Infinite Blue Heaven - A King and A Queen (3 page)

“Oh, alright. But when we are settled down.”

“Alright.”

Gregor was waiting with a lit torch as we approached. I often wondered how he knew we were coming. He must hear the footsteps or something. It was one of his tricks which delighted me and so I did not want to know his secret.

“Good evening Lord. And Princess.” He bowed very low to the lady. The use of the title Lord was not an insult, he had served me since I was a young man, and a Lord, and even now I was still a Lord, as well as the King. I didn’t mind its use.

He turned away from us and held open the great red curtain that sealed off our private chambers and we followed him in. From one of the fruit bowls on a table as we passed, Shakira shot out a hand and grabbed an apple, green and shiny, and bit loudly into it as we walked on.

Through clenched teeth she said, “I am going to bathe later.”

“Not again! That is the second time in two weeks!” Bathing was the latest trend, brought in from Europe and Shakira had taken it to extremes, bathing every few weeks. Before this new trend, most women only bathed twice in each year and many men, only once.

“I am going to bathe every week from now on!”

She seemed delighted with her plan and looked, smiling, at the surprise it produced on my face.

“Every week!” I said no more. These evenings together, always produced surprises, I was used to it now.

We reached the carved oak door to my chamber and Gregor opened it for us to enter.

“You may leave us for the evening Gregor and the Princess’s Maid Servants too.”

“Oh no! I need just one for the bath. Please ask Natalya to arrange a bath for me, Gregor”

“Yes, Your Highness. Goodnight Sire. Goodnight Your Highness.”

With that he was gone and we were almost alone. I did not feel vulnerable. I trusted Gregor with my life and he would not leave his quarters next to our Banquet Hall. Also he had a mastiff to help him, if trouble came. The mastiff was called Little Bear, I had named him when he was a puppy, but now he was bigger than Gregor. The naming had caused many hilarious scenes over the years.

I sat on the great bed, while Shakira climbed on to it behind me to help me off with my clothes. I was glad to be rid of them. My full-length tunic, in grey, red and gold, hid a corset of mail, uncomfortable to wear at Banquets. I felt it necessary though; my great-grandfather had been killed by a knife at just such a Banquet. When, at last it was off and I was dressed only in a cotton under-vest, which reached to my knees, I leaned back into Shakira’s lap and threw her over me, squealing. She pummeled my knees with her fists.

After giggling and struggling with each other for a few moments we settled down to talk about my plans for tomorrow.

I lay, leaning against a few piled cotton pillows, while she sat to my side, legs folded elegantly underneath her purple, quilted gown.

“I am all ears.”

I smiled. “This is my plan. Korim, as we know, has annexed a tract of land, roughly 1400 verst long and 140 wide along the edge of the mountains. We know he came in through this pass here.” I drew in the silk sheet in front of her. “This is the only way in, at this point on our border. I have some knowledge of this area. I have had a local tribesman come to me and draw me maps, and I know this area here…” I said, drawing a semi-circle against one of the long sides of the triangle which marked the entrance to the pass, “is a good area to build defenses. I am betting, as winter draws on, Korim will build a stronghold here.”

“But why don’t you attack him now?”

“Two reasons. One is that my army is not yet built up to full strength. The second is that I want to wait until winter. Wait. We will not attack now and Korim will believe he has won this land permanently. He will request reinforcements from other tribes, probably mercenaries, but they will not arrive until the spring. In the meantime he will want to stay where he is and as I say, he will strengthen his position with some kind of stronghold. This will take some weeks to build, however and I have spies who will inform me when he has started. I have prepared a small special force, which I will inspect tomorrow. This consists of my very best men, a few nomads, who are loyal to me and a large number of prostitutes. They will be equipped as if they are a complete tribe, even with a few old men and woman with them, and they will travel too, and stop at Korim’s army, sometime very soon. In the meantime, the first two Battalions to recover will be sent up here,” I said, pointing behind her back to an imaginary pass, much further northwest, “through that pass and down the other side of the mountains. They will send their own spies to watch Korim and will report back when he has started building. When building forts, one always starts with the walls so I have instructed both sets of spies to start counting the days from when the first stake is driven into the ground. Seven days from then, at midday, the northern army will attack and the soldiers disguised as nomads will attack from within. I have no doubt that they will have gained access. Korim’s Army will be hungry for women by this time.”

“At the same time, I, with the main part of the army will attack from the south. That is my plan. What do you think?”

“Hmmm. I don’t approve of the prostitutes but it is a bold and cunning plan. And I think it will succeed. You are a very clever man.”

“And unscrupulous!” she added, pulling a moue. “Now I am going to bathe,” she said and climbed off the bed to walk to the door.

I sat there, quietly musing over my plan for some time. There were weaknesses, there always were, but it was a good plan. My main concern, which I hadn’t mentioned, was the matter of the loyalty of the general in charge of the northern Army. Who could I trust? I had pondered this for some time but still could not decide.

There was a gently rapping on my door.

“Who is it?”

“Your Highness. It is I.” It was Shakira’s Maid Servant. I could hardly hear her through the thick door.

“Come!” Normally she would not be permitted, even to open the door to my Chamber but I felt too lazy to get off the bed.

“The Princess has requested your presence in the bathing room, Your Highness.”

“Oh. Thank you. Has she dismissed you?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Well. Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight Your Highness.”

I waited until the door had closed, counted to thirty and then I got off the bed and walked down the corridor to the bathing house, for such it was in years gone by, a roman-style bath, as I remember. Shakira had me put a great bath, carved from a single piece of marble, in the middle of the tiled floor. As I opened the door, steam rushed around my face and I could see nothing. Then the mist cleared slightly and I could make out her rosy face, blonde hair piled on top of her head, peering over the edge of the great tub.

