Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.
You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.
Click here"He was much older than me, but he was always very kind," she recollected. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. Nonetheless, she hesitated before she made good on the question. "What - happened to him?"
At once, she felt she had made a misstep of some kind. The King was silent for too long; though his expression did not quite change, his smile took on a more forced, unsettling quality. He turned from the lake to her, appraising her. When he finally spoke, his tone was flat. "Are you asking if I took his life?"
Oh, he was upset now, was he? That had always been a risk of treading into such matters, hence her initial hesitation. She forced herself to ignore the apprehension simmering anew in her chest. Implications aside, what else was inherently wrong with that question? The elder brother had to have been the heir apparent at one point; therefore, so something must have happened.
"I only meant," she began to clarify.
But her umbrella slipped from her hands a little, and by some stroke of (ill) fortune there was just enough of a breeze to send it slightly adrift. She reached hurriedly for it with an even tighter grasp, perhaps moving only too swiftly and jarringly (most likely on purpose, for the convenient distraction it seemed to provide at the time). The jerky momentum had her reaching dramatically over one side, until balance could no longer be preserved and she fell right over the edge, somehow on her back, with a very loud splash.
And before she knew it, the water was rapidly rising above her head - and rising, and rising. The density of her dress and garments had her sinking at once, and she already knew that they were bound far too tightly to be able to loosen quickly enough with her fingers.
Strangely, the thought that occurred to her was how pretty it was, the way the light filtered, fractured, and broke in the expanse of aquamarine.
*****
Authors: I know, I know, another cliffhanger! But as mentioned, Chapter 9 should be out soon too, so you won't have to wait too long to find out what happens!
- COMMENTS
PaladinDanseover 1 year agoAlias is my favorite type of Strong Female character. Intelligent, pragmatic and highly mentally resilient. all traits you need to rule. Any moron can be PHYSICALLY strong, or emotionally “Tough” aka Oblivious. She is making the best she can out of her tough circumstances and if that means laying the groundwork for owning his ass later SO MUCH THE BETTER. Tho I do hope that they somehow do come to love each other for real, it seems extremely unlikely after what Alexander has done & would be a cop out frankly.
jenna6almost 5 years agoClearly, you don't know ANYTHING about true love. Worst love story ever! And unlikable characters. 🤢
Anonymousover 6 years agoWhile it's not at all clear what Alais' plan is I just have to hold on to the hope that it results with her holding Alexanders balls in a vice like grip and and twisting until they are torn from his body! This is the kind of fantasy that keep me reading.
lady_temilyalmost 8 years agoAuthor@ "Nothing special"
There is something special about Alais in that she fascinates him, and of course he is very attracted to her. He's definitely not in love with her though - it's lust he feels, right now, as love (and its accompanying feelings) will generally take longer to develop between people. So no, he's not feeling like he "wants to be more" because of her; right now, she's just an object of fascination. If there is to be more between them, it will be a slow progression, rather than immediate devotion, etc. Alexander has demonstrated worse traits, and this is fairly characteristic of him. Also, I wouldn't say Alais has an extraordinary understanding of his needs - it's more that she doesn't care if he cheats, because she has no emotional attachment either. To her, he's just someone who kidnapped her, and she needs to survive his dangerous temperament (even if her physical reactions make things a little complicated).
@ "Huh???"
Well, hope you find other stories more to your tastes then! I wouldn't say Alais is passive so much as deceptive/subtle with her tactics. She's not going to outright start attacking him or something, as that would lead to a lot of dangerous consequences! This is her way of playing mind games with him and buying herself enough time to play politics at court - though I get that that's not to everyone's tastes, all the same.
@ "?"
Aww, thank you! I think my preference aligns with yours. It's more interesting to me to see heroines behave rationally and cleverly (at least sometimes), and who try to use their brains to get out of situations. There are certainly a few stories I've come across too where I couldn't keep going because the heroine's "defiance" started to defy logic, consequence, etc. And I'm glad you don't think Alexander is one-dimensional either! We tried to give some insight into his background in this chapter, as you saw. :)
Anonymousalmost 8 years agoThink you lack an understanding of the story if you think the king is one dimensional or Alais is passive, lol. Maybe she's not "feisty" (aka dumb) like some other heroines in this genre who act wildly and stupidly no matter the consequences. To me those heroines were always difficult to sympathize with and I could never finish the story. Here she is being smart about her strategy.
Anonymousalmost 8 years agoThe story is just getting super weird, I should have known based on the last chapter. I prefer stronger female characters as well so perhaps that is why I started to dislike the story so much. I usually want the leads to end up together but the King is so one dimensional and Alias so passive that I hope they go their separate ways, or one dies. I won't finish the story so I guess I'll never know. Meh
Anonymousalmost 8 years agoI had thought there was something special about the princess that caught the King's attention. He was starting to feel like he wanted to be more and she was the reason. But his cheating with no remorse says that is not the case. Nothing special about her after all. Except her extraordinary understanding of his needs and her ability to make sure her lady maid knows how sorry she is for acting up despite the fact her lady maid has been spending intimate nights with her husband keeping him warm and content.
lady_temilyalmost 8 years agoAuthor@ "Very Unexpected"
Haha, had to surprise you guys (and Alexander) some way! I think she wanted something that would start her off in her pretense with full commitment, while at the same time being disarming - tickling is just so silly that you can't do anything but be amused by it. But yes, Alexander is very mercurial. Only time will tell how long it takes for his mood to change!
