Caslte Mroczna - Ties that Bind

Castle Mroczna - Ties that Bind

Samson carefully placed the silver candle holders on the table in the dining hall, the entire length of its great table set for a magnificent feast. It'd been a week and a half since Justyna Mroczna had awoken, and about eight days since all of the servants recovered and were fit for service. Not all at once, mind, but to pull out all the stops for this feast, they needed all hands on deck, and the Family had graciously refrained from toying with the servant cadre while they prepared for the feast on such short notice. A message was sent swiftly to Enrique Hansa, Duke of Cardon, inviting him to the banquet in order to celebrate and finalise the trade deal between the two nations for the best wine on the continent. A rather ceremonial act, given Enrique was now a thrall, like Samson was.

It'd been just over a year since the ill-fated burglary he and his comrades attempted of this place. So much had changed in that time, he wondered if perhaps he and his friends had been the impetus of Lady Mroczna's efforts to revive the Family name, and sink its influence into the greater nobility of the continent. Nothing grand, subtle, but enough to bring them power.

'Lady Mroczna'. It was strange, since there were two, now. Katarzyna, he meant. But apparently Justyna's title was to be 'Elder' Mroczna. Not a title of convenience, it was one of significance to vampires. Katarzyna was near enough one... but not quite yet.

Justyna was. She was almost ancient, from what he learned. Far older than the rest of the family, Elder Vampires like Justyna were powerful, and menacing... but rare.

Vampires were rare enough as it is, but they had a habit of fighting each other. More than that though, as a vampire grows in their power, so does their appetite. Eventually, it becomes too much and they either become a feral beast that drinks the blood of their thralls and kin alike until they died, or they force themselves in a long slumber to 'settle' themselves. Thralls are valuable to vampires, even if most aren't quite as 'kind' as the Mrocznas, but vampire kin is especially scarce, so slaying them out of turn was not seen as particularly favourable.

It did mean they awoke - decades to centuries later - with a deep thirst that needing slaking, but with enough control they can avoid killing their thralls. Samson and near everyone else in the castle found that out first hand when Justyna awoke. The rest of what he knew, the daughters told him after.

He still saw her silver eyes in his mind, commanding and bewitching. Through her daughter, she could've simply commanded him to do as she wished and he would obey, such was the nature of the dominance the family blood had over him.

But she preferred to ensnare her prey with her gaze, conquering their minds and bending them to her will without a single word. It was terrifying... and exciting.

She did many exquisite things to him, and frightened him with how intense she could be. How she could ride that edge of taking too much, and leaving just enough, without ever hinting that she was doing so. It was hard to explain, it was similar with the daughters and Katarzyna.

Justyna just had a way of making it... so much more intense.

He sighed, and continued his work, making sure the table was perfect for the feast. He would not be attending, that was the servant's lot. But there was more food than needed for the feast being prepared, as Katarzyna deigned the servants deserved to taste the finer delicacies life had to offer. She had all thanked them for their service. Loyalty was assumed, they could not disobey her. But she still thanked them all for their tireless work, for making the Castle feel that bit more lively. There were more of them now, including a brand new garrison of hardened fighters ready to ensure the security of the castle and the valley. Much had been asked of all of them, and Katarzyna swore they would all be given just reward.

Her words carried with it an inherent dominance, knowing she commanded them wholly. But also an unusual fondness and kindness, her appreciation genuine and readily apparent.

All of them knew how far her 'appreciation' went as well; she was a predator, she fed on every servant that ever entered her house. Once she was in the mood, and if she wanted you, she'd take you, even if she decided not to summon you and just grab you in the middle of your work for the fun of it.

Never did she belittle those under her thrall. She teased, she goaded, but never hurt.

The same went for her daughters, though they could be more 'barbed' with their bedroom talk.

It was all quite strange, but Samson did his work with duty and care, as he had been moulded. But in the end... he was still himself.

Still picking locks in the Castle when doors were obstinate, still exploring the places that were just out of sight, still 'hunting for treasure' without any prompting. He just didn't take what he found.

There were still many secrets left in the Castle, and the Family did not seem concerned if he found them or not.

He looked outside, seeing the hazy shine of the sun high in the dreary grey skies, almost obscured by the ceiling of the banquet hall. That meant it was time for a break. Even when they were working quickly to prepare for the coming of the Duke, they were still afforded breaks.

He passed by the kitchen, smelling the incredible things they were preparing in there; roast duck and boar, sauteed vegetables and fruit pies, cheeses ready to be added when the time was right. All things that needed to be cooked slowly, ready for the Duke's arrival tomorrow, the feast to begin at sundown.

To that end, the hallway outside the kitchen had become cramped with several large casks, barrels brought up from the cellar of the best wine the Mroczna's vintners could produce... well, the second best.

The top spot was taken by a wine even he hadn't tasted, not for the likes of humans, so he heard. He could live with that, the wine he and the other servants got to drank was still finer than some of the vintages served in noble courts.

As he made his way to the servant quarters in the west wing, he was gestured aside by another servant, a woman.

"Samson, come plant your arse in here," she said with rough familiarity.

He smirked.

"Alright, Amelie."

She welcomed him inside the bedroom, where he saw two more familiar faces, dressed in the uniforms of the servants of Castle Mroczna.

"Oleg, Jasmine, good to see you," Samson greeted as he was beckoned to sit down on a small chest serving as an impromptu chair across from the bed, the two others sitting on its edge. There was an actual wooden chair next to the chest, but that was reserved for Amelie, who sat down with a bit of a thump and a sigh.

There was a small table in amongst them, likely 'borrowed' from another room. Set out on it was a small platter of cheeses, sliced fruits, bread, and a few bottles of wine, with a glass for each of them.

"Not waiting for the big feast, huh?" Samson remarked.

"This is just snacks," Amelie insisted as she grabbed one of the wine bottles and started pouring out a white vintage into each glass.

"You didn't steal that from the cellars, did you?" Jasmine asked.

"Ask him," Amelie retorted, pointing to Oleg.

He looked around sheepishly and raised his hands defensively.

"Look, I bartered for it, gave them some tobacco for their pipe," he insisted.

"Hey, that's my tobacco," Jasmine complained.

Again, Oleg looked sheepish.

"I'll get some more, next time I'm in the village, promise," he assured her.

Jasmine sighed, and then wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled his head against the side of her chest.

"You better," she warned. "Or I'll see if it's true that you get aroused by getting bit, even by other humans."

"Hey, that happens with everyone here," Oleg protested.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Amelie interjected, clinking her glass with the base of the bottle. "We're drinking here, so pick up your glass, and share a toast."

"Alright, alright," Jasmine conceded as she and Oleg picked up their glasses. "But... what are we going to toast to?"

