MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: The Dark of the Night
anonymous
November 6 2011, 00:06:59 UTC
And so it is that Erik smuggles Charles out of the palace on a night of the waning moon. They can't wait for the next full moon night, since that is when Shaw will be doing his own ritual. Erik is taking a gamble -- he says from his own research that an almost full moon should be close enough.
Charles is feeling better than he has in ages, now that he's actually taking charge of his own life again. It has absolutely nothing to do with being in close quarters with the man by his side.
He stumbles in the dark and Erik grabs his wrist to steady him. Charles flushes with heat, and his denial shatters.
Shit. You and those poor life decisions, Charles. You could have any number of valorous, steadfast and true knights, princes or princesses, and yet it is this one, Shaw's right hand, whom you have chosen. Well done.
Charles starts walking faster, now eager to have this over and done with.
*****
It doesn't work.
Charles doesn't know if it is because the night is wrong, or if Erik is simply not a skilled enough dark mage (please, please) to perform the ritual, but for whatever reason, one hour stretches into two stretches into three, and no unicorn has come.
(Charles would love to think that it's because the local herd has finally, finally gotten smart and migrated, but he knows better.)
"This isn't working, Erik," he says. "Let me up."
Erik stops chanting, but makes no move to unchain him. He merely stares at Charles with those deep, fathomless eyes of his, as if the moment he stops looking Charles will vanish into thin air.
Which is preposterous. If Charles had that power he'd have fled the kingdom months, possibly years ago.
"Let me go, Erik," says Charles sharply.
A fey, strange expression, not a quite a smile but not quite anything else, crosses Erik's face.
"You first," he says hoarsely, and then kisses Charles.
Re: MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: The Dark of the NightsharpestscalpelNovember 6 2011, 02:52:43 UTC
He hadn't intended to kiss Charles. He hadn't, truly, because unicorns only associated with virgins and Charles was a virgin and kissing Charles...
With his tongue in Charles's mouth, the virginity requirement seemed a lot more difficult to fulfill.
Charles tasted sweet, like the honey he put in his tea every morning. Not that Erik watched him down the length of the breakfast table. Sweet like honey and a little bit spicy like the red pepper jelly Erik ate on toast for his own breakfast.
He sucked on Charles's lower lip, nipped at it just for the satisfaction of feeling the soft flesh between his teeth. Something about unicorns. Something about virgins.
Erik obviously wasn't a good enough dark mage to play the role of unicorn killer but, oh, he thought he could handle despoiling certain virgins. With enthusiasm.
It took him a few panting moments to realize that the hand on his shoulder was pushing away, was trying to put space between their bodies - and while Erik was many very bad things to which he'd freely admit, he wasn't interested in forcing Charles to do anything. He braced for the unpleasant shock of separation, then jerked himself away, reached for the chain that bound Charles (splayed on the sacrificial slab like a gift to Erik, truly, Erik hated unicorns in that moment) with his mind; it was simple enough to release Charles from the restraints.
It was much more difficult to calm himself enough to look at Charles.
"I'm sorry. I thought it would work." He scowled to himself. One had to take gambles to reap great rewards. "Though, if you just want to avoid being Shaw's virgin sacrifice, I, uh, could help you with that."
Re: MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: The Dark of the Night
anonymous
November 6 2011, 03:54:27 UTC
Charles is pretty sure that as an evil (not really), dark(ish) mage, Erik should probably taste like death or decay or dead kittens or something foul, not cinnamon with a metallic tang underneath.
He should probably be protesting.
And he will.
In a minute.
Well, maybe two minutes.
Or so.
Finally he gets his hand to move, and shoves Erik kind of half-heartedly in the shoulder, but it works because Erik pulls off of him (no don't) eventually.
And then Erik frees him from the chain and makes Charles an offer he doesn't want to refuse.
If Charles had an ounce of sense he would say no. But he's tired. He's tired of being Shaw's pawn and tired of holding the line on his own (and god, can't those stupid unicorns just migrate already and save themselves) and can't he have just one thing, one thing just for himself.
He slides down off the slab, stands in front of Erik. And pulls him down for another kiss.
Re: MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: The Dark of the NightsharpestscalpelNovember 6 2011, 16:35:05 UTC
Well, then. Erik hadn't been expecting that. Charles was shorter than he was, so Erik had to bend - and he was renowned as an unbending, strict, and rigid...
What was he thinking about?
Erik figured if Charles was kissing him this time around, that maybe some permission, some agreement was implied. And he'd double check that, just to be sure, but for the moment, he was going to enjoy himself. Erik turned them so that he could sit up on the slab, so that he could pull Charles closer, between his spread thighs. He fisted one hand in the ridiculous floppy hair that had always made him want to brush it (and, really, that urge was far more embarrassing than any of the filthy things he wanted to do with the rest of Charles's body) and used the other to span the shadowy part of Charles's neck, right under his jaw. He kept his touch light, just held on so he could feel Charles's pulse, accelerating and beating strongly right there under his fingertips.
He used his legs to urge Charles closer.
"Call that a kiss?" The familiar mocking voice jerked Erik back, sent him scrambling for some distance. He knew better than to touch Shaw's things, he did. But Charles didn't belong to Shaw - Shaw was Doing It Wrong, obviously. Still, staying out of arm's reach seemed the most prudent move he could make. He dragged Charles with him, around to the other side of the sacrificial slab.
"Just a little kiss." If his voice wavered, well, he was having trouble regulating his breathing just then.
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: Love Is Slowing You Down NC-17
anonymous
November 7 2011, 07:40:50 UTC
(Guys, we kind of slacked off on creating new titles for the last three updates, so make sure you've read those first before you read this, or the time skip will be rather jarring.)
Charles and Erik ran hand-in-hand stumbling through the forest as if the devil himself was on their heels. Which he was.
"You threw a rock at Shaw?!! You threw a rock at Shaw?!!!" To be fair, Charles had hit Shaw with that rock. And Shaw had gone down like a ton of bricks.
Still, as plans went, Erik still couldn't believe it had worked.
