I tossed and turned in bed. This was my first night in a real building for a week and somehow I was more uncomfortable than ever. Now that I was alone, fully alone, without my maids and dies-in-waiting, I couldn't stop stressing about the weeks to come. I was getting married! I had been preparing for this event my whole life and still it felt unbelievable. I had seen all my sisters sent off to marry lords, princes and kings. Now, as the youngest, it was my turn. This marriage would actually be the most important one of all. I had been set up to marry the Earl of Greencourt when suddenly the war broke out.

  Five years of war, five countries against each other. My country Havermark inescapably embroiled in it. The bloodshed had been incomprehensible. At least to me, because I was stuck in the castle for all of it. While my people suffered horrible fates, I suffered only from loneliness and boredom. Now, as part of the peace negotiations I was supposed to marry the crown prince of Medora, a faraway kingdom. 120 days of travel. All of my sisters lived within a two weeks of travel from our home. I had only been away for a month and already I was homesick. We had been camping for most nights, on the long roads often there was no shelter to be had. Tonight we had been so fortunate to be housed by a lord of the fertile valley we were travelling through. He told us he was honoured to take in a real royal party.

  I didn't really know anything about my husband. Only his name, Virtus, and that he was either 28 or 29 years old. Seven or eight years older than me. This was not so bad, my father was fifteen years older than my mother. His country was so distant that I had heard nothing reliable of his looks, or his personality. Nobles travel more than most, but few travel so far. People talk, of course, but the accounts they give can be very different. I had heard him called both ugly and handsome, cruel and kind. If anyone actually knew anything about him, it was impossible to distinguish them from the people that were just guessing. I wondered if he would be even half as handsome as Alvar.

  It was stupid. My whole life I had never had much interest in boys, or men. I kept to myself, knowing that in the end my desires would not factor in the choice of a husband anyway. Now that my wedding day was fast approaching I had met a man that I could not stop thinking about.

  Alvar had been a peasant boy, before the war. In a vilge of farmers he had been the rgest youth, and when the war broke out he had been drafted into the army. He had been an exceptionally good soldier, and now at the end of the war he had risen to the rank of royal guard. He was one of my personal guards, part of the entourage that was bringing me to my husband-to-be. He was stationed outside my bedroom door at this very moment.

  During the day he would ride beside my carriage, and I would try to glimpse at him without my dies-in-waiting noticing. They were all old and stuck up, and I knew they would not approve. Tall, burly, blond, his silver armour shining in the sunlight. On his big, chestnut horse he made a truly stunning picture. His tanned face was etched with small white lines where he had squinted against the sun, his hazel eyes shining like two gold coins. He would help me down from the carriage at our stops. Sometimes our eyes would meet, and I would feel a shock going through my body, and reflexively lower my eyes to the ground.

  At first it had only been a little infatuation. I was sure that once I was good and settled in Medora, I would be able to forget about him easily enough. This all changed three nights ago.

  The whole entourage had been camped a small while from the main road. I was sleeping soundly in my tent, my dies and maids scattered in beds around me. We were startled awake by a terrible scream, followed by an even more harrowing gurgle. Soon, there was absolute chaos outside. Cngs and shouts filled the air. The guards that had been stationed outside the tent rushed in. Three of them stationed themselves in front of the other women, but Alvar had grabbed my arm.

  “Come with me, princess.”

  I had let him lead me outside, into the woods. The night was mostly cloudy, so I couldn’t see anything at all. Alvar however, tread forward with incredible confidence. He held my arm tight, with his leather gloved hand, and wearing nothing but my night-gown I could feel the cold steel of his armour through the thin cloth. My bare feet ached, walking across the forest floor. I got some cuts, but I could barely feel them because of my panic. After a while, we came to a big oak tree.

  “Stand here, behind me.”

  I did at he said, and stood with my back to the oak, breathing rapidly. A branch cracked ahead. Someone had followed us.

  “Give her up,” a voice said, “or we’ll kill you to get her.”

  “There’s three of us and only one of you,” another chimed in.

  The silence was deafening. Then the swoosh of a sword flying through the air, followed by a loud spt and a dull thud. One of bandits that were left shouted as he charged. This was a mistake. Following the sound of his voice Alvar made quick work of him, swinging his sword through the air with precision. Something grabbed me from behind, and I could feel the icy tip of a dagger positioned right under my rib. I yelped.

  “Don’t come any closer,” the bandit said, “or I’ll skewer the prin-”

  He could not finish his sentence before the sword was already driven through his skull. Hot, sticky blood spttered the side of my face, flowed down my white gown and my long bck hair. I stood stiff in shock, as the body limped down beside me, brushing against my body on the way to the ground.

  “I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

  Panting, I tried to process what had just happened to me. It had all been so quick! I felt horribly dizzy, when a big metal arm grabbed me around the shoulders. I leaned against his body, he was covered in even more blood than I was. In just a few minutes he had killed three men like it was nothing. How many had he killed in the war?

  My head rested against his breastpte, gazing up I could see him staring ahead looking around for any more danger. My heart pounded in my chest, and not only because of the danger. We had stayed away from the camp for a while, until we heard the voices of the other guards coming to get us. They had defeated the rest of the bandits. Some of them had been driven back into the forest, but the guards hoped that they would catch them all before the morning. It would be safe for me to return to my tent. None of my attendants had been harmed. Clearly, these men had only been after me.

  Alvar had led me back to my tent, handing me over to my dies-in-waiting, who fussed over me, put me in another night-gown and did their best with cloth and water to clean me off. Alvar had gone off to clean himself when I realized that I had not even said thank you. I pushed off Lady Agatha, who was scrubbing at my arm, and rushed out, to find him by the nearby brook. He sat with his feet in the water, and in the moonlight I could see his broad, pale back, and brown neck. He jumped up startled, and that was when I realized that he was fully naked. A sudden pause in the clouds revealed everything to me, as I could see his powerful body and rge manhood. I blushed blood red.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I babbled as I cpped my hands over my eyes, “I just wanted to say thank you, for saving me.”

  Although I refused to look at him, I could hear by his tone that he was grinning as he replied.

  “Of course, Your Highness.”

  Lady Agatha caught up with me, and haughtily led me back to the tent. Stammering, I expined to her that I had no idea that he would be undressed, and this made the stuck up old dy ugh a little. When we got back to the tent, she told all the others everything, and with a cacophonous eruption of ughter, the stress of the night dissipated.

  My heart still sped up every time I thought of that night. Standing pressed up against that powerful, terrifying man had awakened something within me. Something deep inside that I had not even known existed. He had saved my life, through terrible violence.

  Thinking about Alvar, I felt the heat rise between my legs. I was finally alone, I could finally satisfy a little of my desire. My hands reached under the bnket, pulling up my skirt. My hand pushed down the fluff of my pubic hair, as it reached towards my vagina. Slowly I pushed two fingers in, and moved them slowly against the walls of the vagina, finding the good spot, that made my body tense up. I thought about him, about what I had seen that night. His power, his deftness, I wondered if he was as good with other things as he was with that sword. I was almost too wet, my fingers slipped as they rubbed across my clitoris, thinking about him, waiting just outside. I moaned, enraptured, grabbing my own breast and rubbing my tender nipple. I moved my hand back down and held my clit steady as I gave myself the most intense orgasm I’d ever had.

  “Your Highness, I heard you shouting, is everything all right?”

  Alvar was standing over me.

  ***

  Author's note: I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who reads this story and if you like it please please like, comment or review! I'm so happy to see that some people are reading this story, but the most exciting part is always when I get some reaction to it.

  I had a bst writing this story and I hope you will like reading it!