Frieda - The Second Vow Ch. 01

She suddenly became pensive, looking at her basket of goods, deep in thought.

"...although..." Frieda's tone went soft, "I don't know, sometimes... it's exhausting..."

Frieda caught herself sounding defeated, and quickly made an attempt to correct her composure.

"But! I would prefer to live my life challenging societal norms rather than being someone who lies to themselves."

Whether or not she believed that was another matter entirely.

"You intrigue me," said Lino, looking directly into Frieda's icy blue hues, "I absolutely picked that up about you, and I truly respect it. Not a lot of people have the courage, or the freedom, to do that."

"Thank you, that's really nice of you to say."

The two held eye contact for a moment — Frieda was reminded of Lino's captivating hazel eyes, with golden flecks that were dappled throughout. She couldn't help but smile sweetly at Lino, who returned one, too.

A certain calm rushed over Frieda — she found herself in an unusual state, feeling some type of way for someone she barely knew? He was easy to talk to and seemed to share a similar, open-minded perspective, like her.

Lino's gaze shifted to the delicate, silver piece that encircled her neck.

"May I ask about your necklace? What's the significance of the arrow?"

Frieda cradled the arrow pendant on her necklace in her fingers,

"This was a birthday gift from my parents last year," Frieda smiled softly, her gaze softening with sentiment, "it means a lot to me — hunting is one of my favourite activities. When I got given my first bow and put my hands on it for the first time, it was just... it was something else."

Lino was fixated on Frieda, seeing her bright eyes light up looking at her arrow pendant caused a twinkle in his own hues.

"You hunt? When was your first time?" Lino was curious.

"I was coming out of my youth when I took up hunting. I still remember it quite vividly — my dad giving me lessons on how to shoot, missing the scarecrow several times and then going out on our first hunt together."

Lino could tell that Frieda enjoyed talking about hunting — sure, it was her favourite activity, but she was certainly no longer thinking about the night before.

"Your passion for hunting really shines through when you talk about it — is there a particular reason that you enjoy it as much as you do?"

Frieda chuckled, perhaps most people would start to feel embarrassed by now, but no, she was quite enjoying, and feeling comfortable, conversing with Lino.

"Well, I definitely like that it's a solitary activity — everybody needs their alone time, right?" Frieda continued excitedly, "It's just quite satisfying to be able to do something on my own, and to do something that provides for my family.

Lino sensed familial traits in Frieda, which contradicted her outward appearance. But now, talking to her and seeing her light up when she spoke, he was beginning to understand just what type of person Frieda was.

Interrupting her train of thought, in the corner of her eye she saw a familiar figure walking towards the two of them — it was Lino's Lady, and she too carried a basket full of goods. Frieda watched as she approached — in the morning light, she could see her a lot better. Her hair was long, black with a plait on the left side of her head, just like she saw last night. She wore a purple and black dress, the skirt was black and the top, accompanied with a few bows, was a deep purple, matching the trim of Lino's cloak.

As she stepped closer, the sunlight hit her flawless looking skin, and Frieda thought to herself how soft and smooth it must've been to touch. Frieda's eyes continued to follow the contours of Lino's Lady, she couldn't help but notice just how wide her hips were, which was quite a contrast to her slender upper half.

"Dear, do you have everything that we need?" asked Lino, snapping Frieda out of her gawking.

"I do," answered his Lady — she smiled sweetly at him before turning her gaze towards Frieda. Her eyes were large, hues of dark brown, she had a mole over her upper left lip, and she too had freckles, adding an endearing touch to her complexion — although they had a darker pigmentation compared to Frieda's, and were only across her nose and cheeks. Their eyes met — Frieda couldn't explain it, but she could just feel a warm, kind and gentle aura emanating from Lino's Lady.

"Frieda, this is my Lady, Lady Korine" Lino gestured towards the shorter woman, who extended her left hand toward Frieda, fingers aligned and facing upward.

Frieda blinked, she wasn't sure what she was meant to do. She saw the wedding ring on Korine's finger — a black band adorned with a purple gemstone. Amethyst? She couldn't be sure. But Frieda was getting distracted as she noticed Korine had put on a confused face, while Lino had a bit of a smirk on his own.

