The Queen's Line (Inheritance of Hunger, #1)

by Kathryn Moon

I'd been a witness to both of Camellia's ceremonies, my grandmother of the incorrect opinion that watching my younger sister tackle a grown man to the floor and mount his barely erect cock would be some inducement to me to take my own Chosen.

The men were stripped down to their stockings and underwear. Some even less, as if I might be more tempted to choose them at the sight of their dangling flesh bouncing listlessly between their thighs.

I had seen plenty of men and their cocks in my twenty-three years, and I wasn't convinced that buck naked was a man's best presentation.

"Aric Martin, minor magician, an eight. He refused to perform," Isolde said, plenty loud enough for him to hear.

"He will stay," I said, finding his rudeness a strange relief in this situation. "But, princess," Isolde hissed. "I have asked for the facts on your list, not your opinion, Isolde. I might as well read it myself," I snapped back.

"We come from the north, princess," Aric said, reappearing in the doorway. "Cosmo and I see every day what it costs Kimmerians to keep the capital shining and our queens coming on their Chosen's cocks."

"Bry-bry, what have you done now?" "Very little that should concern you," I said.

"Bryony's Hunger may grow," my mother said, and the sweetness of her voice had hardened to a queen's command. "Camellia is full of appetite, but she does not have Bryony's love of our people. Bryony will be given time. None of the queen's line ever keeps all of their first Chosen. Perhaps she simply needs to rearrange their numbers."

"There are a few I like," I said quickly, turning to my mother's warm smile to avoid the chill on the other end of the room. "And I…I was thinking that it might be nice to get to know them better away from the…busyness in the capital." "Away? Away where?" Grandmother squawked. "Oh, how lovely! Like a common little honeymoon," my mother cooed. "We could go north," I said. I would find the truth and the answers for myself.

"I may not ever amount to what I—to what the queen's line would wish me to be. However, for the time being, I've been given a little time with my Chosen. Her Majesty hopes I might grow into my Hunger, and I hope I might see for myself what goes on in my own kingdom."

"When do we leave, Your Highness?" Wendell asked. I sighed and raised my hands to cover the heat in my cheeks and settle my thoughts. "The sooner the better. I'd hate to have Camellia come crowing victory to me, and she may decide to try and claim some of you if we're not quick enough." I peeked through my fingers at Owen. "Unless you might prefer to be claimed?" Owen frowned at the others before realizing the question was directed at himself. He shook his head quickly. "Not by anyone other than you." My stomach flipped, and I returned to hiding behind my hands. Something was definitely shifting. Not an urge to pin Owen down and ride him like my sister would've done but…something. It was every bit as sweet and shy as the massive man in front of me, but it was welcome to continue.

Aric appeared on a grand red stallion, bending forward to peer inside at us. "There's an inn a few miles ahead where we could eat a rough meal and get back on the road after watering and changing the horses, or we might travel a little east and stay with some local lord." I frowned and heard the test in Aric's voice. "I think a local inn would suit fine." "The ride won't get more comfortable through the night, princess," Aric said. "Well if you think it will be too much for you, you may come and sit inside and I will take the horse," I tossed back.

"Aric has a good heart, if a prejudiced one," Cosmo murmured to me. "I don't condone his rudeness, of course. I only…" "I will have to earn his trust before he gives me any reason to build my own for him," I said, raising an eyebrow. Cosmo flashed a smile at me, his eyes flicking down to my mouth, and then the low collar of my gown before his head quickly lifted. "Just so, Your Highness. If it's any consolation, I've told him he's an idiot."

My lips twitched as I watched Owen try to work out the kinks of sleeping without elbowing Wendell in the gut or kneeing Cosmo in the groin.

"I wonder who is really running this kingdom when the future ruler knows so little about what's going on," Aric muttered, wincing through his own gulp of ale. He might not have meant that comment as a slight against me. Not like he usually did. But it stung in my chest long after our plates arrived—a

If the Hunger of the queen's line was not a source of power for Kimmery, then it was clearly a source of distraction for its rulers and I was becoming glad not to possess it.

Here was the amount of my education. Taking my Chosen once I was of age—which I'd failed at—horseback riding, and fencing.

"I never realized what a long journey it was," I said, urging my horse up to ride alongside Aric. He startled in his seat, and I smothered my laugh as I realized I'd caught him sleeping in his saddle.

"How long did you think three hundred miles would take?" Aric grunted. My teeth clenched, and I fixed my eyes to the curling road ahead of us, two royal guards at the lead. "I think we both know by now that my education has lacked a great deal of value," I said.

"Princess, I promise to never compliment you where you don't deserve it," Aric said with a mocking kind of regality. "And to always tell you when I think you're doing a piss poor job."

"If you lack the Hunger, you may be the best ruler this country could see," Aric said. "You'd actually be focused on your people instead of your—" And then he stopped himself abruptly and cleared his throat.

"You've promised to give me your honest opinion. I hope you'll come to the Winter Palace to see me. I'd hate to get spoiled without your tempering influence."

