Terrible news, cruel news, a hurricane ravished the area. In the Vantrim Castle, everything was fine. They were well above sea level, and the buildings and walls were ridiculously sturdy. Some communities, however, didn't fare very well, especially the ones closer to the shore.
When the storm had faded into nothing, Muriel went to Princess Arya and asked, "Is there anything we can do? Many people must have lost their homes to the floods. With such wealth at our disposal, certainly we can do something, correct?"
Princess Arya patted her cheek and said, "Of course we're going to do something. My son will fund a construction project for new homes for the displaced families. He'll also send food to them, and we won't be staying in the castle. We have to manage everything."
"Do you mean to say, you and I?" Muriel asked.
"Certainly so, Muriel," the princess said, "I'll look over the construction while you handle the distribution of food."
Muriel was slightly upset at the fact that her role had been decided before she knew there was even a role to begin with, but she put those feelings away because she wanted to help regardless.
Some days later, the two women put on plain gowns with bum rolls and narrower skirts. This was to keep their skirts less cumbersome yet still soft like a flower bud. Then they went out to the construction site, which was just outside of the most damaged town in the area. Behind their carriage, there were more carriages that had been filled with people and food.
The food had been taken from an emergency supply in the castle. It turned out that your average castle owner tended to hoard food for situations like this. The rations consisted of pickled eggs, pickled vegetables, portable soups (which were dehydrated meat broths), cheeses, fermented beans, rice, and wheat. The wheat was meant to be used on site to bake bread in makeshift ovens. The rice was dry and was also meant to be prepared on site.
Several stalls, almost like buffets, had been arranged near the construction site. A group of men and women had been gathered together there and they all answered to Muriel. They called her, "Miss Devin," and they all seemed to understand that if they misbehaved then there would be trouble. A decent amount of armed guards had been hired by Prince Vidar to look after the food.
Princess Arya left to watch over the construction site and make sure all the workers there were doing well, but she did pop in from time to time to make sure Muriel wasn't falling apart under all this new pressure.
And this was certainly a job with pressure. Muriel personally helped everyone hand out food, and people tended to want a lot of food. Sometimes she had to look at a mother with a small child and say, "No, I'm sorry, but that's all I can give you today."
There was a distressing moment after a teenage looking boy showed up with no family. Muriel wondered if he was an orphan. She gave him a wrapped package of food and advised him to go to Princess Arya at the construction site. He might be able to find work there, perhaps even a home with one of the workers. But soon after he walked away from the queue, she saw a bigger teenager grab the first by his shirt's collar behind a building. Muriel immediately called for three of the men who worked for her to investigate.
Some minutes later, the men returned with the bigger teenager's arms in their hands. He had tried to take the smaller boy's food via physical force. Muriel recognized him. She had given him a package of food only fifteen minutes beforehand. Fortunately, thanks to the men's help, that smaller boy was able to escape with his food.
Muriel ended up making quite a scene in front of everyone. She yelled at the bigger teenager for the longest time. Then she beat his backside with a thick, wooden baking peel.
This program went on for quite a few days. Muriel was often sad because she didn't get to spend as much time with Prince Vidar as normal. Sometimes it would be quite dark by the time she'd return to the castle. Still, she told herself she had no right to complain. She was a person of certain privileges. She had all the food in the world and a safe place to live. She also had some flashy luxuries.
These unfortunate people needed help, and she was more than willing to give up her time for as long as required.
One day, a large group of people with their own construction supplies and food arrived at the site, along with some soldiers and the Crown Prince himself. Muriel was shocked to see the nearly bombastic man. He marched on over to the food stalls with soldiers behind him, a conceited smirk on his face. Prince Emil gave Muriel a little bow, and he took an envelope from his bright coat's pocket. The king's wax seal was on it. He opened the envelope and read the message inside.
"By the order of His Majesty, these workers have been sent to assist the neediest in Matas. They will not leave until the new houses have been completely built and the poorest can move into them."
Muriel tried to keep her eyes down as she gave the prince a curtsy and said, "I'm pleased to see that His Highness is well, and I'm honored to know that His Majesty has kindly sent men to help us." Her fingers were stiff, however, and her belly clenched.