She looked to Oleg for suggestions, but he shrugged. They turned to Amelie.

"I don't know, a toast to toasts?" she muttered.

"How about," Samson began, "a toast to friends."

They looked between each other.

"To friends," they repeated in unsynchronous unison, clinking their glasses together, and gulping big swigs of their drink. The silence was deep, but warm.

They lowered their drinks, and smiled.

"Hard to believe it's been over a year since we broke into this place," Amelie remarked.

"Still hard to believe what happened to us," Oleg remarked. "And I still go through it. Those women are insatiable."

"Don't I know it," Jasmine added.

"I think we all know it," Samson remarked wryly. "I don't think I've had as much sex in that first month as my whole life before then."

"I didn't think I'd enjoy women so much," Jasmine added.

"Same," Amelie agreed with a sip of her wine.

"Men too, I guess," Oleg conceded. He looked at them as if expecting judgemental looks. "What? Nothing wrong with that."

They all shrugged.

"Not like there's a soul here who doesn't know what they're doing," Jasmine said. "I learned a lot of things since then... it's rather fun, seeing people get all huffy beneath me."

"You say that like you're the dominant type," Oleg retorted.

"I can be," she shot back with a knowing grin.

"I think we've all learned a thing or two about dominance," Samson interjected.

The three of them looked at him.

"Have you?" Amelie inquired.

Samson froze up, eyes darting between them, before pointedly taking a swig from his wine glass.

Oleg laughed and leaned back a little.

"Nothing wrong with that either," he quipped.

They all shared a laugh then. And another round of quiet.

"Does anyone... miss their old lives?" Samson ventured.

Looks were exchanged, the question hanging in the air, but there wasn't a sense of discomfort. Just uncertainty.

"I don't know... I'm a slave here, essentially... but I don't feel bad about it," she stated. "I miss treasure hunting, but I might have a chance to do that again, some day. You know Lady Mroczna lets some of the servants go, right? After a while of service. If they want."

"Yeah, but... do I really want to go?" Oleg began. "I've got a warm bed, a comfortable bed, good meals three times a day, I get paid. Maybe not a lot, but I'm not buying food for myself unless it's extra. I get educated without it costing me a single coin. And, I've got a roof over my head every night, no worrying about whether I'll be able to sleep without freezing to death in the night or getting rained on or robbed or whatever. Even when we were running together, you remember those times we had to sleep rough without even a tent."

He flopped back onto the bed with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling, almost spilling his drink.

"A slave, maybe. But I could be in a lot worse shape with a lot worse company."

"I... confess to feeling similar," Jasmine agreed. "More than that, though, I feel I have a purpose here. I enjoyed the treasure hunting, the adventuring, I wouldn't give that up just yet. But I don't feel out of place here. My height, my voice, my skin... it is not strange here. People from all over the world serve the Mrocznas, and the people in the village? They may be wary of me for those things, but more than anything because I serve the Mrocznas. They don't trust anyone who serves them, but they trust me more than other outsiders. It's strange, but I don't mind it."

She sighed too, and laid down next to Oleg, her free arm draping across his chest. She carefully sipped her wine from her prone position.

Leaving Samson to share his own thoughts.

"I think... I think this place is a lot better than other places might've been," he admitted.

"Come on, you love it here, you just don't want to admit it," Amelie correctly surmised.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he conceded. "I work hard, and I get rewarded with good food and good company. Sure, I get fucked ragged sometimes, but... there's no woman quite like Katarzyna."

"That we agree on," Amelie answered with another sip of her wine. "But... if she does let us all go at some point. Temporarily or even permanently... what would you all do?"

She looked between them.

"Would you all want to get back together again, go out looking for more treasure?"

Oleg and Jasmine craned their heads up to look at her, Samson turning his much the same. The silence hung in the air for a while, before they all nodded in agreement.

"I think that'd be fun," Jasmine said.

"As long as we can come back here. You think they'll let us back here?" Oleg remarked.

Amelie scoffed.

"Definitely you, I think Katarzyna likes slight men packing a bit more than they seem," she quipped.

"And you want the sisters to take you all at once, we're not different," he retorted.

Amelie reeled back, her face turning red.

"That's not true!" she denied.

Again, silence. And cycle of laughter from the other three, before Amelie snorted herself at the terrible lie.

"Yeah, that's a good one," Samson agreed, earning him a smack on the shoulder.

He rubbed the spot, and then finished off his wine, before taking a few bits of food from the table, pouring everyone another drink. They toasted again, and drank to their happiness and their continued good fortune in the service of the Family Mroczna.

And they drank some more, their laughter getting steadily more huffy and their faces turning red. They swayed as they joked and reminisced about good times and bad, and before long, they started talking about the lurid things they'd gotten up to since they'd entered the Family's 'employ'

And such talk stoked the flames of desire within them. Feelings they never once would've entertained between each other were hardly a barrier now, not after a year in this den of shadows.

Hands started to wander, and the first overt action was Amelie leaning over the table to waggle a finger in beckoning to Oleg, a drunken grin on her face.

"Well, if you really do have all that in your pants..." she trailed off, reaching to take a firm handful of his junk, teasing his manhood with squeezing massages. It didn't take him long to get hard, huffing under Amelie's touch.

Meanwhile, Samson just could not keep his mouth shut.

"Jasmine, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" he remarked, prompting her to laugh.

"You said the exact same thing to me the last time we ended up bed together... but I don't mind you saying it again~"

She reached over, and hauled him off the crate to pull him into a tight embrace, her breasts squashing against his chest through his uniform, one hand squeezing his rump possessively, the other grasping the back of his head to force him into a deep kiss, tongue thrusting into his mouth to tangle with his. Samson's own hands weren't idle, wandering all over Jasmine's frame and getting her uniform all ruffled.

Amelie and Oleg had gotten off to a quick start, Amelie pulling down his pants and exposing his member. She spat on it and lathered the spittle into his skin with several dexterous strokes, already getting him moaning.

"Fuck..." he groaned. "You don't play around, do you Amelie?"

"I don't like beating around the bush... though thankfully yours hasn't grown back~" she remarked, pointing to his smooth crotch.

"Nobody's has," he retorted.

Amelie didn't bother to respond, simply smirking at him and sliding off her chair to drop to a crouch, so her lips could tend to his smooth balls with shameless hunger, sucking them into her mouth and letting her tongue lather them up profusely, while her hand stroked his mast quite quickly, none of them wasting any time.

Even the kiss shared between Jasmine and Samson was brief, the woman sliding him down to the floor and shimmying down her pants to expose her pussy, wet with arousal and smooth as silk.

