Rainbow Comet Chapter 14

I want him to be only mine.

Flynn

I’ve gotten used to the banquets. I’ve gotten used to the wishes.

I’ve gotten used to this place and its beauty and simplicity and sometimes even savagery.

But I’ll never get used to the way Boreas comes apart in my arms.

The way I come apart in his.

The way it feels inside him. The way he feels inside me.

It has been weeks, and we’re at a banquet, awaiting the final wishes.

Boreas is gorgeous, huge and working hard as always.

He explained to me after a few nights here about how his weight and heft is tied to his peoples love and affection and admiration for him. The magic they feed him represents that he is their hope for the future, that they trust him to take care of them always.

And it has something to do with being a dragon, though he has been more secretive about that.

But for me, I just love seeing him happy. Seeing his face light up as he eats another piece of magic, seeing him among his people, teaching the children and helping those in trouble.

Seeing his gentleness and hearing his worries for the kingdom.

Hearing his thoughts about his father, and what he will do what he goes into the fade.

Gods, I think I love him.

And our after hours banquets have been having an effect, I think. He seems to be able to do far more wishes, and the royal wardrobe needs to be upgraded nearly weekly.

My life is more perfect than I ever thought it could be.

Except for one thing. Something that I thought would never be an issue.

I want him to be only mine. I’m jealous.

And something burns inside me, something I don’t feel I have full control of, whenever someone has the audacity to touch what I’m now feeling is mine.

A queen leans in to whisper in his ear, and puts a hand on his stomach to steady herself.

He lets out a little ‘oof’ and I startle, all ready to guard. But then she stands, smiling, and gives him a little pat.

Maybe I’m just imagining it, but her eyes are slightly mean as she meets mine, and she straightens, looking at him affectionately and then giving me another glare.

The feeling is definitely mutual. Get your hands off him, I think. He’s all mine.

I built that. Well, some of it.

Now that I think about it, some of the queens have been eyeing me lately.

I feel hot under my skin and uncomfortable, thinking that someone might be realizing what we’re doing.

I tune into the room, hating myself for being so self-conscious. But not even Boreas’s sweet face, giving me a reassuring grin as he takes another plate, can distract me.

I hate being hated. Being watched. Being judged, most of all.

I came here and let him know my deepest secrets. But I’m not ready for anyone else to know, yet.

“What’s wrong, Flynn?” He asks, leaning in. A difficult task given his weight. Gods, he’s overflowing the arms of his chair.

“I…” I’m distracted for a second by his softness. “I just feel watched. Like the queens are angry with me lately.”

He smirks. “Well of course, you’re a good guard and many of them would like to be unruly. With you here, they can’t. There has never been more order at the banquets.”

“I don’t know if it’s that.”

He puts a hand over mine, totally un-selfconscious. “Flynn, you are doing an amazing job, let me assure you.”

But I’m listening in to whispers, and I don’t like what my brain imagines I’m hearing.

What if they’re whispering about what the king does in his private bedchambers? What about with his guard?

What if they’ve noticed his growth and think I’m responsible.

A queen distracts Boreas with a plate and I put my head in my hands, ashamed for even caring about such things when I have a chance to be beside him.

“Well, prince Boreas, I haven’t fed you in a while. It seems like usually at this time in the banquet you’d be done granting wishes.” She pokes a finger into his side and he glares at her.

“Don’t touch the royal figure!” A mushroom person in a red hat shouts, and she removes her hands.

“Still, I’ve been here since the beginning of the banquets. I’ve been here since your father first gained his kingly figure. I have to admit, me and the other queens have noticed your um…commitment to the cause.” She looks over him lasciviously. I want to get out of my chair and beat her for her comments but the mushroom hat man next to me stops me with a glare.

I hate that they can read my mind sometimes.

Do they know what I’m doing with their king? Do they care, since it may even prepare Boreas for banquets like this one? Help him grant more wishes.

Above all, I seem to make him happy, and that seems to give him power. I try to hold onto that as the queen continues to berate him while disguising it as a compliment.

“It’s not for me to say, of course,” she says, setting a plate down with a slice of cake on it. “But if someone is getting after hours attention, when we all have to wait our turn at the banquet, I think it’s in all of our best interest to know.”

Boreas glares at her and pushes the plate away. “I choose what I eat and when. Anyone who has a problem with it can go home and give up any allyship with my kingdom. This is my sacrifice and I won’t let anyone tell me how it should be done.”

“Wait, Boreas, don’t be mad,” another queen chimes in from across the table. “It’s just, you seem to be growing faster than the banquets would imply—“

“It’s your majesty to you,” he says, glaring at her. “Show some respect. I don’t allow comments on my figure.”

“You let him do it,” another queen says, pointing at me. “I’ve seen it.”

“He is my guard, nothing more,” Boreas says, and that burns inside me. Not that I expected he would tell them. Not that he even could. I told him I didn’t want anyone to know about my feelings or my secrets.

He gives me an apologetic look.

“Even now, you only care about how he feels!” Another queen says. “Look at his expression.”

“They are gay!” Another yells. “Forbidden warriors!”

The table seems ready to break into chaos when suddenly Boreas’s father stands at the head of the table.

“Homosexuality is not forbidden in my kingdom. Discussion of the king’s sexual mores are. Please silence yourselves and gain some decorum, all of you. Prince Boreas has just been trying his hardest, and your aggression has led to his needing a guard. He has been kidnapped multiple times in the past year and attacked in his own bedchamber.”

Boreas nods at his dad gratefully, and I sit back in my chair, because I’d been ready to either pounce someone or run.

“Boreas is merely working hard because my fading has forced him into an untenable position. If the fates see fit to bless him with extra bounty, it is only because perhaps he will need his dragon sooner than we all may think. We all want him to be safe shifting, right?”

Nods and murmurs of assent go through the assembly.

“Nonetheless, it is clear my son can grant more wishes than ever, regardless of the cause, I am proud of and grateful to him. So let us continue the feast. I’m sure he has room to grant wishes for everyone. And I’m certain he will make an extra effort to impress you all tonight.” He gives Boreas an expression that suggests it’s more command than suggestion.

Boreas just nods and shrugs, clearly put out by the conversation.

I look over at him. He’s already had so much.

I look up to see queens still glaring at me. Whispering.

“He’s messing everything up,” I hear one say to another, hiding her mouth with her hands as if it could make her quieter.

“He’s keeping us from getting wishes.”

“One of us will feed him magic enough to change him, what can a warrior do?”

I’ve had enough and I stand, putting my napkin aside.*

I hate feeling like an impediment. And what have I been doing? Boreas has always made it clear that he will choose a queen at the end of this. I hate being in the way.

I stand, putting my napkin aside.

“I will see you again back in the chambers,” I say to him officiously.

He looks up at me, bewildered and a little hurt. “You aren’t going to stay? This is your favorite part of the banquet.”

I shake my head. “And I may be asleep when you get back. So um, do as you like.”

Then I turn on my heel and go. I’m not proud of myself for running on him, but I know eventually, he’ll run on me.

He’ll leave me behind. He’ll go be king of kings with some queen and I’ll be…

That gay warrior who almost ruined things.

My footsteps echo, and I hear excited footsteps and feminine voices close in around my king as I leave the room.

My king, who am I kidding?

He was never going to be mine.