The former duke rang a bell at his side and two voluptuous women entered the room. Their breasts almost spilled out of their corsets. They bowed deeply showing plenty of their cleavage. One had hair of spun gold and the other raven’s feather black.
“Draw a bath for our guests. I expect one of you to show him the courtesy that you would show me. Then bring him to the dining room and tell the chef to make whatever he desires to eat.”
He sipped at some sweet smelling and I guessed fresh squeezed juice. “Is there anything else that you desire to start your day with?”
“I don’t think that is necessary.”
“Nonsense, listen to your better and enjoy your day at my house. I won’t let you be anything but the most relaxed person in the kingdom by the end of the day. Now, go on. I’m sure one of the ladies is to your liking. I see how you stare at them. Worry now, I only hire the willing.” He waved a hand and the two ladies gently stroked my shoulders and half pulled me up to standing.
The black haired woman laced her arm in mine without so much as me noticing before she was guiding me out of the room and downstairs to the stone level of the house. I had already felt like I had been cleaned up but my sense of curiosity and the burning reminder of the night of drinking made me crave the comforts I was just offered. Some may call me weak for it but it was a temptation I wasn’t able to turn away from that day.
We entered a steaming room that had a large stone tub steaming away warmed by something beneath it. A stool sat nearby and a table covered in towels and oils. The raven haired woman leaned up and whispered in my ear, “Which one of us pleases you most?” Her hand ran down the muscles of my arms as the golden haired woman walked in front of me and looked deeply in my eyes. She had blue sapphire-like eyes. I looked at the raven haired woman and stared in her deep brown eyes so dark they were practically black.
“I’ll take you, what is your name?” The blonde pouted prettily and stroked a hand over my chest as she left the room.
“I am Heather, the master calls me his black feather though.” She ran her hands across the buttons of the shirt I had been given to borrow and started to strip me. The moments her fingers brushed bare skin made my breath hitch. She was smooth and expertly had me bare in moments. “Come sit. You’re so tense.”
I sat in the stool and listened as her clothes dropped to the ground and felt heat crawl up my neck. Wrapped in a towel by the time I looked she began to run oil on her hands and soon pressed it against my shoulders. It was almost too hot to the skin as her deceptively strong hands started to work into my muscles in such a relaxing way. She kneaded my shoulders like a baker kneads dough. I began to groan as the tightness began to unwind. She snaked her hands on my neck and worked there until my head hung loose from how relaxed I was.
“Your shoulders are so strong for a minstrel. I had always imagined that entertainers like you would be lithe and not so powerful,” Heather’s breath against my ear as she whispered sent gooseflesh rippling across my skin as her hands wrapped around the joints where my shoulders met my arm and worked there.
“I do more than play instruments on the road. There are many ways you have to find to make a living when you’re traveling.”
She hummed as she stroked my biceps and the backs of my arms pausing at any of the tenser spots. “I’m so used to helping the master you know. He is wiry for his age but not so broad. Not so strong now that he is older. His mind though is sharp as any knife. I find intelligence very attractive. Are you a learned man?”
She moved around to my side and picked up my left arm and started to rub my developed forearm. Her hands rubbed against the calluses of my fingers as she used her thumbs against my palms. I closed my eyes at the affectionate touch. “I know how to read and write. I’ve learned quite a few instruments in my time if that counts.”
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Heather crossed me and picked up my other arm to attend to the tightness there and soon I found myself relaxing like a cat in a beam of sunlight. “Your fingers are so thick and rough. Is that from the strings? I thought your palms would be softer.”
I nodded as she rubbed each of my fingers in time and felt her bring them to her chest as she reached up the inside of my arm. “Your body always knows how to change to adapt to how your life guides you. Lumberjacks and swordsmen often have the same calluses on their hands. Scribes and minstrels often develop the same. Gripping a pen and a string isn’t so different after a few hours.”
I felt her bare legs brush against my own as she moved past me and stood back behind me now that she had made a circuit around me and then I felt her fingers move through my scalp and begin to grab handfuls of my hair in tight pulls for brief moments as she sniffed, “You still smell of stale beer after all this oil. What a dirty man.”
“You don’t have to do this. I can wash myself.”
“Hush now, I want to do this.” Soon her hands held a brush with soft bristles and she lathered it up with some soap and went about scrubbing my back. Every few strokes I would feel her bare hand move across my skin as it grew tender.
