CE'NEDRA - THE DRYAD QUEEN
The Journey Home
by PJ
Snow fluttered down from a cloudy, gray sky. The long line of caravan wagons creaked and groaned along the road of stones smoothed flat by the passage of thousands of wagons, and the gradual erosion from rain over time.
Ce'Nedra and Garion rode in the middle of the caravan along with four other riders, three chattering Nadraks and one dour, silent Murgo tradesman. Ce'Nedra was swathed in heavy, brown furs, her thin legs protected by leather breeches and warm, fur-lined boots. The young queen hid her brilliant red hair within her flap-eared, gray fur cap, her lovely face was wrapped by a thick, wool scarf. The small, black pony Ce'Nedra rode sedately followed the heavily laden wagon before it. Ce'Nedra held her pony's reins lightly in her small, fur-gloved hands, she glanced to her left, where Garion rode beside her on a larger black and gray stallion.
Garion and Ce'Nedra had not spoken much after they buried Belgarath. No longer able to call upon the Will and the Word, Garion had gathered horses and supplies from their slain pursuers for the long trek back to the West. Ce'Nedra had knelt by the simple cairn of Belgarath's resting place, weeping softly, chest tight with grief and loss. Ce'Nedra numbly let Garion set her on one of the dead Murgos' steeds, then rode behind her husband, fiery hair flying behind her as she rode past dusk and into the night across the barren plains of Goska west to the Escarpment.
When it had become too dark to ride, Garion called a halt and set camp. Neither the Rivan King or Ce'Nedra felt like eating, so they wrapped themselves in warm furs taken from Murgo saddlebags and slept side by side, the stars glittering coldly down upon them.
Ce'Nedra offered no protest when Garion slipped beneath her furs and took her that night. The little queen rested on her stomach, clutching a roll of fur beneath her chin as Garion rammed himself between Ce'Nedra's tiny buttocks, grunting into her shoulder, strong hands grasping her rounded hips as he rode her. After he was done, Garion lay next to Ce'Nedra and held her, arms wrapped around her small waist, face pressed against her sweet-smelling, red hair. Ce'Nedra faced away from Garion, looking out across the flat, featureless plain, barely conscious of her husband's possessive embrace.
Two days after burying Belgarath, Garion and Ce'Nedra found the Southern Caravan Route that connected Rak Goska in the East to Tol Horb in the West. Red Murgo gold was exchanged, and the royal couple was allowed to join the long caravan rolling west. Every night, away from the caravan fires and laughing merchants, Garion took Ce'Nedra in the dark beneath their piles of musky furs. Ce'Nedra barely moved as Garion speared her repeatedly, she took no pleasure from his body, her mind was filled with images of her journey with Belgarath, she fondly remembered the freedom she had tasted, how good it had felt to simply be a woman, not the Rivan Queen, not the Mother of Prophecy.
After a week, the caravan reached the Escarpment, the great rent that separated East and West. The caravan road descended along a gentle slope cut into the face of the plunging cliff. Garion and Ce'Nedra hung back, trailing the long line of struggling wagons. Breaking the almost complete silence that had reigned between husband and wife for a week, Garion cleared his throat, Ce'Nedra looked up at the young King.
"What's wrong, Ce'Nedra?"
Ce'Nedra looked away from her stern-faced husband and stared at the clattering train of laden wagons.
"I want a divorce, Garion."
"What?" sputtered Garion, completely unprepared for his small wife's reply.
Ce'Nedra glared up at the wide-eyed Rivan King. "You think I'll just forgive you for sleeping with Polgara? I should just forget it ever happened? And what about Salmissra? You bedded her even as you were looking for me! How do you think that makes me feel? Am I just like them, just someone to warm your bed at night? Somebody convenient for you?"
"Ce'Nedra...,"
"I hate you! Find some other woman to bear your heir! I'm sure Salmissra would jump if you called her!"
Ce'Nedra snapped the reins of her pony and prodded the little steed forward past the looming wagons. Ce'Nedra ignored Garion's calls, tears welled in her bright, green eyes, but she didn't weep as she descended the wide ledge of the Escarpment.
