“My pleasure? Milady Pendragon, if it were all about my pleasure, you would be on your knees, under the table, sucking my dick until I came all over your pretty little mouth,” he leaned in closer, to reinforce his point, but I could see the tremor in his torso as he did so. “No? Not to your liking? Well, let’s hope tonight's menu is better suited.” He gestured to one of the footmen who opened the two large gilt and white doors, letting in a stream of servants. I’d steeled myself for tonight, knowing we were going to have to try and eat the poor bloody harpies’ breasts when served to us. I’d just prayed that it would be all unrecognisable once it had been through the kitchen. I was wrong.
A white plate was placed in front of me and on it, a whole breast, minus the nipple was placed before me. The skin had been cooked to a golden brown, bubbling to form a crackling layer, similar to pork. Despite this, I could see the darker ring of the areole at the top. A red fruity smelling sauce had been swirled around it and a small red berry added to the top, a garnish to resemble a nipple. “Mm, smells delicious,” the prince said. “Tell Cookie she has outdone herself.” The footman nodded, sketching a quick bow before leaving the room.
My gut roiled as the sound of cutlery scraping against ceramic filled the room. I swallowed hard, grabbing the goblet of water in front of me and swigging it down, trying to wash the bile forming in my mouth. When I looked across at Tess, she was similarly ashen. “You’re not eating?” the prince asked me. I shook my head. “But you must.” I could hear the order of authority in his tone, so I picked up a bread roll and ripped off a small piece, bringing it to my lips. "No," he said, "you don't want to fill up on that and ruin your appetite. Now eat!"
I picked up the cutlery in my shaking hands, moving my hands, my arms into the customary position, ready to cut it when Tess said, "I'm going to be sick!" One of the footmen grabbed an ice bucket from the centre of the table, dumping out its contents and placing it in front of her just in time.
"Take it away," the prince said between gritted teeth as soon as she was finished. He waved a hand through the air, "You're almost enough to put me off my meal. Remove the ladies' plates. They are, apparently, not hungry." That wasn't true, we hadn't eaten since breakfast, but my stomach made it clear I'd be following Tess's example if I gave it a go. We were left to sit there, dully staring at the table as the furries ate. "Ah, now for the main course," the prince said, licking his lips. The footmen removed all the plates before resetting the table, then in it came.
"Oh, God," I wasn't sure which of us had whimpered it, but it may well have been both of us simultaneously. In on a massive silver platter, so big that several footmen were required to carry it in, was a very red, very well-basted Knox. My hand went to my mouth, to stop the words, the cries and the disgust from pouring out as well as anything else I'd eaten today. He was positioned like a suckling pig, head and all, his whole body cooked and stretched out on the platter. Fruit garnishes surrounded him, his skin scored, so as to cook more crisply. I was on my feet before I even knew it.
"Sit down!" the prince barked, but I just backed away, as far from the table as I could go. The officers began to turn, look to the prince for cues as to what to do if I bolted. "Sit down, both of you!"
"No, no, no," Tess said, shaking her head, unable to look away.
"You don't like hunting or roast pinky? Milady Pendragon, I regret to inform you I d
on't believe ours will be a love match. No, instead, I think I have quite a different use for you, for you and your sister. Cross, Regan, take the 'ladies' back to their room."
"You do not wish their company tonight, sire?" Mellors asked, idly toying with his glass.
"What I have planned can't be done on an empty stomach. Let us enjoy what Lady McKinnon's father has so thoughtfully gifted us, and then in the morning, I will enjoy his daughters."
"And their men?"
"Gump's man will need to be returned to him. We need that relationship, but the others can take the place of his comrade on the table tomorrow. Roast two nights in a row, gentleman, we should rejoice." Steely paws wrapped themselves around my arm, jerking me towards the exit. "Enjoy your last night together, ladies," the prince said, saluting us with his glass before reaching over and prying a finger from the corpse and chewing on it with enthusiasm.
"Ash!" Tess gasped as we were escorted out.
"Not now," I growled.
"Say what you like, ladies," one of them said, “there's nothing worth hiding now. You'll be warming the prince's bed and then his cook fire when he's done with you." They both chuckled at that.
"Though he may give us a turn. He does that sometimes," the other furry said. "It's a perverse pleasure, fucking a pinky. All that hairless skin, everything out in the open. Almost enough to give you the willies, almost.”
39
When we got back, Tess dove for the pile of recommendations and began reading like a fiend. I filled Natty and Flea in on the events before attacking my own. A grim silence fell over the room, broken only by the sound of pages being turned. At some point in the night, after many hours, Tess stopped, rubbing at her eyes and groaned. "My eyes feel like they're hanging out of my head and I'm starting to skip words. Didn't you say Gabe brought drugs over with him? Would he have some speed?"
"Seriously? You want to start experimenting with illicit drugs the night before we're all raped and killed?"
"No, but there's no coffee and the words are all starting to blur together. What if I miss something? Only read the 'ands' and the 'buts' and none of the action."
"That wouldn't be possible–"
"What if I'm mixing up the words as I'm reading them and somehow stuff up the curse?"
"I don't–"
"Oh, my God–" she said and then stopped, fighting to force another word out as her chest began to heave.
"Oh, Tess," I said as Flea moved to take her in his arms. She rested her head against his chest and he patted her shoulder as the tears came. "We can only do our best," I said. "It worked last night, let’s assume it'll work again."
"But what if–?"
"Don't ‘what if.’ Magic is at least part belief. We've just got to believe it will happen. We'll deal with ‘what if’ when it comes." I'd already scoped the windows out in the room. They were too high to shimmy down from, but they were plenty high enough for us to fling ourselves to our death from if we needed to. I sure as fuck wasn't going to warm the prince's bed again. "Let's quickly prioritise the books again, do one last quick skim read and try for some sleep. If we don't sleep, the curse won't work, OK?"
We crawled into bed an hour or so later. As I curled myself around Gabe, I was struck by our predicament. I was facing down all possible horrors tomorrow, but I did so with people I loved. I reared up, looking down at Gabe's beautiful still form. We'd never really had a conversation about our relationship, about exclusivity, about what we meant to each other. We just always seemed to be around, except for work, coming together like two magnets pulled by an inexorable force. I stroked the side of his poor battered face and felt that tight ache inside my chest. I needed to; I needed to talk to him about this, us, all of it if I had a chance. Floating by wasn't going to cut it anymore, not when it could all get so easily ripped away.