"Let me go!" The all mighty King yelped over Narinder's shoulder. "What the hell is wrong with you- ragh!" They gasped as they were suddenly on their bare feet, the slap of skin on cold marble ground would have been the most loud thing in the dark corridor of the castle if only Their Highness' rightfully temperemantal shouting wasn't it's rival.
"Everyone is still there! I can't just leave unannounced in the middle of the event that I am holding right after accepting someone!" Lambert flipped their long, decorated hair out of their eyes to glare at him. Even after everything, even after acquiring the crown and some years passing, they were still shorter than Narinder. It was annoying them. Why must they still look up at him?
"You didn't accept just anyone. You accepted him." Narinder glared down, his teeth bared at them in disgust, anger and something more as if he wouldn't have done the same thing, kidnapping the king in the middle of an event, if it was someone else.
"What? Theo? So what if it's him, is there a problem?" They played dumb, cocking their hip to the side while interlocking their arms.
Honestly, they didn't really like the lion that much. He had saved their life in their spy days and was a very strong asset and help when they took the crown forcefully, becoming the only king alive in the history of the five kingdoms, but his personality and how he constantly treated them always made him repulsive.
"Are you stupid?" If they were going to play dumb, they were going to be treated like one. Lambert made a noise of dissapproval.
"You know him way more than I do. How can you accept the advances of such an animal? Have you lost all respect for yourself? Or has playing king and holding this preposterous event actually made you insane?" He threw insults at the one that could kill him on a whim now.
Lambert straightened themselves and dusted their very revealing clothes with a sigh. Their skin and short trimmed wool peaking below the thin, see-through fabric in a seductive way. Narinder refused to look at anything but their beautifully painted face.
"This is an old forgotten tradition that I decided to revive once more. I have held it once before your arrival here and only had positive outcomes so no, it's not a prepostrous event as you said. Besides, who I invite to my bed is none of your bussiness." They said sharply, not looking at him in the eyes.
"So it was true then." He leaned away from them, creating distance and pulling their eyes to his face. He had actually dressed in an alluring way as it was the 'dresscode' for this 'promiscuous event' as he put it. His dark skin was showing with the sleeveless skin-tight top he was wearing under the very loose vest that was being held together with only a small belt. He was showing more skin publicly than ever when he was King. Lambert wondered for a second, if he was feeling cold. He was sensitive to heat after all...
"You are just spending your days sleeping with anyone." His tone sounded almost... hurt.
"What? Hah... such rumours..." Lambert huffed in ridicule. Sure, they had a certain reputation for being a seductress, you can't solve everything with violance all the time after all, but a few blinks, a few touches and some sweet sounding words didn't mean they were out there sleeping with anyone. They actually... hadn't even been in the same bed with a single soul ever since sitting on the throne. They were far too busy, their days far too bloody and full of complaints from every single noble they had to memorise the names of.
Even this event, that they pulled from very old books and traditions, was just so that the nobles and their people would have something good, something exciting and alluring to do so they turn their blades and even sharper mouths away from Lambert.
It also raised the birthrates sooo, it was a win-win in their book! The only thing annoying was that they had to be present and awake during this 'ritual' to ensure that the magicaly hot and heavy air didn't fade away. This was the second time they had attempted this ritual and this time a lot of regulations and many many rules were put into place to ensure everyones safety and-
A sudden grab on their arm shook them out of their thoughts.
"Do not go back to him." Narinder's face soured as he held tightly on their arm. When had they started moving back towards the event?
"Your Higness! Are you alright? The people of the gathering are asking for your wherabouts!" A castle guard, altought dressed more casually than usual, approached the two in a hurry. Her eyes landed on Narinder and she was put in immidiate alert.
"I am alright thank you. I do not need any assistance. Please tell my people that I had an urgent bussiness to take care of and can't be present at the moment. I will return once..." Lambert glanced at Narinder. "...things are settled." They felt his grip tightening but didn't react. "Oh also tell Maria to light up the rose flames." It was a backup plan for when Lambert couldn't be present, so that the air didn't lose it's heaviness. Most couples preferred to be in seperate rooms and were isolated from the rest so this was a neccesity.
"Understood!" The guard quickly left.
"...can you let go? I'm not going anywere." Lambert said softly.
"No. I'm not letting you go back to him." He pulled them towards him, his touch missing warmth. So he was feeling cold.
Lambert was starting to feel irritated. Why was he acting like this? So they asked.
"I thought you still hated me." They smirked. "Or are you just jealous of Theo?" They took a step towards him, their chests almost touching as they looked up into his two red eyes. A shame that his third was hard to open now.
His grip loosened. They thought with a 'hah!' that they got him and managed to make him flustered easily but-
"I do hate you." Their smile fell from their face. They thought he would push them away but he got closer instead, bringing their faces so close that they could feel his breath.
"But I hate him touching you more."
Lambert's stomach twisted and their chest felt like little sparkles were tickling their ribcage. As if some resurfacing feelings were conflicting with current ones.
