Chapter Text
Tadius had never thought of serving as something to be enjoyed.
His previous master was entirely responsible for that. Practically every request the prince had made was either frivolous or outlandishly improper, to put it lightly. Every day it seemed the prince set out to test Tadius’ patience or kill him with embarrassment. Tadius had always responded to requests with internal screaming and as neutral a face he could muster, which even after years of practice he could never get quite right.
All of that changed with Ella however.
Ella had become queen a few months ago now, after the events of the royal wedding, which Tadius still didn’t fully grasp. He hadn’t dared to ask her Majesty about what had happened either, as she had been too wrapped up in her sudden and overwhelming responsibilities as a new monarch, as well as dealing with the grief of losing her two closest friends. Tadius had helped as best he could, as he was already deeply familiar with the responsibilities of a ruler, with how often the Prince had shirked his duty in favor of visiting the nearest brothel.
Much to his surprise, Tadius found himself enjoying being of service to his Queen. Years of habitual disdain in response to requests from royals seemed to vanish the moment he had handed her the crown.
He supposed he shouldn’t have been quite so shocked, his Queen was nothing like the former Prince or the old King. She barely accepted any help in the beginning, her years of servitude under her stepmother and stepsister having conditioned her to bear her burdens alone. He still remembers having to convince her in those first weeks to allow her handmaidens to clean her bedchambers and clear plates after a meal for her.
That was why, whenever she did make any request to Tadius he was more than happy to receive them, and happier to see them fulfilled. He got a deep sense of satisfaction from them; each one showed that she trusted him enough to bear the burden of leadership alongside her, and that she valued his input.
The more shocking part of his enjoyment, though, was less this sense of satisfaction, and more the physical reaction he had begun to have in response to her requests.
-
The first time it happened, they had been going over documents in the royal study. The recent transfer of power had resulted in an immense influx of letters sent to the castle, and Ella had insisted she read each one and respond to as many as she was able.
The two of them had read over the letters in silence until the candles burned low in the early hours of the morning. Tadius had been so focused on his task that he hadn’t noticed the sunrise replacing the candlelight until it shone directly into his eyes, breaking the trance he had unconsciously slipped into. His gaze snapped to Ella, who appeared to be reading upon first glance, but upon further inspection, was simply staring at the same spot on the paper, practically asleep for all intents and purposes.
Tadius extinguished the candles and gently stood to gather up the letters scattered across the desk as best as he could without disturbing her, without success. The movement had jostled Ella slightly, and she put a hand on his arm, freezing him in place.
“Will you escort me to my room, Tadius?” She had requested, soft from exhaustion. She squeezed his arm gently and his entire body flushed from the contact, even through the layers of his shirt. He froze up and his breath hitched in his throat, unused to seeing his queen so vulnerable. The request was an innocent one, but he still found himself getting goosebumps all over. He forced himself to school his expression before turning to help her up.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” He responded, before catching himself, “Ella.”
Ella smiled at that, as she had been trying to get him to refer to her using just her name when they were in private.
They walked back together in a comfortable silence, her arm through his. She had been much closer to sleep than he had realized, and would have led them down a wrong turn in search of her bedchamber, had Tadius not gently corrected her and pulled her in the right direction, her head dropping onto his shoulder with a small huff.
He flushed again at the increased contact, and his heart clenched as his own mind rebuked him. Stop this now. She’s your queen.
Once he had delivered Ella to her room, he stood outside her door for a full minute composing himself. He took a deep breath and let his head drop against the wall, so wrapped up in his thoughts that he had failed to notice the young knight, Sir Crumb, who was now stationed guarding her door. The diminutive knight was inexperienced, sure, but could be rather stealthy when desired.
Sir Crumb cleared his throat, “I can take over the watch from here Mr. Tadius.”
Tadius startled and flushed, embarrassed he had failed to notice the small knight.
“Yes, thank you Sir Crumb,” he responded weakly, then retreated hastily to his quarters.
-
The next morning, Tadius and Ella broke their fast together, going over her itinerary while they ate. This new arrangement with the Queen had taken Tadius some time to get accustomed to as well, but Ella had insisted they eat their meals together whenever they could. Despite knowing better, that his position as a servant made such a suggestion wildly improper, he had barely put up a fight when she had requested it, weakly citing customs before sitting down defeated when she gave him a pointed look, his skin buzzing. The two of them had managed to turn their morning meal into a pleasant and productive way to start their days, after Tadius had settled into the pattern.
“Thank you for your help last night Tadius, however I do have to apologize for keeping you up so late,” Ella said after he had sat down beside her, taking a sip of her tea.
“It was no trouble at all, My Queen,” Tadius responded, exceedingly aware of the two maids standing by the door to the kitchen and how her comment would sound to them. “We made good progress on sorting through those letters, I suspect we’ll only need a few more days to get through the rest.”
