The Emery Chronicles: The Black King's Beauty (SECOND BOOK)

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen- Problems Brewing

"I'll see you at dinner?" Daegan asked when they arrived back to the castle barn. Kieran nodded and smiled to him as he left. It wasn't her usual polite smile, the small and meaningless upturn of the lips that she normally displayed out of duty. It was warm and genuine, filling Daegan with warm thoughts as he went to find Dowan. He almost skipped down the hallway as he searched for his advisor, lost in his happy thoughts.

He found Dowan in his counsel chamber, furiously scratching and scribbling on a parchment. Daegan was so enthused, he didn't notice the grey lines of stress on his friend's face until he had sat down across from him and looked at him for a moment.

"Dowan?" He asked, squinting his eyes in question. "Something the matter?"

The royal advisor sighed, rubbing his eyes with his fingers and breathing deeply. "Your cousins want to meet for a Summit."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Why?"

"More trade cuts."

Daegan smacked the table between them, his happiness eking out of him and being replaced by frustration. "More?" He screeched. "How could they cut any more? Do we have any more to cut? This is outrageous!"

"I know," Dowan replied in a tired voice as Daegan stood and began pacing the room. "These cuts are going to injure us gravely."

"How gravely?" The king asked, stopping to raise his eyebrows at Dowan.

"Gravely," was all Dowan said. Daegan sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes in the same fashion Dowan had.

"Is there any way to get my kingdom on its feet? After all these cuts? Any chance of survival?"

"Yes," Dowan responded, flipping through the parchments he had been scribbling on. "We can provide for ourselves, but that will require raising taxes. In this delicate stage of pre-war, something like a drastic rise in taxation will anger the people. Some of them enough to force them to leave our side."

"Leave our side?" Daegan repeated, sitting back down.

"They could begin to rally for one of your cousins," Dowan explained, "Anyone who offers them better living conditions."

"Could we lose many that way?" Daegan asked, his heart rate increasing in panic. "Can't we survive with a few runaways?"

"Even a small loss is a great loss in a time of war," Dowan advised wisely. "When we begin to rally troops and train soldiers, we will need every single man we have under us."

"But this is why I married Kieran," Daegan prompted. "Because we needed extra help. Surely dragons could make up for some deserters!"

"The dragons are there as our secret weapon," Dowan replied, leaning forward. "A tactic your cousins don't have. They are there exactly for extra help. But we still need men, we still need fighters on land!"

"They're not exactly secret if my cousins know about them," Daegan muttered, losing all fight in him.

"They know about them," Dowan conceded, "but they won't expect them to be as damaging as we will prepare them to be."

Daegan sighed again and slumped in his seat. "Is there any way to negotiate?"

"That's what I advise you to do tomorrow. Try to stop these cuts, but don't seem desperate. They can't know how weak we feel," Dowan concluded.

"And if they still don't relent?"

"Then we have some problems that need fixing. I just hope we can fix them."

***

After Daegan left her in the barn, Kieran began to unsaddle Sinopa, smiling to herself. As she finished unstrapping the saddle, a hand grabbed her arm and twisted her around.

"What happened?" Corbet asked, still holding tightly onto her arm.

"What do you mean?" She asked, twisting out of his grip. She rubbed the spot he had squeezed, easing blood flow back into her arm.

"You were gone for a while. Instead of half the day, it turned into most of the day."

"We're still back before dinner," she defended weakly.

"Kieran," Corbet groaned her name out, frustrated."Please, just tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened," she insisted. "We just talked."

"The whole time?" He questioned incredulously.

"Yes. We just talked."

"And the flight there?"

"He kept his distance. Please, Corbet, don't be so jealous, it doesn't suit you. What was he going to do, take my virginity in midair?"

"It wouldn't be so surprising, we've done our fair share while flying." Corbet replied, twisting up the corner of his mouth suggestively. Kieran blushed, and Corbet sighed in resignation.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to be jealous. But when you come back and smile like you do when we're together, I worry. I used to be the first thing your eyes sought, but today you hardly looked for me."

Kieran sighed as well, nervously shuffling her feet. He was right; what was wrong with her? Corbet was the one she loved, and she was doing nothing to show it. Kieran pushed her way into his arms and began a trail of kisses up his neck. Corbet let out a small moan of pleasure as her lips went up to his chin and finally reached his lips. She kissed him passionately, pressing her body against his, feeling his lower body stiffen against her softness. She rubbed up against his hardness, feeling him shiver through his clothes. Corbet wrapped his hands in her hair and gripped her locks tightly, moving his head down to her neck and breasts and kissing and nibbling. Kieran continued to rub, pushing her pelvis into his and letting him fall into her arms. Corbet's hands pressed against her back and slid slowly down to her bottom, grabbing it and squeezing her more into him. He was groaning loudly now, feeling so close and yet so far from her body.

Corbet let out one last, loud moan, shivering against her, his head collapsing into her chest. His hands left her bottom and ran back up to her blouse, unbuttoning the top buttons and bringing his face further down. He slowly kissed the top of her breasts, his raw lips grazing the soft skin. He grabbed one of her breasts in his hand and held it up as he bent down and circled her nipple with his mouth, sucking on it and flicking it with his tongue. Kieran let out a small moan, rubbing her hands in his hair. Corbet took his mouth off of her breast and kissed his way back up to her mouth. They kissed slowly, letting their excitement slip out of them.

"Oh gods," Corbet exclaimed between pecks. "I wish we weren't clothed for that. I wish I could taste your naked body, and see the softness you keep teasing me with." Kieran nodded, her eyes closed and her hands still in his hair. She began to let go and push herself away. She patted her hair down, buttoned her blouse, and smiled at him, telling him with her eyes that she had to go now. As she turned to leave, Corbet grabbed her again and brought her back to him so that they were pressed against each other again, their faces inches apart. "Hey," he whispered, "I will not wait until the next life to have you. We will be together."

Kieran simply nodded and pecked his cheek before leaving the barn. His words managed to leave a cold shiver down her spine.