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December 22nd, 2000, 01:50 AM
#1
HB Forum Owner
The Dance
Parts I, II, III, and IV...
A short story for your reading pleasure...
Long, long ago in a far away land there lived a knight who was in service to the King. Now this knight was bold and brave and very handsome. All the ladies of the Court would swoon when he passed by.
One fine day in winter when the sun was reasonably warm and the sky showed no signs of snow, the knight thundered out across the drawbridge on his trusty steed to explore the surrounding forest. For the knight was starting to become bored with being locked inside the castle. He needed to feel the fresh air blowing in his face...plus his steed needed the exercise.
Now after riding for about half a dozen leagues the knight halted his steed and looked around for a place to eat his lunch of dark bread and cheese. Spying an opening in the forest where a babbling brook flowed. He dismounted in a quiet rattle of chainmail and lead his horse into the small lea.
Unpacking his lunch and a handful of oats for his steed from the saddlebags, the knight settled himself down under the sprawling branches of an ancient oak tree. After eating, with the gentle warm glow of the dappled sunlight through the leaves, the knight slipped into a peaceful light sleep...only to be awoken later by the merry laughter of a woman nearby.
Curiosity getting the better of the knight. He followed the sound of the laughter to its source...being the warrior that he is and not wanting to betray his presence, the knight knelt down and gently parted the undergrowth. There before him was a deep pool of azure water, the reflected sunlight dazzling his eyes. Hearing the laughter turning into a beautiful song the knight finally sees the woman...
Her back to the knight, she is standing waist deep in the water. Splashing the water over her arms and into the air letting it rain down upon her form. She sinks beneath the water and is submerged for a very long time. The knight begins to panic and bursts from his hiding spot to wade into the cool water...not thinking to remove his chainmail first...Before the brave knight drowns himself he hears the laughter once again of the woman from behind the weeping willows branches that drape into the water. Stopping suddenly and almost falling face first into the water the knight slowly turns to glare at the partially hidden woman.
"You could have drowned..." taking a deep breath, "I could have drowned. Do you realize what heavy chainmail and a deep pool does to a man??..Well...do you?". He demanded.
His answer was a giggle, "I did not ask you to come thrashing into the water like a madman my lord. I was perfectly safe from drowning and you should think about drying yourself before you start to rust".
Looking down to realize that he is standing waist deep in the cool water, a lopsided grin appears on the knights face as he turns and splashes his way to the pools edge.
"I think I may have to depart and ride back to the castle for a change of clothing and to get my squire to oil this chainmail", the knight laughs holding the cold chainmail from his shivering body.
"Nay Sir Knight divest yourself of your clothing and hang them from the nearby branches for they soon will dry under the kiss of the sun", the woman suggests, still hidden behind the willow branches, "I promise not to peek".
Seeing the merit of the idea, the knight walks behind a large shrub and starts to undress. The chainmail lands at his feet with a solid clink and the padded shirt sticks to his cold body as he peals it off. Removing the last of his sodden undergarments he stands there cupping his groin in his hands wondering why in Gods name is he standing there naked as the day he was born, cold and shivering and in front of a woman he does not know?
"Where have my wits fled too? I wish that I brought my cloak with me now", the knight mumbles to himself.
The Dance...Part II...
The Knight could hear the woman splashing behind the willow branches as he stood there shivering slightly in the shade of the bush he was standing behind. The sound had ceased only to be replaced with the sweet soft singing of the woman.
Shortly the woman appeared from behind the trees draped in a dark blue velvet robe, her damp hair hung pass her knees in a wavy mass of auburn curls. Around her neck she wore a golden torque but no other jewelry could be seen on her body.
Walking around the edge of the pool she stopped a little distance away from the knight. He was acutely aware of him own nudity now that he could see that the woman was dressed.
"Madam please...venture no further for the sake of your own modesty and mine." the knight asked while still cupping his loins in his hands.
"Never fear Sir. All I wish to do is to see if your clothing has sufficiently dried for you to don them once again." The woman said with a smile.
She walked over to where his padded undershirt was draped over a nearby bush and touched it. Quietly she hummed and a small cloud of steam rose out of the cloth. Humming as she touched each piece of wet clothing and turned once again towards the knight after gathering all his clothes across her arms.
"There now Sir Knight. You can dress again." She laid the clothes over a low branch of the tree nearest to him and walked back to the other side of the pool. "I shall turn my back again and not peek."
Amazed at how his clothes could have dried in such a small amount of time, the knight gratefully redressed himself into his now sweet smelling garments.
