Bound by the Count (Strawberry x LRDGRat)

[Strawberry Strip]

Troubling times never truly just appeared. It crept in slowly until one final strike exposed the cracks. That was when the ambitious swarmed to fill in those cracks and rebuilt the world in their image. For Queen Amelia Hamilton, those cracks had been forming since her arranged marriage with the elderly king. It was his not-so-private haram and then the way he dealt with the other kingdoms, the way he treated his own court and later, his own daughter. Amelia had tried to turn a blind eye to most of that. But now, it was getting to be too much.

She had been married off when she was too young. She gave birth to her daughter, Jewel, when she was still a child in the eyes of most. It had been a hard birth and she nearly died. She put all her love into Jewel, watching her grow into a lovely woman. She and her daughter looked so much alike that Amelia could sometimes imagine that her husband had no input in the process. They were both tall and slender with deep red hair, pale skin, and bright green eyes.

For most of her life, Amelia had been a positive influence on Jewel. But, lately, Jewel was turning away from her, as any seventeen-year-old girl would do. She was finding new friends and Amelia knew it was time to find her daughter a good husband. Someone, maybe, far from the kingdom who would take good care of her. After all, why would she want her daughter to suffer as she had?

Amelia sighed, sitting at a window bench, gazing out over the green fields of her kingdom and over to the dark trees of the Bruchten Forest. At the moment, the king was off with a hunting party, and she prayed that he was gored by a boar. Normally, when her husband was away or otherwise busy for a whole day, Amelia could sneak off and enjoy the pleasurable company of Anton, a palace servant she had taken as a secret lover. Today, though, for reasons beyond her, she could not find Anton anywhere.

A movement caught Amelia's eyes. Down in the gardens, Jewel was walking with Countess Edith. Those two seemed to have hit it off and Amelia knew that the countess was a kind woman. Perhaps Jewel saw her as another motherly figure, though the countess was only ten years older than Jewel. Amelia watched as the two laughed and whispered in the gardens, her heart aching as it used to be her who her daughter confided in.

 

[QuillAndInk]

Anton, a slave his entire life, was 17 years old. His feelings for the Queen he had served had only grown with time. Not only was she beautiful, but she was kind - and always had been kind. Despite his status as a slave, she didn't treat him the way he saw many fellow slaves being treated. He actually enjoyed serving her and was quite glad when he was moved onto her permanent staff. And this morning, he was busy going about showing her his appreciation.

He had used his family pass to leave the palace grounds to visit his family - his mother, also a slave, had retired due to injury and now worked in a brothel to make ends meet. But he wasn't going to visit her. No, instead he went into Bruchten Forest. He knew of a pool in the woods, around which edge the Queens favorite Lillies grew. He got stuck in mud up to his waist - the downside of not paying attention to where he was walking - but managed to come away with a handful of the Lillies.

A trip home to wash - he couldn't show up to the Palace covered in mud - meant that he was extremely late for his service at the Palace. Hopefully she would not punish him too harshly. He made his way back inside and soon found her at her favorite spot - sitting on a bench on a balcony overlooking the grounds. He hid the Lillies behind his back and silently took up a stance behind her and off to one side, waiting for her to need him.

=-=-=-=

Tyrone stood a respectable distance from his Mistress, Countess Edith. He was as tall as he was exotic - standing 6'4", it was hard not to notice the only man most had seen with dark skin. He was from lands far away from this Kingdom, where there was more sand than grass and the sun was harsh. His people were a tribal people and he had been a warrior. His body was rippled with muscle and he only wore a loin cloth that barely covered his modesty.

Some tribal bands and tattoos graced his arms, back and chest and he struck quite the exotic figure. He was also, scandalously, Countess Ediths lover. He had been a gift to her from her husband - a renown explorer and documenter of all things exotic. Tyrone could serve as her personal servant and bodyguard, even if he was unarmed. He had been called her Shadow - both for his dark skin and the fact that he was always around her, even when trying to be discreet.