Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“Just…a deep sexual need,” I said at last. “A longing to be…er, filled.”
“That’s the Needing,” Krynn said, nodding. “The longing to be fucked and subjugated to the will of another. It never completely leaves me,” he added with a sigh.
“Does it matter who, er, does the actual fucking or subjugation?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“No, not really. Though I’d rather not have to take it from Lady Elgiana because she’s cruel about it. She likes to laugh at me and tell me how easy it was to infect me as she dominates me,” he added in a low voice.
“She makes him feel like he wanted the Needing.” Sel’s face was like a thundercloud. “But nobody fucking wants to need to be humiliated and fucked and hurt!”
“Some humans do,” I said, remembering the spicy romance books I’d read about the BDSM Lifestyle. I explained it briefly to Sel and Krynn. “It’s called a ‘kink,’” I told them. “Wanting to be dominated doesn’t make you sick or wrong—it just makes you submissive.”
Seldarin frowned.
“I don’t know—it sounds to me like a lot of those humans are just infected with the Needing.”
I shrugged.
“I don’t really know—I was never in the Lifestyle myself. Though I enjoyed reading books about it,” I added.
“That must be why you’re not disgusted by me.” Krynn’s eyes were filled with emotion. On impulse, I reached out to touch his hand and felt his feelings flowing through me. He was filled with gratitude towards me as well as deep caring and devotion. I was his Princess—his Queen—and he would give his life for me if necessary.
“Oh, Krynn…” I whispered, shaken by the depths of his emotion. “Do you really feel all that for me?”
“My Lady…” He sank to his knees before me and took my hand. Turning it over, he laid a gentle kiss on my palm. “I feel everything for you,” he murmured.
I ran my fingers through his long silver and blond hair. He was so beautiful…and so broken. I could feel the terrible pain that disgusting bitch, Lady Elgiana had inflicted on him. It hadn’t made him bitter or hateful but the Needing was like a wound inside him—one I sensed I wouldn’t be able to heal, even with my newfound powers—whatever they actually were.
“You can stand up, Krynn,” I told him. “I understand—and I love you too. I love both of you,” I added, reaching for Seldarin, who’d been standing to one side watching us with uncertainty in his eyes.
“Princess…” he murmured, coming forward. As Krynn rose, Sel put his arms around us both and then I found myself in the middle of them, embraced by two sets of arms as well as two sets of emotions.
Sel’s feelings for me were just as deep as Krynn’s—but fiercer. He felt strongly protective of me and wary of anyone else who might come near me. Only Krynn did he trust completely. Other than him, Sel wanted to put himself between me and the whole world—to be my shield against any and all danger that might threaten me.
“Oh, Sel,” I murmured, looking up at him. Because of our height difference, I felt like a kid being hugged by two adults.
“Love you, Princess,” he rumbled, looking down. “And I swear by Lolth I’ll do all in my power to keep you safe.”
“I know you will,” I told him. “But you don’t have to worry about me.”
“Yes, I do!” he insisted. “We’re coming to a difficult time—tomorrow is the Autumn Equinox. You’ll officially come of age and be crowned…if Krynn and I can keep you alive and safe from Mordren,” he added grimly.
“You really think he’d try to kill me? I mean, I know he tried once before when you first found me, but now that everyone knows I’m the Lost Princess—”
“I don’t know if Mordren will try to kill you, but he will seek to control or discredit you if he can,” Krynn said. “We need to plan for that—to think one step ahead of the Lord Regent.”
As if by mutual consent, the three of us broke the embrace and made a little space between us.
“Can I just stay away from him until the uh, coronation ceremony?” I asked. “I mean, is there going to be a ceremony?”
“Oh, most definitely,” Krynn assured me. “Tomorrow night in the Hallowed Clearing. The same one you found us in, when you were drawn to us,” he added.
“Okay. Well, I’ll just stay in here in the Cavern of Lolth with you two until then,” I said.
Seldarin shook his head.
“You can’t. Tonight will be the Banquet of Investment—the time when the ascending Princess is feasted and celebrated and proved to be the rightful next Queen of the Midnight Court. You can’t fucking skip that.”
“Sel is right—people would say you were trying to hide something,” Krynn added.
“How am I supposed to ‘prove’ myself?” I asked apprehensively.