The Reluctant Princess - a Novella

Chapter 9 - The Vinyard

***Warning - Explicit sexual content***

"Where is that son of mine?" the king muttered as he paced his study.

James, who had been summoned by the king to learn of his son's whereabouts, stood rigidly by the door and glanced over at Elizabeth for a moment before replying.

"If I had to guess, your highness, I'd say he is either at the stables or out for a ride."

The king scoffed and stopped short, then glanced over at Elizabeth, who sat there, hands folded over her lap, back straight, ready and eager to learn.

"I am beginning to feel sorry for you dear" he said, dismissing James with a wave of his hand and moving to sit behind his massive mahogany desk, "It appears you will have to pick up my son's slack more often than not."

She tried not to grin at this.

"I do not mind, your highness. I will do my best."

He nodded and smiled at her, then continued.

"He does this to spite me, you know," he said and sat back, sighing, "He really could be a great king one day, god knows he has the charisma for it..."

She cleared her throat discreetly and pressed her lips together, trying to repress a smile at this. She could not disagree with the regent there.

"Very well" he said then, sifting through paperwork "Why don't the two of us look over the draft of the trade agreement then? After that, I was hoping to give you a tour of the vineyards."

Elizabeth followed the king between the rows of vines as he gestured left and right, explaining the wine making process to her with a certain amount of pride. She took in every detail, eager to learn, as usual. There were men crouching over the wines several hundred yards from them, securing the new growth to the training lines.

"Come the fall," the king was saying, "This place will be teeming with activity. We take great pride in our wine production. It is one of our most prized exports, as you know. Come, let me show you the newest addition. The men should be planting the new vines as we speak. They are a rare varietal which was thought extinct and which we have been propagating for years now. We won't be able to harvest those for wine making for several years yet, but if we are successful, we will have a rather unique product to add to our cellars."

The walk to their destination was a rather long one, but Elizabeth did not mind. It was a lovely, warm spring day and the sights and sounds of the countryside were a lovely, welcome change from the stuffiness of the palace.

The new vineyard looked quite different than the one they had just left. The vines were tiny and seemed spaced further apart, and the soil was freshly tilled, causing a wonderful scent of warm earth to rise up into the air. Several men were scattered throughout the rows, shovels in hand, busy placing additional plants in perfect straight lines.

Some men were shirtless, and Elizabeth quickly averted her eyes, blushing a little. Noting this, the king motioned to one of the men who appeared to be in charge to approach.

"Please ask those men to put on their shirts, Stubbs, we have a lady in our midst!" he ordered.

"Right away, sire!" the foreman said nodding and hurried back, shouting to his men to cover up.

"Stuff it, Stubbs! It'd too damn hot today," a deep voice rose from among the rows and Elizabeth stiffened with recognition.

She turned her gaze toward the familiar sound and wished she hadn't. Her breath caught at the sight before her, and her skin began to tingle with awareness.