The Welsh Bard

[cgraven]

"I do not know what you mean, sir.”

I see the bold longing for freedom in Geneveie eyes, yet the scared woman child is stronger. She wants to run and hid. To escape the fate she sees in her virgin's mind.

With softly pleading voice she continues;

“It would please me if you would take me under your wing. Teach me to live in this world with no need for house nor home.”

“To be pleased”…….”That is something I know not of”…... “Is not my role, not what I have been taught”

…. ...”A women's role is only to be a instrument to please a man and make his household successful”……..

“But I cannot live that life.”……. “It stinks of death and I want the freedom I see in your world.”…….

“That is what would please me."

The breathless rush on her words of longing and confusion touched a cord deep within me. Had I not run from my father’s house to the freedom of the open road, of the Bard’s life? Oh yes but bitterly I had learned that that freedom was an illusion. So hollow without hearth and kin. No Geneveie must not make the same tragic mistake, yet not my choice but hers to make. So I must give her another choice for the freedom she truly seeks.


“Geneveie then I shall teach you to be free.”…….”The Mistress of your own fate”

I bent my lips to hers again as my hand rested lightly on her skirted thigh. My kiss was deep as my fingers tease her flesh beneath her skirt. The kiss is broken, I tenderly gaze into her eyes.

“I will teach thee how a woman should be pleased, only if it be your will?”

 

[Cutie Lillie]

Geneveie

The kiss when it broke held Geneveie, and when she heard his words the hold tightened.

She pulled away from him.. the fear gripping her heart.

What was he asking? Could she let him in the close to her heart, her body, her soul? This was the vunerabilty that she protected fiercely all these years and would have fought any man who tried to take it.. how ironic....she lost a home doing just that.

Now here was a man she found compelling, attractive, different to all other men she's known. There so obvious pull to him, but to make the decision to give herself to him...just like that.. she wasn't sure....

She pulled her knees up and looked off to the horizon weighing her options.. why couldn't he just take her on the road with him? She didn't understand...

She touched her fingers to her lips bringing back the medicine of hope his kiss provided. She was confused, yet ony saw one road.. his.. but could she trust it enough to follow through?

Glancing sideways at him she took him in.. his face, his eyes, that look of offering something she did not understand yet he seemed to know that what he offered...she needed..

 

[cgraven]

I watch as the battle between the "Raven Hair Child's" wants and needs, as they are fought within her as she draws in upon herself, only casting a side wise glances in my direction.


"Geneveie you ask me to teach you to be free.'"

"This I will"

"But my "Fair Maid" the freedom you seek is not found in running, only in following your heart."

I see the spark ignite as she prepares to speak. I still the torrent with but a single finger upon her lips, as my eyes find Geneveie's.

" Be still till thy "Master Bard" is finished."

"This is the first lesson. "

I lay beside her propped upon an elbow my eyes to her eyes in deep and penetrating gaze. I tell her of my past, as I let slip all the shields that guard my soul. The headstrong youth that rebelled against a curl-demanding father, of a mother old before her time, of a home devoid of love. A youth that ran rather than face the truth and fight for a mother he loved. The years of study and wandering, the loneliness. My voice soft and seductive as I striped away the myth of the romantic life of the Bard. I bared my soul to “The Raven Hair Child”, to the suffering of the wrong road taken.

My words slowly change as I tell her of a different path. One of power and freedom as Mistress of her body and fate. Of true love and passion where nothing is taken without it being freely given. A life not of taking or surrendering but of sharing and giving. The life I had cast aside, to run.

A single tear trickled down my cheek as I finished.


“Geneveie two paths lie before you , which shall you chose?”

‘I shall teach you no matter what your choice.”

 

[Cutie Lillie]

Geneveie

The Bard's softness, while he poured out the hardness that was his life touched me deeply. I needed to hear this, and my gaze never left his eyes..locked together I took in every word...ever spark I saw when he talked of the frustration and regrets..

My heart softened towards him and to the reality he spoke, and what it meant about my own....

My heart warmed towards him.. a love building as I learned what a true man was about. It was not the blustering, the arrogance of lands won...it was the heart and soul I was seeing before me.

