The Arete - Princess-Consort Ch. 03

"That was nice of her," It was, but it was also embarrassing that she saw me so easily outmaneuvered.

"Well, she's sweet on you," Yonjax confirmed, "and it was funny to watch her stamp her little feet and go on about how unfair your losing was and demand the Queen declare you the melee winner."

I smiled an honest smile, picturing my bride standing up for me.

"You love her, don't you?" Yonjax's eyes focused as she smiled too.

"I do," I confessed.

"Alright then," Yonjax agreed, "Go on home like a good soldier. We'll try to get you two some time together at the closing ball."

"Closing ball?"

"Tomorrow night. Seven bells. Attendance is mandatory," Yonjax winked, "Wear your diamond-cut blue tunic. She likes that one."

"I will," I concurred.

"Heard about the trouble at your door last night, too," she grimaced. "Bad business that."

"Yes," I agreed simply.

"Mayhap can do something to better fortify your household," her eyes lit with glee at her own good idea. "Kill two birds with one stone even. Not until after you're officially married, of course, though."

"As you see best," I nodded and got back on my way home. Much as I like Yonjax, I'd no more stomach for trying to pointlessly extricate meaning from the cryptic words of highborn nobles. After days at my family's tent and a few weeks in the palace walls, the only thing I'd learned about politics was that my understanding political actions or not understanding political actions made no difference.

Additionally - and also to no real advantage, pleasure, or purpose - my head and knee fucking hurt.

Vostiv was all apologies on my return, but I shrugged them off. Her missing a day of the tournament was a much bigger deal for her than it was for me. She still kept trying to express her regrets as I took off the weight of my armor and took a draught of clear clean water.

"Let's go brush down the horses, shall we?" I suggested to general approval.

Yes, I mainly wanted a chance for Caeli to see me again. And yes, I took note of the stablehand taking flight on my entrance to go alert her to my whereabouts.

Savaran still vocally enjoyed himself, whinnying like a happy pony and tossing his head. Laughing and happy myself to be back in my element, I ignored my lingering headache and kneeache to jump up on my great gray stallion's bare back and ride him around the training yard.

Kemptrux and Vostiv really didn't know their own new steeds well enough to follow suit, and so kept brushing down their new prides and joys.

Meanwhile, I kept riding. Wearing my simple soldier garb, chestnut hair loose behind me, night air breezing by us, moonlight cool and silvery all around us - Savaran and me - it felt like home again.

If only for a few minutes, I forgot everything. I felt free.

The training yard itself was the only irritant. Slowing to make the turns from the high speeds of the straightaways.

I was coming to hate walls. My life had become crated in by stone walls.

Then I heard a sharp military whistle. Loud and piercing, it cut through my lack of thoughts and caused me to pull up short on Savaran.

"Ser Taiglox," a guardswoman - Meirbax - called out to me smartly from between the merlons.

"Yes, Meirbax?" I asked, my bearing keeping me from allowing my annoyance at her interruption from entering my tone.

I was glad of that forbearance when I saw Caeli's face as she leaned out the space between the next set of merlons. (Meirbax ducked away quietly, but I think I caught a grin.)

"Princess Caeli," I greeted her formally - conscientious of the public nature of our exchange - but with a deep warmth in my voice.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Hi, Caeli!" Vostiv called out enthusiastically to her close cousin, breaking our loop.

"Hi, Vos," Caeli answered politely, but her pretty dark eyes stayed on me.

"Do you wanna come down and see my new warhorse? His name is Stygian."

"Yes," Caeli agreed readily, "Come up here and get me?"

"Ser Taiglox," Meirbax spoke up, no less smartly but with some trepidation, "She's not to leave the rampart, ser. I'm sorry, ser. Orders, ser."

"Why not?!" Vostiv disapproved loudly and petulantly.

"Orders. As the guardswoman said," my corporal reproved my squire so that only we could hear.

Vostiv nodded. She wasn't content, but she also understood that she shouldn't press the issue with a guardswoman trying only to obey orders.

"Very well, Meirbax," I remained professional, but had also wanted a closer conversation with my bride, "The princess can certainly see the big black beast from up there."

Vostiv was somewhat mollified at my description of her warhorse as she took pride in his size, look, and expected fierceness.

"I'd like to see better," Caeli expressed her desire.

