Xavier's Teachers - the Lady

Across the wide spectrum of her aristocratic milieu, and in the philanthropic circles she endowed, she was referred to variously as Your Highness, Rani Sahiba, Lady Gayatri, Madame, or more simply as Ma'am. Her name was Gayatri Laxmi, a 48-year old grand-daughter of the former Maharaja of an erstwhile princely state which, after 400 years of being a royal sovereignty, acceded to the newly formed post-independence republic half a lifetime ago. Being the only surviving heir when her father passed, she finished her post-graduate studies at Trinity College, Cambridge and almost immediately took over the reins of what remained of the family assets. Which by no means was insubstantial even though the government had expropriated much.

The initial years were spent in consolidating the family equity and estate, reinvesting the wealth, directing various litigations, setting up trusts, and basically setting her houses in order. During the first ten years, through the remainder of her twenties and early thirties, she had little time for personal relationships even though there had been many suitors. That however didn't prevent her from sexual dalliances with men; they were always very discreet and generally when she was on visits outside the city, or during her frequent overseas travels. Now, a quarter century later, she remained unmarried.

Lady Gayatri had a number of real estate properties distributed across the country, some of which she sold, some refurbished and retained. But the one she called home was a mansion in the country's capital, set amidst a luxurious sprawl of orchards and gardens. The estate was managed by a bevy of personnel that included a manager and a swarm of domestic staff. The most essential members of the cadre that served her stayed on the premises in an annexe. These included cooks, servers, a gardener, a driver, and the Lady's personal handmaiden known as Devyani.

Nobody else called her Devyani though; they all referred to her as Bai-Ma. The word "bai" in this part of the country could either refer to a maid-servant or be a polite form of address for a woman. The combination word, bai-ma, was a respectful and yet personalised name that the household staff had given her and that's how they had been referring to her over the years. Without any formal hierarchy in the household, Bai-Ma was probably the eldest and was certainly considered to be the senior-most. Nobody was quite certain what the precise nature of her duties were but everyone knew she was very close to Madame and was her personal attendant.

The one other resident on the estate was Xavier. He was a freshman in college and lived in the outhouse after the lady had agreed to rent it to him, surprising all the staff because the lodge had never been let out before. He had been raised in a small town in the Himalayan foothills about 240 kms ENE of the city and had come to the capital eight months ago to pursue his studies at the university. More interested in sports than studies, he had nevertheless disciplined himself to allocate his time proportionately and give due importance to both. He also loved music and had started playing guitar and writing songs with a local band that had a Saturday night contract with a luxury hotel nightclub.

Over the last eight months, Xavier and Bai-Ma had developed a very special relationship and were extremely close to one another. In more ways than one. But now, in mid-December, the university was closed for the winter break and Xavier, who Bai-Ma called Javi, had decided to go back home for a few days. His college was scheduled to reopen on the first Monday of the new year although he planned to return earlier because the athletics team, to which he had been striving to join, was having final trials before deciding the members for the inter-college championships in March.

Bai-Ma was also scheduled to start her four-week annual vacation soon, like she did every year. The Lady insisted that all permanent staff take their annual paid holiday either in two lots of a fortnight each, or once for four weeks. The only condition being that they mutually decide and agree on their timings so that the estate was never without the appropriate support personnel. There had never been any dispute, mainly because they all deferred to Bai-Ma who made the first choice of her holiday dates, and then the others adjusted around that.

This morning, like they did so often, the lady and her handmaiden were sitting on the balcony adjacent to the library on the first floor, sharing a pot of tea. The air was cold but they were well protected with shawls and blankets over their legs, looking out at the foggy morning that was just beginning to reveal the trees and dew-soaked lawns as the sunlight struggled to filter through.

"It feels strange knowing that Xavier is not on the grounds, doesn't it?" the lady asked, looking towards the outhouse even though it was not in their field of vision.

Bai-Ma was surprised to hear that question because her mistress hardly ever met Javi. But she replied in the affirmative, saying "Yes ma'am, it does feel a little strange. I will clean the outhouse thoroughly before leaving for my vacation this weekend."

