Gil’s plan, however half-formed, made the most sense. It’s not like the thought hadn’t crossed my mind before. If my husband-to-be loved Gilroy as much as I did, his position, and, if I’m being honest with myself, my position, would be much less precarious.

Over the past nine years, Gil and I have discussed at length what would happen if we were ever caught, with the consequences becoming increasingly more serious the older we got, particularly after the death of my brother, Conan. However, by that time, we were already too deep in it to willingly give each other up.

We really didn’t mean for things to go this far. In the beginning it was just a youthful dalliance. Just a bit of curiosity, mixed with fun.

See, prior to marriage, my father is responsible for being the guardian of my purity, but, so far, he's done a piss poor job of “protecting” me. I suppose all my sexual indiscretions could be linked to the death of my mother. She and my newborn sister, who never even got a name, died before I was even out of diapers. Father was too distressed by the death of his queen to engrave anything on the stillborn's tombstone beyond “The Second Princess”, which pretty much summarizes the extent of his feelings about his youngest child.

However, by the time society had declared me “a woman”, His Majesty had mostly escaped that perpetual gloom which comes after losing the love of your life. Growing up, I only ever remember him smiling, even when Aurnia scolded him for neglecting his duties in favor of playing dolls with me or riding horses with Conan.

He really did try to be a good father, showering my brother and I with praise, gifts, and attention, but he could be a bit… smothering at times and even jealous of other adults who tried to get close to us. Needless to say, with no mother or even a female role model to educate me in the ways of womanhood, I was at a bit of a loss when Mother Nature came knocking. Besides his overprotective tendencies, the only sign I ever saw that my father was affected by the death of my mother coincided with the only advise he ever gave me about sex.

“Just don’t get pregnant,” he told me the day of my first bleed. “It’s not worth risking your life over. You’re too brilliant and precious to lose. Let your brother worry about producing an heir.”

Being the loving and devoted daughter I was, I took his advice to heart, even if I had no idea at the time how one even got pregnant. I spent a good three years investigating the matter, with the help of Gilroy, of course. My many tutors and other nobles of the court were useless, refusing to tell me anything on the matter, while other young ladies my age appeared as oblivious as myself, spewing what I later learned was utter nonsense like, “Men just can’t control themselves sometimes” and “It always hurts. We just have to endure it,” without any specification of what exactly “it” was.

The only accurate information I got came from servants, who were much more willing to give specifics about the act of procreating, even if I now realize they filtered out most of the fun parts. At least I finally got some answers on how exactly children were produced and how to avoid it: don’t have sex.

And so, I might have remained a celebit for life, refusing even my own husband, as I suspect my father secretly wished, if it had not been for the massive realization I had when I was fifteen.... after I walked in on my brother banging one the stable boys:

There were lots of ways to have sex without getting pregnant, and Gilroy was more than willing to help me discover all of them.

Now, if we had been discovered prior to my ascension as Crown Princess, the scandal probably would have resulted in me being shunned for a few years by "proper ladies" of the court and Gilroy being sent away. I suppose my marriage prospects might also have been affected by my “tainted” status, but at the time I was informally engaged to the insufferable Crown Prince Ballinamore, and I think my father would have been as happy as I for an excuse to wiggle out of that marriage treaty anyways. After all, as Queen of Crismond I would be expected to produce an heir, something he was still vehemently against, although he has since, understandably, changed his tune.

After my brother died four years ago, I took comfort in Gilroy, which, upon reflection, probably wasn’t the best course of action. It was around the same time I realized he could be imprisoned for life or worse, beheaded, for defiling the future Queen of Douburg, that I also realized I already loved him, and not in the “best friends forever” sort of way. So, I started to scheme. I appointed Gilroy a permanent position at my side and found little ways to subtly remind my father that I was much too young to be married, even if half the royal court thought I was an old maid at this point. If I could just make it to my twenty-fifth birthday without getting married, I would be crowned Queen and could protect Gilroy indefinitely. Maybe name him an Earl or something and marry him.

Unfortunately, as much as I and my father dragged our feet for four years, the Kingdom of Crismond demanded the marriage contract my mother agreed to when I was born be honored.

