Rahab Bk. 03 Ch. 07: Queen’s move

With some men it takes time to decide whether you like them or not, but Sir Amias Paulet was in that select band of those one disliked on sight. A narrow mouth, a weak chin hidden by what appeared to be a ginger ferret clinging to it, Queen Mary’s jailer looked like what he was, a narrow-minded Puritan obsessed with the idea that someone, somewhere was having a good time, and it was his job to put a stop to it.

Emm, perhaps deliberately, had worn her lowest cut dress, as had Milady, and with so much female flesh on show, you could see the man didn’t know whether to bury his face in there and go, ‘brrr,’ or to throw a shawl over the offending mammaries.

‘Well, I must say, this is all very irregular, my orders are to keep the Papist whore incommunicado.’

‘That’s as maybe,’ said Milady, ‘but we have given you here a letter from the Queen, and Master Roland has given you one from Sir Francis Walsingham, permitting us to see the Queen of Scots. What more do you want, the Queen herself? If she has to come it will go hard with you,’

‘Ah, it is against the Lord’s way to let women rule, and this is what happens when he wishes to chastise his people. We are like the Israelites, we are lost sheep!’

‘Cease your bleating then, man, and let us have access to the Queen of Scots!’ So said Lady Emma.

‘But who is this boy, and why must he see the Papist whore?’

‘My letter explains that, Sir Amias, and unless you wish to take it up with Sir Francis himself, I would not pursue that line much further.’

Grudgingly, after we had unpacked, he arranged a meeting with the Queen of Scots.

She was smaller than I had expected, and of her fabled great beauty, there were but faded traces. Unless I had mistaken it, she was wearing a wig, and from beneath it, strands of grey were discernible. She must only have been in her mid-forties, but misfortune and ill-treatment had taken their toll; if someone had told me she was sixty, I should have credited it.

But when she smiled at us, one saw a brief glimpse of what it was that had enchanted so many men — and women.

‘You are too kind, coming all this way to see a fallen Queen.’ There it was, that sad, melancholy smile.

‘Not at all, Your Highness,’ said Milady, ‘and we are here with a purpose.’

The maid brought us in some small beer. This disgusting mess was what the English drank because their climate did not make wine, and their water tasted foul. As we drank the stuff, Milady outlined our purpose.

‘The beşevler escort bayan King of Spain will send a great armada against the heretic Queen, and encompass her fall, and we shall then set you in your rightful place, Highness.’

Mary seemed hesitant.

Milady, nothing daunted, went on; Emm and I listened. The whole plot was outlined. She apparently believed my cover story, and obviously took the view that Emm was too deeply enamoured of her to spill the beans.

‘But,’ I interjected, ‘surely, if this is to work, we have to contact every supporter so that they can be ready to rise?’

‘The young man makes a good point, Lady de Winter. I have a copy of a list which your Master has, but it would be good if our English supporters had it.’

From a hidden compartment in her desk, she pulled a copy, rolled into a tight tube, inserted into a small capsule.

‘I shall secrete that about my person,’ Emm said, taking it and, after fiddling under her skirts, announcing that it was safe and sound. We had what I had come to get, and it had fallen into our hands — or to be precise, Emm’s arse — just like that.

‘Master Roland, it is good to see that the Faith endures among the young. While our gallant ladies prepare for a Spartan supper in this place, will you not amuse me in some fashion?’

‘Your Highness, I will do so gladly, let me tell you some stories of your own Scotland’s past.’

So it was that, as Emm and Milady dressed for supper, I sat and recounted the tale of Macbeth to the Queen descended from Banquo.

I had imagined she must know it, but she did not and loved it.

‘You speak so well, and your accent is most charming. And that tale, it is so cheering, for I cannot help but see Elizabeth as the tyrant Macbeth. It is good to be happy again. It is so dreary here with that ghastly man and his dreadful ways. How I long to see some male beauty again.’

I kept my nerve. She was flirting with me, but I was assuming that was all it was, so I responded in kind, telling her how beautiful she was, and how her story was the stuff of legend among her many supporters.

‘Such kindness deserved a kiss from your Queen, will you be happy with that?’ Again, that smile.

‘Ma’am, it is beyond my wildest dream to be kissed by the greatest beauty since Helen of Troy.’

Approaching her, I leaned in, and our lips met.

There was about it a sweetness and a sense of longing which woke balgat escort bayan some desire in me, but remembering the situation, I pulled back, blushing.

