Twelve Realms Ch. 11

Author's note: Everyone in this story would be over 18 if they were normal humans.

*****

Chapter 11: Winter Solstice

The king and queen, and a large group of courtiers, stood on the landing platform below the Kype on Terra and waited for the prince, princess, and their companions to disembark. Fiona could see her father towering over all the others. She allowed her gaze to stutter over the form at the back of the crowd, the only one there who came close to the king's stature. Edward marched down the gangplank, his sister on one arm and Lady Melissa on the other, a huge smile on his face. He walked up to the king and queen and bowed while Fiona and Melissa dropped into deep curtsies.

The king embraced his son while the queen pulled her daughter into a hug.

"It's good to have you back, darling," Maeve said to her.

"Thank you, mama."

The king enveloped Fiona in a bear hug causing the girl to let out a startled yelp and squeal.

"I have missed you, Häschen," he said after kissing her soundly.

"I missed you too, papa."

Fiona held William's arm and let him guide her into the Kype while she avoided scanning the crowd for two familiar blue eyes.

"Your mother has arranged for a seamstress to come to you today to take your measurements for new gowns," William told Fiona as they walked together. "Your maid contacted her and told her you need clothes."

"Oh. Well, yes. I guess. I don't really notice."

"Of course, princess. It's not important in the greater scheme of things, but it will make your mother happy."

***

Fiona stood on a raised platform as a seamstress hemmed a new dark red velvet dress. Her mother sat and watched, nodding in satisfaction.

"You will have a dozen new gowns, in the latest fashion, darling. A gift to you for Winter Solstice."

"Thank you, mama.

"Could I get some more... Well, I need casual clothes too, mama."

"I can make her some trousers, your majesty," the seamstress told them. "And she can select some different styles and I can make her some blouses as well."

"I don't think it's appropriate for a Royal Princess to go about so casually."

"Mama, please? I..."

"I will think about it, darling."

"Okay, mama," Fiona responded, her eyes downcast.

"Edward has decided to have a Ball for you children tonight, baby. He mentioned you in particular not being allowed at the Solstice celebration tomorrow, since you haven't yet debuted. Mrs. Berry will have a dress ready for you this afternoon."

"I'm not a child, mother. And I don't need to go to a ball."

"Your brother insists that you do. And he's already invited all the young heirs and their siblings so I suggest you go along with it."

Fiona just nodded, her mouth in a hard line.

"I will be back with your gown for tonight in a few hours, Your Highness," Mrs. Berry said as she gathered up her supplies.

"Thank you, Mrs. Berry," the queen said. "I do appreciate your quick work."

***

That evening after dinner Fiona found herself dancing with her brother amid dozens of other couples in the Great Hall of the Kype.

"Edward, I really didn't want this," Fiona sighed at her brother. "I don't mind not having a ball."

"But you are such a great dancer, Fi. And it's good for you to have fun with other Ladies and Lords."

"But Ed, most of these Ladies hate me. A lot of the Lords, too."

"I'm sure that's not true. Some of the Ladies are jealous of you, but most of them just don't know you. This is an opportunity to get to know them."

Fiona shook her head, but didn't say anything. She soon found herself being passed from lordling to lordling. She enjoyed dancing with some of Edward's close friends and Melissa's brothers, but would have fled from Erik of Crispian had she been able to free herself from his touch. She knew what he thought of her and who his friends were and had no desire to spend a moment with him.

"Hey baby, why so tense?" he asked while he leered at her.

"Please get away from me," she said through clenched teeth.

"I just want to dance, baby," he said, running his left hand up and under her breast, giving it a squeeze. Fiona gasped and would have struck him had he not grabbed her left hand tightly with his right and pushed her firmly against his body with his left. Her face was bright red due to a mixture of anger and embarrassment by the time the music ended. She tried to flee but Erik refused to let go of her until another man stepped up and took her hand from his. She heard him dismiss Erik with an angry growl.

Fiona had a moment of confusion as the music changed and she saw that Jacob now held her as her body flowed to the music without her conscious thought. She looked up into his eyes but he refused to look at her. She could feel her body tremble in his arms as she looked up into his face. When she realized he had no intention of either talking to her or looking at her she couldn't hold back the tears from her eyes. As the music stopped, Jacob finally looked into her eyes. The hard look on his face undid her. She couldn't contain a sob. She imagined she heard the sound of her own heart breaking as he released her hands and turned away from her.

