Gina's mother had been given the White Scarf by Patron Raul at her wedding. She said that her night of instruction in the Patron's bed was delightful and very helpful, even if it did not bear fruit. Instruction was also given to Gina's father the same night. He often spoke of how, while his wife was with the Patron, he had been washed by the Patron's wife, who was older than he was. She then led him to three younger but experienced women, all experts in the arts of the bedroom, who instructed him all night, accepting pleasure from him as they taught him how to please his wife. Both of Gina's parents insisted their marriage was better for the lessons.
When the Gina and Carlo asked his permission to wed the Patron said their wedding would make an excellent excuse for a party and celebration shared by all, which further raised Gina's expectations. Gina moved into the hacienda a week before. The Patron's wife Eve treated Gina like a favored sister; they worked together in the kitchen and in the sewing room, chatting non-stop. They shared meals together and Carlo joined them for a simple dinner with the Patron each night. Gina knew this degree of openness was not typical.
In Eve's presence the Patron made subtle comments to Gina that suggested he was interested in knowing her as a woman. Private comments were also made to Gina before the wedding ceremony, to gauge her willingness. Gina was flattered and showed she was favorably disposed to the Patron's "special blessing." As was the custom they all checked the records in the library and saw that blood was not an immediate issue; the closest common ancestor for Gina and the Patron was six generations back. For Carlo and the Patron's wife the distance was seven generations.
There had been one lesson for Gina already - Eve instructed her. On an unseasonable hot day during the week before, Eva and Gina worked in the garden. Afterwards they took their ease together. They stripped, washed, and then resting their naked bodies on cool, smooth bed-like stones in the hacienda's basement cool room.
Gina noticed that Eve was shaved bare below. She could not help but look. She dared not ask, but Eve anticipated a question.
Eve mused, "When a man is attracted to a woman's body, he naturally has the urge to kiss her in many different places, including some that might not be obvious. But while the desire is there, he will hesitate to visit his lips upon some desires, out of fear or embarrassment... he does not wish to offend, or cause her to think he has unusual desires. So if a woman wishes to accept kisses upon her lower lips, shaving provides a wordless invitation. A woman might also wish to return such a favor... after the man does a good job of pleasing her. Would you like me to shave you for your honeymoon?"
Gina's first question was about the nature of such kisses, as she had never seen one. But Eve said some things the couple must learn by doing upon themselves.
Then Gina complained that she could not ask such a service of Eve. But Eve reminded her that all the women of the colony were sisters. Eve had been opened prior to her wedding by the same polished silver toy that opened Gina's mother, it was a tradition of womanhood. The toy in question was crafted by the Incas over 500 years before, it was plundered from the Neo-Incas and passed through the female line. Gina's older sister Gwen had also used it before her first martial wedding. But some time in the last year or two it had been lost or misplaced by one of their female cousins. Eve was working on a stone replacement, but that was not ready yet.
Gina knew their blood relationship, she had seen in the Book Of Births that she and Eve had been fruits from the same womb just four generations earlier. With that reminder Gina agreed to have Eve shave her entire pubic region, thinking that Carlo would be delighted. When the deed was done Gina had to admit her lips looked sinfully tempting down there, even if she considered the look less womanly. Since then the look grew on her, so Eve shaved her again this very morning. Gina returned the favor, to show she had learned.
But now, on her wedding day, Gina wondered if it was the Patron, not Carlo, that Eve had prepared her for. While staying in the hacienda Gina had witnessed how Eve was happy to usher other women into the Patron's bedroom before she retired to her own bed, and then in the morning Eve made pleasant conversation with her husband's lovers over breakfast, when their hair and clothing testified to an active night under the Patron. Having many experiences lovers was the Patron's right; he often entertained widows and even (with their husband's knowledge) the lonely wives of men who were away for an extended period.
