<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326106-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-1-(F-M)&>Part 1 (F/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326144-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-2-(F-M)>Part 2 (F/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326180-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-3-(F-M)&>Part 3 (F/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326203-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-4-(FF-M)>Part 4 (FF/M)</a>
<a href= http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326307-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-5-(M-M)>Part 5 (M/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326350-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-6-(FFFFFF-M-M-M)>Part 6 (FFFFFF/M, M/M)</a>
<a href = https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326384-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-7-(FM-M)>Part 7 (FM/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326551-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-8-(F-M)>Part 8 (F/M)</a>
“What do you mean, take Katas?” Elana stepped out of the horse carriage, adjusting the black waves that almost fell to her elbows. Ahead, David stood as still as a statue, his overgrown blonde hair in complete disarray. Samuel was at the foot of General Cilen’s horse, frowning. He was badly injured, with pink scars and thick scabs marring his olive skin. A bandage hung over his right eyebrow and almost covered his eye, but the white patch was almost hidden under his wild black curls.
“I mean we take Katas,” Samuel repeated. “It’s a resistance stronghold, from what I understand.”
“We know it is.” Elana made her way to David’s side. Her rebel had escaped the gladiator circuits not a day before, and once again had a feral energy burning in his deep brown eyes. He may be king of Cerces, but David was a survivor first. He knew what he stood for.
He turned to her. “We need to.”
“Yes,” Samuel agreed. “We’ll shut down the circuit there.”
“Of course. I’m keeping that promise.” David set his jaw.
Elana hesitated. “Rebel, I understand that’s important to you, but please remember—”
“I know. Taria is our first priority.”
“Please.” She gripped his elbow. “Give that selfish bitch hell for me.”
He smiled as she struggled with the curses. “Of course, Princess.”
General Cilen leaned forward. “Are you up for this? Both of you look awful.”
Samuel snorted, and David bristled. “I’m fine. I’ve fought with way worse.”
Elana poked his right shoulder, and he let out a keening whine.
“Fine, huh?” She smirked.
“Fine,” he hissed again. “It’s just my shoulder.”
“We can wait a couple of days. At least until you can swing a sword.”
Cilen shrugged. “It’s a good idea, sir. Neither you or Sam are in good shape. We can camp in the fields outside the city, if it’s easier.”
“Sure, General,” David admitted. “It sounds like a plan.”
“Alright.” Samuel straightened. “You can ride in the carriage with the princess, Dave. I’ll lead the battalion.”
“But I’m king,” David began, reaching for a nearby horse, but Elana grabbed his hand and tugged him back into the carriage.
“A king should be with his queen, don’t you think?” She smiled at him as he tripped over the last step and fell across her lap again.
“I guess.” He rubbed his face and offered her a warm smile. This was the David she loved, a big unapologetic heart who put others above himself. She’d bullied him for changing too much, just before he went missing. Somehow she’d forgotten exactly who he was when he was first thrown into her bedroom all those months ago, with spite and hatred twisting his sharp, intelligent features. David was a warrior, a predator who had not just survived but thrived in the gladiator circuits. Now he was a rebel king.
He chuckled. “You’re staring, Princess.”
She shook her head. “Sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a good look at you.”
He smirked, sitting up and straddling her lap. “Am I that handsome?”
“Maybe.” She prodded his navel. He yelped and grabbed her shoulder, cursing.
“Princess, I can’t… I can’t do this.”
She faltered. “Are you okay?”
He huffed and pressed his head against her chest. “I am, I promise. I just… I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Elana pulled his chin up and brought him into a proper hug. “What happened?”
“S-Sam told you, didn’t he?”
“I want to hear it from you.”
His eyes went wide. “I don’t think you want to… it wasn’t—”
“Rebel, you were abused. I could never be mad at you for that.”
He puffed up his chest. “I was not abused—”
“Anyone can be abused.” She set a hand on his wounded shoulder, easing up as he grimaced. “I understand your strength, David, but I also know this was different than some guards beating the tar out of you. Now tell me what happened.”
“I don’t want to. I think I cheated on you,” he mumbled.
“No.” She grabbed his chin. “Did you agree to anything?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you didn’t cheat.” She set her jaw. “You didn’t. I trust you on that.”
“Okay.” David sighed. “I was captured, and Luim—”
“The old captain of the castle guard?”
He nodded, and tears started running down his cheeks. “Luim stepped in and made sure I was put back in the gladiator circuit. Sam and I were set up in a death match against each other, but Sam threw away his sword and tickled me instead.”
“Clever.”
“He saved my life.” David wiped his nose. “But people really liked watching me tortured like that.”
Elana had to fight a smile. It was, in fact, very entertaining to see her king squirm. But he fell against her, burying his face in her breasts. She wrapped his arms around him, feeling him shake in her grasp.
“Every night… every night. Many of them at once. One would make me cum, and then they’d tickle me until I blacked out. My bad shoulder got worse, but they didn’t care. Sam always had to help me put it back in.”
Elana pressed her chin against the crown of his head. “Rebel, if I have any say in it, this will never happen to you, or anyone, ever again. I swear on my life.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
“But…” she nudged him back. “But you have to listen to me when I tell you no, and you can’t run off in the middle of the night to pull a stupid stunt like that. Understand?”