The hand to the back of his head gripped him with a gentle command, directing him to her slit. And Samson complied, wrapping his lips around her clit first and focusing on it, tongue rolling up and down and all around the bud, or digging the tip into every nook and cranny. His fingers weren't idle either, demonstrating their lockpicking dexterity after two slipped inside her pussy and started to pump back and forth while curling the tips to tug on her folds.

She groaned, clutching her breasts through her uniform with deep squeezing, while Amelie decided to up the ante on Oleg, popping off his balls to stroke her tongue hard from the base all the way to the tip. She lingered there, briefly, waggling the tip of her tongue against his frenulum, before plunging his manhood into her mouth, the woman who was once so full of herself - and still was, frankly - shamelessly bobbing her head up and down upon Oleg's cock. She was no longer above it all... though you'd still hear her complain about it. But not today.

She dropped all the way to his root and back, gulping quietly, one hand gripping the root of his mast with thumb and finger and pumping the base, in time with her lips so they never obstructed her plunge to the root. Her other hand fondled his wet balls, tugging the sack and encouraging a nice load.

Samson meanwhile continued lashing Jasmine's clit with his tongue, fingers twisting back and forth with reciprocating motions and fingers splaying to catch more folds, but careful not to do anything painful.

Jasmine's breaths turning into lusting moans told him he was doing a damn good job.

"Yes... yes, right there Samson... right there~" she praised huskily, her gasps turning shrill.

He obliged her, working his lips and tongue away with greater and greater vigour, eager to see her cum as quickly as he could manage. The twitches he felt seemed evident he was on the right course.

It seemed Oleg arrived at his destination sooner than Amelie did, his moans echoing around the room, and his scrawny frame shivering eagerly. Amelie descended to the base of his cock, and let her gulping throat wring out the rest of his orgasm, the slight-framed man holding onto her head for support while unloading his balls into her belly.

Amelie slipped off his rod, right before Jasmine found herself spasming and wrapping her thighs around Samson's head, clenching them between those curvy trunks, the heat in his face rising from the tension.

She sputtered against his face, and Samson did his best not to 'drown'. But even she wasn't able to keep up an orgasm for long. Samson was skilled now, but he wasn't that skilled... or maybe he was, he just wasn't interested in making this more intense than a casual hookup needed to be.

Jasmine released his head from the trap of her thighs, laying back upon the bed and panting in her lingering ecstasy, a hand draped over her brow.

But they weren't just tender virgins. They had endured countless pleasures for countless hours, pushed to the very limit and past it more times than they cared to remember. They had more stamina than that.

Jasmine sat up, grinning and licking her lips.

"Now to show you how a real woman does it~" she purred, grasping Samson's shoulders, and laying him out on the bed, the springs within squeaking. They didn't have to worry about Oleg being in the way, because Amelie had enticed him over to her chair, legs spread and fingers splaying her sopping pussy wide.

"Come on, show me what you can do~" she goaded, licking her lips.

Oleg smirked, and grasped his still slick cock, already hard again. Not quite ready to go, but he made up for that by using his rigidity to tease Amelie in the meanwhile, rubbing his mast back and forth against her slit and pushing his firm helm into her clit. Up and down, splaying those folds either side of his girth, getting his cock all nice and wet.

Much different to what Samson was doing, just lying back and letting Jasmine take the lead, the taller woman stripping him down and then herself, before straddling his hips and slotting his cock between her glutes. She rose up and down, stroking and teasing his rod with her cheeks, getting him even more worked up and leaking precum all over his prick.

She sighed luxuriously, and he certainly felt that luxury. She was no Katarzyna... but Jasmine was Jasmine, and she felt as exquisite as any of the Family.

His hands drifted to her thighs, running his fingers along her silky skin, groping and kneading her glutes, and helping her lift up to plant her pussy lips upon his helm, spreading them wide.

She teased him a little more, and then dropped down, taking him with a single motion right to the hilt. Jasmine's moan filled the room, while he groaned in far less sonorous fashion.

Soon Oleg and Amelie's moans followed, the other two now naked as well, stripping between moments of teasing. Now Oleg was raring to go again. He pushed into Amelie with less vigour than Jasmine had dropped down on Samson, but the slight man twisted his hips to dig his cock into Amelie's walls.

Once buried in Amelie's sex, Oleg started his motions, rocking his hips back and forth with a growing speed, Amelie's legs wrapping around his hips much as her arms wrapped around his back, holding him tight but letting him move as he needed. She did ask him to 'show her what he had'.

Her moans soon mixed with Jasmine's, but it was Jasmine's cheeks that first started clapping, rippling with each falling impact upon her hips, her breasts swaying above Samson's eyes in hypnotic fashion.

He reached up to grasp one, kneading the globe with lustful affection, rolling the nipple beneath the fingertip, and circling the areola with sensual efforts.

She crooned, looking down upon him with a loving affection, one shared among friends, friends who had been through a lot. And now they shared so much more.

Jasmine brought her hands to his chest, splaying out across his pecs with a tender desire, fingers curling against his skin. Amelie's fingers were doing the same to Oleg's back, but they weren't nearly as gentle, her nails leaving welts in his skin that faded after a few moments, but it matched the strained whining leaving her mouth. It seemed she was already close to climax, Oleg humping away with eager vigour, ready to unload inside of his friend with little concern; there were tonics to make sure nobody had an unexpected child. Everyone was free to enjoy themselves as their hearts desired, as long as they didn't slack on the work.

Oleg picked up the pace, Amelie unable to tell him to slow down or stay where he was, because all she could get out of her mouth were sharp, ecstatic gasps of pleasure, Oleg's hips colliding with hers now, the clapping mixing with the noise of Jasmine's hips slamming down upon Samson's, along with the bed and chair creaking under the strain.

They could all feel it, the orgasms fast approaching, the moans of their pleasure, all four of them, mixing together into a shameless chorus that could probably be heard from the hall outside. And it wasn't an especially spacious room, the sound reverberating so much. But none of them cared, in the throes of ecstasy, hands wandering and gripping and scratching, panting and gasping and moaning, and leaking all manner of unseemly, erotic fluids.

Samson could feel his balls starting to jump, that familiar pressure in his loins, ready to burst inside his dear old friend.

There was nothing he could do to stave off the coming orgasm... and he didn't want to.

This time it was Samson who went first, setting off the chain reaction, bucking up involuntarily into Jasmine's bouncing hips, sending her over the edge and slamming down upon his crotch, smothering his prick in the spasms of her ecstasy while he flooded her depths.

And Oleg was more than Amelie could handle, pushing her into bliss and making her lock her arms and legs around his body, clenching tight and refusing to let go. It was her spasming that did Oleg in, the scrawny man groaning and jerking his hips into Amelie's pussy, loosing his thick load into her passage.

