Once a Ing

Part 22: Season of the King, the Time of Fertility

In the dawn light I awoke, alone. Tonight, the Season, the Time of Fertility, will begin.

"Skryba, it was most disconcerting, the women (the Sisters), the night the moon, the goddess were gone. Lena was no longer ME, and I was no longer her. But I knew things, knew my duties as King, knew things that Anastasia had not trained me in. How did I know these things?

"I knew them because I was King, I was the King in Season, I was the King of the Time of Fertility, and the Goddess of the Time of Fertility bestowed on me the knowledge and the skills I needed as King. Just as anointed Kings of Nations are chosen by God, this was my sphere—my little, sad kingdom, Bagnisko, the impotent.

"But as the survivor of the People—"Better King in Bagnisko than a serf in the Empire."

I made my way back, down the Way of the King. I was naked and protected by my own aura; I had no need of my Sister's Glamor. My aura made me KING. Any Bagnisko who saw me, would see not Pawel of the People, but a myth—the King of Bagnisko.

As a myth, I traveled with a silent retinue. Skeletons armed with the breath of the goddess, moonbeams to dazzle any who would block the way of the King. For the King's power did not extend to inflicting bodily harm, but only pleasure and pregnancy to the women of Bagnisko.

As King, I traveled effortlessly, I was in top shape from walking this way many times, and indeed, this part of the journey was easy, as it was mostly downhill, all of Bagnisko was one gentle slope rising from the Swamp to the highlands by the Sea.

Shortly, I reached the House of the Sisters. How early they left to arrive before me, I don't know. I suspect that the Sisters did not have to walk to return to their home.

They were not naked as I had last seen them, nor were they in their ceremonial garb. Instead, I saw them as I had never seen them before—as servants. Very well-dressed servants, to be sure. But, then I realized how much had changed—how much the goddess had changed between us, how much the coming of the time of Fertility had changed how we interacted. I was now the King for the Season for the time of Fertility.

For that time, they were servants of the King. The King must successfully breed as many of the Women of Bagnisko, as possible. The job of the King's Servants was to keep him fed and rested, and to prepare the Woman of that particular night, for the King's entry into her life and her womb.

Calina, by nature, took the role of the King's cook and table servant. The King ate very well indeed; if not for the constant exercise, Pawel would have been very fat at the end of his season as King. This would have pleased Calina immensely, as she definitely fancied Pawel, but as he was King for the Season, and she his servant, this could never be...at least for a time.

Anastasia made sure the King kept to his schedule. Day time rest, feeding and care of the body, exercise and daily meticulous bathing. As a servant and true to her nature, she was the least to be tempted by the King when being physically the closest.

Lena prepared the way for the King...arriving at the night's destination, some time before the King. The amount of time varied as to the amount of preparation necessary in that household. Yes, household. Only childless Bonded Pairs were visited by the King, but he would share the pair. It was never explicit, whether he would mate with one or both of the pair. Usually, one of the pair was the junior, the youngest, and typically, that was the one the King was expected to breed. This aspect of the King's duties was not prescribed, but was left to the Bonded Pair and the King to work out.

Since I returned to the Sister's house after the morning meal, Anastasia overruled Calina's desire to feed me, "Esteemed King, I have prepared your bed for your rest today. Do you wish to bathe now, or after you have had your repose."

I replied, "What is the way of it? What is required of the King at this time?"

"Dearest King, I can only advise you as to what would be best, you need your sleep but you must also be meticulously groomed for the night ahead...should have plenty of time, it is up to you to decide."

"I feel refreshed and not in need of rest now, Anastasia."

"Then Lord King, have I your permission to touch you for the purpose of bathing you in preparation of your activity tonight?"

I allowed a smile to play on my lips and in my eyes. The proper Anastasia, my teacher, one who had commanded me in preparation for my role as King, was now my servant.

A salacious thought crossed my mind, even though I knew full well that it was doomed by Anastasia's nature.

Anastasia noted with an arched eyebrow my incipient arousal. "My Lord King, you may only be aroused by the Women of Bagnisko who you are to 'service'."

"I know this very well, Anastasia, and the fault is not in your training, but in my nature that finds your present status titillating."

If another had told me, I would not have believed it, but at that moment, I did detect a slight blush and ever-so-momentary discomfort on Anastasia's part.

She quickly returned to her 'senior servant' role. "I will prepare a hot soaking tub for my Lord King. In preparation, I will shower your body to remove the sweat and grime of your journey from the tower and the exertions of the past night."

In this, Anastasia was no human servant...the bath filled with steaming water with no physical effort on her part...buckets of water for my shower appeared by her magic, also.

