Prince Bonir Vol. 05

We reconvened for lunch, and then I took them to my private chambers—they thought it was just to be social, but it was the set-up for perhaps the most important test of their suitability. It was just me, the three of the, Eve, and Arianna. Then as arranged, Eve suddenly said. "It is 2:00, My Lord...do you wish to take your afternoon sojourn?"

"Yes, I think that is an excellent idea," I answered, standing and loosening the ties on my tunic. Arianna stood as well, coming towards me and loosening the bodice of her dress. Addressing the princesses, I said "my dear guests, it is customary that I have a sojourn at this time of the afternoon. It should not take too long. You may stay if you wish, or I shall meet you at 4:00 in the courtyard."

The princesses were confused at first; without warning people were moving and doing things and they had no idea what was going on at first. Eve was already standing by me; she helped me pull off my tunic. It made me feel good the way all three princesses eyed the torso I worked so hard to keep in fighting shape, but as they followed it down they could not help but notice that Eve's hand was inside of my hose. With her free left hand, she pulled her right breast out of her dress; I bent forward to kiss it. In the meantime, Arianna had reached us. She pulled her dress over her head and tossed it aside, and was actively removing her underclothes. I shall always remember how all three of them gasped in unison.

Eve pulled up a stool that had been added to my chambers' décor since the beginning of her second trimester; it allowed her to sit comfortably while pleasuring me orally. She sat down, pulled down my hose and opened her mouth to me. Arianna, meanwhile, sat on the desk, her back to the princesses, her legs apart. I reached forward to lock tongues with her while stroking her cleft with my middle finger until it was moist enough to permit me to dive in.

Inga was the first to recover her tongue. "What exactly is the meaning of this display!?!?" she barked.

"Sorry," I said, peering out from behind Arianna but still fingering her, "it was not meant to be a display; I always keep the door closed during my afternoon sojourn. But you were already here, and it seemed rude to throw you out, so I invited you to stay...if you wish." While I was talking, Arianna had played a role reversal and was teasing my nipple with her tongue. Eve, for her part, exaggerated the degree to which she bobbed her head back and forth, just to leave no doubt that my erection was fully ensconced within her throat.

"WELL!" she spat, standing, "I am not amused by your charade. I am disgusted, and I have never been so insulted in my life. I shall not sit here for one second longer!" And she didn't; she got up and stomped off, slamming the door behind her.

Freya and Petra now looked to each other for guidance. Should they follow Inga's lead? "Well now, I guess she wasn't very open-minded, now was she?" I said soothingly. "Really, I don't mind if you stay, and neither do Arianna or Eve, right ladies?" They murmured agreement as best they could given that their tongues were busy at the time. Neither Freya nor Petra could draw their eyes away—I guessed they had never seen a man naked, much lessin flagrante dilecto, and it was a learning experience to them.

I gently touched Arianna on the shoulder, the signal for her to lie flat on her back on the desk. I extracted my penis from Eve's mouth and she slipped a sheath onto it. Arianna spread her legs wide, and as soon as I was sheathed I dove straight into the tender opening between her thighs. I began thrusting at a leisurely pace, and Arianna, who was usually rather quiet even in the throes, made plenty noise to emphasize her own pleasure. Freya craned her neck to see what was going on down there. Petra tried to see, too, but was less obvious about it.

"Ladies...if you'd like to watch, come closer. There's not a thing you can see from over there." Eve now sat on the desk next to Arianna and dropped the top of her dress from her shoulders. She now reached her breasts towards me so that I could taste their nipples while I was making love to Arianna. Freya and Petra again looked at each other; both were curious to learn more about what was going on, but it also seemed entirely wrong to be doing so. Petra finally haltingly stood and walked to the side—not necessarily closer, but so that the desk wasn't blocking her view. From the side, she watched with interest as I slipped my rod through Arianna's moist folds.

Freya hurried to her sister's side, more now not wanting to be too far away from as a matter of moral support than mere curiousity. Her eyes now were wide as saucers, and she held Petra's arm tightly with one hand. "Ohh..." I cried, freezing momentarily with my eyes closed in exaggerated rapture," this feels SO good. I can't wait to show one of you just how wonderful this feels on Saturday night!"

