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Lonely Lies the Crown (Annabeth & Khaos)

Seraphine too was letting her mind go through the conversation they'd just had. Is this what the girls felt when they were around Rennes? Why courtiers and vassals alike went to the most outlandish lengths to find - based on her limited experience through gossip anyway - a few moments of lust together? And why did Rennes then spend so much more time with his girls, sometimes so much that Seraphine despaired of ever getting any sleep because of their bawdy cries and oddly sinful noises. Maybe there were different feelings for the nobility than for commoners.

Yes, that had to be the way of it. God gave the nobility charge to direct and care for the commoners, to be His representative on Earth and His justice to them. So as there were different stations and rules for those of noble blood, so must there be ones for those who were low born. By extension, and she gave a seemingly unrelated laugh at how clever she was without explaining it to Rennes, then there was yet another set of rule, of feelings, for those of royal blood like herself. Low born, very lusty and they spent much time at it in absence of anything else to do. Noble, lusty but knowing it was a sin in the eyes of God and they spent less time and tried to keep it hidden. And for a royal princess...well, her feelings must be briefer than everyone else and purer, closer to God. So she could feel what Rennes described, and was ashamed of it because that too was part of Eve's curse, but so long as she was in control of it then she was doing her duty.

"I see," she said out loud a few minutes after the laugh and as Rennes had finished washing her back. "It is all very clear to me now, Rennes. Thank you. Yes, very clear and very silly of me not to grasp the implications of it from the beginning. That's what you tried to do years ago, isn't it? Well, not one of my swifter lessons learned," Seraphine said and stood up in the bath, water cascading off her pert bottom and rolling down her thighs. Carefully stepping out, she exposed her cleft to Rennes gaze for a moment and then was reaching for the thick blanket that hung nearby, wool combed and spun so soft that it felt like a baby's kiss, and wrapped it around her body. Snapping her fingers loudly the princess summoned her maids to dress her for the night.

"Tomorrow?" she asked, inquiring about their plans the day before the voyage.
 
Rennes could tell she had a misconstrued understanding of what he attempted to explain, but at least she was getting there. It was her mentioning of his previous attempts to explain to her the reasonings behind why he had to share his bed with those other women that clued him in on that fact. He knew he would need to better explain things to her.

Watching her get out of the tub he was gifted with a clear view of her virgin cleft. Biting his lip painfully hard he left the tub himself. Quickly grabbing his own woolen blanket he wrapped it around his waist before the maids could enter. When they did arrive both women looked to Rennes, lust and disappointment on their faces. He knew they had hopes to get a glimpse of him nude, but were content enough to ogle his still wet torso. Beads of water still clinging to the hair on his chest.

Once she was dressed Rennes dismissed the girls with a wave. He didn't care for the way they looked at him and he really didn't want anyone to hear his plans for Seraphine and himself the next day. Once they were gone he lead her towards her room finally answering her question. "Tomorrow we will be going into the city to gather the necessary supplies needed for our voyage, afterwards we will inspect the ship and crew and once we return we will make our final perpetrations fire the departure." He spoke in a very professional manner.

Once in her room, well their room. He went to the corner where his simple cot and trunk were tucked away. Going into the trunk he pulled out a pair of silk pants and pulling them on. Going to Seraphine here pulled back get covers and helped her into the bed. Pulling the covers over her he sat beside her and stroked her hair.

After a few long moments of silence Rennes let out a soft but heavy sigh. "There is something I should explain to you Sera. Something about myself." He paused and took in a steadying breath. "I was given to your family as a gift. I am little more than property, I have no property, no possessions, not even a family name. The only thing that I have is my loyalty to you."

Moving his hand from her hair to he cheek he smiled down at her. "You remember how I tried to explain my relations with the various women you've seen me with by comparing myself to a horse, I was being more literal than figurative. Since I was old enough I've been studded out like a prize stallion. I am the first man this kingdom had that was trained from birth to serve a single mission. My successes in this sole task have caught the attentions of many powerful people. But instead of just taking any child they wanted children of my lineage." As he spoke his expression grew distant with a hint of anger in it and his voice was laced With sadness.
 
The princess sat up in her bed, scooting back so that the thick down pillows behind her provided support. Candlelight made the shadows dance across both of their faces, making them seem harder edged than normal and emphasizing the disparity between the darkness and the light, a metaphor Seraphine thought for their stations in life. It had never really occurred to Seraphine that Rennes was concerned with his lack of title, or lands, or name to carry down through the generations, reminding the world that he had existed. If she no longer had the name Évreux, of House Évreux, who would remember her? As the heir to the throne, she'd retain her name and her husband would adopt hers. Thus it had ever been and ever would be. House Évreux would - must! - survive as God had decreed it by granting them royalty. Rennes though, Rennes would be lost forever like a soul in limbo.

As she was about to reply, Rennes' stilled her with a hand on her cheek and continued his outpouring of surprises. Rennes had children! At least one, surely, as a result of being put to stud like a prized stallion or other animal. Seraphine's face echoed and amplified his anger rather than his sadness. Rennes may be a servant sworn to her for life, may not have a single drop of noble blood in his veins, but he wasn't an animal. And no one had the right to force him to father children to continue the same lonely journey through life he experienced. For the first time the princess realized what it meant to be Rennes, to have devoted himself to her and her father's desire from the moment she first drew breath.

Face set in a stubborn look Rennes recognized as Seraphine having set her will to something, the princess just nodded at him and grabbed the hand on her cheek between both of her own and held them tightly clasped to her breast. "Send word to the ships we will delay our departure. And bring me my robe and slippers at once," she demanded and pushed the bed clothes back. "Summon Master Simon as well." That was the keeper of the palace's library, almost two hundred books and twice as many scrolls and parchments.
 
Rennes was brought back to the present by Seraphine's touch. The way she took his hand between her own and held it her breast tightly. He could see the all to familiar stubbornness set in her features. He could only guess what she was thinking and had at her mind to.

Listening to her list of demands he tried to conceive an idea of what she was wanting to do. Rising from her bed he walked to the vanity and grabbed a silver handled hairbrush and a violet ribbon. Walking back to the bed Rennes sat and shifted so he was sitting behind her with a leg on either side of her. Taking care not to jerk her hair to hard he began brushing her long, luxurious locks.

"I don't know what you have planned Sera dear but it can wait. It is late and this voyage is highly important so we should not delay it." He spoke calmly and never stopped brushing her hair. "So how about this, whatever it is you are planning for me we wait until we return." Finishing with brushing her hair he sat the brush aside the beside table.

"Any how we have a very busy day ahead of us tomorrow." Rennes began to braid Seraphine's hair, a skill he developed early in her life. "Is that fine with you?" He asked finishing the braid and trying the ribbon to the trail of it.

Laying back onto her plush bed he took hold of her arms and pulled her down with him so she was laying atop his bare chest. Wrapping his arms around her loosely he stared at the dancing shadows on the ceiling. Content in the moment of holding the person he loves but could never be with.
 
Rennes tactics were transparent but that made them no less effective. Seraphine loved having her hair played with, well by him anyway. He was so different in his touch and in the feel of how closely he would stand to her while doing it. Maids simply got the job done, trying not to touch too much of the royal skin and be coolly impersonal if they had to. If allowed, and the princess did allow for the information it brought, they tended to gossip amongst themselves. Father always said to be mindful that servants had ears and minds for all they were low born, and Seraphine had learned that they also had busy little mouths and petty little jealousies just like her more noble ladies-in-waiting who attended her as well. A great deal could be gleaned as to the workings of the palace, and by extension the realm, by listening. Aware she was doing it, and aware it was going to work, Seraphine permitted Rennes to lull her into submission via her living crown and then by the comfort of his body and arms. They both lay there, awake and aware of the other, as the candle burned lower.

