And So It Begins Read Online Free

unexpected intimacy.
    Slipping Kherin into his nightclothes proved just as difficult, but when the hisses and grumbles finally ended, Kherin was resting comfortably with only the lamp at his bedside left to be extinguished. The regret was again in Derek’s eyes as he seated himself on the edge of the bed, and he offered a quiet smile as he patted Kherin’s uninjured knee.
    “I’ll be back in a few months, in plenty of time to welcome Adrien home,” he assured the prince softly. “Until then….” He leaned forward to draw Kherin into a farewell hug, careful of the leg stretched out stiffly under the covers, but warm and full nonetheless. Kherin closed his eyes as he accepted and returned it, and let himself take in the trader’s feel and smell before Derek’s arms inevitably loosened. He smiled at the gentle kiss pressed to his forehead when the trader released him.
    “Rest well, Kherin.”
    “You too, Derek,” Kherin returned softly, hating this moment, as he did every time the trader left. “And be careful. The roads and cities aren’t always as safe as they should be.”
    “Always, my prince.” The touch of Derek’s fingers to his cheek was soft and unexpected, though it lasted for only a moment before the trader stood. With one final smile and a last affectionate wink, the trader was gone.
    Once the door had closed, Kherin sighed and leaned back into his pillows, reaching out as an afterthought to douse the lamp. Derek would most likely be long gone by the time he awoke the next morning, and he briefly entertained the thought of traveling with him when he left, though he quickly attributed that to the boredom he once again faced.
    What he truly wished was that he had invited Tristan to his chambers this evening. After spending the evening with Derek, he felt a strange sense of abandonment with the sudden lack of company, and the dark-haired Tristan could alleviate that. A stable hand Kherin’s age, who had himself recently returned from the border, Tristan had shared Kherin’s bed enough recently to be considered his most favored lover, if only because he was Kherin’s most frequent. And though his father was naturally mortified, as he had been ever since Kherin’s preferences had been made known, Tristan had proved to be both willing and companionable. Though his injured leg made certain things more difficult, they were far from impossible. Tristan may lack the handsome features, confident hands, and firm, quiet strength of a certain trader occupying a room down the hall, but….
    A slow breath slipped from his lungs.
    But the fact of the matter was that Derek had never made a move to fill his bed, and had never, in all the time he had known him, gone beyond the sincere affection he offered so generously to hint at anything more in any of his interactions with the prince. And while a second son had no need of the strict behavioral protocol that was expected of the first, a willing partner was foremost when it came to who he invited into his bed. Tristan may be lacking in comparison, but he was at least in reach.
    Still, as sleep pulled at the edges of consciousness, he accepted he would survive seeing to his own needs tonight. His well-known preferences might be scandalous, but they were not so forward as to demand company every night. His own hand and the lingering scent of leather and oil would do for now, and if his fantasies mingled with the solid warmth he could still feel though Derek no longer held him, so be it.
    He would, however, remember to send an invitation tomorrow.

Chapter 1

    “D ID you hear?”
    The shrill excitement in the girl’s voice snatched Kherin’s attention from the book in his lap, and he glanced up sharply in the direction of the sound. This area of his father’s gardens was secluded for the most part, with the surrounding hedges high enough to protect him from a casual glance despite being just outside the kitchen door. The door the servants used to empty mop buckets