It was noon before we had discussed everything to our satisfaction. Then properly dressed in all the appropriate finery, we made our way down the stairs to the great hall where the emissaries of Bellavalten had been waiting patiently for some time.

Lady Eva looked as delectable and gorgeous as she had last night, with her lush and full breasts pressing against the dark blue velvet of her gown, the skin of her throat creamy and clear, as was her radiant face. And such red hair, such gorgeous red hair, done up now with combs and pearls yet boldly unveiled. Oh, if only she’d ordered me to brush it last night. Oh, how delightful that would have been, to brush her long hair at her command, red hair brushed in the light of the fire. But I wasn’t complaining. Last night had gone very well.

I couldn’t help but smile at her and wink at her as I sat down to the table, and of course this made her blush. I could still feel the cuts and welts on my backside and thighs and I almost laughed at the secret delicious pleasure of it, a flash of her sweet voice and hands coming back to me, enough perhaps to make a satyr of me again. But there was work to be done now and much to say.

Prince Alexi and Tristan were beautifully turned out as though for a Court fête, and Lady Elvera, though reserved, was her unchangeable and unchanging self, with a cold grandeur to her pale skin and her hard eyes. As for handsome blond Captain Gordon, he was tentative and obviously ill at ease as if he did not feel entirely comfortable at the table with his betters. But I wanted him there, so this did not matter to me. I knew why they had brought him. He was a pillar of Bellavalten.

“Good day, my beloved guests,” I said. “Please do forgive us for keeping you waiting, but it was imperative that we know our own minds on the matters that are so important to us all. We want to give you our decision.”

There were nods and whispers, but clearly they were all in a torment of suspense.

“My queen will speak for us both.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Beauty said softly. She was incomparably lovely in her rose-colored gown with gold embroidery, and her hair was exquisitely coiffed beneath a sheer loose white veil. She flashed her most agreeable smile at me and then turned to the little assembly.

“It is our desire to accept your gracious offer,” she said. “But wait, you must hear us out. For we would bring about several key changes to the way of things. And it seems meet to warn you of what those changes would be. For now is the time for you to protest what we mean to say. Once we are crowned as your monarchs there will be no arguing with improvements to the kingdom of Bellavalten that we mean to carry out.”

“By all means, do tell us,” said Lady Eva. “I speak with the authority given me by the Grand Duke.”

How polished and confident she seemed for one so young. But there was a simplicity to her that was beguiling, and neither Alexi or Tristan challenged her in any way. Tristan actually smiled at her lovingly, as though her beauty delighted him, and Alexi was studying Beauty and studying me.

Beauty continued:

“It is my wish that slavery in the kingdom of Bellavalten should henceforth be voluntary, and that no tribute or trophy slaves should ever be demanded from its allies, and furthermore that all those slaves who want to leave the kingdom at our accession to the throne be allowed to do so, with the appropriate rewards.”

No one spoke. In fact all seemed astonished.

Beauty went right on.

“And furthermore it is our desire to solicit throughout the world for ripe and beautiful and willing slaves, both male and female, to enter servitude in our kingdom, not only from the ranks of royal and noble families, but from all walks of life, the qualifications for such slaves being physical gifts, vigor, and aptitude, regardless of rank. We would send out our emissaries to publicize our announcement, and to receive applicants whom they would then bring back to Bellavalten to commit to two years of complete erotic servitude and some perhaps for longer if they so wished, and we so wished.”

A smile was playing on Eva’s lips and I saw Alexi’s eyes suddenly crinkle with good humor and Tristan actually sat back with an audible sigh and smiled. Lady Elvera evinced no response whatsoever, and Captain Gordon seemed frankly amazed.

“Imagine it if you will, my lords and ladies,” said Beauty. “We are talking now of a call to all the realms of the north, the south, the east, and the west, for those who long for the sweet fetters we offer them in Bellavalten, and no qualified postulant would be turned away. Of course the royal houses may continue to send their princes and princesses for service, but the slaves themselves must consent to it, want it, want to please.

“Now you have told us of many who have returned to the Court—like you, Prince Alexi, and you, Prince Tristan. Well, surely there are enough of you to undertake journeys abroad to all points of the compass to publish our appeal and to review and receive those likely to please and bring them back to our gates.

