“Please, mistress,” the tailor, Arov cried. The slim man adjusted his spectacles. “Please! Be gentle with it. It must be perfect for the wedding.”
Instantly Julyana stopped her delighted twirl, nodding quickly. “Yes. Yes, of course. Forgive me, Arov. I didn’t mean to…”
Arov sighed and shook his head. “Young ladies. I swear,” the tailor muttered good-naturedly. “At any rate, I suppose it’s to your satisfaction.”
“Oh yes! It’s beautiful!”
Arov smiled. “It was a pleasure, your highness. No man in the empire could be so lucky to have such a bride.”
Julyana’s cheeks flamed with a blush. Chuckling, Arov snapped shut his case of scissors and pins. “Well, my lady. I will leave you. Do not be late for the ceremony. After all the delays to get a husband your father won’t suffer much more.”
Nina rolled her eyes as the tailor left. Julyana sighed and turned back to the mirror, looking at herself shyly. Yes. She was getting married. She touched her cheeks, feeling that warm, happy glow once more. She could hardly believe it, even after everything that had happened to bring her here.
It was so rare for minor nobility such as hers to have an option for their marriage. Certainly she had enough suitors. Dozens of men from all over Istanov had come to court her. Yet her father, though he would grumble and complain, never forced her to choose among them. Though he urged her to make it, she had the choice, and for it, she loved her father more than ever.
And, at last, she had made her choice.
Lord Tristan Novor wasn’t high in the courts and his family name inscribed in no legends. He wasn’t the richest, and he hadn’t the greatest lands. He was a widower, in fact. Julyana remembered the older man’s wife vaguely. She’d died childless. Her father had brought Julyana to Novor’s estate during those dark days. The pity and sorrow she’d felt for the grim older man in his empty castle had made her heart ache acutely. She’d encouraged him to ride about the lands. She had coaxed him from the hollow of his old castle to remind himself of the simple beauty of the surrounding farmlands and the villages.
So seamlessly had those feelings of pity and compassion changed into something more she’d barely realized. Only while they had been riding along the Khalist hills did she look at his stern features as the sun set in the distance, casting him in a sudden hue of fading golds. That profile of proud certainty had made her heart beat faster and her flush rise in her cheeks, and she knew that she loved him. And what joy, a week later, when he approached her and took her hand in his, and asked her if she might wed him.
“Thinking about something, my lady?”
Julyana jumped and whirled to face her maid. Nina had risen from her seat and was giving her a knowing look. “Is… is it that obvious?” Julyana asked shyly.
Nina laughed. “Not even a blind man could fail to see it, mistress.”
“Oh don’t say that!” Julyana moaned, covering her face with her hands.
“Oh? And why not? What sort of man wouldn’t love his bride with blushing cheeks and with breasts like these!”
Julyana squealed as Nina reached around her and cupped her lady’s large breasts. Julyana tried to stifle the moan which escaped her as the handmaiden fondled her generous teats. “Ninaaaaa! Stooop!”
Nina laughed again and took her hands away. Julyana gave the maid a huffy look and touched her tingling teats. She’d always been a little self-conscious about her size. She wasn’t fat, but she was definitely larger than most of the other girls. Her ass and her breasts had swelled as she moved into womanhood, and by the stares she felt she knew that the men had noticed. It was Nina who had explained the men hadn’t been eying the young noblewoman with amusement, but with lust.
“You’re far too forward,” Julyana said peevishly, but there was no feeling behind it. “Besides, Lord Novor isn’t s crude as that…”
Nina scoffed. “Please, mistress! If any man didn’t stare at your breasts, well, I wouldn’t call them a man. And you’re fortunate you chose such an older one too. He’ll know what to do with those lovely things you hide in your dress. He will know how to bring you great pleasure.”
“Nina!” Julyana wailed, flushing all over again.
Nina cackled with delight, shaking her head. Julyana turned back in the mirror, looking at the stark shape of her breasts in her bridal gown. She gently cupped them. “Do you really think so?”
Nina grinned, touching her shoulder. “Mistress. He’d be a fool not to. And not to love you all the more for it. I know a thing or two about men, mistress. And I can tell that he truly loves you.”