I stayed at a distance out of decency and waited for her latest request. It was not normal for a man to share a woman’s bathing rituals but I was sure there was some purpose to this.

“Yes?”

“You needn’t stand so far away. I want to talk to you. Come closer.”

I walked up to the tub, close enough to see the point where her neck met her chest but no lower.

“Oh you silly man! We have no secrets. We have been lovers for some time now. Come and scrub my back.”

I let out a sign, almost a whistle, and stepped forward. There was so much steam I could actually see very little so I felt comfortable perching on the tub edge and picking up the long handle attached to a mediterranean sponge. I started merrily scrubbing away as she talked.

“Did you see any women who took your eye tonight?”

“Nooo. Of course not.”

“Not even the lovely Natalya?”

I paused, just a moment too long before answering “No.” It was always a torture to be honest with her, at her request, but not to say the wrong thing.

“Hmm.” She lifted her knees out of the water. “Now could you scrub my knees please?”

I leaned forward but in doing so I could see, for a moment her breasts, distorted under the water, as the mist cleared. She handed me a bar of tar perfumed purple soap and I soaped her knees with it. My cotton garment was almost completely soaked and very uncomfortable, now.

“You must be getting wet. Why don’t you get in?”

“No! It’s not time for me to bathe.”

“Hmm. Is not my figure more full than Natalya’s?”

“I suppose it is, yes.”

“And do you like it?”

“Yes.”
“Then I am more beautiful than she is.” It was a statement.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now you can do my back.” She rolled over and for a moment I could see her whole shape, so lithe and smooth. The line of her spine made a lovely S-shape as she twisted, completing the turn.

“Lower,” she said.

I soaped over her buttocks, while she talked.

“Have I put on weight there?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“That’s enough, I think. My toes are getting wrinkly. I don’t want to be wrinkly for you.”

She turned back over and sat up to kiss me. The soap has made some white bubbles –there was so much of it – and as I kissed her, she dabbed some on my nose.

“You look like a dwarf,” she said and giggled. “Can you pass me my robe please? I will be along in a few minutes.”

I went back to my chamber and undressed. I blew out all the candles in the eight-stemmed candelabra on the fire sill, leaving just the two small candles either side of the great bed. I was completely naked, as I got into the bed, under a single, thin silk sheet. I thought, ‘we will be hot tonight.’

It seemed ages before Shakira returned and I had puzzled many things before then. She slipped under the covers wearing a silk gown, imported from Japan. She lay against me and put her small hand around my neck. Suddenly she kissed my cheek. It was a quick kiss.

“Will you miss me, when you are away?” It was a sincere question.

“Yes.” It deserved a sincere answer.

She stirred and I could see here taking off the gown, leaving her completely naked when she rested back against me. Her skin was nice to the touch. I felt for her breast and cupped its full shape in my hand. I could feel the nipple harden, just slightly. My appetite for her was growing, I just wanted to be inside her, and suddenly I had rolled her on her back and was looking into her lovely brown eyes. She felt me pushing between her legs and opened them for me to enter her. It was so comfortable being inside her. We both trusted each other completely and as I rocked back and forth, it was a very gently motion, but still passionate in a deeply tender way.

“Shakira.”

“Oh. My King”

Within minutes I had subsided, satisfied, and although I offered to satisfy her further, tonight she just wanted to lie in my arms.

I awoke early and dressed quietly, not wanted to wake her. When I sat on the edge of the bed, for one last look at her, she was smiling at me. I bent to kiss her. She raised herself to me, kissing me on the mouth tenderly before sinking again into the crimson and blue silk.

“Don’t get hurt.”

“I won’t.”

“When can I expect you back?”

“Midday in three days’ time.”

My horse had been saddled and we clattered across the drawbridge before turning west, away from the rising sun, twenty horses and twenty of my finest Palace Guard. My horse was decked out the same as theirs, yellow coat embroidered with the Royal Crest in blue, and also bordered in blue and with blue tassels. We wore light armour, chain under white tunics, the crest on our shields and swords in our hands for the first mile. This last was for effect and early rising citizens cheered as we passed. It was my habit to dress exactly the same as any Palace Guard as these small units were often ambushed and I didn’t wish to be picked out. Geb-Gaban, my Lieutenant, rode beside me and we rode in pairs, up into the foothills of the mountain-spur that guarded the western flank of my City. We would be traveling until late the following morning and I would have plenty of time to think, which I needed. Geb-Gaban took the lead slightly, his tall figure, sitting straight on his horse. I had ordered him to take the old track west for at least four hours before turning south, up into the rough pastures, to confuse any of Lord Bulya’s spies who may be watching, before turning north again and out onto the plains. I would instruct him further then. Only he was to know that first part of the route. As we rode, first at a gentle gallop, then a canter. I considered my options. Whoever was to take the northern Army had to succeed. They simply had to or else we could not defeat Korim. He and his forces would simply slip back through the pass and return next year. Or worse. I rued the fact that my parents had not had more daughters. They’d had four, it was true and, in the time-honoured fashion, these had been married off to Princes of neighbouring Kingdoms, which had the effect of protecting our southern, western and eastern borders but there were five Kingdoms bordering our own, not four. If my mother had had a fifth daughter perhaps Korim would not have invaded. Little was known about him except that he was an illegitimate son of the King of that realm and had been an outcast for most of his life. He and his troupe of thieves sacked towns and pillaged as they went, taking refuge in the mountains in winter. Even the King had tried to arrest his own son but failed. Perhaps, if he had married a sister of mine, he would have tried harder.