The Soulmate Conspiracy (chapter 1 of 4)
The Soulmate Conspiracy
This story is _primarily a prequel to 'Prince Chiraevon's Stand' with link to my Area 51 stories. Plenty of sex in this chapter but the fur starts to fly in chapter 2 _
Chapter 1: The Protected Prince
Spellcaster Street, City of Salisarum
The Knight Protector stood over the slave as he attached a copy of 'The Truth' to
Spellcaster Street's noticeboard. Judging from the aggression with which the Protector was directing the operation, the summer heat had broiled him within his armour. Davin of Sunlit certainly hoped that it had.
Seeing the metal clad enforcer turn slightly toward him, Davin ducked back into the shade of his Master's spell shop. Whilst there was no real danger of trouble, it never paid to be noticed by a member of The Protectorate. If the Knight needed to make an example at some future date, it was less than ideal to have your face remembered. Hastily he busied himself copying out a simple anti-mouse spell with Master Chi's Significantly Improved Spellcasting Ink. Neither the ink, parchment, or complexity of the artwork made a jot of difference to the power of the enchantment, but the wives would always buy from Master Chi because his spells 'looked' like they had serious rodent removal powers.
Glancing up, Davin noticed that the Protector had moved on toward the next signboard, his slave dragging the cart full of The Truth behind them. Carefully wiping the nib clean and setting it aside, he moved to find out what new outrage was to be imposed.
Noticing that most of the crowd around the sign were of the herder class and therefore unlettered, Davin read the The Truth aloud. "The Lord Protector is pleased to announce that The Protected Prince, Chiraevon, Heir Apparent to The Empire of All The Known Lands, has chosen to hold his court in the City of Salisarum."
"Oh great!" Muttered Galif, Davin's cousin "More bucket-heads stomping around; no doubt demanding extra taxes to pay for his princely upkeep."
"Do not be so quick to judge Galif of Sunlit" replied Master Chi "Chiraevon's cage might be gilded, but he's as much a prisoner as your Uncle Solly."
Galif opened his mouth ready to argue the innocence of the notorious pickpocket, but Davin trod down hard on his naked foot. There was no sense reminding everyone that they were related to Solly 'The Dip' Sunlit.
"I don't understand Master" said Davin
"The Centre Throne hasn't had an occupant for the last four generations. Despite the 'best' efforts of The Protectors, no Heir has lived long enough to ascend the throne and restore Imperial rule. Now maybe losing the first heir to the plague was just bad luck, and the second heir's riding accident was just unfortunate, but now we're on the fifth Heir Apparent and a Lord Protector has been in charge for longer than anyone's been alive. " replied Master Chi, giving himself a shake "Now back to work Davin of Sunlit, and you Galif, don't you have somewhere to be?"
The youths gave each other an alarmed look and hurried about their business.
* * *
Davin missed the Prince's arrival in Salisarum having been stricken by a bad case of the flux and retired to his sleeping pallet at the back of Master Chi's shop. That didn't stop Galif giving a running commentary from the front of the shop. At that particular moment in time he didn't care that Chiraevon had long black hair tied in braids banded in gold, or that he was muscular and tanned or that every wife on the street blushed and fanned themselves on account of his handsome face. The fact that the Prince was probably the same age as Davin was a particularly useless; what did Galif expect? Was the Prince remotely likely to want to join the
Spellcaster Street football team? Davin pulled the threadworm sheet over his head and tried to ignore the whole miserable affair.
Had Davin been paying attention he would have noticed that the Prince paused outside Master Chi's shop, looking uncertain about something. The Prince's horse snorted restlessly and Chiraevon used the act of settling the horse to glance toward the shadows at the back of the shop. Using his heals to guide it, he signalled the horse to step sideways, closer to the display of spell parchments that hung from the shop awning like a fringe. Smiling the Prince reached out to pluck one of the parchments, at first reaching for one inked by Galif but at the last instant taking one of Davin's anti-mouse Spells.
"I'm sure the palace can use an extra mouse spell. I believe the price to be a gold piece." Said the Prince tucking the spell into his shirt and signalling for the Clerk-Protector to pay Master Chi.
The crowd hushed for a moment in shock before cheering loudly; the spell had been worth a thousandth of the price their prince had named. Several Protectors frowned beneath their Helmets, the whole reason for shipping the Prince out to Salisarum was to stop the charismatic youth from gaining a large following amongst the lower classes.
