Captive of the Crimson Countess, Chapter 12: Innocence and Corruption

Blair watched Nadia as they separated. Tears welled and rolled down Nadia’s cheeks. Blair flinched. She didn’t want to hurt Nadia. 

“All right.” Nadia said. “I’ll tell you the truth.” 

Blair froze, Nadia had been lying. Blair scrambled to figure out what this meant. Was Nadia actually spying on Blair? Was Nadia actually an immortal, as in Blair’s dream? Blair resisted reaching for her saber. Instead, she nodded. 

“Go on.”

“I did plan to escape. Once. I had been planning an escape. I wanted to do what you said, get all the girls out. This was my excuse, what I told myself was the reason I remained the countess’s favorite.”

“What changed?”

Nadia ran her hand from her right ear down to her collarbone in a clawing motion. Blair flinched as she realized what Nadia meant by the gesture. 

“The countess found out. She punished me. And then she left me on the floor, almost letting me bleed out. This, even after I surrendered. She did it to make a point. I felt like a dying mouse, legs twitching as the cat watched.” 

“She broke you.” Blair said, and realized she had started crying as well.

Nadia nodded. “We all break. I stopped fighting back. I became her obedient little pet. She enjoyed breaking me. And she enjoyed debasing me: the once resistant princess. And I found that, to my shame, I enjoyed the debasement. I was her creature. And I remain in her grip.”

“That’s understandable.” Blair said.

“I hate it!” Nadia spat the words. “I hate being her thing, her toy. But I can’t make myself fight back anymore. It’s too much.”

Blair stepped forward and put her arms around Nadia. Nadia pressed her face against Blair’s neck. Blair could feel the other woman’s tears as they trickled down from Blair’s neck to her collarbone. 

“I won’t ask you to help me escape.” Blair said. “It’s not fair with what you’ve been through.”

“No.” Nadia said, not looking up. “You’re right. We’re going to die either way. If I do this, the nightmares might stop.”

Blair raised an eyebrow. “What nightmares?”

“The countess likes to invade dreams to seduce and dominate the girls. She breaks you down in your dreams as in the waking world.”

“You said that you dreamed about me last night.”

“Last night was the first night in months without nightmares. It was glorious.” 

Blair squeezed Nadia into a hug. She was confident now that Nadia wasn’t the countess’s agent. Then Blair paused. 

“What is it?” Nadia asked. 

“The countess said that she likes it when girls try to fight back.”

“You still think I’m a spy?” Nadia asked.

Blair shook her head. “No. But the countess might be trying to manipulate us into this.”

Blair felt Nadia shiver in her arms. “The countess can command and control those she dominates. And I am thoroughly dominated. I shouldn’t help.”

Blair shook her head again. “No. If that’s what’s happening, we face it. I’ll protect you. But I do have one other concern. How do we save the girl in the cage?”

“We can find a way. If we are, in fact, doing this then I don’t want to leave anyone behind.”

Blair looked at Nadia, intending to kiss her. Then Blair’s confidence faltered. She’d never been the pursuing partner in a relationship. She’d been in so few. Was this the right moment? The right time? 

The moment passed, and Nadia seemed not to notice. Instead, she kept explaining, and Blair listened. 

“Most of the women are nobles with no useful training. You are a monster hunter. And I, as the countess’ favorite, have freedoms the other girls don’t have.”

Blair nodded, “You can get them into places other girls can’t go.”

“And I can bluff and intimidate weaker monsters and lower rank servants. I’ve not done it often. But I know I can. Especially with you to back me up if they don’t fall in line. You can kill higher rank servants and soldiers and stronger monsters.”

“How do we get out of the castle?”

“I worked out the safest route out of the Castle before I gave up. We do need to convince the other girls to come with us. And I can't do that, the girls don't trust me. They might trust you. Especially if you’re able to resist the Countess' seductions.”

“I plan to resist her.” Blair said.

“You won't be able to resist forever. But if you can resist for a while, the girls will notice and respect you.”

“If we can convince Hester, she might be able to convince the girls now.”

Nadia shook her head. “Hester is as broken as I am. She doesn’t like to admit it, but she’s in the countess’ bed almost as often as I am.”

“Then I guess I’m resisting the seduction attempts of an ancient vampire.” 

“Do you think you can?”

Blair nodded, “I have some things that are effective against Immortals.” 

“You’re so brave.” Nadia said.  

Blair shook her head. “I meant to kiss you earlier. And I was too afraid. So not that brave.”

Nadia’s eyes widened. Then she broke into a wide grin and pushed forward. Blair flinched in surprise, but didn’t resist.

Nadia pressed herself against the larger woman, standing on tip toes. She kissed Blair. And Blair stood, stiff as a board. Then she smelled Nadia’s citrus perfume. The fact of the kiss began to sink in. And Blair wrapped her arms around Nadia and began to kiss the princess back. Nadia broke the kiss, but did not pull away.

“Oh, my gods, Blair. You’re such an innocent kisser. I’m going to enjoy corrupting you.” And she pressed her lips to Blair’s once more, pushing a tongue past Blair’s lips and gripping Blair tight. 

Blair felt as though she were flying away. She found herself pushing Nadia against the wall. She lifted Nadia up until the smaller woman floated at eye level. Nadia gasped at the lift. She looked down at her dangling feet and back at Blair. They stared at each other, eyes wide. Then Nadia opened the collar of her dress, exposing her neck and the scar. 

“Take me,” Nadia whispered.

And Blair pushed her head forward and began kissing Nadia’s neck and collarbone. Nadia moaned, eyes closed, head tilted back. Blair continued kissing Nadia along the scar on her neck and collarbone. She held Nadia as long as arm strength would allow. Then, arms shaking, Blair placed Nadia back on her feet.