Lisril followed Alex and his new- wife? Servant? She would figure that out later from the coach. She waived to the driver, and the woman was off, doubtless returning to her bed to find what sleep she could before her night began.
She turned to find Alex and Rosslln waiting, and together, they walked to the palace gates, where they were promptly intercepted. A guard descended upon them from either side, blocking their path, and Lisril stepped around her husband, placing herself between him and the women.
“What’s the meaning of this?” she demanded. Knowing well enough what the issue was.
The guards shared a look, and one stepped forward, looking past her at Rosslln. “There were only two when you left; who’s this?”
“Local guide,” Alex said. “I hired her just this afternoon.”
“Humph, well, she can’t come in,” the guard grunted.
“Oh,” Alex said. “Well, alright, come on, Sweetheart.” With that, he turned and commenced to walk away.
“Wait! where are you going?” the guard called.
Alex stopped, turned. “If you’re not going to let us in, I’ll need to find alternative lodging.”
“You’re fine,” the guard said. “She’s the only one who can’t pass.”
Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head as though he couldn’t believe he was having the conversation. “Then good day.”
He turned again, and the woman reached out as though to grab him; Lisril would have swatted her hand had he not been too far for her to touch. “Wait!”
He turned again, stamping his foot. “That’s the second time you’ve stopped me, and I’m starting to lose my patience, so clean your ears out; I’ll say this once. He gestured at Rosslln. “She’s with me; if she doesn’t pass, I don’t.”
The guard seemed at a loss for words, doubtless having never encountered so resolute a man. “I-” She sighed. “I need to speak to my superior; wait here.”
The guard rushed off, and Lisril joined her husband. “It didn’t have to be this difficult,” she whispered.
“I know; they could have let us in,” he said.
She laughed and shook her head. “You’re impossible.”
“I’m sorry,” Rosslln said, squirming, “because of me….”
Lisril eyed her coolly. “It’s unwomanly to apologize when one has done nothing wrong. Moreover, it speaks to a dishonesty of the mind, upon which the Lady frowns.”
Rosslln swallowed and nodded.
Lisril nodded back. “You’re escorting a man, do him the honor of showing a bit of pride, and don’t fret, Alex is being dramatic, as is his wont, but he’s quite right; he invited you; you’ve every right to remain at his side.”
The young Lady stood a bit taller, and Lisril thought she might be detecting a little regality beneath all that filth; perhaps Alex was onto something with her.
Presently, the guard returned, bringing with her a third woman, and the argument resumed. She kept a close eye on the women, ensuring they didn’t try to get rough with him, but specifics weren’t important, especially as she spied the end of the conversation striding down the palace steps.
“What is the meaning of this!” Eli demanded, marching up to her guards. “Why are you accosting Our guest?”
The guards came to attention, turning to salute their Empress. “There is a strange person with him, Magnificence.”
Eli looked at Rosslln, impassive. “And who would this be?”
“Local guide,” Alex supplied.
She hummed at that, stepping up to the young woman, Rosslln just a little shorter, looking up to her, and Eli staring down her nose. “And would this local guide have a name?”
“Sweetheart,” Alex said.
A twitch of the lip was the only sign of Eli’s mirth, and she looked expectantly at Rosslln.
“It’s- Rosslln.” Eli raised an eyebrow, eliciting a hasty, “your Magnificence.”
Eli nodded and said. “Our departed mother, rest her soul, would come down from heaven, and tan Us a shade of red heretofore unknown, if We allowed you into Our house.”
Rosslln deflated a bit.
“Without offering a bath and change of clothes,” Eli finished. “Come along.”
“What,” Rosslln squeaked, looking desperately to Alex. “But-”
Eli followed the line of her gaze and nodded. “Ah,” she said. “Quite right, Miss Sweetheart, m’lord, your lady has reminded Us of a vital lesson in courtesy. Might We borrow her? We shall return her in good time.”
“Your Magnificence!” Eli spun upon the guard who had spoken, the back of her hand streaking across the woman’s cheek.
“You would challenge Our authority in this house?”