“And no doubt, as word spreads of a new era of naked slavery in Bellavalten, applicants will come on foot and on horseback and by coach in the hope of being received by us.”

“Genius!” said Tristan suddenly. “Of course. You will have more applicants than you can conceivably imagine.”

“I agree,” said Beauty quickly. “And each and all shall be subjected to six months of probation. Pass that, and one may commit to two years irrevocably.”

“Perfect!” Tristan responded.

Alexi’s smile was more coy and secretive. Lady Elvera looked aloof and unconvinced.

“And again,” said Beauty, “if a fair face and form, and breeding and aptitude, shine in an applicant—no matter how humble—he or she will not be turned away.”

She drew herself up and continued, her voice quite soft for all its obvious confidence.

“Now, it is our belief that many slaves presently serving in Bellavalten will choose to remain,” she said. “What say you all to that?”

“Absolutely,” said Lady Eva. “Without question.” Prince Alexi nodded and so did Tristan. The Captain murmured assent under his breath.

For the first time Lady Elvera smiled, but her face was as cold as ever. “Yes, they will no doubt very much want to stay. Rare it was and still is that any slave actually wants to leave at the end of his or her servitude.”

“And we shall have time to perfect the rules of the kingdom,” said Beauty, now greatly encouraged. “To refine all before the onrush of those who would come of their own free will.” She went on, her words running rapidly. “It is our wish that slaves from now on serve in many capacities in the Court and in the Queen’s Village, with greater care given to the aptitude of each slave for types of service, so that some may from the first day be trained as ponies, and others for work in the fields and still others for entertainment of the Court—in sum, we want greater care in placing slaves where they will flourish and most fully amuse their masters and mistresses rather than old and tired structures that tempted slaves to play games on their handlers to achieve their ends.”

“Yes,” said Lady Eva. “This is brilliant. Slaves are like flowers, some wanting sun and some shade and some the mists from the nearby fountains and others the dry soil beside the garden path.”

“Precisely,” said Prince Alexi.

“Then some would serve at once in the Queen’s Village, you’re saying?” asked Captain Gordon. “Not because they had disgraced themselves at the castle, but because it was the best place for them—”

“Indeed, yes,” said Beauty. “Discipline would be as harsh and as thorough as ever, but the placement would be done with greater care as Lady Eva has just so well explained.”

“But slaves wouldn’t be allowed to choose,” said Lady Elvera sharply.

“Oh, no, never, of course not,” said Beauty quickly, “but we would take infinitely greater patience in choosing what is best for them.”

“Ponies,” said Captain Gordon. “Would you open stables at the castle for men and women ponies, so that the Court might enjoy them as the villagers have all these years?”

“Oh, yes, most definitely,” said Beauty. “The spectacle of ponies, both male and female, is too splendid not to be used throughout the kingdom!”

“But wait, my love,” I said. “Surely you’re referring to men only with this, aren’t you? I did once in my time in the village see female ponies . . . but only once, and they were exceedingly rare.”

“They were rare, true, sire,” said Tristan, “but they were capable and beautiful, believe me. No, we didn’t see them much. The mayor kept a stable when we were in the village. But in fact Lady Julia, the present mayor of the village, has kept a large stable of female ponies for years.”

“Beloved, it seems too harsh for women,” I said. “I can’t imagine it. No. I know what it means to have served as a pony, pulling carts, chariots. It’s too much.”

“Your Majesty, believe me, it is not,” said Lady Eva without hesitation. “Do trust me in this. There are princesses now residing in the kingdom who can tell you happily of their voluptuous service as ponies in Lady Julia’s village stable. And they would be overjoyed, I’m sure, to help create a huge stable of female ponies at the castle for Queen Beauty’s coaches and her pleasure. Why, Queen Beauty could have her stable of elegant female ponies, and you, sire, might have your stable of well-muscled male ponies. You need never, either of you, or anyone for that matter, travel the roads of the kingdom without human ponies.”

