5 comments/ 22623 views/ 12 favorites Princess of Perchhold Ch. 01 By: SmallTownPrincess Caryn Alessia was the fourth-born of Darin Alessia, King of Perchhold and its people, the Pariches. She had three elder brothers: Aric, the tempestuous eldest, Etan, the second and his brother's bootlicker, and Nathan, the third and only brother Caryn had ever been close to. It was these three brothers that made Caryn so nervous on the eve of her eighteenth name day. The day marked the time for her passage into adulthood. From that day forward, she was available to be courted, and her father could arrange her marriage to whichever of her suitors he preferred. These were not the things that kept Caryn awake, however, tossing restlessly beneath her sheets. By Parichan custom, although Caryn was capable of becoming an adult once dawn broke on her name day, she would not be truly considered a woman until she was made so — by her brothers. From her eighteenth birthday to her wedding night, a young Parichan woman belonged to her male siblings, who were responsible for teaching her the ways of pleasing a man, making her a good and dutiful wife. For most Parichan girls, that meant sharing a talk over dinner with her brother, and a gentle, fumbling evening in his bed to break her hymen. The ties of brotherly love generally demanded no more, and the woman went on to her husband while the brother returned to his daily life, and his own lover or wife. But Caryn had three brothers, all known for their experience, their appetite, and their occasional brutality with women. As Caryn had edged closer to this fateful day, her fear had grown, just as her legs grew long and slender and her breasts ripened and grew round and heavy on her chest. She had pictured it on occasion: what it would be like for a man to lie atop her, his manhood pressed against her abdomen, her lower lips, her inner walls. She had closed her eyes and touched herself as she imagined a lover might, but in the end it was only her own fingers, and the fear of the unknown pain or pleasure that awaited her at eighteen did not subside. It seemed like she had only just lain down that night, the eve of the fateful day, when the first grey glow of approaching morning began to appear. Her last night of childhood innocence had fled. She kept her eyes fixed on the ceiling when a servant entered her chambers to bring the coals back to life in her grate. Wrapped completely in her own dread, Caryn had not even felt the chill descend on her through the night. She expected the woman to leave when the task was complete, but instead she laid a gentle hand on Caryn's shoulder. "Prince Aric told me to have you bathed and dressed as soon as you woke, my lady." Caryn sighed, letting her tired eyes close for a moment. "Yes, alright." "I'll have a bath drawn for you right away, my lady." The bath was restoratively warm and aromatic, more restful than her night in bed had been. She would have liked to linger, but her pair of maids were wary of Aric's wrath, and scrubbed her hastily. They were just handing her out of the bath and preparing to dry her when the door to her bedroom swung open. All three of them tensed, but Caryn relaxed again once she saw that it was not Aric, but Nathan, her favorite brother. He was only two years older than her, and she loved him dearly.
 "Nate!" she said, reaching out for the towel her maid held. The woman pulled it just out of her reach. "My lady, forgive me," the girl murmured. "But — since — you oughtn't cover yourself without His Highness' permission, not today of all days." All the dread she had felt the night before came flooding back to Caryn, and she felt her cheeks and neck grow red and hot. She crossed her limbs, trying to hide herself. "What?" Nathan asked as he walked in. He noticed the awkwardness of Caryn's stance and understood what had been said. "Oh, gods, woman, give her the towel!" His voice was rough with irritation, but a blush grew up in his cheeks as well. "Leave us," he told the maids when they had complied. Caryn wrapped herself in the towel hastily without meeting her brother's eyes. She had never feared him before, but she imagined something predatory in him now, and the cold unease was like ice in her belly. "It's early, brother. Are you racing Aric to be the first at me?" Nate bent until his face was beneath hers, looking up into her eyes. He smiled. "It's your birthday, Cari. I brought you a surprise." She looked up at him, squinting. "A present?" Nate rolled his eyes. "No, a rabid baboon. Yes, a present." He took her hand in his large, warm one and led her back to her bed, sitting her down and pulling something out of the bag he had slung across his body. He held it behind his back in both hands. "Guess." Caryn laughed. "Give it to me!" "You have to guess!" "A book?" "No." "Chocolate?" "No." "I don't know, Nate. A puppy?" "No. Gods, you're awful at this." He swung his hands around and presented his gift with a flourish. It was a beautiful silver flute, engraved with twirling curlicues and a message in tiny letters: For my sister, on her eighteenth name day. Love, Nathan "Oh, Nate! It's beautiful!" "You like it?" "It's amazing. Where did you get it?" "I sent for it from Goantha. Now you can get rid of that reed thing you've been playing for so long." "But I like the reed flute! You made it for me." Nathan made a face. "I was twelve. It's hardly a master craftsman's work. This, on the other hand..." Grinning, Caryn threw her arms around her brother's neck. "Thank you. I love it." They sat on her bed and talked easily of everything. That was the way with Nathan: easy, companionable. They forgot themselves in the simple pleasure of each other's company, and an hour or so passed companionably that way. Caryn had forgotten Aric's order for her to be brought to him when she was clean, but Aric had not. Caryn's eldest brother entered her room with none of the smiles that Nathan had worn. Caryn and Nate did not notice him for a moment, sitting side by side on her bed, talking and laughing like the oldest of friends; it gave Aric time to appreciate the way his sister's body looked wrapped in naught but a towel. Caryn saw Aric first and the smile slipped from her lips. She raised a hand to cover the half-moon swells of breast that the towel did not entirely contain. "Sister," Aric said stiffly, "I requested your presence this morning. Dress, please." He turned to Nathan with an eyebrow raised. "Up so early, brother? Why don't you join us. Etan and I were just going to discuss with Caryn how the next few months would be handled." "I would prefer not," Nathan said, his tone just as formal as his brother's. "I insist," Aric said, and the matter was closed. Caryn dug through her wardrobe with one hand, clutching at her towel with the other. In the back, she found a pale blue dress, high-necked and long-sleeved, accented with ribbons. It was a child's dress, and perhaps would remind Aric that she was his baby sister first, and a woman second. She glanced over her shoulder; both brothers were watching her. As quickly as she could, she dropped her towel and tugged the dress over her head. For a moment, she struggled with the arms, and the dress halted, halfway covering her bottom. When she managed to cover herself completely with it and situate it comfortably on her body, her breath was coming harder, and her face was red with effort and embarrassment. Aric jerked