Her Queen

"And you needn't be so far away, Darling. Come sit beside me."

Luciana hesitantly moved to take the seat next to Adira. Her small steps barely covered any distance between herself and the queen. She avoided looking to the queen as she watched the princess's approach. The thought that the princess would be afraid to sit near Adira prompted a giddy smile to light her face. Luciana finally sat beside the woman, placing her trembling hands into her lap.

"You are exceptionally beautiful, my Dear," the queen began, reaching out to take one of Luciana's curls into her fingers. The maiden tensed at the contact. "Though I'm sure I'm not the first to make you privy to your beauty," she continued, knowingly.

"In fact, that is one of the reasons that I desire your companionship... I like to surround myself with beautiful maidens."

The princess's cheeks flushed pink. She thought to herself that perhaps this is why the queen's servants were all similar to her in age and beauty. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I'm honored to be complimented by someone so fair."

Clever girl, Adira thought to herself.

For the next two hours, Adira instructed the girl on how to best attend to her. She familiarized the girl with her schedule, and when she would require her services. In the morning, she requested that Luciana join her for breakfast. In the afternoon, she expected her for tea. In the evening, they were to share their supper. To Luciana, it seemed that all the queen needed was a friend. And, being the benevolent soul that she was, she gaily obliged Adira's wishes. Though she dearly missed her parents, it would not hurt her to be a friend to this lonely woman.

Toward the end of Adira's speech, a knock sounded upon the large mahogany doors of the royal chambers. A servant near the door opened it, allowing another young maiden to enter with a platter of cheese and fruits. She looked to be less experienced than the others, her pale hands quivering with every movement. Silently, the girl placed the food down before the royals before bowing her submission and backing to the door. Luciana watched the fastidious manner in which Adira watched the girl, and the tremble in the maiden's hands. It disquieted her. She took note of this for later discussion with the queen.

After the girl had left them, Adira's hard expression relaxed. "Have a bite to eat, Darling," she smiled, gesturing to the food. Not wanting to appear suspicious, the princess returned the smile before reaching out for a piece of bread. Having finished their professional discourse, the queen progressed to Luciana's personal life. She interrogated the girl about her pastimes and passions, listening deliberately to every word and smiling when appropriate.

After a while, Adira came upon the subject of friends. "You surely have companions your own age in Delphine, do you not?" she inquired.

"I do," Luciana responded. The princess had started to become more comfortable with Adira, not flinching when the woman affectionately placed a hand upon her knee.

"And have you ever kissed each other? Like you would a young lad?"

Luciana blanched. "K-- kiss them?" she stammered. "My friends?"

"Why, of course!" Adira gasped, mock surprise pervasive in her tone. "When I was eighteen, I'd kissed all of my friends. How else can a maiden prepare herself for marriage?"

A contemplative expression showed on Luciana's innocent visage. "Well, I've never thought about it that way."

Adira pretended to deliberate, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration. "Luciana, Dear, that simply won't do. You'll have to practice."

"Do you mean?" the princess asked incredulously.

"Why, with me of course," Adira confirmed. She had the girl right where she wanted her. She was oblivious.

"As my companion, I should expect that you'd treat me just as you would a girl your age," the queen continued. "Come here, my Dear. Give me a kiss."

It sounded more a command than a request.

Luciana's heart leapt. The queen didn't mean that she wanted her to kiss her, did she? Only on the cheek, certainly. The queen couldn't mean she wanted a kiss... especially with the servants scattered throughout the Queen's chamber. That would be mortifying.

Timidly, Luciana leaned in to place her lips against Adira's cheek. She intended to kiss the queen briefly, to pull back just as soon, and then to be finished. Before she contacted skin, however, Adira stopped her.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, pulling back to look the girl in her eyes. "A real kiss, Luciana."

Luciana blushed profusely. Apparently, Adira did not mind having someone see her kiss the princess. The lass shivered under the queen's expectant stare...she had no choice but to obey. Still silent, Luciana leaned in again. Softly, she placed her lips upon Adira's in a gentle kiss, her first.