"Yes, that would be useful. And I must remember to assign someone to do the house-keeping in the lodge when he returns. Do you know when he's coming back?"

"I'm not sure, Ma'am," she lied, "but I think he has gone for about ten days. I believe he left a note for you with the security guards; perhaps he has mentioned his date of return in that." Bai-Ma felt a small pang of something, jealousy perhaps. Madame seems very concerned about my Javi, she thought to herself. She was already missing him desperately but knew that they would not see each other for almost five weeks. Their love-making the night before his departure had been intense and full of passion and a wide range of other emotions.

"Devyani," the lady interrupted Bai-Ma's thoughts, "will you please come here at about 4 o'clock this afternoon; I need you to give me a trim before you go on holiday, maybe a shave. I'll decide before you come."

"Yes Ma'am, of course," she replied as they both stood up. It was time to start the day. Bai-Ma had to make sure that all the household tasks and chores that she was responsible for were properly distributed amongst the other staff before she went on vacation. And there were a number of errands to run, some personal shopping to do, domestic staff issues to be addressed; the next couple of days would be very busy but at least it would keep her from getting too depressed about Javi's absence.

Lady Gayatri too proceeded with her day which she started by having a leisurely bath. Her en suite bedroom was at the end opposite to the library on the first floor. The view was naturally different; there was a wide swathe of green lawn with rows of flower beds that the gardener tended to almost through the entire year. It was like a mini Versailles with its spectacular colours, changing with the seasons. There were large balconies that surrounded the bedroom while the bathroom offered an equally breathtaking view through a huge window that had automatic remote controlled blinds fitted to it.

After completing her ablutions, she put on a yellow floral printed dress with a billowy top and a flouncy hem that swirled below her knees and had a figure flattering trapunto banded waist. She spent about an hour in the morning dealing with various correspondence like she had done seemingly for ever; only now, she used email whereas in the early days she had always sat with pen and paper. She missed the actual writing but realised that the world had gotten used to almost instant communications; nobody had time for the post. The rest of her morning went by with a series of phone calls, some financial transactions which she did very adeptly over the internet, a couple of posts on social media in connection with her charity work, and some reading.

Bai-Ma on the other hand spent her morning with members of the staff, working on a smooth transition of duties for the next month, and then took a couple of hours off during her lunch and siesta time. She had a rather large extended family back in the village where she would be making her annual visit in a couple of days' time, like she had done every year for more than a decade. She bought sarees and other clothes, some trinkets and cosmetics, a couple of shawls and some bed and bath linen. She usually had very little space left over in her luggage for much of her own belongings and often used the suitcase itself as a gift, coming back to the city with only a small travel bag.

Bai-Ma had about twenty minutes to rest after which she quickly changed back from the long shirt and pants that she preferred when she went out, to the more traditional saree that she almost always wore while working at the estate. She washed her hands and face, readying herself for the 4 o'clock summons from Her Highness. The Lady would have awoken from her brief siesta in the afternoon and would be waiting at the appointed hour; she was a fanatic for punctuality.

She switched off the muted TV set that read 15:56:29 on the bottom right-hand corner and left her rooms in the servants' annexe. Bai-Ma reached the mansion after a brisk two-minute walk, pushed open the large wooden antique doors which swung shut behind her, went across the hallway and climbed the circular marble staircase without touching and leaving fingerprints on the teak-wood handrail, and walked along the carpeted corridor that had rooms on one side and the balustrade on the left. She reached the Lady's bedroom door and knocked sharply with her knuckles at exactly 1600 hours.

Bai-Ma followed her mistress silently into the bedroom after greeting her; they walked through the huge chamber with its high ceiling and large windows till they entered the bathroom. It was well-lit and extremely spacious; a curved wall with a massive window overlooked the lawns to the west, a jacuzzi and separate shower cabinet next to the bay, a WC and bidet sat next to one another in a partially hidden alcove on the marble floor, twin vanities with white porcelain washbasins and gold-plated fixtures, and a wide array of accessories containing toiletries and cosmetics on glass shelves all over. The washroom looked almost as large as Bai-Ma's living quarters.