"It is not fine," she eventually stated, but without moving from Rennes' embrace. "A day's delay shan't amount to much on a trip of many months and ships' schedules are always in flux. Your business in the city on Our behalf, less like a willow able to bend perhaps and so we shall attend to it. But this and no further, Rennes. We will," not I, but her royal We, "will have word sent to the ships that it pleases Us to delay the voyage. Make up any lie you like; woman's flux or being fitted for gowns or hunting larks to gather a hundred tongues to pickle. And when We return from the city, Master Simon shall be waiting on Us and Our pleasure in the library."

Nodding, her head and hair slipping silkily across his warm skin, Seraphine let out a long breath and almost immediately stilled into sleep. Rennes felt the exact moment that control was given over to slumber as her fingers twitched, and again, and the body of the princess lost its nervously held tension of the day and became limp, trusting like a child to him to watch over her in her dreams.
 
Rennes knew his tactics were easily seen through, and he didn't try to hid the fact that he was distracting her. The results were satisfactory enough though. Whatever her plans they had been postponed for the now. "I can agree with those terms Sera. Thank you for being so compliant with mine." He said gracefully accepting his half defeat. He would handle her commands in the morrow. For now he was going to enjoy the closeness he was sharing with His princess.

Rennes laid awake for several hours after Seraphine drifted into sleep. He spent his time memorizing the way her body fit against his, the scent that undeniably her, the sound of her steady breathing. All of it filled Rennes head with such a strong feeling of undefined, unprocessed, unfiltered love for the woman in his arms. Finally drifting into a light sleep himself a smile graced his face for the entirety of the night.

Waking before Seraphine he smiled down at the top of her sleeping head. Kissing the crown of her head he slowly and delicately slid from underneath her and out of the bed. Leaving the room he stood in the hall catching the attention of the first servant that crossed his path. Sending them off with Seraphine's orders and explicit orders to make no stops and to speak to no one along the way. Stopping a second servant he gave them his own set of orders.

Going back to the room he checked on the still slumbering beauty and smiled at her. Going to his chest he dressed himself in simple wool clothes giving himself the look of a commoner. It was only a few minutes later that a light knock sounded on the door. Answering Rennes took the bundle of dresses that were delivered. Many of them were far to elegant to be the cloths of a commoner. Finally settling on a dress that would highlight all of Seraphine's best features without giving away her station.

Waking Seraphine he explained that they would be going into the city in disguise to get the supplies and to have a day of exploring outside of the castle. Helping her dress per usual he used a different passage than before to spirit her out of the castle and into the surrounding city.

The streets were bustling with life and activity. Merchants hawking their wares, citizens hustling to and fro, and a steady rumble of sound that could only be found in cities of this size. "Stay by my side and try not to wander off." Rennes instructed before reaching out and lacing his fingers with hers. "In fact. Don't let go of my hand unless I give you permission." He ordered. "If you see something interesting that you wish to look at just pull me along with you, but never let go of my hand."

As they went through the streets he allowed Seraphine to pull him into various shops and booths to examine the goods offered. He also haggled with several of the shops to get supplies he deemed needed. Before leaving each on he presented them with a letter of tender guaranteeing full compensation of their goods and pick up of said goods with the royal seal on them. There was no point in trying to carry everything, it would be simply impossible.

Moving from the crowded markets to the considerably less populated back streets. While going down on of the alleys they even encountered a cut purse that Rennes quickly dispatched and left rethinking his life style. All of this was done for the benefit of Serphine. He needed to broaden her view of the world outside the gilded halls of her castle.

"What do you say about stopping in a tavern for a drink?" He asked already leading her towards an old building with a sign that had a woman in a scandalous dress dancing on it. Inside the common room was filled with the sounds of drinking and merry making. A small stage on the opposite wall of the bar held a band playing an upbeat song. The woman singing was wearing a dress that did nearly nothing to cover her modesty and was singing a song about woman who was juggling the affections of several men and describing in lewd detail the happenings of her nightly visits to them.

As they made there way to the bar, sliding past bodies and around tables Rennes saw an older man well into his cups reach out and give Seraphine's rear a full palmed squeeze with a near toothless grin. Rennes let it slide this time. It would be healthy for Seraphine to get used to dealing with the common folk and there social shortcomings.

Reaching the bar he stood instead of taking a seat and ordered two ales. Sliding one mug to Seraphine he lifted his own. "To new and exciting experiences." He said taking a deep swig of the amber liquid. A roguish grin spread across his face as he subtly reached behind Sera and gave her rear a firm goosing of his own.
 
The clothes Rennes gave her were not new, were not in fact even clean. It was, she discovered after a closer investigation, something of an act. A disguise for the disguise, she thought and smiled at her little joke. The clothes weren't clean, were stained and soiled but they weren't filthy. Certainly there were no nits lurking in the seams, or fleas. A long simple blouse with a square bodice and long sleeves that tied at the wrist. One of the ties had been torn and was done up in a ragged knot rather than a bow. The blouse tucked into a full skirt that rode low on her hips, or was supposed to, Seraphine being somewhat less full in that area than the peasant it had been made for. A lace up corset of heavy canvas and some rather pathetic embroidery picked out on it in what looked like burlap fibers kept the skirt in place well enough. The hem of the skirts were very dark from where they had dragged in the muck and the mire over its life and were worn unevenly ragged. Atop her head, hiding her gloriously healthy hair, Seraphine wore a folded and peaked scarf. The only oddity was that she wore shoes, leather coverings mainly with no proper sole, on her feet instead of going bare. Rennes knew that the feet of a princess would not stand more than a few steps barefoot on the streets and alleys of the city.

The city was a marvel. There were people everywhere! People who didn't look down and bow or curtsey when she passed. People who jostled into her and laughed and yelled and carried on with their lives all about her never once guessing they were in the presence of and graced by their one day sovereign. A man even tried to sell her some eels! Seraphine wanted to buy them just for the novelty of actually shopping but Rennes dragged her on. She watched carefully everything he did, trying to figure out why he insulted this man when he haggled and praised this other one but ended up with good prices - or so she assumed, how much did a case of hardtack cost anyway - no matter what tactic he used. Men stared at her, making her flush and draw behind Rennes, and girls were quite bold and slatternly in their looks and calls to him, making Seraphine flush but in a different way. It was a wondrous time and she was still floating with the novelty and excitement when Rennes took her into a tavern.

Then someone touched her bottom!

Shocked, Seraphine let out a gasp and turned to slap him. With Rennes holding her left hand, he preferred his own left for sword work and so used his right to keep up with the princess, she couldn't turn around without dragging her arm up and across her body, folding herself into Rennes and almost clouting him on the ear instead of the lecherous old man who'd fondled her. Thinking her dance of confusion was greatly funny, he and his ilk hooted at Seraphine. Angry, she almost demanded Rennes thrash them or call for her father's guards but a peasant girl couldn't do that could she?

What had she heard on the street, the whore yelling after a customer who'd short-changed her? Oh yes.

"The devil take the spring out of your staff, you old fool!" she called out. "And pox you to boot!"