Had Fiona been a woman more experienced with love she might have realized that Jacob was trying to keep his emotional distance in order to protect himself from the feelings he had for her. She might have realized that he was showing her his love the only way he could at that moment, trying to protect her. But in her youth and inexperience all she felt was rejection from her one true love. She rushed away from the Great Hall and to her own quarters in the Princess's Tower and cried, much as she had the morning her mother told her she needed to keep her distance from Jake. She realized at that moment that her running away to Sabbatical had been for naught. Her feelings for Jacob were as strong as ever.

After having a good long cry, Fiona called for Elsa to come help her remove her gown and help her with ther nightgown.

"Princess, I see that you've been crying again. I thought your time on Sabbatical had gotten you over that."

"Oh, Elsa. I do wish that were true. I thought it had helped, but now I'm not so sure."

Fiona slept fitfully that night, dreaming of Jacob's eyes gazing down at her, his face indifferent as she cried out that she loved him still.

***

Still at the ball, Jacob did what he could to hide the trembling of his own body. He hadn't been blind to Fiona in the slightest. His heart ached for her. He knew he had hurt her. He had seen her eyes in the moment before he turned away from her. He left the ball without looking back, his heart heavy as he reached his quarters and went in to sleep.

In the morning Jacob went to the king's study to work. William noticed his squire was more subdued than normal, but did not inquire as to its cause.

"We will have a short day today, Sparta," the king told him. "Edward and James will earn their spurs this afternoon and then the grand Solstice Ball. Aren't you looking forward to it?"

"Yes, sire. I suppose I am. Although I think Ed is scheming something for tonight. He thought his ball for the younger folk last night was a great success so I think he has... ideas... for tonight."

"He probably does. We will let him have his fun. Once he has his spurs he will have adult responsibilities. Tomorrow he is an adult. Tonight... well, tonight can be one last chance for some boyish shenanigans."

***

After the ceremony elevating Edward and James from squires to knights, the large group of young people, most of whom had been at the ball the night before, were celebrating in the Great Hall. Everyone had a glass in his or her hand, or was smoking some exotic drug. Jacob carefully sipped at a drink that no one but him knew was ice water and stood at the edge of the room, watching the party but not participating.

"Hey, Jake!" Edward shouted, sidling up to the younger man. "Where is my sister? Have you seen her today?"

"No, I haven't," Jacob responded, instantly nervous about what Fi might have disclosed to Edward. "Why would I have?"

"Oh. When she was in Sabbatical she said she spent a lot of time with father while he was working so I figured she had gone back to that and you would have seen her today."

"Ah. Well she didn't come to see the king today, so far as I'm aware."

"I haven't seen her since I saw her dancing with you last night. Was she doing okay then?"

"She seemed to be. But she danced with Erik before me and was clearly not happy about it. She didn't talk much..." Jacob had a moment to be grateful that Edward wasn't paying close attention to him as he did his best to give him the truth that was clearly not the whole truth.

"Okay. Let me know if you see her, will you?"

"Of course, Ed."

Jacob wandered around the room some more, dropping in on conversations with friends but not staying in any one place with any one group of people for long. Edward again sought him out.

"Erik Crispian is a complete dick," Edward hissed to Jacob. "I heard him bragging about groping Fi when they danced yesterday. If I'd seen that, he'd have no teeth left!"

Jacob clenched his fists and ground his teeth. When he realized what he was doing, he made an effort to relax his jaw.

"I knew she was upset. She surely had reason to be."

"I asked around and Fi hasn't left her tower today. She is missing out on all this fun. Can you go get her and bring her here?"

"I... . I don't think that... ."

"Great. I knew I could count on you. Fi has always liked and trusted you. You'll be able to coax her down here."

Jacob shook his head but chose not to argue with his prince and steeled himself to confront Fiona as he headed towards her tower.

He stood outside her door in her foyer for several minutes before building up the nerve to knock. He waited for a few minutes and then knocked again, louder this time.

Jacob knocked for a third time. "Fiona! Please! Edward sent me."

Fiona opened her door a crack and eyed him.

