During the next several days, Arabella's training began in earnest. There was a lot to learn in so short amount of time, Henri informed her as he quickly ushered her into a wooden tub to be bathed, then as quickly ushered her out again so that she could be given her breakfast of fruit, porridge, bread and jam, a bowl of milk. The festival was two months hence, he explained, finishing her grooming in short order and strapping her into the collar and harness. He would not allow her to shame Lord Thayer by not being properly trained, he warned. Arabella must work very hard to achieve the perfection he knew she was capable of and which the nobility would expect of a mare of her caliber. Observing the wariness, the questions in her eyes, Henri relented and explained, "The mid-summer festival is a tradition that goes back many years, long before his lordship married the Lady Xaviera. Each year, a young mare, preferably a virgin, is chosen to mate with an experienced stallion. The peasants believe a virgin brings them good luck for their crops and trade. I do not believe in such nonsense, of course, but there you have it, when the people remain illiterate and superstitious." He shrugged. "Both you and your stallion are prohibited from sexual intercourse until the day of the festival, when you will both be treated like royalty. 'Tis quite an event!" Henri told her excitedly. "Everyone looks forward to it, from the highest nobleman to the simplest milkmaid! There is music and dancing, games and amusements! And plenty of ale for all!" Henri sighed with expectant pleasure. He stepped back to inspect her in the harness, gently tucking a stray curl behind her ear. "You'll be the envy of every mare at Belsoie." He stated confidently. "Every mare wants to be the one to service the festival stallion, but only one very special mare can be chosen. And this year, Arabella, you are the choice mare! This will set you above the rest, which is why Lord Thayer will gift you to his lady on her birthday. I must admit though, I'm a bit surprised that his lordship will not take you into his private coterie. I've seen the way he looks at you. He's quite taken with you, Arabella, and if you do as you are told and work hard, you will have nothing to fear from him." Henri turned away to gather up the loose reins from his worktable and began to adjust them to the harness behind her. Arabella felt an inexplicable shiver course down her spine. Nothing to fear. . . . Henri's words echoed in her mind. Lord Thayer continued to be an enigma to her. She, too, had noticed the way his dark eyes rested upon her whenever he was near. And Arabella remembered Lord Thayer telling her that if it were not for the festival, he would mount her himself. What would it mean, to be taken by his lordship? Henri gave her no time to ponder the thought as he slapped the reins lightly against her buttocks, sending her marching out the stable door and into the sunny, open yard, where it was already bustling with work and activity this early in the day. Stable hands were milling about, busy with their daily routine. Individual mares were being "broken" to harness or given their morning exercise. A group of naked, giggling mares were herded together and paraded before a young, bearded nobleman, who eyed them with interest. One unhappy female was strapped to the whipping post in the center of the yard, her arms bound over her head, her legs bent forward at the knees, kneecaps resting against the rough wood of the post, so that her buttocks thrust out behind her, a tempting target to the stable hand who spanked her lustily with a broad strap. Arabella wondered what offense the mare had committed to be punished so? Henri halted her, unfastening the reins. Arabella instinctively assumed the proper position. The young nobleman across the way became distracted by her presence, momentarily losing interest in the bevy of mares preening their charms before him, as he eyed Arabella. Feeling his eyes upon her, Arabella blushed, turning away from the handsome onlooker, whereupon she felt the slap of Henri's hand on her backside. He came to stand in front of her, frowning down at her severely, a hint of anger tingeing his voice. "You are going to lose any trace of shyness and embarrassment, if 'tis the last thing I do! Did you think I wouldn't notice?" He placed his hands on his hips as tears smarted in her eyes at his reprimand. "Do you think because you've been chosen for the festival that you're too good for the whipping post? Or for that nobleman over there?" He asked in consternation as Arabella desperately shook her head from side to side, fighting tears. "No! Of course, you aren't!" Henri answered instead. "You must learn to mind your manners, my girl! We do not stand on ceremony here! If someone is interested in looking at you, you are to show off your charms proudly! The way