"Soon," I answered what she meant, "soon, dear Caeli. Though your own loveliness is clear as evershine, even from down here."

My princess gazed down at me from atop the thick stone wall, her longing palpable.

Another reason to hate walls.

A mad plan sprung into my head to trick my dear Caeli down to me, set her in front of me on Savaran's bare back, and ride away to I didn't know where.

Even if I could somehow get us clear of the palace walls though, how could I look after a princess? And with no profession either, as I certainly couldn't return to the army or the company of any honorable women.

More immediately damning to the the moony plan, I'd have to hang myself as a deserter. Then where would my dear Caeli be?

"We should stable our horses and say goodnight, Your Highness," I offered practically.

I saw her sigh, though I couldn't hear it from my low position on the ground, "I suppose you're right, Ser Taiglox. I will see you tomorrow?"

"You will," I affirmed.

"All right," she assented, "Tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow then."

She waved bye and I wheeled Savaran about and put him up with the other horses.

Our normal cycle started again the next day. We rode with the dawn, read through the day, and drilled in the afternoon.

In the evening, I dressed in my diamond cut dark azure tunic with the sharp cendrée trimming. I added my silly fur-lined cloak as instructed, matching cendrée leggings, and my fur slippers. My long chestnut hair I kept tied in its low ponytail.

After 7 bells, Yonjax came for me and my squire. Both were dressed more or less like me, except in their own colors of royal purple and bright gold and of carob and hunter green. Apparently Vostiv's tender age precluded the necessity of a cloak for her though.

I'd attended balls at my aunt's house previously. They were very similar, albeit on a smaller scale and with notably less opulence in decor and lighting.

The huge hall was lit by dozens of large gilded hardwood chandeliers with a couple dozen candles apiece. Gilded wooden benches and chairs lined the walls, presumably for those of us who wouldn't be dancing.

I sincerely hoped that I wouldn't be dancing at least. At my aunt's house, during the few balls held outside warring season, it was understood that soldierly nobles had to attend to boost numbers and show the strength of our small branch of House Laerdya, but could cheerfully sit to the side. Those nobles schooled in dance, on the other hand, displayed their years of training in the difficult and disciplined art of group dancing.

On entering, Yonjax hung her cloak on one of hundreds of hooks near the massive archway that separated the hall from the rest of the fortress interior. I followed suit, glad to be rid of the thing, but wondering if that raised the odds of my having to dance.

Yonjax turned to me, probably reading the concern on my face, "Don't worry, no one would expect you to join in the dance," she reassured, "Have a cup of wine and a seat. You'll be fine."

Vostiv breathed a sigh of relief, but Yonjax cut that short. "Not you, Vos. You should know the steps by now, and goodness knows you've had more than enough wine lately."

Vostiv bowed her head and blushed a bit at the mention of her recent drunken escapade. Given her youth, Yonjax gave her no more than a pointed look. Even young as she was though, her reputation was already being formed for good or ill.

So, as Yonjax and Vostiv joined the rows and circles of dancers, I took a goblet of red wine and watched hundreds of women in lavish gowns, tunics, and jewels. They twirled and leapt in the bright candlelight of the sumptuous ballroom, creating endless colors and hues in carefully sequenced movement. It was a beautiful sight to watch unfolding before me and the few other spectators either in too poor physical condition or too unschooled like myself to join in the graceful and athletic activity.

Then I spotted Caeli, wearing a gorgeous rich tyrian gown in the midst of that sea of moving colors. Lissome, delicate, and flowing, she kept my attention for nearly an hour of lithe and elegant dancing as the flickering light glinted on her golden accessories and in her dark hair.

I still couldn't believe that the ravishing and radiant princess was meant to be mine.

The band took a break and the dancers mingled for general conversation and pointed politicking. Since I avoided politics by inclination and instruction, I spoke politely when approached and mostly sampled from the trays of sapid foods and luscious wines.

Then Yonjax found me, Caeli on her arm. "Come with us," My future sister-in-law instructed me, barely containing the smirk that tried to overtake her face.

Caeli blushed and said nothing.

I also said nothing and followed the sisters up a staircase and to a massive curtain. Yonjax held it aside a little and let Caeli step through, but stopped me with a strong arm barring my way.