‘I shall, Highness, treasure that.’

‘Master Roland, you are too kind, an old woman like me can have but little appeal to a youth such as yourself.’

‘You would, Ma’am, be surprised,’ I said, knowing that to be the literal truth if we ever went further.

I was saved by the arrival of Emm and Milady, who both looked a little flushed. I doubted that I was the only one to have had a pre-dinner kissing session.

Dinner with Sir Amias was like a glimpse of the Christian Purgatory. He talked non-stop about the Bible and his views of the end of days. If thoughts could kill, his days would have ended there and then; but alas, they lacked that power.

The food was poor, and badly-cooked, the wine was vile. Speaking from experience, I can honestly say I have drunk pee that was better flavoured. No wonder Queen Mary seemed so sad.

After dinner, Sir Amias and I retired to an ante-chamber.

‘Sir Amias, I have a note which you must despatch to Sir Francis this very evening.’

He looked at me, puzzled.

‘I may be young, but I am trusted with the most perilous task, and I have to tell you that the life of the Queen and the safety of the realm depends on this. You know the first depot where Sir Francis has a chain of men with fast horses, get this there as soon as you can!’

Accustomed to such a life, he summoned a servant and gave the orders.

‘The day after tomorrow, you are to allow the Queen and our party to go on a hunting trip. She will not return from it.’

‘I see,’ he said, ‘and you can tell me no more?’

‘Not unless I kill you afterwards.’

He looked at me, oddly, as well he might.

‘Admittedly, I have killed only half a dozen men, but to protect this information, I should kill you and a dozen more; it is that important.’

Impressed at my seriousness, he nodded.

‘I am sorry I underestimated you, young man. You do the Lord’s work.’

‘That, I do believe,’ Sir Amias,’ I said.

He smiled, not knowing I was a Jewish woman; best he never did.

‘Now we must re-join the ladies.’

And so we did.

Within a few minutes, Sir Amias had bid us good night, telling us it was time for his prayers. Emm and Milady departed soon after, although the only prayer that would be uttered was Milady’s plea batıkent escort bayan for Emm to stop. This left me with the Scots Queen.

‘Do come and sit next to me while the others are gone. I crave the touch of a man again.’

That was both too direct and too dangerous. I must have looked as uneasy as I felt.

‘Is it a mortal sin for a woman to want a man’s touch again? Ah, I have suffered so much, Roland, will you not give me some comfort? You said that I was still beautiful.’

Yes, I had, and now I was wondering how I could escape.

But even as I was wondering, she pulled me in and kissed me, and kissed me, and kissed me, more passionately each time, her tongue playing with mine.

My hands massaged her breasts, which were still quite full, if lacking in firmness.

‘I need a man, I have a woman’s needs,’ she declared to me.

This called for emergency tactics.

‘Let me show you what I learned in Morocco, my lady.’

I unlaced her gown, letting it fall to the floor.

Laying her back in her shift, I removed her drawers, and, planting myself between her legs, began to minister to her wetness.

It was clear it had been a long time since her sex had been disturbed, and the luxuriant forest had to be penetrated before my tongue could begin to please her. Using my broad tongue, I lapped at her sex, again, and again. She began to gasp.

‘Oh, oh, oh, never have I felt this, your Moroccan ways are indeed, oh, a pleasure!’

‘Let me continue then Lady, for the usual way of a man with a maid is solely for men, while this ensures that the lady is also happy.’

As what I was doing to her was so clearly arousing her, she needed no persuasion further. My leaf out of Emm’s book was the right gambit.

My fingers penetrated her, but it was clear that it was some time since she had last been taken there, as it was difficult of access. But my lubrication helped, and soon, I had her wanting more.

Working her clit carefully, I aroused her to greater heights, and soon she was writhing on her bed, wanting me. As I could hardly give her what she needed, it was imperative that she attained satisfaction in another way.

My lips grazed her cunt lips, and I sucked on her bud until she was squealing. Then, thrusting hard into her, I lapped her clit upwards, sucked it, and licked it, fingering her harder until the inevitable. She climaxed.

Shuddering, she shook with passion. Rising from her shift, I held her close as she relaxed, still shaking.

‘Oh, that was marvellous. Why have I waited all my life for this? You may be a young man, but you have the skill to know what a woman wants.’

She looked at me.

‘So skilful are you, that I wonder?’

She thrust a hand between my legs and felt.

‘I see.’ She said, smiling. I blushed.