"I missed you so much." Eluf backed her against the wall and let his hand creep under her gown as he holstered the fabric up and rubbed her bare skin. The two of them kissed passionately until they heard a faint sound and halted immediately. Both of them could hear the maids outside whispering outside the door so Selene pushed Eluf away and went out.
The maids jerked up when they saw her sudden appearance and immediately knelt down. On a normal day, Selene wouldn't have minded them hearing the noise that was coming from the room but she was already in a bad mood so she gave them an annoyed look. "What are all of you doing here? Don't you have something else to do?!"
All the maids were about to leave at her words when she suddenly remembered that she might need someone to attend to her later so she called out to her most trusted maid. "Rosa, you can stay behind."
The young maid curtsied as Selene returned to the room where she met Eluf on her bed, already shirtless. His well muscled body and dominant aura was the reason she had willingly lost her virginity to him at the age of 16 but looking at her earlier memories of what she had seen at the throne room, she felt that her fiancé was much better than him. That thought alone had killed the sexual tension in her and she became more serious. "Alright, let's talk about business. How is the mission going?"
Eluf leaned up from the bed and looked away in guilt. "We still have not been able to find that damn map. None of the princes are talking and the men we sent to follow the King have not given us any good news."
Selene frowned at him. The reason why her mother had agreed to the alliance between the Krudak and Yottera was not for the sake of peace but because she wanted the map to the underground tunnels the Krudak ancestors built all over the planet. Those tunnels were a huge military advantage and something they had to seize for their future plans. "You do know I am getting married in a month right? We don't have much time so you have to hurry up. My mother will not happy if her favorite child is forced to marry a Krudak prince. She had even promised to help your father take over the throne if you help us. Dpon't you want your father to become King?
"I know." Eluf rubbed his eyes wearily. "We will get that map at all costs. I just hope that the Crown Prince will not pose a serious threat to us?"
"Gudmund?" Selene was confused about his sudden mention of the Crown Prince. "Why do you say that?"
"Because he has changed, Selene." Eluf stared at her with an inscrutable gaze. "Gudmund is no longer the boy you know anymore. He is now ruthless and cold, brutal and violent. Everyone in the palace fears him."
Selene thought of the prince she had met in the court room a few hours ago and found it hard to reconcile him with the person that Eluf he was describing. To her, he was still the same lovestruck boy who would follow her wishes and whims she said so. "There is nothing to fear about him. Maybe he is just trying to live up to expectations of his father to succeed him. You need not fear him."
Eluf ignored the mocking tone in last words and told her blankly. "He is the one who cut off Elif's arm, Selene. You should be the one afraid of him. After all, he is your fiancé."
Selene's smirk slowly disappeared from her face when she heard his words. She had already heard about what happened to Elif but she never expected Gudmund to be behind his demise. "Are you serious? So what do we do now?"
"Keep an eye on him. I don't like the fact that the new Gudmund is so mysterious to everyone, including his own father." Elif saw Selene begin to sit on the vanity table as she began to unzip her dress and undress. He suddenly felt something in his loins begin to stir but he held back and decided to enjoy the view of her bare back instead. "We must not allow any unknown variables to come between our plan."
Selene removed a hairpin from her hair and dropped it on the table as she looked at him through the mirror in front of her. "I will take care of the Crown Prince, don't worry. Just make sure you fulfill the end of your own bargain."
"Of course I will, princess." Elif finally got up from the bed and approached her, sweeping a part of her hair to the other side to expose her bare skin. He lowered his head and kissed her shoulder with a smile as he stared at her through the mirror in front of them. "I will get my hands on that map even if I have to drag the King himself to lead me to its whereabouts. Now let's stop talking about such things and focus on us.....I missed you."
"I missed you too." Selene raised her eyes that were heavy with lust and smiled back at him. She had many lovers across the three kingdoms but she liked Krudak men the most because they took control of her in bed unlike the rest. Her smile faltered when she suddenly thought of the Crown Prince and his strong and dominant figure. She remembered his handsome face and sighed as Elif's lips moved on a path to seek her own and soon the two of them were embroiled in a hot kiss as they walked towards the bed and laid on it.
Unknown to them, a pair of eyes spied on them from the opened window and saw them entangle themselves between the sheets with a cunning, delightful smile. The person muttered under his breath as he watched them make love right before his very eyes. "Perfect. Now, everything is going according to plan...."
