"In days of old, when knights were bold..." began a rather bawdy chant I learned as a child. But Knights were nothing to laugh or sneer at! They were a boyhood fantasy full of horses, battles, swords and courage. I suppose part of what I love about Marines is what I love about knights. I must admit that even as a lover of peace, I am strongly attracted to warriors.
This story is dedicated to the real Nicholas.
THE YOUNG KNIGHT by RimPig (c) 2003
Chapter IV
For the next few months, Nicholas and I spent all of our hours together. We hunted in the forests and we tramped through the meadows. Every day was filled with the wonder of us being in love. And we made love. Too many times to count. We could not even keep our hands off each other outside our room! We made love in the forest and we made love in the meadows. Wherever we could be alone, we were quickly in each other's arms. We no longer joined the castle in the great hall for dinner but ate in our room together, usually in bed. And usually naked, having usually just made love and getting nourishment for another round.
Nicholas was an unbelievably attentive lover. Oftentimes when we were alone together, his courtesy to me was as if I were his lady wife rather than his squire. Not that Nicholas made me feel womanly. It was just that he so bathed me in affection. I had never known such love from another person, except perhaps when I was a youngling in the bosom of my family.
It was an idyllic existence. Because of his father's orders, Nicholas had no official duties at all. He was not invited to the war councils that were held with the Duke's advisors. I knew that it bothered Nicholas to be kept completely in the dark, but he did not show it. I think that this was part of the reason that he was so attentive to me. He could concentrate on our love for each other and find comfort in it. I know that I tried as hard as I could to keep him from brooding over the situation and to try to keep his mind diverted from the situation but I wasn't always successful. One night we were lying in bed, I was in Nicholas's arms, and had just finished dinner and were not ready to make love again yet.
"Maybe we could run away. Take to the road and seek our fortune in another duchy or even outside the kingdom." Nicholas said.
"You could never be happy knowing that the Duchy needed you." I told him.
"What does it need me for? I'm not allowed to do anything! I'm not even allowed to know what is going on!" he said, miserably.
"Nicholas, if you really want to leave, you know I will go with you. I'll follow you anywhere. Wherever you want to go - but do you really want to go?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, Robby. I know there is nothing for me here but to be pushed aside, ignored and married off to some fat sow who's father has land or position that my father covets." he said disdainfully.
"That is until you become Duke." I said.
"And who knows when that will be? My father is in very good health, or hadn't you noticed! It could well be years and years before I would out from under his thumb." he said mournfully.
"But where could we go? What would we do?" I asked.
"That's simple. I would hire my sword to a Lord who was willing to pay me. You would be my squire. I do have a good sword arm, if it's doesn't grow weak from lack of practice these last few months." Nicholas said.
"Oh, I can tell you from my own experience, your arms are still very strong." I smiled.
He leaned over and kissed me gently.
"Holding you and holding a sword are two entirely different things, my love. Both sensual in their own way, but vastly different." he grinned.
"So what do we do?" I asked.
"I have decided that I'm going to make one more attempt to talk to my father and get him to let me train and take part in the defense of the duchy - at least to attending the councils. If he says 'no', then we will leave." he said.
I nodded my assent to his plan and then he moved his body over mine and made love to me until we were both so exhausted that we fell asleep in each others arms.
The following day, Nicholas tried to see his father. He was turned away and the next day as well. Finally on the third day, he was able to talk to his father but the meeting only lasted a short time. When Nicholas came back to our rooms, he was more infuriated than I had ever seen him. He paced and swore for more than an hour. I stayed on the bed, allowing him time to work out some of his anger and to calm down. Finally, he did to some extent. He sat on the edge of the bed, bent over, his knees on this thighs and his hands clasped in front of him. His head was lowered. I had been sitting on the bed this whole time watching him. Now that the 'storm' had passed, I gently moved until I was sitting beside him. I didn't touch him, I didn't know if that would set him off again. I just sat quietly, basically looking at the floor until Nicholas finally spoke.
"My father has found me a bride." he said, his voice hoarse and barely above a whisper.