Ella hummed in acknowledgement and shot a knowing look at him.
“Tadius? Would you join me in my walk in the gardens this afternoon?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” He felt his stomach flip at her request to spend more time with him.
“Wonderful. That bed of magnolias near the pond could use some special attention I think.”
Tadius felt his skin grow hot. Was he coming down with a fever?
“Happy to be of service, Your Majesty.”
Ella smiled at that, but Tadius could tell from the way her eyebrow quirked upwards ever so slightly, that she had something planned. He felt his pulse quicken and distracted himself by cleaning up his plate and rushing to the kitchen.
-
When Ella had first been crowned, the royal court had immediately tried to test the waters by attempting to push their rather backwards legislation into law. With the former king, this legislation had nearly been passed, no matter how much effort Tadius put into trying to subtly convince him or other nobles otherwise. As soon as Ella was on the throne, she had picked up on this quickly and put a swift end to it. She’d even fired a few of the particularly stubborn old men in the court, much to Tadius’ delight.
He puzzled over his recent reactions as Ella held court at midday with her royal courtiers. Tadius stood to the side of her throne and watched while she dealt with the nobles with a deft yet firm hand. He had grown used to simply observing her by now, his advice not needed as frequently, and so his mind began to wander.
Tadius had worked his entire life in the palace, and his job as a royal attendant was to receive and follow orders. Why was he now having such- such reactions to orders, or even requests? He wasn’t completely oblivious, they were no longer coming from the old king or his obnoxious son, and were now coming from the radiant Ella, which obviously had something to do with it. But he had been attracted to women before and had never felt this strongly about their requests and demands.
Ella isn’t just some woman, he thought to himself, the memory of her the night of the Prince’s ball , of fire and starlight, coming to him unbidden. He still couldn’t remember exactly what she had looked like that night, despite now knowing it had been Ella herself. He could only remember the feeling of interacting with her, exchanging their barbs, the pure dread he had felt when Putrice Ashmore had put on those glass slippers. The terror felt during the wedding as those horrid trolls revealed themselves.
This thought snapped him back to the present. He started paying attention to the discussion again, one of the lords from the village West of the castle was droning on about the taxation of their metal goods. Tadius glanced back to Ella, only to find her staring at him, seemingly noticing his wandering attention. He flushed, and her eyes crinkled in a suppressed smile.
Damn. She’d probably test him on what was being discussed later just to tease him for letting his mind wander. Focus, Tadius.
-
Later, they wandered through the gardens, the sun high in the sky. Sir Crumb trailed behind them, occasionally getting distracted by a butterfly or grasshopper. Tadius found the little mouse endlessly endearing.
“So, what do you think we should do about Lord Egremont’s taxation proposal?” Ella asked, amused.
“Whatever you decide will be the correct decision, Your Majesty,” He deflected.
Ella huffed a laugh, “You didn’t catch a word of it, did you?”
“Apologies, My Queen. I can’t remember why, but I was up late last night and didn’t get enough sleep,” He teased, looking across the gardens with a fake contemplative look.
“Oh don’t turn this back on me. We both know you’re up that late almost every night working. One of these days I should give you a royal order to get a full night's sleep.”
Tadius tripped over his own boot, completely flustered. Please do, a part of his mind begged before he caught himself. That is entirely inappropriate. School yourself Tadius.
Ella caught his arm, helping him regain his balance. “Are you alright Tadius?” She asked, a knowing look in her eye. He had the sudden worry that she could somehow read his thoughts, which filled him with fear.
Tadius cleared his throat and smoothed out his shirt with shaky hands. “I’m fine. Perhaps a full night’s sleep isn’t such a bad idea.”
“My ideas are never bad,” She said, walking in front of him, down the garden path. “But yes, get some sleep. Your Queen commands it.”
Tadius involuntarily let out a soft sound as all the air simultaneously left his lungs. He prayed to the Nine Good Gods that she was far enough ahead of him to have missed it. She's trying to kill me, he thought, before following behind her, her words ringing in his head.
-
Tadius was never one to disobey a direct command by his sovereign, even when they had been given by the former Prince, however inane, and so he found himself getting ready for bed quite a few hours before he normally would. Despite his best efforts, though, his mind refused to calm and his body was just as antsy. He had laid in bed for a long while with his eyes closed, but still didn’t feel the least bit tired. He eventually gave up and resorted to pacing around his small room.
All he could think about were Ella’s words in the garden. Your Queen commands it. He felt his face flush just from the memory. She had channeled her “Queen voice”, as he had started to think of it, for the command, the manner of speaking she used in the royal court and professional settings.
