Re: The Fallen Prince (F/M) (Fantasy) (Part 26 added)
Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2023 12:15 am
@DallasNotAustin @TripleZero @crow3467 @charliesmith @VoidEmperor224 @Simo @Pleasurechip95 @harveygasson @Syko Sith @Roboticrobin20 Thanks for commenting enjoy part twenty seven!
Chapter 27
Lothair could not help but agree with Mira when she told him to leave through the window because someone was looking for him downstairs. Even though in the end what Mira wanted to do with him was pretty much the same the woman below wanted, or at least Lothair thought so, he somehow felt safer with Mira.
So with the aid of a rope they descended down the window and once below they walked away from the inn and towards the woods as fast as they could, leaving behind a dress whose origin will remain a mystery for most.
Upon reaching the cover of the forest the two calmed down, not expecting whoever that woman was to chase down Mira there because of a mere suspicion.
Only then did Lothair realize that Mira had, for the first time since she captured him, allowed him to remain untied. But apparently she took notice of the same thing at the exact same time, and soon she was taking out loops of rope from her bag.
“You didn’t think I would forget did you?” Mira asked as she looked at Lothair, pretending not to have forgotten about it.
Lothair quickly resigned to his fate and allowed Mira to do what she had bene doing for the last few days, she tied his hands in front of him and looped a rope between his wrists to lead him around like if it was a leash.
What Mira did forget about was to gag Lothair, but as it turned out, that didn’t change much. Things became uncomfortable, well, more uncomfortable between them after what they did on that Inn, so neither of them was feeling in the mood for a conversation, and considering where they were going and what they were to do there, it made even more sense.
Their destination appeared in the horizon at dusk, showing itself as a mere collection of lights which dimly revealed the silhouette of a city. It was the town known as Swampcross, named after the crossing of two rivers and of course, a swamp.
It is said that the place was not always like that, that in the time it was built the place was far nicer, the crossing of two rivers of crystalline waters in the middle of a forest. But time and human action had turned that once pristine place into a less than hospitable place.
A constantly wet swamp dominated by the noise of buzzing insects, in the middle of which stood the once large city today known as Swampcross, a town of dilapidated stone buildings slowly sinking into the soft ground atop which precarious buildings of wood and hay had been erected.
Before leaving the safety of the forest and walk towards the city Mira made a stop and turned back to address Lothair.
“Well, now we have to get in there and you’ll have to play the part of my prisoner, so I guess this is the time for goodbyes” Mira spoke “I know you probably don’t think highly of me, you’ve your reasons, but I must stay that meeting you was strangely nice”
Lothair stayed silent for a few seconds as he thought of a response, he could not believe this moment had finally arrived, and he quickly began to miss even the days when he was Mira’s captive, because he so desperately wanted to remain out of that dark abyss they all Blacktomb.
“It was nice meeting you too” Lothair replied lowly, not daring to look at Mira.
Mira sighed, she felt bad for the prince yet she was far past the point of regretting anything, she laid a hand on his shoulder without thinking much, since when she did she quickly realized she was in no position to comfort him.
“I’ll have to gag you now” She said as she showed Lothair the same with cloth he had become so used to.
Again Lothair sighed and resigned to his fate, allowing Mira to gag him once again.
“I’m sorry…” Mira said as she stroked Lothair’s hair.
With fear Mira stepped out of the woods and on the road, what she was doing was now plain to see and if anyone saw her she would have to explain what she had done, she already had a story about how she was a bounty hunter how caught the prince after he escaped, but she would rather not find herself on a situation where she had to tell it.
Lothair was more ashamed than afraid, being lead around tied up and gagged by Mira was already humiliating enough, but that happening on the road where everyone could see him was much worse, even if there was nobody around to see them.
Eventually Mira had to explain herself when she was halted by the guards at the entrance of swampcross. She told them the story she had device, and ended it with a humble request to deliver the duchess of Swampcross herself.
The guards were glad to do so and escorted her and her captive into the city, walking down the main muddy road where many curious onlookers had their attention caught by the unusual sight.
Quickly people began to murmur on the deep about the identity of the bound man and it wasn’t long before someone recognized him as the face they had become used to see on coins, and once word of it spread around the booing began.
The guards managed to cut short the many attempts of people to throw something at the prince, and thankfully those who managed missed him. This situation got Mira and her escorts to speed up their pace towards the castle in the middle of the town, to which they arrived shortly after.
Once inside the guards were the ones to explain the situation to the people of the castle, whose annoyance with the interruption soon turned intrigue and curiosity when it was revealed to them that the outlaw prince had been captured and taken before them
The guards would’ve taken Lothair directly to the duchess herself, but Mira insisted on being present when she delivered him, the guards were clearly annoyed, but not wanting to cause a scene there in the castle they agreed to Mira’s demands and went looking for the duchess.
Mira and Lothair were made to wait in a hall in the sole company of the guards there, and a few castle servants who only dared to look at them briefly between their tasks. The room felt far bigger than it was in that solitude and silence, even Lothair, who had grown accustomed to the monumentality of the royal castle, felt as if he was in a space far to large for him.
Mira looked at Lothair only once, and the sadness she saw on his face was enough to convince her not to look again, lest her emotions would get the best of her and make her do something stupid.
Eventually the duchess appeared, making a grandiose appearance out of a large door at the end of the room where she came out flanked by two guards on each side.
It was not the same woman Mira had seen years ago, but she still invoked the same visceral hate her predecessor did. She was younger than the woman Mira remembered, only appearing to be slightly older than Mira and Lothair. Much like Mira had presumed, she was the daughter of the woman who had taken her sister, and it showed in her features.
The new duchess shared with her mother her long red hair, pale skin and blue eyes, the sharp features of her face also resembled very much those of her mother. And Mira could swear that she had once seen that red and white dress on the duchess who had taken her sister away from her.
But Mira was not surprised by the sight of this young woman in place of the duchess. Because as much as she would have liked to take her sister away from the woman who had stolen her, she knew that such thing was something she would never manage to do, so she had to wait until that hag was replaced. And she felt like the opportunity couldn’t have presented itself on a better moment.
“Oh my, it seems like my guards were speaking the truth, I would recognize that pretty face wherever I saw it” She spoke as she walked towards the pair “Prince Lothair, the murderer prince, delivered right into my castle, to whom do I owe such an honor”
“I am a mere bounty hunter who got lucky, that’s all” Mira replied “Just thought you’d be interested in him”
Mira tugged the rope holding Lothair’s wrists and pulled him closer to the duchess, who subtly licked her lips in a gesture Lothair didn’t not manage to see, since his gaze was buried on the floor.
“I suspect that as a bounty hunter you expect a reward” The duchess spoke “How much do you want for him?”
“There is already a set amount for him, but I’m not really interested in money” Mira replied “I would like to propose you a different deal duchess”
Mira received suspicious looks not only from the duchess but also from her guards, who seemed ready to unsheathe their weapons, but the duchess ended up ordering to stand aside.
“I suspected so, after all, if you were interested in the reward you would’ve taken him back to Blacktomb wouldn’t you?” The duchess spoke with a grin on her face, as she already had suspicions about Mira’s intentions “What is it then, that I have that cannot be compared with the reward offered for our prince”
“I want one of your servants” Mira spoke “Her name is Melusine, I think she was taken here years ago”
The duchess scratched her chin as she thought for a few seconds, the air reeked of tension, Mira did not know what she would do if the duchess refused, and despite how much she wanted to see her dead, she hoped she would not have to draw her sword.
“Melusine?” Interesting, may I ask why do you want her?” The duchess replied.
“I know someone who wants to marry her, but he cannot do so while she is your servant, so he paid me to do this task” Mira lied.
As Lothair heard Mira’s story, which was nothing alike what he had been told, he began to fear he had been duped by Mira’s more sympathetic story about rescuing her sister, was it possible that she had lied to him to make him more compliant? Even though he wanted to believe the story she had told him, at that moment he really began to wonder if Mira had lied to him, if she had really been able to make such a lie.
“I see…” The duchess replied “Even though I can’t see who would like to do such thing, I can see why would someone take money for releasing Melusine, I accept your deal”
Mira breathed a sigh of relief after she heard those words, she had briefly feared that she had done everything for nothing.
“Men, take the prince to the stockade, show him off to the people, but make sure he stays unharmed, I want him in pristine condition” The duchess spoke.
“Mpghg!” Lothair complained as he was taken by the guards.
