She never gets the chance

Christine wished that she could at least be properly dressed before having to confront the heir-apparent to the throne, but she very much doubted that Prince Henry would allow her maid to enter her private chambers to dress her. She loved the cream-colored nightgown with its lacey bodice and the way the seamstress had tailored it to hug her tiny waist before flaring out again over hips. However, until this very moment, she had never once considered how a man might react to the way the silk nightgown flowed over her soft curves. At least the quilted robe concealed this scant covering along with the rest of her body from neck to toe, but all the same she felt almost naked under the loose robe.

That any man, other perhaps than her husband, would ever see the way the hem ended high above her knee, or the deep scallop of the back was unconscionable. She could only imagine in horror what a licentious man like Prince Henry might think if he saw her wearing only this immodest apparel. Tightening the sash around her waist even more, Christine took a deep breath before heading to the door. There was no point in waiting for the Black Prince's henchmen to hack the door to her room from its hinges, all that would do is anger the man who held her fate in his hands.

She would reason with Henry. Christine decided with new-found resolve. Prince Henry wanted her hand in marriage; she would dangle the possibility of her accepting his suit to buy time. The man disgusted her, but if her father could break bread with the Bastard Prince, then she too could put up a brave face and let Henry think her heart was slowly softening.

"Your highness." Christine backed away from the door with a curtsey. "This is a most improper visit." She added a teasing lilt to her words; some of her friends were masterful flirts and she tried to emulate what one of them might say and do if a suitor came calling late at night. Unfortunately, Erik was not aware of her strategy and decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Get away from my sister!" Her brother charged the Black Prince, who outweighed the boy by almost 200 pounds, kicking and punching at the man in defense of his sister. The sharp crack of Henry's palm striking Erik's face rang through the chamber like a bell. The blow lifted her brother from his feet and sent him sprawling to the floor. Christine felt her stomach turn at the casual brutality she was witnessing.

"Get the whelp out of here before I toss the boy out the window." Prince Henry directed his men. "Put him in with his parents, while I get to know Lady Christine a little better." Although she was appalled by the prince's vicious smackdown of her brother, she was encouraged by his decision to take Erik to her parents. She nodded at Erik whose face was bright red and watched as he held back his tears and allowed the armoured men to lead him away. As the door closed behind them Christine turned back to Prince Henry with her best smile.

"You are a most determined suito -"

"Oh, shut up." Prince Henry closed the gap between them so swiftly that Christine barely had time to squeak. His hands gripped the lapels of her dark robe and he pulled her so close that she was lifted onto her toes, and she could smell the wine on his breath. From this close, the thin white scar on Henry's left cheek was impossible to miss and Christine was reminded of just how much history there was between her family and the Black Prince. Everything she had heard about this man indicated that he would make her pay for the damage to his face from Godfrey's sword and his ego for her father's chastisement.

"I'm no longer a suitor, you stupid girl." Henry hissed, "I'm the man who controls everything in your pathetic life." Without any hesitation Henry pulled open her robe, smiling and licking his lips as he got an up-close look at the breasts swelling up against the lace of her bodice. "I will be your King, Lady Christine, be sure of that. The only remaining question is what are you going to be?"

Christine blinked in confusion, unsure of what the question meant but certain that she did not care for its tone. She had been convinced that this whole disaster was because Prince Henry wanted to marry her. However, seeing the way his black eyes roamed over her breasts as he slipped the robe off her slender shoulders, she realized that he had more earthy desires at the moment. A quick glance at the cup of wine by her bed confirmed that her fail-safe was still waiting, and with that small sense of control she tried again to charm her late-night visitor.

"Please, Sir, I've never been with a man." She looked up at his dark eyes and cruel grin searching for any sign of mercy. "I cannot just lay back on my bed and let you dishonour me."

"God, I love you prissy sheltered daughters of noble houses." Henry laughed loudly. "You want to know why?"

Christine didn't, but the alternative was likely worse, so she nodded her head meekly.

"The first reason is that every one of you are full of stuck-up pride," He looked much like a cat playing with a crippled mouse as he explained. "A serving girl will spread her legs without much of a fight, but I imagine you think you are too special for that." It wasn't really a question, but yes, Christine had been taught that as the Baron's only daughter that her virtue was special. In fact, honour and chastity were pretty much the same thing as far as her mother was concerned. Prince Henry didn't seem to care much about her honour though. "I don't want you to lay back and let me do anything, I want you to run and fight and when all else fails, beg for mercy as I plunder your sweet young body." She jerked helplessly in his arms as he pressed his face into her breasts and breathed in the perfume of her skin with a satisfied snort before continuing his sick rambling.

"Secondly, you highborn girls are almost always virgins." Henry's undisguised look of lust made Christine wish she had downed the potion before opening the door. "Innocent, chaste and oh-so-tight, aren't you? I love to hear you bitches squeal when I ram my bastard cock in your pure pedigreed cunts." Henry's crude language made her ears burn, but the horrific implication kept the color from her cheeks. "You know what the best part is?" The prince's question was purely rhetorical, because he continued without more than a breath. "Once I've broken you in, when you find you like the feeling of my dick pounding your precious cunts, it is that moment when you realize that you're no better than the whores who follow my camp. The look of shame and despair on your tear-stained faces -" Henry paused to wipe away an imaginary tear from her cheek almost tenderly, before grabbing her by her throat and squeezing his fingers cruelly as he finished the thought, "- that's what I like most of all."

With a burst of panicked strength Christine twisted free of her attacker's grip. She lost her robe as she pulled free, and she saw Henry laugh as he tossed aside the robe and took in her barely dressed form with a wolfish grin. All but naked now the prince could see every curve and far too much of her smooth skin, but at least she was no longer in his grasp. The goblet with her final release was behind the prince so instead she fled for the open window. As high up as her room was in the tower the end would be just as sure as the apothecary's potion, but her **** move had been anticipated by Henry. His burly arms wrapped around her slender waist, and he easily carried her to her bed as she kicked and twisted in his arms.

"God, I'm going to enjoy this!" The prince straddled her hips pinning her to her bed beneath him with her slender wrists trapped in his grasp. "I only wish Godfrey was here to see his precious little sister getting her cherry popped!" The mention of her brother, finally broke Christine's determined resolve not to give the Bastard Prince the pleasure of seeing her cry. She could feel the tiny drops forming in her eyes even as her assailant groped roughly at her breasts.

If her brother had not died, none of this could have ever happened.