Hello Literotica! I am back again. I am glad you all enjoyed my last story, and so even though I only wrote this specifically to help myself worldbuild for a light novel I realized I actually really liked Jasmine and Xavier (and Max and Kathy too). There will be a part two, and after that, I will actually start writing the light novel proper. You are here to masturbate tho, so enough blabbing. I hope you enjoy!
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"Phew!" Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xavier shifted his weight and glanced down the dark hallway he was set to guard. As one of the Gamine Gold, his duty was twofold: protect the ruling family from danger and provide the member he was assigned to a safe way to get their rocks off. In the past, the notoriously high libido of the holy family of L'ird allowed its members to be manipulated through sex, so what was once the Gallant Gold were given the additional duty of working to keep the sex drive of the holy family in check, thus renamed the Gamine Gold. In this knighthood, it was considered an honor to receive opportunities to "support" members of the royal family, with only high-ranking knights being allowed to nominate themselves to become assigned consorts in the first place. After proving himself during an attack on the royal family, Xavier eagerly accepted the role of consort to Jasmine Lird VI, the current next in line for the throne.
Clack, clack, clack,...
Xavier jerked to attention as the footsteps coming down the hall grew louder, until the face of Patricia, Jasmine's head maid, rose from the bottom of the stairs. As she walked past one of the lightstones embedded in the wall, her hair appeared to become a deep shade of red before returning to its normal black color. Xavier blinked, wondering if it was a trick of the light as she finally reached the door. Showing Xavier the contents of the food tray she was carrying, she awaited his approval. He nodded and opened the door behind him, giving her access to the princess' chambers.
Even though he was her official consort now, Xavier had yet to actually meet the princess and only knew what she looked like from paintings and passing glances. Supposedly she was gorgeous, with long, toned legs and silky-smooth light-gray hair that almost reached her waist. Despite being the daughter of a beastkin warrior-scholar the current queen met during a political trip, she appeared completely human with no animal parts to speak of.
With a bang, the door that Patricia had left open suddenly slammed shut as a muffled scream came from inside. Xavier rushed to the door, turning the handle frantically but to no avail. He allowed his training to take over his movements and prepared his body for the pain that would come with kicking down the thick door. Spurred on by the increasingly frantic shrieks coming from Jasmine's room, he shot his right foot out toward the side of the door that connected to the wall and shattered its hinges. He rushed into the room, quickly assessing the situation that lay before him.
First, he noticed the destruction that occurred within the few seconds between Patricia entering the room and the start of the yelling. The lavish king-sized bed had been torn up, with the ornate wooden overhang in splinters, the canopy in shreds, and the ripped-up mattress thrown across the room. As he crossed the room toward the closed bathroom door, Xavier heard a shout from inside as it exploded outward. Before he was able to react, something heavy slammed into him. He tumbled across the floor, feeling splinters from the destroyed furniture dig into his back. Rising from the wreckage, Xavier realized it was not an object that was thrown at him, but a person: Patricia!
Confused, he backed away from the now very banged-up maid slowly rising, but something was off about her. Her nails, which had been well kept before, had elongated into awful talons, and her formerly thin arms and legs now bulged with muscle to the point of seriously tearing her maid uniform. Her hair had become a dark red and her eyes that of a feral beast. With a grunt, she launched herself back into the bathroom she had been blasted from. Xavier leaped and collided with her in midair, tackling her to the ground. The monster that was Patricia screeched and slashed at Xavier's throat, forcing him to release her and roll away, positioning himself between the monster and the bathroom. As he and not-Patricia slowly circled each other, he risked a glance into the bathroom behind him. Just as he feared, a pale gray-haired woman crouched on the floor, breathing heavily and bleeding from several nasty-looking cuts all over her body. Her nightgown was tattered and her face was covered in her own blood, and yet she still managed to stay conscious. From where he stood, Xavier could make out the gleam of one of the princess' eyes as she met his gaze between strands of hair and began to straighten.
Xavier returned his attention to not-Patricia just in time to swat away another lunge with a swift roundhouse to her face. Xavier smirked at the loud crack he heard when his foot connected with not-Patricia's jawbone, sending her careening into the wall to the right of the bathroom door. Now that he had his bearings, Xavier was certain that this monster was no match for...
