Exile of the Crown

CHAPTER 10. WAS IT REAL?

The afternoon sun bathed the castle grounds in warm light. Queen Adelaide sat beside her son, watching as he sketched. Caylan was focused. He was gliding the charcoal across the paper as he captured the forest. She smiled.

"You've gotten much better."

"I had a good teacher."

She chuckled, flipping through blank pages. Perhaps she would draw something as well, a flower, or the fountain nearby.

"You should let me draw you."

Adelaide arched a brow. "Huh? I'm right here, Caylan. You see me every day, my dear. Surely there are more interesting subjects."

"I don't mean as you are now." He put down his charcoal and met her surprised eyes. "I want to draw you as you were that night. The banquet."

Her fingers stilled on the page. "Which banquet?"

"The midsummer one."

There was a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"When you wore the white dress. The one with the... Uhmm... That neckline. You know, the one you only ever wore once."

A slow heat crept up Adelaide's throat. "Caylan."

"Come now, Mum. It was a work of art. You knew exactly what you were doing."

She exhaled through her nose, giving him a look of gentle disapproval. "That dress was for your father's enjoyment, not yours."

Caylan grinned. "I know. That's why it was special. You were breathtaking. I was there too, wasn't I?"

"You were a boy."

"A boy with eyes."

The dress had been scandalous by their kingdom's standards. It was clinging in all the right places, the neckline plunging.

She pursed her lips, considering. The kingdom had strict rules of consanguinity, and she had always adhered to them. Modesty before kin was expected. But the way Caylan spoke now, there was only an artist's admiration. He wasn't asking to see her in the gown, only to capture its memory on paper.

Still, it felt... improper.

"I just want to capture that version of you."

"I don't think that's appropriate."

He sighed, tilting his head. "Muuum, it's just a drawing! And besides..." He leaned in, eyes full of warmth. "Don't you want to be remembered as you were then? Beautiful?"

"Well."

Her breath hitched. Damn him. He knew exactly how to push her.

Adelaide had never been vain, but she remembered the way Alistair had looked at her that night, the way she had felt in that dress. Powerful. Desirable.

Perhaps, for once, she could let Caylan see her as more than just his mother.

With a quiet sigh, she reached for a pencil. "Fine. But I'll be the one to sketch the details first. And you will not make the neckline so deep."

Caylan beamed. "Deal."

"I guess nothing bad will happen if he draws me with that dress and neckline."

==============

They lay on the floor, breathless and drenched in sweat. Caylan's mind was still reeling from the overwhelming pleasure and love they just shared, every nerve still alive with the aftershocks of release.

Adelaide was staring at the ceiling of their hut. Straight into darkness.

He didn't know how much time passed. It was like an eternity. Just an endless night.

"You can'tnot love me." Caylan reached out to touch her, but she pushed his hand away with a slap.

"We did the unthinkable... My own son and I... Oh, God. I begged you to stop! But you wouldn't listen. You fucked me, your own mother."

Words caught in her throat. Her enormous breasts rose and trembled with each heartbeat.

"I can't love someone who commits atrocities without thinking of the consequences, Caylan. I didn't raise you like that and I won't be the mother of another traitor who breaks the very laws of life."

Her voice trembled alongside her breasts. "We've become what we were meant to destroy."

"We are nothing like Darst, Mum!"

"You are right. We're worse," she whispered. "How can you not see it? We are so much worse." Her voice was hollow, broken. "He sinned with his niece, but us... there's no bond closer than mother and son, and you penetrated me..."

"We did that to survive! We had no choice. Darst did it for other reasons."

"It doesn't change what happened. You've committed one of the worst sins imaginable. And yet, you are my son, a part of me. Do I feel anger? Hatred? No. But there is no place for love anymore either, Caylan. You didn't do it to 'save us' or because we had no choice. You fucked me, took me like an animal, because youwanted to. Because you are a monster, just like your uncle. "

She brushed a strand of hair from her face and stood up.

Adelaide threw a cloak over her whole body. And the only thing Caylan could do is to watch. He was too drained to talk, or maybe he had nothing to say.

She was probably right in everything.

"You're a boy with eyes.That's what you said when you convinced me to pose in the white dress. I should have refused that day. Biggest mistake of my life. Or maybe that was having a fourth child... and it turning out to be a boy."

