Making Amends - Sex Stories

Making Amends

... silently fled as fast as she dared in the direction of her own chambers.

* Seven Months Later *

Baron Hyacin Lyselliol III of the Lacanth Marches, Emissary of the Imperial Crown and knight in good standing of the Argent Order wore an ornate outfit of imperial blue, a silk cape bearing the insignia of the Etraskian Empire, and a very broad smile indeed as he strode confidently towards the throne room of Silverwing keep for the first time in his life. There were few things, after all, which brought the ambassador more joy than a feast held in his honour. It was certainly unusual for a nobleman of his pedigree to take such pleasure in the position he held, most of his contemporaries back home sought out a position in the imperial court above all else and considered venturing beyond the border a kind of living hell. Unlike Hyacin, they preferred to squabble like starving dogs over even the slightest scrap of attention their callous sovereign deigned to pay to the likes of them. But then, such courtiers were, to a man, imbeciles. Not even one in a hundred would rise to prominence through such efforts, yet far more than that would wind up poisoned at breakfast, knifed in a secluded corridor by the light of the moon, or, should they prove particularly fortunate, merely exiled from the court in disgrace.

No, fighting tooth and nail to survive in such a den of desperate vipers had never held much appeal for the good baron. Instead, Hyacin had only ever sought out the more ...

... humble position of an imperial emissary. Thus, while his myriad counterparts back home spent their days warring with one another over incremental advancements and petty rivalries, he wiled away those very same days being wined and dined by simpering foreigners. As a representative of the Emperor himself, wherever he went pitiful locals tripped over themselves seeking to accommodate his every whim so as not to cause even the slightest insult which might incur the wrath of his powerful patron. Hyacin's choice of career might have meant his name was unlikely to ever grace the pages of history, much less to inspire awe in the capital, but whenever duty called him to one province or another he lived like a lion among mice. To his eyes that was a very fine trade indeed. Some among his peers might have called him a bully, true, others going so far as to add cowardice to such a charge, but the baron could hardly have cared less what such hypocrites thought. He was a man of simple pleasures, all of which could be attained from spineless foreigners with far greater ease than they could his fellow imperials.

As easily as he could enjoy himself in any free city or petty kingdom, however, Hyacin had a growing feeling that the puny little Leithien Duchy to which he had just returned would rapidly become a firm favourite among the many foreign courts which served as his playgrounds. After the debacle last spring which saw their idiot princess attack him without the slightest hint of ...