Immensely pleased with herself, Seraphine turned away and looked up to Rennes for approval. Her scarf was astray, errant bits of hair had escaped to lie about her face, and she was flushed with excitement. She accepted the mug and without thought lifted to her lips and drank.

The old man and his friends had another laugh as the girl spluttered and then spit the ale out across the counter, spurred on by the taste and by Rennes' impromptu goosing from her bodyguard. It was dreadful! It tasted bitter and acrid and flat and like, like, like pine needles! And he'd, he'd, he'd been smart with her right in front of everyone.

This time the slap connected and it was a sharp sound as it rang off Rennes' cheek. Seraphine glared at him.

"Best you tame that filly," a voice called out. "Ride her wet and put her away the same," another offered. "Birch her arse!" suggested a third, "or have her skirts up and let us do it!"
 
Rennes had to stop Seraphine from hauling off and slapping the old lecher almost taking the slap himself in the process. The insult she threw his way instead made Rennes bark with laughter. He was going to have to keep an eye on her out soon her tongue would be as sharp as her wit.

Grinning behind his mug when Seraphine sputtered and sit out her allhe he lowered his mug to ask if she was alright but was cut off by the slap that connected squarely with his cheek. The sound echoed through the room.

Looking at her with a peculiar glint in his eyes and a wolfish smile splitting his face he sat his mug down. The calls from the old men each had their merits but he decided to tuck them away for later use.

Instead Rennes spoke in a husky voice. "You know just how I like it." Reaching around her with his left hand he grabbed her rear in his massive hand managing to get hold of both cheeks. Squeezing firmly enough for his middle two fingers to press between the soft cheeks slightly he lifted her to her tip toes causing her body to press into his. His right arm wound behind her back and he cupped her head pushing her face to his where he took her soft lips in a hungry kiss.

Lifting her by her bottom, which resulted in his fingers pressing deeper between the pert cheeks, he sat her on the stool behind her. Pressing his body between her thighs he Brook the kids and moved his face to her neck. To the whooping and cheering on lookers it appeared he was assaulting her neck in more kisses. In reality he was whispering to her.

"Just go along with it. Now everyone in here believes your my woman and from the looks they have me none will be foolish enough to touch you again." He instructed, punctuating his words with a kiss on her neck just below her jaw that the crowd already assumed he was giving her.

Pulling his face away he kept his position between her legs and looked at the tavern master. "Can I get my woman some wine, the ale is a bit too much for the lady." He requested racing or to take his mug and polishing it off in a single mighty draft.
 
Her hands came up to push back at Rennes and they beat upon his chest with no more effect than the wind blowing upon the gates of the castle. Muffled cries of indignation sounded around her lips, crushed against Rennes so fiercely she knew they'd be puffy on the morrow. "You utter ba-" she started to yell when he broke the kiss, but his lips on her neck, and his whispered words, shut Seraphine up as effectively as if he'd held his hand over her mouth. Still angry she continued to twist, then let out a squeak when her motion pushed Rennes' fingers between the crack of her bottom. Even through her skirts she felt his broad digits part her cheeks and rest, however briefly, on her rosebud and she bucked against it, alarmed and feeling her tummy clench again as that day on the river. About to protest, she instead let out a completely uncontrolled moan, her chin pointed at the rafters and the long, regal line of her neck visible to everyone in the tavern. Rennes' hands directed her, his kisses lifted her, and when he finally stopped Seraphine realized her arms were around his neck, her kerchief completely askew so that her silky tresses spilled out, and her pale skin flushed. She looked, she must imagine, a complete trollop in the arms of her man.

The princess buried her face in Rennes' chest, ashamed and needing comfort but also needing the smell of him, the feel of his approval in his arms and in the way he'd kissed her. Held her. At that moment she'd have handed over the kingdom to be what she pretended.

When the wine came, she gulped it rather than sipped, and only after the second glass would she emerge shamefaced but beaming from Rennes' embrace. He'd treated her as he would any girl, not his princess, and the feeling was completely unexpected and almost too powerful to bear. Silent, with eyes only for him in a way that he knew and she didn't understand, Seraphine let everything else slip out of her mind.

How many children had he fathered?

What would their child look like?

Seraphine's womb contracted at the thought and she gasped suddenly, then covered it with a cough as if taking wine too quickly.
 
He was glad she listened to him and didn't continue to protest, out loud least. The way she continued to struggle through caused him to grip her more firmly. The combination of their actions drive his fingers deeper between her cheeks. It was for only the briefest of moments that his fingers meet a soft, warm resistance. The sudden buck of her hips informed him just where his lucky fingers had just ventured. The moan that followed was undeniable proof for him, and it took every single ounce of self restraint not go prodding again to earn another of her heavenly moans.

Unfortunately for Rennes his self restraint was completely concentrated on keeping his hands from further action. With her slender neck exposed he instantly lost the battle to control his lips. They quickly found their way to the silken skin laid out for them. Hot kisses rained against Seraphine's neck intermittent with Rennes teeth drawing over the hot skin in delicate love bites that would only leave the lightest marks on her that would fade within a few minutes.

Snapping back to reality he realized in mix of shame, disappointment, and arousal more intense than he ever felt before, just what he was doing to his princess. Keeping his arm around her he joined her in her cups in a vain attempt to wash away the feelings with alcohol.

He kept an arm around her holding her like he had never before held a woman. All the others in his past came to him in his bed and he did the deed with complete lack passion. It was business as usual with them. Sure it felt good but only on a physical level. There was never a connection, a sense bonding. ITT was the precise opposite of what he felt with his Seraphine in his arms.

Seeing the way she looked at him with eyes for him only he touched his forehead to hers smiling softly at the thought of being hers alone in all ways, and vice versa. The soft gasp she covered with a cough didn't escape his ears. Reaching up with his left hand he curled a powerful finger under her chin and laid his lips on hers in a soft, loving kiss. "What do you say we get out of here before either of us makes a choice you would regret?" He asked more or odd politeness than anything.

With his arm still around her waist he lifted her from the stool to the floor and without letting go walked out of the tavern with his woman on his side. "Where to no darling?" He asked still keeping with the illusion of them being a couple, more for the swell of pleasure It have him than the cover it provided for the princess to be out in public.
 
A choice she would regret, but not him? Did that mean that Rennes...wanted her? Really wanted her and not just as an act or a way to teach her about what she must one day know as her womanly duty to her husband. Her lips still burned with his kiss as Rennes led Seraphine outside. She gave an indeterminate wave of her arm down the street, unable to reply with a voice that would treacherously break. Rennes obliged and they walked down the street, the gentle slope of it leading inevitably towards the river that wound through the heart of the city. It was a great, dirty thing that carried waste and a continent's worth of silt and debris, but it did keep the city alive. Another river, kept clean and pure by distance and ruthless royal edict, fed the city's thirst by coming in on great arched aqueducts to spill out into fountains both ornamental and purely functional throughout the city. They passed one and Seraphine stilled Rennes with a touch on his arm and sat on the edge of it. This one was functional, a simple square of brown stones, the edges worn smooth by centuries of hands and feet and water spilled. It was cool on her bottom through the dress.

"I'm not sorry I slapped you," she finally said, looking up at the still standing Rennes with defiance in her eyes. "I hope it hurt you more than it did my hand." That at least brought a little levity between them, enough for her to feel the tension thaw just a bit.

