Chapter 23
It had been years since Joseph had had such an awful hunt. He couldn't remember when (and even if) he and his men had had such rotten luck before! They hadn't been able to bag more than a number of boars and perhaps one or two stags – the rest had all been minor game, like rabbits or hares.
It had left him in an awful mood throughout the whole trip, so much so he'd actually cut it short by a few weeks, preferring to return home instead. Not that being back had helped his mood – Marie was being her usual cold self, meaning she had only curtsied to him before leaving to attend to her business. His son hadn't been anywhere near, either – Joseph had soon found out he'd retired to his lodge and would only be back the following morning.
Clearly the universe wasn't on his side these days, so the only thing he'd felt he could do was retire to his study to look over his son's work from the past few months. He was half-way through the many reports and documents that had been created in his absence when he heard a knock on the door.
"Enter," Joseph said, looking up from his desk.
The king was mildly surprised when a well-known face pushed the door open, dressed in what she knew was his favourite attire of hers – the one dress that left her breast practically bulging out. Ruth: the dirtiest slut in the palace and, naturally, Joseph's favourite servant.
He supposed that she was eager to see him, after he'd been gone for so long – it was unusual for her to come to him without having been summoned; Joseph didn't normally authorise maids to come and visit him whenever they wanted it – their pleasure was their own problem, he only took care of his own!
Though, come to think of it, her touch might just be what he needed…
He started to smile, much more pleasant and charming than he had previously been, "Ah, Ruth. You must have just read my mind! Remove your undergarments and come sit on my desk."
Ruth shook her head as she curtsied, "Unfortunately, Your Majesty, that is not why I'm here."
If the woman hadn't looked as though what she wanted to say was urgent, Joseph would have yelled at her to not waste his time and then kicked her out. As it was, he felt he could listen to her for as long as it took to get her to spread her legs for him. If she hadn't changed her mind about being bent over his desk by the end of it, then he'd throw her out and call some other maid who might.
Perhaps the Babcock girl would take her place, if his son was done with her.
"Then what's the matter?" he asked, keeping himself together for the time being.
The slut shifted from foot to foot a little. To some, she might have looked eager, or maybe agitated to get to the point, but Joseph could only focus on the way her breasts jiggled about when she did that.
Luckily for Ruth, it wasn't so much of a distraction that it prevented him from listening to what she was saying.
"I just thought that you would want to know about your son, my Lord."
Joseph nearly leapt up from his seat. What about his son? What had Niles done, or had done to him, that meant Ruth had to come to him to tell him the news?!
Had they...had they been going at it? It would certainly explain the slut's dress. Had something happened during, that had made her leave to come and fetch him?
He didn't know. She didn't look like she was in any particular hurry, either.
The suspense was nearly too much, until he had to hurry her up.
"What about him? Get it out, girl!"
That made her jump into action much faster, though an excited smirk did also appear on her face. She looked like a child who had just caught their sibling doing something they shouldn't, and was very much keen to go tell their mother...
"He has married Lady Babcock, Your Majesty. And she is now with child."
The words met Joseph's unwelcome ears and were greeted with instant hostility.
"You think you're being funny, do you?" he asked, the adrenaline starting to course in his veins.
His boy wouldn't do such a thing, would he? He already had a plan for Niles, and it didn't involve the Babcock girl getting any higher in the palace than occasionally bouncing off a mattress, no ring on her finger or a title marking her as some man's wife!
Ruth shook her head at his question, "No, my lord! Never for something so serious!"
That was when something snapped in Joseph's mind. He leapt from his seat, and watched as Ruth skittered backwards. He wasn't going to hurt her (he knew she wouldn't lie, really – she was a slut, but a truthful one), but he could feel his fists closing up on themselves. His blood might have just instantly boiled to a degree that would've killed a lesser man, but his mind was on things far beyond the person who'd brought him the news.
His son. His one joy and treasure, had gone behind his back, betrayed him and married that little kitchen slut as though it were all nothing?! Who the hell did he think he was, to do as he pleased and to disobey his father's wishes like that?! Did he think it was a joke, that the country would be made a laughingstock when the rest of the world found out that their future queen was a floor-scrubbing, tea-serving whore?!
