From Betrayal to Joy - The Novella

"Me, an angel?" began Wanda who emitted a soft chuckle before Rupert cut her off.

"Unquestionably! That shall be your name from this moment hence, Angel."

"Angel?"

"Yes, repeat your name, beautiful one."

"Angel, my name is Angel, Sire"

"Yes, it is, and my every moment with you shall be heavenly!"

"Oh, now really, Sire!" returned Wanda.

"I only exaggerate a teeny bit, Angel."

"I like your lies a great deal, Sire."

"They are not lies! You are as one heaven sent."

King Rupert smiled wanly and announced. "My word is law and you are to believe it implicitly. Now, I have matters of state to attend to. In a short while I will summon Canter who will return you to the harem. You will inform Huldah of your new name and that I will have need of you this evening as well. I encourage you to listen to that woman, she is quite wise."

"That I already know, Sire."

There was a pause while both ate.

"Thank you for making love to me, Angel."

"Oh, Sire, I should be thanking you!"

The king looked at Wanda soberly and stated, "Angel, you have already thanked me by choosing to share my bed. I had feared that would try to harm yourself, but now I know that you have chosen to pursue happiness in this life. I sincerely want you happy. When you smile, I feel as though I have been privileged to spy the most beautiful sight in the universe. I want to see that beauty again and again until we are both old and gray."

Wanda had no words to respond to that. It was clear that the king was speaking from his heart. Wanda's eyes teared up. So often she had wanted to hear such a pronouncement of love from the women in her earlier life. That it had finally come from someone she had been taught was nothing, but an odious enemy left Wanda amazed and grasping for words. Her blurred vision focused first on the King's face, then, unused to such intense emotion, Wanda gazed at the floor. Silence reigned until Canter came to collect the newly rechristened former warrior. As she strode benumbed behind the palace eunuch, Wanda wondered if this powerful emotion she was feeling was that mysterious thing called love. It was clear that King Rupert was, at the very least, greatly infatuated with her. None of the women in Wanda's past had ever felt as strongly towards her. Wanda recalled her many lovers, none of them had made her feel like King Rupert did, and while some had expressed fondness for her, none had been as giddy over her either. "What is love?" asked Wanda realizing she was echoing a philosophical plea as old as mankind itself. For a woman who had never known love in any form however, it was an even more profound question. One she had no clue as to answer.

"So now you are Angel?" asked Huldah.

"Apparently, I will concede that I like how it rolls off my tongue."

"I take it that you night with the King was acceptable?"

"Oh, very much so, Ma'am!" gushed Wanda.

The gray-haired woman chuckled and stated, "Not to say, I told you so but ..."

"He is a wonderful man!"

"Yes, he is, and he certainly must be taken with you to request a second straight night alone with you."

"Is that unusual?" asked Wanda.

"Yes, the king does not generally like to show favorites, lest the other girls get jealous."

"I hope I haven't ruffled any feathers," offered Wanda.

"You might if you become a habit, but, that again might be a good thing."

"Why is that?" inquired Wanda.

"I will tell you later. Right now, you must rush off to ballet class."

Wanda tried to ignore the stares and whispers as she performed her exercises with the other members of the harem. "Some things NEVER change," stated Wanda to herself. All told there were, including herself, thirty-six women for King Rupert to choose from. Wanda mentally compared herself to them. Though Wanda had never felt beautiful or glamourous before her night with the king, she now realized that she was at least as pretty or prettier as any of them. She wondered however what about herself made her so alluring to the king? Was it her history and tattoo? Was it her red hair and porcelain skin? She ruled out it being her personality and guileless nature, because Wanda believed that she possessed nothing unique in those areas. "In some ways," stated Wanda softly, "I am as much at sea with King Rupert as I was with the women of the sisterhood!" It was all beyond confusing!

After their exercise period, one of the raven-haired, almond-eyed women from the east interviewed Wanda. Ostensibly, it was for the harem newsletter, but even Wanda was sharp enough to realize that the woman had ulterior motives. As a follower of Venus, and a devout believer in female superiority, she clearly wanted to assess Wanda's own conviction regarding matriarchal rule.

"I was sent here as an emissary on behalf of Venus," she stared in a sweetly accented voice during their conversation. "Through means you cannot imagine; I still communicate with my people. They have eyes everywhere, but I have never heard of a devotee of Selene being taken alive."