"Excuse me Lady but do you possess magic? My sweat soaked and rust stained clothes are now spotless and carry the scent of apples! How can my clothes dry so quickly?" Pondered the knight.
"Yes I do possess some small magic but it is often whimsical and does not always do what I wish it to do." she laughed, a soft silvery sound. "I'm afraid that I cannot do something for your chainmail as my magic does not work on any type of metal save for gold and silver."
He picked up the heavy smelly mass of his chainmail and shrugged his shoulders knowing that his squire would berate him for letting it get wet in the first place.
"Lady do you come from nearby parts? I have never seen you around here before and I have roamed this forest and its surrounds for many a season."
"Nay Sir, I am but new to this land. I thought it seemed too lovely a day to stay closed away indoors and felt the need to explore. I only found this pool today and thought it far enough away from prying eyes to let me swim in privacy, but it seems that I thought wrong." She glanced around at the now warmly dressed knight with a smile upon her face. "Art thou now decent for a woman such as I too look upon?"
"Aye Lady, that I am." he smiled back at her and performed his most courtly bow to her which drew a giggle of delight from the woman. Her laughter was infectious and soon the knight added his laughter to hers. "Lady I am glad that I found such pleasant company in this woods but I fear the day grows late and I must return to the castle. Do you wish for me to escort you to your home before I leave?"
With a graceful curtsie the woman replied, "I live close by and need not an escort by such a Knight as you but thank you for inquiring Sir. Safe journey home. Mayhap we shall meet again in the not too distant future..." With this she woman walked deeper into the forest and seemed to disappear in front of the knights searching eyes.
The Knight gave a final look to see if he could see if he could spot the woman but to no avail. With a happy whistle he turned and trudged back towards where he left his horse and cloak, his chainmail thrown over one shoulder and clinking against his back. The apple scent of his clothes warring with the rusty smell of the chainmail. He vowed to himself that he would find out more about this mysterious water nymph and that he would return here again the next chance he had time away from his duties to the king.
The Dance...Part III...
Many weeks passed before the knight had another day at his disposal. He vowed to himself that this day he would go back to that forest pool in an attempt to find the mysterious lady who not only caught his imagination but haunted his dreams every night. Just as he was about to mount up upon his steed, his squire ran to his side and informed him that the king required his presence immediately. Sorely vexed at this intrusion to his plans, the knight handed his horses reins over to his squire and went to search out the king.
If he was vexed before now he was fuming. The king was sending him on a messengers service. A job that he considered lowly for his rank and position. On behalf of His Majesty the knight was to ride to the neighbouring principality and cordially invite the ruling couple to a Masquerade Ball to be held on the next Waxing of the Moon. The Ball was in honour of the Kings 10th year of peaceful reign. It took him the better part of the day to perform this task and to add injury to insult, his horse threw a shoe on the road back to the castle. The normally amiable knight was in a sour mood by the time he thundered across the drawbridge. He delivered the affirmative answer to the king and excuse himself on the context that he still had tasks to perform before sunset.
Preparations for the Ball occupied the castles inhabitants but the knight still ran the novices through their sword practices and if their attention wandered he swatted them smartly with the flat of his sword. One novice in particular who was not giving the knight his full attention was sent to muck out the stables for a week as punishment and as a warning to the others the knight informed them that the next one who displeased him would miss out on attending the Ball and spend that night polishing all the rust off the knights chainmail in the until it shone. Needless to say the novices finished the sword practice without anymore ado.
On the night of the Masquerade the knight looked handsome in his freshly tailored doublet and hose. He open a small velvet lined wooden box that was delivered to his rooms earlier that day and within was a finely worked mask. Although he felt slightly ridiculous, the knight donned this hammered silver mask which artfully fitted the contours of his face as if it was a second skin. On arriving at the Great Hall he took a deep breath and entered the swirling mass of colours and noise. Many people from near and far accepted their invitations and the hall was overflowing into the gardens and courtyard.
The cooks outdid themselves with the many culinary delights. The trestle tables audibly groaned underneath the weight of all the food placed upon their surfaces. The Great Hall was decked out in masses of flowery blooms of every shape and colour. Festoon of flowers graced every wall and window embrasure. Even the huge tapestries had been cleaned of dust and cobwebs.
Feeling tired of all the noise and aimless banter of the people at his table the knight decided that a walk through the secluded Chapel garden would clear his head sufficiently to allow him to return to the Ball. Whilst casting half an ear to catch the faint music drifting out on the wind, he was musing to himself at the poor attempts of the many maidens to entice him to join them in a dance. He knew that he was considered by all the single women in court to be a very eligible catch in matrimony indeed.