He nodded and offered a teary smile.
“Don’t give me that look, rebel.” Elana chuckled and pulled him into a kiss by the knot of his ascot.
***
The carriage stopped, and once again Samuel threw open its door, grinning. Once again, his face fell, and he stumbled down the carriage’s steps, a hand over his eyes. “Ah, <i>fuck!”</i>
Elana struggled to straighten her hair and dress. David wiped his swollen lips and jumped to his feet, bristling. “What the hell, Sam?”
“We’re at camp!” Samuel scowled. “Maybe now you two can get a room.”
“We are in a room,” David snapped back, trying and failing to do up his dress shirt’s buttons. “Maybe you should learn to knock!”
“You’re in a godsdamned carriage, you idiot! At least this time you have your dick in your pants.” Samuel stalked away, further into the field they had stopped in.
“Would you shut up?” David yelled after him.
“Calm down, rebel.” Elana tugged him back inside by his good hand, attempting to placate his wild hair. She did up his shirt, tucked his ascot back into his vest, and pecked him on the lips.
David stared down at his clothes in awe. “How did you do that?”
“Practice. Now let’s go be royalty.” She took a step out of the carriage, careful to draw up the hem of her sleeveless dress as she made her way into the weeds. Regal. Hopefully her hair could fall over her chest to disguise the red handprint David had left behind when he popped out her breast.
David followed, pausing long enough to scowl at Samuel as they stepped into the largest tent in the field. Elana sighed, then took a seat at the table in its center. The space looked exactly like the war room they had left behind in their castle, complete with General Cilen pacing in front of her chalkboard, twisting a pointer between her fingers.
David raised an eyebrow as he took a seat next to Elana. “General?”
“Highnesses! You’re here!” Cilen snapped out of her trance. “I’m glad we can go over some strategies to invade Katas.”
Elana took a breath. “An invasion?”
“It can’t be anything less, Princess. There are too many ways this can go wrong.” Samuel stepped into the tent and closed the canvas flap behind him. David still glowered at his general, but placed his attention on Cilen and the chalkboard behind her, which bore a map of the city rather than of the whole kingdom.
“I agree,” Cilen continued, slapping an ellipse on the board with her pointer. “This is the gladiator arena. We can concur this is fully operational and a resistance stronghold.” When both Samuel and David nodded, she moved on to a cross in the western section of the map. “This is where Yesmir and her battalion was attacked, and,” another cross, this one in the east, “this is where Goldleaf led us, where the remnants of your battalion was found, sir. Both are choke points leading to the city’s central squares.”
“I was cornered by a pair of resistance fighters in a store on that street.” David stood.
Samuel folded his arms. “I was caught by a patrol at the city limit.”
“So we can agree this Katas is the resistance capital.” Cilen smacked the chalkboard.
“We can.” Samuel reclined, planting his boots on the armrest of a nearby chair. “It’s the last stronghold, too. When it falls, the war is truly over.”
“I wouldn’t say that, Samuel.” Elana glanced over. “Maybe the last organized resistance will fall, but people don’t need organization to wreak havoc. Especially those with too much money and time on their hands, like a few circuit owners who’re being put out of a job.”
“Those assholes need to figure their own shit out without taking slaves and killing kids.” David scowled, his brown eyes growing frigid. “I promised we’d end the circuits. We’re going to end them.”
“So we need to lead an army into the city.” Cilen turned back to the board. “The choke points Yesmir and David discovered are going to be an issue, but with enough troops, we can break through.”
David raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, with enough troops?”
“They’re choke points for a reason, sir.” Cilen paced around the table. “The gladiator circuit is thriving, which means it has an audience and troops guarding it. Everything we’ve tried so far has failed. You don’t understand how lucky we were to break you and Samuel out.”
“This is important.” David set his hands on the table, his voice stern. “Taria’s alive. Luim’s alive. Both are in that gods-forsaken city, and I can guarantee you Luim is helping Taria rebuild an army loyal only to them. This resistance should have been shut down <i>yesterday.”</i> He cursed. “But we can’t throw the lives of our soldiers away trying to force our way into a stronghold.”
Cilen hesitated. “Sir, I really don’t think there’s any other way—”
He looked up. “What if you kill me?”
Elana’s heart dropped into her stomach. “What?”
“I’m a traitor. Not just to Astal, either. I betrayed you, Princess.”
“Bullshit, David.” Elana stared at him, fumbling over the curse so unfamiliar to her. “You didn’t betray anyone.”
“You don’t understand, Princess. I was taken by Luim and Taria and tortured. It’s where this first happened.” He tapped his wounded shoulder.
Cilen raised her eyebrows. “Did you give up any information?”
“Of course not.” David scoffed. “But you all don’t know that.”
“What are you saying?”
“Sam?” He gestured. “What’s the punishment for treason?”
“Death,” his lieutenant replied automatically, then his dark eyes shot wide. “Oh.”
“So put me to ‘death.’ Offer my ‘corpse’ as an olive branch. Explain you were an idiot for trusting me. Beg her to come back and help, because you don’t know how to run the kingdom without your father, because you’re too young.” David offered Elana a conniving smile. “Stroke the hell out of that murdering bitch’s ego.”