Her naked gorgeous body was now fully under a long green cloak. She hurried to leave the hut, but someone was waiting for her right at the exit.

"What the...? What are you doing?!" Adelaide's voice rose in alarm. A scuffle broke out and the sounds of a brief struggle reached his ears.

"Mum!" Caylan hurried after her, only to run straight into one of the tribe's inhabitants.

It was a woman: young, fierce, gripping a spear. Green streaks marked her face. She was waiting for him. As a friend or as an enemy?

She put her finger to her lips and then beckoned Caylan to follow. He decided to obey and climbed up a tree when she indicated. They moved along the large green branches for some time before stopping near the center of the settlement.

The tree branches towered over the huts, where robed figures moved busily. Among them stood a man with long yellow hair. He was speaking to the chief.

"...I heard Ornast was here. Old bagel's health has been failing. He wouldn't have traveled this far without reason. So don't act so surprised to see us."

Di'Rose scanned the surroundings.

"Ornast is a friend of the tribe. Ornast comes when he wishes. Ornast has come to visit us." Ranarelci folded her hands behind her back.

"To visit, is that it?" Di'Rose stroked his black beard. "Queen Almarin, wife and niece of our new king, was very eager to witness your customs. I warned her that the Matrokai lands might not be safe. It would be a shame if my king decided to wipe you out for treason before she got the chance. How many of you are on these islands? A few hundred? That wouldn't take more than a day."

Ranarelci arched a brow.

"We have known each other for a long time, Chief-Mother. I know I can be sometimes hard and too confident with words, but right now I'm just trying to save you. Do not toy with forces you do not understand. Hand them over or your tribe will suffer. This is not a threat, just a fact."

Her glare darkened.

"Think carefully, and don't make any mistakes, Ranarelci. Think about your sons. I mean about the older one, right? Think about the love you two share, a strange love that's not for me to judge, and imagine losing him because you're just too stubborn. Be a good mother... or wife. Or whatever. I'll give you time to think."

He turned and disappeared into the jungle, his soldiers following.

Caylan only climbed down when permitted.

"You didn't betray us."

"Not yet." Tribesmen around Caylan grabbed him. Ranarelci's face remained unreadable. "Let's visit your mother now and decide what to do with you two."

===========

Adelaide was being held somewhere on a remote beach. She was standing right in front of the rising morning sun. Caylan was led like a prisoner.

"Caylan!" Adelaide covered her entire body with a green cloak. Strands of hair clung to her tired, still sweaty face.

"I must be sure that you haven't deceived my hostility and trust." Ranarelci stepped closer to study Adelaide. "Your mother is a very stubborn woman."

"We didn't deceive anyone. There's a mark on her. I left a mark, Chief."

"A mark?" Adelaide's eyes snapped to her son.

"The mark isn't enough. I don't believe you were mating."

"I don't care what you believe! It happened, and it was real. We did mate, we did!"

"Stop mocking us!" This time, Adelaide's voice rose in outrage. "What is happening here!? I am a queen! Queen Adelaide from Aetherfall! I demand respect! We are not animals, and we are nothing like you! So stop... Ughh..."

Ranarelci's hand suddenly tightened around Adelaide's throat. Caylan lurched forward, but rough hands around seized him.

Chief kept examining Adelaide's face. "Huh. I see it in your eyes. Disgust. Toward yourself and your son. That's funny. Did it feel good? Don't open your mouth, I know it will lie. I asked your eyes."

Adelaide gulped.

"Be grateful that your son returned inside his birth home this evening. Say thank you to him for pounding you, because he saved your lives. Otherwise, I would have handed you over to Di'Rose."

She released Adelaide and turned to Caylan.

"So, how does it feel to return to the place where you first came into being?"

Caylan exhaled. His eyes met Adelaide's, wide with fear as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Magical." His face turned red. Adelaide turned away.

Ranarelci stroked his face.

"Good. You're a good son. I knew it the first day I saw you. I knew it by the way you were looking at her. With lust, anticipation, and hot love. You made the right decision."

She turned and walked away, the other tribespeople following in silence.

Only Adelaide and Caylan remained on the beach.

"You left a mark on me," she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Mum."

Adelaide looked at the dawn and walked along the shore. She just kept walking into nowhere. Caylan sat down, left alone with himself and his thoughts.

