The Little Warrior Ch. 2

Byron crept through the dank halls of the castle. He occasionally saw a servant on a task of some sort, usually carrying in firewood or sweeping. He had already visited the kitchens and was carefully bringing it to Cassie's rooms. He was full of trepidation as to how he should behave with his fiancée.

After all, they were still virtual strangers, albeit affianced ones. He saw the familiar door to Cassie's chambers and knocked. Julia answered the knock and bid him to come in and wait. Shyly, he did so. He wasn't sure what to expect, never having been in a princess's rooms before, and he was mildly surprised to find instead of a lovely tapestry but a shield of arms and a set of crossing swords. He looked around, and he saw the tapestry on the far wall, in the next room, which was opened to this one.

Cassie emerged from the opposite side and his breath caught in his throat. She was more lovely than he had ever imagined. By the downright, she had a glow about her that bespoke pride and energy. It didn't help that her tiny waist was accented by a belt and her riding skirts were swishing about her shapely hips. He allowed himself to raise his gaze, and he gulped when he saw her rounded breasts, the pale skin begging to be touched.

Snapping himself out of his reverie, he smiled and asked if Julia could join his friend, Anen, as well as Cassie and himself for the outing. Julia agreed and was quickly ready. Anen was already in the stables readying the horses. They walked through the halls, Byron noting that they were more crowded than earlier. He led the women to the stable yard and promised to be back shortly with the saddled horses. Leaving the basket with the picnic supplies confiscated from the all to happy cook with the ladies.

"Anen, we have one more to join us. A lovely maid named Julia. She is Cassie's lady in waiting and I suspect best friend as well. You should like her, very lovely indeed. Hair of dark gold and heaving breasts of a woman to go with the loveliness of her face. She also, I noted, has a dimple when she smiles. I remembered how much you adore dimples and invited her to come along. I will saddle the last horse if you lead the first two to the ladies for me." Byron smiled at his orneriness. He had planned all along to invite a chaperone for this trip, so as not to sully his wife to be's reputation and possibly have the wedding called off. "Milord, when have you ever thought of dimples for me? I didn't realize that you even knew that I had a weakness for them." Anen laughed. "However, as your best friend, I am impatient to meet your betrothed. I can see by your demeanor that she must be very special to you already. I will help you saddle this horse if you tell me a little bit about her."

"To begin with, she has only 17 years. But she is wise beyond that. She is not a normal woman, to be sure. She has the beauty of nature herself, but she also has the wisdom and fire of a man. I think that I will be in for a very interesting ride when we marry. She also seems to enjoy politics, something many women find boorish. I will have to remember to never ask her to sew anything for me, she abhors sewing. Here, pull that tighter." Byron instructed his friend. "As for her physical side, where to begin? She is lovely as dew on a rose first light, has a trim waist and shapely hips. Her breasts heave greatly with each bated breath and she has beautiful thick hair that begs my hands to run through it." He sighed.

"To be sure, she sounds much like the woman for you. She has unsurpassed beauty and brains. That will make for interesting evenings in the winter. I dare say."

They finished hitching the horses to the saddles and led them to the waiting women. Byron heard Anen's breath catch in his throat as he approached his date for the day. He chuckled to himself as he saw exactly what he expected to see. Anen was taken by Julia's beauty. He handed Cassie's reins to her and helped her up before attaching the basket and other supplies to his own horse. He watched as Anen aided Julia onto her steed, noting the care he took.

"Where should we go?" Byron asked once the introductions were made. "I know the perfect spot. It is secluded, warm, and next to a spring. Follow me!" Cassandra took off quickly daring the others to keep up. In their rush, none of them noticed the forbidding shadow following them at a distance. Lord Sinclaire kept a leisurely pace following the foursome.

Cassie led the others deep into the woods to a clearing with a stream running through it. She stopped and dismounted, almost at the same time. She led her horse to the edge of the bank and let him drink his fill as the others followed suit.

"Cassie, you were right, this is the perfect spot. How did you find it?" Byron asked as he looked around.

"One day as a child, I had gotten into trouble, and I knew father was angry. I ran away and stumbled onto this spot. Ever since then, this has been my favorite place to go. It is so tranquil here, making it easy to think and plan."

Julia had gotten the picnic supplies out and was spreading the blankets under the trees. Anen was helping her. Cassie watched in interest as Anen lifted the heavier objects for Julia and smiled to herself. She shivered and looked around. Something didn't seem right, then the feeling was gone.

Byron tethered the horses to a limb that was close to both the water and thick grass. Turning he saw Anen pouring the wine. He also saw his maid as she rubbed a spot on her arm, as if it itched. She saw him watching her and abruptly stopped. Blushing as if caught doing something wrong, she was even more pretty to him.

They ate as they chatted, each learning about the other's homelands. Lord Byron, being a second son, had a smaller household than his older brother, but it was still substantial. It was also connected to his brother's lands, in a strategic area. This was why Cassie was betrothed to Byron, their marriage ensured the loyalty to the King. Byron felt that his brother and his ways were too oppressive, his own servants not even loyal to him, only staying because they absolutely had to.

Cassie told how she believed that if women were involved in the planning of different things, many problems could be prevented. Others could be solved, often without war. She also said how women should be allowed to learn to protect themselves from harm because if all the men are at war and a problem should arise, who would protect the meek defenseless women?

Afterwards, the meal eaten, the wine drunk, and the sun shining, they fell sleep. Cassie woke up when she felt the water dripping on her. She opened her eyes to see a very wet Byron shaking his wet hair all over her, sprinkling her with the water from the stream. Julia woke to a similar Anen as he shook his mane of curly brown hair. They giggled and ran after the errant men.

Byron picked up Cassie and threw her into the water, soaking her head to toe. He knew from the conversation earlier that she would not be angry if such an event occurred. She came up sputtering and Byron laughed until Anen knocked him in as well.

They were being watched, yet none of them realized that their antics were noticed. Lord Sinclaire seethed with jealousy that his younger brother would get to taste that morsel before he could. He vowed that he would do what he could to remedy that. He slipped away plotting his revenge.

After a while, the couples tired of the water play and took off most of their clothes, allowing for modesty, to dry over tree branches. Cassie and Byron laid together keeping each other warm on one blanket, as Julia and Anen used the other in the same fashion. They talked of this and that, and eventually Cassie had the courage to bring up Lord Sinclaire's behavior and promise from the night before. She cringed when she saw Byron's response.