Close to the entrance was a wooden chaise longue with waterproof upholstery, surrounded on three sides with brass planters of different shapes and sizes that nurtured a variety of fishtail palms, ficus, split-leaf greens, and areca. Lady Gayatri walked to the comfortable settee and sat leaning against the backrest. She was wearing a Japanese red silk robe cinched at the waist with its belt; the hem came just above the knee and was decorated all around with motifs of the red-crowned cranes.

Bai-Ma walked to a small chiffonier placed under the counter-top and between the twin vanity cabinets from where she extracted a couple of new Gillette razors and a Braun trimmer, a small pair of scissors, a comb and shaving foam. She took all the items and walked back to where Madame had ensconced herself after lowering the leg-rest of her chaise. The Lady sat with her feet on the ground and one of the flaps of her mid-length kimono had slipped off her right thigh. She was wearing a pair of red seamless panties made of Modal fabric with, of course, a cotton gusset at the crotch in a similar shade of red.

The two women hadn't spoken a word after their brief exchange when Bai-Ma had arrived at 4:00 pm. It wasn't that they were embarrassed about what was about to happen; not like the first time almost five years ago. Since then, the lady had requested her handmaiden to conduct this task almost every second month. But the intimacy of the act always weighed on their minds and they both preferred to conduct it in silence, and not talk much about it either.

From the cabinet, the maid extracted a fresh cotton sheet and spread it on the ground under and in front of the chaise longue. As Bai-Ma pulled up a small plastic bathroom stool and sat in front of the recliner, she pulled up the hem of her saree above her knees so as to allow her legs unfettered mobility. She looked up at her mistress' face and tentatively raised her hands to the lady's thighs, pushing aside the folds of her short silk bathrobe. She reached further up the limbs till she could hook her fingers into the elastic waistband of the red panties. Lady Gayatri still had her eyes shut as she lifted her haunches slightly off the seat and allowed the maid to pull her underwear down along her thighs. She felt the rayon texture graze along the tender softness of her limbs as they went past her knees and against her calves before Bai-Ma eased each of her feet out of the leg openings.

Bai-Ma pulled her small stool a little forward, coming closer to Madame's crotch as the lady parted her thighs wider. The handmaid's hands brushed along the inside of her mistress' thighs as she reached out and took her pubic hair between her fingers, gently pulling the soft tufts in order to determine their length. She imperceptibly inhaled the floral aroma of soap mingled with an acidic tinge as she bent her head forward and deftly combed out the velvety curls before taking the silver pair of scissors to clip the length. For the next five minutes, Bai-Ma carefully snipped the silken tendrils that grew on her Lady's vulva, starting from the pelvic mound and then descending to the bulbous embankments on either side of the vagina. The hair on the outer labia was long but sparse and Bai-Ma had to delicately manoeuvre the clipping instrument almost one hair at a time.

Like a hair stylist, she had used the comb and scissors to ensure that the hair was cut to an even stubble across the surface of the lady's mound. She then placed the items on her side and reached for the trimmer, switching it on to check that the battery power indicator LED showed a full strength green. Turning it off, she looked up again at Madame's face and in a soft whisper asked if she would like her pubic hair styled in any particular shape. In the past, Lady Gayatri had gone from a full grown natural bush to a thin landing strip, and many styles in between, but now she just shook her head from side to side and and mouthed a 'no' to Bai-Ma.

When the erstwhile princess felt her handmaid's delicate touch on her vulva, followed by the thrumming of the electric shaver, her thigh muscles quivered. She had to admit to herself that she liked the sensation but even more, she liked the thought of Devyani so close to her privates. She allowed herself to picture her maid's hands on her crotch as she navigated the gadget from the top of her mound down the inverted triangular space to just above where the folds of her inner labia met. She felt the servant's fingers push various corners of her flesh as the vibrating gadget sheared the pubic stubble to a fine shadow. When she felt a tremor and some pressure over her clitoral hood, a delicate shiver ran up her spine and she wished longingly that it were possible for Devyani to do more. But she knew that any physical intimacy beyond this was going to be impossible between royalty and serf, even though they had come close to it at one time some years ago.