My heart sank as he talked of his mother. I too love my mother, even if we are more distant...she is a good women whose had to suffer her own kind of prison. I started to understand that we were two women with kindred struggles with stiffling simple stupid men.

If I could find this strength the he spoke of, this freedom as mistress of my own fate, then maybe I could help my mother find it for herself....

My heart cracked in love as a tear rolled down his cheek. Never before had I felt so much love for another person. My hand reached up and gently trailed the tear's path down his face. Caressing his cheek in its wake.

I smile gently at him. Love freely given. Love freely received. The closeness I felt for him in that moment was love exhanged through words and eyes.. well... my love. I wanted to give to him of myself for his soul was real and I wanted to give him some of the love and joy for what he taught in those moments back to him.

I lean over and kiss him, my hand still resting on his cheek.

 

[cgraven]

Geneveie leans over and kisses me, her hand still resting on my cheek, a gentle smile upon her lips.

No need for word as my tongue tenderly parts her lips asking invitation to enter. There is no headlong rush of passion but a sweet asking and sharing, as I taste her sweet mouth. Our tongues shyly play as that kiss deepens.

A tentative hand to her cheek, as I slowly caress it. So on it goes, asking permission, receiving welcome, and sharing love's first encounters. This is no timid frighten affair but growing love as passions fires are lit. I lead and wait for Geneveie follow. Then she leads and I follow.

Where there is hesitation my words reassure. My voice soft and sweet as I tell her now she pleases me so.

 

[Cutie Lillie]

Geneveie

The one kiss led to so many more wonderful kisses, each one warming my soul and soothing my confidence to more boldness.

On our knees the Bard and the Raven-Haired Girl wrapped close into each other the sounds of nature and water bubbling becoming part of their infusion to each other.

Hands caressing, exploring, comforting each movement building to the next.

Geneveie turned into a more confident women as she accepted the intimacies of the Bard and led him along into her growing passion.

As one of his songs their bodies and souls joining was building from the soft gentle opening melody to a dramatic passionate climax.

 

[cgraven]

I sang the song of love to passion as I worshiped Geneveie youthful form with tongue and lips and tooth. Sweet was the duet we sang upon the green grass in the warm sun as our day wore on.

First passion I brought to her. Then wave after wave of ecstasy by kisses fair and gentile. Passion complete fulfill achieved and yet a maiden so fair still.

Our duet completed we lay as nature made us no secrets between us.

 

[Cutie Lillie]

Geneveie

The joy my body and soul was new, and powerful. For the first time in many a year I felt strong and happy.

I lay there next to the man I still wanted to follow.

Onto my elbow I lean over to him, challenging him with a thought, no a desire, that I now wanted to fulfill for the first time....

"Why do you not take me?"

I lean in close and lay my head upon his chest.

"You make me happy, yea, strong. Take me fully to you. I want no longer to be a maiden but to be yours in body and soul. I want to give you my whole self."

Laying on his chest, breathing in the fresh freedom of the world around us, the warmth of my own smile fills my soul. My head cuddling into the crook of his neck.

 

[cgraven]

"You make me happy, yea, strong. Take me fully to you. I want no longer to be a maiden but to be yours in body and soul. I want to give you my whole self."

"Geneveie the gift you offer me can but be given once."

"Those gladly I would except and cherish it always."

"The world you condemn you even unto death."

"And that I will not do to you."

"Our paths will run together for a while then part. Your life lies ahead of you and my road is short now."

Dearest Geneveie you will know when the time is right and you will not have to ask or question."

"There will be no hesitation for you will give it out of love unquestioning."

"Geneveie Come be with me my fair one
Rest in the grass so green
For you are my own true heart
And the love ......."

My words falter for I know our time together has come to an end with the setting of the sun, but I will be with her always as she carries the part of my soul that I gave her with our first kiss.

 

[Cutie Lillie]

Geneveie

Geneveie felt a tear fill and drop from her eyes... she had hoped he would be her answer in life, but that was not to be.

She knew he spoke the truth. If found out she had given her maidenhood away with no husband her life and future would be threaten.

She considered climbing on top of him and demanding he take her, but could hear the resolved in his voice and knew it would do no good.

