Hanging on the walls in my home are two prints of paintings by Edmund Blair Leighton. 'The Accolade', and 'God Speed'.

The Accolade depicts a man in chain mail being given ‘The Accolade’ of knighthood by a beautiful queen, with flowing red hair, in front of the throne in a medieval castle.

God Speed depicts the same queen waving off another knight, perhaps her husband, to war in some far and distant land, tying her sash around his arm as he leaves.

I love these paintings and, along with the Lady of Shallot, find myself being carried away back into the middle ages. A medieval time of kings and queens, castles and knights, archers and bowmen, but more to the dresses and fashions of the maidens and ladies with their long flowing locks and beautiful dresses of heavy fabrics and precious metal adornments…….

“Anna!”

“Yes My Lady?”

“It is time for my husband to leave for war in France. I will return after he has left. Would you wait for me here please as I feel I may need a little company on my return.”

“Of course, My Lady.”

I had only recently arrived at Cottingham Castle to take up a position as Lady in waiting to Lady Isabel. She was a beautiful young woman of just 22 years of age who had been brought over from Bavaria to marry her knight. A man whom she genuinely had fallen in love with, even though he was twenty years her senior.

In the few short months I had known her I had become very fond of her and, I believed, she had of me.

Her English was not good and I found that we spent a lot of time together as I had the patience to help her learn.

There were other ladies and servants at the castle but we had become close and she trusted me.

On her return, some time later she walked into the chamber with her head held high but I could see she was upset. As soon as the huge oak door closed behind her I ran to her.

“My Lady?” I took her hand and looked into her eyes.

“I have to be strong, Anna, but I do not think he will return alive.”

“You mustn’t think like that, My Lady, he will return, I am sure of it.” I held her hand tightly as I reassured her.

“Yes, maybe but he will be gone for many months.”

Lady Isabel was right. He was to be away for nearly two years and in that time she became strong. Her English improved greatly and we became inseparable. Almost like sisters.

After the first winter had passed and spring was beginning to give way to summer, Lady Isabel and I walked together in the woods around the south side of the castle, enjoying the warm sun on our faces and the birds singing in the trees. I particularly liked to see the red squirrels clinging to the trunks and watching us as we passed by.

Soon, we reached a small clearing where the sun shone warm and bright through the leafy canopy above our heads and there we sat with our backs against an ancient oak.

“Anna.”

“Yes, My Lady?”

“When we are alone, would you call me Isabel, please?”

“Yes, of course, My L…..Isabel. I’m sorry.” It was difficult. Although we had become friends court etiquette had definite requirements and it was hard to be formal in court and informal when we were alone. I just hoped I would not embarrass either of us with a slip of the tongue at the wrong moment.

For a while we sat in silence which was broken only when I inquired:

“Do you miss your family, Isabel?”

“Oh yes, Anna. Very much, but this is how life is. What about you?”

“Yes, I do. I miss my sisters most of all.”

“You never mention them. Why is that?”

“Because they are dead. They all three got sick and died before any of them reached ten years of age.

“I am sorry, Anna, I did not know.”

How could she know, she was just a child in another country.

“I have no sisters,” she said after a few moments, “but I have two brothers. Both Knights. Older than me.”

I waited but there was no more. She moved closer to me and put her head on my shoulder. I hadn’t thought about my sisters for many years but now I could see them clearly as if it was just yesterday and not twenty five years ago.

Lifting my arm absent mindedly I placed it around her shoulders and held her close to me, resting my head on hers. Over the past year she had become like the sister I no longer had.

After a while, Lady Isabel lifted her head causing me to do the same. I looked into her beautiful green eyes then she leaned forwards and kissed me!

I was shocked! I had never been kissed in such a way by a woman before and the dismay I must have shown stopped Isabel in her tracks. She put her had to her mouth then said:

“Anna, I am so sorry!” She jumped to her feet and ran into the woods.

“My Lady! Wait!” I shouted after her as I too jumped to my feet, “Isabel! Come back!” and I chased after her into the forest.

“Isabel, wait, please!” I shouted as I ran, “Where are you? It’s alright!”

I tripped as my long velvet dress snagged in the undergrowth and I fell, hitting my head on a tree as I went down.

How long I lay there I did not know but as I awoke the sun was low in the sky and the shadows were long. It was already beginning to get dark under the canopy. My head hurt and I had a small trickle of dried blood on my face. I pulled myself to my feet but I felt woozy and sick and had no idea where I was or in which direction the castle lay.

I worked out which way I had been running from the angle at which I was laying and began to walk slowly and carefully back the way I had run.

I seemed to walk for hours but I could not find the clearing and the sun was now dipping below the horizon. I froze. Was that a wolf howling? A rustle behind me made me turn but I could see nothing. I didn’t know which way to go now. I was lost and very frightened!

The throbbing in my head was getting worse and the sound of the blood rushing through my ears was much louder now. The forest around me seemed to closing in, stifling me and the trees swaying and hissing. Darkness enveloped me and I remembered no more.

When I opened my eyes I couldn’t make out where I was. I was laying on a bed of hay, looking up at what seemed to be a canopy made of straw. I looked around and saw that I was in a peasants house. There was a cow at one end and the house was lit with burning reeds.

