"Yes, my Prince, I think perhaps..."
  "Don't be afraid to answer me with many words," he coaxed, "as long as they are 
respectful.  And never speak unless I speak to you first, and in all these things, be 
careful to note what pleases me.  You were very spoilt, given everything, but were you 
willful?"
  "No, my Prince, I don't think I was that," she said.  "I tried to be a joy to my 
parents."
  "And you'll be a joy to me, my dear," he said lovingly.
  Still holding her firmly in his left arm, he turned to his supper.
  He ate heartily, pork, roast fowl, some fruit, and several cups of wine.  Then he told 
the servants to take it all away and leave them.
  New sheets and coverlets had been laid on the bed; there were fresh down pillows, and 
roses in a vase nearby, and several candelabra.
  "Now," he said as he rose and set her before him.  "We must get to bed as we have a 
long journey before us tomorrow.  And I have still to punish you for your earlier 
impertinence."
  Immediately the tears stood in her eyes; she looked up at him imploring.  She almost 
reached to cover her breasts and her sex, and then remembering herself she made her hands 
into two little helpless fists at her sides.
  "I won't punish you very much," he said gently, lifting her chin.  "It was just a 
little offense, and your first after all.  But Beauty, to confess the truth, I shall love 
punishing you."
  She was biting her lip, and he could see she wanted to speak, and the effort to control 
her tongue and her hands was almost too much for her.
  "All right, lovely one, what do you want to say?"  he asked.
  "Please, my Prince," she begged.  "I'm so afraid of you."
  "You'll find me more reasonable than you expect," he said.
  He removed his long cloak, tossing it over a chair, and bolted the door.  Then he 
snuffed all but a few candles.
  He would sleep in his clothes as he did most nights, in the forest, or in the country 
inns, or in the houses of those humble peasants at which he sometimes stopped, and that 
was no great inconvenience to him.
  And as he drew near her now, he thought he must be merciful and make her punishment 
quick.  And seating himself on the side of the bed, he reached out for her, and pulling 
her wrists into his left hand he brought her naked body down over his lap so that her 
legs dangled over the floor helplessly.
  "Very, very lovely," he said, his right hand moving languidly over her rounded 
buttocks, forcing them ever so slightly apart.
  Beauty was crying aloud, but muffling her cries into the bed, her hands held out in 
front of her by his long left arm.
  And now with his right hand he spanked her buttocks hard and heard her cries grow 
louder.  It wasn’t really much of a slap.
  But it left a red mark on her.  And he spanked her hard again, and he felt her writhing 
against him, the heat and moisture of her sex against his leg, and again he spanked her.
  "I think you are sobbing more from the humiliation than the pain," he scolded her in a 
soft voice.
  She was struggling not to make her cries too loud.
  He flattened out his right hand, and feeling the heat of her reddened buttocks drew it 
up and delivered another series of hard, loud slaps, smiling as he watched her struggle.
  He could have spanked her much harder, for his own pleasure, and without really hurting 
her.  But he thought better of it.  He had so many nights ahead of him for these delights.
  He lifted her up now so that she was standing in front of him.
  "Toss your hair back," he commanded.  Her tear-stained face was unspeakably beautiful, 
her lips trembling, her blue eyes gleaming with the dampness of the tears.  She obeyed 
immediately.
  "I don't think you were so very spoilt," he said.  "I find you very obedient and eager 
to please, and this makes me very happy."
  He could see her relief.
  "Clasp your hands behind your neck," he said, "under your hair.  That's it.  Very 
good."  He lifted her chin again.  "And you have a lovely modest habit of looking down.  
But now I want you to look directly at me."
  She obeyed shyly, miserably.  It seemed she felt her nakedness and her helplessness 
more fully now as she looked at him.  Her lashes were matted and dark, and her blue eyes 
larger than he had thought.
  "Do you find me handsome?"  he asked her.  "Ah, but before you answer, I should like to 
know the truth from you, not what you think I should like to hear, or what would be best 
for you to say, you understand me?"
  "Yes, my Prince," she whispered.  She seemed calmer.
  He reached out, massaged her right breast lightly, and then stroked her downy 
underarms, feeling the little curve of the muscle there beneath the tiny wisp of golden 
hair, and then he stroked that full, most hair between her legs so that she sighed and 
trembled.
  "Now," he said, "answer my question, and describe what you see.  Describe me as if you 
had only just met me and were confiding in your chambermaid."
  Again she bit her lip, which he dearly loved, and then, her voice a little diminished 
by uncertainty, she said:
  "You are very handsome, my Prince, no one could deny that.  And for one...for one..."
  "Go on," he said.  He drew her just a little closer so that her sex was against his 
knee, and putting his right are about her, he cradled her breast in his left hand and let 
his lips touch her cheek.
  "And for one so young to be so commanding," she said, "it's not what one might expect."
  "And tell me how does that show itself in me, other than my actions?"
  "Your manner, my Prince," she said, her voice gaining a little strength.  "The look of 
your eyes, such dark eyes...your face.  There are none of the doubts of youth in it."
  He smiled and kissed her ear.  He wondered why the wet little cleft between her legs 
was so very hot.  His fingers could not keep from touching it.  Twice already he's had 
her today, and he would have her again, but he was thinking he should go about it more 
slowly.
  "Would you like it if I were older?"  he whispered.
  "I had thought," she said, "that it would be easier.  To be commanded by one so very 
young," she said, "is to feel one's helplessness."
  It seemed the tears had welled up and were spilling out of her eyes, so he pushed her 
gently back so he might see them.
  "My darling, I have awakened you from a century's sleep, and restored your father's 
Kingdom.  You're mine.  And you won't find me such a hard master.  Only a very thorough 
master.  When you think night and day and every moment only of pleasing me, things will 
be very easy for you."
  And as she struggled not to look away, he could see again the relief in her face, and 
that she was in complete awe of him.
  "Now," he said, pushing his left fingers between her legs, and drawing her close again