"Yes, because your plan of let's hide behind the sacrificial slab was so much better." Erik liked Charles better when he was being the stoic sacrifice and less when he was being sarcastic, and also dismissive of Erik's own completely understandable panicked reaction.
And they ran, they ran so far away, but of course no place was far enough from Shaw.
And when they got to the crook of the creek under the tree with two forks, Charles stopped so suddenly that Erik went sprawling. They'd apparently lost Shaw for the moment but Erik knew it couldn't last.
"You offered to help me. Are you still willing?" Grim and determined looked somewhat better on Charles than sarcastic and dismissive (although what Erik really dreamed of was seeing a joyful and carefree Charles. Foolishness.)
"Yes." Erik tried desperately to think of any way to get Charles out of this, away from here, and meanwhile Charles was --
Charles was -- he was -- and then he -- and oh god Charles' mouth was on his cock --
And it was good, it was so good, it was better than any he'd ever had before, it didn't matter that it was a little clumsy and unpracticed because Charles was the one doing it --
And it was so very hard for Erik to think, but one thought did shake loose, that maybe for virgin despoiling purposes this might not quite count --
So Erik twisted around and repositioned himself and fumbled with Charles' clothing and Erik got his mouth on Charles' cock --
And Charles moaned around Erik's cock and god, that sound, the vibrations --
Sucking and being sucked, it's amazing, incredible, the circle of life and all that shit, and Erik will never regret this, ever.
Six hours later when Shaw's minions drop him stark naked in the middle of the neighboring -- hostile -- kingdom, Erik still doesn't regret it.
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: Think of Me, Babe, Whenever Some Sweet-Talking Despotic Demon Comes AlongsharpestscalpelNovember 7 2011, 22:26:14 UTC
(Self-restraint with these titles, I has none.)
***
Charles regrets a lot of things. He regrets not having sex with his bathers and he regrets letting Raven talk him into visiting the local unicorn herd on a regular basis in the first place and he regrets letting Shaw know - court gossip being what it was - that Charles was still a virgin. He regrets not hurrying Raven along in her plan once Shaw knowing about Charles's virginity had become a problem.
He regrets not going away to get an education. That might have been where everything went wrong.
But he doesn't regret the hasty... simultaneous blowjob? There isn't really a word that Charles knows to describe what he and Erik had shared and he didn't just mean that in regards to the way he felt all warm and inexplicably happy when he thought about it. The lack of vocabulary did not sit well with Charles.
It was a shame there was little he could do to rectify the situation, imprisoned, as he was, in a giant metal birdcage hanging from Shaw's bedroom ceiling. It wasn't like he could ask the guards - or Shaw, for that matter. He could just imagine how poorly that would go, particularly when he got around to describing how wondrous it had felt to bring Erik so much pleasure.
And he would definitely leave out the part where he'd kneed Erik in the face at the instant of his first orgasm. Charles was not entirely proud of that moment.
He hoped Erik's nose wasn't actually broken.
***
Clothing was the first order of business. Erik certainly knew how to skulk around and not be noticed but it was much harder to do it naked, because people tended to notice when naked men wandered around and kept to the edges of crowds. People tended to think naked men wandering around were up to no good.
Erik was not quite vain enough to think he could talk his way out of that kind of situation based on the strength of his... assets. Particularly with the broken nose he'd walked away from Charles with.
He might not be a good enough dark mage to summon a unicorn (and, really, Erik had his doubts about Shaw's ritual now that he'd had a chance to try to perform it; it was possible Shaw had just been getting lucky (so to speak)), but Erik was still capable enough when it came to communing with the nature spirits - they pointed him toward a nearby farmhouse where Erik stole clothing off the laundry line without remorse.
See, Erik thought, heartless.
Of course he intended to sneak back into Shaw's kingdom. He just needed to find someone who could set his nose first. Breathing was a very important part of overthrowing an evil overlord.
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News
anonymous
November 8 2011, 01:04:45 UTC
"May I ask, how did you acquire this injury?" asks the young physician as he applies a healing salve to Erik's broken nose.
Erik ponders for one moment telling the truth, just to see the reaction. My boyfriend kneed me in the face while I sucked him to his very first orgasm.
"I tripped," says Erik in a tone that clearly conveys I am lying and you know it and I know it and I know you know it but I'm not going to give you a different answer.
"Understood," says the doctor as he bandages Erik's nose. He goes to a cabinet, pulls out a small bottle. "Take two drops of this every ---" he cuts off at the sound of rapidly approaching hoofbeats.
Erik tenses, and quietly extends his senses. He's not detecting anything of Shaw's, and yet --
A distraught, bedraggled blonde woman bursts through the doorway and throws herself into the physician's arms. "Hank!"
The physician -- Hank -- looks simultaneously shocked and pleased. "Raven! What are you doing here?" He frowns at her appearance. "What happened? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but my brother, oh Hank it's terrible --" she cuts off when she realizes Hank is not alone, then does a double-take when she sees who Hank is fixing up. Her gaze turns murderous.
Erik, for his part, has just recognized her as Charles' sister Raven, and suspects this will not go well.
It doesn't.
*****
"Honestly Raven, I just set his nose. Couldn't you have hit him somewhere else?" says Hank wearily, as he applies more salve.
"Like hell! My brother has been imprisoned in a bird cage in Shaw's bedroom because of him!" Raven hisses.
Hank and Raven continue to argue, but it all falls away from Erik as his vision goes dark, his heart plunges into an icy abyss. He can't hear anything over the thunderous pounding of blood in his own ears.
It didn't matter if Erik had to crawl miles over broken glass and rip out Shaw's throat with his teeth as the last of Erik's own life bled out. Shaw would DIE, and Erik would eat his heart.
Erik distantly notes that the room has gone absolutely silent, and comes back to himself to see Hank and Raven staring at him with horrified expressions.
Oh. Apparently he'd said that last bit out loud.
Raven recovers first. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, and I'm all for killing Shaw, but what's your plan?"
Oh right. He probably needed one of those. At least one that was more detailed than "Kill Shaw, rescue Charles, and fuck him until neither of us can move."
Probably not what Raven wants to hear, though. "I don't have a plan." And, okay, she probably didn't want to hear that either.