"Short talk first," she explained, "These fine guardswomen here," she gestured to a half dozen heavily armed hetaireias facing the curtain, "will be watching your silhouettes. A few more are stationed on the walls, far enough away to be discreet but with a close enough view to be effective. Provided there's no groping or other overly familiar overtures, you'll be provided at least the illusion of privacy for the rest of the evening."

I paused. Not because I didn't want to sprint outside to Caeli. I did. But I wasn't clear on the rules.

"Look," Yonjax read my face again, "Just don't touch her any way you wouldn't while dancing, but you can kiss her and be as insufferably romantic as you like verbally, okay?"

I nodded and quickly stepped past the curtain and onto a large balcony.

Caeli glanced at me nervously, lovely in the moonlight and leaning ethereally against the railing.

"Hi Caeli," I greeted her and bowed a little, which felt immediately foolish.

"Hi Tai?" she responded uncertainly. Her calling me by the diminutive of my name was a good sign, but the uncertainty with which she said it made me think I needed to put her more at ease. And what the fuck did I know about putting damsels at their ease?

I stepped closer to her and leaned against the rail beside her, but looked out at the stars.

"Do you know the constellations, Caeli?"

"Not really." She did seem relieved at having any topic to discuss but the obvious one.

"Well, those stars there," I pointed to a woman shaped constellation, "make up Dike. As the old story goes, she was a goddess charged with maintaining justice way back in the golden age. She was known for her purity and fairness."

"What happened to her?"

"She became frustrated and repulsed by the greed and falseness in the decline of humanity. So she left the world behind and cast herself into the heavens."

"That's so beautiful. And sad."

"A happier one then?"

"Please?" she asked in interest.

I stepped nearer and pointed to the other side of her, low in the night sky. "That's the Great Fish. He saved Derceto, the maiden daughter of a powerful goddess, when she swam too far into a deep and broad lake in a great storm. She was on the cusp of drowning when the Great Fish took pity on her and brought her back to the shore and safety. Her mother was so grateful that she placed the Great Fish and all his descendants in the heavens to swim among the stars forever."

"That's beautiful, too. And much happier."

"You prefer the happy stories?"

"I do."

I put my hand on hers on the railing, turning from the dazzling stars to look into her dazzling eyes. "I want you to be happy. It's become one of my primary goals in life for you to be happy."

"Thank you," she looked up at me hopefully and then back down at our hands.

"You could not be more welcome." I took both her soft hands in my rougher ones and renewed contact with her lustrous dark eyes.

Her hands squeezed mine back and she closed the distance between us. "Will you kiss me now, please?"

"Yes, Caeli."

Still holding both her small hands in my left, I paced my right hand on the rushing of her dress on her hip. She closed her pretty eyes and tilted her pretty face up, her full lips slightly parted.

I leaned down toward her, touching my lips to hers ever so lightly with barely any pressure in a sweet closed-mouth kiss. Instantly, sparks ran from her lips and down my spine and she sighed gently into my lips.

Breaking the kiss, I looked into her pleasantly surprised dark eyes, seeking and finding confirmation that she both liked and wished to continue our romantic physical contact.

Her hands retracted from mine to be put on my broad shoulders for purchase, so I mirrored my right hand with my left so that both were on her hips.

She took the initiative that time, pulling me to her and kissing me more insistently. Her nimble tongue licked my lips until I opened them for her. Then her nimble tongue slipped inside my mouth to play with mine.

I pulled her body tighter to mine, unable to properly feel her form through the many layers of fabric between us. But I loved the pressure of her against me and could swear I felt the warmth of her body heat.

Her hands left my shoulders to settle on the back of my neck, gently rubbing my bare skin so that the little hairs there stood on end, electrified.

My impulse was to get her dress off, get her on her back, and taste her. To eat her out with such devotion that she couldn't stop screaming my name until she couldn't get her breath to continue.

The cool night air certainly didn't stop me. Stopping to think on Yonjax's admonition might have dissuaded me, but everything else besides Caeli and our stolen moment together in the moonlight had all but fallen from my mind.

Rather, my affection for Caeli kept me from advancing the arc of our courtship. I didn't want to push her too far too fast.

Kissing her, just kissing her, felt so good that it didn't matter. Her lips on mine were magic.

Her small hands briefly left the back of my neck to physically wrap my strong arms tightly around her waist. Her lips didn't leave mine.

Not until we both needed a moment of relief to breathe anyway.

I rubbed my forehead to hers as we got some much required air into our lungs.