Captain Gordon nodded at once. “This can easily be accomplished, Your Majesty,” he said. “You remember Princesses Rosalynd and Elena who served with you in the land of the Sultan. They were not returned to the kingdom until years after you had left. But they were sentenced to pony servitude by Queen Eleanor to cleanse away all the softening effects of the Sultan’s regime, and they served as ponies under Sonya, the head groom appointed by the Lord Mayor of the village in those days. Sonya was the greatest of all grooms of female ponies. . . . Why, Sonya perfected the whole manner of outfitting and handling female ponies.” He stopped. His face darkened. He seemed to be remembering himself. “Alas, Sonya is long gone. . . .” He glanced quickly and fearfully at Prince Alexi, but when Prince Alexi merely smiled, he continued, “And those princesses have long been ladies-in-waiting. They can tell you about their service. They speak of it all the time.”

“Thank you, Captain,” I said. “And do not be ashamed of speaking out here. This is what we must know. I’m finding it hard to imagine, delicate lady ponies, but I shall wait and see, of course, and I suspect you are right in this.”

“Your Majesty,” said Captain Gordon, “there are ponies in Lady Julia’s small village stable now.”

“Yes, we must see these female ponies,” said Beauty. “We will of course be learning much from what we see firsthand. But I think this is a splendid idea.”

I shrugged and looked at Beauty. “If you say so, all of you . . .”

“My lord,” said Beauty. “This will be like all else, a matter of aptitude. That will be the very nature of our refinements. We shall choose those who will thrive as ponies. And yes, I can well imagine a splendid stable of male and female ponies, and my own personal royal coach being pulled always by a great team of female ponies.”

“And wait till you hear, Your Majesties,” said Tristan, “how Princess Lucinda, another former pony, speaks of the splendid gold harnesses, buckles, boots, and plumes in Sonya’s time. Why shouldn’t there be such lovely stables at the castle? Why, the Court often asked Queen Eleanor for this, but she had no interest in it.”

“I always thought the pony life mysteriously seductive,” said Prince Alexi. “But then I never knew it, and seldom even caught a glimpse of it. It was almost painful at times, hearing of it and not being able to see it. So what do I know?”

“Oh, poor little good boy,” said Lady Elvera, in a withering, mocking voice. “That you were never given the pleasure of being humiliated in the village!”

Tristan laughed and smiled at Alexi in a confidential way.

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.

“Well, one can’t have everything in life, can one?” said Alexi as he winked at Lady Elvera.

The enthusiasm was running high all around. Lady Elvera was melting, her eyes dancing as she looked from Alexi to Tristan and then to me. “Ponies for the Court,” she mused. “Yes, I do like it. And male and female, yes, quite interesting. But only if it pleases Your Majesty.”

“I’ve certainly heard Princess Lucinda on this,” said Lady Eva, “and I think she could draw up rules and pictures of accoutrements for a royal stable of female ponies on her own. Why, with the wealth of the Court, who knows what might be devised?”

Beauty began to laugh, though she tried not to, her hand coming quickly to her lips. “This is perfect!” she said.

“Very well,” I said. I knew I was blushing. Female ponies! It was a tantalizing thought. And I well remembered that one glimpse I’d had of the females pulling the mayor’s coach. “If you wish. And this will be done in the new spirit, with keen attention to those who flourish in such servitude. . . .”

“Of course,” said Beauty. “That’s the whole point, the new spirit!”

“But this Sonya,” I said, looking at Captain Gordon. “You said she was the greatest of all grooms of female ponies. What has become of her? Is it conceivable she might return to the kingdom if we offered her inducements?”

Again, I saw that shadow cross his face. “Alas, she was dismissed in disgrace,” he said. “It’s a sad tale.” He glanced uneasily at Prince Alexi.

“Yes, disgrace,” said Prince Alexi. “As I was dismissed. It was a complicated affair. It involved Lexius. You remember Lexius, my lord, I’m sure, Lexius of the sultanate. But I think Sonya is quite beyond recalling at this point.”

“I should like to hear all about this,” I said. “Of course I remember Lexius. It was I who stole him away from the sultanate.” I tried not to laugh. “It was perfectly outrageous of me to force Lexius to come with us when we were being rescued by the Captain and others.” I glanced at the Captain. “But of course, Lexius could easily have gotten away, had he wanted to. Where is Lexius now? What is his story?”

