A Use of Power

This story deals with themes of female domination in a lesbian setting; if you are likely to be offended by such material please try a different story.

Chapter One

I was about five years old when I first began to understand the power and influence I could wield as a niece of the king. I made life a misery for the courtiers who were responsible for me, but it availed me nothing when, ten years later, I was betrothed to Alphonse de Guigane.

De Guigane was nearly sixty years old but it was an expedient match. Fortunately, my reputation as a woman of beauty had spread abroad and it was the king himself who decreed that the marriage would not be consummated until my eighteenth birthday. He knew I was a prize and obviously hoped, in the course of time, to reap greater political capital from my potential as a bride.

Unfortunately, de Guigane did not co-operate by dying in the intervening years and the day had come for the bargain to be fulfilled. The last of my things were being packed for the journey south to de Guigane's castle when my maid brought Cecile to my room.

The young woman looked terrified as well she might do. She was the daughter of a minor noble who had had the misfortune to pick the wrong side in the war. Her father was executed and his estate was forfeit leaving her an orphan but her ample charms had caught the eye of the king.

She was employed at court as a music teacher to the boy prince but her real value was to serve as the king's bed warmer. I too found her fascinating. Her body was undoubtedly that of a woman but her pretty face lent her an appearance of ethereal youth.

Sadly for her, the king had moved on to a new favourite and he had effectively made a gift of her to me. I was to decide whether or not to let her join my retinue but she knew, as well as I, that if I turned her down, she would be cast out penniless on to the streets.

I glanced at Maurelle and she gave me the slightest of nods. She had been my ladies maid and companion since my childhood and no one knew me better. As she drew back into the shadows I put out my hand and lifted Cecile's chin just a fraction.

"What am I to do with you? I find that I am not in need of a music teacher. Do you have any other talents that you think I might employ?"

Her eyes found mine but as quickly darted away. They were all the same. Some of them had never known that women such as I existed and, when confronted with it, most abjured it and others even feared for their mortal souls.

"You have nothing to say for yourself? Then I will have Maurelle take you back and I will tell the king that I have no use for you."

With that she threw herself at my feet and she began to plead but she was not the first and I had to struggle to keep the smile from my face.

"Compose yourself...stand up...and undress for me."

Any lingering hope that she might have harboured was now extinguished. She slowly rose to her feet and looked towards Maurelle in the darkened corner.

"Ignore her. You will look at me and you will undress."

It took an age before her trembling hands began to work the fastenings of her dress but I was in no hurry and her obvious distress was generating a very pleasant heat between my legs.

"Those too.."

She had stopped when she reached her undergarments but now proceeded to strip herself completely.

"Take your hands away."

She was standing folded up into herself with her arms covering her breasts and her hands crossed in front of her sex. It took a great effort of will for her to bring her arms to her side for she had never felt more truly naked

Before ushering her into my presence Maurelle had seen to it that she was bathed and had then applied a blade.

The knives themselves were ivory handled and tempered from the finest Toledo steel. It amused Maurelle to demonstrate the keenness of the edge by dropping a length of silk across the blade to watch it fall to the floor in two pieces. It ensured that her charges remained perfectly still as she completely denuded them of body hair.

Some of them no doubt thought that the ritual arose from some perverted need of mine to make them look like children but that was not true; had I wanted children I could have easily indulged myself.

No, the truth was that I wanted them to be cleansed, to understand that this was something transcendent, a world away from the rutting of men.

Her sex still looked a little pink but it shone with the application of a soothing unguent and I was only too aware of how soothing it could be when applied by Maurelle.

"Hold yourself straighter."

She lifted her shamed face and pulled back her shoulders a little allowing me a better view of her delightful breasts. She understood the effect created by her impressive décolletage, and the King's particular partiality, and I had often imagined what lay beneath the armour of her tight bodices.

The truth was that she owed no debt to the dressmaker's art. Her breasts were firm and fully rounded with nipples very dark for someone so fair of hair. In the slight chill of the room they had already swollen and I felt my tongue move in my mouth.

