If you were Dracula, I'd be letting you take that bite

[beloyaltome]

Lenore's immediately curious about their 'guest' in the dungeons from what Striga had to say: a swordswoman of exceptional skill, the most satisfying fight Striga had enjoyed in years and she only regretted that the woman was so tired out already before Striga got to her, if she'd been fresher in the fight and had vampiric advantages, she would have been a 'true opponent'.

The soldiers who had survived the battle spoke of it like something out of legend, to the point that Lenore almost had to roll her eyes at the way the story was already getting embroidered and exaggerated. (She thought it very unlikely that their captive was eight feet tall with eyes of flame.) There was little useful information from any of them--run down castle practically in ruins, aging retainers, decrepit king and queen, none of them even healthy enough to save for feeding purposes. Morana had plenty to say about that, the waste of losing forty-seven good soldiers for the gain of an ugly, crumbling castle in an ugly, barren land and if she'd known it was going to be this much bother they would have just gone around. Carmilla had already expressed her opinion in the original conversation, and the entirety of that opinion was a disgusted scoff.

Thus armed with as much information as she was going to get, Lenore dressed herself elegantly and went to the kitchens to collect a basket of freshly baked spice cakes, temptingly aromatic, before she descended to the dungeon.

Only one of the cells was filled at this time--none of the sisters were especially inclined toward taking prisoners unless they were of political value in some way, and their food captives were kept elsewhere under relatively minimal restraint.

"Well," Lenore comments, stopping in front of the dungeon cell and looking over the captive within with interest, chained on her knees. A heavy collar around her throat was chained to a ring in the floor in front of her, while her wrists were pulled out to either side and secured to more heavy iron rings and the cuffs on her ankles were attached to a ball and chain. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone in quite that many chains."

Comments

[frontlinetitties]

If it hadn't been unequivocally clear that Lenore is not planning to react with moral outrage, or anger, or even mild irritation to Gideon's indecencies, it certainly is now. She is, in fact, a touch surprised that her captor plays along with her story (though it would be interesting to see how Blondie and Eyepatch might be taking it, alas that she can't!). This surprise - along with any shreds of irritation she might feel toward the continued failure to get a rise out of her new owner - shrivels up and burns away beneath the diabolical onslaught she's being subjected to.

The onslaught being, of course, Lenore's terrible proximity to her own body. She can feel the enticing push of bone from the vampire's hip, and the soft trace of a fingertip over her bicep sends sparks racing along her spine so electrically that she might just keel over and die. She doesn’t, though. Instead, Gideon tries to maintain her poise...with tries being the operative word. Her heartbeat comes so heavy and quick that she's ready to swear it fills up the room, and her breath catches in her throat just softly, like silk over splinters. She becomes deeply, intimately aware suddenly, that Lenore is the hottest woman she's ever seen in the flesh, and that this is the closest she's ever been to anyone without the inclusion of violence. Never mind someone who fits her captor’s description.

It shuts her up, and she swallows thickly. Heat blooms from the base of her throat and threatens to spread upwards, until she's forced to turn her head away and pretend to be very interested in the wall. She ought to sit up, or move away, or something. Fuck knows she should-- but she doesn't want to. What she does is keep very, very still, for fear that any further movement on her part will cause Lenore to disengage.

This is the shape of her mental state, then, when Lenore asks her question. She should tell her to fuck off, that she'll never be able to trust her, that revenge must be taken for the deaths of the people who had...always fucking hated her guts. It's hard to break the habit of a lifetime, to cut herself loose from the aching parts of her that had wanted to win someone - anyone - in Drearburh over. But Lenore is here, right now, and she's a stone-cold fucking fox. A fox whose eyes Gideon can feel on her face and fuck if she isn't weak to it.

She clears her throat. Takes a conspicuously deep breath. Tries to ignore the wetness she can feel gathering between her legs.

"Uh...," smooth, "I mean...you're practically sitting on top of me and I haven't breathed a word of committing extreme violence. I'm being exceptionally well behaved right now, in my humble opinion. But I dunno...I guess you could ask me to do something. See if I'll do it."

[beloyaltome]

"You are being exceptionally well behaved right now," Lenore agrees, letting her finger return, this time tracing along the neckline of her pet's shirt, hands soft and nails only slightly pointed. It's a continuing test of that good behavior, in addition to the other useful purposes of it. She can hear that quickened heartbeat, can smell the arousal. She knows exactly what kind of effect she's having.