"How dare you." Words were spilling out of their mouth without going through their mind just as suddenly as they slapped his hand away that was still touching their shoulder.
"You ridiculed me when I told you about this event and rejected it. Then you showed up all dressed up and made yourself comfortable like you were the one holding it!" They gestured to him, their body language showing their agitation that they were holding in since they mentioned the tradition they were planning.
"You didn't greet me The King! Leave alone a simple greet, you didn't even look at me the whole night and flirted with everyone while I rejected everyone!" They poked into his chest and pushed him a little.
"I was like 'ok! Whateveeeer!!!' And didn't care at all!" They lied "And then Theo came again even though I rejected him and I was fed up from just laying there in pillows so I accepted him! So what?!" Their face was becoming red from yelling. They didn't even remember when they had yelled out like this before in their life and it felt ridicilous. It felt so stupid. They were just rambling!
"You didn't just accept him you let him touch you all over and even let him kiss your inner thigh!" Narinder yelled back just as loud.
Lambert's face flared up but they weren't sure if it was because of embarrasement and shame or from remembering the feeling of soft lips against their skin.
"So what!?" Lambert threw their hands up while Narinder's shoulders tensed and he slouched with clenched fists.
"'So what???!' Nobody can touch a King like that especially in public!" Narinder's tail thumped harshly against the cold floor.
"Are you serious?! It's an event of lust! What the fuck do you think everybody in this castle is doing right now?!"
"I do not care about everybody! You can't do it!"
"Because I don't want you to!" Narinder yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the corridor, leaving silence and heavy breathing in it's absence.
"That's... that's unfair..." Lambert frowned with clear hurt showing in their face while Narinder was taken aback by how loud he had yelled, his fur at the end of his tail was straight up.
"You said... that you hate me. But I want to feel loved." Lambert held their fist to their chest and then held their own hand, their voice much much quieter now.
"I want to hold hands. I want to be hugged" Lambert hugged themselves and realised that their arms were cold.
Their face was low, hair hiding trembling eyes and fluttering eyelids "I want to be kissed. I... want to..." their voice barely above whisper. They didn't know that becoming King would bring so much solitude and not enough affection. Sure they could just grab any willing person and claim them, at one point they even considered it but it didn't feel right. It didn't feel good. It didn't feel like love. It didn't feel like him.
Suddenly their hand was grabbed and pulled. Narinder interlocked their fingers and the motion immidietly sent little flickers of warmth into their fingertips.
His hand was trembling. Was he that cold?
"I held your hand." He said, matter of factly. His voice sounded funny. It was as if he was the one hurt from their expression of loneliness and starvation of touch.
"What..." from their hands to their eyes, his red gaze slowly traveled, finally taking in Lambert's figure. "What was next?" The end of his question was barely audible like he had run out of air in his lungs to say it all.
Lambert's eyes slightly widened because this moment, it felt like nothing they had felt before. It felt nothing like their experiences with Narinder. It felt new. It felt... pure. Which was funny. Considering how they both were dressed like and how they were just yelling at eachother moments prior.
That, however, was familiar. The pull and push.
"...hug." and he hugged them. Slowly resting his chin on their shoulder and wrapped his arms around them, pulling their warmth into him. And oh how warm they were.
They smelled flowery and something heavy but their own smell was still unmistakably them.
Their long hair was so soft under his arms, a new feeling.
And their arms wrapping behind him, an old feeling he didn't even know he could miss.
They stood like that for a moment, slightly swaying into eachother and sharing eachothers warmth, enjoying the hug.
Narinder slowly let go as he felt himself getting consumed by their smell and realised just how close his lips were to their neck.
They reluctantly let go and looked at him as if they weren't sure this moment was real. It felt too good to be true. It felt like they were in one of their dreams where everything would turn bloody at the end.
"...next?" Narinder asked wanting to check every box of requests one by one.
Lambert looked at the ground and at their bare feet. Where they starting to feel shy? They both had already done so much and more than a simple kiss. It was almost a mandatory daily occurance at one point. When their roles were reversed. When they were just a knight and he was their king.
But that was the issue. They had to kiss. Otherwise Lambert would have gone crazy. Sure the line of reasoning and how long the kisses should be got blurry and they just made excuses to be with eachother but it was just that. Excuses. Not honesty.
Lambert grabbed Narinder's sleeve and didn't raise their head, trying to control their beating heart.
"Can I kiss you?" He blurted out before them and their head turned towards him instantly.
"Yes." They said enthusiasticaly.
He breathed out an "okay" and reached for their face. He seemed unsure of how much pressure he needed to hold them and the uncertainty called Lambert into action as they pulled his face and kissed him with full force. The impatience born from his hesitance quickly morphed into passion as the two kissed eachothers soft, warm and hungry lips and fell into and old rythm that they should have forgotten by now...
The rest of this will be a patreon exclusive because it will have nsfw in it! Or I might turn it into a mini comic/ a series of drawings! Stay tuned!