The following week was torturous. Adrianne's words rang in Nadine's ears, mocking and harsh.
You chose mercy. A move borne of restraint and submission. A move that cost you your chance to taste true power, as well as your chance to come again this week.
They twisted in her stomach like a blade, taunting her as she fought to keep control, lust filling her thoughts and driving her to distraction.
Nature saw fit to torture her, too; her menses struck the day before she was due to return to the Sanctum. She should have remembered. Masser was bright and blood-red in the sky, waxing gibbous, while Secunda echoed in ethereal opalescent tones. Ordinarily Nadine would have found the sight beautiful, but that evening they just served as a reminder of her own cruel fate. She sulkily sipped her wine and resigned herself to an uneventful, frustrating week. She kept herself busy by accepting as many odd jobs as she could, and enlisting the help of Marcurio, Riften's local spellsword. The latter was less than helpful - he was a fatal mix of incredibly handsome and unbearably arrogant, and by the time they parted ways the following Turdas Nadine didn't know if she wanted to fuck him or kill him.
Thankfully, her flow had subsided by the time next Fredas arrived, and she returned to the Sanctum with a new sense of purpose. She felt galvanised, ready to take on new challenges. This time, she wouldn't let her soft side get the better of her. The door opened with a thunk, the familiar scent of firewood and mead and leather rushing to meet her. It felt good to be home.
"Evening, Nadine," Ulfberth called from where he knelt, stoking the fire in the hearth. "The others are in the usual place."
Nadine thought about how she'd slotted into this new life so quickly. It all seemed like second nature to her now: the pendant around her neck, the journey to the meadery every Fredas, the routine and ritual of it all. Strangely, it was the one constant in her otherwise chaotic and ungrounded life, and she hadn't realised how much she'd needed it until it was there.
"Hello, Miss Nadine!" Gwilin turned toward the door of the bathhouse as Nadine entered, smiling warmly.
"Just Nadine, Gwilin," Ysolda corrected, running her fingers through his copper locks as she pulled them into a ponytail. "She isn't your Mistress, so she's just Nadine."
"Oh!" Gwilin's nose wrinkled, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Okay. Hello, Nadine. Have you been keeping well? We missed you last week."
Nadine smiled, disrobing. "I missed you all too. Glad to be back." She peeled off her stockings and smallclothes hurriedly, folding them into a haphazard heap. "Had an interesting week while I was away. And by interesting I mean bloody unbearable."
"Oh yeah," Ingun said, dunking her head underwater before surfacing. "Heard you met Marcurio."
Nadine met Ingun's knowing smirk with a raised brow as she descended into the tub. "Gods, did I meet him. You know him?"
"Darling, everyone in Riften knows him." Ingun's eyes twinkled. She leaned into Nadine, a conspiratorial look on her face. "Don't you think he'd be quite the get for the Sanctum?"
"What, like a more smug, arrogant version of Brynjolf?"
Ingun laughed, the sound surprisingly melodic and light. "I was thinking more like the petulant brat who needs to be taught a lesson." She considered for a minute, giving Nadine a wry smile. "Like you when you first arrived. No offense."
Nadine frowned, rankling at the accusation. "I wasn't a brat."
"Okay, maybe not a brat." Ingun's expression was uncharacteristically soft as she considered Nadine, swishing her fingers idly through the water. "You were more... fiery. Spoke with purpose. Nervous, but still held yourself as if you belonged." Her green eyes pierced Nadine's. "I can see why Vex calls you princess."
Nadine's face burned with embarrassment. She looked down, pretending she hadn't noticed the grin on Ingun's face as the other woman climbed out of the bath, rivulets of water running down her pale legs. She sauntered over, leaning towards Nadine. "I see a lot of myself in you, you know," she whispered, her breath hot against Nadine's skin, cold water dripping from her hair. "Nothing wrong with being headstrong, sweet Nadine. There's strength in submission too, isn't there?"
Nadine barely managed to choke out an agreement before Ingun trailed her fingers across Nadine's shoulder and padded away, hips swaying.
Hurriedly, Nadine finished readying herself for the evening ahead, her blood rushing red-hot through her veins. She tried her best to suppress a shudder of lust when Ulfberth collared her, his strong hands fastening the supple leather tight.
Whoever lays claim to me this evening won't have much trouble making me unravel completely,
she thought ruefully.
Throughout dinner, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering. Adrianne, Ulfberth and Nazir fucking in the homestead as she watched guiltily. Admitting her discovery to Brynjolf, his cock straining in his trousers as he made her recount each lewd detail. The sting and thud of hands and floggers and paddles against her arse, her castigators making her beg for more. Drevis making her squirm and scream on the evening of her initiation to an awestruck crowd, her desire on display for all to see. Giraud's lessons, Ysolda's tongue, Vex's retribution, Gwilin's corruptible innocence. What was next?
"Nadine!" Ulfberth barked, shaking her from her reverie. "You got potatoes in your ears, girl? Line up, now."
"At once, Sir," Nadine responded, her tone a little more heated and sneering than she'd intended. By the look on Ulfberth's face, this had not gone unnoticed, but to her surprise, he said nothing.
Let's not worry about that right now.
The submissives took the wall as their Masters and Mistresses approached, gazes appraising. Nadine swallowed. This part was still nerve-wracking.
"Gwilin and Ysolda, with Giraud and Brynjolf. Ingun, you're with Vex and Astrid this evening."
Vex
and
Astrid? Someone had been misbehaving.
"Nadine?" Ulfberth looked to her, a wicked glint in his ice-blue eyes. "You'll be spending this evening with Aela."
Nadine shivered. Never had she felt so much like she was being hunted as she did in that moment. Aela's gaze never faltered, her grey-blue eyes pinning Nadine to the spot like an arrow. Wild, barely-tamed copper locks flowed over her strong shoulders, and embossed silver bands adorned her toned, muscular arms. Everything about her dictated strong and capable warrior, and fearsome hunter. It both terrified and intrigued Nadine.
"Yes, Sir." She stepped forward, readying herself for the evening ahead.
***
Both women stood in the furthest corner of the Sanctum arena, nestled between Ingun's alchemy table and the cage. Candlelight shone through its bars, casting a shadow across the stone floor. Across the vast space, Nadine could hear Vex's voice, sharp and clear, followed by Ingun's more subdued one. Aela paced around Nadine, sizing her up. Nadine did her best to hold her head high, refusing to shrink or submit too readily.