Their mutual cries of bliss filled the small room, shivering and spasming. And then they slumped into each other, Jasmine flopping atop of Samson and smothering his face between her bosom, and Oleg draping himself over Amelie, whose hands started stroking his back in weak affection.

They remained like that for a little while longer, before someone started giggling. Then another, then all four of them were giggling happily amongst themselves, Oleg extricating himself from Amelie's embrace, Jasmine rolling off Samson and freeing his head from her cleavage.

After that, a collective series of satisfied sighs followed, and kisses were shared.

"That was good," Samson remarked, still feeling the high of the afterglow.

"You want to go another round then?" Jasmine suggested.

Samson shook his head.

"Much as I'd love that, you know the Senior Maiden will have our guts if we slack off too much. She probably heard us. And we already spent too long getting drunk."

"I bet she's standing right on the other side of that door, listening in and getting wet, aren't you?" Amelie spoke up, the last words louder.

There was no response, and she shrugged.

"Oh well."

"You know she won't take that, right? Horny or not, Eva takes her job seriously," Oleg warned. "She'll have you scrubbing bird shit off the battlements."

Amelie rolled her eyes.

"I think Samson is right, we've enjoyed our break long enough," Jasmine said, getting off the bed and finding her clothes. "Come on, we can fuck more later."

"Sounds like a plan," Samson agreed as she threw him his own uniform.

---

Snowflakes flitted around Hector's ankles as he was welcomed into the castle. He nodded his thanks to the servants, his own entourage following him, along with Cion, Duke Hansa's sister. They arrived the day before the big feast to finalise the new agreement between the Duchy of Cardon and House Mroczna, to prepare things for the big event, things the servants couldn't quite. More subtle things, like politics.

Though Hector wasn't sure what 'vampire' politics was like, they all served Lady Mroczna. More intriguingly, they had received a strange letter saying there would be another key figure at the event, but merely as an observer. Since only Cion, Hector, and Enrique's guards - having been enthralled by the sisters - would be present at the feast itself, Lady Mroczna would be free to present herself.

The rest of their entourage would be confined to their quarters, though they were comfortable... and good food and wine is more than enough to buy the obedience of most employed people. If they didn't need to know, they'd keep their head down, and fine dining only made that all the sweeter.

"Welcome, Lady Cion Hansa of Cardon," greeted a well dressed woman in the uniform of the Castle. She nodded to her, then to Hector. "Mister Hector Cruz. We have prepared rooms for you to spend the night, and a small private study you may rest in while we prepare other things. This way, please. My subordinates will take your assistants to their quarters."

The woman raised a hand, and two other servants approached Hector's and Cion's entourage, beckoning them to follow. A small wave from Cion obliged their attendants to follow, and soon they were following the Senior Maiden to the study where they had a chance to rest.

"Ah, this is good," Hector remarked, kicking his feet up onto a small footstool set before his comfortable chair, a glass of fine wine in his hand.

The room was nice and warm, lounges across from him against the wall and to his left, a table made of fine dark wood sat in amongst them. On the opposite side of the room was a large desk flanked by book shelves. The walls were covered with more paintings of various sordid affairs or harsh landscapes, though he didn't pay much attention to that. There wasn't a single window, but there were plenty of candles and lanterns providing illumination, so it didn't feel that gloomy.

And there was Cion, standing by the door, looking fine as ever as she swirled the wine in her own glass, her nice clothes visible now she wasn't wearing a thick winter coat.

"I hope you're not always this lazy, Hector," she remarked. "I rarely interacted with you before now, so I really didn't know what you got up to on your diplomatic missions."

"I simply enjoy the trappings of the job," he retorted, sipping his wine. "I went to some miserable places for Duke Hansa, and I saw this place as no different until Lady Mroczna's lovely daughters showed me 'another side'."

"I'm sure they did. All at once?" Cion inquired with a wry glance.

Hector saluted with his glass.

"You haven't experienced pleasure until you've been beset by three demons like them. I thought my soul was going to heaven."

"And then it ended up snared by them, and now you're here," she quipped.

"And so are you. Either way, I'm serving someone. Now though, I've got a lot more bonuses. I cannot complain."

Cion snorted in amusement.

"You are a true weasel," she quipped.

"It's how I stay alive," he agreed.

They were quiet for a long while again, and then Cion spoke up.

"What exactly does Lady Mroczna want us to do? The agreement is finalised already, it just has to be done formally with us as witnesses."

"Paperwork, I imagine. Signing documents to satisfy individuals from other noble houses that have started poking their noses in on this agreement. Apparently the calibre of the wine here has really started to spread beyond the most immediate traders. And this deal has them curious. It'll also further legitimise what's happening here. Just a bunch of small trifles that'll go a long way with the Lady's ambitions."

"True... second question, who do you think this 'key figure' is, the one they're talking about?"

Hector shrugged.

"I haven't a clue. Whoever it is, probably someone who doesn't show their face often. Given only thralls and family will be present. Perhaps another member of the family we don't know about?"

"I wouldn't bet money on it, but I wouldn't bet money on anything. If it's a sure win, then the payout's going to be terrible."

"True. Weasel," Cion iterated.

Hector simply laughed, and continued sipping his drink. There was a knock at the door. It opened, and a servant entered, carrying a firestarter.

"Excuse me, it is going to be cold tonight. Allow me to set a fire," she said, wandering over to the small fireplace nestled in the middle of the room opposite the door. It was a small thing, its flue connected to a number of pipes that fed the smoke from multiple rooms outside the Castle.

It took her a few tries, but soon the wood started burning. She bowed politely and left, the room now that little bit brighter.

"They sure know how to treat guests," Cion remarked.

"Indeed. Alas, I don't think we'll be having any 'special company' tonight. Not from the Family at least. A shame... I would have loved to say hi to the girls again."

Cion snorted a second time, more amused than the first.

"You know they were just doing it to turn you into a thrall, right? Surely not because they thought you'd be especially satisfying."

"I'll have you know, I am quite adept at pleasing women," he retorted, pointing a finger at her.

"Oh really?" Cion mused, quirking a brow. She wandered over to him, placing her glass down upon the table.

And she promptly reached forward to grasp his chin in the tips of her fingers.

"Show me~"

Hector's face immediately went red, and his pupils constricted with surprise.

"Say what?"

"Come on, big man, show me what you can do~"

Cion let go of his chin, and started peeling her clothes off her body, stripping down to the buff and exposing her form to him, the Duke's sister making no shame of it.

"But... you're Enrique's sister," Hector responded.

"Don't tell me that is what stops you~" she goaded, reaching out to press a foot to his crotch, prompting him to flinch at the touch of her toes squeezing the growing bulge in his pants.