Mira looked down as regret ate away her heart, as someone who had already been on the duchess’ less favored side she knew what most likely was in store for him.
The duchess excused herself and left the room after the guards, leaving Mira alone with the silent company of some guards and castle servants, among which she desperately tried to find her sister.
The place known as the stockade was a relatively low balcony overlooking the main plaza, intended for the ruler of the castle to address Swapcross’ population. However, it had been long since the duchess felt the need to give public speeches, which left the balcony to become the place which they now called the stockade.
Stocks intended to display prisoners now laid around the balcony, they appeared to be terribly uncomfortable, and the unfortunate souls which had been placed on them knew that they were.
But Lothair was not brought to one of them.
Under the smug look of the duchess, Lothair was brought to a wooden post resembling a pyre, with his only guarantees of not being burned alive were the facts that he was wanted alive and that there was not enough wood below him to be burned.
But as he looked before him Lothair quickly realized why his new captress had decided that the pyre was a better place for him, from there he could overlook the whole plaza, and more importantly, the people there could look at him.
As the guards tied Lothair’s hands above his head behind the post, a crowd began to form in the plaza, and again they were quick to recognize the murderous prince as the man being tied to the pyre.
“People of swampcross, my loyal subjects” The duchess addressed the crowd “This night, I am pleased to inform you that I, your duchess, has captured the outlaw murderous prince, and that I will be the one to take him back to justice”
The crowd seemed to erupt after they heard the duchess’ words. This broke Lothair’s heart, it seemed like people really believed that he was a murderer, and that made him wonder if he had been a fool for even having hopes about the contrary being true.
“Feel free to gawk at his exposed body as I display him here, but do not harm him” The duchess ordered “The kingdom and I want him unharmed, so anyone found trying to hurt him will soon take his place”
With that threat to her people the duchess left and reentered the castle, leaving Lothair bound and exposed before a crowd of people and flanked by two rough looking guards.
For all that Mira hated the duchess, she was relied to see her return. While she was alone in the hall, she had been unable to stop thinking about Lothair and what was being done to them, and the relief of finally being able to reunite with her sister did little to harm her, as she still hadn’t see her.
So when the duchess came back it meant that she could at least be partly distracted by what she had to do, and think a bit less about what she had already done.
“Would you like to stay the night young lady?” The duchess asked “Night will soon be upon us, and after what you did for me you have my hospitality”
“I would prefer to leave now” Mira replied.
“I insist” The duchess said in response “Melusine must also be tired, you wouldn’t want to travel by night with her like that wouldn’t you”
Mira remained silent, she desperately wanted to get away from that woman but she could not risk antagonizing her, for she already knew where that could get her.
“I can stay then, but I must leave tomorrow in the morning” Mira replied “The man who hired me is impatient”
“Welcome to my castle then” The duchess said affably “Come with me, dinner should be ready in a few moments and you have earned a place with me there”
After a whole life of living as an urchin Mira could not help but feel out of place in the lavish banquet that was prepared for the duchess and her court. And while she would have liked to indulge in all the pleasures that had been kept away from her during her whole life, that sensation of feeling out of place did not allow her to, and every time she tried she was quickly reminded of two people, her sister, whom she had yet to see, and Lothair, of whom she desperate wanted not to think about.
Unbeknownst to Mira, the duchess had absented herself from the dinner to look for one of her servants. Melusine was working in the kitchen that day, and when the duchess showed herself there and instructed her to follow her outside she felt her body become rigid in fear. The duchess talking to her servants in such a direct manner rarely lead to something good.
Once outside, the duchess and Melusine stepped beside a window and there the duchess instructed her servant to look inside the room, and to look at someone in particular.
“Do you recognize that woman?” The duchess asked.
“Mira…” Melsuine murmured without realizing she was speaking out loud.
“Do you?” The duchess asked imperatively.
Melusine fell silent, she knew very well who she was looking at but she quickly began to wonder whether or not she should be truthful in her answer.
“Do you want another visit to the dungeons Melusine, after being so well behaved?” The duchess asked “It has been so long since you’ve been there, do you really want to go back there?”
Melusine felt her body begin to tremble as the duchess’ threats reached her ears, she knew that none of those threats were something the duchess was not capable of.
“Do you want to lose all the privileges you’ve earned? To go back to cleaning bathrooms and floors?” The duchess asked as she dragged Melusine away from the window and towards her “If you don’t just tell me, who is that woman”
“She is my sister, Mira” The maid cracked under the duchess threats.
The duchess let go of her maid and looked inside again, she had heard of Melusine’s sister before, she never expected to see her in person after hearing that she had fled Swampcross, but she couldn’t help but smile when she ended up doing so.
“Consider your privileges safe” The duchess said as she walked away “Now be a good maid and get back to work”
When the duchess returned she invited her guests with a serving of a finely aged wine, a generosity which surprised most but that she excused by saying that it was a celebration for the prince’s capture, which felt like a dagger in her heart for Mira, who was immediately reminded of what she had done to Lothair.
The pain brought by guilt of remembering what she did to someone she was beginning to care for, and of whom she had grown to realize his innocence, was so distracting that Mira did not suspect anything about the wine when her cup was brought to her, and who knows what would have happed if she had.
A few moments after drinking the wine Mira began to feel tired, she tried to appear undisturbed at first, but she slowly realized that the tiredness she was feeling was not normal. It was then when she made the connection with the wine she had drank, but it was too late.
Mira looked at the duchess, who smiled smugly at her, clearly seeing the tiredness on her face.
“Our guest seems tired, guards, why don’t you take her to a room?” The duchess said as she signaled to the two armored men on the entrance.
Mira would have liked to resist, to at least say something, but before she could gather the strength to do so her body failed her and she fell asleep before the guards could even lay hands on her.
Mira woke up to the feeling of cold, hard stone below her, uncomfortable even for her standards. She quickly sat up as to not rest her face on the cold stone beneath her, and the sound of rattling chains as she moved confirmed her fears.
She had been chained, her hands shackled behind her back and her ankles shackled together, with the later restraint being chained to the wall behind her. The dark room she was in was undeniably a dungeon, herself being on a dark barred cell barely illuminated by the dim light of a dying torch outside.
She struggled more out of frustration than out of a will to escape, because even though she wanted to be anywhere but there, she knew that she had no hopes of escaping chains, let alone iron bars.
Mira ceased her struggles when the sound of a door being opened outside her cell, followed by the sound of heels against the stone floor, alerted her of someone’s presence, and she didn’t have to guess who it was.
The duchess showed herself at the edge of light outside Mira’s cell, resting her hands on her hips and with a smug smile on her face, she was gloating over the chained woman.
Mira stood up to look to be at the duchess’ level and glared at her.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out who you are?” The duchess asked “Mira…”
“How do you know?” Mira answered trying to salvage whatever was left of her credibility.
“I had it from a good source” The duchess replied “It seems your sister still remembers your face”
“My sister?” Mira tried to fake ignorance.
“Yes, your sister Melusine” The duchess quickly replied “I know who you are, so stop trying to deceive me or there will be consequences, for you, and maybe for your sister too”
“Don’t you dare to touch her…” Mira said, ceasing all attempts at deceiving that woman and letting her emotions speak as she walked as close to the bars as her chains allowed her.
The duchess laughed at Mira’s impotence, which made her prisoner rattle in her chains to no avail in frustration, which the duchess continued to find amusing.
“I must say though, your plan to get your sister back was very original” The duchess chuckled “It won’t be enough for me to forgive what you did to my mother, but it may get you to keep your life, as my servant of course”
“I’d rather die than serve you!” Mira replied angrily.
“Shall I turn you in with the prince then?” The duchess mocked “Perhaps the kingdom’s authorities would gladly grant your wish of death”
Mira silently glared at the duchess, she was filled with rage yet impotent to do anything, held back by the cold metal of her chains. She could still speak, but she felt as if her words would not do any justice to the anger in her heart.
“Perhaps you don’t desire death as much as you think” The duchess said “I’ll leave you to think about it, on the meantime I think I will entertain myself with the gift you were so kind to bring me”
Lothair felt his body on the brink of collapse, he had been precariously leaning against the rough pyre, with his hands tied over his head and his torso and ankles tightly tied to the post that he began to miss even the floor of his cell in Blacktomb.
