Perilous Jaunt Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Dante
In the year 1149 of Our Lord Savior, the Ten Kingdoms of Alpis united against witches and warlocks in an incident referred to by many as "The Scouring", an event that lasted for two years.
_ Every Kingdom experienced difficulties with these magic users. For example, there were many incidents of a witch or a warlock stealing something of value and massacring countless knights with the assistance of magic, which would sometimes be used to create fire, tear limbs off bodies and, in one documented case, transform someone's internal organs into water. In these cases, many magic users escaped justice, despite the audacity of their offences. And, even if they were miraculously apprehended, these evildoers would often escape prison cells without difficulty, usually breaking the locks off their chains or smashing holes through the wall with the use of their heretic abilities. After many attacks, the Ten Families banded together to wipe out these heretics, who not only injured the innocent, but also denied God from their hearts. _
By Alpis law, unless a criminal begins to attack a knight or other individual, serious lawbreakers (magic users, murderers and rapists) are to be brought before the King of the Kingdom that the crime was committed in. However, in this time of crisis, the Families felt that it was necessary to suspend the law temporarily, so they could deal with the issue of magic. If anybody, after the Families suspended the law that required serious lawbreakers to stand trial, was suspected of being a magic user, they could be slain without question. Soon, as the Kingdoms began killing these vermin, magic became less and less of a common sight. Many Capital Cities began taking other precautions to defeat these sinners. Some common techniques to interfere with magic abilities were mixing salt into the stones used when making repairs to walls or streets, using iron bars in cells and nailing the heads of wild wolves to doors.
_ There have been no recent cases involving magic as of the creation of this book, which possibly means that all witches and warlocks have been scourged from the world. It also helped Alpis greatly that these Satan worshipers were infertile, due to the abnormal nature of their abilities. However, there are still tales of witches and warlocks hiding out in the woodlands with the other wild beasts, waiting for the day that they can crush our society._
One of the many bloody pages of history. I sighed and shut the large tome, which then sprayed a cloud of dust into my face as its pages slammed together.
_ _ "Dalton Renner was an incredibly boring writer, even for one who wrote history books," Santel said, as she shifted closer to me while we lay on her bed together, our bodies free from the confinement clothing. We didn't even have the bed sheets over us. "His book is very detailed, though, I will admit,"
"Yes," I answered with a noticeable touch of sarcasm. "I especially like the parts were he throws in his own opinion, calling people 'heretics' and 'vermin'. What a charming man,"
Santel giggled at my irritation and placed herself at my right side, peering down at the tome while I placed it on top of my abdomen. "I hear he was a... What's the polite word for a nellie?"
My ears shifted and I glanced over at the nude snow leopard, whose soft breasts, I had just realized, were pressed against my shoulder while she turned to lie on her side. "A what?"
"You know," Santel said and tried to think of the phrase while she playfully fiddled with my right ear. "A man who likes to fuck other men,"
"Oh," I said, after realizing what she was referring to. "You mean he was gay?"
"Yes," Queen Santel sighed in mental relief and nodded. "Gay. That's it! I'm sorry. I didn't want to call him a faggot. It's such an ugly word and I can barely stand hearing it,"
"I know what you mean," I admitted. "How do you know he was gay?"
"Well..." Queen Santel began, clearly proud that she knew something that I did not. "Apparently, he never took a wife or fathered any children. Now, that's not proof, I know, but there was an incident that occurred between him and a priest,"
"Did he admit to being gay during confession?" I asked, deeming it the most plausible scenario.
"No," Queen Santel answered and smiled. "Nothing quite that boring, actually. From what I've heard, everybody in Tynas saw Dalton as a very holy man. He sat in the front pew for every Sunday Mass and even took to teaching some of the young children how to read the Bible.
