Chapter 3: Royal Union

When I awoke later that afternoon, it took me a few seconds to get my bearings. It wasn't the fact that the room was unusual; I still hadn't gotten used to my own room in my new house, so this wasn't all that different. It was the fact that I had something warm and soft pressed against my side. I glanced over and saw Sarah's face only a few inches away, so soft and beautiful with her eyes closed and a smile on her lips. At once, all of the memories of the day's events came back, and I couldn't help smiling myself.

Is this what it's like to have a girlfriend? I wondered. In fact, I wondered just what Sarah felt toward me. She had voluntarily taken her clothes off in front of me, but maybe that wasn't such a big deal to her. I already knew she liked to sunbathe naked, so perhaps she was just a nudist at heart. And since I had already seen her without her clothes, maybe she just didn't feel like it mattered in front of me.

She had kissed me too, but how much of that had been Sarah and how much Princess Allura? For all I knew, she had kissed hundreds of boys, a thought that admittedly made me a little jealous. Maybe she just thought I was a kid, an immature little boy that was fun to play with. Maybe her feelings toward me were like a younger brother, or worse, like a pet dog.

No, I couldn't believe that. My Sarah wouldn't be so cruel. Didn't she say she wanted to marry me? Okay, maybe that was Princess Allura talking about Kenneth Shadowbane, but there had to be at least some attraction there.

However she felt about me, I decided that as far as I was concerned, she was my girlfriend. If she didn't think the same thing about me, well, we had all summer for her to change her mind.

A few minutes later, Sarah woke too. She lifted her head and gazed into my eyes for a moment, a smile on her face.

"How do you feel now, Kenneth Shadowbane?" she asked.

"Much better," I replied. "Your healing magic did the trick."

"Good. When my father the King hears about your sacrifice on my behalf, he'll wish to reward you."

"No need; it was worth it," I replied. On that, both Kenny Grant and Kenneth Shadowbane definitely agreed.

"Perhaps you could make it your full-time job to be my protector. Silverfen has many enemies, and I'm likely to get into trouble again."

I knew what she was hinting at, and I decided to play along.

"I would be honored, but I don't know how appropriate that would be. I would need to be with you twenty-four hours a day."

Her face lit up with delight as she saw that I had taken the hint. "Well, there's an easy solution to that too," she said. "Kenneth, I've been watching you for a long time. Even before you started training me to defend myself, I used to sit at my bedroom window in the castle watching the road any time I heard that you were coming to the court of Silverfen. Every time I saw the gleam of the sunlight on your armor, my heart would leap in my breast. You were always so gallant, brave, and exciting. I listened to the tales that people told of your adventures and I wished I was there by your side. And when you saved me from the Shadow Monsters, I knew that it was meant to be. We were meant to be. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Uh, I think so," I replied, embarrassed by her praise.

"And how do you feel about me?" she asked.

"Um ... I think you're ... pretty."

"Just pretty?"

"Beautiful," I corrected. "And um..." My mind was a blank right now; I was admittedly lacking in eloquence, especially compared to Sarah. Or Princess Allura, rather.

"Have you been sneaking glances at me too?"

"Yeah."

"And does your heart leap in your chest whenever you see me too?"

"Yeah."

"Then that settles it! My father has been looking for a man to whom he will give my hand in marriage. None of the princes of any of the nearby kingdoms are strong or brave enough to be my protector, so he's given up on royalty. He says I must marry someone who is strong enough to protect me from harm yet gentle and affectionate with me. I think maybe he's already made up his mind that you're the one. That's why he asked you to train me in self-defense. He wanted to get us together to see how we got along."

"Your father's pretty sneaky," I said with a grin.

"Maybe. But it's for a good cause. What do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea."

"I was hoping you would say that," she smiled. "So now that we're sort of unofficially betrothed, would you give me another kiss?"

"You bet!" I exclaimed enthusiastically. I drew in, and once more our lips touched. It was just as passionate and beautiful as the first time, and perhaps just a little less awkward now that I was getting the hang of it. I wanted to do more, so much more, with Sarah, but had no idea how to start. For now, I just had to content myself with whatever she gave me.

I was so overwhelmed by the kiss that I almost didn't hear the front door open. Fortunately, Sarah's mom decided to call her immediately upon entering the house. Sarah's eyes grew wide at the sound, realizing that she was still naked. Footsteps on the stairs told us that her mother was coming up to check on us.

There was no time for Sarah to get dressed. She grabbed her clothes off the floor and dashed for the closet, which fortunately had a door that she could close behind her. I grabbed my shirt and threw it on a moment before Sarah's mother opened the bedroom door and peeked in.

"Oh hi, Kenny," she smiled. "Where's Sarah?"

