(All characters depicted are over the age of 18)
Author's note: I have updated this chapter to include more backstory/character building and try to fix the pacing
Aylene
*
I gave a sigh of relief as Helena undid the ribbons of the restrictive corset on my dress. Once I was in my nightgown and free of the heavy material I dismissed the servants and tried to relax onto the soft bed in what the Prince had referred to as my room.
We had arrived in Starithia that afternoon and had been on a whirlwind tour of the city. I had been introduced to many of the noble families and my mind swirled with all of the new names and faces.
While my marriage was not quite as I had anticipated I was glad that it seemed to be mending the relationship between our two countries. An uneasy truce had existed between Vymora and Starithia since the death of Elon's parents.
The King and Queen of Starithia, along with Prince Elon's younger sister Princess Elanna, were assassinated one night in the royal Palace when he was only four years old. Rumor had it that Elon also narrowly escaped death and was rescued by his god father Lord Herron.
Vymora had been blamed for the attack and the high council of Starithia, led by Comander Torlee, had swiftly declared war against Vymora. Starithia had launched a fleet of battle ships to Vymora and the resulting siege on my family's castle lasted for almost a year before the Starithian army were finally defeated.
In the weeks that followed the siege, Lord Herron took custody of the crown in Prince Elon's name and signed a peace treaty with my parents, the King and Queen of Vymora. My betrothal to Prince Elon, to occur shortly after my 21st birthday, was also declared as a sign of unity between our two countries.
Of course I was only a baby at the time, but my governess would tell me horrifying tales from the battlefield as I was growing up. I had always known it was my duty to marry Elon and truly ally our two Kingdoms.
My thoughts flicked back to Prince Elon, as they seemed to be doing a lot recently. Today had been excruciating, my reunion with the Prince hadn't been as I had expected. He had come to collect me shortly after the ship docked in Starithia and I had been anticipating anger from him, especially when I confronted him and asked what had happened to Anna.
Instead he had casually informed me that she had been working in the ships kitchen and that he had asked Hale to get her a job in the palace. As we had been presented to the King, Lord Herron, and the royal court he had been nothing but friendly and courteous. He played every part of the perfect Prince.
My reaction to him had also been a surprise, the annoyance I had built up towards the Prince since our wedding night combined with the attraction I felt whenever he came close to me. My skin would tingle whenever he took my arm and flashbacks of him pushed up against me that night came unbidden, making my pulse race.
I wriggled further into the luxurious bed moving my hand up to squeeze my breast, mirroring the Prince's movement that night. I imagined the feel of his hard muscular body pressed up against me as I hitched up the bottom of my nightgown. I spread my legs apart remembering the feel of this thigh pressed between mine.
I slid my fingers along my pussy feeling the wetness gathering. I circled my fingers slowly thinking about how it would have felt for the Prince to bring his mouth down on mine; wondering how he would taste.
I squeezed my breast harder, a thrill went through me remembering the shiver of helplessness I had felt as he stalked towards me like I was prey, pinning me up against the bedpost.
I felt the pressure building and the movement of my fingers became more furious as I fantasized about the Prince laying me down on the bed and pushing that silky nightgown up over my hips. I slid two fingers easily into my wet pussy as I pictured him parting my legs and dipping his head slowly between them. I pumped my fingers inside me as I imagined him running his tongue over my swollen clit.
The vision switched back to Anna knelt between my legs on my wedding night and my guilt at our current situation came crashing back to me bursting my bubble. I reluctantly withdrew my fingers and rolled over onto my side, frustrated at being so close to release. Tomorrow I would find Anna and make sure she was okay.
Ironically I hadn't climaxed since I had become a wife, and my frustration was building to a level I had never experienced before. My longing for the Prince had become an almost tangible thing.
Anna
I was relieved when I heard the Prince tell Hale to get me a job in the palace. It wasn't the escape I had wished for but at least I'd be near Aylene.
I couldn't believe I was here in Starithia with her, I wasn't sure I would ever see her again after we had said a tearful goodbye on the morning of her wedding to the Prince. It wasn't until after she had left for the ceremony that I had received the summons, apparently Prince Elon had requested for Aylene's closest ladies maid to travel with her.
I had begged her so many times not to go through with the wedding. I had told her we could run away together, travel to one of the exotic Kingdoms where no one would find us and live out our lives together in a tropical paradise. Sometimes she would indulge me, we would talk about what kind of house we would live in, fantasize about the different ways we would while away the days, and joke about the different aliases we could use.
We always knew deep down that it could never be, Aylene was Princess of Vymora above everything else. Her loyalty to her people was one of the things I loved the most about her and also the thing that would ultimately keep us apart.
I had never known my father but my mother worked as a ladies maid to the Queen so Aylene and I had grown up together in the castle. We were the same age and had been best friends since before I could remember.
Aylene had always been beautiful to me, as we got older the boys around us started to notice as well. For her eighteenth birthday the King and Queen threw a huge ball, I could vividly remember the way she looked in her gown that night. Her long blonde hair was down, flowing halfway down her back and the emerald dress set off her green eyes. It also clung in all the right places, emphasizing her curves.
The young men all queued up for a dance with the Princess and afterwards we had laughed at their attempts to woo her. I made her laugh by imitating their stuttering invitations to dance and had twirled her around the room until we collapsed breathless with laughter on her bed in each other's arms.
I don't know where I got the courage, or if I was just emboldened by the three glasses of punch I had drunk, but that was the first time I kissed her. I remember thinking that her lips were just as soft as I had imagined they were, and how surprised I was when they parted for me.
I was jerked back to the present as Hale and a tall, stern woman I had not met before came to escort me off of the ship. We made our way to the Royal Palace, entering through the service entrance we walked down so many corridors I lost all sense of direction.
Hale's hand rested uncomfortably on my lower back and would slip down to squeeze my ass whenever the woman wasn't looking. I resisted the urge to pull away from him. It seemed as though Hale was wary of the woman leading us but I couldn't risk making a scene and losing my opportunity to stay in the palace near the Princess.
Finally we entered a large reception area that was lavishly decorated, the room was empty except for two pretty girls in ornate dresses lounging on one of the sofas giggling. "The sleeping quarters for when you are off duty are up those stairs to the left," the woman told me indicating a set of stairs at the back of the hall.
