Prince Charming [Mischievous Fairy Tales 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 4
Chuckling softly, he cuddled her close to him and rocked her gently in his arms. “Don’t you know the stories, little one?” he asked softly. At the small shake of her head, he chuckled again. “Well, then I suppose I will have to educate you, my little princess, in the happenings of the many realms. You see,” he began on a low murmur. “It is rumored that while there is always a king and a queen as the royal united front for each kingdom in each of the realms, that behind closed doors there is more than just the two in the royal chambers and bed. I know for a fact that there are only two royal marriages and meetings behind closed doors that consist of only the king and queen. Every other has many a bedfellow joining them on many a night. Not every night, mind you, but I’m very sure that more nights than not there is at least one other occupant. My parent’s marriage, for instance,” he continued quietly. “My father and mother loved each other very much, but as is the highly sexual nature of our people, they often had one to four others in their bed at night for a round of sexual activities.”
“Oh my,” Cindy said with her eyes going wide. “I don’t think that I could handle four. Perhaps you and your friend should ease me into it, but no more.” She closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her mouth. “Sorry. I have no right in the world to even say something like that. While I’m sure that it’s what you and your family need and want, I had no right to put myself in there, or your friend either. That was wrong of me, forgive me?”
“Nothing to forgive, Cinderella,” he said with a smile to her. “I was hinting in that direction, and your mind took you there. Are you even interested in such an arrangement? I know it’s not for many, and some find it too taxing or are just against such things entirely. It wouldn’t be all the time, but it is a possibility if you are open to it,” he whispered softly.
“And what if I gained soft feelings, not only for you, but for him as well? How could I possibly handle seeing him fall in love with another and leaving completely? Or worse, see you falling in love with another? I don’t understand how you couldn’t lose your heart to the ones that you were lovers with, and it would be like a knife through the heart if even one part of the trio was lost.”
“I can’t speak for Cedric, but I will speak for myself,” he said softly to her. “I will tell you this, little princess, I would never stray from you.” Stroking her hair gently, he dropped his hand to her back and rubbed. “Are you warm enough, Cinderella?”
“I am now that you are here,” she whispered and pressed her face against his neck. Her eyes were closed and a hand around his neck. “For once I’m wishing a night wouldn’t end,” she confessed softly. “But it will end far too soon. You have to get back to your rooms before anyone sees you gone, and soon I will have to begin another day of work.”
“Well, in the meantime, I just want to hold you,” he said softly. Shifting around, Randulf leaned back against a post and let her curl in closer to him. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he smiled against her skin. “I may have to leave in a while but, for the moment, I want to enjoy being here with you.”
“I am as well,” she whispered softly. “This is rather nice.” His heat, the scent of him, and the safety she felt. “If I drift to sleep please make sure that I wake when the cock first crows or I will be in deep trouble with the queen,” she whispered against the side of his neck.
“I will ensure you are awake so she knows nothing of your hiding away,” he promised her quietly. Shifting her closer to him, Randulf tucked the blanket up and around her shoulders more. Resting his cheek to her hair, he squeezed gently. “Sleep, little one. I’ll be right here to wake you up, darling.”
“I trust you,” Cindy murmured before she dropped off and was soon sound asleep in his arms. This was what she had needed. This was what had been missing for so very long. Safety. Being able to do something as simple as sleeping and knowing she would be safe.
For hours Randulf sat holding her, cradled in his arms, and watched her sleep. Occasionally he’d shift her and adjust the blanket or brush his fingers lightly through her hair. But first light was starting to show through the tiny windows and the sound of the cock crowing made him sigh. Leaning in, he brushed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Wake up, Princess,” he whispered softly. “’Tis dawn and we both need to get back to pretending for the day ahead.”
Cindy nodded and opened her eyes. Looking up at him, she reached a hand out and cupped his cheek. “If only for this kindness I owe you, my lord,” she whispered softly. “But you should go. The staff begins to light the candles in this wing after the rooster has stopped crowing. Go. I will be fine, my lord.”
“You owe me nothing, Princess,” he whispered, cupping her cheek. Kissing her gently, he smiled and lifted his head. “Will I see you tonight?” he asked quietly, running his finger lightly over her cheek. “Because I would very much like to see you tonight and every night after if we can.”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Tonight I have many chores to do, as it is coming time for you and your party to leave. Since you have thwarted attempts from both sisters, I’m sure she will readily push you out as quickly as possible. If I can I will see you, but please don’t get in trouble going into places you shouldn’t because of me. I would never survive if I had somehow caused you pain.”
“She won’t be getting rid of me easily. My father and his men are coming if you recall,” he murmured, looking into her eyes. “I will avoid areas that would cause either of us issue, Princess. But I want to see you tonight if it’s only for a few minutes. I need to see you,” he whispered, cupping her face and kissing her again gently. “I should go. Be safe today, Cinderella, and I will see you later.” Shifting her off his lap, he kissed her again hungrily before drawing away and moving silently toward the stairs down to the next level. With a last look to her, he vanished from sight.