The woman’s eyes widened, and she collapsed to the ground, prostrating herself in the muddy slush. “No, Magnificence.”
“Good,” Eli said. “And you have reminded Us of the matter of your conduct.”
“You have been rude to Our guest,” she said. “Moreover, just this morning, We extended to M’lord a personal invitation to share Our table and also the courtesy of allowing him to invite such guests as he pleased. Now, this evening, you have attempted to make of Us a liar.”
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
“Magnificence I-”
“Silence,” she bellowed. “You will, the three of you, be reassigned to the cleaning of the stables, you two.” The guards who had first greeted them stood a bit taller, ensuring their attention was noted. “You shall be allowed to complete your shift at the gate; when you are relieved, report to the stables for your new assignment.”
She looked down at the still-prostrate woman. “As for you, corporal, report to the guard captain, tell her of Our decision in this matter, and then report to the stables yourself.”
“Yes, Magnificence,” they said in chorus.
Eli nodded. “Good, now, where were We….”
“Borrowing my lady friend,” Alex offered. “Magnificence.”
“Ah,” she said. “Yes, that was it. If We have m’lord’s leave?”
He put a hand to his heart and bowed his head in assent.
Eli nodded and offered her shallow-but-entirely-acceptable bow, then turned to Rosslln. “Come along.”
“Your Magnificence.” Alex caught her attention. “If it isn’t too much, I would appreciate it if a bath could be drawn for my wife and me, also.”
Eli nodded. “A basin shall be sent to your room presently,” she said. Then, she led a somewhat reluctant Rosslln into the palace.
Lisril followed the example and escorted Alex into the courtyard.
“That was a bit harsh,” he murmured, looking over his shoulder at the guards. “I wouldn’t have made such a scene if I’d known….”
“No, entirely merciful, really, and they’re not being punished on your account anyway,” Lisril said.
She could tell by his expression he was unconvinced. “They’re not?”
“No,” she said. “I suppose it didn’t occur to explain it, but by ancient law of hospitality, you are indistinguishable from your host in most respects. So you were right to bring Rosslln, and they were right to challenge you. But the only one with the right to dismiss your guest is your host, the Empress. So by failing to bring the matter directly to her, those guards undercut her authority.”
She paused, but he didn’t seem interested in interjecting, a rare and gratifying occurrence as it meant she’d struck upon a topic of interest. “In a lesser noble’s house, the prescribed punishment would merely be the whipping post. But in the Empress’- well, it could be construed as treason.”
She guided him now through the palace halls and lowered her voice appropriately. “So,” she said. “Even if she had decided to send Rosslln away, and I do hope you have at least enough sense to know not to challenge her on such matters, those guards would have still faced censure.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t know better.”
She wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “In any case, Angel, don’t let it burden you over much. She’ll make an example of those three for a few days, perhaps a week, and then they’ll be back to their regular duties.”
He nodded absently, huffed out a sharp sigh, and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”
She gave him a squeeze and ushered him through the halls to their room, where she promptly collapsed face-first onto the bed.
He had been right; she was exhausted. Her legs burned from the day’s exertion, and it was a happy thing indeed that he didn’t expect to return to town for a little while.
She rolled over and opened her eyes to find him staring, a small smile playing on his lips. “I recall having promised you a massage.”
She smiled and sat up as he approached, allowing him to strip her out of her shirt and jacket and carefully work her slacks past the four-inch claws on her feet. Dyrantoro clothing was quite flattering but also inconvenient.
“Thank you, Angel.” Her armor was skintight, and she reached around behind herself and worked the zipper, offset to the left side of her back, down, and wriggled out, leaving herself nude before him. She soaked up his admiration, watching through hooded lids as he knelt at the foot of the bed.
He took hold of her foot, working her sore flesh, and moved to the other as the door opened to admit one of the palace servants.
“Oh,” the woman cried. “Forgive us we-”
Lisril waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve nothing you gentlewomen haven’t seen; go about your business.”
The woman seemed doubtful but apparently couldn’t find an excuse to extricate herself, so she nodded and led her fellows in, placing a large wooden basin in the room, and filling it from buckets, while others put large river stones into the fire burning in the room’s hearth.
