Forbidden Devotion Ch. 01

Ilana was upon her bed with a gold frame and black cushioned headboard, which was blanketed by silk black sheets with gold trim. Her body was surging as she was on her back with the novel, Forbidden Devotion, in hand. The heart-warming, skin sizzling story of fate bringing two humans together as one who were seemingly made for each other was something only an elf could dream about.

Ilana released sigh after sigh as she imagined herself as the romanced princess that was melting because of the heat of conjured by her relationship with the dark and handsome knight.

When the knight swept the princess away from the evil step-father, fighting against his own brothers-in-arms for her heart, Ilana drew her knees towards her chest and squirmed. She was tightening between her legs and her fast-paced breaths were fleeing.

During the first night of solitude with the princess at his secret home in a faraway village, their lips met with the flicker of candle flames dancing off the walls.

Ilana gasped and her fingers whisked into her panties to her swollen clit. She squeezed her legs together while rubbing herself in circles.

She was soaked and on the verge of an explosive release.

She dropped the paperback to the sheets at her side and focused on the mounting tension surging within her thighs and pussy. She glided her first and middle fingers through her slit. She popped them inside and she clawed the bed as she encircled them. She rested her thumb upon her clit while she fingered herself. She replaced her digits with the imagery of the package of a human man penetrating her and driving deep. His thrusts would at first be fast ones that brought their hips together in a clash of powerful sexual desire. He'd alter them to be slow where he would go as far as he could, pulling out until his head hung at the front of her sex, and slowly going in while their eyes and soul connected.

Ilana rumbled and clenched her legs together as she burst into her panties. Her chest pumped as she relaxed and sprawled out upon the silky surface. She drifted off into a light snooze and she was though upon a cloud without a worry.

Ilana always had an interest humans unlike most of her brethren. While she found them intriguing and admired their accomplishments, great feats, and potential for more, most elves only saw them as warmongers and enslavers with a penchant for violence.

What really piqued her desire was the human male. Their ability to take charge, care for their women, and fight for their loved ones to the last breath had her completely entranced. That said nothing of their capabilities between the sheets and how they made their women swoon in the heat of romance. She would have given her last gold coin to be with such a man to the dismay of the other elves. The fact she was reading a human romance novel may have been cause for the king to dispatch the guards to her doorstep without regard to her role as his advisor. None knew of her dark desire for the mere thought could be construed as an act of treason by the royal palace. Her dream would remain but that and she'd live in quiet frustration. One day, she thought, it would be the life she lived.

The faint galloping of horses clopping their hooves against the ground outside her window whisked her from her slumber. The bustling voices that followed and the pounding at the door like the world was coming to an end rudely snapped her from the dreamworld.

Ilana sighed and did some pounding of her own as the bed was the recipient of her wrath.

"Who is it?" she asked while propped on her elbows and leaning in the direction of the door.

A muffled voice, male, responded, "Who else arrives at your front door with a legion of gold armored stallions?"

"Oh, right. Hehe, silly me."

"Hurry! King Zoran requests your presence! We have a situation!"

"I'm not dressed! I'll be ready in a moment!"

"Not dressed? I'm coming in!"

"We don't have time for that! I'll be out in three blinks!"

Ilana accepted that her prestigious role came with the chance that she could be summoned at any moment. She was happy the moment didn't come ten minutes earlier.

The voice opposite the door was that of Feris, the king's servant/messenger and Ilana's sweetheart. She almost believed her thoughts towards man were so vivid and intense that she was cheating on the beloved Feris. Her desire for a man to please her in every possible way nearly rivaled her love for Feris. That desire tested the very strength of their bond.

Ilana's service to the king intruded on what went on between her ears so she slid off the bed and pulled her light blue chemise overhead and pushed down her panties. She grabbed the novel off the bed and tossed it beneath.

She dipped her toe into the barrel of water on the opposite side of the room. It was enough to cause a shiver but the time didn't exist to heat it.

She stood completely in it, fished out the sponge that floated against her thigh, and squeezed a waterfall overhead. It flowed through her icy blue locks that had tips of a darker shade reaching her mid-back. The water streamed over her back and round, toned ass. Another sponge squeeze had more liquid flowing down her firm breasts with stiffened nipples and tummy trained with the rigorousness of an athlete.

