The Little Warrior

"Keep your arm up and elbow down!" the clink of the metal scraping and hitting metal was one that Cassie loved. Her arms ached and her face was filthy. But she was happy. She lunged and missed.

"Damn" she swore. Cassie spun quickly and barely blocking the blow from her opponent. She twisted and as she did so, her arm catching the edge of the blade.

"Ouch!" Her instructor withdrew and signaled the end of her lesson.

"Cassie, what must you do each time you draw blood?" he asked her, always quizzing her.

"One must always wipe the blade to prevent rusting of the blade. On the victim of course." She almost forgot that part.

"Very good. Now go get that cut looked at. It looks bad, and it is time for you to get ready for this evening." With that he bowed and left.

Cassie ran into her rooms and quickly stripped to take her bath. Her best friend and lady in waiting, Julia, was fretting.

"Oh my gosh Cassie! Your father would be so upset if he saw that. It may need stitches, I will call the physician in to look at that when you are bathed. Your dresses are on your bed, I will be back in just a few minutes, just soak until then." With that, Julia turned and efficiently summoned the man who would sew Cassie's arm back together.

Cassie reflected on what this evening would bring. She would be introduced to the man who would marry her for political reasons, whether or not she agreed. She loved her father, but to do this to her? She was peeved.

Julia got back and started scrubbing the day's grime off of Cassie and they chatted. Cassie knew that Julia was a good spy, and asked about the man she was to wed.

"Well, I don't know as mucha bout him as I do his older brother, who is the one who agreed to this wedding. He is rumored to be cruel to those he considers to be his inferiors, and that includes all women. He is known to regularly beat his wife. Be glad you aren't to marry him. Lord Byron is said to be handsome, and sweet. But I don't know for sure. I hope so for your sake."

By then Cassie was all clean, and was dried off. She put on her underclothes and the doctor was summoned. He quickly worked the stitches and washed the wound. The bandages he put on her arm were thin enough that she would be able to hide it under her sleeve without a lot of bulk.

"Cassie, dear, one day your father will find out about your activities and be very cross. Then we will all be in trouble." He sighed and winked at her. Cassie gave Trican a big hug.

"Thank you for helping me keep this a secret from father. I don't know what I would do without you!"

"Bleed to death eventually" she heard Julia say. They all laughed.

After Trican left, Julia helped Cassie get dressed, lacing the dress tightly as it was intended by the dressmaker. This allowed Cassie's young ample breasts to be accented in a demure way.

Only with Cassie's chest, there was nothing demure about it. She was large and as a beautiful 17 year old princess, she knew it. She had had many men and boys who had wanted to court her, she refused each one.

Julia brushed the thick waist length light brown hair until it shone, and then proceeded to style it so that most of it was on top of her head. She left just a few tendrils to tease the imagination of the young girl's fiancé.

With her primping done, she heaved a sigh of relief. She wasn't late. She walked calmly to the dining room in the castle and peeked like a child around the corner, as she waited to be introduced. She saw the backs of two men who were talking to her father, the King Lance of Hectowa.

She heard her name as quickly took position and walked in, outwardly calm, inwardly barely still. She deliberately slowed her pace the nearer she got to her father. Bestowing a kiss on his cheek, she then turned to face the two men he was conversing with, knowing that one was her chosen husband to be.

"Cassie, this is Lord Sinclaire, and to his left, his younger brother, Lord Byron. You are to sit next to him, as he is to marry you in just a few weeks. This way, you may get to know him and what he expects of you." The snickers and lewd looks from Lord Sinclaire incensed her.

She looked at Lord Byron and saw something she had never expected, kindness. He smiled at her and her heart flipped. She could feel her face blush as he perused her. His gaze falling from her face to her heaving breasts, which felt like they were going to spill from her dress with each breath. Her flat stomach and shapely hip shield his gaze as she walked to her chair.

Lord Byron rose and pulled out her chair. He settled her in before reseating himself. So far she was impressed, he seemed to be well taller than she, polite, and handsome. His blue/gray eyes and long eyelashes held her gaze and he winked at her. She was startled and then blushed all over again.