“Because we’re not going to win a siege without major casualties,” Cilen elaborated. “You’re going to bait the leadership out of the city instead.”
David snapped his fingers, winking. “Exactly.”
Samuel stared. “Dave, that’s incredibly dangerous.”
“What he said.” Elana clenched her fists. “I’m not going to lose you again, rebel.”
David pouted. “You’re not going to lose me—”
“Use your head, kid,” Samuel interrupted. “If I was them, the first thing I would do is stab the body one last time to make sure it’s actually dead. That captain isn’t an idiot. You could get really hurt.”
“And if it’s just Elana, I, and those two assholes?” David raised an eyebrow. “I’ll hide a sword under my clothes. While Elana distracts them, I run them both through.”
It wasn’t a terrible plan. Suicidal, maybe, but not terrible. Elana chewed her lip. “This will save soldiers’ lives?”
“No question,” Cilen replied.
“I promise I’ll be safe, Princess. Even then, my life is a small price to pay in exchange for gods-know how many others’ lives.” David shrugged.
Elana turned. “Does anyone else object to this?”
“My troops are my priority, Highness,” Cilen said.
Samuel pulled a face, but pointed at the general with a shrug.
Elana’s mouth worked in disbelief, but she shook her head all the same. “Fine. But not until David can lift a sword without crying.”
David nodded, and Cilen made her way to the tent’s flap to hold it open as they left. “Very well, Highnesses. Do you remember where your tent is?”
“I do,” Elana mumbled. Her eyes traced David’s lithe figure, recalling the strength disguised by his thin frame. Her stomach twisted as she imagined him cold, broken, and unmoving in the mud, as he planned. She wouldn’t have to fake her shock and sorrow.
“Maybe you two can finish whatever we interrupted, then.” Cilen winked and pointed to the pink handprint on Elana’s breast. “I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
“What?!” Elana covered the mark with her hair, but the damage was done and Cilen stifled a giggle with one hand. Elana went red. “I mean, thank you, General. I appreciate it.”
“Of course, Highness.” Cilen waved as Elana left the war tent. “Just make sure you don’t hurt him. We need that sword arm of his!”
“Yeah,” Elana agreed, and chased down David, who stood lost in the camp’s mess of tents. “Here, rebel, this way.” She guided him by his good hand to a sizable yellow tent.
He paused as he passed the tent flap, mouth agape. “How did you do this, Princess?”
“I am royalty.” Elana sat on the mattress, rubbing one of the wooden bed frame’s posts. The lantern on the matching bedside table lit the whole space with a warm glow. “It’s not much.”
“Not much?” he blurted. “In Cerces camps, I used to sleep on a muddy bedroll.”
“You’re real royalty now.” She stretched up to poke his nose. “Now come over here, rebel.”
Hesitantly, David stepped onto the muddied canvas carpet and took a seat beside her. His expression was still filled with sorrow, and she frowned. He’d been hurt, and he was beating himself up because he thought that had hurt her. That wasn’t true, and he had to know that. Believe that.
“I have a present for you,” she said.
David looked up. “You do?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want to give it to you until we got home, but I think you deserve it.” She leaned over to fumble through the drawer of the bedside table. “Here we are.” She offered him a sealed box.
David hesitated, then opened it. His cheeks reddened. “Princess…”
“See, this one actually looks like jewelry. No more dumb lies about not finding keys.” She pulled out the shackle, showing off its fur-padded inside and the elaborate patterns and swirls on its outside. “Those bastards from the circuit cut off yours, didn’t they?”
He nodded mutely.
She pulled it open, then knelt at his feet. “Can I?”
He nodded once more, and Elana slipped off his left boot. His feet were calloused and dirty from fighting in the circuits barefoot. Knowing how well they’d looked when they first met, he had to be embarrassed. Still, Elana kissed his shin before clicking the shackle closed around his ankle. With a smile she pulled out the other half of his gift, a beautiful silver chain with an odd pendant dangling from it. He ducked his head to let her close it around his neck. “There we go. The key, if you ever want it. Better?”
“How can you still want me?”
“What?”
“How can you still want me like this?” David’s voice broke. “I’m an embarrassment. A liability.”
“You’re no more a liability now than you were when you tried to kill me in my own bedroom, rebel.” She stood with a smile. “Will you let me see what they did to you?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, then struggled to undo the puffy ascot around his neck. Elana held up a hand and he let her undress him. She undid the buttons of his blazer, vest, and shirt and helped him shrug them off. She couldn’t help but gasp again as she revealed the full extent of the bruising around his shoulder. Purple marks ran halfway down his back and curled around his chest. The swelling had gone down, but it hardly looked better.
David caught the look on her face and chuckled. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” He rolled his shoulder, but his face strained. “I’ll be fine.”
As bold as ever. Elana sat beside him and set her hands on his back. He jumped, and she pulled away, but he glanced over his shoulder. “No, it’s okay. It’s just been awhile since… you,” he finished lamely.
She smiled, kissed him, and risked rubbing the thin muscle along his spine. He whimpered, but didn’t push her away, and Elana wrapped her arm around his chest to help her keep her grip. He jumped again, this time away from her hug, but took a breath and pressed his cheek to the back of the hand she had against his neck. She swallowed a laugh, and as she kept rubbing his back, his stiff form turned to putty.
