She lay still a moment, listening to his voice and feeling herself wash with the familiar pride she had come to associate with Richmond. He was so mighty, so massive and powerful, and he controlled hundreds of men with absolutely no effort at all. They nearly knocked themselves over in their eagerness to complete his bidding.
She would have been quite happy to have lounged in bed all morn, listening to the sound of his voice. But Penelope, Emma and Regine had other ideas; suddenly, her bower door flew open and a huge copper tub was being shoved across the scrubbed floor. As Arissa sat up in bed, Penelope and Emma had several servants filling the vat with steaming water as Regine emerged into the chamber, carrying the surcoat that would adorn her sister this day.
“Do not get water on it, Regine!” Emma scolded as she passed too close to the tub. “The silk will stain!”
Regine stuck her tongue out at the older girl and proceeded to hang the surcoat, very carefully, on the wardrobe.
Arissa sighed with satisfaction at the sight of her new surcoat; of two-color silk, the very latest fashion, it was a form-fitting piece of green fabric with the contrasting shade being a pale, iridescent green. The scoop neckline clung to her delicate shoulders while the long, wide sleeves nearly swept the groundwhen she walked. A silver link belt with four rough emeralds would adorn her slim waist.
Regine stood back and admired the surcoat with satisfaction. “’Twill be magnificent with your eyes, Riss.”
Arissa refused to waste any time. Leaping from the bed, she plunged into the scalding water and was the prompt recipient of a completely brutal scrubbing. Penelope washed her hair while Emma and Regine soaped her body, all of them chattering endlessly on the silliest of subjects. But the most prevalent topic, understandably, was the excitement of the day.
“I have heard Tad de Rydal is most dashing,” Emma said with a hint of hope. “I have not heard if he’s betrothed. Have you, Riss?”
Arissa shook her black head, wild and untamed with Penelope’s drying. “I have not heard a lick about him. Pen?”
Penelope’s reply was interrupted by Regine’s pondering. “I wonder what it would be like to kiss him. I wonder if his buttocks are as fuzzy as Bart’s.”
Emma shrieked while Arissa and Penelope erupted into giggles. “No kissing, Regine,” Arissa reminded her sternly. “Remember what Richmond said.”
Regine thrust her chin up and turned away. “He’s not my lord and master. I do not have to listen to him.”
“You’d better,” Emma said with a smirk. “Certainly you remember what happened when he caught you in the livery with the stable servant. Neither you nor the boy could sit for a week.”
The three older girls giggled at Regine’s expense. Always defiant, Regine scowled at the three of them. “It was worth the spanking to learn the feel of a man’s tongue against my….”
The smiles, the giggling, immediately ceased. Three pairs of huge, rounded eyes stared at the twelve-year-old. Only Arissa was brave enough to ask.
“Against yourwhat?”
Regine was usually quite proud of her growing list of experiences. But gazing at the expressions of the older women, she was suddenly regretful for her outburst. With a faint flush mottling her ears, she finished scrubbing Arissa’s foot.
“Surely you have kissed a man, Riss. Sometimes they kiss with their tongues.”
Arissa shook her head slowly. “I have never kissed a man. Sweet St. Jude, Regine, you are only twelve. Why must you be so eager to indulge in adult pleasures?”
Regine’s hot gaze came up from her task. “Because I want to know. And I shall learn, any way I can so that my prospective husband will not be displeased that I am ignorant.”
“Your prospective husband will not want a trollop that has seen service like a well-used horse.”
“You only say that because you must enter the cloister. You must be pure ’else God will not want you,” she turned her attention to Penelope. “Surely you have kissed Daniel. Has not he kissed you with his tongue?”
Penelope flushed a dull red and abruptly turned away, fumbling with the linen towels. Arissa passed a glance at her startled friend. “What Daniel and Penelope do is none of your affair, Regine. Moreover….”
But Regine was ignoring her sister. Instead, she was on her feet, her blue eyes fully focused on the blushing maiden. “I have watched you and Daniel at times. In fact, I followed the two of you the other night when you left the dining hall early. He took you into the stable and….”
Penelope suddenly whirled around, her face bright and flushed. “Regine! How dare you..!”
Arissa was climbing out of her bath, fully intent on defending Penelope from her tactless sister. “You should not have been spying on them! I am going to tell mother!”
“But he put his mouth on her breasts,” Regine insisted to her sister, as if the intimate action was a great mystery. “I want to know what it feels like, too. Penelope, was it wonderful? From the noise you were making, I couldn’t tell.”
Arissa’s eyes widened; she did not dare look at Penelope. Swallowing hard, she gave her sister a shove toward the door. “Leave us, Regine. I shall not hear such slanderous lies.”
“They’re not lies!” Regine insisted, nearly slipping on a puddle of water. “What’s wrong, Riss? Why are you angry?”
Arissa gave her sister another push, completely ignorant of her slick, naked body. “Out, out!”