So, to avoid an all out trade war with our oldest allies, I was getting married, in just three days. And once I was married, the matter of “protecting my purity” would transfer from my father to my husband. How far exactly would he go to do that? Well that is what Gil and I didn't know.

As Crown Princess, there wasn’t much he could do to me specifically, but he could demand justice fall upon Gil through the Assembly, even after I become Queen. Then there was the sticky matter of an heir. If he was really vindictive he could petition the Assembly to remove me as monarch, name any child of ours as King, and place himself as Regent.

That left three options: hide and lie indefinitely until we inevitably get caught, convince him to overlook my indiscretions, as I secretly suspect my father has been doing for years, or... get him to join in.

I suppose there were really four options, but giving Gil up wasn’t really an option I ever considered, particularly not when he was rubbing into my clitoris with his far too clothed erection, like he was right now.

“Gil, we don’t—don’t have time,” I say breathlessly even as I relish in the feeling of his shaft catching on my pelvic bone, snapping free, and then pushing back down into my softer tissue. Over and over again.

“We still have another half hour before supper,” he grunts without slowing down.

“True, but we need to strateg— oh Good Aed! Fuck!” I throw my head back, unable to concentrate for a moment as he adjusts his movements slightly to hit more directly and faster. I can feel Gil’s smirk against my neck as he slows, purposefully teasing me. “I thought you were just trying to get me wet, not make me dry orgasm!” I accuse angrily, then gasp as he picks the pace right back up.

“I thought we were short on time,” Gil purrs innocently without stopping.

“Please, Gil…” I whimper.

“Yes, Your Highness?” he asks coyly.

“Tulip."

He immediately stops what he is doing, pulling away from me completely. I give myself a moment to catch my breath and then guide him gently back into my arms to show him I’m not upset. He meets my gaze with concern mixed with curiosity. It isn’t like me to use our safe word.

“As much as I want you right now,” I explain, “what I really need is an action plan before I have to meet with Prince Fionn again. It will just stress me more during supper if I know I could have used this time to prepare and didn’t.”

“Ok, Sersh. I understand. Sorry, for pushing you. I guess I’ve just been feeling pent up after we were interrupted this morning and then again this afternoon by his early arrival.”

“I know,” I reassure as I smooth out his fine silk tunic. “I’ll make it up to you tonight. Remember I promised a bit of roleplay?”

Gilroy’s concern slips away into a sly grin. “I remember everything you say.” A romantic line which holds more truth when said by Gilroy than the average lover. “Now, let’s strategize how to court this prince of yours.”

“Prince of ours,” I correct. “What do you know about him?”

“Middle child of three brothers; most likely neglected by his parents; probably leading to either an inferiority complex or staunch independence. Based on the fact that, by all accounts, the prince, as a child, could be found in the library hiding from his tutors, I assume he developed the later trait.”

“So he’s a free thinker! Maybe he will be a bit more... versatile than the average Crismondian,” I say hopefully.

Gil just shrugs with a “Maybe,” before continuing his assessment. “Other than that, not much is known about him, because he hardly socializes with anyone. I was actually surprised by his manner of speech during your conversation in the garden. I assumed he was just shy, but he seemed very confident and at ease when he spoke.”

“Well, that’s promising. Maybe he won’t be a total bore in bed,” I joke, earning a small laugh from my friend. “Do—do you find him… attractive?” I ask hesitantly. I don’t want to attempt to woo this guy if Gil doesn’t like him.

I’m nervous when Gil takes a while to respond, appearing deep in thought. “Honestly, Sersh? I’m not really sure. It’s been so long since I’ve considered being with a man like that—you know the type.”

I nod in understanding. Big, burly, reeking of nobility. An obvious top.

“I’ve stopped forming opinions about them,” he finishes. “What about you?”

“Same,” I hum. “Plus his personality was so piss poor, I doubt I would have found him attractive even if he wasn’t destined to ruin our lives.”

“Hey now. Let’s be optimistic. Maybe he won’t ruin them. Maybe we will grow to like him.”

“Right. We can do this. So, what’s the plan, wingman?”

Gilroy leans in conspiratorially to me as he whispers, “Here’s what I was thinking…”