So she pressed him closer to her, trying to take in his strength and presence into her soul so it would be with her forever.

The day was fading and the crossroads before her. If she returned now she would be covered by a story of some making she could conjure on her trip back. But a night out and away would be dangerous.

She did not want to leave the Bard.. she resisted. Her eyes pleaded with him to change the reality of their world.

 

[cgraven]

"It is time to go now "Raven Hair Child", our supper awaits us."

"I shall walk you back and say how I found you lost in the green wood."

"None will ever doubt your virtue."

"Now we must be off."

And so the Welsh Bard and Geneveie returned to the keep. She with new found strength and he with a bit of missing soul freely given and freely received. His soul in her the strength that she needed. As they walk on he hums and Old Welsh baled and she picks up the reframe in a clear strong voice.






And so Geneveie story ends. Shall I tell you another

 

[faith]

Aethelred Kali

She is an Anglo-Saxon Princess from the family line of Aethulwalf, father to Alfred the Great. With the coming of the Normans, she had at age eleven, been married to Etienne fitz Osbern. Aethelred is now forty years old; She has a large family, five grown daughters, and two grown sons. She was twelve when her first daughter was born. At thirty-three she buried her husband and three small sons who died of the plague. When she buried Etienne, she buried her youth. She became solely responsible for her children and the keep. It was she who held it for her son, Stephen.

The Bard has been brought to the keep as part of the entertainment for her eldest son’s wedding. With the exchanging of the vows Stephen’s ascension to his family title will be complete, at which time Aethelred will be expected to gracefully turn the keys to the keep over to her daughter-in-law and with it her power. Within the week, she will be moving to the dowager house. In many ways, she feels her life is over. Her children love her but she is alone. She needs to feel wanted by a man… She needs to feel young. She needs to feel alive… She needs to feel passion… She needs….

 

[cgraven]

I have been called to this lonely wind swept place of faded glory in the "Marcher Lands " of the Welsh boarder country. This area where cultures clash, The "Ancient Welsh Clans", "Saxon" Invaders, "Norman" conquers. all vies for control and power.

I am a wander who has come to this Saxon household aliened with the new power to celebrate a wedding feast and yet another passage of power. The keep more of a prosperous farmstead then Norman stronghold. Across the green Valley stands the old Celtic monastery the last refuge for the castaways of society Rich and poor a like.


"Me Lady Aethelred “ you wished to discuss the entertainment for this evening?"

Such a calmly woman she is Lady Aethelred Kali a woman to stir the blood of men. Her grace, wit, continuance and form the things great love songs are made of. Yet there is the lonely wishful sadness of the passage of duties from one generation to another there. Aye she does not know how she still stirs the passions of men.

I brush her cheek with a kiss of welcome. I linger longer tan is necessary my breath warm upon her neck and ear.

 

[faith]

Aethelred

Feeling his kiss of peace for a moment, I feel confusion. His breath is sweet and warm on my cheek. I feel a rush of desire that catches me completely by surprise. It had been so long since I had felt that for any man. With a simple kiss on the cheek, this man awakens a need that I had thought long gone from my life. For a moment, I allow myself the luxury of leaning into his strength. Pulling back from him, I try to recall the words I meant to speak,

Looking around the room is all but empty. All my treasures have been packed for the trip. A trip I fear. I realize there is an audience. “Lady Fiona and Lady Beatrice, I need time alone with the Bard. You each have responsibilities to see to.” Watching them close the door to the solar, I turn to find his eyes upon me.

With a warm welcome, I invite David to have a seat in front of the fire…

“Tonight is the wedding of my son, Stephen to the Lady Marianne. During the feast, he would like you to tell a love story for them, sing play just entertain.

The next words out of my mouth are as much a surprise to me as they are to him…

What I want most from you starts at first light tomorrow. I will be traveling to my dowerage home. It is not a thing to which I look forward. I am not accustomed to idleness and this change does not sit well with me.

Blushing like a inexperienced girl child, I boldly met his eyes...

I need a.... companion

 

[cgraven]

The ladies in waiting dismissed, Lady Aethelred offers me a set by the fire.

