This is a rewrite of a previously published work. There is a lot of new content in it, but it is not wholly new content. There will be new chapters coming.
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In the early dawn light, I woke up to the knight and the queen talking quietly.
After a moment, Meryl sliced her hand down the air and a long line of glowing golden light followed behind it. After a moment that line expanded into some kind of doorway. On the other side was the castle. Specifically the hallway outside of the room I had been given to stay in last night, with the deep red carpet and the huge bed. Queen Meryl called out, "Come along, Johann, dear. We know you're awake."
I stood slowly, grimacing as I strained the tender wound in my side, before closing the distance between me and the two women. I glanced between them. Lady Carmella looked mostly in her element. A battlefield or courtroom, she just seemed to belong. The queen looked a little out of place with the little dirt on her face. I licked my thumb and hesitantly reached out, rubbing it off. The Queen of Bayfield smiled brightly at me, acting as though nothing could've been more normal than a commoner touching her face. This is still too much. I sighed, my hand dropping. "I-I really shouldn't."
"We've been over this." Carmella rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand and pulled me through. I didn't really know what I expected walking through a magic portal to feel like, but nothing was not the answer I would've come up with. Just like walking through a doorway. The mundanity of it was surreal. "You're stuck with us."
Queen Meryl followed behind us and the gateway to the field we'd slept in closed as soon as she passed through it. Head Maid Emilia was waiting for us in the hall. When she saw the queen and the lady she smiled brightly at them. Shouldn't she be curtsying to the queen? Bowing? Something? She kept the expression for me as well and I shifted uncomfortably. "Ah, Emilia. Good. I have a task for you."
"Yes, my queen?" She asked, keeping the smile. Meryl motioned her closer and the woman immediately acquiesced. She nodded, understanding. Her eyes widened at one of the statements and her brown face became even darker as a blush spread out from her neck, but still, her smile only widened, sharpening into something wicked. That same predatory look overtook her features as she glanced at me appraisingly. I swallowed. "You're sure that's what you want?"
The queen just nodded absently before sashaying dramatically down the hall. I watched her go, Lady Carmella in tow, finding my breath catching in my throat as I did. I hesitated, thinking I should follow them, try to get them to see reason. I didn't, though. The queen seems set on this idea and I'm certain the First Knight would do anything she said, no matter how insane. And while I hadn't exactly promised Lady Carmella to not try to resist, I hadn't exactly not promised either. I'll talk to them later.
The maid turned her big, pink eyes to me. Her long red hair was braided in a tight, intricate bun, and the blush on her soft, brown skin had faded away. I hadn't noticed it before, but she had a constellation of freckles that were just visible across her cheeks and nose. She took me by the arm and pulled me into the room that was apparently mine. After a moment, I managed to ask "What did she tell you to do with me?"
She looked up at me and smiled brightly, taking a step forward. It was only now that I noticed that she didn't have regular pupils. A part of her eye was just a darker pink than the soft color of her iris. "I'm to do what needs to be done with you."
"What does that mean?" I asked, irritation edging its way into my voice. She just smiled at me, closing the door behind her and we were alone in my room. She flicked the lock on the door. I swallowed.
"You need a bath." She walked to a connected room and started preparing the tub, adding some bathing salts to the bottom.
"Okay. Well, get the water and I can do that." She nodded and waved a hand and muttered something that I didn't catch. Steaming water splashed down in the tub. When I'd previously taken a bath, it'd already been filled and I hadn't thought anything of it. I gaped. "You're a witch!? Why are you a servant?"
"Servant? I'm a maid." She said that as though it explained anything. All three of them speak like that, I realized. They just say things and expect them to be accepted. I waited for a moment, figuring she'd step out. She didn't move and just watched me, expectantly. After a few moments, she said, "Get undressed."
"Y-you need to leave," I squeaked, my throat tight. "I can't bathe with you here."
"Last time we left you alone," She began, stepping up and poking me in the chest, her other hand on her hip. For someone that was a head shorter than me, her glare was just as intimidating as the First Knight's. She continued, pushing her finger harder into my sternum, "You ran from my queen and my lady. I'm not going anywhere. Besides, I'm told you need some healing."
"Y-you're a healer, too?" I stammered as she pulled up my tunic, not that it'd offer much protection with the gaping hole in it. I was so flabbergasted that I went with her and my chest was bare before I could muster any resistance. She tossed it on the ground and examined the stitches, tsking.
"Carmella really should have let me deal with it," she muttered, resiting her hand on the wound. Her touch was soft, gentle, almost intimate. I let out a shuddering breath. Our eyes met and she hedged a little. "Sorry, Lady Carmella. Stitches are such an inefficient means of taking care of wounds. We wouldn't want you to have any scars" Her voice became huskier as she continued,."Marring such a pretty body would be a shame." She pulled down my breeches in one quick motion. I jumped and tried to move back, tripping and falling. My head hit something hard and the world went dark.
The first thing I saw when I woke up was the maid's face, hovering a few inches in front of me. I groaned and looked around. "Good, you're awake." She said brightly, as I sat up.
I was in the huge bed in the room I had been gifted. It was comfortable and the bedding was soft and warm. I must've been here for a while, I thought, the fog in my head not quite clear yet. I didn't quite luxuriate in feeling, but it did take some self-control on my part not to. This was the first bed I'd been in since I'd left Sofen and definitely the softest and most comfortable I'd ever felt.
There was a strange twinge in my side. It did not hurt. But it felt weird. I fingered the area. There was a fresh patch of skin there. No stitches and no wound. It tingled and felt like it might tear open if I did too much stretching. No pain at all? That's... terrifying. There was also no bloodstain. No blood anywhere. No sweat or dirt.
"What did you do?" I asked, more than a little afraid of the answer. Magic isn't exactly rare, but Queen Meryl and this maid are wielding it as though it's completely normal. Back in Sofen, I knew that the priestess of Pelor could do a few minor things. Cantrips, she'd called them. Or sometimes orisons. But she'd been the only one I'd ever met.