“I missed you so much,” he mumbled.
“I did too.”
He sucked in a breath. “I’m not scared of you, I just— touching—”
“I get it. Are you okay?” Elana sat back.
“I’m fine,” he said with a smile.
“Okay. I trust you.” She moved to sit at the foot of the bed. “Because you need a punishment.”
“A… a what?”
“You heard me.” She raised her eyebrows with a seductive smile, planting her palms on the comforter between them. “A certain traitor ran off in the middle of the night without telling anyone. I thought I’d never see you again.” She shoved his chest with one finger. David toppled onto his back, taken by surprise, and Elana grinned.
“Elana, I’d love to,” he began, “but my shoulder.”
“Oh.” She paused, frowning. “You’re right.”
“Princess, you understand, right? I—”
“Of course I understand.” Elana stood and undid one of the belts she’d tied to the headboard. David watched her, well aware they were there to hold him down. Still, he offered her his wrists and let her bind his arms behind his back. He subtly tested the knots and sighed.
“I can still hurt myself.”
Elana dropped pillows at his sides, so heavy they shook the mattress. “Can you move those?”
He started, then tried to wiggle. “N-no, they’re too big.”
“Great.” Elana pushed him over again and set another one on his stomach. “There we go.”
“What? No.” He struggled to sit up and failed. “Elana—”
“Nope. This is going to be the first of many long nights, rebel. But I can’t have you waking up half the camp the night before a battle.” She stepped to his side, tying a knot in a clean rag. “Open.”
David opened his mouth hesitantly and Elana rammed the knot behind his teeth. She pulled his head up and secured the gag around his neck, and as David mumbled a weak protest, she poked his nose. “If anything’s wrong, scream. Oh… wait.”
David kept mumbling curses, but Elana moved to the end of the bed, bringing his feet together. She tossed off his other boot, and with a short, padded length of chain, bound his right ankle to the shackle on his left. David’s cursing got louder as she hooked his bound ankles to the footboard, but her rebel, pinned under the pillows, grunted and stared at the tent canopy while she tied his big toes together.
“Someone broke a promise to me,” she said, and wiggled his baby toes.
He giggled, grunting an objection.
“You did,” she continued, drawing wavy lines down his toe stems. “You promised me you’d stay in the castle.”
His feet curled, wrinkles forming on his calloused soles. Elana prodded a particularly thick patch on his instep. “Huh. I think King David needs a pedicure.”
David squealed into his gag, shaking his head in a panic. Elana leaned up over the footboard, meeting David’s wide-eyed gaze as he forced his head over the pillow mountain she’d pinned him under. “What, rebel? Afraid I’ll paint your toenails pink?”
He screamed unintelligibly again, and even louder when Elana picked up the pumice stone and oil she’d set aside on the vanity in the corner. Elana sat back down at his bound feet and set her thumbs on his arches. David went rigid, but as she started to massage, he began to relax.
The pillow on David’s waist blocked his view of Elana, and as she readjusted her grip on his feet she snatched up the pumice and set it beside his feet. She had surprised him a moment before, running warm water over his soles to remove the dirt, but now she could feel calluses on his insteps and heels that hadn’t been there before. She grabbed the pumice and attacked. David jerked, lurching under the pillow mountain and screaming into his gag, but he couldn’t pull his feet away from Elana. She tested his skin again and again, returning with the stone if it didn’t meet her standards, then finally stood, removed the gag from between his lips, and finished with a cool handful of lotion.
David sighed as she worked it between his toes, ignoring the snicker that threatened to spill over his lips. “Thanks, Princess.”
“That’s the first of many, rebel.” Elana leaned over the pillow holding him down. “Many, many… so many you’ll never do anything as stupid as that again.” She pulled the pillow off his waist, then shimmied out of her dress, the pink handprint on her breast still obvious. “Still scared?”
“No.” He chewed on his lip as she approached, drinking in her figure. “How did you get even more beautiful?”
“Flattery isn’t going to get you out of this.” She yanked his pants down to his knees and mounted him with a moan, one hand set on his good shoulder for support. “Gods, I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” David thrust, and in a moment they were fucking like rabbits. Elana threw her head back as she came, then leaned over, brushed David’s hair out of his eyes, and kissed him. He moaned into her mouth, and Elana tumbled off him and onto the pillows beside them, his seed spilling out from between her legs.
“Dammit, rebel, we’ve made a mess again.”
“Well, that’s not fair.” David struggled, but got to a seat. “I can help.”
Elana gasped as he buried his face into her pussy, and arched her back when he found her clit almost instantly. She came again with a muffled scream, and as she lay back, her eyes too bleary to pick out the poles holding up the tent above them, David leaned over her. His cheeks were smeared with a mixture of their cum, and he was smiling like an idiot. “Oops. Guess I’m not too good at it, huh?”
“Dammit, rebel,” she mumbled, then gestured. David turned and offered her his bound wrists. She undid the knots holding him, and as he reached for the chains on his feet, Elana let herself slump on the bedspread, her eyes sliding shut. There was a rattle of chains, then an arm landed heavy around her waist. She sighed and pressed her cheek against David’s chest.
