His Only Reward **Completed and Free**

Chapter 40: Meeting With Eric*

Jamie and Raoul headed into the city to meet the King of Rogues. Raoul was obviously slightly nervous about the visit. Jamie, on the other hand, was excited. She loved the bustle, smells and colours of the city. As Jamie was trying to cast them all to memory, as Roaul guided her to a tavern called The Cat’s Claw. 

Jamie walked into the Tavern and it reminded her of The Crone’s Head, except there were far more decorations on the walls and doors leading off to smaller rooms. The Tavern was full of punters, and there were a couple of barmaids rushing around with jugs of beer. The maids were not scared of slapping the customers if they got too touchy. 

On the bar was the biggest silver tabby Jamie had ever seen. The cat had amber eyes that would notice everything that was happening. "You are beautiful!" Jamie gasped and walked over. Jamie bowed her head and said, "Hello, my name is Jamie."

"I would not touch her girlie. Queenie is known to scratch and bite customers. Now, what can I get you?" Said, the harried-looking Landlady.  

"Can I have the house beer, if the barrel is not below the half way mark?" Jamie asked. If the beer was below the half way mark, it was often full of dregs. 

The Landlady smiled and said, "Ah, someone has worked in a Tavern! Interested in a job? We could use a hand!"

"We are actually here to see the owner." Raoul interjected. 

"Ah, Lord Raoul, what an unpleasant surprise! I should have spotted you. You normally stick out like a sore thumb when you slum it with us commoners, " The Landlady said harshly.

"Jenny, will you please inform the owner we are here? We are expected!" Raoul snapped.

"Makes a change! Jamie is it? Would you mind taking over for a minute? As I said, we are rushed off our feet! " Jenny asked.

"Sure, I would love to!" Jamie gave a genuine smile. She had loved working in the tavern before. It was Aunt Judith and Ronnie that made it unpleasant.

"Grand!" Jenny walked off down into one of the passageways, and Jamie got behind the bar.

"Can I get you anything, sir?" Jamie teased Raoul.

Raoul grinned and answered, "Do you come here often?"

Jamie giggled and poured a pint out. The other bar maids came with customer orders and Jamie got busy. The other barmaids seemed impressed with her efficiency, and the backlog was starting to reduce. After 15 minutes, Jenny came back and said, "He wants to see you first, as there are private  matters to discuss. Don’t worry about Jamie, we will look after her."

"Is that all right, Kitten?" Raoul asked through their mind link with Jamie.

"Of course, I will be fine," Jamie replied.

"Ok, well don’t work her too hard!" He said with a smile.

"Don’t worry, we look after our own," Jenny retorted as Raoul walked down a passageway. 

"She’s a good one there, Jenny. We even managed to clear the backlog. So, I hope you offer her a job! We are running low on whiskey though. " One of the barmaids said.

"Jamie, would you go into the back and grab a few bottles for me?  Queenie will show you where they are, and Eric is in the back!" Jenny said. Queenie jumped off the bar and walked towards a back room. Jamie followed Queenie down some stairs into the cellar.  The cellar was full of bottles and barrels that were very well organised. It was well lit with lamps, so Jamie could see where she was going. Jamie breathed in the familiar musty scent and sighed in contentment.

  Queenie suddenly stopped near some bottles. "Who do we have here?" An unfamiliar male voice said.

Jamie quickly turned round and saw a man in his twenties. He was 6 feet tall, with dark black hair and grey eyes. He had a hooked beak nose, with a large scare across the left side of his face. He wore a light blue tunic with black trousers, boots and black gloves. His appearance was completed with a ruby drop earring in his right ear.

"My name is Jamie and I was just getting some whiskey," Jamie politely explained.

"Ahh, I see!  Well, my name is Eric and I work here too!" Eric said with a small smile. Queenie started purring and walked over to Eric. She rubbed against his ankles.

This confirmed Jamie's suspicions, "Don’t you mean to own this place, your highness?"

"Well, well, well! Who knew that mutt Raoul managed to snag such a clever Mate? What gave me away?" Eric schuckled. 

"Plenty of things really. The first was the whiskey running out. It is the most expensive drink in a tavern, and there is no way any landlord or landlady would ask a perfect stranger to go and get it. Secondly, you wear a light tunic and gloves. If you worked in a cellar for real, you would know that it is dusty and dirty. Your tunic will be dirty from moving barrels. "

"I might have just started my shift," Eric interjected.