"Anyways, one day, the priest of the church Dalton attended was hanged by a few knights for breaking his celibacy vow and for having relations with another man. Of course, this punishment was incredibly severe because he was in Tynas. But, after the priest was executed, Dalton stopped going to Mass and quit teaching the Bible to the local children. Some of his friends also noticed he had lost four fingers on his left hand. He withdrew into himself over a few months and only left his house to empty his chamber pot or to buy food and supplies for writing at the marketplace. Apparently, he'd lost a lot of weight and eventually stopped talking to his friends altogether.
"Then, after a year since the priest had been hanged, Dalton's neighbors noticed a horrible smell coming from his house. They broke down the door and found Dalton inside, face down on the ground with his wrists slit open. And he left no note or any explanation behind as to why he did it,"
The story had chilled all of the blood that ran through my heart. I had heard many stories like it before, of gays being hung or committing suicide due to persecution. Yet, it was always disinheriting to hear such tales of woe, no matter how many times I heard them, nor how much older I became.
"If he was gay," I inquired, "why didn't they hang him with the priest?"
Queen Santel shrugged and ran a hand across my shoulder. "Who knows? Maybe the priest lied and said he tricked Dalton into sleeping with him,"
I blinked and glanced down at the brown withered pages of Dalton's book with pity in my stomach, as if the book bore the story of the man's tragic end.
"To save Dalton," I muttered.
"Maybe," Queen Santel proposed, as she rested her head on my shoulder. "The knights would have believed him. A priest abusing his power? That's such a common sight that people hardly bat an eye nowadays,"
After taking a deep breath, I lifted the book and came face to face with the bland mud colored cover, which had "A Brief History of Alpis by Dalton Renner" inscribed into it in yellow.
"Why does it matter who you're attracted to?" I said.
"It doesn't," Santel answered me. "That's why I removed all the anti-gay laws after my husband died,"
"Still," I continued, "there's an unspoken rule about being gay. You're ostracized by your neighbors and the knights can be assholes if you ever ask for their help,"
"Gaining acceptance is a slow race," Queen Santel said. "Before you can be accepted, you have to bruise and bleed to show you're no different than anybody else,"
"True," I groaned and rolled to my left side. Then, I set the book down on the desk that was barely within an arm's length.
When I rolled back and laid with my stomach facing towards the ceiling once more, Queen Santel began to nuzzle my neck. "I've noticed something about you,"
I chuckled and cocked my head to look over at her. "My good looks?"
"No," Santel snickered at my joke.
"Then, what?"
The queen extended her hand to brush my cheek, the same warm hand that had touched every other part of me that night. Her blue eyes, which made sapphires envious of their beauty, examined every single hair around my muzzle. "Your face,"
"My face?" I said.
Gently, Santel's fingers slid down my cheek, prickling my fur with their soft touch. "It's just so strange,"
"What?"
When Queen Santel spoke again, her voice had diminished into a weak whisper, as though she feared some spy overhearing what she was about to say. "You look just like your father, Caiden,"
At the mere mention of my father, a burning sun of rage lit inside of me and my fur crawled with disgust. I grabbed Queen Santel's hand and gently pulled it away from me. Then, I sat up on the bed and stared down at the sheets I sat upon. "Don't call me that! It's not my name anymore. And my father is a wretched man who deserves to burn in hell,"
Queen Santel sat up as well and scooted next to me. Her eyes dwelled in the corner of my vision, glowing with their rich blue color. "Was,"
My ears twitched and I snapped my head to face the nude snow leopardess beside me. "What?"
"You're father died a year ago," Queen Santel told me, speaking softly as though I were a child. "Didn't you know?"
"No," I answered quietly and shook my head. "How did he die?"
A brief pause passed and Queen Santel finally answered me. "The illness, the one that caused him to beat you, finally took him,"
Behind me, my tail rustled and I shot Santel a bewildered look. "How did you know he beat me?"
The leopardess put a reassuring hand on my leg, which I was very tempted to push away. "Everybody knew. King Seril, the man who screams throughout the night and beats his sons, couldn't keep a thing like that secret for very long,"
"His son," I corrected her.
"What?" Queen Santel gasped.
