Chapter Text
“Beldaruit?” Lagrah asked as he looked up from the report he’d been reviewing. “Is something wrong?”
Beldaruit, who was sitting up in bed and had been unknowingly gazing blankly at his own ankles rather than his own stack of papers, blinked and then looked at Lagrah, who gazed back at him in concern. Beldaruit smiled and said, “Of course not. Apologies, I must just be a bit overtired. I didn’t mean to zone off.”
After Beldaruit’s little tryst with Deanreldy, the man had cleaned them both and set off for his other duties. And Beldaruit had gathered himself before calling Lagrah back to discuss the ongoing witch departures from Ezrest.
Lagrah gave Beldaruit an odd look before saying, “It’s not like you.” Thought he’d only been the Wise in Friendship for a short while, he had known Beldaruit for some years. It was part of why Beldaruit and Vinanna had agreed to the promotion once Engendale’s corruption had been discovered: they both knew Lagrah was not only experienced, but could also be trusted.
“Being stuck here has changed things,” Beldaruit said gravely as he settled back against the pillows. It was not even a lie, given the events of Silver Eve and what he’d done with that medical use contraption... But in his own distraction, he was making things even more bothersome for Lagrah. “I apologize for this difficult introduction to your duties. I’ve hardly helped.”
“You’ve been a good teacher, as is expected of your role,” Lagrah said with a soft smile. “I forgot to respect your own difficulties. And many witches are dealing with the mess from Silver Eve, even if it’s just those Easthies got hold of first, before Coco and Tartah knocked him out.”
“A mess we’ll have to deal with in the future,” Beldaruit replied, bitterly. They’d already spoken to Vinanna about it. Her memory was missing, but talking with Lagrah and Beldaruit had helped clear things up. She was a fighter. Losing a day’s worth of memories was infuriating, but did not keep her from returning promptly to work. Vinanna had been suspicious of the changes instituted while she was unconscious, but she trusted Lagrah and Beldaruit’s judgment well enough, and her own past self. And would get back to their allowance for the use of the counterlock spell after she got the Knights Moralis in order.
“Thankfully one Vinanna is happy to address,” Lagrah said with a soft sigh of relief.
Beldaruit thought back to Easthies’ desperation. His fury of breaking the principles. And what Luluci had described to the three Wise as fear.
“I am not unsympathetic,” Beldaruit said. “Certainly what Deanreldy did when he knelt…”
To you, Deanreldy’s voice whispered in his ear.
Beldaruit’s cheeks warmed. Well, at least I’m not attacking people over it. Things got difficult for a while, and he argued with Deanreldy, and likely would do so even more once night came, but Beldaruit also listened to people… “We are living in interesting, complex times that require adjustment to the moment.” He doubted Lagrah would agree that Beldaruit’s manner of doing so was proper, but it wasn’t sparking any issues politically, so Beldaruit kept silent.
“Yes,” Lagrah said. “Thankfully the new generations are looking good for that.”
Beldaruit knew that Lagrah meant Coco, but Beldaruit’s traitor mind for many reasons went right back to Deanreldy. I cannot do my duties this way. It’s dangerous. It’s…
It felt good. And Beldaruit, like a starving man, wanted more, damn him. And yet he had the gall to be exasperated with Easthies.
Sleeping with a king is not the same as wiping the memory of the masses while a monster threatens to destroy a city and more, besides, Beldaruit thought. He rubbed his fingertips idly against each other. But…
Beldaruit grimaced and said, “Lagrah… I have something else we need to discuss.”
Lagrah looked at him patiently. Perhaps too patiently.
“…Perhaps you should shut the door, first,” Beldaruit added.
Deanreldy was still smiling as he ate dinner in Beldaruit’s chambers. When Beldaruit had said the guards would talk, Deanreldy had shrugged and said they always did. But that Deanreldy also wanted to ensure his patient’s diet was well managed, and hadn’t had free time until dinner to do so.
He was merely being a good doctor. That was all. And staying later than usual wouldn’t be thought of twice in such circumstances.
