Five Star Kiss

Duchess Rowen held on to Jewels tighter as she told Jewels of their engagement.

"They have been engaged since they were babies.  They had no say on who they could marry.  They have only met a handful of times."  Duchess Rowen comforted Jewels.  "Just look at Prince Raiden's countenance while they are together.  He is cold towards her at all times and doesn't care for her.  Its a political marriage, not a love match."

Jewels snorted at her luck.  In her past life as Julianna, her love blinded her to James's betrayal.  In Jemma's lifetime, her love blinded her in giving total faith to Prince Ivan's betrayal.  In this lifetime, Jewels will not give her love so blindly and be so foolish to trust others so quickly.  Although her heart hurt to see Raiden with Princess Anna, Jewels had to remind herself that Prince Raiden has the whole kingdom to think about and not just her selfish desires. 

"Prince Raiden can still marry you as well," Aunt Nora said trying to comfort her.  Jewels knew that in this world polygamy was accepted for both men and women, as long as they could afford it. 

"As if I want to marry him," Jewels said. 

Uncle Sam and Aunt Nora smiled at Jewels indulgently as they knew, their niece had fallen in love with Price Raiden, but had not fully realized it yet.  The statement she made was a lie.

------------------------

For the second day of the Madewell tournament, Jewels sat with the Mulberry Kingdom booth, sharing it with the Redbane Kingdom.  Both kingdoms did not bring a lot of people.  Redbane Kingdom, had only Raiden and four ministers, while Mulberry Kingdom, had Princess Jewels, four ministers and the Rowen Clan. When Jewels walked into the booth with the Rowen's, she was quickly introduced to everyone there.  After giving her greeting, she sat down between her Grandmother and Aunt while Uncle Sam went to converse with the others. 

Princess Anna sat closely to Raiden and became very attentive towards Raiden.  She would place fruit and pastries on his plate if he wanted to eat and refilled his cup of wine after he drank some out of the wine glass. Jewels did not look at Raiden for the beginning of the tournament when there were performers and entertainers on the arena stage.  Her ignoring him, caused him to become agitated and annoyed him, that he had no patience with Princess Anna.  Every time her arm brushed him, he would send out an electric shock out towards her.  Shocking her arm and causing her to squeak in alarm.  When she got the idea, she became even more determined to attend him and chatted to him constantly about nothing. 

Jewels smiled secretly about Raiden's torture, however it also meant that she also had to hear Princess Anna talk.  Duchess Rowen was never one to hold something back.

"Princess Anna sure does like to chat today.  Your intriguing conversation about Madewell weather and its southern seaboard location is one which no one knows about.  Please do tell us more about your thoughts on Madewell weather and its location."

Jewels wanted to laugh out loud, but it took all of her strength not to show any emotions.  Although she loathed to see Princess Anna beside Raiden and held a small grudge against Princess Anna for yesterday's incident, Jewels didn't really hate Princess Anna to carry on Duchess Rowen's bullying with her. So instead,  Jewels closed her eyes and prayed to the Goddess for strength.

Princess Anna stopped talking after that.  Everyone could see her sulking in her seat, but tried her best to be attentive towards Raiden. 

When a Mulberry maid came to serve the Rowen's Clan, Jewels couldn't help but grind them into the dirt even more. 

"Oh, no, what ever happened to your face!"  Jewels cried out in a factitious concern. "Grandmother, look at Mulberry's maid's face.  Who could ever do such a thing? To ruin a face is to ruin one's future." 

"Granddaughter is so caring, but granddaughter does not have to worry about it.  I'm sure this maid failed her duties and was disciplined within the correct manner."  Duchess Rowen said as her eyes lit up. 

"Grandmother, but don't you think it too harsh?  To hit and mark a face, especially a woman's face?  Isn't that just too cruel?" Jewels said.

"Cruel or not, she is a maid after all.  She must of done something to make her Mistress lose face and received her punishment to remind the others of their place. It is not our place to judge how others discipline their servants."

