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

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine- The Affair

Corbet picked Kieran up and walked her over to a pile of hay. He let her fall back onto it, then lay over her, kissing her neck and running his hands through her hair. He began to unstrap her trousers, slowly untying the knots while still keeping his mouth preoccupied on her, but she grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"No, Corbet, we can't."

"But your wedding night has passed," Corbet pulled back, looking down at her with desire. "He's taken your virginity, now you and I can finally be together."

"No, he hasn't." Kieran looked away nervously as she gently pushed him off to stand up and fix herself.

"What do you mean he hasn't?" Corbet grabbed her shoulder and turned her to him. "We agreed that we couldn't be together until you were married and your husband satisfied that you were pure. So why hasn't that happened yet?"

"He said he didn't want to be with me until I was comfortable with it," Kieran looked down, wringing her hands.

"And why should he assume you weren't comfortable?"

"I don't know, he could just see I wasn't. And he said he wouldn't touch me until I was."

"So feign comfort so that he could do his deed and we can move on to ours," Corbet whispered, pulling her into his arms again.

Kieran restrained herself from kissing him by putting her hands on his chest and pushing back a little to say, "I can't, he'll know I'm still uncomfortable. I don't know how, but he'll just know."

"So then what you can do is forever be uncomfortable so that he never touches you. That way, I'll be with you, but he'll never know you aren't a virgin because he won't have you."

"No, Corbet, I don't know." Kieran wriggled out of his arms and went to pet Sinopa and Koko.

"What don't you know? Are you ever going to be comfortable with him? Will you ever love him and not me?" Corbet came to stand above her.

Kieran stood and faced him, "No of course not! How could you even think that?"

"Then forget him and be mine, Kieran. Don't you love me anymore?"

"Of course I do. I love you more than anything," she responded, falling into his arms again.

"So what is there to lose?" Corbet asked, kissing her neck.

"I suppose I'm just not ready," she pushed away again before his lips could distract her too much.

Corbet stopped and looked down at her, analyzing her. Finally, he let her go, stepping back and saying, "Alright then, love. It's alright. At least we'll see each other now. It was brilliant of you, asking for an egg for him. Now with two dragons here, your father felt one trainer, you, wasn't enough so he sent me as well."

"Yes," she smiled at him as she fed Sinopa another dried beef strip. Corbet left the barn, turning to blow one last kiss to her before smiling and leaving. Kieran smiled as he left, feeling happiness spread through her warmly.

***

Kieran had to stop by her bathing room to make sure she looked decent before going to lunch. After brushing her hair and buttoning the top buttons on her vest, she made her way to the gardens.

The Summer gardens were unlike those of the other kingdoms'. The Spring gardens were abundant in many flowers, especially white roses; the Autumn gardens were just rows and rows of trees with orange and red leaves; and the Winter gardens were actually a maze of frozen, leafless trees and statues made of ice. The Summer gardens, however, were filled with flowers most people never considered beautiful. It was a pavilion of cacti and dandelions, what others considered weeds, but what the Summer folk cherished. Every once in a while, a crop of sunflowers stood tall and bright, but most of the gardens were dry and "weedy." Kieran thought it was lovely.

She found Daegan at a small, round table in the center of the gardens, reading some parchments and sipping tea. When he saw her, he stood while the surrounding guards and Dowan, the advisor, bowed to her.

"I'm so glad you could join me," Daegan smiled. He had almost reached for a hug from her, but he restrained himself.

"Of course," she smiled back at him and went to sit opposite him at the table.

"Dowan, take these parchments. I'll look at them after I've lunched with my wife." Daegan told the old man, handing him the papers and taking his seat.

The advisor was about to oblige, when some handsomely dressed men approached the scene. Dowan went to greet them and find out their purpose. Simultaneously, Daegan signaled to the servants to pour tea for Kieran and serve her the lunch of mixed greens, dried cranberries, nuts and seeds, goat cheese, and sliced ham.

"I hope the day has been treating you well," Daegan told her as he began to munch from his own plate.

"Yes, thank you." Kieran replied, bowing her head so she couldn't meet his eyes. After kissing Corbet, she couldn't help but feel Daegan could see it all on her face.

"Excellent," Daegan responded. As he went back to chewing his food, he couldn't help but feel hurt. Kieran was acting distant again. It was as if that morning had never happened. He had felt like they had at least begun a friendship, but now he felt stranded again. As he thought this, Dowan approached him, the nicely dressed men following.

"Your majesty, these are some lords from your lands. They want to discuss finances," Dowan told Daegan.

"Could it wait?" Daegan asked. "We're lunching."

"I know, I'm sorry, but we must figure out a payment plan for them. The trade cuts with the other kingdoms has wounded them a bit, and we need to compensate." Dowan did not order the king, but he was politely persistent. Kieran liked that about him.

Daegan sighed and nodded. As chairs were set up next to Daegan's for the men and Dowan, the king turned to Kieran and said, "I'm sorry. Maybe this will be fast and we could continue talking."

"It's alright," she smiled as she sipped her tea and continued to eat. As the men began their meeting over lunch, Kieran felt her thoughts wander, and she found herself thinking of Corbet and how their love story began.