The Enchantress of Ingley

The tall, blonde bandit queen strode lazily toward the pile of squirming women, where they had collapsed by the house at the edge of the village. She moved at a much more leisurely pace than the slender redhead who dashed before her. Zara's eyes followed her lieutenant's progress, as the shorter woman knelt beside the fallen noble and the still conscious barmaid beneath.

"She may have bumped her head when she fainted, my Lady. But I would wager her state is more from over excitement than any concussion." At those words, Cordelia lifted Marissa's head by her hair, and checked her eyes. "She should be fine shortly."

"Stop! She's my friend!" Jenrea squeaked as she struggled to free herself from the warm tangle of supple limbs and soft fabric that was the squire's daughter.

Zara couldn't help but laugh at the poor girl's panicked words, but then, when she gazed down at the look of fear and concern on the raven haired woman's features, her heart softened. She strolled over, and crouched near to them all with a creak of her leathers. "Oh, my poor, poor sweet. She's not your friend. She was just using you." She then grinned to Cordelia, "Perhaps we should have let them finish?"

The slender lieutenant rolled her eyes, then glared down at Jenrea. "Be quiet, or we'll have to silence you," she commanded tersely as she began to bind the unconscious noblewoman's hands behind her back.

Jenrea drew in a deep breath to call out, only to find the firm, leather gloved hand of the bandit queen clasped over her mouth. Her blue eyes met Zara's, and the tall blonde just smiled reassuringly.

"Now, now, Cordelia. Be nice to our guests," she spoke to her lieutenant without taking her gaze off of the innkeeper's daughter, then she addressed Jenrea directly, "We'll take care of your friend. We have a few people skilled with medicine back at the camp. But I'm afraid you two are going to have to come with us. Now, will you be a good girl and come along?"

After a moment's hesitation, Jenrea nodded.

Zara slid her hand from the barmaid's lips cautiously, but no scream followed. She was glad, in a way. Something about the girl struck her to the core. She was too nice by far, and it made even the bandit queen's hardened heart warm.

Cordelia hauled Marissa off of Jenrea, and Zara helped the dark haired young woman to her feet. It looked like there would be no need for violence after all. At least not until Marissa awakened. Still, they had to move swiftly, for they were still well within the village bounds, and all it would take is another curious soul to wonder what the fuss was at that hour to raise the alarm.

Jenrea turned her nervous eyes up to the taller woman, and spoke with a breathless, frightened tone, "Wh- who are you?"

Zara smiled and took Jenrea's hand gently. She bowed low, and dipped her head to kiss the shorter woman's knuckles. "I am Zara Blade, Queen of the Ingley Bandits and champion of all the free." It was a flowery title which Cordelia had given her long ago, among many others, and one of the few which she felt was fitting.

Despite the silliness of the title and flowery introduction, Jenrea blinked and stared, as if in awe. "So you're royalty? Are you related to the prince?"

A bark of laughter escaped Zara before she could help it. "No, no. It's just- never mind, dear. My sweet Cordelia has a tendency to shower me with unnecessary accolades. You can call me Zara. Zara of the Blade."

Still clinging to the taller woman's arm with one hand, the barmaid managed a curtsy. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Blade. I'm Jenrea."

Zara marveled at just how polite she was, even while being taken captive. But then perhaps Jenrea didn't realize the extent of her situation. Regardless, it would make things far easier if she cooperated.

"We're ready to go, Lady Blade." Cordelia hoisted the other redhead over her shoulder, seemingly much stronger than her slender, compact frame should indicate.

Nodding to Cordelia, Zara slipped one powerful arm loosely about Jenrea's shoulders. "Have you ever had roast boar, my dear?" She began to lead the younger woman along, and Jenrea willingly went with her. The question seemed to excite the dark haired woman's curiosity, at least.

"No, not at all miss!"

"Ah, then you're in for a treat. I've no doubt we still have some back at camp." It was almost pleasant, having such a lovely young woman at her side. She glanced back to Cordelia from time to time, concerned her lieutenant might become jealous, but all she noted was the lean redhead's cagey, paranoid gaze staring off into the night.

Something was up with Cordelia, and Zara wasn't sure she wanted to know what.

It was a long but pleasant walk through the darkness, across fields and into the welcome embrace of the looming forest. Zara knew those lands like the back of her hand, and unlike the local farmers, she held no fear of the shadows amongst the trees. Indeed, she was the predator others should avoid, a tall, blonde lion amidst farm raised cattle.

