Talia awoke to the sound of the pigeons cooing to one another from the castle turrets. She rolled over in bed, smiling contentedly as she watched the slow rise and fall of Alec's chest as he slept soundly beside her. It had been just over a week since they had returned to the castle. Alec was a hero and the Red Hand Gang had been almost completely disbanded and many of its members now languished in Everdale's prison whilst they awaited trial. For her part, the Princess had made a remarkable recovery. The cuts and bruises that she had suffered at the hands of Zeedra had healed completely and her strength had fully returned. Her appetite was not what it had once been, (she had taken to eating her meat rare), and she found it difficult to remain outside for long periods during the day, but these small quirks were put down to her traumatic experience and were not investigated farther.
She heard her handmaiden approach long before Melissa knocked softly on the door and entered her chambers carrying a set of fresh towels. Her black hair was bound above her head and woven through with a string of daisies. She looked at Talia as the Princess sat up, holding the thin bedsheets to her breasts, and adopted a mock frown on her face.
"Princess!" she gasped in mock horror. "What would your mother say if she saw you in bed with a strange man?"
Talia smirked. "This strange man happens to be my fiancee," she replied. It had been a week since Alec had proposed and she still was not tired of calling him her fiancee.
Melissa grinned. "Fiancee or not, you know what your mother is like!"
"A giant prude?" Alec groaned as he opened his eyes.
"Hey!" Talia giggled, whacking his shoulder. "Prude or not, she's still my mother. Besides, Melissa's right. You might have bested the Red Hands but I wouldn't want to see you try and fight my mother."
"You're right," he said as he rubbed his eyes. "That's one dragon to much for me!"
She punched him again as he swung his legs out of their bed and began searching for his pants. She saw Melissa blush as she quickly turned away and busied herself with something on Talia's dressing table.
"I'll see you later," Alec said as he pulled on his tunic. He leant over the bed and kissed her lips. "Don't forget what I got you to wear."
She rolled her eyes but the smile on her lips was genuine. "I wont. Now go, before anyone sees you!"
He winked at her as he stood and bade Melissa goodbye before crossing to the window and leaping out into the daylight. Talia closed his eyes as she listened to him soar through the air before landing like a cat on the opposite turret, unseen and unheard by anyone else but her as he crept back to his own chambers.
"Shall I draw you a bath?" Melissa asked.
Talia smiled as she opened her eyes. "That sounds wonderful," she said.
She spent the morning lounging in the hot soapy water of the bath Melissa had made for her. It was the first day since she had returned to the castle that she had truly had to herself. Her mother was busy preparing for the ball that was to be held that evening and her father was presiding over the initial court hearings that would lead to the sentencing of the Red Hand gang members. Melissa sat with her as she helped her bathe and they chatted and laughed together in a way that they had not been able to do for what felt like years. Alec had told her that if it hadn't been for Melissa, he would never have known where to look for Talia and whatever it was that she had done, it had clearly effected her. She was brighter and more confident than Talia had ever seen her and she was delighted to hear that she and David, her stablehand, were finally dating in an official manner.
"Is the water not getting cold?" Mellisa asked suddenly.
"Hmm?" Talia said before remembering. "Oh. Yes I suppose it is a little chilly."
Melissa laughed and shook her head. Apart from Alec, she was the only one who knew that Talia was now a vampire as well. She had taken the news better than Talia could have hoped for and she was so grateful that she did not have to lie to her closest friend about her condition.
"Let's get you out of there," Melissa said. "It's a lovely afternoon. We could get some lunch and then go for a walk in the garden? I'll bring you a parasol."
"An excellent idea," Talia said, once again relieved by Melissa's understanding.
Melissa helped her out of the bath and helped to dry the Princess, remarking on how perfect Talia's skin was looking. At the dressing table she skilfully braided Talia's long blonde hair and set her crown upon her brown before applying powder to her cheeks and rouge to her lips. Talia selected a deep red dress that she knew was one of Alec's favourites and Melissa helped her to put it on. The dress had a square neckline that exposed the very top of her cleavage and flared sleeves trimmed in gold brocade that matched her hair. The dress was pulled tight at her waist and sat a few centimetres off of the floor. Beneath it she wore black stockings attached to a black garter belt, black lace panties and a pair of high heeled shoes that matched the colour of her dress.
"You look lovely, Princess," Melissa said warmly.
