31. Sirex

31

SIREX

E very head in the Grand Salon jerked around to stare at Sirex as he strode into the room. He'd had a hell of a time finally getting his mount to turn back towards the Royal Stables and he'd been anxious when he saw that he was clearly the last one back from the hunt. He didn't like leaving Phoebe alone in the palace when there were so many predatory males around.

And now he saw that things were even worse than he'd feared—Phoebe was chained naked to a large wooden frame and that fucker, Thruck, was about to hurt her!

Rage rushed through him, and a blood-red curtain dropped over his vision. Fury like he had never felt before flooded his body with adrenaline and it was all he could do not to rush forward and rip both the fucking Trollox's heads off! His fangs lengthened and sharpened and he bared them like a beast in a show of pure aggression.

"Get away from her!" he roared, striding forwards and ignoring the gaping stares of the other males. "If you lay a hand on her I'll fucking cut it off! She's mine!"

Thruck stepped back with obvious reluctance, a scowl on the sane head's face.

"She was caught trespassing in the room of the Shining One—indeed, she was in his very bed trying to seduce him! I would think you would welcome a punishment for such whorish behavior!"

"It's not true!" Phoebe pleaded. "I mean, I was in his bed but I was hiding because I heard someone coming in. I went in there by mistake—please, Master—believe me!"

"Of course I believe you," Sirex said firmly. He took a deep breath, trying to tamp down the Rage that threatened to completely overtake him. He turned to Thruck. "It sounds like an honest mistake. To make amends, I'll take my female and leave the palace right now so you never have to see either of us again."

"Not good enough!" Thruck crossed his arms over his muscular chest. His sane head was scowling. "Your female was caught trespassing in the Emperor's private rooms—she must be punished!"

"Then I'll spank her again—here in public so you all can watch!" Sirex snarled. He was angry that Phoebe had disobeyed him and left the room when he'd told her to stay put. Because of that, he was willing to give her another spanking to appease Thruck.

But the Trollox was shaking his sane head.

"No—that's not good enough! She caused the Shining One great pain by forcing him to look upon her unpierced nipples. They must be pierced as punishment." He gave Sirex an evil grin. "The only question is, who's going to do the piercing—will it be us?" He pointed a thumb at his own thick chest. "Or will it be you?" And he pointed at Sirex. "She's your woman—by the law you should be the one to pierce her nipples," he added. "Though we will be happy to step in and do it for you if you don't have the stomach for it!"

Sirex felt his heart fist in his chest. He didn't see any way out of his—Thruck was in charge here and he had fifty males, not to mention all the servants in the palace, backing him. He had decided that Phoebe's nipples must be pierced as punishment for her trespassing in the Emperor's rooms. So they were going to be pierced and now Thruck was offering him the right to do the piercing.

But he had sworn to never hurt her again—hell, he'd promised himself he wasn't even going to touch her again—at least not sexually. And now he had no choice. It would either be him wielding the nasty sharp object in Thruck's hand…or Thruck himself. And Sirex didn't trust the sadistic Trollox not to mangle Phoebe's delicate flesh and make the piercing even more painful than it was already going to be.

"Fine." He snatched the silver piercing instrument from the Trollox's clumsy fingers and examined it carefully, making certain he understood the mechanism and how it worked. Then he looked at Phoebe.

Her eyes were wide with fear but her jaw was set, as though she was determined to endure the coming pain. Sirex wanted to comfort her—to let her know he took no pleasure from this act and that he would make it as quick as possible.

"Phoebe," he murmured, cupping her cheek in his free hand. "I'm going to have to do this and you're going to have to let me. Can you be a good girl and hold still for me? Can you bear the pain if I make it quick?"

"I…I think so, Sir." She nodded and swallowed hard. "I'll try to be good."

"You can do it," Sirex assured her. "And after this is done, we'll leave."

"If they let us." Her voice was so low only he could hear it but Sirex could see the doubt and fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry about that—I'll fight our way out if I have to. You just stay behind me," he told her. Though he privately wasn't very happy about his chances, considering there were fifty other males in the Grand Salon and one of them was a ten-foot-tall Trollox. Still, he wasn't going to let Phoebe see him doubting.

"All right." She nodded. "I'm ready, Master. Please—just make it quick."

"As quick as I can," Sirex promised. He positioned the sharp points of the piercer on either side of her berry-dark nipple, which was already tight with fear. "Hold still," he told Phoebe, and then he squeezed the mechanism fast and hard.

The jaws snapped shut, forcing a silver ring through the delicate flesh and closing it at the same time.

Phoebe let out a gasp of pain but to her credit she held still and didn't jerk away.

"Are you all right?" Sirex cupped her cheek again, looking into her face anxiously.