Proud she might be, but when Jenrea stumbled or had difficulty, Zara found herself automatically reaching to help the barmaid over twisted roots or unseen ruts, as if beholden to her. The thought of turning the younger woman over to that twisted enchantress seemed a poorer idea with each step they took.

The squire's daughter, on the other hand, was something else. She would be more than happy to turn that brat over. As they cut through the forest and over that ridge that shielded her camp's fires from the village, Zara stole the occasional glance back at Cordelia and Marissa. Despite her own distractions, she couldn't help but catch her lieutenant's hand wandering over the noblewoman's shapely rear as they stalked onward. Her eyes narrowed.

"Don't get too comfortable with that one, Cordelia dear. We'll have to turn her over soon enough." She didn't know why she took such a biting tone with her words, yet she was greatly pleased when Cordelia's slender hand slipped back down to catch beneath one of Marissa's knees instead.

"Yes, of course my Lady."

Zara's own arm circled Jenrea's waist in a loose embrace. The barmaid was different, she reasoned. Certainly she was beautiful, and Zara would not mind dallying with her if she had a mind for it. But first and foremost she felt protective, as if the raven haired beauty needed some sort of guardian.

It was a foolish notion, yet one she could not let go.

By the time they arrived at camp, it was terribly late. Only a few men remained to stand watch, the others were no doubt out laying in wait at the sage's home. Only the central fire still burned, and that was much reduced. The men were attentive for once, though they did not actively challenge Zara, her distinct silhouette making that unnecessary.

The bandit queen was impressed. Perhaps the idea of their upcoming successes had put a spirit of pride back into the men, improving their morale and discipline.

Almost as soon as they stepped into the camp, Jenrea slipped from her side and looked here and there, taking it all in. "Wow," there was admiration in her words, "it's like you have your own little village of tents and cabins out here. This is nice. I don't think anyone in Ingley even dreams that you're out here."

Zara puffed with pride at the observation, "Yeah, picked this spot because it had ready access to what we needed, without being easy to find. Hell, we're just a stone's throw from the village itself, and yet there's not a fellow there that has even come close to finding us."

A low groan from Marissa interrupted their conversation. Cordelia laid the bound noblewoman on one of the tables, and looked her over with a gaze that Zara didn't quite like. It was enough to make her excuse herself hastily and hustle over to the two. Jenrea seemed content to find a place to sit and warm herself before the fire, while Zara paced up behind Cordelia and slipped her hands about the other woman's slender waist.

Zara was somewhat relieved when the redhead leaned back against her leather clad form. The bandit queen's inexplicable jealousy abated somewhat, and she pressed the gentlest of kisses to Cordelia's neck. "What's wrong?" She murmured against that soft skin, hardly drawing her lips back from the other woman at all.

"She's unnatural. I can't explain it. There's something going on with her. Magic, I think." The redhead's tone was one of tension and excitement. If a coiled spring had a voice, Zara was certain it would sound something like that.

"How can you tell?"

Cordelia rested one hand over her own chest, just over her heart. "The same way I could tell with the enchantress. Something inside of me. But look," She held out one hand close to Marissa's skin. At first, Zara couldn't make out what her lieutenant was talking about, but then she saw it. Tiny little white sparks danced over Marissa's form, barely visible through her clothing. It was like watching distant lightning through rain clouds, just a collection of small, muted flashes.

"I didn't think Enchantresses did that," the bandit queen noted, her voice soft with wonder.

"So you're an expert on magic, now?" Cordelia raised a brow and looked back over her shoulder to the taller woman, her own lips so close to Zara's. "My lady." She added at the end, as if that could take the sting out of her words.

Zara's lips curled into a quick smile, before she caught Cordelia's for a gentle kiss. The slender redhead returned it eagerly, then lifted one hand to caress Zara's cheek. They stood like that for a while, the bandit queen just enjoying the moment, arms wrapped about Cordelia's comparatively smaller form.

For once, it wasn't her lieutenant's sense of propriety that interrupted, but rather the stirring of Marissa there on the table. Long lashes fluttered to reveal dark jade eyes beneath, and then the squire's daughter's brows furrowed.

"What? Where am I? Who are you?" The questions rose in a banshee's wail from the curvier woman on the crude wooden table. She squirmed against the bonds Cordelia had secured, attempting to free her hands form where they were bound behind her back, and her ankles which had been tied together.

