Amber Prince - 1. Amber Prince

And it will come to pass that son shall be born to the royal family

One who can unite all the kingdoms and shine above all others

Who shall have a special friend who will betray him

Yet the one who should be his enemy shall save him and they will become stronger

Though a betrayal of his heart should doom him, instead it shall free them all

Till that time comes he shall be frozen in amber by his former friend’s magic

And he will be freed by mistake by his enemy turned lover.

-Macia

I know, it seems clear as mud to me too. Macia was a prophet from a hundred or so years before I was born. However how would anyone know which child was being talked about. Besides do you know how many children were born to royal families that were male in the last hundred years? I’ll save you time from trying to look it up, it was well over eighty children. Let me just say that royalty in my area knows how to have children. So that particular prophesy was really well known for the first twenty years or so but while popular with the locals, the royal families themselves began to feel nothing could happen to them and Macia and her prophesies were delegated to the past and forgotten. Besides in order to protect the royal sons, their only playmates and friends were to be other royal children. That way it was assumed no one would be hurt and who would dare betray another royal family? In addition most of the royal playmates ended up together and if not well they were usually adopted and put into royal succession though none had ever taken over a throne yet.

So time moved and I was born. I was the first son of King Stuart and Queen Heratia who ruled the kingdom of Lugia. Lugia is a beautiful kingdom by the sea with a small mountain range that acts as protection to our east and north, while a gorgeous forest covers the grounds to our neighbors in the west where the kingdom of Renesporna lay. Renesporna’s rulers had two sons, the eldest being Marcus and the youngest being Rickka. Rickka was sent to be my playmate when he was a year old, just as my older sister, Lilitha was sent to be a playmate of Marcus within a year of his birth. That set up the little drama that would come to affect so much of my life.

It is important that I point out the island of Treean which lay to our south. It was barely seen from the shore of Lugia, but an uneasy truce had lain with this kingdom due to a fight between the royal families two generations ago. It seems my grandfather, King Jamos, had said something to the ruler of Treean, Queen Mollie, that set off a near war between the kingdoms. Neither spoke to the other nor did it seem that people considered the other their friend, in fact most citizens considered the members of the other nation their sworn enemy.

Who could have asked for a more idyllic childhood? My parents spoiled me and by extension Rickka. We were trained to fight, to rule, to do magic, and the arts and sciences as well. While I excelled at the basics I was never a match for Rickka when it came time to fight. My father was not a very tall man, but he was well muscled and could move quickly. However, my mother, Queen Heratia, was a very petite woman with fine features whose looks were incredible and whose movements were those of a dancer. I took after her, with the same small fine features, brown short hair, and sparkling green eyes and lithe body. I walked lightly with a near bounce to my steps. I was the contrast to Rickka who was a giant compared to me. His hair that he kept tied neatly behind him was long and black. He barely seemed to work out but his muscles bulged, and his brown eyes seemed to constantly look over the area for problems. His reach was phenomenal and so was his skill with a sword. He walked with a confident step that resounded after him. He was, in most ways, the image of a masculine man.

When I reached my middling years before adulthood the changes between Rickka and I became pronounced. The first time I really began to shine was in oration class. I took the lessons taught us and quickly mastered how to turn any conversation around to benefit all parties involved. My basic reading and math skills helped me in my lessons, preparing me for my duties as king. The teachers were always giving me harder and harder things to do, but for me they came easily. My parents were overjoyed at how successful I was in my education. They felt what I was good in would help me rule successfully. Nevertheless, I still wished I could master some of the simpler spells Mistress Becca kept showing us in magic class. Rickka seemed to accomplish much more than I in this class, but Mistress Becca explained that some who practiced magic never got better, and others it just took time for them to connect to the power around and inside of them. Alone one afternoon she told me she suspected I would be one of the latter categories.

Eventually, as happens with everyone, I began to fantasize about sex. I mean you heard the maids and servants who would talk about it unashamedly in the halls on their way to one task or another. I slowly came to realize that I had a crush on Rickka. He was a year older than I was, now seventeen summers and would shortly be crowned for succession to the Lugia throne. It was a tradition in Lugia to be crowned for succession during your eighteenth year and then to go into service for the kingdom till it was your time to serve.

That is when all the trouble began for me, though it began with such promise. It was like someone had hit me with a spell and nothing could go wrong. Suddenly everything came together for me. I could only excel in every class and began to make major strides. I out moved, out thought, out fought, and demanded more in every class I took. I found ways to beat Rickka in every class, even those in which he used to surpass me. My teachers began to move me into harder and harder lessons till finally I had to have the Masters of many different programs brought in, in order to keep up with me.

My father began to ask my advice on various projects he was working on. It wasn’t long till I became a trusted advisor to him. As my knowledge and understanding of things increased so did the tasks my father gave me. Soon I was teaching classes as well as attending them.