With Duchess Rowen's statement, she implied that Princess Anna is cruel by disciplining all her maids by hitting and marking them in the face.  Princess Anna quickly got up and stomped her feet.  She was about to speak out, but was held back by an elderly Minister.

"Princess Anna has no dealings with the disciplining of her servants.  It was her nurse's maid who is in charge of disciplinary actions." 

"Minister Roses, I never said that it was Princess Anna who personally took her hand to her maids.  All I said was that it was not our place to judge how others discipline their servants. We Rowen Clan as well as everyone else has no right to judge the inner dealings of servant and master.  If you say that it was Princess Anna's nurse's maid,  than it was she who disciplined the maids.  Besides, Prince Raiden said something wonderful last night, he said something about how the actions of servants are the actions of their master."

Minister Roses face turned red with anger, but he no longer said anything else to provoke Duchess Rowen.  Duchess Rowen had a poisonous tongue that no one could counterattack. 

The loud banging of the drums could be heard that signifies the entrance of the royal family brought the end of the conversation and the beginning of the tournament.  The tournament for the last group of people were set up to be one opponent against one opponent.  With ten participants, there were going nine rounds of fighting to determine the winner.  Jewels sat in her seat the whole time, studying and remembering each contestant's face and their fighting technique.  Jewels felt that her current level, could probably beat someone who was a level 8 cultivator, but she would struggle with anyone who was level 9 and above.  

As the day progressed, Jewels tuned everyone out as she studied the competitors.  These people were the people that would be in the Sky Ship along with her.  She needed to know how they fought to understand what she would be going up against should they decide to attack her in the ship.  She needed to survive five days on Sky Ship along side 14 people who either hated her or didn't care for her. 

At the end, the winner of the competition was a man that Harvey personally took a liking to and mentored him.  His name was Aaron and Jewels saw him a couple of times around the Brooks Manor, however she had no interaction with him. The second person on the top 5 was another student of Harvey, her name was Olivia and she tormented Jemma as a child and well into her teenage years. 

Seeing this Jewels was not happy with the outcome, however she knew when she went into the Sky Ship, she would have to be careful.  The fighting portion of the tournament ended and the celebration started.  The ceremonial hall was packed even more than it was yesterday and everyone was barely able to move about.  Jewels was stuck with the Rowen's Clan and waved over her Uncle Jude and Pop pop to join them.

"Grandmother can Uncle Jude and Pop pop join us?"  Jewels asked. "I want everyone who I care about join us in celebration."

"Of course darling." Duchess said as she ordered two maids to bring one more chair for Pop pop and make room for Uncle Jude and his wheelchair. 

Jewels was ordered to sit on the end of the table closest to Princess Anna and Raiden.  She drank heartily and ate joyously as she celebrated the tournament with her family.  She could feel a constant cold breeze blow at her and knew it came from Raiden.  As the celebration progress, the colder and colder it became.  Princess Anna who couldn't stand the cold any longer, excused herself and went to go talk to other Princes and Princesses that were in attendance. Once she left, the cold air became insufferable, Jewels could feel Raiden oppress Jewels slowly with the cold air, wanting her to submit to him. 

With her stubborn nature, she refused and kept celebrating along with her family.  Suddenly Roku stepped next to Jewels and took the wine glass away from Jewels and a glass of water was placed into her hand. 

"My Master, His Highness, request that the Prince's golden gift not over indulge and make Prince Raiden lose any face." 

Jewels eyes whips to Raiden as their eyes meet.  His eyes were an onyx black pool of deathly coldness, while Jewels eyes were a blue violet rage that burned hot.

"As His Highness commands." Jewels said through her teeth. 