Cordelia broke the kiss, then gazed down to Marissa with a certain sense of glee. "Oh hush, you. Or I'll be forced to gag you." She leaned away from Zara and over the other redhead. Her hands came up to cup Marissa's cheeks as she gazed down to her captive.

The bandit queen frowned at how familiar Cordelia acted with the squire's daughter, but tried to shake the feeling off. Instead, her own hands drifted down that taut, leather clad form to grip and squeeze her lieutenant's tight rear. The dirty look that earned her did manage to bring a smile to her features.

Jenrea bounced up toward them, drawn by the commotion. "Miss Marissa!" She called forth, "Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?" The squire's daughter shrieked out in a rage, only to squeal in pain as Cordelia grabbed her ears, and yanked her head back toward the tabletop.

"I said," the leaner, shorter woman hissed out, "Hush. I'm afraid that I can't let a potential spellcaster go ungagged if she's not cooperating. Who knows what vile sorceries you'll lay on my Lady Blade?"

"Spellca- What are you talking about?" Marissa managed to call in a panicked, shrill voice, before Cordelia knocked the wind from her with a quick blow to her belly.

"Don't hurt her!" Jenrea lunged forward, only to be stopped by one of Zara's powerful arms.

"Go a little easier on her, will you?" The bandit queen begrudgingly asked. "I mean, she's of no use to us if you kill her before the Enchantress arrives, right?" It was a lame explanation for her own uncharacteristic concern.

Cordelia snorted at that, "She's already setting her hooks into you, my lady." She nodded in Jenrea's direction, "Just take care of the barmaid. I'll ensure that this enchantress does nothing to further enthrall you." She yanked at Marissa's hair, bringing another shriek from her. "As for you, you spoiled bitch, I'll teach you not to try to manipulate my lo- my Lady Blade."

Zara raised both brows as Cordelia hauled the other woman off to one of the sturdier wooden shacks, usually used for storage. She couldn't understand just why her lieutenant seemed intent on causing the other redhead such pain.

Jenrea's soft whimper stole her attention again. Zara looked down to the dark haired woman, only to see those big blue eyes staring back up at her. She lifted a hand to touch the barmaid's cheek. She really was beautiful.

"Will she be alright, Miss Blade?" Jenrea's lower lip quivered, as a pout threatened.

Zara wrapped the younger woman in what she hoped was a comforting embrace, and sighed softly. "Of course she'll be alright." She pressed a gentle, almost motherly kiss to the top of Jenrea's head. "Now let's get you something to eat."

Over the course of their meal, Zara had to admit that she'd got the better deal, if she simply had to watch Jenrea. The bubbly barmaid's friendly nature soon had even the more hardened sentries still present in camp laughing and joking when they stopped by the fire. It was as if they were all taken with her. The bandit queen nearly forgot that she was supposed to be holding the young woman captive.

Marissa's cries, however, became a regular thing, screams and shouts of rage and pain drifted intermittently from the shed where she'd been taken. Zara wondered just what the woman had done to piss Cordelia off. Eventually, it grew to the point where she excused herself, and went to check in on the two. Leaving Jenrea by the fire, the tall blonde moved toward the rickety door that did so little to mute the sounds from within.

The sight which greeted her as the door crashed open was startling. The squire's daughter was bound to the thick post in the middle of the shed, her hands cuffed far above her head. Her fiery curls lay in disarray about her, doing little to cover her bare breasts. Cordelia had carefully stripped the woman to the waist, and was applying a short whip to that exposed skin. Welts raised here and there over pale flesh, but there were signs of other marks from a previous whipping, one which can't have been more than a few hours old.

More surprising was the reaction those careful, measured strikes had on the noblewoman. Cordelia lashed out to just lightly strike her flank, just enough to produce a pop and a sting, and Marissa leaned into the blow. A fierce blush covered her otherwise fair skin, and she let out a whimpered moan, before screaming out invectives after the blow had faded.

Zara's lieutenant had loosened her own leathers, though not enough to provide the same sort of view the bound redhead was. Her own features were flush with excitement, a mingling of lust and hatred visible. But what shocked the bandit queen the most of the entire scene were Cordelia's words.

