Clara was genuinely friendly at first and didn't make me feel at all awkward or unwelcome. In fact, she got me to talk freely, not just about myself and Jona, but about everything, until, after a few minutes, I realized, she'd pretty much interrogated me about my life, my people, and even what little I knew of Lord Kriven, the ship and its crew.
I even think she knew exactly when I realized what she'd done, because she stood up and led me out of the parlor to a balcony where she poured both of us a glass of wine, handing me one as she looked out at the harbor below.
"I always thought that Jona was destined for bigger things" Clara said, running her eyes up and down my body, "I just expected something more... conventional. You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"
I shook my head.
"No, ma'am. I don't, " I said. "I mean..."
Clara waived her hand.
"You're an innocent peasant girl nearly as big as a horse trying to figure it all out. Don't get me wrong, I do believe you're in over your head, but my nephew is obviously infatuated with you, and I can't see this ending well for either of you."
I opened my mouth to speak but Clara shook her head.
"Save your protests. I'm not warning you off him. You're ignorant, not stupid, and Jona's smart enough to keep his hands off you, hasn't he?"
At this point, I just nodded, draining my glass as I waited to hear if she had a point, or was just ranting. Either way, she had my attention.
"I thought so. He'd not have brought you here if he'd knocked you up," Clara said as she freshened my glass, gazed at a servant in the doorway and then turned back to me.
Duke Archibald and Jona joined us then for a drink, which was pleasant enough, although the Duke was a very odd man. He moved about with a cane in his right hand and dragged his left leg, which didn't bend at all at the knee. As if that wasn't strange enough, he wore a patch on one eye and spoke in a soft tense sounding voice when he spoke at all, which was infrequent. Clara seemed to speak for him most of the time, but I got the feeling she really was saying exactly what he wanted her to say, as if she was almost reading his thoughts.
All that changed, though, when Jona mentioned his suspicion that I might end up at least training with the Alcatian guard. The Duke smiled, and then, in that odd voice of his, began to speak of the days when he served. Jona was obviously thrilled, and while I found a lot of it hard to follow, it was interesting, and not just because he was Jona's uncle.
Eventually the old man began to tire, and Clara said it was time for bed, giving Jona a big hug, and then surprising me by giving me one as well. By the time we left the castle, the road down to the village was deserted, which actually was great because there was a full moon that night. Jona held my hand and we talked about Archie and Clara and great a couple they were. About halfway down, we stopped to look at it and Jona put his arm around my waist.
"I really like you" he said softly, and lost in the moment, I told him I liked him as well. I really wanted him to kiss me just then, but he didn't. Instead, he put his hand on my shoulder and kept talking.
"You realize they wanted to post men at Fail before anyone ever heard of you Fiona. Its not a quid pro quo."
That got my attention, as did Jona's breath on my bare bosom. Where was he going with this?
"The Duke says they'll never let you in the guard, Fiona. If they actually do anything with the barbarians they're being bringing in, it would have to be something different. Most likely it's all for show, and but if anything comes of it at all beyond that, he'd be surprised."
"The reason I'm bringing this up now" he said, answering the unspoken question on the tip of my tongue, "is that once my mission is done, there might be a chance for us. My tour is up in the fall anyway, and I'm not wealthy, but I've some savings, enough to buy a modest farm. We could, well, make a life, I suppose."
Jona said all the right words, and I suppose, if I was a normal girl, I might have kissed him just then, but the Duchess' words where still in my thoughts as well, and I knew he wasn't thinking things through. He had a family and a life, and he'd be throwing all that away for what? Not me. Jona didn't see me, I was sure of that. He hadnt seen the carnage I'd caused at the battle in Fail, and he'd never even kissed me, much less made love. Rolf had looked at me the same way once, but the reality of mating with me had been a real setback, and I knew, even then, that things weren't that simple. Still, if his hands had stayed on my shoulder, I think I might have convinced myself that we could run away and just not think about the complications.
But as I pondered, Jona touched my breast with one hand and his other squeezed my behind. I was a horny young wench, to be sure. I kissed him, wrapping an arm around him and bringing his lips up to mine. I wanted his tongue inside me, wanted to feel his body against me, and I did, but it wasn't a dream. He was just a man and my affection was more than he could cope with. I was a big lusty wench. He started struggling, gasping for air and I set him down as soon as I realized what was happening, and apologized as he caught his breath, sure that id ruined it. But Jona smiled and laughed.
"Can I take that as a maybe" he said, getting up on his toes and kissing me gently on the lips even as I stooped down to make it work.
"Yes, yes" I replied when he wrapped his arm around my waist, "but ... If we...". I was already fumbling with my dress when Jona shook his head.
"No, Fiona, I'll not have you like that, not on the side of the road, and not before you see the King."
He was really sweet as we walked down to the ship with him holding left his arm strangely, his hand in front of his tunic. But he swore to me that I hadn't hurt him, and that it could work later, in a bed, if I still wanted him.
That night, I lay awake trying to figure out what had happened, and why, although I eventually gave up and just dreamed of beds with Jona and I in them.
I suspect now that his crotch might have been as wet as my own that night, but I was very young then and not at all savvy to the workings of male anatomy or their egos.
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