But the pain was not limited to his body, the words he heard from the crowd harmed him in a deeper way, seeing what people thought of him, the low image they had of someone who was once supposed to be their king, it was heartbreaking for Lothair, who was even starting to wonder what good it would be if he escaped, after all his people had already condemned him.
The only thing that eased the pain in his heart was hearing a group of people scream ‘we know you are innocent prince!’. Which brought him so much joy that for a brief moment his body gained the energy to struggle against the ropes and try to see who were the people who had dared to say such thing.
But the hope brought to him by this event was short lived, for the people who had been brave enough to speak such thing were quickly chased away by guards, and Lothair could only hope that they were not caught.
Eventually the guards received the order to take the prince back inside, by that time Lothair was only kept away by his restraints forcing him on that uncomfortable posture and little else. He nearly fell down when he was untied from the pyre and the guards pretty much had to drag him inside.
Lothair lived the walk through the insides of the castle as a fever dream. Barely awake he could only make out the rough outlines of the shapes he saw while the words he heard sounded like gibberish to him.
This seeming trace only ended when Lothair was taken inside a warm steamy room, which brought energy to his freezing body. Once inside the ropes tying his hands were removed and the guards let go of his body, letting him to nearly fall on the floor, narrowly stopping his fall with his hands.
After the guards left the room Lothair looked around to see where he was. It was a bath, a room of white stone and dark wood, and the steam was coming from a large tub in the middle, seemingly filled with hot water.
“The duchess wants you to bathe prince” Lothair heard a feminine voice echoing from across the room.
The voice reminded him of Mira and for good reason, the woman speaking to him was Melusine, but when he turned and saw not Mira, but an eerily similar woman in a maid uniform in one of the corners of the room he was slightly disappointed.
“I’ve been tasked with helping you bathe; do you need assistance undressing?” Melusine asked.
Lothair began to undress himself as an answer, feeling reluctant to talk but eager to shower. After all it had been days since he had known the feeling of soap and warm water, because it blacktomb water was always cold and soap was scarce even for the guards.
The prince found that due to the tiredness he felt much less shame about undressing in front of someone, because he knew that had he not been so tired he would have never agreed to undress before a woman he did not know.
Once undressed Lothair stepped inside the tub and welcomed the feeling of hot water. Being able to forget all that was happening for a few seconds due to the pleasure brought to him.
Lothair’s calm trance was brought to an end when Melusine began to rub soap against his back, with her sole touch being enough to cause the prince to twitch.
“Calm down, I am not going to hurt you” Melusine said after the prince had moved away from her “All I have to do is clean you”
Again with no words spoken, Lothair calmed down and allowed the maid to do her job. She also gave him a soap for himself so he could clean the rest of his body, which he was thankful about.
“Can I ask you a question?” Lothair broke the silence.
“Sure…” Melusine replied with surprise as she stopped rubbing the prince’s back “What is it?”
“Do you really think I am a murderer?” Lothair asked.
Melusine resumed rubbing the prince’s back as she thought of an answer.
“I don’t know” Melusine replied “You certainly not seem like one, but I know that appearances can be deceitful, but I also know that not all laws are fair and that no procedure is fool proof, so again, I don’t know”
Lothair fell silent, it wasn’t as condemning as hearing he was a murderer, but neither it was as calm as hearing he was innocent. But he would have much rather have the kingdom think like Melusine than have them deceived as they were now.
“Mira brought you here didn’t she?” Melusine asked.
“Do you know her?” Lothair asked as he looked at the woman over his shoulder.
“I am her sister, Melusine”
Lothair was relieved to know that at least Mira had not lied to her, and after breathing a sigh of relief he answered affirmatively.
“She told me you’d be freed if she gave me over to the duchess…” Lothair explained.
“That girl… Always to bold for her own good…” Melusine replied.
“Despite all I think she was justified…” Lothair spoke “I have no siblings, but I like to think that I’d do the same for them if something like what happened to you happened to them”
“Yet here I remain…” Melusine sighed.
Lothair looked over his shoulder again, only then did he realize such an obvious fact.
“Mira doesn’t have the best history with this duchess’ family, and I’m sorry to say that it ended up ruining her plan” Melusine said as she continued to clean the prince.
Lothair felt himself on the brink of tears, had he suffered for nothing? Not even Mira would have something to celebrate?
“What do you mean?” Lothair asked, as if any response could ease his pain.
“Years ago Mira killed the duchess’ mother in an attempt to rescue me” Melusine explained with melancholy “But before she could reach me she was chased away and almost caught, she fled the city afterwards and I hadn’t seen her since then until today”
“I didn’t know…”
“She came back because she knew that the new duchess wouldn’t recognize her face, but she made me speak…” Mira shed a tear “I’m sorry…”
Loud bangs on the room door brought both Melusine and Lothair out of their conversation, from outside guards demanded the prince to hurry, because the duchess was impatient.
Melsuine instructed the prince to finish quickly, which he did. He dried himself up as fast as he could and began looking for clothes, only to receive a rather small piece of silky white cloth that Melusine said was all that the duchess wanted him to wear.
With all the shame the situation called for having returned to the prince Lothair shamfully tied the piece of cloth around his hips, leaving it to narrowly cover his privates and little else.
“I’m sorry but I was instructed to tie your hands” Melusine spoke as she showed the prince a narrow piece of cloth, similar to the one he had used to dress himself.
Already used to it, the prince turned his back to Melusine and allowed her to tie his hands behind his back, securing his wrists crossed together and tightly bound by the silky material.
“I’m sorry…” Melusine repeated as she walked the prince towards the door.
There, the prince was handed over to a single guard which walked him to the duchess’ room. Lothair was thankful about the room being so close and that no people were around to see him aside from the guard, which already made him ashamed despite him not laying eyes directly on him a single time.
After walking on the cold walkway Lothair was glad to see that the insides of the duchess’ room were warm, heated up by a lively fireplace. The duchess herself was sitting on a couch at the end of her large bed, her dress gone and now only dressed on a loose red nightgown, with a cup of equally red wine on one hand.
The guard left the room closed the door behind him, leaving Lothair in the sole company of his new captress who began to lustfully eye him after taking one last sip of her wine.
“Hello my prince, why don’t you come closer” The duchess spoke with a slight hint of drunkenness in her voice.
Against his best interest, Lothair walked towards the duchess. Once he stood before her, with her ordering to stop once he was close enough to her.
While Lothair was too ashamed of being seen in his almost naked state by that woman, the duchess felt no shame in eyeing the prince’s body, lusting over the soft yet firm and defined features of his bare chest and abdomen.
“On your knees Lothair” The woman ordered him.
Again Lothair obeyed, kneeling in front of the duchess whom he still didn’t dare to look at.
“Look at me” She ordered Lothair as she grabbed him by the jaw and forced his gaze up, giving him no chance of disobeying her “You don’t remember me don’t you?”
Like it was usual in circumstances like this, Lothair found himself to overwhelmed with shame to utter any verbal response and after a few seconds of silence managed to shake his head despite the duchess’ firm grip on his face.
“I see, I can’t say I’m surprised but I’m still disappointed” The duchess spoke “We met a few years ago, during your birthday, I see you forgot me like most of the girls you met that day, but don’t worry, I’ll leave an impression now”
“Athela…” Lothair mubled.
“So you do remember me!” The duchess said happily “So then, doesn’t this bring back memories?”
Lothair gulped as he was forced to remember the last time he had been tied up by Athela. He was scared at the time, but his innocent fear of what Athela was going to do to him in their game of capture the flag could not compare to the fear she instilled on him now.
“I remember that Jean stopped me right before I could spend some time with you” Athela said as she caressed the prince’s hair “But it seems we got some time together after all…”
“What are you going to do to me?” Lothair asked with fear in his voice.
“Something I wanted to do since I saw you that day…” The duchess said as she grabbed something which laid on the couch beside her.
To Lothair, the item seemed like a strap of black leather which in the middle held an iron ring of good size, which for the most part had also been covered in black leather.
“Open your mouth prince, I’m going to need it” the duchess said as she grabbed both ends of the leather strap and put it right in front Lothair’s face.
Fearful of what complying might entail, but more afraid of where not doing so could get him, Lothair slowly opened his mouth and awaited whatever the duchess had planned for him.
Without waiting for Lothair’s mouth to be fully opened, the duchess forced the ring inside the prince’s mouth and buckled both ends of the leather strap which held the gag together tightly behind his head.