"Why you..." he growled, and she laughed.

"Come on then, show me what the big 'womaniser' can do~"

Hector gave her a fierce look and placed his own wine glass down on the table, getting up on his feet.

"Alright, you want to play that badly?" he retorted.

Cion spread her arms.

"No reprisal~" she assured him. With that in mind, he promptly pushed her down into the seat he was just in, forcing her onto her knees on it and bent over its back.

"Oh, this doesn't seem like the 'pleasing' you implied you do before~" she taunted.

"No, this is personal now," he told her, keeping her pinned into the chair with one hand while he groped her buttocks with the other, occasionally slapping her cheeks with little light blows. She chuckled deviously; ever since she was enthralled, she discovered the depths of pleasure.

And she discovered how enjoyable it was to goad people into taking action. How rough they got... and how good it felt.

Things she never would've considered before. Now she considered herself 'enlightened'.

Hector slapped her rump a few more times between firm squeezes.

"Now then, let's see you sing, little miss hoity toity," Hector warned with a smirk, as he slapped his fingers down upon her smooth vulva from behind, keeping up with the shaving since she was enthralled.

His fingers were immediately sliding back and forth between her slit, digits curling and digging into her folds, plying them apart, prodding at the entrance, eager to see her moan. He was getting ever closer to her clit, but he was making her work for it.

Of course, she wasn't about to play the good girl just yet.

"Is that the best you've got~?" she taunted.

Hector suddenly slipped his fingers into her mouth, tugging her head back. He leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"I know your game, girl. Well, guess I've fallen into another trap, how silly of me. Guess I better go all the way~"

The fingers at her slit curled further, and pushed into her passage from below, sinking to the knuckles. Hector didn't waste time, thrusting them back and forth as quickly as he could.

Cion had to admit to herself, Hector did in fact know his stuff; his fingers were restricted by her tight passage, but they caught all her folds and stretched surprisingly deep. And each little waggle was precise and measured. He moved his hands too, pulling on her innards to add to the stimulation, his fingers like a hook tugging her nerves and making her shiver.

But it wasn't the only thing he did, removing his digits from her womanhood to slide them further along until her clit was pinched between them.

She moaned, back arching slightly. And then she wrapped her lips around Hector's fingers in her mouth, tongue lapping at the tips with salacious desire, teasing and relishing them. He just curled them back and forth against the side of her mouth, eager to assert his dominance.

The fingers against her pussy arched, and started rubbing her clit with teasing efforts, swirling and spiralling against her button with surprising skill.

"You were always carefully whispering into your brother's ear, well meaning, but manipulative. Trying to mould him into something worthwhile. Can't blame you for that, he was naive. Now what are you going to do, with Lady Mroczna the one whispering into his ear?"

His movements stopped, and he leaned even closer.

"Or perhaps... you are now your brother's keeper in her stead~" he teased, licking her ear lobe. "Still calling the shots for him, just at the behest of another~"

Cion's lips smirked around his fingers.

"Wicked minx~"

He pulled back, and started rubbing her clit with tantalising moments, digits prancing around her bud with erotic skill. His fingers curled rapidly, flicking her clit and making her shudder and moan. Soon, he smothered it beneath the tips of her fingers, pressed together in a knife formation.

She could feel herself drawing nearer to an orgasm, solely thanks to Hector's skill, even as he was rubbing the flat of his aligned digits back and forth against her mound, brushing over her clit with just enough harshness the stimulation was intense, but not painful.

And then they curled, and she felt three of his fingers plunged to the knuckles inside her, ready to see her cum her brains out.

"Well, what are you waiting for, girl~? Are you going to cum for me~? This is what you wanted, after all, to make me act out like this. Did getting made a thrall turn you into a slut that likes being punished~?"

Cion's grin only grew wider around his fingers. Both of them realised that this was quite assertive for Hector. He had never been so aggressive with anyone in his life, not like this.

But he was enjoying the opportunity to 'correct' Cion... and Cion was just pleased Hector could step up to the plate.

She loosed a garbled cry around his fingers, body spasming with the orgasm that wracked her, made all the more intense thanks to Hector refusing to stop his fingering, getting them soaked in the surge of arousal that followed. She arched her back, legs quivering and on the verge of buckling.

And then Hector whipped his fingers from her pussy, and pulled the others from her mouth, letting the woman slump into the chair.

He stepped back to allow her to ride out her climax, wiping down his hands on his shirt, looking all too pleased with himself.

When Cion finally calmed down, she slackened with a satisfied sigh.

"I guess you do know how to please women... though I doubt you do it like that~" she teased.

"I just gave you what you wanted, didn't I~?" he retorted.

"Mmm, so you did~" she murmured, getting off the chair and running her hands up her body, still a little unsteady on her feet. All the same, her recovery was remarkably quick, given she had taken to indulging in such pleasures more frequently. "But you know..."

She trailed off, catching Hector off guard. He looked at her, spotting her thin, dangerous smirk.

"I am still a noblewoman. I know how to take charge."

She suddenly grasped him by the shirt, and spun him around until he was planted in the chair she was just previously bent over. He grunted when he hit it, only to find Cion sitting on the edge of the table, feet reaching out to press on the half-hard tent in his pants.

"And since I am a noblewoman, I'm obliged to reward subjects who perform so admirably~" she teased, rubbing her feet back and forth upon his bulge, causing him to gasp softly in response. "Of course, the nature of the reward is entirely up to me~ You deserve to cum too, but I think I'll remind you of your place as well~"

He got hard very quickly, and even though there was submissiveness on his face, Hector returned a smirk of his own.

"As you insist, m'lady~" he replied.

She licked her lips and chuckled, rubbing his tent for a good while until she was satisfied he was completely hard, and so hooked her toes around the hem of his pants. With his help, she pulled them down, and watched as his manhood sprung free; tall, proud, and throbbing.

He flinched the moment her silky toes pressed to his glans and the side of his rod, and she murmured in satisfaction, starting her twisting massage to his tip and light brushing along the side.

A soft look of appreciation fell over Hector, who sat back in the chair and let Cion do her thing.

"I'm surprised, Hector," she remarked.

"By what?" he inquired.

"That you don't seem at all bothered I'm using my feet for this... some would consider it demeaning~"

He smirked and cocked his head.

"I think we all know that pleasure is pleasure when done right... and you're certainly doing it right~"

That Cion couldn't argue with. She was, after all, rewarding him too, letting her toes glide up and down his prick with feathery grace, brushing her big toes against the back of his helm, until it dropped down to slot his dick between that same toe and the adjacent one, stroking up and down. Her other foot descended, and started teasing his balls, sometimes going beneath them to delicately juggle them with careful wiggles of the digits and the knuckles.

