Chapter 17
"I wonder if your parents are managing the situation well," Sister Alethea said as we walked through the temple garden. The air had turned chilly enough to justify our cloaks.
"They have ever handled matters with careful precision," I replied, my eyes trailing the golden leaves clinging to the trees. "If they say it is in hand, then I believe it is so. Never once have they failed to uphold their word."
The season was lovely, but my heart still lingered in summer. It remained at that place where I had broken things off with Princess Yseldra.
"Life rarely comes gently for noble-born children. You even laid down your title, yet you are still caught in its shadow."
"It seems so."
"With all that has happened, why do you not return home? Go back to Baymoon, be near your parents. It may be safer."
"I love them dearly… but I love Her Highness as well. I wish to remain somewhere near her…"
She suddenly poked at my side, and a startled laugh escaped me.
"That is better," she said with a grin. "Your sadness has been dreadfully heavy. Now cheer up. Oh, there is a new alchemy shop in town. Shall we pay it a visit? We can look for medicines for the children. The cold is coming in fast, and it would be good to stock a few fever remedies."
Her effort warmed me, and I smiled. "Let us go."
She insisted we hail a carriage, claiming she was far too tired to walk. We arrived swiftly, and the shop was modest and tucked along a narrow street. The moment we stepped inside, Sister Alethea waved a hand in front of her face, recoiling. I blinked several times, trying not to mirror her reaction. It would be rude to the shopkeeper.
But truly, forgive me, Ombrithar… the smell was dreadful.
A gentleman, likely in his seventies, approached us with a delighted laugh. "Oh, you may detest the scent now, but I promise you, the fouler the smell, the finer the effect."
"My sincerest apologies," said Sister Alethea, pinching her nose. "Might I ask, what do you sell here?"
"Medicines," he replied cheerfully. "What is it you seek?"
Their conversation grew distant as my attention drifted to a curious red liquid simmering in a flask upon the alchemy table. I stepped closer. The scent that rose from it was so foul it nearly unseated my senses. I gagged more than once. Truly, I cannot describe it. It was terrible.
A laugh rose behind me, and the gentleman approached again. "Careful, Sister," he warned. "That is poison. A single sip, and you would begin to wilt. A few months later, you would perish entirely. No cure for it currently."
I looked at him in astonishment and instinctively stepped away from the flask.
"But," he added, raising a finger, "with a melted Roppin stone stirred in, it becomes an antidote to nearly all serpent venom."
Roppin stones were known to be magical in nature, often used in medicine. Still, the notion that poison could be transformed into a cure stirred wonder in me.
Sister Alethea's face had gone quite pale, so we quickly made our purchases and took our leave.
"Ombrithar preserve us," she exclaimed as she finally released her hold on her nose. "That was horrid."
Her expression brought a smile to my lips.
"I cannot believe you actually purchased that venom antidote made from death itself. Did you see how red it was?" She rubbed her arms with a shiver. "And the smell. Oh, Ombrithar. That was an unholy stench."
"I thought it wise to have it on hand in case of emergency," I said, smiling.
"There are no snakes in town, Naevia."
"But the children do wander into the forest to play."
"You trust that old man in there?"
"Alethea, it is unkind to speak of him so."
"Very well," she sighed. "Very well."
We divided the medicines and delivered them to several orphanages across the town. We lingered for a while, playing with the children. Their bright laughter warmed me. Yet even as I basked in their joy, the memory of that dreadful smell returned now and then, and I would gag in recollection. Sister Alethea fared far worse. She vomited twice, which, to the children, proved quite the source of amusement. I could not help laughing a little too.
By morning, my heart felt empty once more.
"You need to get out," Sister Alethea said, dropping beside me upon the bed. "Have breakfast, then luncheon, then sup on something extravagant at a fine hotel. Attend a play. Remaining indoors is clearly doing you no good."
"Alethea," I replied, turning to face her, "such things are a luxury. I have been saving my coin for the poor."
"Which is precisely why I am not accompanying you," she said, quite frankly. "You are miserly with coin unless it is spent in the name of charity." She yanked the blanket from me and began to pull me upright. "One must care for oneself from time to time. Now up."
She led me firmly to the communal washroom, already warm with the steam and chatter of the other Sisters. She reached for the buttons at the front of my nightgown, but her hands stilled. Her gaze dropped, and I followed it.
She sighed. "Perhaps… you ought to put away that ring. Anything that calls Her Highness to mind shall only deepen your wound."