"Um ... I don't know..." I stammered.

"You don't know?"

Somehow, miraculously, my mind hit upon a suitable lie. "We're playing hide-and-seek," I said.

She laughed good-naturedly. "I'd say you're a little too old for those games, but last night Sarah went on and on about how you have the imagination of a child. I mean that in only the best of ways, of course. So I guess you like to play those kinds of games too. Sometimes I wish Sarah was still a little girl so I could play games like that with her. Maybe we all have a bit of a child in us, and it looks like you're letting yours out. I think that's wonderful. Anyway, I stopped by the store on the way home from work and I need her to help me carry in the groceries."

"Oh, I'll help, Mrs. Laurent," I offered. I normally tried to get out of doing chores, but I was happy to do anything that would get her out of the bedroom.

"Thank you, Kenny," she said graciously, and I followed her down the stairs and out to the car.

We were just finishing putting the groceries away when Sarah descended the stairs, dressed and composed and showing no sign that anything naughty had gone on a couple of minutes before.

"I guess that means you gave up on trying to find me," she told me, playing along with my earlier explanation. "So I win."

"Yep. You win," I conceded, despite the fact that we hadn't actually been playing the game that we had told her mother. And despite my concession, I certainly felt like I had won some kind of victory today.

Now that Sarah's mother had returned, we had to put the real game on hold, so for the rest of the afternoon, we just sat on the couch and discussed my world some more. Sarah wanted to try her hand at drawing maps, so she got some paper and together we redesigned Silverfen. I hadn't put nearly as much thought into that kingdom as I had put into Elderhaven, so I didn't mind making changes. I figured it was appropriate for Sarah to be the one to draw the map, considering she was part of the Silverfen royal family after all. Even Sarah's mom, amused at our imagination, gave some suggestions. That was fine too; she was the queen after all.

The king arrived home not long after, then a few minutes later my mom called to let me know that she was back. I said my goodbyes, Sarah gave me a hug, and then I journeyed across the yard to Elderhaven.

That night, I lurked in the shadows of my bedroom, the lights off. I hung back away from the window so that I couldn't be seen, but still where I had a perfect view of Sarah's room across the way. Maybe she was right; maybe I really was a pervert. But I was a thirteen-year-old boy, so at least I had an excuse. All I knew was that if tonight were anything like last night, she would give me a nice show.

After her full nudity earlier in the day, one might imagine that I would have no need to hide in the shadows hoping for a peep show. But I had been thinking about her all day, and I'll admit that my thoughts weren't the most wholesome. I wanted to see more of her, especially stripped down to her undies or less. Maybe I would get my wish.

Sarah's bedroom light was on, but she wasn't yet in the room. I had gone to bed early just in case, but it had been almost forty-five minutes with no action, and I was beginning to regret my decision.

I was growing drowsy, and was just beginning to nod off when Sarah's bedroom door opened, and she stepped inside. I immediately sat upright, literally shivering from anticipation.

She glanced in my direction, and for a moment I thought she could see me. Then she turned and stepped out of my view. I sighed in frustration, figuring that was the end of the show.

I was wrong.

A minute later she returned to the window, this time stripped down to her bra and panties. My heart pounded in my chest and I trembled in excitement as she stood there, facing directly toward me but with her head a little to the side as if she had no idea I was watching. Maybe she knew, maybe she didn't. But she certainly didn't seem too shy about standing there in the open window. Granted, the shutters blocked the view from the street, and I knew there were no other windows on this side of my house, so the only person who could possibly see her was me, and I had already seen plenty this afternoon.

She reached behind her back, and I couldn't help but grin. A couple of seconds later, my patience paid off. Her hands dropped to her side, and her bra slipped off her body and tumbled to the floor. I found myself staring at her gorgeous bare chest. Still she casually looked in a different direction, as if the thought that I might be hiding in the dark never occurred to her.

When she yawned and stretched, shoving her chest forward in the process, my heart leaped in my chest. The sight of that sexy pose on the very beautiful and very topless Sarah Laurent would forever be burned into my memory. Then she lifted her arms and locked her fingers behind her head in an even sexier pose. Was she doing it on purpose? It was really just a relaxed position, and if she wore a shirt I would think nothing of it. But like this it showed off her chest marvelously.

When she dropped her hands to her side again, it would have been disappointing, except that she slipped her thumbs into the waistband of her panties and slipped them halfway down her thighs. Instead of bending over to take them off, she wiggled her hips so that they would fall down by themselves. I found that little hip-wiggle even sexier than either of her previous poses. By this time, my heart was pounding so hard that I was sure that if I were thirty years older I would have had a heart attack by now.