"Tell me your name," Lenore commands, since that's the obvious next piece of information she requires, the test of whether her pet will give her that amount of trust. It's certainly not the request that Nightie had suggested, but Lenore wants it to be clear where the lines of power are here. She commands, her pet obeys. That's how this is going to work.

[frontlinetitties]

This feels, in a lot of ways, terribly surreal. The battle that had sparked her to life in a way that she'd never felt before, the humiliation and hurt of her defeat, and of her capture. Now this shit, that she isn't quite sure how to categorise. Lenore's fingers trace along her shirt where fabric meets skin and again she swallows, thickly.

She's been on the receiving end of a multitude of commands throughout her life, and whilst generally she might carry them out, and only after a barrage of crude backchat...she has to admit to herself that the way Lenore says it is kinda hot. Familiarity clashes sharp against something entirely new. The 'I own you, you do as I say' inflection, a sentiment expressed to her so frequently that it should warrant only an eyeroll, except this time it’s commanded of her through soft and petal-coloured lips.

Ah, what the hell.

"Gideon," she answers, tongue feeling dry against the roof of her mouth, "It's Gideon Nav."

[beloyaltome]

"Thank you, Gideon Nav," Lenore says, making sure to shape that name as lovingly as possible on her tongue, just enough of a breathy purr designed to shoot straight down Gideon's spine. "Though I think I will still call you my best nightmare, from time to time. I think it's an apt description."

Her fingertips dip between Gideon's breasts, the lowest point on the neckline, index and middle finger brushing her cleavage for just a moment before drawing away again. "I'll be right back. I think you deserve to have a bit more to your bed than a single blanket."

She rises and slips through the bars, speaking to one of the guards to request additional bedding and then returning to Gideon's side. "I'd like to have you swear your loyalty to me," Lenore comments, taking a seat again on the blanket and reaching for the cards. "But I don't think we're there yet. Shall we play?"

[frontlinetitties]

The way Lenore rolls her name around in her mouth like she's savouring some kind of delicacy is enough on its own to get her hot, to leave her biting down hard on the quiet fuck! that's lurking behind her lips. Then there's the light pressure of delicate fingers brushing the curve of her breasts and, ah! Her heart is now so frantic it sounds like a frighten bird is beating its wings against her ribcage. Lust kicks hard along her spine, makes her cunt ache to be touched, and when her eyes slide slowly to Lenore's face there's something bright and unsure sparking in them.

Aaaaaand then it's gone. As Lenore slips away through the bars Gideon lets her head drop back onto the blanket, eyes rolling back in her skull. "Fuuuuuck", she hisses it beneath her breath, hoping her captor's discussion with the guards will hide it.

By the time Lenore returns Gideon is sitting up, cross-legged on the blanket. Studiously examining her short-bitten nails in as casual a way as she’s able to feign. She hasn’t crossed the line into loyalty yet, but had Lenore let her hand stray any lower she might have been prepared pay the sentiment lip service.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. Cards," is what she does say, whilst quietly berating herself for sounding like a fucking idiot.

[beloyaltome]

Lenore lets Gideon deal this time, instructing her on how to do it but letting her have that portion of control. They play a round, interrupted in the middle by one of the guards bringing two more blankets and a pillow, which are set down outside the bars. Lenore leaves them, for now. They'll be easy enough for Gideon to pull through the bars. The cell's cool but not freezing, but there was snow outside and the walls are stone, so it's obvious enough that the dungeons are heated in some way. Three blankets will still be thin comfort to serve as both blanket and mattress, but Lenore is aware it's still an enormous improvement upon cold stone.

After the second round, Lenore leaves the cards and rises. Her fingers linger briefly on Gideon's shoulder, and she bends to press a kiss to Gideon's temple. "I have a busy day tomorrow. I'll try to make time if I can."

She doesn't actually have a busy day tomorrow. The snows are high and Lenore is dead bored. They're all bored, which makes Carmilla vicious, Morana resentful, and Striga stony, so Lenore avoids them, sticking mostly to her cold and lonely room and wanting to spend time instead with her new companion. But she's aware that absence does make the heart grow fonder, and she wants Gideon itching to get out of that cell, driven to want more time with Lenore, to crave being at her side.

