Devourer

Chapter 71: Madness and Stupidity

Maria stirred as she opened a bleary eye, the first thing she was aware of was the warmth of the person she was laying on top of. Maria raised her head to see Rowan gently smiling at her.

“Sleep well?” Rowan asked gently as he gently stroked the back of her head.

“Yes…” Maria replied softly as her gaze softened and she felt heat on her cheeks.

When Maria tried to sit up she shuddered as she felt something hard and hot inside her. Oh yes… after last night lovemaking she had just passed out on top of Rowan. It seems like he was inside her for the entire night.

“Ahh… how are you still so hard…” Maria said wetly as she felt her nether start to heat up at the thought of her lover being inside her.

“I wasn’t when I woke up but when I noticed well… now you see the result…” Rowan said as he ran his hand along her back.

“I can’t help it, you are just so beautiful…” Rowan added as he cupped her cheek.

Maria smiled as she leaned down and captured her lover's lips. Their tongues danced and Maria gently grasped the side of Rowan’s head as she pressed her lips tighter against his. As their kiss deepened Maria felt the heat in her loins grow and unable to resist it anymore she started to rock her hips back and forth.

The sensation of her lover’s girth rubbing her inner walls caused her to shudder and the pair broke their kiss. Maria let out a shuddering moan and then she felt Rowan grope her petite orange sized breasts.

“Mmphh…” Maria moaned wetly as she felt him squeeze the soft flesh.He didn’t pinch her nipples, it was a little thing they agreed upon.

In the past Prince Silas would pinch them painfully, suck on them and bite them often leaving teeth marks on her breasts. Her nipples were once a light shade of pink but after a year of constant abuse they had darkened slightly. In their relationship, there was a simple rule. No pinching, no scratching and his mouth was only allowed to touch her lips or be used for light kisses. No licking and no love bites, although she has been making an exception recently with his mouth being between her legs when he pleasured her.

Maria knew her mental scars would take awhile to heal but with Rowan by her side perhaps it would be tolerable…

“I want…” Maria mewled as she raised her torso up and sat down on her lover’s member, putting it in as deep as she could. Maria felt it hit her back wall and she shuddered as the shock of pleasure shot up her spine like lightning.

“Do you want to?” Maria asked breathlessly as she tried her best to stop herself from starting to bounce on his lap.

“Of course…” Rowan replied breathlessly as he placed both hands on Maria’s hips.

“But you didn’t drink the potion.” Rowan stated.

“I’ll just get off before it happens… and I don’t mind if it ends up inside…” Maria said as she took in deep breaths, her gaze glazed over in lust.

“What?” Rowan asked in shock, as he sat up and he saw Maria smile as she grabbed his shoulders before starting to bounce.

“Wait wait wait…” Rowan sputtered as he grasped her hips and pressed her down to stop her.

“Ah… Rowan…” Maria moaned as she felt her lover's member slam into her back wall.

“Don’t tease me…” Maria murmured as she started to rock her hips back and forth.

“MARIA! Listen to me!” Rowan shouted as he shook her shoulders and that jolted Maria back to reality.

“Huh?” Maria asked as her glassy gaze slowly refocused.

“Do you know what you are saying? You are a princess, you can’t have my child… I’m some lower noble from a far removed branch of a third rate family… I was what? Fifthteenth in line for the title? The family title doesn’t even have any land to the name. It just had some merchant companies and a few inns under it.

You are a princess… we agreed at the start that this… thing we are doing would be temporary. We can’t get married… we don’t have a future Maria…” Rowan said, his voice rising with urgency. Rowan watched Maria freeze, then he saw tears trickle down her face. He felt Maria wrap her around him as she squeezed him tight. Then he heard whimpers as she began to cry.

“Maria…” Rowan said as he felt his gut wrench at the sounds of his weeping lover.

He loved her that he knew but at the same time he couldn’t in good conscience let her commit political suicide for him. The only reason he agreed to their little affair was that they agreed that this would just be for awhile. At the outset they both knew that this match was impossible, the other houses would not be happy with this match. The hand of a crown princess was a valuable thing, to have such an opportunity squandered on someone like Rowan would anger many houses that have available sons for the match. It was an unspoken rule that marriage was to be carefully organised between the houses, sometimes matches are decided at birth. To marry someone so far below your social class is seen as poor etiquette and a blatant disregard to the rules of the game.

“I don’t care…” Maria said softly.

“What?” Rowan sputtered as he heard the words that escaped her lips. Maria released him as she looked at him, her gaze a mix of agony and rage.

“I’m sick of it…” Maria muttered as she lowered her head.

“I’m sick of everyone deciding my life for me, I was sold to a brute and used as a toy. A year I suffered, a year of pain and humiliation. I can’t do it anymore… you are all I have Rowan…” Maria said, her voice shaking.

“But Maria, your title…” Rowan began.

“I don’t care, I don’t want it. I want you…” Maria said as she cupped his cheek.

“I don’t want to rule, I just want to live in peace, I want to start the family with you…” Maria said, her voice sounding like broken glass.

“Maria… we can’t do this… it’s madness…” Rowan stammered in response.

“You aren’t listening…” Maria said as her voice started to tremble but in a different way.

“Maria?” Rowan asked tentatively.

“YOU AREN'T LISTENING!” Maria shrieked.