"I'm f-fine." There were tears standing in her eyes, but she was refusing to cry. "Just do the other one quickly, please," she whispered. "And let's get out of here!"

"All right. You're being a very good girl—a very brave girl," Sirex told her, stroking her cheek. "Just hold still for me one more time."

"I…I'll try, Sir." She nodded and a single tear ran down her cheek.

Sirex felt like his heart was being squeezed in a vice. He wished he didn't have to do this—didn't have to hurt her and make her cry—but he had no choice.

Feeling like a complete bastard, he positioned the piercer around the other nipple. There was already another silver ring in position in the mechanism, ready to go as soon as the needle-sharp jaws snapped shut.

"Take a deep breath," he told Phoebe. She did as he said and just as she completely filled her lungs, he squeezed the piercer again.

This time the sound that came from Phoebe's throat was more like a shriek.

Sirex dropped the piercer and cupped her face in both hands. Leaning down, he looked anxiously into her eyes.

"Sweetheart? Are you okay?"

"I…I think so." Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. "I don't know why the s-second one hurt so m-much more than the f-first," she stammered.

"Maybe because you knew what was coming." Sirex brushed her tears away with his thumbs. "You were such a good girl for me, baby. I'm so damn proud of you."

"Th-thank you." She looked up at him, her lovely silver green eyes filled with emotion.

Sirex wanted to gather her to him—wanted to hold her close in his arms and let her cry. Then he wanted to heal the wounds he'd just caused—he was sure if he bathed her nipples with his essence it would end her pain.

But as he reached up to unfasten her non-con manacles from the X shaped cross, Thruck spoke in his ear.

"And just where exactly do you think you're going?"

Sirex turned to face the huge Trollox.

"I pierced my woman's nipples, just as you required. Now I'm taking her and leaving this fucking place!"

"I don't think so." The sane head smirked at him. "You see, the penalty for trying to see the Shining One without our personal permission is death . So while you may leave, your woman must stay here and pay the price."

"What?" Sired glared at him as the Rage returned in full force. "You fucker!" he growled. "You don't really think I'd leave Phoebe here, do you? I ought to fucking kill you for even suggesting it!"

The Trollox's sane head glared at him.

"How dare you speak to us in that way in our own palace?" it snapped. "Now your life is forfeited too! Tell us, Sirex—how do you wish to die? Shall we kill you first? Or perhaps it would be better to chain you to a cross of your own and let you watch while we fuck your female to death before you meet your end!"

Sirex got ready for what he knew was going to be his last battle. He stopped fighting the Rage and let it race through him instead.

"All right, come on then," he said, his voice dropping to a low, menacing growl. "Come and see what I've got for you." And he bared his fangs at the huge Trollox, fully prepared to rip out both throats if he had to.

Thruck's sane head glared down at him. Sirex thought it was about to say something when suddenly the mad head began to speak in its low, grinding voice.

"Both ye and me will no longer be. Our time is up—the boy is free."

"Boy? What boy?" the sane head demanded. "What?—?"

"Trollox! Step forth!" a voice demanded.

All heads turned to the door of the Grand Salon. Standing there was a young male of around nineteen or twenty cycles old, though it was difficult to guess his age with accuracy since he had a blond beard that hung down to his chest in golden curls. He had silver skin that was glowing in the reddish light of the Grand Salon and he was wearing a rumpled nightshirt and holding something in his hand. To Sirex, it looked like just the handle of a sword but there was no blade that he could see, just a series of buttons on the end of the hilt.

"Your Majesty?" Thruck's sane head looked worried at first. Then the anxiety smoothed out and a broad smile took its place on the Trollox's face. "How good to see you up and doing well again!" he exclaimed, holding out his arms, as though to embrace the young male. "We were so worried for you but look at how good you look!"

"Yes, I'm doing much better now that I no longer have a bag of aging serum dripping into my arm, draining my health and youth," the male said sarcastically. "And now that I'm no longer tied up in my own bed!"

"What? Who did these things to you? Was it the nurse?" Thruck gestured at an older woman with gray hair and a long nose who was standing to one side. "As your Royal Advisor I shall have her put to death at once!"

"You're no longer my Royal Advisor. You are relieved of duty." The Emperor—for that must be who the young male was, Sirex thought—stepped forward towards the Trollox. "Just as you're shortly to be relieved of both your heads," he added.

"What? Your Majesty, you must have had a bad dream!" Thruck's sane head protested. "Surely you're mistaken! You can't?—"

"Oh, yes I can!" The Emperor pressed one of the buttons on the sword hilt he held in his hand and a pale, blue-white flame suddenly shot out of it. The flame was so tall it reached to the vaulted second story ceiling. A light so intense it was blinding, suddenly illuminated everything.

