Godiva

Copyright Oggbashan June 2012. The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.This is a work of fiction. The events described here are imaginary; the settings and characters are fictitious and are not intended to represent specific places or living persons.

*

"Bloody troubadour!"

Leofric threw the scroll from the bed to the floor.

"What's wrong?"

"Apart from Roger's dreadful scrawl which gets more difficult to read every time he writes, a lot, Godiva. That troubadour has started calling himself 'Peeping Tom', suggests that we banished him from Coventry, and has embellished the story of your ride."

"Embellished? How?"

"Apparently you rode naked through the market place, your modesty only partly concealed by your long blonde hair."

"What! Give me the scroll!"

"Get it yourself. Then I can see how modestly your hair conceals your nakedness."

Godiva slid out of bed. Her blonde hair fell to just above her waist. She span round to face Leofric.

"You see? It doesn't. It couldn't. Even if I grew it longer, which would be a nuisance, there isn't enough of it to preserve my modesty."

"I know, forward wench. Get back in bed so that I can get my hands on your nakedness which you apparently displayed to the whole of Coventry..."

"Soon, my love. Just wait until I've read what Roger wrote."

Godiva took the scroll close to the candles burning near the fireplace. Her body shone in the flickering light.

"This is monstrous! How dare he say I was naked? I was in my shift, dressed as a penitent. You know I was. So do the people of Coventry. They watched and cheered me. This makes my penitence into a peep-show."

"Read on, Godiva. Read what Roger says about the King's reaction."

"The troubadour performed before the King? How can I show myself at court? They'll laugh at me."

"You'll have to. The King has summoned us for a private audience."

Godiva shook her head. Her blonde hair flew around her.

"I can't! Not after this!"

"We must. Neither you nor I have had a private audience with the King. I'm not sure anyone has. It must be important, more important than your embarrassment and Coventry's taxes. Now come back to bed. Your nakedness is working on me even if Coventry didn't see it."

Godiva picked up her silk shift and held it before her.

"Can you see anything through this?"

"No I can't. Nor could the citizens, even in bright sunlight. All they saw was a beautiful woman dressed in white with her hair flying loose. No doubt it excited some of the men, but they saw no more than they would have seen when you are fully dressed. Come to bed."

Godiva threw her shift to the floor. She ran back to the bed and leapt on to Leofric. They kissed. She sat astride Leofric and bent forward, her hair falling either side of his head. He grabbed her hips and pulled her downwards, impaling her on his insistent erection. He bucked under her while she thrust back. She writhed and screamed as she reached several climaxes in quick succession. Finally her lower lips squeezed as she rode him to a climax. She rested against his chest.

"Well, my Lord? Are you satisfied with your naked forward wench?"

"Of course, Godiva, for now. Later..."

Godiva stopped his voice with her lips. They relaxed, entwined.

***

Lady Godiva squeezed her husband Leofric's hand. He squeezed back. She nervously twisted her long blonde plait with her free hand.

"They're all looking at me," she whispered.

"Of course they are," Leofric whispered back, "and stop playing with your hair. The whole court can see that you couldn't possibly have covered yourself when your hair ends above your waist."

"But..."

"I know. They don't. Hiring a troubadour and several poets to tell your story wasn't a great idea, was it? You should have known they couldn't stick to the bare truth. If I find that so-called Peeping Tom he'll regret taking your coins."

"What does the King want with us?"

"Probably the same as his whole court. He wants the real story of your naked ride through Coventry, and to see the woman who could do such a thing."

"But I didn't!"

"Peeping Tom and the poets made sure that everyone thinks you did. You're already a legend, Godiva. No doubt more will be added to the story as the years pass. We'll have to live with it now."

"How much longer will we have to wait, Leofric?"

"Not long. I'm the third most powerful man in the country after the King and Earl Godwin. The King will see us as soon as he can. After all he asked us to come for a private audience. Even I don't get many of them. He usually sees me in public so that Godwin can't accuse him of plotting with me. If only the King had an heir..."

"He's got a new bride. Surely..."