his head toward the door, indicating that she should precede him out of her bedroom, and Nathan followed. When they arrived in Aric's chambers, just down the hall, Etan was there as well. "Family meeting," Nathan muttered, and he winked at Caryn, hoping to coax a smile out of her. Her trepidation was too great to permit the answering grin. The four of them seated themselves around Aric's table. Aric spoke with quiet authority. "Brothers, I'm sure we're all aware of the responsibility that has fallen to us today, on our sister's coming of age day. We are to shape her into a proper woman, capable of fulfilling the needs of her husband. No lord worthy of marrying a princess should have to stoop to training her in his pleasure himself. As her brothers, it is our duty to break her, to coach her, to teach her everything we know of what a wife must be." Caryn was taking deep, calming breaths. It did not sound so bad, when he spoke of it that way. They were her brothers, after all. They would be gentle with her, take care of her. She should almost be looking forward to it, she told herself. She would be glad to be a wife her husband could be proud of. "I intend to make Caryn my first priority," Aric continued. "Father has already begun negotiating with suitors. We will have only a few months before the wedding." Etan, seated beside his older brother, was nodding along stupidly. He would do whatever his brother asked him to do. Nathan was scowling at his hands, splayed on the table, as Aric prattled on. "I'm sure we each have plenty to share with her, so we will have a daily rotation. I will take this first night, then Etan, then Nathan." Nate looked up at that. "I want nothing to do with this." Aric's eyebrows shot up. "You have nothing to teach our sister?" "Not with my cock, no." Caryn flinched at the word. Eyes narrowed, Aric stared his brother down, and Nathan matched him stare for stare. At length, the elder brother shrugged. "Fine. She will have to do with the knowledge of two brothers." His gaze snapped to Caryn. "Anything to say?" "I...don't..." "What? You don't what?" Aric glowered. Caryn took a deep breath and met his eyes. "I don't want you to have my first night." Aric had always been her least favorite; harsh, commanding, distant, cruel. He was eight years her senior and had hardly noticed her but to complain about her behavior for most of her life. It seemed entirely unfair that he would claim her maidenhead. "That's not for you to decide. I'm the oldest." "It's my body!" Caryn said hotly. Striking like a snake, Aric's hand shot across the table and seized her arm, pulling her roughly to her feet. His face was eerily calm as his grip crushed her wrist. "No, dear sister. It is my body, and Etan's, and Nathan's, until it is your husband's. It will never belong to you again. Do you understand?" Caryn blinked rapidly, and had the small triumph of not crying in front of him. "Yes." "Yes, what?" "That's enough, Aric," Nathan said, standing now as well. "It will be enough when I say it is. Now, sister, what do you call me?" "...brother?" Caryn posited. Aric shook her. "You will call me 'my lord,' just as you will your lord husband, once you're wed. Do you understand?" "Yes...my lord." "You enjoy this too much," Nathan hissed. "It is always a joy to do my duty," Aric retorted. "If only you were as dutiful, little brother." Nathan shoved his chair backward and left without a word, jaw clenched. Caryn suppressed the urge to call him back. "A pity, but not everyone is fit to teach," Aric said, turning back to his sister. "There's to be a ball in honor of your coming of age. I've had a dress ordered for you. I will be your escort. What do you say?" "Yes, thank you, my lord." "Good girl. Now go. Etan and I have things to discuss." "Yes, my lord." *** Nathan was in Caryn's room when she got back. He still looked stormy, although he was absorbed now in examining the flute he had given her. "Not thinking of taking it back, are you?" She grinned as she sat down next to him. Her leg brushed his, and he shifted away abruptly. Belatedly, he returned her smile, but his discomfort had already leeched the joy from the moment. "What are you thinking about?" "Am I a bad brother?" Nate's eyes were troubled. "Am I remiss because I don't want to teach you how to yield to a man? I know it's custom, but—" He cupped her face with his hand for a moment, brushing his thumb over her cheek. "You're my little girl, my baby sister. I don't want to think about a man between your legs, much less be that man." Caryn took his hand from her face and held it between hers. His hand was so large that even both of hers could not come close to covering it. "You're not a bad brother. Of course you're not." She kissed him on the cheek. "Only..." "What?" "I do wish, a little, that you were more...dutiful." For an uncomfortably long stretch of seconds, there was silence. Nathan was staring at her hands on his, his jaw clenched. "Why would you wish that?" he asked at last. "If there's to be any man...I would prefer someone I trusted. I've always been comfortable with you..." She put one of her hands on his leg, but he jerked away, standing up off the bed. "Don't ask that. I don't like the custom, Cari." "I understand that you don't want me, but that's the point, isn't it? I mean, of having brothers..." Caryn paused, collecting her thoughts. "You would be kind to me, Nate. Aric's not kind, and Etan won't be either, if Aric tells him how to be." "Enough! No, Caryn. I will not be part of this. You have no lack of brothers willing to teach you. Leave me out of it." She leaned forward and seized his arm in both hands. "You wouldn't have to go on for months, just this first—" "Stop, Caryn. Absolutely not." He shook her off and fixed his eyes anywhere but on her. "You don't understand what you're asking." "I'm asking you to uphold the practice of our land!" she said hotly. "And I'm asking you to protect me from an unpleasant night with our eldest brother." "And I'm asking you to leave me out of this!" He stormed almost to the door before realizing he still held her flute. Relaxing his clenched fists, he laid it on her desk, near her door, and left. Caryn was troubled. She did not understand what upset Nathan so about the arrangement. Men had been easing their sisters into womanhood for generations; it could be uncomfortable, yes, to substitute a sense of duty where there should be passion and lust, but it was nothing new. She wished he would tell her what was distressing him. She crossed the room and picked up the flute. She liked the weight of it in her hands. Sucking in a breath, she pressed her lips to it and played a trilling set of notes. It was not so different from the reed flute, although it's sound was clearer and sweeter. She whiled away the afternoon, playing songs she and Nate had made up, missing his sweet tenor voice singing along. When her maids came to dress her for the ball, her lips were rosy and swollen, and the simple joy of her music had brought the color back into her youthful face. They commented on how lovely she was, and how she would impress the suitors at her ball, and how proud her father would be to have such a beautiful daughter. They spoke of the guests who would be in attendance, of handsome Lord Haster, Duke of Cantanos; the widower Lord Ambren of the Silver Isles, who had been married four times and lost each wife more mysteriously than