Julyana gave Nina a shy look. She didn’t doubt it. There were rumors aplenty about the ribald young maid getting up to things with the occasional guard and passing huntsmen. Rumors were she’d even known the touch of the huntress of Ctharne that visited during the troubles with wugs in the Nightmire.
Julyana gave Nina a wary smile. “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely. Now come on, Mistress! Let’s not keep your husband waiting!”
She gave Julyana a last pat on the bum, urging her towards the door. Julyana giggled, then clasped her hands before her, smoothing her features as best she could. She tugged down her veil and felt Nina pick up the drooping train of her dress. Taking a deep breath, Julyana pushed open the door and left the room.
It was time.
Ceremonies
Later, when she tried to recall the events of the ceremony, Julyana would remember perhaps a quarter of the event, and that through a haze as if she were drunk. She recalled the golden, candlelit aisle. The tall altar. The sweet music rolling through the domed chamber of the temple devoted to Ulyana the Pure. The guests were less than faceless, just a blur of humanlike shapes filling the pews.
The only thing she remembered with perfect clarity was Lord Novor. Like a beacon stamped in her mind, she recalled him turning, that stern face with a trim salt and pepper beard unflinching, but his eyes deep pools of love. How he said, “I do,” and that she echoed it without thinking. Then the veil was back, and his lips were on hers, and everyone was cheering.
Recalling it, Julyana touched her tingling lips. It was a perfect dream of love and she did not want to awaken. She was sitting in the coatroom while they prepared the carriage to take her to her new home. She felt again that flush that seared her body in a tingling wave. She again touched her cheeks, patting them as if to douse the flame.
The door creaked open. She whirled about as Nina poked her head inside. “Nearly ready, my lady.”
“Thank you, Nina.”
Nina beamed. “You were lovely, mistress.”
“She was.”
Nina jumped, stepping back as the door was pushed further open. Julyana’s heart fluttered as Lord Novor stepped through. Still wearing his crimson military jacket, he cut a stern, powerful figure.
“M-my lord!” Julyana gasped, cutting a quick curtsy.
He smiled, his dark eyes warming. “No need for that,” he said, taking her hands and drawing her back to her feet. “Never again, Julyana. It will become quite tiresome if you curtsy every time you see your husband.”
Nina gave them a knowing look. “I’ll just be out here,” she said. She gave Julyana such a saucy wink the princess felt her flush start all over again before the maid shut the door firmly behind her.
“My…”
He touched her lips. “No more ‘My Lord’. You’re my wife now, Julyana.”
“Lor… I mean… Terence…” She flushed all over again at how his name tingled on her tongue. “What… ah, why are you here? We’ll be departing soon and…”
“Yes,” he mused, running his thumb down her cheek. “Departing, along with a dozen retainers and horsemen to my lands. A journey of nearly three days. And I couldn’t wait that long after a taste of those lovely lips.”
Julyana’s mouth opened. She stared into his eyes as if hypnotized. “Oh… T-Terence… what are you saying?”
He smiled again, leaned down, and k
issed her.
Julyana gasped as his lips met hers. So different from the chaste meeting on the altar. This was hard. Powerful, and hot with such searing passion she felt a heat blaze through her from the tips of her toes to her ears. She moaned breathlessly, arching, pressing her soft breasts against his broad, powerful chest. His arm wrapped around her, supporting her as he tilted back her head, fairly devouring her lips in his hungry kiss.
Julyana gasped, feeling helpless in his arms. She clung to him, pulling herself closer, offering up more of herself. Lord Novor growled, a sound so deeply, hungrily male her heart jumped and a heat raced from her core to spread through her veins. They broke the kiss, her breath hot and panting.
“My lord…”
“Terence,” he told her.
“Terence,” she murmured.
His eyes flashed with pleasure. She felt again that flaming blush, and she pulled herself back up, meeting his kiss frantically. His hand slipped across her front, palming one of her generous breasts, and any fear she had of him not finding her appealing was squashed as he growled again and squeezed.