Wanda briefly related her history.

The slim, beautiful, dark-haired woman was lost in thought for a moment before she returned with,

"I see. It is perhaps unsurprising that, like the moon they claim to follow, the Sisterhood of Selene shows only one face to the world. They truly do have a dark side."

"I never looked at it that way," replied Wanda, "but I suppose that is true."

The dark-haired woman extended her hand, "Even so, we are sisters after a fashion. My name is Min. Friend?"

Wanda clasped the proffered hand. "Friends are always good to have."

"Indubitably," returned Min.

Wanda spent much of the rest of the day getting acclimated to her new environment. The seraglio was quite beautiful. It might have been separate from the world, but it was in no way boring. Missives arrived describing events in the outside world. The latest popular books arrived regularly. There were the beautiful songbirds and Min showed Wanda, the pigeons and doves, she attended to. Most of the other women viewed Wanda warily, but buy late afternoon, a few had extended a hand of friendship in the same way Min had. Before Wanda thought possible, Huldah was preparing her for her second evening with the king.

As she sat luxuriating in the tub, Wanda sought to resume their previous conversation.

"Why is it not necessarily a bad thing if King Rupert makes me a habit, Huldah?"

The older woman paused for a long moment before she replied, "It is really too early to tell you this, but, for some reason, I trust you, Angel. The truth is that King Rupert must take a spouse before too long. He is an only child and the need for an heir is considerable. Now that King Rupert has won the war he did not want the pressure for him to wed and secure the future of the kingdom will be profound."

"But all these women in his harem?"

"How many babies and pregnant women do you see here, Angel?"

"Now that you mention it, none."

"Exactly! An odorless, tasteless essence is placed in all the food that we consume that inhibits a woman from getting pregnant. Though all of you girls in collars are technically free citizens, any children you were to provide King Rupert would be illegitimate. Only his legal wife may provide a legitimate heir. King Rupert has just so much time to sow his wild oats before he must don the mantle of responsible maturity. He will have to close the harem and dismiss the girls. Although his people tolerate his harem, they are rigidly convinced that their king must be the husband of just one woman. Were he to try and retain even a mistress after his nuptials, the populace would revolt. There is just so much liberty a monarch with absolute rule is permitted. In any event, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that he will select one of his collared harem girls for that honor. Of course, some are better selections than others, your new friend, Min for example, is simply unsuitable."

Wanda allowed the insult of her friend to pass unmentioned before she stated, "But there must be princesses from surrounding nations."

"Perhaps, but I dare say, none of them are as beautiful and as dedicated to King Rupert as any one of you girls. A foreign princess would be set in her ways and want to do things her way. She would also be quite envious of the king's harem, envious enough that, even after it was dismissed, the fact of its existence would poison their future relationship. You know how vicious women can be. I've always thought it best that King Rupert promote from within. With your history, Angel, King Rupert could completely humiliate the Sisterhood by elevating you to queen. Imagine what word of one of their own as a foreign queen would have on their membership! Were this to happen, you could not possibly have a better revenge, Angel!"

"Is that really a possibility?" asked an awed Wanda.

"Right now, it is only a sliver of a chance, but if the king asks for you tomorrow, the sliver becomes a little wider."

Huldah realized that she had stated too much and flushed with embarrassment. "Please forget everything I just told you, Angel."

Wanda, while inexperienced, was no idiot, "Forget what?" she replied.

That evening, Wanda again marveled at the intimacy with King Rupert. They made love three times, once with Wanda astride the king, once with the king above Wanda and lastly with Wanda on all fours while the king took her from behind. After their third assignation, King Rupert removed a leather-bound book from a shelf and shared it with Wanda. Inside were page after page of men and women engaged in coitus in a mind-bending array of positions. King Rupert said nothing as he slowly turned the pages. He had no need to. When they were not making love or poring over the book, they engaged in quiet conversation. Wanda decided that she very much liked the handsome young king. It was not her imagination, she told herself, that his kisses and embraces were both more sensitive and more passionate. Several times the king hefted Wanda high in the air, she decided that this was a supreme goodness which she would never tire of.