I could wait no longer and I delighted in the shock on her face as I slowly let my robe slip to the floor to reveal my naked body beneath. She had been raised in a society in which only those in menial positions would find themselves in the presence of other naked women, be it their betters or others of their class, and so it was only natural that she would want to look away... but she could not.

I had already broken the taboo by having her undress and now her eyes guiltily appraised me. Unlike other women at court who would try to disguise any southern blood in their veins with the judicious application of face powder I was proud of my dark colouring.

I have a full head of thick black hair and I scoffed at the current vogue for wigs. I am told that my dark eyes smoulder and the artist Bouvier described my mouth as the most sensuous he had ever painted.

My breasts are modest and I do not have the swell of hip that men seem to find so appealing but I like the shape of my legs helped by the many hours that I spend riding.

Finally her gaze fell to the floor and I moved to take a seat in the audience chair. When she looked up again she gave an involuntary gasp as she found me sitting with my legs shamelessly parted.

"Come here Cecile."

She remained frozen to the spot her body shaking with indecision. Every fibre of her being was telling her to run from the room but she knew that her only salvation lay in the commission of this one unthinkable act.

"You know what you must do..."

For a moment I wondered just how much Maurelle had said to her two days ago. Had she been vague? Or had she taken delight in explaining the most intimate nature of the service that was required of her giving time for her anguish to grow? I suspected that it was the latter.

She almost stumbled forward as she forced herself to her knees before me.

"Open your eyes. I want you to see what you are doing."

For a split second a look of hatred flashed across her face only to be replaced by pained resignation. She tentatively reached towards by sex but I slapped her hand aside.

"Just your mouth."

Oh how I wish I could hold on to that final moment. Those last few seconds as they fight with themselves before the inevitable surrender is just so delicious and so it was now. I could see the pinpricks of perspiration on her brow as she girded herself and then leaned in.

Some of them take time, resisting to the last, but others try to get it over with and so it was with Cecile. She licked me with a broad sweep of her tongue and I was amused to watch as she tried to suppress a shudder.

Her face registered the initial sharp tang but she gave herself no time for reflection as she quickly licked a second time. That first magical touch heated my sex so that she now caught the true essence of me and I waited for her reaction.

I have seen those for whom that first real taste is enough to transform them, others accept their fate stoically, and then there are those that will never overcome their inhibitions. Cecile was one of the latter and, as she began to lick rhythmically, a tear broke from her eye.

Unfortunately for her this display of distress simply made me weep in an altogether different way and I sensed her distaste as I felt my sex getting wetter.

I let her continue for a few minutes, in her own clumsy manner, and I could almost read her mind. She was feeling disgusted but thought that it was not as bad as she perhaps feared. She was trying to set her mind free as she willed herself to get through it but it was time to give another lesson.

"I want to feel your tongue inside me..."

She looked up at me from between my legs her eyes wide in disbelief. It was obvious that she had never enjoyed this particular pleasure herself which was hardly surprising as, from my understanding, it is a very rare man indeed who would be prepared to abase himself.

"Don't keep me waiting..."

Her body gave an involuntary shiver but she managed to get control of herself and made her first hesitant attempt. Her tongue brushed against my nether lips and it was tempting to tell her to linger there but I wanted her total surrender.

She slowly applied a gentle pressure but, aroused as I was, it was going to take an effort on her part. She firmed her tongue and tried again and I sighed as I felt that wonderful initial parting.

With her tongue deep rooted I could now hold her in place as she came to terms with the heat and wetness of my inner core.

There would be time for more intensive lessons but for now my body demanded release.

"Don't close your eyes!"

Her face was a picture of misery verging on horror as I sought out that single pleasure spot with my well tutored fingers. Her nurse had no doubt warned her of the dire consequences of such self indulgence but now she was being forced to witness it from intimately close quarters.

