Mave had awoken from her slumber when the sun was high in the sky, and hastened to dress herself. Through groggy happenstance, she made it to the old inn and tavern - the last place she remembered before her memory failed her.
The door to the tavern was a worn, wooden thing, with a rusted handle. In the center was a window, covered by intricate iron work. The iron work, however, was not enough to save Mave from her unbidden reflection. Twigs stuck out of her hair from all sides, and her brown waves turned to dirt ridden mats. She looked down at her dress. The light blue fabric was smeared by dirt and grass stains. The Lady of Esthben house was certainly an unbecoming image to behold.
"Maverine!" A low, worried voice exclaimed. Mave felt hands enrapture her at once from behind. A kiss befell her cheek, and she leaned in to her husband.
"What on earth happened to you?" His voice was anxious and strained.
But Mave had no words to describe last night's events, nor did she remember anything after the inn.
"We shall go home at once," The Lord of the house proclaimed, "I'll stay my course once I've seen you home and safe."
Mave could have protested, but she would take any excuse she could to impede her husband on his current endeavor. She had no desire to see his dreams come to fruition. Besides, she longed to see Elsbeth and tell her of her mysterious evening.Her most dearest confidant would undoubtedly have some sort of explanation - no matter how superstitious.
The carriage ride was long, and it was hot. Mave could not help but fret over her current state. Sweat started at Mave's forehead and dropped down her clavicle. Her face was made dewy by the humidity. She took deep breaths to abate the heat, and her bosom rose and fell in great heaps. The corset had been tied with clumsy hands, and this allowed far more skin to spill out of the fabric than it was meant to.
Upon entry to Esthben, the curtains of the carriage window were pulled shut. The Lord ordered the driver to pull into the stables, and clear all servants out. Mave would go directly inside, through a passageway that connected the stables to the estate. She would be unseen by anyone until Elsbeth had cleaned her up properly. It would be in bad form to let any rumors spread about the Lady of House Esthben, and her current state would do just that.
People would look at the dirt in her hair and on her clothes and think maybe she was kidnapped by ruffians, and taken in the wilds. They would wonder, if an heir ever did come, whether it's legitimacy was still intact.
Both Lord and Lady waited in the carriage. The curtains trapped the heat inside of the small space, and Mave waved her hand before her face and neck to cool herself. Another drop of sweat trickled down her neck. Her husband's eyes followed it all the way down, till it fell between both breasts, and eventually hid under the sanctity of the corset. Mave could feel the drop of sweat kiss the skin just below her breasts, to her belly button, then to the waist line of her skirt. While her husband's eyes were on her body, her mind was elsewhere.
She remembered the sensation of someone's lips making the same path down her body as that little pearl of perspiration. She recalled two soft lips working their way down from her own, to the nape of her neck, to her hardened nipples. Then, all the way down her barren stomach, across her hip bones, and finally to her...
"What?" Her husband asked, brows knit tight in confusion. Mave shook the sleep from her eyes.
"I beg your pardon?" She asked her husband.
"You whispered something. It sounded like you said you see stars," he said.
"I..."
But before she could answer, the horseman opened the door to let them know the stables were clear, and Elsbeth waited for her Lady in her bathing room. Mave gratefully took her leave of Lord Esthben, and hurried up the stone stairs to her friend.
Lady Maverine half expected Elsbeth to gasp in horror at the looks of her, but she only pressed her lips firmly together.
"Shall we get you undressed?" She asked Lady Maverine.
While Elsbeth worked the ties on her corset, Mave recounted everything she remembered from her journey. Her husband and she began their journey the night prior to last, and found an inn to reside in. Her husband insisted upon drinks at the tavern to save money and appear as any commoner would. It was loud, so she stepped outside for a breath. Then, her memory faded, and she woke up tattered in the forest.
Bu the time the whole story had been recounted, Mave's dressing garments lay in a pool at her feet. She turned to face Elsbeth, eye to eye. Elsbeth, however, was not meeting Mave's gaze. Instead, her eyes seemed locked on Mave's breasts. Mave blushed; a red sheen spilled over her cheeks and cleavage.
"Elsbeth?" Mave asked.
"It isn't fair. Even covered in sweat and grime, you are undeniably more beautiful," she whispered.
This deepened the color in Mave's cheeks. She took a step toward Elsbeth. Mave's nipples barely touched the skin spilling from atop the other girl's corset, but she could feel Elsbeth's heat radiating from her body like a fire.
"Mave..." Elsbeth began. It was the same voice she always used when the two tempted fate too treacherously.
Mave shook her head before Elsbeth could begin her protest.
"My body aches for you," Mave whispered softly, finally saying the words she always wished to, "You know it always has. This morning, I had woken up in a forest and feared I might never see you - or anyone- ever again. You pull away from me, because you are scared. Yet, when I am terrified all I long to do is reach for you. You tempt fate with your words every day, but my body yearns for more than words." She no longer cared about Elsbeth's thoughts on last nights treacherous journey. It was as if something far more important had been locked away for a very long time and was finally set free. She knew that if she did not get it off her chest now, she would burst into one thousand pieces of ash at this very moment.
"I want to feel your body close to mine, I want to feel..." Mave bit her tongue before she finished her sentence.
... just as I felt last night.
But Mave was not with Elsbeth last night, and this confused her. She carried on, before her courage was lost.
"Just as I have always longed to. For all my life, you have been at the center. I married Lord Esthben, because I had to. It was expected, it was what my father wanted. But... this distance it has put between us is torture."
Elsbeth looked at her with a pained expression, and pressed lips.
With the rigid composure of someone who realized too late that they have stepped in the path of a venemous snake, Elsbeth said, "I have made sure the water was warm for you. You must bathe now, and make yourself presentable for your house." Her voice was firm, and Mave would not argue further.
