~* Puella in Silva *~

*Maid in the forest*

 

The Prince watched bored the couples dance: to bother him wasn't the Baroness of Acquaviva's absence - he would have met her in an other occasion, but the fact that the afternoon's mysterious lady wasn't at the ball. Ferio sighed for the hundredth time and decided to go in his tent to sleep. Arosa noticed the motion and reached him.

" Do thou already Go away, Highness? "

" I'm tired, that's all: could thou ask to my father to apologize for me?  I am terribly sleepy."

The young Countess observed the Prince for a long time, then said:

" It dealt with a woman, isn't it? C'mon, tell me whoever she is and I will do the possible to help thou."

Ferio looked amazed the girl, he then laughed.

" And do thou let your husband to sleep with an other? Thee amaze me, Arosa."

" Thou are not still my husband, before the wedding thou could have all the women that thou want. But after I will claim thy more absolute faithfulness. Tell me who she is and thou will have her."

" Even if don't I know her name? I convinced myself that she is a nymph of the forest. No, I'm sure."

" Ooh... this is so sad... could I do something to ease thy suffering?"

Whispered seductively Arosa embracing him. Ferio freed himself from the embrace and went toward his tent.

" I am sorry to disappoint thee, Arosa, but this evening I won't play. That it is clear, it's not my intention denigrate thy competence."

He reached the tent without say other, but before enter he stopped.

" One last thing, the same thing is worth for thee: after the wedding I'll claim thy faithfulness."

 

After the party, Arosa complained the happened with his mother; Alcyone listened her daughter's whining without paying much attention, and she continued to drink her herb tea. The daughter noticed the Countess' carelessness and struck the table with a punch screaming:

" Are thou listening me, mom?! I ask thou an advice and thou drink thy tea!"

" Don't shout, at this hour of the night there are people who sleeps. For what concerns that little/ problem with the Prince... lets the things follow their paths, don't show thyself jealous and declare always ready to satisfy each his request: the men likes have some affairs every so often, but they always go back to their woman."

" What about the engagement? Who assure me that Ferio won't break up the engagement for a simple affair?!"

Alcyone was about to reply, when Presea asked from a tent's dark corner:

" What's happen? Why do thou be shouting in this indecorous way? If thee want argue, do it with low voice: the sleep is essential for the Baroness' health."

" Pardons, Presea: some times my daughter doesn't know how to have self-control." Said Alcyone " And thou don't worry for the engagement: even if it isn't official, King Henri gave his word to thy father and the Prince has a high sense of the duty. How thou see everything plays at thy favor, thee owe only to wait patiently until the next spring. Now go to sleep."

Arosa restrained hardly her anger and ordered a warm bath. Alcyone shook her head again and resumed drink the tea: her daughter had the warm blood, too warm, and without any brake she could have ruined each thing. The fact that the Prince had refused her for a night was sign of tiredness. Perhaps Arosa had become repetitive. Alcyone decided to recover the texts used in her studies in Varnesh; no, better: she would have sent Arosa to Varnesh to deepen her Art of the Thousand Bodies' knowledge and fourteen moons would have been more than sufficient fro this. Besides the distance -even if for four or five moons- would have made more desirable Arosa at the Prince's eyes, also because respect to other girls she was very skilled.

The Countess' thoughts addressed to the stepdaughter and Acquaviva's weird folk traditions: the women of that feud, among the mountains and surrounded by the glaciers, were very fierce of their virtue, the premarital sex wasn't welcome and who was guilty of adultery -man or woman- was condemned to live in the valley's higher part, where he died by hunger or frostbitten; a young couldn't get married before the fifteen winters and a widower couldn't remarry before seven winters and without ask the deceased consort's family's agreement. In few moons, the Baron of Acquaviva would have given in bride Fuu Marguerite Gabrielle Houojii-Van de Graaff to a certain Innova August Palmers -so she had understood from the discussions of her husband- and she would have gotten out an annoyance: with Fuu among the mountains, in territory of Pharen in addition, nobody would have compared her with Baroness Klelia.

 

Ferio chased the wild boar from more than an hour: when the opportune moment came, he notched the arrow and pointed to the beast, striking it in a thigh. The wild boar turned and loaded against the hunter with the eyes injected with blood and the slaver at the mouth. The horse avoided the animal and was reared up neighing.

" Damn! I'm losing it!"

The Prince exclaimed pulling the reins and starting again the chase.

Ferio panted for the excitement and the capture's perspective, he already imagined in which delicious way the cooks would have cooked that wild boar. He incited his mount still foretasting the meal. A cry.

" Ooh! That was... a woman's voice. Damn, just now that I had found again its tracks!"

He turned the horse, went toward the cry's font. When he heard the second, he increased the speed.

