A Thirteenth Century Indulgence

Author's Note: Rereading this story, I realized that it was a bit rough as originally submitted and really needed some smoothing out. Therefore I have reworked it and submitted this edited version. I hope everyone enjoys it.

*

The two armored men faced each other on the grassy field, each sizing up his opponent through the narrow eyeslots of their great helms.

"Sir Roger, stand you ready?"

"Aye."

The Marshal looked to the other man.

"Lord Ivan, stand you ready?"

"Ready."

"Then upon your honor, lay on!"

The two advanced towards each other, bringing their shields up to guard position and cocking their sword arms back, ready to strike. Ivan made the first move, aiming at Roger's sword arm. Roger blocked it and counterattacked. They traded blows, one flurry of swings, thrusts and blocks, followed by another and another until one precise swing dealt a killing strike. Lord Ivan was left sprawled on the grass. Some of the spectators cheered or applauded, most remained quiet.

"Victory to Sir Roger!"

Roger set aside his taped-up wooden sword, reached down and helped his defeated opponent to his feet. They exited the roped-off field as the next two combatants entered.

I thought they were mismatched from the start, so not an unexpected outcome. I used to sword fight, but I've gotten slower since passing 50 years old and can't keep up with the younger ones in our medieval club. Then I noticed a few spectators, two couples, in 'mundane' clothes, tee shirts and jeans type of stuff. One woman was making a big fuss over the armored men, and even a few of the armored women, trying to hug them and even trying to get onto the roped-off fighting field before being stopped by one of our club's marshals. I figured that I could help by distracting them. That the two women were not bad looking and from what I could tell, braless, helped me make that decision.

"Greetings good people, any questions I might answer for thee?"

I was immediately peppered with questions, leaving me little time to answer.

"Is the armor real?" (Yes.)

"How do they know who wins?" (Honor system.)

"Why do the swords look like taped up sticks?" ('Cause they are.)

"Is this like renaissance fairs?" (No, we do this for our own fun.)

"How do they use the bathroom when in armor?" (Carefully.)

"Are women allowed to sword fight?" (Yes.)

"What do you wear under the armor?" (Usually padding.)

"Is it true that nobody wore underwear back then?" (Uh...)

"Why do you all do this, is it a religious thing or just a hobby?" (Well...)

"Do you sword fight?" (I...)

"Why do they..."

I couldn't help myself, I started laughing, interrupting the flow of questions. "Slow down, please. Our hobby might seem strange at first, but we try to be as accurate as we can to the time period of the middle ages and renaissance. Roughly the years 500 to 1600. For the rest of your questions, let me take you to our Chatelaine at the information table."

"What's a Chatelaine?"

"That's what we call our information person."

I led them around the outside of the tournament field, past the many brightly colored shade covers, mostly homemade, with medieval-looking tables and chairs where members of our club would watch the fighting, wait their turns to fight, play board games or practice other crafts. One buxom young lady sat with an Irish lap harp, expertly playing and singing an old folk melody. We arrived at the Royal Pavilion, where the King And Queen sat, and where the info table was set in one corner. They were impressed that I made them pause while I bowed to the empty Thrones in passing (their Majesties were off somewhere else,) and they joined in, giggling. I left them with my chubby, dark-haired friend Baroness Lystrata de Bhoun. I knew she'd take care of them, she's a sweetie who helped me out a few times and we had often shared hugs and sometimes a deep kiss, especially that one time when she sent me off to a feast at one of our events when I had been dithering about going. She took over the explanations to our visitors, letting me leave with a smile and a wave.

I guess I should explain that in our club, we get to choose our names and backgrounds, within reason. We can make up our own personal histories and select nationalities from historical records. But we can't give ourselves titles of nobility, it's the club that bestows titles as awards for outstanding skill in arts, crafts or research, or for service to the club like running an event or a territory, or for winning the annual royal tournament. For example I'm Lord Alan McFarland of the Far Fens, which is nothing at all like my everyday name, and I got the 'Lord' part for running some events and serving as a marshal or referee for tournaments. My friend got 'Baroness' for administering one of the club's areas for several years, running a bunch of events, skill at costuming, spinning and weaving, and for other volunteer work. Also her real name isn't Lystrata, it's something very ordinary like Donna or Debbie, I don't really remember. We usually have our tournaments in public parks, so we can't exclude non-members or 'mundanes' from wandering around. We just try to be sure they stay safe and don't touch anything that they shouldn't. These particular 'mundanes' seemed to be from some sort of camping organization since their tee shirts had a stylized log cabin logo and "Indulgence Meadows" written in a circle around it. I didn't think anything more about it and went back to watching the tournament and chatting with other friends.