Letting her eyes flutter closed, the princess gave into the sensation of the older woman's perfect lips on her own. Luciana never knew that a feeling could be this sweet and was terrified of letting it go. However, when she reluctantly tried to pull away, Adira circled an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Insistently, the queen fluttered her tongue across Luciana's soft pink lips, asking for entry. Unsure, the princess tried to pull apart from the women's oral union. A sharp smack to the princess's thigh prompted a gasp from her mouth, and an opportunity for the queen to have her way. After struggling initially, the girl finally gave into Adira's talented mouth, kissing back as best she could. The thought of Adira's servants watching her be taken so forcibly was incredibly embarrassing... and thrilling. Luciana couldn't possibly keep up with the skillful tongue that so dominated her own but allowed herself to be swept away by the feeling. Adira's lips were soft and plump and forceful. Her mouth tasted of wine and sin, and Luciana couldn't help but to moan out.

The queen was in paradise. Pulling the lass closer, almost onto her lap, she kissed her harder. Adira sighed at the sweet, sweet noise of the princess's moans. Luciana couldn't mask her desire for the woman, and knowing this gave Adira all the permission she needed to possess her. For the first time, Adira felt mutually desired. It was a heartening feeling, to have this comely young woman to want for her, and the queen he didn't have any inclination to let it go.

Breathing became ever more difficult as Adira relished in the youthful lips on her own. She would cherish Luciana's first kiss for the rest of her life. Finally pulling away, Queen Adira allowed the princess to catch her breath. She admired the rise and fall of Luciana's unblemished chest, and her newly swollen pink lips. Luciana's eyes darted subconsciously to the servants near the door, and her blush intensified. She was embarrassed to be kissed in front of slaves. How utterly charming could the princess be? Smiling wickedly, Adira regarded her prize.

"How did you find your first kiss?" Adira whispered into the girl's ear, moving closer to nip lightly at her ear before pulling back.

Her little bird's innocent eyes lifted to meet Adira's own. Within them was a mixture of shock, satisfaction, and hunger.

"Marvelous."

six

Needless to say, Luciana's sheets required additional changing in the subsequent nights. Each night, Marianne would slip in at the midnight hour and collect the princess's sheets. Luciana was always silent as this happened but never forgot to thank the servant girl as she left with the soiled fabric bundled in her arms. But what choice did the princess have? With every passing day, the queen ignited pleasures in her she never dreamt of knowing. With every caress of her nails, or forceful stare, Luciana fell further and further under her spell.

Though the princess was becoming accustomed to her life away from Delphine, each day, she felt more distanced from her kingdom and family. She was far from sure of what she expected when she ran away from her castle, but she surely didn't intend on being gone for such a long time. A full week had passed since she first found herself in Valencia. The princess wondered what her parents and her kingdom were going through, with no clue of where she was, or who she was with. She assumed that Adira had at least notified them, but was blind to the woman's whereabouts outside of their shared meals and kisses.

Luciana sat, lost in these thoughts one quiet morning as she shared her breakfast with Adira. Each woman ate in silence, thinking to herself. However, interrupting their meditation, a knock sounded from the large doors. At the door stood William, yet again interrupting Adira's leisure hours.

"My Queen."

"May I help you," the queen sighed, royally.

"Your majesty, I am terribly sorry to interrupt--"

"Why, of that, I'm certain," Adira mumbled.

"We have more visitors."

Adira had expected this. There was no question who the visitors could be, the king and queen. Luciana had been correct. Down in her hall stood the king and queen of Delphine, having foolishly come to collect their princess.

Luciana's heart started to beat wildly. Could the visitors possibly be her parents? Filled with a growing joy, the princess looked to Adira, anticipating her reaction.

"That will be the Delphine royals," Adira announced. She looked disapprovingly at Luciana's hopeful expression, feeling dread creep up the back of her bodice.

"Luciana, you will wait here whilst I address your parents," she continued.

Luciana's face fell. "I shall send for you when I am done," she clarified, hoping to somewhat console the object of her interest.

Adira took a sweeping look around the room, daring any of her servants or the princess to challenge her will. She inhaled sharply. "That is all." Preparing to leave, the queen sighed deeply. It seemed as if as soon as she found a moment to relax, another burden was pawing at her skirts.