Raven's mouth twists wryly. "Luckily for us, I do."
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: Went To A Party Last Saturday Night, Didn't Get Laid, Got In A FightsharpestscalpelNovember 8 2011, 03:17:29 UTC
If Charles had just told him that he had a unicorn horn, Erik's thoughts throbbed in time with his much-abused nose, he could have already killed Shaw with it and none of this would be necessary. But no, Erik thought in time with his regular marching steps as they walked back towards Shaw's kingdom, no, Charles had to be all... really, actually, why wouldn't Charles tell him something like that?
"Why wouldn't Charles tell me something like that?" He ignored the note in his voice that could, he would have had to admit if he were paying attention to it, be identified as petulant. "I told him my plan, which, you know, could have been aided if he'd just told me your plan."
It wasn't that his feelings were hurt so much as... okay, his feelings were hurt. Charles obviously didn't trust him. Charles had put his mouth on Erik's cock (and, really, thinking about that still made him smile a toothy, ridiculous grin) but he hadn't put his trust in Erik's actions.
Raven snorted. She wasn't a very nice person. Once he'd forgiven her for hitting him in his broken nose, Erik was going to like her very much. "Has it escaped your attention that you were Shaw's favorite? I mean, you were chaining Charles up and jerking off over killing unicorns. That doesn't inspire trust."
Charles had apparently told her about that. Well then. It wasn't like he was using his dignity for anything important, really. It wasn't like he was a prince of the realm and people respected (and feared) him. It wasn't like he was in line to rule the kingdom once they'd killed Shaw (and he'd eaten his heart - he'd need recipes for that because Erik might have some dark mage experience but, ew, raw heart). He heaved a sigh.
"It wasn't like that." He hadn't, to be fair, been terribly upset by the killing of the unicorn. But he'd mostly been focused on Charles, all milky and virginal being spread out and chained to the sacrificial slab. That wasn't strange at all.
Hank's skin flushed bright red. The doctor was a little bit of a prude. Erik wondered what on Earth Raven saw in him but then he wasn't really going to quibble about anyone's choice of partner given his own preference for, well, his preferences were really summed up by: Charles.
He could feel Raven's squinty-eyed stare. She gaped at him. "Oh, Father Sunlight, you liked having him tied up, didn't you? No, don't answer that, he's my brother. I don't need to know."
Smiling hurt his nose. But, really, Charles had put his mouth on Erik's cock. Why shouldn't Erik smile?
***
Shaw was most assuredly not a virgin. Charles sat cross-legged in the bottom of his bird cage and tried not to watch Shaw's ass as he thrust into one of his bathers. Shaw had a pimple on his ass. Charles had a very inappropriate urge to mention it.
The bather didn't look very happy. Shaw roared when he finished and Charles couldn't help but compare it to the helpless sound Erik had made, well, the helpless sound he'd made before he yelped in pain. Charles was certain he would never have the opportunity to boast about it (he wasn't sure if the other princes shared stories about their bedroom prowess but he didn't think he'd really be the type to participate in such talk - though he wondered if Erik was), but he hadn't done a bad job - his first blow job, giving his first blow job, had gone remarkably well.
There was little else to ponder; Shaw called for his other bather. Charles rolled his eyes.
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: Ice Ice, Baby
anonymous
November 8 2011, 05:43:51 UTC
Erik was beginning to regret not stealing horses to ride -- why did they have to walk back to Shaw's kingdom, anyway, just because Raven had ridden her horse flat out to reach Hank and it needed to rest -- when, as if heralded by Erik's thought, there came the sound hoofbeats rapidly approaching through the trees.
Erik grinned. If it was bandits the three of them could steal their horses. Also Erik was in the mood to hit something.
The riders came out of the trees and --
Well, shit.
Not bandits.
Definitely NOT bandits.
*****
"This is interesting," drawled Emma Frost, Sorceress-Regnant. "I'm fairly certain I closed our borders when Shaw began his unicorn slaughtering. And yet here we have Shaw's favorite, and another member of Shaw's court, being assisted by one of our subjects. How did this happen?"
Erik knows his lines, he's supposed to say something along the lines of We were just out for a stroll, I had no idea we'd crossed over your border, terribly sorry and let the politicking begin.
Screw that. "Shaw banished me and had his minions drop me here in the hopes you would kill me." The archers in Frost's entourage clearly hope that Frost will allow them to do just that, the way they are going for their weapons.
Frost raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Really. And why would he do that? According to my sources, you've been his main assistant in the rituals."
Erik tucks that bit of info away for the moment. "Yes, well, as of about a day ago, he no longer has a royal virgin to use for the summoning."
Frost's smooth expression betrays nothing. "Well, then allow me to offer my condolences to the sister of the deceased."
Raven's mouth quirks. "That's not how he did it, Emma."
Frost actually unbends enough to laugh at that. "Really. How delightful!" She looks over at Raven. "I must say I did wonder why you had let him live if he had killed Charles."
Erik is rapidly getting tired of being talked over. At least Hank looks just as in the dark as Erik is.
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: Going To The ChapelsharpestscalpelNovember 8 2011, 16:55:28 UTC
Erik restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Rolling his eyes was too juvenile, really. "If everyone really wants to stand around and talk about how I deflowered Charles, we can certainly do that. But, really, I hate to kiss and tell." Actually, Erik had never minded sharing details in the past. It was just that he didn't think Charles would appreciate it if he told everyone how wide Charles's eyes had been, how raspy his voice, how shaky his legs when they had finished. And, well, it just seemed kind of personal. And also it would probably be unfair if he killed them after telling them about it because no one was going to know how soft and happy Charles's mouth was after orgasm but Erik, thank you all very much.
He was, admittedly, a tad possessive. He'd have to work on that.
Frost was not a popular figure inside Shaw's kingdom - he took that back. She was a popular figure because the woman really was quite attractive. But she was as dangerous as any other sorceror - the pretty face and fantastic boobs had fooled many enemies in the past.
Was he still allowed to think that about her boobs? Erik would discuss that with Charles later.