Old soldiers came to hear me speak on the theories of war, weapon design, and troop movement. Magic users came to learn the new ways I had developed for laying down spells, aiding in magical recovery from injuries, and even how to reserve magic for battle. My mind was like a sponge that was soaking up knowledge and I was quick to turn that around to help others. Yet for all I was doing, I was still an ignorant young man. I missed something else going on right in front of me that would alter the course of my life for many years to come.

Rickka was older and he was use to me following his lead. He knew he would never lead his own country, but he had figured I had come to depend on him so he would find power in that. Yet, now I was moving away from his lead and becoming an independent entity over which he had no control. He knew I had a crush on him that had never gone away, but his desires were not quite the same as mine. He had watched as I followed him around once I was done answering everyone’s questions, being the one people respected and learned from. It gnawed on him to see me shine. He didn’t feel the same way about me that I did him, in fact he grew to hate me. Every accolade, every pat on the back, and every new accomplishment became a reason for him to hate me further. He had been my playmate, my friend, and my confident, but he knew as I came into power he would be pushed further and further away. Especially as he feared I might find someone to replace him as my consort, especially considering he had no intention of going to bed with me. Then he learned something about me I should have protected better.

I was naïve and never thought Rickka would do anything to harm me. I still idolized him, but he had a plan and it began with a trick that would open me up to his power.

“I think I might have found a new way to use Callaghan’s plant in the spell Mistress Becca was trying to perfect.”

“Ronas, you think too much. Besides tomorrow your parents plan to take you on vacation. Isn’t there something you would rather hear or do than talk about Mistress Becca or magic?”

I rolled over to look at Rickka. He seemed so calm and sexy sitting there in his gear. He still practiced daily in the leather pants with steel cuffs that accentuated his muscular body. This had been the fighting outfit of the guards for years. I tried hard not to drool and managed to focus on his face.

“Like what?”

“Well wouldn’t you like to have someone wrapped in your arms, after a steamy round of sex, and whispering their name softly while you grew hard again?”

I couldn’t help but look at his tight leather pants which seemed to hide an ample bulge. My mind immediately filled with images of Rickka holding me tightly, both of us naked, while he whispered how he wanted to take me next. Then he began to speak the words of binding and I quickly began to say what I should have better protected until I knew the one I was with would be honest.

“Take me as yours, I’m yours, by my name,” Rickka whispered throatily.

“Akonis,” I whispered expecting to hear his name as well. Then I realized he had been telling me what I should be telling the one I love.

I completely panicked as the realization set in that I had let my secret name slip out. Every magic user has a name that is given to you at birth. It is the common one that anyone can call you by. It has no more meaning than a naming a chair, chair does. Then there is your secret name, the name that comes to you from the magic that is tied to your soul. The name you only share with the person you mate with. That name is protected by every magic user at all costs. It opens you up to magic that is normally deflected because that person knows your true name. It is a dangerous thing to do and one that I normally would have cried and fought over if it hadn’t been my best friend that I had told. I was scared yet I still trusted him completely.

I paled and looked up at Rickka fearfully.

Rickka smiled and patted my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Ronas, I didn’t hear anything. Your secret is safe.”

Another thing I have learned too late is never to take things at face value. Rickka knew I was in love with him. By starting the ritual naming for a moment I believed he was going to give me his name as I gave him mine. Then he stopped and mine had been given. I was now exposed with little in the way of defense. Rickka was a masterful actor, I will grant him that much even now. He pretended nothing had happened between us and even let me know he had a date with one of the kitchen maids that night.

It would have been a long night with me focusing on my mistake if it hadn’t been for affairs of the kingdom. While most people seemed to try and stay to my father’s working hours, there were many who came to see him now to end their problems. As his hours became later and the problems more involved, it was nothing to see a servant knocking on my door late in the evening summoning me to my father’s side.

Rickka had barely gone from my bedroom when envoys from other nations arrived to see my father and to ask for help in settling their differences. As they were shown into his conference room, a servant was sent to fetch me there immediately. It seems my abilities were becoming fairly well known and slowly what had been a warring part of the planet was settling down. Marriages, contracts, and the desire for more than war were changing how the world handled things and unknowingly I was the lynchpin it all hung on. I brokered more deals in a month that led to peace than had been seen in decades.

That night I was called in to deal with a case of what one dukedom called the kidnapping of his daughter. The other stated that his son and the duke’s daughter were in love and had already bound themselves with their true names. The duke swore the other man’s son had instead kidnapped and brainwashed her. I asked that both the son and daughter be brought in. It didn’t take long to prove love over kidnapping and a marriage deal was brokered between them bringing the whole mess to an end.

While I rose even further in political realms, Rickka seemed to level off at in class. He passed his classes, however it seemed he no longer focused so much on them. I didn’t know that he found someone who would teach him things Mistress Becca would never have permitted. By the time I had reached my eighteenth summer and was ready to be crowned, Rickka was also ready with his plan.

