What Price Power? Ch. 10

Jenyse's plans went awry shortly after breakfast was finished. The Matron had sent for Mina to be dressed and brought to her in one of the gardens. Mina was relieved, if somewhat confused at the strange outfit. Whisper thin silk had been cut into three pieces, two long sharply angled triangles and another that seemed to have the point cut off leaving it four sided. The last made the back, flowing at first like a cloak, tied to the other pieces at the front, the narrow points barely covered her breasts, a delicate belt clasped it tight to her body, winding from just below her breasts to her hips. The fabric was folded and tucked to become a floating skirt around her legs, but as she walked the golden legs were revealed. The fabric so thin one could almost make out the aureola of her nipples, the shadowy cleft between her legs, her slender arms now adorned with golden bangles, her hair drawn up beneath more of the silk, and a veil adorned with tiny gold chains hid all but her eyes. As she moved the bangles chimed and the anklets of tiny bells sang. Bare feet were painted with something to make a lace like pattern on them.

She both loved the look and was terrified of it, she looked like a gift wrapped doll. One wrong move and she would be bare to the world. Not that it seemed to matter in this place. She was led to the garden, far larger than the other, small gazebos and arbors offered places to sit and relax, the Matron was seated at one that overlooked a small pond, white marble floor and pillars, some blooming vine with palest purple clusters of flowers formed a roof. It was only then she noticed her dress and veil were the same tones as the flowers, the golden jewelry and belt echoed the glittering streaks shot through the marble. Once more she was nervous, everything seemed planned far in advance and with goals she could not see. The elderly woman smiled and nodded to her, "Come sit with me a bit before the guests arrive. I hope you will not object to playing the part of server today?"

Mina shook her head and took a seat on one of the padded benches. "I have no objection, but I do not know what is expected of me."

"Do you play any instrument? "

Mina held still and then slowly nodded, "Lyre harp...but I have not practiced much in months."

"Interesting. Who taught you?" The Matron waved a hand to a lad that raced off.

"I do not remember, I found I knew how and that it was calming by accident." The lad returned carrying three cases, she smiled at the sight of them, knowing instantly what was being offered. The first was a rich, bloodwood, a deep and mellow tone to it. The next a pale almost white wood she didn't recognize, a high sweet note to it. The last smaller than the others warm golden color with a swirling grain, the moment she strummed the strings it called to her, its tone was something sorrowful. Long moments she played it then reluctantly placed it back in the case and picked back up the pale one. A bit more practice, a little adjustment to the strings.

"Why that one?"

"The first is too bold, too rich, it will draw attention, so not fitting to be in the background for your guests. The last, too strange, too distracting, it cries for all the sins unknown and unspoken in a soul. Again not fitting to be something almost unheard in the background. " Her hand stroked the ivory wood, "What is this wood?"

"Hellipoapia, you know the tree with dark green stiff leaves that have thorns on the tips?"

Mina nodded, "It is just a bush, not nearly big enough."

"Here? no.. it does not grow so much taller than you. But there are places it thrives and grows tall and thick. But custom has that not a living one can be cut. Only the dead can be harvested, so such wood is very rare, prized for it's pure and high tone. The golden wood is called sandwood, very common trees. But they occasionally become infected with a disease that makes the swirling grain. It slowly kills the tree but makes what is other wise a bland wood extraordinary and is why the tone of the harp is so unique."

"You said I was to serve?" Mina laid the lyre harp aside and looked toward the Matron.

"Yes child, I am going to ask of you to pour or drinks. then place the pitcher on the table beside the man who will be on my right. The boy will bring a tray and on it will be plates, serve me first, then the one on right, the one on left, then the youngest. Return to the bench at the back of the pavilion, and play something.. peaceful. When I clap my hands, rise, refill the drinks and remove the plates. Do not look anyone in the eyes. After, return and begin playing again, if you know any love songs then would be fitting. I will again clap my hands, rise and refill the glasses again, but this time catch the eye of the youngest one. Only for a single breath then take the pitcher off down the path the boy went down. Now this is important, pause at the edge of the pillar, turn and look at him, catch his eye again for a few seconds, then follow the boy that will be just out of sight."