***
Emma did roll her eyes, juvenile or not. Shaw's favorite was a rangy thing, all legs and cheekbones. He was as opposite as could be when compared to Charles - if there was a poster boy for sunshine and rainbows (and unicorns) that kid was it.
Though, really, she ought not think of him as a child anymore; Charles was more than old enough to have contacted her through his sister, after all, in a bid to win her aid. He had a knack for finding unexpected allies, Charles did. Emma didn't know of anyone else who had ever been given the horn of a unicorn, after all.
And he'd promised to give it to her after using it to kill Shaw, in exchange for her help. Emma wasn't entirely sure what she would do with a unicorn horn but it was certainly a powerful enough talisman that she wanted it. However, Emma would have helped to overthrow Shaw anyway. He'd treated her so poorly when they had been betrothed. She was not pining after him; she simply wanted to make sure the entirety of both kingdoms knew: no one left Emma Frost, Sorceress-Regnant at the alter.
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: Emma Is A Troll
anonymous
November 9 2011, 01:40:05 UTC
(I tried to come up with a more profound title for this section but ... yeah.)
Charles hadn't actually expected anything about being locked in a cage to be pleasant. So mealtime was a surprise.
Shaw was off doing whatever evil sorcerers did during their downtime (besides bathers) and so Charles didn't bother paying attention to the food server and the two guards that came with him, until said server was up the ladder and handing him a tray through the bars.
"Dude, so I heard you finally got your V-card punched. High five!" Sean pushed his hand through the bars and held it vertically, palm flat.
Charles just goggled. "You -- How -- What are you doing here, Sean?!" This was dangerous. Shaw could have any number of ways to monitor his own chambers, not to mention the guards below. Charles had few enough friends at court that he didn't want to lose one.
Sean blinked. "We came to bust you out, duh." He nods his head down at the guards, who are actually Darwin and Alex, two more young lords of Shaw's court and friends of Sean and Charles.
Charles shook his head. "No, it's too danger--" but Sean cut him off, looking uncharacteristically serious.
"No, you've been telling us that it's too dangerous to act for months, and you've been all noble and sacrificial and stuff to buy time. We are done waiting! We are getting you out of here, and then we are leaving." Sean produced a key.
*****
The boys had planned the escape well, taking the back ways down to the stables and stealing the four horses loaded down with supplies that had been waiting for them -- the work of another accomplice, Charles was told.
It wasn't until they were safely down the road aways (after having laid several false trails) that Charles dared to ask, "Where are we going?"
Charles was utterly relieved Raven had gotten out already, and felt ashamed for not asking after her earlier. (You were too busy pretending you don't want to ask about someone else).
*****
Negotiations were going quite well, actually, after Emma had mentally adjusted to the idea that Erik wouldn't be quietly assassinated during or after the uprising against Shaw. The original plan called for a new ruler for the neighboring kingdom that Emma would consider doing business with, and as Shaw's favorite, Erik had not been under consideration.
Now, well, after hearing what had transpired, Emma had concluded that A) Erik would be more trouble to kill than was worthwhile and B) Should she actually succeed in killing Erik, Charles, who knew how to play a long game and was much more devious than others gave him credit for, would find a way to make her really, really regret it.
Emma is pretty damn sure she knows which person, or which two people, would be ruling Shaw's kingdom after he was taken care of.
That didn't mean she couldn't have some fun, though.
"I have just one more condition to assure your good faith," Emma says in her loftiest tones. "To strengthen ties between our two kingdoms, I propose a marriage alliance between Charles and my cousin, the Lady Moira."
Emma sits back in her saddle and waits for the fireworks to start.
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: It's Still True That Emma Is A TrollsharpestscalpelNovember 9 2011, 03:23:48 UTC
She didn't have long to wait. Erik raised a single eyebrow. Which was soon joined by a second raised eyebrow. And then all the trappings and draperies and livery on the horses and surrounding soldiers started to rattle and flutter, as though a dire wind were on the rise.
"The Lady Moira. I'm sure she's lovely." Erik's words were fair but his teeth were gritted together, a grimace trying to be a smile. "But Charles will not marry her." He coughed. "We don't believe in arranged marriages in our kingdom.
That was not entirely accurate. Shaw married off princes and princesses right and left, to anyone who struck his fancy. Erik did not believe in arranged marriages unless he got to arrange for Charles to marry him. Which struck him as entirely premature. Not that he wasn't willing to marry Charles. Just... they hadn't even had more than one occasion on which to kiss.
And it was probable that Charles would want to be consulted before Erik declared himself his betrothed anyway.
"Moira is beautiful. Dark hair and tawny skin and a lovely pink mouth. I think she'd be just Charles's type." Emma was not entirely sure how she kept a straight face. Moira and Erik could not be more similar in some ways - but they were not physically alike. "And if you're going to hold the kingdom, you're going to have to learn to compromise and negotiate. Arranged marriages are just part of politics."
"The wind picked up.
"And who are you going to marry?" Erik tasted blood where he'd bitten his cheek too hard.
MINIFILL CONTINUED MOAR: Trolling Trolling Trolling, Keep Those Wagons Trolling
anonymous
November 9 2011, 21:37:48 UTC
"Well." Emma tapped a finger to the her lips, pretended to think. "Since you've rejected my first suggested alliance ... I suppose I could offer my hand in marriage to you. Unite our kingdoms, etcetera."
A bolt of lightning came out of the clear blue sky, striking right next to Emma. Emma to her credit, did not flinch. (And no one had to know that she'd quietly strengthened her personal shields and was keeping a magical death grip on her mount, to keep it from bolting.)
"No." said Erik in a soft, deadly tone. "Thank you." he spit out after Raven elbowed him (brave girl).
Emma sighed, pretending resignation. "No? Very well then. Here are the weapons, supplies and mounts, as promised." She waved forward two members of her entourage, who led a string of well-laden horses over to Erik.
"My representatives will be going with you, to assist as needed. Full ambassadorial privileges, the whole deal." said Emma, waving her hand imperiously. "Once you've taken care of your little domestic problem, send an ambassador back and we'll hammer out some trade agreements."