As she considered the possible honor Gina thought her Patron was a very handsome man, and considered that becoming a woman under him, with his cock piercing her virgin body, was the stuff of dreams, even if it was only for one night. But as bedtime grew closer, she began to have disquieting feelings. She was an inexperienced virgin while the Patron had a wife, and had fathered children by several woman. Gina had counted her days hundreds of times, she was sure she was primed to make a baby during her wedding night or a day or two after, and she wanted Carlo to father her child. But she also knew her first time would involve pain for both. An experienced lover would make things easier. If Carlo was her first he would never be able to forget the pain his desire gave her.
The tradition of the First Night was accepted as the Patron's (or, for an older Patron, the Prince's) natural privilege. The tradition dovetailed into the farm's need from the very start, to grow in population and to bind the community together with interwoven blood bonds. All accepted it as part of the tradition; it was all they knew.
Cut off from the outside world the children of the settlers knew nothing of the learned emotions fiction and society presented. There were no copies of the "Canterbury Tales" or Shakespeare in the colony, or any other Italian-based stories that spoke of cuckolds or infidelity - so those concepts simply did not exist. (The colony was chartered by King Philip II of Spain, who sent the Spanish Armada against England, so English literature was not a priority when items were sent to the colony.) The most pervasive tale of the colony's founding was of the dozen indian maids, survivors of the first two tribes that were wiped out. Those maids would have died, but instead they chose to bind themselves to the first wave of settlers, who cared for them. The men built a house for each of these women to live. Then the two dozen male Spaniards took turns living with the women for a few months each. They called these temporary marriages, it was something they learned from the Muslim Moors. Those women were literally the mothers of the colony, after almost 4 centuries every member could trace their bloodline through the Book Of Births to virtually all twelve women.
The colony's general reading material was mainly childhood fables and religion-based works selected by monks in Europe after the printing press became popular. Books were selected that met the minimal education of the children. A frequent childhood tale featured a Prince who was brave and handsome, sharing time with a ordinary girl who loved him, sometimes for just one night as both were committed to their other duties and obligations. An early history of the colony was also printed, and reprinted, and was read by all in their fourth year reading class.
In the colony all would accept the first night, and any child that came from it, as entirely appropriate and honorable service of the bride to her Patron. Tradition was that the couple would raise the child as their own, but as a teen the half-royal fruit would go to the Patron's house and become a retainer, in the direct service of his Patron. When need arose a retainer might be elevated to become a Prince or even the Patron. Elevation to Prince had happened three times in almost four centuries, due to a childless marriage or an heir's unexpected death. One of these Retainer-Princes became Patron. Naturally, this encouraged women to be open for their charming Patron.
People raised in the modern world, where they were bombarded with different cultural norms, were unlikely to understand these generational traditions transplanted from medieval Europe. The isolated people of the colony lacked the sense of personal entitlement needed to think of democracy, personal property or various "imbued rights" formulated in Latin by wealthy, entitled landowners and their lawyers. There was no divorce, all knew that a wife's heart was bound first to her children, and their children; in his vows of marriage the husband swore to support that above his own desires. Without personal property or wealth these people had never known slavery or inherited wealth. With no accumulated wealth to "pass on" family standing was based on merit. They thought it natural that work and the benefits of labor were shared by all. The Patron was not a ruler but a guide who worked hard, lending his hand in manual labor at every job on the farm. If the leather maker was short handed filling a need, the Patron worked as a leather worker. He was not a tyrant who only commanded others. Somebody had to lead, and somebody had to train the next leader, it was a job like raising chickens or making rope. All the people, including the Patron, were bound to the land they served because the land in turn served their children.
Gina's eye fell on her husband and the Patron talking cheerfully with Valentina. That was not unusual, Valentina was the closest friend of the couple. They were all the same age and grew up together. Valentina was one of Gina's bridesmaids, and the Patron had asked her to organize todays activities for the young and teenage children of the farm. Valentina was a happy person, good with children, and she would make somebody a much better wife than Gina in terms of domestic tasks. In years past Carlo and Valentina sometimes spent their free time together, they had walked holding hands and shared private meals. Valentina could always get Carlo to laugh. It was the last two years when Gina established her exclusive claim to her man; Valentina lacked the focus and intensity that Gina could bring to Carlo. It also helped that Gina and Carlo were in class together almost every day for the last dozen years.