I was stunned! I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing.
"Did you hear me?" Nicholas spoke again, still not looking at me.
"Yes, love, I heard you." I said. "Are you going to marry her?"
"When roses bloom in winter!" he growled. "She is older than I am by eight summers! And from what I could tell from the small painting that was sent, is ugly enough to make a man become a monk!"
"But what will you do? You've always told me that you have no choice. You have to marry whoever your father chooses for you." I said.
"No! I have a choice and I guess I will have to exercise it!" Nicholas said, looking at me at last.
"When should I be prepared to leave?" I asked quietly.
"Are you certain you want to come with me? There will be hardship on the road and my father will more than likely send troops to hunt me down - at least until I get out of the Duchy." Nicholas asked.
I lowered my head.
"I am hurt that you would even ask that question of me. I swore my love and my life to you! Of course I would come with you - wherever you go! I told you that." I said, my voice soft and sad.
I then felt Nicholas's arms around me and his face resting against my shoulder. I could feel the silent sobs wracking his body and knew that he was deeply in pain. I knew he was afraid that, given the difficulty of the circumstances, I would not want to follow him into exile. I turned and put my arms around him, holding him to me, my hand stroking his soft hair.
"Nicholas...Nicholas, how little you know yet of love. I could no more allow you to go without me than I could ask the sun never to shine on me again! You see this as being exiled from your home. For me it is moving from one place to another. My home is you. Wherever you are, in a castle, on a battlefield or on the road - you, Nicholas, you are my home!" I said as his head rested against me.
"I'm so sorry to do this to you, Robby." Nicholas mumbled, his face pressed to my chest so that I could barely hear or understand him.
"You have done nothing love but try and be the honorable knight that you were meant to be. It is your father, in all his mean and selfish ways that have forced this upon you. I blame you not for this." I said quietly.
Nicholas finally raised his head and then kissed me deeply. I moaned into his mouth at his touch and soon we were making love on his huge, soft bed one more time. When we lay exhausted in each other's arms, Nicholas murmured to me.
"It will be a long time, methinks, until we make love in a bed like this again."
"I don't care. I'll make love wherever you want." I smiled up at him. "I only care that we make love."
"You are easily pleased, my love." Nicholas grinned.
"Only by you." I said softly.
We lay there for a long time, each in our own thoughts until I could bare the silence no longer.
"Where shall we go?" I asked Nicholas.
"I've been thinking on that. I could well go to the High King and place my sword at his disposal as one of his knights. There is certainly no love lost between him and my father but then I would become a political pawn between them. I don't think that would work well." he said.
"What about your uncle?" I asked.
Nicholas's uncle, his mother's much younger brother, was a duke in his own right who's duchy covered the wild northern territory of the Great King's lands.
"I have not seen Gareth since I was a small boy. I doubt that he would even remember me. However, I know his hatred for my father is real enough. Gareth blamed my father for my mother's death but I never did understand why." Nicholas said.
"Still, do you think he would hide us?" I asked.
"If his feelings toward my father remain the same, he would. Yes, I'm sure he would." Nicholas said thoughtfully.
"Then we head north?" I asked.
"We head north." Nicholas smiled.
Sneaking out of a palace is not nearly as hard as sneaking into one. After all, the intention of those high stone walls is to keep an invading horde out, not keep two young males in. I, myself, saddled our horses and had them tied in the woods not far from a bolt-hole in the northern wall behind the castle. Nicholas had known of this egress since he had found it as a young boy. It was well hidden and few, if any, evidently knew of it. Nicholas, in the mean time, packed saddle bags for us. He brought some rough clothing for us and was able to come by a substantial amount of coins. I, on the other hand, procured food from the kitchens that could be eaten on the road, claiming that Nicholas and I would go out hunting before dawn the next day. Since we did this often, none would probably notice our disappearance until the next night when we did not reappear.