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326144-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-2-(F-M)>Part 2 (F/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326180-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-3-(F-M)&>Part 3 (F/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326203-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-4-(FF-M)>Part 4 (FF/M)</a>
<a href= http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326307-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-5-(M-M)>Part 5 (M/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326350-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-6-(FFFFFF-M-M-M)>Part 6 (FFFFFF/M, M/M)</a>
<a href = https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326384-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-7-(FM-M)>Part 7 (FM/M)</a>
<a href= https://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?326551-War%92s-End-The-King-of-Traitors-Part-8-(F-M)>Part 8 (F/M)</a>
“What do you mean, take Katas?” Elana stepped out of the horse carriage, adjusting the black waves that almost fell to her elbows. Ahead, David stood as still as a statue, his overgrown blonde hair in complete disarray. Samuel was at the foot of General Cilen’s horse, frowning. He was badly injured, with pink scars and thick scabs marring his olive skin. A bandage hung over his right eyebrow and almost covered his eye, but the white patch was almost hidden under his wild black curls.
“I mean we take Katas,” Samuel repeated. “It’s a resistance stronghold, from what I understand.”
“We know it is.” Elana made her way to David’s side. Her rebel had escaped the gladiator circuits not a day before, and once again had a feral energy burning in his deep brown eyes. He may be king of Cerces, but David was a survivor first. He knew what he stood for.
He turned to her. “We need to.”
“Yes,” Samuel agreed. “We’ll shut down the circuit there.”
“Of course. I’m keeping that promise.” David set his jaw.
Elana hesitated. “Rebel, I understand that’s important to you, but please remember—”
“I know. Taria is our first priority.”
“Please.” She gripped his elbow. “Give that selfish bitch hell for me.”
He smiled as she struggled with the curses. “Of course, Princess.”
General Cilen leaned forward. “Are you up for this? Both of you look awful.”
Samuel snorted, and David bristled. “I’m fine. I’ve fought with way worse.”
Elana poked his right shoulder, and he let out a keening whine.
“Fine, huh?” She smirked.
“Fine,” he hissed again. “It’s just my shoulder.”
“We can wait a couple of days. At least until you can swing a sword.”
Cilen shrugged. “It’s a good idea, sir. Neither you or Sam are in good shape. We can camp in the fields outside the city, if it’s easier.”
“Sure, General,” David admitted. “It sounds like a plan.”
“Alright.” Samuel straightened. “You can ride in the carriage with the princess, Dave. I’ll lead the battalion.”
“But I’m king,” David began, reaching for a nearby horse, but Elana grabbed his hand and tugged him back into the carriage.
“A king should be with his queen, don’t you think?” She smiled at him as he tripped over the last step and fell across her lap again.
“I guess.” He rubbed his face and offered her a warm smile. This was the David she loved, a big unapologetic heart who put others above himself. She’d bullied him for changing too much, just before he went missing. Somehow she’d forgotten exactly who he was when he was first thrown into her bedroom all those months ago, with spite and hatred twisting his sharp, intelligent features. David was a warrior, a predator who had not just survived but thrived in the gladiator circuits. Now he was a rebel king.
He chuckled. “You’re staring, Princess.”
She shook her head. “Sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a good look at you.”
He smirked, sitting up and straddling her lap. “Am I that handsome?”
“Maybe.” She prodded his navel. He yelped and grabbed her shoulder, cursing.
“Princess, I can’t… I can’t do this.”
She faltered. “Are you okay?”
He huffed and pressed his head against her chest. “I am, I promise. I just… I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Elana pulled his chin up and brought him into a proper hug. “What happened?”
“S-Sam told you, didn’t he?”
“I want to hear it from you.”
His eyes went wide. “I don’t think you want to… it wasn’t—”
“Rebel, you were abused. I could never be mad at you for that.”
He puffed up his chest. “I was not abused—”
“Anyone can be abused.” She set a hand on his wounded shoulder, easing up as he grimaced. “I understand your strength, David, but I also know this was different than some guards beating the tar out of you. Now tell me what happened.”
“I don’t want to. I think I cheated on you,” he mumbled.
“No.” She grabbed his chin. “Did you agree to anything?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you didn’t cheat.” She set her jaw. “You didn’t. I trust you on that.”
“Okay.” David sighed. “I was captured, and Luim—”
“The old captain of the castle guard?”
He nodded, and tears started running down his cheeks. “Luim stepped in and made sure I was put back in the gladiator circuit. Sam and I were set up in a death match against each other, but Sam threw away his sword and tickled me instead.”
“Clever.”
“He saved my life.” David wiped his nose. “But people really liked watching me tortured like that.”
Elana had to fight a smile. It was, in fact, very entertaining to see her king squirm. But he fell against her, burying his face in her breasts. She wrapped his arms around him, feeling him shake in her grasp.
“Every night… every night. Many of them at once. One would make me cum, and then they’d tickle me until I blacked out. My bad shoulder got worse, but they didn’t care. Sam always had to help me put it back in.”
Elana pressed her chin against the crown of his head. “Rebel, if I have any say in it, this will never happen to you, or anyone, ever again. I swear on my life.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
“But…” she nudged him back. “But you have to listen to me when I tell you no, and you can’t run off in the middle of the night to pull a stupid stunt like that. Understand?”