The senior protector sighed to himself; it had been the same with the previous Prince, the Imperial bloodline seemed to have some innate instinct for attracting supporters. For the price of one gold coin, Prince Chiraevon had won the loyalty of the city streets. The really galling thing about it was that Chiraevon probably didn't even realise what he'd done. The Protector in Chief made a mental note to have a word with the Observator, it was important that this was written up as the Prince being profligate and having a poor grasp of monetary value, rather than any other version of events; maintaining one's position really depended on the official reports having exactly the right spin.
In the back of the shop, Davin grunted and put his hands over his ears.
* * *
For the next month, things seemed to return to normal on
Spellcaster Street, The Prince's Knight Protectors confined themselves to the vast fortress at the top of the hill, focusing on making the place 'secure'; a number of staff finding themselves dismissed in favour of relatives of the newly arrived Knights. For Davin it was a busy time, Master Chi's good fortune had allowed the purchase of some serious grimoires and he found himself copying out spells that did far more than discourage mice. For some reason Galif couldn't get the calligraphy right on any of the new spells, leaving Davin to absorb all the knowledge like a sponge. Davin concluded that Galif's failure was because he understood the underlying beauty of a good spell and his cousin didn't. When he'd tried to explain that to Galif and Master Chi over dinner, the result had been a hard look from the one and some even more difficult spellwork from the other.
One evening Master Chi grimly confided in the two apprentices that he had discovered what the Protectors had planned for their benefactor.
"It is a poisonous business. I heard them discussing it. The Prince's grandfather was somewhat indulgent and sired many princes, far too many from The Lord Protector's point of view. They have something, a spell maybe, that ensured Chiraevon's father had only one child. Whatever it is, they're preparing to use it on the Prince now that he's of age. "
"So... some spell that stops him getting one up?" asked Galif stabbing a pork ball and shoving in his mouth "Perhaps there's money to be made from an Enchantment of Prowess?"
Davin rolled his eyes "Engage brain cousin, what do you think will happen to someone who sells the damn prince an impotence cure? They'd hardly have a long list of suspects and all of them live on this street!"
"Oh... Right, yeah"
"Even so, it cannot be something so simple as an impotence curse." Said Master Chi thoughtfully "Any spellcaster on this street would be able to detect such an inelegant spell; even Davin here. Whatever it is will be subtle enough that it cannot be detected without prolonged study. It is troubling, none of the Masters know of such a spell."
Davin tucked into his pork balls, as long as the residents of Spellcaster Street didn't do something suicidal, like trying to help the pampered sod, then it didn't matter to him.
* * *
Galif snatched the ball from the air and passed it to Davin who ran with it toward the
Tanner Street's Goal, Spellcasters were losing 3-2, but the Tanner fullback was favouring his right knee, giving Davin a chance if he played it right. He was about to shoot when he noticed that the fullback was distracted and turning to look at something to his left. Davin glanced and also stopped, an entire Cohort of Knight Protectors were filing out into the marketplace, sealing the exits and marching onto the improvised pitch.
"Every male of age 14 years to 20 years... stay where you are. The rest of you... Go home!" shouted the Cohort Protector, grabbing the Tanner Street Captain by the shirt and shoving him toward the exit to
Seamstress Street. Several of the less intelligent spectators began to object only to find themselves looking at the pointy ends of the Knight Protector's swords.
Fortunately Davin of Sunlit was nobody's fool and sat down right where he was and put on his most harmless innocent face, a look Uncle Dip had had him practice. Noting his compliance the officer went on to instruct the rest of them to sit with him; soon there as a group of about fifty Apprentices and Cattleboys sat there. The market square emptied with a vast crowd building up beyond the line of Protectors.
A Prelate-Protector emerged from a carriage, resplendent in his ceremonial raven-feather cloak, attendants rushed to aid the priest whilst others began to erect some form of religious paraphernalia near the Spellcaster End Goal. Davin snorted in disgust, his family had always shunned religions, it was said (in private) that one of the family's ancestors had had centaur blood and that it would be disrespectful to be a part of the religion that had helped exterminate that noble race.
The Prelate did the usual religious things, sang a bit, mumbled, implored his Gods and cut the head from what Davin believed to be a perfectly good egg laying chicken. It all seemed perfectly harmless until the Prelate slipped an enchantment into his mumbling. For a moment Davin felt as if the entire universe was looking directly at him, whatever the enchantment had been it had undoubtedly been directed specifically at him.