She was still rushing with tingles as she soaked herself. She washed with haste while she was wondering what triggered the king's summoning.

A blanket of light burst into the house followed by the pitter-patters of footsteps on the pine moving towards her.

She spun and kneeled with her arm covering her breasts but relaxed and felt a warm contrast to the water when she saw that it was her love. She stood again and continued to bathe with a royal blue eye on Feris.

Feris was barely twice taller than a tree stump maybe with an inch or two added. His earthy brown tresses swept over his shoulders. His short, pointed ear stuck out from them. He was in a reddish orange loincloth shirt, dark brown cotton pants, black ankle boots, and wearing a smile as gleaming as the light at his heels.

Feris had as many feminine traits as masculine. His voice, eye for fashion, and long, well-groomed locks may have led some to believe he was closer to the former but he was sporting the frame of a well-worked male elf and didn't lack for assertiveness.

"Hey, I was sure I mentioned something about hurrying although I could take a moment to savor the view..." Feris said with a head tilt and hand on his hip.

Ilana covered her face. "Aww, stop it! I'm going to blush!"

Feris eased behind Ilana and spanked her wet ass. "Come on! We have to go! I'll help you get ready."

Ilana jumped from the sting but loved his playfulness. Still, she'd have to get him back for that one.

"Oww, okay!" Ilana said as she finished up.

Feris reached into the closet and laid out her V-neck dress that had a split riding up the side. It was lined with metallic mesh that acted as protection. He tossed her forearm-length gloves on top of it.

He reached low in the closet and brought out her battle boots.

The seriousness of the situation was beginning to strike Ilana. "Why do I need my battle gear? Is it that crucial?"

Feris lifted her staff off the wall rack and pulled a matching violet bra and panty set from her drawers. "I would think so but why would a lowly servant need to know? I'm delivering a message and I don't know what it is."

"I'm sorry. They really should tell you things. You've contributed so much..."

Feris snatched a towel off the wall and cupped it in his hands for Ilana to step. "If it weren't for you, I'd learn everything 5^th hand since 2^nd hand would be wishing for too much."

Ilana offered her foot and Feris gave it a thorough drying and did the same with the other. Ilana sighed as she reveled in the soothing touch of the soft towel and the massaging of his trained hands.

"I couldn't leave you out of anything. I don't care what they say about 'need-to-know' information. We all need to know anything that affects Ellistas and its citizens."

Feris took his time with the towel, stopping at every inch of her frame from her toes to her naturally straight hair.

He stopped when his cinnamon colored eyes met Ilana's. "I wish I was important. You can swing a staff, shoot an arrow blindfolded and never miss, oh, and you're the first one they call when something goes wrong or the king needs to decide what colored boots to wear."

Ilana sensed the blueness in his heart and began to feel his mood dip as well. Feris topped her list of important people. Not even King Zoran was number one. Maybe one and a half tops.

Ilana laid a hand alongside Feris's cheek and caressed it with her thumb in slow strokes. "I couldn't live without you. Doesn't matter who I am or what I can accomplish. Besides, you're more important than you think. Why else does the king rely on you so much?"

Feris held Ilana's hand against his cheek. "I just didn't plan on washing feet, sweeping floors, and being an errand elf my whole life. If they're your feet, I don't mind washing them but you know."

"I know. Keep honoring the king's wishes and he'll promote you. I promise. I might even encourage him to nudge a higher position in your direction. I did used to pick pockets once a time ago."

"Yes, I know you used to steal. You stole my heart, remember?"

Warmth filled Ilana and her heart skipped a few beats becoming a pool of liquid. Her face flushed as tears tricked over her cheeks.

"I love you!" Ilana said.

"I love you..." Feris echoed as they leaned towards each other with quivering lips. They held their gazes for a few moments and engaged in a kiss that had them trembling to their toes. Ilana felt as though volts were crackling within.

Disrupting their moment was a booming voice filled with bass from outside. It was one of the riders of the horses.

"Hey, what's going on in there? The king is waiting!"