the last; Alistor Tandry, heir to his father's titles and Baynesse Castle, just eighteen himself and strong as an ox. The list was long, and Caryn knew all the names, though she had not met all of them face to face. The guest list was heavily weighted with men. "You'll be dancing all night!" Lisel, one of her maids, exclaimed. Caryn tried to share their glee, but her stomach was doing flips. Yes, she'd be dancing all night — with the men at the ball, and then at Aric's whim. At length, the maids spun her around to the mirror over her vanity, and she saw there in the glass the woman these men were lining up to marry. Draped in shimmering emerald silk, Caryn's milky pale skin looked like porcelain. With her dress laced tight, Caryn's breasts pressed up into tantalizing décolletage. Matching green ribbons were braided into her dark russet hair, and Lisel had lined her grey eyes with kohl. She looked, undoubtedly, like a desirable woman. A knock at the door — Aric. He swept into the room looking gallant and handsome. Caryn eyed him, summoning enthusiasm for their evening together. He was tall, about eight inches taller than her, and his shoulders were broad. His body was well-muscled, but where Etan had grown bulky with his strength, Aric seemed lithe and dangerous. His eyes were grey, like hers, but several shades darker, and they were framed by long lashes that softened the otherwise harsh planes of his face. A brief flash of his even, white teeth served for a smile and he took her hand, bowing over it and brushing a kiss across her knuckles. "Good evening, sister. Are you ready? Your suitors await." "Yes, my lord," she murmured. Her maids had gone silent; they found Aric very attractive, and quite frightening. His anger was legend in the castle. As he led her to the Great Hall, Aric politely extended his arm for her to take. The noise grew as they approached the ballroom until it was almost beyond what Caryn could stand. Almost immediately once she and her brother entered, however, the room quieted. "I present Her Highness, Princess Caryn Alessia," Aric announced, swinging her out in front of the gathered crowd. The room rang with applause, all eyes on Caryn. Like a clockwork doll, she danced obediently as she was handed from one man to the next. Hours passed. When her partners desired conversation, she responded to their polite questions. Many requested a second dance, but Aric was always there to firmly remove her hand from one partner's and place it in another's. As her feet began to ache from the effort of moving her gracefully through the crowd, she leaned more and more heavily on her partners' supporting arms. None complained. She was despairing of ever escaping the endless loop of dances when she found her hand being pried away from Lord Someone-or-Other's by Nathan rather than Aric. Caryn was in such a daze that she had danced several steps with him before she recognized her youngest brother. "Nate! I didn't think you would come." "It is your birthday ball," he said quietly. He hugged her to himself more snugly. "I am here to celebrate with you." "I played your flute. It was wonderful." "I'm glad you like it." Caryn relaxed against Nathan. He was an excellent dancer, a strong lead. "The ball is almost over," Nate said. "Is it?" "Aric is looking for you." Nate implied that he should return her to her escort, but they continued dancing, spinning gracefully amidst the music. Nathan's next words were so quiet she almost missed them. "Don't let him hurt you." "What?" "He is your brother and your prince, but don't forget that you are a princess, and the most powerful woman in this realm. Don't let him hurt you." Nate was whispering fiercely, clutching at her arms in his eagerness. They had stopped dancing, standing still near the center of the dance floor. Couples swung past them in a drunken orbit. "I'll...try," Caryn said. If she had not been afraid before, she certainly would be now. Nathan's worry for her was written on his face as he led her off the floor and returned her hand to Aric. "Ah, good, I was just wondering whether you had spirited her away. Come, Caryn. All this has been to celebrate your becoming a woman. Let's make it so." His hand closed like a vice around hers, towing her steadily toward the exit. She glanced over her shoulder at Nathan, who was watching her leave with a puzzling expression, part anger, part anxiety, part something she could not recognize. Caryn found herself dragging her feet, pulling against Aric's lead as he half-carried her out of the ballroom. She was afraid, so afraid of him. She watched his broad back as he tugged her along like a little girl behind him, and her joints seemed to turn to jelly. Long before she was ready, they had arrived at Aric's chambers, and he sat her down on the bed. Seating himself across from her in an armchair, he began to pull off his boots. After much jerking, he managed to toss the first one onto the floor, but the second would not budge. Princess of Perchhold Ch. 01 "Pull off my boot, girl," he commanded. His gestures were strangely expansive, his voice too loud. Caryn remembered what Nate had said, that she was a princess in her own right and deserved to be treated well, and she grew angry. "Call me by my name, my lord," she said, making no move help him in his struggle to free his foot. Aric squinted up at her, his face hard. "Come here and pull off my boot, Caaari," he said, dragging her name out in a sing-song imitation of Nate's voice. Caryn stiffened at the harsh, mocking sound of it. "That's Nathan's nickname for you, isn't it? Caaari? You like it when he calls you that?" Her brother leaned forward, putting his face scant inches from hers, and spoke more loudly, biting off his words. "Help me with my boot." His breath was heavy with the spoiled smell of wine. "Aric—are you drunk?" There was a false levity in his voice, a dangerous lilt that did nothing to hide the dark mood her brother was in. "I don't think it's any of your business, one way or another, Caaari. Tell me, how long has it been since Nathan first stuck you?" "What!?" "I've seen the way he looks at you, Caaari. The two of you are like peas in a gods-damned pod. How long has he had his cock up your skirt?" Caryn was stunned and increasingly angry. "How dare you? Nathan has never touched me!" Ignoring her, Aric continued, "Not that I blame him. I've been waiting for this day for a long time, sister dear, watching you grow out of your skinned knees and into a body that could make a blind man hard. I've thought about it, what I would do when I got this chance to claim your — well, not your virginity, I suppose, since Nate has that—" Caryn slapped him with her full strength, rocking his head back on his neck. For a moment, she felt vindicated, but her satisfaction melted into uneasiness, and then to terror as Aric fixed cold eyes on her. "You would strike me? Your brother?" he asked. He spoke so softly she barely heard him over the pounding of her heart. She knew that face; she had seen him rage against a man who had insulted him, seen him beat that man almost to death with his fists. "Aric, I—" His hand closed around her throat as she struggled to make an excuse, lifting her off her feet. She hung there for a moment before he released her and let her collapse backward against his pillows. He clambered up onto the bed, standing atop the springy surface and towering over her. For a