"You dare deny it? I saw the way she softened when she was dealing with you. She would normally have had you whipped until your skin was rags. Admit it, you're trying to turn Zara against me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about! I have done nothing of the sort!" Marissa then cried out, as that short whip cut across the underside of one breast, sending that plump swell to collide with its mate.

Zara winced at seeing the blow, and stepped in. She felt she had to stop Cordelia before she genuinely hurt the girl. Besides, the whole situation was disturbing. She was well on her way into the ramshackle room when Marissa's shudder and moan brought her up short.

"Maybe this is the wrong tactic," Cordelia frowned and tapped the whip at her own hip. "You like the pain. You get off on it. It figures. You're every bit as twisted and treacherous as your father." With slow steps, Cordelia advanced on Marissa.

"What do you know of my father, bitch? Nothing! That's wha-" The noble's words were cut off when Cordelia gripped her hair and yanked her head back. The shorter redhead leaned in, and caught Marissa's in a devouring kiss. Marissa went wide eyed, and strained at her bonds. She than began to slacken, and seemed to return that kiss.

Zara tensed there, every muscle ready for action. Her first inclination was to dart forth, yank Cordelia back, and pummel the vixen who tempted her into a raw pulp. Something held her back, however. Jenrea's request for them not to hurt Marissa stayed her hand just long enough for rational thought to return. Instead of rushing in, she forced herself to keep her distance. Her hands clenched into white knuckled fists at her side, but she managed to keep her temper.

Cordelia broke the kiss, and stared into Marissa's eyes, but there was naught but hatred in her gaze. "You taste like deceit, sin, and magic." The words dripped with venom, especially the last. It was as if the idea of the supernatural were repugnant to her.

"You're mad," Marissa whispered back, her own expression torn between fear and lust.

"No more than you," the response was hissed, seething. "Daughter to a treacherous, scheming fool. And I don't know what spells you have about you, but I can sense it, like an electric tingle all around you. It makes me want to rip your heart out. Be thankful that my beloved Lady Blade has decided to play the enchantress's game, or I'd have already done so."

The Bandit Queen decided she'd heard enough. She had to stop this madness, to find out what had so affected her dear Cordelia. Zara cleared her throat as she stepped toward the two women. "Cordelia? Are you well?"

The leaner woman instantly straightened, and adopted a formal posture. It was as if another person had stepped into her shoes in that instant. "Of course, My Lady. I was just securing the prisoner."

Zara's gaze shifted to Marissa, and deliberately roamed the noblewoman's bared curves. "So I see. Don't you think you've gone a bit far?" She continued to close the distance, until she stood right behind her lieutenant.

"With magic, one can never be too careful, my Lady." As if to demonstrate her point, she immediately stepped back toward Marissa, and whipped a pair of handkerchiefs from somewhere amidst those dark leathers. Zara was not surprised she had them, her lieutenant seemed to always have those amenities which those of more civilized environs kept upon themselves.

The blonde woman watched as one redhead forced a wadded up kerchief into the other's mouth, and tied the gag in place. It drew angered grunts and glares from Marissa, but soon enough, Cordelia stepped back to admire her handiwork.

"There, my Lady. Now we don't have to worry about her entrancing anyone with her vile words."

Zara shook her head and slipped one hand to Cordelia's waist. She drew the shorter woman in toward her, and spoke in a gentle whisper, "The only one I want entrancing anyone here is you, my dear, dear Cordelia. Have you had your fun with this one? Can we leave her here now?"

Cordelia cocked her head and thought for a moment, before she nodded affirmatively. "Yes, My Lady. I apologize for my behavior. It's just the thought of this magic user enchanting you infuriated me."

There was definitely more to the situation than simple concern over a magic user, and Zara wanted to get to the bottom of it. In front of the prisoner just wasn't the most opportune place to do so. She tugged Cordelia along as she turned from the bound noblewoman, and lead her out of that closed in hut.

Outside, Jenrea was still settled by the fire, cheerfully chattering away with one of the older men amongst their merry band. Ordinarily a taciturn fellow, he seemed to have no problem opening up to the young innkeeper's daughter. The two could be heard trading tales of the village, with Jenrea supplying what gossip the older man had missed in his years away.

Although the bandit queen and her lieutenant could only catch snippets of the conversation as they passed, it was enough to make Zara herself a little homesick, despite having no such quaint settlement to return to. Jenrea also kept speaking of one smith's apprentice, a boy by the name of Hafred.