On The Eve Of Battle

Author's note: This story is set in a fantasy kingdom where STD's and unwanted pregnancies do not exist.

To meet Literotica's standards, the age of consent in the land of Orgiana is 18, but all other aspects of marriage and women's place in society are the same as they were in the rest of Europe during medieval times. Neither the author nor the characters he has written approve of those antiquated rules, but if you still find them offensive, you may want to skip this story.

In order to maintain the atmosphere of this story, I have written it in an old-fashioned style of English, and I have the characters speak in British dialects according to their social class, including a working-class character with a thick cockney accent. If you get headaches from reading Shakespeare or Victorian literature, you should probably skip this one. But because I have kept the language modern enough to be easily understood by the casual reader, scholars and purists of British literature made prior to the First World War should either skip this one or forgive the author for being an American amateur.

Lastly, all sexual activity described in this story is between consenting adults. Enjoy.

Once upon a time, in the land of Orgiana, there was a crisis afoot. The King had recently turned the ripe old age of fifty, and no one was sure how much longer he would live. Twenty-one years earlier, his wife the Queen had died in childbirth and left behind a daughter, Virginia. Although--like most royal betrothals--neither the King nor Queen had a say in who they would marry, they were happily in love with each other by the time their wedding was arranged. And when the Queen died, the King swore he would never love or marry another, despite the pressure for him to sire a male heir.

Instead, the King decreed that whomsoever should win his daughter's hand in marriage should be the next King of the realm. And for the past three years--ever since Princess Virginia's eighteenth birthday--one nobleman after another had vied for her hand, only to have her spurn him. At least, that is what most people knew. The truth of the matter was so scandalous that if it were ever brought to light, the entire established order would have been overthrown and the kingdom would have been susceptible to invasion by a foreign army, and the land swiftly conquered.

With the elderly King in ill health and his daughter approaching the limit of marriageable age, there was one nobleman determined to end this crisis once and for all. Duke Richard of Wilcox had gathered an army to storm the Royal Castle, depose the old King and marry Princess Virginia by force. The King had gotten word of the insurrection and entrusted the protection of his castle and Princess Virginia to his most trusted knight, Sir Robert, who had been the King's squire back when the King was a princely low-ranking officer in the cavalry. By the time Sir Robert had gained his knighthood, he and the King had become bosom companions.

Sir Robert, despite his advanced age of forty, was a fine figure of a man. Although he had a balding scalp and grey beard, his six-foot frame, handsome face, deep voice and well-muscled body made him the envy of many men and the romantic fantasy of women of all ages. In battle, none could match him. In his nearly two dozen years of knighthood, he had mastered deadly combat by ax, mace, sword, lance, bow as well as fists. And as he had a fine mind for military strategy, nobody was upset that the King had given him command of the Royal Army.

When it came to women, however, it was a different matter. Sir Robert, for all his accomplishments on the battlefield, was a painfully shy man, especially when it came to the fairer sex. He had trouble looking women in the eye and found it even more difficult talking to them. And he had a wretched habit of pining after women who did not return his affections or who were forbidden to him, such as one of the women in this story.

This is not to say Sir Robert was celibate. Like any soldier, he had known the bawdyhouses when he was younger. And as handsome and famous as he was, he had no shortage of attractive women who threw themselves at him, but they seldom meant anything to him. However, there were a few he had grown attached to, and this story also concerns one of them.

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Sir Robert had just returned to the castle from dinner at the nearby tavern when a scout ran to him with an urgent message. "Sir! I've just alighted from Duke Richard's camp! They have sent someone to kidnap the princess during tonight's entertainment and they mean to attack the castle before daybreak!"

"Then we must go to sleep early so that we ourselves are ready for the attack. In the meantime, I shall secure the princess myself."

Sir Robert ran to the Princess's bedchamber and urgently knocked on the door. "Your Highness! 'Tis I, Sir Robert!"

"Come in, good Sir Knight."

Sir Robert opened the door and found Princess Virginia still in her nightgown having her curly red hair brushed by her lady's maid, a dark-haired woman the same age as the Princess. Both women were strikingly beautiful, but Sir Robert's heart ached for the Princess alone. However, there was an emerald pendant that lay on her alabaster skin that proclaimed her Crown Princess and reminded him that she was forbidden to him.

