Some months later, I observed my troops in their aerial formations. It tasted of irony. The wingless General with his winged soldiers. I suspected Nox withheld them from me in his growing desire to keep me close. After what Xelan accomplished with his independence, how could my King survive another brother abandoning him.

I was lost in these thoughts when a figure in the entryway brought my troops to their knees. Heads lowered in reverence with a fist to their chest. When I turned, I expected to see Nox standing there.

But it was Xelan. He looked fresh and well-rested, dressed in layers of black beneath a silver tunic. That ridiculous signature grin lit up his face.

I might have gaped.

His expression definitely transitioned into a smirk. “General Korac. Is today a good day for a warrior to test his mettle?”

The camp erupted in a thunderous grunt of twenty million voices in unison.

I couldn’t contain it. I beamed at him. “Only if you fear failure more than death.”

“Then I better lose my fancy dress or risk ruining it before my banquet tonight.” He stripped his tunic over his head and ran his fingers through his hair automatically.

Working in a military facility day in and day out, you’d think a bare chest would have no effect on me. But Xelan…

[SS]: Korac whistles with a shake of his head, all impressed. I’m cackling at it and blushing. Wingmaster, I never thought of you like that, but I’ve no trouble seeing how Tameka got there.

With a wink, Korac returns to the story.

Xelan tossed his clothes at my feet before stepping into the arena. “Where do I start?”

I was already out of my own layers when I answered, “We start at the desert.”

He looked surprised to see me ready to compete. “Oh?”

Smirking at his raised brow, I brushed by him to lead the way. “Someone has to be there to rescue our wayward Prince. Have you been keeping up with your exercises alone in that Spire?” I tried not to giveaway that I knew of his struggles. He never talked about them directly to me.

Securing his hair with a pin, he tossed me an extra one. “Hmm… We shall see.” By the time I finished with my hair, he stood behind me. At my curious glance over my shoulder, he pulled my back to his front and opened his wings. For me, he whispered, “I missed you.” For the soldiers, he ordered, “Bring the gear and meet us in the desert.”

They cheered and rushed to do as he said.

I don’t need to describe the journey there. Let your imagination invent the ways he tried to melt my competitive resolve. Hands. Lips. Tongue—

I apologize, Tameka.

[SS]: My face is so red for so many reasons. Mostly the laughter. Is it bad that I find him sexy when he’s reminiscing about days gone by? Okay. I’ll stop. Sorry, Xelan.

With this being his first time, pun intended, I set us up with earpieces. Poised on our obsidian ledges, we waited for the signal. One of my lieutenants raised the flag.

I spared a glance at Xelan, and he grinned at me.

It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

Flag lowered, we dropped into the river of lava and rode it down the field. I expected Xelan to do well. This was his game, after all. I didn’t expect him to excel. As if he traversed this course each day, he soared through the magma rapids with ease, grace, and an irritating amount of style. He circled the drain, waving to the observing soldiers.

They cheered for their Prince. It left me warm. Alive.

Especially once we poured into the funnel. It was private, intimate, and exhilarating—What with the molten rock and all.

Here, alone, Xelan grinned at me. For me.

Thrilled, I crossed to him. “I should know better than to challenge you here.”

He offered me a cavalier shrug. “I never intended to demolish your reputation among your soldiers, but who am I to deny you?”

“Hah! They consider this royal beating an honor, and I consider the one I will arrange for you tonight my pleasure.”

Xelan flew at me and put his face in mine. “I have other plans for us.” He kissed me as I spun upside-down from him in the drain. When he broke, he smelled of leather and honey. “After I decimate you on this course.”

It took too long for me to recover enough for a response. We ran out of time before the spout opened onto the lava lake.

The first match ended in a tie to my soldiers’ delight. Never had I seen so many of them congregated in one space. It looked as if they all came to witness the monumental occasion.

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Banquet-worthy, indeed.

Beyond the caldera, the ocean railed against the beach in a violent fit of inky black water. I already spied the geysers spouting from the whalesharks at least a story into the air. They were quite active today.

“Are you certain you want to pursue this?” I asked, while changing into the wetsuit. It helped with the adhesion. One of my soldiers handed me an electric spear. Imagine a considerably large cattle prod.

Wisely, Xelan copied my experienced practices. “Worried for my safety?”

“I never doubt your capabilities, my Prince. Only your olfactory tolerance.” I smirked knowingly.

The aim from here was to swim through the riptide into the reef. Secretly, I prayed to Elden that he resorted to flying before allowing a whaleshark to harm him in deference to my handicap. As if they smelled royal blood, the beasts crowded along the surf with a taste for Icari in each of their six stomachs.

I wasn’t smirking for this one. I took this leg seriously, and I was happy to see Xelan with as much focus.

Flag up. Flag down.

We dove into the deep. My troops grunted and hollered. Some of them recited Elden’s prayers, which threatened my confidence. The water was hotter than usual. And smelled worse.

No time to see how well Xelan acclimated to it. I was blazing across that water, spear at the ready. No checking on him. I kept my eye on the whalesharks.

One spouted nearby, and my Prince gagged into my earpiece. It should be funny that the rot-water smell affected him so. But it wasn’t. Because they heard him.

The beasts made their way toward us, and I cussed for my life. For his life.

My people’s shouts bolstered me. “No beast will withstand our General. Our Prince!” And the like.

