Chapter 9

Cade slowly rose from the chair and tugged on Scarlett’s leash lightly to get her to rise as well. He watched as everyone began to leave the room, headed for the dining room down the hall. Wren and her submissive were among the last to leave, leaving only Cade, Scarlett, Jay, and his mother in the room. One of the royal guards would come to get them in a few minutes after everyone else had been seated.

“Will she be serving you?” Cade’s mother muttered as she walked over to them.

“I was wondering the same thing,” he replied. “King Landyn and Prince Maxwell seem to be very interested in her presence. He said that she has to be impressive if she’s managed to convince me to keep a servant.”

“So having her serve you would be a good way to showcase your dominance and her service in one go,” Jay said.

“True. However, it’s not out of the ordinary for me to keep my servant by my side.” The group paused as they thought about the last time that he had brought another servant with him to an official dinner. Cade’s jaw tightened as the memories washed over him. He heard Scarlett let out a slight gasp as she moved closer to him.

“Prince Cade,” Jay said. He looked down at his hands. His knuckles were turning white with the tight grip that he had on the leash. He had yanked his fists to his side, dragging Scarlett along for the ride. She was looking down at her leash with wide eyes, her fingers tight against her side.

“My apologies, Scarlett.” He loosened his grip and stepped away from her. He had to get better control of his emotions. Memories from the past could not control his actions in the present. That’s the mark of a weak leader. He looked over at the woman, “Are you alright?”

He watched her eyes flick between his face, his hands, and her leash. She hesitated before opening her mouth. “I’m alright, Sir. It didn’t hurt.”

“It still should not have happened,” Jay said. She moved over to Cade’s side and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “You need to show more control during and after lunch. You cannot show weakness with both the King and Prince of Farwall here. I am not your mother, but I know I raised you to have better control than that.”

Cade grimaced at the harshness of her voice. Jay was usually so calm and in control, she didn’t often sound disappointed. Especially not with him. Heat bloomed on his cheeks and he tipped his head in her direction.

“Yes, ma’am,” he whispered back.

“Good.” She lightly tapped her head against his before moving back to his mother’s side. Helena rested a hand on her guard’s arm and the woman merely bowed her head in response. Cade watched, familiar with their way of communicating without words.

“So,” he said to bring their attention back to him. “What’s the plan with Scarlett serving me?”

“I think she should stay by your side. Make it a display of some sort. Have her kneeling between your legs, her head resting on your thighs. Something that seems more possessive and less like we're afraid of a mistake being made.”

“That might work.” Cade tilted his head as he thought over the scenario, Scarlett had done well with serving him over the past few weeks, ut he didn’t need her to slip up under the pressure today. “Yeah, that will work. Scarlett will stay with me the entire time.”

Shortly after the decision had been made, a page pushed the door open and let them know that it was time for them to be seated.

“Your Majesty,” the page said. “There was an issue with the seating, however.”

“What issue?” Cade’s mom looked over at the page and frowned.

“King Landyn demanded that he be sat next to Prince Cade. He would not allow Duchess Julianna to take that seat. He refused any other seat that we offered. Eventually Duchess Julianna offered to take his seat just so everyone else could be seated.”

Cade tipped his head back and withheld a groan. King Landyn had originally been sat on the other side of the dining table to keep Cade from having to socialize with the man. He knew that his cousin had likely tried her hardest to convince King Landyn to move, as had the maids. But alas, King Landyn had gotten his way. Now Cade was going to be forced to make nice with the King during lunch. And make sure that Scarlett performed well the entire time.

“That’s unfortunate,” his mother sighed out. “But nothing to be done about it I guess. Please thank the maids for attempting to keep order and apologize to them for the inconvenience.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The page bowed before leading the group towards the dining hall.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Cade straightened his spine and tugged Scarlett to his side when they made it to the doors. He looped her leash around his fist to keep him close to him as he waited for the herald to allow them to enter.

“Prince Cade and his servant, Scarlett,” the herald announced. Cade strode through the door, leading Scarlet through the room as he headed towards his seat. His mother would be seated at the head of the table with Jya positioned, as always, at her side. Cade would be sitting at the foot of the table. To ensure equal communication opportunities for all invited his mother had said when she first approved the seating chart.

He stopped at his chair and pulled it out. He guided Scarlett under the table before taking his seat and tucking the chair in. One pat on his inner thigh and he felt Scarlett's head settle in the crux? He placed a hand in her hair and turned her face until it was facing his crotch. His hips twitched as he felt her breath wash over him. The position of her head meant that he was going to feel every breath that she took during the lunch.

