Tender - A Disney-esque Adventure for Adults

Chapter 14

Just like the Tender movie, this chapter is a M-rated one - 15+! If you're under 15, or you're not a fan of sexy times, that's okay - read to the ***, then skip through to the next chapter.

"Casimir, please..."  It had escalated so quickly, I barely had time to feel fear, only despair as I gazed at the man who used to love me down the length of his blade.

"Spare me your traitorous cries for mercy."  He sneered as he lifted a second sword and brought it to join the first at my throat.  "Your tongue is so poisonous, it may as well be forked."

With a disdainful toss, he threw the second sword at my feet.  "But despite your vile ways, I do not wish to sully my soul by killing an unarmed woman.  Pick that up.  Defend yourself."

I dared a glance down at the blade by my feet.  I knew I could hold my own against Cas; I'd been training daily for almost a month, while he his practice time was nil. 

But where would that get us?  If we crossed swords, it would be mortal combat.  The image of Cas' smooth skin darkened with scarlet blood flashed in my mind, his eyes staring upwards, glassy and unseeing.  Shuddering, I swallowed back a sob.  No matter the cost, I couldn't live with myself if he perished by my hand.

"What are you waiting for?"  Cas snarled at me while waving his sword at mine.  "I'm giving you far more than you deserve – a chance to die with honour.  Pick it up."

Staring into his twisted features, I searched for a glimmer of the Cas who'd held me and slid his mother's ring on my finger.  I didn't find it, but I still found the strength to say, "No."

"What do you mean, no?  No isn't an option!  I am going to end your miserable life, and when you lie dead and bloodless, I shall ride back to my Sweetpea and tell her all about your devious ploy to usurp the kingdom out from under her!"

There was a twinge of guilt inside me for the fate of Barnaby and Davin and Cassandra, but they would have to fend for themselves, the way I was at that very moment.  I shook my head.  "No, I will not challenge you.  I love you, Casimir, and once, you loved me too.  If you cannot remember that, perhaps I should die, because..."

"Because what?" he asked curiously, still suspicious.

I forced myself to hold his ferocious gaze.  "Because I do not wish to live in this world without you."

The storm raged outside, but inside the barn, Cas and I were suspended in a moment of pure stillness.  I held my breath, the oxygen tight inside my chest, the swell of my breasts high and taut through my shirt.  Remember.  Please, remember...

But his eyes narrowed to emerald slits.  "You think you can deceive your way out of death with cunning words and falsehoods?  I am not a school boy, who believes in fairy tales – I am a man, fighting to defend his keep.  Pick up your sword and fight me!"

"I will not."

He screamed, practically purple with frustration.  "You seek to blacken my soul with your death!  So be it.  If you will not fight, you will die regardless, and I shall have a man of God cleanse me and make me whole again, while you shall lie rotting and forgotten on the ground where you fall!"

I ignored his words, speaking past the tormented version of Cas to the one I knew lay underneath.  "Casimir, I am prepared to die, rather than live knowing you were fallen by my hand.  If it should come to pass one day in the future, that you remember, that who you used to be returns..."  I swallowed, trying desperately to keep myself from falling apart in grief.  "If you remember, know that I forgive you.  This isn't you.  You are ill.  You are forgiven for my death.  I love you, my sweet prince."