Taming the Princess

  Table of Contents

  Taming the Princess Title Page

  About Crystal White

  Get an ebook in your inbox!

  BONUS - Preview of "Offering Herself to the Earl" by Sandra Sinclair

  TAMING THE PRINCESS

  - A Sexy Medieval BDSM Short Story from Steam Books

  Crystal White

  Copyright © 2014 Steam Books Erotica & Romance

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

  “Another one?” Silas Barlow, captain of the guard, asked one of his guards as he saw a frail young man being escorted past them.

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Is this one just a lock-up?”

  “No, sir. The princess has ordered he be whipped.”

  “What’s his crime?”

  “He scorned her sister, sir.”

  Silas shook his head, watching as the young man was dragged over to a cross and tied up. “How many is that so far this week, Marcel?”

  “Five, Captain,” he said. “I had to take care of the wee lad myself yesterday.”

  Silas winced, remembering the young teen who had been sentenced to thirty lashes for stealing an apple for his sick mother. He’d have given him five light ones and let him keep the apple with a stern warning to never do it again. But the princess insisted on a tight ship. She said it was no good to let one person get away with it for supposedly honorable reasons because then the next person will expect the same.

  “I took it easy on him,” Marcel said quietly. “I couldn’t be cruel, sir. The lad’s mum was sick.”

  “I know, Marcel,” he said with a sigh. He slid a glance over at the man on the rack, wincing as the whip lashed across his back and the man screamed in pain. “Something has to be done about this.”

  “Don’t rock the ship, Captain. You know how the princess feels about traitors.”

  “I’m not a traitor, Marcel. I just remember the old regime. Her father was kind-hearted and fair. She isn’t.”

  “I just would hate to see you on that rack, Captain.”

  “Better me than someone else,” he stated. After sliding a glance at the young man, who had passed out, he said, “I’ve had enough of this.” He headed off toward the castle.

  ~ ~ ~

  Princess Evelyn sat on her throne, her long black hair in a braid that fell just above her hip. Her long green dress made her emerald eyes shine against her porcelain skin. Her servant sat a tray of food over her lap and bowed before her.

  “Your favorite, your majesty,” the girl said, her eyes to the floor.

  “Thank you.”

  “Madame Princess,” another servant said, poking her head around the corner of the door. “Captain Barlow requests to speak with you in private.”

  She furrowed her brow. She and Silas had many differences and meetings with him never ended well. He insisted she run things one way and did not understand that she was his ruler. It was getting tiring. “Grant him access.”

  “As you wish.” He disappeared.

  “Be gone,” Evelyn told her bowing servant. The young girl stood and scurried off.

  Silas walked into the room. He bowed respectfully. “Princess,” he said.

  “Captain Barlow,” she said stiffly. “How may I help you?”

  “If I may be so frank, Princess, I request to know why you continue to doll out such harsh punishments for minor infractions.”

  “People need to fear me, Captain. If they think they can get away with anything, they will walk all over me. I’m about to become a queen without a king. I need to be tough.”

  “You want people to respect you, Princess. Not fear you.”

  “It is the same thing, Captain,” she said simply. “We’ve had this conversation before, if memory serves correctly. It is getting very tiresome, Captain Barlow. If I may be so frank, I suggest you learn your place.”

  “Or what?” he challenged. “You’ll have me whipped, too?”

  “Thought has crossed my mind once or twice. I don’t like to have guards punish their captain as it can breed problems. That’s why I’ve held off. But your insistence on questioning me is bordering on disrespect.”

  “Have you ever been whipped, Princess?”

  “I can’t say as I have.”

  “I have,” he said. “It’s like having your skin removed one lash at a time. Your father reserved whippings for serious crimes, one step below hanging, because he understood the severity of the punishment.”

  “My father is a weak man. There are factions within this town who want to bury me and take the Kingdom. I won’t allow that to happen.”

  “That’s what I’m here for,” Silas said. “You need to rely on me rather than terrify and torture your loyal subjects.”

  “My subjects will be more loyal if they respect my authority.”

  “With all due respect, Princess, you’re losing their respect.”

  “I’m done here, Captain. I suggest you continue to follow my orders or you may be looking for work elsewhere.”

  He nodded. “As you wish, Madame,” he said, biting back the sarcasm. He bowed and walked out of the chambers.

  The next several weeks went by with the same thing happening. Townsfolk, some young and some even women, being dragged into the dungeon to be chained up for days and then whipped. Silas avoided being involved in the process as much as possible. He had enough guards that he could make them do it.

  The factions that the princess had been referring to were getting restless at her cruelty. They were plotting to take the castle by force as soon as the king passed. Silas knew this. And he knew that unless the princess calmed down and started treating her subjects with more respect, the kingdom would be overtaken and he’d lose many if not all of his guards.

  “We’ve had this conversation before, Captain,” Evelyn said impatiently. “Many times, in fact. One just recently and if I remember correctly, I warned you to watch your place. I’m not changing how I run my kingdom for you.”

