hard. "No. Don't. I want to do this. Let me do this."

Jacob relaxed under her and watched her throw her head back and then she began to rotate her hips in a slow, sensuous circle. He let out a low moan of pleasure and closed his eyes enjoying how she felt around him. She leaned forward and put her hands against his chest to steady herself as she moved the back of her feet to the tops of his hard thighs, allowing her more range of motion to slide up and down on him. She rode him for several minutes before Jacob finally cried out.

"Gods Fiona!" he shouted. "I am not going to last much longer."

"Mmm... Jake...," she gasped. "I want you to take me from behind. It feels right to join like beasts while we are in the Wilds."

He flipped her over so he was on top of her and then knelt above her, grasping her by the hips and flipping her over onto her hands and knees. She was covered in the mud of the pond from head to toe. Jake rubbed it into the skin of her round ass, mesmerized by the contrast between her pale white skin of her hip and the dark, almost black, mud. He lined himself at her opening and surged back into her.

"Oh Jake! Yessss!" she cried out as he moaned his own pleasure.

His right hand slid around her hip to where their bodies were joined and his fingers delved through the curls at the apex of her thighs, finding her clit and stroking it. In moments Fiona was whimpering and shaking towards her climax. In a handful of thrusts, she was screaming through an orgasm and he was filling her with his potent seed. He held himself above her, still filling her, for several moments until his body collapsed on top of hers, pushing her into the mud underneath them. He barely had the energy to lift himself off of her and help her to turn back onto her back. He gazed at her lovingly as she lay under him. Her eyes, which stared back into his, were dark, her pale violet irises swallowed up with her arousal. Her normally silver hair was dark with mud and water. Her ordinarily pale skin was covered in the black mud of the pond bottom. He caressed her face and grinned at the swath of mud he left behind.

"You look like one of the Old Gods of Citadel," he murmured to her.

"I feel renewed," she sighed in response. "Can you feel it?"

"I feel... calm? Relieved? Like up until this moment, I was under tension, but it was so constantly a part of my life, I didn't notice it until it was gone."

"It feels more like... acceptance... to me. Like it doesn't matter that Crown Law forbids our coupling because Citadel Herself approves of me as your consort."

The two of them dove back into the deeper water to cleanse themselves of the mud from the shore line and then climbed back out of the water to lay on the soft grass between the shore and the treeline to dry in the sun.

"Fiona! Look at your shoulder!" Jacob traced his fingers over the silvery scar that was now the only evidence of her battle on D-702. "The scar looks years old, not just days."

"I've always known the Wilds are a place for healing, Jake.

"Jacob?"

"Yes, my love?"

"I just want you to know that I love Citadel. And if it were up to me, I'd spend the rest of my life here with you."

***

On the morning of her third day on Citadel, Fiona came out of the Duke's chambers to find Elias.

"Good morning, Elias," the Princess said brightly to the boy.

"Good morning, Your Highness," he answered, smiling.

"The Duke has asked me to give you some instructions on etiquette and protocol this morning. He is busy with some planning and feels like you will be wasting your time just waiting for him. Will you join me in the great hall?"

"Of course, Your Highness."

"Excellent.

"Remember, you are a Lord and I am a Lady of a higher station. As a gentleman, you should guide me so I won't stumble. Hold out your left arm out for me to hold as you guide me through these dark corridors. That leaves your right arm free to protect me should we encounter any ruffians!"

Elias smiled and bent his arm and held his elbow out for Fiona to grip lightly. He lead her to the great hall, his head held high with confidence.

"Very good, Elias. Your parents should be very proud of you.

"I will sit in the Duchess's seat and you will greet me as you would her."

"As the Dowager Duchess or as His Grace's consort?"

"Ahhh..." Fiona blanched but quickly recovered. "As the Dowager Duchess, please. No sense in practicing for someone who doesn't exist yet. And it might matter her station before they wed."

"But won't you be His Grace's consort, Your Highness?"

"No, Elias," she responded, tears in the corners of her eyes. "Crown Law forbids it."

"I'm sorry, My Lady," Elias knew he had brought her pain with his questions.

"It's fine, Elias," she tried to reassure him. "It is complicated. When you are older you will be taught more about Crown Law.

"For now let's practice our protocol.

"How do you bow to the Dowager Duchess?"

Elias demonstrated a perfect bow.

"Is that the same or different from how you bow to the Duchess of Academy?"

"It is... the same, Your Highness," he responded, confused.

"But should it be? The Duchess of Academy is your dear mother. The Dowager Duchess of Citadel is the mother of your Lord. Perhaps they do deserve the same honor. But I think maybe your mother should be the most important lady in your life until you have your own consort. You might want to think about that."

"Yes, ma'am.

"Can you show me how you make a distinction? I mean how do you show respect at court?"

"I am lucky in that it isn't complicated. And things do get less complicated when you are an adult, too.

"I am Princess Royale so the only Ladies who have precedence before me are my mother the Dowager Queen and Her Majesty, the Queen Consort," Fiona curtsied low to the floor, her elegant skirts flowing to the floor around her. "However, I also defer to the Dowager Duchess of Citadel. She is my elder and widow of my father's best friend... and mother to my love. I honor her above all ladies save my mother and sister-in-law."

"And how is that different from how you honor the king?"

"My dear brother," she gracefully curtsied so low that her forehead nearly touched the skirt of her dress.

Elias clapped his hands, delighted, as she rose back to a standing position.

"Lucky for me, Edward doesn't expect that sort of genuflection very often. Only when I am formally introduced at court."

"How about my father? How do you bow to his rank?"

"Well, technically your parents and the other Dukes and Duchesses are below my rank. However, they are my elders, so I curtsy as to an equal," she showed him. "After I wed... well, it doesn't matter because I won't be marrying. But in general, when a Royal Princess marries, the shades that go with honoring elders goes away. And it depends on the rank of her husband, I suppose. The only way for me to improve my rank would be to marry a king from another sector. Any other match would leave me my rank as Royal Princess."