Adelaide looked at the dawn and walked along the shore. She just kept walking into nowhere. Caylan sat down, left alone with himself and his thoughts.

What have I done, Mum?

What have I done, Mum?

CHAPTER 11. A CRYSTAL

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Adelaide threw a coconut at one of the trees. Then she grabbed another and tossed it far into the sea. She raised her hands above her head, threw the coconut, and almost collapsed into the sand. Her wet hair was everywhere, and her cloak had fallen into the sand, leaving her standing completely naked.

She sat down in the sand.

Why did this happen to me? Why did this happen to us? Why? Why? Why?! You're a disgusting mother, Adelaide. You shouldn't have agreed to pose in that dress!

The events of the past night played out in front of her eyes. Each of Caylan's thrusts, each of his moans and growls of desire flashed before her eyes as if it were happening all over again.

Mommy... It was so long since he called me Mommy. And he did it now, a few times. Why now?!

She touched her pussy and felt bits of slime. Either hers or Caylan's. Her index finger scratched her clit and pubic hair.

Why don't I feel the way I should? Why do I feel like I'm lying to myself? I should be angrier, I should feel more disgust because I was making love with my own son, but I... don't feel the anger I thought I should. It makes me even more angry than the understanding of what we did.

She sniffed the slime on her hand and smelled young hot sweet potent cum.

On the other hand, it was so good. For the first time in a long time, I experienced pleasure from the process... Just listen to yourself. Gosh! You are crazy, Adelaide.

She stared at the sunrise for a long time.

She stared at the sunrise for a long time.

"I will die here on this cursed island."

She licked her lips. Her excited senses craved something. Something sweet, delicious, intoxicating.

For a second, Caylan's cock popped into her mind. The same one that kept standing up and peeking out from under his hip belt. So big and also so warm. She could feel it. The way it was throbbing and almost ready to fill her.

I wonder what the cock I created tastes like. Now that we didthat, everything else can't be worse, right?

She lay on her stomach, sinking her hands into the sand. Her nipples and the top of her breast flesh sank into the gritty sand. She lay down and ducked her face down.

You have definitely lost your mind. You've committed consanguinity! Your son fucked you, your son with Alistair, your daughters' younger brother, fucked you. And you're thinking about tasting his cock?

She raised her head.

Today I don't care. I want to drink the Water of Life! I want to be drunk like tomorrow never comes!

=======================

By midday, Caylan returned to the settlement. Something was happening there.

A man stepped into the center of the crowd. Kanavasi raised his spear while the villagers and Ranarelci watched silently. She slowly placed a necklace around his neck, an amulet made of red feathers and blue pieces of lynx fur.

He carefully approached his mother and touched her boobs with his lips. First one, then the other. Then, he kissed her lips.

Ranarelci didn't react. No smile, no sad face. Just nothing. She did what she had to and disappeared into the hut. Kanavasi wanted to follow her, desperately, but he didn't.

It wasn't time yet.

He looked around and noticed Caylan, then beckoned him to follow.

"I can't wait to give children to my Mama. As many as I can. As many as she can bear. She still misses Lakanar. I'll make her forget about him. Thank you... are those at the right words? Thank you for saving me."

Kanavasi walked into the jungle with Caylan.

"You said I won't regret it..."

"You won't." Soon they came to a massive, dry tree. It was lonely, surrounded by grass and leaves.

"We found this thing long ago when fathers of Ranarelci's father were alive and the first father wore the grey lynx on his head as a symbol of leadership."

"What exactly are we looking at?" Caylan moved closer and noticed that among the huge, protruding roots, there were gaps covered by bushes and other vegetation.

He looked down and Kanavasi pushed him. Caylan stumbled inside. He fell between the roots, underground, right beneath the tree.

Caylan coughed. It was dark, dry, and cold. And then...

A dim purple glow.

Blinking, Caylan looked around. There was a massive, root-entangled, glowing purple stone, like a star.

Kanavasi climbed down after him.

"It has been guarded by us for a long time. By the tribes that remained after the first. Ornast and Di'Rose were searching for it, but their search was unsuccessful. The very first word they taught my mother and me in your language was 'crystal.'"

"But you... you're showing it to me?"

"You proved that you are different from all the other deceivers. You showed respect for our customs and proved that you are not an enemy. This is your chance to take back your home."