Two nights before I was due to be crowned Rickka sent a note asking me to come to his quarters after dark. I had never been asked there before so I was nervous and excited at the same time.

Rickka’s quarters were separate from the castle itself. He had a small house that was richly decorated. I entered to find a small room had been prepared for me. The room was softly lit with candles posted in the oval room. As I looked around the edges of the floor I noticed that there were branches and boughs of many trees lay strewn around. I could smell pine and sandalwood; there was holly and beech, as well as birch and oak around the rim of the room. I found it all rather unusual especially considering the round bed that lay covered in rose petals in the center. Then I spotted Rickka as he entered the doorway.

I had been so busy the past month or so I barely had time to see him, but that never kept him from crossing my mind. Now he stood before me in just a cream colored silk robe. The light color allowed the rich tan of his skin to glow in the candles set around the room. His dark hair seemed to glisten and it lay pulled over his shoulder which drew my attention to his chest. My breath caught as I noted that his robe barely closed at his waist and it became obvious he wore nothing below the robe.

“Ronas you are wearing far too much.”

He stood before me with a smile that made my cock ache. I melted as he walked to me and kissed my lips. His hands slowly pulled my outer cloak off and I found he was right, I was wearing too many clothes.

Rickka who I had always thought was uninterested in me was now nuzzling my neck as I kicked off the shoes I wore and found my hands helping his to open my shirt. With my chest exposed he leaned in and bit my nipples which made them immediately hard. I couldn’t think, move, or figure out what was going on. I was lost in the sensations as I felt someone, yes it was Rickka, began to make my body feel pleasure like I had never thought was possible. He dragged his fingers gently down my back making me nearly fall over in pleasure. If he had touched me for but a few more moments I am sure I would have lost it there.

“I know you have never been with anyone Ronas. I want to make this something you will always remember. Finish getting undressed while I go to fetch some oil.”

His breath on my ear left me panting. I could barely nod my consent as he left me standing there. I nearly ripped my clothing off once he walked out. Moments later I stood there naked, my hard cock bobbing in the air before me, dripping my excitement. I wasn’t entirely sure what the oil was for but knowing Rickka had already had sex, I trusted him completely.

I was so wrapped up in the thoughts in my head that I didn’t notice the soft chanting coming from outside the room at first. I thought Rickka was singing to me and I started to walk toward the doorway. At first everything seemed normal, but with each step it felt like the air was thickening around me. It seemed there might be an earthquake because the wood around the room seemed to bounce in place as I moved. Before I had gone half way across the room I heard the word that sent terror through my world, “Akonis”. Someone had said my secret name. I moved to run and that was the last move I made. Suddenly my world was coated in a thick yellow. I could hear and see, but I could no longer breathe or move. I was frozen in amber.

Rickka slowly reappeared in the doorway, naked and flushed. He smiled but the warmth I had hoped to find was empty from it. He strode over and stood before me. There was a strange look on his face as he stared at my naked body enclosed in the amber.

“Good. You were still hard when it snared you. That sexual excitement will help to fuel the spell I wrapped around you and made you the battery. It actually keeps you in a state of suspension. You will hear and see the world pass before you, but you will never again interact with it.”

He stepped away and cackled. The cold sound of it hurt my ears and if I had been able I would have curled up and covered them to keep the horrible echoes from reaching me.

“You thought I could love you? You? You ignore me! You once were devoted to me, but then you got better and forgot me. I planned to be by your side and you didn’t need me. Well guess what, I don’t need you either Akonis.”

He ran his hand down the amber covering my body and slowly walked around me.

“It took some careful planning to get you to reveal your true name. I won’t even bore you with what I had to do or give up in order to learn this spell. You know of course I got the idea from the servant girl I bedded last year. They kept saying that they thought you might be the royal one from the prophecy but I was too loyal to you. It took a while to learn what prophesy she was talking about. Did you know that almost everyone outside the castle knows these prophecies?”

Rickka shook his head and smiled.

“I’ve let it be known you have made a new friend. It seems there is an unexpected friend who has replaced me in your eyes and whom you seem to meet privately to talk with. It might just be a boy from Treean, but I’m not sure.”

It was a predatory look he gave me now.

“Your body will be found in the woods encased in amber just like the prophecy foretold and your ‘new’ friend will be the one to take the blame. I shall enjoy replacing you in the hearts and minds of the people. Since your sister married my brother, I am considered family and your parents have no other children. You know they will have to adopt me and I guess I shall have to rule in your place. I will need to be crowned within this coming month because everyone knows you are usually crowned by your eighteenth summer but if you are not crowned by your twentieth summer you cannot rule. This is the end of my twentieth summer so I guess the crowning will have to happen while the search for the criminal who magicked you is found. Goodbye Akonis, may you rot while you watch forever from your cage.”