“Only If you and I may enjoy its’ warmth together, Me Lady”

We sit by the fire her in a chair and I at her feet and rest my head upon the side of her most firm and shapely thigh. She tells me of the songs and entertainment a wishfull smile now upon Aethelred calmly faces.

Then bold decision flashes for the briefest of moments.

What I want most from you starts at first light tomorrow. I will be traveling to my dowerage home. It is not a thing to which I look forward. I am not accustomed to idleness and this change does not sit well with me.

Blushing like an inexperienced girl child, she boldly met my eyes….

I need a.... companion

“My lady would be my honor”

I turn to gaze into her eyes to hold them my own. There is a captivating quality to them, my cheek upon her thigh, our yeses locked.

“But what need to we have to wait for the morrow?”….. “Your beauty and grace moves me now even in the glare of the noon day sun.”

I press my lips to her warm leg a sign of devotion.

 

[faith]

Aethelred

Feeling the kiss and hearing his words, my first instinct is to dismiss his suggestion out of hand. So much still to be done but the truth I must face is that whether I am here or not it will be done. I have spent my life making sure this keep runs smoothly and today of all days my people know their duties.

Placing my hand on his cheek,” You are right. All else can wait this cannot”

Standing I offer him my hand. He nimbly rises,

”Come”

Walking into the connecting room, I close and lock the door behind me. All that remains in the room is the great bed with its hangings, my chair, and carpet before the fireplace and the last of my trunks. Every thing else has been loaded in the carts. Lifting my eyes to meet his for the first time since entering the room, I wonder what I will find… His bold stare is alive with desire.

I feel my body awaken after its long dreamless sleep. Without making a conscious decision I take a step towards him. I want to feel his body. I want him to fill mine but I do not know how to start. It has been so long…

With a whispered plea, I ask him for what I need

“Touch me….”

 

[cgraven]

Aethelred words come in a measured cadence;

“You are right. All else can wait this cannot”……. ”Come”


We enter her chambers now devoid of all the little things that had made it hers. Her world, the world of, lover, wife, confidant, mother, grieving widow, the things that mark the turning of life’s pages, the verses of the song we all are. Aethelred’s was far from being over.

Aethelred a handsome beauty one that could still capture any man’s attention and make him long to be come one with her. Oh, no innocent maiden fair but a woman in full beauty and of calmly form and grace.

My gaze is bold as I watc her move, no glide into the room. We face each other a breath away from a kiss as she looks in to my eyes. Hers are deep and I could easily lose myself in their depth and be happy to do so.

She blushes and diverts her eyes from mine.


“Touch me…..”

‘As Me Lady wishes. A command I gladly obey with all my heart and will”

I kiss Aethelred a genteel kiss that grows in passion to wanton abandon.

 

[faith]

Aethelred

His lips on mine open a flood gate of need in me. What starts out as gentleness grows into a raging fire. His arms come arround me, I feel his hands in my hair, loosening the pins holding the wild mass of audurn hair in place. His hands burrow into my hair, craddling my head. We are now feeding off each others passion.

Turning, I offer my back to him. Pulling my hair forward I reviel the ties to my gown.... "Please help me..."

I feel his hand at the knots holding my dress secure. His hands are shaking with need as are my own. I hear the sound of his eating daggar leaving its sheath and then the loosening of my clothing as the ties are cut....

Turning I lower my arms allowing the dress to pool at my feet. I stand before this handsome man in a shift of the thinnest matterial. It hides nothing...yet it feels like the thickest of armors because it keeps me from him.

MY breast have filled, my nipples diamond hard points of need. The valley between my legs is moist with need... I want to see this man. I reach for the buttons of his shirt and am defeated...

His hands cover mine, he brings my hand to his lips and places a kiss in the palm. The tip of his tongue tasting my skin... With a smile in his eyes he reach for the buttons...

 

[cgraven]

I still Aethelred hands. as I loosen my kilt and it drops to the floor, the rest of my garments soon follow. How can I show my desire for her what words could convince her. None I fear, action is the only true answer.

I rend Aethelred shift from her body, she is naked before my gaze. What perfection of body and form. This is no old spent widow but a vibrant sexual creature. My lips find hers and my tongue probes the warm confines of her mouth and I taste her sweet mouth, for the first time.