I tucked my right foot behind the left, concealing it. In truth, I had quite forgotten the ring was there. But now that it had returned to my awareness, it ached precisely as she foretold. Though it was not a gift from Her Highness herself, it was of royal origin, and that alone caused my chest to tighten.
I bit down on my lower lip, hoping to quell the welling of tears. Sister Alethea drew me into a tender embrace, her warmth steadying the tremble in my breath.
"Enough of that," she suddenly declared, pulling back with a radiant grin. "I shall bathe you myself, with these very hands, which have scoured filth from even the foulest of horses. When I am through, your skin shall gleam so brilliantly that all shall be left breathless."
A laugh escaped me. She was being silly.
"Now come," she said, lifting her sleeves. "You shall witness the miraculous power of my touch."
She washed me, dressed me, even fastened my cloak about my shoulders, then pulled me outside.
"You are to go to the finest establishment, the Brothers Hotel," she insisted. "And you shall enjoy yourself. You must not lie to me upon your return. Now off with you."
With that, she nudged me toward the carriage she had summoned and shut the door behind me.
"Where to, Sister?" the coachman asked from the other side of the glass.
I swallowed. "To the Brothers Hotel, if you please, kind sir."
The journey was swift. I thanked him upon arrival, paid the fare, and stepped inside the grandeur of the hotel. As I passed through the threshold, I overheard a gentleman's voice.
"You want her? Well, I could part with her," he said, wrapping his arm around a delicate young woman whose figure trembled beneath his grip, "but I shall want that rare tea set your wife acquired last week in return."
"That tea set?" the other man scoffed.
"Oh, but she is worth it," the first replied with a vile chuckle. "Her hole is tight, you see. The best little toy I have found so far."
My heart clenched. I took a step back, intending to depart. I had no desire to remain among nobles who regarded slaves as little more than merchandise.
"Sister," the doorman greeted with warmth in his voice and a slight bow of the head. "Bless us, to receive within these walls a servant of Ombrithar."
Guilt struck me at once. A servant I may be, but not a worthy one. I was steeped in sin, and yet here I stood, clothed in holy garb as if I were still pure. But I kept my polite smile as steady as I could. "May Ombrithar light your path, sir," I replied with all the calmness I could muster.
To my confusion, the man blushed. "What might I do for you, Sister?"
I hesitated, suddenly struck by the impoliteness of entering an establishment only to change one's mind. That, I believed, would be dreadfully rude. "I should like a room," I said, deciding that I would keep to myself and simply order meals to my quarters.
"Of course," he said promptly before turning to call over one of the staff.
The young man stepped forward, his hands neatly folded before him as he offered a courteous incline of the head. "Welcome, dear guest."
"One room," said the doorman, gesturing toward me.
"Right this way, Sister."
I followed him to the front counter where I paid for my lodging and received a key with a slender brass tag that read Room 99.
"I can find the room myself, sir," I said with a gentle smile. "You need not escort me."
"As you wish, Sister. Your room shall be upon the third floor. Once you reach the top of the stairs, take a left, and it shall be on the right-hand side."
"You have been most helpful. Oh, I should like to order breakfast. Perhaps whatever you are serving this morning?"
"Certainly, Sister. It shall be brought to your room within half an hour."
"Thank you most kindly."
With that, I followed his directions without difficulty.
At last, I arrived at the door to Room 99. I placed the key in the lock and turned it. To my surprise, the mechanism was so finely made that the door opened without the faintest creak.
And then, I ceased to move.
There, beneath the golden spill of lamplight and against the drawing-room sofa, stood Princess Yseldra. Naked. Her fair skin glistened with sweat, as did the other lady beside her.
Nerissea.
One of Nerissea's legs was lifted high, perched upon Her Highness's shoulder. She braced herself with trembling arms upon the back of the furniture, whilst their mouths pressed together. And beneath their kiss, Her Highness's appendage was engorged, thrust most rhythmically into the lady's backside. Flesh meeting flesh resounded like a drumbeat in the air.
"Nghh… you harlot," Her Highness said against Nerissea's lips. "You are squeezing me… ah! You enjoy getting rammed… haa haa… in your back hole that much?"
Nerissea's voice faltered between a whimper and a cry. "Yes, Your Highness," she gasped as her body trembled from crown to sole.
"So tight… ah… haa… my cock aches from how you cling to it." Her Highness's hips moved faster.
Nerissea's teal eyes met mine, and I stumbled a few steps backward. She regarded me with perfect calm, entirely unmoved by my presence.