Sitting rapt with attention, Luciana watched longingly as Adira left her bedchamber. She knew that the queen would let her see her parents, but not if she would allow her to return to Delphine. Though she was treated exquisitely in Valencia, she was still a hostage to its queen. No matter how much kindness she was shown, or how desperate she became for Adira's touch. Luciana wasn't home, and her parents' arrival was only a reiteration of that fact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In ten minutes' time, Queen Adira was seated regally at her throne, overlooking the occupants of her hall. There stood King Lionel, and Queen Wilhelmina, and an inordinate number of their royal guard. Adira hoped desperately that this situation would not cost her much energy. She had a beautiful willing girl to corrupt right in her royal clutches. She would allow nothing to spoil this opportunity for her. And so, Queen Adira looked imposingly from the king to queen for a moment before beckoning them closer with a hand.

"You may approach."

Queen Wilhelmina was first to approach the wicked queen's throne, throwing herself to her knees. "Your Majesty, we beg of you. Should you let us have our daughter, we shall forever be indebted to you. We will bring you the finest of our jewels and silvers. Every last piece of gold in our kingdom. Anything for our girl."

The queen scoffed, her face twisting in disbelief.

"I'm sorry? Do I look to be in need of your pitiful riches?"

The King and Queen of Delphine were stunned.

"Why, no, Your Majesty," the king replied in a shaking voice.

"Then why do you insult me?"

"That wasn't our intent," came the queen's hastened response. "We would never aim to displease someone as..," she trailed off.

"As powerful? As menacing? As fair as myself?" the wicked queen laughed. "Well, I would advise that you try again."

The room was eerily silent, as the king and queen gathered their thoughts. Delphine's soldiers stood at attention, ready to strike at their king's call. Adira would have liked to see them try.

Lionel approached the throne. "What do you want from us, Adira?" the king asked with a growing anger. "We will stop at nothing to have our daughter returned to us."

Adira smiled at the king's aggressive tone. She found it to be...endearing.

"Yet, you were more than willing to give her away?" the queen husked with an apologetic tone. The king and his wife were shocked.

"Oh! That surprises you, does it?" the evil queen grinned. "Why do you think your darling Luciana ran away from your castle?"

"Ran away?" came the kneeling queen's incredulous response.

Adira leant down in her throne to caress Wilhelmina's fair face. It was in stark contrast with Lionel's ebony-dark skin and close-cropped curls. As Adira gazed at Delphine's queen, she could see her Luciana's resemblance to her mother. She was her spitting image, lacking only the flowing curls, the beautiful golden-caramel skin...and of course, the princess's youth. This gentle caress caused King Lionel to reach for his sword. Before his hand could reach its hilt, however, a large man stood behind Lionel with a sword against his throat.

"Why, how unwise!" Adira laughed heartily, before waving her knight away from the king. She removed her hand from Wilhelmina's pitiful, trembling face, and stood to her feet, walking to a mirror she kept in her throne room. Checking her appearance for any imperfections, the queen continued.

"As I endeavored to say... Your daughter, the princess, ran to me because she didn't want to marry."

Much to Adira's chagrin, the princess's parents were swept away with emotion at this statement. Queen Wilhelmina was so taken aback that she started to tarnish Adira's expensive marble flooring with her pathetic tears.

If she saw correctly, even the king's eyes started to water. Adira's eyes rolled so far back that they almost managed to lodge themselves permanently in her eye sockets. How surprising could Luciana's reaction truly be to these unbelievable people? Were they expecting that their beloved daughter would be overjoyed at the prospect of being forced to go to bed with someone...a male someone she had never met? It was as clear as day which way the princess's affections swayed...at least to Adira.

"Have you finished?" the queen asked with a distinguishable amount of exasperation. "Good heavens, are you truly that surprised?"

"I would have never imagined that our daughter would do such a thing. When we have her back, we must do right by her," King Lionel stated to his wife.

Adira's face twisted in confusion.

"Why, what makes you so certain she will return?"