I didn't like to see a man like Sir Hubert dressed in furs and dripping in gold chains when I knew his people—my people—were starving, overtaxed, and dressed in rags.

"Invading royal privacy is one of the highest offenses in my court," Thao said, shoulders squared as he stared up at me. I wrinkled my nose. I wasn't so sure what kind of privacy was normal in my mother's court, but Thao wasn't about to give me lessons on my own preferences. "If the state of the palace, of his city, weren't enough of an offense, this is," I said with a nod. "He has to go." Thao hmph'ed in agreement, and Wendell hid a small chuckle behind his hand.

No wonder Aric hated me and the palace and the choosing. No wonder men submitted themselves to the humiliation of the process if it offered relief from a life of scraping by on nothing. Kimmery was broken, and I didn't know if I had the power to fix it.

He had a strange kind of effect on me. One moment, I found him magnetic and I wanted to curl up against him. The next, I wanted to shy away. And then a second later, I wanted to stomp on his foot and remind him that I was his princess and he was… A King of Thieves.

"Princess, you are sitting across from the King of Thieves. Trust isn't something I'd recommend we share between us." I held myself still, resisting the urge to flinch. "Why did you want your crown, Aric? For wealth?" I glanced around the room where everything inside looked used and worn. "I doubt it. You can hate the crown I'm after, but I think you know my motivations are the same as yours. I want to help Kimmery. I don't want you to have to try and fix the balance on your own at the risk of being arrested. I'm sorry I didn't realize before this week what being queen would really mean, everything that needs changed, but we're on the same side now."

Wendell swallowed and frowned. "It's strange to think of it now. At the time, I sort of dreaded being Chosen as much as I was determined. I didn't think the Hunger would allow for you and I to be this…comfortable. And now…"

"Now I wish she'd call us to her bed," I said, and then stiffened for the three seconds it took Wendell to answer. "Ugh, me too. She's so… I want to nibble on her. And every time she narrows her eyes at you, my cock seems to take it as an invitation to rise to a call she hasn't even made,"

I laughed and pushed my long hair out of my face. "Yes. I can't decide if I want to turn her over my knee or put myself over hers." Wen's eyebrows waggled. "Take turns and let me watch." There. Of course we're on the same page. We always have been.

"You are too fast," he said. "I am winning, so I think I must be the right kind of fast," I said, and then lost my own train of thought as he spun around with a grin on his face.

"Don't argue with her, Griff, you won't win," Aric said. I whipped to glare at him. "I hope this is a lesson you plan on learning for yourself."

Owen and I looked at one another, equally smug. Our princess hungered for us. That was an enviable position to be in.

He left, and I frowned at where he'd stood in the doorway, wondering why I felt as though I'd disappointed him in some way. "He seems very helpful," I mused. Owen and Cosmo both chuckled, and I turned to them. "What? What is it?" "Bryony, I think he'd like it if you made him one of your Chosen," Cosmo said. "Or at least if you let him rock your boat," Owen added, grinning and jumping into his trousers.

Cosmo's smile was wide, shining, although I was a little bit distracted by the strain of his arms working in smooth rotations. "What are you thinking?" I asked. "That your Hunger isn't born out of lust. It comes from affection," Cosmo said. "Or at least in part."

"Art has value. It can educate, or bring joy, or illuminate a new audience to experiences or cultures they never imagined," I said.

"I want to draw one hundred sketches of you like this, just to memorize the moment," he whispered. I ignored my own blush and nipped his chin. "That would take a lot of time. I'd rather memorize the feel of you inside me with one hundred thrusts," I said.

Which is exactly why you're panting like a dog in the sun at the prospect. It's all in the name of experimentation. Specifically, experimenting with how Owen's cock will feel.

"Lady Prudence has the position of my steward; she is exactly what I was looking for," I said, turning and nodding to Rebecca. "Thank you Magistrate Sanders for the introduction."

"She is…" Roderick's son sputtered and gestured to the older woman, who smiled beatifically back at him. "She is elderly, and a woman." "I am, indeed. Well spotted, Jonathon," Lady Prudence cooed as the men of the council stirred irritably in their seats.

Your Highness, I appreciate your energy and tenacity, it speaks well of your ability to rule. However, we in the council have the highest duty of making your work easier with our counseling.” "I don't see how it should be easier for me to make a decision than for you to finally accept it, Lord Roderick. I'm not in the habit of finding independent thought taxing," I said. Cosmo choked on a laugh and Lady Prudence snorted, making Rebecca Sanders's smile appear at last.

"Of course, Your Highness," Lord Roderick said. "Naturally, you are in charge of your own household." "Lord Roderick, I am the princess inherit," I said softly, watching the older man stiffen in his seat. "My influence extends beyond this palace. I am not here to holiday in the north, I am here to see to my people's needs now that I find them neglected."

"Lady Pru slept through that, but I think Cresswell might've died twice and Daniel certainly seems to be suffering," Owen whispered, helping himself under the gauze of the canopy to reach my feet on the mattress.