Mina nodded, "As you wish."

"You do not understand yet you agree."

"I understand very little I find more and more, but this is simple enough to follow even if I do not fully know why."

"Jenyse has her work ahead of her I see. Now.. take the lyre harp to the back bench and come stand behind me, hands folded, eyes down cast."

Mina moved as directed, as the boy announced the guests, she couldn't look up but blushed at the memory of them the previous night, the youngest with his twilight blue eyes. Oh by the Seven.. he had been there as she had, the blush deepened. She didn't realize her movements were affected that she shifted shyly, that it drew the eyes of the men. The two older both read the body language as shyness and smiled, the third too young yet to know what it was. All he knew was that the girl was young and her body well shaped even if she was tiny. But he was also nervous, the Matron held his future in her hands right now and it made him miserable. There was a shared sympathy with her in the feeling.

Once they were seated, Mina stepped toward the boy and took the pitcher, as ordered she filled the glasses, taking direction from how she would serve the meal when it arrived. As soon as she sat the pitcher down the boy was back with the tray, four plates not the dainty meal she expected, a slab of meat that smelled divine, vegetables, bread that steamed, Mina wished she had eaten more at breakfast. She went to the bench, lost herself in the music, the simple delight of making wood and metal sing out to the world.

"Matron.. I do not wish to rush the matter. But.. the sooner I have a son.."

The woman chuckled, "You are still young, still green, there will be a son in time. But you seem to think that all you need do is come and request one like a drink at a tavern." Daintily she speared a vegetable and chewed on it watching him. "Do you even understand why you are doing this? What the history of this is?"

"I.. well all kings are required to come here and you provide them with a son to be heir. It is because.. well my father never married. But it is because our Queens never have children?"

"And why is that?"

"They were always Magi? And no Magi can be a noble.. if one is born to a noble family he or she is removed from the title. So if the Queen is always a Magi she might only have mage cursed children."

"A.. decent if not completely accurate understanding. What do you know of the covenant of the Arch Magi? Why the Queen is always a Magi?"

He fidgeted and the two older men laughed, "Not much on the book learning our young prince."

"So I see. Then let us have a history lesson. When this kingdom was young, there were many threats The nobles had armies, the blossoming magi had.. a skill no one yet fully understood. And all were very nervous of what could be.. a noble magi. An army led by someone who had skill over the very elements. Fear ruled and a truce needed to be reached so that they could fight the threats from others. So it was declared, no magi would be a noble, but.. the King would on his coronation marry an Archmage. And she would be his Queen, his equal, and she would speak for the magi while he spoke for the nobles, and the common people would bring to the table two of their own choosing, to be advisors, one to the king, one to the queen."

She sat back and watched him carefully, "And this house started.. with the need for a woman to bear a child that had the right blood lines, and no mage talent. It spread to providing heirs to other houses, to providing brides, to training woman to be.. suitable companions and advisors to men who needed it. As well as a few men..."

"Then why are the Magi hunting nobles now? We are in the middle of a war."

"That is because the Covenant was broken. By your great grandfather.. he wished to marry another.. a noble girl that had caught him by the cock. Her brother and a few friends decided one night after drinking more than was wise, that if there was no suitable candidate.. then he could marry who ever he chose."

Mina listened as intently as the young prince now, barely noticing that she played anymore.

"There were three candidates. They found them, they drugged them, then raped and murdered them.. and more they hung the bodies in front of what was then the school of the Magi. Posed them to add insult to the horror of what they had done in their drunken idiocy. This war was not started by the Magi, it was started by a group of young nobles who thought they had a way to gain more power for themselves. The Covenant was broken and this.. what we have today is the result. The Magi killed every single mage student that had any blood kinship to those murdering nobles. Your grandfather and father had no one to choose as a queen. But now the Magi have returned.. and you have a chance perhaps to restore the Covenant. Will you do so if called on?"

"I.. what difference will it make now? The hatred runs too deep, the damage is done."

