Jane:

Jane born during the reign of King John. In fact she was his niece, the daughter of his brother James. Even from her birth she was considered one of, if not the, most beautiful girl in the world. Even before she was of eligible age to marry nobleman and princes came from far wide in an attempt to arrange for her to be married to them. Photographers and newsmen hounded her and her parents as she grew up. They always wanted opportunities to interview them. They just wanted to be left alone. It wasn’t uncommon for men to be captured and arrested for stalking her and her family.

(Okay, maybe I should explain a few things. First, yes in this universe we have all of the conveniences of the world we know today. Most people drive automobiles and fly around the world in airplanes. But day to day living, aside from the travel, are similar to that of the 14th, to 17th centuries. Second, women and children have little to no more authority than they had in those days. Third, like in those days, at least in the upper class, wives are bought or traded for. The women or girls have no choices. They are little more than property, with exception of the royal family. In the royal family the women can choose their husband, but only from nobles or other royalty. Even then if the King tells them who to they must marry whoever the King says they have to.)

Jane had a wonderful childhood. She was able to laugh and play with other noble children, though occasionally she would have to be hidden from aggressive stalkers or the press. Few of the cares of the world bothered her, though she learned about most of them. That was just three months before her 14 year things changed. It was then that she had her first period. Her breast, which had been flat, suddenly became bumps on her chest that ached. Just before her birthday, she heard her parents talking. They were discussing who would be her husband. As expected they had offers from many men, most of whom 20 to 30 years older than her. Some of the men she had never even met. One of the men was actually in his 50’s. Their was one young man that was in his mid-20’s that she had at least met when she was younger, though it was only briefly.

That night she prayed that her parents would choose the young man. She at least knew who he was, though she didn’t know him well. A few months later her parents decided to allow the younger man to be her husband. They were planning to announced it at the annual festival a week from now, however King John came to see them.

John and James talked in James’s private study for what seemed like hours. Towards the end of their talk her mother was also called in. The conversation, which Jane couldn’t hear, went on for another hour. Jane was called in for the last 5 minutes of the conversation. The only reason she was called in was so that John could tell her that she was to marry Joesph. Joesph had been the eldest son of former King Henry who had died several years ago during the last war of unification. Joesph had proven himself to King John and was made governor of his father’s former lands.

Jane knew nothing about Joesph, except that it was rumored that he was kind to the people he oversaw for the King. She had seen pictures of him and he was good looking, but he was also in his forties. Not a young man at all. She wondered what her life would be like from now on. She would never go against the King’s word, it just wasn’t done. The King’s word was law, and even the lowliest peasant obeyed the law.

No announcement was made at the festival. Instead she and her parents, along with King John, rode in the limo to Earthshine, the King’s capital city. There she met, for the first time, Joesph. The man who was to become her husband. He was a kind man. She was surprised just how kind he was. He opened doors for her and always seemed to take an interest in what she said. She was a very intelligent girl after all and had learned from the best tutors in the world. In fact she knew a lot more than her parents thought she did. She had, when no one was around to interfere, gotten onto the internet and learned what was going on in the world. She had even persuaded one of tutors to teach her about Sex, though he couldn’t and didn’t actually have sex her. Instead he brought in a couple of newlyweds and had them demonstrate both fore play and actual sexy for her. He also taught her how to pleasure herself without breaking her hymen. That had to remain intact until her future husband took it.

Joesph:

Joesph was thirty-five and the only surviving son of King Henry. After his father died fourteen years earlier he was, at first reluctantly, given the title of Governor over the lands that his father had once ruled. He was promised that, if he did well at his new job, he would be given a great prize. Joesph worked hard at unifying the country with the nation that had conquered it. At first there were many rebellions, which he had to put down. Within five years however, most of them had been quelled and the people lived their lives in peace. There were occasional outbursts and violence, but for the most part, all was peaceful. He put down the last of the rebellions three years ago, and everything was going well under his governance. In fact many of the other provinces were having more trouble than he was. King John approached him a month before Jane came of age. John asked Joesph, “I promised you a reward if you could settle any disturbance in these lands. What kind of reward would you like?” John had expected him to ask for money, more lands, or something along those lines. Joesph, however, said, “If it pleases you, there is a girl that I saw once while visiting you in your capital. I don’t know her name or even her family’s name, but she was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I would never force a girl to marry me, of course, but I would like the opportunity to speak with her. Perhaps, maybe, she might even consent to talk with me. I just want a chance to get to know her.”

John, at first, didn’t know who he was talking about, but after Joesph decried her to him he figured it out. At first he thought that Joesph was lying about not knowing her name. But the two of them talked for a couple of hours, and John decided that Joesph really didn’t know who the girl was. In fact he had told John that he had only seen her the one time and from a distance at that. She had been talking with another girl of about the same age as they walked along the courtyard of his palace. She was dressed well but not flamboyantly so. Joesph had assumed that the girl was the daughter of one of his servants or something. John smiled knowingly and said, “I think I know who you are talking about and I agree she is probably the most beautiful girl around. I think I can arrange for you to talk to her.” John smiled to himself and thought they would make a good couple.

Joesph had no idea who the girl was and King John didn’t let on who she was either. He was just excited that he would actually get to meet the girl. It was arranged that Joesph would be invited to the castle at the beginning of summer. Joesph had no idea what he was going to say to her when he actually got to meet her, but was looking forward to it.

Jane and Joesph:

Joesph went to a meeting of the governors during the first week of summer. The meeting went on and on about troubles in the various lands and what needed to be done about it. He unlike many of the other governors, he took only what he personally made from his own lands. This kept the taxes that were directly on the citizens of his land lower than average, and thus the people were happy to be citizens of King John’s country. Many of the other governors increased the taxes on the people of their lands and lived on the extra taxes they collected. He knew this wouldn’t set well with the other governors and said nothing about it.