Chapter Seven
Hearing the loud clatter of hooves to stone, Randulf moved toward the open doorway off the main hall of the palace and smiled. Moving out into the late afternoon sun, he lifted a hand to the man in the lead. “You made good time, Father,” he greeted the king as he pulled his horse up and jumped off with surprising agility for his age. “Oomph,” he grunted as he was hauled into a hug.
“When my son sends me cryptic notes of ill happenings, I feel the need to rush off and find out just what has him being so careful in his words,” the king boomed out with a grin as he slapped his son’s back. “Now, pray tell, son, what is this all about?”
“We should discuss this behind closed doors, Father. I don’t want to alert anyone to anything before we come up with a plan to ensure the injustice is righted. Plus, there is an innocent that could be hurt if we do not take great care,” Randulf murmured quietly. Getting a nod, he smiled. “Let’s get you something to drink and eat, and then we shall speak of all I’ve learned.”
* * * *
Cindy had heard the horses coming up the long drive to the castle. Peeking out the window, she frowned. “Who is that?” she wondered aloud softly.
“I’m afraid that, my dear, is reason for you to disappear,” the queen said as she stepped out of the shadows. “You have caused me untold troubles, Cinderella, and it’s far past time for those troubles to end.” Reaching out, the woman put a binding curse on Cindy’s lips and laughed. “Before this night is over, that idiot prince will be married to one of my girls, and his moronic friend will be married to the other. You see, my dear, dear Cinderella, they are going to look like you.” She batted her lashes with a laugh. “They will never know, until the spell wears off, and by then it will be too late because they will have fathered a child on the little chits. Granted the fool girls are already pregnant, but that only plays into this all the better. Now then.” She jerked her chin toward Cinderella and spoke to her guards. “Bind her, shove her in a steamer box, and put her in the attics. I don’t want her to ever be found.”
The guards grabbed her arms and lifted her off her feet. Carrying her from the room, the one on the left l
ooked to the other. “Since she can’t scream for help, I think we should have some fun before we return to duty.”
“Oh yes, I’ve wanted to get my hands on her ever since she dumped that trencher into my lap,” the one on the right said. “I think it’s past time that she gets to have my cock rammed up her too righteous and prissy ass.”
Cindy twisted in their arms and tears fell hard from her eyes. No! her mind screamed. She fought with everything that she had. She was determined to get the hell away from these men, desperate to get away from them so that she could be free, warn the prince of what was coming, and pray that she wasn’t too late. If the woman was able to settle one or both of her daughters into his castle, she would do the same thing to his people as what was done to hers. That had her moving harder, and when she was dropped she began to run. Not that she got all that far.
“What the hell is going on here?” Cedric demanded as he caught sight of a maid being wrestled about by two guards. “Let that girl go immediately, and explain your actions,” he said. He recognized the girl from the description Randulf had given of her just that morning before they’d gone down to break their fast. Oh what the hell was her name? Started with a C...
“This is none of your business, sir,” one of the guards said. “This maid has stolen from the queen, and we are taking her for punishment. If you would but move out of the way, we will leave you alone. If you won’t”—he pulled a sword—“then we will make you leave. Your choice, sir.”
“Oh I am so glad you did that,” Cedric said, and pulled his sword out. “I’ve been sorely in need of someone to take all my anger out on since I’ve come to meet the prissy-assed females who dare call themselves royalty. So come along, friend, let me kick your ass and then I’ll tend to your friend there, too, and I might just feel better.” He let his lips curl into a feral grin and pulled out a second shorter blade. “I should warn you, I’ve had a lot of battlefield practice, and I don’t fight fair.”
“Neither do we,” the one holding Cindy said and nodded to the other guards. “Take him.” He jerked Cindy hard, a loud smack to her face, and then pushed her before following along in the darkness behind her stumbling form.
Grabbing Cedric in large, beefy hands, the guard said, “Come along, my lord, nothing to see here. Just a common thief.”
Throwing his head back, Cedric then twisted and ducked out of the hold and grinned at the one holding his nose howling as it bled. “No, there are plenty of things to see here, like a group of thugs,” he said and parried the one who thrust his sword at him. Moving fast, he disarmed the man and then cracked him over the head with the hilt of his blade. “Ones who need to be beaten soundly.” He whipped around and took out the other man. “And a damsel in distress on top of it,” he added, before racing off after the girl and the guard.
* * * *
Cindy dropped to her knees, the rough stones cutting into her knees as she did so. She rolled from under the guard and lifted her legs to kick him soundly in his crotch. She still was unable to talk, but she could move now, and she would fight by God.
Racing into the hall, Cedric slowed at the sight of the guard bent over clutching at his cock. “Oh that is just so many ways of wrong,” he muttered, moving closer. “I feel for ya, lad. Nothing like getting your balls kicked into your throat, especially by a slip of a girl.” Bringing his knee up as he pushed the guards head down Cedric dropped him to the ground and moved toward her. “Come along, sweetness. Let’s get you out of here and somewhere safe so that Randulf doesn’t need to worry about you.”
Her eyes were wide, and she shook her head. She had to tell him to get Randulf now, to ensure that he wasn’t tricked into marrying one of her stepsisters. She tugged at his hands and looked up into his eyes, tears falling freely because she couldn’t speak. God, she couldn’t talk because of her stepmother, so how was she to warn him?