“But not now, certainly,” said Beauty. “When we have so very much to discuss. We were speaking of a new spirit.”

“In time, sire, I’ll tell you all I know of what happened,” said Tristan, “of all that was written by Nicholas in the Queen’s chronicles. And I can write to Lexius if that is your wish.”

“I have already written,” said Alexi. “I wrote to him before we left Bellavalten.”

“That’s good, very good,” I said. “I want to know all about what happened with Lexius. Is there any chance Lexius might return?”

“There’s a possibility,” said Alexi. “But Lexius is far away, in the land of his birth, and it will take some time for our letters to reach him.”

I could see that Lady Eva and Lady Elvera were both fascinated. So was the Captain, as the matter of Alexi writing to Lexius had surprised him. I had to know more of all of this.

“But come now,” said Beauty, “to the discussion of the new spirit.”

“Any good mistress or master,” said Lady Eva, “can play a good slave like a harp.”

“Yes, and it my wish,” said Beauty, “that there be slaves of different ages. In the past most were very young, and with reason, but now and then the kingdom might receive older slaves whose gifts rival those of the young ones, and whose stamina is undiminished, and whose will to serve burns bright.”

“Ah, yes,” said Prince Alexi with a long sigh.

Captain Gordon nodded approvingly. “There are some male ponies in the village now who are older,” he said. “There are some so accustomed to that life that they don’t welcome any other.”

“This doesn’t surprise me,” I said, though I had to confess I didn’t remember any older ponies. On the other hand, there had been some very rough ponies in those days indeed, and I never really saw all of the others, only those who were in our teams, or near us in the stalls, or took their recreation when we did.

I caught Lady Eva gazing at me with girlish admiration.

I smiled so broadly I forced her to smile against her will. She gave me a mock-reproving look as if to say, You’re a bad boy.

“And, Your Majesties,” she said, quickly recovering her usual remarkable composure, “may I present you with many innovations of my own which I have developed since I came to the kingdom? Why, I have developed many potions, potions that can aid the most shy slaves to express their passion, and other potions to force sleep and rest at the appropriate times, and of course there are pastes and plasters for decorating slaves that I’ve developed that might well enhance female ponies, and the old tantalizing potions used to punish. Why, I have a great alchemist, Matthieu, working with me in the kingdom, and much can be done now that couldn’t be done in the past because our late queen had no interest, but only if you would allow.”

“We would allow,” said Beauty. “Indeed this sounds most interesting, and precisely the kind of initiative we wish to encourage.” She glanced at me brightly. “Now one thing further,” she said turning to the group again, “that I should make clear. If many applicants come to us and are found worthy, we can greatly expand the use of slaves for different kinds of labor throughout the realm, with great incentives offered to slaves to work their way up the ladder of servitude from the most menial to the finer forms.”

“Yes, this makes perfect sense,” said Tristan. “As of now, after so many years of gradual decline, the kingdom contains only one very large village, and that is the Queen’s Village. The small hamlets scattered throughout the forest and the few manor houses, except for mine, have had no slaves in years.”

“There was a time when they did,” said Alexi. “I remember noble slaves coming to Court to serve in those manor houses when I came. They were sons and daughters of lesser families.”

“I remember talk of that,” said Tristan. “I never saw them. But Nicholas told me years ago that there were no more noble slaves, only royal slaves. The kingdom had declined. It was declining up to the day we left it to come here. But surely with a new birth, many will return to the kingdom, and the manor houses and the little hamlets will take on a new life.”

“But all citizens of the realm will treat all slaves with great care,” I said firmly. “In my time there, slaves were well cared for, massaged, oiled, pampered, and well fed. And it did seem as if the roughest louts in the village knew the rules. No burning, no cutting, no breaking of the skin.”

“Oh, most certainly,” said Captain Gordon. “It is the same now. All slaves protected. All slaves are bathed, oiled, and massaged carefully, regardless of however lowly they might be. And we would be very vigilant with new citizens as to the rules. Slaves are costly. Slaves are precious.” He was working himself up into a lather. I had apparently offended him. “Even of late, slaves are pampered and protected from neglect.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” I said. “And great care will be taken of course that all guests know the rules.”

