บท 13: A Jealous Rival Appear
These troubling thoughts swirled through Madison's mind as she went about her duties later that morning, her body still tingling from Wald's demanding touch. How could she regain control of this mission when the prince had so thoroughly ensnared her in his sensual web? She felt off-balance, unmoored, unable to trust even her own desires anymore.
Perhaps some time away from his intoxicating presence would help clear her head. Yes, that rational part of her mind decided. Some space to breathe and refocus on her true purpose here before the dark lure of lust made her lose herself completely.
With a renewed sense of determination, Madison focused on tending to the prince's royal bedchambers, changing the sweat-stained sheets and straightening the ravaged bed where their passionate couplings had taken place just hours earlier. She worked diligently, pausing only when a soft rap sounded at the door.
"Enter," she called out automatically, her eyes still trained on the task at hand.
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
The mocking feminine voice made Madison freeze, tendrils of unease licking up her spine. Slowly, she turned to face the newcomer, her stomach plummeting queasily at the sight of the statuesque, raven-haired beauty sweeping an unmistakable look of disdain over the disheveled room.
"The prince's new plaything, I presume?" the woman sneered, taking a confrontational step forward. Despite her relatively modest attire, she moved with the liquid grace of a born seductress, each sway of her hips and toss of her ebon curls calculated for maximum appeal.
"Do be a good little whore and make yourself sparse," she purred with blatant menace. "His Highness will have no need for your services any longer now that I've returned."
Realization dawned, bitter and sickening, as Madison recognized this woman - Esmerelda, Prince Wald's infamous former mistress. The dark-haired siren had been away for months on a diplomatic visit to a neighboring territory. But now it seemed she had come slinking back into Wald's embrace, ready to reclaim her role as his royal consort.
"I am merely a humble servant attending to my duties," Madison replied stiffly, her spine stiffening with indignation at the other woman's sneering insults. "I'll not be dismissed from them by the likes of you."
Esmerelda's jaw dropped in barely concealed outrage, her lips twisting in an ugly snarl. "How dare you speak to me that way, you impudent little gutterslut! I am royalty, and you'd do well to show me the respect I'm owed."
Boldly, she advanced on Madison, her fingers curling like talons as if to strike her. But before she could make contact, the heavy oak door swung open once more to reveal Prince Wald himself striding into the chamber.
"Esmerelda," he greeted coolly, dark eyes narrowing as he took in the tense confrontation between the two women. "You've returned. Though I don't recall summoning you to my private quarters."
The haughty mistress immediately dropped into an ingratiating curtsy, all traces of her earlier venom melting into a saccharine pout. "My prince, I merely wished to hasten my return to you. These months apart have been utter torment without your strong embrace to keep me warm at night."
As she spoke, Esmerelda slanted a triumphant look in Madison's direction, relishing her apparent victory in reclaiming Wald's attention. But the prince simply made a dismissive noise in the back of his throat.
"Your neediness bores me, woman. I grow tired of your transparent manipulations." He waved a negligent hand. "Leave us. I have much more pressing matters to attend to than catering to your fragile ego."
The rebuke struck like a physical blow, the dark-haired temptress's eyes going wide with disbelief and humiliation. Rage contorted her beautiful features into an ugly mask as she rounded on Madison.
"This is your doing, you uncouth little strumpet!" she hissed, spittle flying from her crimson lips. "You've bewitched my prince with your whoring ways! But mark my words, I'll not suffer this indignity meekly. I'll see you cast out into the cold if it's the last thing I--"
"Enough!" Wald's commanding roar cut through Esmerelda's venomous tirade, raw power vibrating in that single uttered word. He closed the distance between them in three long strides, his powerful hand clamping around the woman's slender throat in an unmistakable threat.
"You forget your place, bitch," he snarled, tightening his grip just enough to make her gasp. "I am your master, not your mindless plaything to manipulate. Disrespect me again, lay so much as a finger on what's mine, and I'll show you what a true monster looks like."
Wald punctuated the dire warning by dragging Esmerelda close until his lips were a hairsbreadth from her own, baring his elongated fangs in a vicious snarl. She let out a pathetic whimper, all her former bluster shriveling into terror under the force of the prince's dominating rage.
"Go," he spat, flinging her away with enough force to make her stagger. "Get out of my sight before I decide you're no longer worth the effort."
Esmerelda didn't need to be told twice. Clutching her throat, she spun on her heel and fled the room, skittering away on trembling legs like a whipped cur. An expectant silence fell in the wake of her abrupt departure, thick and weighted with unspoken tension.
Madison found herself frozen in place, too stunned to even draw breath. She had borne witness to the prince's feral power firsthand now, seeing his capacity for violence and brutal domination in a way that should have filled her with dread.
Yet, some darker part of her psyche was hopelessly, shamefully enthralled by the display. The way Wald had put the arrogant mistress firmly in her place, the ease with which he had established his supremacy - it awakened the basest, most primal cravings in Madison's feminine core. And when he turned those blazing predator's eyes on her, she felt her knees threatening to buckle under the smoldering weight of his stare.
"You're precious, little maid," Wald rumbled, the words ringing with the finality of a vow. "Never forget that."
With those hot words burning into her very soul, he walked across the room in three big steps and grabbed her in another intense, claiming kiss that made all clear thinking go away. As his rough, callused hands hungrily roamed over her body as like owned her, Madison could only give in as that traitorous part of her was totally overcome by the flames of their forbidden desire.
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