I was referring, of course, to the wedding night. My comment must have set off Freya's imagination, picturing herself on the receiving end of that mysterious protrusion...and it was too much for her young mind. With a gasp, she put her hand to her mouth, flushed red, let go of Petra's arm, and fled.

Petra turned when she went, thinking that she should go too, now that she was the last one left. "Dear Petra...are you the only one with the fortitude to watch? Making love is the most natural act there is, every animal in the forest or the barn does it, and yet we become so nervous at the very thought!" I motioned to her, "please, come closer. Have you ever seen anyone making love before?"

She haltingly took a step closer. "I...no, but I have good friends...who have been with their lovers...and we have talked of it..."

"Did they tell you how wonderful it felt?" Eve got up off the table, since I wasn't paying attention to her breasts at the moment anyway; she came up behind me and reached around to tease my nipples.

"No, well," she tried to explain, "they tried to explain, but it was hard to imagine..."

"Indeed," Eve now joined in, rubbing my back with one hand while addressing Petra, "one can never understand just how wonderful it is until you get to experience it for yourself."

Petra looked toward Eve, and when she did the combination of her protruding belly and her efforts to pleasure me suddenly added up. Petra looked at the bulge, then back at Eve, and asked haltingly "Is the prince..."

"The father of my baby? Certainly," Eve answered playfully, "do you think his lordship would allow another man to consort with the women of HIS household, right under his nose?"

Petra seemed to not know what to make of that. Eve now let go of me and walked up next to Petra, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. "Do come closer, there is nothing to fear." Petra allowed Eve to bring her to within an arm's length.

"That's the way, Petra," I encouraged, "you see, this above all else is the most important attribute that my future Duchess must have...she must have an open mind with regard to the pleasures of the flesh. It seems that you alone among your sisters have it."

For the first time, her eyes were wide. She who could not come up with a reason why I should choose her over her sisters, while her sisters had no trouble undercutting their siblings as part of this competition, suddenly realized that her standing here unphased as I made love to my two concubines right in front of her put her very much in the race. This was not a position she had even given serious thought to being in.

"Please excuse me for a second, I am nearly finished," I said. I turned my attention at last to Arianna—the poor dear had been laying there receiving me and I wasn't even looking at her. I corrected that now, looking into her eyes and enjoying her fine features and red hair. She grabbed her ankles, spreading them even further apart as she knew I liked, and pushed forward towards me. I redoubled my pace and made love to her properly. Having now had Eve and Arianna share me scores of times, having others in the room no longer inhibited me at all. "Nnnnngggghhhh!" I grunted loudly as I froze, fully penetrated, as an orgasm washed over me.

I relaxed; Arianna sat up and I entwined tongues with her again. Then I grabbed hold to make sure that the sheath exited with me when I did. Eve was already there to collect the sheath; she then carefully cleaned my member with her mouth and tongue. Petra looked puzzled at the sheath; Arianna explained what it was and what it was for. She had clearly never heard of such a thing, and was intrigued—but not so much as she was by my now-exposed penis.

I smiled broadly, "sorry, my manhood must take a little rest now," I teased. She looked up with a start, having been caught red-handed so to speak staring at my sex. I pulled up my hose, and walked with purpose up to Petra, putting my hands on her shoulders. "Listen...Inga was partly right, this was a display, or more precisely a test. See, Eve and Arianna have been my paramours for some time—and while I will gladly do for my bride all the things that a husband should do, one thing that I shall not do is give them up. The Duchess of Averic shall enjoy official standing, attendance at state functions, hosting formal balls—all of those wonderful things that make every woman desire such standing. Unfair though it may be, however, I refuse to limit myself to any one woman. My standing permits it, and I see no reason why I should not continue to take full advantage of that fact. That is not to say that I will not commit to love and support a woman all the days of her life, but I shall not commit to only ONE woman. Indeed, I have already committed lifetime support to Eve and Arianna both, and I fully intend to fulfill that commitment. It is important that my bride knows up front just what situation she is walking into. Do you understand?"