Frieda hesitantly extended her hand and held Korine's fingers awkwardly, just staring at Korine. The two women held that pose for a moment as it was obvious that Frieda did not know the custom. The blue eyed woman noticed that, even as she held only Korine's fingers, they felt remarkably soft. Korine slowly pulled her fingers away and put on a polite smile,

"It's nice to meet you, Frieda," Korine's tone was soft, "Your dress last night at the ball was quite something — I admire you for that."

"T-thanks, uh, Korine," said Frieda, all of a sudden feeling embarrassed.

There was a fractional tilt of Korine's head, an almost involuntary gesture — but Frieda caught this, and saw a moment of confusion that flickered across Korine's face, somewhere between surprise and slight bemusement — it was definitely a fleeting expression. Seeing this just made her more uncomfortable as it was clear that Korine knew that Frieda didn't know about any customs that had to do with Lords or Ladies.

"Well, this may be a crazy coincidence but..." Lino began, keeping the conversation flowing, "we actually host an annual event that I have dubbed the 'Harmony Hunt', and that's happening later this week."

"The... Harmony Hunt?" asked Frieda curiously.

"Yes yes, my estate sits very close to a large and dense forest, and every year we have this event where several teams in the village will go out and hunt, bring back what they catch, I'll give out the prizes, and then we have a massive feast. Oh, and party, of course."

"Wow, and the entire village attends? That must be quite the feast."

"I'd say almost the entire village, and in terms of the food, yes, there's definitely too much. You know, we've just reached Autumn, and so it's a good way to start preserving as much food as we can for the Winter."

Frieda alternated her eyes between Lino and Korine, noticing that Korine was gazing affectionately at him as he spoke excitedly about the Harmony Hunt.

Lino smiled, like he was reminiscing about the previous year's event, "It is truly something pure to see everyone come together for this — that is my aim as a Lord — to be a provider and a unifying body for the village."

Frieda was astonished. Lino did seem to really care about the village he ruled over and his role as a Lord. She soon felt the weight of her misjudgement creep over her, staining her thoughts.

"I'd like to formally invite you to this year's Harmony Hunt."

Frieda stood, a bit dumbfounded, as she was still processing her misguided assumptions of Lords and Ladies. She also did not expect to be invited to an event that she was only hearing of for the first time.

"...only if you're interested," added Lino, noticing Frieda's silence, "you know, because of how passionate you seem to be about hunting."

"Uh, sorry, no I-" Frieda was flustered, but she took a deep breath and motioned with her hand to regain her composure, "Yes! That would be something I'd be interested in, thank you so much for inviting me..."

Lino and Korine noticed that Frieda began to trail off.

"It sounds like there may be a... but?" asked Korine.

"Well... I have to ask — will I be the only huntress there? I guess I feel a bit uneasy if that'll be the case..."

Lino and Korine's eyes met as they exchanged a glance. Both of them seemed to acknowledge Frieda's concern.

"I can't lie to you, Frieda, you will be. Although, I didn't think that it would've been a problem if you were? You've been hunting most of your life, you'll probably outperform most of the men there." said Lino, trying to sound reassuring.

He made a good point, considering all that Frieda stood for, this really shouldn't have been something that preoccupied her thoughts that much.

"I know..." Frieda struggled to find the words to articulate her thoughts, "it's just... I know that it shouldn't be a problem, but I've never hunted with anyone other than my dad. So, I just feel a little uneasy, that's all."

Lino smiled gently, his eyes softening,

"Look, how about this, and it's only a suggestion," Lino had both hands out in front of him, "if you attend the Harmony Hunt, you can jump in my team — maybe that might make you feel better?"

Frieda was a little puzzled, "Wait, you... you participate in the hunting as well? What if your team wins?"

"Oh, if we do, and we haven't, the prizes go to the next closest teams."

"It's not really an event where you're trying to be first as much," added Korine, "instead, as Lino has put it, it's more something that gets everyone together; his participation sort of solidifies the purpose of the Harmony Hunt."

"Exactly," said Lino, the two gave each other a quick yet intimate look.