Jewels turns back around, ignoring Raiden as she continues to talk to her family still determined to enjoy herself and the rest of the celebration.  Jewels knew when Raiden finally gave in and switched seats, to sit next to her.  She could feel the cold breeze turn cool as he reached out and placed in front of her a piece of her favorite fruit.  Jewels stared at the fruit in front of her for a long time before picking it up with her fork and ate it.  It was the sweetest fruit to chew and the hardest to swallow.  For her throat closed up as emotions flooded through her.  She missed him.  She missed everything about him. But with the way he chose how to deal with the situation he was in, was the wrong move.  Jewels felt he should have told her what was going on, then that way she would not be in the dark and maybe there was a chance she could help him.  Instead he told her nothing and left her behind, hoping that she would trust him.  As if she was some kind of damsel in distress who couldn't do anything. 

Jewels then took Raiden's most hated fruit and pierced it on her fork.  Instead of placing it on the plate in front of Prince Raiden, she guided her hand towards his mouth with the intention to feed him.  Smiling wickedly with a raised eyebrow, Jewels bit back her laughter and waited to see if Raiden would eat the fruit or not. 

Raiden looked at Jewels annoyingly for a second.  He was trying to be nice to her and she was wicked towards him back.  She did not give in to him at all.  Instead she challenged him. Which drove him to madness, but he wouldn't have it any other way.  To be able to want to kiss her and bite her at the same time.  To want to hold her and punish her.  To want to listen to her and shut her mouth with a kiss.  To want to sleep every night next to her and wake up intertwined every morning.  To wanting to see her, feed her and take care of her. To want to bind her to him so tightly that no one could tell where she ended and where he started . 

Raiden opened his mouth and Jewels put in the fruit with a crooked smile. 

"Good right?" Jewels said rubbing more salt into his wound.

"Hmm,"  Raiden said as he grabbed his glass of wine. 

Jewels quickly grabs his glass of wine from his hand and drinks it down quickly and then she drank her glass of water next, draining it of any liquid.  All the while, Jewels eyes shown in merriment, Raiden's eyes started out to her in annoyance.  When the servant came to refill Prince Raiden's glass, Jewels held on to the wine glass and brought the liquid to her mouth.  When she drank most of it, she left enough for one mouth full as she swirled the wine in the glass.

"Would Prince Raiden like the last of the wine?"  Jewel teased.

"Yes,"  Raiden said as he swallowed the fruit.  He wanted the wine to wash away the taste of the fruit.  "Give me the last of the wine."  He demanded.

"As my Prince wishes."  Jewels said as she brought the wine to her lips and drank the rest of it.  Jewels leans forward and places her lips on his and kisses him.  As his mouth opens, she pushes the wine slowly into his mouth and he drinks.  He kissed her as if she was wine itself to a thirsty man.  Their kiss that started sensually, soon became a fight for dominance.  Her lips fought for all the words unsaid.  And his lips retaliated in return for obedience.

Her touch, calmed his soul and took away the burning energy from his veins.  He felt he could breath again.  In the week that he did not see her, he could feel the loneliness and stillness in his life.  He was always someone who was comfortable in stillness, who loved being alone.  But when he met Jewels, she was a fireball that burned brightly and turned his world upside down. 

When Jewels pulled back from him, ending their kiss.  Jewels looked at him wickedly. 

"Why'd you do that for?" Raiden asked quietly between breaths.

"Cause I wanted to."  Jewels replied. "When have I ever done anything I didn't want to do?"

"True."  Raiden smirked back at her.

Jewels eyes catches Princess Anna as she makes her way towards them.  Knowing the Princess Anna has seen their kiss, Jewels takes Raiden's hand and brings it to her lips.

"The kiss is to remind you of what's between us.  This," Jewels said as she opens her mouth and bites down hard on the back of his hand causing her teeth mark to show.  Raiden didn't even make a sound when she bit down on his hand.  He looked at her amusingly.  Indulging her immature behavior. "This is to remind everyone who you belong to."

Raiden couldn't help himself and laughed out loud causing everyone to stare at them.  The stoic and cold Prince of Redbane laughing was a sight no one has seen before.  When he laughed everyone in the crowd knew it was his golden gift who was the cause of the laugh.  There were stories of how his golden gift changed him, but when they finally saw them out in public, they acted like strangers and the stories died down as rumors.  They thought that since Princess Anna was around Prince Raiden, his countenance would change in the face of his fiancee, however he became colder every time they were together.  With his golden gift next to him and everyone seeing them share a heated kiss as well as their hands holding each other, there were no other conclusion that his golden gift was the reason why he laughed. 