A couple days later I got a phone call from Lystrata, asking if I could help out with a presentation at the camp that those 'mundanes' belonged to.

"What's the presentation about and where is it? Is it a full demonstration with fighters and crafts? How many do we need? If you want I can make a few calls." I started making lists in my head.

"It's Indulgence Meadows camp, it's near where the tournament was last weekend. For some reason they want to know about medieval clothing and specifically about underwear. So it'll be the two of us explaining our garb."

"Underwear? Why underwear, and why isn't your husband doing this with you?"

"Baron Charles is out of town on the date they requested. And I think the underwear part is because, well, because they're a clothing optional camp." I could hear her give a little snorting laugh.

"Clothing optional? Ookaay... uh, I think I can handle that, your excellency. Even though it might be distracting. I did go group skinny dipping a few times in my younger days. We're just doing a presentation, right?"

"Right, just a presentation." She mentioned a date later that month. I checked my calendar.

"You're in luck, my wife is away then, too. I'll get my gear together and dust off my old armor. I remember one of them asked what was worn under the armor. Hey, they say to picture your audience naked to prevent stage fright, so I guess we won't have to imagine."

She laughed at that. "Thanks Alan, say hi to your Lady. I'll email you details. Bye."

Early on the morning of the presentation, Lystrata showed up at my door and greeted me with a quick kiss and hug. Indulgence Meadows camp was past my side of the county in the next one, but she lived a ways in the opposite direction, so we had decided to carpool to save her an extra 30 miles. Besides, it was pleasant to share a ride with her. She was already wearing her medieval outfit, but I had everyday clothes over my medieval underwear. I find it difficult to drive in garb, very difficult in armor and never, ever while wearing a sword. I learned that the hard way back when I was driving a stick shift. When we arrived at Indulgence Meadows camp, Lystrata went into the office to check in. A moment later a nude man came out to direct me to a parking spot near what looked to be a recreation hall. I had finished changing from tee shirt and pants into tunic and chain maille before the Baroness showed up with a nude woman about our age who was some sort of clerk or administrator of the camp. She was introduced as Cathy and was entranced that I gallantly kissed her hand while I tried not to stare. She even blushed slightly in a charming way. I quickly averted my gaze so I wouldn't have a reaction that might get me kicked out of the camp. I've heard that nudists don't want random erections at their establishments. Of course, it would be difficult to tell while in my armor, but just in case. Cathy was a bit slimmer than my chubby companion, but she was still a little plump and curvy, just the way I liked, with bobbed light brown hair, full breasts with a bit of sag, and cute hazel eyes hidden behind eyeglasses. I was definitely attracted.

In the rec room, there were a couple of tables at the front and several chairs in rows. A few nude people were already seated and waiting for us. A few more trickled in until there were about 30 or more in the audience by the time we were supposed to start. They were mostly nude, but a couple wore shorts or sarongs and two or three were bottomless in tee shirts. I set my old, somewhat dented great helm on one of the tables. Good thing I had de-rusted it.

"Today we have a special treat for our regular morning presentation session." Cathy introduced us. "These two fine people belong to a club that re-enacts medieval times. They have a hobby of making and wearing historical clothes and will show us the way people dressed in the middle ages."

There was a smattering of applause and I stepped forward. "My lords, ladies and gentle folk. I present to you her excellency, the Baroness Lystrata de Bhoun, our kingdom Chatelaine or information officer."

She bowed and took charge of the presentation. "Good Morrow. I present to you Lord Alan McFarland of the Far Fens, a warrior of our kingdom. Today we are dressed in the fashion of the late thirteenth century. Some of the names of the clothes will be very different from their modern counterparts. If you want us to explain further, there will be time for questions later.