“Mmmnnnn,” Julyana moaned. The warmth in her loins pulsed with greater urgency. She rubbed her groin against him, feeling a bulge in his pants. She broke the kiss. “Terence… P-please…”
“I shouldn’t,” he told her, but that teasing glint was back in his eyes. “But how could any man resist?”
Julyana’s heart fluttered in joy as he opened the front of his pants. She stared raptly as he freed his thick cock, its head flushed and large. She swallowed a trill of fear, replaced quickly with anticipation.
He pushed her back, lifting the hem of her gown and baring her panties. Hooking a thumb in them he tugged them down, the fabric clinging to her damp folds for a moment before unveiling her pinked quim, hungry for his cock.
“Please,” Julyana moaned. “Please. Inside me… my love…”
He grasped her plump bottom, lifting her with ease and pushing her up against the wall. She squealed in surprise, then moaned as the head of his manhood pressed against her folds. “Ohhh,” she gasped tremulously. “Terence… Please…”
He kissed her neck adoringly. “I’ll be gentle.”
She flushed, almost wishing he wouldn’t. Wishing he would take her like the heroes of her favorite books. Then his cock pressed against her, stretching her about him. She moaned. She’d pierced her maidenhead on curious fingers years ago, leaving only the pleasure of his insertion into her greedy quim.
“Ohhhh Terence,” she panted.
“Julyana,” he moaned and began to thrust. Julyana keened, clinging to him as he pumped his cock into her eager depths, shockwaves of pleasure radiating from her core.
“Ah… ah… T-Terence. Terence! Yes! I… Aahhhhh!” She convulsed, clinging to his jacket as her orgasm surged through her. She clung to his shoulder, burying her scream of pleasure against it.
Terence groaned, his pace increasing. “Julyana.”
“Ohhh godsss,” she moaned as pleasure rocked her. “Terence. Please… please… c-cum in me… I want it…”
Terence panted, but chuckled. “Here? In the coat room? My bride,” he moaned. “That’s not something for here. When… when I do… It will be in our bed. In… our castle… With you...”
Her cheeks flamed with a pleased blush. She shuddered. “Oh gods… p-pull out. Please!”
Lord Novor winced, thinking she was mad. Yet no sooner had he unsheathed his cock from her Julyana slid to her knees and took his shaft in her hands. Her eyes flicked up to his shyly, then she opened her mouth and engulfed the head of his cock.
“Ah!” Lord Novor gasped. He grabbed her hair, tensing as she began to eagerly bob, her lips sliding up and down, tasting his musky shaft and the sweet tang of her own juices. She could fit barely half his cock in her mouth, but she was determined he would cum in her, one way or another. And the grunts and gasps above her seemed to indicate she was doing well enough.
“Julyana. Oh, Julyana. I’m… I’m close… I… I…” He grabbed her scarlet hair as he hunched over her. He came in a sudden burst, his seed pumping into her mouth. Julyana tried to swallow as much as she could but soon choked, pulling back, his cock twitching against her lips and the dwindling spurts of his cum splashing on her face.
Lord Novor groaned, leaning against the wall with the intensity of his orgasm. He looked down at her with a pained look. “Oh Julyana. I’m sorry.”
Julyana shook her head, smiling. “No, it was my fault,” she said, fetching a handkerchief from her coat pocket. She quickly wiped his seed from her face. “Don’t think about it, Terence. Besides,” she said, wiping the last from her lips and giving him a shy smile. “I’ll soon have plenty of practice. Won’t I?”
Lord Novor smiled down at her adoringly. “To think I had such a vixen for a wife,” he said, drawing her up.
Julyana giggled with delight, pressing against him happily. “I think I’ll surprise you yet, my husband.”
He grinned back, squeezing her ample rear fondly, pulling her against his larger frame. “Looking forward to it. Now, we’d best be off. Before I lose what control I have not to take you in a most beastly fashion.”
Julyana snorted. He hooked his arm in hers and she leaned against his shoulder adoringly. Pushing open the door, she caught Nina’s knowing look and smile. Julyana felt a fresh flush as her handmaiden slipped into step with them and out the door into the courtyard and waiting carriage.