"Go away Jacob," she said before slamming the door closed. Or at least attempting to. Jacob had already wedged the toe of his boot in the door in anticipation of her reaction. Fiona's eyes widened as the door bounced off his foot and opened further.

"Please invite me in, princess," Jacob said. "Please?"

"Fine," she hissed. "Come in, then." She pulled her dressing gown around her more tightly and glared at him.

"Edward wants you to come down to his party," Jacob told her, closing the door behind him. "He sent me to bring you down."

"Edward would have had to try hard to send someone I want to see less than I want to see YOU!" she yelled, her voice dripping with venom.

"Gods, FI! I'm just trying to do my duty to the king and to the Twelve Realms! I didn't want this! I love you!" Jacob immediately regretted his outburst and his face colored in embarrassment.

"What?" Fiona whispered to him, tears in her eyes.

"I love you. I've always loved you," he responded softly, turning his back to her. "I hate that I'm hurting you."

She closed the distance between them, her steps tentative, until she could place her hand on his shoulder. He turned to face her at her touch. His face screwed up in pain, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Jake?" Fiona met his eyes, her hands on his chest.

"I want to touch you, but I can't," he said, his hands balled into fists. "I want to kiss you, but you can't be mine."

Fiona's hands wound around the back of his neck and pulled his face down to hers so that their foreheads touched and they were nose-to-nose. They looked into each other's eyes for a long time before they both tilted their heads to the side and their lips met. They kissed desperate for each other. Jacob closed his eyes and savored the feeling of her lips against his. Fiona moaned in longing, her hands holding him against her. His hands fell to her hips and held her against him.

"Oh, Jake," she murmured. "I missed you so much."

"Fiona... we have to stop," Jacob sighed as they kissed. "We can't... . I can't." It took Jacob a long time to build the strength to pull away from Fiona's soft lips.

"Fi... Stop...," Jake tried to keep her at arm's length.

"Jake... I love you, Jake."

"I love you too, Fiona," he sighed. "We can't be together. We can't."

He watched tears slide down her cheeks and pulled her into his arms more tightly.

"I'm sure your brother is wondering where we are," Jacob said into her hair. "Can you at least make an appearance at his party? It's important to him"

"I... I suppose," Fiona agreed after a moment. "Give me a few minutes."

She shed her dressing gown and Jacob caught a glimpse of her naked back and tiny panties. She pulled on her corset and turned towards him

"Can you tie the stays," she asked, turning her back to him and lifting her hair off of her neck.

"Of course, princess," he murmured, gently pulling her tight. He found it impossible to resist stroking the bare skin of her shoulders when he completed his task.

She selected one of her new gowns in dark purple velvet out of her wardrobe and pulled it on.

"Fasten me?"

Jacob made quick work of the zipper and buttons on her gown. They stood with her back pressed to his chest for several minutes. He leaned in and kissed her where her neck curved into her shoulder causing her to gasp and tremble.

"You smell delicious," he whispered to her.

"I... I'll get my shoes..."

Fiona held on to Jacob's arm as he guided her from her tower through the Kype to the Great Hall. Jacob spied Edward from across the room and lead Fiona to him.

"Jake! Mission accomplished, hey?"

Fiona gave Edward a kiss and smiled at him.

"What is so important that you sent Jacob to get me when I was perfectly content to spend the evening feeling sorry for myself alone in my tower?"

"I'm glad you're here to ask that, sweet sister," Edward said with a huge smile on his face.

"All right everyone," Edward bellowed. "Listen up!"

The crowd slowly settled to pay attention to Ed's announcement.

"We are going to have some fun tonight! It's hide-and-seek anywhere in the Kype. I am 'it' and everyone I find helps the search. Last person found gets bragging rights!

"No using glamour to hide!" Ed said, eyeing his sister, who nodded her agreement.

"I'll count to 100 before I start looking!"

Edward covered his eyes and started counting while the guests fled the room. Fiona grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him behind her towards her tower. When they reached the corridor junction they had a choice between going to Fiona's tower or to the Royal apartments.

"The Princess's Tower has a lot of empty suites," Fiona suggested. "Lots of places to hide."

"But Ed isn't going to think we'll hide in the Royal apartments," Jacob argued. "He'll look in your tower for sure."

"You're right. Come on!" Fiona pulled him along until they reached another set of doors.