"What is ripped may be mended." She clapped her hands and Mina moved swiftly bells and bangles chirping merrily. "What is damaged may be healed. But it requires two things, the will and the skill." She laid her hand on Mina's wrist as she sat the pitcher down, "This child here.. she has suffered cruelty and pain, she learned fear. Now she learns to trust again, it is terrifying to her. But each step she takes that does not hurt brings her a bit more to life again."

She removed her hand and Mina almost fled back to the bench, "So must the people Magi, Noble and common relearn to trust one another. And that first step may well be on the day you bear the crown, but it would be better if you start your journey to that day now. You will need the skills to seduce your future queen, to make her love you, to also yourself love her in return. Only in unity can you hope for peace again. "

The commoners will never trust again."

"Yes they will if they are given reason to trust again. They crave that trust, and the best way to give it to them is a King and a Queen bound to one another by more than law."

"You can not just order love..."

"No but you can learn to love. And you can learn to hold the most frail and timid creature and make her sigh with lust and the desire to fly. First I think young prince that you must learn how to adore a woman. And if you are willing you must learn to make a woman feel as if she is all that matters in your world. And when she looks to you with trust, I think you will find it easy to love."

"I know how to have sex with a woman." He declared indignantly. Both bodyguards started laughing till they were draining the glasses to cease the hiccups.

"Ack Lad you know how to fuck a serving wenches and tavern maids, what you find here.. be more like fine chargers when all you have ridden is donkeys."

A clap of hands and she returned filling the glasses, this time as she served the youth she looked up, his eyes were so lovely, indignant and upset at being laughed at, then something changed in them. She hurried toward the path, stopped looked back.. shocked briefly to see the recognition in them, the open need that scared her. She whirled and fled at a run.

The young prince would have given chase had his guards not held him down, "Her! That was her.. the girl from last night.. she.. she's "

Both guards looked toward the path she had vanished down, "Well Lad if you needed any more proof you need some lessons that would be a few. Didn't even know it was her. Almost chased her like a hound after a doe. Scared her with your lust.. and aye Lad we all can see it in your eyes." A glance down, "Good thing she didn't see your pants, be a bit high flying there right now. "

The Prince looked wounded, glancing between the three and staring off down the path, "Scared her? How? She.. she has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. She's so tiny.. wait you said people had hurt her? Been cruel? Who? I'll kill them?"

The Matron sat back, letting him rage, letting him shift back and forth till she finally waved a hand in dismissal, "Take him off riding, come back tomorrow."

"I want to talk to her? I want.." But the Matron had already walked away. "I want to know her name.." He trailed off sadly.

The older of the two guards saw the wisdom in the Matrons task, began leading the unwilling man to the paddock, "Here Lad, go catch that little mare over there." Tossing him a bridle. The mare in question was a skittish beast, fine lined and high strung even at a glance. The prince calmed himself and moved slowly, calmly, speaking softly and offering a bit of sweet feed as a lure. It still took him longer to catch and lead her to the guards than for them to saddle their own mounts.

"So why didn't you just charge across the paddock and grab her?"

"Are you mad? She would have fled at the first step?"

"Then why does it surprise you the girl fled? You were told she was skittish, the girl trembled like a leaf when we first arrived. Strangers scare her still, only the knowledge that she was somewhere safe kept her from fleeing the moment we arrived. And yet the moment you finally recognized her you leaped to the chase. You are being offered something most men have to learn the hard way, the ways of a woman's heart. The old bitch is right, you need to woo and win a Magi. Another generation of this feud and there won't be a kingdom for your future heir. "

"Besides.. the poor woman that has been selected deserves something more from you than a tumble in the hay that doesn't last long enough to get her out of her skirt."

The prince looked at his guard with a look of shock, both at the honesty of his statements and the audacity to speak so boldly.

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Mina had fled all the way back to her room and was curled up in the tiny walled garden, when she saw to her surprise the golden wood of the lyre harp she had rejected, the one that wept. She ran fingertips over the satin smooth wood, the pattern was strange, not anything she had seen before, curls and swirls where most wood had lines and waves. She drew it into her lap and began picking at the strings, not playing songs as she had earlier. Just letting the sound happen and tell a story to her, a weeping cry, a sin so deep that it stained the soul.. a desire to heal, a fear of the pain that healing would bring..