Erik's group quickly saddled up, and rode off. Emma gave a cheeky little wave and yelled "Have fun storming the castle!" Emma privately thought it would take a miracle to work, but she had faith in Charles' ability (or possibly Erik's) to produce a miracle.
Emma waited until their party had left, and were well without of earshot, and then laughed herself sick.
*****
Erik rode hard and fast to work off some of the rage he felt, so it was a couple hours into their journey before he felt the need to ask about these two strangers Frost had foisted on him.
He slowed down enough to ride in step with Frost's first representative, a woman with dark hair ... and tawny skin ... and pink lips ...
Frost wouldn't have -- what was he thinking, of course she would have.
Erik sighed. Best get this over with. "Lady Moira, I presume?" Erik made a mental note to figure who in his court pissed off Frost the most, and to appoint them ambassador to her court.
The woman blinked. "No. The name's Angel. And if you want to get technical about it, yes there's a 'lady' in front of it, but I don't usually use it in my line of work."
"Which is?"
"Waste removal."
Erik wondered why Frost thought he needed a sanitation engineer; Shaw was evil but he also liked his comforts, and the castle aqueducts were the best to be found within ten kingdoms. And with all that black leather, Angel couldn't possibly crawl around in ducts without it getting filthy ---oh.
Right. Assassin.
Erik and Angel spent a good half hour comparing techniques, and Erik found himself actually enjoying the conversation. (Angel even had a good recipe for cooking a human heart --"I had this one client, there was a thing with her stepdaughter and a forest and a mirror, anyway raw heart doesn't keep well for travel, and she wanted the proof.")
Finally Erik excused himself, thinking he should introduce himself to the other representative, who was currently deep in conversation with Raven.
Raven looked up and grinned. Erik felt faintly unsettled without knowing why.
"Erik!" Raven said just a shade too sweetly. "Come meet my friend, the Lady Moira."
"Hello," said Moira, her pink lips twisted into a cheeky little grin. "Raven's told me so much about you."
Charles is feeling better than he has in ages, now that he's actually taking charge of his own life again. It has absolutely nothing to do with being in close quarters with the man by his side.
He stumbles in the dark and Erik grabs his wrist to steady him. Charles flushes with heat, and his denial shatters.
Shit. You and those poor life decisions, Charles. You could have any number of valorous, steadfast and true knights, princes or princesses, and yet it is this one, Shaw's right hand, whom you have chosen. Well done.
Charles starts walking faster, now eager to have this over and done with.
*****
It doesn't work.
Charles doesn't know if it is because the night is wrong, or if Erik is simply not a skilled enough dark mage (please, please) to perform the ritual, but for whatever reason, one hour stretches into two stretches into three, and no unicorn has come.
(Charles would love to think that it's because the local herd has finally, finally gotten smart and migrated, but he knows better.)
"This isn't working, Erik," he says. "Let me up."
Erik stops chanting, but makes no move to unchain him. He merely stares at Charles with those deep, fathomless eyes of his, as if the moment he stops looking Charles will vanish into thin air.
Which is preposterous. If Charles had that power he'd have fled the kingdom months, possibly years ago.
"Let me go, Erik," says Charles sharply.
A fey, strange expression, not a quite a smile but not quite anything else, crosses Erik's face.
"You first," he says hoarsely, and then kisses Charles.
Reply
With his tongue in Charles's mouth, the virginity requirement seemed a lot more difficult to fulfill.
Charles tasted sweet, like the honey he put in his tea every morning. Not that Erik watched him down the length of the breakfast table. Sweet like honey and a little bit spicy like the red pepper jelly Erik ate on toast for his own breakfast.
He sucked on Charles's lower lip, nipped at it just for the satisfaction of feeling the soft flesh between his teeth. Something about unicorns. Something about virgins.
Erik obviously wasn't a good enough dark mage to play the role of unicorn killer but, oh, he thought he could handle despoiling certain virgins. With enthusiasm.
It took him a few panting moments to realize that the hand on his shoulder was pushing away, was trying to put space between their bodies - and while Erik was many very bad things to which he'd freely admit, he wasn't interested in forcing Charles to do anything. He braced for the unpleasant shock of separation, then jerked himself away, reached for the chain that bound Charles (splayed on the sacrificial slab like a gift to Erik, truly, Erik hated unicorns in that moment) with his mind; it was simple enough to release Charles from the restraints.
It was much more difficult to calm himself enough to look at Charles.
"I'm sorry. I thought it would work." He scowled to himself. One had to take gambles to reap great rewards. "Though, if you just want to avoid being Shaw's virgin sacrifice, I, uh, could help you with that."
Reply
He should probably be protesting.
And he will.
In a minute.
Well, maybe two minutes.
Or so.
Finally he gets his hand to move, and shoves Erik kind of half-heartedly in the shoulder, but it works because Erik pulls off of him (no don't) eventually.
And then Erik frees him from the chain and makes Charles an offer he doesn't want to refuse.
If Charles had an ounce of sense he would say no. But he's tired. He's tired of being Shaw's pawn and tired of holding the line on his own (and god, can't those stupid unicorns just migrate already and save themselves) and can't he have just one thing, one thing just for himself.
He slides down off the slab, stands in front of Erik. And pulls him down for another kiss.
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What was he thinking about?
Erik figured if Charles was kissing him this time around, that maybe some permission, some agreement was implied. And he'd double check that, just to be sure, but for the moment, he was going to enjoy himself. Erik turned them so that he could sit up on the slab, so that he could pull Charles closer, between his spread thighs. He fisted one hand in the ridiculous floppy hair that had always made him want to brush it (and, really, that urge was far more embarrassing than any of the filthy things he wanted to do with the rest of Charles's body) and used the other to span the shadowy part of Charles's neck, right under his jaw. He kept his touch light, just held on so he could feel Charles's pulse, accelerating and beating strongly right there under his fingertips.
He used his legs to urge Charles closer.
"Call that a kiss?" The familiar mocking voice jerked Erik back, sent him scrambling for some distance. He knew better than to touch Shaw's things, he did. But Charles didn't belong to Shaw - Shaw was Doing It Wrong, obviously. Still, staying out of arm's reach seemed the most prudent move he could make. He dragged Charles with him, around to the other side of the sacrificial slab.