As they worked, Alex’s hands moved up her calves, slowly crawling upward, working the tension out of her muscles. His hands were soothing, and by the time he was done, the lead servant cleared her throat. “If m’lady would like us to stay and heat the water.”
“That won’t be necessary, don’t let us delay you any longer,” Lisril said, lounging on the bed and enjoying her husband’s attentions.
The women bowed and backed out of the room; the moment the door closed, she heard the faint sound of the women whispering together. There would be rumors about her all over the castle before the night was over. Perhaps Alex, too, which was a shame, but he wouldn’t have stopped on his own account, and she didn’t care if palace servants were whispering about her.
She opened her arms to him and heaved a happy sigh as he settled into her embrace.
“I think,” she murmured, trailing kisses along his jaw. “That my husband has earned a little reward….”
He smiled, but then it twisted into a little frown of concentration.
“Is something wrong?”
“No,” he said. “Just- I must have lost track of your cycle.”
“I’m not in heat, as you can plainly see.” She was touched that he kept track, but as she eyed him, she allowed herself a wide, playful, predatory grin. “But your wife can take care of you too.”
She tugged his jacket off and added it to the pile with her clothes, doing the same with his shoes, and tossing them away. “You Dyrantoro wear so many clothes.”
He laughed, and she undid the buttons of his suspenders, pulling his pants down his legs, leaving him in shirt and underwear.
She drank him in, his body taught and fit, milky skin stretched tight over hard muscle. She was reminded briefly of the prior night’s conversation, that his youth was deceiving, and cast the thought away.
He was her destiny, and if it meant they could share their youth and vigor for all time, then she hardly found the harm in it.
She reached down, gently stroking the manhood straining against the thin fabric. “See now,” she said. “My husband is in distress, and foolish man that he is, he failed to tell his wife.”
She leaned down and licked the little scar on his neck, where she’d marked him as hers. “My husband, my Alex.” She freed him from the confines of his boxers, hand wrapping around the throbbing flesh of his shaft.
He sighed softly, eyes closed, head tossed back, the beginnings of the strained expression of his bliss coming into his features.
She slipped between his legs, blew softly on the sensitive flesh, and laughed as he and his member jerked in unison.
Smirking, she brushed her jet-black hair out of her face, locking eyes with him as she engulfed him to his base in a smooth, now practiced motion.
He gasped, hand coming down to cradle her head, fingers stroking the sensitive skin at the base of her ear, sending shivers down her spine.
She pulled back, mindful of her teeth, keeping only his head between her lips. Her tongue traced around the sensitive skin around his glans and took him again, more shallowly, setting a brisk pace and enjoying the tableau of his face twisting in pleasure.
He twisted and writhed, fingers clenching in her hair, bunching up the bedding, her name the only word on his lips.
She took him down to the root once more, humming as she went, and was rewarded with the feeling of him twitching and pulsing as he emptied his essence down her throat.
He went limp beneath her, heaving a heavy sigh, and she pulled back, working the dregs of his release from his softening shaft as she went.
She swallowed and joined him at the head of the bed, pulling his head to her breast, where he burrowed into her embrace.
They lay together, dozing; she running her hand through his hair; he humming a soft, soothing tune.
Suddenly, there was a loud pop, jolting them both to wakefulness. “What was that,” he asked, casting about.
She didn’t need to ask; standing, she went directly to the hearth. “One of our stones wasn’t sufficiently dry. Well, they should be hot enough now, and.” She glanced at the window. “We should hurry if we don’t want to be late to meet Eli.”
He nodded, stripped out of his shirt, and she took a pair of tongs and transferred the stones to the basin. By the time he was ready, the water was steaming, and she stepped in. “It will be a little snug,” she said. “But we should have enough room to wash and get each other’s backs. Have you given thought to what you’ll wear?”
He nodded, joined her, and said, “I know what I want; let’s hurry.”
They washed, dressed, and were on their way, hair still damp but otherwise looking fresh and fine.