Lothair looked down to try to get a glimpse of what that gag was doing to his face, of course he did not see it, but he could feel it. It was strenuous on his jaw and it quickly began to make him drool profusely, and with no easy way to swallow his saliva soon began to fall out of his mouth.
Meanwhile the duchess leaned back on the couch and as she looked at the prince squirm in his restrains with an expression of utter shame on his face, she began to open her legs.
The movement made Lothair look before him, and as the duchess continued to open her legs he saw before him her privates in full display. Lothair’s face turned red and he tried to look away, but he was caught by the duchess by his hair.
“Don’t be a coward my prince, you know what you have to do don’t you?”
“Hghghg” Lothair groaned as he shook his head with difficulty.
“Oh… they don’t teach you to pleasure women in the castle?” The duchess asked teasingly “Then have it be the last thing you learn before you get thrown back in jail”
With an abrupt movement the duchess forced the prince’s head between her legs, and when he instinctively tried to pull away from her crotch he found out that the duchess had wrapped her legs around his head, putting him in thigh lock which he could not escape from.
“Start licking my prince” The duchess ordered “Do it well and I may reconsider turning you in”
Mira had surrendered to just sulking in her cell, she had already tried everything, kicking the door, pulling the chain that bound her to the wall, nothing worked, she was truly stuck.
She sat down and looked with impotence at her chains, the irony of how she had broken Lothair out of jail to turn him back in and how that ended up with her also on either the way to jail or to submission towards her captress did not help.
The dark silent monotony of her imprisonment was broken when after what seemed like hours of meeting with the duchess she heard someone enter the room, at first she expected it to be the duchess again, so she was already glaring at the barred entrance of her cell, but as the steps got closer she began to suspect, or to hope, that perhaps her visitor was someone else.
It sounded different from the characteristic noise of high heels against the stone floor, slightly quieter, and something about the pace of the sound, and therefore of the person walking, just felt different from what she had heard when the duchess came into the dungeons.
When Melusine showed herself at the edge of light where the duchess once stood Mira did not know how to react. Should she be happy about seeing her sister? Or maybe ashamed about being seen in that state? Her confusion rendered her silent, and her sister was the one to take the initiative.
“Hi Mira” She spoke “Its good to see you despite the circumstances”
“I’m sorry you have to see me like this” Mira said regretfully “I was supposed to save you, and yet here I am”
“Don’t feel bad, I appreciate what you tried to do for me regardless of your success” Melusine replied “And you didn’t kill anyone this time”
“Oh you know she deserved to die!” Mira complained.
“This is not the time for arguing, I’m sorry about bringing that up” Melusine replied as she began to rummage her pockets.
Mira looked at her with confusion and was overcome with a pleasant surprise when she saw her retrieve a set of keys from her pocket.
“I am risking all of the privileges I’ve earned by doing this, but I wont let that woman have you” Melusine said after throwing the keys inside her sister’s cell “I left what I could salvage of your equipment beside the dungeon exit”
“Melusine…” Mira muttered with disbelief.
“I will only ask you for one thing” Melusine interrupted her sister “Take the prince with you, I don’t care what you do with him but don’t let the duchess have him”
“What? I should take you with me!” Mira replied, again unable to believe the words her sister was speaking.
“I will acquire my freedom on my own, I was close to do so until you showed up and forced me to rescue you” Melusine replied with a slight hint of anger in her voice, her role as the older sister more than showing “I don’t know if the prince is innocent, all I know is that much like you he doesn’t deserve to suffer whatever the duchess wants to do to him”
“Melsuine, I swear I will make this up to you” Mira said “I will return and save you…”
“Please don’t, I can acquire freedom on my own, and your help hasn’t done much for me” Melusine replied sternly “Now be so kind as to wait for a while after I leave, and then go fix the mess you started”
With no more words spoken Melusine left her sister alone in the dungeons again, where she quickly began to work on releasing herself from the chains.
After what to Lothair felt like more than enough time licking the duchess finally let out a deep long moan and released Lothair’ from her legs, allowing him to pull back and breath in some fresh air, although with considerable difficulty due to his gag.
“At last, took you long enough” The duchess said as she slouched on the couch “But it really seems like you were not taught to do this in the castle, so I think I’ll have to go for a different approach.
“Mghgg?” Lothair tried to ask as he looked up at the duchess, wasn’t this already over? What did she want to do now?
“On the bed, now” The duchess ordered.
With difficulty, Lothair stood up and with a slow pace obeyed the duchess orders. He tried to sit gracefully at the edge of the bed, but his clumsiness brought by tiredness made him fall face down on the bed. Unbeknownst to him, exactly how the duchess wanted him.
The duchess went to the bed after Lothair, of which he took notice once he felt her weight on his back, she was straddling him.
“I am going to remove this for a few seconds, so let me remind you of something” The duchess said as she grabbed Lothair’s bound hands and moved to whisper to his ear “Outside that door there are two armed guards, they will not kill you since you are wanted alive, but they can do a lot of things to you while keeping you alive”
Even though Lothair did not have plans to try anything, already feeling it to be pointless, the duchess’ threat still seeded fear into his mind, enough for him to be yet even more compliant.
Like she said she’d do, the duchess untied Lothair’s hands, only to tie them in front of him shortly after to then tie them above his head to the bed’s headboard. Still straddling him, the duchess then faced away from him and sat atop his thighs.
“I’ll need your legs still for this” She said before tying Lothair’s ankles together and to the bottom of the bed with the same silky material that was used on his hands.
Once Lothair found himself outstretched in the middle of the bed the duchess straddled him sitting atop his abdomen, and with her bottom she slightly rubbed the prince’s cock, but she made sure he noticed it.
“It seems I won’t have to do much work” The duchess said as she saw Lothair’s face get even more red than before “What are pervert you are my prince”
Lothair’s shame and fear began to mix with guilt? Why was he like this? Why did her body derive such enjoyment from such demeaning, humiliating situations, why did he enjoy being at the mercy of women who saw him as a mere prisoner? All questions that went through the prince’s head as he tried to distract himself from the sensation of the duchess pulling down his pants.
Once his erection was fully exposed, the duchess grabbed it and rose slightly above the mattress to finally get things started Lothair began to wish that he was with Mira instead, someone to whom he could simply say no and get her to stop. Because despite what his body showed, Lothair did not want things to keep going at all.
But life if his thoughts summoned her, Lothair heard Mira’s voice, and what he at first thought to be a delusion soon proved itself to be a reality.
“Get away from him!” Mira shouted from the door.
She was standing above the unconscious bodies of the two guards and had a hand crossbow pointed directly at the duchess. Neither Lothair nor the duchess could believe what they were seeing.
“How did you…”
Mira sharply gestured to the duchess to get away from Lothair with her crossbow, to which the duchess, who was far angrier than she was scared, raised her hands above her head and obeyed, moving to stand beside the bed.
“Hands behind your back now” Mira said as she grabbed some rope her sister had salvaged from her equipment.
“I don’t know how you escaped, but you won’t get far” The duchess threatened as Mira began to tie her hands behind her back “I have guards everywhere, and don’t forget I have your sister too”
Those words made Mira take a dagger from her belt and place directly against the duchess’ neck, were she to slide the blade even slightly, the duchess’ life would have bled out of her seconds.
“I know you do, so remember this” Mira said as she pressed the dagger against the duchess neck as much as she could without hurting her “The only reason your blood has not been spilled on the ground yet is because of her, so be thankful and leave her alone”
The duchess was able to breathe again once Mira took the dagger away from her neck and went back to tying her, this time running rope below her breasts to pin her arms to her back. She tried to hide it, but she was more afraid than she had ever been.
“I’m borrowing this…” Mira said as she removed the gag from Lothair’s mouth.
The prince was immensely relieved to be ungagged, but his relief was also because the duchess had been stopped before she could do anything with him on the bed, and also because he was more glad to see Mira again than he wanted to admit.
After tying the duchess legs together at the ankles and knees, and with difficulty applying the gag she had used on Lothair in her mouth, Mira pushed the duchess onto the floor and again pointed a dagger against her face.
“As much as I’d love to make a piece of art out of that face of yours I’m going to leave unscathed” Mira spoke, knowing very well that she was instilling fear in the duchess “And if I ever get notice of you laying a finger on my sister, I will come back and if that happens you’d have to pray for me to show you this kindness again”
Leaving the duchess with the sole fear of her threat as her company, Mira quickly moved to the bed to cut Lothair free, and the prince quickly began to shower Mira with thanks.
