The Five Princes

Friday Part One

[For Mature Audience]

Zeph's footsteps were as loud as thunder as he marched down the hall towards the gym, knowing fully well Ajax still resided there. Disregarding the need for slumber and a lengthy attire, I ran after him with shouts of, "Zeph, stop! No, he didn't hurt me! Zeph, wait!" My words fell on deaf ears as he rounded the corner, approaching the gym doors. The scent of s*x still lingered in the room, escaping through the cracks of the doorway.

Ajax must have heard us approaching because he didn't flinch like I when Zeph kicked the door open like a crazed hurricane, ready to tear anything and anyone apart, especially the brazen man who stood before him. He rose from the center of the boxing ring, one if the poles still standing beside him while the other uninstalled, clutched in his hand. Straightening his muscular back, cracking his neck side to side, Zeph didn't seem as threatening as he did seconds ago as Ajax glowered down at him. His eyes mimicked the sun's rays piercing into the armor of an ant beneath a microscope.

But Zeph didn't allow that to deter him. "How dare you beat her highness like a savage!"

Just as I stepped forward to intervene, hoping to prevent anything violent, Ajax bellowed in laughter, a cunning smirk appearing. "Don't act all mighty and righteous now that you see me as true competition, enigma boy." For a split second, his eyes rested upon mine with a hint of something ambiguous. Pain? Betrayal? Guilt? Did he think I purposely informed Zeph of the whippings to get them to brawl over me? Whatever it was though vanished when his eyes locked on Zeph's, throwing the iron pole to the ground. "Besides, she enjoyed me beating her inside and out or she wouldn't have stayed for an extra two hours."

Unbelieving of his words, he looked to me for reassurance. Those handsome greens eyes that I thought I loved glued to me felt like everything I'd known, my entire world, caving in on me, suffocating me. I needed to reassure him, tell him Ajax words were false, I took no pleasure in last night. They were begging for the words to come out. But there was none. Only a blushing mask of shame. I knew my feelings and they weren't to his liking, a deep vein along his temple arising.

His eyes flicked to the clock in the far corner of the room by the shower entrance. Two-twenty-three A.M. Clutching the hem of Ajax red shirt as if it were my only protection between them, between the walls trying to engulf me.

As if victorious, Ajax's smile grew, walking towards us with a pompous stride towards the ropes that barred between him and us. "Don't look at her like she just cheated on you. This was a lesson for you as well. Wake up, prince charming. This is a competition, not some silly love story that'll end with a fairytale wedding and unicorns shitting diamonds above. Sneaking your way into her panties first isn't going to give you a gold medal. She doesn't owe you s**t so stop smooching up to her, manipulating her. It's going to whack you in the head when you least expect it. And Serene"—my heart heaved at the sound of my name rolling off his lips, not realizing our punishment session wasn't over—"whoever you wish for to have by your side, be sure to know their strengths and weaknesses, as well as your own. Because you never know when you might need them the most."

Backing into the center of the ring with open arms directed at Zeph, I turned to see an anger I never knew existed in Zeph. The thunderous anger that slowly crept into every fiber of his body, attached to Ajax welcoming him to the ring. There were no words between them as Zeph drew closer to the elastic ropes before I grasped his arms, understand what was about to happen.

He snatched it away hastily, sending a quake that left me slightly unbalanced before I caught myself. He froze, realizing what he'd done as if he could feel my heart rip a bit at his actions. To make up for it, his green eyes transformed into the gentleness I knew before, his lips finding mine with the same tenderness. But something was different. Something was...off about it. In my mind, his kiss only made me need the kiss of Ajax to counteract it. Is that pitiful? Am I that pitiful to sink so far into a man's touch?

Zeph moved away without giving me another glance as he spoke, approaching Ajax sinfully. But his words were directed at me. "We need to fight this out as men do and for that, Serene, I'm sorry." Looking towards Ajax if he believed in the same thing, that violence was the answer to this, I only received a cold stare focusing on Zeph. "Just this once..."