The Mire
No matter how many times she drove through it, Julyana hated the Nightmire.
She glanced out the window with a shiver. The swampy landscape stretched out in every direction, a hazy mist spreading over it. Though there should have been hours of daylight still, gloom swallowed the tracts of marshland. Trees twisted from the soil and brackish waters, spreading thin limbs that seemed to stroke the wind with bony fingers, huge spider webs fluttering like shawls through the dark.
The road twisted through the landscape on higher ground. It was an old route, allegedly there since the Devastation that had destroyed the lands that now consisted of Istanov. The driver had kindled the lanterns on the carriage during a stop to water the horses at the last inn, and now they seemed to carry the light into the dark of the mire.
From the seat beside her Nina gave Julyana a sympathetic smile. Lord Novor eyed the mire with a cool studiousness, a certain tension in his shoulders. A number of small villages in his lands bordered the mire, and she knew he was wary of the place.
“There’s nothing to fear,” he noted with a glance at Julyana. “I was part of the party who aided the huntress those years past. The wugs haven’t dared creep from the deeper swamps since then.”
Julyana shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. She’d heard of the strange, amphibian monsters who lurked in the mires, of course. Four years ago they had ventured out of the swamps and kidnapped some village girls. Not since the fabled Dark Years near half a century past had the wugs been so aggressive.
A request for aid had been sent to Istanov’s capital city, Moskov, and a huntress of Ctharne who had been visiting had come. Somehow, the woman had found the creature’s lairs in the deeper mires and brought them down with assistance from the local lords and their men. Julyana had heard rumors about the village girls found. Their minds lost, broken by the constant mating with the toad-like monsters, their breasts swollen and milky through the use of strange drugs and sorceries, their bellies fattened with wug eggs. Some had gone with the huntress, others to the nunnery in the hills where they stayed.
Nina squeezed her hand. “Did you get them all?” Julyana asked Lord Novor shakily.
He smiled grimly, his eyes like flints. “You can never truly purge those wretches,” he said. “They hide too deep in the mires. But don’t worry,” he added with a fond, protective look at her. “They were beaten well last time. They are cowardly creatures, and won’t dare strike against so many swords.”
Julyana found a smile, and even some re
lief at the sight of her husband gripping his blade for her benefit. She nestled back in her seat. They’d be out of the Nightmire soon enough, she thought.
She carried that conviction up until the first crack of a pistol shot.
A horse screamed. Men shouted outside the carriage. Lord Novor surged to his feet, grabbing his sword and drawing it. The carriage rocked alarmingly as the horses yanked at the front. Julyana was thrown back in the midst of standing, crashing into her seat with Nina clinging to her. She screamed as the world tilted, the horses plunging and screaming. With a crash the carriage fell on its side, she and Nina slamming onto the far door, broken glass crunching under her.
The door now above them was thrown open and a man’s face glowed in the torchlight. A rough beard dangled from his chin, his lips peeling back in a grin revealing blackened teeth. Behind him, in a flash, Julyana caught a glimpse of rearing horses as the mounted guards fought men milling about them.
A moment was all she had. As the man at the door blinked, his eyes adjusting to the light, Lord Novor ran him through. The bandit screamed, clutching his chest as he slid back off the sword, leaving the gleaming silver slick with blood.
Lord Novor pulled himself out the door. “Run!” he commanded them. He swung about, parrying a clumsy blow from another man. His hand flashed to his belt, drawing a pistol and firing. The bandit went down. “Run Julyana!” he roared.
Julyana let out a cry, reaching for him, but Nina grabbed her. “Come on!” she gasped, yanking her towards where the roof of the carriage had given way. “Mistress! Please!”
Julyana followed, numb with terror. The darkness of the mire faced them, behind them the hellish flicker of torches and muzzle flash of powder as the guards fought desperately against the more numerous bandits. She caught a flash of crimson as Terence moved into the light, fighting off two men. He’d reversed his spent pistol, using it as a club while his sword flicked through the night. He slashed, slicing open the throat of another bandit, sending the man to the ground.
The Pillaging of an Empire Page 6