"Your Highness! It is imperative that you leave this room immediately!"

"But good Sir Knight! As you see, Felicity has not finished with my hair. And then I am to entertain the Court with a harpsichord recital, where I shall also sing."

"Alas, Milady, there'll be none of that tonight. The Duke's men mean to kidnap you during tonight's entertainment and sack the castle in the morning. My men are retiring early tonight so we may not be taken by surprise, and you must do the same, only not in this room. Come with me please, for your own protection."

He led the princess back to his own chambers. Outside the door, he told her, "Inside, there's a bed that sleeps three men. Normally, I sleep there with two of my trusted lieutenants, but tonight, we shall sleep on the floor while you shall have the bed to yourself. Is that understood?"

"Will that not be most uncomfortable for you? Perhaps it would be better if I slept in a private room with a small bed and nobody knew I was there?"

"If 'twere Your Highness's modesty I was sworn to protect, I would agree. But 'tis your life I am concerned about, and I'll not leave you out of the presence of myself or my men ere this crisis has abated. Besides, we are soldiers and used to sleeping on hard ground. Now, please enter this room, and quickly! We have tarried too long outside the door and who knows but that the Duke's spies may have seen you already."

Sir Robert discreetly ushered the Princess into the room, followed and locked the door. To both their surprise, Sir Robert's lieutenants were not in the room. Instead, there was a nude woman lying on the bed with honey-blonde hair in soft waves tied up in a loose knot and deep blue eyes that looked upon Sir Robert with undisguised lust.

"'Allo, Bob! Fancy meetin' you 'ere."

"Meg!" Sir Robert hissed. "What are you doing here? Where are my men?"

Meg ignored what Sir Robert said and turned to look at the Princess. "Oooh! An' I see you brough' a frien'! Come 'ere..." Meg's gaze drifted to the emerald around the Princess's neck and her expression changed from lust to shock. She immediately covered herself up and averted her eyes. "Your 'ighness! I'm so sorry!"

The Princess turned to Sir Robert and said, "Good Sir Knight, do you know this woman?"

"Indeed, Milady. This is Meg, a serving wench at the tavern nearby. We have a relationship that is... not proper to be discussing with an innocent young lady such as Your Highness. Meg! I repeat: Where are my men? Why are you here? Are you in league with the Duke?"

"The Duke? Me? I ain't in league wif no one! I saw you an' your men in the tavern this evenin' an' I thought you'd like a little surprise to welcome ya back t' town. Your men know 'oo I am an' they know wha' we do togever, so they let me in."

"Meg, as you see, this is not a good time for this! We are on the eve of battle and must rest as the enemy is to attack us before dawn, and I've brought the princess here for her own protection. Please leave so that she may sleep on the bed!"

"She need not leave," said the Princess. "In fact, I would rather she stayed with us. Tell me, good woman. Since Sir Robert will not answer me directly, may I ask what the nature of your relationship is with him?"

"Beggin' your pardon, your 'ighness, but Bob's righ'. Wha' me an' Bob do togever ain't fittin' for a proper young lady such as y'self to 'ear. 'Specially wif you bein' a princess an' all."

"I may be but a young lady, but I am still a royal, and unless I am overridden by my father, my word is your command. That goes for both of you. Besides, as heir to the throne, I cannot afford to be an innocent regarding any matter. I shall repeat myself, and if I do not receive a direct answer, I shall be quite cross and both of you shall pay a penalty. Now answer me, woman. Is Sir Robert your true love? Will you marry him once he leaves military service?"

"'Eavens no, Your 'ighness." Meg stayed covered, but she did manage to look the Princess in the eye. "I'm two-and-thirty now and long past marriageable age. If I was gonna marry, it woulda been when I was a lass like y'self. But I promised meself I wouldn't marry no one unless I was in love wif 'em an' they was in love wif me back. Me an' Bob, we 'ave fun togever in bed an' we're great mates, but we ain't in love. 'E did offer to marry me once, but I tol' 'im no. Besides, 'e's tol' me 'e's in love wif someone else. Only 'e feels guilty abou' it on account of she's real 'ighborn an' she's young enough to be 'is own daughter an'... Oh!"

Meg stopped as she saw Sir Robert blushing and glaring daggers at her while the Princess looked up at Sir Robert with pity and affection. At that moment, Meg realized she had said too much.