"Just a little kiss." If his voice wavered, well, he was having trouble regulating his breathing just then.
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Also, both of your styles perfectly complement each other in this fill. It's snarky yet sweet. Awesome.
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Charles and Erik ran hand-in-hand stumbling through the forest as if the devil himself was on their heels. Which he was.
"You threw a rock at Shaw?!! You threw a rock at Shaw?!!!" To be fair, Charles had hit Shaw with that rock. And Shaw had gone down like a ton of bricks.
Still, as plans went, Erik still couldn't believe it had worked.
"Yes, because your plan of let's hide behind the sacrificial slab was so much better." Erik liked Charles better when he was being the stoic sacrifice and less when he was being sarcastic, and also dismissive of Erik's own completely understandable panicked reaction.
And they ran, they ran so far away, but of course no place was far enough from Shaw.
And when they got to the crook of the creek under the tree with two forks, Charles stopped so suddenly that Erik went sprawling. They'd apparently lost Shaw for the moment but Erik knew it couldn't last.
"You offered to help me. Are you still willing?" Grim and determined looked somewhat better on Charles than sarcastic and dismissive (although what Erik really dreamed of was seeing a joyful and carefree Charles. Foolishness.)
"Yes." Erik tried desperately to think of any way to get Charles out of this, away from here, and meanwhile Charles was --
Charles was -- he was -- and then he -- and oh god Charles' mouth was on his cock --
And it was good, it was so good, it was better than any he'd ever had before, it didn't matter that it was a little clumsy and unpracticed because Charles was the one doing it --
And it was so very hard for Erik to think, but one thought did shake loose, that maybe for virgin despoiling purposes this might not quite count --
So Erik twisted around and repositioned himself and fumbled with Charles' clothing and Erik got his mouth on Charles' cock --
And Charles moaned around Erik's cock and god, that sound, the vibrations --
Sucking and being sucked, it's amazing, incredible, the circle of life and all that shit, and Erik will never regret this, ever.
Six hours later when Shaw's minions drop him stark naked in the middle of the neighboring -- hostile -- kingdom, Erik still doesn't regret it.
He hopes Charles feels the same.
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***
Charles regrets a lot of things. He regrets not having sex with his bathers and he regrets letting Raven talk him into visiting the local unicorn herd on a regular basis in the first place and he regrets letting Shaw know - court gossip being what it was - that Charles was still a virgin. He regrets not hurrying Raven along in her plan once Shaw knowing about Charles's virginity had become a problem.
He regrets not going away to get an education. That might have been where everything went wrong.
But he doesn't regret the hasty... simultaneous blowjob? There isn't really a word that Charles knows to describe what he and Erik had shared and he didn't just mean that in regards to the way he felt all warm and inexplicably happy when he thought about it. The lack of vocabulary did not sit well with Charles.
It was a shame there was little he could do to rectify the situation, imprisoned, as he was, in a giant metal birdcage hanging from Shaw's bedroom ceiling. It wasn't like he could ask the guards - or Shaw, for that matter. He could just imagine how poorly that would go, particularly when he got around to describing how wondrous it had felt to bring Erik so much pleasure.
And he would definitely leave out the part where he'd kneed Erik in the face at the instant of his first orgasm. Charles was not entirely proud of that moment.
He hoped Erik's nose wasn't actually broken.
***
Clothing was the first order of business. Erik certainly knew how to skulk around and not be noticed but it was much harder to do it naked, because people tended to notice when naked men wandered around and kept to the edges of crowds. People tended to think naked men wandering around were up to no good.
Erik was not quite vain enough to think he could talk his way out of that kind of situation based on the strength of his... assets. Particularly with the broken nose he'd walked away from Charles with.
He might not be a good enough dark mage to summon a unicorn (and, really, Erik had his doubts about Shaw's ritual now that he'd had a chance to try to perform it; it was possible Shaw had just been getting lucky (so to speak)), but Erik was still capable enough when it came to communing with the nature spirits - they pointed him toward a nearby farmhouse where Erik stole clothing off the laundry line without remorse.
See, Erik thought, heartless.
Of course he intended to sneak back into Shaw's kingdom. He just needed to find someone who could set his nose first. Breathing was a very important part of overthrowing an evil overlord.
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Erik ponders for one moment telling the truth, just to see the reaction. My boyfriend kneed me in the face while I sucked him to his very first orgasm.
"I tripped," says Erik in a tone that clearly conveys I am lying and you know it and I know it and I know you know it but I'm not going to give you a different answer.
"Understood," says the doctor as he bandages Erik's nose. He goes to a cabinet, pulls out a small bottle. "Take two drops of this every ---" he cuts off at the sound of rapidly approaching hoofbeats.
Erik tenses, and quietly extends his senses. He's not detecting anything of Shaw's, and yet --
A distraught, bedraggled blonde woman bursts through the doorway and throws herself into the physician's arms. "Hank!"
The physician -- Hank -- looks simultaneously shocked and pleased. "Raven! What are you doing here?" He frowns at her appearance. "What happened? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but my brother, oh Hank it's terrible --" she cuts off when she realizes Hank is not alone, then does a double-take when she sees who Hank is fixing up. Her gaze turns murderous.
Erik, for his part, has just recognized her as Charles' sister Raven, and suspects this will not go well.
It doesn't.
*****
"Honestly Raven, I just set his nose. Couldn't you have hit him somewhere else?" says Hank wearily, as he applies more salve.
"Like hell! My brother has been imprisoned in a bird cage in Shaw's bedroom because of him!" Raven hisses.
Hank and Raven continue to argue, but it all falls away from Erik as his vision goes dark, his heart plunges into an icy abyss. He can't hear anything over the thunderous pounding of blood in his own ears.
It didn't matter if Erik had to crawl miles over broken glass and rip out Shaw's throat with his teeth as the last of Erik's own life bled out. Shaw would DIE, and Erik would eat his heart.
Erik distantly notes that the room has gone absolutely silent, and comes back to himself to see Hank and Raven staring at him with horrified expressions.