any mare in Belsoie's stables worth her salt should! Now," he folded his arms across his chest, glaring down at her beneath lowered brows, "we are going to start by letting you feel the different paddles and straps I've picked out for you this morning. I'm sure Lord Thayer would agree that you haven't been spanked nearly as often as you should have been since arriving here. You will trot about the yard while maintaining that high, graceful step you showed us in the paddock and you will hold your head up proudly while doing it. If anyone wishes to view you while you are being put through your paces, you are not to hide yourself with any pretense at modesty. I'm going to use the whips and paddles on you and if I detect the slightest reluctance on your part not to do your best, you'll keep company with Pilar on the whipping post! Am I clear?" Swallowing hard, Arabella nodded her head. "Good! Now, chin up! Eyes forward! And what is this?" He frowned again. "You've let your nipples go soft already?" He pinched them hard between thumb and forefinger until they hardened to his satisfaction. Arabella winced, blinking back the tears that threatened. "Hard nipples on a mare reflects her readiness and willingness to be mounted." Henri informed her. "I want to see these pretty little rosebuds spring to attention at all times. Especially in his lordship's presence. He likes his mares to display their friskiness." Arabella wondered where his lordship was this morn? Would she see him today? She so longed for a kind look or word from him! She wanted to please him. She wanted Lord Thayer to find her worthy enough for him! She could imagine his hands upon her body, teaching her all the many ways she could please and pleasure him, then rewarding her when she had done so. The thought of it set her heart to beating rapidly with wanting. A delicate trembling of her limbs caused the little silver bell between her nether lips to tinkling lightly, reminding her again that she was his now. She belonged to Lord Thayer and he would take her when and if he saw fit. She envied all the other mares around her who had been here long enough to be well-trained in all the rules and restrictions at Belsoie, willingly complying with what was expected of them. Of the mares she had observed thus far, they seemed to enjoy their stay here and to revel in the plush accommodations provided them, and in the attention lavished upon them. How many had been invited to Lord Thayer's private quarters? And what of the Lady Xaviera? Did she share the marriage bed with him? Did she love him, the master? Did she adore her husband, the way his coterie of mares obviously did? The smart crack of a whip against her backside startled her from her reverie. Arabella jumped forward and began trot around the yard as Henri directed her. She tried her best to ignore the stares of all those working in and around the yard. Henri ordered her to walk, to prance, and to run, all the while letting her buttocks adjust to the various whips and straps and paddles, until Henri pronounced her "acceptable." "Acceptable, not perfect." Henri stated emphatically, when he allowed her to rest at last and to lap cool water from a crude bowl which he held cupped in his hands, holding it to her lips. "Perhaps our little Arabella requires a little persuasion, Henri." Lord Thayer's voice sounded behind them. Both Henri and Arabella looked up in surprise. Neither one had heard his lordship's approach. "Aye, m'lord." Henri seemed unperturbed by Lord Thayer's presence. "I was thinking the same myself." "Mayhap, 'tis time to use the cream on her. That should perk her up a bit." Lord Thayer suggested, his eyes roving over Arabella's slim body possessively. "I want to see some of that same spirit she displayed when we captured her in the woods." "I'll fetch it right away, m'lord." Henri took off for the stable. Lord Thayer's eyes glittered in amusement as he looked at Arabella. "No need to be so wary, my dear. You'll like what Henri is about to do. Just a little of the cream applied here," he touched her clitoris with the tip of his finger, "and here . . .and here," he lightly tapped each puckered nipple, "and you will soon forget all those nasty inhibitions that are of no use to you here at Belsoie." Arabella blushed at the reaction of her body from his touch. Her body ached for him to touch her again. She suspected he might. He was looking at her in that inscrutable way of his, so that it was hard to read his thoughts, but Henri returned just then with a small glass jar in hand. She watched as the young stable hand unscrewed the cap, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Henri daubed a bit of the thick, white cream between her nether lips right at the point where the small, pink clitoris revealed itself with its silver ring. He massaged it in well as Lord Thayer looked on, then attended to