THE NORTHERN KING

Catylen's head was hurting, not just her head; her entire body as well, she was tired and exhausted. She hasn't been able to get a good night sleep for days, specifically since she had encountered those men on the king's road.

She often woke up screaming awake from a nightmare, worse Ivo had been avoiding her; refusing to see her with the excuse of preparing for the games, just how much was the dimwit preparing, it's not like the fool was going to win anyway especially with his little toy now broken.

But she had prior issues and no one to pour her anger on, Or was there? She thought as a familiar face came to her mind.

She jumped out of bed and grabbed a fleet coat, throwing it over her blue dress as she slipped on a pair of sandals and walked out of the room. Then walked down the hall taking a left turn, she avoided the maids hiding behind the large stone raven statue.

She stood in front of the stable door, now that she was standing here, she had begun to think about how stupid her idea was. But her body was already moving on its own. She pushed the door open, he was standing there Forge.

Her feelings towards him were a mixture of gratitude, dread, and mystery. He had saved her from certain doom and immediately pledged his loyalty to Edric and even suggested fighting as his flag bearer in the king's game.

All she knew about her saviour was his name, which sounded like a western name, that she was sure of. His deep brown eyes like the color of sand looked back at her, she looked away her heart pounding as he left the house that he tended to and walked towards her.

“Mi lady” he called out his accent so thick it always gave away just how far he was from here.

Catylen stared back at him, she had lost her voice, why could she not find her voice? What was this feeling? Her skin prickled, and her heart seemed to have left it spot, slowly cripping towards her mouth.

She was still lost in her head until Forge grabbed her hand, she pulled it away, wrapping her free hand around it. She didn't expect him to touch her, servants were not supposed to touch any noble unless given permission. The least was to be flogged with an iron rod and the worse which she had seen and even started was the cutting of the very limb used to commit the act.

Maybe he didn't know, but what if another servant or a noble had walked in to grab his horse what would have happened, she had found herself worrying about him. She looked at him again, this time with more composition.

“Forge, I need you to do something for me” she called out.

Forge helped her to sit over the large barrel, she didn't trust that the barrel would hold her weight, but Forge had tested it with his weight a couple of times.

She stretched out to look at the stable door, but they were hidden away far from sight, unless someone walked in, they would never be caught, or so she hoped.

Catylen positioned herself properly and looked at forge who stood well over her “begin” she called out, he nodded and lifted her skirt, handing it over to her to hold, she didn't as she stared at him.

Her hand lifted in the air, smacking Forge across the face, Forge didn't respond; his face was still as plain as it was. Catylen looked at her hand—the one used to smack forge across the face.

She felt good, wonderful about it. She had been dominated and told what to do, by her father, by Edric and Thalia. Ivo was the only person she had controlled, but now he had slowly slipped away from her grasp, the handmaidens, and servant girls were too easy to control. They obeyed her every command no matter what, she wanted someone strong and resilient.

Forge was a suitable candidate. She had seen him take down twelve men without taking a single strike of the blade, she had seen him in the games only coming after the twins, he was strong, and she was going to control him.

“Hold it while you do it” she called out, he stared at her; his face still expressionless as he slowly moved down between her legs. He held her skirt up and slowly kissed her thigh. Catylen felt his warmth breathe as his mouth slowly travelled down her thigh, it felt different as he licked her warmth, she grabbed his head, holding him still.

She closed her eyes as the pleasure overwhelmed her, she felt she was in control and could ask him to stop anytime, she wasn't a toy for someone else's pleasure. It felt good to be the one on the receiving end.

Ida watched them, as she smiled to herself. A few minutes ago, she had come to collect her horse for one of Ivo's errands—this time was to deliver a letter which he asked her not to open for any reason—for a plan he never told her fully, but from the way he said it, it was rather urgent.

She walked into the empty stable, which was rather unusual as the stable was never empty, she made a note to give the stable boys a stern warning until she held the sound of a slap coming from the last stall. Maybe she will partake in the discipline, she thought as she walked down the stall.

She walked very quietly to the direction of the sound and was shocked to see catylen engaged in her activity, a smirk grew on her face as she watched the duo before her. Her eyes caught catylen's as she turned to leave, she saw the shock on her face, she simply responded with a smile and walked away.

Oh, Ivo would love this, she thought as she grabbed

the rein of her horse.