Lifting the rope over his head, he glided through as Ajax took a step back into one corner and Zeph in the other. All I could do was watch because I knew they weren't going to listen to me in the heat of their anger. For the life of me, I couldn't understand why they needed to fight with their fists like primal beings. Was this primal instinct for them?

Only seconds passed before a noiseless bell rang in their minds and they began running head first towards one another. The sound of flesh hitting flesh surprised me, Ajax's fist slamming into Zeph's cheek, pushing a few steps back as he relieved himself from the shock. Touching his face with the same radiating flame, face already swelling and dark marks. I could only watch frozen in astonishment that I was watching this display of madness. I've only learned to fight for defense purposes while they both looked like they were trained to fight and kill. Zeph launched a solid fist of his own, directed at Ajax face which he dodged with grace, launching a kick towards Zeph's rib. Only his touch grazed him as he jumped back to avoid the damage.

Should I stop them? Put in an effort at least, right? Right? Zeph returned to a fist pose, both fist in front of him, one closer to his uninjured cheek, bending his knees. Ajax just stood tall and warrior-like with his naked chest puffed out towards Zeph as he came towards him. Effortlessly, Ajax caught Zeph's fist in the palm of his hand, sending his knee right into his gut with incredible force that made Zeph fall back on his knees, holding his stomach.

"That's enough!" I called, knowing frankly that Zeph, no matter how strong he looked, wouldn't be able to win this against Ajax. "Stop it!"

They both ignored me, Zeph rising to his feet, still holding his stomach with one hand and a prideful grin on his face, knowing he wouldn't give up so easy. He took a deep breath, Ajax circling him like a giant knowing the exact outcome with a smile on his own. "Enigma, I guess you are all talk and no show," Ajax boasted, hands prepared for Zeph to throw another failing blow. "I thought you wanted to entertain her highness with your superb combat skills. Bring honor to yourself so she'd think you were her only protector."

"Still a manipulative child, I see," Zeph laughed. Ajax frowned, raising an eyebrow in question, probably thinking the same thing I did. Did Zeph...eavesdrop on us?

Zeph took this chance as an opening as he launched his body at him, throwing his arms at Ajax to grasp him which Ajax leaned back. Kicking a knee out quickly towards his gut, Ajax also dodging, Zeph kicked his opposite leg out straight into Ajax's square chin. As if that weren't enough to take him down, he backed up until his hands were around the steel pole, running around it until he had enough stamina to swing his legs right into the side of Ajax's head. Blood gushed down his face, Ajax stumbling back and finding support in the elastic rope behind him.

I gasped at the sight of blood running down Ajax's face, dripping into his right eye and down his chin. "Ahh..." slipped off my tongue before covering my mouth. "No..."

Unfazed by it, Ajax just sat up after a moment of composing himself, cracking his knuckles, allowing the blood to continue to seep down his face like it was the wind blowing in which he found comfort in. His eyes grew darker at the sight of Zeph as he scowled. "It won't be that easy to break me, Enigma." Zeph threw his leg at him again, multiple times as Ajax blocked each one gracefully, turning around in a split second to jab his elbow into his throat. "So selfish you are, Prince Zeph of Lux," Ajax insulted, watching Zeph stumble back, almost tripping over the falling pole as he held onto his throat, cough and gasping for air. Ajax slammed his foot into his cheek, blood gushing out of his mouth from the impact. "If I knew you were fighting for Selene's integrity, you might have had a chance." Arching his fist back expressionless, Ajax threw it towards Zeph's face and I gasped. He stopped a few centimeters away from Zeph's blank face that mimicked his own, causing him to c**k his head, nonetheless unsurprised. "Where's your mind wandered off to?"