Oh. Apparently he'd said that last bit out loud.
Raven recovers first. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, and I'm all for killing Shaw, but what's your plan?"
Oh right. He probably needed one of those. At least one that was more detailed than "Kill Shaw, rescue Charles, and fuck him until neither of us can move."
Probably not what Raven wants to hear, though. "I don't have a plan." And, okay, she probably didn't want to hear that either.
Raven's mouth twists wryly. "Luckily for us, I do."
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"Why wouldn't Charles tell me something like that?" He ignored the note in his voice that could, he would have had to admit if he were paying attention to it, be identified as petulant. "I told him my plan, which, you know, could have been aided if he'd just told me your plan."
It wasn't that his feelings were hurt so much as... okay, his feelings were hurt. Charles obviously didn't trust him. Charles had put his mouth on Erik's cock (and, really, thinking about that still made him smile a toothy, ridiculous grin) but he hadn't put his trust in Erik's actions.
Raven snorted. She wasn't a very nice person. Once he'd forgiven her for hitting him in his broken nose, Erik was going to like her very much. "Has it escaped your attention that you were Shaw's favorite? I mean, you were chaining Charles up and jerking off over killing unicorns. That doesn't inspire trust."
Charles had apparently told her about that. Well then. It wasn't like he was using his dignity for anything important, really. It wasn't like he was a prince of the realm and people respected (and feared) him. It wasn't like he was in line to rule the kingdom once they'd killed Shaw (and he'd eaten his heart - he'd need recipes for that because Erik might have some dark mage experience but, ew, raw heart). He heaved a sigh.
"It wasn't like that." He hadn't, to be fair, been terribly upset by the killing of the unicorn. But he'd mostly been focused on Charles, all milky and virginal being spread out and chained to the sacrificial slab. That wasn't strange at all.
Hank's skin flushed bright red. The doctor was a little bit of a prude. Erik wondered what on Earth Raven saw in him but then he wasn't really going to quibble about anyone's choice of partner given his own preference for, well, his preferences were really summed up by: Charles.
He could feel Raven's squinty-eyed stare. She gaped at him. "Oh, Father Sunlight, you liked having him tied up, didn't you? No, don't answer that, he's my brother. I don't need to know."
Smiling hurt his nose. But, really, Charles had put his mouth on Erik's cock. Why shouldn't Erik smile?
***
Shaw was most assuredly not a virgin. Charles sat cross-legged in the bottom of his bird cage and tried not to watch Shaw's ass as he thrust into one of his bathers. Shaw had a pimple on his ass. Charles had a very inappropriate urge to mention it.
The bather didn't look very happy. Shaw roared when he finished and Charles couldn't help but compare it to the helpless sound Erik had made, well, the helpless sound he'd made before he yelped in pain. Charles was certain he would never have the opportunity to boast about it (he wasn't sure if the other princes shared stories about their bedroom prowess but he didn't think he'd really be the type to participate in such talk - though he wondered if Erik was), but he hadn't done a bad job - his first blow job, giving his first blow job, had gone remarkably well.
There was little else to ponder; Shaw called for his other bather. Charles rolled his eyes.
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Erik grinned. If it was bandits the three of them could steal their horses. Also Erik was in the mood to hit something.
The riders came out of the trees and --
Well, shit.
Not bandits.
Definitely NOT bandits.
*****
"This is interesting," drawled Emma Frost, Sorceress-Regnant. "I'm fairly certain I closed our borders when Shaw began his unicorn slaughtering. And yet here we have Shaw's favorite, and another member of Shaw's court, being assisted by one of our subjects. How did this happen?"
Erik knows his lines, he's supposed to say something along the lines of We were just out for a stroll, I had no idea we'd crossed over your border, terribly sorry and let the politicking begin.
Screw that. "Shaw banished me and had his minions drop me here in the hopes you would kill me." The archers in Frost's entourage clearly hope that Frost will allow them to do just that, the way they are going for their weapons.
Frost raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Really. And why would he do that? According to my sources, you've been his main assistant in the rituals."
Erik tucks that bit of info away for the moment. "Yes, well, as of about a day ago, he no longer has a royal virgin to use for the summoning."
Frost's smooth expression betrays nothing. "Well, then allow me to offer my condolences to the sister of the deceased."
Raven's mouth quirks. "That's not how he did it, Emma."
Frost actually unbends enough to laugh at that. "Really. How delightful!" She looks over at Raven. "I must say I did wonder why you had let him live if he had killed Charles."
Erik is rapidly getting tired of being talked over. At least Hank looks just as in the dark as Erik is.
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He was, admittedly, a tad possessive. He'd have to work on that.
Frost was not a popular figure inside Shaw's kingdom - he took that back. She was a popular figure because the woman really was quite attractive. But she was as dangerous as any other sorceror - the pretty face and fantastic boobs had fooled many enemies in the past.
Was he still allowed to think that about her boobs? Erik would discuss that with Charles later.
***
Emma did roll her eyes, juvenile or not. Shaw's favorite was a rangy thing, all legs and cheekbones. He was as opposite as could be when compared to Charles - if there was a poster boy for sunshine and rainbows (and unicorns) that kid was it.
Though, really, she ought not think of him as a child anymore; Charles was more than old enough to have contacted her through his sister, after all, in a bid to win her aid. He had a knack for finding unexpected allies, Charles did. Emma didn't know of anyone else who had ever been given the horn of a unicorn, after all.
And he'd promised to give it to her after using it to kill Shaw, in exchange for her help. Emma wasn't entirely sure what she would do with a unicorn horn but it was certainly a powerful enough talisman that she wanted it. However, Emma would have helped to overthrow Shaw anyway. He'd treated her so poorly when they had been betrothed. She was not pining after him; she simply wanted to make sure the entirety of both kingdoms knew: no one left Emma Frost, Sorceress-Regnant at the alter.
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Charles hadn't actually expected anything about being locked in a cage to be pleasant. So mealtime was a surprise.
Shaw was off doing whatever evil sorcerers did during their downtime (besides bathers) and so Charles didn't bother paying attention to the food server and the two guards that came with him, until said server was up the ladder and handing him a tray through the bars.
