Disclaimer: Lecherous thoughts, general snobbery Duke Reginald Lorthington awoke to the sounds of a brash knock on the wide double doors of his bedroom. The Duke lifted his head from his goose-feather pillow and slipped through the satin screen of his four poster bed. He then pulled on his pale yellow silk robe and did up the sash before throwing the doors open. �Who dares to disturb my slumber?� Duke Lorthington demanded. �By the Gods how is a man supposed to keep the wrinkles from under his eyes, if he can�t sleep the requisite ten hours? It takes nearly that long for the facial cream to work!� Duke Lorthington�s trainer / manservant, known as Aril, bit hard upon his own tongue, doing his best to suppress a laugh. Everyone on the Duke�s estate knew the man was quite vain, but never did Aril think he would go to such excess. The Duke stood before him; his face covered in what could only be described as hardened mud. All of Lorthington�s hair was pulled away from his face, to keep it out of the mud presumably. The overall impression given to Aril was one of a cracking statue in a yellow robe. Only when he finally had himself under control, did he deign to speak. �My Lord, it is time for your rapier training and you are lunching in the garden soon after. The men you have hired are here to begin your hedge maze,� said Aril. �Oh wonderful! I have so longed for that maze. I can already imagine the types of dalliances to be had in it. What say you Aril?� said Lorthington with a bawdy wink and knowing smile. Aril just nodded at this, knowing it best not to remind the Duke as to the last time a woman of any kind had visited the estate. Much less a woman who had any desire to �dally� with his Lordship. �As you say my Duke. Now please get dressed and we shall meet at the training grounds,� Aril said, a smile beginning to form on his face again. He felt it coming on and turned quickly, walking briskly to the stairs. Duke Lorthington shook his head. He didn�t know why Aril insisted on all these early morning rapier sessions. He was perhaps the most skilled duelist in all the land. Everyone thought so. Why he had fought every member of his staff, every servant and not one of them managed so much as to scratch him. �Besides, what is dueling but another way to impress the commoners. More importantly the female commoners,� thought Lorthington. �I don�t understand those peasant women. They seem so impressed by some big buffoon who can swing a sword at some other poor serf�s head. What is so impressive about that?� The Duke continues his musings as he washed away his facial cream and prepared for his training session. He looked into his mirror. He was just as handsome, if not more so, than any of those knightly types. He certainly wasn�t scarred all to creation. He was quite fit and well built, his training saw to that. What�s more, he had twice been voted �Best Dressed Aristocrat� in all the Isles! With a wink at the mirror he said aloud, �And you certainly know your way around a bedroom too.� So then why was it so few females ever saw his exquisite for poster bed? Why just the other day he had visited an Inn full of potential. There was that petite cleric-type that had asked for a makeover. He would have been more than happy to have discussed her figure in a more private session. There had been the voluptuous woman who had wished to discuss his Arabians. The Duke knew horses excited women, which was why he had such a famous stable. Even the moody wench by the fire would have provided ample distraction. He certainly wouldn�t have kicked her out of the mansion, at least until morning. So why was it that they all spurned his advances he thought as he buckled up his leather workout breeches? �Of course!� Lorthington thought as he rapped his head lightly with his open palm. �The poor commoners are not only overwhelmed by my physique and station, they must feel to lowly to feel they even have a chance with me. Or perhaps I am being too subtle for them. Either way, I�m quite sure the next time I visit that Inn, my bedroom will be full to overflowing.� The Duke clapped his hands happily as he belted up his rapier and headed down to the training ground where Aril waited. His mind was already whirling with what to wear on his next venture to that hovel the peasants called �The DragonMyst Inn.� Lee _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. -- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe dragontales" in the body of the message.