The first animal let the tide roll him to us. I lured him like a bull and told Xelan to stay back. He got the message and understood instantly. With its great charge, the whaleshark left his flank and gills exposed. Sticky, making for a risky target, but my Prince’s aim was true. He thrust the spear into the delicate flesh and activated the electric charge.

It cooked the beast. The wetsuit protected us from the electricity admirably. But more came.

We both pressed forward, but repeated this maneuver with our game. This wasn’t against the rules. On a normal trek, I encouraged teamwork, but for the sake of this race, it skewed the lines a bit.

It worked well enough. At the last, I worried one meant to swallow me before Xelan took out its air supply. And even still, it railed against its obvious fate. Dozens of tined teeth twirled like a drill. Choking and gasping, it spouted an entire skeleton in my face. One with wings.

We both paled at it. Although, Xelan went more green than I.

Finally, we took to the beach. At the same time.

Tied, still.

“Are you giving me the royal treatment?” Xelan accused with a grin.

I laughed. “No. I want to save that for later. Besides, we both know you held back for me. You always have.”

His face fell as he suddenly sobered. “Maybe I wish not to leave you behind.”

Elden, damn it. What was happening? Why was everything disintegrating, even as it wasn’t? And how could I reconcile this? His eyes… they broke my heart.

My trusted lieutenant interrupted us. “The caves are ready for you, General. Your highness.” He bowed before disappearing.

I think it hurt me more to see that Xelan developed a mask as convincing as my own. His voice held false cheer as he shouted, “Ready to end this streak?”

“I wish King Nox were here.”

I felt this all along. That it was wrong for us to play this course without him, but I finally gave myself the right to voice it.

My Prince stopped with his back to me. Softly, he admitted, “I do, too.” Then he entered the cave.

Right.

Inside, I embraced the change of venue, change of subject. Especially with our audience. I think my soldiers doubled in volume since the caldera. “I want you to fly for this one.”

Xelan quirked a brow at me. “Are you certain?”

I built up enough spirit to smirk. “Oh, yes. I intentionally designed this course to challenge all my soldiers equally, and I am eager to finally test myself against a worthy flying opponent.”

He smiled and bowed with his head. “On your mark.”

We both knelt in a runner’s stance as I shouted, “Get set!”

My lieutenant finished for us. “Go!”

Xelan took to the cave ceiling as I ran barefoot into the cavern. Fast. Faster than ever. Jump over razor wire. Dive over a mine. Dodge a stalagmite. Go. Go. Don’t blink. Just breathe. Concentrate.

I knew Xelan performed his own acrobatics up there. My people “oo”ed and awed.

But I couldn’t spare them more than a thought. All I wanted to hear was my breath and my heart. They both pounded, but it was controlled and practiced. I would win this.

The cheering stopped.

No fucking way.

I ignored them and pressed on until I spilled into the clearing. No one beat my record here. Not on foot or on wing. Had Xelan really beaten me? By entire minutes?

No.

Xelan flew above me, panting with exertion. He arrived at the same time. So what…

“Another tie?”

We both whirled to find King Nox chuckling at us. “Only the two of you would match so well.”

[SS]: “He didn’t?! He really said that?! And you didn’t guess?”

What can I say? Xelan was desperate to keep it from him, and I was desperate to keep Xelan. We knew what we wanted to know; I suppose. But thank you for the perfect transition opportunity.

[SS]: “You’re welcome.”

You’re so cute when you preen.

Ahem, back on the subject. Yes. Nox came to see the end of the festivities and to invite Xelan back to the Castle for a banquet. Damn, I wish I could describe to you how much regret I have in those moments. I still wished I’d invited him to join us for the race. It makes it all the more worse after reading his Verse.

Although Nox went the entire night without once asking Xelan to live with us, the Prince still made himself scarce for conversation. He danced some. I was too busy with diplomats to ask, and I appreciated that he respected that. But I wanted nothing more.

On a rare respite, I left to check my hair and clothes in my chambers. The space was dark when I knew I left the lamps going—

“Finally. I thought we would never be alone.” Xelan stretched languidly across my bed. Naked.

I was quite bewildered, given how our last encounter ended, but I wasn’t about to spoil this. I raked my gaze over him and let him see how much I appreciated what I saw. “What are your terms?”

Xelan stood and crossed the room to me. He cupped my face and grazed my jaw with his thumb. His eyes asked something of me. To understand. “Must we always resort to dominance games? Has no one ever been tender to you? Have you ever been tender with another? Time spent loving without the control?”

The answer was “No.” When Xelan cast his gaze down, I reached to lift it. “But I am eager to let you try.”

We “made love” in your terms. It was my first engagement of that nature, and it overwhelmed me. I thought to myself, it could only be like that with him. The only one to coax out those responses of caressing rather than pinning. Kissing instead of biting. No punishments, because no limitations were broken.

Just our hands, our lips, and our tongues. Everywhere. All the soft and sometimes loud sounds. Organic eye contact and the satisfaction of watching them flutter closed in ecstasy.

All entirely foreign to me and not quite satisfying enough.

But I wanted more.

Xelan flew back to the Spire in the dark, not wanting Nox to find that he stayed the night. His mental health must’ve stabilized because we trysted this way several times before…

Before everything fell the fuck apart.