“No need to thank me, we can just say that we’re even now” Mira cut off Lothair “Let’s leave this place now, together”
Chapter 27
Lothair could not help but agree with Mira when she told him to leave through the window because someone was looking for him downstairs. Even though in the end what Mira wanted to do with him was pretty much the same the woman below wanted, or at least Lothair thought so, he somehow felt safer with Mira.
So with the aid of a rope they descended down the window and once below they walked away from the inn and towards the woods as fast as they could, leaving behind a dress whose origin will remain a mystery for most.
Upon reaching the cover of the forest the two calmed down, not expecting whoever that woman was to chase down Mira there because of a mere suspicion.
Only then did Lothair realize that Mira had, for the first time since she captured him, allowed him to remain untied. But apparently she took notice of the same thing at the exact same time, and soon she was taking out loops of rope from her bag.
“You didn’t think I would forget did you?” Mira asked as she looked at Lothair, pretending not to have forgotten about it.
Lothair quickly resigned to his fate and allowed Mira to do what she had bene doing for the last few days, she tied his hands in front of him and looped a rope between his wrists to lead him around like if it was a leash.
What Mira did forget about was to gag Lothair, but as it turned out, that didn’t change much. Things became uncomfortable, well, more uncomfortable between them after what they did on that Inn, so neither of them was feeling in the mood for a conversation, and considering where they were going and what they were to do there, it made even more sense.
Their destination appeared in the horizon at dusk, showing itself as a mere collection of lights which dimly revealed the silhouette of a city. It was the town known as Swampcross, named after the crossing of two rivers and of course, a swamp.
It is said that the place was not always like that, that in the time it was built the place was far nicer, the crossing of two rivers of crystalline waters in the middle of a forest. But time and human action had turned that once pristine place into a less than hospitable place.
A constantly wet swamp dominated by the noise of buzzing insects, in the middle of which stood the once large city today known as Swampcross, a town of dilapidated stone buildings slowly sinking into the soft ground atop which precarious buildings of wood and hay had been erected.
Before leaving the safety of the forest and walk towards the city Mira made a stop and turned back to address Lothair.
“Well, now we have to get in there and you’ll have to play the part of my prisoner, so I guess this is the time for goodbyes” Mira spoke “I know you probably don’t think highly of me, you’ve your reasons, but I must stay that meeting you was strangely nice”
Lothair stayed silent for a few seconds as he thought of a response, he could not believe this moment had finally arrived, and he quickly began to miss even the days when he was Mira’s captive, because he so desperately wanted to remain out of that dark abyss they all Blacktomb.
“It was nice meeting you too” Lothair replied lowly, not daring to look at Mira.
Mira sighed, she felt bad for the prince yet she was far past the point of regretting anything, she laid a hand on his shoulder without thinking much, since when she did she quickly realized she was in no position to comfort him.
“I’ll have to gag you now” She said as she showed Lothair the same with cloth he had become so used to.
Again Lothair sighed and resigned to his fate, allowing Mira to gag him once again.
“I’m sorry…” Mira said as she stroked Lothair’s hair.
With fear Mira stepped out of the woods and on the road, what she was doing was now plain to see and if anyone saw her she would have to explain what she had done, she already had a story about how she was a bounty hunter how caught the prince after he escaped, but she would rather not find herself on a situation where she had to tell it.
Lothair was more ashamed than afraid, being lead around tied up and gagged by Mira was already humiliating enough, but that happening on the road where everyone could see him was much worse, even if there was nobody around to see them.
Eventually Mira had to explain herself when she was halted by the guards at the entrance of swampcross. She told them the story she had device, and ended it with a humble request to deliver the duchess of Swampcross herself.
The guards were glad to do so and escorted her and her captive into the city, walking down the main muddy road where many curious onlookers had their attention caught by the unusual sight.
Quickly people began to murmur on the deep about the identity of the bound man and it wasn’t long before someone recognized him as the face they had become used to see on coins, and once word of it spread around the booing began.
The guards managed to cut short the many attempts of people to throw something at the prince, and thankfully those who managed missed him. This situation got Mira and her escorts to speed up their pace towards the castle in the middle of the town, to which they arrived shortly after.
Once inside the guards were the ones to explain the situation to the people of the castle, whose annoyance with the interruption soon turned intrigue and curiosity when it was revealed to them that the outlaw prince had been captured and taken before them
The guards would’ve taken Lothair directly to the duchess herself, but Mira insisted on being present when she delivered him, the guards were clearly annoyed, but not wanting to cause a scene there in the castle they agreed to Mira’s demands and went looking for the duchess.
Mira and Lothair were made to wait in a hall in the sole company of the guards there, and a few castle servants who only dared to look at them briefly between their tasks. The room felt far bigger than it was in that solitude and silence, even Lothair, who had grown accustomed to the monumentality of the royal castle, felt as if he was in a space far to large for him.
Mira looked at Lothair only once, and the sadness she saw on his face was enough to convince her not to look again, lest her emotions would get the best of her and make her do something stupid.
Eventually the duchess appeared, making a grandiose appearance out of a large door at the end of the room where she came out flanked by two guards on each side.
It was not the same woman Mira had seen years ago, but she still invoked the same visceral hate her predecessor did. She was younger than the woman Mira remembered, only appearing to be slightly older than Mira and Lothair. Much like Mira had presumed, she was the daughter of the woman who had taken her sister, and it showed in her features.
The new duchess shared with her mother her long red hair, pale skin and blue eyes, the sharp features of her face also resembled very much those of her mother. And Mira could swear that she had once seen that red and white dress on the duchess who had taken her sister away from her.
But Mira was not surprised by the sight of this young woman in place of the duchess. Because as much as she would have liked to take her sister away from the woman who had stolen her, she knew that such thing was something she would never manage to do, so she had to wait until that hag was replaced. And she felt like the opportunity couldn’t have presented itself on a better moment.
“Oh my, it seems like my guards were speaking the truth, I would recognize that pretty face wherever I saw it” She spoke as she walked towards the pair “Prince Lothair, the murderer prince, delivered right into my castle, to whom do I owe such an honor”
“I am a mere bounty hunter who got lucky, that’s all” Mira replied “Just thought you’d be interested in him”
Mira tugged the rope holding Lothair’s wrists and pulled him closer to the duchess, who subtly licked her lips in a gesture Lothair didn’t not manage to see, since his gaze was buried on the floor.
“I suspect that as a bounty hunter you expect a reward” The duchess spoke “How much do you want for him?”
“There is already a set amount for him, but I’m not really interested in money” Mira replied “I would like to propose you a different deal duchess”
Mira received suspicious looks not only from the duchess but also from her guards, who seemed ready to unsheathe their weapons, but the duchess ended up ordering to stand aside.
“I suspected so, after all, if you were interested in the reward you would’ve taken him back to Blacktomb wouldn’t you?” The duchess spoke with a grin on her face, as she already had suspicions about Mira’s intentions “What is it then, that I have that cannot be compared with the reward offered for our prince”
“I want one of your servants” Mira spoke “Her name is Melusine, I think she was taken here years ago”
The duchess scratched her chin as she thought for a few seconds, the air reeked of tension, Mira did not know what she would do if the duchess refused, and despite how much she wanted to see her dead, she hoped she would not have to draw her sword.
“Melusine?” Interesting, may I ask why do you want her?” The duchess replied.
“I know someone who wants to marry her, but he cannot do so while she is your servant, so he paid me to do this task” Mira lied.
As Lothair heard Mira’s story, which was nothing alike what he had been told, he began to fear he had been duped by Mira’s more sympathetic story about rescuing her sister, was it possible that she had lied to him to make him more compliant? Even though he wanted to believe the story she had told him, at that moment he really began to wonder if Mira had lied to him, if she had really been able to make such a lie.
“I see…” The duchess replied “Even though I can’t see who would like to do such thing, I can see why would someone take money for releasing Melusine, I accept your deal”
Mira breathed a sigh of relief after she heard those words, she had briefly feared that she had done everything for nothing.
“Men, take the prince to the stockade, show him off to the people, but make sure he stays unharmed, I want him in pristine condition” The duchess spoke.
“Mpghg!” Lothair complained as he was taken by the guards.
Mira looked down as regret ate away her heart, as someone who had already been on the duchess’ less favored side she knew what most likely was in store for him.
