Across The Ages: Book One Ch. 03 free porn video
The magnificent doors to the dining room were closed with a palace guard posted on each side. Without command, the sentinels granted them access with a double-door entry. The usual grand table that could fit upwards of 20 people had been removed. A smaller, much more personal table sat in its place, set for four.
The king was facing the entrance as it opened. He watched silently as his daughter and her body guards entered the great hall. With a wave of his hands, the sentries pulled the doors closed with the echo of a prison cell. Rene heard a faint click that made her shudder. They were locked in.
The princess jumped at the light pressure of Blake’s hand at her back, beckoning her forward. She obeyed and sat in the chair opposite the king as the knight pulled it out for her. She dared not look at her father yet and kept her eyes down as her protectors removed their jackets and sat on either side. The silence was so loud to her ears, she nearly screamed when her father clapped his hands.
Servants appeared within seconds, carrying trays of food from the kitchen. They set the first course in front of the diners and wordlessly left the room. The king picked up his fork and without a sound, began his meal. Blake and Alex shared a look of concern and confusion before they followed suit. The princess didn’t move.
This was not like her father. He was never silent. Normally, he would be screaming at her as loudly as he could and throwing anything within reach. His lack of consistency was probably the most frightening thing he could have done. Her entire world was suspended in silence. A small touch to her foot made her jump in her chair, but her father appeared not to have noticed.
Alexander was barely touching his food, but Blake had nearly finished his. He was piercing the princess with his green eyes as if commanding her to move, to eat, to calm herself. He prodded his head in the air at her tray, and she willed herself to pick up her fork. After what could have been centuries, she took a bite and tried to chew. It felt like leather in her mouth, and it made her stomach churn. Blake tried to smile encouragingly and turned back to his own plate.
The king picked up his platter and set it on the floor. The servants bustled out, placed the main course down for the guests and retreated back to the kitchen. They were smart to take cover, the tension in the room was mounting and would soon boil over. Rene was beginning to shake, unable to stand the anxiety that was sizzling in the air.
She attempted to eat the meat and bread before her, but every bite felt burdened in the deafening stillness. Her father finished his meal, again placing his tray on the ground. He leisurely placed his hands on the table and interlaced his fingers. His dark eyes were scrutinizing his daughter as she tried to retain her composure. Wickedly, a smile grazed his lips and he broke the calm before the storm. When he spoke, Rene dropped her fork and it clattered to the cold floor. Her guards stopped eating straight away and leaned back in their chairs.
‘So, you wish to get my attention, do you?’ He rose from his chair, circling the table like a lion stalking its prey, and continued his speech without a response. ‘First you directly disobey me, and I must resort to sending your new details to fetch you. Second, you deliberately disregard what is deemed proper by appearing before me dressed as you are. Then, as if you had not done enough, you disrespect me at my own table by refusing to eat in my presence!’
Each of his words cut into Rene like a knife and hardened her heart. This is what she had expected. As his voice rose, she prepared herself for the coming onslaught.
‘Do you have any explanation for your grotesque actions against me?’ When Rene didn’t answer, he rounded on her as she sat bowing her head. Grabbing the arms of her chair, he twisted it so she faced him as he towered above her. Both Blake and Alex stiffened in their seats, obviously uncomfortable at the proceedings.
‘How dare you defy me! How dare you dishonor my name! You are unfit for royal blood!’ He grabbed the back of her seat and shook it as he held her face to face with him. His face was turning red with rage and he clinched his jaw. She remained stoic, even as fear began to creep into her veins and the king yelled uncomprehendingly at her face.
She began to panic, her breathing became sporadic. Never in her life had she been more afraid of her father than she was right now, she had never seen him this furious. As much as she wanted to scream at him, to curse him, she was now held in his fiery gaze in utter fear. She mustered as much strength as she could and returned his glare with tears in her eyes. She would not let him break her.
‘Guards!’ he yelled suddenly, and the doors to the dining hall flew open. Rene gasped as Brianne was crudely pulled into the room by two officers.
‘If silence is your only answer then so be it,’ the king spat maliciously. ‘Bind her!’