Once Petra was able to stop staring at my pectoral muscles, she looked up at me with a slightly puzzled glance. The response that followed all but sealed her choice as Duchess of Averic.

"Do not all men of royal blood keep concubines?"

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I almost burst out laughing. "No, they don't," I smiled, the most relaxed I had felt in months. "I take it your father has concubines?"

"Shh," she said severely, looking around to be sure no one was listening. "My mother goes ballistic at the topic, but my father has women that he...visits regularly. My mother pretends not to know about it, and he pretends it doesn't happen, and they both pretend they don't know better. Otherwise they would fight about it constantly."

I chuckled to myself. Perhaps ol' King Harald and I had more in common than I realized. I had by now slipped my tunic back on and was holding both of Petra's hands in mine. We looked into each other's eyes, both wondering about the other, and how life might be together. It was hard to imagine what a future together might look like when we'd only known each other for 36 hours.

"You...have more of an accent than your sisters?" I asked cautiously.

Her face flushed slightly, but also attractively, and she looked down and away. "I...I didn't study the language as hard as I should have. I never thought that there would be any chance that you might pick me."

"Why not?" I asked gently.

"I'm not first at anything," she complained with a hint of bitterness. "You name it, one or the other of my sisters is better at it. Witty speech? Inga. Athletics? Freya. Speaking your language? Inga. Beauty? Freya. All my life it seems I have always been second—or worse. Music—the one thing I do better is music, but you are seeking a bride, not a musician. Why would I be your first choice"

"Because you have the most agreeable temperament, my dear," I countered.

She looked up at me and smiled slightly. I looked back at her—and bent forward to reach for her lips. She was caught off-guard at first, but recovered and returned my kiss sweetly. Suddenly she felt very much like she wanted to please me...and I have a great affinity for women that desire to please me.

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By dinner it was clear to everyone that Petra had emerged as the clear favorite in this race. For her part, she was desperately trying to make up for lost time—she veritably grilled the translator, trying to learn as much of the language as quickly as possible. It was beginning to look as if she were going to need it.

The King caught me in the hallway before dinner, and only half-jesting said "are you trying to get me killed?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, having no idea what he was talking about.

"Your little demonstration this afternoon...Inga came crying right to her mother to complain about it, and the queen blamed it all on me! Look, I've kept a concubine or two in my time, but keep it a secret man! Why make a big show like that?!?!"

"We do things differently in Averic," I replied, reciting what had become and increasingly familiar refrain. "Eve and Arianna have been here for some time now, it didn't seem fair to force them to go underground after all this time—besides, everyone in the castle knows. Would it be fair to the Duchess to be the only one person in the castle not in on the secret? So I made a little test, to see if any of them could cope with the fact that the Duke would have other women as well."

"And did it work?" he asked skeptically.

"Your lovely daughter Petra passed with flying colors," I smiled.

The King nodded, put his bear-paw around my shoulder and started walking in to dinner. "You can't begin to know how happy I am to hear that. Petra...I have always really thought well of her. She's even tempered, agreeable—but she never gives herself any credit. Inga—she's very smart, but she's got too much of her mother in her! And Freya...by Odin's Hammer, I don't know if she'll ever grow up! She's very beautiful, but it won't matter if she doesn't gain some maturity. If I were choosing, having seen them all since birth, I would have picked Petra. But I didn't think there was much chance of YOU seeing that—since she doesn't see her own worthiness, she doesn't do a good job of conveying it to others. Once again, Bonir, soon to be son-in-law, your unconventional ways have achieved excellent results!"

He kept his arm around me as we headed into the dining hall. A little further down the hall, the King had a new thought. "So, Eve and Arianna are both your consorts, eh? And Eve's child..."

"Is mine, yes," I replied.

"Having a bastard is dangerous, even in Averic," the King replied, mocking my catchphrase.

"Well, it was only partially thought through," I admitted, "I feared what might happen to Averic were I to not return for Jarno. By the time I did return, the child was already on its way."