moment, he only stared at her as she trembled on his blanket, then he pulled back his booted foot and kicked her squarely in the ribs. She cried out, clutching at her side and curling away from him, and he dropped to his knees next to her. "Should have helped me with my boot, Caaari," he jeered. "Now, pull it off." Taking sobbing, staccato breaths, she turned back to his proffered boot and yanked at it until it came free of his foot. She tossed it onto the floor next to the bed. "Aric, you've been drinking. Let me—" He slapped her hard across the face. "Now my belt," he said calmly, and with shaking fingers, she complied. "Take off my shirt. Carefully!" She loosened the ties at his neck and pulled it over his head, dropping it on the bed. Dread gnawed at her chest like a hungry beast. "Stand by the bed." Caryn crawled off his mattress, scrambling to her feet. Aric's hand rubbed against the bulge in his trousers as he watched her. "Now...off with the dress." Whimpering, Caryn demurred. "Aric, please! Not like this. You're angry!" With a growl, Aric reached into the drawer of his night table, where he kept the knife he had been given on his own eighteenth name day. He seized it by the handle and, ignoring his sister's increasingly desperate protests, jerked it through the fabric of her dress, neck to navel. His hands were not as steady as usual; he had scratched her along her sternum, and a thin line of blood ran between her breasts. Aric dropped the knife and ripped the remainder of the dress away from Caryn's body, leaving her exposed to the chilly air as it fell to the floor. Her pale skin was studded with gooseflesh, and her nipples had tightened to pink nubs. There was a nasty bruise forming along her ribs where he had kicked her, but below that was only her milky smooth skin, curving deliciously at the hip, disappearing into the dark curls between her thighs, running taut down the length of her long, tapered legs. Her attempts to cover herself with her hands were all the more titillating for Aric; the image of her pale hand against the backdrop of dark hair made his cock jerk, imagining the times she must have buried her fingers in that nest, seeking warm, wet release. "Turn around. Let me see all of you." She shook her head frantically, trying to form the words that would make him stop, but unable to find her voice. Aric gave her no time for protests. He stood and pushed her down onto her stomach on the bed, reveling in the smallness of her, the suppleness of her skin. She wriggled and clawed at the sheets, trying to crawl away, but he clung to her shoulder and waist and held her in place. Caryn fought to turn herself over and succeeded in twisting onto her side, giving herself a view of him throwing off his trousers. A frantic noise, a keening half-scream escaped her mouth as he released his penis, and she kicked at him, connecting with his thigh and pushing herself off the other side of the bed. When her hands hit the floor, she began to drag herself away from him. "Where are you going, Caaari?" The sing-song voice was back. Aric grabbed her ankle and jerked her back onto the bed, where he was now kneeling, one fist pumping up and down along his shaft. He seized both of her wrists in one hand and stared down at her, pleasuring himself. Her struggles were making her breasts toss and joggle in the most appealing way. He knelt on her legs so the she could not kick him. "Aric, I beg you, let me go. This is not the way! Tomorrow, when you're sober..." Caryn trailed off, unable to continue. "Would you like to know a secret, sister?" Aric asked, stroking himself more rapidly. "I am not drunk. I only drank the single glass of wine I intended to give to you. I thought it might make things easier for you. But I watched you dancing with Nathan, I saw the way you pressed your body against his. And I knew then that his cock had been inside you before, probably many times, and you didn't need the wine to dull a virgin's pain." "I have never had a man, Aric, I swear!" She seemed in earnest, but Aric had heard whores swear as much, and as vehemently. "Then let's see, shall we?" He let go of his member and took his weight off his sister's legs. She immediately began to kick at him again, and he fought her one-handed for several minutes before he grew too irritated. Taking hold of one wrist in each hand, Aric slid off the bed and stood, hauling Caryn off after him. She groaned when her lower body hit the floor, and hissed as she was dragged across the ground to his wardrobe. Inside was Aric's collection of tools and toys, the things he was forced to use when his ladies did not submit as they ought. From it, he drew a rope, with which he bound his sister's wrists. "Aric," Caryn said breathlessly. "Aric, no!" Years ago, he had had an iron hook put into his ceiling just over his bed. He carried Caryn back to it, lifting her bound wrists over it so that she hung from the hook by the rope that connected them. She began to make a most pathetic noise; the pain in her shoulders in that position was intense, and she could not take the pressure off of them with her toes just brushing the surface of the bed. When Aric stood before her, his erection was level with her mound, and he seized her hips, crushing her sex against his. "A virgin, she says," he muttered to himself, staring down at her breasts as they jounced with each movement Caryn made. "We'll see about that. We will see." With his fingers digging into her waist, he began to lift her. A blessing at first for the relief it gave her burning shoulders, the movement almost immediately filled Caryn with horror. He would lift her up and drop her down onto himself. "No, Aric!" she screamed. His cock was rubbing between her nether lips with unbearable friction. She imagined the way she would tear open when he penetrated her and began to wail, bawling uncontrollably, her eyes scrunched shut and hot tears salting her face. This, it seemed, got through to her brother at last. Still holding her by the waist, he put his forehead against hers. She opened her swampy eyes. "You want me to let you down?" he asked. She eyed him for a moment, then nodded warily. "Would you lay down like a good girl and do what I ask if I let you down?" She began to cry again in earnest, and he shook her. "Listen to me! The alternative is hanging here while I impale you. Is that what you want?" Caryn shook her head. "Then you're going to behave?" Sucking in a shuddering breath, Caryn nodded. Aric lifted her off the hook and lay her down on the bed. His anger was spent; all that was left was the lust for his sister's young body. Caryn curled into a fetal ball, wrapping her arms across her face and sobbing into the crooks of her elbows. "Caaari," he whispered. He ran his hand over his shoulder and down her side, careful of the dark bruise there. His fingertips dragged back up, trailing along her stomach and tracing the curve of the bottom of her breast. Caryn shuddered under his touch. "Caaari," he called quietly again. "I am going to make you want me. Your wet cunt is going to beg for me." Sobbing harder, Caryn curled up more tightly, but there was no defense for her naked body against her brother's featherlight caresses. He cupped her breast, testing its weight in his hand. His thumb rubbed against her nipple and found it still pinched hard against the cold, so he rolled it gently between his thumb and forefinger. He knew