"Shut up!" he spat back. He slowly crept to his feet weakly, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "I remember you years ago, running up to her to get her to choose you and not your brother like a manipulative snake" He chuckled through the pain. "I don't see you as competition because you weren't supposed to exist in the first place." Grasping the pole behind him, my heart almost ceased in my chest at what I knew would be coming as the pole lifted in the air and sliced through towards Ajax. Instinctively, Ajax held up his hands, palms out to catch it above his head, only an inch from penetrating his skull. With sweat and blood glistening down his face, he held it away as Zeph tried his hardest to bring it down with little success.

"Zeph, stop!" I screamed, reaching the edge of the ring, looking up at them. "You're going to kill him!"

Dismissing my words, he pulled the heavy pole out of Ajax's grasp and tried once more to slam it down. This time Ajax barely caught it, the sweat clamming his hands, making him drop to a knee to keep it up. Before I could help myself, before anything worst could occur, I slide beneath the ropes of the ring as Zeph decided on a second maneuver, swinging the pole over his own head to swing from the side directed at Ajax. My world seemed to slow down as ran towards Ajax, his eyes piercing into Zeph's blood shot eyes. Both of them were unnoticing of me running between them as the pole sliced towards Ajax in a curved formation.

"Stop!" I screamed, reaching Ajax in time, grasping him in surprise. He surprised me as well, catching me in one arm and using the other block me, a little perplexed at the touch of me covering my body over his, shuddering. I cringed at the inevitable impact of the steel on both our bodies, shivering at the thought of the pain. How'd it become this way? How did I get here, protect the one who frightened me the most this week and going against the man I thought I loved? How?

A few seconds rolled by and the pole still hadn't collided into my spine yet. Did Ajax catch it?

Curiously, I turned around. I shouldn't have looked. In Zeph eyes, we both knew something had changed tonight, something no other competitor had yet done. I couldn't deny anything, not from a lack of not knowing what for or why. I just couldn't. I'd turned my back on Zeph, having no reason for my actions as I held Ajax tighter, hearing the pole crash on the floor and footsteps clambering out the ring, out the door, disappearing down the hall. The doors closed back automatically, leaving us two still holding one another.

Silence shadowed us like guards, protecting this period and time, until I pulled away, a bit ashamed. He wouldn't let me go so simply. "Why?" he asked, his deep voice tickling my ear.

I stared at the dumbbells on the opposite side of the gym to keep my eyes off of him. "You're a guest," I explained softly, his hand gliding down to my naked thigh. "I need to protect you as your hostess."

Catching my chin, he pulled me to face him. Blood still slipped down his face with sweat mingled in. Using the hem of my shirt, I reached up and wiped some of it away gently. His eyes reminded me of a dark twilight sky with specks of gold I could get lost within if I wasn't careful. He said no words of thanks, reassurance, or kindness. "You're an idiot." With that, he captured my lips, holding me close as I sat on his lap, engulfed in the sensation of his lips as if it were the first time. Still warm from the fight, all the verbal words I was looking for were generated through his lips in this special way, his fingers running through my hair. His tongue searched for mine heatedly and I pried my mouth open, offering it to him willingly. How could I be feeling this way, at the thought of Zeph killing him?

Was it because he was different than what I'd imagined?

Breathing heavily, I pulled away. However, his eyes begged for more as he stretched his neck out towards me. I turned away, needing to find some space for myself. This was happening too fast, flashbacks of when I felt this way during Virginity Lost, for Zeph. "No more..." I whispered, my own lips deceiving my words as the quivered.

"No," he said sternly, pressing his lips to mine again with a fervor that ignited a fire within me as well. Holding me tightly, he leaned me down so his own body now covered mine, our lips never parting. As our lips danced as if it would be our last, I skimmed my fingers along his jawline and down his injured chin. He didn't flinch, pressing his body onto mine. His fingers crawled down my thigh tenderly, finding my core which had become wet the moment his lips touched mine.

"Stop...please..." I begged, feeling my entire body tremble with anticipation.