Of course, she had used the voice with a joking tone this time, but the effect was still the same. He couldn’t help but imagine her using that voice to command him to do other things, and his mind supplied dozens of different scenarios to run through in his head.
Help me lace up my dress, Tadius, he imagined her commanding, as well as what the warmth of her body would feel like through her dress as he tied the strings.
Massage my feet for me, would you Tadius? He pictured her feet of glass and starlight, the ones she had shown to him about a month after her coronation. He wondered what they felt like, if they were cool or warm to the touch, if she could move them like regular feet.
Get on your knees, Tadius. He pictured dropping to his knees in front of her and sliding his hands up her skirts…
This train of thought brought Tadius back to his room suddenly. He had stopped pacing and was gripping the back of his armchair with white knuckles. He realized belatedly that his cock was half-hard in his trousers and he reached down to palm himself absentmindedly before ripping his hand away like it was a brand.
How dare he think such lewd thoughts about his Queen? This was entirely inappropriate, she was his superior. He berated himself, face flushed with shame. He marched back to his bed and forced himself to lie down, willing his mind to go blank.
His superior. A royal. His royal superior who had commanded him to get some sleep.
He turned over in bed, heart racing. His traitorous cock was now fully hard, and he shifted in an attempt to find a comfortable position, but that only resulted in the fabric of his trousers brushing against his erection, causing him to jerk involuntarily.
He groaned in frustration. Perhaps if he dealt with this he’d be able to get some sleep.
He lay in bed for a few more minutes, trying to distract himself by going over his schedule for the next day, however, this train of thought only led to Ella again. He must regain control of his emotions before seeing her again tomorrow. He would leap off the nearest cliff before letting her see how much her newfound confidence affected him. Even if she didn’t fully know why he was acting strange, she would likely ease up on the commands and undo all the progress she had made towards accepting her new role.
You must get this out of your system before tomorrow.
Defeated, he unlaced the string on his trousers and slid his hand down to grip his aching cock, freeing it from the soft pressure of his underclothes with a sigh of relief. He did his best to clear his mind and solely focus on the sensation of his hand sliding along his cock, his thumb catching the small amount of slick on his tip and spreading it across the rest of his length.
Despite his best efforts, he closed his eyes and found himself imagining Ella’s hand replacing his own. He let out a soft whine and quickly clamped his free hand over his mouth. Any amount of noise made what he was doing seem far too real.
He sped up his hand, wanting to get this over with as quickly as he was able, but even just the mental picture of Ella’s graceful hand gripping his length was overwhelming. He forced himself to slow down, moving the hand that had been covering his mouth upward to comb back his curls, now damp with sweat.
He took a shaky breath and exhaled slowly, finding a steady rhythm. Now he simply pictured Ella sitting in his reading chair, watching him. He flushed with embarrassment imagining her gaze, and his rhythm faltered for a moment, his hips stuttering upwards.
Continue, Tadius, he imagined her commanding, with the intrigued and amused look she sometimes gave him when he challenged her with a particularly witty reply. Don’t let me interrupt you.
He let out a quiet groan and continued his motions, slightly tightening his grip. His cock throbbed as the steady pressure built.
He pictured Ella rising from his chair and walking over to the side of his bed and gazing down at him. You’d do anything I requested, wouldn’t you Tadius?
He found himself nodding frantically, his eyes still closed, not wanting to break this mental fantasy.
If I asked you to use your fingers to bring me to climax, would you?
He nodded again, gasping, his pace increasing as he got closer to his peak.
What about your clever tongue, Tadius?
He began to rock up into his hand, desperately seeking his release. Yes, anything.
What if I asked you to just sit and watch while I brought myself to climax? Would you be able to restrain yourself?
Tadius moaned softly at the thought. Yes. For her, anything.
He pictured Ella leaning over him and smiling like she did when she was able to mentally corner him.
And what if I commanded you to fuck me, Tadius? Would you obey your Queen’s orders and bring me to release on your cock?
“Yes,” Taidus groaned as his orgasm hit and he spilled out over his fist, and he promptly increased his pace to draw out the remainder of his release.
He shuddered and gasped as the last waves of his orgasm ebbed away and he collapsed weakly back onto his bed.
He lay there for a minute, catching his breath, then he grabbed a handkerchief from his bedside table to wipe the mess from his hand. The last bits of pleasure faded away, and Tadius was hit with a wave of shame and self-loathing.
He was just as bad as the Prince, shamelessly wanking off to women without their knowledge or consent.
Tadius thought of what the Prince did with Ella’s shoe the night of the ball and felt nauseous.
She would be disgusted with him, like how she was with the Prince that night, and she didn’t even know the full extent of it. She would never trust him again, and he would deserve it.
Tadius disobeyed his Queen’s orders that night and did not get much sleep.