"True, but you are wearing gloves! Not the gloves that would protect your hands, but soft skin gloves. No tavern worker would wear them because it would make their hands too slippery! Anybreakages would come out of your wages, so it would be stupid to wear them! But it was Queenie who confirmed my suspicions. She is a Maine Coon, a famously one-person breed. The King of Rogues emblem is a cat, so it makes sense he would own one." Jamie explained.

Erick clapped and said, "Very impressive, very impressive indeed!  Except I don’t own Queenie, she chooses to stay with me. One can never own a cat as they have... "

"A little bit of magic in them," Jamie said, grinning.

"Ah, I see we are going to get on famously, my dear!" Erick said, as he walked over and grabbed Jamie’s right hand and kissed it. "Welcome, my dear! Shall we go somewhere more comfortable to sit and talk?" 

"I would be honoured to meet your Majesty," Jamie said with a bow.

Eric smiled and led her to a room on the first floor. The room had a couple of soft, deep blue fabric sofas with large pillows on them. They were opposite each other with a large coffee table in the middle. There was a painting of Queenie on the wall and the walls were painted dark red. The fireplace had a roaring fire and it added to the cosiness. Eric motioned her to sit and Jamie complied.

"I don’t understand. Who is Raoul talking to and why do you want to talk to me?" Jamie stated flatly.

Your mate is talking to the same person he has had for the last 5 years-Jameson, my stand in. I don’t normally show my face, as many attempts have been made on my life." Eric said.

"So Raoul has never met you?"  Jamie said she was shocked.

Eric laughed and said "God no! Why would I get involved with the King’s Spy Master? He has been hanging around for years, of course, bless him. "

Jamie could not help it. She smirked, "Poor Raoul!"

"I would not feel too sorry for him." Queenie suddenly remembered, "I am sorry for the deception, but I needed to protect my pet. "Finding a pet who truly appreciates cats is difficult. "

Jamie giggled. Eric raised an eyebrow, "something I said was funny, little one?"

"Oh gosh no, I honestly  meant no offence! It is just that Queenie called you her pet, "Jamie said quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was offend him!

"Ahh, so the rumours are true, you do possess wild magic! "Eric smiled, "which is good because I am now going to put my cards on the table, so to speak".

"All right," Jamie said cautiously.

"I have a problem that you can help with, and in exchange, I will give King Stephan what he wants," Eric said simply.

"What is the problem? A rat infestation? Maybe I can talk to them and ask them to leave their business alone. " Jamie asked.

"No, it is not that. I think someone is trying to poison me and my patrons, "Eric explained.

"Ok, But how can I do that? Surely you have people to investigate and sort out the issue. "

"Normally yes, but we think this person is using chaotic magic. Normal methods of detection are not working." Eric said

"Ahh," Jamie fully understood now. She was one of the few people that could detect chaos magic.

"Plus you can talk to animals and maybe they know something. You will work in this bar every evening until we figure who is using chaos magic against us and why. In exchange, I will help the king, and as an added bonus, I will train you. " Eric said causally. 

"Train me?" Jamie said, she was surprised at the offer. The ways of the rogue are a closely guarded secret.

"Yes, I will train you in the ways of the Rogue, if you want to call it that. I prefer to call it survival skills, but whatever you call it, I assure you it is not taught at the Royal Palace. " Eric said, smiling. 

Jamie's heart started beating with excitement; being trained by the King of Rogues himself was an offer she could not refuse! Eric smiled, he had guessed correctly that Jamie’s weakness was knowledge and training. He had observed the Assassin’s ring  as well as her observation skills. This girl had the makings of an incredible rogue. 

"Raoul was a fool not to spot this and train her himself!" Eric thought. But then again, Raoul did have a snobbish outlook and it blinded him to so many things, a weakness Eric exploited successfully over so many years!

"Do we have a deal?" asked Eric.

"Yes! When do we start?" Jamie said.

Eric chuckled again at her eagerness. "How does tomorrow night sound?" Eric asked.

"Fantastic!" Jamie replied with a genuine smile.

"Good, good. Now can you please give this letter to the king? " Eric said as he went over to a desk and handed Jamie a letter with a black wax seal of a cat on it. 

Jamie inspected it cautiously, before asking, "It doesn't have a hex or poison on it, does it?"

"No, my little fire sprite, it has not. I give you my word. The King and I have an understanding. It would not be worth my time to break it. " Eric said this in a serious tone.

Jamie trusted him, and a king, even if he is the King of Rogues, does not give his word lightly. "OK!" she said with another smile, and he smiled back.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Jenny walked in. "Excuse me, your majesty, but our guest is getting suspicious." Jenny said this with a wicked smile and a wink.