“Queen Helena and her Royal Guard, Jay,” the herald proclaimed. Cade watched as his mother glided into the room. Jay followed by her side, ever the dutiful guard. His mother walked past his chair, reaching out and lightly touching his shoulder as she passed. When she reached her chair, Jay moved in front of her and pulled it out. She stepped back after the Queen was seated and stood behind the older woman’s chair.

“She’s not serving you?” Cade turned to face the grating voice. King Landyn was watching him, his mouth twisted in a cruel approximation of a smile.

“She is serving me. She’s just not getting me dinner.” Cade kept his tone even as he responded. The pressure of Scarlett’s head against his thigh worked to ground him in the present.

“How is resting serving you?” Prince Maxwell piped up from beside his father. Cade bit his tongue and forced a smile on his face.

“I wanted a different kind of service, but you know as well as I that we don’t do that when the entire group is together. Just have to wait until after lunch. This was the next best thing she could offer me.”

King Landyn glanced under the table at Scarlett and Cade shifted his leg out under the guise of stretching. The King pulled his gaze back up and turned to make conversation with his son. Cade reached down and ran his fingers through Scarlett’s hair. She shifted closer, tucking her head further into his thigh.

He looked down at the table when a plate of food was set in front of him. A large piece of chicken with bread and a side of diced potatoes. He waited until everyone had been served before slicing off a piece of chicken. The moist chicken sat lightly on his tongue and fell apart as he bit into it. He quickly scooped up some of the potatoes as well. He cut off another piece of meat and speared it with his fork. He held the fork under the table and felt Scarlett shift closer and bite it off.

Cade continued to eat lunch that way. Alternating between feeding himself and passing food down to Scarlett. The woman ate everything that he passed down to her. She made sure to keep her teeth from scratching against the fork and from dropping any of the food on the ground. The only spill came from when Cade tried to give her some water and the woman misunderstood her motions. A small dribble of water dripped down her mouth, but she quickly fixed her position to drink the water.

“She seems to be well-behaved,” one woman said. She was sitting to Cade’s left and he turned to face her, one hand under the table to pass Cade a piece of potato.

“She has her moments, but she’s been doing well in her training. She’s been eager to serve me.” Cade’s words slipped out of his mouth before he could think about them. He bit his tongue slightly to keep himself from continuing. One part of him wanted to brag, to claim that Scarlett was extremely well trained. The other part of him knew better. It knew not to promise something he couldn’t deliver.

“I wish Kris was better trained,” the woman sighed wistfully. Her servant was perched on the ground by her feet, her head resting lightly against her thigh as she ate. The woman’s hand was tucked in her submissive’s hair, carefully brushing through the short locks. “She’s a cute one too. The two of you look good together,”

Cade chuckled slightly, feeling the heat creep up the back of his neck. “It’s part of why I chose her.” He controlled his words, offering a nugget of truth but nothing more. “There were other candidates, sure. But why would I choose someone who didn’t look nice? I wanted someone that would look good and would make me look better.”

The woman nodded her head, a smile adorning her face. “You did a good job at that. The two of you are a matched set-”

“We’ll see if they perform as such,” Prince Maxwell intervened. “What good is a good looking sub if she doesn’t know how to serve you well?”

Cade bit back a snarl as he turned to face the man. “Very true. But I would like to stress that I have only had Scarlett as my servant for a short while now. She’s trained, but she isn’t perfect.”

“Shame,” he drawled. “I had Rena trained in less than two weeks. And she never fails to serve me perfectly.”

Cade’s fist tensed around her fork as she thought of Prince Maxwell’s submissive. She had heard rumors of Farwall’s training methods and if Rena’s tight expression was anything to go off of, most of what was said was more than rumors. The woman’s head was barely visible over Prince Maxwell’s legs. Her eyes though, wide and focused intently on Prince Maxwell, were visible. Her back was ramrod straight and her cheek was leaning against his thigh. Unlike Kris who was staring at his dominant with glimmering eyes and an open gaze, her eyes were shuttered. Her eyes were looking at Prince Maxwell, but her focus seemed to be elsewhere.

“I’m sure she does,” Cade responded diplomatically. He looked around for someone else to talk to before the other man could start talking to him again. He caught the eye of another man sitting a couple of seats down from him and quickly began a discussion with him about trade routes. He kept up the discussion as the dishes were cleared away. They were discussing the newly opened routes around Grushan when the Queen stood and waited for everyone’s attention.

“Thank you everyone for joining us today for lunch. We will now be heading to the ballroom for the ball. You are free to join us in the ball, spend time in one of the rooms outside the ballroom, or head home. I hope you’ve enjoyed lunch and that you enjoy the ball if you choose to stay.”