Brianne began to cry hysterically as the men tied her hands. They stretched her arms out and held her face against the wall. She was going to be whipped.
‘No!’ Rene cried, rising to her feet. ‘No, please!’ The king roughly pushed her to the ground, and the guards at the table stood in unison. This had gone far enough.
‘No, please!’ Rene begged again from the floor at her father’s feet, tears pouring from her eyes. ‘I made her go! It was me! Punish me!’
‘Be still!’ the king roared, reaching out his hand for the whip. ‘If you will not hear by words, you will see by action! I refuse to have my own flesh and blood question my orders!’
‘No, no! Don’t!’ Rene sobbed as she rose from the stone floor. Her father did not heed her cry. He raised the whip and Rene grabbed his arm. He had lost all sense in his lust for power and retribution. Rene screamed in agony as he gripped her injured arm with a deadly force and shoved her to the ground once more.
‘Your majesty!’ Blake bellowed, rushing to her side, ‘Stop this madness!’ Again, the king did not hear and again he rose the whip to strike the defenseless handmaid. With a deafening crack, he let it fly and Brianne screamed as it cut through the flesh on her back. The king made to strike her again but Alexander jumped in the way at last second. The whip wrapped around his arm, leaving a ring of blood on his freshly pressed shirt. He twisted his hand around the weapon and wrenched it from the king’s hand. Alexander’s eyes were dark with fury as the king reprimanded him.
‘If you challenge me, you will receive the same treatment, ignorant scum!’ He had quite literally gone insane with rage. Any humanity he had left seemed to have been erased when his daughter intentionally fled from him.
‘This woman did not wrong you by following your daughter’s orders,’ Alex began, his voice deadly and commanding, ‘and I will not stand by as innocents suffer. I made an oath to uphold justice when I made an oath to this sword. I take orders from God but not from you.’ He wrapped up the whip and threw it on the ground then turned to the guards behind him. They made no attempt to stop him as he released Brianne from the ropes. His body radiated strength and brawn as he pulled her up into his arms. Her sobs were muffled as she buried her head in his shoulder. He kicked open the doors to the hall and left without a backward glance.
‘I hate you,’ Rene breathed as tears trickled down her face and dripped from her chin.
The crazed ruler turned to his daughter as she lay on the floor. Blake was kneeling behind her but was helpless to protect her as the king kicked her in the chest with the heel of his boot. She gasped as the air rushed from her lungs and she struggled to breathe. Blake’s strong arms were around her in an instant and he pressed her body into his chest as he stood. The king was already at the dining table and with one swift movement, he tipped it on its side with a dreadful cras
h. Suddenly, he became disturbingly calm and began to leave.
‘I want that wretch out of my sight and on her way to Spain tomorrow.’ Without bothering to look at his daughter or apologize for his uncivilized behaviors, the king walked chauvinistically from the grand room.
Blake was shaking as he carried Rene through the stone halls, his brisk steps echoing in warning to all those ahead of him. His breaths were jagged and labored but not from the young girl in his arms. The princess he had been charged to protect clung to him for security in a world that was crumbling down around her.
Everything he had been told about this foreign ruler was a lie. This so called king was an utter barbarian. Blake was unsurprised when they were greeted by four guards flanking each of the entries to their rooms. The statement was clear: further defiance would not be tolerated.
‘Open it,’ Blake ordered. His command was executed immediately, and he listened as they locked the door behind them. Flexing his jaw in absolute anger, he carried Rene to her bed. Blake placed her gently in its middle and she tried to cease her tears, but he could tell she was in a lot of pain. Sighing, he turned to retrieve his herbs from his room but the princess called out to him.
‘Please, don’t leave me.’ Her voice was weak and he turned back to her when he made his reply.
‘I’ll return in a moment. Don’t worry, Rene. I will protect you.’ He exited quietly and Rene felt greatly comforted. It was the first time he had used her name since the day they met.
Blake entered his chamber and sucked in his breath. Brianne was lying face down on one of the beds, a bloody gash in her back. The fresh wound was surrounded with scars from previous whippings. She appeared to be asleep but pain was still etched on her face. Alexander was cleaning her injury with a warm rag and though his dark eyes were full of anger, his touch was surprisingly soft.