***
Three days after leaving Garion behind, Ce'Nedra was stopped by a patrol of Tolnedran soldiers mounted on swift brown steeds.
"It's dangerous to be traveling alone along these mountains, Miss," warned the patrol leader, a wide-shouldered man with a crested helm, polished bronze breastplate, and a small, well-trimmed salt and pepper beard.
"I'm doing quite well on my own, thank you, Captain," sniffed Ce'Nedra, flicking her pony's reins and trotting past the grinning soldiers.
The patrol captain sighed, turned his horse around, and caught up with the small dryad queen.
"Would you permit me to at least accompany you while you pass through my sector? My post isn't far from here, you could have a hot meal, a soft bed, and replenish your supplies if you require them."
Ce'Nedra glanced at her drooping saddlebags, she was almost out of food for herself and grain for her pony, it would be a long ride across Tolnedra.
The flame-haired, young woman raised her chin and regarded the admiring captain regally. "Very well, good Captain, I accept your offer of shelter for the night and fresh supplies for my journey."
"You honor me beyond measure, good lady," smiled the Captain, bowing low in the saddle to Ce'Nedra.
***
The fort where the Tolnedran captain was posted sat upon a wide shelf of the northern mountain range. Servants rushed to help Ce'Nedra from her pony and to take her saddlebags for refilling. The tall, burly captain gently took Ce'Nedra's little hand and led her into the fort proper, a three story stone structure with two slender watch towers and an encircling battlement along the roof. Leatherworkers and sweating smiths worked in open stalls along the courtyard walls, repairing armor and weapons.
In the large foyer of the fort, Ce'Nedra allowed a servant boy to take her heavy furs. The Captain stared hard for a moment at the beautiful lady with fiery hair and pale, ivory skin, if he recognized her, he said no word and made no sign of it.
"Would you care for a hot bath, m'lady?"
"Oh, yes!" grinned Ce'Nedra eagerly.
The Captain addressed another waiting servant boy, "Take her to the baths, see to all of her needs."
The black-haired boy nodded vigorously before beckoning Ce'Nedra to follow him up a flight of narrow stairs to the second floor. Ce'Nedra looked back at the watching patrol captain.
"Will you join me for dinner tonight, my lady?"
Ce'Nedra regarded the soldier coolly. "Yes, I will dine with you tonight to thank you for your hospitality."
The Captain smiled and bowed low. Ce'Nedra turned to follow the boy to the waiting baths, her cheeks burning, her heart throbbing.
***
The Tolnedran captain stood when Ce'Nedra was ushered into his private rooms. Ce'Nedra had her gleaming red hair bound up in the traditional Tolnedran style, she was dressed in a rich crimson and gold tunic that hung to mid-thigh, sandals laced up the small young woman's slender calves to just below her knees. Ce'Nedra let the burly Captain take her right hand and brush her knuckles with his cool lips, she looked up at him with glittering green eyes lined with black kohl.
"Dinner is ready, my lady," greeted the Captain, leading Ce'Nedra by the hand to the heavily-laden dining table. The Tolnedran officer held Ce'Nedra's chair for her, then took his place opposite her.
The captain and Ce'Nedra ate quietly by candlelight. The wine served with the meal was a fine Tolnedran vintage, Ce'Nedra didn't refuse when the captain readily refilled her glass.
Munching on a sweet roll dripping with sugar and sticky honey, Ce'Nedra finally met her host's hot stare. "What is your name, patrol captain?"
"Dasras, my beauty," smiled the black-maned officer before he sipped from his glass of ruby wine.
Ce'Nedra blushed from the soldier's compliment, and from the way his dark brown eyes roved over her body, his desire for her laid bare. Dasras tossed back the remainder of his wine, setting down his empty glass, he locked eyes with the radiant dryad queen.
"Would you warm my bed tonight, my beauty?"
Ce'Nedra giggled and dropped her eyes, face flushed, her small breasts tight against her tunic, so tight her aroused nipples were plainly visible beneath the sleek fabric.