"No." Leofric replied bluntly. "He can't. Everyone knows that he can't. If he could there would have been several Royal bastards by now. Even if he could, he's too old. Any heir born now would still be a minor when the King dies. Without an heir, or with an infant heir, the succession to the throne will be wide open and the only candidates with enough power are Godwin and me."

"But you don't want to be King, Leofric. You've told me so many times."

"I don't. But I don't want one of Godwin's wild sons to be King. They would ruin England. We need a strong, sensible King who can rule wisely. Edward is doing his best to keep Godwin and me from starting a civil war."

"You wouldn't go to war over the throne. You love England too much."

Leofric squeezed Godiva's hand again.

"You know I wouldn't. Godwin doesn't know that. He thinks that I would and I have to make sure he believes it, otherwise he might arranged for King Edward to have an accident or a fatal stomach upset. That's why we have so many expensive armed retainers. They're not to protect you and me, but to make sure that Godwin doesn't seize the throne. Without me and the other Lords who support Edward, Godwin would make himself King in days."

"But his daughter is Queen. Surely that helps Earl Godwin?"

"It should have done, Godiva. He thought that marrying his daughter to the King would help. It didn't. Queen Edith knows her father and brothers far too well to see them as anything but disasters as potential Kings. Her father forgot that although she is a woman, she is as headstrong as his sons. She endured humiliation from him and her brothers. Now she is Queen, she is her own mistress playing her own game and has rejected her father's plans. Will that last? I don't know."

The court fell silent as the doors of the audience room were thrown open. A richly dressed Lord approached Leofric and Godiva.

"The King will see you now, Earl Leofric and Lady Godiva."

"Thank you, Arundel," Leofric replied.

He put Godiva's hand on his crooked arm and they walked behind Lord Arundel through the doors which shut behind them. Facing them, seated on thrones, were King Edward and his new wife.

Leofric bowed his head. Godiva bobbed a curtsey.

"Leave us," King Edward ordered to the servants and guards. "You too, Arundel."

"But, my liege..." Arundel started to protest.

Edward looked at him. Lord Arundel followed the guards.

"You honour us, my liege," Leofric said as the door closed behind Lord Arundel.

"But you too don't think it is wise to see you alone?" King Edward suggested.

"It could be misconstrued, my liege."

"Only by my father-in-law Earl Godwin, and he's not here. As far as he is concerned, Arundel is still present. If asked, Arundel would confirm that. He'll have to return soon but there are some things I want to discuss first, particularly with Lady Godiva."

"With me, my liege?" Godiva asked.

"Yes, madam, you! Did you think to deceive me with this supposed wager with your husband? How could you wager that he would reduce the taxes on Coventry if you rode naked through the market place? It is manifest nonsense because Coventry is your land, not Leofric's. You collect the taxes. You pay them to my treasury. Leofric has nothing to do with Coventry nor with your other domains. He has his own. You have yours. You alone are responsible for the taxes on Coventry. Well?"

Godiva's hand clutched at Leofric's. She blanched. A King's anger could be very dangerous.

Then the King and Queen laughed.

"Sorry, Lady Godiva," the King said. "I couldn't resist that. I know that you didn't ride naked through Coventry, even if my court believes it. I also know why you did it..."

"You do?" Godiva managed to splutter.

"Yes. Coventry was short of money but that wouldn't matter because you could have remitted their taxes IF you hadn't been short of money too."

"We are, my Liege." Leofric stated.

"I know that too, and why. You keep a small army of retainers, or is it a large one? They train too well to be just servants. I wouldn't be surprised if they are more skilled than my own soldiers."

The King waved Leofric's attempted protest away.

"I have few opportunities to laugh nowadays and the Lady Godiva's embarrassment was a welcome diversion. I would have liked to have seen her in her shift, or even better naked partly covered by her hair."

Godiva blushed.

"But I asked you two here to discuss more important matters with my Queen and I. There are very few that I can trust, and Earl Leofric and his Lady Godiva are the most powerful of those few."

"How can we help, Your Majesty?" Leofric asked.

"You can start by sitting down. This might take a while."

The King held out his hand to his Queen. They stepped down from the raised dais and walked towards four chairs set around a small table. They sat down. The King motioned for Leofric and Godiva to take the other chairs.