Finally, after nearly sending me into cardiac arrest, she turned away from the window. If I thought that signaled the end of the show, I was seriously mistaken. First, she strode over to her bed, which was in view of the window, and I noticed with glee that her hips swung in a most delightful manner as she walked. Then she sort of rolled onto the bed, reclining on her side facing me with her head propped up on one of her hands. I wondered if she planned to sleep all night naked like that, with her light on and the window open. If so, I doubted I would get much sleep.

She yawned again, then scratched her hip. That scratch somehow metamorphosed into a kind of a caress, at first her fingertips just making lazy circles around the immediate area, then gradually expanding until she rubbed her whole hip. I watched in eager fascination, nearly drooling at the sight and wishing I was the one doing the rubbing. I had had a taste of her skin and knew how soft it was, but that one taste had left me craving more.

Her hand found its way down to her stomach and she rubbed herself casually there too. Maybe she liked the feel of her skin as much as I did. I knew that if I were in her body, I would spend all day just running my hands all over myself. Maybe I would start with my hips, then move on to my stomach like she did, then gradually wander up...

She wandered up. I literally had to bite down on my hand to stifle a groan as her hand slipped onto one of her breasts. She closed her eyes and sighed as she fondled herself there. At first she was content to just caress herself gently, then she deliberately sought out her nipple and began squeezing and pulling on it. I watched in awe as my princess, no, my goddess, played with her own body. It was almost too much to bear.

She kept that up for the longest time, and I could see her getting worked up over it. She had her mouth slightly open, and although I couldn't hear her from that distance, I could tell from the way her whole body moved that she was breathing heavily. Her eyes remained closed, no doubt a sign that she was lost in the ecstasy of the feeling.

Then she shifted her position. She swung her legs forward and off the bed, spreading them and giving me an awe-inspiring view of the treasure between them. The rest of her body lay back on the bed, with her head propped up on a pillow. My throat was dry and parched as I watched her move one of her hands with excruciating slowness, down her body, past her breasts, her rib cage, her stomach, and finally to her thigh. I bit my tongue to stifle a groan as she ran a single finger right down her beautiful slit. My eyes were locked on the motion as she traced that indentation up and down, back and forth, over and over again. She added a sideways movement, until she was actually making little circles around the area. She seemed to focus more on the top for some reason, and although in my inexperience I didn't know why, I correctly guessed that it was somehow more pleasurable there.

Her hand wasn't the only thing moving though. Her whole body reacted to the pleasure that she was giving herself. Her hips squirmed on the bed, falling into the rhythm that her hands set. I could see her tensing up and relaxing in time to that same rhythm. It was almost like a kind of music, but music with no sound. Different parts of her body moved in different ways but always together, blending into a kind of harmony with the melody centered between her legs. There was a sensuous energy there, a dancing, pulsating energy that I could sense even from all the way over here.

I was so engrossed in the motion of her hands between her legs that I almost missed what was happening on her face. She was mouthing something over and over again, a word or a short phrase. As soon as I noticed it, I tried my hardest to read her lips to figure out what she was saying. Of course, she wasn't making a sound; her parents were right downstairs after all, and it wouldn't do to alert them to her nocturnal activities. But at least her lips made the motions.

Then I gasped as I realized that it wasn't a word, but a name. Kenneth. She was fantasizing about me.

More specifically, she was fantasizing about my alter ego, but it amounted to the same thing. Maybe even now she was playing her role of Princess Allura. Maybe what we had done today had gotten her as excited as it had gotten me. Here was this gorgeous girl, this perfect princess, playing with herself as she thought of me! I could hardly believe it.

When she tensed up one last time and held her body suspended in that position for a few seconds, I realized what was happening. I was actually watching a girl having an orgasm! I couldn't remember ever seeing anything so wonderful in my entire life. It was especially exciting because it was someone I knew. This was Sarah, my best friend. Yes, even in just the two days that I had known her, I could honestly say that she was my best friend. Furthermore, I couldn't deny that I had a major crush on her. Seeing her like this was about the most thrilling sight imaginable.

She finally relaxed, letting out a long, contented sigh. She lay there panting for a few minutes, then climbed out of bed and strode over to the light. She turned it off, and I knew that the show had finally come to an end.

With that, I climbed into bed, both happy that I had seen it and frustrated that it was over. I did not doubt that I would dream about what I had seen all night.

I had just about drifted off to sleep when the light across the way turned on again. I heard my name being whispered loudly. It came from the window, so I knew immediately who it was. I climbed out of bed and walked over to the window, peeking out at Sarah across the way. She had dressed in a bathrobe, to my disappointment. Since she had spent so much time nude in my presence already, I had half-expected to see her wearing nothing.