To the surprise of all, save perhaps Huldah, the following day, King Rupert asked for Wanda as both his afternoon and evening assignation. When she returned to the seraglio her friends were fewer and most of the room was an icy wall. This bothered Wanda less than she expected. She had been an outsider looking in as a member of the Sisterhood, it was somehow fitting that she should be in the same position here. Having the attentions of King Rupert however, more than made up for the bitterness directed to her by the closed sorority of the harem.

When two weeks had passed, and King Rupert was still favoring Wanda, the complaints among the sorority became quite loud. They became even louder when more than four months passed, and King Rupert selected no other woman from his harem save Wanda. The former soldier's enemies multiplied and became increasingly dangerous. At one point, Huldah intercepted a petite blonde from the far western mountains who had somehow smuggled a dagger into the seraglio!

"You've made profound enemies, Angel,' stated Huldah after the incident, "that is both very good and very bad. Do me a favor, while you are here in the seraglio, don't take a bite of any meal until I taste it first!"

Wanda laughed at that until she saw the seriousness with which the older woman had spoken those words. Then, a chill crept up her spine.

Wanda learned a great deal between the sheets. Her initial reluctance to try oral sex soon changed to the point where Wanda was quite proud of her abilities to bring the king to climax using just her mouth and tongue. Though she never developed a fondness for the taste of semen, the pleasure it gave the king, and the satisfaction that it gave herself in making him come, caused her to always swallow the king's seed religiously. As for his part, King Rupert vigorously applied himself to give his Angel the best oral love he was capable of. In very little time, the king found that he could get Wanda off almost at will. The two grew phenomenally close. One night, after they had again delightfully recreated one of the leather-bound book's illustrations in three dimensions, King Rupert was quiet for a long moment before he announced, "To think, out of the vagaries of war would come the key to my heart."

"Sire?" asked Wanda.

"I'm trying to tell you, Angel, that I love you. No woman I have ever met owns your beauty, your sensitivity, your purity, and delightfulness. I know, were I to search the world, I would never find that combination again. I could waste everyone's time and interview every princess and maiden in the world and I would still be thunderstruck when I encountered you, my sweet. I love you, Angel. Do you love me?"

Wanda did not have to even think to respond in the affirmative. King Rupert filled her thoughts from morning to evening and strolled through her only dreams. Wanda may have entered the castle clueless as to what love was, but she was no longer innocent of the emotion. If what she felt wasn't love, then the word had no meaning.

"Yes, I do, Sire. With all my heart!"

King Rupert lifted Wanda high in the air and gently lowered her for a kiss, which turned into a deep embrace which led to more lovemaking. Wanda realized that for the first time since she was a little girl she was truly happy. Far happier than on her night with the dark-hired Lieutenant, far happier than on any day of her military service. Only a beautiful summer day with her mother, father, and sister when she was a very small girl came close. Wanda had never believed happiness such as she tasted now was even possible.

In the morning, Wanda was not returned to the seraglio. "Huldah told me through Canter, a bit of the jealousy you've provoked there. I would not have you assassinated at worst, or your skin clawed up in a catfight at best before you become my bride."

"Bride, Sire?"

"You DO love me, Angel?"

"Yes, of course, but..."

"But there is nothing else to discuss."

Wanda was moved to a lavish room in the western wing of the castle, opposite King Rupert's eastern wing and the seraglio. She had no idea how to act and she was left alone, it seemed to her a long while before another older woman, quite different in every way from Huldah knocked on the door.

"Greetings, I am the Duchess of Longport, King Rupert's aunt and his only real relative, He tells me that he has found "the one." Please allow me to enter."

The woman was fair-haired and a bit hefty from middle age. Wanda could tell that she must have been a great beauty once. Her blue eyes were piercing, and they roved over Wanda's slim form, assessing her minutely. Wanda allowed the stranger to enter.

Wanda, as always when entertaining Prince Rupert, was clad in an outfit that had a slit up the right leg to display her tattoo. The Duchess noted it and stated, "Oh, you are that warrior woman I have heard so much about. This is not some Sisterhood plot to seduce and assassinate my nephew for besting you bitches in war is it?"

"No, Ma'am," replied Wanda as she vigorously shook her head.

"For the moment, I'll believe that. Disrobe."

"Excuse me?"

"Something wrong with your hearing? Get undressed. I have to see if you are suitable for my nephew. There may be scars from childbirth or other trauma that my besotted nephew could not recognize, Now, if I have to tell you a third time, I'll have the Royal Guards denude you!"