The King squeezed the Queen's hand and continued to hold it as he spoke.

"You know that I have no heir, and despite my recent marriage I will have no heir..."

"But..." Godiva blurted.

"No buts, my lady. Despite the rumours around the court I can appreciate and enjoy sex but I know that I cannot sire children. An Arab physician told me years ago that the cause was probably a childhood illness. It seems likely, more likely, than the explanations from the fools that call themselves doctors in this kingdom. I know I might be able to pretend that I have sired an heir, if Queen Edith would consent to the indignities of the subterfuge, but such an heir would be an infant when I die. Whoever is regent would be King in all but name and could easily dispossess an infant in the name of security for the Kingdom. An infant heir won't do. I have to name an adult, a strong man who can control the headstrong Lords."

"Especially my brothers, Earl Godwin's sons," the Queen added.

"Ah yes, Godwin's sons" the King said. "They are the most headstrong and warlike of all my Lords. If they weren't fighting each other they would be fighting the neighbour countries. Their battles would impoverish the Kingdom and hurt our people sore."

"But..." Leofric tried to interrupt.

"I know, old friend, that you do not want to be King. Even if you did, you wouldn't be a good one. You are too good and honest to rule the unruly English. You lack the deviousness, cunning and cruelty that a King needs. It is to your credit that you are not suitable, but it leaves me and the kingdom with the unsolved problem. Who will be King when I die?"

"If not a Godwin, and not me, then who, Your Majesty?" Leofric asked.

"Exactly. If my heir is not you or a Godwin there is no one who could unite the Kingdom and anyone who tried would have to deal with the Godwins as I have been unable to do. I have a candidate but you might not like my choice."

"May I ask why I might not like your choice?"

"Yes. Because he isn't English. I think that Duke William of Normandy could unite England."

Leofric looked at Godiva. Duke William was a shock. The King noticed their consternation.

"Listen carefully. I know that Duke William covets this country. He knows that his conflicts with the King of France will eventually end in defeat Normandy. That defeat is unlikely in the Duke's lifetime. He is too good a warlord, and too wily a campaigner for the current French King but eventually France's superior manpower and resources will prevail. If Duke William were to become King of England he would build England as a bulwark against France even if Normandy is overrun. Duke William would put all his considerable talents into strengthening England as his Kingdom."

"But a Norman?" Godiva protested. "Would the English accept a foreign King? Or would they revolt?"

"Good questions, Lady Godiva. But I have a dilemma. If I die without an heir, as I will, despite my wife the Queen, Godwin's sons would tear England apart. You and your husband would fight. England would be ruined by civil wars that might last for years or decades. If Duke William is accepted he will deal with the Godwins. If they resist, he has the power and the skill to defeat them quickly, which, I regret to say your husband and his allies have not."

"Earl Leofric," the Queen added, "I am not wholly happy with the King's choice but I cannot see any other way of avoiding war over the succession. If my brothers, even one of them, were reasonable men, then I would support them as possible heirs to the Kingdom. But they are not reasonable, as I know only too well. The appointment of an outsider, a powerful outsider with his own proven army, would be the only way to prevent civil war. My brothers would fight you and your supporters, and when they had defeated you, would turn against each other because none of them could accept a brother as King. If you can suggest any other name, then, in God's name, please do!"

"Your Majesties," Earl Leofric spoke slowly and carefully, "what you propose is startling. I would like time to consider it..."

"Leofric, you cannot, must not, mention it to anyone," the King insisted.

"But I can discuss it with Godiva?"

"Of course. She knows. That makes only four people in the whole world who know."

"But why are there four? Why wasn't it just two, Your Majesty and myself?"

"Because, Leofric, our wives are intelligent, well-informed and bring different views to the discussion. Just as I manage better with Queen Edith beside me, Earl Leofric and Lady Godiva give better counsel to your King than you could alone."

"Then can we give our considered response tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Very well. Now to less contentious matters and back to Lady Godiva's apparently naked ride through Coventry."

"Must we, Your Majesty?" Lady Godiva asked plaintively.

