The Queen and her Lord.

The Ride

Stephane left Catherine to go change and he went to the kitchen. He prepared a picnic of Catherine's favorite sweet and salty treats. He packed a couple of bottles of her favorite apple juice too. He then decided to go to the stables and get the horses ready. There was nothing he wanted more than to run away with Catherine and have a happily ever after with her. He wanted to disappear with her and never be found again. While he was deep in thought about a future with her, he felt a familiar set of arms wrapping around his waist. He loved when she did that.

"Hi" Catherine said softly and hugged him tightly from behind. "Hello beautiful" he replied and turned to face her. She had pushed her fears and anger about her arranged marriage away. She wanted to enjoy what would probably be the last day they would have together, "Ready to go?" he asked and kissed her very gently. "I'm ready to go far away with you" she replied after kissing him passionately back. "I was thinking that maybe we could have some fun?" she suggested with a grin as she slid her hand to his crotch, gently cupping and squeezing him. She had figured out this little thing he enjoyed while they played piano one day. He was in the mood for mischief and kept messing up her scales. She had gotten so frustrated with him and it was the only thing she could think of to stop his messing. "I like the sound of that" he moaned softly, trying to hide it by kissing her.

In the few months since she had known him, Catherine had come out of her shell. She wasn't the scared girl she was when she arrived. She still had her insecurities of course but with Stephane's help she had come to trust a man. His gentle nature had shown her that it was ok to be scared but she had been slowly coming around to the idea of having to spend the rest of her life with a man she didn't know. "You don't have to do that" he said with a twinkle in his bright blue eyes softly after taking a moment to enjoy her touches. He loved the feeling of her hands on his body, but he wanted her to know that his love for her was unconditional. "Stephane please" she said softly and put a hand on his cheek. The last thing she wanted was to be a victim in his eyes. Stephane knew that she had suffered in the past, but he had never dared to push her to talk about it.

They rode together to their favorite spot, a warm lake by a freshwater stream that was far from the prying eyes of French court. It was well hidden by trees and a safe space for them to be alone. He carefully got down from his horse to let it rest and then he helped Catherin e to get down from her horse. While Catherine brought the horses to get some water, he set up the picnic blanket and laid out the selection of foods he had brought for her. She then joined him at the picnic basket. "Could you loosen me up a bit?" she asked softly, referring to her corset. Her ladies had a habit of trying it too tight. "I'd do anything for you" he replied and loosened her corset a bit for her. She then lay down on the blanket and enjoyed the summer son on her face. Stephane laid down next to her and took her hand in his. "I'm going to miss this" he admitted and entwined his fingers with her.