Talia returned her smile, unable to comment on her appearance given the lack of her own reflection in the mirror before her. She had never thought herself vain before, but the one thing she missed most about being mortal so far was being able to see her own reflection.
"I'll go and see what I can scrounge off the cook," Melissa said as she gathered Talia's dirty laundry into her arms. "Shall I meet you by the reflecting pool in fifteen minutes?"
"I'll be waiting," Talia replied with a smile.
She waited until Melissa had left before walking to her nightstand and sliding open the top draw where she had hidden Alec's gift to her. It was a simple leather harness that would sit around her waist. It had straps that circled her thighs and a slightly wider length of leather that sat between her legs on which was fitted a small vibrator and a vibrating butt plug, both of which were powered by tiny spark batteries created by the magic colleges. She bit her lip as she ran her finger over the smooth metal plug and the soft leather, remembering the mischievous glint in Alec's eye when he had given her the harness. She was excited to put it on, and even more excited to try it out. The sparks could be operated remotely, though, and the one thing that Alec hadn't given her was the control spark.
She pulled up her dress and slid off her panties. She then carefully massaged some lube onto the plug and around her ass before stepping into the harness and pulling it up, easing the plug into her tight asshole. She bit her lip, inhaling sharply as she felt the plug stretch her ass as it penetrated her. She took a moment to steady herself before she tightened the leather straps around her waist and thighs and stood, allowing her dress to tumble back down around her ankles.
She made her way slowly from her chambers down to the palace gardens, the plug shifting pleasantly inside her ass with every step that she took. The guards and palace staff smiled and bowed at her as she passed them by, all of them relieved to see her returned home safely. She returned their kind gestures, feeling a thrill of excitement at the knowledge that none of them knew what she wore beneath her dress.
"Princess?"
She turned to see Sir Jerrod heading towards her. The Minister of Harbour Welfare was one of her father's youngest council members and was easy on the eyes, but he was also sinfully dull and she could not help but feel herself deflate as he stopped in front of her and bowed respectfully.
"Sir Jerrod," she said with a forced smile.
"I was so relieved to hear of your safe return," he said. "One can only imagine the terror you must have endured at the hands of those thugs."
"Yes, it was an awful experience," she replied in the tone she reserved for speaking to politicians with. "But I a was truly humbled to hear of the effort that everyone went to to bring me home."
The minister's eyes lit up and he swiftly launched in a recounting of how he had had his department scour the manifests of every ship leaving the harbour. Talia smiled politely as he listed the many strange things they had found and was about to try and extract herself from the conversation when suddenly the vibrator between her legs activated at its lowest setting. She gasped in surprise and very nearly reached for the device before remembering where she was. For a moment she thought Sir Jerrod might have noticed her reaction but it was clear that he was far too engrossed in listing all of the not particularly unusual items they had confiscated from the various ships to notice.
She looked around as the vibrator hummed pleasantly between her legs. She was in one of the palace's main hallways and there were dozens of servants, guards and politicians rushing to a fro about their business or standing about talking in groups. She finally found her fiancee standing amongst a group of ministers, his arms folded across his chest as he laughed politely at someone's joke. Their eyes met briefly and she saw his lip twitch upwards. A moment later the plug in her ass began to vibrate as well.
"... crates of sewing needles!" Sir Jerrod was saying. "I mean, can you believe that?"
She smiled politely, clenching her teeth and breathing through her nose as the vibrations passed through her body. Both devices were on their lowest settings and with the noise in the hallway there was no danger of anyone hearing them but even so, the possibility of being caught was turning out o be a massive turn on for her.
"Sir Jerrod," she said with a smile. "Forgive me, but I believe I see my fiancee over there. Would you excuse me?"
Jerrod looked around and she thought she saw a flicker of jealousy in his eyes when he spotted Alec through the crowd. He turned to her, his lips compressed in a thin smile as he bowed his head. "Of course, Princess," he said. "Please, give my best to your future husband."
She left the minister with a brief curtsy and made her way as swiftly towards Alec as she dared without attracting any attention. The other ministers turned as she floated up beside him and placed her hands on his arm.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," she said politely. "Might I steal my fiancee away for a moment?"
The men agreed of course with a lot of bluster and pomp and she hurriedly pulled Alec farther along the corridor before ducking into a secondary stairway that led back to the palace's upper levels.
"Is everything alright, my love?" he said with a smirk.
"Shut up," she hissed, closing her eyes as she leant back against the wall and allowed herself a moment of euphoria.