Since she stood a head taller than I, and was very strong, though of slender stature, the lifting of the buckets to shower me was trivial effort.

A bucket of hot, soapy water was followed by Anastasia vigorously scrubbing every inch of my body, no crevice too intimate to escape her strong, slim fingers. Quite familiar with my intimate parts, through my training in the spell of correction, she paid particular attention to the cleansing of my penis, skillfully retracting my foreskin to cleanse the tip.

Two buckets followed—the rinse bucket to remove any soapy residue, and finally a bucket of rose-scented water.

"Now, you may soak in the hot tub as long as it pleases you, Lord King...Indeed, you may sleep there, if you desire. The spell on the tub will keep it as hot as you desire."

And I dozed off, but not to sleep for long. The idea, the excitement of what was to come filled my thoughts. Through the haze of the hot tub, as I returned from one of my naps in the tub, the cherubic face of Calina, followed by her melodic voice, "Dear King, you must eat, I have delightful fare to fuel your passion for the Women of Bagnisko this night."

Whenever the Sister mentioned the "Women of Bagnisko", at least in the context of the Time of Fertility, it was implicit that they, the Sisters, were not included. For this period, this season, they were servants of the King, their duties to the People of Bagnisko were contingent on their care of my well-being.

At this time, I dismissed Calina with a wave of my hand; she dutifully disappeared from my sight. I dozed for a few minutes more, but the days of this season in Bagnisko are short and I knew I would have to leave the tub soon to eat, if I was to have time to visit the household(s) I was to 'service' tonight. And service was the correct word, and King was a fancy name for Pawel, as the stud of the Bagnisko Mares.

In due course, I emerged from the hot tub to be toweled dry by Anastasia. I could not help that this duty for her was no better and no worse than drying the dishes and giving her as much or as little pleasure.

After I was dry or almost, I stood in front of a mirror for her to cover my body with a dressing gown, the first I ever wore. In the stypia, I 'owned' a simple tunic, which served for all purposes. In the rain, I had a waterproof(?) cape, and for winter, a warm outer garment.

Here, the King had several changes of garment in one day.

My hair was somewhat damp. It had been allowed to grow long, shoulder length to further distinguish me from the Bagnisko males, who had their hair close cropped. Indeed, the Women were as practical, and wore theirs only slightly longer than the men.

Anastasia carefully combed it out in front of the fire, to dry it out slowly. The fragrant oils were massaged in, to give my hair a glow or sheen. I thought this fine theater, for I would be mostly seen at night, by firelight and the sheen on my hair would add to the Kingly aspect.

The same oil Anastasia applied to my pubic hair, as she opened my robe for that purpose. I willed myself not to have an erection out of respect for Anastasia and her duties. If she had done this duty with any degree of passion, or indeed interest, I could not have succeeded, but it was as though I was a piece of furniture to be polished for the guests.

As Calina approached to summon me to my one meal of the day, Anastasia secured my robe with a multicolored, braided sash and placed on my feet, slippers decorated with a fine, silver thread.

"If it pleases the King, I now present you with this meal to fuel your labors tonight." As Calina finished her formal and perhaps prescribed speech she finished with a wink, signifying she would enjoy being the subject of my labors that night.

It was the wisdom of the Sisters that properly assigned duties for that night, Calina's flirtatiousness would have doomed the King his first night of the season, if she was allowed to dress the King.

I ate the herbed mushrooms, a very savory start, followed by a millet porridge sweetened with honey. My meal was finished by several tumblers of cider. The lore of the Bagnisko believed that the production of children was best fueled by simple meals, washed down with ample amounts of cider or beer. Samahon was believed to be detrimental to good lovemaking.

In the following days, I ate 'snacks'—small meals of nuts, eggs, berries and dried fruit; gallons of beer or cider.

The Sisters knew of herbs thought to increase virility, but did not think them necessary in my case, at least not at the start. "If the King tires of his duties and needs refreshment, we have remedies to keep him invigorated," Anastasia mentioned solemnly, at some point in my training...it was only mentioned that one time."

After my meal, I napped. Calina had hovered nearby throughout the meal and would have flirted, if her discipline had not held. The time of the Fertility was the Season of the King, and the Sisters were simply his servants.

As the sun lowered in the sky, I rose from my nap. I realized I had not seen Lena all day...I knew she had duties to perform for the King...she was to prepare the Way for the King, the Way to the Household of the Bonded Pair, that would be where I would serve Bagnisko for the first time.

