Taken by Darkness

A soft sigh drifted past Ashley’s lips as he awoke three or four hours after dawn the next morning. He was quite sore as he squirmed and stretched in his husband’s bed, but it was a most pleasurable ache. The ache in his legs and rear reminded him of when he’d learned how to ride a horse, and the tenderness in his loins was easily ignored, if he wanted to bad enough.

One thing that’d surprised him and Andy both upon its discovery was that, just behind the sac that hung beneath his staff, he had another orifice. It wasn’t the one used to relieve himself, but rather the one through which he would one day give birth. Since young ladies weren’t supposed to touch themselves for pleasure, the Princess had never known he possessed that special orifice before the previous night. Despite his husband’s surprise startling him for a few moments, he was more than a bit thankful for the discovery. It’d made their lovemaking so much easier for both of them, and less painful for him.

Before he could even think of rising to put on so much as his discarded nightgown, he heard the Prince’s bedchamber door open. Thankfully, it was hidden from the bed by a little alcove, of sorts, so he had plenty of time to pull the covers up to his chin and hide his nudity. Once the person stepped out of the little alcove and he realized it was just his husband, Ashley relaxed beneath the covers, making no move to rise. In fact, he was so relieved it was just the young man and not one of the maids that he didn’t even realize he carried a tray in his hands.

“Good morn, my sweet songbird,” Andy said softly, leaning over to gently kiss his lips once he set the tray down.

“Good morn, my love,” the Princess responded, smiling sleepily.

“I trust your sleep was restful?” he asked, a bit of a smirk curving his lips.

“Yea, ’twas restful…one you let me go to sleep, you randy devil,” Ashley giggled.

“In my defense, I have not had a willing partner in ages,” his husband told him with a mock huff. “I needed you more than you realize yestereve.”

“I needed you just as badly yestereve, but really?” the Princess asked, a teasing note in his voice. “Was six times over the course of the night truly necessary?”

“Yea, ’twas,” Andy answered matter-of-factly. “And watch that pretty little mouth, lest you stoke my ardor yet again, my sweet songbird.”

“You are, indeed, a randy devil, my love,” he giggled. “But you are my randy devil, and I love you more than I can ever hope to express.”

* * *

It didn’t take long for the palace staff or the King and Queen to realize the pair were finally being intimate with one another. Ashley almost always had a bit of a flushed, well-loved look to his face, his husband often having a satisfied look to his eyes and wearing a wide grin. Neither one was ever really short-tempered, be it with each other or someone else, and all within the palace were relieved.

The only time the Princess ever slept in his own chambers these days was the week he was supposed to be fertile and the week he suffered his monthlies. Still neither of them felt ready for a child, and after seeing so much of it in battle, Andy couldn’t handle the sight of the blood during his bride’s monthlies. He knew it was a natural phenomenon, but he’d readily admit to being squeamish at the sight of the red fluid. Besides, he also didn’t like seeing his sweet songbird hurt so, which allowed the arrangement to work out well. He got to relieve his urges without having to visit the brothel and show his love, so he couldn’t complain.

Still, six months after turning to his husband in the dead of night, eight after they were wed, Ashley was hearing more rumors about them than ever before. Some believed they weren’t intimate with their spouse, but a lover and a mistress, or merely pleasuring themselves. Others had the notion that the Prince had chosen a barren bride since they’d still failed to conceive a child. The most preposterous rumor he’d heard, though, was that he was taking special herbs to prevent conception without telling his husband.

One day after hearing the rumors for nigh on two months, the Princess grew sick of it. He felt like all he meant to anybody was what could be gained, were he heavy with his husband’s child. Eventually, the idea of intimacy without the intent to conceive became repulsive, and he stopped responding in bed the way he had in the past. The first couple times, Andy merely thought he had a headache that he was hiding, so he chose not to say anything about it. But when it got to the point that he was the only one finding pleasure within their marriage bed, he decided to speak up. He couldn’t let this continue, for it wasn’t fair to either of them, especially since his bride was beginning to get cranky and frustrated from it.

“Ashley?”

The Princess feigned sleep where he lay in his own bed.

“I know you are not asleep, my sweet songbird,” his husband said softly, gently sitting on the edge of the bed behind him.

“Do not touch me,” Ashley growled, rolling enough to grab his hand when he began to rub his back.

“What is amiss?” he asked, surprised by his behavior.

“I do not feel well and wish to rest, not perform my wifely duties this eve,” he grumbled.

“Hogwash. You were feeling fine earlier, and I am pretty certain you are not yet fertile,” Andy told him, determined to get to the bottom of this mystery.

“I still do not feel well.” The Princess hadn’t told him he’d fainted and struck his head on the floor that morning since he hadn’t been able to eat or sleep well lately.

“You must tell me how so. I cannot help if I do not know what is amiss.”

Not wanting to tell him what was wrong, Ashley merely sighed and turned his back to him again.

“My sweet songbird…I know feeling unwell is not all of what is bothering you,” the Prince told him as he stretched out behind him. He wrapped his arm around him, just wanting to hold him close, if naught else.

“I told you not to touch me!” he cried, scrambling from the bed. Even a platonic touch from his husband was repulsive.

“Ashley! We are never going to repair what is obviously broken if you do not tell me what is amiss!” Andy snapped, quickly sitting up.

“You truly wish to know?” Ashley asked crossly, crossing his arms.

“I would not ask if I did not.”

Taking a deep breath, he prepared to unleash everything that’d been bothering him. “I am sick of the rumors regarding us and our marriage! I cannot sleep, and I cannot eat due to them! I am sick unto Death of what the people say, but I cannot put a stop to it!”

“Rumors?” the Prince asked, shocked.

“The rumors spread all across the Kingdom!” the Princess snapped. “People say we are not truly intimate with one another, that we have taken a lover and mistress, or…or…”

“Pleasure ourselves?” Andy supplied calmly.

“Yea, that!” Suddenly feeling drained, he collapsed onto the edge of the bed. “People are also saying you must have chosen a barren bride, or that I am purchasing and consuming special herbs without your knowledge, simply because I am not heavy with child!”

“Oh, my poor, sweet songbird.” Very gently, his arms wrapped around him and pulled him close.

“I abhor feeling as if my only worth is that which can be gained by delivering a healthy child, especially if ’tis a son,” Ashley wailed, tears now streaming down his cheeks. “It leaves me unable to eat or sleep, and I certainly abhor finding your touch repulsive when I know that, yet again, no child will come of our romantic encounters beneath the moon!”

“I can understand that, my sweet songbird,” the Prince said gently, rocking him as he spoke. “But you are worth far more to me than the son you could one day bear for me.”

“Truly?” he asked, his sobs calming to watery sniffles.

“Yea, truly. You are the one with whom I share my most private thoughts, the one who calms me when I am anxious or distraught simply by being in the room,” Andy told him. “’Tis you who warms my bed and comforts me late at night when I am lonely, even when you are truly asleep, not another.”

Touched by his husband’s loving words, the Princess couldn’t help the fresh tears coursing down his cheeks.

“Yea, I long to someday see you blossom with my child, to raise them into a fine young man or beautiful young lady with you,” he continued. “But those things…those things I cherish far more. Without you, there will be no future children. Without you, there is no love, no true meaning to my life. Without you, I would die alone with no heirs, male or female, to pass my throne to. As I said during our wedding…I could not live without you any easier than I could live without breathing because you mean the world to me.”

Notes