I rubbed quickly and purposefully, my fingers soon slick with moisture, and then, bearing down on her captive tongue, I set myself free. For a few seconds I was still, my body unbending, but then I groaned as the familiar waves of pleasure washed over me.

When it had passed I slumped, unladylike, my brow perspiring, but my muscles were still reflexively embracing her tongue. I had to force myself to relax in order to release her but I made her keep station.

The reek of my arousal was heavy in the air and I wanted her to be familiar with it because it was going to dominate her life for a long time to come.

Finally, I stood up and retrieved my robe and I was pleased to note that she remained on her knees awaiting my instruction. She gave a quiet sniffle and wiped a tear from her blushing cheeks.

Taking her cue Maurelle emerged from the shadows and we exchanged glances. Over the years our understanding of one another had become almost telepathic and she smiled as, out of Cecile's sight, she started to undress.

She always wore black and her clothes were plainly tailored for comfort eschewing courtly fashions. She had spent almost her entire life trying to blend into the background and to remain anonymous.

She removed her cap and shook out her lustrous brown hair and, when naked, she became an entirely different woman. She was a little more than ten years older than me but could pass for much younger if she so wished.

With me she had the freedom to be who she wanted to be and she held herself with a proud bearing that would have astounded anyone else who knew her. I thought her beautifully proportioned and I had always been envious of her heavy breasts with their large perked nipples.

She never applied face powder or other artifices but she was not in need of them. Her dark brown eyes were beguiling as was the fullness of her sculpted lips.

She too had high born antecedents but it had been her choice to enter into service to avoid, what for her would be, the living hell of an arranged marriage. Her natural nobility was now apparent as she moved to take the seat that I had so recently vacated.

She had obviously not forewarned Cecile of this additional duty as the young woman shied away and cried out in refusal but I rebuked her sharply.

"I do not give much for your chances out on the streets; I suppose a pretty girl like you might find a new benefactor but at what cost? With me you are guaranteed privilege and position but you will obey me in all things. Come, surely it is easier than being the King's whore?"

My barbs struck home and for a heartbeat or two there was rebellion in her eyes. She knew nothing of Maurelle and assumed that she was being asked to humble herself with a mere servant.

Maurelle, for her part, sat serenely, with her legs parted, confident in the outcome.

Cecile knew she had no other choice, at least for now. She was, no doubt, thinking that she must endure until we had journeyed south when she would try and seek salvation. I was equally sure that I would devise a way to unbreakably bind her to me

She mutely took her place and stared uneasily at the raw beauty of Maurelle's womanhood. In the midst of a trimmed thicket of dark curls her prominent labia were already a little swollen to reveal a glimpse of sweet pink promise at their heart.

After what seemed an age she plucked up courage and made an assay with the tip of her tongue. She fastidiously licked along the exposed fringes and Maurelle smiled indulgently. Like me, she liked nothing more than breaking in an ingénue but she was, if anything more demanding.

She tolerated Cecile's timidity for a few moments but then she pulled her in tight and I laughed as I heard the squelch of moisture. Her captive struggled but she was held close and her futile attempt to get away only served to increase Maurelle's excitement.

One of her many skills lay in the preparation of perfumes and for herself she favoured a distillate of frankincense. After her daily bath she would anoint those parts of her body that she would have served as Cecile could now attest as the heady scent rose from the heated thighs of her tormentress.

It was from this, perhaps, that she had cause to reappraise Maurelle's status. No lowly serving woman would aspire to purity in this manner and, I was willing to wager, nor did Cecile herself.

Maurelle closed her eyes and gave a murmur of satisfaction which could only come from the pleasure of having a tongue, willing or otherwise, deeply engaged. Assured of Cecile's acquiescence she slipped her legs over her shoulders letting the weight of them keep her captive in place

I recognized the signs and retired to my dressing room to get myself prepared for the day ahead. When I returned, almost an hour later, Cecile was still on her knees. I could see from the set of her body that her knees ached and her neck was cramped and I wondered if Maurelle had allowed her any respite.