We waited until after midnight, when the castle was dark and most of the guards were asleep in their quarters. Nicholas and I crept through the darkened halls and out through the gardens until we came to the hidden exit. The gate covering it was old and rusty and was no match for Nicholas's strength. He soon had it open and we slid through the narrow opening until we were outside the castle walls. Until we reached the woods there was still the chance of us being seen by the guards up on the castle walls, however. There was a full-moon which would allow us to travel through the night but also could prevent us from leaving if it lit our attempted departure. As if in a sign from heaven, a dark cloud suddenly covered the moon as we stood outside the wall.
In the darkness caused by the cloud's traverse, we could just see the edge of the woods where I had tethered the horses. Nicholas grinned at me and we moved swiftly, under the cover of the temporary darkness until we reached the edge of the woods where we found the horses just as I had left them several hours before. We walked the horses through the woods until we were on the other side and then mounted and rode toward's Nicholas's uncle's lands to the north.
The Duchy of Valderon of which Nicholas's uncle, Gareth, was Duke, was part of the Kingdom of North Umbria while Baden was part of the Kingdom of Mercia. We would be untouchable once we reached the Duchy because Gareth held no alliance to the King of Mercia and therefore could compelled by the King of Mercia to send Nicholas back to his father. But it was at least one month of hard travel until we would be within the territory of Gareth's duchy. However, as the northern most duchy of Mercia, Baden was but a weeks ride from North Umbrian border.
For the first few days of the journey, we traveled only by night, fearing that Nicholas could be recognized by citizens of his father's duchy. During the day, when we weren't sleeping, we were in each other's arms, making love. The woods and the meadows became our bed where we slept and played. We found streams for drinking and washing and played in those as well. The alabaster jar of ointment was always in Nicholas's saddle bag and got well used as we experienced over and over again the joy of breeding each other or being bred by each other.
Finally, we felt we were far enough away from Baden that we began to travel by day. There were not many other travelers on the road so when we stopped the first night at an inn and showed that we had coin, we were made very welcome by the innkeeper and his family. The innkeeper had two daughters, each was quite comely, who spent the evening making eyes at Nicholas and myself and dropping hints that they would not be opposed to a dalliance in our room. At the mere suggestion I blushed scarlet and Nicholas grinned at me. He explained that I was his cousin and that he was accompanying me to an abbey in Shrewsbury where we would both enter Holy Orders and therefore were not interested in 'sins of the flesh'.
Each of the girls expressed their disappointment that such handsome men as we would be lost to women for all time. I was horrified at Nicholas's lie, involving the Church as it did, but he merely gave me an evil grin and I kept my mouth from speaking. When we were in our room, Nicholas informed me that had we decided to dally with the girls, we would more than likely have been robbed of our coin by them while we slept! I was horrified, but Nicholas told me that it was a common ploy that he had heard about from other knights. The girls counted on the fact that the traveler would not complain to the girl's father (who would be in on the scandalous activity) for fear of having to explain what the traveler was doing with the daughter in his room to begin with. Nicholas made sure that the door was locked before we bedded down in the large bed. Nicholas had been most insistent on a large bed in the room saying he needed the room and his squire would sleep on the floor across the doorway to prevent any attack on him as he slept. Little did the innkeeper know that we shared the bed and nearly destroyed it, we bred each other so hard that night!
After that, I was less eager to sleep in inns. I preferred sleeping out of doors where Nicholas and I were completely alone. He was a great hunter and we both could cook so a nightly dinner of rabbit stew with herbs which I had gathered and wild onions and carrots or other game which could be trapped was a simple and coin-saving way of getting across country. It was also far more secure in that there was much less chance of Nicholas being recognized if we stayed away from Taverns and Inns. We did occasionally stop to purchase bread and cheese and maybe have a tankard of ale, but we preferred our own company to that of most other travelers. Besides, when we were alone around a camp-fire, I could eat dinner with my body pressed up against Nicolas's and feel the warmth and strength of him as well as become entranced by the scent of him.