“Martha, Martha, She is awake, quickly now!” a man’s voice, rough and earthy.

Martha appeared at my side. She looked old but was probably in her forties and wore a brown dress of rough cloth.

“My Lady?” she ventured, “How do you feel?”

“I... I don’t know. Where am I?”

“You are in our home, M’lady. Alfred found you in the forest when he went to collect wood from the forest for the fire. He brought you here until we could send word to the castle. Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so. My head hurts a little.”

“Yes. It seems you bumped your head when you fell. There was a scratch but I have cleaned that. It is not serious.” Martha smiled benevolently.

“Where is Lady Isabel?” I asked looking around.

“I’m sure I don’t know, M’lady. The likes of her don’t come round these parts, beggin’ yer pardon, M’lady”.

“I must find her!” I cried, struggling to get up but Martha held me down.

“You can’t go wanderin’ around these woods in the dark, M’lady. No, you must stay here until the morning. Now, I have some broth on the boil, I'll bring you some.”

“Thank you, Martha. You are very kind. I will see that you are rewarded.”

“There’s no need for all that, M’lady. You just rest and tomorrow we will get you home.”

After eating the meagre, but tasty broth placed in my hands, I lay back and tried to sleep but I just spent the night staring up at the thatch of the roof and listening to Alfred and Martha snoring and the gentle breathing of the cow, wondering what had happened to Isabel. It seemed a lifetime before the light began to filter through the shutters and I knew that dawn was breaking at last.

As the sun began to climb in the sky Alfred and Martha stirred from their slumber and began to potter about with their daily chores.

Soon Martha came to me and said:

“Good morning, M’lady.”

Good morning Martha,” I replied, “Good morning Alfred.”

“M’lady,” Alfred stammered. Martha spoke again:

“Alfred is just off to the castle to tell them where you are M’lady. He shouldn’t be too long.”

“Is it far?” I queried.

“Gracious me no,” she laughed, “You can see it from here!”

“No! Surely not! I feel so stupid!” I replied, “How could I be lost so close to it?”

“You took a nasty bump to the head, M’lady, you probably didn’t know if you were comin’ or goin’!”

“If Alfred doesn’t mind I will walk with him.”

“Oh, er, of course M’lady, if you feel up to it.” He spoke shyly, as if embarrassed.

“Don’t mind ‘im, M’lady. He is a bit shy when it comes to people who is better than ‘imself.”

“Martha!” I said indignantly.

"I may be fortunate to lead a more privileged life than you but that does not make me a better person than you. I consider myself to be very privileged to have been found by the two of you!” I smiled to show that I was not angry with her.

“Ohhh… M’lady, you make me blush,” as she hung her head.

I walked in the morning mist with Alfred back to the castle gate. Martha was right. It took only about half an hour to get there.

The guard on the entrance was surprised to see me. He stood erect when I approached him. I told him to take Alfred to the grain store and give him whatever he needed and someone to help him carry it back. I then turned, took Alfred’s hand and said:

“Thank you Alfred, you have been a good friend. I will never forget what you and Martha have done for me.” He turned quite red and hung his head before replying:

“’twas nothing, M’lady, but you are a real Lady and that’s a fact.”

I released his hand and turned and ran back to Lady Isabel’s chambers.

As I approached her bed chamber I knocked first and heard her voice call:

“Enter.”

I opened the big oak door and went slowly inside, not knowing what to expect.

Isabel’s eyes lit up!

“Anna! You are safe! I was so scared something had happened to you!” She ran to me but stopped short, remembering why we had parted and a cloud seemed to cover her face.

“Isabel,” I whispered, “It is fine. You do not have to be embarrassed.” I extended my arms to her. The long cuffs of my dress hanging dirty and crumpled from my hands.

She came to me then and embraced me so tightly I could not breathe.

“What happened to you?”

As we stood, face to face she listened intently to what had happened, her face becoming saddened that it had been her fault, her beautiful eyes, red from lack of sleep, beginning to fill with tears.

“Anna, I am so sorry. It was all my fault. If that peasant had not found you...”

“No, Isabel, please do not blame yourself. You were not to know and as for the kiss, I liked it but it was just such a surprise.” and to prove it I took her chin on my fingers and kissed her softly and tenderly on the lips. She responded immediately and we kissed urgently and passionately until:

“Anna! You stink! Of cattle and hay!” We both burst into peals of happy laughter.

“I know,” I cried, “I need to bathe!”

“I have water here, Anna,” she told me, “I would like the privilege of bathing you myself if you would permit me?”

“It is not necessary , My Lady,” I said but saw the disappointed look in her eyes so continued, “but as it was your fault I smell this way then I would be pleased to allow it…” and with a mischievous wrinkling of my nose and shake of my head, added, “…Isabel.” We both smiled.

Isabel moved round behind me and began to unfasten the gold laces that held the velvet of my dress at the back and as she did so I removed the golden cord with the heavy tassels from around my waist.