[frontlinetitties]

Gideon deals, following her captors instructions carefully, and they play what to her feels like a decent game, even if Lenore - once again - bests her at the last moment. She scatters the game with banter, partly because it's her natural default, but also to soothe her own still-sparking nerves. Hard not to think about the feel of the vampire's hands on her when they're both in this small, shut-in space. By the end of the second game she feels almost (almost) at ease, like she isn't shut up in a cage somewhere deep in the heart of enemy territory.

Lenore's departure leaves her with a tumult of mixed feelings; the touch of slim fingers against her bare shoulder makes her hot and bothered all over again, but right on the tail of that is the bombshell that Lenore might make time for her, only if she can. Her stomach drops hard like the moment before a fall, but outwardly she only shrugs, tongue clicking against her teeth.

"Yeah well, I can't guarantee that I won't have eloped with Eyepatch by the time you get back. No promises, you know?" and this is how she says goodbye.

It's not so bad, at first. She pulls the extra bedding in through the bars and honestly, they're of a better quality than anything she'd had at home. So she's still essentially sleeping on stone, which makes her bruised body ache abominably, but the pillow is decent enough. The blankets, though thin, at least provide a touch of extra cushioning and warmth. She fashions them into a messy nest in the left-hand corner of the cell, thinks about schlicking it to the memory of Lenore's fingers at her breast and the soft press of her lips against her forehead, but at the last comes over shy. The guards are not that far off, and sure they've probably already seen her naked or taking a piss or whatever, but for some reason the thought of them listening to her getting off seems a step too far.

She sleeps, and wakes, and pushes her body to exercise, push-ups and sit ups and squats until her muscles are aching and furious. She's brought food but it's left outside the bars by guards still nervy of approaching her, and each time she isn't graced by her captor's presence she feels a little more sullen. She's accustomed to being alone and ignored, more of the same shouldn't be a problem...but having experienced company that didn't seem to despise her leaves her quietly hurting for more of it. Stupid, pathetic, faithless-- some of the words she internally hurls at herself to reawaken her need for revenge. It all feels sort of hollow though, when Drearburh had provided her with such cold comfort that being locked up here is almost better. At least Lenore doesn’t look upon her with abject hatred.

She goes through the same routine with the one bawdy song, drags it out for far longer this time. Tries baiting the guards in other ways - details of how she'd slaughtered their comrades, sexy fantasies in which her guards take on starring roles - but they must be fucking well trained because they steadfastly ignore her. When the whole day - or night, or whatever, impossible to tell from inside a cage - has passed with nothing but her own company, she finds herself raw and listless with loneliness.

[beloyaltome]

Leaving her alone to sleep through the day and then most of the next night, Lenore arrives with dinner, which is set down by the bars of the cell along with two books. Lenore steps through and then reaches for the books and takes a seat nearby, leaving Gideon to reach for the food.

"Hello, darling," Lenore says, smiling warmly as she greets her pet, genuinely happy to see her.

Lenore's own entertainments had paled for the course of the day. She distracted herself by visiting the kitchens, chatting with servants, designing a new gown, picking at embroidery, reading... but it all was hollow and boring, and she too was lonely. She wanted a companion more than a bodyguard, though having a bodyguard was a good excuse for a companion, someone who had to follow her around.

She wants to crawl into Gideon's lap now, to insist upon being held and indulged, but she doesn't want to risk pushing too far too quickly. It's crucial to make sure that she gives Gideon less than she wants, not more.

"Can you read?" In this, Lenore's less concerned about Gideon's pride. Most people don't know how to read. Books are rare and valuable, and most peasants don't have acquaintances beyond walking distance, so there's no need for letters. Lenore has brought the books with the assumption that she'll be reading aloud from them, or using them to provide reading lessons.

[frontlinetitties]

It's confusing, the way she feels when Lenore finally shows up again. There's a bright, hot spark of genuine gladness to once again have attentive company. There's the sick guilt of knowing she ought to hate the woman keeping her prisoner here. There's also the stupid, kicked-dog sensation of having been abandoned, which she hates because why the hell would she feel like that about someone who has likely barely thought of her at all.

In this frame of mind, Gideon doesn't say anything when her new owner greets her. Instead, she scoots closer to the bars of her cage, reaches a touch sullenly for her food. Never mind that all the while she's kinda aching to talk to her. Feels poised right on the precipice of asking why she'd left her for so long.