Surprisingly, after what did not feel like too much time, we found our way onto Gareth's lands and we soon arrived at the castle gates. There we were passed by the sentries and word went up to the main buildings that we had arrived. As we rode into the main courtyard, a tall young male with long golden hair and what was very evidently a strong, well-muscled body came down the main steps of the palace and waited on the last step until we had dismounted. Then he and Nicholas threw themselves into each others arms, hugging and slapping each other on the back, while I and the other guards and grooms watched. Words were exchanged between them that I could not hear and then, suddenly, they both turned toward me and smiled. The man, who I assumed to be Gareth, eyed me up and down in a manner that was somewhat disconcerting to me. I felt as if I was being assessed for my potential as a bed-mate, but the smile remained on his face and it was a kind one. He walked over to me.
"So you are Robby! Welcome to Valderon! Nicholas has told me how much he values you! I should think so! You are the son of Andrew of Dunning, are you not?" he asked looking down at me. He was even taller than Nicholas.
"Yes, my Lord, but how do you know my father?" I asked.
"He was a boyhood friend of my own father and I heard much about him growing up as a lad. My father had great respect for yours, as does the High King. You come from a very noble heritage, Robby." Gareth said letting the lights of his deep green eyes shine into mine.
I smiled at him and bowed my head.
"I am learning yet, my Lord, to live up to that nobility." I said.
Gareth put his long, muscular arms around me and hugged me.
"Methinks you have already learned much of it, my boy!" Gareth said softly and then let me go.
I stood there blushing and Nicholas, seeing my embarrassment, came over and threw his protective arm around me, knowing the comfort it would give me. I smiled up at him and then at Gareth.
"In truth, I can see that the two of you can rely on each other." Gareth said thoughtfully. "So, nephew!" Gareth again went back to his more hearty tone of address, "What brings you here? Why the surprise visit? Why didn't you let me know you were coming?"
"That is something that needs must be discussed in private, uncle." Nicholas said quietly and Gareth looked at him with concern but asked nothing further.
"Then let us go to my study and talk, Nicky. It has been so long since I've seen you. You are truly a man now!" he said, leading the way.
I was not sure that I was supposed to follow but Nicholas's arm never moved from around my neck and shoulders so I walked with him as he followed his uncle. We entered a large room with tall, mullioned windows, a few couches and a large desk. There were also book on shelving around the room. Far more books than I had ever seen in my life. The library at Baden was quite limited. The Duke, who could barely read, saw no use for study or learning. The only things that he was interested in were the arts of war and how many wenches he could bed.
There were two couches facing each other across a low table. Gareth sat on one and Nicholas and I sat on the other. Nicholas still had his arm across my shoulders in what must have seemed a very proprietary' gesture but I felt so much less nervous because of it. Gareth sent a servant for wine but when the servant brought it he dismissed the servant and poured the wine for us himself.
"So, Nicky, what brings you to Valderon? Have you finally gotten away from that monster you call a father?" Gareth asked, his voice dripping with ill-concealed contempt for the Duke.
"Yes, I guess I have. He arranged a marriage for me with Sara of Essex. Have you ever seen her?" Nicholas asked.
"Once when I was at court. I took one look at her and wondered which idiot had brought his horse to court with him!" Gareth let out a loud laugh and Nicholas and I joined in. "I fear that even with her father's inheritance, she will remain a maiden her entire life. Better she go to a monastery and take the veil! The only man who would marry her would either be looking only at her inheritance, or blind."
"And as you know, the Duke is blinded only by money!" Nicholas said, his own contempt for his father showing. "That would not, however, be the worst of it. He has denied me the right to train or to defend the Duchy. It seems my loins are too precious to be risked in noble combat! I am to remain in the castle 'at stud', like a sniveling coward!"
"What a fool he is! So, tell me? What do you want of me?" Gareth asked.
"Place for me and Robby within your guard." Nicholas said.
"No more than that?" Gareth asked, askance.
"No more than that." Nicholas answered.
"Well, I will do more than that! There is place for you in my household as my dearest nephew, the son of my beloved sister - may her soul rest in peace - and if you wish to pledge your sword to me, I will gladly receive it!" Gareth grinned.
Nicholas and I sat there stunned for a moment.
"That is more than I had any right to wish for, uncle, but I accept with a very grateful heart." Nicholas said quietly.