The long purple dress slid from my shoulders into a heap on the floor and she then pulled the straps of my chemise over my shoulders and that too slid to the floor. Still standing close behind me, Isabel lifted my hair and began to gently kiss my neck. This time I was not startled and enjoyed the feeling of her hot breath and soft lips touching my flesh. I felt my face redden but also my nipples began to harden and I felt a tingling in my lower regions that I had not felt for so long a time.

I stood still and, with head bowed and eyes closed, I allowed a little moan to escape my lips. The sensations that Isabel was producing were like nothing I had ever experienced before.

I had been married, briefly, but my husband had been killed soon after and as gentle and as caring as any man could be I did not feel at all as I did now.

Isabel moved her arms around me and began to touch my breasts. Massaging them and rolling my ever stiffening nipples between fingers and thumbs as she continued to caress my neck and ear lobes with her lips and tongue., then she pulled me hard against her in a tight, loving embrace. I gasped and stood rigidly upright.

“Anna! What is it?” she cried in alarm.

“Your gold belt, Isabel, it’s so cold!”

We laughed again and I turned to her and took her face in my hands.

“Isabel,” I said, looking deep into her eyes, “I have never been kissed, never mind touched, by a woman before,” and before she had the chance to react I continued, “and it feels wonderful.”

“Neither have I,” she replied, a little sheepishly, “but you are very special to me, Anna, my best friend. My only friend.”

Moving my face towards hers I kissed her and she responded gently, lovingly and eagerly. I put my arms around her and suddenly gasped again.

“Isabel! The belt!”

With that she unclasped the heavy gold chain and removed the belt, placing it in the chest at the end of her bed.

When she stood again I unfastened the laces holding her silk brocade dress and allowed the heavy material to fall to the floor. I then slipped the chemise from her shoulders and that too joined the dress on the floor.

Stepping out of the great pile of fabric Isabel bent and scooped up the dress. She laid it carefully on top of the chest then, turning back, she again bent and lifted my own velvet dress from the floor and laid it on top of hers.

I knelt in front of her and unfastened each of her shoes in turn and took them from her dainty feet then, still kneeling I leant forward and placed a kiss on her mound feeling the coarse red hairs against my lips. Immediately, her hand came to rest on my head, gently pressing me against her, and parted her feet, allowing me access to the place where only her Knight had ever been before.

I allowed my tongue to slowly explore the warm, soft area hidden by those pretty red curls and soon found the engorged flesh of her clitoris. I kissed it and began to flick it with my tongue.

All the time Lady Isabel caressed my hair and moaned softly. Her breathing becoming heavy and her curls becoming be-dewed with the mix of her own moisture and mine.

As I kissed and licked her I ran my hands slowly up the backs of her legs from behind her knees and up her thighs until I reached the soft smooth swellings that were her firm young buttocks.

I placed a hand on each one and spread my fingers as wide as I could then pulled her to me, sinking my nails gently but firmly into the soft flesh and stroking her gently, allowing my fingers to pull them apart and press them together alternately. The heady aroma of her sex was making me very wet and the ministrations of my tongue as it moved around her hot furrow, licking and probing, was producing untold sensations inside of her. Each time my tongue passed over her clitoris or my searching fingers touched that tight place behind, her whole body would quiver and she would moan and whimper in ecstasy.

“Anna, stop!” she said suddenly and pulling me to my feet, kissed me and led me to the bed.

She bid me to lie down and once there she climbed in next to me and began to kiss and suck on my small breasts, taking special care over my nipples which, by now were aching and straining as if fit to burst. My hand, on the back of her head, entwined in her long red hair, losing itself as it tarried among the thick strands and took handfuls, pulling gently as the sensations of her lips and tongue made my breasts so tight and caused my sex to ooze moisture like it had never done before.

Isabel allowed her hand to work down my soft belly until it reached the coarse dark curls that protected the entrance to my innermost self. She played momentarily in the luscious forest of hair before continuing along the crease between my legs and seeking out the small firm button in its soft fleshy sheath that was crying out for attention.

As soon as her finger found it’s mark a shock passed through my whole being causing me to gasp and hold my breath for a moment. I pulled her head tighter to my breast as her finger toyed with my clitoris for a while then moved further down to the soaking wet entrance just below.

The feelings she was unleashing were wonderful, like nothing on earth so with my free hand I began to stroke and play with her in the same way, seeking out the already moist opening behind the coarse forest of her summer bright red hairs.

I turned to lie facing her and raised my leg between hers so that my thigh was rubbing on her sex and she did likewise to me.

I put my arms around her, as did she, and held her tight and we kissed as if we would never see each other again.

Very soon all the rubbing and kissing began to have an effect. My muscles began to tighten and I could not breathe and every single nerve ending felt as though it was being squeezed by some unseen hand. I tensed as I felt Isabel’s body stiffen and, still locked together in a passionate embrace our orgasms flowed simultaneously over us and my moisture flowed out over her thigh.

We lay together that way for some considerable time, gently caressing and stroking each others hair and lips until Isabel stopped and looked into my eyes and said:

“Anna, now we are sisters. Sisters in love.”

“Yes Isabel,” I answered, “We are,” although I could not help but wonder what would lie in store for us in this world where, what we had done, should we be discovered, could kill us.