On seeing me return she smiled and lazily relinquished her position. As she rose from the chair I could not be sure that I had ever seen anyone as red of face as Cecile at that moment. Her damp hair was matted to her head and she could not quite close her mouth altogether.

Out of her sight I mimed a scolding face to Maurelle but she demurely smiled back in mock apology for we both knew that the true extent of Cecile's torment was only just beginning.

Chapter Two

The journey south took seven days but, two days out, I sent Maurelle and a small escort on ahead. Ostensibly she was to check that all preparations had been made for my arrival but in reality she would circulate amongst the servants to see what information could be usefully garnered.

Maurelle was the most intelligent person I had ever met. She told me that her friends and family were dismayed when she gave up her own prospects to take up a position of lady in waiting at court but, in so doing, she could avoid marriage and indulge her love of books.

Her accumulated knowledge was far reaching and she had a grasp of politics which would put most men to shame.

I think that we would have forged a friendship under any circumstances but when she recognized in me that which set her apart a unique bond was formed. Whilst my father confessor preached the sanctity of marriage and subservience to ones husband Maurelle taught me how to be true to myself.

When I felt unholy urges in the night it was Maurelle who introduced me to the forbidden text describing what the Greeks called the "kleitoris" or "little hill". She explained that everything I felt was natural and that there was no sin in touching myself as I wished.

Much later she introduced me to a willing serving girl of my own age who helped to complete my education and that particular reminiscence prompted a tingling between my legs which I knew exactly how to satisfy.

We were spending the night in the country manor of the sieur de Bremme. The family was of low rank but the manor house was the best fortified building in the immediate area. The Seigneur was both obsequious and tiresome but I observed the niceties and retired to my chambers as soon as was polite after a banquet that seemed never ending.

A fire had been laid and the bed turned down and it was bliss to strip out of my heavy clothes and lay naked upon the coverlet.

After a few moments there was a quiet but familiar knock at the door. I closed my eyes and spoke just loudly enough to be heard.

"Come."

I could not see her but it amused me to imagine her face when she found me naked. Emma was a foreign seamstress in my employ. She had been recommended to me during a formal visit in the north and I quickly found that her talents stretched to far more than dressmaking.

She was some years older than me but in the time of our brief acquaintance the poor girl had convinced herself that she was in love. When the time came for our delegation to leave she begged me to take her with me.

I explained the impossibilities and in her desperation she said that she only wished to serve. She probably thought that, over time, I would submit to her charms once more and I suppose I should have stood by my refusal but the prospect of having that delightful mouth at my disposal whenever I wished was too tempting.

I insisted that she vouchsafe herself to me alone and this had an unforeseen advantage. It transpired that the longer I denied her the more desperately she tried to please when I deigned to grant her access to my person.

It had now been more than a fortnight since last we were together and I lazily ran my fingers over my sex knowing just how much it would inflame her.

Tonight I would avail myself but first I would tease her a little. Over the past weeks I had added a new condition to the terms of our relationship. Whenever she travelled with me she was required to seek out potential bed mates for me and only if she was successful was she afforded any privileges.

This was deliciously cruel in so many ways not least because I was very particular about who I would take to my bed. There was also the danger of her being caught out in her enquiries. Such a proposal was almost tantamount to witchcraft and I, of course, would deny everything.

Added to all of this was the jealousy that she must feel but still she was prepared to demean herself.

Without opening my eyes I asked.

"Have you found someone?"

When she answered in the affirmative I sat up sharply. We had only been at the manor for a few hours and the answer was unexpected. As she stepped back to the door I quickly covered myself and then had to contain my shock when Marie-Élise, wife of the Seigneur, walked into the room.

For a moment I felt a sense of panic, wondering if I had been found out, but quickly dispelled the notion. Marie-Élise favoured me a conspiratorial smile and closed the door behind her.