“Oh, most certainly, sire,” said Tristan. “I never really knew when I was a slave how many guests did visit the kingdom simply to enjoy the slaves.”

“There have always been hundreds in residence,” said Lady Elvera. She regarded me with her usual cold stare, but her voice had an easy warmth to it, and her words came slowly and evenly. “And at times long ago, there were even thousands of guests for special festivals. But then the Queen grew weary, as we all know.”

“And with a new and vital era beginning,” said Tristan, “we will need our beautifully trained grooms and squires everywhere, always, keeping watch upon the kingdom’s treasure: its slaves.”

“We will need more grooms and squires,” said Beauty. “And I am sure they will come.”

“There are rooms in the castle in the north and east towers,” said Lady Eva, “that have never been used. There is an entire wing of the castle that has been neglected. There must be fifty different rooms there, all waiting to be restored. And then Lord Gregory has the east tower all to himself. There are many rooms above his.”

“Indeed there are manor houses that are now deserted,” said Lady Elvera. “I have always lived at Court, but there are lords and ladies who would pay handsomely for an abandoned manor house which they might lovingly restore to the grandeur of the past—if they could keep their own slaves.”

“And why not?” asked Beauty. “Oh, this is splendid. There is so much to be done, proclamations to be written, lists of rules to be drawn up, new buildings that must be designed.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, it is all too astonishing,” cried Lady Eva. “I will do anything and everything that I might to see your dreams realized.”

“Well, then,” I said. “You have our acceptance of your offer, and you have the main thrust of the changes we would make.”

Prince Alexi rose to his feet. “Your Majesties, I salute you both.” He appeared on the verge of tears. It didn’t seem to me he’d been half so beautiful when he was younger, or perhaps my tastes had changed. He was a man of stunning face and form now, delicate, yes, like something made of dark glass that might break, but I liked him.

Of course I did not think of him now as I’d found him last night in my wife’s bed, in my bed, and naked and childlike as he had hurried to get clear of me, to dress himself and leave the chamber. And I, I had so wickedly detained him, reaching inside his pants to feel his cock and balls before I let him go, and then kissing him myself as if to claim him. What a piquant and tasty man he was. Hmmm. Such lips, such kisses. But this was a new epoch for us all, wasn’t it, including my precious queen who had not even waked last night to welcome me until I’d used my belt gently on her curvaceous little bottom. Well, suffice it to say that I understood why she’d chosen Alexi for her pleasure.

Tristan and Captain Gordon rose quickly, and Lady Eva rose and made a deep bow. “This is the happiest day of my recent life,” she proclaimed.

“There is much to do,” said Beauty. “And I am most interested in these pastes and plasters and potions you describe, Lady Eva, and some other ideas are coming to me, memories of things I have from the Sultan’s realm.”

“Yes, we are ready and willing with our whole hearts,” said Tristan.

“You have fulfilled our dreams,” said Lady Elvera as she rose slowly. “And I suspect this is as the old queen wished it to be. Bellavalten will be reborn.”

“And in that matter of Lexius,” I added. “You will write to him and invite him to return?” I looked at Lady Eva as if she were my personal scribe now.

“As you wish, Your Majesty,” she answered. “I will do anything you command.”

So it was decided.

So it was done.

I bid them all to be seated again, giddy and relieved as they were, and called for more wine for the entire company.

We had confided to no one the strange dreams we’d had of Titania of Mataquin, but then why should we? There was no necessity for that. Our past was ours, and not the possession of anyone but us. But this happiness belonged to all of us. Yet these moments would not have been so sweet to me had I not seen with my own eyes the splendid Titania of Mataquin, had I not heard it from her lips that I had always been the prince destined for my beloved Beauty.

The remainder of the day was spent in easy conversation and drinking, with Lady Eva and Prince Tristan both busy writing down much of what we had discussed. Soon my secretary Emlin was directed to call the royal scribes to me to assist with those letters that must be sent to Bellavalten and the whole world right away.