"Thank you Jenny, we have just finished and I found a new barmaid for you as well!" Eric said.

Jenny smiled and said, "Glad to have you on board. Come on!"

Jamie smiled and said, "Thank you! See you tomorrow, King Eric!"

Eric watched her go and sighed."She is not what I expected at all!" Eric commented.

"You mean you were expecting a snobbish maid?  Queenie replied through their mindlink, as she  started to wash herself. 

"Yes!" Eric replied simply.

"Why are you so surprised? It is clear that she is full of wild magic and of the fur people! She must feel so constrained in  the palace, her wild nature will be clawing at the walls! Speaking of which, are you going to tell her about the crone’s visit? About the warning of how Raoul is going to betray her!" Queenie inquired.

"No, some things are best left unsaid!" Eric said softly. He felt sorry for the girl and vowed to do his best to help her in any way he could. Jamie would be eaten alive by palace games if he did not help her.

"You like her, don’t you? I  can tell you, you originally were not going to help King Stephan until after she found the source of the poisoning. Which, of course, would never happen, as it was all a ruse to meet her! " Queenie said in an

"Yes, such a shame Raoul got there first. She wasted it on him!" Eric said mournfully.

"Never stop you before!" Queenie said simply. 

"No, it hasn’t," Eric answered softly.

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King’s study 

"I can’t believe you did, Kitten! Rao would literally kill me, but, I could still kiss you! " A very excited King Stephan said a very excited King Stephan. 

"Would you mind telling us what is in the letter Steph?" Raoul growled. The thought of his friend kissing Jamie did not fill him with joy,

"Absolutely, the King of Rogues has agreed to help us on the condition that Jamie helps him resolve a problem," King Stephan declared joyfully.

"I don’t understand. I talked to him and he said no such thing!" Snapped at Raoul.

"Sorry My Love, you have been talking to Jameson for five years. Jameson is the King of Rogues double. " Jamie explained softly.

"What? Wait till I see that little s**t!" Raoul roared.

"You do no such thing!" snapped King Stephan. "Jamie If you are selected, I will inform the Elemental Guards that you are working on a mission for the King. They will release you in the evening, and well done once again. Please have the rest of the day off. "

"I need to visit my office!" Raoul said.

"Do as you wish!" King Stephan retorted dismissively.

Raoul bowed his head in respect and grabbed Jamie’s hand. He walked quickly to his office a few doors down from the King’s study. "Raoul, what are you doing?" Jamie asked, confused.

Raoul did not answer and they entered his office. He slammed the door and locked it. When he turned round, his eyes were amber. "You are ours! We will not share you with anyone!" The Roaul’s/Blackthorn’s voice said,

Before Jamie could answer, he walked over and kissed Jamie hard. He picked her up and sat her on his large desk. He ripped off her trousers and underwear, leaving her bottom half bare. "Raoul!" Jamie protested, but he undid his trousersbefore biting down on her mate's mark and entering her.

"f**k!" Jamie shouted as Raoul/Blackthorn started to thrust. The thrusts were getting stronger and faster. Jamie knew this was about staking a claim and possession. He was making it clear to her that she was his and his alone. 

Suddenly, Raoul/Blackthorn growled "We need more!  and withdrew. They flipped her over and entered her from behind. Jamie moaned as Raoul pounded her G spot. Her moaning encouraged Raoul/Blackthorn to go even faster.  His pounding was so strong that the desk was starting to move. Jamie felt the pressure building up.

"Raoul, I think I am going." she screamed.

Before Jamie could finish the scentence, Raoul pulled Jamie up by her ponytail. Jamie moaned as he felt his c**k change angles on her. Raoul/Blackthorn growled and bit down on her shoulder whilst dragging their shifted wolf claws across her stomach. The pain made Jamie come hard. She never felt such pleasure or such a high. Raoul/Blackthorn pumped their hot come into her while growling "f**k!". She moaned in reply and felt energy rush from her.

When Jamie collapsed on Raoul Blackthorn, her legs had completely turned to jelly. Raoul/Blackthorn  started to lick her shoulder where they had bit her. "Who do you belong to, kitten?" they growled.

"You, I belong to you," Jamie says softly.

"Good. Don’t ever forget it! " They growled in reply.

In the King’s study, a once sickly-looking fern stared to rapidly grow. The whole palace had made the connection that when a certain red-headed lady came, she would release wild magic that made plants grow fast. "Roaul, you are one lucky son of a b***h!" King Stephan murmured.