Servian's eyes had drifted down to Lady Katrina's bare, crossed thighs and hung there a second too long, when he looked up she was in fact staring right at him, a small smirk on her full lipped mouth. "Do you see something you like Prince Servian?" Countess Vanelay cooed at him.<br/><br/>Servian turned red with embarasment and couldn't find the courage to look her in the eyes after being caught peeping. His focus now shifted out the window as the Castle Vanelay appeared. "How did the Castle become destroyed?" Servian tried to twitch the subject away from Katrina's golden triangle.<br/><br/>"A failed coup...My father and brothers tried to seize the crown for themselves, with a small militia of Vanelay sympathizers. They failed, and retribution was this" She pointed out at her burned-out homestead, as they rolled up and the carriage finally stopped. A servant walked up and opened the door, and the two exited.<br/><br/>"You think it wise to tell me, The next king of your land, that you and your family are treasonous? I fail to see your logic Countess, Mayhap I should have brought more than my wee dirk to this Lunch. " Servian said, now looking the striking woman directly in her eyes.<br/><br/>"I only offer you the truth in a matter that I am sure you wouldn't of heard from anyone else, the Vanelay name has been forbidden to be spoken within city proper, another punishment for our transgression of wanting to reclaim what was rightfully ours. In any case, I think your 'dirk' looks hefty enough for my purposes, hehehehe" She giggled and placed her hand on his bulging chest. "Come now, the Servant's have prepared a lunch from your Homeland in your honor, you have nothing to fear of conspiracy in this old house, Bor Aname made sure of that by imprisoning my brothers and leaving my father, his own wife's brother, a poor cripple with no more fight left in him. I am the only Lady of the house, and I only wish to please the Prince. " She said as she grabbed a hold of Servian's bolo tie once again and led him into the wrecked keep. This time though, Servian's mood had changed and he snatched the tie back from her.<br/><br/>Many craftsman worked, rebuilding the once obviously beautiful castle, they cut and sawed, replacing burned up timbers, while masons cut new stone to replace the destroyed bit's of wall. "Countess, how is it that after funding a failed coup you can afford to rebuild, is your family so wealthy?" Servian inquired.<br/><br/>"No...the costs would be astronomical, but we have investors. It's actually what I wanted to speak with you about, Come down Prince, let us retire to the rear courtyard for lunch, it's too noisy in here." She waved him toward the back door, but Servian could see a suspicious  shadowed silhouette up on the balcony, the man was seated in a chair fitted with wagon wheels and Servian had to wonder if it was the the crippled patron of the Vanelay family. He said nothing though, and retreated to the rear courtyard where the Countess had arranged a feast of Long Hook delicacies.<br/><br/>"Dear Gods Countess, I haven't seen so much of my home's cuisines since I was a lad, How did you get these recipes, many have even been forgotten by my own peoples. Is that Lutefisk? " Servian said, diving into the feast and filling his plate.<br/><br/>"It is...Yes well, the Vanelay heritage comes from the Valkyrie warrior woman, I know that a similar Amazon bloodline is strong in your homeland as well. You see, we share so many things in common, it was almost like we were fated to meet." The Countess laughs and slides a piece of the ammonia smelling fish to her lips, sliding it around playfully before slurping it down with a joyous smile.<br/><br/>Servian wrinkled his brow at the leading statement, she was obviously making a play for him and although she was magnificently beautiful, and in homage to the woman he grew up around, he felt nothing but the most basic feelings of lust for her. Not Love, love is what he felt for Luna. "Yes My mother is from the Valkyrie bloodline." He agrees cordially but with a serious enough expression to let her know that that was all she's getting out of him.<br/><br/>"Your father was a lucky man than, So....on to business. The coup was a failure, Aname's forces were too much for our meager grouping of concerned and like minded farmers and businessmen, Since banishing them all would have spelled the death of Green Valley's economy, Bor Aname couldn't afford to punish them all, and we were chosen to be the 'sacrificial lamb' as it were. Our treasury was drained, our keep raised to the ground and our name was considered disgraced as a show of what happens when you challenge the Bor.<br/>It was a travesty to our family, my father lay crippled, my brothers in prison, my family had no way of supporting ourselves, let alone rebuilding....Here, let me pour you some spiced mead, we had it shipped from Long Hook when word of your pending arrival was announced." Katrina stopped her story long enough to pour Prince Servian a large tankard of the black barrel Mead. She waited patiently while he tasted it, and when she saw him gulping it down happily, she reconvened her tale.