I wanted to scream, yell, and kick him. If I could have been free I would have gladly beaten him to death with my bare hands. Instead I was locked by magic in this amber case unable to do anything but see and hear. He stood back once more and I heard him whisper his spell, growing louder as he went. There was a flash of light and then I fell asleep.

It is true I was able to hear and see anything, but that only was when people were near my prison. When I was first found I heard the constant commotion of people wondering who could have drawn me out to the woods naked. My parents came often to pray and speak to me. Rickka was often at my side but he came to tell me of all the changes he was making while he looked for my ‘friend’ who had so wrongly betrayed me. My mother came once a week and I came to look forward to her visits.

“My little one, I don’t know if you can hear me but I hope so. The weather is colder now. Snow will soon fall. I hope you don’t mind that we moved you here to the inner part of the castle. We found many of the female servants liked to admire your form. I didn’t think that was appropriate. Anyway, we continued so many of the contracts you began. You wouldn’t recognize how peaceful things are now due to you. Rickka is emerging as the new champion for the people. You would be proud of him, but we all miss you my baby.”

Time passes as it always does. It took me a while to realize just how much time was passing. One day my father was there talking to me and I noticed the gray that was all through his hair. It forced me to focus on what he was saying.

“Ronas, we miss you so. This has worn on your mother and I. It seems like yesterday you were sitting with me at the desk helping me to find ways to end so many difficulties, but time has marched on Ronas. Fifteen years and we are still no closer to finding your betrayer. I knew for a long time that your interest lay in men, but I wish you had been honest instead of sneaking off. We always thought you would fall for Rickka, but he has told us how you found someone else and broke his heart. He has married an odd woman named Taria. She seems to love him, but he has also taken a male concubine. It seems he wants the love of everyone since he cannot have you. Your mother and I hope he finds happiness, but we still wish it was you we could show our affection to. I love you son and we will never stop trying to find a way to free you.”

My heart broke as I listened to my father. I was unable to comfort him or let him know that the man they comforted was the one who imprisoned me. It was like a horrible dream that I couldn’t wake up from. When he left I fell into a sleep that lasted what seemed like a moment.

“You’re sure you can part with this?”

I woke to find a figure that reminded me in many ways of Rickka. The youth before me had long dark hair, strong arms, but his eyes were ice blue. I didn’t recognize his clothing style but he acted like a trader. He was talking to an older man whose dark hair was shot with white. I studied both of them because that was about all I could do.

“Yes. It belonged to the former King and Queen of Lugia. They have passed on now and I rule in their place. This is called the Amber Prince. Hundreds of witches and warlocks have attempted to free him but it seems it is impossible. You have asked to take the figure to Treean where it will be kept out of view. That is all we ask. His curse and him being frozen like that is a constant reminder of how we failed the prince when he needed us most. At least if you have him, the kingdom might be able to put this behind us. Thirty years is a long time to attempt to break a curse that appears to be unbreakable.”

The youth turned and looked at me. I was beside myself listening to this conversation. Thirty years I had been here? The former King and Queen of Lugia? My parents had died and I hadn’t even known it. These were fresh horrors for me and I longed to fall to my knees and cry, but even that release was denied me.

“He is very handsome. Did they ever discover who could have done this to him?”

“No.” It was then that I realized Rickka was the older man. He no longer was strong and tall, but slightly bent. The gray in his hair was also in his beard and I could see the marks on his hands of heavy magic use. It was then that I noticed the crown my father used to wear was now perched on his head instead.

As I stared in anger and frustration at my former friend a velvet cloth was lowered over me and I slept again.

“No I want him here in my bedroom.”

My senses awoke to the same youth talking. This time the room around me was very different. I could see the light wood on the walls in front of me and huge bed that seemed to fill my vision.

“Yes, your majesty. As you command.”

I watched as two huge men bowed to the youth and edged out of my vision. The guy wasn’t dressed like he had been before. Then his clothing had seemed simple and he appeared to be almost a trader. Now the room surrounding him was rich in color and the outfit he wore was incredible. There was a long open robe with a flowing pair of pants beneath. His chest was covered in dark hair but that hair seemed to stop and circle his nipples. He paused before me with the symbol of Treean embellished into the headboard of the bed behind him. He was attractive even if he was from a land that hated me.

“So now the famous Prince Ronas is here in my room.”

I watched as his hand reached up toward me. He watched my face but I couldn’t move to see where his hand traveled.

“It was on the night you were captured in Amber that my father had been on his way to ask for a permanent peace between our nations. When he arrived he found the rumor that you had been caught like a fly in amber by a Treean. My father knew if he was found he would be blamed so he slipped back about his ship and sailed home again. Things for my country became very rough as people the world over blamed us for what happened to you.”

The man took a chair away from the wall and sat down before me. I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time as he looked at me, embarrassed. He stared at every inch of me, especially at my raging hard on caught as it was in amber.