"I'm dressed in my casual working clothes, not my fancier court clothing which would have a much more elaborate headdress, finer cloth and more embroidery. Those tall, pointed headpieces you see in illustrations were called hennins and were for formal occasions. The hat I'm wearing now is called a chaperon and is a kind of hood that is twisted into a hat for warm days. If it were cooler out, I'd wear it as a hood."

She pulled off her turban-like hat and unfolded it to show it actually was a burgundy color hood with a wraparound cape section to cover the shoulders and a long cloth tail at the back of the top. "This long tail is called a liripipe and could be tied into fashionable knots or padded to stand out." She gestured at me.

"Good morrow everyone. As I'm dressed for battle I've removed my great helm and bared my right hand to show that I come in peace. It would be rude to enter someone else's castle ready for combat. Nowadays we wave at each other, but that custom started as a way to show that you weren't holding a weapon." I waved at the audience to demonstrate, removed the other glove and tossed both onto the nearby table. "My head is covered by a chain maille hood that's called a coif. If I were riding into battle or joust, I'd have my great helm, like this one, over it." I tapped on the top of my barrel helm before pulling off the armor coif. "Under the armor is a sturdy cloth fitted cap that's also confusingly called a coif. It keeps the chain maille from catching on my hair and pads my head some." The pieces also went on the table. I nodded to the Baroness.

"For the main part of my clothes," She took over, "I'm wearing a kirtle or gown under a sideless surcoat. The priests thought this style scandalous because it revealed the tighter fitting kirtle beneath it. They called these wide openings the windows of hell."

"But the lads all say they're the windows of heaven." I interjected and got a laugh from our audience.

"Under the surcoat," Lystrata grinned and continued after my interruption, "is the kirtle with a belt to hang pouches or other items on. The kirtle is tighter and more fitted and with side laces to adjust the fit." She pulled off her dark blue surcoat and laid it on the table. After pirouetting to show how snugly her gray kirtle fit on her upper body, she set her belt aside, undid the scarlet lacings on both sides of the kirtle and pulled it off over her head. "This leaves me in my long linen shift, considered to be part of my underwear." It was thin enough that it was obvious she was braless. Her pale aureolas made slightly darker circles behind the off-white fabric and her darker nipples poked out a bit. She gestured to me and stepped back.

"Now comes the unglamorous part of being a warrior, getting out of my chain maille shirt or hauberk. Especially since I don't have a squire handy." I had already removed my sword belt, so I bent forward and tugged and wriggled until the armor slid off me onto the floor. "This leaves me in my parti-color tunic, not that it's for parties, but that each half is a different color, for me yellow and blue. My hose are also a different color for each leg, again yellow and blue but the other way around from my tunic. This was very fashionable in those times." The canvas tunic came off and I put it and the armor on the table. "This leaves me in my justacorps or thigh-length linen undershirt, braies or underpants, and tall hose, essentially my underwear."

The Baroness stepped forward again. "Under my ankle-length shift I've got hose also, but only knee high, not full leg length like men's hose, and knickers similar to bloomers." She kicked off her wood and leather clogs then slipped out of her shift, leaving her heavy breasts bare. Her nipples were now fully erect. I tried not to be startled, I had thought she was going to stop at showing her shift. She pointed to her garments as she named them. "The hose are tied or gartered just below the knee. The long bloomers are held at the waist with a drawstring and reach down close to the top of the hose. There's an overlapping opening at the crotch so, if I'm very careful, I can pee without getting undressed. It's a myth that women back then went without underpants. Lower class women often went without bloomers, but the nobility had the fashion of dressing 'a la turca' or with underpants like Turkish or Arabic women." While she was saying this, she rolled off her hose and removed her bloomers. Holding the bloomers up, she demonstrated how the crotch overlap worked. I tried not to stare at her full, dark bush. The last of her clothes went onto her table. So that's how it's going to be, I thought. I didn't expect to get fully naked, but if she's good with it, then I can be too. I kicked off my sorta medieval-looking shoes as well.

"I ah... ahem... on very hot days I might be working around the castle in just my shirt, hose and braies, or even without my shirt if there's no other nobility around. To keep cooler I would untie my hose from the waistband of the braies and roll them down to just below my knees." Off came my shirt, then I untied and rolled down my hose and stood for a moment, displaying the way they looked rolled down before taking them off the rest of the way. "My braies or underpants also have an overlapped fly, answering the question of how I can pee while in armor. I just have to be careful, I don't want my armor to get rusty." That got a weak laugh. The braies came off, leaving me completely bare. So far I had managed to control myself and not become too aroused. I set everything on the table and arranged them for display.

