Jayne arched a brow but stepped forward. It didn’t take a genius to deduce that this was the queen. Only royalty would carry such a self-deserving, pompous look on their face. Stopping below the table, she stood, staring up as the other woman stared down.
“We are displeased with you,” the queen said.
“Uh, thanks?” Jayne drawled, giving minimal effort to keep the dryness from her tone. She didn’t think it possible, but the queen’s face tightened even more.
“We would like an explanation.” The woman walked very slowly around the table, not taking her eyes off the new “subject”.
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jayne mocked. This woman didn’t scare her. If Bossman Bishop and his goons couldn’t make her throw a fight with intimidation, this slender thing hardly inspired alarm. Besides, Lady of Red here might be a queen, but she wasn’t Jayne’s queen—despite the royal’s supposed assumptions otherwise. The woman’s lip curled slightly, and Jayne found some amusement in watching her try to retain her composure. As she stepped onto the lower floor, the queen made a wide arch around Jayne, studying her.
“Margaret,” the queen ordered, “send someone to find Lord Ronen. Tell him I’ve taken his wife to my chambers. And tell Renell she is needed.”
“Yea, Queen Patricia,” the servant said, putting a trencher back down on the table. She curtsied before rushing out the door.
“Huh, I wouldn’t have taken you for a Patricia,” Jayne mumbled. Okay, so now she was just finding an excuse to be insolent. But really, the woman made it too easy. “You seem much too fun for such a serious name. How about we call you Patry? Or Trix?”
More like Prunella or Prudence. Jayne tried her best not to smirk. Hair of the smelly dog, she hated women like this! They were always so haughty and condescending. She bet the queen didn’t know the first thing about taking care of herself.
“I do not like your tone.” The words were low and hard.
“What happened to we? Did your other personality leave? Couldn’t take your attitude either?”
“We is myself and my husband, King Wilhelm, but I am sure he wouldn’t appreciate how you speak to me.” Patricia gave Jayne a displeased once-over with her eyes, before ordering, “Follow me.”
“No.” Jayne didn’t move.
“Follow me,” the queen turned to stare Jayne down, “or I will have you paraded naked through the encampment below before being drawn and quartered. The knights have been a long time without an entertainment.”
Jayne couldn’t help herself, she smiled. Maybe this woman wasn’t so bad after all.
“You don’t believe me?” Patricia stiffened, appearing inches away from issuing the threat.
“No, I believe you,” Jayne said, giving a small laugh. “Actually, I’m impressed. I have no idea what drawn and quartered means, but you made it sound very terrifying. Let me guess? You have an artist sew the event of my naked parade into a tapestry and lock me in my quarters?”
“You are tied to horses and your limbs pulled from your body.”
That gave Jayne pause and she didn’t relish the prospect. “So, your chamber is where, your, ah, queen?”
“Your Majesty will do,” Patricia corrected. “This way.”
Jayne followed the woman from the hall. When they were alone in the passageway, she said, “Uh, I feel I should tell you. I’m not really ‘into’ women. I mean, I’m flattered you’d like some alone time with me, but—”
“And if I was,” the queen interrupted, “a disrespectful, unkempt, dishonorable woman who does not deserve the title of lady would be my last choice. In this dimension, women know how to look like women.”
Jayne looked down the front of her dress and pulled at her corset, twisting the loose garment back into place. For some reason she couldn’t explain, the words hurt. She knew she wasn’t exactly the most feminine woman in all the dimensions, but in her world—the underground fighting world—she was Jayne “The Sweet” Hart, lady of boxing.
“Are you coming?” The queen’s words broke into her thoughts and Jayne realized she’d stopped walking.
“What exactly are we doing?” Jayne asked. “If you just wanted to speak to me, we could have spoken in the hall.”
“You might be accustomed to talking in front of gossiping servants, not caring about the uneducated impression you make upon others, but I know my place in society. With my station comes obligation and I take my honor and that of my husband very seriously.”
Now I’m uneducated? Ouch. The queen really knows how to throw a punch.