Eluf left the princess's room before sunset and when it was time, the princess finally decided to dress up and visit her so-called fiance. She planned on spending some time with him so she could find out the whereabouts of the map. As she walked through the hallway, various servants would pass by and immediately lower their heads when they saw her. She reveled in the fact that she was already accepted here as the Crown Princess of Krudak Kingdom and that meant that she could possibly wield more power than her own older sister in the future. While she was deep in her thoughts, she didn't notice a female servant approaching with a tray of food and collided with her. The servant's tray tumbled over on her dress along with its food contents, making her scream as she watched one of her favorite dresses ruin before her very eyes. "You wretched servant, how dare you?! Look at my dress!""Forgive me, Princess!" The female servant knelt down on the floor with her head lowered after she reali
Yrsa who had offended the princess had been summoned by her master so she walked across the hallway with heavy footsteps. She knew that it was right for him to punish her since he has been forced to upset his fiancée because of her. She just prayed that he wouldn't go overboard and try to kill her, she would quickly apologize to her future mistress and stay in prison. When she reached the curtains that covered the room, she immediately knelt down as the eunuch by her side announced her arrival. She dared not enter the room but instead stayed on her knees as she pleaded with her head bent low. "Your Highness, Yrsa is at fault for angering the Princess. Yrsa is willing to take any punishment to appease you."There was no response to her words for a while and that made her even more nervous. She knew from experience that masters who were calm in anger were the most dangerous to deal with as they would carefully plan how to assuage their anger. But she had no feelings of regret since thi
The chilly wind blew fiercely across the icy mountains and thick clouds shielded the sun's rays with a dense fog as three boys walked sluggishly across the place. They gritted their teeth and shivered whenever the wind touched them but still they persisted. The mountain peaks and desolate surroundings were the only things they could see in sight after walking for so long and soon the youngest of the three suddenly stumbled and fell on the thick snow. His brothers immediately stopped and turned back to carry him up with wide eyes. "Ivar! Ivar, are you okay?" The eldest one rushed to pick him up and put him at his back, grunting at the additional weight that his weak body was forced to carry but he did not relent at all. He had been using the two moons on the sky that shone bright behind the fog to navigate their path but he still hadn't been able to reach his destination and he felt a little pang of panic and regret. Just when he was contemplating whether to give up or not, an old bu
"I want revenge." After going through so many hardships, Gudmund could only say those simple words with such a heavy heart as he fought not to show any tears in front of the Goddess of War. He had a feeling that she would not appreciate it. "Our men fell on the battlefield and our homes were plundered and burned to the ground. Where were you all this while?"Hildr was a bit taken back by his question but she could not find any reason to get angry at his imprudence at the moment, especially when he showed no sign of fear or remorse. She turned her back to him and chose to stare at her sister's statue instead. "I wasn't aware of your people's plight early. When I finally found about it, I was forbidden to interfere with mortals' fate as my sister told me."Gudmund looked at her with confusion written all over his face when he heard her words. It was a bit hard for him to believe her words but he made no comment over it since he did not wish to lose his life here. "Then why did you answe
The morning sun rose slowly at the east along with some birds chirping in the air as they flew across the clouds. The light rays settled on the dust, illuminating everything in sight as a group of women left their tents with large pots heading to the river outside the guarded walls of the capital. They walked in a straight line facing a certain direction where they ventured into a jungle but they did not go deep but instead stay near the bank of the river and did their various activities with the sparkly blue water that flowed in front of them. A woman who was currently washing some clothes started a conversation with the other women around her and said. "Have you heard of the recent news happening in the palace?""You mean the Crown Prince?" Her friend looked around to make sure their conversation was not overheard by the older women who were bathing down the river. "I heard that he butchered another challenger down to the bone a few days ago. It was truly a gruesome sight.""I thou
The Crown Prince lifted up his dark eyes and looked at his father's angry expression, clearly unfazed by it. He saw his victim's twin brother from the corner of his eye gasp at the sight as he ran to his brother to attend to him. "I gave him an order and he did not obey me. Since he has no intention of challenging me, he was punished for his disrespect.""You punished him for a mere servant!" The father of Elif, Ingouf walked forward and looked at the Crown Prince with undisguised rage. He was one of the men who had entered the room with the King and he was very irate of his first son's condition. "Commander." Gudmund turned his focus to the man whom he had been keeping his eyes on for a while. He could barely hold back his anger at the sight of him but he knew that his father would really punish him greatly if he touched on of his five commanders. "Are you questioning my actions?""I should be asking you the same thing, Crown Prince." Ingouf did not back down from his stare but inst
Gudmund returned to his room and sent all the servants away as he sat on the chair and gazed through the window. His brothers followed him into the room and looked outside the door to make sure that no one had followed them. Askild scanned his brother's countenance before he allowed his youngest brother take another step forward. "Di* are you alright?""There is no need to fear, Askild. I am back to normal and I will not never hurt you even if I'm not." Gudmund did not react at all seeing the caution in his brother's eyes. His second brother had always been the cautious one between them and he did not mind it since it was about Ivar's safety.Ivar brushed his brother's hand away and quickly approached Gudmund as he sat on the bed. He seemed a little hesitant at first but he steeled his mind and asked him. "Di, is there a reason why you deserted our plan and cut Elif down like that? Who is the female servant you wanted to save so badly?"Gudmund turned his face away, sighing deeply abo
Three days later, a female servant passed the guards and maneuvered her way around the palace hallway until she arrived in front of the Crown Prince's chambers. She halted for a moment and looked down to the tray she was carrying with an uneasy expression but she quickly composed herself quickly with the guards in sight. She cleared her throat and spoke up with a soft voice. "My prince, your food is here. May I come in?"She received no response so she parted her lips to repeat her words when a voice came from behind the curtains covering the door. "Come in."She inhaled a deep breath at the sound of his deep baritone voice and took a step into the room as the guards parted the curtains for her. Her eyes glanced all over the sparsely decorated room that was instead filled with fur pelts all over the place adorned with weapons until it met the prince sitting on a chair with a cold straight face that made her tremble a little. She immediately placed the tray on the table beside him and