He nodded and offered a teary smile.
“Don’t give me that look, rebel.” Elana chuckled and pulled him into a kiss by the knot of his ascot.
***
The carriage stopped, and once again Samuel threw open its door, grinning. Once again, his face fell, and he stumbled down the carriage’s steps, a hand over his eyes. “Ah, <i>fuck!”</i>
Elana struggled to straighten her hair and dress. David wiped his swollen lips and jumped to his feet, bristling. “What the hell, Sam?”
“We’re at camp!” Samuel scowled. “Maybe now you two can get a room.”
“We are in a room,” David snapped back, trying and failing to do up his dress shirt’s buttons. “Maybe you should learn to knock!”
“You’re in a godsdamned carriage, you idiot! At least this time you have your dick in your pants.” Samuel stalked away, further into the field they had stopped in.
“Would you shut up?” David yelled after him.
“Calm down, rebel.” Elana tugged him back inside by his good hand, attempting to placate his wild hair. She did up his shirt, tucked his ascot back into his vest, and pecked him on the lips.
David stared down at his clothes in awe. “How did you do that?”
“Practice. Now let’s go be royalty.” She took a step out of the carriage, careful to draw up the hem of her sleeveless dress as she made her way into the weeds. Regal. Hopefully her hair could fall over her chest to disguise the red handprint David had left behind when he popped out her breast.
David followed, pausing long enough to scowl at Samuel as they stepped into the largest tent in the field. Elana sighed, then took a seat at the table in its center. The space looked exactly like the war room they had left behind in their castle, complete with General Cilen pacing in front of her chalkboard, twisting a pointer between her fingers.
David raised an eyebrow as he took a seat next to Elana. “General?”
“Highnesses! You’re here!” Cilen snapped out of her trance. “I’m glad we can go over some strategies to invade Katas.”
Elana took a breath. “An invasion?”
“It can’t be anything less, Princess. There are too many ways this can go wrong.” Samuel stepped into the tent and closed the canvas flap behind him. David still glowered at his general, but placed his attention on Cilen and the chalkboard behind her, which bore a map of the city rather than of the whole kingdom.
“I agree,” Cilen continued, slapping an ellipse on the board with her pointer. “This is the gladiator arena. We can concur this is fully operational and a resistance stronghold.” When both Samuel and David nodded, she moved on to a cross in the western section of the map. “This is where Yesmir and her battalion was attacked, and,” another cross, this one in the east, “this is where Goldleaf led us, where the remnants of your battalion was found, sir. Both are choke points leading to the city’s central squares.”
“I was cornered by a pair of resistance fighters in a store on that street.” David stood.
Samuel folded his arms. “I was caught by a patrol at the city limit.”
“So we can agree this Katas is the resistance capital.” Cilen smacked the chalkboard.
“We can.” Samuel reclined, planting his boots on the armrest of a nearby chair. “It’s the last stronghold, too. When it falls, the war is truly over.”
“I wouldn’t say that, Samuel.” Elana glanced over. “Maybe the last organized resistance will fall, but people don’t need organization to wreak havoc. Especially those with too much money and time on their hands, like a few circuit owners who’re being put out of a job.”
“Those assholes need to figure their own shit out without taking slaves and killing kids.” David scowled, his brown eyes growing frigid. “I promised we’d end the circuits. We’re going to end them.”
“So we need to lead an army into the city.” Cilen turned back to the board. “The choke points Yesmir and David discovered are going to be an issue, but with enough troops, we can break through.”
David raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, with enough troops?”
“They’re choke points for a reason, sir.” Cilen paced around the table. “The gladiator circuit is thriving, which means it has an audience and troops guarding it. Everything we’ve tried so far has failed. You don’t understand how lucky we were to break you and Samuel out.”
“This is important.” David set his hands on the table, his voice stern. “Taria’s alive. Luim’s alive. Both are in that gods-forsaken city, and I can guarantee you Luim is helping Taria rebuild an army loyal only to them. This resistance should have been shut down <i>yesterday.”</i> He cursed. “But we can’t throw the lives of our soldiers away trying to force our way into a stronghold.”
Cilen hesitated. “Sir, I really don’t think there’s any other way—”
He looked up. “What if you kill me?”
Elana’s heart dropped into her stomach. “What?”
“I’m a traitor. Not just to Astal, either. I betrayed you, Princess.”
“Bullshit, David.” Elana stared at him, fumbling over the curse so unfamiliar to her. “You didn’t betray anyone.”
“You don’t understand, Princess. I was taken by Luim and Taria and tortured. It’s where this first happened.” He tapped his wounded shoulder.
Cilen raised her eyebrows. “Did you give up any information?”
“Of course not.” David scoffed. “But you all don’t know that.”
“What are you saying?”
“Sam?” He gestured. “What’s the punishment for treason?”
“Death,” his lieutenant replied automatically, then his dark eyes shot wide. “Oh.”
“So put me to ‘death.’ Offer my ‘corpse’ as an olive branch. Explain you were an idiot for trusting me. Beg her to come back and help, because you don’t know how to run the kingdom without your father, because you’re too young.” David offered Elana a conniving smile. “Stroke the hell out of that murdering bitch’s ego.”
