Two days passed without incident. Neral was grateful for the discipline taught her from the moment she could remember. It made it somewhat easy to carry on her normal routine, though it didn't hurt that she believed Deres when he said she wouldn't see either of them anyway. All she'd do is alert the witch and that was the last thing she'd do willingly. It was more amusing to imagine all the things she'd do to her to repay her for what had been done.
Riding home she'd wondered again briefly why she hadn't gone after the queen or set the city afire or something in response to the fact that she now knew what happened to her. The simplest explanation was that the witch had been so sure of herself and her power and that Neral was so enthralled with it that there was no need to plan for any other contingency when it came to at least her. The thought enraged her and shamed her at once. It enraged her for the obvious reasons and shamed her to her core because without Deres it would have been true. Truthfully, if he could help her end this before it began what he asked of her as far as marriage went was a small price to pay. The crystal was another matter and made her draw her her cloak closer to her body to banish the thought.
Or perhaps more what the idea of it made her feel. She consoled herself over it by telling herself that it was just a side effect of the workings of the witch on her mind. The rest of her evening was uneventful and, after a light supper, a bath, and a bit of reading she was finally able to drift off.
This city was filled with such small people that sometimes it was all the woman could do not to laugh or wretch. They milled about living their lives oblivious to the world around them and their betters. She and her kind saw more of the world than they could conceive and they were happy in their ignorance.
For her, it was just a job. She'd been paid a rather handsome sum to let the enemies of these people draw blood on some anniversary of some event that happened generations ago that hardly mattered anymore. The noble who hired her spoke with the passion of it happening yesterday and as though he were in the middle of it. The particulars bored her, so she'd listened for the times to nod and did so and feigned outrage alongside him in hopes that he might pay a like-minded soul a bit more.
Even though it was just a job to be done there was plenty of enjoyment to be had. Gold was always nice, and even after the guild took it's share she'd do well. There was also something to be said for teaching these pitiful souls a lesson in humility. The fear that would crash through these people like a tidal wave would be sight to behold as the realization that one person had unleashed such mayhem to send them screaming from their complacency. In their minds it would be their much vaunted General Jaye that had torn their dull little world. No one would know of the woman's hand in all of it.
But she would know, and that would be more than enough. She would know that one person had enough power to upend a kingdom
The streets were all but deserted at this time of night, save the sentries and the beggars and the whores. She scarcely had to use magic to be unseen here as the damp back alleys did more than enough when it came to offering concealment. It was only when she neared the general's home that she truly began to weave the magics around her form, melting her into and yet beyond her environment so completely that someone could be next to her and have no clue she was there.
She slipped into the manicured courtyard, making no sound in the near-ethereal form as she made her way to the east side of the manor before spreading her arms from her sides and lifting herself from the ground, gliding upward until she reached the small balcony attached to the third-story window. She could have simply unlocked the front door and made her way to the general's room, but what fun would that have been?
It took her a moment of concentration to shift the fields of magic around her so that a flick of her fingers unlatched the double-pane doors, not dropping her concealment until she was inside the bedroom.
Where she stopped.
There was something, something that stirred her senses for the briefest moment like when you're nearly asleep and believe you hear a sound. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, sending out wisps of her own magic unseen by anyone but her to search the air for any hint of what it might have been. Much like that imagined sound in the night though, the more she attempted to focus on it, the more impossible it was to find until she finally dismissed it as a flush of excitement over a job nearly complete.
She moved deftly to the side of the bed and looked down at the sleeping Neral, using yet another bit of magic that allowed the witch to see her now peaceful form better in the dark. Truthfully she'd have been done already except that dear Neral was remarkably resistant to killing her queen. Her loyalty ran deep, which was commendable, the sorceress supposed, but so did her love of the effects of the magic. In that, she was like every other upon whom she had weaved the magic, whether for fun or profit. Eventually they craved control and sometimes it amused the witch to make them beg to be given a command to obey until they cried for it.
This one had spirit and might be fun to toy with until her will was ground to nothing, though she was far more likely to be torn apart by an enraged mob. She sighed inwardly. It was a pity, but there were always new toys to be found. She stopped indulging her own thoughts and began to focus on weaving the energies around her with the movements of her hands weaving intricate patterns in the air over her prey while her mouth uttered, nearly silently, a chain of spells in a druid dialect that was dead to most, each layer designed to deepen Neral's sleep temporarily and make her mind easier to touch when the time came.
The chanting and spell weaving continued as the witch lowered herself to the bed, bringing her hands ever closer to Neral's flesh. As expected, the woman of the house turned from her side to her back. The action had been seen often enough in others. The body knew it wanted long before the brain admitted the same and gave in.
All her fingers caressed Neral's face now, each moving slightly this way and that, making a new pattern on the skin, touching it the way a lover would, down, sparing not an inch, from her cheekbones, over her chin and across her lips, deepening the spell. On the fourth pass, those full lips parted to release a long sigh as she seemed to sink farther into the bed, her heart skipping a beat as the spell began to take hold.
Neral's eyes snapped open as every nerve in her body began to sing the same glorious song. She remembered now as she felt her nipples harden against her lace gown. She remembered because she was meant to. She knew how it would be; the pleasure would overwhelm her mind and then the words would ooze into mind to become what drove her. "No." Neral tried valiantly to lift her arms to try to stop those fingers from sapping her will, but she only managed to lift her wrists an inch or so.
Her voice dripped pity. "Oh, you always try so hard, but it always ends the same, sweet."
The woman stayed focused and waited for her victim's breathing to become more shallow and panting. She grinned once the body bent to her will that way as it meant that victory was imminent. Her left hand stopped its ministrations and her palm wandered down the front of her nightgown, pushing the quilt down with it to reveal her form.
"Noooooooo." This one was a shivering plea.
The mage ignored her and let her hand slide under the gown and between Neral's thighs, feeling the damp heat before she even touched that slit. "You're so ready for me, aren't you, dear? There used to be so much more struggle." Her voice hardened, "Open your legs."
Neral's thighs knotted as she mustered what meager defenses she had left, but the sweet poison was filling her. Her body was a live wire and it felt like she was drowning in pleasure, every nerve in her body whimpering in joy and there would be more. All she had to do was...