"I am certain that if you do not return our daughter to us, we shall be left with no choice but to burn your palace to the ground," came Lionel's bold response. Adira began to see where Luciana obtained her careless loquaciousness. Slowly, she turned from the mirror to look at the king. The room fell silent for a moment, as all eyes pointed to Valencia's queen. Adira looked deeply into Lionel's eyes, daring him to break eye contact. The only movement in the room was the flickering of the candles in the chandeliers hanging over the hall. Each person in the room, servants and knights included, awaited the queen's response with curiosity and fear. To every person's surprise, however, the queen's reaction to King Lionel's statement was to burst into bouts of laughter. Adira's deep feminine cackles reverberated from the high ceilings of the room. After regaining her composure, the queen looked again at the king, to find that he had been serious.

The smile vanished from her face.

"Are you mad?" Adira spat.

"I consider you to be a wise man...should such a thing exist. And thus, you should be well aware that any conflict between your army and my own will surely end in defeat," she continued flatly. "If you truly care for your kingdom, you will not try my patience. If you so much as breach my walls, I will destroy every last trace of your Delphine." Adira leaned closer. "If you challenge me, you will not live to see your daughter's face again."

"We will fight for our princess, no matter the odds."

Adira rested her face in her palms, striding back to her throne. She could not believe the words that were being spoken to her. It was truly impressive, the sheer stupidity of the man before her. Seating herself at her throne, the queen took a moment to gather herself before responding. She sighed a most deep sigh. Men.

"Fortunately for the two of you, such a battle would be a waste of my resources and frankly, my energy.

"However, I do have a proposal that may interest you," the queen held up her hand to silence Lionel's inevitable protest. "It involves your being able to see your daughter, and peace in both of our kingdoms."

The king and queen looked hopefully toward Adira.

"Well, then. We shall hear it. What can we give to you to keep you from harming our beloved princess and kingdom?" Queen Wilhelmina asked hopefully.

"Your daughter's hand...in marriage."

sept

To say that the king and queen were taken aback would be an understatement. They had heard stories of the wicked queen's peculiar tastes, but had assumed their daughter's royal status protected her. To hear these words from Adira was appalling. There was no doubt in the royals' minds that this would be painted as a scandal.

"In marriage?" Delphine's royals said almost in unison. Adira sighed. Now were they deaf?

Wilhelmina had an incredulous expression on her face, whilst Lionel's face fell. For once, the king was silent.

"Why would you want such a thing?" asked Wilhelmina. "You could have any man you wanted!" she exclaimed.

Adira stifled a frustrated groan. What was the matter with these people? "If a man were what I wanted for, I would have all of them. You have heard my offer of benevolence. I expect an answer." the queen demanded impatiently.

Lionel was still curiously silent as Wilhelmina turned to ask for his opinion. Finally taking his hand from his sword, the king nodded his consent.

"I will assent to this on one condition," Lionel spoke solemnly. "Will you let us see her, before you do this?"

Adira was perplexed. Why did the man look so upset? He was more than willing to give his daughter away to some prince she didn't know. It wasn't so grave a situation as Adira taking Luciana as her slave. Queen Adira tilted her head in confusion.

"Of course, you can see the princess," Adira spoke bemusedly. "I'll send for her now." With a snap of her wrist, a group of servants went to retrieve the girl. Adira took this moment to retire to her chambers. She would let the family say their goodbyes alone.

Slowly approaching the princess, the king and queen pulled the girl into their arms. Each of the three was swept away with emotion.

Suddenly, Lionel pulled Luciana close. "Luciana, you can leave with us now. You do not have to marry this woman. We will escape to the summer palace."

"Father, you know that I love you. And I know as well as you do what will happen to us before we can escape. I won't allow you to sacrifice your life for me."

King Lionel stood before his daughter, taking deep, unsteady breaths.

"She is not so terrible, Father. I'm sure that I will be permitted to see you," Luciana offered.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Remember what you've been told about this woman, Luciana. Beware of her."

Luciana thought fondly of the moments the two had shared together. She genuinely didn't think that Adira would be so cruel as to keep her from her family. Surely, Adira had to understand family.