In a move she told herself was simply staying in the character of a base born girl with the luckiest catch of her life, Seraphine stood on the edge of the well and leaned over, her arms around Rennes' neck, and watched the play of the city over his shoulder. She felt so tall doing it, but even so the princess never felt as strong as him, or as confident. Not here in his world.

A boy ran by, wearing but a ragged too long shirt as his only clothing, his skinny youthful legs dirty and bare beneath the hem that fell almost to his knees. He had something in his hand, something he clasped fiercely, and was clearly frightened. As he looked back over his shoulder he ran into a wide hipped goodwife and fell sprawling. Not seconds late two men, members of the city watch, were on him and had the boy hauled up by his arms. What he'd held was dropped as one guard cruelly twisted his arm and it fell to the ground.

It was a handful of grapes. Not even a full bunch, but the end of one that held perhaps a dozen bright purple orbs. One burst as it hit the ground and oozed its juice into the cobbles. The city watchmen began to drag the boy away as he screamed and kicked.

"Poor little lad," the goodwife shook her head to the woman she was walking with. "It's dancing the devil's jig for him."

"Thievery has to be punished," her friend said, though she too sounded regretful. "Can't have it spreading, even if he is just a boy. Seen him about?"

The goodwife nodded. "Aye. Mother was a slattern what died of the poxy flux come last spring. He's the oldest of the three she had and the only one still left. Well, soon off to his mama I suppose."

Seraphine knew the law, she'd been tutored in it. The penalty for stealing was death. It hadn't always been so, but with the kingdom growing and the city absolutely full of people now it had to be draconian punishment to keep order. But he was just a boy. An orphan.

"Stop!" she yelled out suddenly, voice likely giving Rennes an earache. She hopped down and started towards the city watchmen. "I said stop!"
 
Leading her the hand down the road she pointed at he wakes silently thinking about just happened between them. He needed get act together but his body ached to touch hers. stopping at fountain he stood in her while she took a seat.

Rennes smiled at her with a light-hearted chuckle. "I deserved the slap, but what I said was truth, and I don't regret what I did to earn it either." He admitted feeling the mod between then lighten. "It was a good slap to. Though I don't know who it hurt more."

When Seraphine stood on the fountain wall Rennes instinctively reached out and held her waist for support. When she wrapped her arms around his neck he rested his head against her breast, the sound of her heartbeat drumming in his ear. Sliding his arms around her waist he held her in the embrace content with the world in the arms of his Seraphine.

Hearing the commotion going on behind him Rennes kept his tender hope on Seraphine. The watchmen would handle the situation, it was their job after all. When the sounds of a struggling child joined the commotion Rennes lifted his head from Seraphine's breast and turned to investigate. He frowned, which on him was a rather fierce looking expression. The boy was no older than ten but his slight frame made him look younger.

Rennes knew the laws and as much as he didn't care for the harshness of them they needed to be adhered to. He was about to turn away when Seraphine yelled out. Sighing knew she was going to blow their cover if he didn't do something.

Catching her by the arm he stopped her and turned her around stealing a quick kiss as he did. "I'll handle this, don't move." He said in hushed tones.

Walking to the watchmen with the presence of an alpha predator he glared hard the two. "Let the boy down." He said his time hard as forged steel. "Under whose authority?" The younger of the to spat with a sneer.

Turning his foster fully onto the man causing him to flinch. "Mine. I am Rennes, personal bodyguard of Princess Seraphine, Keeper of the Swans and daughter of House Évreux, sole heir to the Kingdom of France and Beloved of the Blessed Virgin." He stated in a cold flat tone. Both men looked at him then each other.

The older of the two began to speak. "I beg your pardon Sir but this child is a thief and the laws..." "I know the laws and if you wish to make it to the end of this conversation with all of your bones intact you will listen will to what I am saying. Release the boy into my custody and I will handle the situation."

Again the guards looked at one another. This time the younger of the two decided to try his luck. Puffing up he stepped towards Rennes glaring. "Now look here. I don't know if your claim is true or not, and even if it is, which I doubt I have a job to do and no one is going to stop me. Are we clear peasant?" His voice was filled with unchecked malice and the lady words dropped with venom. Instead of answering Rennes closed the distance between then in a quick couple of steps and his left hand shot out like a viper catching the watchman's face. Witha powerful squeeze the man whimpered and a distinct cracking and piping sound came from his mouth. Rennes had broken several of the man's teeth from his gums.

"Before I break your jaw I will give you one last chance. Surrender boy into my custody." the older man by this point had already let go of the child recognizing Rennes face. The younger whimpered and nodded the best he could. With a mighty shove Rennes sent the watchman spralling onto the cobbles. He turned and spot a mouthful of blood and teeth onto the road.

Walking to the boy Rennes looked down at him sternly. "Go to the monastery and speak with Abbott André, tell him that Rennes sent you and he will take care of you. Understand?" The boy just nodded weakly. "Good note go, and NO more stealing, your mother would be disappointed in you if she was still around." The child nodes again this time more emphatically before turning and rubbing off towards the direction of the monastery.
 
Every fiber of her will was required to stay at the fountain. She wanted to be at Rennes' side, though the sensible thing indeed was to do as he said. Seraphine would only be in the way if it came to violence, as it so often did with men. Logic made little inroad against instinct which said she should be by the strong man, her man for was he not sworn to her service? Twice her feet twitched, wanting to propel her forward, but feet were no match for the will of a member of the royalty or for someone whom trusted Rennes implicitly.

The sound his fist made when it struck the obstinate guard in the mouth was similar to one she'd heard this afternoon. A butcher with a cleaver on a long wooden arm had brought it down on the joint of a pig's shank, crunching through meat and sinew and bone. It was the meaty smack of fist on skin that made her wince in sympathy, but it was the skittering almost porcelain tinkle of the bloody tooth across the cobbles that would remain in her mind. It came to rest not far from the fountain, white streaked with crimson she saw before an onlooker's boot crunched it beneath its heel.

"--dyguard to the Princess? What, Princess Seraphine?" said a voice in the gathering crowd.

"Not doing is job now, is he?" another one answered. "Saw him and some raggedy girl kissing at the fountain just now."

"Her?" the first voice, a man's, said.

"That's right. She's the one. Probably thinks since she's letting Rennes storm her gates that she's the Princess!" Bawdy laughter from the crowd followed and Seraphine flushed, more angry than ashamed. "Wait, let's get her her royal swans." Someone else held up an upside down chicken, feet tressed and wings flapping madly which earned further hooting and laughter from the crowd. The humor of the low born was earthy and quick to turn on one another. Not so different in the latter from that of the court, Seraphine thought. "Come on, Princess, give us your favor," a woman yelled and dropped a curtsy so deep she almost fell.

Instead Seraphine, always a quick study, gave a forked finger gesture she'd seen earlier that seemed to mean something extremely rude and, for good measure, stuck out her tongue. A great cheer sounded for the exchange, but soon enough people on legitimate business and drovers with heavy wagons broke them up, leaving Rennes and Seraphine moved along anonymously once more. "What will come of the lad?" she asked. "And how do you know the Abbott, Rennes? I've seen you at Mass and know only my presence and not God's grace or your need for forgiveness brought you there. Tell me," she urged, skipping sideways to watch him and touch his arm as they walked.
 
Returning to Seraphine's side Rennes ignored the jeering and heckling of the commoners. In fact he was pleased their jokes. The royal family as distant as they were from the common ilk all had will known faces, and Seraphine was standing in the middle of a crowd and hadn't been recognized yet. It helped when she gestured vulgarly the crowds.