“I wonder if you realize how attractive you are. Did you know that you were kept in special room that was designed to keep all enemies from you? I still don’t know why King Rickka agreed to let you go. They say he has been working non-stop to free you, but it has drained him. He married but has been unable to produce an heir. His brother has two sons and one of them it is said will take over Lugia while the other rules Renesporna. The problem is neither son wants Renesporna if Lugia is available to take over.”

Slowly I learned of the world that lay beyond my prison from the boy. It took nearly a month till I learned his name.

“So, Ronas, that is the latest on the changes going on here. You know people are beginning to talk about us. They keep saying that Prince Ronas and Prince Damio are in love. Silly isn’t it? I mean even as attractive as you are, you are still caught in your spell. “

He said that rather sadly as his hand ran across the amber. I couldn’t swear to it but for a moment I thought I felt his hand.

Damio walked to his bed and slowly began to strip. I wanted to watch but because his actions no longer were directly involving me, I fell to sleep once again.

“The king is a liar!”

Damio paced before me, clearly upset. His robe flowed behind as he nearly ran back and forth his hands moving to punctuate the words and sentences as he strode around.

“He has told the kingdom of Lugia that you were stolen. I am glad I forced him to sign the unbreakable contract. It will show that you were sold to me freely by him. I still don’t know why he would say something like that, Ronas. I knew I had to have you the moment I seen you. Now he plans to make your whole kingdom my enemy. What do I do my love?”

My love? He called me his love. No one ever called me that. His words flowed over me like warm water.

“What am I going to do? He wants you back because the people demand to see their prince, but I refuse to let you go now.”

He reached for my hand and the amber parted before him and a moment later I lay at his feet gasping like a fish out of water.

“You … you’re free?”

Well considering I was gasping on the floor at his feet that should have been obvious, but I guess if you see a naked man fall out of amber that you thought was stuck there for good you might be a little surprised too.

“Um, yeah.” I nodded as I looked up.

I know, I can’t say much for my response either. Just remember I had spent the last thirty years trapped naked with a raging hard on in amber, so I’m entitled to being a bit stupid.

“You’re naked.”

“I thought you knew that. I’ve seen you stare at me often enough.”

Damio blushed and then took off his robe and handed it to me. Funny thing, I was naked with a man whose name I knew only from him talking to me like a statue and I was still hard as a rock. I was technically thirty years older than him, but since time stopped for me, I was a horny young man just like him. It was hard to miss how stiff he was in those pants of his either.

“You know I stared at you?”

It wasn’t the first conversation I planned to have with Damio, but it was like the flood gates opened. I started with the night I got caught by Rickka, how I had heard every conversation and could see everything that happened before me as long as I was somehow involved, which usually meant someone talking to me. I told him of the conversation my parents had had with me. I grieved over their passing. He sat with me while I cried and waited patiently for me to continue my tale. Eventually I told him how Rickka had boasted what he had accomplished since I was locked away in amber. Telling Damio about how I could see him when he had talked to Rickka when he bought me, when he talked in his bedroom, when he had called me “my love” and a hundred other little things. I talked for what seemed hours, while Damio brought me water and fruit.

It was only when I finally began to wind down that I noticed Damio was staring at the opening of the robe. I couldn’t help but lay one leg flat and pull the other to my chest so I could lean my chin on it, letting him get a clear view of my crotch and my growing cock.

“I take it you see something you like.”

Damio blushed again. It was so cute. Granted I hadn’t had sex either but thirty years of being naked in front of everyone with a raging hard on will get you over any embarrassment about your body. Hell, I think everyone had seen mine. He was used to seeing me in one position, unable to interact with him, but that had all changed because of him.

“I think we have something we need to discuss before we go forward on anything, Damio.”

Those bright blue eyes looked up and I nearly forgot what I was going to say. Hell, he was good looking, but we had some serious problems we needed to settle and figure out first.

Damio sat before me and leaned in close. I could smell the soap he had washed with and tingled all over as his hand gently settled on my ankle.

“What did you want to talk about?”

I’d never realized how deep his voice was until it was directed at me. I shook my head and pushed on with the troubling thoughts before me.

“What you said to me while I was imprisoned, you meant that didn’t you?”

“I talked to you a lot. What in particular did you mean?”

“That you loved me.”

Those blue eyes seemed to pin me in place. I felt his hand slide up from my ankle to my knee and stop.

“Yes, I meant that.”

“Even though you didn’t know me or what I might think of you?”

“Ronas, your story is well known. Your ability to see through problems to the correct end helped to end so many wars and problems in the land. My own father had hoped to make you his friend and had been trying to see you to end the issues between our two kingdoms before you ended up locked away. I know all about you, and even the things I don’t know won’t change how I feel about you. I do love you.”

The only other time I had heard those words were from my parents. That must have been what Rickka used to lock his spell. I would need someone who loved me, and by selling me to the enemy he figured I would forever be imprisoned. It was a combination of Damio's feelings for me and the desire to touch me that broke the spell.