She kept changing up her technique, bringing both feet to the sides of his rod, clutching it in the crooks of her toes, or sandwiching it between her soles. Sometimes stroking up and down in unison, at other times in tandem.

Her toes danced all over his manhood, and Hector was already starting to breathe heavily in arousal. Especially when Cion was able to move faster, thanks to him leaking precum.

"You're already close~? Do my feet feel that good~?" she teased with a playful laugh.

Hector grunted, and then fixed her with a wavering smile.

"Well, they have certain qualities one could say... haaah... appealing~" he answered.

"That's the kind of talk I expect from you~" She laughed again, and started attacking his manhood more aggressively, pushing it against his still clothed gut, rubbing it back and forth with intensity.

The techniques continued to change and alternate, until at last the man could bear it no more and groaned, hips bucking against Cion's sole and spraying ropes of cum all over his shirt, several rather virile loads painting his garb.

She pumped his length for a little bit longer, until he was spent. Cion pulled her feet away, wiggling her toes and seeing how they glistened from the specks of white that clung to them, the woman giggling deliciously.

"My, what a mess you made~ Of yourself more than me~"

Hector didn't answer, calming himself down with some panting. Eventually, he looked down at his gut and frowned.

"Dammit... these were good clothes too," he complained.

He jumped when a cloth was thrown in his face.

"Then wipe yourself down," Cion chided teasingly, sitting down on a lounge to do the same with her feet. "We'll want to be presentable for tomorrow."

"So you don't want to have a bit more fun tonight?" Hector remarked, dabbing down his chest.

Cion leaned forward in her seat.

"After the feast... well, I think we'll have some more time~"

Hector grinned as wryly as she did.

"I like the sound of that~"

---

Enrique sighed as he shrugged off his thick winter coat; the journey to the castle was as long as he remembered, but a lot colder than last time. At least he was now in a nice warm room inside the Castle Mroczna, one of the daughters standing politely in a shadowed corner with a knowing smirk on her lips, the rest of her face shadowed by that ever present veil.

"Your emissary and your sister arrived yesterday, but we had expected you only later this day. To arrive so early speaks of your loyalty to my Mother," Aniela praised.

"I serve her, do I not?" Enrique replied. "It would be remiss for me to dawdle on my way to something so formal. Besides... I don't like arriving mere hours before a big event like this. So, I came early. It gives me time to unwind."

"I understand you perfectly," Aniela agreed with a soft croon to her voice. "You should make the most of this opportunity to enjoy yourself. Once you return to Cardon, I'm sure there will be those in your court that will seek to undermine you. Do keep Hector and your sister close, now. They will make sure you are not lead astray by schemers who would subvert this deal. Your bodyguards will make sure no one does you in."

"Speaking of, where are they lodging?" he asked.

"They will be taking the opportunity to receive some additional training to better protect you. My Mother does not wish for you to be taken away from us so easily by a mere dagger in the dark."

"I see. Well, do reward their diligence, they are dutiful soldiers," he remarked.

"Oh, they will certainly be rewarded, once the feast tonight is over. More than your attendants will. They are not thralls, so they sadly will not get the chance to enjoy our company as your guards will. As for you... there is not much more for you to do until tonight at the feast. All the same, we have prepared something... special for you, Duke Hansa. I'm sure you will enjoy this~"

Aniela's lips twisted into a dangerous smirk, telling Hector that whatever this 'special something' was, it was going to serve a different purpose beyond just rewarding him.

"Well, I... uh, I see. I eagerly await it," he answered with a nervous smile.

"Of course... now then, if you'll excuse me, I must rest. Daytime is when we vampires prefer to rest."

"Of course. Until tonight," he said, giving Aniela a polite nod.

She bowed, and then burst into a cloud of smoke, vanishing through the cracks in the wooden boards above. She had no compunctions about showing off her powers before Enrique, now that he was a thrall. His attendants who were still in the dark were permitted to rest in guest quarters, while they were told his bodyguards were posted outside his door, in order to put their minds at ease.

There was no danger to Enrique here. Not to his life, at least.

But he suspected the Mrocznas had something planned for him. He just had to wait and see.

He looked around his own room, a nice spacious place with a window looking out over the valley, the cold hills covered in white with specks of green, the grey sky looking ever inhospitable. The room on the other hand, was much more inviting, even if a little dour in its colours and the nature of the paintings that hung on the wall. But the double bed dominating the back wall perpendicular to the window was nice and comfortable, its red sheets perfectly flat.

Additional light was provided by lanterns along the brick walls, while a fireplace added even more, along with warmth that made the room all the more inviting.

He decided to take off his boots, so he could get a little more comfortable, especially since there was a nice soft rug covering the floor that felt good to flex his toes on.

A table by the door and next to a book case held a bottle of wine and a glass ready to be used, so he poured himself one and then promptly started sipping, finding the taste to be exquisite.

There really was no other like the vintners of Castle Mroczna.

As he drank, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come," he answered, and heard the door creak open, then clack shut. He turned, and was met with a woman wearing a thick cloak and hood. He only knew it was a woman because her lower face was visible.

He quirked a brow, placing the glass down on a desk just next to the window.

"Are you this... surprise, the Family has sent to me?" he asked.

"I am," she answered coolly. "And you are my surprise."

She pulled back her hood, revealing her face fully.

"I am Viyan. And I have come here to for two purposes. To see how far your loyalty goes..." she trailed off, her lips twisting into a devious grin. "And to settle a score... in a way~"

She suddenly shrugged off her cloak, revealing she was wearing nothing beneath it, utterly nude and striking to behold.

It caught Enrique off guard, his face going red and his mind stalling in shock. But before he could even ask what she was intending, she marched over to him, and grabbed his shoulders.

"On your knees~" she commanded, pulling down on his shoulders to make him comply.

And he did.

The back of his head was grasped, and he was forced into her crotch, his lips smothered against her slick vulva, the woman grinding against his face with slow, form gyrations.

"It's not really your fault, you know. Not directly. You couldn't have known what was happening in the shadows... but it was this deal between you and Lady Mroczna that got me caught up in all this. Those Hunters wouldn't have hired me, if it weren't for that. Sent me into this den of shadows to scope the place out for them, a sacrificial pawn, all because of some little wine deal between you and the Family."

She pushed hard against his face, and Enrique immediately felt overwhelmed... and overcome with a submissive arousal, his pants tenting instantly.

He didn't know whether he should lick or not. Since becoming one of Lady Mroczna's thralls, he'd been indulging himself with prostitutes and other consorts, revelling in his newfound understanding of pleasure.