The duchess excused herself and left the room after the guards, leaving Mira alone with the silent company of some guards and castle servants, among which she desperately tried to find her sister.
The place known as the stockade was a relatively low balcony overlooking the main plaza, intended for the ruler of the castle to address Swapcross’ population. However, it had been long since the duchess felt the need to give public speeches, which left the balcony to become the place which they now called the stockade.
Stocks intended to display prisoners now laid around the balcony, they appeared to be terribly uncomfortable, and the unfortunate souls which had been placed on them knew that they were.
But Lothair was not brought to one of them.
Under the smug look of the duchess, Lothair was brought to a wooden post resembling a pyre, with his only guarantees of not being burned alive were the facts that he was wanted alive and that there was not enough wood below him to be burned.
But as he looked before him Lothair quickly realized why his new captress had decided that the pyre was a better place for him, from there he could overlook the whole plaza, and more importantly, the people there could look at him.
As the guards tied Lothair’s hands above his head behind the post, a crowd began to form in the plaza, and again they were quick to recognize the murderous prince as the man being tied to the pyre.
“People of swampcross, my loyal subjects” The duchess addressed the crowd “This night, I am pleased to inform you that I, your duchess, has captured the outlaw murderous prince, and that I will be the one to take him back to justice”
The crowd seemed to erupt after they heard the duchess’ words. This broke Lothair’s heart, it seemed like people really believed that he was a murderer, and that made him wonder if he had been a fool for even having hopes about the contrary being true.
“Feel free to gawk at his exposed body as I display him here, but do not harm him” The duchess ordered “The kingdom and I want him unharmed, so anyone found trying to hurt him will soon take his place”
With that threat to her people the duchess left and reentered the castle, leaving Lothair bound and exposed before a crowd of people and flanked by two rough looking guards.
For all that Mira hated the duchess, she was relied to see her return. While she was alone in the hall, she had been unable to stop thinking about Lothair and what was being done to them, and the relief of finally being able to reunite with her sister did little to harm her, as she still hadn’t see her.
So when the duchess came back it meant that she could at least be partly distracted by what she had to do, and think a bit less about what she had already done.
“Would you like to stay the night young lady?” The duchess asked “Night will soon be upon us, and after what you did for me you have my hospitality”
“I would prefer to leave now” Mira replied.
“I insist” The duchess said in response “Melusine must also be tired, you wouldn’t want to travel by night with her like that wouldn’t you”
Mira remained silent, she desperately wanted to get away from that woman but she could not risk antagonizing her, for she already knew where that could get her.
“I can stay then, but I must leave tomorrow in the morning” Mira replied “The man who hired me is impatient”
“Welcome to my castle then” The duchess said affably “Come with me, dinner should be ready in a few moments and you have earned a place with me there”
After a whole life of living as an urchin Mira could not help but feel out of place in the lavish banquet that was prepared for the duchess and her court. And while she would have liked to indulge in all the pleasures that had been kept away from her during her whole life, that sensation of feeling out of place did not allow her to, and every time she tried she was quickly reminded of two people, her sister, whom she had yet to see, and Lothair, of whom she desperate wanted not to think about.
Unbeknownst to Mira, the duchess had absented herself from the dinner to look for one of her servants. Melusine was working in the kitchen that day, and when the duchess showed herself there and instructed her to follow her outside she felt her body become rigid in fear. The duchess talking to her servants in such a direct manner rarely lead to something good.
Once outside, the duchess and Melusine stepped beside a window and there the duchess instructed her servant to look inside the room, and to look at someone in particular.
“Do you recognize that woman?” The duchess asked.
“Mira…” Melsuine murmured without realizing she was speaking out loud.
“Do you?” The duchess asked imperatively.
Melusine fell silent, she knew very well who she was looking at but she quickly began to wonder whether or not she should be truthful in her answer.
“Do you want another visit to the dungeons Melusine, after being so well behaved?” The duchess asked “It has been so long since you’ve been there, do you really want to go back there?”
Melusine felt her body begin to tremble as the duchess’ threats reached her ears, she knew that none of those threats were something the duchess was not capable of.
“Do you want to lose all the privileges you’ve earned? To go back to cleaning bathrooms and floors?” The duchess asked as she dragged Melusine away from the window and towards her “If you don’t just tell me, who is that woman”
“She is my sister, Mira” The maid cracked under the duchess threats.
The duchess let go of her maid and looked inside again, she had heard of Melusine’s sister before, she never expected to see her in person after hearing that she had fled Swampcross, but she couldn’t help but smile when she ended up doing so.
“Consider your privileges safe” The duchess said as she walked away “Now be a good maid and get back to work”
When the duchess returned she invited her guests with a serving of a finely aged wine, a generosity which surprised most but that she excused by saying that it was a celebration for the prince’s capture, which felt like a dagger in her heart for Mira, who was immediately reminded of what she had done to Lothair.
The pain brought by guilt of remembering what she did to someone she was beginning to care for, and of whom she had grown to realize his innocence, was so distracting that Mira did not suspect anything about the wine when her cup was brought to her, and who knows what would have happed if she had.
A few moments after drinking the wine Mira began to feel tired, she tried to appear undisturbed at first, but she slowly realized that the tiredness she was feeling was not normal. It was then when she made the connection with the wine she had drank, but it was too late.
Mira looked at the duchess, who smiled smugly at her, clearly seeing the tiredness on her face.
“Our guest seems tired, guards, why don’t you take her to a room?” The duchess said as she signaled to the two armored men on the entrance.
Mira would have liked to resist, to at least say something, but before she could gather the strength to do so her body failed her and she fell asleep before the guards could even lay hands on her.
Mira woke up to the feeling of cold, hard stone below her, uncomfortable even for her standards. She quickly sat up as to not rest her face on the cold stone beneath her, and the sound of rattling chains as she moved confirmed her fears.
She had been chained, her hands shackled behind her back and her ankles shackled together, with the later restraint being chained to the wall behind her. The dark room she was in was undeniably a dungeon, herself being on a dark barred cell barely illuminated by the dim light of a dying torch outside.
She struggled more out of frustration than out of a will to escape, because even though she wanted to be anywhere but there, she knew that she had no hopes of escaping chains, let alone iron bars.
Mira ceased her struggles when the sound of a door being opened outside her cell, followed by the sound of heels against the stone floor, alerted her of someone’s presence, and she didn’t have to guess who it was.
The duchess showed herself at the edge of light outside Mira’s cell, resting her hands on her hips and with a smug smile on her face, she was gloating over the chained woman.
Mira stood up to look to be at the duchess’ level and glared at her.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out who you are?” The duchess asked “Mira…”
“How do you know?” Mira answered trying to salvage whatever was left of her credibility.
“I had it from a good source” The duchess replied “It seems your sister still remembers your face”
“My sister?” Mira tried to fake ignorance.
“Yes, your sister Melusine” The duchess quickly replied “I know who you are, so stop trying to deceive me or there will be consequences, for you, and maybe for your sister too”
“Don’t you dare to touch her…” Mira said, ceasing all attempts at deceiving that woman and letting her emotions speak as she walked as close to the bars as her chains allowed her.
The duchess laughed at Mira’s impotence, which made her prisoner rattle in her chains to no avail in frustration, which the duchess continued to find amusing.
“I must say though, your plan to get your sister back was very original” The duchess chuckled “It won’t be enough for me to forgive what you did to my mother, but it may get you to keep your life, as my servant of course”
“I’d rather die than serve you!” Mira replied angrily.
“Shall I turn you in with the prince then?” The duchess mocked “Perhaps the kingdom’s authorities would gladly grant your wish of death”
Mira silently glared at the duchess, she was filled with rage yet impotent to do anything, held back by the cold metal of her chains. She could still speak, but she felt as if her words would not do any justice to the anger in her heart.
“Perhaps you don’t desire death as much as you think” The duchess said “I’ll leave you to think about it, on the meantime I think I will entertain myself with the gift you were so kind to bring me”
Lothair felt his body on the brink of collapse, he had been precariously leaning against the rough pyre, with his hands tied over his head and his torso and ankles tightly tied to the post that he began to miss even the floor of his cell in Blacktomb.
But the pain was not limited to his body, the words he heard from the crowd harmed him in a deeper way, seeing what people thought of him, the low image they had of someone who was once supposed to be their king, it was heartbreaking for Lothair, who was even starting to wonder what good it would be if he escaped, after all his people had already condemned him.
