Making Amends - Sex Stories

Making Amends

... entertainment in the provinces. Throughout the evening musicians serenaded the assembled nobles while a series of performers from fire-eaters to acrobats were brought in one after another to amuse their betters. For the first half of the feast the ambassador was also engaged in an intermittent conversation with his host, their topics ranging from the latest imperial news to a casual discussion of issues which affected each of their nations. Little of consequence was said, perhaps, but it was the sort of casual sounding out which would make the serious talks set to take place over the next few days pass more smoothly. Baron Hyacin Lyselliol III of the Lacanth Marches was, after all, an exemplary ambassador. Whatever his personal interests may be on any given day they always came second behind those of his master.

For her part Lady Sienna sat quietly as the men to each side of her talked at length, scarcely touching her meal and paying even less attention to the motley procession of entertainers who paraded themselves through the great hall. Every now and then her father or his guest would address her directly, but each time she deflected their inquiry as brusquely as propriety would allow and returned to staring at the stone blocks which made up the throne room's opposite wall.

Not until his host had departed to address in private some concern raised by one or another of his nobles did Baron Hyacin at last turn his attention to the man's daughter. By that point the ...

... lordly sun had already slipped beneath the far horizon, it's warm rays giving way to candlelight and a roaring hearth. All evening the din of provincial revelry had grown louder and louder with each barrel of wine or spirits the assembled nobility left drained, a phenomenon that did tend to happen at most feasts, so by the time Duke Theovaire left it had become quite difficult indeed for even the most determined of eavesdroppers to pick out any individual conversation over the general clamour.

Thus, with little fear of being overheard and her father no longer present to enforce proper decorum, the ambassador could no longer resist the temptation of engaging with Sienna more directly. “I fear I must beg your pardon, milady,” he began, his cheery tone a stark contrast to the somber words. “It strikes me that I have been most terribly remiss. Please, do allow me to offer you my heartfelt congratulations.”

An unmistakable look of utter bewilderment dawned on the disgraced maiden's fair features as she slowly turned to face her father's guest.”Congratulations?” she asked, her brow tightening as the word hung heavy in the air between them. “Whatever for?”

Baron Hyacin just smiled politely in answer to Sienna's quizzical look, unwilling to let her less-than-gracious reaction dampen his mood. It was only to be expected, after all. He was hardly foolish enough to believe a child conceived under such circumstances as theirs had been stood much chance of being greeted in the typical ...