Chapter 3

Capital

Jacob is now 47 years old
Kristen is now 26 years old

The trip to the capital was made by coach. I had given up horse back several years ago With the improved roads necessary for the transportation of bean ingredients, carriages had become practical. I had written Kristen the same day that I received her letter. I told her I was retiring and moving to the capital to see her, and that I hoped she would see me. I turned control of the barony over to Eric. I turned production at the bean plant over to the manager, who was quite capable. Eric and Alfred would assume the presidency together. I would be available to offer advice and moral support. All of these arrangements had taken about two weeks.

I arrived in the capital in the middle of the afternoon. It was a bright sunny day. Not too hot, or too cold. Kristen had a small house just outside the palace grounds. She was at work when I arrived, but her maid sent her word shortly after, that I was there. I met her two daughters, Lisa and Laura. They were charming children, happy and bubbly as only little girls can be.

The messenger returned sometime later. Kristen sent word that she would be home in an hour or so. She asked me to wait. I sat in her parlor and was entertained by her charming daughters.

Kristen arrived quietly. She spent some time watching the girls and me. The girls squealed when they saw her. She hugged and kissed each of them, then sent them off to prepare for dinner. I had been standing there through this in pure admiration. My Kristen had matured into the most beautiful and desirable woman that I had seen in many long years.

When the children left with the maid, I held my arms out, and she flew into them. I held her close. She felt so good in my arms, again. She started to cry and sob as I held her. When she finally found her voice, she could only whisper.

“My Master, I have missed you so much. It has been too many years.”

“Kristen, my Sweet Child, you have been a free and successful woman for many years now. No one is your Master.”

“Jacob, my Love, you will always be my Master. Were I to be made queen tomorrow, yet would you be my Master.” Her voice shook with emotion as she said this between sobs. She put her head back down on my chest and cried tears of happiness at being with me again. I held her there in the parlor for a long time. The light from the windows faded, and it was dark before we both returned to the present. I had been crying too. Tears of joy to be holding this precious girl again.

The maid had stopped at the door once and saw and heard us both crying and had gone to care for the children, leaving us to our reunion. We finally recovered our senses.

“We must go to dinner, my Master. Before it was you feeding me, now it will be me feeding you. Come and see what I have prepared for you.”

As we entered the dining room, it was obvious the children had finished eating. They still sat at the table but were restless. When we had entered, Lisa, the oldest, looked at her mother and asked her.

“Mommy, why are you crying. Are you sad?”

“No Lisa, Mommy was crying because she is very happy. It’s been a long time since Mommy has seen Baron Jacob, and she is very glad that he is here. You must be very nice to him. Do both of you understand?”

“Yes, Mommy,” came from both of them. The maid took the girls to wash up and play some, while we had dinner. The food was superb, as one would expect from one so celebrated as the Royal Chef. Kristen had prepared it at the palace and brought it home for us. After dinner, we sat in the parlor with Kristen on my lap, while the girls played. We hugged and kissed, and generally just enjoyed each other.

The girls were put to bed around 9 o’clock. We adjourned to Kristen’s bedroom immediately after. Upon closing the door, we creates a trail of clothes on our way to the bed. The first time was hard and fast, like animals. We couldn’t wait, and we both came quickly. Kristen held on to me even after we were spent and just cried into my shoulder. Eventually, she quieted down and fell asleep wrapped around me.

The second time was later that night. It was slow, sensual and passionate. We held, and kissed, and licked each other. Finally, she invited me into her for more long, slow strokes with kissing and sighing. Near the end, it was hard and fast again. Kristen came twice before we finished nearly together. We slept late the next morning, not rising until 8 o’clock.

We washed and had started to dress, before Kristen told me about today.

“We are to see the Queen later this morning, my Master.”

“Kristen, how can we see the Queen?” I asked. “It takes weeks to get an appointment, and I only arrived yesterday.”

“My Master, many things are possible when one knows the ladies in waiting. The Queen will see the Royal Chef on very short notice,” she confided with a twinkle in her eye.

We had breakfast first. The girls were already up and in the kitchen. The maid had her hands full trying to quiet them down and feed them. When their mother came in, they immediately wanted to get a hug and a kiss from her. There was much laughing and giggling, but Kristen would have none of it.

“Girls, behave. What will the Baron think of us if you misbehave so? Now, quietly, a kiss and then to breakfast.” They gave their mother a kiss and quickly returned to being fed. Kristen fixed breakfast for us. It was nothing fancy: eggs, bacon, some bread, and tea. Of course it had the famous ‘Kristen touch’. After breakfast, we quickly redressed in our finest clothes, and walked the block or so to the palace entrance.

I chose to wear my best dark blue evening wear. It wasn’t flashy, but was very serviceable. Kristen had on a light green dress and a maroon cape. Green stockings and maroon shoes completed her outfit. I was wondering about her attire.

“Kristen, you don’t cook in those clothes do you?” I asked.

“No, my Master. When I go to the kitchen, I change to my chef’s outfit. They are all kept at the palace and washed and ironed there.”

We approached the palace and were ushered right through by the various guards and functionaries. Obviously, Kristen, as the Royal Chef, was well known. When we approached the closed doors to a reception hall, Kristen spoke to the chamberlain there, and in a few minutes one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting arrived. Kristen spoke with her and was pointing at me. The lady in waiting nodded and then left. Kristen took my hand and led me to a row of chairs along one wall.

“There will be a short wait, my Master. The Queen is in conference, but will be free soon.”

Sixteen minutes or so later, the doors opened and several men in the bright fashionable garb worn by those in the capital departed. They didn’t seem all that happy. After they had passed by the doors, we were ushered forward. We passed the doors and they were closed behind us with a thud.

As audience halls went, it was rather small. No more than 30 feet deep and about 20 feet wide. The ceiling was about 15 feet high. The walls were a very light blue with dark blue trim, the ceiling was white, the floor pink marble. There were a number of chairs and also a table to one side. The Queen sat on a raised dais at the far end of the hall.

As we approached, she rose and greeted Kristen.

“Kristen, my dear, how is the Royal Chef?”

“The Royal Chef is most wonderful today, your Majesty,” Kristen replied with a curtsy.

“Your Majesty, may I present Baron Jacob of Eastland,” and without so much as a pause, she added, “my Master.” Oh God, I thought, now the fat is in the fire. The Queen, however, merely smiled. What she said next really surprised me.

“We all have our Masters, Baron. For some it’s a husband or lover. For others, their friend or pimp. There is always someone, someone special. Someone, who though they be dead, could never be replaced. For me, it’s the King. For Kristen, it’s you. You are all she ever talks about, whenever we have a session of ‘girl talk’. It was always ‘my Master’ this or ‘my Master’ that. Never my husband, Guild Master, or lover, no not our Kristen. I hope you realize how special you are to her?”

“Your Majesty, I was a fool for ten years. I worked, slaved to create a business, and buried everything else. My children grew up and married. My wife left me for her lover, her sister. I had let Kristen go. It was the best thing for her at the time. Yet, I still loved her. After ten years, all I had was money. Money is a poor companion on a cold night. On one of those cold nights, I realized what I had lost, what I had given up, when I let Kristen go. I wrote to her and asked if she would have me back. Of course, her answer was yes for I’m here.”