Author's Note: This story depicts graphic lesbian sex and mind control. If these topics do not interest you or are prohibited in your area please back out now.
This is the fifth installment of a long story. Those that have read my other stories will know that I tend to have some story behind the sex so if you're looking for a quickie this story may not be to you liking.
For those of you that haven't backed out, I hope you enjoy my words.
~CD
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Over the next few weeks Vala discovered that despite what her new title, Assistant to the Steward of the Baroness von Wolffe, may sound like, she was in reality little more than an errand runner for the Steward. She spent much of her day going about the keep getting reports from the various areas within the massive structure. Information about how much mutton was left in the larder from the head cook, how many bars of iron were needed by the blacksmith, how many wine barrels the cooper had prepared and so on and so on. By the end of the first week Vala figured she must have walked fifty leagues at least.
She found however that her new position did elevate her quite a bit above most of the rest of the staff of the keep. There were no official rankings among the staff, but it was easy to see after just a few days at the keep had a very complex social hierarchy. The Baroness, whom Vala still had yet to meet or even see, was at the very top with the Steward directly under her. In fact, in so far as Vala could see, for the day to day running of the keep the Steward appeared to make all of the decisions, only getting direction from the Baroness on more far reaching matters.
Under the Steward was the head of the guards, a big, older man named Captain Holt. He was gruff and stern with his soldiers but had always been courteous and respectful to Vala on the occasions when she had to speak with him.
After the Captain, or perhaps right beside him Vala suspected but wasn't sure, was Miss Bernadette as head of all the staff. Under her were all of the respective heads of the different trades of the keep. The head blacksmith, the head cooper, the head cook and so forth. Finally under them was the remainder of the keep's vast staff with another whole social order that was too vast and complicated to grasp at a glance.
At first Vala thought of herself as merely an errand runner for the Steward but as some time passed she began to realize that this assumption was not correct. Rather she found to her surprise that she appeared to fall roughly into a place directly under Miss Bernadette, at a level equal to or perhaps just above the heads of trades. This gained her considerable respect among the rest of the staff despite her humble origins. At first Vala wondered at this but as the days passed it became apparent to her that most of the staff just assumed that she had always been of that station and had come to the keep from just such a position somewhere else. They didn't know, because no one had told them that she was just a common farm girl. Perhaps if they knew of her origins they wouldn't regard her as they did.
Also to her surprised delight she also found that she now rated her own private chambers and a new wardrobe.
The private chambers were very small and simple when compared to the Stewards chambers or even to most of the guest chambers but to Vala they were the grandest place she had ever imagined herself sleeping. The outer room was a small sitting area with a small sofa, two stuffed chairs, a table, a desk and a fireplace. A small, narrow window looked out onto the courtyard far below. The adjoining room was a small bedroom with a smaller fireplace, a bed and another, smaller desk. The bed was small by the standards of the rest of the keep but it was still larger than the rough straw bed that up until a few weeks ago she had shared with her two sisters.
Unaccustomed to wearing anything other than rough farm cloths and at most her Sunday dress, the new wardrobe embarrassed Vala at first. Like the room, it was very simple compared to the Steward's or even Miss Bernadette's clothes, but the long, heavy velvet and wool dresses would have been considered quite grand back in her village. Vala asked if wearing the new clothes was really necessary and Steward assured her that it was absolutely imperative for her to look her station.
The next day when Vala first walked in wearing her new wardrobe it was immediately apparent to the Steward just how uncomfortable she was with the new clothes. Taking pity on Vala, the Steward sat and talked with her for a few minutes. "You are not a common chambermaid Vala. You're no longer even a commoner and you mustn't think of yourself like that anymore. You have taken your first steps to greater things. It is a chance that very, very few ever get. You are a very uncommon girl Vala. Bernadette saw that almost immediately and I can easily see it now was well. You should be proud of that. Wear those new clothes as a matter of honor and pride and for heaven's sake don't be ashamed."
Gradually over the proceeding days Vala had indeed become accustomed to the new clothes and the deference that the other staff now showed to her.
There were other benefits of her new station that took longer for Vala to adjust to.
Vala had met the chambermaid the morning after being moved to her new chambers. Vala was busy making her bed after having spent a wondrous night sleeping in the decadently soft feather bed. There had been a quiet knock at the door and when Val had said to enter, a petite young woman with shoulder length, curly red hair tied back with a white kerchief walked in wearing the uniform of a chambermaid. Upon seeing what Vala was doing her eyes opened wide with horror.
"Oh, please milady, no! Let me do that." She practically yanked the bed sheets out of Vala's hands and escorted her out of the room.
Vala tried to protest saying that she would help her but the young woman only looked even more scandalized.
Vala gave up and went off to her duties for the day. At the end of the day she found the young woman again in her chambers, this time she was building up the fires to fend off the chill of the autumn night.
"Good evening milady." She had said upon turning and seeing Vala enter the room. "Is here anything I can do for you?"
Vala eyed the young woman, taking a closer look than she had in the morning when she had been shooed out of the room. She was a few hands shorter than Vala and gracefully slender. Big green eyes over a pert nose which was covered with freckles that spilled over onto her cheeks. Her curly bright red hair was pulled back in a single thick ponytail. The white kerchief tied over the top of her head probably helped to keep the dust from her hair while cleaning.
"What is your name?" Vala asked.
"Branwen, milady." Said the girl with a small curtsey.
"And how long have you been here Branwen?"
"All my life milady. I was born here in the keep and have served the Baroness since I was nine years old." She said and again made the same small curtsey.
"Branwen, I'm no Lady. Please stop calling me that and don't curtsy anymore."
The girl looked up and seemed confused. "But you work for the Steward." She paused as if nervous of what to say. After a moment she said cautiously, "And, and ... how... what... what am I to call you milady?"
