Welcome to The Prince’s Boy by Cecilia Tan, a tale of a prince and his whipping boy ensnared in a plot of dark erotic magic. Warning: explores themes of dubious consent and situations of sexual jeopardy. NSFW.

A new chapter appears every Wednesday. This week is Chapter Twenty-Three: Kenet

23: Kenet

I stood at the base of the tower facing the door that would lead me up into Seroi’s realm. It was time, perhaps past time, that I climbed the stairs to meet him. What was he doing up there right now? Was he wondering where I was? How bad would the punishment be if I delayed longer? Would it worsen the longer I waited?

I shivered, unable to imagine what he might do to me, and then shivering all the more as I realized my cock was growing eager. I hissed softly as it grew, thrusting up against my belly between my skin and the waistband of my breeches. Evil thing, my prick, I thought, as if it wanted me to suffer.

Maybe that was Jorin’s doing? He used to tease me so mercilessly, perhaps he had conditioned me from the start, before Seroi even began his magical treatments on me?

I leaned my head against the wood. Surely once my coming of age ceremony was complete, I would no longer need these rituals and spells? I could certainly force myself to go through with it just a few more times. It wasn’t as if the process was truly painful—in fact, it was usually quite pleasurable—and Seroi himself had assured me it was necessary for my health and my future. I couldn’t take the chance that he spoke true that stopping short of completely freeing me of the magical shackles on my libido would result in crippling me for the rest of my life.

I would be brave. Jorin and I would be together forever with no more threats once I was king. The first step in that process was the ceremony. I pulled open the door and began to ascend.

I emerged at the top level of the tower fully clothed this time, but swayingly dizzy from the incense. I put a hand to my forehead, as if I could steady the swimming of my vision. I stumbled forward with my eyes closed, then opened them cautiously.

My breath caught when I saw what awaited me at the center of the magical circle. Another thing like the previous one, only this one was much larger, as thick around as my wrist and as long as Bear’s dagger, handle included. It gleamed like wet glass and I saw it was sitting on a dark irregular spot—a small puddle.

I looked up to see Seroi glaring at me, arms folded over his chest. “Are you ill today, my prince?” he asked in a low voice.

I shook my head. “Just… perhaps. I haven’t felt… right.”

He gave a slow nod. “Your reluctance is the last vestige of the magics you are shedding. Haven’t I explained that?”

Oh. “Yes. You have. It just… it feels like the feelings are my own.”

“Of course it does,” he said, sounding more indulgent now. “That is how insidious the restrictions are. I suppose I should be proud of myself for having woven such a strong web. But I will tell you, Kenet, I am growing concerned with how little time we have left before the ceremony.”

I merely nodded, wringing my hands and waiting for him to tell me what to do. But of course he didn’t tell me, just stared at me and waited for me to give in. I swallowed once more and began to strip down until I was as naked as the day I had been born. I even took one step closer to the thing sitting on the floor.

And then I surprised myself. “No. I can’t.”

He didn’t move, but I felt magehands caressing my body, from my thighs upwards. “Why is that, my prince?”

I just shook my head. I didn’t want that thing inside me, but I couldn’t say that to him. I knew it would only draw ridicule and more scolding.

“Are you afraid it will hurt? The previous one did not, you may remember.”

I just closed my eyes, silent, mind racing for a way out, even as I could feel my heartbeat in my rampant cock. The invisible fingers stroked up and down my shaft wordlessly promising pleasure.

I shook my head again. “I said no. There must be another way.”

A low chuckle set the hairs on the back of my neck rising. “And if there is another way, will you take it, my princeling?”

I nearly said yes, then held my tongue. “What is this other way?”

“I assure you, the easier method is to do as before. If you like, I will even allow you to lie back instead of lowering yourself…”

“What is the other way?” I insisted.

He was suddenly close, moving with magic so that one instant he was standing outside the circle, the next, he was pressed against me, his robes scratchy against my bare skin and one arm behind my back. “The other way is to take something else in its place, namely the prick of the mage who bespelled you to begin with.”

I tried to push him away, but he was holding me fast.

“I assure you, Kenet, I have no qualms about doing so if that is what you would prefer,” he said, eyes glittering.

“N-no,” I stammered. Then abruptly, he was gone, standing a few steps away once more, leaving my knees weak.

“I did not think you would choose that way,” he said, smoothing his robes. “It is raw and barbaric, but I would have made it pleasurable for you had you wished it. You are back to my original choice for you, my prince.” He indicated the protrusion with a gesture of his hand. “It need not go all the way in, if that worries you, though you will need to take at least half of it for it to be effective.”

I shook my head, this time turning away from him and the thing so that I would not need to see either any longer.

There was a long stretch of silence in which I tried not to even breathe.

Then a long sigh came from him. “Kenet. Have I explained to you the consequences of…”

“You have.”

“We cannot go back now. We can only go forward. I do not have any more choice about this than you do.”

My shoulders slumped. “Please,” I said. “Give me until tomorrow. I’ll come again at the same time and I’ll try to do it tomorrow.”

Silence again. I resisted the urge to turn around. Jorin leapt into my thoughts, but I held still and quiet.

“If you cannot manage it,” Seroi whispered, “if you cannot work the ritual phallus into yourself, I will be forced to tie you down and use my own prick to finish the ritual.”

Very well. Tonight I would let Jorin be the one to do it. Tomorrow I would come back to Seroi and tell him I didn’t need him or his thing because it was already done by my Jorin’s cock. “Tomorrow,” I repeated. “I’ll come back tomorrow and all will be well.” I turned suddenly then and threw myself to my knees at his feet, clutching at his robes. “Please, my lord, please. Should I promise…?”

His hand on my hair was so gentle it brought a sudden sob to my throat. “Hush, no. No promise. Oh, Kenet, you have a good heart. You are lovely and pure. The people will love you as king.”

My tears soaked his robes as he went on. “I love you, my prince,” he said. “You are very dear to me. Return tomorrow and we shall finish this.”

“And all will be well,” I said, making a promise to myself in my heart that it would be, one way or the other. Would lightning strike me dead if it were not?

I was ready this time when he bent down to kiss me, and instead of ash, the kiss tasted of tears.

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About the author: Cecilia Tan is the award-winning author of many erotic books and stories and the founder of Circlet Press.