Phoebe sat in a velvet tufted chair. Her lady's maid stood behind her, brushing her hair with a soft bristled brush. One hundred passes of the brush over Phoebe's long light brown hair. The maid's hands were washed in a fragranced oil that she applied, almost, to each individual strand. Working the moisture into Phoebe's hair with each stroke of the brush so that it would be shiny and smell like fresh flowers.
Phoebe stared at the mirror and smiled prettily at her reflection. It was true, what the people in the town said. She was the fairest woman in the kingdom. She may even be the most beautiful woman to ever go through the Ruling. It had made her particular ordeal so much more complicated than the usual Trials the suitor's must go through. Even her renowned great ancestor, the lady Penelope, had only had 50 prospective suitors. At the time, it was considered an astonishing number of countries to send their princes, finest warriors, and greatest minds to participate in the Ruling. But now it seemed paltry compared to Phoebe's 100 suitors.
100 men had traveled to from all over the globe to seek her appraisal in the Ruling. Most years, women in her kingdom might see five. Her own grandmother had only received three men during her ordeal, but she had been born hideously disfigured. With 100 suitors, there had been multiple rounds of elimination, Endeavors before the prescribed Trials could even begin. Each hopeful bachelor that was eliminated before the actual Ruling, was sent home in disgrace. To submit to the Ruling was a risk not lightly undertaken.
Any man not selected to stand in the final three would be ruined. He would return home only to be outcast. Rejected from polite society. Her mother's fourth had been a Russian nobleman, the first-born prince to the Czar and in line to inherit the throne. Even though he made it all the way to fourth place, when my mother eliminated him before the Ruling, he was so ashamed he threw himself from his carriage and down the side of the mountain, rather than to return home.
It was a heavy burden to see so many men's reputations completely wasted, but Phoebe didn't mind. In fact, she had decided to be much more heavily involved in the eliminations than previous generations. She liked to see the men vie for her attention. She worked with a cabinet of her father's closest advisors to pick challenges that would be fun for her to watch but would still serve the purpose of the most satisfying Ruling outcome.
The first Endeavor was easy, she cut anyone who was not attractive to her and sent them home. But Phoebe had an eclectic taste, and still had over seventy men after her first appearance-based cull. For the second Endeavor she, asked all the men to present her with a gift. Phoebe liked gifts and thought it would be great fun to receive so many.
There were so many glorious gifts and packages she had received on that night. She had sat on her thrown, her hair curled into ringlets, and clapped with joy as each new box and bauble was carried to her by a hopeful suitor. She enjoyed watching them, their hopeful eyes pleading for her to accept their gift; the moment when she might give her nod of approval. She was delighted when they won her favor, but also found pleasure in rejecting the gifts with a pout of disappointment and a dismissing motion of her hand.
Lars had brought her a beautiful chocolate egg filled with the loveliest marzipan flowers. That she had approved of. Her dear cousin Augustus had given her a fluffy kitten with fur as pure white as the driven snow. She loved her new pet. But, the dark and sweaty Phineas had brought her a large telescope and told her to look inside to see the constellation named for her. Boring. Her guards escorted Phineas, and the telescope outside and threw them into the pig stye. That wasn't necessary, but Phoebe enjoyed the theatrics.
Several suiters had given her gifts of their bodies. That was not uncommon, for the lady to have her suitors before the Ruling. And Phoebe was very curious to know her suitors better. When Alfonzo had approached her, his body painted in gold dust and nothing else, she had dismissed the entire court to spend some time alone, inspecting her prize.
In the end, fifty gifts were accepted and twenty were not. In the next elimination, Phoebe wanted to make sure the men were prepared to serve her. She gave her entire castle staff the day off and left her suitors in charge of running the house. Georgie was eliminated for bringing her breakfast late. And Caesar was cut lose when he ironed a hole into one of her frocks. But Alastair impressed her, he braided her hair in two long plaits, and he whispered in her ear that he had been trained at the House of Lads to serve her. That was a particular pedigree that she knew would bring her great happiness. Ferdinand likewise had gone to finishing school at the House of Lads, and during his servitude Endeavor, he brought her many savory morsels to snack upon on lovely little tea trays and fed her from his hands.
Only thirty-five suitors completed their act of servitude and went on to a cock size Endeavor. Phoebe knew from her book, The Lady's Principles, that cock size was a rather antiquated Endeavor. That most any cock would do. This challenge was really only to eliminate any that were much too small or misshapen or otherwise displeased her. She already had seen some of them naked, but it was easier to decide when there were other cock comparisons standing nearby.
Her suitors had stood in a line, thirty-five men with their backs straight and their pants around their ankles. They were instructed to pleasure themselves for one minute and then one of the servants would soak their cocks in a minty analgesic that would keep them hard and upright for Phoebe to complete her inspection. Phoebe loved this Endeavor almost as much as the gift giving, and much better than the servitude. Her suitors were so self-conscious. So vulnerable. Their cocks sticking right up, their eyes darting around to see how they matched up to those next to them. Poor Archie had tears welling in his eyes as he looked at Mathias and Gregor to either side of him, their monster cocks raging with proud erection, while his own cock only puffed up a little bit. A small salute to the lady Phoebe.
But Phoebe knew Gregor's cock would only punish her special garden and she directed her guards to lead him away. Anyone ejected in this Endeavor would leave the kingdom naked, and painfully erect. Unable to receive the antidote to the numbing tincture and cursed with a perpetual hard on. Sean's cock was very impressive. Pretty freckles dotting his helmet. She signaled her lady maid to spray the antidote in her mouth, and she sucked Sean's prick until his erection could come down.
Now twenty-five men remained, and for the next Endeavor, Phoebe had vetoed her cabinets request to complete the Endeavor of Diplomacy, a boring game of negotiation and bartering, similar to Risk, and instead to engage in an exhibition of Oral Proficiency. Each of her suitors would line up and be given one minute to use only their mouth to make her cum. She would spread this challenge out over the entire day. Whenever she could hold back no longer, and gave way to her orgasm, that man would be rewarded with an invitation to move forward in the Endeavors, but only 15 men would be chosen.