Taking her hand in his Rennes lead her from the dispersing mass. "You handled yourself well Darling." He said not taking the affectionate name he used. "Most in your position would lose their heads having the common folk talking to them like that. I'm proud of you."

Rennes visibly cringed when she asked what would happen to the last and how knew the Abbott. "The last will get the beating of his life, a hot meal, and set to chores. The Abbott will watch over him until he can place the boy into someone's employ and he will live in the monastery until her funds somewhere else of decides to stay as a member. As for how I know the crotchety old codger he was one of my tutors in my youth before you were born. André is frightfully smart, and very understanding, and generous to a fault but he doesn't tolerate misbehavior of any degree. Good man that one. I'm not looking forward to seeing him now that I've sent him a new charge. I'll probably get my ears boxed just because he thinks I need it."
 
The thought of anyone laying hands on Rennes was so absurd she snorted then broke into gay laughter. When she pictured Rennes as a small child, scowling at some authority figure like he scowled at her sometimes when she was being extra stubborn, only made the princess laugh harder until she was forced to stop and lean on a wall to catch her breath. Every time she looked over at Rennes she saw the same scene and the stress of the last few days and the sexual tension all came out as giggles until she had to slump down beside the wall and rest her arms across her knees to fully recover. When she was done, Seraphine looked calmer than she had in a week and pushed herself off the ground without help and dusted her hands off like a real peasant girl instead of holding them out for someone to wash. "Well, now we know where you get your spear straight sense of duty from," she teased and giggled, stopping it only when a hiccup interrupted her. They persisted for several more blocks until at last the annoying but painless spasms passed.

"Rennes? Might we go see him anyway? I promise I shan't let him box your ears but I do want to look in on the boy. It's...obligation," she explained. "And just for once I'd like to have my confession heard by someone who doesn't take it all to Court so I can hear it in whispers and pointed looks as they talk about me. Please," she entreated, hand on his arm squeezing lightly. "We can give the rest of our money to him for the Church, for his Abbey. And for the boy. Maybe one day he'll remember this small bit of kindness and repay it to the Crown somehow. A guardsmen, but a good one not like those brutes. Or an Abbott himself, keeping prayers and doing God's work." Caught up in her own fantasy of a mere street child reaching any of those goals, much less living to adult hood, Seraphine hoped Rennes would agree. She couldn't find the abbey alone and if Rennes said no she'd sworn to abide by his commands while they were out and about in the city.
 
The thought of anyone laying hands on Rennes was so absurd she snorted then broke into gay laughter. When she pictured Rennes as a small child, scowling at some authority figure like he scowled at her sometimes when she was being extra stubborn, only made the princess laugh harder until she was forced to stop and lean on a wall to catch her breath. Every time she looked over at Rennes she saw the same scene and the stress of the last few days and the sexual tension all came out as giggles until she had to slump down beside the wall and rest her arms across her knees to fully recover. When she was done, Seraphine looked calmer than she had in a week and pushed herself off the ground without help and dusted her hands off like a real peasant girl instead of holding them out for someone to wash. "Well, now we know where you get your spear straight sense of duty from," she teased and giggled, stopping it only when a hiccup interrupted her. They persisted for several more blocks until at last the annoying but painless spasms passed.

"Rennes? Might we go see him anyway? I promise I shan't let him box your ears but I do want to look in on the boy. It's...obligation," she explained. "And just for once I'd like to have my confession heard by someone who doesn't take it all to Court so I can hear it in whispers and pointed looks as they talk about me. Please," she entreated, hand on his arm squeezing lightly. "We can give the rest of our money to him for the Church, for his Abbey. And for the boy. Maybe one day he'll remember this small bit of kindness and repay it to the Crown somehow. A guardsmen, but a good one not like those brutes. Or an Abbott himself, keeping prayers and doing God's work." Caught up in her own fantasy of a mere street child reaching any of those goals, much less living to adult hood, Seraphine hoped Rennes would agree. She couldn't find the abbey alone and if Rennes said no she'd sworn to abide by his commands while they were out and about in the city.
 
Rennes watched with a cocked eyebrow as Seraphine snorted and began to laugh. When she stopped walking due to her laughter he began to silently question her sanity. When the laughter finally subsided and she said again he just smiled at her. "Feel better?" He asked as she rose to her feet.

"He was a part of it yes, but sole credit doesn't go to him, I had many instructors that helped shape me into the man I am." It was Rennes's turn to laugh when Seraphine began to hiccup. As they walked Rennes stayed quiet simply enjoy the time spent with Seraphine by his side outside of all the formalities of the palace. He came to a dead stop though when she asked if they could visit the Abbott. A large part Rennes wanted to immediately say no and steer clear of the Abbey but her reasoning and the fact that he would do anything to make her happy won over. With a heavy sigh he nodded in defeat.

"Fine but you will owe me." He said with a smile. Taking her hand into his he turned them down an alley and made their way to the Abbey. It took them nearly half an hour to reach the magnificent building and Rennes stood outside the door for a moment to collect himself. "Let us get this over and done with." He said pushing open the large ornate door and leading Seraphine inside.

The inside was even more majestic than the out and soft candle light filled the room as did the scents of incense burning. The place seemed empty with the exception of a silver haired man who was making his way past the pews towards them. When he reached them several things were immediately noticed. First were the shocking blue eyes that held no sign of the age the rest of his body did, the second was the scar that began on his left brie and ran straight neck over the top of his head giving his neatly groomed hair a permanent part. Smiling warmly at the two the man was only a bit taller than Seraphine. "Welcome my children." He greeted politely.

Before either could reply those sharp eyes narrowed and his left hand shot out at Rennes's head. Instinctively Rennes made to dodge but was stopped by a sound hit on the opposite side of his head causing his ear to ring. "What in God's good name are ye thinking lad? Oh that's right ye don't think so ye? I suppose it's good ta know some things never change." "Now look here..." "Shut yer howler ye heathen bastard! Seriously lad do ye have mud fer brains? Dragging the lass out into the city and getting into fights. Ye still have no shame do ye lad?" The Abbott relentlessly tore into Rennes.

"André this is." Rennes was cut off again by another strike to the side of his head. "I know who she is ye looney bastard, I was there when she was born. What I want to know is why you brought the lass out into the streets and dressed like she is to boot?" "Well you see." "Didn't I tell ye to shut it!?" Rennes's mouth absurd shut with an audible click of his teeth.

Turning his attention to Seraphine André smoked warmly to her. "Best be believing I would be boxing your ears to lass if I want keen on living. What are ye doing trouncing about dressed as you are with this mindless heathen?" Stepping forward angrily Rennes grabbed the Abbott by the collar. "Look here you insufferable old bastard we.." Rennes words choked off in a strangled grown of pain. Abbott André was looking at him with a proud smile his weathered face. "It's nice to know ye finally grew a set lad. Ye never had the guts to speak like to me before." André said with a grin. His left hand was attached to Rennes's crotch and was gripping the poor man's junk in his fist. After a brief but intense stare down Andrew released Rennes. "Go lick yer wounds pup, the lass and I must speak." He said dismissing Rennes and taking Seraphine's hand.

Leading her away from Rennes he turned his face to look at her. "Ye grew up to be quite the beauty little lady. Sorry ye had to see that. It's not often Rennes get put in his place, I needed to remind him he is still only a man. Now what can I do for ye? I know he didn't come here on his own accord and ye be the only person that could convince the lad to drop by."
 