"Greetings once again Sir Knight." a soft lilting voice came from a shadow cast rose bower at the back of the garden.
Suddenly brought back to his surroundings the Knight offered a slight bow, "Pray forgive me on intruding on your privacy Lady".
"Nay Sir Knight, it is I who has intruded upon you. I have been watching you all night and when I saw you slip away I followed you".
"Lady? You have me at a disadvantage. Please step from the shadows that I may know with whom I am conversing with".
With a tinkling laughter the woman revealed herself. She was dressing in a silver-shot blue gown that looked like it was spun out of moon beams and spiders web. Her long lustrous hair was caught up in an loose braid and around her neck shone her torque of gold. Her hammered silver mask looked as if it was made from the same mastercraftsman has his own.
"I know that laugh. Only one woman has such a charming laugh like yours my Lady...?". The knight walked to stand in front of the masked woman, leaving his question hanging in the air between them.
Purposely not heeding the question the woman smiled and offered the back her hand for the knight to press a kiss to. "I am flattered that you think so and remember it fondly. Pray Sir did your chainmail rust as you feared? I often thought of your poor squire spending hours repairing any damage done after your impromptu swim that day".
"Aye Lady, rust it did much to the disgust of my squire", the Knight ruefully laughed," But my Lady, I am much surprised that you are here tonight. I did not know that you were on the guest list and if I had known it would have given me great pleasure to be your escort tonight. Also you said that you had been watching me all night. Pray how can that be Lady? For one such as yourself could hardly be overlooked in such a crowded room", the knight inquired.
"'Tis this that lets me pass by unnoticed", she replied and pulled on the ribbon that held the mask to her face. "Remember that I have some small affinity with metal such as this and it was easily enough to cast a spell upon the silver and bend it to my will, so to speak. I am pleased that you wear its mate. I had crafted it from memory and hoped that it fitted properly".
"You are completely accurate my Lady. To be honest, the mask fits so well that I had forgotten that I was wearing it", the knight smiled and reached up to also remove his mask and tucked it under his belt, "I was nearly not going to wear it tonight but thought better of it", He offered his arm, "Shall you do me the honour of accompanying me on my walk?".
"With charming company like yourself, how could I resist?", the woman laughed as she slipped her arm through his offered one, "And where are we headed?".
"I thought that on a night like tonight it would be nice for a stroll along the battlements. The heavens are cloud free and the stars are shining brightly. If we time it right we could watch the Moon rising over the forest to the east of us".
The Knight pointed out things of interest in and around the castle as they made their way along the battlements. Just as he hoped the Moon was starting its ascent. They stood in quiet company near an empty sentry post, the knight shielding the woman from the stronger breeze up there with his body. Not thinking of his actions, the knight wrapped his arms around the waist of the woman and drew her closer to his body and with a natural reaction the woman relaxed into his warm embrace. They stood this way in the soft moonlight, the knight breathing in the floral scent of her hair and feeling the gentle curves of her body pressed against his.
The Dance...Part IV...
It also seemed quite natural for him to bend his head to press a tender kiss to the side of her neck and he was rewarded with a small purr of pleasure from the woman. Turning her towards him he questioned with his eyes and she nodded her acceptance. The knight took them up the back stairs to his rooms, he did not wish to run into any of the merry makers at the Masquerade Ball below in the Great Hall.
They reached his rooms without being noticed. Once inside and the door firmly locked the knight held the lady close to him in a tight embrace, as if to make sure she was here and it wasn't his imagination at play. She turned her face up to his and kissed him with as much passion as he. The hardness of his manhood pressing against her stomach and with wicked delight she pressed herself closer to him.
"Oh how I have dreamt of this night and of you", the knight groaned against her lips as he felt her hands start to explore his back. He wound his hand in her now unbraided hair and pulled her face away from his, "Tell me that you have been dreaming of it too!".
"Yes I have my dear. You have not left my thoughts at all since that day in the woods and the thought of you makes my body ache with need." Her hair slipped through his fingers as she walked over to the window. The sway of her hips made his heart beat faster. "I see that my body delights you so and if so, shall I undress for you?", she asked with a wicked little grin.
"Aye my sweet, aye...please do", the knight stuttered as he made his way over to the wide bed. he sat on the foot of the bed watching her stand there in a shaft of pale moonlight. Slowly dancing to music that only she could hear the woman deftly unlaced the ribbons of her dress, letting it slid off one shoulder than the next. Turning her back to him, she let the gown fall to her feet in a shimmering pool of fabric. The knight held his breath as the woman turned to face him. Unable to sit any longer the knight bounded to his feet and strode up to the woman standing there in the moon beams, he gathered her up in his arms and walked back over to place her in the middle of his bed.