“I am the rightful heir to the throne. If I return to Lugia, my stake to the throne will be uncontested by everyone but Rickka. I already know he will claim that I have missed my chance to be crowned by thirty years or more, but for me time has stood still. I can prove that easy enough. He is old and gray while I am still just eighteen.”

“Then we need to hurry. It is late in the season now and summer ends within a week. How will we prove what he did to you?”

“I know. I just don’t have a clue how to do it. Not only that, but if I go back he knows my name.”

Damio leaned forward and I could smell the sweat on his body. My cock jerked as his face loomed before me.

“You became one with him?” His blue eyes bore down on me and I felt the heat rise in my face.

“No,” I whispered as I pulled the robe closed. I felt exposed as I hadn’t been in a long time.

Damio reached and took my hand in his. His eyes never left my face as he waited for me to explain.

“I had glossed over some stuff.” I took a deep breath. It was painful to remember how easily had tricked me into exposing my name. I slowly explained to Damio whose outraged look calmed my fears.

“He dared to start the binding but not give you his name? That is,” he sputtered his face red and his eyes going wild. Eventually he seen the look on my face and stopped. “I am sorry. I didn’t know anyone could betray a trust so thoroughly. “

I probably would have continued to bask in his sympathy if there hadn’t been a knock on his door. Damio rushed over to it so no one would know I had been released. He spoke hurriedly, glanced at me, and then stepped out and closed the door behind him. I sat there unsure what was going on. I was just about to get up and look for clothes when the door opened and Damio came back in with guy about our age.

“I am Meeke. I come bearing a letter for you, Prince Ronas, from my great great grandmother.”

He was a bit shorter than I was but he was in perfect shape. His blonde hair shone in the light that poured through the open window showing his strong profile. I could see almost no hair on his arms and I wondered whether the rest of his body was the same. However, his chest was covered in a richly designed shirt that showed his musculature, while his pants were tight showing every curve of his incredible legs. He bowed and handed me a yellowed paper with Prince Ronas of Lugia neatly written on the outside.

Prince Ronas,

I know you have had a hard time accepting all of this but listen to my directions. By now you have met Prince Damio and are trying hard to discover where you go from here. There are a few facts you need to know as you go forth to set things right. First, I am never wrong about anything Akonis. So if you decide to just attack Rickka you will lose and end up dead. Second, my grandson needs a decent job and you can arrange that. Trust me; he will be loyal to a fault to you and Damio both. Third, so you don’t feel so alone Damio’s true name is Fexia. Finally, you are going to have perform a very old and forgotten spell that will bind you to Damio, who does love you and will make you a good husband. The spell will alter your name and protect you. I know you will need to think about it but in the end I know you will get married, so I give you my congratulations. The next day you can go after Rickka with the second spell I’m including. Consider it a wedding gift.

Macia

There was a written list of instructions on how to perform the spell that would bind my life to Damio’s and alter my true name by doing so. I really wanted to ignore this letter but she had written my true name down and supposedly included Damio’s as well. Not only had she done that, she had even sent a member of her family to deliver it. I could easily have hurt or killed him for knowing my name. Instead he stood there waiting, while Damio looked between him and me, unasked questions clearly there in the air between us.

“I …”

Meeke looked from Damio to me and laughed.

“Sorry. I know I shouldn’t laugh, but you both look like someone ate your last cookie.”

It wasn’t how I would have chosen to describe the situation however he was right. We both looked like we had lost our best friend or something. If Damio had planned to hurt me, he had had me naked and at his whim here all afternoon. Meeke had carried the letter with our true names written down on it. I was basically being told trust them or run for it. I wasn’t about to run from anyone. I silently handed Damio the letter and turned to Meeke instead.

“Do you know what was in there?”

“Are you kidding? When each of us is born we are checked to see if we are the one meant by Macia to deliver a letter. We are then trained how important it is to make sure that letter arrives, safely, and unread. So no, not a clue other than a message from her was left for me saying you would end up giving me a very rewarding job.”

“By Treean, this has …” Damio began swearing only to stop suddenly. He looked from Meeke to me and then again at the note in his hand.

“I think what you are trying to say is, we are about to be married and bound together forever.” I watched Damio pale as he looked at me. I turned and faced Meeke who smiled and rocked on his heels. “Yeah, she is pretty good at her work isn’t she?”

“Oh, Grandma Macia never left anything to chance. Her ability to see the future has never been matched.”

Damio fell to his knees trying to accept what he read. I wanted to laugh. He was having a hard time comprehending how he was now part of a prophesy where he got married to me. Hell, I was still adjusting to the fact thirty years had passed, my parents were dead, a country had seen me naked and hard, I was getting married, and another cute guy was waiting here to find out what his job would be because his great great grandmother left a note saying he would get one from me. When had my life become this strange?

