A Whore for the King Pt. 04

This story is categorized as science fiction/fantasy, but there are no ray guns or robots. No wizards. No orcs. It is a 10-part tale of fictional people living in a fictional kingdom in England a long time ago. There's a lot of sex, but there's also a lot of words devoted to plot and character. Isn't sex more exciting when it involves people we care about? It's my hope that King Harold, Princess Alana, Queen Mother Eunice, Sir Robert, and (especially) Sarah the Whore capture your attention. All characters are adults over 18.

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As the days turned into weeks that turned to months, Sarah became accustomed to life in the palace. The passage of time continued to prove that Sarah was a very popular person in court. Everyone from the aristocracy to the stable boys knew she was the reason their king was happy again. And what man wouldn't be happy? Sarah was the most beautiful woman anyone remembered seeing in the palace.

Being so beautiful, Sarah benefitted from a quirk of human nature. It is a simple fact that most people make judgements about a person's character based solely upon their appearance. People who are attractive are usually thought to be smarter, kinder, more interesting and more accomplished than people who are plain. It is a ridiculous principle that is as unfair as it is unfounded, but it has always been part of the way people think.

People beheld Sarah and couldn't help but imagine that anyone so lovely had to have a character of the highest quality. In Sarah's case, of course, that judgment happened to be true. All she wanted was to please her king and to help her family financially. Since she was doing both things well, she felt happy with her circumstance.

Although Sarah entertained the king most nights, her days belonged to her. A man working in the king's library offered to teach her to read and write, and soon Sarah was borrowing books on all subjects. The men at the stable gave her lessons on riding horses, a pastime she loved and in which she excelled. Palace musicians tried to teach her to play the lute, but that didn't work out well. They switched her to the violin, and soon she played so sweetly they invited her to perform with them during their regular concerts. Most of the aristocrats received music lessons in their youth, and they recognized that Sarah played almost as well as the musicians paid to entertain the king and his court.

She learned the longbow. Because her eyesight was so good and her hands were so steady, Sarah became one of the finest archers in the palace. Men could send arrows farther, but no one could exceed her accuracy. She was always invited to the regular contests, and she always scored very well. Strangely, her skill with the bow reinforced the impression that she was remarkably beautiful. When she drew back the bow, she stood with her back erect, her chest out, and her chin up. This displayed her body at an angle that emphasized her best features. Most of the men (and some of the women) found it easy to envy the king for the time he spent in Sarah's bed.

Every few weeks some learned person came to the palace to deliver a lecture. They covered all sorts of topics. Some speakers were explorers who described the people and features of distant nations. They regularly brought back fruit and vegetables which were to be cultivated by the king's gardeners; going to the lectures provided opportunities to taste these foods for the very first time. The lectures were very popular, and they were always attended by the king, who sat on a couch in the middle of the front row. He insisted that Sarah sit beside him, and he held her hand as the lecturer spoke. It made Sarah feel special, and reminded members of the court that Sarah was the reason the king was so much happier.

Perhaps the most unexpected boost to Sarah's reputation came during one of the king's hunting trips. Harold maintained a comfortable lodge deep in the forest east of the palace, and several times a year he and members of the aristocracy liked to spend a week there pursuing game, drinking beer, and telling exaggerated tales of good hunts held in years past. Only a few women went on these hunts because not many thought they'd enjoy spending time on the back of a horse all day, riding to and fro in pursuit of deer, quail, rabbit, and boar.

Sarah didn't intend to look for game, but she loved horseback riding, and she imagined she'd enjoy traversing the trails that crisscrossed the forest. She'd never hunted - that was a task performed by her father and brothers - but she took her bow with her, just in case she was presented with the opportunity to bring down a turkey or some other tasty animal.

Sarah was therefore prepared early that first morning when she looked up ahead and spotted a boar on the trail. It was a huge animal, covered with coarse black hair. It flashed sharp tusks bigger than Sarah's thumbs. She notched an arrow without thinking, drew back the bow, and let the arrow fly. It pierced the boar just behind his shoulder. The animal let out a loud wail, ran as fast as it could down the trail, then quickly collapsed. It usually took several arrows to bring down such a large beast, but Sarah did it with one. Every hunter in the king's party heard the squeal, so they rushed to the scene and saw the fat animal lying on the trail with Sarah's arrow sticking in its side.