Fuu had found a small clearing rich of strawberries: she had taken herself much far from Presea, but those strawberries were so big, red, scented and inviting that it was impossible resist. Her basket was almost full when a rustle drew her attention: she turned and saw a wild boar with an arrow in the thigh running toward her. Fuu screamed terrorized and began to escape abandoning her basket; but the beast reached her and invested her, she fell. The young Baroness screamed of pain and lost consciousness while the wild boar prepared for a new attack.

Ferio reached the clearing and saw his wild boar rage on a woman.

" Hey thou, ugly beast! I'm here!"

The Prince exclaimed preparing his crossbow to attract the animal. The wild boar loaded against the knight. Ferio took the aim and breathed deeply; when the animal was at the proper distance, lets depart the arrow, which was slipped in its neck; a second arrow struck the beast's eye that fell heavily to the ground. Ferio got off from horse and approached the animal to assure its death, then reached the lady.

" Madame, are thou all right?"

But the woman didn't reply. Examining better, the Prince noticed the cobalt velvet skirt torn and blood stained; the fair disarranged hair covered the young maid's face and few distant lay a white bonnet with vivacious embroideries and a black leather little shoe. Ferio shook the shoulder of the young woman gently to awaken her; not seeing any result, he rolled her on the back.

Ferio felt his heart in throat: the day before's belle was there, unconscious, in front of him. After an instant of surprise, he checked her conditions: his soul cried desperately when he felt neither the pulse nor the breath. Making violence to his instinct, Ferio concentrated to remember what he must do in those cases: with trembling hands he untied the bodice and the shirt to make her breathe, but under the shirt the lady wore a garment that the Prince hadn't ever seen -a bust- and that tightened his chest. After have studied the garment scratching his head, he saw that it was joined by some small hooks; he opened it and he was amazed by her breast's whiteness.

" Ferio, thee have more important things to do than admire her breast!"    

He told to himself. Breathing deeply, he set the hands on a precise point of the chest and began to massage with vigor; following the sequence learned from one of his teacher, Ferio massaged and blew air in her lungs. After a time that to him seemed endless, the girl coughed and began to writhe and the young man threw a sigh of relief.

Fuu sat and panted, a hand at the neck's base and the other pressed on the right calf, where the wild boar had struck her. She tried to get up, but the pain was acute. Ferio took her before she falls again. His filled voice with worry.

" Are thou well?"

Fuu looked the knight and his hands that tightened her small shoulders; and she saw her skin exposed in that indecorous way also. The Baroness shouted terrorized and pushed the Prince away; she then turned gripping the dress' edges crying of pain shame. Ferio approached and laid a hand on her shoulder. Fuu shook the shoulders and screamed:

" Let me! How... how thou have dared! How do thou have dared take advantage of me!? With what courage will I look at my grandfather and my father?!"

" What are thee saying? Thou haven't understood: if I... "

" There aren't apologies for what thou have done! In my country thy fault is punished with life!"

Ferio looked the young woman: he understood very good that she was frightened for the just lived experience, but he didn't bear the fact that she accuses him without reason. The anger gained advantage on the worry and he grabbed her by arms shaking her and shouted in turn:

" What are thou blabbing?! Without my intervention, thee would be surely dead: if the wild boar has not done it, thou would have died suffocated! Are these thy thanks? Great business that I have done rescuing thy life."

Fuu looked the young man still sobbing; she then hid her face in her hands and she burst again to cry. Ferio bit his lower lip: shout against her had helped only to worsen the situation. Ferio tightened her to his chest and petted soothingly her hair.

" Sssh... don't fear," he said with husky voice " now everything is ended, thou are still alive and this is the more important thing. "

In spite of everything, the young Prince felt calm and... he didn't know how call the feeling: something was that he had never experienced and that made him feel well. When he felt the young girl stop sobbing, he asked her with gentleness.

" Are thou better now? Is all ok?"

The dame nodded slightly without lift the glance. Ferio smiled and took her chin with two fingers; he then took a handkerchief and wiped her tears.

" The tears are not suitable to a beautiful woman as thee. Do thou be able to stand up? Does the leg hurt much?"

" I-I thinks I'm able to go back alone. I don't think that it's broken. "

" Do thou want me to check?"

" No! It will be sufficient a bandaging, that I could do alone. My nurse will medicate the wound."

" I have understood." Ferio said a bit desolate " Dress again thou while I prepare some bandages. Do thou want some fresh water to clean the wound?"

Fuu nodded and sat on the grass, giving the shoulders to Ferio and she began to button the bust, the shirt and the dress. Ferio sighed desolate: this wasn't the meeting that he had dreamed with the green eyed lady, he hadn't read in her eyes love and desire, but only fear and shame. At least he now knew that she was real.