The queen opened a door, leading the way into a room. The lavish bedchamber was clearly decorated for a woman. Delicate gold flowers embroidered the thick red curtains hanging over the bed and windows, matching the cushioned chairs. A small sword and an assortment of knives dominated one wall. Jayne closed the door, but stood near the doorway, not stepping too deeply into the luxurious chamber.
“It is apparent to me that you are a woman well used to control, and you gain that control by either fighting, arguing or acting contrary to expectations.” The queen took a seat on one of the chairs, not once losing her solid composure. She gestured that Jayne should sit. “You ran from a Starian nobleman. Not just any nobleman but a brother of Firewall. You braved an unknown forest in an unknown land. You were kidnapped by the Caniba and kept yourself well. And, you stood up to me. Foolish, all these things, but brave.”
Jayne sat but didn’t relax. The queen appeared very reasonable, and she felt a little bad for her initial reaction to the woman in the hall. Patricia was right. Jayne’s first instinct in any situation was to either antagonize or fight. It’s what her childhood had trained her to do. When you lived in an orphanage or out on the streets, you learned to keep your emotions buried until they became habit to ignore.
“Did I leave anything out?”
“Only that Divinity more or less kidnapped me first and abandoned me here without my knowledge,” Jayne answered. “Oh, and I was chased by a pack of wild boars.”
“Lord Ronen spoke of Divinity to the king,” Patricia acknowledged. “It is not in the Starian nature to rethink any decision once it’s made. To do so negates the fact you made a decision in the first place. Indecisiveness is looked at as weak, and we are well used to making decisions at a moment’s notice. But rest assured, we will be negotiating with Divinity again. They clearly do not understand the terms we set.”
“Oh, I’m sure they understood,” Jayne said. “The others that came with me didn’t know what they were in for either.”
“This is distressing information.” The queen frowned. “Our ancestors would raid villages and claim the women they wanted with force. Centuries of war breeds such actions out of necessity, but we have progressed since then. The breeding ceremonies are an evolution of those raids, symbolizing the old ways and showing how we’ve changed as a people. But the women know why they are there and participate out of willingness or necessity—like those the gods send through the fairy rings. Like you, such women have no family or home in Staria and must seek protection.”
“But I have a life off this dimension.” Jayne felt a ray of hope. The queen appeared very astute. Maybe she would help her. “I have means to protect and take care of myself. I don’t need or want a husband. All I want is an inter-dimensional jump home.”
The queen nodded, but didn’t speak.
“Will you help me?”
“You showed honor in coming back here after running a second time. That gives me hope,” the queen answered.
A second time?
“So you will help me?” Jayne implored.
“Yea, I will help you.” The queen paused and Jayne almost broke into a grin, only the next words stopped her. “I will help you adjust to your new station as Lord Ronen’s wife and a noblewoman of Firewall.”
“But…” Jayne jumped up from her chair. “You don’t believe me?”
“I believe you,” the queen said, not getting up from her ch
air, “but there is nothing to be done for it. You are Lord Ronen’s bride. It is done and cannot be undone. All I can do is to ensure your situation does not happen to others in the future. We will speak to Divinity and try to come to a better arrangement. Unfortunately, women are a scarce resource and Divinity gives us what our men so desperately need.”
“What if I dishonor my husband?” Jayne asked, feeling trapped and desperate. “What if I keep running? Or cheat on him? Or, or…”
“I think you bluff. You must feel something for him. You came back this second time, why?”
“Second time?” Jayne threw her hands into the air. Had the whole universe gone mad? “What are you talking about?”
“Lord Ronen searches the forest for you even now. I sent a man to bring him back so he could call off the search.” A knock sounded on the door, light and fast. The queen stood to answer.
“But, why? I was sleeping in my chambers. Is he blind? I was right there on the floor in front of the fire.”