The sight was so stunning most of the hunters were struck silent. It wasn't the biggest boar they'd ever seen, but it was very large, and it would provide ample pork to feed the entire party for days. Seeing the huge animal made everyone imagine the pleasant things that were about to happen. They would gleefully haul the boar back to the lodge, where the king's cooks would mount it on a spit and begin the long process of roasting. For hours, the aroma of sizzling fat and meat would torment all those who'd worked up a fierce appetite during the day's hunt.

Every hungry man and woman knew they had Sarah to thank for the feast they would soon enjoy.

And thank her they did. Sarah and King Harold sat on a large log away from the fire where the boar was roasted. Everyone drank beer as they waited, and they complained that the rich aroma of roasting pork was driving them crazy from hunger. When the cooks finally began slicing pork from the carcass, the king received the first serving, and the second went to Sarah. The serving continued, with the highest ranking aristocrats given plates first, but there was so much pork that even the maids and stable boys received portions as grand as the one given to the king himself. And there was more besides; breakfast and lunch the next day would feature pork, pork, and more pork. There would be ribs. Bacon. It was pleasant to imagine.

The members of the party had almost finished their first servings, and were about to get seconds, when Sir Robert Robertson spoke up. Sir Robert was the king's comptroller, and he was the most educated man in the kingdom. Sir Robert and King Harold were a team that got a great deal of credit for the kingdom's strong finances, and they both promoted a view that the old superstitions were almost always false and harmful. They favored a more modern view that relied on facts and reason.

"You all know that I am not a superstitious man," Sir Robert said, rising to his feet so the entire party could hear him. "I deal with numbers. Evidence. Logic. It follows that I do not believe in good luck charms or magic spells.

"But we must believe the evidence of our eyes. Every time Miss Sarah is present, good things happen. I remind you all that today's hunt was too remarkable to let pass. The very first time Miss Sarah shot an arrow in a hunt, she brought down the most magnificent animal in the forest. Has anything like that happened to any man here? Anyone? I thought not. Your Highness, it is time to acknowledge the truth.

"Some people bring good luck, and others bring bad. We have all known both types. Miss Sarah is our great good luck. I want every man and woman here to join me in a toast in which we all pledge to protect Miss Sarah with our lives if need be. To Miss Sarah!"

The toast was joined by everyone, including those who spoke with mouths full of pork. Sarah blushed so deeply the king laughed.

"So, Miss Good Fortune? What do you intend to shoot tomorrow? An elephant? Kangaroo? Maybe you'd prefer bringing down a fire-breathing dragon," King Harold said.

"Sir Robert has had too much beer," Sarah said.

"In my experience, Sir Robert is never wrong," Harold said. "He's like my mother that way. Both of them hold high opinions of you."

"There's only one opinion I care about," Sarah said.

"Then you should be glad to know my opinion is highest of all," Harold said.

The evening spent around the fire was delightful for everyone. Sarah saw why the king and his friends liked to come to this lodge and forget about business for a few days. It seemed that the tensions and stresses of work faded with each bite of pork and sip of beer. King Harold drank as much as any of his men, and he was slurring his words by the time the fire burned down to embers. When it came time for everyone to retire, Harold was unsteady on his feet as he walked up the stairs to his chamber. Sarah walked beside, holding his arm to steady him.

As she helped him out of his clothes and into bed, Sarah imagined that Harold was not in a condition that would permit him to have sex. They always had sex - always - and Sarah thought it was her duty to try. By this time the king had told her that he enjoyed beholding her nude form as much as he enjoyed touching it. Indeed, he usually spent long minutes removing her clothing slowly, admiring each part of her naked body as it came into view. Sarah came to love how it felt for the king's eyes to caress her skin.

