⚜️ You Can Call Me Sir Alexander ⚜️ (Alex Turner)

✠ Part 9 ✠

The young girl followed Master Kane inside the palace, to what she assumed were the Lord's apartments.
The man knocked on a door. "All is well," he told her trying to be reassuring, but it wasn't all well, was it? She was uncomfortable and scared. She didn't want a man who she didn't know touching her. And worst, laying with her. What if he was a brute?

"The girl is here, My Lord."
"Let her in."
As she walked into the Lord's private chamber, she looked at him only for a fraction of a second, then she bowed her head down and never lifted her eyes again. He was pleasant looking at least, but she did not want it. She wanted her husband to be the one to lay with her on the night of her wedding. Not a stranger, as charming as he might be.

She saw his boots getting closer as he walked to her and she swallowed a lump in her throat. With shaking hands, she started unbuttoning her gown, surrendering to her fate and hoping it would be fast and painless.
"Stop. There is no need for it. I am not going to take advantage of you. My handmaid instead will spend time with you, and you two will have some woman talk."

The girl stopped fumbling with her buttons, sighing of relief, but then another worry struck her. "My...my husband  wants...proof of my virtue, My Lord."
"My handmaid will sort it out."

It wasn't the first time they heard that request. Sometimes the men wanted proof of their new wives' virginity since they couldn't vouch for themselves. Hazel didn't want the girls to get in trouble, so she would get some blood from the kitchen to stain a sheet or a cloth that the girl could take with her. There was always a chicken or a pheasant that James butchered for dinner.

The girl nodded.
"But I pray that you will not tell about this subterfuge, or I will be forced to abide with the Ius," The Lord continued, "I do not want to harm the people in my community; this law was not my decision and I am trying to have it removed. But for the time being this has to do, as long as you folks do not disclose it."
The girl nodded vehemently a few times.

The Lord was facing a decline in popularity in Sheffield because of the ius primae noctis. He couldn't wait until it would be taken down; his serfs had always held him in high regard and he was considered a just, righteous and generous ruler of his land. But now he was facing a bit of resentment from the townfolks.

He was able to temporarily curb the discontent by arranging the distribution of a generous and gratuitous ration of grains to every household. The harvest of the crops in his estate did extremely well the previous month, and he had a big surplus. But this was only temporary, he was sure.
Hopefully, his request to put an end to the Ius will be granted soon. 

Alexander left the room and met Hazel behind the door, who addressed him with a nervous smile.
It wasn't the first time they did this: in the past month or so, a few young prospective wives made their way there. But she wasn't nervous about that.
She hadn't told him yet what was making her nervous.

Hazel sat down with the girl, and like with all the others, she would give tips (or whole explanations, if necessary) about menses and reproduction -all the precious things that Grandma Maude taught her.
"When was your last moon?" She would ask.
This was a hard question for her to ask, this time. For hers hadn't come for the second time in a row.  Meandering thoughts filled her mind as she struggled to keep up with her conversation.
I'm in trouble. I will be sent away, maybe locked up. I'm in trouble. Alexander may be in trouble too -I am dishonoring him, and my father as well.

When the girl, relieved, made her her way back home, Hazel went to look for Alexander. She needed to talk to him as soon as possible.
But when she left the room and walked down the hallway, she found Reverend Ludlow at the door of her bedroom.