The only thing that eased the pain in his heart was hearing a group of people scream ‘we know you are innocent prince!’. Which brought him so much joy that for a brief moment his body gained the energy to struggle against the ropes and try to see who were the people who had dared to say such thing.
But the hope brought to him by this event was short lived, for the people who had been brave enough to speak such thing were quickly chased away by guards, and Lothair could only hope that they were not caught.
Eventually the guards received the order to take the prince back inside, by that time Lothair was only kept away by his restraints forcing him on that uncomfortable posture and little else. He nearly fell down when he was untied from the pyre and the guards pretty much had to drag him inside.
Lothair lived the walk through the insides of the castle as a fever dream. Barely awake he could only make out the rough outlines of the shapes he saw while the words he heard sounded like gibberish to him.
This seeming trace only ended when Lothair was taken inside a warm steamy room, which brought energy to his freezing body. Once inside the ropes tying his hands were removed and the guards let go of his body, letting him to nearly fall on the floor, narrowly stopping his fall with his hands.
After the guards left the room Lothair looked around to see where he was. It was a bath, a room of white stone and dark wood, and the steam was coming from a large tub in the middle, seemingly filled with hot water.
“The duchess wants you to bathe prince” Lothair heard a feminine voice echoing from across the room.
The voice reminded him of Mira and for good reason, the woman speaking to him was Melusine, but when he turned and saw not Mira, but an eerily similar woman in a maid uniform in one of the corners of the room he was slightly disappointed.
“I’ve been tasked with helping you bathe; do you need assistance undressing?” Melusine asked.
Lothair began to undress himself as an answer, feeling reluctant to talk but eager to shower. After all it had been days since he had known the feeling of soap and warm water, because it blacktomb water was always cold and soap was scarce even for the guards.
The prince found that due to the tiredness he felt much less shame about undressing in front of someone, because he knew that had he not been so tired he would have never agreed to undress before a woman he did not know.
Once undressed Lothair stepped inside the tub and welcomed the feeling of hot water. Being able to forget all that was happening for a few seconds due to the pleasure brought to him.
Lothair’s calm trance was brought to an end when Melusine began to rub soap against his back, with her sole touch being enough to cause the prince to twitch.
“Calm down, I am not going to hurt you” Melusine said after the prince had moved away from her “All I have to do is clean you”
Again with no words spoken, Lothair calmed down and allowed the maid to do her job. She also gave him a soap for himself so he could clean the rest of his body, which he was thankful about.
“Can I ask you a question?” Lothair broke the silence.
“Sure…” Melusine replied with surprise as she stopped rubbing the prince’s back “What is it?”
“Do you really think I am a murderer?” Lothair asked.
Melusine resumed rubbing the prince’s back as she thought of an answer.
“I don’t know” Melusine replied “You certainly not seem like one, but I know that appearances can be deceitful, but I also know that not all laws are fair and that no procedure is fool proof, so again, I don’t know”
Lothair fell silent, it wasn’t as condemning as hearing he was a murderer, but neither it was as calm as hearing he was innocent. But he would have much rather have the kingdom think like Melusine than have them deceived as they were now.
“Mira brought you here didn’t she?” Melusine asked.
“Do you know her?” Lothair asked as he looked at the woman over his shoulder.
“I am her sister, Melusine”
Lothair was relieved to know that at least Mira had not lied to her, and after breathing a sigh of relief he answered affirmatively.
“She told me you’d be freed if she gave me over to the duchess…” Lothair explained.
“That girl… Always to bold for her own good…” Melusine replied.
“Despite all I think she was justified…” Lothair spoke “I have no siblings, but I like to think that I’d do the same for them if something like what happened to you happened to them”
“Yet here I remain…” Melusine sighed.
Lothair looked over his shoulder again, only then did he realize such an obvious fact.
“Mira doesn’t have the best history with this duchess’ family, and I’m sorry to say that it ended up ruining her plan” Melusine said as she continued to clean the prince.
Lothair felt himself on the brink of tears, had he suffered for nothing? Not even Mira would have something to celebrate?
“What do you mean?” Lothair asked, as if any response could ease his pain.
“Years ago Mira killed the duchess’ mother in an attempt to rescue me” Melusine explained with melancholy “But before she could reach me she was chased away and almost caught, she fled the city afterwards and I hadn’t seen her since then until today”
“I didn’t know…”
“She came back because she knew that the new duchess wouldn’t recognize her face, but she made me speak…” Mira shed a tear “I’m sorry…”
Loud bangs on the room door brought both Melusine and Lothair out of their conversation, from outside guards demanded the prince to hurry, because the duchess was impatient.
Melsuine instructed the prince to finish quickly, which he did. He dried himself up as fast as he could and began looking for clothes, only to receive a rather small piece of silky white cloth that Melusine said was all that the duchess wanted him to wear.
With all the shame the situation called for having returned to the prince Lothair shamfully tied the piece of cloth around his hips, leaving it to narrowly cover his privates and little else.
“I’m sorry but I was instructed to tie your hands” Melusine spoke as she showed the prince a narrow piece of cloth, similar to the one he had used to dress himself.
Already used to it, the prince turned his back to Melusine and allowed her to tie his hands behind his back, securing his wrists crossed together and tightly bound by the silky material.
“I’m sorry…” Melusine repeated as she walked the prince towards the door.
There, the prince was handed over to a single guard which walked him to the duchess’ room. Lothair was thankful about the room being so close and that no people were around to see him aside from the guard, which already made him ashamed despite him not laying eyes directly on him a single time.
After walking on the cold walkway Lothair was glad to see that the insides of the duchess’ room were warm, heated up by a lively fireplace. The duchess herself was sitting on a couch at the end of her large bed, her dress gone and now only dressed on a loose red nightgown, with a cup of equally red wine on one hand.
The guard left the room closed the door behind him, leaving Lothair in the sole company of his new captress who began to lustfully eye him after taking one last sip of her wine.
“Hello my prince, why don’t you come closer” The duchess spoke with a slight hint of drunkenness in her voice.
Against his best interest, Lothair walked towards the duchess. Once he stood before her, with her ordering to stop once he was close enough to her.
While Lothair was too ashamed of being seen in his almost naked state by that woman, the duchess felt no shame in eyeing the prince’s body, lusting over the soft yet firm and defined features of his bare chest and abdomen.
“On your knees Lothair” The woman ordered him.
Again Lothair obeyed, kneeling in front of the duchess whom he still didn’t dare to look at.
“Look at me” She ordered Lothair as she grabbed him by the jaw and forced his gaze up, giving him no chance of disobeying her “You don’t remember me don’t you?”
Like it was usual in circumstances like this, Lothair found himself to overwhelmed with shame to utter any verbal response and after a few seconds of silence managed to shake his head despite the duchess’ firm grip on his face.
“I see, I can’t say I’m surprised but I’m still disappointed” The duchess spoke “We met a few years ago, during your birthday, I see you forgot me like most of the girls you met that day, but don’t worry, I’ll leave an impression now”
“Athela…” Lothair mubled.
“So you do remember me!” The duchess said happily “So then, doesn’t this bring back memories?”
Lothair gulped as he was forced to remember the last time he had been tied up by Athela. He was scared at the time, but his innocent fear of what Athela was going to do to him in their game of capture the flag could not compare to the fear she instilled on him now.
“I remember that Jean stopped me right before I could spend some time with you” Athela said as she caressed the prince’s hair “But it seems we got some time together after all…”
“What are you going to do to me?” Lothair asked with fear in his voice.
“Something I wanted to do since I saw you that day…” The duchess said as she grabbed something which laid on the couch beside her.
To Lothair, the item seemed like a strap of black leather which in the middle held an iron ring of good size, which for the most part had also been covered in black leather.
“Open your mouth prince, I’m going to need it” the duchess said as she grabbed both ends of the leather strap and put it right in front Lothair’s face.
Fearful of what complying might entail, but more afraid of where not doing so could get him, Lothair slowly opened his mouth and awaited whatever the duchess had planned for him.
Without waiting for Lothair’s mouth to be fully opened, the duchess forced the ring inside the prince’s mouth and buckled both ends of the leather strap which held the gag together tightly behind his head.
Lothair looked down to try to get a glimpse of what that gag was doing to his face, of course he did not see it, but he could feel it. It was strenuous on his jaw and it quickly began to make him drool profusely, and with no easy way to swallow his saliva soon began to fall out of his mouth.