Frowning at her, he tugged her to her feet. “What did she do to you, little one?” he asked softly. Staring at her as her mouth moved, he leaned in to listen and shook his head. “I can’t hear a…Hell, she took your voice didn’t she?” he asked, leaning back to see her face. At her nod he sighed out a heavy breath. “All right we’ll figure this out, but not here.” Cedric tucked her close and led her out of the hallway. “We need to find a spot to figure out how you can tell me what you know and are so desperately trying to tell me.”
She kept shaking her head and then pointed to the emblem of Randulf’s family crest on Cedric’s tunic, an emblem all of the Royal Guard wore on their uniforms. She pointed, looked up, and did it over again. She nodded and continued to point, desperate to get across that they had to find Randulf before it was too late.
“Okay, you’re obviously trying to tell me something,” he muttered as he led her through the halls even as she kept trying to stop. Finding a nook, he stepped into it and looked down at her. “That’s Randulf’s family crest. Are you trying to tell me something about Randulf?” he asked her quietly.
She nodded rapidly. She pointed to her eyes, and then the crest again, hoping that he would understand that they needed to see Randulf right now. Not in a minute, but right now in this moment.
“You want to.” He shook his head and watched her signalling again. “You want to eye Randulf?” he asked with a frown, and then his eyes went wide at her hand waving. “Oh, you want to see Randulf right now. All right, we can do that.” He took her hand in his and, looking around, raced off with her through the halls.
She felt immediate relief and nodded. She moved quickly along with Cedric, her hand tight in his and squeezing it as she did so. Hopefully they made it before something really, really bad happened to Randulf, like getting trapped into marriage with one of her stepsisters.
Jogging along, he held up a hand to her as they neared the main hall, and he waved her into the shadows. Looking around, they spotted Randulf with his father and the queen in deep and furious conversation, the queen waving her hands. “I need you to hide right here. Can you do that, sweet?” he asked softly.
Cindy nodded to him and pressed into the shadows, hiding herself as best she could. She watched Cedric approach the trio and tried to listen in on what was being said.
“He has chosen my stepdaughter for his bride? How did he meet her?” the queen asked as she tried to feign anger. Oh, she knew, very well and good she knew, but she was playing it up as best she could while the spell she cast on her daughters could take.
“My son says that he met her when he came back from a hunt to change after someone spilled wine down his trousers,” the king told her as Randulf watched the woman with narrowed eyes. “He also tells me many other things about the girl that has me wondering about you. I want to meet her now,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument at all.
Randulf smiled as Cedric came up to him. “Where have you been?” he asked softly.
“Rescuing your bride from a beating and rape after the queen there cast some sort of spell to make her a mute,” Cedric murmured very softly. “She’s fine,” he assured him quietly, tipping his head slightly. “And just outside hiding in some shadows.”
Randulf didn’t look the way Cedric indicated. He instead focused back on the conversation. “Yes, Father, I think that Cinderella should be brought here immediately. You’ll quite like her,” he said, looking to the queen with a hard expression. “That is if the queen can present her whole and intact right this moment.”
“Of course I can.” The queen raised her hand and called one of the guards close. “You will see, in just a few moments, when she presents herself. She will have hopefully changed her gown and is in a true ladies’ gown instead of one of the servant’s gowns that child tends to put on far too often. She likes to go and toy in the kitchens and so on,” she said with an eye roll.
A woman walked in, looking just like his Cinderella. “My lords,” she whispered softly in Cinderella’s voice, giving a deep curtsy.
Catching the small shake of Cedric’s head from the co
rner of his eye, Randulf turned to look at the girl and moved in closer. Leaning in he inhaled and shook his head. “Lies. This is not Cinderella, it’s a magical facade,” he said to his father. “The queen is trying to pass off her eldest daughter as the girl who I would have as my bride. I’d recognize that stench of her perfume anywhere. It’s so deep into her pores that it can never be washed away. Where is Cinderella?” he demanded louder as he turned on the queen. “Present her now!”
The queen’s voice quaked. “This is Cinderella. She’s just gotten into her sisters’ perfumes because she wanted to smell good for you, my lord. This is the woman that you spent the night with in the attics, is it not? How would I know if she hadn’t told me herself?”
“This is not Cinderella because she would never taint herself with that hideous scent. She told me herself that she hated the heavy perfumes that you and your daughters drench yourselves in,” Randulf said, crossing his arms. “She would never touch the cloying scent, let alone put it on her skin. This is your eldest daughter in nothing more than a spell as you try to trick me into marrying her. Which must mean she is as ruined as her reputation with the villagers claims her to be. She is with child, isn’t she, my lady? About to begin showing, perhaps, so you are hoping to foist her off onto me.”
“Only because you are the one that lay with her in the attic. If she is with child it is because of the time that you and she spent in the attics alone,” the queen shouted at him. “This is Cinderella. She is my stepchild, not a child of my womb.”
“Cedric, if you would please,” Randulf said, shaking his head at the queen.
Chapter Eight