It didn’t take long to realize how important Meeke would be for us. The spell that Macia listed required some things that Damio could get but not without raising all sorts of suspicions. Meeke was able to go freely and other than his incredible figure most people never paid any attention to what he bought or what stores he wandered into. He helped prepare everything that was needed and watched over us as we preformed Macia’s spell. When it ended we would be joined and speak as one individual and would forever be bound to the other.

“We are one.” It would be just first of many times that Damio and I said the same thing at the same time. Macia’s spell did exactly what it promised. It altered my true name so that no one would know it, but it also bound me to Damio at a level I didn’t know was possible. We were always aware now of the other, how they were feeling, what they desired, and how to make them happy.

The day after our bonding a letter arrived from Rickka. He demanded the immediate return of the Amber Prince, stating that a trader had bought another figure but had stolen the prince instead. If the Amber Prince was not immediately returned the Kingdom of Lugia would declare war on Treean and take him back by force.

Damio read the letter over my shoulder and nuzzled my neck.

“Guess we don’t get a honeymoon before we have to take care of that snake.”

I turned and kissed his lips, reveling in the softness of them and knowing that Damio was mine forever.

“Not unless you want to see your homeland destroyed by war. Besides, Macia was kind enough to send us a little wedding gift. I think it would be rude not to use it, Dam.”

Damio chuckled and hugged me tight.

Somehow my life seemed to be stuck going forward at almost an unbelievable rate. For me it had been three of the strangest days of my life if you looked at them. I was seduced, frozen, and my life ended up on pause, then I woke and met a beautiful prince, got a letter and had to deal with the fall out. Then I was married and suddenly off to end a war before it began. All of this and I was just eighteen. Alright strictly by the passing of time I was now forty eight but mentally and physically I was just eighteen. I went from having loving parents to what seems like dreams of them and then they were gone from my life forever. The things I had lost because of Rickka were things I could never get back. He was going to pay for what he had stolen.

Damio and I sailed in a small yacht that flew through the water at speeds so fast the boat barely kept together. We arrived at the main docks of Lugia at dusk. We stole into the city proper, hidden in clothing that would hide our identities. Lugia had grown and changed while I had been imprisoned. It had more streets than before but eventually I found my way. I led Damio to a secret gate of the royal palace and used the code my father had taught me as a child to open it. There were dozens of passages throughout the castle so if it was ever invaded we would be able to escape. We slipped in quietly to one of the main passages. I was surprised at how quiet the castle was. When I had last been here there were servants moving throughout the castle, talking, laughing, and the place felt alive. Now it was empty and the place felt haunted by memories of the past.

Damio grabbed my hand to get my attention. He pulled me close and I could feel his breath on my ear.

“Where are we going? Do you know where he might be?”

I nodded silently and pointed down the hallway. This was the way to what had been my parent’s bedroom. The bright purples and pinks my mother had once loved were gone from the hallway. Instead everything was a stark white. I knew that Rickka had married so I wondered where the personal touches were.

The royal bedchamber was empty. The huge space where my parents had their bed, the desk where I use to sit and help my father with various contracts, and even the huge mirror my mother had installed along the wall were gone. The room was just one empty area. It was odd to see it abandoned.

I moved with Damio quickly down the hallway toward the wing where my old bedroom was. As we approached I heard a noise and pulled him off to the side to speak quickly.

“He gutted my parent’s room. The old heart of the castle is gone. This wing is where I spent my childhood. Yet this is where he now has his power base. Damio, he must be crazy.”

I was trying hard not to cry. My hands were shaking and my tongue felt dry but I knew we had to find Rickka and end this once and for all. I paused to look around me before we moved.

This had been my wing of the castle. It had been done in blues and light woods. Now everywhere I looked there was red. Not just red, but a bloody deep red that looked like someone had been cut up and their blood splattered against the walls. I had pulled Damio into a niche that had once held a beautiful statue of a warrior with a sword. Now the niche was empty and a deep crimson tapestry hung over it depicting a dragon surrounded by flames.

We were about to move down the hall when I heard footsteps and pushed him against the wall. The footsteps stopped on the other side of the tapestry.

“Good evening, my husband.”

“I don’t know why you play these games, Taria. I married you and kept the bargain we made, but we are no more husband and wife than the waves that crash upon our shore can be married.”

There was the sound of cackling and grunting.

“You always have been one to lose sight of what is important. You begged me once for a spell and you promised anything for it. You bound yourself to me in order to get it.”

“Yes, I did. If I could have killed him outright I would have but your spell gave me the chance to deny all involvement.”

There was a pause and I could feel Damio behind me ready to jump out. I turned to look at him and shook my head. I wanted Rickka alone, but now I was learning more behind what he had done. He had told me once I would never know the cost to him. It seemed he got what he wanted from me but at a very steep price.