Since the king was flat on his back and a little drunk, Sarah stood where he could see her when she was finally naked. To her surprise, her little display immediately made him erect.

Maybe he isn't as drunk as I believed, Sarah thought to herself. Maybe tonight will include some romance after all.

Since the king couldn't possibly mount Sarah, she threw one leg over Harold's body and straddled him. His hard cock rubbed against the crease of her pussy, which soon became agreeably moist. He moaned when she humped him, so she put the head at the entrance to her pussy and lowered herself until he was all the way inside her. Harold watched as Sarah began to move up and down. Moonlight from the open window painted her form with a silver outline that flattered every curve and cleft. She moved slowly, riding the king's wet cock in a way calculated to make his pleasure last as long as possible.

She doubted he would last long. Harold was writhing beneath her, and his moaning became constant. It was good for Sarah, too. She liked being on top of Harold. It put her in control, letting her decide how fast to move and how much she wanted to grind her clit against his body. Harold's hands reached up to feel her breasts, so she leaned forward far enough to let them dangle in front of his face. She put one nipple between his lips, let him nibble and suck, then switched to the other breast. He bit her gently.

It was no surprise when Harold's cock began to throb and fill Sarah with warmth and wetness. Everything felt so good that she began to climax just as the king's orgasm concluded. Harold thought there was nothing more beautiful than Sarah's visage as she was in the throes of passion. He thought there was nothing sweeter than her loud moans.

The sound of Sarah crying out in ecstasy escaped the window and drifted down to the dying fire, where it was heard by the two men who remained at work there. They were slicing off the last bits of pork and putting them in large clay pots, where the meat would remain until the next day.

"It sounds like the king is the latest person to get lucky because of Miss Sarah," the first man said.

"Wherever she goes, good fortune follows," said the second man.

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Sir Robert began paying more attention to Sarah after the day she slew the boar. Feeling that she was a source of good luck, he pledged to make her a friend. He rode nearby as the hunting party ventured further into the forest, and he soon realized why King Harold was so fond of her. You could see it in the way she reacted to the power of her horse, the smell of the forest air, and the excitement of bringing down prey. Sarah's whole being seemed to be invigorated as blood pumped through her limbs. For King Harold to have such a lively woman in his life went a long way toward explaining why his mood had brightened so much since Sarah's arrival.

In their conversations, Sir Robert discovered that Sarah had a keen intellect, a fact that puzzled him. As pleasant as she was, it seemed odd that someone like her could be so perceptive and insightful. Although she had begun reading books from the palace library, she was almost completely uneducated, knowing not a word of Latin or Greek, and being completely unaware of the works of Aristotle and other scholars.

Sir Robert was one of the men who helped educate the sons of the aristocrats, and he saw that Sarah was brighter than most of them. He was careful to avoid saying this publicly, because he knew that the aristocratic families of the kingdom would be offended if someone said their sons weren't as smart as an uneducated whore.

Once Sarah learned that Sir Robert was happy to indulge her curiosity, she peppered him with questions of all sorts. Why are there seasons? What causes the rain? Why are some short instead of tall, bright instead of dull, dark instead of fair? Mainly, however, Sarah wished to know the truth about the kingdom. The common people all claimed King Harold was a particularly fine king, that his kingdom was particularly pleasant and comfortable, and that his subjects had more money, power and freedom than people in other kingdoms.

"Are these things true, or do people just like to believe their home is better than the homes of others?" Sarah asked.

"As with so many things, the truth lies in facts and numbers. Because I am King Harold's comptroller, I can verify that his kingdom has more money than any of the surrounding kingdoms. The farms are more productive, the merchants do more business, and the people are more affluent. Famine sometimes strikes other kingdoms. That hasn't happened here in my lifetime. So by most objective measures, King Harold's kingdom is better than the others.

"There are subjective differences as well. Commoners here have more legal rights. In some other places, the people who work as farmers are considered the property of the people who own the land. These landlords are free to take a family's sons or daughters to be slaves. If a commoner offends a landlord, the commoner can be punished, evicted, or even killed. That never happens here.

