Chapter 10

Faerson Manor, the Kingdom of Wuthia, 1126

Solomon Laenas (Jared Faerson)

Morning light poured long and gold through the windows of the manor’s library, warming the carved oak shelves and setting motes adrift like tiny souls caught in slanting beams. I had secreted myself away at the far table, the one pressed against the tapestry of a hunt, and spread open the volume I had got from the church in town. “Stolen” is what the priest would call it, though in truth the book was very important to my family. It gave us answers and, importantly, a way to silence the darkness within us.

While I really didn’t need to keep reading it anymore, I was intrigued by the contents it held in its withered pages. It spoke of civilizations long perished empires that rose before the Elder Days waned, when races of towering stature walked beside creatures no man dares name aloud. I traced their sigils with my finger: great serpents with wings like cloisters of stained glass, men with lion faces and hands that shaped rivers, and cities carved wholly of crystal that rang like bells when the wind struck them. I ought to have been enthralled. Yet my mind drifted ever away from the ink before me.

Mabel.

Richard.

My siblings, a refrain beating against my temples. Even now, they tread the winding paths toward the Golden Mountains, seeking the mystic waters that might still the hunger clawing within us. How could parchment hold me when the thought of them—of her—burned hotter than fire? I see her eyes whenever I blink, and I loathe myself for how my heart leaps at the memory of her smile. She is my sister, yet I cannot sunder the chain that binds us more than just siblings.

I closed the book for a moment, pressing my brow to its cold leather. The manor lay quiet about me, though not neglected. Eudora had seen to that. Our stewardess moved through these halls with a mastery near regal, commanding the Phasionites with gentleness yet unerring order. The hearth was always lit, the bread always warm, the horses groomed to a sheen. She labored that we, me and Bridget, might keep our minds bent upon higher matters, though mine now wavered between shadows of guilt and longing.

The book called me back. Its next chapter told of the Ashen Ones, a race born of star-fire, their bodies half-light, half-man. They warred with giants who pulled mountains like stones from a wall, hurling them across valleys. Such tales should have filled me with awe. Yet all I saw was Mabel—Mabel climbing some treacherous pass, Richard at her side, their cloaks pulled tight against mountain winds. I whispered a prayer, though my heart doubted it would reach past the vaulted rafters above.

I closed the book once more and laid it down on the table. History couldn’t distract me from the worries I felt about this whole thing. There was only one thing that might be able to smooth my mind and bring me to a calm state.

I rose from the chair, my legs stiff from sitting too long, and grabbed the book with me. The library smelled of dust and beeswax polish, a safe place, but too confining for what swelled inside me. I slipped through the doors, the hinges whispering as though they were conspiring to keep my leaving quiet.

The corridor was still. The servants had gone about their morning duties, and somewhere far off, I heard Eudora’s calm voice setting them to task. She is tireless—mayhap too tireless—and yet she never questions, never falters. For that, I am grateful.

My feet carried me toward my chamber almost of their own accord. I knew what awaited there. The only thing that might still my turmoil, if only for a while. I hated myself for the thought yet longed for it all the same.

As I pushed open the door to my chamber, I breathed deeper, steadier. And harder like before. The glowed faintly, the embers stirred by some dutiful hand. The bed stood waiting, and upon it, stripped bare naked, lay the one comfort left to me – Oliver. He stroked his cock, already oozing precum onto the sheets.

“I missed you, m’lord,” Oliver whimpered, still not letting go of his dick.

“I know, Olly,” I said, a grin slowly creeping on my face.

I crossed the threshold and shut the door behind me.

I sauntered over to the bed, slowly peeling off my layers of clothes as they fell to the floor like the first leaves of autumn. I could see the eagerness in Oliver’s eyes as I pulled down my trousers, exposing my hard dick that hung between my thighs and my round ass that Oliver loved too much.

Oliver made room on my bed as I sank deeper into the sheets, my back against him as I faced a tapestry that hung on the wall. It depicted a huntsman and his trusty companion. I felt Oliver place soft kisses on the back of my neck before slowly placing kisses on my shoulders and my back. He held me in his arms as he brought me closer into his embrace. I shuddered as I felt his hard dick pressed against the cheek of my ass.

“I need this, Olly,” I moaned as he continued kissing, then sucking on my neck.

“I know, Sully,” he whispered, his breath brought tingles down my spine. “But they will be fine. Your sister and brother can handle anything on their journey through them. Have faith in them.”

“I do,” I said. “It’s just -”

“You miss Mabel,” Oliver said, but still, his kisses and sucking never stopped. “The love you have for your sister is strong. It even surpasses ours in an unbelievable amount of distance.”

I sighed. “You know I love you, too.”

I could feel a shy smile appearing on his face. “I know you do. But I also know that you love Mabel more. It’s okay. I came to accept it. I’m just blessed that I still get to have you, even if it’s not forever.”

“Then have me now.”

I felt an enormous rush of pleasure as I felt Oliver slide his cock into my asshole. He slowly and passionately started to fuck me from behind, still holding me against his toned chest. Even though he’s not Mabel, I still feel safe and at ease with Oliver. He was my second Mabel, and I was his Solomon.

I leaned my head back against his. His lips and tongue still attacked against my neck, sending my pleasure and comfort throughout my entire body.