"We must. Although I may not be able to sire heirs, I do not lack the capacity for arousal nor do I fail to enjoy love-making. I was amused and excited by your troubadour's false account of your ride even if my intelligencers had already told me the reality. Tonight I want you and the Queen to demonstrate to your husbands just how your ride appeared. I command you, and Queen Edith, to ride as penitents dressed only in your shifts across the inner Royal courtyard of the castle. No one else will be there, just Earl Leofric and myself. Afterwards each pair will retire to their respective bedchambers. I'll enjoy myself, if you two ladies will obey my command. You will, of course, won't you? Refusing a Royal command invokes severe penalties..."

Godiva looked at Queen Edith who nodded slightly.

"I will obey Your Majesty's command," Godiva replied.

"So will I," Queen Edith added.

***

That evening the King and Earl Leofric helped their wives to mount the horses. Despite the Queen's and Godiva's best endeavours, they couldn't avoid showing their husbands the parts they should have concealed.

The ride was short but clearly showed that Godiva's modesty, once she was firmly mounted, was preserved in Coventry. But mounting and dismounting? That was different. Flashes of long legs and blonde bushes were inevitable and much appreciated.

The King carried his squealing Queen to the Royal Bedchamber. Earl Leofric clapped his hands to summon the grooms to lead the horses away. While the grooms removed the horses he stood in front of Godiva to shield her, even though her ankle-length white shift was modest. As soon as the gates shut he picked Godiva up and carried her to their bedchamber, throwing her on the bed.

"Off with your shift!" He ordered.

Godiva stood on the bed and raised her shift slowly, stopping with the hem just below her bush, waiting until Leofric stripped himself. Only when he was naked did she lift the shift over her head and throw it aside.

"Well, husband, are you satisfied with what I didn't show Coventry?"

Leofric walked around the bed, examining her from every angle.

"Yes, forward wench, you know that you are beautiful and you know what effect you have on me."

He climbed onto the mattress and began to kiss her, starting with her feet and moving up until his lips met her blonde bush. His kisses became fiercer as Godiva bent her knees, opening to allow his tongue access to her. She began to moan. Her hands cradled his head, pushing it closer until they slumped to the mattress, her legs around his shoulders and his tongue insistent between her thighs.

Godiva slowly pulled his head up her body, parting her long blonde hair to reveal her breasts. Leofric kissed both erect nipples longingly before moving to Godiva's lips. At last Leofric penetrated her and pounded her naked body as she writhed beneath him. He continued until her orgasms became less frenetic. In a last movement Godiva clamped her legs behind Leofric's back, dragging him deep inside her. He ejaculated with relief and slumped against her.

Godiva relaxed her legs. Her hands gently stroked Leofric's body until he began to recover.

"Well, husband, are you satisfied with your forward wench?"

"You know I am, but I'm not as young as I used to be. I need time before I can perform again."

"I know. I can wait, my lord. But can the Queen?"

Leofric raised his head and looked at her.

"That's an evil thought. Did you mean something specific?"

"You are older than me, my lord, yet because we love each other, and enjoy each other, it doesn't matter. If you are tired and I am not, I can ride you. Could the Queen ride the King? Would that be lèse-majesté? Would she do it?"

Leofric considered Godiva's words before answering.

"The Queen may not approve of her brothers' conduct but she is still a Godwin and her father's daughter. She knows that she is part of a political bargain, not in a love match. I am concerned that the King told her so much about his plans for the succession. There will be trouble, if not war before Duke William becomes King of England. I don't know whether the Queen will support William, or one of her brothers. We should be careful what we say to the Queen."

"And to the King?"

"Yes. He is besotted with his Queen. He can't see that her loyalties are divided."

"But mine aren't, my lord."

"And I'm devoted to you. You know that, Godiva."

"I do. And since my lord is tired, I will show you how I could have ridden naked through Coventry. I haven't got a horse so you'll have to do. Roll over!"

Still naked, Godiva mounted Leofric and rode him again and again until he fell into a satisfied sleep.

***

Author's Note.

The Wikipedia article on "Lady Godiva" inspired this story.