A whore who would give birth to a bastard that the law meant he would be forced to recognise! And what if she was allowed to have more?! The slut's blood would flow through generations of kings if that happened! The future of his entire bloodline was in jeopardy! His legacy was heading for the gutter!
How had his family been dragged so far through the mud, without his even realising?!
He should never have gone on that blasted hunting trip! He would've been around to restrain his boy and have that bitch thrown out into the street where she belonged! It wouldn't have even mattered that he would've been wasting prime venison – there were plenty more where she came from, unspoiled and just ripe.
"When did this happen?!" Joseph demanded, stalking to Ruth and grabbing her by the shoulders. "When did they wed?!"
"I...I don't know, my Lord. But the Lady Babcock is four months along!"
Four months along... that was roughly when he'd first left for his hunting trip! They'd done it on purpose, waiting for the best moment to act and make a fool of him!
Neither one of them knew it yet, but they had both just made a terrible mistake. No one got the better of him – no one who wanted to live to talk about the experience, anyway.
Not that he would go to such extreme lengths with his boy. He'd be punished severely, obviously, but he was not about to get rid of his only son and heir! Not over a slight, even if it was a betrayal as well!
No, his Niles would be fine, in the end. He'd get a new, worthy bride that his father had chosen for him. Joseph would make sure that whichever princess or lady was picked would be just as beautiful, young and supple as Lady Babcock! He could have as many legitimate heirs as he wanted with that girl, and then have his fun with the maids, whores and any other woman who wasn't foolish enough to reject his advances.
As for the Babcock slut...well, that made him slightly uncomfortable to think about, if he was honest.
He wouldn't have anything done to her while she was pregnant – he couldn't do that. The child wasn't at fault, even if it was a bastard that its parents would try to masquerade as legitimate. Its only crime was being conceived, and that was something it hadn't been able to help, either.
No. Joseph wasn't going to damn himself by ordering the death of a pregnant woman. Whatever he ended up doing to the whore his boy had made pregnant, the child wouldn't be involved. He had to send her away somewhere – somewhere she could have the baby, get it removed from her, and then...well, have her removed.
There was no chance of her coming back and causing trouble that way. All sluts were the same in the end, and easily replaced with another available hole. Niles would learn to do without her.
But before getting rid of the slut, he had to find a family for the bastard child. Whether he liked it or not, that child would be a grandchild of his, albeit one he would never acknowledge publicly. He was not about to let the child rot away in some second-class orphanage – no, it would grow up surrounded by privilege and with loving parents. Just not her son and his slut of a wife. Joseph would find it a good family that would look after him or her as if it were their own.
And he might just know the people that were the perfect fit.
People who could both take the child and get rid of Niles' slut.
He'd be killing to birds with one stone, that was for granted.
The whole operation would have to be done in the utmost secrecy. There was no sense in taking the girl before she was ready to give birth. Niles wouldn't be happy, and if he knew his son he'd probably try to look for the girl, meaning that he'd have to restrain him and lock him up, which was something he absolutely didn't wish to do. No, he had to play along until the time to strike was just right.
The first step of his plan, then, had to be contacting his future accomplices. His problem would all be taken care of, soon enough. He wouldn't have to worry about his legacy, or the state the country would be left in, and the whore wouldn't be around to darken their doorstep ever again.
Releasing Ruth's arms, he turned away and went back to his desk, "I have a letter to write – you are dismissed."
The maid nearly staggered back at that, starting to pout in indignation.
The king wasn't going to reward her for this priceless information? Not even with something small – a few gold coins, perhaps? It wasn't much, considering the service she'd just done for him! Telling Joseph that his son had gotten married and was now going to be a father was a much greater feat than, say, bending over a desk and letting him take it any which way he wanted!
She took a step forward, "Your Majesty–"
"I said you are dismissed, woman."
Joseph didn't even look at her, but the words seemed to have their own glare that pierced Ruth entirely. The pout crinkled, and her stare hardened.
Not a gem, or a precious metal. Not even a fuck for her trouble! She might as well not even have bothered telling Joseph, for everything her loyalty got her!
But fine. If he was going to be that way, she wasn't going to stand there and wait for him to change his mind. He was probably in a bad enough mood anyway, and it could turn on anybody at any moment...
So, she curtsied to his back, before marching out, back to her own room.
The dress had certainly been a waste of time!