  Silas shook his head, staring out the window at the dark night sky. “Princess, your father has maybe days,” he said, turning back to her. The small flash of pain in her eyes was good. It meant she really did have a heart. It was good to know she wasn’t completely cold inside. “Once he’s gone, the factions that want your throne will be coming for you. Me and my men can only hold them off for so long.”

  “You can kill them all.”

  “I do not know how many men there are! They may out number us. I guarantee you we will not go down without a fight. But the more you insist on being cruel, the more men who will join their ranks. It will be a revolution, Princess. Men and women whom you have treated unkindly will take to the streets and assist. I’ve seen this kind of thing happen before.”

  “I believe that you are being ridiculous,” she stated.

  “I’ve seen revolts like this before. Before I came to be the captain of the guard of Diorwyn, I was a guard in a neighboring kingdom. The king was a cruel and unfair man who treated his subjects poorly. They banded together and they took the castle by storm. We were outnumbered and we were forced to submit.”

  “That won’t happen here.”

  “I beg to differ, Princess.”

  Evelyn said nothing, crossing her arms and looking at him coldly.

  “Have you ever been down to the dungeon, Madame?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Your father used to come down,” he said. “When he had prisoners down there, he would come down and talk to them. He would explain to them why they were being jailed or,
on the rare occasion, sent to the whipping post. I’ve seen men weep at his feet and beg for his forgiveness. He always forgave them, although he never recanted the original punishment. You’ve forgiven no one, Madame. All they’ve known from you is cruelty and sentences. You haven’t explained anything.”

  She stuck out her chin and said, “Fine. You want me to come down to the dungeon with you and lecture some thieves and urchins? So be it.” She lifted her skirt as she stood, walking down the steps from her throne. “Lead the way, Captain.”

  “As you wish, Princess.”

  Silas led the way out to the guard building. Evelyn followed him through the doors, past Marcel at the gate, and down the long set of steps and corridor to the dungeon. There was one girl there, shackled to the wall, passed out from exhaustion and lack of food. Another man, freshly whipped, who was passed out from the pain in his stomach, his wounds bleeding and his arms and legs shackled to the wall.

  “Welcome to the dungeon, Princess,” Silas said. “It’s quite empty today. We turned most of your prisoners loose earlier. Most of them couldn’t walk without stumbling from either the pain or lack of food.”

  “I’ve never said they wouldn’t be fed,” Evelyn said indignant.

  “That’s not true, Princess,” Silas said, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms. “You signed a decree saying that no prisoner should be nourished with anything but water whilst jailed. Some of your sentences have included two-week stays on top of being whipped. Another thing your father never allowed to happen,” he added. “It was either prison or a whipping. Never both, unless they committed treason, rape, or murder.”

  Evelyn swallowed, saying nothing. Her eyes followed Silas as he continued to the back of the dungeon. She followed him. They rounded a corner and stopped in a dark room.

  “This is where the magic happens,” he said. He lit a lantern, illuminating the dank room. A cross with shackles on it sat in the middle of the room. A few whips lay on the floor, in waiting. “This is where your sentences are normally dolled out, Princess. Except the ones you want to be done in public, in the middle of the square. There are a few that are occasionally done out front, as well. We passed that cross on the way in.”

  “I’m a princess,” she said. “And I’m going to be queen. I need respect. I deserve respect.”

  “What you deserve, Princess,” he said, stepping toward her, backing her up against a wall, “is a point of contention. What you need is to learn how to respect others before you demand respect from them. You’re going to get us all killed.”

  “Step away from me, Captain.”

  “No,” he said firmly. He grasped her wrists, making her gasp as he pressed them against the brick. “I am tired of coddling you. You can have me fired, whipped, or hanged. But I’m tired of your spoiled, rotten attitude. I’m tired of being the one who has to submit to your demands. You demand respect but yet you have no idea what it is and that is plainly clear in the lack of it that you show everyone around you. I’m going to give you a taste of your own medicine.”

  Evelyn’s eyes flashed with fear as she realized what he meant. Before she could scream, he stuffed a rag into her mouth and dragged her over to the cross. He shackled her up by her wrists and shackled her ankles. The rag drowned her screams out as she thrashed about, tugging at the binds. Silas took a step back and leaned against the stone, watching her struggle. She pulled and fought for several minutes before she finally stopped, out of breath.

  “Not so much fun when it’s you, is it, Princess?”

  He could hear her heavy breathing from where he stood. Silas walked over and got near her face. She glared at him, although the fear on her face was evident.

  “I won’t do to you what you make us do to them,” he stated. “But you will feel a taste of what it’s like – the loss of power, the humiliation, the terror…you’ll feel all of that.” He walked around the back of her and ripped the back of her dress. She gasped as he tore the skirt part off, then her petticoat. Layer by layer he stripped her until she was shivering, her bare legs and behind shining in its full glory.

  Silas admired her for a moment. She was a very handsome young woman. If she had a husband to keep her in line, none of this nonsense would have happened. But she had no prince and there was no plans for her to take one any time soon. He supposed keeping her in line would be his job for now – until he released her and she had him hanged. But it would be worth it. Maybe it would teach her something. At the very least, he’d die a martyr for trying to protect his people from her wrath.