“Maria…” Rowan began but instead he felt Maria shove him onto his back. Normally she wouldn’t be able to do this considering she was light enough that Rowan could carry her in full armour without much trouble. The only reason he ended up on his back was the shock of what was happening.

“I don’t care…” Maria said in a deathly cold whisper as she raised her hips and slammed it down.

Rowan could only look on in mute shock as his lover kept muttering that phrase as she slammed herself down on his member with a rage filled desperation. Maria slammed herself a dozen times before she suddenly stilled. Rowan felt wetness as he saw tears dripping off her face onto his chest.

“I don’t care…” Maria sobbed out before collapsing onto his chest and descending into agony filled sobs.

Rowan wrapped his arms around her and he felt her cling to him as her body shook with sobs.

“Don’t leave me… I can’t… please… I’ll have no more reason to live…” Maria gasped out between sobs.

Rowan felt his blood go cold at those words. So what? Will she go to the tallest spire she can find and hurl herself off it if she is forced to leave him?

Rowan forced his mind to think, he needed to think of a way out of this. A way out for both of them… he needed something unconventional. It looks like the standard solution wasn’t going to work. Well it could potentially, but he wasn’t willing to gamble with Maria’s life. He had loved her for a long time, he had been infatuated the first time he laid eyes on her. At first he thought it was just simple lust but as her torment continued right under his guard he slowly realised it wasn’t just lust.

He realised that he would be perfectly content to protect her for as long as he was able to even if he never had her affection. Most of all he realised it when he started losing sleep over it and the pain in his heart when he saw the marks that monster left on her. When she first asked him to take her, he hesitated at first because he knew the risks. But the pain in her eyes was too much for him, so in a moment of weakness he agreed to this madness.

When he was tied to that chair and realised what was going to happen. He was going to watch as the woman he loved was defiled in front of him because of his weakness. He realised that the last thing he was going to see was his love’s broken body before those soldiers cut his throat.

He was an idiot, that he knew. The only two things he ever excelled at were his skills with the sword and his ability to understand his own position and limitations. He didn’t have the mind or abilities of someone like the Empress or some ancient beast from a time long forgotten. He couldn’t come up with unorthodox solutions to impossible problems. He didn’t have that ability…

Yes… he didn’t have the ability to come up with unorthodox solutions… but she did… the Empress did… Maria is her cousin that had to count for something…

Rowan made his decision then, he decided that he would do everything he could to make Maria as happy as possible. He swore an oath to always defend the interests of house Averlin when he offered his sword to the royal family. So that was what he was going to do.

“Maria…” Rowan said and he felt Maria shift as she looked up at him, eyes filled with tears.

“You can ask the Empress about this, perhaps she has a solution. She has a knack for unorthodox solutions right?” Rowan asked.

Rowan saw Maria's gaze change and he saw the gears in her head start to turn.

“And what if she doesn’t have a solution?” Maria asked softly, her voice calmer.

Rowan paused as he steeled himself, what came next was probably going to be the best or worst choice of his life. It was a pretty bad plan all things considered but it was the best he could come up with.

He smiled as he rolled the pair of them over eliciting a small shudder from Maria as he movement caused some friction down low. Rowan pulled out and walked over to the cabinet and took one of the contraceptive potions before climbing back onto the bed. He paused as he looked at her slick and swollen petals. He ran his thumb over the slit and he saw her flinch at the touch. Rowan then moved and re-entered her, shutting his eyes as he did so. He let out a groan as he felt the now familiar tightness around him. Rowan then offered the potion to the woman who would one day bear his children with a loving smile.

Maria took the potion quizzically, she could tell there was something different in his demeanour. It seemed like he had made up his mind about something…

“Rowan?” Maria asked tentatively.

“Maria Averlin… will you marry me?” Rowan asked and Maria’s eyes widened. Then happy tears flowed down her cheeks as she nodded.

“For now let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We owe the Empress at least an inquiry on her future plans. If she is fine with us, then… we could wait for the wedding.” Rowan said and Maria nodded.

“If she doesn’t agree… I will try to have a child with you tonight.” Rowan said as he ran a gentle hand along her stomach.

“Then we’ll run away together and start a new life. Ok?” Rowan asked and Maria nodded again as she drank the potion.

Maria turned the bottle upside down to show him that she drank it all. Rowan leaned down and captured her lips. They shared a tender kiss before he sat back up and began to thrust. He watched his lover moan and squirm under him as he made love to her. He felt her coil his legs around him and he bent down to embrace her and she returned the embrace.

Rowan swore in that moment he would never leave her side, in that moment he spoke another vow. But in the back of his mind he felt the two of them wouldn’t get far if they chose to run. Somehow he felt that if they could think of this stupid idea, then the Empress and that ancient beast must have prepared for it long ago. But still he had to try…

Little did the pair of them know that there was something else in the room, it had been watching them ever since they arrived in Averlon. That creature had already relayed a message to the Great Beast of the Elysian woods. For in truth no matter what they or any other nobles tried to scheme, the Great Beast always holds all the cards.

So the Great Beast muttered into the hive mind with dry resignation and a flurry of disdain washed out from the higher members of the hive. Their disdain was so thick for the stupidity of the pair but at the same time, some found it almost comedic in a... pathetic sort of way...

Well, that was pretty expected…

I would say it’s disappointing…

But you can’t be disappointed when you have no expectations…