Minutes passed to her, but day gave way to evening and she was disoriented to look up and see the sky turning to the color of the prince's eyes. And that Jenyse sat listening to her. "I did not know you could play. And I think I could sit and listen to you for hours. Actually we have."

"We?"

The Brother from the night before entered carrying a tray of food and drinks, "You must be famished, it is only right that i serve you as thanks for the enjoyment of your soul song."

Mina was alarmed, nervous.. but it was without cause, the trio shared a meal, laughed, spoke, and while he flirted with her, he made no attempt to press her to more than conversation. She found herself relaxed and calm, laughing at his tales, the garden was cool, sweet scented, safe. She found herself yawning and content, the day had brought knowledge, a chance to play, good company.. she couldn't easily think of another day she had enjoyed so much. The Brother had eyes a deep dark brown, rich damp earth, inviting one to grow.. but she found herself thinking of blue eyes.

Maybe Jenyse was right, to trust him and let him teach her.. she still thought it would hurt horribly. It had before. But so had many things that she now took easily. What would it honestly cost her to learn to enjoy something that was going to happen to her regardless? What if HE found out? What difference did it make now? He would be just as furious once or a dozen times.

She rose from where she half dosed and walked over to the Brother, reaching out to take his hand her other offered to Jenyse. "I.. think she is right. I would like for you to teach me more of what can be."

She felt Jenyse's hand in hers even as the Brother bent and ran a hand along her neck and into her hair, bringing her into a deep and passionate kiss. She shuddered and melted against him. He lifted her effortlessly and carried her into the room. Laying her on the bed, Jenyse crawling in beside her, hands and lips caressed her skin, slowly revealing her skin, for having so little cloth on it seemed forever before she lay back on the bed now clothed only in shadows and candlelight.

The two of them stroked her skin with warm oil, she whined faintly just wanting it to be over with. Jenyse whispered in her ear, "Little one.. relax and enjoy, this is not some awful potion to drink swiftly and be over with. Roll over."

She did. stretching out on her stomach as he straddled her, he was nude now. He worked the oil into her shoulders, the thick cock sliding against her skin. She expected at any moment to feel it tearing into her. Instead he moved lower, his hands gripping and kneading her softly rounded ass cheeks. Fingers teased at the delicate puckered flesh. She tensed and he moved away, time and again, then something slick and warm probed the small opening, teasing it. She looked confused at Jenyse, not a finger, most assuredly not the man who stroked her thighs. "Does it hurt Little one?"

She shook her head, not trusting her voice. More and more it probed, it was not a bad feeling, no pain, in fact it almost felt good. She relaxed again, the next object was larger, but still not alarming. She now saw what it was, pale ivory tapers, She must have looked confused because Jenyse smiled and handed her one to examine, "Oh you didn't think we were just going to bend you over a chair and shove a cock in you? These will slowly stretch you. I have started very small, and will work the way up. By the time you are stretched enough you will be eager to have him within you and bringing you to the tiny death."

"Why is it called that?"

"Because for a moment you lose yourself and enter Bliss." Jenyse was now using a different taper, slightly larger than a finger, other than the briefest stretching there was still no pain. She moaned and stretched out her arms, then hugged a pillow to her. "lift your hips up, bring your knees up." She moved, it wasn't uncomfortable, but the sharp reminder of what was yet to come as strong hands guided her into position. Now he worked the smooth objects into her while Jenyse soothed and distracted her. Her new position allowed the man behind her to also play with the smooth folds and tender channel between.

That sensation almost made her bolt, the feeling of two objects moving within her, the jolt of sensation overwhelmed her and she couldn't decide if it was good or bad. Only Jenyse kept her still the few minutes needed to adjust, although both noticed the abrupt change in her, the sudden tenseness. Both slowed down and changed their actions. Soon she came round to the strangeness, the feeling of being filled and relaxed again. Now it wasn't an object slipping between her slick labia but his cock. He had inserted one of the tapers with a flared base into her first, as he stroked in it pushed against it. She panted and moaned as each time sent shivers through her spine.