"Dude, so I heard you finally got your V-card punched. High five!" Sean pushed his hand through the bars and held it vertically, palm flat.
Charles just goggled. "You -- How -- What are you doing here, Sean?!" This was dangerous. Shaw could have any number of ways to monitor his own chambers, not to mention the guards below. Charles had few enough friends at court that he didn't want to lose one.
Sean blinked. "We came to bust you out, duh." He nods his head down at the guards, who are actually Darwin and Alex, two more young lords of Shaw's court and friends of Sean and Charles.
Charles shook his head. "No, it's too danger--" but Sean cut him off, looking uncharacteristically serious.
"No, you've been telling us that it's too dangerous to act for months, and you've been all noble and sacrificial and stuff to buy time. We are done waiting! We are getting you out of here, and then we are leaving." Sean produced a key.
*****
The boys had planned the escape well, taking the back ways down to the stables and stealing the four horses loaded down with supplies that had been waiting for them -- the work of another accomplice, Charles was told.
It wasn't until they were safely down the road aways (after having laid several false trails) that Charles dared to ask, "Where are we going?"
"To meet Raven. She's finalizing negotiations with Sorceress-Regnant Frost," answered Darwin.
Charles was utterly relieved Raven had gotten out already, and felt ashamed for not asking after her earlier. (You were too busy pretending you don't want to ask about someone else).
*****
Negotiations were going quite well, actually, after Emma had mentally adjusted to the idea that Erik wouldn't be quietly assassinated during or after the uprising against Shaw. The original plan called for a new ruler for the neighboring kingdom that Emma would consider doing business with, and as Shaw's favorite, Erik had not been under consideration.
Now, well, after hearing what had transpired, Emma had concluded that A) Erik would be more trouble to kill than was worthwhile and B) Should she actually succeed in killing Erik, Charles, who knew how to play a long game and was much more devious than others gave him credit for, would find a way to make her really, really regret it.
Emma is pretty damn sure she knows which person, or which two people, would be ruling Shaw's kingdom after he was taken care of.
That didn't mean she couldn't have some fun, though.
"I have just one more condition to assure your good faith," Emma says in her loftiest tones. "To strengthen ties between our two kingdoms, I propose a marriage alliance between Charles and my cousin, the Lady Moira."
Emma sits back in her saddle and waits for the fireworks to start.
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"The Lady Moira. I'm sure she's lovely." Erik's words were fair but his teeth were gritted together, a grimace trying to be a smile. "But Charles will not marry her." He coughed. "We don't believe in arranged marriages in our kingdom.
That was not entirely accurate. Shaw married off princes and princesses right and left, to anyone who struck his fancy. Erik did not believe in arranged marriages unless he got to arrange for Charles to marry him. Which struck him as entirely premature. Not that he wasn't willing to marry Charles. Just... they hadn't even had more than one occasion on which to kiss.
And it was probable that Charles would want to be consulted before Erik declared himself his betrothed anyway.
"Moira is beautiful. Dark hair and tawny skin and a lovely pink mouth. I think she'd be just Charles's type." Emma was not entirely sure how she kept a straight face. Moira and Erik could not be more similar in some ways - but they were not physically alike. "And if you're going to hold the kingdom, you're going to have to learn to compromise and negotiate. Arranged marriages are just part of politics."
"The wind picked up.
"And who are you going to marry?" Erik tasted blood where he'd bitten his cheek too hard.
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A bolt of lightning came out of the clear blue sky, striking right next to Emma. Emma to her credit, did not flinch. (And no one had to know that she'd quietly strengthened her personal shields and was keeping a magical death grip on her mount, to keep it from bolting.)
"No." said Erik in a soft, deadly tone. "Thank you." he spit out after Raven elbowed him (brave girl).
Emma sighed, pretending resignation. "No? Very well then. Here are the weapons, supplies and mounts, as promised." She waved forward two members of her entourage, who led a string of well-laden horses over to Erik.
"My representatives will be going with you, to assist as needed. Full ambassadorial privileges, the whole deal." said Emma, waving her hand imperiously. "Once you've taken care of your little domestic problem, send an ambassador back and we'll hammer out some trade agreements."
Erik's group quickly saddled up, and rode off. Emma gave a cheeky little wave and yelled "Have fun storming the castle!" Emma privately thought it would take a miracle to work, but she had faith in Charles' ability (or possibly Erik's) to produce a miracle.
Emma waited until their party had left, and were well without of earshot, and then laughed herself sick.
*****
Erik rode hard and fast to work off some of the rage he felt, so it was a couple hours into their journey before he felt the need to ask about these two strangers Frost had foisted on him.
He slowed down enough to ride in step with Frost's first representative, a woman with dark hair ... and tawny skin ... and pink lips ...
Frost wouldn't have -- what was he thinking, of course she would have.
Erik sighed. Best get this over with. "Lady Moira, I presume?" Erik made a mental note to figure who in his court pissed off Frost the most, and to appoint them ambassador to her court.
The woman blinked. "No. The name's Angel. And if you want to get technical about it, yes there's a 'lady' in front of it, but I don't usually use it in my line of work."
"Which is?"
"Waste removal."
Erik wondered why Frost thought he needed a sanitation engineer; Shaw was evil but he also liked his comforts, and the castle aqueducts were the best to be found within ten kingdoms. And with all that black leather, Angel couldn't possibly crawl around in ducts without it getting filthy ---oh.
Right. Assassin.
Erik and Angel spent a good half hour comparing techniques, and Erik found himself actually enjoying the conversation. (Angel even had a good recipe for cooking a human heart --"I had this one client, there was a thing with her stepdaughter and a forest and a mirror, anyway raw heart doesn't keep well for travel, and she wanted the proof.")
Finally Erik excused himself, thinking he should introduce himself to the other representative, who was currently deep in conversation with Raven.
Raven looked up and grinned. Erik felt faintly unsettled without knowing why.
"Erik!" Raven said just a shade too sweetly. "Come meet my friend, the Lady Moira."
"Hello," said Moira, her pink lips twisted into a cheeky little grin. "Raven's told me so much about you."
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