"Hello, I am most certainly glad beyond words that you are the woman that my brother has chosen for me. I hope that your intelligence matches your smile. Very sweet and beautiful. Somehow, I feel though, that you maybe hiding something from me, and eventually, you will learn, there is no need to have secrets with me. I am not like your father or my older brother."

"Why thank you, I think. I was almost expecting a hunched over, rude, gnarled man to be my fiancé. I am taken aback to find that my worst fears are groundless." She smiled at him and he smiled back. She felt her heart skip a beat again, and looked down at her plate.

"Tell me about yourself, Princess. For starters, how old are you?"

"Actually, I am 17 summers, this fall will mark my 18th. How old are you?"

"I have seen 27 winters, although there are a few that I don't remember. The first few are hazy to me." he smiled. "I can see by the twinkle in your eye, and how your father spoke of you, that you are not the average young lady. Why is this so? If I may be so bold to ask."

Uh oh. This is what she had dreaded. Her father hated that she wasn't content to sit by the fire and sew like all the women were expected to do.

"Well, to be honest, I believe that women can do more than make babies, clean up after men and sew by the fireside as our only form of entertainment." she spoke with vehemence and crossed her arms to illustrate her point. "Women have brains, and can do so much more than men believe we can. I-"

"Young lady, you have overstepped your bounds again. Do not do so again. I am being patient for the sake of the guests here. However, I will not tolerate more of this nonsense at my dinner table. War is a serious thing and should not be interrupted by a mere woman. Keep that in mind for the future." Her father gave her a scathing look, one she knew all too well, as a matter of fact.

Cassie sighed. Her hands were fisted so tightly, that her knuckles were white. Lord Byron noticed this and admired her for her restraint. He also noted her chest heaving with rage and decided to defuse his fiancée and save her from more disgrace at her father's table.

"Come dance with me?" he asked her.

"Yes, I believe I shall. I can not stand for him to be like that." she accepted. She knew an out when he gave her one.

They walked into the middle of the large room, and as the music played, they swayed. He pressed her closely and she could feel his heat through her clothes just as she could feel how hard his muscles were under his shirt.

She blushed as she had a sudden image of him naked over her and she was running her hands over his back similarly as to how she was now. Only it was more intimate in her imagination.

He noticed her blush and smiled. He felt her softness as her breasts were crushed to him, he felt the stirrings in his loins and pulled back slightly. He didn't want her to notice how she affected him. He liked her enthusiasm, and thought that he would have a very interesting life in front of him, as long as she agreed to be in it.

"I happen to agree with you. Which is one reason why my brother and I do not get along. He believes that women are for nothing but his seed disposal and as an anger receptacle. As far as I am concerned, he is a despicable man for how he treats his wife and his other women."

This was nothing like she had expected him to say. She was expecting a man like her own father, who had stated his beliefs about women. She was surprised and didn't bother to hide that fact.

They danced for a few more minutes before Lord Sinclaire broke between them and asked to dance with his future sister in law. Not to be rude, they both allowed this.

Cassie was pulled tightly to him and she felt his hard member rub against her. He roughly grabbed her wrist and his breath was heavy with wine, smelling decidedly sour. He leered at her and looked between them at her cleavage.

"What a beauty I have secured for my brother. I must say, had I known I would have secured you for myself. One day, though, you will know what it is to feel me intimately. I will have you. If you tell a soul, who do you think they would believe? A mere woman, or a man of stature?" He licked his lips and smiled an evil smile at her.

The song was over none too soon for her and she excused herself to the table. By the time she made it back, she was shaking and white. Byron knew that his brother had been rude, and wished that he could do something about it. This delicate flower was too wonderful to be spoiled by Sinclaire.

Soon she returned to normal and relaxed. When it was time to go to bed, he walked her to her rooms and bade her a good night, and that he would be at her door first light to take her on a picnic. She grinned and curtseyed before spinning around and rushing into her rooms. forgetting the threat made by her future brother in law.

She was undressed by Julia and they talked about the evening. It was marred only by the memory of Sinclaire. Cassie kept that to herself. She decided to tell Byron about it though. She felt her skin tingle when she remembered how he had touched her on the arm and on the hand, even the chaste kiss on her cheek.