how to be gentle. "Don't be scared, sister," Aric murmured. "You just made me angry, that's all. I won't hurt you now. I'll make you feel good." He lay down behind her and stroked her back with both hands, sliding one hand down to her rear and massaging her cheeks, bringing the other around her waist to press her body back against his. He was still erect, pressed now along the crevice of her pert rump. Caryn quieted as his fingertips stroked her body, beginning to warm her flesh. She could feel every inch of his skin against her back, and he burned feverishly hot against her. It occurred to her that her brother was quite mad; she wondered if Nathan knew how wild their brother's mood swings could make him. No, he could not, or he would not have left her with him. She shuddered as she thought of Aric as king, his word law. Aric breathed heavily against her neck and ear. "Caaari," he called again, breathily and mockingly. "I need to bury myself in you. How does Nate make you wet?" Caryn fought the urge to tell him again that Nate had never touched her, knowing it would only infuriate him again. She had learned her lesson, and she wanted no more fits of fury from him. Instead, she conjured up the fantasy she had used when she touched herself in her own bed, the image of a lover moving slowly between her thighs. There was no escaping this night with Aric, no avoiding the fucking he was nearly shaking with the need to give her. It would be best, she knew, if she could find a way to enjoy it. "He...he touches me," Caryn began, closing her eyes. "He places his hands on my breasts and he squeezes them gently. He kisses my neck, and—" She gasped, for a moment losing her train of thought as Aric began to follow her instructions, grasping her breasts and pressing his lips lightly to the place where her pulse beat in her throat. "H-he kisses his way down my neck and farther until his lips are on my nipple. He flicks it with his tongue, and sucks." Never let it be said that Aric could not take direction. Obediently, he began to suck her breast, his fingers running up and down the outside of her thigh. Caryn shivered, and not in revulsion. "Then he kisses a trail down my belly," she whispered, pausing so that Aric could begin, "and when he reaches my lips, he kisses them as well." Aric carried out her whispered fantasy, until his tongue slid roughly between her lips and down her slit. She yelped as he tightened it and speared her with the slippery tip. She felt a warmth begin to slick between her lips that had nothing to do with Aric's saliva. It seemed Caryn's body was more forgiving of Aric's recent roughness than she was. Her brother savored the juices that began to seep from her sex; it tasted like surrender. He ran low on patience, and this wetness was consent enough for him. Aric spread out so that his body hovered over his sister's. There was a heat, a tension in the slim space of air between them that made him drip with anticipation. He pressed her thighs farther apart with his knees, lowering himself to her pussy. Caryn's eyes were shut, her face scrunched in concentration. She was so lovely that way. When he shoved into her, he knew he had not given her enough time to be saturated. The friction was still too great, and her cries were evidence that his penetration was not pleasurable, but he had already waited too long. She was his and he wanted her. Something obstructed his entrance, and for a moment he was confused. He had truly believed that Nathan had broken her already, but it seemed his sister was honest after all. It pleased him immeasurably to know she had not lied to him, that he was the brother that would tear her open and make her a woman in every sense. He leaned into her, breaking through, and smiled as she shrieked in pain beneath him. Her eyes were pricked with tears. She was loveliest like this: crying, panting, broken. "You are mine," he whispered in her ear, forcing himself into her as deeply as he could go. "Your body, your virginity, your honor...they all belong to me. Tell me." When she did not answer, he grabbed her by the hair and shook. "Tell me!" "Yes," she gasped, her eyes shutting tightly and her mouth opening wide as he pulled back and thrust into her again. "No, tell me. Say it." "I am yours, my lord," she panted. "My brother has claimed my maidenhood and made me his completely." "And are you glad? Does it bring you pleasure to know that you belong to your brother?" Her eyes opened and narrowed at him. No, her face said. No no no no no. "Yes, my lord," she murmured dully. "I would give my body to you a thousand times over." "And you shall, Cari," he promised her. She eyed his knife where he had dropped it on the floor, and she made her own silent promise. *** Caryn did not return to her own chambers until nearly noon the next day. Wrapped in Aric's dressing gown, she plodded, limping and exhausted, into her bedroom and collapsed face down in her bed. Here in the safety of her room, she wanted to cry, but she had spent her tears. "Long night?" Asked a male voice from the corner of her room, and Caryn gasped and jerked. She was sitting up against her headboard, curled into a ball before she realized who had spoken, and from where. "Nate." Her voice cracked on his name. He rose from where he had been sitting at her small breakfast table, moving to seat himself instead on the edge of her bed. He reached out to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear, but she flinched away from him, so he returned his hand to his lap and did not move toward her again. "How are you?" he asked in the same tone he used to calm a spooked horse. She did not answer. "I hope you'll forgive the intrusion...I couldn't sleep last night, and I thought I'd wait for you here." Caryn responded with a one-shouldered shrug that told him nothing. "Cari, talk to me" he said, dragging her name out over several syllables. Her head jerked up and her eyes burned for a moment. "Don't call me that." That startled Nathan. He had called her Cari for as long as he could remember. It was his nickname for her, the one only he used. "Oh...okay. Are you angry with me?" "No," she said, shaking her head and sighing. Then, "Yes." "Yes? Why?" She glared into the middle distance, refusing to look at him, and did not respond. Nathan wanted to touch her, but he had hated the way she jerked away from him. "Caryn? Why are you angry?" "What good are you?" she hissed at him suddenly. "What?" Nathan reeled back as if slapped. "What good are you to me? As a brother or a friend! First, you refuse me, then you give me the stupidest advice. 