"Sometimes an aristocrat takes liberties with commoners. When this happens, the aristocrats are tried in courts and punished. There was recently a time when King Harold confiscated the property of an aristocrat who abused commoners. It doesn't happen often because it is so well known that Harold has no tolerance for such abuse."

"If this kingdom is richer than the others, what is the reason? Do the people work harder?"

"I don't know if they work harder or not. No one tries to measure that. It's a very perceptive question, Sarah; perhaps productivity will be quantified someday. What is known is that this kingdom has many important resources. We possess a great deal of fertile farmland. We have large forests that provide game as well as wood. The land is criss-crossed with rivers and streams that make clean water available everywhere. In my personal opinion, a great deal of credit goes to King Harold and his father, King Alfred. Since I work for the king, I am not objective on this question, but neither Alfred nor Harold spent the kingdom's money amassing piles of gold, silver, and gems. They invested in projects that enriched their people."

"What kind of projects?"

"Do you see the cheese on the tray on my desk? It wasn't so many years ago that cheese as fine as this was a rare and expensive commodity in this kingdom. It is now plentiful, affordable, and the production of cheese provides jobs for hundreds. That was King Harold's doing.

"I take pride in the fact that I informed the king that a great deal of milk was being wasted. Dairy farmers can't always find buyers for all the milk they produce, so sometimes it spoils or is dumped in the river. At my urging, Harold uses his own money to buy this surplus milk, which goes to creameries where it is turned into cheese. It provides extra income for the farmers, and produces a product the people love to buy and eat. Over time he built these creameries in many parts of the kingdom. They generate a profit, which goes into the public coffers. The money raised by the creameries reduces the tax burden on everyone.

"There are many other examples. King Alfred did the same kind of projects. He was particularly fond of sponsoring explorers who visited foreign lands and looked for things that could be useful here. Many of our fruits and vegetables were first brought to this kingdom by expeditions sponsored by the king," Sir Robert said.

"I suppose the most conspicuous reason for this kingdom's prosperity is the pact that the late King Alfred struck with King Swelt of Catacan, the kingdom to the north. They happened to be like-minded monarchs, and they signed trade agreements that benefited them both. They also signed a treaty that promised that if one kingdom was attacked, the other would come to its defense. Such treaties are common, but in practice they are often useless. When an attack happens, the king who isn't attacked usually finds some pretext to avoid delivering the promised help.

"This was foremost in the mind of a particularly unpleasant monarch who ruled over Ahuna, a kingdom that shared a border with Catacan. Ahuna decided to invade Catacan, confident that King Alfred would renege on his promise.

"They met with an unpleasant surprise. When King Alfred learned of the impending invasion by Ahuna, he assembled his army and rode swiftly to the place where the battle was to be fought. This meant that the soldiers from Ahuna were greeted by an overwhelming force consisting of two combined armies. Ahuna's king was too egotistical or stupid to call off the attack, so his soldiers were slaughtered. I was there and saw everything. The battle was over in less than one hour. All the invading soldiers were required to surrender their weapons, armor, horses, and supplies. They left Catacan with just enough food to get back to their homes in Ahuna. Their king was taken into custody and held until his family in Uhuna paid a ransom. This made him very unpopular back at home.

"Word of what happened spread, letting all other kings know that if they had designs on either Catacan or us, they could expect that an attack on one kingdom would be resisted by both. Neither kingdom has been attacked since then. One reason our kingdom is so wealthy is that we haven't fought a costly war since King Alfred came to Catacan's defense.

"Child, I know that you are close to the Queen Mother, so I would advise you not to mention Ahuna or Catacan to her. It is a sore topic," Sir Robert said.

"Whatever for?" Sarah asked.

"For two reasons. Catacan does not have an heir to the throne. King Swelt is an old man who will not live forever. His only offspring is Princess Alana, who is not someone who could possibly be a success as a monarch. For that reason, the princess is betrothed to King Harold. Kings Alfred and Swelt came up with a plan that calls for Alana and Harold to produce a male child who would eventually become ruler of the combined kingdoms.