Beldaruit stubbornly focused on his meal, set out in a neat tray over his lap in the bed, though it was difficult to focus with those eyes on him. He’d eaten with bedmates before, so the experience was hardly unique. But it was a new thing between him and Deanreldy. And Beldaruit kept thinking of those hands on him. Deareldy’s mouth around him. It hadn’t been all that long ago, after all.
He then wondered if the man was doing this just to see Beldaruit squirm. Certainly, that happened enough these days.
“You have a piercing gaze, Your Majesty,” Beldaruit commented at one point. “I’m not sure I will survive it.”
“You’ve survived worse,” Deanreldy noted. “And I know you will survive me.”
Beldaruit’s face warmed at what that might mean.
“Though I do wish you’d call me Dean,” Deanreldy joked.
Beldaruit still found it amusing the man was willing to – even in play – surrender some of his control. His title was the simplest form of that control. “And what would you call me?” If they were to play this game, Beldaruit wished to know as much about the rules as possible.
“What is it you wish me to call you, o Wise One?” Deanreldy asked with a heated look.
The last thing I am at the moment is wise, Beldaruit thought, miserably. “I suppose my name is suitable. In private.” Vinanna will kill me for this. I’m lucky Lagrah was little more than surprised and a bit confused.
“Beldaruit, then,” Deanreldy said. He sounded it out slowly, as if testing it.
Beldaruit was regretting this already. It was too much of a surrender. But using his title in the bedroom just felt like a slap: a reminder of all that was he doing wrong here, even if both Zazamaiya and Deanreldy saw no apparent issue.
“You seemed happier when I came in,” Lagrah had commented after Beldaruit had awkwardly explained things. “It made your lapse confusing. But I suppose this is why?”
Happy, Beldaruit thought with frustration as he watched Deanreldy focus on his own meal, using those careful fingers and delicate mouth to work away. I barely know this man and also know him too well. A blow job, even a good one, isn’t enough to change much.
Eventually, they put the plates aside, with Deanreldy moving Beldaruit’s tray from the bed. He then began disrobing, and Beldaruit followed suit, setting his clothes aside.
Beldaruit was used to disrobing before medical staff, and had already done so a number of times before Deanreldy, but this wasn’t for a medical examination. And Deanreldy hadn’t fully explained how he meant to indulge. A night together held many opportunities.
When they were both naked before each other, Beldaruit could properly admire the younger man. He was little different nude, just with more musculature on display, and no scarring that Beldaruit could see. He did not cower, and gazed back at Beldaruit with a bit of satisfaction. This is what you denied yourself by playing coy, he seemed to be saying.
It’s not like I knew this is what he wanted! Beldaruit thought with some annoyance.
Deanreldy crawled over the bed to be close, and rested his hands on Beldaruit’s hips to gently massage the skin there. “Do you have any desires this evening, Beldaruit?”
The use of his name made Beldaruit shiver, and distracted him from any particular thoughts. Everything was blank. He thought he’d embarrass himself if he tried to return the favor from earlier, just now, and he had left the things he liked to use with partners at home, while Deanreldy had come to Beldaruit’s chambers empty handed. But Beldaruit still felt like something was owed.
“I wish…” Beldaruit began. He grimaced. “I wish you to enjoy yourself. To… To indulge.” He wanted to see what this man wanted, rather than revealing more of himself.
Deanreldy’s smile deepened. It seemed to be the answer he wanted. “I wish to fuck you, Beldaruit. To hear more of those sounds you bit back earlier.”
Beldaruit’s face warmed. The language didn’t bother him, though it was odd from someone who ordinarily used such refined speech. Perhaps his hunger overcomes his etiquette?
Deanreldy leaned close, so that his lips nearly brushed Beldaruit’s cheek. “Is this satisfactory?”
Beldaruit wondered how much simply making one of the most powerful witches uncertain was part of the greater appeal here, but nodded.
Deanreldy leaned forward to breathe warm air on Beldaruit’s ear. “It might be easier if you lay on your stomach. Do you have a preference?”