'Don't let him hurt you'? What good could that have done me?" Caryn was still not looking at him, spitting her words instead toward the wall. "Did Aric hurt you?" Nate began to feel the cold roar of adrenaline in his blood. "Did he..." "Did he what, Nathan? Go ahead, ask. The answer is yes, whatever it is." Caryn levered herself up off the bed and turned back to her brother. "Would you like to see what he's done to me? It's not pretty. It might make you sick to your queasy little stomach; I know you have no stomach for this whole affair." All the poison she could not unleash on Aric, Caryn poured out on Nathan. Nathan who had done nothing — nothing to hurt her, and nothing to help her either. She dropped Aric's robe from her shoulders. She was naked underneath, and the dark bruises were easily visible against her fair skin: the fist-sized purple bruise along her side from his boot, and the matching sets on her hips, her upper arms, and her inner thighs where Aric had dug his fingers in. The shallow red cut between her breasts was visible too, flaked with dried blood. The half-moons of bite marks decorated her neck and shoulders, her breasts, her thighs. Her wrists were circled in chafe marks from the rope that had bound her. "Gods' mercy," Nathan whispered. "Gods' mercy on me, I'll kill him. I'll cut his throat." He lifted the robe back over her and wrapped her in it, hugging her to him. "I'm so sorry." For a moment, Caryn stiffened in his arms, wanting to escape, but he smelled just as he always had, and his arms around her were warm and comforting, and she collapsed against him, shaking with the force of the tears she thought she'd cried out. She clutched at him, the fabric of his shirt wadded in her fists. Slowly he sat and lifted her onto his lap, one arm behind her back and the other under her legs, like she was a little girl again. He rested his cheek against the top of her head and tried to fight down that rage that boiled through him. Caryn nuzzled against him, her face pressed to the skin just below his collarbone. His heart was pounding, the heat of it radiating out against her. She made herself unclench her fists, flattening her hands against his chest. She slid them up to his neck, wrapping her arms around him and tucking her head into the warm space between his neck and shoulder. Her tears were slowing; everything about him comforted her, relaxed her. Her breath was hot against his neck. Nathan tried to think of anything but how warm and soft she was against him. This was not the time. Her lips were moving against his neck. At first he thought she was speaking quietly, but then he realized the sound coming from her was just a deep sigh, and her lips were pressing light, soft kisses along his skin. He cleared his throat and shifted, trying to move her back without noticeably pushing her away. Instead, Caryn moved closer, drawing her inside leg toward her chest and turning deftly so that Nathan found himself quite suddenly straddled by his little sister. The dressing gown that had been simply draped over her was slipping to the floor, revealing her trim body. Nathan realized he was staring down at what he could see of her and averted his eyes. Silently, he mouthed a prayer to the gods for strength. Princess of Perchhold Ch. 01 His sister hugged him more tightly around the neck, pressing the pillowy mounds of her breasts against his chest. Nathan knew that from where she sat, she could not help but notice he was a man who appreciated all the attention. His trousers were pulled painfully tight. "Why wouldn't you take me, Nate?" she murmured, still feathering those kisses from his shoulder to the skin behind his ear. Nathan closed his eyes and didn't answer. "I thought it was because you didn't want me, but..." She took one hand from around his neck and brushed it along the length of his erection. "...clearly that's not the problem." "Stop it," Nate said quietly. "Stop what? Kissing you?" She nipped his earlobe, then sucked it into her mouth. Nathan's breath caught in his throat. Her lips moved down along his jaw to his chin, and then she kissed him chastely on the lips. His eyes remained closed, so she kissed him again, this time opening her mouth and molding the shape of her lips to his. Nathan pulled away. "Yes, kissing me. Please stop." "Why?" Caryn was incensed. "What is so wrong with me?" "Nothing!" Nathan dumped his sister onto the bed, standing up to pace. "There is nothing wrong with you, Cari. Not a gods forsaken thing. You're beautiful and charming and funny and sweet..." "Then why—" "Because I can't handle it! Gods! I have watched you and I've dreamed about you and believe me, I've berated myself for it, but the truth is, I have fallen in love with you, Cari." He sat down hard next to her, grey eyes dark. "I'm in love with you, and you're leaving me. I am already losing my closest friend and the most perfect woman I have ever known. At best, I have you for a few more months, time I'm sharing with Aric and Etan. If I have you like I've dreamed about..." Nate took a deep, shuddering breath and grabbed his sister's hands. "I will not be able to give you up." "That's all?" Caryn murmured. "I know the solution." She leaned against him, putting her lips against his ear, and whispered, "Don't give me up." Nathan grabbed her chin, anger rising in him. "What are you doing? You don't want this, any of it. I saw you, yesterday. You were terrified, thinking I had come to take you right here on this bed. And then Aric—" Caryn moved away from him. "I do want it. You." She was pouting now, like a little girl. "No, you don't. What do you want?" Silence reigned in the room for what seemed like hours. The princess' face reeled through emotions, considering and discarding them one after another. Nathan was patient, watching her and holding her hands. "I want you to...take care of me," she said in a small voice. "Protect me." Nathan's heart sank. He loved his sister, and more than anything he wanted to sweep her away from the castle, ride off into the sunset, make her his wife. He wanted her to be his alone, safe from lecherous brothers and a husband who might be worse. But none of that was in his power. "I'll do whatever I can," Nate assured her. "Seducing me won't make me any more able to order Aric away from you. He is answerable only to Father. He will be king." Nathan began rubbing his sister's shoulders, gently easing the tension out of them. Her body was so tense. "He made me beg for it, Nate," she said quietly. "He tore my body open and he made me beg him to finish in me. I did it. I begged him for it so that it would be over. Only it wasn't over. He made me lick him clean, suck off all of his sap and mine, and the blood... And when he was clean, he was hard again, and he told me he wasn't going to leave any virgin holes for you to fill. He—he—" "For me? Holes for me to fill? I said I wanted nothing to do with this." "He wouldn't believe me that you weren't...I mean, that we hadn't..." "He thought I was fucking the cradle, so to speak?" Nathan was angry again. Caryn pulled away from him. "Sorry. That was uncalled for. He...gods, I want him dead." "Shh, that's treason," Caryn whispered. "Then I'm a traitor. Tell me the rest." "I don't want to." "Why not?" "You're angry." "I'm furious. But go on." Caryn took a deep breath and plowed on. The words seemed to come easier now. "He kept calling me by your nickname, even after he knew we hadn't been together. He had this awful fake voice on. He was singing it in my ear while he bent me over his bed and pulled my cheeks apart. He licked his finger, but it wasn't enough, wasn't nearly enough. I thought he must be tearing me when he pushed his finger in. I screamed at him, but he wouldn't stop, and the more I screamed the worse it got. He told me it would be better if I asked him politely for what I wanted." "So I asked him to be gentle, to let me get him nice and wet first. I asked him if he would make it slicker. He slid his fingers along my slit and scooped up some of my juices. He'd gotten me wet down there...I kept trying to think of the best things I could imagine, the sexiest things, so I would stay wet. He used what was on his fingers and rubbed it up my other hole. Then he