@fictionsBFF
I get what you mean! It was kind of a tonal shift from the dark trepidation from before. It's meant to be slightly jarring to the reader, just as it's jarring to Alexander. It was her intention, as she wants to completely shed her persona before and embrace her new strategy. Glad to see you're still enjoying the story!
@ "nice change"
Yeah, Alais didn't want to remain passive forever - it was time to take matters into her own hands! But yes, Alexander likes to test her (as he's already shown in these last two chapters), so I don't imagine it'll be too long before his tests push her more and more. He's so high maintenance, haha! And yeah, Alexander's care for his siblings also surprised Alais. It's not a side often shown by him, and the story will later explore how and why he can be so different.
@Clare
Ahaha, the deal with Alais wasn't meant to be that much of a mystery actually! She doesn't have a huge overarching plan right now, as she lacks the requisite resources/knowledge - but she's picked up that the King has many enemies at court and abroad. So it's just a matter of staying alive long enough plus positioning herself to best make use of that when and if the opportunity arrives (ie, not on the King's bad side, and perhaps with a modicum of his trust). Once she was committed to surviving, she decided to go fully into the act and give him no reason to find fault with her. Oh, and as the end of ch. 9 might have suggested, there's also the possibility of wearing away his disbelief from the sheer extent and consistency of her acting. He won't be fully convinced, of course, but he might become unsettled or affected by it, which is her way of getting back at him without actually appearing to work against him. Anyway, with his guard lowered, she thinks she will have generally better opportunities to work against him. There's also that letter she sent to her family with the drawing and secret message...okay, I lied, maybe there IS a little mystery to her plans after all! :P
Anyway, yesss, he's meant to be both charming and a complete asshole! He was totally flexing his biceps in the sun though, ahaha. Accidentally, of course (he just caaaan't help having such a great physique - it's a curse, it really is). Glad you are loving/hating him! Even without the tentacles! ♥
@ "Great--loving it!"
Aww, thank you! We wanted to show parts of Alexander's humanity and vulnerability, and that he wasn't always like this - that he was just a fairly normal young boy all those years ago, and that not all of that is completely gone from him just yet. Both his siblings have important roles they play(ed) in his life - his entire family, really. More of that will be exposed when they return to the palace, and Alais finally gets to spend some time with people besides him! Really glad you enjoyed it (and him ;) )! ♥
@ "Interesting..."
That's an interesting point you bring up. I've run into similar issues when I've read other stories in the nonconsent section - where a character has acted so immorally that I have a hard time sanctioning a "happy ending" in which all past deeds are written off or forgiven. I think it's a common issue given the nature of nonconsent stories, as it's difficult to reconcile fantasy with morality. Alexander is a terrible person and has done terrible things. All I can say is that I understand your concern, and it won't be the role of this story to "excuse" or "forgive" the crimes he's committed. Murder, rape, etc. inherently can't be made right. Even if he became better (which may or may not happen), the story wouldn't treat that as somehow absolving him of his previous actions.
Though as an aside, I don't know that, in this era, having someone drawn and quartered necessarily makes them a sociopath. It's a barbaric age, and it's a fairly common sentence - Alais's brother, for example, had someone boiled in order to extract information. Though I suppose you could make the argument that everyone back then was a little sociopathic, which I couldn't argue with!
@candysilly
Aww, flattered that you made a username just for us! And thank you for your vote of confidence - we hope the story is picking up momentum too! I never understand why people who hate the story nonetheless follow it for eight chapters and keep commenting about it. That's some dedication, haha! But yeah, usually when we submit two chapters at once, Literotica won't publish them on the same day but back to back.
@ButterBear
Sorry to hear it's not to your tastes! Have to agree with the anon above though - a little odd to insist on ending a story based on your own minority opinion.
@ "WHAT"
Haha, when Alais commits, she fully commits! Glad you're enjoying the twists and turns! :)
@ "WTF at the below"
Yeah, that confused me too! The other negative comment got deleted by the site, by the way - not by us. I've seen the same guy (I recognize the style) bomb all the new stories with the same negative reviews on multiple occasions, and it seems like this time the site admin took actions and scrubbed away all of his recent comments. So strange of him. Anyway, thanks for the support! As long as we have comments like yours encouraging us, we won't be easily dissuaded from continuing the story!
@ "I'm so happy"
Ahaha, what an amazing wishlist! I'm pretty sure that we'll end up hitting every item there, though some a lot sooner than others. Especially #3 - he's already pretty possessive and that's when they're alone!
@ "Chapter 9 tomorrow?"
Thank you!! We think updating you guys is important, especially given how supportive you are!
@Absinth3
Thanks! He thinks so too. ;)
@IllariaLannister
Awesome, so glad you liked it! The flashback was actually the scene that took the longest to write, despite it being a lot shorter than the rest. Wanted to get it just right. ♥
@ "YESSSSSS"
Glad you understand! Alexander is indeed an ass, through and through. And Cassius will be sure to play a role in the story, though how and to what extent will remain to be seen!
@ "YASS"
Aww, thanks! You don't know how happy we were when we saw your comment. :P
Anonymousalmost 8 years agoYou two are absolutely killing it with writing this story!!! — keep it up :)))
Anonymousalmost 8 years agoYou don't know how happy I am when I see the notifications that your story is up! I love that you give the character the soul and the brain they deserved. It come out very naturally in this story. Keep posting! :)