Feris frowned as he disconnected from Ilana's lips. "We're coming!"

Ilana said, "We'd better go!"

"Okay..."

A few minutes later, Ilana standing before the floor mirror in the corner. She was tightening her glove over her hand, the last piece she donned to complete her attire.

She grinned at how Feris was brushing her locks. It felt so good to be cared for by him and she wondered what her lover was thinking when he winked so slowly at her.

"We make a cute couple..." Ilana observed.

"Mmhmm. The best in the land..." Feris said as he stopped brushing and gazed at the mirror. "The cutest." He pecked Ilana's cheek. "We'd better head out. We could be here all day."

"You're right. Come on," Ilana said as she grabbed her arrow quiver and short bow from the corner next to the door and headed out.

Ellistas, the royal capital of the continent of Nevin, had a permanent spring clime and light breezes. It was soothing and calmed the soul.

Feris opened the gold trimmed and white carriage with a pair of stallions hitched in front.

"A pleasure to see you, Lady Ilana," a knight clad in full armor greeted her.

"It would be even more pleasurable if I knew what the urgency was about."

The knight grabbed the horse saddle and gave himself a boost. "We'll all find out together."

Ilana fell into the carriage followed by her lover. The knights snapped their reigns and they were off.

Ilana's focus was outside of the window while she watched the pristine buildings pass by. The rumblings of the ride had Ilana lost in her thoughts.

"Armored horses and knights...looks like we really are preparing for a conflict but with whom?"

Many of the homes and shops around Ellistas never fell short of perfection as though they'd just been built. They were surrounded with roses, tulips, and snapdragons. Their scents flowed through the wind. Pines, oaks, or willows were in every yard. The great library with books on every conceivable subject was in the distance, distinguishable by its Parthenon-like columns. The royal palace rose above all else upon a hill. It was constructed mostly of crystal and blue-green tinted unbreakable glass. It was the center of government in Nevin and not everyone was fond of its inhabitants.

The palace was the iron hand over the forest elves to the west, the snow elves to the north, and the cave elves to the southwest. They weren't particularly in joy of the taxes and resource requests levied against them in return for protection and "guidance to a better life."

This "hand" sparked a fair number of revolts, which the highly skilled warrior elves of the palace put down. Ilana was a part of many of those skirmishes and while she swore allegiance to King Zoran, that didn't mean she was his "yes" puppet. She didn't agree with everything he spoke but he gave a thief named Ilana a position at his side for rescuing his daughter from dark elf protestors. How could Ilana ever go against his wishes? He had her trained in hand-to-hand combat, the use of a bo staff, and bows and arrows to where she could shoot an apple off someone's head a hundred feet away.

The king figured a thief would have skills that would make a great spy. She would gather intel about future revolts from the other elves and report back to the king. Something about snitching was distasteful to Ilana but her promotion to the king's advisor attempted to sweeten the taste.

Feris entangled her fingers with Ilana. She left her thoughts and looked over at him.

"You look troubled, my love. What's on your mind?" Feris commented with worry in his eyes.

"Oh, didn't mean to worry you. I'm thinking about what the king is going to tell us."

Feris pulled Ilana into a cuddle and deeply sighed. "Don't be concerned about that. You'll handle it. You were made for this. No matter what, I'm here for you."

Ilana ran her fingers through his brown locks and whispered, "Thanks, always."

Feris. He was never a servant/messenger to Ilana. Sure, he took care of her like always but he was the only one she could talk to about the pain of having to hurt another elf in combat or vent about the stresses of her position of the king's advisor. Maybe she needed to hear a dumb joke. Whatever it was, Feris was going to care for her...almost to the point of smothering. Every few seconds of asking if she was okay would get exhausting but at least his heart was in the right place.

Feris and Ilana shared a love for nature, cooking, and became attached at the hips and the lips while walking through the palace gardens while peering at the night skies one night a year earlier.

Ilana laid her head against Feris's chest absorbed the wondrous feelings. Despite having four inches on him, it would have taken a dozen raging orcs to get through Feris to Ilana.

Her feelings of delight were replaced by a riled up beehive in her tummy when they arrived at the palace.