Supper was a veritable banquet, and by eight in the evening I was exhausted and ready once more to retire. Only one thing nagged at me and it was, of course, the matter of Lexius and “disgrace” involving Alexi and the mysterious Sonya, but there would be time to learn about all this. Alexi would not have so boldly admitted that he had written already to Lexius if there had been reasons not to pursue such a matter.

In fact, we made a long list of names, names of those slaves I remembered and those Beauty remembered, to which Captain Gordon added a number, and so did Lady Elvera, and Alexi—all of whom were to receive letters of invitation from us. And I could not keep track of the names of those already waiting for us in Bellavalten.

It would be four days at least before we set out for Bellavalten, and much work could be done during that time, and many letters would leave here before we did.

At last, the long and eventful day was done, and Beauty and I were alone—cozy once more in our private chambers, around our own most beloved hearth.

I had been enchanted with the manner in which she presented her ideas to the little assembly, and this made me all the more eager to hold her in my arms. Truly I did not care that she’d been with Alexi. I determined that I would not allow myself to care, and if I thought of it for one moment, I would relish the thought, allowing it to tantalize me, to stoke the fires in my heart, and never to dampen my spirits.

I was so hungry for Beauty, in fact, I all but tore her gown to pieces as I’d done with Lady Eva the night before, and I flung her down on the bed and ravaged her for the better part of an hour before I was finally worn out. She was hot and pliant, her kisses as heated as mine. She resisted nothing as I tormented her gently, playing with her nipples, punishing them, teasing her and holding her at bay, and then handling her with my usual affectionate abandon.

At last I lay there, deliciously exhausted, and I felt her cool hands touching all the little welts and bruises I had from Lady Eva’s paddle and strap. Soon, Beauty was dabbing a soothing ointment here and there, and smoothing the sore muscles of my thighs and calves.

“You are such a wicked boy, Laurent,” she said. “Such a wicked boy!”

“You don’t know the half of it, Queen Beauty,” I murmured into the pillow. My eyes were closed. Her fingers massaging my backside were arousing me again. She pinched and scratched at the welts playfully, then pressed the ointment deep into my sore flesh. Ripples of sweet sensation passed through me, and over all my skin.

“But my, how she whipped you,” she said under her breath. “Wicked Lady Eva.”

“Oh, yes, wicked Lady Eva.” I sighed. “Inexhaustibly wicked Lady Eva.”

There came a knock on our parlor door.

I put on my dressing gown and went to answer, expecting Emlin with some tiresome pesky message, but it was Tristan standing there.

“Well, come in,” I said as I directed him to a chair by the fire. Beauty had retired into her little parlor adjoining the bedchamber. I took the chair opposite him.

“Just one thing more which I wanted to lay before you in private,” he said confidentially, glancing anxiously at the bedroom door as if he did not want Beauty to hear.

“Continue,” I said. “We are alone.” I sat back, and rather enjoying his handsome looks as I had been enjoying them all day, but now especially that my desires were for the moment satisfied, and I did not want to mount him and make him bite the pillow under me as I had been wanting to do all afternoon. “And call me Laurent, now, please.”

“Yes, sire, I mean, Laurent, yes,” he said. “This is a delicate matter. But there is a great manor house in ruins way south of the castle, right near the border, that was in its time quite beautifully appointed and rich.”

“You want this manor house?” I asked. “I thought you already had your own manor house.”

“No, I don’t want it, and yes, I do have my own, as a matter of fact,” he replied. “But what I was wondering is . . . could this house not be restored by Your Majesties for a specific purpose, to wit, to become a place of luxurious accommodations for those lords and ladies of the kingdom, princes, princesses, dukes, duchesses, whatever, who might hunger for a night of being thoroughly mastered and punished in secret by those slaves who possess the gift?”

I laughed. “Of course,” I said. I laughed again. This day would live forever in my memory! What else, I thought, might happen before the hour of midnight? “And who says it must be gifted slaves who do the mastering?”

“Well, no, it wouldn’t have to be slaves necessarily, but there are some who are so singularly gifted. It could be a place where they are mastered by lords and ladies as well.”

“So the old kingdom had no such accommodations?” I asked. “A courtier who longed for the lash wasn’t allowed to feel it?”