André had to be his vocation name, assumed when he took up the mantle of a priest. Many did change their names to honor an influence from Scripture on their lives and their calling to service. Though the name he chose was French his accent was pure uplands, or did they call it Highlands, Scot? Thick, so thick it could cut fog, it had been tempered somewhat by years of exposure to the vastly more civilized French language. Thankfully so, it made it easier, though still quite difficult, for Seraphine to understand.

Though it was an abbey and not a church, the feel of it was immediately familiar to Seraphine and brought her a sense of comfort and serenity. Holy places had always done that, even the small chapel on the far end of their summer palace that was barely used any longer and had no fancy trappings. After the sheer frantic energy of the streets it was a welcome change that Seraphine hadn't known she needed. Court was busy and intense, yes, but rarely so noisy and disorganized and unruly. A tension she hadn't known was present flowed out of her and eased the mind of the young princess.

When André admonished her she blushed and looked down just like a child would. A child who was not the sole heir to the Crown of France. It was not just his status as a sworn servant of God that made her feel chastened. André was the only man, the only person, she'd ever seen Rennes - well he wasn't afraid was he? Not her Rennes. The only man that Rennes was willing to let behind his mental armor and make an impact upon how he acted or felt. He deeply respected André, that was certain, but there was the fear and deference appropriate to a father-son relationship as well. And André had given a gruff, fatherly approval to Rennes that meant something she thought. André was also the only person who Rennes had ever allowed to lay hands on Seraphine without his intense, protective attention and readiness to sever that hand at the wrist if it so much as dirtied her sleeve.

"Père," she began, "we apologize for our intrusion upon this place of solemn contemplation of the mysteries and glory of God."

"That'd be the royal We I be thinking," André interrupted. "The only time Rennes apologizes is when he's got no other choice or it suits him to help flip a skirt. So I'll forgive ye for coming here. At least ye had enough sense to not sneak out and play the fool on your own. There's subjects of yours out there what would see you triced up and gutted like a spring lamb and don't ye forget it. That boy is less likely to run afoul of harm then you, lass."

Seraphine resorted to the tactics of the court. Even in her homespun clothing and dirty from the streets a change came over her as she straightened and tilted her head just so then lifted one eyebrow. "He was going to be executed," she reminded the monk.

"Aye," he responded, a slight smile on his face recognizing her ploy and dismissing it. "But for the six or seven years since he bleated his first cry the lad lived. Ye wouldn't make six or seven hours on your own. Navigatin' the waters of the court and its intrigues and plots is not the same as wonderin' where the next bit of porridge will come from. Your skinny because of breeding, not because there's nothing but hunger and desperate need keeping your belly and backbone from touching."

For a long time Seraphine sat silent, hands clasped in her lap, just looking at the monk. Off to the side Rennes suffered as only men could when taken there and Seraphine felt for him but knew better than to acknowledge it. Rennes, defeated? It just didn't happen. He never even liked playing dead when a very young Seraphine used to come at him with a stick pretending to be a knight.

"I understand, Père," she finally admitted. "It was a risk to come out here." She was with Rennes, Seraphine wanted to add, what could possibly happen? Arguing with the monk was just impossible though, because of his station and the wisdom, the paternal presence she felt not even from her father. ""It would please Us to send coin to your Abbey so that you may continue your good work and to ease the burden of adding another soul to care for to your flock. We will arrange it to be discrete."

Seraphine paused then let her queenly hauteur slide off and became just a girl again. "Père...I know the law. I know that it exists, given unto the people through the hand of the sovereign from God himself. People must be ruled, there must be order. But...order is not the same as justice. And justice is not the same as right. Jesus would not have condemned that boy to death. He would have taught us through His words how to properly love one another. And if, like His days upon the cross, if it had been deemed the boy must die then our Savior would have swung alongside the lad and begged Our Father for forgiveness for him."

A deep breath made her bosom rise and fall. "Père, one day I will be the Queen. The law, justice both high and low, will be mine to decree and see set in motion. How do I reconcile my duty to the Crown and to God with allowing a mere boy whose only sin was hunger to be killed in my name? I'll do it. I know I must. But how do I accept it?"
 
Andrè smiled at the beautiful young woman warmly. "I am glad ye recognize the risk you put yerself in. I know Rennes be with ye but despite all the evidence against the lad, he still be just a man when it comes down to it. Now I do be understanding as to why ye two did this. The pilgrimage ye be going on is going to open yer eyes to many things that ye have been protected from behind the walls of ye castle, he be trying to introduce ye to the world in small steps before yer plunged into it." Scoffing at her he shook his head. "There be no reason to be discrete. It would only do the people good to see that their future Queen has an interest in her people and is not only able, but willing to reach out and help them." He said with a smile.

Andrè's weathered face split into a smile when she fell back into being just herself. Listening to her intently he took a moment to think about his words. After a few moments of hard silence the Abbott spoke. "I don' know who feed ye that crock o' shite about God handing the sovereign the laws to govern the people. That was all man's doing lass. God set his laws in the hands of a man parented by enslaved people. That's as far from Royal blood as ye can get. As for people being ruled, I disagree with ye. The only thing people should be ruled by is the Lord himself. Now order, that is something that is needed and a strong willed person is usually required to help maintain this order, again though, it should be for the sake of God, not for the sake of a Kingdom lass."

Leading her to the far side of the grand chamber as he spoke he took a seat on a pew that was tucked away in a corner. Patting the empty spot beside him he waited for her to sit. They were out of earshot of Rennes this far away, but he could still be seen lounging in the pew he was left in watching with the eyes of a relaxing predator.

"Ye be correct, Justice doesn't mean it's right. The laws of man are as full of folly as the men who created them. But ye be in a very unique position Seraphine, when ye take the crown ye will be able to change the laws and how they be enforced. Use the position that ye was blessed with to make changes to the world we be livin' in. Ye don't have to accept the unjust way our laws punish the downtrodden. It is in your power to correct a few of the follies of man, even if it be in only a small way."

Shifting to angle his body so it was facing Seraphine he locked his eyes onto hers, seeming to look directly past her and into her soul. "Now that ye have those worries off yer chest, why don't ye tell me what is really weighing on yer heart lass? Think of it as confession if you must, but I swear on my undying soul that not a word you share with me will be spoken to anyone, not even God himself." He said holding a gnarled and scarred hand to his heart. "I know it has something to do with ye loving that foolish lad over yonder, and don't look surprised lass, I can see it on yer face clear as ye can see the scar on mine, and just as sure as me eyes are blue the lad is arse over teakettle in love with ye."
 
Years of poise and training kept Seraphine's head from snapping over to look at Rennes or from allowing a gasp to escape her mouth. The old monk however could read it as plain as if she was an illuminated text. What Seraphine herself did not know, could not understand yet, was that she did love Rennes. Loved him more than she might a lifetime companion, or even a close friend who'd helped her steer her way through life. No, Seraphine loved Rennes the way the Bible spoke of how a man and a maid should love one another. The realization made her belly clench and she felt light-headed as if the abbey was spinning for a moment. The touch of the old man's hand on hers brought the princess back to Earth. Back to herself.

"It would be a fool who disagreed with you, and whatever I may be I am no fool. Yes. I, I do love him. And he loves me, I know he does. But without lands, without titles and letters patent, we could never be wed. Even if God blessed our union, the state never would and it would fracture France."

