The White Tower
This story is rated PG-13 for sexual situations
Chapter 22 - Kamella
It was evening and Kamella was waiting for the Emperor's visit. Ama had already helped her with her bath and washed her long brown hair and was now brushing it out in front of the fire, drying it as she brushed. There was a soft knock on the door, and Ama put aside the brush and went to answer it. Krulle walked into the room, carrying a box which she set aside, and then whispered to Kamella.
"Please leave us. You are excused for the rest of the night." Kamella told the girl, who bowed and left the room.
Krulle helped her mistress put on a loose gown which opened in the front, anything to make it easier for the Emperor. When the girl was prepared and in bed, Krulle reached into a deep pocket and handed her a small crystal vial.
Kamella took it, examining it closely. "What is this?"
"This will give you the Emperor's love."
"It's a love potion?"
"No, the potion is not for him, but for Toya."
"So it will make Toya less desirable to Boushin?"
Krulle took the vial from the Empress, "Do not ask me more. But after tonight, I promise that the Emperor will no longer leave your bed to go to Toya. He will stay with you every night. But you must do one thing tonight. You must keep the Emperor in your bed until the dawn. And afterward, do not take the potion that prevents a pregnancy. After tonight, you will want to be carrying Boushin's child."
"But Boushin has never stayed with me that long. After one joining, he leaves to be with that horrible demon!" Kamella spat out.
"Then you must make him stay. You must make him want to stay."
"How? He has no interest in my body. He has no interest in me!"
"I will show you what to do to keep his interest. Also, there is this." She walked to the table where she had set the box. Krulle brought it to the Empress.
Kamella looked at the simple, unadorned wooden box. Then she removed the lid and looked inside.
"Oh!" She cried when she saw was what inside.
"The Emperor prefers the feel of another man, and to keep him in your bed, you must satisfy that desire."
And then Krulle began to instruct the girl, telling her and showing her exactly what to do. Kamella listened carefully. Her future depended on it. And on what was in the crystal vial.
An hour later, the Emperor arrived to perform his husbandly duties. At the same time, Krulle was in the kitchen where the nightly refreshments were being prepared. When no one was watching, she put in a few drops of a different potion into the mulled wine that Toya always drank in the evenings. It would make him sick and weak, thereby allowing her to get close enough to give him her special potion. After that, the Emperor would belong to Kamella.
Two hours after his arrival, Boushin began to rise, his duties fulfilled, ready to return to his lover. But Kamella stopped him, and moved between his legs and began to touch him almost exactly the way Toya did. Her tongue swirled around him and he soon began to respond to her touch. When he was stiff and ready, she opened the wooden box and took out the contents. Boushin looked at the device in her hands and his brow furrowed. He had never seen anything like it.
Kamella reached for a small bottle of oil that Krulle had supplied and began to oil the device, and Boushin watched her carefully. It was made of dark brown leather and shaped -- well, it was shaped like a penis. And it was about the same size as Toya. After it was well oiled, she looked at him and he stared back. And then he opened his legs.
With the device nestled inside, feeling very much like Toya's hardness, and with his Empress riding him, Boushin found that Kamella could give him pleasure after all. All through the night, her willing tongue and gentle hands kept his mind off of his lover and in her bed.
At the same time that Kamella was using the knowledge that she had gleaned from her, Krulle was slipping into Boushin's bedroom. Toya was in bed, tossing and groaning. The cup of mulled wine was on the nightstand, half empty. Krulle went to the demon, and lifted his head.
"Here, my Lord, this will ease the pain." Unstopping the crystal vial, she tilted her potion into his mouth.
She removed the tainted cup and replaced it with a cup of plain wine, removing half to match the original cup. Toya was moaning softly. She watched him for a moment and then she silently left the room, letting the potion do its work.
It was long past sunup when Boushin finally woke. At his side, Kamella still slept. It had been an incredible night. He kissed her cheek lightly and then stood, putting on his robe. The leather device was on the nightstand and he reached down to touch its soft leather. How much pleasure a simple thing such as this could give!
But the real thing awaited in his bed. Boushin hoped that Toya would not be too angry with him for staying the night with Kamella. Well, he would make it up to the beautiful Ice Demon!
Toya was still asleep, his body partially draped in the silk sheets, but mostly uncovered. He was so beautiful! Boushin decided to bathe first and let his lover sleep a little longer. He sank into the warm water and just floated there, content and happy. Everything was right in his life. Perhaps now his Empress would conceive. After all, he had spent an entire night with her and had performed several times. If that didn't accomplish it, what would?