“No.”

“How absurd.” I thought of the old queen. What an idiot! But I felt a bit foolish that I’d never even thought of this before. Not once during my years as a slave had I thought of it.

Yes, in the sultanate, I’d mastered Lexius, the Sultan’s steward, right in his own splendid quarters. But Lexius had been no courtier. He had in my mind been a servant.

And Tristan surely remembered, too, how I’d mastered Prince Jerard, a handsome pony, when I caught him in the recreation yard of the stable. And Tristan remembered that I had mastered him, because I had done that too—in the ship returning from the sultanate, I’d whipped Tristan as often as I’d whipped Lexius. And sometimes Captain Gordon had watched, marveling at my skill at mastering as if it was something most slaves did not possess. It had not been a marvel to me. As I’d explained to Beauty, I had always relished the idea of both—being mastered, and mastering. But I’d never thought of mastering lords and ladies of the Court. Never.

But now I wondered keenly how many might have wanted such a thing.

“Then we shall establish such a place,” I said, “replete with comfortably and richly outfitted chambers, where lords and ladies may go and no one will be the wiser as to who is master or mistress. We’ll make the house a sumptuous, very private retreat.”

“Marvelous!” he said with a sigh of relief. “It happens now, you see, that some are mastered by their slaves, but it is hidden, and secret.”

“Ridiculous,” I said.

Hmmm. What if Beauty wanted to be mastered by someone other than me? What if Alexi had . . . No, that had not happened. I’d seen her fresh and innocent little bottom last night when I’d returned. Still, the thought of it . . .

“It’s something to be enjoyed like anything else,” I said. “And to think that those of privilege would deny themselves such pleasures! What a waste.”

But what if Beauty . . . ? No, I couldn’t think of it. I could accept her taking Alexi into her bed, yes, of course, but— I wouldn’t think anymore on that. Well, not for the moment. But then her voice in my memory saying she must have the very same prerogatives . . . the very same.

Alas, I had to grow into this new role as the King of Bellavalten.

“So it is with Lord Stefan,” Tristan said. “You remember him, the Queen’s cousin?”

“Yes. Of course. He’d been your lover before you were captured and brought to the kingdom. Of course I remember. He couldn’t master you and so you rebelled.”

“Yes,” said Tristan, “and he has a fearsome yellow-haired slave named Becca of whom he is terrified, and it all takes place behind locked doors.”

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. But this mention of Lord Stefan put me in mind of something.

“Wait,” I said, putting up my hand as I tried to recollect this. “I heard something when I was a slave at the castle. I heard that every year on Midsummer Eve lords and ladies who wanted to be slaves, even princes or princesses of the Court, could come forward and ask to be sold in the village. I never knew for certain whether or not this was true but . . .”

“It had been a custom, yes,” said Tristan. “My master, Nicholas the Chronicler, told me of it. But the Queen hated it. She had no respect for lords and ladies who voluntarily gave themselves up to slavery and she took no interest in such volunteers ever after. Also they had to go into it completely, banished from the castle. They were stripped and sold in the village. No turning back . . .”

“Of course. You’re speaking now with the manor house of someone’s choosing to be a slave for a few hours, a night perhaps.”

“Yes,” Tristan said. “That is what I am thinking of. Also the Queen abolished the custom that last year—the same year that you and I were sent to the village—because her very own cousin, Lord Stefan, of whom we’ve been speaking, wanted to be sold, and the Queen was furious that one of her own kinsmen would choose this.” Tristan smiled and shook his head. “Ah, Stefan. He wanted it so desperately but was denied the opportunity forever.”

“That’s it. I remember now. Yes. Lord Stefan. I remember hearing that he might step forward . . .”

“Yes, well, she forbade Lord Stefan from being sold in the village and she abolished the custom. Now, she still allowed villagers to come forward on Midsummer Night and offer themselves for naked service. This was permissible to her, villagers, as they were not noble and not her kin. But that didn’t always happen. Nicholas said few villagers had the courage for it.”

“Yes, makes perfect sense.”

I pondered for a long moment.

“I’ll tell you something else,” Tristan confided. “There were always slaves who were released if they showed absolutely no aptitude.”