My hands lovingly explore that body as my lips follow to her breasts.


"Aethelred I ache for you., sweet lady."

 

[faith]

'I watch as his strong body is reveled to me. As the lady of the manor it had been my duty to wash and care for the many lords who had passed through her gates. Looking upon this man was different. Looking at the width of his chest, his strong arms and hands, the leanest of his hips, the strength of his desire, I have lost my emotional distance. I want and need his touch. I feel the cool air on my fevered body as my shift is torn from my body, then his hands caressing me as he draws me closer, our bodies touching for the very first time...

His hands on my back fed the gently growing flame. In long sweeping strokes, his hands liberated me. The dormant sexually is released as fire flowes along my every nerve. Leaning into him I feel his manhood nestled in the V of my thighs. My body vibrates as liquid fire flows outward from the center of my being. One moment I am standing, the next I find myself in his arms being carried to the bed. With fierce tenderness he places me in the center of the big bed….

He comes to me. Parting my legs he rest with the tip of his cock at the gates of my desire. Dew flows from my body. With one thrust of his hips, he is buried to the hilt. I feel stretched to the max. With slow deep strokes he shatters my soul. Each one carries me higher than the one before. I no longer know where I end and he begins. Pleasure so intense it boarders on pain comes in waves. Over and Over I am brought to the brink..

 

[cgraven]

I am deep within Aethelred my only thoughts are to please her in ways that will bring joy and peace to her heart and form.

A slow steady rhythm starts as we search to be come one, in spirit and body. It comes slowly at first as we seek each other. Then the tempo builds as our bodies become one joined at the hip. Two have become one, my mouth claims hers, with an urgency that speaks of my passion, for this vibrant beauty. I explore with cock, hands, and lips to bring wave after wave of joy to “Me lady”. I whisper of her bodily perfection to her. Of how each act of hers pleases me.

On and on we dance in cupid’s garden. A dance older than time itself.

 

[Guest]

I let the rhythem take over. Time and place cease to exist. Our bodies dance. I gaze into his eyes. Our joining is complete. MY soul reached out to his and is soothed.

With each thrust heaven is obtained. I feel his hody expand and with that I cry out my reliese. As wave after wave consumes me I feel his seed bath my canal as he too find reliese....

Feeling his weight on me I am comforted. His head rests on my breast as I comb my fingers through his hair. He has show me that I still have much to give and take from this life....


There is a quiet knock on my door....

"My Lady... tis time to get ready for the festivities.

Looking down I know this is the end of my time with the bard....

"Just a moment...."I call out.

Meeting his eyes as he get up, I let the smile reach my lips and eyes...

Tonight sing one song for me my lover....

 

[cgraven]

"My Lady... tis time to get ready for the festivities.

"Just a moment...." Aethelred call out.

Our eyes meet as I get up, there is a smile on Aethelred lips and in her eyes...

Tonight sing one song for me my lover....

“That I will Love.”

And so ends Aethelred story. Shall I tell another?

 

[Redslip]

Constance de Bont, Niece of the Bishop presiding over the wedding

The candles flickered as a slight draft weaved its way through the stones and danced around the heat emanating from the light source. A very young woman sat calmly fingering the embroidery on her veil. She had been so excited to attend the matrimonial ceremony of the son of the Lady of the Manor. She longed for companionship, good cheer and irreverance to be present in her life. She had been sent away to the dismally dark and stormy island where her Uncle served in the clergy, a most damning punishment to anyone from the continent. This cold land did not entertain happiness and gaiety. It was a land of stone, moss and chilling mist and she missed her villa at Versailles.

She tilted her head slightly to allow the silk veil to sweep gently her creamy cheek and she sighed as she waited for her Uncle to survey if the "festivities" were suitable for her to attend. She was actually more dumbfounded than excited when her Uncle announced she would attend as well, for she wasn't sure how much the letter she brought with her upon her arrival had mentioned of her reason for having been sent away as punishment.

