Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“Gods, Mistress…your scent. You smell so fucking good,” he rumbles, his voice low with need.
“That’s a lovely compliment, my Paladin.” I stroke his still-damp hair.
When he finishes smoothing the sides of the lace and sits back on his heels, I notice that his cock is leaking precum freely. He’s really worked up—I’ll need to let him cum at least once tonight but after that, his pleasure will be mine to control.
However, before I allow him to reach the peak, I’ll need to take precautions. I can’t have him blowing a hole in the side of my tower with his “Celestial Fire” as he calls his Light magic.
“Come here,” I tell him and he follows me willingly to my Ritual room. It’s a small, round room off of my bed chamber that I keep for special spells.
At the far end of the room is an altar, already draped in the sacred purple cloth. On it is laid the Dagger of Wisdom and the Chalice of Deepening, which is carved from purest silver and filled with spiced red wine brewed with Dreamroot. Beside that is a small golden pot filled with Black Binding Honey—it’s actually deep purple—made by the sacred bees I keep in my garden.
The bees drink only from the Holy Blessing flowers and the Dreamroot vines that I grow around my tower and produce a honey that I use in all my binding spells. I also use their wax in the tapers that sit in silver holders on either side of the altar. I light the dark purple candles with a snap of my fingers and the room begins to fill with the heavy, sweet smell of honey.
“I want you to kneel here,” I say to Alaric, pointing to a red velvet pillow in the center of the room. “I must retrieve a few things from my collection in order to Bind you to me.”
“So you want me to just kneel here and wait?” he asks, frowning at me.
“When I ask you to do something, I expect obedience, not questions,” I tell him, letting a stern note creep into my voice. “If you misbehave, I’ll have to punish you. Is that what you want?”
Since I am still wearing the Jewel of Knowing, I hear him thinking again about how Priestess Beatrice used to “punish” him with the Grip of Chastisement but he shakes his head and murmurs,
“No, Mistress.”
I can see the fire in his eyes as he speaks—his desire is to be “punished” in ways that will make his cock even harder. I’ll be happy to play those games with him, but tonight is sacred and serious.
“Kneel for me, Paladin and while you wait for me to return, learn your oath,” I command him.
“What oath?” he asks, looking mystified.
Walking to the altar, I take up the Dagger and use it to write in the air. The words float like smoke before him.
“You can read, can’t you?” I ask. Not all the barbarians in Solaris think that learning to read and write is a worthwhile pastime. But Alaric gives me a scornful look.
“Of course I can read! I was trained at the Citadel of the GodKing.”
“Good. Then learn your oath by the time I return,” I tell him.
Then I leave him, kneeling naked in the center of the room as he reads the words written in the air.
10
Alaric
What the fuck am I doing, kneeling naked on a pillow and waiting for Sylvanna? I ought to be forcing my way upstairs to see her “collection” as she calls it. What if The Heart of the Eclipse is there after all—what if she’s lying to me?
But somehow I can’t bring myself to doubt her. So far she’s spoken only the truth to me. And besides, I want to know what comes next. I tell myself that’s the only reason I’m willing to kneel this way and wait for her. I try to ignore the way my cock is leaking precum and my balls are aching. Why does obeying her affect me this way?
I read the oath she wrote in the air several times to be sure I have it right. I can’t believe I’m going to say this! It’s too fucking much…and yet, I’m not leaving. I tell myself this is the only way to get to The Heart of the Eclipse. I have to go through this in order to get there. It’s all part of my quest. It’s not like I’m here because I want to be.
After a while, Sylvanna returns. She’s carrying a velvet pillow with two blackened silver circlets laid upon it. The larger one bears a ruby as big as my thumb. The smaller one has a gem as well, but I can’t tell what it is. She lays the pillow carefully on the altar at the back of the room and turns to face me.