He leaned over her and took in the sight of her lying there. A tendril of hair was curled around one of her breasts and he gentle removed it with a trembling hand but left in its place a kiss to her hardening nipple. Tracing kisses to her other breast he let the tip of his tongue slowly circle the nipple then he sucked upon it making her arch her body against his.
"I burn for you...take my body now. Torture me no longer with your sweet kisses my dear", the woman moaned as her hand slid up the inside of his leg to brush against his erection. The mere touch of her hand had nearly tipped him over the edge. In the haste to divest himself of his clothing he tore the seams of his doublet and with a laugh he threw the ruined clothes on the floor.
Lying above her he could feel his hardness press against the moist furrow between her legs. To show her impatience she wrapped her legs around his thighs and pulled him ever close to her thus doing so let him slid into the warm tightness of her body. Both shuddered and kept still so to enjoying the feeling but as their bodies demanded they started to move to that ancient dance that all couples have performed through out the ages.
Kissing each other with a frenzy and leaving small marks on each others the skin where the kisses became delightful bites. He grabbed both her hands and pinned them above her head. His thrusts into her becoming faster and harder. He could feel her tightening as she neared her own orgasm. He looked down at her face and enjoyed the look at wild passion upon it and this drove him closer to his own impending release.
"Now...Now..." the woman breathlessly shouted as the first wave of her orgasm washed over her and with a triumphant yell of his own the knight surrendered to his own body. Both laid there wrapped in each others sweat soaked body, each shudder, each tremor slowly subsiding. With a sigh he pulled himself from her body and laid on his back beside her. Sliding his arm under her neck and pulling her closer to him, he kissed her brow.
"Ah sweet Lady, I could gladly stay here for eternity." the knight whispered softly then chuckled, "I did not intend to seduce you. I cannot explain my actions...".
With an answering laugh of her own the woman replied "Dearest, if you had not seduced me, I would have seduced you. Since that day down at the pool and the sight of your naked body I have yearned for the chance to fulfil my desire".
"Did I fill your expectations?", he inquired.
"More than I ever imagined you would", she answered with a dreamy smile.
After a moment of silence he rolled to his side to face her. Cupping her chin with his free hand he turned her face up to his and pressed a tender kiss to her waiting lips, "I know that I have no claim over you but will you stay the night with me?", he asked with a slight uncertainty.
"Aye I will. Now sleep beloved", she kissed him back and made herself more comfortable against his body.
They woke and made love again twice more through out the long night but when morning broke the knight found himself alone in the tousled bed. He stayed there savouring the memories of the previous night. He hadn't felt this good since he was a lad and stretched out feeling all his bones crack and pop pleasantly. Rising he walked over to the window and noticed there on a small table next to the window, the two hammered silver masks and he smiled because knew that they would be together again sometime in the future.
He dressed in his chainmail and buckled on his sword, and thought of the novices preparing to face him in the practice yards to give them their daily sword lessons. Maybe if they were lucky enough he would let them off early. He felt in a generous mood today and with a happy laugh he closed the door behind him.
The END...
Copyright The Lady Belle 2000
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Sounds of laughter..
Shades of love...
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December 22nd, 2000, 01:53 AM
#2
HB Forum Owner
What do you think of it?...Its the first time Ive published one of my short stories publicly..
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Sounds of laughter..
Shades of love...
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December 22nd, 2000, 02:39 AM
#3
HB Forum Owner
haaaaaaauh? you wrote that??
all by yourself??..... i'mean
i'mean
i got completely lost in it!!
i'mean 'IN' it...
i'm kinda dont want to come out of the story...
I want to go back in..
you got some more of it??
i havnt been somewhere like that in along time...
Now i dont want to be looking at a computer screen....
that was wonderful, to say the least...
you got some more of it???
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December 22nd, 2000, 03:26 AM
#4
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December 22nd, 2000, 01:45 PM
#5
HB Forum Owner
WOAH!! that was awesome!! do it again *G*
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Everyone thinks i am insane.... all but my friends deep inside the earth......
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December 22nd, 2000, 11:12 PM
#6
HB Forum Owner
I agree..... gawd i was speechless..... we got some serious writers here ! between Belle n Leo .... Bravo Belle i would love to hear more
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Everyone thinks i am insane.... all but my friends deep inside the earth......
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December 23rd, 2000, 04:34 AM
#7
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December 26th, 2000, 02:51 AM
#8
HB Forum Owner
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January 9th, 2001, 11:36 PM
#9
HB Forum Owner
heheheeeeee
*waits 
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