  Evelyn’s face glowed red. She had never been naked before a man before. She loathed Silas Barlow with every ounce of her being. He certainly was not the first man she ever wanted to see that part of her body. She was afraid of him taking advantage of her in her shackled state. She would not put it past him to defile her if he thought he was already going to be punished severely enough as it is.

  “Loss of control, humiliation, helplessness…” Silas said. “I’m betting you’re feeling all of that, Princess.” He picked up a whip off the ground. “You need to find a man, Madame. Someone who will show you right from wrong and how to treat your subjects properly; someone who will show you the error of your ways when you don’t. Maybe this will make you think twice.”

  He cracked the whip down against her ass.

  She screamed into the rag as the lash cut across her skin. She gasped through the cloth, the pain of it much greater than she would have expected. The second lash landed just below it, biting painfully into the skin of her cheeks, making her whimper.

  Silas was taking it very easy on her. Part of him wanted to ravage her. He could do it. Why not? At least get some revenge for the townsfolk in before his death. But he couldn’t bring himself to whip her like he had been taught; the way he had been in the past. He whipped her the way he would an errant child. He gave her ten lashes across her backside, making sure not one broke the skin open; although he was sure she’d feel it for a few days. He could hear her weeping when he was finished and it made his stomach plummet to the ground. It should have made him feel victory. It just made him feel dirty.

  He tossed the whip to the floor and walked around the cross. He pulled the rag from her mouth. She opened her eyes, searching his face. He expected her to scream for Marcel to detain him and rescue her. But she didn’t. She said nothing. She just stood there with tears streaming down her face.

  Silas unshackled her, supporting her with his arm around her. He reached out and wiped the tears from her face, caressing her face for a moment.

  “Release the prisoners, please,” she said softly. “I’ll re-sign the decree, stating that all prisoners be allowed to be fed. And I will be more careful with my sentencing.” She looked up at him. “You were nice to me, were you not? You took it easy on me.”

  “Yes, Princess,” he said. “But Marcel and I are usually nice to the prisoners as well; unless we feel the whipping is deserved. The other guards aren’t. One of the other guards whipped the man you see lying bloody in the other room.”

  She took a deep, shaky breath. “Thank you, Captain.” She turned her face up to look into his eyes. It was the first time she’d noticed what a beautiful shade of blue they were. His blond hair hung in them in the flame, making him look older and more rugged than she knew he was. “Thank you for having a kind heart.”

  “Am I not fired, Princess?”

  “Never.”

  Silas searched her eyes, getting lost in their deep green depths. Before she had assumed the role of ruling the kingdom, he had admired her from afar as she grew. He’d been in Diorwyn for a few years now and he’d watched Evelyn blossom into a beautiful young woman. Her face was as fair and unblemished as porcelain. Her dark eyes were mysterious and beautiful. Her long black hair stood out against her skin. Before he’d come to hate her, he had lusted over her.

  He couldn’t stop himself as he leaned down, touching his lips to hers. He felt a momentary hesitation before she brush
ed her lips back against them. When he slipped his tongue inside, caressed hers, she melted against him. He ran his hand behind her head, through her long black hair, and slipped his other hand around her waist. He pulled her closer, closing the gap between them, gathering her up into his arms. Evelyn sighed softly as he kissed her neck and down her chest to her heaving bosom. He untied the bodice of her ripped dress and pushed it over her shoulders.

  “You’re very beautiful,” he told her, touching a hand to her face, his thumb brushing against her lips. She kissed his thumb and leaned into his touch, closing her eyes. He pulled the rest of her dress off. He kissed her, lowering her to the floor, on top of her dress. His lips caressed her body, making her sigh and moan lightly in pleasure. He brushed her hair out of her face, kissing her.

  Evelyn parted her lips, gasping softly as his hands wandered down her body, touching her in places she’d never been touched before, making her feel things she’d never felt before. She arched her body up off the floor as he kissed down her tender flesh, his hands cupping her breasts, making sighs and shudders come from her body. Her skin burned with desire, an intense want for him having formed deep down inside her. Moisture grew between her legs and she ached. She wanted him more than she thought possible.

  Evelyn opened her eyes and watched as Silas began to remove his boots, then his coat and shirt. His body was breathtaking. He had the physique of a hunter, with strong shoulders and thick arms and a flat stomach. He removed his pants before he lay over her again, kissing her with more passion. He went slow, kissing down her body, touching her, caressing her, making her sigh and moan with his hands and his tongue.

  “Do you want me, Princess?” he asked quietly in her ear, kissing her neck.

  “Yes, Silas,” she said breathlessly. “Oh, yes.”

  He entered her slowly and carefully, making her whimper and bite her lower lip. As he broke through inside her, he kissed her softly, letting her adjust to him, letting her get used to the feeling. Her body relaxed, her arms circling him. He gently began to move, his thrusts slow and soft like waves lapping on a beach. Evelyn gasped, closing her eyes, drinking in the feeling of him inside her. The pain vanished and was replaced with a strong rush of desire and powerful flush of pleasure.