"Yeah, I can read," she answers the question though, between mouthfuls, still keeping her gaze on her meal rather than where she wants it to be. There's the dismissive roll of her shoulders; she's ready - unabashedly, and without a trace of shame - to elaborate, regardless of the desire to keep her eagerness to talk under wraps, "Like, the basics, you know? Basic letters, basic numbers, although no-one considered it a priority to teach me. Definitely not my strength is what I'm saying, but obviously when I was still just a little kid they didn't know how they were gonna use me yet."

[beloyaltome]

It's tragic, the more that she hears about Gideon's life. That kingdom's most valuable asset, treated like a slave, and not even a particularly well-liked slave.

"I'm sorry that they didn't value you," Lenore says, soft and empathetic, heart aching for her pet. "You're clever to have learned that much, with so little help. I already knew you learned fast."

Offering a sad little smile, Lenore reaches out to rub her hand over Gideon's upper arm, wanting to soothe them both with the contact. "Are you angry at me? Or is it something else?"

She doesn't quite dare assume that Gideon's sulky because Lenore was away, but it's clear that Gideon is sulky about something.

[frontlinetitties]

She is sulky. She's sulking and it's ridiculous and this knowledge only further impresses itself upon her mood, because who the hell sulks because their captor and enemy didn't come to gloat over them whilst their held prisoner in a cage? This is how she has berated herself for a good number of the long, aching hours she'd been left alone, and it has done nothing to improve her disposition.

Except that Lenore goes and says something so unexpected, so outlandish, that she finds herself freezing part way between bars and mouth with her food. It feels a bit like being sucker punched, or perhaps like being hit in the face with the pommel of a sword. Cleverness isn't something she's ever considered to be among her positive attributes, but hearing someone say sorry they didn't value you leaves her feeling raw and flayed open in a way that even the compliments can't touch. How many times as a child had she fervently wished someone would just say, hey Gideon, I'm sorry everyone treats you like shit, you haven't done anything to deserve this? It makes it hard to speak for just a moment, which embarrasses her terribly. It makes her want to lean into the press of Lenore's hand against her arm and stay there.

It takes her a moment to swallow the lump in her throat. To draw in a steadying breath.

"It's...it's just hella boring in here. Yeah, yeah, I know. I killed a bunch of your soldiers and threatened to dismember you a little bit. But I was kiiiinda having a bad day," when uncertain, fall back on bravado. Bravado with slim threads of truth running through it, almost wanting to be unpicked.

[beloyaltome]

"I know," Lenore agrees sympathetically, even though she's perfectly aware of Gideon's tactic with the bravado, and aware of just how effective her kindness is when it's clear that Gideon's never received kindness before.

"I think you were kind of having a bad ... week. And that's putting it mildly." She reaches out, gently caressing Gideon's cheek in sympathy and comfort. "You fought in battle, as was right and honorable, and then suffered devastating blows to your pride, dignity, and comfort. Anyone would have lashed out."

Lenore's thumb brushes over Gideon's cheek, fond and a little sad. "I have to head out tomorrow. First thing." Which means immediately after sunset, for her. "I can delay it by a day if I have to. Maybe two. But I could be gone for a week, and I'm going into a situation that's going to be unpleasant and probably dangerous. I want you with me. I hate the thought of having to leave you behind for that time, and I need the protection of having a bodyguard, especially a human bodyguard." It's bad timing, really. Another few days, next week, and this would be perfect. But the situation in Stessl needs to be dealt with, and Lenore is by far the most appropriate Queen for the job.

"... I'm just not sure you're ready," Lenore finishes, words quiet and eyes mournful, wanting to be convinced otherwise.

[frontlinetitties]

There's the snort of Gideon's wry amusement because yes she'd been having a fucking bad week leading up to meeting Lenore, and yes that was putting it mildly. And perhaps she's now clean and fed and relatively warm, but the days since they first beheld each other have hardly been a party either. The vampire is, in part, responsible for her current situation, something she knows right down to the bones of herself. She ought to push her hand away, or crush it, or turn around and bite-- but fuck if this last stretch of time hasn't been hard. Fuck if she isn't aching for even the meanest kind of comfort.

So she leans into the pass of Lenore's thumb against the contours of her cheek, like doing so will be enough to prolong the contact. But her captor keeps talking, and she feels the sudden lurch from stomach to throat like she’s standing on a dizzyingly high precipice with nowhere to go but down. Another week of this? Hold up here in this shitty little cage amongst guards who won't so much hurl an insult at her? The one person in this place (in her whole damn life) who’s bothered to show any interest in her is heading off into danger? It all feels like too much suddenly, starved and desperately ravenous for attention as Gideon has always been. It's still there in her, the hard twist of shame. She should be standing her ground, making good on her promises, giving Lenore and her ilk sweet fuck all. But. But.