each hardened nipple. Henri stood back to admire his handiwork. Both he and Lord Thayer watched while the cream began to penetrate the sensitive nerve-endings between her thighs and the tips of her breasts. It did not take long. Her eyes widened in shocked surprise as her clitoris began to throb and swell with need, protruding from her venus mound with a moist tingling sensation that reached every erotic point in her body, making her quiver with uncontrollable sexual arousal. Her nipples seemed to enlarge even more than they already were, of their own accord. Her breasts felt heavy, aching with arousal. Both Henri and Lord Thayer grinned, pleased with the results, and his lordship clapped Henri on the shoulder. "She'll be quite amenable for you now, my lad! Give her a rigorous workout. Use the cream when necessary, but be mindful of her hands. Don't let her touch herself. I want her ripe and ready for Radegund's stallion when 'tis time." "Aye, m'lord." "Very well, carry on then." And without so much as a glance in Arabella's direction, Lord Thayer left them, crossing the stable yard with his familiar arrogant stride, slapping his riding crop casually against his thigh. Henri put Arabella through her paces once more. For the rest of the morning he used a number of wicked leather straps and a variety of wooden paddles, but this time, Arabella accepted the painful crack of leather and wood on her quivering buttocks, allowing the pain, which really wasn't pain at all, to absorb into her body. It flowed through her veins, tingling at her nerve-endings, from the small, pointed tips of her breasts, down to the tips of her toes. Her clitoris was quite distended between her nether lips and thick with sensation. Arabella could feel the moistness making itself felt between her legs, hear the little silver bell ringing jauntily with each slap against her rear and her face flushed with pleasure. Some of the other stable hands paused in their work to observe her progress, and although Henri kept her occupied, running and trotting about the yard, Arabella saw them out of the corner of her eye, pointing at her, exchanging amused grins. It was difficult not to shy away from her onlookers, more difficult still to control the involuntary blush staining her cheeks. Henri had warned her he would put up with no inadvertent modesty or pretense of shyness. She was a proud young mare, he insisted, one of the finest specimens in Lord Thayer's famous stables! Of course she would attract attention, he had declared. She should enjoy the men's obvious pleasure at the sight of her, instead of this unbecoming display of embarrassment. Didn't she realize, Henri asked, that all of the men admired her sleek lines and graceful movements? Could she not see that the other mares envied her so? Arabella thought on his words as she pranced about, the short paddle Henri now wielded , causing her to break stride with a little leap off the ground every few steps. 'Henri is right,' she thought now, 'I belong to Lord Thayer, for however long he desires to keep me. I will do what he wants of me, no matter what it is. I want to please him more than anything because he is my master and I am but a lowly mare. More than that, I desire him. I have never yearned for a man's touch, the way I yearn for his. And yet, he has his own private coterie of mares to amuse and pleasure him. . . . .and the Lady Xaviera in his marriage bed. Could he possibly desire me the way I desire him? And these peasant oafs who look at me as if I am one of Pettigrew's sweetmeats! They are not allowed to touch me, but they can ogle me all they like! Well, let them look! 'Tis better than having their hands paw up my skirts like back at the inn. And, oh, I do like it here! I like Henri's attentions to me. I'm even beginning to like the feel of the strap, the way Lord Thayer said I would! After the festival, he will give me to the Lady Xaviera, and then, mayhap, I will be able to see more of him than I do now.' Her body went all soft and lax beneath Henri's paddle at the thought of the arrogantly aloof Lord Thayer. She felt the heaviness of her breasts as they bounced prettily, to the amusement of her male onlookers. Arabella felt the moist pool of her arousal release, staining her nether lips, the wetness of it against her inner thigh, as she put forth an elegant leg, her trot becoming more supple and graceful. The tinkling of the little silver bell between her legs reminded her all over again that she was Lord Thayer's property, and as such, no longer had the will to deny him control of her own body. She was Lord Thayer's to command as he desired. "Now, that's more like it!" Henri exclaimed, pleased at the changes taking place within Arabella. "That's the spirit, my girl! I'll expect no more of that silly nonsense from you ever again!"

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