"Sweet child," her Uncle sighed as he shook his head, her letter in his hand. "This much I know: It is God's own will that brought you here to submit to a life of humilty, purity and chastity. I fear that you have been without spiritual counsel and moral upbringing for too long that you may be lost." At this he patted her hand and continued"Yet I also know that you are my sisters only child, and the self indulgent lifestyles rampant on the continent can seem so desirable to a young and impressionable child. It is good you are here. I will make sure you are brought back into the hands of God and safely married to one of His servents." Constance blanched at the thought of being tied to the brutes she had seen from the window of her carriage on her way from the ships landing. But as she sat now, in the dark she felt a little warmth stir inside her as she thought that although the men she had spied on her trip were brutish, their continence suggested a fierce, unrelenting strength that made her mind wander to another brute that was one of her many reasons for having been sent away.

At the reminder of the fair haired and hirsute soldiers on the pathway, Constance moaned dreamily and leaned into the tapestry on the wall behind her. She ran her slender hands over her pale blue velvet gown, feeling the lush fabric as it clung to the breasts that had given many a man a mad rush to attach their lips and begin to suckle wildly.

Suddenly, the heavy wood door swung open and her Uncle and his assistant entered the waiting room. Constance bolted up and covered her face with her veil. Her Uncle was too busy with his cloaks to notice the passionate reverie she was caught up in but she had meet the eyes of his servent with a dead on look that dared him to utter a word.

" My dear, I feel that there are some undesirable parties about and I cannot place you in their presence. Why the Lady allows the traitorous louts to continue to roam near these lands is beyond my understand and reproach yet I can stand in good faith that you wil not be made to endure their lecherous gaze. No, I will not hear your protests, Charles, see to it that Constance remains in this room until my return." The Bishop gathered his cloaks and books and made his way out of the room. Charles followed with a snicker and sat outside the room at his post.

"AAAGGGHH!! I shall go mad with boredom in this land!" Constance threw herself on the chaise and glowered for a moment. Then a smile crept on her face as she devised of a little plan that she had entertained for a time and was ready to give life to. On their way over she had spied that above the quarters where she lay imprisoned in now were the stables. Where there were stables, there was bound to be a horse or maybe even stable hands. Constance was in need of a good mount, equine or otherwise.

She slowly opened the wood door and spied Charles in a sad attempt to making conversation with the guards at the end of the hall. Constance had given up on Charles weeks ago when she came to the realization the he found men to be as delectable as she did. What a disappointment that had been. She slipped down the hall to the stairs that winded to the lower level of the back wing and out into the courtyard.

Shivering, for she had left her cloak in her hurry to take flight, Constance quickly strode to the stable doors and ran into a man carrying a harp. Constance slipped on the wet hay from where it had rained earlier in the day, holding on to the mans forearm as she fell and twisted her ankle under her. He managed to catch himself and a glimpse of her legs as her gown skidded about her thighs.

 

[cgraven]

Cimar a tha thu?

I lightly greet this fair lass as I catch her as she turns a most shapely ankle. There is a look of utter confusion on that angelic face.

“Enchante de faire votre connaissance Ma Cher.”

“What brings you out on such a night, the festivities lay within? But I am afraid the Bishop has no liking for Welsh Bards. The devils tools, druid heresy, foul magic users.”

My voice is light and teasing as a smile spreads across my face.


“Please take no offence, as by your costume you are clearly from the continent, and a relative of the good bishop no doubt.”

“Now let me see that ankle of yours.”

I sweep his young damsel into my arms and place her on a stack of clean dry hay.

“Now be careful Mademoiselle, lest I work druid magic on you.”

My fingers explored the injured ankle and the lower cave just above it.

“I think you’ll live, and there should be no serious lasting effects.”

My manner was mock serious, as I teased my young companion. She was without a doubt a rare beauty, but there was a wild sadness about her. That I longed to understand. what troubled her spirit so?

“If did not know better, I would think you where a prisoner, exiled to a land, I so love and call home, making your escape in the dead of night. It has certainly not the gaiety of your home , but there is a wild charm about it.”

I take out my harp and ideal pay an old Welsh ballad as I sit opposite this wild beauty. I let the haunting melody tell her of the dark passionate nature of this land and its people.

I search her eyes for some answer.

“What is your name fair lady, and how may I aid you?”