When Princess Anna came up to them, she reached out to yank Jewels hand to take away from Raiden.  Roku appeared out of nowhere and stopped Princess Anna's hand before she could touch Jewels. 

"How dare you lay your hand on me." Princess Anna shouted.  "Let me go!"

Roku lets go of her but stands his ground behind Jewels's chair.  His intentions were clear.  He would stand by Jewels and ensure her safety in front of Princess Anna and the whole room.

"Take your hands off my fiancee!"  Princess Anna yelled at Jewels. "How dare you kiss His Highness!  Have you no shame to kiss His Highness in public, shaming your family for your lack of manners!"

Instead of answering, Jewels kisses the bite mark on his hand.  Princess Anna gasps and as if on instinct, her hand raises up and the palm of her hand opens up to slap Jewels's face.  Roku was expecting this and instead of hitting Jewels, Roku again blocks the attempted hit with his hand again. 

"I said let go of me!"  The Princess demanded.  "How dare you touch me again!  Beloved, what are you going to do about this!?! How are you going to punish your servant for touching me? Someone who is of higher standing than he is!  How can a lowly servant touch me, when no male has touched me before.  He has ruined my purity!  I want his head!"

Jewels scoffed at her ridiculousness and over dramatic ways. The scene she was causing was going to ruin her image.  Jewels sat back to watch the show unfolding in front of her.  Princess Anna continued to yell all her thoughts without giving Raiden a chance to talk.

"Why aren't you doing something about this!  I have been wronged!  Your fiancee has been wronged! I have been touched by somebody other than you!" 

Princess Anna's words got more and more ridiculous as she talked. 

"How can you just let another man touch me!" Princess Anna yelled louder and louder with each sentence, drawing more attention to herself .

It was finally then that Minister Roses came from behind her and whispered for her to stop talking and let Raiden talk.

"Did this Prince not say yesterday that the actions of servants are the actions of their Master?" Raiden said coldly.

"Yes." Princess Anna whispered as her face started to turn white.

"Where you not reminded of this fact earlier today?" Raiden reminded her.

"Yes."

"Then what is the problem?" Raiden icily barked out through his teeth.  "If this Prince wants to protect this Prince's golden gift from your hands, it is well within the rights of this Prince to use this Prince's servants to do this Prince's bidding."

Princess Anna's face flushed white with discourage then red with anger.  From one moment to the next, she turned her anger towards Jewels. 

"You loose woman!  How dare you touch Prince Raiden!  Do you not know that Prince Raiden and I are betrothed?  How dare you touch another woman's man!"

Jewels still held on to Prince Raiden's hand and drew circles on the back of his hand, tracing the bite mark.  Her touch caused Raiden's mind to haywire and made it hard for Raiden to concentrate. 

"This Prince's golden gift has permission to touch this Prince when ever this Prince's golden gift wants to."  Raiden said as he squeezed Jewels's hand tighter, causing Jewels to breath faster.  "You have no say in what this Prince's golden gift can and can not do or say.  Just because you now hold the title of my betrothed does not mean you can dictate this Prince's comings and goings."

Princess Anna looked at Raiden as if her whole heart broke.  They were betrothed to each other since they were babies.  All her life she heard of all the heroic endeavors he accomplished and how loved and respected his people showed him.  All her life, there were no rumors of him taking a liking to any woman, so she thought that he held her in his heart, waiting for the day that they marry.  She came to Madewell because she heard rumors about Prince Raiden and his golden gift.  How the golden gift bewitched him.  When she first came, there were no interactions between the two so she was satisfied with the stories being jealous rumors, but the moment Jewels walked into the same room, Princess Anna could see the change come over Prince Raiden and see how his eyes followed her every movement.  When she fought in the arena, she saw how tightly he held on to the armchair in nervousness.  And when she won, Princess Anna saw him breath a sigh in relief and saw his shoulders relax.  It was then that she knew she had to kill Jewels before Jewels filled his heart even more than it already has.