Seraphine stood suddenly and began to walk a box pattern as she thought. Where normally her heels would have clattered on the stone floors, the soft leather shoes she wore made almost no noise beyond an occasional scuff of dust between them and the flagstone. At waist level Seraphine's hands knotted and unknotted as she thought the issue through. A sign of her concentration showed in how she tilted her head down and moved it slightly as if holding a conversation with others inside her head. For a full ten minutes the princess paced.

"We will simply have to get him a title and lands then," she announced to the two men. On her face the issue was settled, a simple fix that would require her will to be put into motion. "It need not be fancy. Yet. That will come in time. No duchy but at least a vicomte if not a comte. There's got to be an empty branch or holding under my father's governance that can be deeded."

"Yes," she said and nodded, then smiled at both men. "It's settled then. We'll have the investiture tomorrow before we leave and then- er, and then it's, well, time for that later."

"Thank you," she told the abbot and went over to clasp both of his hands in her own. "Thank you for making this so obvious to me," the princess said warmly, having no clue how her idea would be received by Rennes, her Father the King, or the court.
 
Andrè scoffed and actually turned his head and spat. "Da state be damned, and all da haughty self important bastards tha' be in it. Not a one of 'em heathen pricks are a tenth as good as ye are. All of .em be lying, cheating, stealing sons an' daughters of goats only lookin' out fer their own hides. All 'em fancy titles and deeds don't mean shite in da eye's o' God. Da pure love ye two 'ave fer one 'nother is all tha' should concern ye lass." In his sudden flair of anger his voice grew harder than bedrock and his accent came out much stronger, but the volume never rose.

Taking in a deep breath causing the nostrils of his crooked nose to flare he settled himself. "I be offerin' my apologies lass, that was very unbecomin' o' me." He apologized with a bow of his head. "It just boils me blood how far away from the right of things ever'one has strayed. Just like this God be damned war. Killin' in the name o' God is still killin' and over a piece o' land that is 'Holy'." He spoke the last word with clear disgust. "God made the whole blasted world, all of the land be Holy, if only people could see that we wouldn't need such useless bloodshed. But tha's neither here nor there."

Both men watched Seraphine rise to her feet and pace. Rennes tensed and was ready to move at a moments notice. Andrè sat calmly with a faint smile on his face, watching her mind work behind her lovely eyes. When she finally spoke Andrè burst out into a deep, melodious laughter that came from his belly. The sound echoed through the room and caused Rennes to lean forward in the pew a questioning look on his face.

"Lass this is Rennes we be talking about. Do ye really think he would accept such things?" He asked then shook his head and waved his own question away with a errant flip of his hand. "Never ye mind, the lad will do anything at all fer ye regardless of how much he would rather not. It may even do this country some good to have a man in nobility that doesn't have the same rotten core as many of our current nobles do. It's a fine idea lass, and don' let him talk ye out of it, no matter what he protests." He rose as she walked to him and allowed her to take his hands in hers. "Yer welcome lass." He said giving her hands a light squeeze, revealing in that simple motion that his gnarled hands held an untold strength in them.

Letting her hands go he surprised her by taking her shoulders and pulling her into an embrace. Under his robes his body was firm, and his arms powerful. With his face close to her ear he spoke in a whisper to her. "Thank ye fer lookin' after the lad and keepin' him human. If you ever need an'thin' don' hesitate to come to me." He said before letting her go. "No off with ye, ye got important business to take care of and a stubborn ass that needs tending to." He said glancing over at Rennes who was once again lounging back in the pew watching them intently.
 
The hours of their tasks passed with very little interaction between the bodyguard and his princess. Seraphine was uncharacteristically subdued, not even tugging at Rennes' hand to come see some mundane bit of the city life that her virgin experience saw as wondrously exciting. A thousand leagues away, she let Rennes guide her, though the way she held his hand held a different meaning, at least in her girlish thoughts and romantic heart. When she thought he wasn't looking, the princess looked at her bodyguard, studying the side of his face that she'd seen since birth and finding new and wonderful things about it. The shape of a slight whorl in the stubble on his face, how there was a scar at the edge of one ear that she swore wasn't there before, or just the way his eyes crinkled at the edges when he laughed with people while haggling over prices.

By the time Rennes' business was done and they were heading back, Seraphine realized how intolerably sore her feet were. They positively ached, like walking on little burning peppercorns strewn underfoot. Soon she was tender footing, a wince coming to her face every time. Always in shoes, always on level palace marble or garden flagstones or densely plush rugs of incredible value, the feet of a princess were not made as sturdy as the peasant girl she claimed to be. "Rennes," she said, finally tugging at his hand to make him stop. "I'm sorry. I can't walk any more. Oh, they hurt!" Using his arm as a crutch, Seraphine hobbled over to where drovers were unloading a wagon and sat on a cask of wine. "Here, you can't-" The drover's complaints were silenced by a steely look from the bodyguard who then rewarded the man's sudden silence a moment later with a small coin that flipped through the air and landed in the man's open palm.

With a series of winces, Seraphine pulled one foot then the other up and felt at them through the supple leather coverings on them. They were hot and swollen and she longed to soak them in the baths. If she complained too much Rennes would carry her, and she didn't want that. Well, in truth she did. If Rennes swept her into his arms and held her the est of their lives she'd be happy, but she couldn't let him. Not until the matter was settled. She was the princess and heir after all.

She was, wasn't she?

"Man," she called and snapped her fingers at the drover. "We will buy this wagon. Rennes, pay him and then help me up." Without looking at them, she continued to massage her feet.
 
Rennes had heard just about all of the conversation between Seraphine and Andrè in the Abbey, and he was not keen on letting her know that he had heard. That would mean several things for the man, and the least appealing one was that she was going to be giving him titles and lands. Something he had never had an interest in before. As they walked he pretended not to notice the sidelong looks she gave him. It wasn't for her sake either. He knew if he were to meet her gaze any of the times she looked at him in such a way it would take God himself intervening to stop Rennes from taking her right then and there.

Focusing on finishing his business and the feeling of her soft hand in his calloused one he managed to refrain from doing anything that would soil his Princess. The hardest thing Rennes had ever done. Rennes noticed her wincing as she walked and knew the reasoning behind it. He could have carried her but he didn't feel it was the best of ideas at the time. Not with what the Abbott had revealed to them both. Helping her to a wagon he eased her onto one of the wine casks. Giving the man a look that could have easily removed years from his life when he tried to protest he flipped him a coin to shut him up.

Sighing when she called out to the man and demanded that he sell them his wagon he knew their cover was all but blown. Turning to the man who started to speak Rennes just held up a hand. "It is best you don't ask questions. Take the coin and be on your way." He said dropping a purse into the mans hand. It held enough coin in to to pay for the wagon, horses, wine and several months of wages. The man gaped at Rennes who just help a finger up to his lips before turning away.

Scooping Seraphine up effortlessly he sat her on the wagon bench before getting up himself. The ride back to the castle was in silence as Rennes had no idea how to approach a conversation after the events of the day. Pulling the wagon to the stables he quickly bribed the stable master and his hands with the wagon of wine to not mention them being here. Once they were all in agreement Rennes lifted Seraphine from the bench and held her tight against his chest with no sign of letting her down.

Carrying her to the secret passage they used before he carted her silently through the castle to their chamber. Carrying her to his bed instead of her own as not to soil her bedding with the dirty dress she wore he sat her on the simple cot and knelt before her.

