The King's Successor

By Wayne Mansfield

Two decades after first being brought to the royal court, Pan’s romance with King Seronisis has not cooled. Pan, approaching his fortieth year, casts his mind back to his childhood spent on the family farm, working in the fields all day, and to the few hours a week he had to himself whereby he would disappear into the Great Forest to wander and daydream.

The king has been doing some reflecting, too. He has become increasingly aware that, with the passage of time, he is one day soon going to be too old to manage the affairs of the kingdom and all the associated pressure and stresses. More importantly, he has realized he would like to spend more time with Pan. To that end, he plans an extravagant holiday for them, but before they can depart, he needs to find a successor.

Since the king has no children of his own, there are only two other candidates -- Athor and Nenim, the king’s cousins from across the sea. Both brothers are handsome and physically fit. Athor is outgoing and obviously keen to obtain the post of monarch. Nenim is more reserved, hard to read, and seemingly not quite as enthusiastic as his brother.

King Seronisis devises a series of tasks he asks the brothers to complete so he can assess their ability to take the throne. He watches each carefully to see how well they perform the tasks. He listens to what they have to say, examining their words carefully. Every minute the brothers are at the royal palace, they are being assessed.

But when one brother oversteps the mark, it is the king himself who is tested. One foolish act has the power to destroy all that Pan and King Seronisis have built over the years. With this final tale, anything could happen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Dec 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781611529937

Wayne Mansfield

Wayne Mansfield is a Western Australian writer. He has been writing for nine years and has been published in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, he wrote a monthly erotic story for the German publications Macho and Dreamboys for two years. His novellas and stories usually have a horror, futuristic, or fantasy theme, although he does write contemporary stories such as The Hiding Place, which received Honorable Mention in the 2013 Rainbow Awards.

Book preview

The King’s Successor

By Wayne Mansfield

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2013 Wayne Mansfield

ISBN 9781611529937

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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The King’s Successor

By Wayne Mansfield

One day Pan was sitting on the ledge of a window that looked out over the palace gardens. A gentle breeze was blowing, carrying the fragrant scent of exotic flowers. The breeze caressed his naked flesh, cooling him and lulling him into such a sense of peace that he was temporarily transported back to his childhood. To the Great Forest that bordered his family’s farm on two sides.

He could almost feel the damp moss beneath his bare feet; feel its soft, squelchy texture cushioning the soles of his feet as he leisurely made his way through the trees. He smiled as he remembered those rare times when he was able to take time out from working in the fields to explore the wonders of the Great Forest. Sometimes he would wander for an hour or two, exploring some part of the forest he had never visited before. After a while, he’d sit down at the base of a tree whose trunk was as wide as the spread of his arms and close his eyes, enjoying the gentle sunlight, filtering down through the canopy to kiss his already heavily sun-kissed face. In those private moments he would dream of faraway places and the people who lived there. In a quiet voice he’d ask the gods whether he’d ever leave the family farm and explore other parts of Tansa,