"The king's chamber or the queen's?"

"Ed won't go into my mother's boudoir, I'm sure of that."

"Well, then... after you," Jacob opened the door and motioned Fiona to lead him into the room. He closed the door behind him and turned to look at the princess.

They gazed into each other's eyes for several long moments before stepping towards each other and falling into a passionate kiss. Fiona's hands went to his shirt and swiftly unbuttoned it. She caressed his bare chest and kissed him at the base of his neck. She could hear his ragged breathing and the gallop of his heart as she pressed her body against his.

"You know we shouldn't do this," he moaned, but his hands caressed her shoulders and then moved to her back to unfasten her dress.

"I know we shouldn't," she sighed, her mouth against his hot skin. "But I need you Jake. I need to touch you."

Once her gown was loose about her shoulders, she shrugged out of it and let it fall to the floor at her feet. Jacob stripped off his shirt and pulled her against his body, plunging his mouth back on to hers. His fingers loosened her stays and in moments she stood before him, wearing nothing but her tiny panties, her naked breasts heaving with her rapid breaths.

"Oh... oh... Gods," she moaned as he carried her over to her mother's bed.

They lay together, gently stroking each other, kissing softly and tenderly. Fiona's right hand found the bulge of Jacob's erection confined in his trousers and stroked him lightly. His lips trailed down her chest, he gently licked and then sucked on her nipple until she moaned. She squeezed him through his pants and he gasped and she heard his breath hitch. Then a warm wetness seeped through his clothes to her fingers.

"Jake? Did I... I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, princess," Jacob whispered hoarsely, kissing her back up her neck. She shivered as he breathed into her ear. "I can't resist you."

The continued leisurely kissing and stroking each other. Jacob slid his fingers under the waistband of Fiona's silk panties and she rocked her hips in encouragement. He pulled the silk down her legs and she lifted up to help him remove them. He softly petted the damp pewter-colored curls at the apex of her legs. He gently found her cleft and dipped his fingers in her arousal. He pushed her down onto her back and teased around her nub and her hips rocked even more urgently.

"Jacob... Jacob... what are you doing? I need you... oh Gods! I need... please!" Fiona moaned. When he finally touched her where she ached to be touched she yelped. She grunted and moaned to the rhythm of his finger as he stroked her, his other hand pinching and rolling her breasts and nipples, his mouth on hers as she finally stiffened and then trembled in orgasm.

"Jake! Jake... I didn't know... Oh Gods!

"I need you Jake... " Fiona's hand slid inside his trousers and her fingers wrapped around him.

"Fi... No... We can't. I can't." His hand fell to her wrist but he didn't have the will to pull her hand away.

They continued kissing while she pumped him with her fingers, he wouldn't let her free him from the confines of his clothing. Just as she brought him to another orgasm, this time into her palm, the heavy wooden door swung open and in walked the king and queen, as surprised to see their daughter and Jacob as the two young lovers were to see them. The king was the first to recover. He roared with rage. Jacob, having just experienced the bliss of a climax, was slower to react, but had the presence of mind to quickly slide off the bed and place himself between a naked Fiona and her parents. In the rush of adrenaline he felt wetness against his bare abdomen and realized that Fiona had smeared her handful of ejaculate along his body when she pulled her hand away.

"GODS DAMMIT JAKE!" the king thundered.

"I... We... ," Jacob stammered.

"SHUT! IT!"

The king's eyes flashed with rage. Magic crackled around the queen's head and hands like a personal electrical storm. The king lunged towards the younger man and wrapped his huge hand around Jacob's upper arm, his fingers biting into the skin.

"Papa!" Fiona's shout was echoed by a crash of thunder at lightning struck the roof above them.

"Be quiet, little girl! Control yourself!

"Wife, see to our daughter while I deal with this boy!"

"JAKE!" Fiona screamed from the tight hold of her mother's arms, trying to follow them as her father dragged the younger man from the room.

The king pulled Jacob behind him into the corridor, down the hall, and to his study, where he threw him into a chair, all to the cacophony of a tremendous thunderstorm just outside the Kype.

"What the fuck, Jake!"

"We... I... ," Jacob was still incoherent.

"Stay where you are!" the king pointed at the younger man and stalked out of the room only to march back in, moments later, and dump Jacob's shirt and boots into his lap.