She heard Princess Arya's skirts flutter and her voice ring out, "Emil! What are you doing here, Boy?!" Muriel looked up and saw the princess running over to the scene.
Prince Emil bowed to his mother and said, "I'm performing a little task at my father's request."
Princess Arya snatched the document from her son's hand and rapidly scanned the words with her impatient eyes. "Oh," she said very coldly, "that's very thoughtful of him, I suppose, and with more workers the construction will move along much more quickly." She handed the paper back to her son. "But there's no need for you to remain here for more than a day. We're perfectly capable of handling things here."
"I'd never insult my dear mother by implying she isn't capable," Prince Emil said with words that could have fit well with the tones of light harp music, "but Father has demanded that I stay here and oversee the work. If anything turns sour, then I'll be harshly blamed."
Princess Arya stepped right beside Muriel and took her arm. "Who am I to order a king about, then? I'll leave you to all this so I can return to the comforts of home. Come, Muriel."
Muriel didn't have a choice but to go with her mistress, but if she had been given the choice she would've still gone with her. There was the morbid temptation to look back at the prince, similar to the brief feeling of wanting to jump when one stands close to a ridiculously high spot. Muriel's head twitched as she resisted the feeling. There was danger in that man. She could sense it. The fact that his own mother seemed to dislike him was proof enough for her.
***
"Oh, Muriel. We haven't been close for a long time. It felt as long as a year. I'm so pleased to have you again." Prince Vidar's voice trickled down her body like drops of cool rainfall after a heat wave.
Sightless, tied down, comfortably seated, Muriel was in a happy spot again. "I can't be dishonest here. I truly missed our time together."
She heard his feet shuffle and felt his body heat move to her right.
A large, clean feeling hand, it slid against the front of her throat and then it lightly curled on her left side, the fingers tapping her skin in a mellow way. If there were any hints of evil there, Muriel would have thought she was about to be strangled. Instead, there were blazing lights signaling tenderness in her mind.
She cooed to him, "How can a man with such a lovely touch ever think of himself as ugly?"
"Muriel, please ... please don't speak of that painful thing. Let me ... let me have you the best way I can."
A kiss on her cheek. Then her jaw. Muriel made a gasping, almost dancing noise as she enjoyed the sensations. "Hmmm ... I'd let you have me every way you can. I swear." Her heart was already ramming about at the thought of something more intimate happening. "Even if ... even if it seems indecent ... I won't mind." Her body felt light and fresh as she said that. Her blood rushed all around. She couldn't see her flesh, but she felt her own heat.
Lightly wheezing laughter, soft and fun. "You're trying to have a lark. I don't mind."
Muriel shook her head, feeling how her skin rubbed against the man's hand. "You doubt me? Oh Sir! You've proven to me how enchanting your touch is. Why wouldn't I ask for more?"
His breath tickled her ear. "Don't ask for what you don't deserve." He sounded sad.
"Don't deserve?"
"Touching you is the most confusing thing. I want to see and feel you, but seeing my horrible flesh contact yours is a shameful thing."
Muriel's left hand jerked under the bonds. She wanted to reach up and touch the hand on her neck, but she couldn't. She had always been denied the ability to reach out and touch Prince Vidar. He was apparently too afraid for her to have any telling clue about his form, other than the fact that he had a mouth, eyes, and hands.
"You've coddled me, Sir, truly, but what I desire the most right now is to touch you. Yet I can't. To compensate for this, won't you please touch me as much as you can? Anywhere you can?"
That certainly wasn't proper, but nothing about this relationship was proper anyway. As long as nobody was harmed, Muriel was even willing to let her virginity be taken away ... well ... she wasn't sure how that could even be done while she was tied to a chair.
"I ..." Hissing, mist-like, thick in her ear, his voice was deep and she wanted to jump into it. Then, contact, right on her ear's helix, lips that were firm but also as lovely as petals.
Muriel's backside jumped a bit in the chair. Her feet and legs wiggled in the coiled ropes. She let out a short yip.
Oh.
That thing, that thing she had tasted before, that slippery thing, it was peeking out through his lips and touching her ear. Muriel loved it.