She raised my arms and attended to my arm pits and then wrapped her arms around me pressing against my back as she spread soap across my chest. It was heavenly as she cleaned me and soon I lost track of time. I found myself soaking in the tub before I knew it with her back pressed against my chest and my arm around her sighing contentedly. I was fully unwound, relaxed more than I had been in years.
“I could get used to this.”
Heather snuggled deeper into my arm, “If you decide to stay you just might have to.”
…
Dressed in much nicer versions of the garb I was loaned earlier in the day I was guided to the dining hall by the blonde woman. Heather stayed behind to clean up the bathroom and get dry and dressed.
The halls were opulent and lined with beautiful paintings, carvings, and decorations of exotic make. My feet were wrapped in soft slippers that swished against the ground as I was brought into a grand dining hall. A man, a little older than most I’d expect stood there with a tan apron dusted with flour. His head was bare and lacked any form of hair either on his face or crown. He had the exotic yellowish tan skin of the far east. His eyes almond shape and slanted gave off an air of mystery.
The two with me began to converse in a language and they had no clue that I could speak it.
“Why have I been summoned?” Asked the older man.
“You are to make whatever meal this man decides he desires. You are to do your best, and make it a ‘special’ meal.” The blonde turned to me, “I am to be your translator. Our master chef is from the far east. Finest foods in all the kingdom. Such luxuries are afforded to us here.”
“I’d like a fine duck or bird, vegetables with sauce, and a recommended pairing with a wine of his choice.” My mouth salivated. I had worked up an appetite this morning and found myself famished from having just the small meat pie.
With some quick back and forth it sounded like the chef was not too pleased with the situation of having to cook for anyone but the head of the house. However, it seemed like they were pulling out all the stops in the efforts to pamper me. It was enticing to say the least as I was brought to a lounge once I had requested a meal to wait while it was prepared.
“Would you like something to read? Or perhaps a pipe, the master has a fine collection of herbs to smoke from across the lands. Are you feeling adventurous? I could make a selection for you.”
“I don’t smoke, I found it hard on my voice. I would like anything that is a tale from the east though. I find myself intrigued by them more and more as I witnessed the majesty they have given to this house.”
The young woman bowed deeply and scurried off out of the room. I put my feet up on an ottoman and slipped my shoes off airing my beat up and road worn soles. As I relaxed the door opened and I assumed it was just the blonde girl returning.
“Still so relaxed I see.” The sweet voice of Heather came.
I opened my eyes and my heart froze for a beat. She was no longer wearing the outfit of a maid but instead of a lady. Her breasts were much more modest in a long flowing gown as she smirked with both sultriness and menace. Her hair no longer cascaded down her back but instead was pulled up in an elaborate braid like crown of hair. Her neck was pale and enticing as she looked down her nose at me.
On the back foot I sputtered, “I… Why wouldn’t I be relaxed?”
“Oh you think that someone that had slept with their potential master’s daughter wouldn’t be so blase about it.” Heather’s teeth glimmered in the lamp light in the room as she sat next to my feet and ran a long nail down the tops of them. I fought off the urge to wrench them away like she was expecting me to.
“I didn’t know, you and your… grandfather didn’t give any indication you were any more than just a friendly servant. How do I know even now you are not just pretending to be a lady of the house.”
“Oh now, don’t be like that after what we’ve shared.” She clutched my leg possessively her nails digging into my skin just shy of punching through it. I hissed in discomfort as she stared at me with madness glimmering in her eyes. “You best work for our family or I will make sure to drag your name through the very gutters of this court until you are banished or worse.” In an instant all the hardness melted away as she relaxed and slipped closer to me her lips soft and inviting. “Or work for us and serve me like I served you. Imagine all the pleasures we can give to each other.”
I swallowed, Heather was not someone I would have laid with but I had been careless and let her throw herself upon me. No one would believe the word of a minstrel though. She could spin whatever tale she desired and I would be powerless to stop her. I was a fly, and I got caught in the web.
The blonde came in wearing a smirk as she approached Heather. “My lady, I see you’ve returned to your normal garb. How may I serve you?” The two had a heat between them as Heather stood and stroked her face. The blonde woman’s eyes grew dark, wide, and hungry as she was caressed.
“Help take care of the minstrel. I have a feeling Dolan will be here for quite some time. Make sure to let him know all that awaits him in our house.”
“Yes mistress,” The blonde woman breathlessly spoke.