“My back,” Beldaruit replied. “I wish to see you.” He’d already shown his back to Deanreldy plenty. But like this… he didn’t want anything hidden if it could be avoided.
Deanreldy nodded and then leaned forward to kiss Beldaruit’s neck.
Beldaruit tilted his head, allowing Deanreldy more access. The man seemed rather hungry for this kind of thing.
“As we traveled through the city,” Deanreldy murmured against him. “I couldn’t help but see your figure before me, and wonder what it would be like to reach forward and pull your hair back again, but for something tender rather than professional.”
Even then? Beldaruit thought with some embarrassment. Though at least I’m not the only one who’s thought of that bizarre jaunt on my Sealchair…
Deanreldy snuffled his nose over Beldaruit’s neck and down the older man’s chest. “You have so many faces I’ve seen: thoughtful, anxious, angry, enlivened… I wished to see more.” Deanreldy looked up at Beldaruit with an odd light in his eyes. “To see you look at me with wonder. Even pleasure. A man with no magic awing one with it all is a feat.”
Beldaruit was surprised by such an admission. “I am merely one witch, Your… Dean. I am not worthy of such…” He wasn’t sure what to say.
Deanreldy smiled softly, almost bitterly. “I am aware witches are not gods. You struggled much that night. And were it easier to do what you did, or do more, I imagine you’d have done it, for your own sakes, if no one else’s.”
Beldaruit frowned at that. Pact or no, they wouldn’t have left the city to suffer.
“I do still envy your capabilities,” Deanreldy said. “Sealchairs, windowways, turning back time on a monster to heal…” He reached out for Beldaruit’s left hand and clasped the man’s fingers, before bringing them to his lips for a gentle kiss. “It is all amazement.”
Beldaruit smiled as he replied, “Magic is wondrous. When used for the greater good.”
He thought of Lagrah, raising concerns about this relationship. And what would happen if things went badly. “You were the one who spoke of being a ‘model of rectitude’ and there being no room for ‘impropriety’, Beldaruit.”
“And do you view healing as not the greater good?” Deanreldy asked as he carefully set Beldaruit’s hand down.
“Does speaking of things this way bring you happiness?” Beldaruit asked in reply. “I am already at your mercy, and being at crosshairs with you in bed is not precisely a delight to me.”
Deanreldy smiled and said, “Then let us see you more comfortable.”
Beldaruit was grateful. He didn’t want to think more about how much he’d already put aside during his time in Ezrest.
What followed was a bit of time spent while Deanreldy pulled out and rearranged a great number of pillows – some from a nearby closet that had been added to the room recently – to better prepare the bed. Deanreldy’s lower half was propped up comfortably, and his upper half raised enough so he could see. This was accompanied with soothing touches and kisses to Beldaruit’s shoulders, his right side, his belly button… It was an overwhelming amount of touch that Beldaruit almost didn’t realize he was on full display before the king when the man crouched between Beldaruit’s legs.
Deanreldy held a glass vial that he uncorked, pouring the contents onto his hands.
Beldaruit clutched the soft pillows around him, wondering if impatience would win out, but when Deanreldy pressed his fingers to Beldaruit’s entrance, the touch was light and gentle, as all of Deanreldy’s movements were.
“Let me know if your arm pains you,” Deanreldy said as he circled his finger against Beldaruit’s rim. “Sometimes, pleasure spikes in the oddest of places.”
We’re not at the pleasure stage of this yet, Beldaruit wanted to say. But then Deanreldy was pressing a fingertip inside Beldaruit’s body, and Beldaruit breathed in. It was barely anything, but it had been a while, and Beldaruit was painfully aware just who was touching him in that space.
“No spikes yet,” Beldaruit commented, still. If the man expected to overwhelm Beldaruit with simple touches, he was mistaken.
Deanreldy smiled and pressed deeper.
