Chapter 2

 

After breakfast, Bernhard called to his men, telling them that he wouldn’t let them go soft on him. He called them out to the courtyard for training with the sword.

When anyone complained that they were too drunk or that the whores had worn them out, he told them that a man never let his senses become a hindrance to him. He kept them as sharp as his blade.

A man didn’t let women or beer distract him.

It was a question of honor.

~

The cook told the girls in the kitchen to go to the garden and harvest more food. Their supplies had rapidly dwindled in the evening and night.

Men ate more food then women did, and men of war needed to feed their strength.

~

Giselle went to the garden with seven other girls. They all had large baskets to collect food with them.

The girls talked about the men they’d laid with last night. Everyone was tired, but the others had at least gotten a few hours of rest. Even the cook had gone to bed with a man in the night.

The girls often took breaks to flirt with the men in the courtyard.

Giselle worked on, wanting to get the task over with so she didn’t have to hear the clanging of swords. It was giving her tired body a headache.

When Giselle’s basket was half full, she took a break and sat down on one of the lightly colored rocks. These rocks reflected light to the shady parts of the garden. There were also black rocks surrounding some plants such as lavender. These rocks absorbed the heat the sun gave them and held it inside of them, fooling the plants to think that it was warmer than it really was. Such tricks allowed them to grow plants that didn’t thrive this far north.

The garden was a beautiful place. The sun was warm. Giselle felt like lying down in the grass and enjoying the sun on her face.

She wasn’t happy that the men had returned from war.

Chances were they wouldn’t be here for long, and they’d leave off to their next war in a few months. Men weren’t known for settling down, especially not young men such as their lord king.

This castle had been at war ever since she arrived here as a child. She was certain that her own home was a nice and safe place to live. Her real home was perfect. The sun always shone, and everyone smiled at her. They wanted her to be happy and when she was, so were they.

One day, she would return to her home and be welcomed with open arms. She’d imagined it so perfectly in her head.

“What are you doing just sitting around here with your ugly face in the sun?” The cook had heard the girls flirting with men. It enraged her that they would do that when she’d given them a task to perform. When she arrived in the garden, all the girls quickly went back to work. Only Giselle hadn’t heard the cook coming.

Giselle felt the slap, and her eyes flew open. The cook was standing in front of her. The sun behind the cook made it difficult for her to look at the cook.

“Forgive me, Frau Schmidt. I was only resting for a moment.”

“You were dreaming about that high born family of yours again, weren’t you? I’ll show you what we do with daydreamers who think too much of themselves here.” Frau Schmidt grabbed onto Giselle, lifting her to her feet.

Giselle’s eyes darted over to the men in the courtyard. She knew exactly how daydreamers were treated. The cook wouldn’t dare punish her with all the men standing around watching, would she? “I beg you not to.”

“What? You can beg? Never thought I’d see the day that you said those words again. The last time was when you first came to me. You begged me to take you home, giving me orders. You always thought you were better than the rest of us.” She grabbed a fistful of Giselle’s hair and marched her to the whipping post.

“Please, I beg you, not in front of the men.” Giselle didn’t want them to see her half naked.

“Maybe, you’ll learn from it this time. In fact, I’ll whip you out here every time I need to. The men will teach you your place. God knows, I couldn’t.”

The cook ripped open the back of Giselle’s light and badly woven bliaut and pulled it away from Giselle’s arms, baring the upper half of Giselle’s body. The tightly knotted girdle stopped the bliaut from falling to the ground. The cook bonded Giselle’s hands together and yanked them over her head. She picked up the short leather whip and let it crack down on Giselle’s body.

Giselle turned away from the whip to protect her belly and breasts. She faced the whipping pole while the cook rained lashes down on her back.

Giselle bit her tongue not to call out, but the pain was making her twist and turn. When the leather hit the side of her breast, she twisted away again. The cook laughed as she got the other breast.

Giselle rounded her back, making it a bigger target. She planted her feet firmly on the ground.

The next time the whip fell on her back, she reacted by leaning back and pressing her shoulder blades together as she rose up on her toes as if she were trying to direct the pain out of her body through them.

The cook enjoyed whipping half naked girls, and she especially enjoyed whipping Giselle. She wished she had a better whip, one that would break skin.

Perhaps if Giselle were whipped bloody, she’d stop putting on airs?

~

Bernhard noticed what was going on and so did his men. They were all watching the pretty girl twist and turn on the pole. It would have been kinder to bind her tightly to the pole, so her front side wouldn’t be harmed. The poor girl was being shamed and beaten so terribly. He assumed that she must have stolen something to deserve the punishment she was getting.

He thought about stepping in so his men would get back to work. That was the moment when he realized that he was staring at her too.

The fat woman stopped whipping the girl and walked away from her. The girl immediately turned so she was facing the pole. She didn’t want anyone to see her.

Bernhard lifted his sword and resumed his fight with his best friend. Joachim von Grafenweiler was the only man he truly trusted. They’d fought side-by-side all of these years. Joachim was a nobleman, but barely. He was a younger son and had no lands of his own. War, or the church, was the only option left for him to take.

They were both the same age and both had been surprised that they lived through their fourteen-year war service. Joachim would stay on as Bernhard’s advisor.