His lips kissed my cheek then the nap of my neck, going towards my earlobe. His hot breath whispered, "I'm done fighting for today." His fingers continued to encircle my core as I arched my back, aching for more. "All I want to do is pacify your body, so please allow me to do so."

Turning my head, I met his lips again, one hand caressing his cheek, the other touching the band of his cotton pants. He got the hint, kissing me with more eagerness, slipping his pants down as he widened my legs. "Why...why do...do I want...want you...so much?" I sighed heavily, between each kiss.

"I was thinking the same," admitted, sliding himself inside me. At the surging pleasure, we both moaned, completely enthralled by it. In the back of my head, I wondered if Zeph would return and catch us like this. At the thought, my heart pounded but I didn't want Ajax to let go. Skimming my nails gently along his chest where the previous marks still healing up, I licked his lips as if they were my own.

Was I doing this because I thought he could've died this morning? Would I be doing the same if the shoe was on the other first and Zeph was the one I threw my body on to protect? I didn't know the answer to either one, his pulsating manhood clouding my mind.

"You know...he was right," Ajax said through his heavy pumps within me.

"About what?" I held onto his shoulders, not ready to let go and he kissed my temple before speaking again.

"I wasn't meant to be here. You made your choice back then. If I..."

"Ajax..." He looked at me with an expression of wonderment at my features. "Shut up. What's done is done. Now f**k me harder."

All too pleased by that, he pumped harder inside me. Waves of ecstasy hit me in the gut every time he hit my core, kissing my lips roughly. Rolling over to get on top of him, I rode him hard, feeling my inside bursting in excitement, himself slamming simultaneously inside me, starting to sit up himself. We held each other tight, still not understand this complexity between us, just understanding that this urge for one another at this time wasn't something we could fight.

Ripping off my shirt he gave me, he cupped my breast, licking them as I arched my back, grinding against him harder. We should've been tired. We should've been asleep. Not having s*x at almost three in the morning.

To my displeasure, he pulled out just as my core was heating like a fire. As if he knew I didn't enjoy the tease of him out of me, he chuckled, pulling up his pants. "How about you sleep over in my room?"

Shy, I grabbed his shirt to put on but he swiftly snatched it from my hands, grasping my hands to pull me up. "What...?"

"Zeph might be waiting for you in your room. He might hurt you..."

"He would never."

He helped me to my feet, his eyes serious when he said, "Just stay with me, Serene." Something in his voice compelled me to nod, taking his hand as we slipped beneath the ropes. Once he slipped down, he lifted my body in his arms, whispering to hold him tight so sensual in my ear, I had to cross my legs in his arms to keep from coming. As he asked, I held him tightly, my chest pressing into his while he walked out the door into the moonlighted halls of the palace. I kept my face hidden, wondering if any of the servants or guards would be up this early to catch us heading to his room in this provocative situation. Strangely, the fear of someone catching us was exhilarating, my heart jumping inside my chest.

But no one caught us, Ajax room only a couple of door from the gym. His room was like any other guest room, spacious with a king sized bed, fur rug, ceiling to floor windows with golden-beige curtains closed and a door opening to the balcony. The lights were off but the moonlight gave us enough assistance to find the bed, Ajax lying me down, leaning over me to kiss my lips.

Finishing what we'd started, he rubbed my core softly, the gentleness this time counteracting the earlier punishment. Ajax, again, shows me he's nothing like I'd imagined. He had layers to him. This made me wonder if others had layers to them as well I hadn't taken noticed.

He penetrated once more with the same fervor he left off on back in the gym which surprised me, him smiling wickedly at me when I gasped. "You said to f**k you harder. Is this good enough?"

Just to show off, he got a little rougher as I arched my back, him holding my legs up as he sat up over me, deepening himself inside me. I could barely speak at the sensation flooding through me, feeling a rolling tide hitting my core, wanting to pour out. As he sped up, I knew he could feel it as well, him sitting me up as I grinded on him, his lips locked onto me, the feeling of his fingers running through my hair making this intimate. We came together, continuing to kiss, him deepening it as he pulled out.

