Grier the Sire

The king frowned before going on.

"But I would fain not take your seconds. So I will not fuck her. When you had her before, they say you bred her."

"I did, Sire."

"Did you breed her again?"

"It was the right time of the month for her," said Grier. "So it is quite likely."

"Grier," said the king, rubbing his hands together. "You have almost as many bastards around England as I do. I sometimes feel we are in competition."

"It is very kind of Your Highness to offer this comparison," said Grier. "I am humbled by it. But I am sure that I am not in your league."

The king smirked.

"You're a satyr, Grier. Your cock is said to be one of the biggest in England. And it's said that once you've had a woman, no other man can satisfy her. I wouldn't allow you within a league of the queen." Then he cleared his throat and raised his voice. "Very well, then. Let us return to the others. You will kneel before me."

Grier knelt before the high chair that served as the throne in the receiving room. The Lord Chamberlain approached with a velvet cushion on which rested a heavy silver ealdorman's chain of office. The king picked it up and placed around Grier's neck with due ceremony.

"Rise Ealdorman Grier of Tunbridge," he intoned.

"My sword is yours, Your Majesty," said Grier rising. "I have here a parchment announcing my wedding to Lady Mildrith. I beg that Your Majesty will favor us with your presence."

"Who gives the bride away, now that her parents are dead?"

"I have asked the priest of our church in Newhaven, Sire," said Mildrith, speaking up.

"No, no, we cannot have a country priest give away the bride of an ealdorman of the realm. In such cases, it is the king's duty to step in."

"You do us great honor, Sire," said Mildrith.

The king's gaze returned to Mildrith's breasts for a moment. She wore a gold pendant with the Newhaven coat of arms that nestled in her cleavage and drew attention to it. The king had to drag his eyes away from it to her face.

"The honor is mine, Lady Mildrith," he said. "I look forward to seeing you at court."

They rode back to Tunbridge that evening. Grier was pleased with the outcome of his trip to London, but expressed his misgivings privately to Mildrith.

"The king lusts for you," he said. "It was as plain as day. I fear he will make you attend court. And force himself on you."

"How is he different from you?" she asked tartly. "I have no illusions about our upcoming marriage. You will continue to sleep with any woman you choose. Why should you begrudge your sovereign your wife's bed? It is his by right, for you have now bent the knee."

Grier opened his mouth, but had no reply and closed it again.

"I will keep you from court," he muttered.

* * * *

10. Mildrith and Grier were married the following week with due ceremony at Tunbridge Castle. She was showing her pregnancy by now. So it took a great deal of work on the part of her seamstresses to sew her wedding gown to conceal the slight swell at her belly. On the morning of the ceremony, Grier rubbed her belly through the white satin and kissed her chastely.

The king was true to his word -- he came to Tunbridge and gave away the bride. Much to Grier's relief, he did not demand the right to Mildrith's bed in Tunbridge Castle. However, while dancing with her at the wedding reception, he summoned her to court for the upcoming season.

"I will be delighted to attend you," she replied. "But I am a married woman now and may well be with child when the season is upon us. That will make it impossible for me to travel."

"Well, let us hope that Grier does not put a babe in your belly that soon," said the king, looking disappointed. Then he smiled. "For you dance divinely. I look forward to having you at many balls during the season." He grinned at his double entendre, and looked into her big green eyes meaningfully. "The king's bastards will all be ealdormen -- if the mother were well born, they could even be dukes. And I will make sure they all get rich fiefs."

"I am sure there is no shortage of beautiful women keen to bear your children, Sire," said Mildrith, smiling.

"Do you count yourself among them, Lady Mildrith?"

"I am your loyal subject, Your Highness," said Mildrith, not answering the question.

The king had to satisfied with that.

"I'll get her in my bed," he muttered to himself as she walked back to Grier at the end of the dance. "One way or the other."

* * * *

11. Mildrith's pregnancy was very advanced by the opening of the season and she sent her regrets when the king's messengers arrived with his invitation to court. Her labor was long and hard, but in the end she bore Grier a healthy son.

"I have named him," she told Grier, when the midwife allowed him in to see mother and child.

"He's half Danish," said Grier.

"And he will have a half Danish name," she replied. She held up the babe in swaddling clothes. "Hold your son, Grier. His name is John Grierson. I will call him Jack."