told me to lick him." "When there was spit running down his shaft, he put me back on my stomach, and he took me. I talked to him the whole time, told him how nice it was when he took me slow and sweet, how much I liked taking just a little of him at a time, and what a good brother he was, teaching me how to relax so I could let my husband take me however he wanted. I could tell a couple of times he wanted to just start sawing in and out of me, but I kept begging, quietly, and he listened." "Was any of it true, what you were saying? Did you like it?" Caryn scratched her neck, uncomfortable. "Not... at first. It was horrible, the worst sort of pain I've ever felt. So...personal. I mean, he was invading me, taking his pleasure from my body despite me. It was...I don't know. I don't know. There was something good in it, somehow. I felt, like—" She cut herself off. "No, no, I didn't like it." "Wait, tell me. You've always told me everything. Tell me this." "I liked...I liked how he was in control of me, a little bit. I liked that I wasn't responsible for what I was doing. Like, it was dirty and awful and wrong that I was sprawled naked on my brother's bed, and he was spreading my anus out, and pushing into my body. He was—gods, he was raping me, his fingers were digging into me so hard I bruised and he was tearing me with his thickness. I was bleeding. It was...so bad. But at the same time, I thought..." Nathan growled, and Caryn turned to look at him, surprised. Her brother stopped touching her and lay down instead, rolling onto his stomach. "Sorry, this is becoming...a little much." "I thought about you, Nate," Caryn continued. "I thought that if it were you behind me, and your erection stretching me that full, I would like it. I would mean the words." She smirked. "Why are you laying on your stomach, brother?" "You're wicked," Nathan said. "Just let me be for a minute. I was trying to be understanding." "And instead you're being a lecherous older brother." "I know, I know, I'm sorry." He winced, reached under himself, adjusted. "Please forgive me." "I forgive you," she said, and her smile was villainous. It was a startlingly different expression on her face from any he had seen before. His innocent little sister... "You're doing it again, aren't you?" he accused. "What?" "You're trying to seduce me again. And..." Things began to fall into place for Nathan. "And you're trying to make me angry, too. That's why you're telling me all this. You...you want me to hate him. You want me to kill Aric." "I never said that. That's treason, brother." "But it's what you want." Caryn lay down next to him, curling up against his body. She brought her lips to his and kissed him, a long, sweet kiss. "Yes," she whispered when she broke away. "It's what I want." *** By the time Etan knocked politely on Caryn's door, she was bathed and dressed in a long-sleeved, high-necked gown that covered the marks Aric had made on her. Nathan had returned to his own quarters to think over the things she had said to him. "Hello, brother," Caryn said, waving Etan into the room. He nodded and stared around the room at nearly everything but her. At length, he cleared his throat and met her eyes. "I thought we might have a late lunch on the lawn. It's a lovely day." Etan did not speak often, and his deep voice was gravelly with lack of use. He was the largest of her brothers, bulkily muscled and tall. His large hands could encircle her waist completely. Caryn was surprised by his initiative. It was not often that he made plans on his own, but then, it was possible that this had been Aric's idea. "That would be fine," she said blandly, giving him a small smile. She took his offered arm, taking two steps for every one of his long-legged strides. The lawn stretch out behind the castle for a couple of acres before it melted into forest. It was lovely, with the sun out and burning away at the coldness of the air. Still, Caryn was grateful for her long sleeves in the early spring afternoon. Etan saw her shiver and draped his arm around her shoulder. There was already a blanket laid out on the far side of the lawn, near the trees. A basket of food and wine held down one corner while the breeze made a tangle of the rest. "You do like roasted chicken?" Etan asked her, his voice barely more than a dull rumble. "I love it." "Spiced wine?" "Yes, please." Throughout the lunch, Caryn's mind raced, trying to find the angle Etan was taking here. Was this Aric's plan, and after lunch he have Etan dragging her into the trees behind them after dessert? Or was Etan the only mind at work here? She admitted to herself, she did not know Etan well enough to know if he was cruel on his own, when he was not being Aric's puppet. She felt it was best to face the question head on. "So what are your intentions for the day, Etan?" Etan delayed answering by wiping his mouth gingerly with his napkin. Idly, he scratched the back of his neck. "I hoped to talk to you a bit at lunch, learn more about you. We don't really know each other, do we?" "No, I suppose not." Her middle brother nodded and said, "It seemed strange to call a stranger to my bed, even if she is my sister and my responsibility." "Aric had no problem with it." Etan met his sister's eyes squarely. "I am not Aric." He turned his head, looking into the trees, and spoke with a sigh. "Nor am I Nathan. Don't expect either." "Then tell me about you, Etan. I admit, the things I've heard about you...they are intimidating." "What have you heard?" "That your appetites are more voracious than Aric's, and nearly as cruel. That you're rough enough to have forcibly retired whores," she said. "The stories that come back to me..." Etan laughed, a boomingly pleasant sound that Caryn was not sure she had ever heard before. "They are not true, princess. Although I beg you, keep that to yourself." "Why? You enjoy being considered a brute?" The prince shrugged. "Not particularly, but if the truth came back to Aric, he'd make my life hell." "Then what is the truth?" Etan lay back on his elbows, contemplating her with a small, amused smile. "I don't know that you're ready for the truth, sister. For now, you can go on hating me nearly as much as you hate Aric, if you'd like." "I don't hate you," Caryn mumbled. Etan laughed again. "Just don't try to sell me that same line about Aric. I know hate when I see it. Come here, pet." He patted the blanket next to him. "Sit next to me. I doubt it will be any easier to accept my 'teachings' if I have never touched you at all." When Caryn sat beside him, he levered himself onto his side, lounging on one elbow. With his free hand, he ran his fingers gently through her hair and lightly traced the shape of her shoulder and arm. After a few moments, Etan sat up, crossing his legs with some difficulty, and turned his sister so that her back was to him. He rubbed her back with soft strokes, mindful that he could crush her tiny shoulders and ribs with his gigantic hands quite by accident. It was not long before Caryn was relaxing under his hands' ministrations. This was not the Etan she had expected. She glanced over her shoulder at him and was surprised to see his eyes squeezed shut, his face troubled. He seemed far away, lost in another moment of his own imagining. She reached back and brushed her fingers along one forearm, and the corner of his mouth tweaked up into a half smile. Caryn leaned back into him, and his hands