She lets out a low breath, muscles gone tense, forehead resting against the chill bars of her prison. "I mean, you could leave me here. Sitting around, taking naps, bored out of my fucking skull. But like, I killed nearly fifty of your soldiers. Obviously they're seriously inept. I might be a bit of an unknown quantity, but it's gotta be better than relying on that rabble."

She peels her face away from the bars, and looks up at Lenore.

"Seriously. I'd be a fucking good bodyguard. I'll even behave and be all stoic and scary and shit, so no-one thinks about coming near you. You'd be astounded and amazed."

[beloyaltome]

Lenore laughs a little at the comment on the inept soldiers of the army, soft and breathy, a little too sorrowful in this moment to manage any stronger laughter.

"I won't be astounded," Lenore murmurs, eyes warm with affection as she keeps her hand cupped against Gideon's cheek. "I already know you're going to be perfect."

She lingers for just a moment longer, calculating how much to ask for, then nods, dropping her hand to her lap. "All right. Swear a bargain with me. I will provide you with a life of comfort and pleasure, in addition to a monthly salary adequate to feed a small family." Lenore doesn't expect Gideon to have an understanding of the numbers of money or even the names and exchange rates, so she doesn't bother naming a sum. Better to put it in terms of something that translates easily. The stated salary is piteously low for a queen's bodyguard, but Gideon already stated that she wasn't previously paid, and Lenore wants to keep the leash tight for now. All comforts come directly from Lenore. Beyond that, a little pocket money. "In exchange, you will protect and obey me, keep my secrets and aid me in achieving my goals. You will have the freedom to leave my service at any time you choose, but you will give me the opportunity to renegotiate terms if you should so desire to leave."

She holds out her hand between them in order to clasp on the terms of this vow.

[frontlinetitties]

She leans into it this time. Her cheek softly burns beneath Lenore's cool touch, but fuck it all to hell. She wants to have this one soft, sweet thing. Just once she'd like to feel as though she matters even a little bit. Lenore sounds so genuine. Two hundred years is plenty of time to learn the art of fakery and manipulation, but fuck if she doesn't sound like she means it.

Her captor's hand slides away, and she misses it, but she's offering her things she's furiously dreamed of her whole life. The vampire had her at 'pleasure'; that there's also money involved - money she will actually own - only acts to sweeten the deal. And she could leave whenever she wanted to; there, again, is the potential for a lie. But it's more freedom than she's ever been promised in her life before. There’s a small, spikey part of her that still feels she owes it to Drearburh to take revenge, but it’s quickly mollified by the thought that it will be easier to do from outside this shitty little cage.

"Yeah. Yes. I swear to all of that stuff," she takes Lenore's hand, firmly.

[beloyaltome]

Lenore gives her hand a squeeze, pleased with their agreement, and then leans forward to plant a sweet, brief kiss on Gideon's lips. She doesn't linger in it, letting go of Gideon's hand and rising to her feet. "Finish eating, I'll be right back. Leave everything except the books. You have nicer things awaiting you in your room."

Her room, which has been waiting for her, as promised, since day one, and just the way Lenore described it.

Lenore comes back a moment later, having only gone to the guard station, but in addition to the key dangling from her finger there's ... a black leather collar and leash.

She unlocks the door and steps inside, leaving the door open this time. Stepping in front of Gideon with the collar, Lenore looks apologetic but earnest. "Will you endure this for me? It's the symbol more than anything. I trust you, but the others are still wary. You've seen how the guards keep away from you. If I'm letting you out, I need it to be seen that you're mine, and obedient."

It is a symbol, but being seen by the others is only an excuse. Lenore wants the symbol of Gideon choosing to yield to her, of obeying and accepting her role as Lenore's pet. The leash might come off once they reach Gideon's new room, but Lenore intends the collar to stay on.

[frontlinetitties]

Her relief is a physical thing; something hard-wound and tight in her muscles infinitesimally eases, and it feels like a breath she didn't know was being held is finally released. It's all bound up with the featherlight pressure of Lenore's lips on her lips - a hot older woman is kissing her, she is currently being kissed! - and she's left silent and burning as Lenore slips away through the bars.