Captain Dasras rose from his chair and approached Ce'Nedra. He took Ce'Nedra's half-empty wine glass, tilted up the young woman's face by her tiny chin, and gently poured the remainder of the wine between Ce'Nedra's parted, red lips. Ce'Nedra swallowed the sweet wine, then moaned softly when Dasras kissed her hard on the mouth, firm hand holding the back of her neck, his other hand clutching her right breast over her tunic, squeezing, milking her small, pliant orb.
Ce'Nedra took a deep breath when Dasras released her wine-moistened lips. The burly captain let go of Ce'Nedra's breast and lifted her easily from her chair, cradling her to his wide chest as he carried her to his prepared bed in the next room. The spacious stone chamber was filled with burning beeswax candles when Dasras set Ce'Nedra upon his bed, the air smelled heady and arousing as Dasras grasped the hem of Ce'Nedra's crimson tunic and pulled it over her head and away from her upraised arms. Freed from her tunic, Ce'Nedra leaned forward and untied the captain's white breeks, she slipped her small fingers inside Dasras's trousers, fondling his hardening manhood, looking up at the sighing soldier with hot, mischievous green eyes. Dasras arched his back and grasped Ce'Nedra's little shoulders when she nuzzled his crotch with her beautiful face, sucking his cock through her small mouth, caressing his shaft with her soft tongue while she squeezed his swollen balls. Dasras rocked his hips back and forth, thrusting into Ce'Nedra's tight throat, groaning with ecstasy as he listened to the flame-maned beauty slurp and devour his aching prick.
Reluctantly, Dasras tugged his saliva-soaked cock from Ce'Nedra's hungry lips. He gently pushed the naked dryad queen onto her back upon the soft bed, he mounted her, spreading her slim, white legs apart, resting her little, bare feet over his burly shoulders. Ce'Nedra stretched out her pale arms over her outspread hair, moaning sharply and grimacing when Dasras pushed inside her, thick cock burying itself between the engorged pink lips of Ce'Nedra's cunnie. Dasras started bucking against Ce'Nedra, holding her legs up by her ankles, panting as he pumped between her small ivory buttocks.
Ce'Nedra gasped every time the strong captain impaled her moist pussy, she slid on the bed beneath the grunting soldier, bare legs dangling up in the air, breasts swaying with every loud slap against her sore buttocks.
Dasras dropped Ce'Nedra's limp legs and hugged her tiny waist. The patrol captain lifted the naked young woman from the disheveled bed and placed the panting dryad queen on his lap. Dasras bounced Ce'Nedra on his muscled thighs, stabbing up her cunt so fast Ce'Nedra couldn't catch her breath. Ce'Nedra clung to Dasras's strong neck with both pale arms, she moaned into his left shoulder, little ass bobbing as the captain's long prick shoved up into her clenched belly, burying itself to the hilt inside her, swelling, pulsating in her tight vagina, filling her with throbbing meat. Ce'Nedra threw back her head, long, gleaming red curls tossing, small breasts bouncing with the motion of her naked body. Dasras nuzzled his sweating face between Ce'Nedra's warm tits, he licked her hot cleavage, kissed her bared throat and creamy white shoulders while she clung to him, legs wrapped around his waist, cunt squeezing his jabbing prick.
With his left arm hugging Ce'Nedra's tiny waist, Dasras clutched her small left buttock in his wide right palm as he pounded faster and faster into the flame-haired dryad queen's dripping pussy. Ce'Nedra found the Tolnedran officer's caressing lips and held them with her own, she sucked hard upon her perspiring lover's mouth, clenching her vagina around the captain's swollen prick, holding it inside her when it finally exploded, flooding her cunt with hot milk.
***
The next morning Ce'Nedra was escorted by a patrol of Tolnedran riders to the edge of the fort's region of protection. Ce'Nedra waved to the watching soldiers before resuming her journey along the caravan road, dressed in a proper Tolnedran cloak of scarlet and gold, with a matching heavy tunic and snug wool leggings. The morning was cold and clear, Ce'Nedra's breath misted before her, but her belly was full and her saddlebags were bulging with supplies. Ce'Nedra was in high spirits as she rode west. Soon she would be home, she prayed Garion would leave her alone, she no longer considered herself the Queen of Riva, she was the Dryad Queen, and her road led to the wooded realm where she was born.
*****