slid around her shoulders, slipping down the front of her body. When his fingers encountered her breasts, though, he jerked back, and he sighed, the spell apparently broken. They stayed that way for several quiet minutes, the princess leaning back against the chest of her middle brother, his arms resting at his sides, both lost in thought. "Who were you thinking about?" Caryn asked at last. Etan seemed troubled, and did not answer. Instead, her brother began to gather the remnants of their lunch, stacking it back in the basket. He stood and offered his hand to Caryn, pulling her to her feet as well and folding the blanket over his arm. "Shall we get back?" he asked. Caryn was puzzled. While she had heard many rumors of her brother taking women to his bed, she had never heard of a woman returning more than once. Could it be that her brother was in love with a woman Aric would not have approved of, and the other girls were a screen? Why then had he acted as though her breasts had bitten him? A thought began to form in her head. Etan led her back to her room somewhat hastily. "Would you prefer to join me in my chambers this evening, or shall I come to you here?" "I will come to your rooms, Etan," she said. He nodded and started back to his own rooms, and Caryn followed. "But why wait until this evening? I have had a lovely afternoon with you already. I would love for it to continue." Etan was visibly uncomfortable. "I'm glad you have enjoyed my company, but I have other matters to attend to before I can continue our...association." "Are they secret matters?" "Uh...no." "Then why should my presence deter you? Come, let me accompany you." She began to lead the way back to his chambers. If she was right... With obvious reluctance, Etan walked with her, then opened his door — he let his held breath out in a sigh when a glance around the room showed it empty. It was not lost on his sister. He spoke again, evidently relieved, as he sat down on the bed. "I think you will be bored here with me, sister. I'll just be dealing with a few matters of state too small for Father or Aric. You know if they pass to the second son, they're of no real interest to anyone." "Then they can wait." Caryn sat down across his thighs. "You heard Aric; my education is to be first priority." She began working to remove his shirt. Etan was so still, he might have been frozen. She knew she would not be able to pull his shirt off without his help, so her fingers went instead to the laces of his trousers. "Ah!" he said, raising his hands as if to stop her. "Are you sure you have nothing you would prefer to be doing, Caryn?" She shook her head and clambered off his lap, gesturing for him to help her undress them both. Etan's obvious discomfiture was proof of what she had begun to more than suspect. If he had been with as many women as the rumor mill would tally, this should have been no problem at all, sister or not. With much effort on her part and minimal assistance from her brother, Caryn succeeded in stripping both of them naked, and they stood staring at each other. The princess could not help but notice that her brother was all hard planes and firm muscle...with the notable exception of the appendage that hung unenthusiastically between his legs. His perusal of her body had no effect. "Your ribs — Aric?" he asked. When she nodded, he reached out and brushed his fingertips over the bruise lightly. "I'm sorry. He can be a beast. He's never learned that being large gives you a responsibility to be gentle with people smaller than you." "Are you gentle with the people you're with?" Caryn asked quietly, carefully echoing his wording. "Of course." Etan put his hands on either side of her waist, drawing her closer to him. He seemed to think for a moment, then turned her so that her back was to him and pulled her against him. His hands pressed against her stomach. His penis still lay slack against her. "You don't want me, Etan?" "I..." The door to Etan's rooms opened, and a young serving man entered, talking quickly and ripping at the laces on his breeches. "We only have a few minutes, Etan. I'll be missed in th—" The slender young man finally looked at the nude pair standing in front of the bed, and understood that in front of Etan was his tiny sister, pressed against his hips, her hair swinging down to cover her naked breasts. "Oh, gods, I didn't realize you..." Terror flitted over the young man's face and he stumbled backward to the door, fumbling behind his back for the knob before he could let himself out and run down the hall to wherever he had come from. Caryn had been surprised when the door opened, but not so shocked that she could fail to notice the hardening of the staff pressed against her rear as the young servant entered and began to undress. "Oh, Etan," she sighed. The prince released her and sank down onto the bed, covering his face with one hand. With the other, he seized a pillow and dragged it into his lap to cover his telling erection. Caryn was confirmed in her suspicions. Clearly, her brother had been paying off a lot of young women and prostitutes. "Well, now you know," Etan said hoarsely. "Gods, this whole thing is such a mess." "This is what you've been hiding from Aric? Why you do whatever he tells you to do and pretend to go through whores like butter?" Etan nodded. "Why?" "Why? As long as I'm doing what he demands, he ignores me. I don't want him looking too closely at what I'm doing — or who. The last thing I need is for my brother to spread it around that I'm...unnatural." At this, Caryn smacked his arm away from his face, forcing him to look at her. "You are not unnatural, brother. Look at me! You want to talk about unnatural? Aric, my eldest brother, the second most powerful man in Perchhold, who should be my greatest protector? He raped me. His own sister. That's unnatural. And Nathan, who should be doing his duty and then sending me along to my husband? He wants nothing to do with teaching me, because he wants to make me his wife, and keep me forever. That is unnatural. You are not unnatural." Etan gave her a half smile, not quite believing her, and she sat down beside him. "Etan, I would never tell your secret to a soul, if you prefer. You may be able to help me, though, with a plan I'm just beginning to make." "A plan for what?" "For getting out of this castle, out from under Aric's thumb and away from whichever suitor he and Father have chosen for me." Etan looked her over for a moment before saying in a deceptively bland voice, "Escaping with Nathan, perhaps?" Caryn blushed, and nodded. "Yes. You see, I'm unnatural too. I've fallen in love with my brother." "That's dangerous, Caryn. Aric...I'm not meant to tell you this, but Aric and Father have been talking. Father wants to marry you to Lord Micravale from the passes. He has the largest army of the northern lords, which would be securely tied to the crown by the marriage." "Gods! Micravale? He must be at least eighty years old!" Caryn's stomach turned at the thought of consummating a marriage with the hairless old man she had seen at her father's councils. "Yes. His son died of a hacking cough two years past and he's without an heir. So you see...there's a great deal tied up in your remaining here, to be married as the crown wishes you to be. What you're planning is treason. If you are caught, or if any whisper of your plan gets back to Aric, Nathan is likely to be killed."