"I think your heart has little room for gratitude to me in it. I think your heart is too filled with love for another to have much room left." Gareth said softly, smiling at Nicholas and then at me.
I looked at Nicholas in terror and knew he could see it in my eyes because his armed tightened around me, drawing me closer. Nicholas, as well, tensed at Gareth's words.
"That is true, Gareth. My heart is filled with love. I did not think, however, that it showed so clearly." Nicholas said quietly, never taking his eyes from Gareth.
"It is very clear to those who would know what to look for, Nicky, not to those who would condemn this love, however." Gareth said quietly and I could feel Nicholas relax.
"Then you know of this kind of love, uncle?" Nicholas asked.
"Since I was younger than Robby, I would guess. There is a knight here that, when I was but a boy of fourteen summers, I met and fell deeply in love with. He was but a squire then but was seventeen summers and about to be knighted. I shadowed him like a puppy for months. He would not touch me for fear of my age. It was after he was knighted, I went to my father and begged him to let me be Connor's page. It was then that Connor introduced me to love between two males. Today, he is still with me. He is my weapons's master and protector. But in so many ways, I am still his squire." Gareth gave us a sheepish grin. "So yes, nephew, I do understand."
"But what about Evelyn, Gareth?" Nicholas asked and I assumed this must be Gareth's wife.
"Evelyn is happier in the company of other women and our children. Yes, I sometimes seek her bed so that we continue to have children for I do love them so, but our relationship is more of friendship than lovers. I suspect that she has some inkling of the relationship between Connor and me but has no idea of the depth of it. It seems not to interest her in the least. She is the Duchess and the mother of our children and that seems to make her very satisfied. After all, we had never met prior to our wedding." Gareth explained.
"But what about the Castle and the barracks? Is your friendship with Connor not noted?" Nicholas asked.
"I suppose it is, but why would I care? I am the Duke, after all. My will is not to be questioned. If I wish my weapons master and head of my guard to sleep within my chambers to guard me at night, what is that to anyone? The garrison knows that we are 'companions' since boyhood and they question not what else. Besides, with his skill in weaponry and with his uncommon fighting abilities without weapons, there is not one within the garrison that Connor could not best, if not kill, with very little effort." Gareth smiled. "As to the other wagging tongues within the palace, they make sure that my ears do not hear of any gossip for they know what their fate would be."
"I guess I will not have to concern myself with what people think or with having children now. I will not need an heir as I will have no title." Nicholas said, squeezing me tight against him.
"And what makes you think that, nephew?" Gareth asked.
"I'm sure my father will have disowned me within candlemarks of him finding me gone." Nicholas said.
"I doubt it!" Gareth roared in laughter. "You are the only legitimate heir he has. Were he to disown you, then the next in line for the Duchy would be me!"
Nicholas and I sat there stunned! Gareth? Heir to Baden?
"Don't look so surprised, Nicky! Did you not know that your father and I are cousins?" he asked.
"No! I had no idea!" Nicholas exclaimed. "Neither he nor my mother ever told me that!"
"Well...I can understand why he never told you. He would have to tell you how the relationship came about." Gareth said.
"And how did it come about?" Nicholas asked.
"You are aware of your great-aunt Gwendolyn, aren't you?" Gareth asked.
"No. I've never heard of her." Nicholas said, the confusion showing on his face.
"I wouldn't doubt it. Gwendolyn was your grandfather's sister and , evidently, a very headstrong and willful girl in her day. Your grandfather arranged a marriage for her as well, to a Prince of Essex who was nigh on to seventy years old! And she a mere girl of fifteen summers! She, too, fled that pile of rubble you all call a palace and was found wandering in the woodlands near this very castle by my own grandfather's brother, Cathian. Cathian fell in love with Gwendolyn and they were married. They had two daughters. One entered the church and became a nun. The other married and produced a daughter. She was my mother, Your grandmother." Gareth explained.
"So my father and mother were second cousins?!" Nicholas exclaimed.