Meanwhile the duchess leaned back on the couch and as she looked at the prince squirm in his restrains with an expression of utter shame on his face, she began to open her legs.
The movement made Lothair look before him, and as the duchess continued to open her legs he saw before him her privates in full display. Lothair’s face turned red and he tried to look away, but he was caught by the duchess by his hair.
“Don’t be a coward my prince, you know what you have to do don’t you?”
“Hghghg” Lothair groaned as he shook his head with difficulty.
“Oh… they don’t teach you to pleasure women in the castle?” The duchess asked teasingly “Then have it be the last thing you learn before you get thrown back in jail”
With an abrupt movement the duchess forced the prince’s head between her legs, and when he instinctively tried to pull away from her crotch he found out that the duchess had wrapped her legs around his head, putting him in thigh lock which he could not escape from.
“Start licking my prince” The duchess ordered “Do it well and I may reconsider turning you in”
Mira had surrendered to just sulking in her cell, she had already tried everything, kicking the door, pulling the chain that bound her to the wall, nothing worked, she was truly stuck.
She sat down and looked with impotence at her chains, the irony of how she had broken Lothair out of jail to turn him back in and how that ended up with her also on either the way to jail or to submission towards her captress did not help.
The dark silent monotony of her imprisonment was broken when after what seemed like hours of meeting with the duchess she heard someone enter the room, at first she expected it to be the duchess again, so she was already glaring at the barred entrance of her cell, but as the steps got closer she began to suspect, or to hope, that perhaps her visitor was someone else.
It sounded different from the characteristic noise of high heels against the stone floor, slightly quieter, and something about the pace of the sound, and therefore of the person walking, just felt different from what she had heard when the duchess came into the dungeons.
When Melusine showed herself at the edge of light where the duchess once stood Mira did not know how to react. Should she be happy about seeing her sister? Or maybe ashamed about being seen in that state? Her confusion rendered her silent, and her sister was the one to take the initiative.
“Hi Mira” She spoke “Its good to see you despite the circumstances”
“I’m sorry you have to see me like this” Mira said regretfully “I was supposed to save you, and yet here I am”
“Don’t feel bad, I appreciate what you tried to do for me regardless of your success” Melusine replied “And you didn’t kill anyone this time”
“Oh you know she deserved to die!” Mira complained.
“This is not the time for arguing, I’m sorry about bringing that up” Melusine replied as she began to rummage her pockets.
Mira looked at her with confusion and was overcome with a pleasant surprise when she saw her retrieve a set of keys from her pocket.
“I am risking all of the privileges I’ve earned by doing this, but I wont let that woman have you” Melusine said after throwing the keys inside her sister’s cell “I left what I could salvage of your equipment beside the dungeon exit”
“Melusine…” Mira muttered with disbelief.
“I will only ask you for one thing” Melusine interrupted her sister “Take the prince with you, I don’t care what you do with him but don’t let the duchess have him”
“What? I should take you with me!” Mira replied, again unable to believe the words her sister was speaking.
“I will acquire my freedom on my own, I was close to do so until you showed up and forced me to rescue you” Melusine replied with a slight hint of anger in her voice, her role as the older sister more than showing “I don’t know if the prince is innocent, all I know is that much like you he doesn’t deserve to suffer whatever the duchess wants to do to him”
“Melsuine, I swear I will make this up to you” Mira said “I will return and save you…”
“Please don’t, I can acquire freedom on my own, and your help hasn’t done much for me” Melusine replied sternly “Now be so kind as to wait for a while after I leave, and then go fix the mess you started”
With no more words spoken Melusine left her sister alone in the dungeons again, where she quickly began to work on releasing herself from the chains.
After what to Lothair felt like more than enough time licking the duchess finally let out a deep long moan and released Lothair’ from her legs, allowing him to pull back and breath in some fresh air, although with considerable difficulty due to his gag.
“At last, took you long enough” The duchess said as she slouched on the couch “But it really seems like you were not taught to do this in the castle, so I think I’ll have to go for a different approach.
“Mghgg?” Lothair tried to ask as he looked up at the duchess, wasn’t this already over? What did she want to do now?
“On the bed, now” The duchess ordered.
With difficulty, Lothair stood up and with a slow pace obeyed the duchess orders. He tried to sit gracefully at the edge of the bed, but his clumsiness brought by tiredness made him fall face down on the bed. Unbeknownst to him, exactly how the duchess wanted him.
The duchess went to the bed after Lothair, of which he took notice once he felt her weight on his back, she was straddling him.
“I am going to remove this for a few seconds, so let me remind you of something” The duchess said as she grabbed Lothair’s bound hands and moved to whisper to his ear “Outside that door there are two armed guards, they will not kill you since you are wanted alive, but they can do a lot of things to you while keeping you alive”
Even though Lothair did not have plans to try anything, already feeling it to be pointless, the duchess’ threat still seeded fear into his mind, enough for him to be yet even more compliant.
Like she said she’d do, the duchess untied Lothair’s hands, only to tie them in front of him shortly after to then tie them above his head to the bed’s headboard. Still straddling him, the duchess then faced away from him and sat atop his thighs.
“I’ll need your legs still for this” She said before tying Lothair’s ankles together and to the bottom of the bed with the same silky material that was used on his hands.
Once Lothair found himself outstretched in the middle of the bed the duchess straddled him sitting atop his abdomen, and with her bottom she slightly rubbed the prince’s cock, but she made sure he noticed it.
“It seems I won’t have to do much work” The duchess said as she saw Lothair’s face get even more red than before “What are pervert you are my prince”
Lothair’s shame and fear began to mix with guilt? Why was he like this? Why did her body derive such enjoyment from such demeaning, humiliating situations, why did he enjoy being at the mercy of women who saw him as a mere prisoner? All questions that went through the prince’s head as he tried to distract himself from the sensation of the duchess pulling down his pants.
Once his erection was fully exposed, the duchess grabbed it and rose slightly above the mattress to finally get things started Lothair began to wish that he was with Mira instead, someone to whom he could simply say no and get her to stop. Because despite what his body showed, Lothair did not want things to keep going at all.
But life if his thoughts summoned her, Lothair heard Mira’s voice, and what he at first thought to be a delusion soon proved itself to be a reality.
“Get away from him!” Mira shouted from the door.
She was standing above the unconscious bodies of the two guards and had a hand crossbow pointed directly at the duchess. Neither Lothair nor the duchess could believe what they were seeing.
“How did you…”
Mira sharply gestured to the duchess to get away from Lothair with her crossbow, to which the duchess, who was far angrier than she was scared, raised her hands above her head and obeyed, moving to stand beside the bed.
“Hands behind your back now” Mira said as she grabbed some rope her sister had salvaged from her equipment.
“I don’t know how you escaped, but you won’t get far” The duchess threatened as Mira began to tie her hands behind her back “I have guards everywhere, and don’t forget I have your sister too”
Those words made Mira take a dagger from her belt and place directly against the duchess’ neck, were she to slide the blade even slightly, the duchess’ life would have bled out of her seconds.
“I know you do, so remember this” Mira said as she pressed the dagger against the duchess neck as much as she could without hurting her “The only reason your blood has not been spilled on the ground yet is because of her, so be thankful and leave her alone”
The duchess was able to breathe again once Mira took the dagger away from her neck and went back to tying her, this time running rope below her breasts to pin her arms to her back. She tried to hide it, but she was more afraid than she had ever been.
“I’m borrowing this…” Mira said as she removed the gag from Lothair’s mouth.
The prince was immensely relieved to be ungagged, but his relief was also because the duchess had been stopped before she could do anything with him on the bed, and also because he was more glad to see Mira again than he wanted to admit.
After tying the duchess legs together at the ankles and knees, and with difficulty applying the gag she had used on Lothair in her mouth, Mira pushed the duchess onto the floor and again pointed a dagger against her face.
“As much as I’d love to make a piece of art out of that face of yours I’m going to leave unscathed” Mira spoke, knowing very well that she was instilling fear in the duchess “And if I ever get notice of you laying a finger on my sister, I will come back and if that happens you’d have to pray for me to show you this kindness again”
Leaving the duchess with the sole fear of her threat as her company, Mira quickly moved to the bed to cut Lothair free, and the prince quickly began to shower Mira with thanks.
“No need to thank me, we can just say that we’re even now” Mira cut off Lothair “Let’s leave this place now, together”