“There were other spells you could have used. I still think you cast it wrong. How many years have you had to spend making sure the spell didn’t collapse? If you had cast it correctly he would have become the battery, using his own life force to keep himself bound. Instead you bollixed the job and he stored the magic of all those who tried to break the spell.” The woman’s voice grew deep and cold as she spat her final words at Rickka. “If he gets free your punishment will be much worse than the one you set on him and I have no desire to be caught in it.”

“Then feel free to leave, Taria. There is no chain to hold you or door barring your way. Go and leave me be.”

Taria laughed again. A moment later her softer step was heard leaving the hallway while Rickka picked up something and smashed it into the wall barely a foot away from us.

“Damn you Akonis. Even frozen in amber you cause me no end of problems. After all this time you shouldn’t even be able to bother me.”

We listened as he stormed down the hallway and a moment later a door slammed closed.

I sagged back and Damio wrapped his arms around me.

“She taught him the spell. Are we going to punish her too?”

“No. Rickka is the one who caused all this. The time has come to makes sure it ends.”

“We should have brought Meeke with us.” I could feel Damio tense as he whispered to me.

“He is guarding the boat in case we need to leave. I doubt we will have to use it, but I’d rather have a way out if we need it, love.”

I had memorized the spell and my pocket contained the one item needed to cast it. Damio was there mainly for moral support. It was time Rickka and I met face to face again.

I moved the curtain and could see the shattered remains of a large vase lying all over the floor. Carefully we moved passed it and down the hall toward my old room. The doorway looked the same but the beautiful light wood door was now painted the same dark blood red color and you could see that the paint now hid cracks that ran throughout the door. I wondered momentarily what held it together, before I silently opened it.

The room was a different as the hallway had been. The bookcases, desk, bed and even the cases of my collections were gone. Now the room was full of dark furniture, weapons on the walls, and a small sleeping mat filled the room. Every trace of me had been deleted from the room. What had once seemed warm and inviting, now felt cold and impersonal. I could hear the water flowing in the washroom. I smiled and signaled to Damio to wait while I crept across the room.

Rickka stood beneath the water with his back to me. I could see the criss-cross of cuts and scars across his body. His arms clearly showed the deep blue green lines of heavy magic use which joined together at his neck. He no longer had the body he once did and I could see the beginnings of fat on his hips and sides that once were so taut. Above all I noticed the gray that ran through his hair which was now so short. He was once very vain and kept his hair long and flowing. Now it was short and the prominent color was gray. My enemy had aged while I had not. He was still washing his hair when I finally spoke.

“So this is what thirty years will do to a man who has lived in fear, Rickka.”

He spun quickly and the color drained from him. His eyes locked onto mine and then began to scan to where he had his clothes and a sword set on the counter. I couldn’t help but think it was a sad man that needed to take a weapon with him to shower in a time of peace.

“Don’t bother going for the sword. We both know you won’t make it.”

“So you are free Akonis.”

Rickka smiled. I knew he figured he would just cast another spell using my name; the only thing was that was no longer my name.

“Yes, I’m free. However, it is time for you pay the price.”

I could hear Rickka chanting quickly. I waited a moment and was rewarded with him launching a spell at me as he screamed, “Akonis!”

He watched at first with a smile that turned to fear as the spell hit me and shattered into dust at my feet.

I nodded and stepped toward him. The spell from Macia was short and to the point.

“Crysta frozo Rickka lova outtie.”

As the last word was said I tossed the crystal we had forged at Rickka and it hit him in the chest.

Unlike the thick amber that had once covered me the crystal seemed to disappear into Rickka. He looked at me and began to laugh. Then his chest began to turn clear where the crystal had hit him. A moment later panic seized him and his whole body glowed and became clear, only to freeze a moment later. Before me now stood a crystal figure of Rickka, and this time it was I who smiled.

Every spell crafted has an out to it. There is no way to create one that doesn’t, although some need to have the countermeasure introduced almost at the exact same moment. Rickka had cast the amber spell feeling he could be the only one to love me so no one else could release me. However, Damio had fallen for me without even knowing me allowing him to reach me and free me from the spell. I cast a different form of that spell on him. I had it so only the person Rickka truly loved could kiss him and free him. Of course there was really only one person Rickka really loved, himself.

The guards found Damio and me as we exited the room. They took one look at me, bowed and welcomed me home. Old courtiers of my parents arrived and announced I was indeed Prince Ronas the Amber Prince. My sister Queen Lilitha came and reunited with me. Her children weren’t happy to find that their uncle was freed and now younger than them. Lugia would continue under my rule and I found a willing subject to have an heir for Damio and me.

Taria vanished the night her husband became crystal. A search was made for her but she wasn’t found. I decided to let her go and leave it be. I never did see the concubine Rickka took for he too slipped away when Rickka was imprisoned. The only word I had ever heard of him was Rickka had deeply scarred the man’s body.

I hoped he was as at peace as I was now that Rickka was bound. I was finally where I was supposed to be, and a part of me knew that for all the evil he did, without Rickka's treachery, I might never have found Damio. For him alone, all my suffering was worth it.