"Not uncommon in high-born families. There is just enough distance for them not to be consanguineous while the interlocking relationships help to keep wars between duchies to a minimum. You can't very well attack another duke that is related to your lady-wife, now can you?" Gareth smiled.
"So how do you become heir to Baden?" Nicholas asked.
"Well, it's complicated but let's basically say that your father has no brothers and I am the closest male of either bloodline. Next to you, of course." Gareth said.
"But what if my father deposes me and acknowledges one of his bastards and makes him the heir?" Nicholas said.
"Don't forget, Nicholas. Each heir must be confirmed by the High King. That was already done soon after your birth. Do you think that now the High King would allow your father to depose you to make a bastard his heir? Especially when there is still a legitimate - in fact, two legitimate heirs still alive? I doubt it! The insult to the High King would be too great!" Gareth again laughed.
"What insult to the High King, Sir?" I asked, finally finding my voice.
"Well! You do speak! I had begun to wonder!" Gareth smiled at me. "You probably don't know this Robby - or you either, Nicholas, for that matter - but the King offered his own sister to Nicholas's father to take as wife after the death of your mother, Nicky. The Duke refused on the grounds that he was too distraught at the death of his wife to ever consider marrying again. The High King would not take kindly to the Duke preferring scullery maids to his own sister!"
At this we all broke out laughing at the position that Nicholas father now found himself.
"So basically, the question boils down to, Nicky, who does your father hate more? You or me? And my guess is he'd hate to see his Duchy go to me." Gareth said.
"In some ways, I hope you are wrong, uncle. This past month as we traveled, I grew accustomed to not being anything other than a simple knight, ready to cross swords with any enemy but with no ducal or dynastic worries. A freedom I have not known since my childhood. I would almost prefer that life. As long as I have Robby beside me, what more do I really need?" Nicholas said, letting his hand move down, stroking my back as he looked at me and smiled.
"Believe me, Nicholas, I could well envy such a life myself at time for..." Gareth started but was interrupted by the door to the study opening.
In stepped a knight of uncommon beauty. He stood as tall as Gareth but was even more well- muscled and broad of shoulder. His massive chest and arms, tapering to a slender waist, bespoke someone of great strength. His hair was such a startling blond as to be almost white and his blue eyes were the deepest I had ever seen.
"Ah, Connor!" Gareth said, gesturing to the knight to draw near to us. "Come meet my nephew, Nicholas and his squire, Robby. Robby is Nicholas's squire as once I was yours."
Connor lifted an eyebrow at this comment and glanced at Nicholas and me then returned his gaze to Gareth with a knowing smile.
Nicholas stood to greet the knight and they clasped arms in the way of warriors. Then Connor's large hand settled on my head and gently stroked my hair.
"You are very fair of face, young squire. Lucky is Nicholas to have found a companion of such beauty." Connor said, his voice deep and resonant and his smile to me as bright as the sun.
I blushed a deep scarlet at his words, however. Never before had someone extolled my beauty rather than Nicholas's. I looked to my love to see his reaction - fearing, I suppose, that he would be jealous of such attention being paid me. On the contrary, Nicholas's eyes gleamed with pride and the smile he gave me was as luminous as Connor's.
"Luck had nothing to do with it!" Nicholas smiled at Connor. "It was pure persistence! It took nigh unto two years to get him to finally warm my bed and admit that he loved me as much as I loved him."
I was shocked by this exchange. Never before had Nicholas declared his love for me to another. But both Gareth and Connor smiled at us and I began to understand what it felt like to be safe with others who felt as Nicholas and I did. I began to truly believe what Nicholas had told me, that there were many men who loved other men in the world. I had to admit that, at first, that I was afraid to meet such men, not knowing how they would treat me. I feared that they might find me comely and wish me to warm their bed. This I could never do, not as long as Nicholas drew breath! I doubted that I could do so even if Nicholas was lost to me through death, so great was my love for him.
But now, instead, we had met two such as we who were obviously as deeply in love with each other as Nicholas and I were. I could see it in the way they looked at each other, the gentle touches between them. All the things that passed between Nicholas and I which I could never see, now were before me and I now knew how easily Gareth had known of the truth of our relationship.