We entered the dining hall together. I later spoke with Jauffrey at length about how amusing that second day's dinner was. Queen Malena was angry at the world, save Inga. She chose to swap seats with Jauffrey just so she wouldn't have to sit between me and her husband. Freya and Inga likewise switched, so Inga could be next to her mother. But this also put them directly across from Eve and Arianna, who they now despised, so they looked straight down into their plates the entire time to avoid looking across the table. Inga made a half-hearted attempt to join the conversation once or twice, but her bitterness now overwhelmed her attempts at charm. She may well not have even wanted to be chosen now, but it still didn't sit well that her sister would be chosen over her. Freya seemed to sense that the choice had been all but made, but she wasn't terribly upset by it—she was awful young to have been married anyway. But she had expected to be leaving her bossy big sister behind, and instead she was losing her best friend and ally. Back home now, her sister would be even more insufferable. Jauffrey had to tell me all this later, however, for I saw none of it. I was locked in on Petra the whole time. It was almost like we were dining alone, so focused were we on each other. She would sometimes turn to one of her sisters for help with the language, but she was very attentive now, trying to make up for lost time. And King Harald said barely a word, not wanting to interrupt us—but Jauffrey said he could not hide his beaming approval.

Long after sundown, I walked with Petra along the top of the battlements, holding hands, looking at the moonlight over the lands below. On the one hand we were still strangers, but at the same time we were rapidly becoming comfortable with each other. "Your Grace," Petra asked, her speech already getting better, "you told me of the importance being open to your concubines. But what do you wish for from your Duchess?"

I held her hand while I looked out over the fields. "It's funny, I've never really thought about it very much," I admitted. "I always knew that I would marry when it was politically advantageous—no offense, but neither of us would be here if it weren't for what happened in Jarno, right? And I will need a legitimate heir. I've never thought about much else, for I did not expect that anything I might want in a wife would have any bearing on who I would marry, if you know what I mean?"

She nodded.

"What about you? What do you wish from a husband, and how do you feel about an arranged, politically expedient marriage?"

She shrugged. "I was raised from birth with the expectation that I would be married to someone of appropriate standing when the time was right, and I would have little say in it. It's the price of being a princess, I was told over and over," she answered. "In truth I wondered if ever I would marry at all, as I fully expected both of my sisters to be married before I."

"But now that the opportunity presents itself, what do you wish from your husband?" I pressed.

She considered thoughtfully. "I need a husband to support me and our children, surely. I wish a husband to be honest with me—I need to trust that if he has an issue with me, he will bring it to me. Like any girl I would have liked that my husband be faithful to me, but in the absence of that I would rather that he be forthright about it. I would rather know my husband was consorting with concubines than have everyone but me know that he's sneaking around behind my back." She turned to me with a mischievous eye, and added "besides...if they understand what my husband desires, perhaps there are things I could learn from them."

Zounds...the mischievous eye, just like Eve! Were Eve and Petra to conspire against me, I should surely stand no chance! But to recognize that perhaps one might learn from a prince's consorts—surely, she was my kind of girl. And until that moment, it had not struck just how clear and blue her eyes really were.

"What of being the Duchess?" I asked further.

She shrugged. "Truthfully, I don't know what is involved—that was always Inga's domain. What would I be expected to do, as Duchess?"

I rattled off a list. "Mostly, it is to be lady of the house, but it also means attending official events—church ceremonies, openings, royal balls, events at the King's castle, that sort of thing."

"I'm not much for fancy dress..." she began.

"Nor I," I blurted out.

"...but I try my best at whatever I may be called up to do," she finished. She put her arms around my neck, and I mine around her waist. She looked up at me, eyes betraying an openness of mind, a willingness to try. I did not love her, but as I looked into her eyes, I thought that I might well grow to love her in time. The thought that I might actually grow to love my Duchess was more than I had ever expected.

I bent slightly and kissed her. She responded with soft lips, a gentleness that made me feel like she would likewise do her best to give me what I desired. Of my three choices, clearly she was the best. I pulled back to look at her again. She returned my gaze, not wanting anything specific of me, except perhaps to better understand me.