I looked down at my paws, my fur burning with rage as the horrible memories came flooding back into my mind. "I was the only one he ever hit,"
A moment of silence slithered by before Santel managed to discover her courage to speak again. "Why?"
I sighed and began to rub my hands together, attempting to quell the growing anger within me. "He caught me touching myself while looking at a painting I had bought in the marketplace,"
"A painting?"
I nodded and placed my hands down in between my thighs. "Of a naked fox,"
"Well," Queen Santel spoke, attempting to make me feel better, "that's not bad at all. Young boys enjoy looking at naked girls. Why would he hit you over something like that?"
"It wasn't a girl in the painting," I answered, grimly.
Queen Santel drew silent for a short moment. "Oh, Caiden," she whispered.
"Don't call me that!" I hissed and shot Santel a hateful stare. "That's not who I am anymore! I left that name behind when I ran away from that hellhole!"
Slowly, Queen Santel placed her hand on top of mine and tightly squeezed it. "What your father did was wrong. And your mother-"
"Don't mention that bitch to me!" I spat. "What kind of mother stands by while her son is beaten by his father, who calls him a monster and a disgrace?"
Queen Santel blinked and her mind searched for some kind of answer. "She... She didn't have much of a choice. Your father was a king and could do whatever he saw fit,"
My lips drew back into a snarl. "A good mother would never let her child be hurt like that. Any decent mother would rather get hit herself than ignore her son's cries for help,"
Santel became silent, yet still continued to hold my hand tightly.
"For two years I put up with that," I told her, "hoping my father would have an epiphany one day about how he was hurting me. But that never happened. The beatings never grew shorter and his words never stung any less. One night, I just decided that enough was enough and got the hell out of there,"
"You poor thing," Queen Santel murmured, squeezing my hand tighter than ever. "You know... I have nothing good to say about my late husband,"
"The great Bernard Santel?" I asked in disbelief.
"The very same," she confirmed. "He was an arrogant man, always telling me that I needed to act more like a proper lady and not to wear such revealing clothes. The man would finish inside me because, as he always said, sex was only meant for making children, not for having fun,"
"Sounds like a dull man," I said.
"That's understatement," Queen Santel scoffed.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, turning my head to look her directly in the eye.
"Because," Queen Santel began to explain, "I'm trying to make you feel better. Family, for the most part, is never perfect. You aren't alone, Dante. Everybody has a family member or two that are cruel or completely closed minded. That's not something to be ashamed of. You can't control the actions of others, even if they are bound to you by blood,"
I was silent.
"And my husband was not very good at choosing his friends, either," Santel pointed out to me. "Capres is good example. God, I dread having to see him in six months,"
"What?" I asked, fearing her answer.
"Yes," Santel sighed with despair. "Apparently, he's trying to start another war against the Southern Kingdoms and wants me to join his cause,"
"What makes him think the other Northern kings will join him?"
"Well," Santel began, "apparently, Capres assassinated King Ulpis and his son, Ivan. After that, Lant, who became King of Ophylius, declared war on Capres. Of course, Capres sent assassins after him as well. From what I hear, they went into Lant's bedchamber and found him with one of his serving boys. They killed both of them before they could even get out from under the sheets.
"After that, a lot of Lant's knights flocked to Capres, since he was declaring war on the South again, promising to end the taxation of the North. I got a letter from him a week ago, saying he was going north to Leler to try and convince King Danil to join him. His letter also told me that, in six months, he would arrive here and demand an answer from me,"
I was going to ask why Lant's men would join someone who had just murdered their king, but then I remembered what Lant had said to me. And who knows what my men would do if they found out their captain was a faggot? They'd probably never take an order from me again. Now it had made sense. Why would you support a dead gay king when you can follow a living straight one that promises you gold?