With trembling hands, Wanda removed her already revealing clothes. The prospect of being naked in front of this formidable woman was somehow even more intimidating than being stripped by King Rupert's generals. Wanda's hands continued to shake a great deal as she shed her clothes. Through all her discomfiture, the duchess appeared bored.

When Wanda was at last naked, the Duchess of Longport took a large magnifying glass from her purse and minutely inspected every inch of Wand's skin including the soles on her feet and the top of her head. After that, Wanda had to move and bend as instructed after a humiliating and agonizing ordeal the duchess stated, "You certainly SEEM healthy. You may redress yourself."

While Wanda was getting dressed, the duchess alerted a maid from the hallway and a few moments later tea and biscuits entered the room on a silver tray.

"Let us sit, talk, and eat. I must find out if you are mentally suitable, a beautiful face can mask great imbecility," stated the duchess most condescendingly.

For the next several hours the middle-aged woman drilled Wanda intently. Like a hound on the hunt she pursued every question as far as it could go.

"So, you've engaged in Sapphic perversions?"

"The Sisterhood is an all-woman force, of course they make love to each other."

"So, you are a lesbian?"

"Yes. No. I was no good at making love to women. If I was a lesbian in the army, I no longer am one."

Somehow or other, the wily duchess wormed out of Wanda the name and physical attributes of every soldier she had ever slept with.

"How do I know that you are not at this very minute, imagining me without a stitch on?" asked the duchess contemptuously.

"I'm NOT doing that!" returned an increasingly flustered Wanda.

"A lesbian WOULD lie about that."

"I'm NOT a lesbian!"

"Once a lesbian, always a lesbian."

Wanda uttered a sound of rage and returned with, "Men in prison, who turn to one another for love, are they homosexuals?"

"Unquestionably."

Wanda was just about to fling her teacup at the meddlesome woman in frustration when the door burst open and there stood King Rupert.

"Auntie, WHAT are you doing!"

"What you should have done, nephew. I've already gotten this vile vixen to admit that she is a lesbian with a string of girlfriends a kilometer long. She is most unsuitable, Rupert MOST unsuitable."

A look of intense anger crossed the young king's face and he stated almost to the point of yelling. "The ONLY "vile vixen" in this room is YOU, AUNTIE! Need I remind you that I am king of this realm and I am an adult of age who can choose for a wife any single woman of age that I choose. It is only through my good graces that I allow you to reside here. You DO have an estate of your own, you know, but you claimed you were "lonely" there and me, an idiot, let you move in. Now I know why Uncle Charles shot himself!"

"Bite your tongue, lad!"

"The ONLY thing I am going to bite off is your head, if you do not leave this room immediately. The fact that you find Angel unsuitable, Auntie just confirms that she is in fact perfect for me! Leave now, or I'll have you exiled!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Don't test me, Auntie!"

The older woman took an assessment of King Rupert. Her anger apparently left her, and she shrugged her shoulders, "Don't blame me when she knifes you in your sleep on your honeymoon."

"Go, Auntie!"

"I shall." The plump woman rose from her chair and crossed to the door where King Rupert stood just inside the jamb. As she exited the room, the king's aunt slapped Rupert hard across the face and said,

"Your impertinence would just kill your father."

"Hardly, you should hear what he called you in private."

"You whelp!" the aunt slapped Rupert a second time before she exited the room. King Rupert immediately bolted the door behind her.

"Oh, Sire!" cried Wanda as she rushed to accept King Rupert's wide embrace, "That woman is horrid!"

"On that we quite agree, sweetness. We can choose many things in our lives, but we cannot choose our relatives. You have your father, I have my uncle's widow,"

After a long lingering kiss, King Rupert informed Wanda, I am sorry I was delayed. There was an urgent matter of state that required my immediate attention. I intended to be here hours ago. My meddlesome aunt has her ear on every bit of castle gossip. I left strict instructions that you were not to be disturbed. Apparently, the duchess bribed the maids and butlers on this wing to gain access to you. The miscreant servants have been fired, but I cannot dismiss my aunt so easily. Sometimes I think I'm a coward for not exiling her to a remote island somewhere. Then I realize if I did, in fact, do that, the innocent inhabitants of said island would view me as a monster."