Lord Gregory laughed softly. "Yes, she is, and you are so discerning to value it."

"They turn out all the better for that," said Lady Juliana with quiet wonder. She pinched Beauty's cheek as she had Princess Lizetta's secret lips. "O, what I would give for a quiet hour alone with her in my chambers."

"In time, in time," said Lord Gregory.

"Yes, and I bet she fights the paddle so, with her tender spirit."

"Only with her spirit," said Lord Gregory. "She is obedient."

"I can see that. Well, my girl, I must leave you. Be confident that you are exquisite. I wish I had you over my knee. I'd paddle you until sundown. You'd play a lot of little games running from me in the garden, you would." And then she kissed Beauty warmly on the mouth, and left as quickly as she had come, in a flurry of burgundy velvet and flying braids.

Just before Beauty took the sleeping potion from Leon she begged to know the meaning of what she had heard. "What is the Bridle Path?" she asked in a whisper, "and the village, my Lord, what does it mean to be sent there!"

"Never speak of the village," Leon cautioned her calmly. "That punishment is for incorrigibles and you are the slave of the Crown Prince himself. As for the Bridle Path, my lovely, you shall know soon enough."

He laid her down in her bed, strapping her ankles and wrists far away from her so that not even in sleep could she touch herself. "Dream," he said to her, "for tonight the Prince will want you."

Chapter 12

DUTIES IN THE PRINCE'S CHAMBER

THE PRINCE was finishing his supper when Beauty was brought to him. The castle hummed with life, torches flaring in the long, high, vaulted corridors. And the Prince sat in a library of sorts, eating alone at a narrow table. Several ministers were about with papers for him to sign, and there was the sound of their soft leather sock boots on the floor, and the crackling of the scrolls of parchment.

Beauty knelt by his chair, listening to the scratch of his pen, and when she was sure he would not see, she looked up at him.

He appeared radiant to her. He wore a blue velvet surcoat trimmed in silver and emblazoned with his coat of arms above a heavy silk girdle. The sides of the surcoat were loosely laced and through them Beauty could see his white shirt, and she admired as well the firm muscles of his legs in the long tight fustian breeches.

He took a few more bites of his meat as a plate was set down on the stones for Beauty. And quickly she lapped up the wine he poured in a bowl for her, and ate the meat as delicately as she could without using her fingers. It seemed he was watching her. He gave her bits of cheese and more fruit, and she heard him give some little sound of satisfaction. She cleaned her plate with her tongue.

She would have done anything to show him how pleased she was to be with him again, and quite suddenly she remembered she had not kissed his boots, and she made up for this immediately. The smell of the clean, polished leather was delicious to her. She felt his hand on the back of her neck, and when she looked up, he fed her a handful of grapes one by one, lifting each one a little higher so that she had to rise off her heels to get it.

He tossed the last grape in the air. She darted up to catch it in her mouth and succeeded. Then overcome with shyness she bowed her head. Was he pleased? After all she'd witnessed during the day, he seemed her savior. She could have wept for happiness now that she was with him.

Lord Gregory had wanted her to dine with the slaves. He had shown her the hall. There were two long rows of Princes and Princesses, all on their knees, hands clasped behind their backs, eating with their quick little mouths from plates on a low table before them. They were bent over so that, as she passed, she saw the row of sore bu**ocks and felt herself shocked by the sight of so many of them. They were all alike, and yet each body was different. The Princes showed less of themselves if their legs were together, as the scrotum couldn't be seen; but the girls could do nothing to hide their pubic lips. It had alarmed her.

But the Prince had wanted her immediately in his chamber. And now she was with him. Leon had removed the small sealing wax from her secret core of pleasure, and she felt the first stirring of desire. She did not care about the servants moving about, or the last minister waiting nearby with his petition. She kissed the Prince's boots again.

"It's very late," the Prince said. "You've had a long rest, and I see you are much improved for it."

Beauty waited.

"Look at me," he said.

And when she did, she was shocked by the beauty and ferocity of his black eyes. She felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Come," he said, rising and dismissing the minister. "Time for lessons."

He walked fast towards his bed chamber and she followed on her hands and knees, rushing before him as he waited for her to open the door, then going in behind him.

"If only she could sleep here, live here," she thought. And yet she was afraid as she saw him turn with his hands on his hips. She remembered the whipping last night with the strap and she shuddered.

Beside him was a high pedestal table, and he reached into a cloth-covered casket there, and took out what seemed a handful of little brass bells. "Come here, my spoilt dear," he said softly. "Tell me, have you ever attended a Prince in his chamber, dressed him, groomed him?" he asked.

"No, my Prince," Beauty said, and she hurried to his feet.

"Kneel up," he said. She obeyed, hands behind her neck and then she saw the little brass bells he held and that each was fixed to a little spring clamp.

Before she could protest, he applied one very carefully to the nipple of her right breast. It was not tight enough to hurt; nevertheless it bit down on her nipple, pinching her, and causing the nipple to harden. She watched as he clamped the other to her left breast, and then without meaning to, she took a breath that made the bells ring ever so faintly. They were heavy. They pulled on her. And she flushed, desperately wishing to shake them loose. They weighted her br**sts, made her painfully conscious of them.

But he was telling her to stand up and spread her legs. And as she obeyed she saw another pair of brass bells taken from the casket. They were as large as walnuts. And, whimpering slightly, se felt his hands between her legs as he clamped these bells to her pubic lips quickly.

It seemed she felt parts of herself, which she had been unconscious. The bells touched her thighs. They tugged on the lips and cut into the flesh tightly.

"O, come now, it isn't so dreadful, my little maid," he whispered, and he rewarded her with a kiss.