Bai-Ma finished trimming her lady's pubic hair to the finest level possible with the electric shaver and then got up from the stool and went to the wash basins. She filled a small bowl with warm water and walked back to sit between Madame's spaced-apart thighs. She dabbed some of the tepid water with a soft towel over Lady Gayatri's pubic region before squeezing some shave gel on to her fingers from a tube labelled 'Aveeno therapeutic shave gel'. Then, very gently she spread the gelatinous fluid across her mistress' pubic mound and the soft tissue of her labia majora, feeling the slight prickle of hair against her fingertips. She was tempted to linger a while over the clitoral hood when she felt the rigidity underneath but avoided the temptation to do so. She did not want such thoughts to even enter her mind so she focussed on the task at hand instead.

Reaching beside her, she wiped her fingers with the wash-cloth and tore open the packaging of a new lilac coloured razor, the blade of which was no more than an inch wide. Then, with her left hand she stretched the skin on her Lady's mound of Venus and, to the extent possible, began to shave along with the grain of her hair follicles. The small three-blade pivoting razor cartridge was lined with an aloe vera infused substance which allowed for a smoother shaving experience but Bai-Ma nevertheless proceeded with extreme caution. She rinsed the blades in the warm water after every stroke and finally ramped up her degree of attentiveness and care when she started on the lady's distended outer lips.

Once the first pass was done, Bai-Ma applied the gel again and this time began to shave against the grain, the shaving cartridge leaving behind the smoothest texture of skin as it worked its way over the lady's mons. Her Lady's pubic hair descended along the pillowy swell of her outer lips on both sides of her vagina, almost down to her perineum. As she felt her maid stroke the razor down the side of her labia, she lifted both her feet off the floor and planted them wide, almost a yard apart, on the seat of the chaise longue. She felt Bai-Ma's fingers stretch the skin just above each stroke of the Gillette and, probably inadvertently, press over her clitoral hood. She was definitely getting aroused and knew that her clitoris was beginning to swell, possibly even protrude from under the hood. She kept her eyes closed, a little more tightly now, as she felt the razor at the lowest edge of her vulva, only a centimetre away from her anus.

And then it was over. Bai-Ma used the small hand cloth to wipe across the lady's privates before soaking the towelette into warm water, twisted it over the bowl, and sponged across her crotch again. When she had swabbed the entire surface, she inspected the smooth, almost translucent, skin to ensure that not a single follicle of hair remained. Once satisfied, she stood up and went to the cabinet by the vanities to get a bottle of Yves-Rocher moisturising cream when she heard her mistress speak in a strangely husky tone.

"Devyani, would you please use some ice before applying the cream?"

Bai-Ma placed the bottle of moisturiser on the floor next to the stool and walked out of the bathroom to a mini refrigerator in the lady's bedroom. She twisted out a few cubes of ice from an ice-tray and took them back to the bathroom, cupping them in her palm. She squatted down on the stool, dragging it as close to the lady as possible, and placed the ice cubes on a clean hand towel lying on the floor. She took one cube between her fingers and let it glide across the smooth surface of her mistress' pubic region, feeling Madame's sudden spasmodic reaction to the chilled ice. She let the cube slide over the mound and manoeuvred it along the outer lips, leaving a wet trail all around her vagina.

Water dripped down along the short distance from vulva to anus before trickling on to the water-proof surface of the lounger and trailing on to the floor. The small ice-cube melted rapidly and Bai-Ma contemplated if she should use another one when she heard Lady Gayatri whisper "Can you do it like you did before? With your mouth?"

Bai-Ma wasn't sure if she had heard correctly; Madame's whisper had been barely audible and sounded gravelly. The last time was ages ago, five years perhaps, and although that had been a watershed in their relationship, it was not something they dwelt on and certainly never mentioned to one another. So she wondered trepidatiously whether she had actually caught the words accurately or not.