"So are you saying you will not seek justice for your fiancee?"

"What this Princes is saying is that there is no justice to seek."

Fuming mad Princess Anna looks at Jewels with anger and disdain before she leaves with her bevy of bruised faced maids.  

Turning to Jewels's family Raiden addressed them next.

"Please excuse this Prince.  For this Prince will now be taking this Prince's golden gift home early."

Without another word, Raiden stands up and pulls Jewels along with him.  As he walked towards the exit of the Ceremonial Hall, Jewels walked behind him, their hand still holding on to each other tightly.  When they reached Raiden's black carriage, Raiden opened the door and let Jewels step in first.  When Jewels sat down, Raiden pounced on her, he was barely able to close the carriage door tightly before his he crushed her to the seat.  Covering her from head to toe with his body, arms touching every inch of her body. Lips consuming her every being, kissing, licking, biting.  Their breaths came hard and fast as Jewels's hands reached into his pants and made its way to hold him fully.  With his grunts of pleasure, Jewels increased her pressure in her hand and worked him up and down, harder and faster.  His moans rang out loud as she pleasured him with her hand.  His hips pumping up and down, helping her.  He held nothing back as he cried out his release in her hand.  His whole body shook, his knees gave out as he kneeled in front of her.  His lips kissing her lips then trailed down her neck.  Stopping there to suck on her neck as he unbuttons her shirt and undergarments quickly.  When her breast were finally exposed,  Raiden stopped to look at them, burning them into his memory.  With one hand he touched one breast while his lips, tongue and mouth worshiped the other.  He switched between the two, kissing, sucking, squeezing, and caressing them into harden peaks.  Jewels moaned over and over again, rubbing her lower half on him.  With impatience, Raieden pulls off the pants that Jewels wore, along with any undergarments and stuck his head between her legs.  His mouth did all the talking for him as he teased and taunted her into oblivion.  Her legs wrapped itself around his shoulders bring him closer to her as he stuck two fingers into her.  He worked her fast and hard cause she was begging him to.  When he added a third finger, Jewels cried out louder and brought her face to his, to kiss.  His hands worked her over and brought her closer and closer to her peak.  Then suddenly, everything spilled over as Jewels's body shook, pleasure engulfed her every being as her body twitched and Jewels yelled out Raiden's name. 

Within a matter of moments, Raiden had Jewels yelling his name over and over again and again as the carriage made its way to Brooks Manor. By the time the carriage stopped, it had circled the manor five times and Raiden came four times while Jewels came too many times to count.  Her limbs were like jelly and she wasn't able to draw enough strength to get dress and go inside her home.  Finally after a weeks time, she was in his arms again and everything felt right.  She didn't want to move.  They were quiet for a long time, enjoying each other's company before she knew she was going to ruin the moment they shared.

"So," Jewels said as she tilted her head to look at him.  "So old man, you're engaged, huh?"

"Hmm." He said as he acknowledge.

"And when were you planning to tell me?"

"I wasn't." Raiden answered truthfully.

"Is it because I am your golden gift that I don't deserve to know?" Jewels asked angrily. "Is it because I'm just your insignificant golden gift that you don't tell me anything? Is it just because I'm just considered a "thing" your "thing" that I don't deserve the truth!?"

Jewels wanting to not be in his arms anymore begins to move out of his embrace.  Raiden, however had other ideas and holds on to her tighter.  He struggled with her as she tried to escape, while he wanted to hold her in his arms and calm her down.

"Hold still," Raiden said as she tries to pry his fingers open. "Hold still will you!" 

When she still didn't listen, Raiden was forced to use some of his strength to pin her down into the seat underneath him.  His strength easily over powering her and after awhile of her struggling, she finally stops moving and ignores him completely.  Unhappy in her current position and predicament.  Unhappy of how weak she is.