Finally, just as his skin was beginning to wrinkle, Boushin left his bath and, after drying, put on a loose silk robe, but did not tie the sash. He wanted to make it easy for Toya to touch him. Then he went to his sleeping lover, and reached out a hand to wake him.
Vara awoke to frantic pounding on her door. Tekken was at her side and, after putting on his robe, he went to answer the door. Vara followed suit. Boushin was standing there, his robe hanging open, his face wild.
"Toya is ill! Please help me!"
Tekken ran down the hall, and Vara grabbed Boushin, pulling his robe shut and tying the sash before following him to his room. Tekken was kneeling by the bed, examining Toya. He turned when they entered. "He's dead."
"NO!!!!" Boushin howled and ran to the bed, gathering his lover in his arms. "NO!!!!"
Instantly the palace was on alert and Mitsukake and Chichiri rushed into the room. They examined the cup and found it contained nothing but wine.
Kamella walked into the room and saw her husband sobbing, his arms wrapped tightly around his lover's cold body. A tiny smile lit her face and then disappeared almost immediately. Krulle had come to her as soon as Boushin left and told her what to expect and what to do. "My Lord! What has happened?"
Chichiri went to her and whispered that Toya had died and they needed to get the body away from Boushin so that they could examine it to find the cause.
"What do you mean -- examine the body?" She exclaimed loudly. Boushin raised his head and looked at them.
Chichiri grimaced. Ah, the girl did not know when to speak softly! He went to Boushin, speaking very gently, "We need to find the cause of his death, My Lord."
"How are you going to do this?" Kamella asked, eliciting another grimace from Chichiri.
"A few tests, Lady Empress."
"I have heard about these kinds of tests! You are going to cut him open, tear out his organs -- is that how you plan to test him?" Kamella asked. That was the last thing that she wanted done.
"No!! I will not let you!" Boushin sobbed, holding Toya even closer. "You will not hurt him anymore! I want him buried today. In the back garden, near his son. You are not going to touch him!!!"
"But, my Lord..." Chichiri began.
"No!!!! Never!!" The Emperor cried.
Tekken went to the young man and knelt before him. "Give him to me, Boushin. I swear to you that no one will touch him. Let me prepare him for burial. I will wash his body and wrap him in his shroud. And no one will harm him in any way. I swear it."
Boushin looked into Tekken's golden eyes, and saw the truth there. He nodded slowly and relinquished his lover to the Bobcat Lord and Tekken gently took the Ice Demon, lifting his limp body into his strong arms. Kamella immediately went to her husband and comforted him, as he sobbed in her arms. Vara followed Tekken as did Chichiri.
"You must let me examine him." The monk said.
"No. I have given my word. He will be buried this evening next to his son."
"But...."
"Go to Otherworld. His daughter needs to be informed." Vara commanded and the monk bowed and left.
Vara stopped off to get something in her room and then they took Toya to his own room.
Tekken looked at Vara. "This is not your task, my Queen."
"I want to do it. I want to help."
They set him in a tub filled with scented warm water which maids had prepared. Then slowly, carefully, Tekken and Vara washed Toya's body, washing away the grime of this life, preparing him for the next. Each finger, each toe, each limb, each part of him, was washed with loving gentleness. This was their final gift to him.
Vara reached into her pocket for the item she had retrieved from her room. It was a small gold locket on a thin chain. "Would you cut a lock of his hair so that I can give it to Hiya?"
Tekken nodded and snipped off a lock of Toya's blue hair. Vara carefully curled it into the locket. And then they wrapped Toya in white linen, placing amulets into the wrapping, and praying as they wrapped. Early that evening, Tekken carried his body to the willow, and laid him on the ground. Four candles were placed around him, one at each corner.
Slowly the mourners walked to the site. Boushin, bowed by his grief, with his Empress at his side. Hiya, with her uncle, grief and anger sharing space on their faces. Princess Aara and Kurama stood silently by Tekken's side. Souten, Raine and Suzuki stood together. Kyo stood alone, his face grim. Chichiri and Mitsukake stood together, knowing that the reason for his sudden death was being buried along with his body. It took a lot to kill a demon -- and they were sure this was no natural death. But Boushin's grief -- and Kamella's inopportune words -- prevented them from proceeding. Now they would never know the cause.
Vara went to each candle and lit them one by one, intoning the words she had learned long ago: "Elements and Guardians. I call upon you to watch over your child, Toya. Fire, I call you. Use your power of transformation to help his soul find peace. Water, I call you. Use your power of healing to comfort those who grieve. Earth, I call you. I give his body into your care. Air, I call you. Take his soul to heaven until he is ready to be reborn."
And then Toya was buried next to his son, and the willow's branches seemed to trail even lower than before. And Boushin found comfort and understanding in the arms of his Empress.