~

Some men were still feeling lustful. Last night hadn’t satisfied them enough. They watched Giselle getting whipped and enjoy it immensely.

When the cook was finished with Giselle, several men advanced over to her. At first, they made jokes about her body, and then they couldn’t resist running their fingers over the welts on her back and on the sides of her breasts.

One man grabbed onto her firm breasts as he stood behind her, nestling his penis into her behind.

Giselle cursed him to let her go, even begging him. She didn’t want this. She was about to lose her maidenhead in the middle of the courtyard while tied to the whipping post with hundreds of men watching. They would probably take turns and take her until she was dead.

Other men cheered her torturer on, telling the man to show her that he was a real man.

The cheering and clapping caught Bernhard’s attention. He looked to see what was entertaining his men so well.

He saw the girl crying and begging the man to let her go in one moment and demanding him to unhand her in the next.

Bernhard stepped forward and ripped his man off of her. He berated his man, telling him to get back to practice. Then he released the girl and sent her off.

She crossed her arms over her breasts and ran off to the kitchens before he could look in her eyes.

For a brief moment, he thought that she could have thanked him, but he ignored that thought for now and lectured his men about being concentrated on what they were doing. “Any man could have snuck up behind you and killed you before you’d have noticed that they were there. No women for you. Not for a whole month. That ought to teach you not to let yourself get distracted by a bared pair of breasts.”

Bernhard marched off for the kitchen. It was now time to get the thanks the girl owed him.

~

Giselle ran into the kitchen sobbing. A few other girls entered behind her. They wanted to see what would happen when the cook saw that Giselle had been freed.

The cook spotted the girls coming in and looked to see what the lazy girls were up to now.

Giselle went over to the corner. The girls had a basin of water and a small towel hanging on the wall. There they cleaned up quickly after a man came by with more hunger than food could satisfy.

Giselle washed the dirt and grime off of her body feverishly. Her breasts had marks on them where the man squeezed them as well as from the whip. Tears ran down her face as she washed the marks from the men away.

The cook watched her. “You know one day you’ll make the men so mad that they’ll take you as painfully as possible. And you’ll deserve it, you will.”

“No woman deserves that. How dare you say something so terrible?” Giselle threw her words at the cruel cook.

“Watch how you talk to me girl,” the cook warned her.

“You’d be wise to listen to her, girl.” Bernhard entered the kitchen and stared at the girl. His eyes drifted down away from her eyes to her marked up breasts. They were especially nice ones, firm and high with a nice roundness that made them bounce.

All the women bowed down to their king while Giselle covered herself.

“I didn’t tell you to cover yourself, girl. In fact, I’m here because you didn’t thank me. Perhaps you can this evening.”

“There is no need for that, Your Royal Majesty. I’ll thank you now in front of these witnesses.”

“First, you’ll bow down to me, girl.” Her defiance was raising his ire.

Giselle bent down, but not as lowly as the others did.

Bernhard rolled his eyes. This girl wanted to be tied to the post again. Only this time, he’d hold the whip in his hand, and he wouldn’t gently pat at her back as the cook had.

“Thank you for coming to my dire aid, my king.” Giselle thanked him, dropping her eyes as she should when she talked to someone of his standard.

“Fancy words for a kitchen maiden.”

Giselle stood. “I’m not just a kitchen maiden.”

“Really? I had no idea that you also had other talents.” She was amusing him.

“Forgive Giselle, my king.” The cook stepped forward. “The girl is a dreamer and a liar. She’ll tell you that she’s high born if you let her. But the truth is that she’s been with me since her fourth year. She thinks she’s better than us, but she isn’t. It was by my grace that she was allowed to live at all. She was brought to me with a fever back then. I’m afraid the fever left scars on her mind, my king.” That had been the time when Bernhard’s uncle had left with so many of their men. None returned from the war. The French had slaughtered them. The cook’s husband had been among the men.

“There is nothing wrong with me,” Giselle protested, covering her breasts.

“Hold your tongue, girl,” he scolded her. “You will only speak to me after I’ve asked you a question.” Bernhard was surprised with her forwardness. This mere kitchen girl thought too highly of herself. The cook had been right to punish her.

Giselle squinted her eyes as she looked at him.

“I want her properly cleaned up and brought to my chambers after my evening bread.”

The cook raised her eyes up to look at the king. “You won’t be happy with this one. She has no skills. She’s never been with a man. This one puts on airs and insults men to keep them away.”

“I’m sure she won’t put on airs this evening. No woman is higher than a king.” Bernhard stared her down before he left the kitchen.

Giselle looked at the others. The look in their eyes was a mix of jealousy and pity.

It was clear that Giselle needed to get away before nightfall. She had no ties to this place. She’d go back into the woods through which she came.

Giselle went back to the water and washed her breasts clean and as much of her back as she could reach.

Then she sat down and worked on sewing her clothes back together.

Out of experience, she knew it would take hours.

As soon as she was finished, she’d take off, she thought, poking the threaded needle through the thin cloth of her bliaut.

The Lost Princess: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Princess-Rachel-Burns-ebook/dp/B016TXMZ1I/ref=la_B00DXICHKM_1_53?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526404827&sr=1-53&refinements=p_82%3AB00DXICHKM