AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her teeth ground together at the expectation that he probably retreated to the other side of his palace, holing up with either a mistress or a sex slave. On his wedding night!
Aelwen tossed and turned as wakefulness returned to her. Was she really so undesirable to him? She'd gone her whole life being fawned over with countless marriage proposals that her father had rejected on her behalf. Of course, her sister Iffandril was his pride and joy, the angelic goddess who could do no wrong. Meanwhile, Aelwen never stood straight enough, never smiled wide enough, smiled too widely, or looked too desperate, or worse, when her father was in one of his moods, he'd call her a good-for-nothing harlot and threaten to disown her for fluttering her eyelashes too suggestively at one of the more attractive fae nobles.
Of course, Aelwen was still painfully a virgin to this day.
It wasn't that she sought sex per se, but she always believed, truly and deep in her soul, that she would one day have a husband who loved her. She'd sacrificed the dream of love when she was promised to King Vinir. Still, she had expected, at least, the opportunity to explore other intimate secrets that women far more experienced than she often whispered about.
There was a knock on the door, and Aelwen shot up into a seated position. Was it Vinir finally here to attend to their marriage obligations?
She let one strap of her sleeping gown fall down her shoulder, as she'd often seen other young girls do to try and catch a man's eye. It usually worked.
"Come in," Aelwen answered in her most authoritative, queenly voice.
The door opened, but it wasn't Vinir. Three young women about her age popped into the room, the first one's fiery red hair and the second one's raven black tresses immediately standing out in stark contrast to the pale blonde of the third. All three curtsied deeply upon seeing Aelwen, their eyes twinkling with delight.
"Good morning, Your Majesty," they said in perfect unison. "We are here to serve you. King Vinir assigned us to be your personal maids, here to attend to your every whim."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," the second woman said.
"We will ensure you have everything you need for a comfortable stay here in the palace," the third one chimed in.
"Oh!" Aelwen said and hurried to slip her dress strap back securely over her shoulder, then climbed out of bed. "I wasn't expecting you."
The first maid, the one with fiery red hair, came forth and immediately began to strip the bed. "I'm Lissa, Your Majesty. And this is Mori and Alexa."
Mori, the one with the black locks, came forward carrying a wooden tray with a steaming teapot and a large green mug. "A herbal remedy, my queen," Mori said. "To ease any pain after your wedding night."
A fiery blush crept up Aelwen's cheeks. "I'm not—"
"And I'll draw you a bath," Alexa interrupted, sweeping across the room toward the washroom connected to Aelwen's bedroom. "The hot water is always soothing on the lady bits after being worked by a man too hard. It'll help ease any bruises, too."
Aelwen swallowed, following Mori and Alexa into the bathroom. "A bath would be lovely."
The bathroom was just as large as the bedroom, with white marble walls and gold-framed mirrors on each of the four walls. The floors were a breathtaking mosaic of colorful stones, with a golden clawfoot tub sitting in the center. In one corner was a vanity area with an ornate marble countertop and several glass containers filled with oils and perfumes.
She couldn't find it in her yet to admit that she and Vinir hadn't been together as man and wife should be, but they would know when they saw her naked that she was untouched, wouldn't they?
Aelwen felt filthy and useless like she was marked with some horrible deformity that would make it obvious to anyone who looked at her why Vinir hadn't wanted her.
"Should I ... should I be expecting bruises?" Aelwen croaked.
Alexa sat on the wooden stool next to the tub. She twisted the faucet, and steaming hot water poured into the tub. She looked over her shoulder at Aelwen, hesitated, and then glanced at Mori, who had just placed the tea tray on the table on the other side of the tub.
"Oh, darling," Mori tutted, "there's nothing to be ashamed of."
"It's common for a woman to experience pain when she loses her virginity," Alexa said. "And unfortunately, it's all too common for men to hurt women during sex with no regard for their feelings or wellbeing."
Mori nodded in agreement and continued, "The truth is that many men simply don't know how to please a woman and end up being rough or careless with her body, seeking their own pleasures instead. And a man like King Vinir ..."
Mori and Alexa shared a look that made Aelwen's stomach drop. "What about him?"
"Well, he ... he has a reputation, you see. Of being rough during intimate moments," Lissa said as she glided into the room, positioning herself behind Aelwen to help her take off her sleeping gown. "That's why we're here, you see. We wanted to make sure you were handling yourself well after having to go a whole night with him."
Alexa scowled. "Last year, when he finished with Countess Malady, she could hardly walk for a week, the poor thing. I gave him a piece of my mind for hurting her so severely."
"And he beat you just as bad with a cane after," Mori muttered.
"That's not the point. The point is he was a little more careful with his conquests after that," Alexa said proudly.