"There!" said the Prelate, pointing in Davin's direction "One of those five near the football"
The Protectors moved in, herding the rest of the boys toward
Seamstress Street leaving only Davin and the other four. A part of him wanted to step forward and announce that he was the one, but Uncle Dip's warning to not volunteer for anything seemed particularly valid right then. It made no difference in the end; the Prelate spread them out and reworked his spell carefully hiding it with more prayers. As Davin had half suspected, spreading them out meant that there was no confusion this time; he was the only possible candidate.
The Prelate walked around him, inspecting whilst the others were shoved unceremoniously toward the gathering crowds. At a signal one of the Knights cut Davin's smock and snapped the string holding his leggings up; quickly and efficiently stripping him naked. The Prelate continued his examination, moving in and ordering the Knight to show him Davin's teeth. Davin glared at the old man, furious at being checked over like livestock.
"Hmm, healthy enough, well hung, quite muscular, and pretty with it" muttered the Prelate "A bit Feisty too. No accounting for taste I suppose. What's your name boy?"
"Davin of Sunlit"
"Of Sunlit? So you're from nomad stock?" said the Prelate, who seemed quite pleased that Davin's family from the empty plains rather than somewhere closer to the heart of the Empire of All.
"What of it?"
"Oh, nothing that need concern you. Tell me, do you have a girl or are you of the degenerate sort?"
"I know what it's for old man"
The Prelate smiled evilly "We'll be changing that of course, never mind, I feel sure you won't object once we're done with you."
Davin reached up and stroked the ancient luck charm hung around his neck, made of centaur hair it was the only magic he could use without the Prelate noticing. Unfortunately it was unlikely to be even remotely good enough.
"Dress him" instructed the Prelate, turning away and heading back to his carriage.
One of the Knight Protectors fastened a fabulously rare unicorn fur cloak around his shoulders and unceremoniously jammed a silver coronet on his head, shoving him roughly in the direction of the carriage. Davin blushed red in deep soul-withering embarrassment, not only was he still naked under the cloak, the fact that the fur was still pure white and had not turned even slightly black, meant that the entire city knew for a certainty that, despite his boasts, he was a virgin.
* * *
The carriage journey had been short, taking them the few hundred yards up hill to the fortress, had his mind not been occupied with other fears Davin would have considered the wastefulness of fitting out a vehicle just to drive so short a distance. It was clear that the Prelate was expected and each set of fortress gates opened as soon as their carriage came close. The seriousness of the situation became more evident as they passed through all seven ring walls finally parking up in front of the wooden stairs that spiralled around the central keep. Despite his fear and circumstances Davin was intrigued, no one from Spellcaster had ever been past the second ring wall and here he was in the very centre of Protectorate power in Salisarum.
Inside, the keep was something of a surprise, he'd sort of expected unyielding stone walls hung with tapestries and displays of weaponry, instead it had been clad in polished wood panelling and the most delicate ornate furniture. There was a door opposite the one he'd entered by and it was clear that he was being herded toward it.
"Look, I don't know what this is about, but you've made a mistake. I've done nothing wrong!"
"Of course you haven't. This isn't about you at all" replied the Prelate "We simply need you to neuter the Prince for us...make it certain that he won't be spawning a dozen surplus heirs like his grandfather did."
"There's no way in the three hells that I'm going to help you!" he snapped, surprising himself "and no spell you've got is going to force me to it!"
The Prelate smiled again as if he'd told some particularly sick joke. "Of course that's really the key to this isn't it. My duty as a Protector is to see that no harm befalls the Prince. If I used a spell or a curse, one of my esteemed colleagues would denounce me and take my place as Prelate. I suppose I do owe you at least half an explanation of why your life is about to change forever. You see every person in the Empire of All has pair of potential Soulmates, one male, one female. If a person meets one of their Soulmates... well, shall we say that its wedding bells and happily ever after. So no spells, no hypnosis, no instruments of torture to obtain your cooperation, all I need to do is have these Knights throw you through that door, and we'll have a Prince who has absolutely no interest in making love to anyone... anyone other than you, that is."
Before he could react, metal gauntleted hands grabbed Davin and threw him past the threshold, the heavy wood panels slamming closed behind him, the door rattling as locks were set in place.
