Chapter 1

God, I'm nearly old enough to marry, and my mother still throws me out of my bed the moment visitors arrive. Oh, I know it's not their fault. They are servants just the same as us, doing the best they can. Apparently, it's really Lord Rohanne's fault, but I can hardly complain to him.

I made the mistake of hiding in the stables. Usually it would have been a good plan. Avoidance of further laundry duty is a worthwhile aim in itself, even if it weren't for the horses. But today, it was just the opportunity Mother needed to offload her problem to me.

Actually, it could have been worse. The Staples worked for a cousin of Lord Rohanne, in a castle not too far from here, and for some reason their Lord liked them to travel with him, and they had been here numerous times before. I quite liked them actually. They were fairly young, and jovial. They would sit and play cards with my parents for hours, and even knew how to make my father laugh; an impressive accomplishment.

I raced back into the kitchen as soon as I heard they were there, hoping that I could think of a good reason for Mother to suggest they sleep somewhere other than my room, but as soon as I got there, and saw the number of people hovering, I knew I was out of luck. If it wasn't them, it would be someone horrid, or smelly, or old. So I didn't argue. I even showed them where the room was.

They were really nice about it too, in a way. Normally, I would have to find some floorspace somewhere, and curl up there, hoping not to be stepped on, or tripped over, before morning. But not this time.

"So Alys, this is your bed we are stealing?"

"Oh, yes Mr Staple, it is, but it's not a problem."

"Do you have somewhere to go Alys?" This was Mrs Staple.

"Nowhere specific, but I'll be fine, I'm sure. Here we are."

"Oh, Henry, look, she can sleep on the floor in here, can't she?"

"It's fine with me, Kath. You two work it out."

"Oh, listen, it's not a problem, really."

"No, Alys dear, I insist. It's bad enough to lose your bed. Henry snores a little, but I'll just prod him if he becomes a problem."

"Well, thank you Mrs Staple, if you are sure."

"You people are so formal here. Rohanne must be a real stickler."

"Formal, Mrs Staple?"

"Well, yes. That's a good example. We can't be more than ten years older than you. Well, twelve for Henry, maybe, and yet you don't call us by our first names."

"Oh, I couldn't, Mrs Staple."

"Nonsense Alys. Tell you what, how about you call us Henry and Kath, unless we are with your parents. They wouldn't like that, I'm guessing. Alright Henry?"

"Fine with me, my dear. Call me anything you want Alys. Can I go now?"

"Of course Henry, off you go." She turned to me as he left. "Men have no patience, you know. Now, I insist. Say 'Kath'."

"Well, I... alright. Kath."

"See? Easy. And if you don't keep it up, I'll start calling you Miss Porter, and see how you like it."

"I'll try Kath. And thanks."

"Nothing." She waved then, dismissing the whole discussion, and looked around the room some more. "Alys, I've been asked to assist with serving the meal tonight. Do you happen to know where I might find a suitable hat?"

We walked back downstairs together, chatting, and I showed her where to find Mother, who was undoubtedly the best source of clean hats in the whole estate. I tried to escape to the stables again, but Mother caught me, and I was involved in linen arrangements for the Lord's guests for the rest of the afternoon. As soon as that was sorted, preparations for a huge feast were underway, and inevitably I was assigned tasks.

At some point, at a lull in the proceedings, I was sent back to the servants kitchen to eat something. The kitchen was fairly quiet when I got there, and I helped myself to some soup, and sat at the big communal table. I was basically ignored, and as I neared the end of my soup, I realised I was very tired, and headed up to my room, thankful at having no more duties for the evening, collecting some spare blankets on the way.

I eyed up the bed when I arrived, and wished that today, of all days, I could use it, but resigned myself to the floor, laid out one of the blankets, removed my working clothes, and lay down, wrapping myself in the other blankets to keep away the cold. I must have been at least as tired as I thought, because I can't remember lying there at all, until much later, when Henry and Kath stumbled in, and nearly walked over me.

"Oh, Gawd Henry, I forgot about her."

"Oh, that's... Alys, right?"

"Yes dear. Alys. Not so loud, you'll wake her up."

Obviously, I was already awake at that point, but I figured that letting them know would just involve a lot of awkward conversation and embarrassment, so I pretended to sleep, and continued listening to the conversation as they undressed. I also peeked.

It was strange thing. They both took off all of their clothes, despite the cool air, and continued to chatter rather casually.

"God, that Rohanne is a bore, isn't he Kath?"

"He is that. He's a handsome man though."

"He is?"

"Yes, he is Henry. Not that I'd want anything to do with him."

"You would so."

"Not me. I've got you Henry."

"Do you know how rich he is?"

"Two things. You didn't ask me if I wanted his money, and anyway, it's not his, is it?"

"Well, it's effectively his until the Prince returns."

"There you go then, Henry. If I was with Rohanne, and then the Prince returned, I'd be handed over with the silverware."

"Are you that valuable?"

"None of that cheek, Henry dear. You know how valuable I am."

"In the bedroom, perhaps."

"Indeed."

"Oh, was that what you meant Kath?"

"Of course."

"Well in that case, I would have to concur."

"Indeed."

By this time, the two of them had shed their clothing, and were standing, either side of the bed, stark naked. I couldn't really see Kath too well, but I had a perfect view of her husband. He looked younger somehow, without his clothes, and he had a substantial endowment as well. I haven't seen too many of those, I know, but the girls talk about them, and this was a good one. It became apparent that Kath thought so too.

"Henry, is Alys still asleep?"

"Oh, she must... Alys!" His whispered call was ignored, though I had trouble refraining from a smile. "Must be. Why?"

"Well, this is a nice bed. We could... test it."

"Kath, didn't your mother ever teach you about lying back and thinking of England?"

"My mother was worse than me, Henry. At least I'm only wanton with you."

"You are?"

"You know I am."

"Yes, I do."

"So come here."

"What if she wakes up, Kath?"

"I'm pretty sure she's never been near a man Henry." She was right, unfortunately. "Maybe she'll learn something."

With that, the two of them rolled on to the bed, and commenced kissing, stark naked, on top of the covers. I was astounded, and stayed still, listening intently, and trying to work out what exactly they were doing. I was aware that I ought to be disgusted, and somehow make it clear that I could hear them, and then leave the room or something, but I had no intention of doing any such thing.

The mostly silent kissing became a festival of caressing slowly, accompanied by suggestions from both of them as to who should stroke what, and I eventually became convinced that they were sufficiently engrossed in their activities not to notice me, and I slowly removed the blanket on top of me, and sat up. My head was just high enough off the floor to be level with the top of the mattress, and the view was astounding. Kath was crouching down on top of the bed, on her hands and knees, her dark hair in sharp contrast to her pale skin, and I could clearly see her breasts, hanging from her chest, as her body rocked back and forth.