<br/><br/>"...As it goes, I was cast out of all social circles, and not a single Noble that stood with me during the revolt could now offer the Vanelay family any form of aid.  We were destitute and I didn't have a clue as to how I could afford my father's extensive medical bills. But as the Gods shine on the Greene Vanelay of Green Valley as they always have, and I was finally given an opportunity. It seems that not just the natives of this land sensed a 'wounded animal's calls' ;some of the other neighboring kingdoms have taken note of Aname's short comings as a ruler as well. They see the long war fought with Long Hook, a costly coup and now a King so desperate to be done with the whole mess of ruling that he is trying to marry his daughter off to the very kingdom that it has battled against. " Lady Katrina smiled,  seeing that Servian had finished his first cup of mead, and poured him another.<br/><br/>"Yes but Luna and I will be married in just days, and then Long Hook and Green Valley will be as one, attacking the united forces would be a costly mistake, Which kingdoms can be so egotistical that they believe themselves worthy of matching our combined might? "  Servian inquired, his head already swimming a bit from the mead, it's affects far stronger than last he remembered, but he chalked it up to the long and tireesome events of last night and continued on drinking and eating.<br/><br/>"Win? Conquer? Totally dominate? No....and none of them would have to, both Long Hook and Green Valley have been at war so long, which citizen would want another even larger war right on the heels of ending your last feud? None would, not even the most loyal of subjects would back another bloody display, and soon you'd be left as shunned as the Vanelay are today in their own land. Not just Green Valley but Long Hook as well would meet this fate. I am not threatening Prince Servian, I like you too much not to warn you and that's what this is, a warning....You must forsake this fools errand to save not only Green Valley but your own homeland as well, I offer you the chance to wed, not into the reckless family that has led this beautiful land to the brink of destruction; but instead it's rightful queen, who's bloodline is pure and who's alliances can keep your land from being slowly picked apart. I offer you my hand in a marriage, Prince Servian....can you still hear me....You are looking a little peaked?" Katrina asked, a cruel smile on her face as she watched Prince Servian start to slump in his chair drunkenly.<br/><br/>"I...I ah.....I am not feeling so welllllllll......." Servian said as his eyes grew suddenly heavy and his head swam like a fish in a bowl. He fought the dizzying sensation as what Katrina had just told him repeated in his head, but soon he passed out and slumped down in his chair.<br/><br/>Lady Katrina casually strode forth and took the tankard of half finished mead from his hand before the unconscious man had a chance to spill it. She was honestly surprised at how much of the toxin laced mead he was able to ingest before passing out. She stood smiling over top the nodding Prince as her father's wheeled chair coasted out onto the exterior balcony to see his brilliant daughter's plans coming together.<br/><br/>"Bravo my dear, your plan is a success so far, but mine was as well, in the beginning...do you have what it takes to see this through to the end, is the real question. " Baron Robert Vanelay called down from his 2nd floor perch.<br/><br/>"Yes father....Yes I believe the next portion of my plan won't be to difficult at all..." Katrina said as she squatted down and vulgarly grabbed Servian's large penis through his trousers.<br/><br/>When Servian next awoke, the sun was hours further set,  and he was alone in a carriage. He woke up and wiped the drool, and some other fluid from his mouth, his head was pounding again, and his body felt as though it had been drained of all it's energy. His clothes were disheveled and his belt was unfastened. Servian quickly moved to right himself, but then felt something strange, as if something was tied around his dick. He reached his hand in and felt a silk bow, indeed tied around his now sticky penis. He untied it and pulled the small pouch out to see it was embroidered with the Vanelay insignia. Inside was the ring that Katrina had promised him and small note. The note read:<br/><br/>"Thanks for the lunch...it was very 'satisfying'. You were a beast in the bedroom and I will never forget the fun we had, Be sure to tell Pitty-Pitty-Pincess 'Lunatic' her darling cousin says hello for me, and please do me the favor of considering the offer I made you at lunch, and then again after you were done filling me up with your sweet seed.....Be seeing you....XOXOXOXO<br/><br/>Sincerely, Countess (and hopefully soon to be Queen *wink wink)  Katrina Vanelay