Anastasia stood waiting by the bed as I woke. I had napped atop the bed covers still in my dressing gown, though I had shed my slippers which were tucked neatly under the bed (by Anastasia?)

"If it pleases your Kingship, I will now dress you for your first foray into the Bedrooms of the Women of Bagnisko." I swear I saw a small smile play on Anastasia's face, as she said these words, but I was so taken aback by this out-of-character behavior, I swore in my mind I must have imagined it.

The costume of the King for the Time of Fertility was not bound by long tradition—there had been only one other King and that was decades ago. The experience with that King seemed to be tied up in what NOT to do, rather than explicit traditions to be followed.

The costume was prepared by Calina, although I would be dressed by Anastasia. Again, the Sisters collectively decided, with Calina's agreement, that it was not proper or safe for her to be in the room with a naked King.

Still, the workings of her mind showed through in the costume.

"But skryba, I get ahead of myself. Before the King can be clothed in his Kingly robes, he must be disrobed, literally his dressing gown removed. This was the duty of Anastasia. The dressing gown was put aside for Calina to clean as necessary, although I suspected, and later was proved accurate, that she got immense pleasure from sniffing it to inhale my scent."

Standing before Anastasia naked was not an erotic act; she was the ultimate believer in the sanctity of the Time of Fertility, all the necessary rituals were performed in the days leading up to this night. Nevertheless, she treated the dressing of the King as a sacred act.

First, although my hair, including my pubes if you remembered, had been anointed after my bath, Anastasia anointed my face and hands with another oil, unscented, or very lightly scented. I knew not the origin of the oil, but it did not have the smell of Bagnisko, it was from another place. Later, I would encounter this same oil and know its origins in the Lands Surrounding the Middle Sea.

"Please King, be seated so that I may clothe your feet and legs with hose."

These were long, reaching well above my knees, and fastened in place with garters of finely tanned otter skin.

On my feet, she then placed 'my courting shoes', finely made of soft leather, unadorned but of impeccable quality and utterly impractical out of doors. (Or so it appeared)

Anastasia read my thoughts and eased my mind. "Though finely made, the soles are of a sea creature that has sacrificed itself and its durable hide for the King...they will last the season with little wear and then must be burned, as with all the King's garments."

"What will I wear then...after the season?"

"After the Season of the King, the King will NOT be King but will be Pawel and wear clothes suitable for Pawel."

The finality of the King's reign, did not fully set in with me at that moment, for at that moment I was NOT Pawel, but was the King. As one of the People, I knew that all one had was the moment of the day. The future was unknowable.

True, I had been one of the Council, but the decisions we made for the future of the People were disastrous, so I only lived for what this day would offer. And this day offered fine hose and shoes of both delicacy and durability. Magic indeed!

I was entranced by the fine shoes at my feet, so was somewhat startled when Anastasia brought forth the next garment. "Behold!" she proclaimed, "the tunic of the King." Now the men of the People wore a kind of tunic, of rough, tanned, hair-side-out antelope skins. THIS tunic bore that garment no family resemblance. For one, there were sleeves and a collar, wide shoulders that favored my

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lean-but-now-muscled body, tapering to a narrow waist, flaring only slightly, before ending at the knees.

Its only resemblance to the tunic of the stypia was that there were no undergarments. Which is only natural, as a northern tribe member once observed, such a garment facilitates natural functions from defecation to copulation.

The tunic was woven from the finest wool, Bagnisko produced. Dyed a deep-blood-red, and edged with the fur of the same animal that provided the leather for my garters. I was standing as Anastasia tied a thick cord around the narrow waist of the tunic.

As she tied it, she intoned a blessing, on me and on the garment. "Behold, I bind you with the cincture of the King, a symbol of your purity to the Women of Bagnisko. By this, they know you come to them not out of lust, but to fulfill the Sacred duty of the King to sow your seed in their wombs so that Bagnisko will live forever. You may remove this only on entering the house of the Bonded Pair you are with that night. They will challenge you before you enter, 'What Man wishes to enter this house?' The ritual answer, 'No Man but the King.' And the reply, 'Enter King, remove your holy cincture, so that your seed may flow into us and make the children the Moon wishes us to bear.'"

I would wear no other garments all the Season. I was never cold, even in the depths of the winter because my tunic and cincture was ensorcelled to keep me warm. I was always naked in the houses of the Bonded Pairs because no finery was necessary for the King to do his duty.

My first Bonded Pair would be Amelia and Andrea. Lena had prepared their household for the visit of the King, and now she returned to the King so he should know them as well before he entered their household.

(More adventures of Pawel, Once a King to follow. Many thanks to my editor, Kenji Sato.)