She does as she's told, eager. Finishes her food faster than she should, and by the time the vampire returns she has books in hand, already on her feet. Unsubtly, she moves from one to the other to ease her pent-up expectation--

--and then Lenore holds up the collar and leash. Incredulity sweeps across her face like the spread of blood from a stab-wound, one brow darting toward her hairline, every line of her silently communicating what the actual fuck?

"You want me to walk out of here. Wearing…a collar and leash," her tone is flat, lip twitching, like she can't decide whether to laugh or scowl, "you know I could just yank it straight out of your hands, right? Like, it would do jack shit to stop me if I was feeling feisty."

Yes, she'd heard the word symbol in there. It doesn't make it feel anymore...discomforting. However, it's already playing on her mind that she hasn't outright said 'no'.

[beloyaltome]

"Yes. I'm aware of all that." Lenore keeps holding the collar, expression patient but unyielding. Gideon is going to wear the collar and let Lenore lead her on a leash. Lenore can wait.

"You swore a vow to obey me," Lenore points out, collar still held delicately in her hands. The black leather is lined with blue silk. "But only if it's fun or convenient?"

Lenore knows she's going to win this. No need to yield or compromise. Gideon will obey her. These are the terms of the agreement that Lenore already got from her.

The impression she gets of Gideon's past is that it was all inevitable, and she was able to put eloquent lip service toward resistance, but there was no real choice. Days of drudgery, but what other possibility was there? Spending all her cleverness toward creative insults and expletives, because what other outlet did she have?

Now she has a choice, she has an outlet, but Lenore accepts no lip service. Gideon's insults and expletives have washed over her like the hot air that they are. She can puff all the hot air she wants, but Lenore will still make her choose to accept the yoke, still make her speak her consent. Gideon's going to have choices from now on. And Lenore's going to see to it that Gideon actively, explicitly chooses to yield to Lenore's will every single time.

She holds the collar and waits.

[frontlinetitties]

There's a long, painfully drawn-out moment when Gideon says nothing. She just stands there staring Lenore down, lips now sculpted into the kind of snarl which is usually followed by a barrage of her nastiest insults. By her side, the hand that is not clutching the books curls tight into a fist--

--but she wants to get the fuck out of this shitty cage. Wants to sleep in a bed, wants to do something with the endless hours that isn't pacing or counting fucking stones. The length of her silence reaches and then extends past the point of comfort, as though maybe if she stares at her for long enough Lenore will relent. She doesn't relent, though, and if this is some kind of test of her willingness to obey-- is it really that bad? The way they'd dragged her in here had been more humiliating. Her state of neglect over the first few days much worse.

With an explosive sigh and a monumental roll of her eyes, Gideon moves to kneel. An unconscious consideration for their differences in height all wrapped up with her small acts of insubordination. "Fine. Whatever."

There's a look to her face like an animal preparing to bite, but she lifts her chin anyway. Making it easier for Lenore to fasten the collar about her throat.

[beloyaltome]

Lenore doesn't push her luck with any comments, knowing how tentative this all is and a couple of days before the timeline she'd preferred. But she is pleased and relieved by how Gideon chooses to kneel for her, and it shows in her expression.

She leans in close as she fastens the collar around Gideon's neck, gentle fingers skimming over her throat and making sure that the collar is loose enough on skin that's still raw and bruised from the heavier metal version. Once it's secured, her fingers linger a few moments longer, smile approving and affectionate, and then she takes the leash and steps back.

The cage door is still open, so she gives one last glance to make sure Gideon's ready, then she starts out of the dungeon. Her grip upon the leash is as light as possible, so that she's more at risk of dropping it if Gideon doesn't keep pace than at risk of any kind of tug. Just a symbol, though it's a weighty symbol.

The sky outside is growing light with dawn, so Lenore's route is careful, taking her through the corridors of the palace along a slightly more circuitous route. The palace is mostly empty at this time of the morning, with only a few guards and servants carrying out their tasks. It's a vast castle of pale stone, silvery on the exterior and varying from ivory to ochre on the inside. Tall windows of clear glass, fabulously expensive, flank nearly every corridor.

At last, they arrive at a quiet wing of white stone, a carpeted hallway with a few doors on either side. Lenore stops in front of one, then points ahead at the next. "That's my room," she says. She takes a key from her pocket and unlocks the door in front of them, then holds out the key for Gideon. It's hers now, and she can lock the door to this room whenever she pleases.