Thunk.
Xavier felt a sudden sharp pain in his left forearm. Looking down, blood had begun oozing from the talon that had somehow embedded itself into him. As he reached for it, he heard a voice:
"It's barbed! Don't try to pull it out, just ignore it for now!" From his peripheral vision, he saw the princess had limped out of the bathroom to stand at his side. "As you probably noticed, brave knight," she said with a smirk, "the bitch shoots barbs. Lucky for you, I can deflect them before your wonderful muscles take any more punishment." Flicking her wrist, another talon Xavier failed to notice was redirected into the ceiling above, quivering slightly as if irritated it was deflected from its target.
Xavier moved in front of the princess and pulled two knives, his weapons of choice, from their sheaths on his back.
"Skyaaaaaaahhhh!" The imposter became a blur as it began a seemingly endless flurry of talons, all aimed directly at Xavier's heart. Despite all his training, determination, and mental preparation, he couldn't help but flinch at the sight of hundreds of onyx barbs almost impaling him, each barely deviating from its path inches from his skin to launch itself at the wall instead.
In the split second in which he flinched, Xavier found himself recalling a lesson he took on magic users. That particular class focused on how wind magic worked, and he was in attendance primarily to learn more about the princess he wanted to be assigned to. "Wind magic requires the creation of rhythmic 'wind' through short breaths. This attunes the mage to the ebb and flow of the air, given the human is capable of attunement. Humans affected by air magic don't sense it like they do with enchantments or curses that directly affect them, though. Only the air is targeted directly, so no ice in your spine. At advanced levels, a wind mage can..."
It was the Princess' controlled rhythmic breathing that snapped him back to reality. The short bursts of breath broke through the irrational panic he felt, and with that newfound calm, Xavier took his first tentative step towards not-Patricia. It looked at the unharmed Xavier and cocked its head in confusion. As he took another step forward, it suddenly stood and began retreating toward the kicked-in door without ceasing its talon onslaught.
"I'm trustin' you, Princess." Xavier quipped as he charged forward, desperately trying to keep his eyes open in the face of so many dreadful talons. With only a few feet left between them, Xavier saw something akin to panic flash through its almost-human face. Not-Patricia suddenly gave up on the barrage and lunged for the exit, throwing the forgotten tray on the floor at Xavier in an attempt to slow him down. Finally seeing his chance, he deftly used one dagger to slice clean through the silver tray, hurling the other as hard as he could muster. It perforated the back of not-Patricia's head with a sickening crunch, burying itself almost completely into the imposter's skull. Not-Patricia stiffened as the momentum it had already built up carried it just out the door but no further as it collapsed with only a single still foot being visible to Xavier.
"That was amazing! Woooooh!" Xavier started at the sudden exclamation from Jasmine and quickly turned to face her.
"Princess, are you ok? You're covered in cuts! Aw shit, I'm gonna lose my job on the first day..." He sat down on what remained of the demolished bedframe with a dejected look appearing between his dark brown curly locks. Feeling a hand cup his cheek, he looked up to meet the princess' pale green eyes.
"Don't worry guy, you did your job. I'm alive! This was incredible!" Jasmine gestured around her, excited at the completely wrecked bedroom. "Papa always told me how exciting it would be but I never thought fighting for your life would feel this GOOD!" Xavier stared up at the princess, stunned. He looked at all the cuts and gashes that covered her mostly naked body, as well as the droplets of blood she was leaving as she began to walk about the room. Using the arm without the barb in it, he reached into a small pouch inside his leather vest and pulled a small jade stone shaped like a heart.
"Princess, please take this. I honestly should have thought of this sooner." Xavier walked in front of Jasmine, who was still taking victory laps around the room, and held the gemstone out to her. She made a face, then pointed to Xavier's wounded arm.
"Last I checked, a poisoned barb
may
take precedence over some scrapes." Grabbing the barb with both hands, Jasmine quickly ripped it out as green-tinted blood began pouring out of the hole.
"Ghaaah! Son of a bitch! Would it kill you to..." Xavier quickly looked down and muttered an apology, only for Jasmine to begin laughing as she held the stone to the wound.