"Good Sir Knight, why did you never tell me of these feelings?"

Now it was Sir Robert's turn to turn away from the Princess's gaze. "Because what she says is true. You are my best friend's daughter and far too young for me. And my best friend just happens to be the King and I cannot marry you as I am but a common soldier. And because the penalty for lying with a princess before her wedding day is death."

"Good Sir Knight, I believe you are mistaken about the law."

"How do you mean, Milady?"

Rather than answer Sir Robert, the Princess turned to Meg.

"Good woman: When you first saw me there was a look of recognition in your eye. Did you mistake me for someone else?"

Meg looked away from the Princess again. "Aye, Milady. There's someone 'oo comes to our tavern often. She's nineteen, so jus' a little younger than y'self, an' she's a... a.... Forgive me, milady. It ain't proper for me to say the word in front of Your 'ighness."

"A whore?"

"Aye, an 'ore. Me an' 'er 'ave the same arrangement that me an' Bob 'ave. If she ain't workin' but she still wants to... um... you know..., then me an' 'er go to bed togever an' we make love until we're both spent."

Sir Robert was shocked. As a student of military history, he knew of the ancient Greek ideal that male soldiers should find physical love with each other rather than mere females. And he knew that Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar had male lovers. And he had witnessed (and turned a blind eye to) his comrades and underlings fornicating with men. But he never knew such things happened between women.

"Any'ow, I'd 'eard she looks jus' like you, but I didn' credit it 'til I saw you in the flesh jus' now. When you came in, I thought Bob 'ad 'ired 'er for the evenin' an' that the three of us was gonna do somefin' togever."

"Perchance is this woman's name Scarlett?"

"'Ow'd you know?"

"She is no stranger to this castle. Many is the time I have heard someone in the castle shout my name in ecstasy and then seen her leave their rooms a few minutes later in disarray. Tell me, Meg--if I may call you that--how much does she charge you?"

"She don' charge me nuffin'! We do it 'cause we want to!"

"Then you are lucky. She charges me a hundred coins each time we share a bed, and I never even touch her." Sir Robert and Meg both stared at the Princess gapemouthed. "I should explain. When we first met, we noticed our similarity and compared our respective family trees. As it turns out, we have no common ancestors save Adam and Eve.

"Not long after, I invented a little game to play with the servants called 'Who Is The Princess And Who Is The Whore'. We both bed the same servant at once, I take off my royal pendant and the servant must guess which one of us is which. It works because I can imitate her voice quite well, and she can imitate mine. Of course, the servants rarely care who is who, they just like making love to the both of us at once. The way to tell us apart, by the way, is that my skin is naturally clear, but Scarlett must use powder to cover her freckles.

"You see, Sir Knight, you have a misunderstanding of the law regarding lying with a princess. I should know as I helped write it. My father insists that I learn to govern, and as it turns out, I take to it quite well. The law says if someone tries to take me *without my consent*, they are to be hanged. Indeed, when I am Queen, all rapists shall face the gallows. It is true that as a princess, I am obliged to marry a man of noble birth and bear his child. But as heir to the throne, it is my privilege to fuck whomsoever I please."

Meg and Sir Robert were both shocked to hear Princess Virginia use that unladylike word. Eventually, Sir Robert was able to find his voice again. "But..., I mean..., I still can't marry you. You are still a Princess and despite my military rank, I am still but a commoner. So it makes no sense to burden you with my feelings which must remain unrequited."

"Sir Knight, when one is a princess, feelings have nothing to do with marriage. Do you know the real reason why I am not wed yet?"

"They say 'tis because you have spurned all your suitors."

"That is the official story fabricated to preserve my honor and my prospective suitors' vanities. The truth is that I have never spurned anyone. If Duke Richard had not decided to take me by force, I would not have spurned him either, provided that he could stomach my conditions for marriage." She turned to the nude tavern wench. "Meg, I so envy you that you have sworn to not marry except for love. If I were to do so, it would be to my lady's maid Felicity. We have been In love with each other since we were both old enough to know what love is. But the law states a woman may not marry another woman and custom dictates that a princess may not marry her servant, so we have an arrangement where we are both allowed to make love to any man or woman we please so long as we do not hide it from each other. Therefore, I always consent to marriage, but only if I shall rule by my husband's side instead of being a decorative woman; that my heart will remain with Felicity; and that I may have any other lover I please, male or female. Thus far, none of my suitors have agreed to these terms as they feel it would un-man them.