Inside is a lavish room with a huge bed, tall heavy curtains, thick rugs, soft chairs and sofas, and the large fireplace Lenore described, with dragons carved into the stone on either side. It's all decorated in shades of blue and black, offset by white stone and rich mahogany.

Turning to Gideon, Lenore reaches up to unfasten the leash, though she leaves the collar on, and steps back to let Gideon look around. "Close the curtains, please."

[frontlinetitties]

She isn't sure what she's expecting. Perhaps that Lenore will cinch it tight, that it'll cut against skin already abused. That she'll tug at the leash to try and force her to adhere to the vampire's pace, or to demonstrate dominance in front of the guards. This never happens; instead Lenore's touch is soft as the silk that lines the inside of the collar, and fuck knows it's probably the most expensive thing that's ever touched her skin.

She slopes after her captor - sullen, self-conscious - until their convoluted route through the palace gives time for her curiosity to overtake her concern. There's barely anyone about, no-one really pays her any mind let alone makes a big deal of the way she’s being escorted. Lenore's grasp of the leash is so feather-light that it's almost easy to forget she's attached to it. That she finds herself walking to heel to prevent the leather from slipping from between Lenore's fingers is almost an unconscious act.

The first threads of daylight stray through pristine corridors, making Gideon's breath catch in her throat to see it again after so many days shut up in a windowless cage. The palace itself is so sumptuous and well cared for and clean, nothing like the mouldering state of decay Drearburh has always - to her memory - been. It’s like nothing she’s ever beheld in her life and quietly, it stuns her. By the time they finally arrive at their destination, the worst of Gideon's black humour has passed, and as they step over the threshold - a key in her hand! - she's too surprised to maintain her anger.

It's the most lavish room she's ever seen in her entire fucking life.

So flummoxed is she that she doesn't even notice - yet - that she's still wearing the collar. Instead, she only stands there staring - a touch uncertain - until Lenore bids her close the curtains. She moves to do it without question, if only to give her something practical to do rather trying to accustom herself to something that is - to her mind - opulent beyond all reason.

"You want me to sleep here?" again there's incredulity in her tone, but for an entirely different reason.

[beloyaltome]

"Sleep on the ground, if you want," Lenore says, aware enough of what the problem is. She's always lived in luxury--her miseries have never been miseries of deprivation. "This is your room."

She goes first to the wall adjoining her own room and draws aside one of the heavy tapestries to show a door hidden behind it. "This door stays unlocked. It goes through to my room. You may enter my room at any time you please, unless I specifically instruct otherwise on a particular occasion." Lenore's brand of diplomacy has often included an intimate touch. "It goes the other way around, also. I'll assume I can enter your room at any time except on occasions which you specifically request some hours of privacy."

Crossing the room, she gestures idly at the closed curtains. "There's a shared balcony outside which connects over to my room. Given how many of us can fly, I recommend keeping the balcony doors locked when not in use."

Finally, on the opposite side of the room, she opens a door into a spacious bathroom, instructing Gideon to go in and close the curtains again. The bathroom is on a corner, with views from the tub looking out across the mountains. "In that closet is a seat where you can piss and shit and then press the lever and it's all washed away. This tap," she crosses to the sink and turns the knob to show how it works, "provides cold water for washing your face and hands. The large tub is for bathing, this knob brings cold water and this knob brings hot water. It's carried around the castle in pipes."

[frontlinetitties]

It's not often that Gideon is quiet when she has a chance to talk, but all of this borders on overwhelm. She falls silent as she follows Lenore around, doing as she's commanded without a hint of the patter of backchat if only because she doesn't quite know what to say. The bathroom is far larger than her mean stone room back in Drearburh, where there'd been space for a hard slab of a bed and a place to hang her hand-me-down clothes. That Lenore would enter her room as and when she pleases hardly strikes her as unusual; that the vampire would allow her (almost) unrestricted access to her own room is the part that's quietly mind-blowing. She could kill her whilst she sleeps. Set fire to her bed. What's to stop her? It seems like an act of madness, or heart-breaking naivete. Unbidden, it opens up an odd softness inside of her when her eyes slide to her captor.

Keeping windows locked against flying vampires, heated water carried around in pipes, a privy that empties itself somehow, a tub in which - she's guessing - one is supposed to be submerge oneself; well, fuck if this isn't all blowing her mind just a little.