' Each thing at its time, my boy.'

The Prince said to himself while he reduced his scarf in bands. He launched a glance to the girl: after have made herself more presentable, Fuu had begun to pick up and eat some strawberry, leaving that their vinegary and sugary juice strains between her teeth and dyes with red her lips. Fuu thought about the knight and what was happened: for a jucher as she, was shameful show the body to a man more than the due, especially to a stranger; in Acquaviva and in neighboring valleys wasn't punished, but it became an indelible mark for whoever had been sighted. In her case it had been a necessity, but the guilt stayed. Luckily they were alone.

Ferio handed her the water bottle and the provisional bandages.

" Do thou want a hand?"

Fuu shook the head and looked suspicious the young man tightening the bandages. Ferio guessed what she wanted and he turned; the silence was killing him and he decided to start a talk.

" Thou have a strange accent, madam: I infer that thou aren't native of Sephiro."

" My father's family possesses a feud in this country's north, but my mother was Pharenian: I live with my maternal grandfather since her death."

" Oh, I am sorry... I didn't know it... And why are thou here in Sephiro?"

" Soon my sister will marry a noble sephirian and my father has wanted to rejoin the family for the occasion."

Fuu said bandaging the calf, after all it wasn't a true lie: Acquaviva was in Pharen's territories and her father had wanted her at Djarjel for Arosa's engagement's official announcement with Prince Ferio. Say such a thing a stranger wasn't convenient and she had decided to be vague on the topic. She tightened the bandages and she tried to walk: the leg ached a bit, but limping she could have reached Presea and go back to the camp with her aid. When Ferio heard her gasps of pain, he reached her and took her hand.

" Do thou want me to take thee home?"

" No, no! My nurse must not be very distant and... and I think to be able to walk."

Fuu replied with a weak smile. Ferio felt the unexpected impulse to kiss those lips as red and perfumed as strawberry -and surely they had also strawberries' taste: his rationality fought against the instinct, but lost. The Prince placed his hands on the maid's cheeks and brushed her lips with his: yes, her mouth had the same sweet and sour taste of wild strawberries.

" A small sign of thy gratitude, my lady. I hope to meet thou as soon as possible."

Ferio ended kneeling, and taking her hand, he kissed it. Fuu became as red as a strawberry and she escaped limping the most quickly possible.

The Prince watched her fade away brushing his lips with his fingertips: that had been most beautiful kiss that he has given in his life -a stolen kiss, more beautiful than Arosa's skilled kisses. Now that she had left, he understood the name of the feeling he had experienced embracing and soothing her: it was the feel of completeness. Simply touch that young maid made him feel more complete than making love: no, everything that had been before that kiss was pure lust. Emeraude had told him always that love didn't involve only the body, and that the purest was between two souls. Ferio smiled at this thought and went back to his horse; and he saw, between the plants of strawberries, the mysterious lady's candid linen bonnet adorned with a ribbon in vivacious colors: he gathered it and sink in it his face to smell again the girl's sweet fragrance.

" Thou are a fool, Ferio: thou haven't asked her hers name."

 

Fuu walked along the path dragging the wounded leg; after left the clearing, she had found a branch and she used it as a crutch: the calf got her an acute ache and she wondered if reject the amber eyed knight's offer had been an error. No, it had not been it: if her father, but above all Alcyone and Arosa have sight her go back to the camp with a man, they would have scolded her, or worse punished her, even if it was an emergency. Fuu thought to be lost when she glances among the trees Presea's orange dress.

" Presea, Presea!"

The nurse turned and saw the young Baroness hobbling laboriously. With four long steps, she reached her and laced an arm around her shoulders.

" My lady, what is happened?! Let me take thou on my shoulders!"

Fuu let slip on Presea's strong shoulders and shut her eyes: during the journey she told to the nurse what happened -replacing the knight with a compassionate old woman. As soon as they reached their tent, Fuu abandoned herself on the bed while Presea sent to call the Duke and began to medicate the wound.

" Thee are lucky, my lady: the leg isn't broken. But walk in these conditions hasn't been very wise."

Presea had just given a sedative tea to Fuu when Duke Dessin came: and he immediately interrogated the nurse about the happened. Presea told what the Baroness had told her.

" I'm so sorry, it's my fault because I have let her alone in the wood: I will accept each thy punishment, Duke."

" The fault is not only thine, it is also hers because she knew to mustn't move away too much. My little girl... who knows her fear..."

The father whispered petting the head of Fuu, who had fallen in a deep sleep.

Fuu had the high fever for four suns, and for four suns Ferio went back in the clearing hoping to meet her again.

 

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