"Now, as I have said before, as heir to the throne, I may not marry anyone in this room, but I may fuck whomsoever I please, and it pleases me to fuck the both of you."

Sir Robert objected. "Your Highness, forgive me, but the purpose of bringing you here was so that we could retire early and be rested for tomorrow's battle. We need to sleep, not f... f... fornicate." He could not quite bring himself to use the same word that the Princess had used.

"Good Sir Knight, please do not think me blind or naive. I can see the bulge in your trousers quite well. Meg, please uncover yourself."

Meg did so.

"As you can see, her nipples are hard, and her quim is wet. And underneath this nightgown, I am in the same state as she. We are all quite aroused, and we shall none of us get any sleep unless we sate our lusts. This is a practical matter regarding the upcoming battle, not just the whim of a randy young noblewoman."

Now it was Meg's turn to be shy again. "But what if we was to get caught? You're a princess, an' everyone outside the castle thinks you're sweet an' innocent. There would be a scandal!"

The Princess changed her voice and said, "Princess? Me? I ain't no princess. But if you like, go to the Blue Lion tavern an' ask for Scarlett the 'arlot. For twenty coins, I'll suck you off. For fifty, I'll let you stick your dick in me bum. An' for an 'undred, you gets t' do wha'ever you please wif me like this 'andsome couple is doin'!"

It was Sir Robert's turn to speak again. "Your Highness, that may fool the stray wanderer who may stumble upon us, but Meg and I still know who you are. And as much as I have ached for you since you came of age, I fear I am not worthy of this honor. Very soon, you shall be a young and beautiful Queen, but my military career shall be coming to an end after tonight's battle. Do you really wish to do this with an old man of humble circumstances?"

"Bob's righ'. You're the mos' powerful an' beautiful woman I've ever met an' I'm jus' a lowly tavern wench. Even your servants can't be seen wif me in public. Bein' wif you would be like lookin' into the sun."

The Princess just smiled at them both, then removed her emerald pendant. "Then let us forget--just for the moment--that I am Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Virginia. Tonight, I am just Ginny, a young lady who craves the touch of a handsome older man and a beautiful woman, both at the same time."

She made her way to Sir Robert and kissed him fully on the lips. Sir Robert--still in shock--was completely rigid during the kiss. Ginny then turned to Meg and kissed her on the lips as she did to Sir Robert. Meg was not so tense and returned Ginny's kiss. After a few seconds, Meg stuck her tongue in Ginny's mouth while the two women wrapped their arms around each other.

"Come on Bob! No need t' be shy." Meg grabbed Sir Robert's hand and led drew him into the embrace. As Sir Robert and Meg had been together several times before, there was no hesitation on Sir Robert's part when Meg kissed him and placed his hand on her bare breast.

"Sir Robert, can you please help me with my nightgown? I wish to feel your hands on my breasts as well."

Hesitantly, Sir Robert untied the knot at the neck of Ginny's nightgown. Ginny held up her arms and Sir Robert lifted the hem of the nightgown over Ginny's head, leaving her as nude as Meg. She had not lied earlier. The large nipples on her small breasts were the width of Sir Robert's thumb and were quite hard to the touch when Sir Robert tweaked them. And the ginger curls between her legs were soaked with the juices from her quim.

At the same time Sir Robert was disrobing Ginny, Meg had untied Sir Robert's trousers to reveal a mighty seven-inch cock that was as hard and throbbing as could normally only be found on a man half his age. After Sir Robert had finished playing with Ginny's nipples, he pulled his tunic over his head, so now all three of them were completely nude.

Ginny was eager to continue, but her two older companions were shy and hesitant once more. "Why have we stopped? I thought we were enjoying ourselves?"

"Your High... er... Ginny, prior to tonight, I have only ever been with one woman at a time. I know not what to do."

"Same for me. I've been wif men an' I've been wif women, but I've never been wif bofe at the same time."

Ginny laughed. "Here am I, nineteen years Sir Robert's junior and eleven years younger than Meg, yet I am the one with the most experience in these matters. Sir Robert, are you familiar with the French method of love-making?"