Beldaruit recalled the shape of the man’s fingers as they worked over his back, and touched the rest of his body. There were others with more graceful fingers, but Deanreldy’s were thin and elegant enough. Rough with use from his work, not so dissimilar from a witch’s with their ink and pens.
Deanreldy reached out with his left hand and grasped Beldaruit’s cock, massaging the shaft. His fingers were wet from oil.
Beldaruit twitched at the sensation, and made a small noise. It was late, and people were likely eating or retiring, perhaps with their own bedmates. The guards were outside, and possibly wondering what was happening. There was no way the door was airtight, though it was far from the bed.
Deanreldy’s hands worked, inside and out, making Beldaruit’s breathing stutter. He went slowly, methodically, and the pleasure from his fingers stretched to every part of Beldaruit’s being, but not quite far enough.
It left Beldaruit too much free time to wonder what was waiting at the end of this. The man had said he wanted to fuck Beldaruit. And Beldaruit had seen the man’s cock. It was not a monstrous thing, but larger than his fingers. And it had been a while since anyone had fucked Beldaruit.
A slight sting made Beldaruit grunt, and Deanreldy said, “Mmm… three might be too much…”
Beldaruit’s face burned. When did he get there?! Beldaruit hadn’t been distracted that long…
But Deanreldy kept slowly, almost lazily, working Beldaruit over. Occasionally, he even hummed to himself.
Exasperating as always, Beldaruit thought angrily. But if he gets something out of this, perhaps it is proper repayment.
But was that all Beldaruit wanted? Just a repayment? He wanted more in general, but viewing it this way…
The annoying thing was, when Deanreldy had made his wishes clear, Beldaruit had wanted that, too.
His impatience grew, even as he was grateful he was less likely to gain more injuries.
Deanreldy withdrew his fingers and returned to the vial, pouring it over his cock. It was somewhat clinical, after all the touching from before, and Beldaruit felt a bit cold without Deanreldy’s hands on him.
“You look annoyed,” Deanreldy commented eventually. “Am I bothering you?”
“Your hand,” Beldaruit said, sharper than intended. “Put it back.”
Deanreldy blinked at him in surprise. Then he smiled. “Inside or outside, Beldaruit? Or both?”
“Outside, of course,” Beldaruit ordered. “I want your cock now.”
Deanreldy’s grin widened. His hand returned to Beldaruit’s cock, making the older man sigh in pleasure. He grunted when he felt Beldaruit’s cock follow, pushing into Beldaruit’s body. Again, the man moved slowly, with the most patient of thrusts, matching with his hand movements, almost like he was mimicking how he might bring himself off if he held his own cock.
Beldaruit’s breath was tight, and he winced a little as Deanreldy’s cock pressed deeper and deeper inside him. It was not painful, but it was new. And he could almost feel the shape of it as it moved deeper.
“To see you flustered by me and not anything or anyone else,” Deanreldy said as he continued moving. “It is a heady feeling, Beldaruit. No monsters lurking in the dark. Just us two, here, in comfort.”
“You’re not the one with a broken arm,” Beldaruit said as he shut his eyes when a tug from Deanreldy’s hand sent a spark of pleasure through him.
“At least we’re both indulging, then,” Deanreldy replied. “Even if I am the one indulging more. How is your back?”
“Fine,” Beldaruit said. “It… It’s better. You made it better.” It didn’t bother him at all just now. He’d been sleeping on his side more often than late, but even with the gentle motions of Deanreldy’s thrusts pressing him into the pillows and bedspread, there was nothing bothersome. The cushions were enough.
“I’m glad,” Deanreldy said. He pressed even deeper, making Beldaruit moan a little louder before slapping his hand over his mouth. Deanreldy smirked and said, “I wish to hear you.”
Beldaruit shut his eyes. He wanted to say, It’s still embarrassing, because Deanreldy was a king and Beldaruit was a Wise and they should definitely not be doing this… Were they anyone else, Beldaruit would not bother restraining himself. But were they anyone else, they’d be in the Great Hall…
And Deanreldy would never be there.
