Chapter 1: Meeting of the Minds

Two shadows crept down the hallway of the Emperor's castle. They tried to be as quiet as possible. There was no way that they could have used magic to silence their approach; the entire castle was shielded against magic. They were almost at the doorway to the room they were seeking when the lever that opened the door started to turn.

The two women, because their sultry bodies gave that fact readily away, threw themselves at the wall to either side of the door. The door opened and a page boy appeared. He was holding a tray of dirty breakfast dishes and trying to adjust his tunic and pants to look less disheveled. As he turned to pull the door closed, Danni reached over and deftly snagged an uneaten piece of bread. He closed the door with a soft thud and the tall, gangly boy walked down the hallway trying to tuck in his tunic while not dropping the tray.

Lori spun on Danielle pointing a finger at her, about to berate the cheeky female thief. Danni merely held a finger up to her pursed lips and softly went 'shhhhhh' stopping Lori's exclamation of disapproval from being voiced. As the page rounded a corner and went away, Danni whispered, "Shall we?"

Author's Note: This chapter would have been much longer with graphic descriptions of what Tammi and the page boy did, but I've decided to make all my future writing PG-13. So just use your imagination. You will probably come up with something far sexier than I would.

The two ladies heard Tamarilla singing to herself through the closed door. It was a bawdy song that she no doubt heard one of Margaret's crew singing. It went:

A digging and a-picking as I was one day

The thought of my true love it led me astray.

The day it was gone and the night coming on

And I hit for the road with my navvy boots on.

I knocked at my love's window, my knock she did know

And out of her slumber she wakened so slow.

I knocked there again, and she said "Is that John?"

"Yes indeed it's me with my navvy boots on."

She opened the door and invited me in

"Draw up to the fire and warm your skin."

The bedroom door was open and the blankets turned down

And I rolled into bed with my navvy boots on.

Then early the next morning at the dawn of the day,

Says I to my true love, "It's time to go away."

"Sleep down, sleep down, you know you've done wrong

For to sleep here at night with your navvy boots on."

O I bent down my head with a laugh and a smile

Saying "What could I do, love, in that length of time?

For all that I've done it was just a bit of fun

And I'll do it again with my navvy boots on."

The six months being over and seven after this

This pretty fair maid grew stout around the waist

Then eight months being over and nine comes along

And she handed me a son with his navvy boots on.

Come all you pretty fair maids take heed what I have said

Don't ever let a navvy come into your bed,

For their hearts do run light and their minds do run young

Sure they'll jump on your bones with their navvy boots on.

Lyrics courtesy of Traditional Music Library On Line Tunebook (Shareware Version).

Danni voiced a small chuckle as Tammi sang the song, while Lori looked aghast thinking of how much the simple farm girl had changed. True, Lori was used to the lustiness of men, she just never thought Tamarilla would fall so far.

The door did not squeak when it opened, attesting to the fact that the palace was well cared for. Tammi stood naked by the bed facing away from the door. As such she did not see her companions enter and silently closed the door behind them. When Tammi did turn around, it was to see a grinning Danni and a stern faced Lori standing in her bed chamber.

Tammi squealed and dove for her bed, diving under the covers like the simply raised village girl that she was before she experienced the world and it experienced her. Her companions patiently waited until Tammi decided that she couldn't hide under the covers forever, which took a while, and popped her head out.

Tamarilla was still blushing as she spoke to Danni and Lori. "Wha ... what are you doing in my room? How long have you been here? I have just finished breaking my fast and was waiting for the chamber maids to bring the water for my bath."

"We have been here long enough!" Tammi blushed again, "The Empress is tired of your teaching the page boys bawdy sea shanties and the affairs between men and women." said Lori.