But never had a woman since Katarzyna forced herself on him like this... and that desire to obey just filled his head in a way he couldn't quite understand. He knew he was beholden to the Family's will, he could not disobey them.

This was something else.

He wouldn't lick, because he was not told to.

"So I am going to 'educate' you a little... remind you of your place in this little empire the Family is creating. And I'm sure you are going to appreciate what I have planned for you... eventually~"

She pulled back, causing Enrique to gasp, his face wet with her arousal, and his face an even deeper shade of red.

"Start stripping," she commanded, moving over to her discarded cloak and pulling something out of its crumpled folds.

He didn't even waste a second, quickly working to remove his garb, though in his haste, he fumbled with his clothes and almost fell on his face after getting tangled.

Viyan stabilised him with something pressing up against his chin.

He paused, and looked at it; it was a rod of glass, its tip smooth and tapered, while sleek ridges ringed the thing from two inches below its tip, all the way to the base, which emerged from what looked like a leather belt and underwear combo.

"You are going to learn something today, little noble~" Viyan warned, pulling the glass object up to her mouth so she could salaciously curl her tongue against the tip. "What it's like to be a whore~"

She grabbed his shoulders and turned him around, bending him over the foot of the bed. He braced himself against its sheets, while he heard the sounds of that 'tool' being strapped around her waist, the sound of bands pulling taut as she seated it securely.

Next, he heard the sound of a bottle being unstoppered. There was silence, and then he felt a cold, slick liquid trickling down the cleft of his cheeks, making him flinch. Viyan's hand came next, pressing into his flesh and lathering the stuff into his skin, especially around his clean-shaven backdoor, the cool liquid slowly warming, but nonetheless quite the shock to the sensitive, flustered noble.

He heard the bottle stoppered, and then tossed onto the bed before him, a simple glass flask containing a pale golden liquid. A vegetable oil, from the way it moved.

And immediately after, he felt the cool tip of that glass 'tool' pressing against his pucker, flinching from the touch.

"Let's see how you sing~" Viyan crooned, grinding the rounded end against his ass up and down, taunting him with the inevitable... and then she began to push.

Enrique clenched his eyes shut from the strain, but he did nothing at all to resist, obeying Viyan without complaint. And the moment the glass rod with its ridges started pushing inside at a slow but smooth pace, he felt a strange sense of stimulation, his rear gradually filled... and then something within him felt the pressure.

His cock jumped at the sudden stimulation, and a dollop of precum immediately beading from the tip. An odd sensitivity filled him, spreading from his loins all the way through his prick.

His prostate. He knew enough about the anatomy of humans, the perks of being a noble with access to many books, and not always something else important to do.

But since becoming one of Lady Mroczna's thralls, he had learned something particular about that organ, and now he was about to experience it first hand.

Viyan draped her body over his, one hand gliding up his back to grip his shoulder, the other luxuriously creeping over his belly to tease along his stomach until she could take his manhood in hand, fingers wrapping tightly around his twitching length.

Hot breath kissed his ear.

"Make sure you moan for me, my little blueblooded slut~" she whispered into his ear, before licking it with a salacious slowness.

She stayed there, in that position, and started rocking her hips. Slowly at first, getting Enrique used to the intensity and the pressure of his stuffed rear, those ridges really pushing against his prostate. So when her other hand started stroking him, it felt especially stimulating, the man whimpering quietly and feeling a different kind of pressure start to build within his loins already.

The way her hand moved along his prick didn't make things any easier, sliding up and down with an erotic grace, fingers twisting and dragging along his length all the way up to his glans, thumb grinding against his sensitive tip with a merciless squeeze.

A hot gasp escaped him, and she laughed.

"I was never like this, you know. Not once upon a time~" she began talking in his ear again, her voice dripping with a wicked lust. "I was a thief... I stole things for a living. Often for other people. Rarely for myself... just a job. Now I'm still beholden to another, but... this time, I have the chance to be in charge~ To make others sing for me~ To steal things from them, for myself~"

She chuckled deviously.

"This was a side of myself I never quite knew about myself... but I'm so glad to have had it brought out of me~"

She picked up the pace, stroking his cock even faster, and thrusting into his rear with growing vigour, hips starting to lightly clap against his rump.

The hand she used to stroke his member was the same one she used to oil up her rod, and so it was able to glide up and down his prick with graceful, fluid ease, twisting and spiralling around his length so easily. She teased his corona with her fingertips and pressed hard against the front slope of his tip, angling his cock forward a little so when he came, he wouldn't get any of his release on the carpet, just the frame of the bed, which was a little easier to clean up.

And he was going to cum soon, Viyan still picking up speed, the clapping getting louder, and his balls starting to swing from every impact. His hips started shifting on their own, though they couldn't rock too far since he was stuck like a doll with a rod keeping it in the desired posture. And his cock could barely twitch in the grasp of Viyan's hand, now flying up and down his prick.

His moans took on a shrill edge, whining and unmanly, the submissive arousal filling him affecting every one of his responses. He couldn't keep himself from sounding so utterly shameless, much to Viyan's delight.

"Yessss... that's what I want to hear~ Moan for me, whore~"

In his mind, Enrique thought that the roles should have been reversed, him being the noble, and Viyan being some thief for hire now in the Family's employ.

But there was a certain sense of liberation in being told what to do and just doing it. No wonder he listened to his sister all those years...

The pressure in his loins was about to reach bursting point, and now Viyan's hips were smacking rapidly upon his own, the clapping louder than ever, until the two-pronged attack on his body became more than he could bare.

Enrique loosed a whorish moan from his lips, and his body shuddered and bucked, cock jumping in Viyan's hand hard, spraying thick ropes of hot seed all over the wooden frame of the foot of the bed. Rope after rope after rope, Viyan continuing to pump his shaft and thrust her hips to eke out everything he had. And she kept going even after he was spent. For a full minute, in fact, leaving the hapless noble whining and squirming in her grasp, hips rocking incessantly despite his ejaculation ending. The laugh that haunted his ears was almost unbearable.

And then at last, she stopped, letting go of his cock with a flourish of her hand, Viyan raising her body away from him. Both of her hands came to grasp his waist, thumbs gently brushing over the top edges of his buttocks, while she stood there and let him ride out the spasms and shivers of his orgasm.

She crooned, and chuckled.

"What a good boy, giving so much~" she praised, starting to slide her rod out from his ass, leaving him to slump and almost buckle.

She spanked his rear upon her walking away, giving him a moment to rest while she set her 'tool' down on another piece of furniture within the room. And then she returned, grasping him by the shoulders.