He glanced up as his commander entered the room but didn’t say a word. They didn’t need to, everything that needed said was sent through a single determined look between them. Bound by the oath they had taken as knights, this handmaid was now part of their charge. Even if they king had not commanded they leave tomorrow, they would have. There would not be a chance for another show like the one at dinner. They were going to get both of the girls out of this castle at first light.
Blake gathered the herbs he needed and set some aside for Alexander and Brianne. ‘Give her this in a cup of tea with some honey.’ He gave Alexander a small handful of leaves. ‘It’s lemon balm and will help her sleep.’ His cousin nodded and diligently continued his work, his nearly black curls falling in front of his face.
Blake left the room quietly, and Alexander roused Brianne. Her face showed no expression when she woke. There was a sadness that crept from her deep blue eyes, it stated matter-of-factly that she was used to this kind of treatment. It made his blood boil.
Controlling his anger, he coaxed her to sit up. When she held up the front of her dress with her hands, he wanted to shout in rage. The ropes that had bound her wrist had been so tight on this fragile woman that they were already bruising. Alexander quickly tied her dress in a loose knot so he could examine her hands. Brianne made no sound as he turned each of her wrists over in his large callused hands.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner. It won’t happen again,’ Alex said as he massaged her hands to return the feeling. She remained mute and only nodded her reply.
Brianne was completely crestfallen. Her father had beaten and whipped her before he sold her to the palace when she was seven. It was nothing new to her. But that didn’t mean the abuse didn’t sting her spirit every time she was struck. She had simply learned to live with it as a painful, inevitable part of her life.
Alex walked to the door and sent the guard on an errand then turned to survey the young maid. She was still holding her dress as she stared blankly at the floor. What an unfortunate soul. Sighing, Alexander sat next to her on the bed. He had an unexplainable desire to comfort this woman, something he had never excelled at in the past. Generally, he didn’t do much that was above and beyond his call to duty, and though he reasoned that this fragile girl fell well within those boundaries, something said he was making excuses.
He had not needed to stop the king, but he had. He had definitely not need to risk his own neck in doing so, but he had. It was almost an instinct that demanded he put an end to this woman’s suffering. But he was stubborn. Anyone that told him what to do instantly annoyed him, even if it was his own better judgment talking. However, the need to console her was overwhelming and relentless.
Sighing once more, he laid his arm across her shoulders. With hardly any hesitation, Brianne threw herself into his chest and began to sob. He wrapped his muscular arms around her and held her tightly as tears cascaded down her face. He didn’t know what to say, neither did she. But Alex was as much content to hold her in his embrace as Brianne was willing to let him. Finally, her weeping began to subside and Alexander lessened his hug. He was thankful when there was a knock at the door, and he rose quickly to answer it.
He returned with a handful of Brianne’s things, his jacket from the dining hall and a pitcher of tea. He set the container on the table and dropped her clothes into the chair beside it.
‘We should retire. It will be a long day tomorrow.’ Brianne rose from the bed, collected her nightgown, and went to the on suite bathroom to change. Alexander quickly removed his own clothes, replacing his bloodied white shirt with a fresh black one with short sleeves. Tying his undershorts, he sat down in a chair next to the fireplace. He poured two cups of tea and added the lemon balm to one. He turned in his chair when he heard the bathroom door open, and what he saw nearly made him drop his tea.
Brianne was in her nightgown, and though it was severely modest, Alexander could still see every curve of her frame. Warmth spread through his body like a flame through parched fields. The sensation ignited his passionate side, she was unlike any other woman he had ever seen. He took a drink of the hot tea, but it only added fuel to the fire.
She was devastatingly beautiful. Her hair was bright as the sun and her deep blue eyes captivated him more than the starry sky. It was a striking complementary, but these opposites blended in perfect harmony. The body he thought was frail was not frail at all. A lean pair of athletic arms continued seamlessly into a set of strong but slender shoulders, and her lower legs were toned like a runner’s. She was perfection in his opinion. How had he not noticed before?