Pausing at the door, Patricia gave a slight frown. “The floor? Hm, this is unfortunate. If you didn’t run, then Ronen’s humiliation will be twofold. He will be seen as insecure in his marriage and rash in his actions. Perhaps we should say you ran and came back to him. The fact you tried to escape once is bad enough.” Before Jayne could answer, the queen let in a servant. “Renell, attend to the lady’s clothes and hair. We do not wish for her to look like she crawled from the forest. When you are finished, send for the seamstress so gowns may be fitted immediately for Lady Jayne. She will also need a lady’s maid assigned to her. Pick one from the staff until the lady finds another more suited to her tastes.”
“Yea, my queen.” Renell, a short, squat redhead with pale skin and a smattering of freckles, curtsied.
“Lady Jayne, I look forward to helping you understand the Starian ways.” The queen left Jayne and Renell alone.
“Ach, my lady, let’s get a comb through that wild hair of yours. Come, sit, Renell will take good care of you.”
Chapter Nine
Jayne felt strange, almost afraid to move. The tight corset, the same one she’d sworn never to wear like the other women, pulled against her ribs. She’d been poked, prodded, measured and pulled. Renell had called in a team of women to help her. They piled Jayne’s hair on her head, much like the queen’s. Margaret scrubbed her fingernails and toenails and shaped them into rounded tips. Another woman rubbed her shoulders and neck. Okay, so that last part of the pampering treatment wasn’t too bad and almost made her forget someone poked annoyingly at her toes. And at least they fed her. She’d devoured an entire tray of fruits and bread.
“So if women are scarce, why do I see so many working in the castles?” Jayne inquired.
“It is an honored position granted to the women of knights, my lady,” Margaret answered. “Residing in a castle we are more protected than the villages, and we receive word from or about our husbands sooner.”
“Does anything here happen that has nothing to do with protection and war?” Jayne eyed each of them in turn, noting their somewhat confused expressions. “Didn’t think so.”
“The traveling markets come here more often, as well.” Renell giggled.
“Wonderful,” Jayne drawled. “Nothing we girls like better than shopping.”
The sarcasm was lost on them as they nodded in excited agreement. Renell held out her hand. “I bought this pretty ring last time the silversmith came.”
“Pretty,” Jayne said, barely looking. The maids continued talking about the marketplace, of what they would buy and what they already had. She really didn’t pay much mind to jewels—though she’d been given a few to wear as advertisement. That homeless woman had been ecstatic the day Jayne decided to clean out some of her promotional clutter. It wasn’t like Jayne Hart could be seen publicly selling the stuff.
“What do you think, my lady?” Margaret asked.
What had they been babbling on about? Jayne pulled at her tight bodice, about to mumble something incoherently when the door swung open, saving her. Ronen appeared, windblown and stiff with rage.
“My lord,” the servants greeted, almost in unison. Their giggling instantly died with his appearance.
“Leave us,” Ronen ordered. The women practically ran from the room, and he kicked the door shut behind them. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Jayne lifted her bare foot. “That Margaret wasn’t done with my toes. See, two left.”
“I am not amused, Wife.” His fists clenched at his sides. Was that supposed to scare her?
“Well, that’s your problem, Knight.” She mimicked his tone, knowing all the while it probably wasn’t the best thing to do. Prudence was never one of her strengths. “You have only yourself to blame for running off to the forest and alarming the king’s army. I was asleep in my chambers. In fact, it is I who should yell at you. I had to sit and listen to the queen lecture me about honor, duty and my lack of education. And what’s worse, she is just as bad as the rest of you. She knows I don’t belong here and yet she, with all her queenly powers, does nothing to right the wrong.”
“Keep your voice down, Jayne,” Ronen warned. “You do not speak of Queen Patricia in such a way. She has earned the respect of our people, risking her life in battle to save her husband. She even had this chamber built so that if the Caniba attacked, she would be the first lady to fight and fall, giving others time to escape in the tunnels.”
“Don’t get mad at me. You embarrassed yourself.” She crossed her arms over her chest, only to become aware of how exposed her chest was. Her breasts pushed up, showcased by the fit of the corset and low cut of her gown. Ronen noticed, too. His eyes went to her breasts and stayed. Jayne tried to pull at the laces along her back to loosen the corset’s hold. “I already told you, I was asleep when you went running off. Maybe don’t act so rash next time.”