There were gasps and moans from some of the males in the room and many of them started running for the doors of the Grand Salon. Clearly they wanted to get out while they still could.

"The Shining One! It's the Shining One!" people were murmuring.

"Yes, it is your Emperor, the Shining One—I have returned!" the Emperor shouted. He pressed another button on the flaming sword's hilt and the flame shortened until it was only a little longer than a man's arm, though it was still so bright it hurt to look at. Then he started walking towards Thruck.

"Your Majesty, pause…reflect!" the sane head begged. "You must understand…"

"I understand you tried to steal my throne from me!" the Emperor growled. "And I further understand that now you're going to pay for it! Tell me, Trollox, which head to you wish to lose first?"

"Neither! Please, your Majesty! Please!" Thruck whined. He fell to his knees, his hands clasped together in a gesture of pleading. "Everything we did was for your own good!"

"Lies! I've had enough of your damn lies, Trollox!"

Bridging the gap between them, the Emperor drew back and swung the flaming sword in a deadly arc. It cut through both of Thruck's thick necks like butter. First the sane head and then the mad one fell from the Trollox's shoulders and rolled on the gleaming glass floor. The mouth of the sane head was still moving, as though trying to explain why killing him was a bad idea. On the crazy head, the third eye had popped open and was staring around the room.

Slowly the enormous body of the Trollox toppled over. The flaming sword had mostly cauterized the wounds as it made them, but there were a few trickles of black blood seeping from the two neck stumps. It pooled on the floor like a puddle of tar as the huge body twitched and jerked and then, finally, was still.

"I should have done that the first minute I saw that two headed bastard!" the Emperor remarked. Then he pointed at Phoebe, who was still manacled to the X shaped frame. "You!" he exclaimed.

Sirex immediately stepped between the Emperor and Phoebe.

"Not one step further," he growled. "Phoebe is mine! You'll have to go through me to get to her and I promise I won't just kneel down and let you kill me like that fucking Trollox did!"

"Forgive me—I do not wish to hurt her but to thank her." The Emperor pressed another button on the hilt of his sword and the pale blue flame abruptly extinguished itself. "For it was she who saved me from the Trollox's trap!" he exclaimed. "She came to my room and untied me and stopped the flow of aging fluid that was dripping into my arm and making me older every day!"

Sirex frowned.

"You don't appear older than twenty cycles to me."

"That is because the drip is no longer in my arm and so my body was able to counteract the effects and return me to my normal age," the Emperor explained. "But Thruck had been aging me for months—I was nearly at the limit of my lifespan, at which time I would have died and he would have taken my throne for himself. The bastard!"

The last word was a low growl and he kicked the limp body of the Trollox which was lying lifeless on the floor.

"I'm very glad that my woman could be of service to you, Your Majesty," Sirex said to him. "But now the two of us would like to go. Phoebe has been through a lot today—I need to take her home."

"You are, of course, free to go with my blessing and my gratitude," the Emperor said courteously.

"Thank you."

Sirex nodded and went back to unfastening Phoebe from the X shaped cross she was hanging on. She was completely naked but he didn't have time to look for her clothing now. He took her by the shoulders and looked down into her face.

"Phoebe, are you all right? Can you stand?" he asked her anxiously.

She nodded and instinctively tried to cover herself—only to gasp when the golden manacles shocked her.

"Ouch! I'm okay except I'm really tired of wearing these damn things!"

"Of course you are." Sirex remembered that Thruck had the only keys to the non-con bracelets. "Hold on," he told her.

A quick rummage through the dead Trollox's pockets revealed a set of dainty golden keys. Phoebe held out her wrists eagerly and Sirex unlocked her and let the golden manacles fall with a clink-clank to the floor. Then he took off his black leather vest and gave it to her to wear. It probably wouldn't quite fit around her large breasts, but it was definitely an improvement on being fully nude.

"Thanks." Phoebe put on the vest gratefully. But when she tried to pull it closed, she winced. "Ouch! Sorry, I'm too sensitive," she said, nodding down at her newly pierced nipples.

Sirex felt a stab of guilt— he had done that to her. He had hurt her when she was helpless. True, Thruck had forced his hand, but he had still done it and he hated himself for it.

"Come on," he said, taking her by the hand. "Let's get out of here."

"Yes, please!" She nodded fervently. "Let's go!"

They left the Grand Salon, where the Emperor was giving orders to various servants. Several of them were already trying to get rid of the Trollox's carcass while others were tying the nurse who had helped Thruck with his plot to the X shaped cross that Phoebe had so recently vacated.

Sirex didn't know what was going to happen to her and he didn't care. She was getting her just deserts, just as Thruck had. Her fate wasn't going to be pleasant, but that was too damn bad.

Right now, he just wanted to get Phoebe off this planet and away from the Twisted System as soon as possible.