She sits alone, her back against a tree. Its rough bark softly gathers her hair, but she doesn’t notice; her eyes are closed and she is feeling the wind against her face. Her thoughts are dark, she is thinking about him again, losing all track of time, as her thoughts dance over her desires. Blushing lightly she looks up, just as the moon is starting to break over the horizon, coming up from its daytime slumber.
She sighs and gathers her skirts, pulling her hair from the trees embrace and heads down the hill. Its night, and there is a lot of work to be done before the dawn. She can see the castle from here, the soft candlelight a stark contrast to the shadows of the forest. She sighs again, walking through these woods. She knows them better than the back of her hand, she remembers her childhood, she grew up in these trees, and she would not give it up for all the riches in the world. Gently her footsteps lead her to the servant’s entrance, and she knocks on the heavy wooden door.
He hears the knock, and knows it is Neelahn, he mutters to himself about her spending too much time in those woods, and always coming in late. He opens the door and whispers to her
“You’re late again, on`e of deze days I’m goin’ to h’ave to report you. Now off you go!”
He watches her leave, he knows he would never report her to her superiors, but he likes to keep the upper hand. He can see the thin outline of her thighs has she saunters past him, and gently licks his lips. Shaking the lustful thoughts out of his mind, he goes back to his post.
She walks through the corridors; her hand twitches as she quickly grasps the strands of her hair, braiding it as she walks down to the lady’s room. She pushes through the doors, and walks up, not paying attention ahead of her she is concentrating on her skirts, thinking that they need to be washed. She doesn’t even see him in the hall, she doesn’t notice him until she runs right into him, knocking him against the stone of the walls.
“OH m’lord I didn’t see you there! Please forgive me, I … I. ” She looks down, her cheeks flushing a dark red.
“My dear girl, you have no need to apologize to me, tis a simple mistake. Now tell me where were you headed?” She is still looking down as he asks her.
She quietly stammers out “To the Lady’s room, m’lord.”
“Well not tonight, tonight you shall serve me.” He strokes her cheek, running his fingertips along her jaw line and lifting it up to stare into her eyes, “Yes, tonight, you shall serve me”.
“Yes, m’lord.”
“Follow me, Neelahn”
She nods and scurries after him, again her thoughts drift back to what she was thinking about in the woods, blushing fierce she follows him. She has heard tales about him from the other servant girls, Tales that were told in the dead of night, talks of his many tortures, and his type of play. If only he picked me she had thought, she would not complain the way they did. She looks down the corridor, seeing the man that let her in, she had known him since childhood, Gryan, was his name. She often played in the woods with him. How odd she thought, that he also serves here. It had never occurred to her that all of her childhood friends had gone elsewhere, all but him.
He hears the footsteps in the next hall, and his gentle blue eyes watch as the young Master took Neelahn down the hall. He knew what was next. He knew what he would do to her. He was always the one that had to clean up after him. Not her damn you, Damn you. He thinks, his mind screams out, not her! His hands rest on the hilt his sword, as he watches Neelahn hurry after him. IF he harms her, he will have me to answer too! I swear it. He emits a low growl, and turns towards his post.
“Come Neelahn, this way. I need you to wash some clothing for me. Then, when you are finished, I will have another task for you”
“Yes m’lord.”
He opens the door to his chamber, which looks more like a dungeon she thinks. He has whips of all sorts on the walls, Cat o’ nine tails, Handcuffs, Braces, Chains, and Rope. She shivers, remembering the whispers of the other girls. She watches him gather his dirty clothing and roughly hand it to her. His black eyes dancing wickedly, he laughs, catching the look on her face, one of horror and curiosity.
“Do these frighten you?”
“No”
“Oh? Tell me, what are the tales you have heard? Surely you know what has gone on in this room.”
“Yes…. Yes I have heard some of the girls whispers in the dark of what has happened here m’lord, they call you an animal, wild, they say your eyes turn dark red and the very devil comes from his hells to take over your body.”
“Yet it does not frighten you that I have called upon your service tonight? It does not frighten you to be in this room?”
“No M’lord”
“Very well, here, the basin is in the next room. Take your time girl, we have all night”.
He hands her the basket, and sits down in the midst of his ‘toys’. Watching her, he too notices the outline her thighs make in her skirts, and licks his lips delighting in the pain he may give them. He watches her kneel, and go to work. The hair escaping from the bondage of her braid, cascading down her back, it is so long, it almost hits the floor. He slides her a pillow to kneel on, rests his hands behind his head, kicks his feet up on the table, and continues to watch her.
She turns and looks at him, noticing the pillow, and smiles gently. She slides it under her knees, and almost makes an audible sigh as it relieves the tension in her knees. She dips his shirt into the water, taking care not to let it hit the bottom of the basin, then starts dragging her nails across it, wringing the dirt out and pressing a bar of soap to the fabric. Wringing out, and pressing, over and over she washes. It takes a few hours, she never pauses, nor does he ever leave. Finally she presses the last shirt into the basin, one last time of scrubbing and wringing, she hangs it out to dry.
She turns and looks at him, her fingers rough and worn. He gently smiles, his gaze never leaving her. He watched her, watched her muscles under her clothing watched the way her fingers took care to not snag the fabric. He watched as she never stopped, never paused, and never complained. He watched her hair escape and drop down her back, the sweat dripping from her bow; the way the candlelight accentuated her curves each time she got up to fetch another piece of clothing. He knew she was strong, stronger than any of the rest. He knew that she was different.
“Come here girl.” He flicks his fingers, drawing her to him. “I have another task for you.”
“Yes, m’lord?”
His black, depthless eyes twinkle wickedly at her as he draws his breath, seeing how far he can take her, “I want you to take off your clothing, and wash them also. When you are finished, I want you to lay them next to mine, and come into the next room.”
“M’lord?”
“Neelahn! I have given you an order and I will not give it again. Get to it girl!”
“Yes m’lord.”
He blows out all of the candles in the room, and sits, where he did earlier. His feet this time, planted firmly on the ground. He watches her, as she takes off her clothes, first her skirts, sliding them down her slender legs, next she unties her bodice, it slides off her, leaving her breasts free in the air. They gently bounce as she gathers her clothing up, and kneels again on the pillow, her bare back facing him. He watches her again this time, closely paying attention to every detail, every movement. His eyes flicker as she dips her clothing into the water, it splashes up, dripping against her throat, and sliding down her breasts, he watches as it makes her nipple hard. He takes his eyes off of her for a moment, and to his walls of toys. He has used each of them before. From the whips, to the ropes he wonders what her pale skin would look like bound, red, and welted from being bonded. His tongue darts out, his mind thoroughly whetted with the idea.