"Apologies but we must go," announced Lino, "you don't need to give me an answer now — we leave tomorrow morning, and we'll be here again. If you turn up, great, if you don't, well, there'll be my answer."

With a slight bow from both of them, Frieda watched them walk away. As they did, Lino rubbed Korine's back as the Lord and Lady seemed to share an obvious deep connection. She linked her arm with his, clutching firmly. Frieda's eyes were then drawn back to Korine's hips again, and it was only now that she noticed what an enormous behind she had — her jaw almost dropped, but she remembered that she was in public.

"My god, she must be popping out a ton of his kids with an ass and hips like that," thought Frieda.

She began her walk home now, thinking about whether or not she should accept Lino and Korine's invitation to their Harmony Hunt. However, Frieda kept thinking about the two themselves. They seemed to be actually decent people — could it be that her ideology about Lords and Ladies was fundamentally flawed? Surely they had to be outliers, as she recalled Lino talking about how there are many that fit the narcissistic stereotype.

But Lino emanated charm and possessed strong morals, while Korine brought out warmth and a sense of seriousness. Despite them being Lord and Lady, Frieda could relate to them because... well, apart from the fancy clothing, they were just two people. It was clear that they left a lasting impression on her, so much so that her mind felt scrambled.

Frieda was close to home now and felt that she needed to lie down, just for a moment. She was eager to catch a moment of solace to sort herself out. Stepping in, she exhaled, relieved that she was home.

"Mum! I've put the stuff from the market on the table," called out Frieda, "Sorry, I just need to lie down for a bit, I'm feeling a bit off!"

Frieda then heard footsteps approaching, and from around the corner her mum came into view.

"Are you alright, dear?" asked her mother, "you need me to fix you something?"

"No, I'll just go lie down — I won't be long," stated Frieda as she began to walk towards her room.

"Alright, well I'll be out in the fields helping your father — if you feel better, we'd love you to come out, too."

Frieda turned around and nodded politely to her mother, before she entered her room and closed the door softly behind her. She leaned on the door and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. After a short moment, she opened them up again — her ice-like eyes staring aimlessly at the ceiling as she thought about what she might do tomorrow morning.

A part of her was curious... she'd never heard of such an event before even though it was so simple. And almost the entire village attended? Imagine the scale of it, and all that food at the party afterwards! Admittedly, it was also another chance for her to see Lino, but she didn't particularly like that that was a reason... or did she? All of a sudden, a sense of frustration hit her and she leapt onto her bed where she let out a muffled grunt into her pillow.

The idea of the event itself sounded like an absolute delight, and Lino's reassurance of her worries about being the only woman present, made her desire to go that much stronger. She would be in his team, so it'd be okay, right?

Frieda flipped around to lie on her back. She stared at the ceiling again and began to get lost in her own thoughts. She had to be honest with herself - she could feel herself becoming slightly infatuated with Lino. She sensed a shift within herself, finding the feeling foreign. Only a short time ago had she decided to give up on the notion of finding someone; of finding a connection that could lead to something... more.

These conflicting feelings made it seem like she was being pulled from one direction then another. She hadn't anticipated any of this — and all from a few conversations? Or perhaps because it was like a breath of fresh air, somebody talking to Frieda just... normally? But was it that easy? This whole situation was hard for her to describe, as it wasn't hatred or dislike, but rather, a frustrated acceptance. After such a long time of embracing solitude, something about Lino left her uneasy, yet intrigued, curious...

Maybe she shouldn't overthink it all, maybe she should just see how things go and where she might end up. Frieda closed her blue eyes, and maybe this time, she didn't try to get the image of Lino out of her mind... maybe... and just maybe... she wanted to embrace it... she wanted to picture him with her.

Frieda breathed in, feeling a shaky exhale as she pictured Lino's curly dark brown hair, his hazel eyes, even his voice. She pulled her pale orange dress up, lightly rubbing the inside of her thigh with her fingers. She kept tracing them back and forth as she thought about Lino, looking at her a certain way, tracing his fingers along her arms, making her skin feel prickly, but in a good way.

