Chapter 3

Luria followed Balor though her step began to flag as the drug she consumed poured into her bloodstream.

"Come, Luria, we must hurry," Balor said, turning back to her when she pulled on his hand. "What is it?"

"I want you," she moaned, her hands moving over her body under the cloak. "Please, I need you."

Balor shook his head slowly even as his own blood heated under the look in the beautiful girl's eyes. "We can't do this, not here, Luria. Come on, you know we must be away before they can think to look for us."

He jerked away from her as her small hand pulled at the ties to his codpiece, sneaking beneath to caress his cock. "Oh God," he growled, his heart racing, his breath quickening. "Stop that, Luria." He managed to pull her hand away and grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder so that they could reach his horse.

"You don't want me?" she asked him with a pout he could not see but could hear in her voice.

"I want you," he gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Then what's the problem?"

"Magnus is the problem. Now behave so that we might escape from here."

"Will you fuck me later?" she asked, her voice muffled by the cloak and his back.

He tossed her up onto the front his horse then quickly mounted behind her. "Hang on to me," he ordered, whirling the horse around.

Luria reached back and grabbed a hold of his shirt, gladly pressing her back against his solid chest. "You didn't answer me."

"Ask me later," he hedged.

"I will," she warned him. "Don't doubt that I will."

He kept the horse to the shadows, trying to ignore the little hands that were roaming over him, distracting him. The gate was still closed. "Come on, Sabina," he growled, pulling Luria's hand out of his codpiece again. "Luria, you have to stop that."

"I don't want to," she whispered.

His eyes were on the gate as he argued with her. "Do you know how uncomfortable it is to ride a horse like this?"

"You could ride me instead," she offered. "I know you'd be more comfortable doing that."

His eyes moved from the gate to the big doors that led to the hall. They were still closed and he could only hope that they'd stay that way until he could get Luria and her wandering hands out of here. He'd never had a woman distract him as much as she was. Closing his eyes, he sent up a quick prayer, breathing a sigh of relief when he heard the first creak of the gate.

Just when Balor was about to kick his horse into moving, one of Magnus's beast-guards came from around the corner. "Leaving before the ceremony?"

"Yep, I have my own ceremony with this little wench to take care of." Balor laughed, his hand slipping inside Luria's cloak to rest between her legs, hoping it would convince the beast.

The beast glared at him once more than nodded and Balor moved on through the gate, barely breathing until it closed behind him and he began to move down the trail at a casual trot. He didn't realize his hand still rested between Luria's thighs until he heard her moan and felt her moving against his fingers. She was hot and wet, squirming until she could turn to face him, her legs spread wide to straddle his. Her fingers went once more to his codpiece and she nimbly pulled it away, moving closer and reaching out to wrap her hands around his erection.

"What are you doing?" Balor asked, shocked. He looked down in time to see her aim his cock and then bury it inside her wetness, grabbing his shoulders to help her keep her balance.

"We're away, now you have to fuck me," she growled wildly in his ear as the horse's gait forced him deeper inside of her. Her hood fell back and she pressed kisses against his jaw, moaning with every rise and fall of the horse. His arms came around her as the horse, scenting the musk of an aroused female grew agitated. The horse kicked up his back legs, showing his displeasure of what was happening upon his back.

"Please, Balor," she begged. "I need it."

Using his wide shoulders for balance, she started to lift and fall back down upon him, crying out as her pleasure grew. Balor stayed still as long as he could, fighting the urges to give in to her. But as the horse picked up his gait and he was rocked in the saddle, she was rocked upon his cock, each tiny movement seeming so much bigger because of the horse's movements.

"Sweet gods," he breathed, one hand held the reins, the other cupped the sweet curve of her bottom, guiding her, lifting her higher until he was barely caressed by the swollen lips of her cunny before letting her drop down. He stood upon his stirrups, letting her lean back on the horse's neck, his hips plowing into her.

"Yes," she cried, her eyes closed and a single tear squeezing out and running into her hair. His cloak had fallen away from her body, exposing the wet blue silk. With one hand on the reins, he let the other slide over that silk, feeling every tiny bump of her aroused breasts. Dropping his head, he found her nipple easily, suckling on it through the silk.

Luria cried out her pleasure, her voice sweet and surprised. She yanked at the silk, ripping it away from her breast, guiding his head back to her naked flesh. Arching her back, she held onto his shoulders, undulating against the horse to rub her clit against his cock.

His tongue rolled across her swollen nipple, flicked at it before drawing it further into his mouth to suckle greedily. Prince Balor was no novice when it came to women. They'd been throwing themselves at him since almost before he'd hit puberty. He'd had maids that bathed him that he'd pulled into the tub with him, letting them wash certain parts of him with intimate strokes. He had dressers, though he'd not made use of their dressing skills in years.

His teachers and the maids in the castle were just a few of the women he'd seduced or been seduced by, but none of them could hold a candle to what Luria was doing to him now. She held him tightly in her silken sheath, as if it had been made for no other cock but his own. She took all of him easily; crying out her pleasure as he quickly brought her from one edgy climax to the next.

Her mouth tasted hot, like sin itself and he found himself lost to her kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck so that when he once more sat up, she did too, still impaled upon his shaft.

"Help me?" she whimpered against his lips.

With a wild cry, he kicked his horse into a gallop, the gait causing him to rock in the saddle, and against her body. She clung to him, her breasts boring into his chest, her arms tight around his neck. Whimpering cries escaped her lips, growling louder until she stiffened against him. He could feel her sweet cunny clamping down on his cock and the spasms of those hidden muscles as they milked him. It signaled his own pleasure and he shouted his joy to the trees above him, his cock spurting rich, potent cum into her willing body.