=============

Lakanar's body was placed on a bed of dry grass. A cold evening had settled in. Ranarelci stood at the forefront, surrounded by the villagers and leaders of other tribes. They all looked different, completely different from one another.

The fire consumed Lakanar's body as the Elder woman delivered a speech. Kanavasi watched with a smile, comforting and hugging Ranarelci at the same time. He rubbed her shoulder, and when she wasn't looking, he flashed a grin at Caylan.

"Is he going to put a first baby into her on the day his mother said goodbye to his older brother? That's cruel."

The Water of Life flowed among the tribespeople and their guests, mothers and sons, leaders and kin. Visitors from other tribes had arrived with their own mothers and sons.

"They have lived this way for generations, happy and in love. And beside them stands the kingdom of Aetherfall, my home, where consanguinity is one of the worst things ever."

He didn't drink the water of life but took the cup and set off to find Adelaide.

She was in their hut.

The first thing he did was nearly trip over one of the empty cups.

Adelaide sat on the ground, knees drawn up. Right in the very spot where they had made love the night before. Where he kept pushing into her with reckless abandon.

She held the water of life in her hands, her body draped in a green cloak.

"In a way, you've returned inside me, right here. If you think about it that way... it's almost poetic. Huh."

"How much did you drink, Mum?"

"Not enough... I can still smell it. It's on me, it's here in the hut, on the floor. Your seed. A mother can never know how her son's seed smells."

She hiccupped a few times and turned her head away.

"Sorry... I just wanted to drink so badly. I craved wine so much that I couldn't stop myself... Ohh... I must have had too much. That sweet taste... Maybe they call it the Water of Life because it makes men and women....sorry... I mean, mothers and sons... do what they do and bring life into the world. Babies.... Ughhh Gosh... I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?" Caylan took the flask from her and swallowed. Along with the taste of the liquid, he felt her tasty saliva.

"I don't understand how they do it. How they love each other for so many years. And I'm afraid... afraid that everything I believed in my whole life might not be true."

He sat down beside her. "I love you, Mum."

"No. Don't come to me with your 'I love you' yet. It's too soon. I...hic... I'm just thinking, remembering my little prince. Everything was so much simpler when you were a spoiled little boy."

Caylan reached for the edge of her cloak where it rested on the ground, giving it a barely noticeable tug. Once. Twice. A third time. The fabric moved, slipping from her shoulders and pooling onto the floor.

Adelaide sighed. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"

The cloak fell open, revealing her bare body. She still carried the scent of his seed. His eyes were watching her full breasts, their soft, unfirm nipples brushing against her knees. He saw her stomach and below, the beginning of her pubic hair.

"No, I can't," Caylan said honestly, and the audacity in his voice made the drunk Adelaide freeze for a moment.

"You're the queen. You're Queen Adelaide! The most gorgeous woman in the entire kingdom. The King of Second Carondale desires you as his wife. My father had 124 servants executed. Yes, I know the exact number because I watched, I counted them, all for daring to look at you, for glancing at you in ways that only men can. I've always longed for your attention; I've always wanted to draw you, and only you, Mother! I can't help but love you, not just as a son... but perhaps a little more, far more than anyone should."

He placed his hands on her face.

"I can't control my feelings. Yes, I love you. My queen. My mother, as a man. I love your body to madness; I love the dimples on your smiles, your brown eyes, the feel of your dark hair slipping through my fingers, your laugh that drives me wild. And if love is a crime, I'm ready to face the punishment."

"Ughh, calm down. Wow. Pull yourself together, Caylan. I'm not some...hiccup... girl who swoons over flattery." Adelaide gasped again, pulling away. The fire in his eyes made her feel slightly uncomfortable. "There's no one to punish us here. I mean...hiccup..." She looked down at the curls between her legs. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but... what we did here isn't a crime. Not in this place." Another hiccup. "So, there's nothing to punish you for. Right? The laws here...*sighs*...are different."

She sipped more of the water of life, the colored liquid going around her mouth and running down her neck and dripping onto her breasts, her nipples, her legs, and her pubic hair.

Caylan gulped. His cock was hard to the point of insanity.

"You're a goddess, Mum."

"Hmm?" She finished the rest of her drink and wiped her mouth, freezing and looking at him. Her gaze travelled along his cock bulging through the waistband. She rolled her drunken eyes. "I just don't understand. Is it always...hiccup... hard?"