Niamh
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2002
- Posts
- 504
Aradia
Down in the kitchen with Meghan, Aradia sat shivering on a three-legged stool before the hearth. Nearby, several maids were busily occupied with peeling apples and kneading dough, yawning all the while. The cook, giving orders for the day's meals, was smartly cuffing a boy in the corner with a wooden spoon.
No one took any notice of old Meghan as she brought forth some dried flowers from her old basket and began to methodically grind them in a mortar. The witchiness of the old woman was well-known, and everyone in the castle was wary of her. No one really knew how it was that she was allowed to come and go as she pleased, unchallenged by anyone. But no one would have dared offer her the least resistance.
"Drink this, my innocent lamb," Meghan crooned, filling a cup with boiling water from the kettle and adding a pinch of the ground flowers she had prepared.
Aradia grimaced at the bitterness of the brew, but obediently sipped it anyway.
"Every night now, I see him," she murmured. Meghan bent her head to hear. "I see him, but actually I don't. His face is never visible. All I really know about him is that he commands me to him. And that he...will never let me leave him again."
"The magic of the darkness is not something to be taken lightly," said Meghan gravely. "But nor are we completely without our own defense. Come what may, my dearest lady, you must not ever leave the confines of the garden. You must never heed the call of the woods."
"But how am I to deny him?" Aradia asked weakly. "When he calls to me it is like a voice that comes from my own heart."
Meghan straightened and wiped her grimy hands on her skirt. The nails were black from digging in the earth.
"I will prepare every charm against this evil that I may," she said firmly. "And from now on you must never sleep alone. Every night, guards must be assigned to watch within your room. And if necessary, they must be given the command to bind you to your very bed."
Aradia looked up at the old woman. "Bind me? And guards in my very room as I sleep? Do you really think that necessary? I have my women, after all. I have Elspeth, who has watched over me faithfully night after night without complaint."
At this the old woman snorted. "Aye, and what has she to complain of, I might ask? The comforts of a luxurious apartment and the whole rank and file of the royal guard ready to plug her hole at the least crook of her finger!"
Aradia blushed to a furious scarlet. "I cannot think such things of my Elspeth. She is a maiden pure, as I am."
"You are a foolish child indeed, to believe a faery tale like that one," said Meghan. "She is even now in the linen room, I would warrant, with that great hulking stallion Hamish."
"If she is," said Aradia demurely, "they must be fetching fresh sheets for my bed."
"Rolling in them, is more likely," said Meghan. "Still, Hamish is a strong man, and a loyal one. I will give him the charge of watching over you this night. Not alone, you understand. But his will be the foremost station, just beside your bed."
Aradia blushed and hung her head.
"If you must do this thing to save me from the evil in the witchwood, then of course I will endure it."
Meghan patted the princess's cheek. "Aye, my poppet. Trust in old Meghan. She will let no harm come to thee."
Down in the kitchen with Meghan, Aradia sat shivering on a three-legged stool before the hearth. Nearby, several maids were busily occupied with peeling apples and kneading dough, yawning all the while. The cook, giving orders for the day's meals, was smartly cuffing a boy in the corner with a wooden spoon.
No one took any notice of old Meghan as she brought forth some dried flowers from her old basket and began to methodically grind them in a mortar. The witchiness of the old woman was well-known, and everyone in the castle was wary of her. No one really knew how it was that she was allowed to come and go as she pleased, unchallenged by anyone. But no one would have dared offer her the least resistance.
"Drink this, my innocent lamb," Meghan crooned, filling a cup with boiling water from the kettle and adding a pinch of the ground flowers she had prepared.
Aradia grimaced at the bitterness of the brew, but obediently sipped it anyway.
"Every night now, I see him," she murmured. Meghan bent her head to hear. "I see him, but actually I don't. His face is never visible. All I really know about him is that he commands me to him. And that he...will never let me leave him again."
"The magic of the darkness is not something to be taken lightly," said Meghan gravely. "But nor are we completely without our own defense. Come what may, my dearest lady, you must not ever leave the confines of the garden. You must never heed the call of the woods."
"But how am I to deny him?" Aradia asked weakly. "When he calls to me it is like a voice that comes from my own heart."
Meghan straightened and wiped her grimy hands on her skirt. The nails were black from digging in the earth.
"I will prepare every charm against this evil that I may," she said firmly. "And from now on you must never sleep alone. Every night, guards must be assigned to watch within your room. And if necessary, they must be given the command to bind you to your very bed."
Aradia looked up at the old woman. "Bind me? And guards in my very room as I sleep? Do you really think that necessary? I have my women, after all. I have Elspeth, who has watched over me faithfully night after night without complaint."
At this the old woman snorted. "Aye, and what has she to complain of, I might ask? The comforts of a luxurious apartment and the whole rank and file of the royal guard ready to plug her hole at the least crook of her finger!"
Aradia blushed to a furious scarlet. "I cannot think such things of my Elspeth. She is a maiden pure, as I am."
"You are a foolish child indeed, to believe a faery tale like that one," said Meghan. "She is even now in the linen room, I would warrant, with that great hulking stallion Hamish."
"If she is," said Aradia demurely, "they must be fetching fresh sheets for my bed."
"Rolling in them, is more likely," said Meghan. "Still, Hamish is a strong man, and a loyal one. I will give him the charge of watching over you this night. Not alone, you understand. But his will be the foremost station, just beside your bed."
Aradia blushed and hung her head.
"If you must do this thing to save me from the evil in the witchwood, then of course I will endure it."
Meghan patted the princess's cheek. "Aye, my poppet. Trust in old Meghan. She will let no harm come to thee."
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