The knights opened the carriage's door and escorted the advisor into the palace's foyer.

The walls, the columns, and the spiral staircase was crystal that gleamed and sparkled. The floor was of the same glass that faced outside the palace. The place cost too many zeros to count. Enough zeros to enrage the elves in the slums on the outskirts of Ellistas.

The knights sent Feris to tend to his servant duties. The couple parted with smiles and sadness behind them for they didn't know when they'd see each other again.

They escorted Ilana to the king at the end of the circular hallway on the second floor.

Along the way were paintings of former elven kings in their velvet robes encrusted with gems while sitting upon golden thrones. What they wore could have fed the slum elves that gathered their dinners from scraps fished out of trash cans. Ilana was once such an elf. She dared not question her ruler's assumption those elves' fate were of their own for being allergic to hard labor. That wasn't always the case but matters of the land took precedence over a few starving elves with nothing to contribute to the world. Nothing Ilana was the least bit all smiles about.

Ilana made extra effort to keep her focus forward as the knights opened the way to her ruler.

Ilana stepped onto the red velvet carpet that covered his chambers. His head was hidden in a shrub of white hair and a beard that resembled a mop. He was in his blue robe with diamond studs along its white trim.

It was as rare to find an elf with facial hair as it was to find a friendly cyclops yet the king was an exception.

He was shaped like a watermelon and leaned on his scepter as he rose from his throne and made his way towards Ilana.

"Ilana! I'm happy that you were able to join me," his scratchy, aged voice said as he enveloped her in an embrace that gave her mixed feelings like it always had. He looked at the knights and with a wave of a finger, they left them alone and stood guard on the opposite side of the door.

Ilana said, "You interrupted my playtime so this has to be important."

The king snickered. "Haha, yes, how did you know I wanted to hear about what you do behind closed doors?"

Ilana grew a face-length grin with a shrug. "Lucky guess!"

The king switched a more serious tone. "I'm sure I'd love to know more but we have a situation."

Ilana sensed the gravity of his words and it chilled her bones. "So I keep hearing but you're the only one with the details."

King Zoran waddled past her and gave his fingers a come-hither from over his shoulder. "I'll let you see the 'details' for yourself."

Ilana joined the king at his side and followed his lead down the spiral staircase towards the bowels of the palace.

"I assume we have an unexpected guest?" Ilana surmised from them nearing the torch-lit, cracked rock walls of the dungeon.

It was humid with the smell of mildew and the chill of bones behind cells that belonged to its previous tenants.

Ilana knew the atmosphere was to dissuade the potentially guilty from resorting to black and white lies and having a skeleton for a cellmate. She was not in favor of torturing the "potentially guilty" but the king's wishes were to be her own.

The king ceased his steps at the heavy iron door in the rear of the corridor.

He said, "A most unexpected guest and I want you to help us decide what his fate should be."

"Okay..." Ilana said with her curiosity piquing to sky high levels.

The king grabbed the door's circular handle and pulled it open with screeching at its hinges and in they went.

The stone floor seemed to emit a frostiness of its own. There was a dark, bare-chested figure kneeled in front of the wall with his wrists in shackles above his head. He was cast in shadows so they shrank the distance for a closer view.

Ilana was careful with each step knowing a caged animal or elf could also be a dangerous one. Her heart thundered against her chest and her fingers were vibrating of their own will.

The captive groaned, coughed, and the rattling of chains signaled his futile attempts at escape.

Ilana was a few steps from the figure when she readied her staff with its end aimed at the prisoner.

She slowed her approach further with each move like she was carrying the weight of Ellistas on her shoulders.

When she was a breath away, the silhouette lifted its head and Ilana froze from shock. Her eyes popped forth and chin hit the floor along with her staff as it clanged against the stone. Instead of giving the being a wide birth, her boots glued in place.

A human, male. Dark brown skin, short black hair, facial hair that traced his mouth and chin. Handsome aside from the cuts over the eyes, the bruises under them, and the blood trail seeping from his nose. He was as she imagined from the chick books minus the blemishes. His chest was two defined pecs and his abs were a pack of six. His arms were chiseled like a work of art by a sculptor. Ilana nearly drenched her panties on sight.