"Any questions?" Lystrata asked. "You can come up to have a closer look at the clothes and armor, but please don't touch the sword or daggers."

After fielding a few questions, most rather good ones, Cathy came back up and thanked us. We both thanked her for the opportunity and I made her smile by kissing her hand again. A couple of other women from the audience demanded the same hand kiss treatment and I was very happy to oblige. Quite a test of my self-control and I was starting to have a 'reaction' that I was hoping wasn't too noticeable.

"Did you want help taking your stuff to your car? You can stay here the rest of the day or overnight. We reserved a small cabin for you." Cathy offered, and with her help we were able to make it all in one trip, me carrying my heavy armor and sword with belt. After tossing everything into the hatchback, Cathy thanked Lystrata with a big hug, then grabbed me in a big hug and deep kiss.

I was worried about my partial erection becoming more serious, so I cautioned her when we finished the kiss.

"Careful, I don't want to be kicked out of here for lewd behavior."

Cathy laughed. "Nobody told you?"

"Told us what? I thought nudist camps discouraged, uh, public displays of arousal?"

Cathy shook her head. "Naturist, it's naturist. And this isn't just any naturist camp, this is a swinger's resort. You two can stay together or go find someone else if your relationship is open. Just no sex in the pool or anywhere that doesn't have a 'Free Play Zone' sign."

"What? You didn't say anything about that when we set this up." Lystrata's tone was surprised, but she looked more amused than upset.

"Uh, we're not married... I mean we are married, just not to each other. We teamed up for this because both our spouses are out of town." I stammered.

"Well this is awkward, I was hoping you two would join in the lifestyle as a couple. Maybe I can get you separate cabins or something or you don't have to stay..." Cathy bit her lip and looked worried.

"That's okay, we are kind of open. I think we can make do with one cabin." The Baroness said and winked at me.

"My wife and I have swapped before, but it wasn't at a swinger club. I'm good."

Cathy looked relieved. "Okay, here, it's number 18." She handed over a key on a lanyard and headed back to the office.

I reached over and grabbed Lystrata in a hug. "Want to use that key?" In answer she kissed me with a lot of enthusiasm. I didn't bother trying not to become aroused.

The cabin was simple, just a king size bed, a table with two chairs and a bathroom. We were in each other's arms before the door closed. A few more deep kisses and we fell onto the bed.

"Mmm, I've thought of this for a while. Ever since I sent you off to that feast with a kiss." She sighed.

"I remember that kiss fondly. In hindsight, I wish I would have stayed with you instead of going over to the feast."

I ran my hand across her plump tummy and cupped a generous breast, tweaking her nipple.

"I saw a bowl of condoms on the table..."

"Don't worry, I'm clean and I can't get pregnant anymore. If you're good we won't need a condom."

I nodded and kissed my way down over her wide aureolas and sucked at her hard nipples, along her soft, plump tummy and into the thick, dark tangle of her bush. I was sideways on the bed as my tongue slipped between her already wet lips and she gasped, reaching over to grip my hard member. I added a bit of humming and brought a hand around to slide a finger in and search for her G spot. It wasn't long before she squealed out and arched her back. Then she pushed at my hips and tried to reposition me over her, so I happily cooperated and we got into missionary position. She was so eager that she wrapped her legs around me and tried to pull me in before I was properly positioned. I drew back and teased her with my tip along her lips. When she moaned again, I lined up and sank fully into her wetness in one thrust.

"Oh yes, it is as good as I imagined."

I tried to control myself and go slow with my thrusting, but the first time with a new partner always seems to get a little frantic. I started speeding up while she flexed her legs around me, urging me to go faster. Her breasts were bouncing and I grabbed one, teasing her hard nipple. She squealed again in orgasm and that sent me over the edge, emptying deep into her. We stayed connected until I got soft and slipped out. It all seemed to be rather quick, but I'm sure we'll have a chance for a longer session soon. After a bit she got up and went into the bathroom. I watched her bouncy round butt as she crossed the room.