The Tournament by Scarlett Vora Read Free Book Online Page B

marked the King's exit.  
    "Doctor?"  
    He returned to her side. "I didn't think you were awake."  
    "I will never deny you."
    "I know," he said, stroking her hair. "I know."  

7
The Most Intimate Service

    The doctor put Ruby in a palanquin. The bearers carried her to her tent, and Lily helped her settle into her bed.  
    "I saw the doctor carry you into his tent," said Lily, after she tucked Ruby in. "You were white as milk and covered in blood."  
    "Don't tell me," said Ruby, shivering.
    "I thought you were dead."  
    "I did too," said Ruby. "I don't remember being saved."  
    "Would you like me to find out what happened? The other aspirants at the Mage Hall must have seen something."  
    Ruby nodded. "I would."  
    Later that day, the Steward visited her tent to give her a bead of milky green jade, which Ruby strung on her bracelet. Three beads, now: amethyst, pearl, jade. She could leave with her head held high. Years from now, she might have grandchildren who would look at her three beads with awe, and wonder how she'd done it.  
    But she wouldn't leave until she'd recovered. She needed a doctor to get well, and a handmaiden to get her through the days. Lily changed Ruby's sheets, helped her to and from the toilet, brought her meals, and sang her to sleep.  
    She brought gossip, too.
    "Other aspirants who undertook the Third Trial were bled," said Lily one afternoon. "One girl lost so much blood she fainted. But the doctor was busy with you, and then he was too weak to treat anyone."
    "Isn't it odd," said Ruby, remembering what the beautiful young man had told her, "that there have always been more Tournaments in Morrow than there are princes to marry?"  
    "If the King can afford to hold a Tournament, he can afford to wait until the right woman enters it," said Lily. "Besides, the Tournament binds us together. We've all spent time in the tents."  
    "But why are the fluids in my body more magical than yours?" Ruby asked.  
    "I don't know," said Lily.
    The doctor visited her every day. He supervised her first steps, then assigned Lily to take Ruby on short walks around the Pavilion.  
    She hobbled along, feeble and diminished, trying not to worry when she saw women lounging by the pool wearing four, five, even six beads on their bracelets.  
    While Ruby struggled to swim, and then to run, the Tournament continued. The women who'd entered with her either left, or left her behind.  
    One girl even wore a cut diamond on her bracelet, a sign that she had tasted the King's cock. The other aspirants stared at her as though she already wore the crown. She was lovely, with olive skin and plump breasts that begged to be fondled.  
    "Show me my cunt," Ruby begged the doctor. "I have to see it."  
    The doctor spread her legs and held a mirror for her. Ruby looked and looked, but it wasn't enough.
    "Go ahead and touch," said the doctor. "I will supervise."
    She parted the folds of her pussy. She felt slick, warm, elastic—and just as sensitive as ever. Ruby held her breath as she penetrated herself with two fingers, but she found her cunt hot and ready. Exactly as it ought to be.  
    "Make yourself come," said the doctor. "How does it feel?"  
    Ruby spread her legs wider so that he could watch. She couldn't remember the last time she'd gone for so long without giving herself pleasure, without the stimulation of a man's touch. The sensations rose up eagerly, like a dam waiting to burst.
    "Are you close?" the doctor asked, pulling his robe up over his head. His cock was hard, already beading with moisture.
    "Mmm," moaned Ruby.
    He penetrated her as she came. His eyelids fluttered shut as her inner muscles rippled around his hard length, his pale, sculpted lips parting. Such pleasure on his handsome, ascetic face.  
    Ruby wrapped her arms and legs around him, so that he would feel her tremble. "Oh, yes," she murmured. "I love the way you fill me up. I love your cock."  
    He set a steady, slow rhythm.
    "You don't have