The Palace Guard

Chapter 18 - The Other Woman


What Isabella failed to mention during her wild couplings with the handsome new Guard was she was also the King's mistress. She had been his mistress since he was a very young man, when she had spent long hours teaching him how to pleasure a woman. The prince professed to enjoy the comely flesh of virgins, but Isabella knew he would always return to her, to her clever knowing hands. For years she had enjoyed a privileged position in the royal court, her poor husband turning a blind eye to her activities. He was hardly going to interfere with the Prince's wishes. The Prince could be a vengeful man when crossed, and his partisan father had always indulged him.

But the arrival of a pretty young wife and the assent to the throne had taken the Prince's attentions elsewhere. It was clear the newly crowned Queen was providing for his needs, at least for the moment. Isabella had no doubt he would tire of her soon, especially if she began to sire children. A man such as him would not compete for attention with bawling babies. He would return to her. He always did.

In the meantime, Isabella had set her sights on the Guard, a man so physically compelling she had almost swooned when she had first seen him. The King was a handsome man, but this man was a perfect physical specimen, tall and dark and restrained. His body was powerful and muscular, his skin marked by scars of battle. And he knew how to take a woman like her. He did not waste time with courtly affectations and pleasantries. He knew what she wanted and he gave it to her, so skillfully she lay awake at night, next to her ineffectual husband, reliving every moment. There was something supremely exciting about seeing a man like him lose control. And the fact that emotionally he remained an enigma excited her even more.

She was determined to keep the Guard in thrall to her, but she was also going to ensure the King noticed. To make the King jealous would be her ultimate goal. She knew from past experience that jealousy peaked his desire, and watching her with another man would bring him back to her.