"Yeah. Yeah..." she says as this small tour culminates, and she tries to file all this information away for later use. Just a touch fearful of fucking things up. "It's...very big."

It's a situation which deserves a fucking hell, or a thank you, but she isn't sure how to get the words out.

[beloyaltome]

"Mine's bigger," Lenore comments, with just a hint of a smirk, since she knows Gideon's brain probably can't at all deal with the possibility of something more luxurious than this at the moment.

For now, however, Lenore rests a hand on Gideon's arm to get her focused attention. "Take a bath and then try and get some sleep. We really are heading out first thing after sunset. I'll tell you about what we're dealing with on the ride."

Then she leaves her pet to settle in. Lenore takes the leash with her, but she doesn't say anything about the collar. There's a wardrobe in the room stocked with clothes that are all ... more or less Gideon's size. Lenore had the room made up, but she hadn't known how long it would take to win Gideon over, so she hadn't yet commissioned any proper wardrobe for her. That could wait until their return.

A part of her worries that she's being reckless, leaving Gideon unguarded like this. Gideon could walk right out of the castle and she probably wouldn't even have to be particularly sneaky. But then what? That life as a mercenary, with few comforts and no thanks? Or she could stay right here, good as her word, with luxury and pleasure, and a beautiful woman lavishing praise upon her.

Lenore was pretty sure Gideon herself would come to the same conclusion.

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The comment and the playful little smirk catch hard at her imagination. Thoughts flit around her head like nervous moths, such as how much bigger? and what else might be in such a room and even how much space does one person need?? She's still uncharacteristically silent though, finds that - sometime after Lenore has departed - she's still standing there, in the middle of the room ('her' room), wondering what the fuck to do with herself. She feels a bit as though she's been left alone in a sacred space that could be despoiled by her grubby touch, and in the end it's her lingering fear of this that leads her to the bathroom.

It takes her a little while longer to work up the courage to try the taps for the tub, and she spends some time experimenting with the temperature. She's quietly amazed by the water that just springs out of them, one already heated just as Lenore had said it would be. Through all of this she can't help feeling somehow dirty and awkward and stupid. A barely socialised savage let loose in a place she's simply unfit for. Eventually though, she strips off the clothes she's been wearing for some days now, only remembering the collar at the last and removing that too. The clothes she casts upon the floor, rumpled and muskily scented, but the collar she places carefully beside the basin. Wearing it may have made her feel weird - like some wild animal Lenore was attempting to tame - but like everything else in this new space it seems too fine a thing to just chuck onto the floor.

It's with some trepidation that she soaks herself in the tub; having only ever scrubbed herself clean with cold water and washcloth it feels kind of alien to her, and she can't quite rid herself of the concern that sitting chin-deep in water will make her sick. It feels fucking good though, and she stays right where she is until the water turns cold and streaked with the dirt from her skin. By the time she's out and the water is draining away to some mysterious location, she feels almost relaxed. There's a huge cloth that she dries herself down with, hoping she hasn't fucked up by utilising it in this way, and she folds it neatly and returns it to the exact position where she'd found it, just in case.

Padding back into 'her' room - naked, with her dark skin practically glowing with new depths of cleanliness - she stares at the bed. Huge and sumptuous enough to border on the obscene, she seriously considers dragging the heavy blanket onto the floor and following Lenore's suggestion. She could make some nest in the corner of the room, trying not to touch anything. In the end though, she caves, curiosity getting the better of her. Gingerly climbs beneath the blankets and just lies there, staring at the ceiling.

"Fuuuuuuck me," it's said on a breathy exhale, finding the bedding so soft and cushiony it's like being wrapped up in a god-damned cloud. How the fuck is she meant to sleep on this? The sheer luxury and comfort of it is way too distracting. Maybe she ought to go rifling through the room to fill up the hours, discover what else it contains. Maybe she should get up and walk right out the door and creep through the sleeping castle, just vanish off into the night never to be seen again. Nothing's stopping her. She has the key to the door! She's no longer caged-- but. She wonders - vaguely, with a touch of embarrassing hopefulness that she tries hard not to acknowledge - whether Lenore would be shot through with loss to wake and find her gone.

The hot water from the bath had been more soporific than she'd given it credit for, however. As such, it's like this - indulgently imagining Lenore's bereft little face, how she'd sigh and stare at Gideon's empty room with a touch of delicate melancholia - that she drifts off into sleep. Quite without meaning to.