There were stories, of course, of the former closeness between witches and their monarchs. Not all of it was political. Some had been relationships of love, romantic and/or physical. Some had gone wrong, but some had, allegedly, been wonderful. Beldaruit had no illusions that this would make the storybooks, and hoped, dearly, that it would remain gossip at most to most anyone else. Two powerful men enjoying an evening wasn’t the stuff of legends.
“Perhaps I should make you make more noise,” Deanreldy said as he quickened his strokes and squeezed a little harder. His thrusts did not grow more intense, but now they were longer, pressing deep inside Beldaruit, and sent more sparks crashing together into something like a wave.
“Nnng…” Beldaruit murmured. His breath stuttered, and he clutched at his face. A twist of Deanreldy’s hand pushed Beldaruit over the edge and he cried out as he came over the man’s fingers, spilling over his own chest.
“Ah,” Deanreldy groaned in pleasure, “Yes… That…”
“Ahhh,” Beldaruit said, letting his hand drop away from his mouth. He had to work to keep his injured arm still, but thankfully there was no extra pain.
Deanreldy muttered something incomprehensible, and then he was coming hard inside Beldaruit, making the older man jolt in surprise. It was a bit uncomfortable, but not unexpected.
“Such a face should be banned from public viewing,” Deanreldy said, calling Beldaruit’s attention back to him. Deanreldy’s face was blissed out and overtly hungry as he gazed at Beldaruit. “Kingdoms would fall beneath it.”
Beldaruit’s face burned as he gasped. “You exaggerate…”
“I do not,” Deanreldy said. “That I can see it, ahh…” He smiled. “What a wonder.”
Beldaruit at least knew the man wasn’t entirely exaggerating. His body clearly took pleasure from all this. And Beldaruit did not have it in him to feign a lack of enjoyment. Beldaruit knew the mechanics of how to make them both enjoy themselves, and Beldaruit was thankful.
“I wonder how many times in one night I can see you make it,” Deanreldy said. “Unless you are overtired already?”
Beldaruit frowned, sensing a challenge. “I am older than you but not that old, yet. We went into battle together, and I can stay for more.” He did not know how long he’d be in Ezrest to heal, but if he could have this, for however long it lasted, he would take it. Lagrah and Vinanna would make him fully aware of any consequences in future.
Deanreldy smirked. “Have you seen cats go at it, o Wise of Teachings? It can go quite a while.”
“Would you stop comparing me to a cat,” Beldaruit demanded. “And you said you’d use my name, not my title…”
“If you pout so then I must,” Deanreldy said with a chuckle. He leaned down, “Though cats, you know, do not allow for easy taming.”
“I am not looking to be tamed,” Beldaruit replied. “Just to be fucked.”
“Then I shall oblige,” Deanreldy said. He moved his lips to Beldaruit’s, and the older man turned his chin to meet the king, feeling the odd angle, the way their bodies were connected at so many points. The slight shift of Deanreldy’s cock and come still inside Beldaruit’s body.
It was another reminder that though Beldaruit was at Deanreldy’s mercy for some of this, Deanreldy was also at his, given the man sought to tease Beldaruit out for this.
I cannot trust him, fully, Beldaruit thought as he shut his eyes. But we can have this, for now. Let us make each other happy while we can.
Deanreldy pulled away for breath, but stayed close, leaning his head ever so slightly against Beldaruit’s. He looked young and handsome, the pride of Ezrest.
Beldaruit had made him this way. It did feel magical.
Magic is for the greater good, Beldaruit thought. And witches and kings did once mix… Not all to bad ends… And perhaps not all in legends.
Deanreldy reached up to caress Beldaruit’s cheek.
What end will this lead me to? Beldaruit thought. A bad one? A good one? Or something in the middle?
He didn’t know. Neither of them really could.
Beldaruit raised his left hand and pulled Deanreldy’s chin up for another kiss.
But I want it all the same, Beldaruit thought. I don't need it to be a legend. He moved his fingers up into Deanreldy's hands, prompted a soft, contented sound from the king's lips. I just need it to be.