Silently he removed the shoes she wore and tucked them under his bed. Cupping the back of her right calf he lifted her leg up to examine the bottom of her slightly swollen foot. There were no blisters forming which was a good thing, but they were not far off if she had continued to walk. Gently lowering her leg he repeated the process with her left foot. "Stay put." He said sternly before standing and going to the door. Calling a servant to draw a bath and they will be on behind them shortly he returned to the room.

Walking past Seraphine he opened one of the grand armoire's and riffled through it until he found a silk sleeping gown, and a plush robe. Returning to his bed he sat the items beside the princess and then went to his chest and rummaged tough it until he found a small clay jar. Sitting the jar with the clothing he placed himself back in front of his princess. Making eye contact with her he silently leaned forward and reached behind her. Dexterous fingers made quick work of the buttons on the back of her dress.

Once they were handled he returned his arms to her front. Reaching down he grabbed the ragged hem of the skirt and slowly bundled it up to above her knees, the entire time his eyes never leaving her own and not a single word spoken. Once the skirt was around her knees he laid his rough hands on her thighs just above her knees. Sliding his hands up the outside of her thighs pushing the skirt further up her legs he slipped his hands under her legs just below her rear lifting her up slightly so the skirt could be pushed up to her hips. Lowering her slower than was necessary his hands still against her warm, smooth skin he ran his hands over her hips ever so slowly. Up her sides, the dress catching on his wrists and moving up with his hands. His fingers brushed over her skin with a lightness that was deceiving of the strength they held. His rough palms kissing her tender flesh with a delicacy that a lover could muster.

Higher they rose until his thumbs grazed the sides of her breasts. A small catch in his breath was the only sign he showed of his desire to do more than to just have a grazing touch of them. Once his hands were to her armpits he slowly took removed them from her body to gather the bunched up fabric and pull it over her head. The brief moment that her face was covered by the cloth was the only time his eyes broke contact but as soon as the obstruction was gone his eyes were waiting to catch hers again. Dropping the dirty thing beside the shoes he reached beside Seraphine and grabbed the robe. Wrapping it over her shoulders he pulled it closed around her, not worrying about her putting her arms through the sleeves. It would be removed as soon as they reached the bath.

Slipping his left arm around her he lifted her off the bed and allowed the robe to fall over her legs before catching them in his right arm cradling her once again. While still knelt down he fumbled slightly to grab the gown and jar before rising with her and carrying her to the bath.

Once in the steaming room he preformed some rather impressive shifting of his Princess to allow the robe to fall away without ever letting her feet touch the floor. Dropping the gown with the robe but keeping the jar in hand and stepping into the bath fully dressed with her still in his arms he carried her to one of the ledges and sat her into the waist deep water her body angled slightly to the side. Kneeling by the ledge he removed the leather that sealed the jar. Sitting the jar just in his reach on the side of the tub he reached under the warm surface and caught her heel in his hand. Lifting her foot from the water he held it as he reached out to the jar and stuck his fingers inside scooping out a thick ointment. For the first time since the room he pulled his eyes from hers and looked to the task at hand.

Placing the glob of ointment onto the ball of her foot he began to methodically massage it into swollen appendage. His motions were fluid and firm enough to relieve some of the ache, but not so firm as to hurt her. "You should have said something to me sooner Sera." He said quietly as he massaged the pain relieving ointment into the sole of her foot.
 
"I know," she answered. Normally the princess would have followed up with something about duty or how it wasn't that bad or anything at all, so long as it was accepting Rennes' admonishment, his guidance, but still both of them being fully conscious she was the Princess and sole heir to the Kingdom. That they were always together but apart. It was how she had been raised and didn't think about it, and some of that was Rennes' fault. He'd been her companion, her friend, her confidant but duty and his vow and the steel core of him meant he always, always kept a reserve between them even when she was crying herself to sleep over something girlishly silly and he held her in his arms like a lover or loving father. For her just so say 'I know' and not argue was very different.

Seraphine watched as he worked on her feet. The water almost touched the bottom of her breasts and the ends of her hair floated on the top of it, at times clinging to her trim waist and at others flowing freely about as if dancing serpents on the surface of a still highland loch.

"You heard us, didn't you?" she said as Rennes worked the ointment into her feet. They weren't so bad, just on the edge of being really blistered, but they hurt more than her feet ever had before. Rennes' touch was firm enough to make her flinch from time to time, but he always had her ankle in his other hand and held her still when she tried to pull back, relaxing the girl before continuing.

"Didn't you?" she asked again and his silence was all the answer Seraphine needed. "Why are you being so stubborn about this," the princess asked, even though they hadn't argued a word about it. Out loud. Between the two of them, between the energy of their bond, they both had made their cases and assaulted the others even before it officially came up between them. "It's not as if you're going to stop being Rennes. It's just that you'll be, oh, Rennes LaPointe, Vicomte LaPointe, Knight of the Order of the Lion, Regent and Guardian to Her Royal Princess. That's not so terrible, is it? It's everything you are now and just some... some words. Bits of ribbon to wear and jewels. You don't even have to take up the estate. We can have Abbott Andrè find someone to run it for a portion of the rents. You won't have to leave...leave me."
 
Rennes took her non argumentative answer with a bit of shock. It was very, very rare for her to not offer some kind of retort to his complaints. It had to be because of what Andrè had said in the Abbey. The words he had spoken to Seraphine, the words Rennes himself over heard, were the quick and simple truth of it all. Now that it was out in the open how would it impact them? Would it cause her to grow distant? With that thought there was a tightening in Rennes chest.

Switching from her left foot to her right Rennes kept his gaze on the task at hand. A brief pause was the only reaction to her question. Keeping his eyes adverted from hers he couldn't bring himself to answer, or even look her in the eye. Again he avoided answering her question and dropped his head a bit further. His heart was thundering in his chest and he knew he couldn't ignore her forever. Her next words caused him to stop everything. He was stock still as she spoke, the last words feeling like a burning brand searing his entire existence.

Lowering her foot to the water he rose to his feet now towering over her. His dark eyes locked intensely on hers once again. "I am not supposed to feel the way I feel about you Seraphine. I am a Thing, not a man. Or at least I am supposed to be. I was to never want for anything other than your safety but that is no longer the case. I love you Seraphine, as a friend, as a lifetime companion, as your mentor, as a man loves a woman. I have dedicated my entire life to you and in doing so I have found myself giving you the entirety of my love, and it goes against everything I have ever been. That is why I am being stubborn. I have to abandon what I am to be what I want and it frightens me. And no it isn't terrible to have all those useless titles and all the trimmings that come with it but you have to realize that to me none of them mean a thing and never will. There is only one title that I desire and that will ever mean anything to me. Yours. I don't want any other title in the world than the title of being Yours. So I will accept whatever I have to do to give me even the slightest chance of that Seraphine. And if for some reason I cannot be granted them I will still find a way to make you mine. The state, the courts, your parents, and God himself be damned if I allow another to have you."

Bending at the knees he lowered himself to her while reaching out and hooking a strong finger under her chin forcing her face to tilt up to his. Catching her lips in a fiery kiss that he poured all his pent up desire and love into. Slowly his hand fell from her chin and both took hold of her slender frame. Pulling her from the water he stood to his full height not for a second breaking his searing lips from hers. Winding a strong arm around her lower back he encouraged her to wrap her legs around his waist with the other wanted to feel her body tied to his own.
 
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