“Because we’re not going to win a siege without major casualties,” Cilen elaborated. “You’re going to bait the leadership out of the city instead.”
David snapped his fingers, winking. “Exactly.”
Samuel stared. “Dave, that’s incredibly dangerous.”
“What he said.” Elana clenched her fists. “I’m not going to lose you again, rebel.”
David pouted. “You’re not going to lose me—”
“Use your head, kid,” Samuel interrupted. “If I was them, the first thing I would do is stab the body one last time to make sure it’s actually dead. That captain isn’t an idiot. You could get really hurt.”
“And if it’s just Elana, I, and those two assholes?” David raised an eyebrow. “I’ll hide a sword under my clothes. While Elana distracts them, I run them both through.”
It wasn’t a terrible plan. Suicidal, maybe, but not terrible. Elana chewed her lip. “This will save soldiers’ lives?”
“No question,” Cilen replied.
“I promise I’ll be safe, Princess. Even then, my life is a small price to pay in exchange for gods-know how many others’ lives.” David shrugged.
Elana turned. “Does anyone else object to this?”
“My troops are my priority, Highness,” Cilen said.
Samuel pulled a face, but pointed at the general with a shrug.
Elana’s mouth worked in disbelief, but she shook her head all the same. “Fine. But not until David can lift a sword without crying.”
David nodded, and Cilen made her way to the tent’s flap to hold it open as they left. “Very well, Highnesses. Do you remember where your tent is?”
“I do,” Elana mumbled. Her eyes traced David’s lithe figure, recalling the strength disguised by his thin frame. Her stomach twisted as she imagined him cold, broken, and unmoving in the mud, as he planned. She wouldn’t have to fake her shock and sorrow.
“Maybe you two can finish whatever we interrupted, then.” Cilen winked and pointed to the pink handprint on Elana’s breast. “I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
“What?!” Elana covered the mark with her hair, but the damage was done and Cilen stifled a giggle with one hand. Elana went red. “I mean, thank you, General. I appreciate it.”
“Of course, Highness.” Cilen waved as Elana left the war tent. “Just make sure you don’t hurt him. We need that sword arm of his!”
“Yeah,” Elana agreed, and chased down David, who stood lost in the camp’s mess of tents. “Here, rebel, this way.” She guided him by his good hand to a sizable yellow tent.
He paused as he passed the tent flap, mouth agape. “How did you do this, Princess?”
“I am royalty.” Elana sat on the mattress, rubbing one of the wooden bed frame’s posts. The lantern on the matching bedside table lit the whole space with a warm glow. “It’s not much.”
“Not much?” he blurted. “In Cerces camps, I used to sleep on a muddy bedroll.”
“You’re real royalty now.” She stretched up to poke his nose. “Now come over here, rebel.”
Hesitantly, David stepped onto the muddied canvas carpet and took a seat beside her. His expression was still filled with sorrow, and she frowned. He’d been hurt, and he was beating himself up because he thought that had hurt her. That wasn’t true, and he had to know that. Believe that.
“I have a present for you,” she said.
David looked up. “You do?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want to give it to you until we got home, but I think you deserve it.” She leaned over to fumble through the drawer of the bedside table. “Here we are.” She offered him a sealed box.
David hesitated, then opened it. His cheeks reddened. “Princess…”
“See, this one actually looks like jewelry. No more dumb lies about not finding keys.” She pulled out the shackle, showing off its fur-padded inside and the elaborate patterns and swirls on its outside. “Those bastards from the circuit cut off yours, didn’t they?”
He nodded mutely.
She pulled it open, then knelt at his feet. “Can I?”
He nodded once more, and Elana slipped off his left boot. His feet were calloused and dirty from fighting in the circuits barefoot. Knowing how well they’d looked when they first met, he had to be embarrassed. Still, Elana kissed his shin before clicking the shackle closed around his ankle. With a smile she pulled out the other half of his gift, a beautiful silver chain with an odd pendant dangling from it. He ducked his head to let her close it around his neck. “There we go. The key, if you ever want it. Better?”
“How can you still want me?”
“What?”
“How can you still want me like this?” David’s voice broke. “I’m an embarrassment. A liability.”
“You’re no more a liability now than you were when you tried to kill me in my own bedroom, rebel.” She stood with a smile. “Will you let me see what they did to you?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, then struggled to undo the puffy ascot around his neck. Elana held up a hand and he let her undress him. She undid the buttons of his blazer, vest, and shirt and helped him shrug them off. She couldn’t help but gasp again as she revealed the full extent of the bruising around his shoulder. Purple marks ran halfway down his back and curled around his chest. The swelling had gone down, but it hardly looked better.
David caught the look on her face and chuckled. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” He rolled his shoulder, but his face strained. “I’ll be fine.”
As bold as ever. Elana sat beside him and set her hands on his back. He jumped, and she pulled away, but he glanced over his shoulder. “No, it’s okay. It’s just been awhile since… you,” he finished lamely.
She smiled, kissed him, and risked rubbing the thin muscle along his spine. He whimpered, but didn’t push her away, and Elana wrapped her arm around his chest to help her keep her grip. He jumped again, this time away from her hug, but took a breath and pressed his cheek to the back of the hand she had against his neck. She swallowed a laugh, and as she kept rubbing his back, his stiff form turned to putty.