Under the moonlight slowly fade to make room for the day, beneath the covers as we lay side by side, his arm wrapped around my waist, I felt myself drift to sleep. But I wanted to ask him something before I slept, afraid I'd forget if daylight peered through.

"How do you trust a person?" I asked him, looking towards the door. "How do I trust you?"

He kissed my temple, holding me to his hulky chest. "You can never fully trust someone. I never asked you to trust me and I'm not expecting you to do so. Be patient and go to sleep."

Magically, sinking into his arms further, I felt safe enough to fall into a deep rest, his warmth never evaporating from my side. Time seemed to go swiftly in a blink of an eye as sounds began to sharpen through the doorway, growing louder, waking me. Ajax arm remained around my waist, his snore much louder than Zeph's which made me want to chuckle.

"...Ahhh...where is...in her room...no...!"

Oh, the familiar sound of them searching for me. I turned into Ajax body, trying to ignore the sounds and find peace in his warmth. However, I guess the entire palace wanted to have a lurid search party, footsteps shuffling down the halls frantically and voices shouting across the way. Not even Ajax would continue to rest with the noise outside, stirring until his eyes fluttered opened tiredly.

"What in the world is going on?" he asked, grumpily. Spotting me resting on his arm, he kissed my forehead, pushing the locks of hair from my eyes. "I think you should get out there, Princess, so I can get some more sleep."

"Just throw me to the wolves, why don't you?" I jeered, pecking him on the lips before waddling out, throwing the covers over me. He chuckled, sitting up and pushing the covers off himself on his side. Nakedly, he hopped up and headed to his wardrobe to grab some jeans and threw me a long button up shirt. I slipped on quickly, hearing the voices rising into panicked screams and footsteps running faster than normal and in multiples. "Ready?"

Stepping towards me, he granted me one last kiss before we had to return to the competition, tonight being Sam, which I didn't know how I felt about it. His relationship with Trinity still haunted my thoughts. Be a good friend but how could I avoid the inevitable?

Ajax's kiss took me in hungrily, holding me tight in his arms as if to imprint me into his memories. When he pulled away, he reminded me, "Don't trust a soul, not even myself, weakling."

I scoffed. "Of course, you brute." He grinned handsomely, letting me go but gifting me a kiss on the forehead before we had to return. Return to a time when we needed to be wary of one another. Because anything could happen throughout this competition, last night and this morning proved that to me.

Taking a deep breath, I continued to hold his hand as I opened the door, his hand slowly slipping from mine the wider I exposed us. Streams of servants and guards walked around frantically, some leaning against walls with sunken expressions, tears running down their faces. What was going on?

Heading down the hall, I headed towards a couple of maidservants, one crying on the ground while the other was comforting her. "What's going on?" I asked boldly, surprising them as they snapped to their feet, wiping their tears with their sleeves.

"Oh, your highness!" the brunette maid I knew as Helga, only a few months at the palace, greeted. She bit her bottom lips, locking and unlocking her fingers several times and the other, the one crying on the ground known as Malena, couldn't hide the tears very well. "We've been looking for you all morning. Advisor Avant would—"

"You're highness!" shouted Avant, rushing down the hall towards us. The strongest urge to roll my eyes at him had a grasp on me but I contained myself. He was wearing an embellished attire of gold and black velvet rarely worn except for special events. "There you are!" He shooed the maids away pompously before giving me the same hollow expression everyone else had on. "Where have you been, my dear? Everyone has been looking for you all morning."

I waved away his words, knowing the routine of the speech and the scolding of having to be seen at all times, in fear that I'll run away again. "What is going on?"

"You're highness," he repeated even more calmly, which worried me. He hardly ever acted like this. "I have some terrible news this morning. The king...your father...was poisoned early this morning in his private office. He's been confirmed as dead, my Queen."