During most of the day, the kitchens in the Palace of Mirrors were a place of hard work, bustling with the cooks and maids and footmen preparing meals for the royal family and their guests and attendants. Late at night, however, when the royals were tucked away in their chambers and the business of the day was concluding, the household staff used the kitchens as a makeshift pub of sorts. The Palace of Mirrors was a ride of several hours from the city proper, and as such most of the staff lived and worked on the palace grounds and rarely left except on official business. The servants called their erstwhile pub the Ring and Clover, and every night it was the liveliest spot in the entire palace.
In a cozy spot near the fire, around a wobbly wooden table, three men sat, enjoying mugs of mead and chatting. One, a sturdy-looking man with messy brown hair leaned back in his chair and waved his mug around as he spoke. "Four horses! Good bit of luck I knew how to keep them under control. I don't need to tell you, lads, the mess of trouble I'd have been in if I'd let four of the King's finest horses go loose in the gardens. I ain't going to the rack because Leland had one of his outbursts."
"Where is Leland, now that you mention him?" An older man, with distinguished silver around his temples asked.
"Aah, you know Leland," the first man said, "he's always busy with something."
*****
The carriage rattled as it slowed and finally came to a stop in a secluded clearing just off the main road. Leland, a man with sharp features and striking blond hair, climbed down from the driver's seat and made his way to the horses, patting them both kindly.
"Well done, my boys," he whispered to them, "there's an extra treat in it for you tonight, especially if this works out."
"Is it safe, driver?" A woman's voice called out from inside the carriage, smooth and sweet, "Have we lost them?"
"Aye, Madam," Leland replied, a grin growing on his face, which he replaced with a solemn look as he made his way to the carriage door. He opened it and looked up at the woman inside.
She was dressed in a long satin traveling cloak, blue with bronze-colored details along the hems. The hood was down, revealing her soft, gentle features. Her skin was a warm brown, which complimented the deep dark of her curious eyes. Her lustrous black hair fell in smooth curls around her shoulders, and it had been dusted with something which made it sparkle in the moonlight.
Leland knew from the moment she climbed into his carriage that he had to have her.
"We've lost them, Madam," Leland told her, "it's a good thing I know these woods as well as I do, or those villains might have taken us."
The woman nodded. "Thank you, Coachman."
Leland let a smile color the corners of his mouth. "We should probably stay here for a while, hidden, to let them slip further away from us before we return to the main road."
"That sounds reasonable," the passenger said, "I wish I had some extra coin to thank you with, Coachman. You have certainly earned it."
"There's no need for that, Madam," Leland said, "Their Majesties give me a generous pay to make sure their guests get safely to their destinations."
A smirk appeared on the passenger's full lips. "Is that why you put such effort into saving me tonight? Because of your generous pay?"
Silently, Leland cheered. Everything seemed to be falling into place. "Not at all, Madam. I would have hated to see a lovely young woman fall into the hands of those ruffians."
"Hmm," the passenger hummed, and got up from her seat, crouching to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling of the carriage. "There must be some way I could repay your kindness and bravery, Coachman."
"Calling me Leland would be a good start."
"Leland," she repeated, and made her way to the door. Once there, she sat down on the step, letting her legs dangle over the edge. "A good name. Mine is Osara."
She was close enough now that Leland could see the brown of her eyes reflecting in the moonlight. There was a twinkle to them that implied that she might be wiser than she let on about what was happening, but was open to it nonetheless.
"You say we should stay here a moment, Leland?" She looked up at him curiously.
Leland nodded. "Just a brief wait, Miss Osara."
Osara's clever eyes lowered from Leland's face to his chest, and rested on the belt which held his tabard in place. "I think I know how to thank you, and make our wait pass more pleasantly."
"Aye, Miss Osara?"
She just nodded, then crooked her finger at him, beckoning him closer. He bent forward, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a deep kiss.
Her lips were as soft as they looked, and when Leland pushed his tongue against them, they parted, giving him access to her warm mouth. She tasted like the sweet treats the palace chefs prepared and fine wine, and Leland was immediately intoxicated.
She intensified the kiss, her breath sharpening as her hands slipped off Leland's shoulders and slipped down to his belt. Her deft fingers had it undone in seconds, and it fell to the ground with a thud.
Leland pulled back, and Osara just watched, grinning, as he pulled off the red and gold tabard and tossed it over the door of the carriage. If he returned to the castle with his colors covered in mud, there'd be questions.
Osara beckoned him closer again, and her hands quickly went back to work, tugging down his trousers, leaving them hanging around his knees. Then, as she looked up into his eyes, he felt her soft hands gliding across his stomach under his shirt, then downwards as they wrapped around his hard cock.
"My," Osara exclaimed, "but this is a surprise. Back home they tell us you Ramulvan boys are all looks and no size, but this..." she started slowly stroking him, "I have no complaints about size tonight."