"But now it's my turn to feel good~"

She directed him over to the bed, and practically threw him onto it, his cock still erect. He watched her with wide, almost shocked eyes as she climbed onto the bed after him, grabbing the bottle of oil and unstoppering it again, pouring some more onto his cock, and some on her right hand. She reached behind herself, and started rubbing it into her behind, before gripping his length and stroking his overly sensitive rod a little bit more in order to get his length nice and lathered up for her.

"I hope you've recovered... because I'm not going to go easy~" she warned, as she aligned his rod not with her pussy, which he could see was utterly sodden with her arousal, but her ass, Viyan planting her back door upon his tip.

She waited... and then she started pushing down.

Enrique couldn't contain the strained moan of pleasure that followed, her ass so very tight, constricting his prick ruthlessly.

Viyan, however, moaned more sonorously, her face twisting with a delighted smile, eyes closing in bliss.

Her glutes squashed against his hips, and she planted her feet either side of his hips, hands pressing upon his chest for that bit of extra leverage.

Her eyes opened, and she fixed him with a wicked expression.

"I have to leave you with some energy for tonight... so I'm going to make the most of this, in a short amount of time~"

She started gyrating her hips, grinding her soft rump against his crotch with circular motions, her arousal leaking onto his belly. She looked like a frog, the way she was perched on him, knees up and to the sides.

All so when she started moving... she could really start moving, hips rising up, all the way to his tip, and then slamming down with a merciless force, buttocks rippling with the impact, and squeezing Enrique's dick over and over and over again with the crushing tightness of her rear, a constriction like a ravenous snake.

It was almost painful... almost. The only thing coming out of Enrique's mouth was anything but painful, though plenty strained and overwhelmed, calling out to god from the intensity of it all.

Meanwhile, Viyan was laughing and crooning, clearly more experienced at this than he was.

"Yesss, that's it, take it~!" she yowled, starting to move so fast that her breasts began to bounce with her own body.

"Fuuuuck!" Enrique cursed, making Viyan chuckle in taunting.

"That's not appropriate language for a noble, no~? You should speak more clearly~"

She leaned down, and grasped his chin in her hand, forcing him to look into her eyes.

"Who are you~?" she asked, voice husky from the effort of her aggressive ride.

"Nnnuh... Duke... Enrique Hansa... of Cardon..." Enrique answered.

"And who do you serve~?"

"L-Lady Katarzyna Mroczna..." he continued.

"And right now... what are you?"

"I... I...?"

Viyan giggled, leaning even closer.

"What are you, my little whore~?"

He clenched his eyes shut, trying to concentrate on the answer.

And then he blurted it out with his eyes snapping open.

"I am your little whore!"

Viyan's grin deepened more than he would've thought possible.

"Good boy~"

And she started riding even faster than before, pushing the overwhelmed nobleman over the edge; he started bucking hard into her hips, another virile load pouring out of his cock, only this time it was flooding her backside, each little throb and thrust upward pounded down by her riding.

Riding that she didn't stop. Riding that continued because she hadn't cum yet, once again leaving Enrique squirming pitiably beneath her, twisting and writhing and moaning in desperate overstimulation. Riding that continued on for two minutes, getting ever faster and more intense, until Viyan finally slammed herself down upon his prick and threw herself backwards, bracing her hands on his shins and cumming hard.

She shuddered violently, and juices sputtered from her pussy all over his belly, the woman twitching and lolling her head back lazily, her eyes closing as the pleasure overcame her.

And then she leaned forward again, slumping into a seated position atop of poor Enrique, who looked utterly overwhelmed from all the intense stimulation he felt, his eyes staring off at the ceiling, and his body still quivering lightly from the lingering harshness of Viyan's efforts.

She collected herself much more quickly than he did, and learned forward to cup his cheeks in her hands.

"Now that..." she began with a husky, breathless voice,"... was fun~"

She slipped her hand lower, thumb tugging down his lips as she gripped his lower jaw.

"We still have a bit of time before I have to give you time to rest... so how about we play some more, my little noble whore~"

Enrique groaned weakly, but still managed to nod his assent.

"Yes... mistress..." he answered without prompting.

That made Viyan grin ever so wide.

"Good boy~" she praised.

---

The dining hall was lit with many candles, lanterns, and several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, beating back the cold and the gloom of the night outside the windows, snowflakes speckling the glass.

A great feast was laid out upon the table, with many a different vintage of wine included among the assorted delicacies on display for those who were gathered; the senior servants, Enrique's bodyguard, Cion and Hector Cruz, Aniela, Kalina, Izolda, and Katarzyna Mroczna herself, standing behind the chair at the head of the long table, where Enrique now stood, raising a glass high into the air.

"A toast!" he began. "To this wonderful new relationship, between the Duchy of Cardon, and the House of Mroczna. To see this magnificent wine be shared with the rest of the nobility of the continent, and to let the name of House Mroczna be known far and wide once again!"

He turned to the towering figure of Lady Mroczna, in her typical white dress and broad black hat.

"To you, my Lady, for welcoming me into the fold. For allowing me to see out my ambitions with new guidance behind it... and of course, for having such excellent company."

He glanced towards the end of the table, eyeing Viyan, now in more respectable garb, before looking back to Katarzyna.

Katarzyna smiled, and nodded, standing up to the end of the table, raising a glass of wine of her own.

"To all of you, who now so diligently and faithfully serve... however you may have come into my service, know that I am grateful to all of you. You have made a great many things happen in this past year. And with your help, many more great things will be possible. To that, I ask you to share in another toast... and to all the servants of this house, especially those not here now, for keeping our home as neat as could be, and for seeing it emerge from its sullen state, slowly embodying its former glory. To them, I offer my sincere gratitude."

She drank from her glass, and all those gathered at the table followed suit, sharing in the toasts to all involved.

Katarzyna paused, and raised her glass again.

"This night, we feast in the name of the ties that bind us all. For we are all, of House Mroczna."

"To House Mroczna!" the gathering cheered in unison.

"Now, enjoy yourselves. The food here will not keep, and it is fresh."

She gestured to the table, and watched as the gathering began to feast, spying her daughters making eyes at people who would become their chosen prey later that night. They were, after all, vampires, normal food could not sate their hunger.

Katarzyna was no different. But she was simply revelling in the moment. Of so much coming to fruition after so long. After so many hurdles, after daring to creep out from the shadows, just a little, to stake her little claim in the threads of the land.

And behind her, in a gloom that the lights within the hall just couldn't dispel, stood Justyna, smiling and nodding as Katarzyna looked her way.

The approval filled Katarzyna with a profound joy.

But Justyna was here to observe, nothing more. This was Katarzyna's night. And so she turned back to the gathering, listening in on the conversations that now broke out among the guests... and eyeing who would be sating her own hunger this night.

She licked her lips.