* * *
After giving the door an angry thump, Davin turned to inspect the new room which was illuminated only by the feeble light from a pair of arrow slits on the far wall. Whispering an incantation he created a tiny star of light hovering above the palm of his hand. The room was decorated in the same style as the outer room and appeared to be the Prince's study, containing a writing desk, a half complete oil painting and a large fireplace. In the corner a doorway led stone stairs that spiralled upward out of sight. Davin figured that the stairs probably led up to the Prince's withdrawing room and bedchamber. He walked over to the fireplace inspecting the flue behind it to see if it were big enough to hide in or escape through, which it wasn't. His mind raced, running over a multitude of methods of escape, none of which were even remotely plausible. The only possible way was to head up to the roof, but that would lead him past the Prince's chambers.
The thought that he might be mystically changed was disturbing; it ate into the very core of who he thought himself to be. A version of Davin that felt any sort of love for an overbred noble... let alone a nobleMAN, seemed like he would be incomprehensibly different from the person he knew himself to be. He moved to the bookcases and scrollholders that lined the walls in the vain hope that there might be a secret passage if he could only find the right scroll to pull out. There was no way he was going to risk getting closer to the Prince, for both their sakes.
The chill draft from the chimney reminded him that he was almost naked; annoyed, he pulled the unicorn cloak closed. He was about to move on to the second bookcase when he heard footsteps cautiously descending from above...as quietly as he could he backed away into the far corner where the shadows were deepest and dispelled the spell-light.
The tip of an unsheathed sword glinted in the feeble light as its owner cautiously approached down the spiral stair; desperately he glanced for somewhere to hide... and then it was too late. In the dim shadows he could see the beautiful demi-god that his cousin had described, dressed in red silk and holding a longsword etched with glowing runes. The businesslike fighter's stance wavered, the sword tip lowering until it scraped against the floor, forgotten.
Davin found himself wishing that he'd not been ill the day of the parade, if he'd seen the Prince then, it would have sped the arrival of this moment up considerably...he let go of the cloak, deliberately letting it fall open exposing his torso and rapidly growing erection.
The sword clattered, bouncing down the remaining steps as Prince Chiraevon strode toward him.
"Who in the three hells are you?" Demanded Prince Chiraevon, his hand rising to delicately caress Davin's cheek, his gaze so intense that it seemed likely that he was unaware of what his hand was doing.
"I'm Davin of Sunlit. I'm sorry, it's a trap. They said that we're soulmates, they said that once we'd set eyes on each other that we'd never love anyone else ever... I... I... think they were right." blurted Davin unclasping the Unicorn cloak and letting it fall away
Chiraevon's eyes widened further and then he was pulling his shirt over his head in a most unprincely haste.
They kissed, two pairs of hands desperately fumbling with the Prince's belt, neither of them willing to break eye contact... to actually look at what they were doing would mean looking away from the face of love. Finally the heavy sword belt thudded to the floor, taking Chiraevon's pants with it. Davin felt the Prince's erection brush against his own, hot soft skin with a wonderfully hard core.
The world beyond the door went away, as did the memory of a bedroom only a short distance above, Davin found that he knew instinctively how best to service his beloved Chiraevon; and Chir in turn knew exactly how to bring Davin to instant orgasm. They didn't actually speak to each other again until the fourth day, they were that focused on their lovemaking. Even sleep hadn't interrupted them, if one fell into exhaustion the other also rested until one or the other awoke and gently eased him back to wakefulness and orgasm.
The fifth day included far more conversation as they shared each other's life experiences, finding so much in common. Both had been virgins, both agreed that the other was a love god made flesh, and even agreed that it was time to move to a room with a bed rather than continue to use the cum stained carpet. They agreed that the old Prelate was an evil bastard and that he'd succeeded utterly, neither could think of touching a woman (or another man)without a shudder of revulsion and a desire to mate once more. Davin knew that he'd been right, the instant he'd set eyes on Chiraevon, the old Davin had ceased to exist, fortunately his old self had been completely wrong headed and there wasn't even the smallest part of his soul that regretted becoming Chir's lover.
* * *
The door was unlocked on the seventh day, the Prelate entering escorted by twenty Knight Protectors, Davin stood next to his Prince, neither was clothed, and there had simply been no point in getting cum on anything clean. Chiraevon turned and kissed him hard on the lips demonstrating their love and then licked cum from his lover's cheek in a deliberate attempt to offend.
"Good" Said the Prelate Protector "I see that you have fully bonded. We will announce your partnership and have a celebration next week."
The Prelate turned to go and then paused "And just so we all understand each other, my sacred duty is to protect the Prince, not his consort. Disagree with any policy I suggest Prince Chiraevon, and it's your little bed whore who will be whipped."
Davin found that he was completely immune to the threat, a sore back seemed a small price if it meant he and Chiraevon were together.
* * *