"Look at me,"  Raiden said softly.  "Look at me."

Bringing he head down to nibble her ear, he kept whispering "look at me" between kisses. When Jewels finally looked into his eyes, Raiden smiled and kissed her lips softly. 

"I wasn't going to tell you because to tell you the truth.  In all honesty, I forgot I was engaged.  The last time anyone told me about the engagement was when I was a still a child and we met a few times.  The last time I saw her or went to Mulberry Kingdom had been well over 17 years.  I have since forgotten about it until a week ago when one of my ministers told me that she was on her way here to represent the Mulberry Kingdom."

"And when you did find out and remembered you had a fiancee, when were you going to tell me?"

"I wasn't sure of the situation yet and wanted to find out what I could do to annul the engagement.  I didn't know what to say to you, to tell you the truth. I didn't know how you would react so I decided to not say anything and try my best to figure out the current situation between my Kingdom and Mulberry Kingdom.  And if my Kingdom could take losing the alliance with Mulberry Kingdom. I wasn't willing to give you up nor was I going to be disrespectful towards the girl who is my fiancee and embarrass Mulberry Kingdom, so that's why I left Brooks Manor. I knew you would understand me, when I told your Uncle that I was leaving you in his hands.  I said I was leaving you in his hands not giving you back."  Raiden said as he kissed her forehead. "I will never give you back, even if my father asked it of me, I would find a way to keep you beside me."

Raiden kissed Jewels's cheek before continuing.  "And that's what I have been doing for the past week.  I've sent Ichi and Go to go find the agreement papers drawn between the two countries and bring it back to me to look at them to see if I can break the engagement.  But in the meantime, I have been stuck as her escort, unable to refuse her company at public events.  This evening was the first time I spoke against her in public.  Her ministers will not be happy, neither would be mine, but for you, I'll go against the whole world to have you standing by my side."

Tears threatened to spill over her eyes as she stared at him.  He declared his love and support to her and she couldn't make herself tell him her feelings.  She couldn't trust him blindly yet. She still held on too hard on to her past betrayals to move on from the hurt. 

"Are you going to cry?"  Raiden teased. "Cause you look like you're going to cry."

"No." Jewels pouted as she hid her face between the crook of his neck, breathing his scent into her slowly. 

"Good." Raiden said. "Don't cry.  I don't think my heart could handle it."

"What happens if you have no other options but to marry her?"  Jewels asked.

"Don't think about that now. When the situation arises, we can deal with it then.  There's no sense in worrying about 'what ifs'.  We will always have a path to take even if the path we take looks desolate, as long as we take the same path together, we will be able to make our own fortune."

Jewels nods her head yes to agree with him. 

"Now, you have to give me the Five Star Kiss like we promised."  Raiden said smugly.  She kissed him on his forehead first, making her way down to kiss the tip of his nose.  Raiden turned his right cheek for her to kiss then turned to his left check.  As Jewels kissed his left cheek, her lips guided itself to his lip and at first it was suppose to be a light peck on his lips, but he had other ideas and kissed her back,  His kiss took control as she submitted to him.  With a growl, the kiss consumed the both of them.  Losing track of time, they kept kissing each other until the sound of a carriage could be heard coming towards them.  Panicking, Jewels pushed Raiden away and wiggled out of his embrace and quickly wore her clothes, throwing his clothes to him telling him to get dressed.  Jewels combed through her hair with her fingers, hoping to tame it in some way.

"You know, no matter how many clothes we wear and how many time you comb your fingers through your hair, they will know what we have been up to just by looking at us."  Raiden said as he slowly put his boots back on.  "Your swollen lips tells more of a story than any other lie you want to tell them."

"I hate you." Jewels said sulkily.

"No you don't." Raiden corrected her as he raise the back of his hand where she bit him. "If you did you wouldn't of bit the back of my hand and marked me for all to see."

"Shut up."

"Make me." Raiden teased.