Her eyes stared warily at the ground and a rosy pink could be seen in her cheeks. She had no idea what she was doing to him. When he had first met her, she had been determined and resourceful. Now she was self conscious, insecure, and in pain. That last made him want to roar in irritation, the very thought of someone hurting her sent a rush of possessiveness into his veins. No one would ever hurt her again, he would personally see to it.
Regaining his composure as well as his stubbornness, Alex stood and offered her a cup of tea. Brianne took it with a quick thanks and began to sip lightly. He downed his in one gulp and made to put out the candles lighting the room. When only the fire from the hearth remained, he turned down his sheets. Alex watched as Brianne placed her cup on the table and walked to the other side of his bed. Without a word or look to him, she crawled under the blankets and nuzzled into her pillow.
Smiling slightly to himself, Alexander situated himself beneath the covers and eased his arm around the girl beside him. Brianne stiffened at first but then eagerly snuggled against his warm, muscular body. Alex coiled his
arm around her shoulder, being mindful of her painful back.
‘Thank you,’ she breathed, ‘for everything.’
‘You’re welcome,’ he said after a moment and gently kissed her flaxen hair, something he would never usually do. He felt a smile bless her lips as she lay her head upon his bulky chest. They were a comfort to each other and both fell into a long overdue sleep.
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Rene was sitting on the edge of her four-poster bed, clutching her ribs where her father had kicked her. She looked up as Blake reentered her room, her eyes swollen from her tears. He knelt before her and took her arm in his large hands. Very carefully, he rolled up her sleeve to examine her bite. She had left it bandaged in her bath, but her father’s forceful grip had made it bleed again. Trying not to shake with his own rage, Blake removed the wrappings around her arm.
He threw the bloodied cloth aside and washed the injured area. Then he began to mash the bearberries he had left. Rene watched in fascination as this knight masterfully soaked the willow bark in the berry juice and placed it on her wound. She flinched at the first contact against her skin, not expecting it to feel warm and tingly, but then immediately began to feel relief.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered as he twisted a fresh dressing around her forearm.
‘If I had known it was going to be like this, I would have never brought you home.’ He kept his eyes on his task, but his voice allowed some of his anger to seep through. He delicately wrapped her limb like a present, and after he tied it off at the top, he gazed into her red, weepy eyes. ‘Why did you not confide in me? If I known how he would hurt you, we would have kept you safe.’ His emerald eyes filled with guilt as he looked up at the princess.
‘He’d never struck me before. I never thought he could despise me so much.’ A tear fell from her eye and Blake tenderly wiped it from her cheek. She pressed her face into his hand, soaking up the much needed comfort.
‘I cannot see how anyone could fail to love you, my lady. You have a spirit unlike I have ever seen.’ She smiled then, and he kissed her forehead as he rose. It made her head spin and warmth radiated from the spot where his lips touched her skin. He drew her head to his chest in a protective embrace and she willingly wrapped her arms around his middle. Again, she found herself reveling in his warmth and his scent.
He felt like he had been laying in the grass letting the sun kiss his skin for hours. Now after his bath, he had a faint spicy aroma all his own that made Rene’s mouth water. It was masculine and foreign, yet calming like the smell of the forest after a much needed rain. She loved the way his hands curved perfectly to her face and his arms seemed made to cradle her slender body. Her daydream was interrupted when there was a loud knock at the door. Blake released her to answer it, and once again, she found the air much cooler than before.
Her knight exchanged a quick word with the palace guard and took his jacket when it was offered to him. Sighing, he tossed it over the back of one of her chairs.
‘I should look at your side,’ he stated as he absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair. He motioned for her to turn around so he could untie her dress. Shivering as his fingers danced across her creamy skin, she held her top as it became loose. She grabbed her nightgown from her wardrobe and excused herself to the bathroom to change.
She felt more confident after washing the tears from her face but became shy as she surveyed her attire in her bathroom mirror. Her lacey, satin nightgown hung to her knees, had a deep v-shaped neckline and a rich cabernet coloring. Never before had a man seen her in so little clothing, and definitely not a man as handsome as Blake. The mere thought of him seeing her so scantly clad made her body tingle with a strange chilling warmth.
Becky
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