“I missed you so much,” he mumbled.
“I did too.”
He sucked in a breath. “I’m not scared of you, I just— touching—”
“I get it. Are you okay?” Elana sat back.
“I’m fine,” he said with a smile.
“Okay. I trust you.” She moved to sit at the foot of the bed. “Because you need a punishment.”
“A… a what?”
“You heard me.” She raised her eyebrows with a seductive smile, planting her palms on the comforter between them. “A certain traitor ran off in the middle of the night without telling anyone. I thought I’d never see you again.” She shoved his chest with one finger. David toppled onto his back, taken by surprise, and Elana grinned.
“Elana, I’d love to,” he began, “but my shoulder.”
“Oh.” She paused, frowning. “You’re right.”
“Princess, you understand, right? I—”
“Of course I understand.” Elana stood and undid one of the belts she’d tied to the headboard. David watched her, well aware they were there to hold him down. Still, he offered her his wrists and let her bind his arms behind his back. He subtly tested the knots and sighed.
“I can still hurt myself.”
Elana dropped pillows at his sides, so heavy they shook the mattress. “Can you move those?”
He started, then tried to wiggle. “N-no, they’re too big.”
“Great.” Elana pushed him over again and set another one on his stomach. “There we go.”
“What? No.” He struggled to sit up and failed. “Elana—”
“Nope. This is going to be the first of many long nights, rebel. But I can’t have you waking up half the camp the night before a battle.” She stepped to his side, tying a knot in a clean rag. “Open.”
David opened his mouth hesitantly and Elana rammed the knot behind his teeth. She pulled his head up and secured the gag around his neck, and as David mumbled a weak protest, she poked his nose. “If anything’s wrong, scream. Oh… wait.”
David kept mumbling curses, but Elana moved to the end of the bed, bringing his feet together. She tossed off his other boot, and with a short, padded length of chain, bound his right ankle to the shackle on his left. David’s cursing got louder as she hooked his bound ankles to the footboard, but her rebel, pinned under the pillows, grunted and stared at the tent canopy while she tied his big toes together.
“Someone broke a promise to me,” she said, and wiggled his baby toes.
He giggled, grunting an objection.
“You did,” she continued, drawing wavy lines down his toe stems. “You promised me you’d stay in the castle.”
His feet curled, wrinkles forming on his calloused soles. Elana prodded a particularly thick patch on his instep. “Huh. I think King David needs a pedicure.”
David squealed into his gag, shaking his head in a panic. Elana leaned up over the footboard, meeting David’s wide-eyed gaze as he forced his head over the pillow mountain she’d pinned him under. “What, rebel? Afraid I’ll paint your toenails pink?”
He screamed unintelligibly again, and even louder when Elana picked up the pumice stone and oil she’d set aside on the vanity in the corner. Elana sat back down at his bound feet and set her thumbs on his arches. David went rigid, but as she started to massage, he began to relax.
The pillow on David’s waist blocked his view of Elana, and as she readjusted her grip on his feet she snatched up the pumice and set it beside his feet. She had surprised him a moment before, running warm water over his soles to remove the dirt, but now she could feel calluses on his insteps and heels that hadn’t been there before. She grabbed the pumice and attacked. David jerked, lurching under the pillow mountain and screaming into his gag, but he couldn’t pull his feet away from Elana. She tested his skin again and again, returning with the stone if it didn’t meet her standards, then finally stood, removed the gag from between his lips, and finished with a cool handful of lotion.
David sighed as she worked it between his toes, ignoring the snicker that threatened to spill over his lips. “Thanks, Princess.”
“That’s the first of many, rebel.” Elana leaned over the pillow holding him down. “Many, many… so many you’ll never do anything as stupid as that again.” She pulled the pillow off his waist, then shimmied out of her dress, the pink handprint on her breast still obvious. “Still scared?”
“No.” He chewed on his lip as she approached, drinking in her figure. “How did you get even more beautiful?”
“Flattery isn’t going to get you out of this.” She yanked his pants down to his knees and mounted him with a moan, one hand set on his good shoulder for support. “Gods, I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” David thrust, and in a moment they were fucking like rabbits. Elana threw her head back as she came, then leaned over, brushed David’s hair out of his eyes, and kissed him. He moaned into her mouth, and Elana tumbled off him and onto the pillows beside them, his seed spilling out from between her legs.
“Dammit, rebel, we’ve made a mess again.”
“Well, that’s not fair.” David struggled, but got to a seat. “I can help.”
Elana gasped as he buried his face into her pussy, and arched her back when he found her clit almost instantly. She came again with a muffled scream, and as she lay back, her eyes too bleary to pick out the poles holding up the tent above them, David leaned over her. His cheeks were smeared with a mixture of their cum, and he was smiling like an idiot. “Oops. Guess I’m not too good at it, huh?”
“Dammit, rebel,” she mumbled, then gestured. David turned and offered her his bound wrists. She undid the knots holding him, and as he reached for the chains on his feet, Elana let herself slump on the bedspread, her eyes sliding shut. There was a rattle of chains, then an arm landed heavy around her waist. She sighed and pressed her cheek against David’s chest.