"Look, Connor, how Robby stares at us. Why, Robby, you act as if you've never seen two men who love each other." Gareth said.
I flushed scarlet at this and stumbled with an answer.
"But...you see...my Lord...I have not." I finally spoke, my voice quaking.
"But surely...no, I suppose not! You cannot see yourself with Nicholas, now can you? So how does it look to you?" Gareth asked me.
"It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life, my Lord." I said quietly.
Gareth and Connor both grinned at me as Connor took Gareth hand in his own and brought it to his lips to kiss.
"Robby, when we are alone like this, it is not necessary to call me 'Lord'. You can call me Gareth for you are one of the family now." Gareth smiled.
"Good luck, uncle! I had to bed him to stop him from calling me 'Lord'!" Nicholas laughed, putting his arm around me, drawing me close and kissing me lightly on the cheek. I, of course, blushed again.
"Isn't he beautiful when he blushes, Gareth?" Nicholas said, looking at his cousin and then smiling at me.
"He is, as my love has said, very beautiful, Nicholas." Gareth said smiling at me as well. "Whether blushing or not."
"Thank you...uh...Gareth." I said and Gareth grinned broadly.
"So, now, my love, why have you come to find me?" Gareth asked Connor.
"It is your wife, Gareth. She asks if there will be a banquet tonight in honor of your nephew's arrival. I think she wants to see Sir Nicholas and to have him meet the children." Connor said.
"Hmm...let me think....no. Tell Evelyn that we will have dinner in our apartments. That way, Nicholas can meet all the children and Robby can be beside him rather than sitting with the other squires at a banquet. This is a family visit, not a visit of state." Gareth said.
I was grateful for this kindness and consideration on Gareth's part. It had been many months since Nicholas and I had attended any of the meals at Baden, preferring to eat together in Nicholas's rooms, so I was very used to sitting with him as we shared meals.
"Thank you, Gareth." I said quietly.
"Think nothing of it, Robby. One of the reasons that I made Connor head of the castle guard, beside his great sword arm, was that then he could sit next to me at meals without having to explain why I wanted him there." Gareth smiled. "He sits beside me when I dine with just my wife and children as well so there will be nothing unusual in this."
"Evelyn must be very understanding or be completely blind to what is going on, uncle." Nicholas said.
"I think a bit of both. As I said, she really prefers the company of other women and she knew well that there was a strong relationship between Connor and I long before I wed her. She seems perfectly happy for me to continue the closeness with him." Gareth said.
"I hope, if I have to marry, I can find someone like her." Nicholas said.
"Mayhaps you will not have to marry, Nicholas, but we can talk of that later. I have an idea that just might allow you to live without a wife if that is what you want." Gareth said.
"More than anything!" Nicholas said.
"Then we will talk later of this. Connor, please go let Evelyn know my decision but show Nicholas and Robby to their rooms first." Gareth said to his lover.
"As you wish, my love." Connor said and kissed Gareth lightly on the mouth.
"Go with Connor, he'll show you both to your rooms. I will see you at dinner. I'm afraid I must go wrestle with the my chief advisor about money. And odious task, but someone has to do it." Gareth laughed.
We rose and Gareth hugged Nicholas and then hugged me. His embrace was warm and welcoming. We then followed Connor who led us up a flight of stairs to the second floor of the castle and down a corridor until he came to one of the doors. He opened it and we stepped into a suite of rooms not unlike the one's that Nicholas and I shared at Baden. There was a receiving room and then a bedroom which was large and airy. The single bed, too, was large - perhaps a bit larger than the one Nicholas and I had shared. Connor also showed us the privy which had something in it neither I nor Nicholas had ever seen. Sunk into the floor was a large square hole with the sides and floor covered in white marble.
"What is that?" Nicholas asked.
"That, is something that Gareth designed and had placed in all the privy's on this floor. It is a tub for bathing. Thru that door is a large cauldron which sits above a grating for a fire. The heated water is sent by means of pipes to the tub as it is heated. Perhaps after your long journey you would like to try it? I can send a servant up to light the fire for you and fill the tub with warm water." Connor offered.