Her hand moved towards her opening now, and inserting the tip of a finger inside of herself, she felt that she was wet, lubing up the finger before placing it on her clit. Just making contact with her sensitive spot caused her to shudder, her breath quickening and becoming more irregular. She continued to fantasise about Lino as she pleasured herself. Frieda's finger moved in a circular motion, applying more and more pressure slowly, the muscles in her thighs clenching and unclenching every so often.

Her exhales became sharp and her gasps were a bit more vocal than usual, as she knew that she was in the house alone. Grunting and gritting her teeth as she imagined the feeling of Lino's lips against the side of her neck — how soft they might feel, his breath, a slight wetness from his tongue. Frieda imagined his hands on her breasts, causing her to let out a light moan.

Spreading her legs a little more, Frieda rubbed her clit with more intensity. Her right hand was situated atop her mound, and her other was pushing down against it, applying more pressure. She pictured Lino directly above her now, imagining that it was his hands pleasuring her down there, breathing his hot breath onto her and feeling his weight on top of her.

"Fuck..." muttered Frieda, as she could feel herself getting close. Biting her lip and furrowing her brow, she held back moans yet her breathing was ragged. Her wrist was sore, on the verge of cramping, but she didn't want to let up — she kept on rubbing herself, envisioning Lino staring down at her with an intense desire, until she began to feel that she was about to tip over the edge.

Frieda let out a guttural gasp, arching and flexing her feet, scrunching her toes, and clenching her leg muscles, essentially tensing up her entire lower half. Then, in a similar manner, she let out yet another guttural noise, but this time an exhale, as her body released. Pleasure and bliss overwhelmed her senses as she finally came — sucking in another breath of air, she was almost holding it as her body spasmed. Euphoria coursed through her body, and she tried to ride that high for as long as she could. Laying there, she slowed the motions of her finger on her clit as her orgasm began to subside.

Feeling satisfied, she opened her eyes and the vision of Lino above her faded away with one of his warm smiles. Frieda was now breathing heavily, catching her breath and feeling sporadic pricks and sparks on the soles of her feet. She put a finger on her opening again, and felt her finger immediately coated in her juices.

Once she regained her composure, Frieda slowly sat up on the side of her bed and thought about freshening up before she left her room. As she did so, she reflected on the fact that she had just pleasured herself thinking about someone who was already married — was it wrong? I mean, the deed was done... it's just a fantasy, right?

Sighing, she got up and headed for the bathroom to quickly freshen up. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could see that her freckled face was flushed, her cheeks a light pink. Splashing some water on her face, fixing her hair and patting herself down, she was about as freshened up as she could be — there wasn't really anything she could do about her flushed cheeks.

Stepping out of her house, she headed for the fields. Enroute, she walked past the sheep in their pen — seeing her, they excitedly walked up to her bleating. Returning their excitement, Frieda petted them, scrunching and scratching her hands through their soft wool.

"Sorry dolls, I can't stay long," stated Frieda as she continued her walk to the fields.

Up ahead, she saw her parents, both of them digging the dirt beneath their boots. Unlike her mother, Frieda's father had darker features — his hair was like a chestnut brown and was beginning to grey on the sides, so she definitely got most of her traits from her mother. Appearance wise, anyway.

"Feeling better, dear?" asked her mother.

"Oh come now, Marianne, of course she is, she looks absolutely ready to dig up this entire field for us!" said her father.

"You're so right, let's just leave her to it shall we, Merten?"

"Ha. Ha. Give me one of those," remarked Frieda sarcastically, reaching out an arm for her parents to give her a plough.

As she went to work, she thought "good, they didn't notice my face". Of course, it could've been from the weather too. It was barely Autumn, and so the temperature was still at times on the warmer side, especially when the sun beamed down on her back and shoulders, just as it did now.

Frieda ploughed away, deep in thought. She was so immersed in her thoughts that she did not realise her father had been calling out to her.

"Frieda?" Merten was slightly concerned about his daughter.

"Oh! Sorry dad, just... lost in my head," uttered Frieda.

"I could tell. You do this thing with your brow when you're thinking hard," said Merten, putting two fingers in between his brow and rubbing them.

Frieda chuckled, "I never realise I'm doing that, I need to try and stop it."