He shuddered against her, his arms wrapped around her, holding her close. Even as he tried to catch his breath, he felt her moving, struggling against him as if trying to get away. "I-I'm s-sorry," she stammered, refusing to look up into his face. "I-I d-don't know what got into me."

Balor chuckled, helping her to pull herself off of him and to right her clothing though not much could be done for the ripped shift. He held her with one hand and re-affixed his codpiece. "Magnus got into you, or at least his cursed wine. Sabina had no time to warn you of its potency or what it was used for before you began to drink it. I'm just glad to be of service, Lady Luria."

Her face flushed even more as he spoke. "Y-yes," she finally said. "T-thank you for that. I am myself once more."

"For now," he said, seeing her skin pale and blanch. "I'm sorry, but the drug is still in your system. Its effects are long lasting."

"So I will attack you again?" Luria cried, her eyes welling with tears as she felt the first throbbing between her thighs.

"Not necessarily. I can help you, Luria. You must trust me."

"How do I know that you aren't like Magnus, intent upon using me for what I can bring him?"

Balor drew himself up, looking affronted by her words. "I am Prince Balor of the Seventh Kingdom. I have no use for spells or powers. I rule my people fairly and justly."

"I've never heard of the Seventh Kingdom," she admitted. Then she jumped, squeezing her thighs together. "It begins again, Balor!"

He lifted her, setting her astride the horse, her bottom pressed firmly against his groin. Pulling the edges of his cloak apart, he let his hand linger on her breast, pulling and twisting at her nipple that had grown quite hard in the cool of the evening breeze. His other hand stole determinedly between her thighs, his fingers pressing against the hard bud of her clit. "Rub against my hand, Luria," he whispered into her ear. He felt her shiver and heard her breathing grow harsh and panting. She ground down on his hand until he pushed two fingers inside of her, rubbing and thrusting.

Their play was interrupted by the sound of a horn coming from behind them. "Our disappearance has been noted," Balor whispered. "We have to ride to get away from here."

In a clearing, not too far away from where Balor and Luria played, a tall, leanly built man sat before a fire. He rested against the trunk of a tree, smoking a long curved pipe made of clay.

From a distance he would be mistaken for a man, but anyone perusing him from a closer view would note the differences. He had ears that rose to a point and his skin was almost abnormally clear and pale. His hair was fine, woven into intricate braids that were tied together at the back of his head in the way of his people—the elves.

The elf, Graeme, had been on a path now for almost a year, searching for the maiden with the mark. He'd wandered through the walled town of Burney the night before and heard of the murders as well as the kidnapping of the mayor's beautiful daughter. Buying his informant a pint, he'd listened with interest to the rumors that were roaring through the area that had to do with the lovely Luria.

"She be part witch and a foundling to boot," the man said. "Her mum couldn't bear a baby and when they found her, she conned the mayor into keeping the poor wee orphan. See what that good deed cost them?" The man slurped down his pint, looking askance at the elf before ordering another.

"Where did they find her?" Graeme asked.

"Alongside the road where the stream passes by the burned out village," his informant whispered. "She be kin to a witch to be found in such a godforsaken spot such as that. It's cursed," he hissed, spitting just a bit."

"If she be witch, then why did the mayor allow his wife to keep the girl?" Graeme asked, somewhat enthralled by the man's nearsighted logic.

"You have to understand. The mayor and his wife had wanted children for so long and had tried for many years with nothing to show for it but for the mayor's increased waist size and his wife's depression. How could he tell that sweet lady that she had to throw the bairn back? It would have been murder for the child and most likely death as well to the lady, for she fell in love with that little girl from the first."

"She was a sweet child?"

"None sweeter, never did a thing against her parents' wishes. She were well past the age of marrying and having bairns of her own but she knew her mum couldn't have taken her leaving. So she stayed."

Graeme nodded, paying for another pint before grabbing his key and staying the night inside the gates of the city. It made him a bit nervous to be locked in with these people but leaving this late would have seemed strange to them.

So, she was a foundling, an orphan with no parents and no way of knowing who they'd been. She could be the daughter of Atana Potnia herself. What an intriguing clue in his quest.

He'd left first thing in the morning and had done what those who'd given him information had told him to do. He hadn't liked it though. Evil didn't sit well with Graeme the elf, even his own evil.

He'd found the dark castle easily enough but hadn't gone inside. Lord Magnus wouldn't welcome him the way he was welcoming the lords and ladies of the land. He'd watched as Prince Balor had been greeted, seen through the open gate as Magnus had singled the handsome prince out, feeding him drugged wine and then leading him away.

The girl was in the castle. He could tell by Magnus's excitement and his pleasure with the coming night. He could only hope that the dark lord had waited to consummate his nuptials until after the ceremony and hadn't already planted his seed in the girl's fertile womb. The prophecy was well known, the disaster that would happen after the event easily seeable in any seer's eyes.

Magnus would rule, not with compassion and justice, but with a tyrant's fist and little care as to what happened to the people under his rule. He would take the seven kingdoms and then use their power, combined with the might of his own armies to begin to take over other worlds. Magnus would never be happy with just the seven kingdoms, not when with his power, and Luria's, he could reach across the breach and dominate world after world.

He has to be stopped, Graeme thought. But he backed away from the dark gate. There was nothing he could do in person. He had a mind-meld to perform and hopefully his old teacher would listen and not be under the rule of Magnus's charms.