"I really like being in your arms, Tai."

"You fit here very nicely, Caeli."

"Kiss more?"

"Yes, Caeli."

I kissed her more, my tongue welcomed into her warm, moist, tasty mouth that time and pressing down on her waiting tongue until she sucked gently.

Then I fought the urge to trip her on the balcony and lay across her to kiss on her for awhile horizontally. The fact that we might actually trip on her gown occurred to me, but the hetaireias watching our silhouettes and goodness knows how many guardswomen watching us from the walls did stop me that time, having had a moment to breathe and gather my thoughts.

Again, kissing her was enough. More than I'd ever expected for myself.

Yet our makeout session continuously rose in heat in the cool night air, eventually more than I could withstand and I pulled my lips from hers again.

She whimpered adorably at the loss of contact, so I renewed our kiss against my better judgement in my eagerness to please her. Then I panted as I broke again and released her fully.

Caeli harrumphed.

"Maybe we should talk for awhile?" I suggested as I tried to control my breathing and slow my heartbeat. She remained in my arms, so my heart just kept racing.

"Talk?" she whined.

"You don't want to talk to me, lovely Caeli?" I teased her, glad that she seemed to find me as attractive as I found her.

"Not right now!" Caeli'd never had the opportunity to so much as kiss a woman before. I wondered if she knew what else she inspired in my mind?

"I bore you already, dear bride?" I continued my teasing, "Doesn't bode well for a long and happy marriage."

"You know you fascinate me," she blurted in response to my jibing, then colored adorably at her admission.

"I did not know, but I am very glad to know." I spoke softly near her ear, "I'm having a little trouble in only kissing you and not going any further, sweet Caeli."

I gently nibbled her cute ear, unwilling to resist.

"That's okay!" she offered, exploding with enthusiasm.

Knowing it really wasn't, but not willing to actively disappoint her, I offered a different impulse that I'd wanted to indulge. "How hard would it be to put your hair back up if I took it down?"

"Not hard," her long pretty dark hair was twisted into plaits under a delicate twisted circlet of gold, "But you have to promise to let me take yours down too," she made a counter-proposal.

"Deal."

I took her light circlet off first, carefully setting it on the floor of the balcony by the hem of her gown. Standing back up, I gingerly untwisted her long pretty locks and ran my fingers through the soft strands, shaking her tresses loose.

Leaning in and inhaling her scent, I quickly became intoxicated. Caeli smelled clean and fresh, like she used zanabaq soaps. Probably she did.

Bringing her nearer me with my left arm, I tangled my right hand in her dark hair just above her ear and sweetly brushed my lips to hers once more. "So beautiful, Princess."

I felt her shiver.

I kissed her forehead then. Her cheeks, her eyelids, her chin, and her temples. Playfully, I showered her with pecks and smooches, making her giggle as I held her and stroked her soft hair. I brought her head to my chest and lovingly petted her as I breathed in the zanabaq scent of her crown.

"My turn?" she asked hopefully.

"Already?" I nuzzled her silky tresses.

"Please?"

Like I could say no to her.

I released her and reached to untie my hair.

"No," she placed her hands on my forearms, "Me?"

"You," I agreed and bent my head forward.

She pulled on the leather thong keeping my long hair in its low military ponytail, loosing it about my shoulders to cascade down my back. Though neither styled, scented, nor gelled, my hair is long, brushed, clean, and thick, of a pleasing chestnut color and glossy texture.

Being the better part of a foot taller than her, her reaching the roots of my hair at the top of my head was difficult, so I knelt before her and let Caeli play with my hair.

"I watched you riding for a time last night before Meirbax called down to you," she admitted as she toyed with and fondled my hair, "this majestic mane streaming behind you. So wild and free on Savaran with no saddle and no reins, I really wanted to ride with you."

"You can," I took a deep breath, fearful that I might purr, "Savaran can hold two easily. I'll take you."

I looked up past her embroidered corset and comely cleavage to see the pleased expression on her alluring face. Loving the view, but not the unfruitful stirrings caused by the view itself, I purposefully looked at her bejeweled golden belt instead as I put my hands safely on her curving hips.

No lover had ever touched me before in the caring way Caeli did then, like I was a person to be consciously treasured. All my previous affairs seemed rushed by comparison. A few smiles and flirtations becoming casual sex that would end as soon as convenient access ended.