Nicholas looked at me and grinned.
"Yes, I think we would like that very much! Thank you, Connor!" Nicholas exclaimed.
"I think you will both truly enjoy it. Gareth and I have spent hours in ours, relaxing and...uh...other things." he smiled.
"Oh, I'm sure that other things will be accomplished here as well!" Nicholas grinned at Connor then at me.
"I will send a servant up then. As you can see, your saddle bags lay upon the bed. I will come get you for dinner later." and with that, Connor took his leave of us.
Nicholas moved towards me and put his arms around me. His mouth came down hard on mine and I was lost to his kiss. We stood that way a long time until we heard a knocking at the outer door. I went to answer it and found several servants carrying large pails of water. They passed me and went through the bedroom into the privy and then into the small room where Connor told us the cauldron was. In a relatively short time, Nicholas and I heard the hissing of water running through something and then saw it splashing into the marble tub. The tub filled to almost completely full and the steam rising off the water made the room foggy with mist. The servants left and Nicholas and I quickly stripped completely of our garments and slowly settled into the hot water.
Nothing in my life prepared me for such an experience! The water not only cleansed but leached the tiredness and soreness from my body as well! I could tell from the pleasurable groans coming from Nicholas that the hot water was having the same effect on him. He moved close to me in the water and began running is hands all over my body under water. The feel of his hands sliding over my wet skin was delightful and I soon hardened. I began to do the same to him, feeling the softness of his skin, the hardness of his muscles. Our bodies naturally began to move closer to one another until we were in each other's arms and kissing deeply.
"Oh, by the Blessed Mother! This is the most wonderful feeling I have ever had!" Nicholas said. "My cousin is must have been inspired by God to have invented something so wonderful!"
"I'm not sure whether it was God or not who inspired something so sensual!" I giggled.
"Whoever it was, it doesn't matter. I'm just grateful that they did!" Nicholas smiled at me. "Just as I'm grateful that I have you with me because I am so very in need of breeding you right now, I can barely stand it!" Nicholas said.
He did not have to convince me of this. I could feel his hardness pressing against me. Mine pressed against him for I wanted him just as badly! I thought that we would wait until we had bathed and could use the large bed in the other room but, evidently, Nicholas was far too much in need to wait. He gently turned me in the warm water until I was facing away from him with my arms resting on the edge of the tub. Nicholas stood behind me and slowly began to work his hardened manhood into my nether hole. I pushed back against him and could feel him sliding into me. The warm water both relaxed my nether hole and adequately wetted his manhood so that he slid easily inside me. Once he was all the way in, he stopped and leaned against me, nuzzling my neck and shoulders and bringing his mouth to my ear.
"Robby! You feel so good inside! You all but drive me insane with my need of you!"he groaned.
"And you feel so good inside of me, Nicholas! Please, breed me! Breed me hard! Make me one with you!" I said.
Nicholas needed no more encouragement. He began plowing my furrow the way a stallion breeds a mare. The power of his thrusts and the size of his manhood soon had my own manhood so hard that I knew I would spend before Nicholas was finished. Faster and faster, harder and harder he bred me until I could take no more! I moaned and began emptying myself into the warm water. Nicholas, on the other hand, continued to breed me for at least ten more candlemarks and then he, too, emptied his seed into my hungry body. I wanted his seed, I needed his seed! And I was certainly getting it!
Nicholas finally collapsed on my back and I was grateful to have the sides of the tub to hang on to so that we did not fall into the water. I did not want to drown over making love! We finally drew our strength back and rose out of the tub. Nicholas found drying clothes and began to gently dry me. When he finished, I did the same for him. Of course, this caused us to harden again and Nicholas led me into the bed chamber and into the bed. There we lay, our hardness pressing against each other as we kissed deeply. But it had been a hard ride and we were both tired. We curled up into each other's arms and went to sleep.
The End of Chapter IV of THE YOUNG KNIGHT
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