Arrival

Arawn landed in the courtyard and walked through the palace. While he didn’t feel like seeing Fedelm and he was troubled by the tumultuous feelings coursing through him, he needed to see her to keep her calm and make sure that things were going well.
He found her alone in her private office and smirked as he knocked.
“Come in.” Her voice was distracted. As he opened the door, he remained silent and took her in.
She was in a loose tunic and riding breeches. Her hair was down around her shoulders and a bit messy as she glared down at the pages on her desk.
Desire stirred in him and he decided to lock the door rather than let himself dwell on feelings that didn’t make any sense and would probably go away soon enough.
“Hello.”
Her head shot up and she smiled at him, setting her quill aside and standing, “Arawn, I didn’t know you were coming back today.”
He crossed the room towards her desk.
“It was an impromptu decision. My plan is going well, but I’ll need a set of guest rooms.”
Fedelm nodded, “Of course. Will this person need to be escorted?”
“I doubt that Druid will need directions though you should let the guards know that Druid will not be alone.”
She frowned, murmuring to herself, “Druid? The wise man that’s been all over Berth?”
“The same.”
That was a good omen. The people in the capital would welcome him. She knew he had helped a lot of people on the frontier of the wars other countries had waged against them before falling to Berth.
She made a note and nodded, “I will let them know.”
He slipped around the desk and she watched him with wide eyes. A blush filled her cheeks. His eyes were heated and she recognized the mischief in his smile. It had been a long time since he looked at her like all he wanted to do was to get her naked.
Her heart raced and her mouth went dry.
“Now that the most pressing things are taken care of, what are you working on?”
She almost cursed as she remembered what was on her desk. She’d been throwing herself into her work since he’d left to try and distract herself from the worry and to have something to show for it when he came back.
“Trading deals.”
He hummed thoughtfully and placed his hands on her shoulders, kneading at the hard muscles there. She moaned as he pressed just right into a hard, not in her shoulder. She leaned her head back against him with a soft sigh.
“That’s perfect…”
“You are very tense, my queen. Should you not… indulge in a break?”
She turned in her seat to look up at him before looking back down, “I-I need to finish these before sundown.”
She did, and she was certain that if she gave in she wouldn’t be able to get them done.
He smirked, “Then, we should be quick.”
“I don’t think we could be quick enough…”
He smirked and he leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Then, I’ll help, hm?”
She nodded and got to her feet. Her hands were on his shoulders, pulling him close as he pushed her chair out of the way and set her to float just above her desk to keep her from messing up her paperwork.
She gasped, “A-Arawn.”
He chuckled and reached for the ties of her breeches before dragging them off her legs and pushing her tunic up to reveal her corset.
He chuckled as she squeaked at the way he jerked her corset down just enough for her nipples to pop free. She melted into his kiss, clinging to him and moaning as he slipped his hand between her thighs and thrust his fingers into her as rough as she liked.
She stifled a moan in his shoulder and rocked her hips into his hand.
“Yes,” She pleaded. “Yes, please. Just there…”
He could hear her words. He responded, but his mind drifted away from her. He felt Anu’s gaze drifting into the room as Fedelm tightened her grip on him and wrapped her legs around his waist.
He thrust into her with a sharp plunge. She turned her head into his shoulder and dug her nails into his back.
"Yes," she gasped.
He couldn’t hear her voice. He heard Sirona’s voice in his ear, pleading with him from on top of that boulder near the mining town. He grunted, snapping his hips trying to drive the thought away, but the scent of Sirona’s skin and the feel of her drawing power from him clouded his mind.
He thrust harder trying to anchor himself in the moment as he continued to pretend that Anu wasn't watching and that he wasn’t thinking of another woman while thrusting into Fedelm.
“Oh, yes!” Fedelm strained against him, “Arawn, I—”
He covered her mouth as he began to drive into her harder. She’d end up summoning the guards with her cries if she got any louder and he wasn’t in the mood to tease her about it.
As she gave herself over to her orgasm, his orgasm followed as he imagined Sirona screaming his name. It was earth-shattering and mind-altering and he hated it. The woman trembling in his arms wasn’t the one he wanted. With sinking horror, he realized that sleeping with Fedelm was only going to get more difficult from now and there was no way he could avoid it for long.

Four days after Arawn had returned to Druid’s house with Sirona, they arrived. Druid pushed the trees aside and gestured towards the high-walled city of Berth’s capital.
“Here we are. The capital of Berth.”
She gasped at the throng of people walking towards the large open gate in the large stone wall.
Druid led her down the slope towards the steady flow of the people and grinned at her.
The guards nodded and greeted him by name as they eyed her with interest.
“How’s your father?” Druid asked, shaking one of their hands.
The man seem startled before a tender smile came upon his face, “He’s much better. Stubborn, but he is heeding your advice.”
“Good to hear! You keep an eye on the wily old man, hm?”
He nodded and they walked into the city without much preamble. Arawn said he would be able to feel when she arrived, so she scanned the skies as she followed Druid.
“We’ll just head to the palace to make things easier,” Druid said.
Sirona kept pace with him, casting her gaze around the streets as they walked. There were so many people in Berth’s capital. It was a stark contrast from the last time Sirona had been in Conna’s capital. They passed a much larger temple to Arawn, but priests weren’t standing around preaching and the people seemed happy to just leave their offerings.
The palace was larger than she had expected it to be based on Druid’s story. Knights nodded at them as they passed.
“Is it okay we’re just walking in?”
Druid chuckled, “Arawn didn’t tell you about how close he is with the queen?”
Jealousy struck through her. He hadn’t mentioned the queen at all. She tried to push that feeling away. Maybe she was an old woman and they were just friends. Maybe Arawn hadn’t mentioned her because it wasn’t a problem.
There had to be an explanation about it.
“Sirona,” Arawn called walking out of the building with a beautiful young woman on his arm. “Druid, so glad you two made it.”
The woman at his side looked at Sirona with a critical gaze, but it wasn’t dismissive. Sirona stood a bit in awe at the finery of her dress before her gaze landed on the gleaming circlet on her brow.
This had to be the queen.
“Queen Fedelm,” Druid greeted with a little bow.
She did a double-take and her eyes widened in shock, “Druid? I… haven’t seen you in years.”
“Have you ever seen me considering?” Druid asked with a little chuckle. “It was only recently that I was told I was walking around with a covered face.”
She seemed shocked and shook her head, “Yes, of course.”
“Queen Fedelm,” Arawn began and gestured to Sirona. “This is Sirona. It seems you’ve already met Druid.”
“On several occasions,” she said quietly.
Fedelm turned her gaze back to Sirona and her plain clothes. She was pretty with strange eyes for Berth, but none of that bothered her. It was the fact that Arawn hadn’t mentioned that Druid would be traveling with a woman.
Maybe she could have believed that he hadn’t known until he introduced her.
His voice took on a warmth that irritated her. Arawn had some type of fondness for this Sirona girl. She drew closer to Arawn.
“A pleasure to host you, though Arawn didn’t explain the nature of your visit.”
“In good time,” Arawn said, pulling away from her to her shock. “Let’s get you two settled for now.”