"You aren't thinking about joining him, are you?" I asked. "Capres is a monster,"
"I know that," Queen Santel sighed, "but what choice do I have? He needs my gold for resources and will siege my City if he has to. Years ago, that wouldn't have been a problem. But my stupid husband lost most of our men in the Yurl War, so we won't last long if I defy Capres. And think of all the needless deaths that would happen if I didn't join him. Most of my men would probably die, a lot of civilians would perish and Capres' men would rape all the women they could get their hands on. I don't have a choice. It's either open my gates and everybody lives, or keep the gates shut and sentence everyone to die,"
As much as I hated to admit it, Santel was right. Capres, if he did manage to convince Leler to join him, would have nearly three armies behind him when he arrived at the Iron Pass. That must have been ten times the amount of the Iron Pass' current population, including the knights. The Iron Pass wouldn't last longer than a week, at best, in a siege. The despair I felt for Santel was almost enough for me to forget about Lant's death, which made me want to smile in bliss. At least one good thing has come out of this.
"I'd rather not talk anymore," I groaned, feeling despair hook its jagged talons into me like a bird of prey.
"Of course," Santel humored me and leaned in to kiss my neck. "We can do whatever you want. I'll even let you be on top this time,"
I remained silent.
Her hand released mine and moved down to my sheath, slowly caressing it with her fingertips. "You can cum inside me, too,"
My ears twitched and I gave her a questioning look. "Won't you get pregnant?"
"No," Santel giggled as she shook her head. "I take special herbs from Feler that keep me from having children. Of course, I always give him my highest gratitude when he gives them to me,"
"Wow," I admired. "I didn't think an old man like him could still have sex,"
Again, Santel laughed. "God, no. That man's not allowed anywhere near my pussy. He's only been inside my mouth,"
"Oh,"
"It still takes him a long time to get hard," Queen Santel added. "Now, come on. What do you feel like doing? We don't want to be the only people not having fun tonight, do we?"
I narrowed my eyes at the naked queen. "The only ones?"
The snow leopardess' blue eyes grew wide. "I didn't tell you?"
A growing uneasiness expanded inside me, pushing my stomach down inside of my chest. "Tell me what, exactly?"
The queen smiled. "I left two flagons of wine in your friends room and put some special herbs in them,"
"Herbs for what?"
"Oh," Queen Santel said, rolling her eyes and shrugging as if she were trying to seem innocent. "Nothing dangerous. Just a few aphrodisiacs to help them become...better acquainted,"
I laughed at the idea, completely denying the possibility of Esme sleeping with Peter. "Yeah. That's not happening,"
"And why not?" Santel asked, still smiling, proudly.
"Well," I answered her, still confident that I was right, "the otter's gay and the kangaroo likes...men that aren't whiny,"
"Doesn't matter," Queen Santel assured me. "Once they drink enough wine, they'll be so horny that they won't care who fucks them,"
I gave her a look of disbelief. "You wouldn't do something like that,"
"I wouldn't?" Santel asked, her smile nearly stretching off of the sides of her face.
"No,"
"Do you remember," Queen Santel said, as she began to run her hand away from my crotch and all of the way up my chest, "the bear that escorted you here?"
"The captain?" I asked her. "Yes. Wait, he's still outside guarding the door, isn't he?"
"The reason he's on guard duty tonight is because I've been cock-teasing him for the past month," Santel revealed to me as her fingers ran up my neck. "He's had to stand outside my door at night, twice a week, listening to me moan, but unable to fuck me himself,"
"Oh, my god," I gasped, feeling a little strange that the captain could hear Santel from outside while I had been pleasuring her a few moments ago.
"Don't worry about it," Santel said, lowering her hand back down onto my thigh. "He'll get his turn eventually. I love fucking a man who hasn't gotten laid in a while. They're so rough and eager,"
Christ, she's more licentious than I thought!
_ _ "So," Santel chirped sweetly into my ear and moved her hand over to my sheath. "How's about I use my mouth for something other than talking?"
Slowly, the queen lowered herself down and took my sheath into her mouth, engulfing me in a world of delight and making me nearly forget about all of the distressing things we had been discussing.
As I was leisurely submerged into lustful delight, I began to wonder if Esme and Peter were able to resist Santel's herbs.