Steely eyes darted back up to meet hers. His voice a little hoarse, but no less angry than before, he said, “I checked your bed. It was not slept in.”
“That’s because I don’t sleep in beds. I don’t like the softness. I was on the floor.” Jayne became aware of how alone they were in the queen’s room. Ronen captured her attention whenever he was around, and her pussy chose that moment to remind her of the promise he’d made to make her come again. Cream instantly pooled along her folds, slickening her sex.
His brow arched in disbelief. “No lady chooses the floor to a castle bed.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you, I’m no lady.” Giving up on loosening the corset, she placed her hands on her hips and faced him down. The statement wasn’t a lie. At the moment, very unladylike thoughts were traveling through her mind, and all of them had to do with freeing Ronen’s cock from his breeches and making him take her right there in the queen’s chamber. Oh, how his sensible honor would rebel at the suggestion. Knowing he’d resist only made Jayne want to seduce him more. She liked the dangerous excitement of fucking him in such a forbidden place, of making him so crazy he forgot himself.
Suddenly, the tight corset’s constriction became pleasurable. It pressed into her aching nipples, rubbing them with each rushed breath. His eyes drifted over her length to again land on her chest. “You look very much like a lady to me.”
“That’s because they dressed me up.” Jayne lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. She batted her lashes, keeping her eyes wide. “You should see what is underneath.”
Ronen opened his mouth but no sound came out. Jayne trailed her hand over the back of a chair. She smiled innocently, inching away from him to round the side of the bed. He disappeared from view behind the bed curtain.
“Come, my lady.”
Jayne smiled to herself, recognizing the barely contained passion in his words. How quickly rage turns to lust, my lord.
She appeared from behind the curtain, looking at him from over the large bed. “That is exactly what I plan to do, Lord Ronen.” She licked her lips, moaning, “Come.”
�
�I will take you back to our rooms.”
Jayne pulled at her skirt, lifting only to let go as she crawled forward onto the bed. With her ass wiggling slightly in the air, she said, “But I want you to take me right here.”
Ronen glanced around, as if they stood before a crowd of people. As his body shifted, she saw the unmistakable outline of his arousal poking at the material of his long tunic.
“Haven’t you ever wanted to be bad?” She licked her lips, keeping them parted. “Naughty?”
“You should not be on the queen’s bed,” he insisted, reaching a hand to her as if he’d help her off. Jayne maneuvered back, forcing him to lean forward over the mattress if he wanted to grab her.
“What’s wrong, Ronen?” She pouted. “Don’t you want me? Undo your laces and let me see. If you need help rising to the occasion, I’d be happy to lend you a hand, or a mouth.”
Instead of coming onto the bed, he marched around to the other side. Jayne pulled at her skirt, baring the back of her thighs before he got there. She spread her legs, pressing her elbows into the bed and her pussy up into the air. Moaning, she demanded, “Take me, Ronen. I’m burning for you.”
Just let him try to refuse me.
He made a strange noise, reaching for her as if he’d pull her from the bed, but he was powerless against her seduction. His hand slid over her thigh. Jayne grew heady with control.
“We should not be doing this here.” Ronen tossed her skirt up, baring her ass. Jayne heard the rustling of material behind her. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw him tugging frantically at his breeches. His cock protruded, already tall and eager.
“You think too much about the rules.” She gripped the covers, wrinkling the pristine bed.
“I think too much about you.” Ronen jerked her hips, forcing her back. Her chest dipped as her arms slid out from under her, angling her body even more. His cock brushed across her ass. “I cannot get you out of my head.”
Though sweet, she knew the sentiment only reflected the connection they shared. She was, literally, in his head as he was in hers. Jayne couldn’t stop thinking of him. She knew the reason, but still found the fact disconcerting.
Fighting Lady Jayne (Divinity Warriors 2) Page 12