“There were?”

“Yes, those boys whose organs could not be aroused, those girls who dissolved in tears and paralysis. In sum, the ones who never found it stirring or pleasurable at all to serve. But no one was ever told about it. They only heard of rebels like Prince Alexi who, in spite of themselves, had hard cocks and fiercely beating hearts even when they would not obey, or little females who writhed like kittens when they were stroked and punished though they had to be bound most of the time.”

I smiled. “Well, that makes sense too,” I said.

“Queen Eleanor called those she sent away pallid little creatures, dimwits, and pitiable beings. Nicholas told me all this. But it was all secret.”

I fell into deep thought for a long time. I remembered so many things. My cock had been hard even when I was on the Punishment Cross for public display as a runaway. I’d found it all so deeply and richly intoxicating. It had been spellbinding.

But Tristan was waiting on me.

“Put your worries aside,” I said. “We’ll establish this manor house. We shall have servants and naked slaves to run it; and it will be the place for such things. Oh, we have so much to do, don’t we? I need maps of the kingdom. I intend to build walls around it entirely even if it takes years. And this manor house shall be a jewel when we are finished with it.”

“Thank you, Laurent,” he said. His voice was muted and there was a dark intensity to his eyes, to his expression. There was something very provocative about him suddenly, the way he lowered his eyes, the way he glanced up at me. He was daring me to master him now, I knew it. I wanted to do it. I found myself wondering what it would be like to master him now that he was a man, so self-possessed, so unlike the suffering pilgrim of passion he’d been in those days. I would do this, I knew I would. And I thought to myself, I shall do this when I wish, not when he wishes.

After I had seen him to the door, I found Beauty in her parlor at her dressing table, brushing her long hair. She was singing softly under her breath. I came up behind her, wrapped my arms around her, and began to kiss her tender little neck.

“Oh, Laurent, I am so tired,” she said. “You have the spirit of a new king.”

“Beauty! How are you going to be the queen of this new realm if you have so little stamina!” I said. I slipped my hand down between her legs, but the silk of her gown might as well have been a coat of mail.

“Doesn’t a queen spend a great deal of her time presiding over and watching entertainments prepared for her?” she asked. “That doesn’t take so much stamina, does it? Oh, I wish we were already at Bellavalten and in the gardens and that the gardens were filled with lanterns and that there were slave spectacles for us to enjoy this very night.”

She turned and looked up at me.

“Do you remember when we were in the hold of the ship, sailing to the sultanate, and they took Tristan and me, and they rubbed us all over with gold? It was an oil they used, filled with gold pigment, and we were burnished like statues, and they painted our nails and our eyelids gold.”

“I remember it vividly,” I said. My cock was painfully hard. “We were kept in cages and all we could do was watch.”

“Ah,” she went on dreamily. “I would so love to have many slaves at the castle burnished in that way for evening festivals, like so many gold or silver statues. I must talk to Lady Eva about such things. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

“Lovely,” I said. “You want to see a spectacle here now?” I knelt down beside her and, turning her towards me, I kissed her breasts through the pale blue silk of her gown.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” she whispered, kissing me tenderly. “Why, what do you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we need another night apart, visiting with our old friends, each of us . . .”

She nodded. I saw something quicken in her face. She didn’t need my urging.

“Laurent, from now on every night for us should hold full promise, shouldn’t it?”

“Yes, Beauty,” I said. “It should. But I was wondering. Last night, when you and Alexi were alone here together . . .”

“My lord, why trouble yourself with such things? We coupled. That’s what we did. We coupled, as we had long ago. But you are my king, my spouse, and my lord. You alone are my ruler.”

How earnest she seemed, and how much wiser than I would ever be.

But what if he had mastered her, what if? Why did this matter to me? I knew that it should not matter, any more than it mattered to Beauty what I had suffered at the hands of Eva.

I kissed her again slowly, as if my lips were seeking her soul—as if my breath and her breath were one, as if our souls were linked with one vital fire.

“Queen of my heart,” I said gravely. “I am yours and yours only.”

“Yes, beloved sovereign,” she whispered, throwing her arms tight around me, nuzzling into my neck. “I adore only you and no other.”