The anthology, Twelve Seconds, is out today. It’s available in Kindle format on Amazon. Get it here! As I mentioned in my previous post, I have participated with my own story Too Many Second Chances, and in addition to my story, there are eleven other stories for you to enjoy. Great stories with lots of spanking! ❤ Enjoy. 😉
November 30th, the anthology, Twelve Seconds, will be released, and yours truly has participated. The anthology contains twelve F/f spanking stories by twelve different authors, and the money will be donated to charity. You can buy it as an e-book, or you can get it in print.
My story is called Too Many Second Chances, which takes place in the 1950’s in the United States. Effie, a reckless and young English-woman, has moved in with her Uncle Chip and his wife Darlene in the “Deep South”. She tries to find her place, but struggles to get along with their conservative neighbour.
Teaser:
Darlene Redford had just parked her blue 1955 Chevrolet outside her home when she heard someone calling her name.
“Darlene!”
With a sigh, she got out of the car, straightened her white polka-dotted dress, and continued on to get her groceries out of the trunk as she saw her neighbor, Mrs. Bishop hurrying from her driveway. Knowing she had little choice, she then stood still, waiting with her brown paper-bag of groceries in her arms for the inevitable.
“Darlene!”
“Carol-Ann, is anything wrong?” Darlene replied, wondering what on earth Mrs. Bishop wanted that would make her run like an excited ostrich over to her house. She normally took her time. She especially liked to take her time when others were in a hurry, and she often resembled, in Darlene’s opinion, an overgrown sloth.
Mrs. Bishop came to a halt in front of Darlene. Her eyes were wide, her hair was slightly ruffled as if she had left the house without even looking in the mirror to check if she was presentable, and she was breathing heavily, obviously winded from the overexertion of running. She seemed very distraught.
“That… that… European hussy is sunbathing topless in your yard…”
Disclaimer: This story contains spanking and sex.
Sophie was sitting in her office going through some scans from a Medieval French corpus. Next to her she had a magnifying glass, a writing pad and pencil. Her long auburn hair was tied lovely in a bun on the back of her head. She tugged at the collar of her crisp white shirt and picked up her pencil and stuck it her mouth, thinking. The rational part of her brain told her she should ask a colleague for input, but the stubborn part of her wanted to work it out on her own. She had just thrown her pencil back on the desk, rather forcefully before she heard a knock on the door frame. The door had been open.
“Having trouble?” Miriam, who’s office was right down the hall, winked at her.
“How can you tell?” she asked, giving her colleague a smile.
“There’s a group of us from the faculty who want to go out to lunch together. Do you want to join us? We’re leaving in five.”
“Sure, I need a break from this to clear my mind.”
“You absolutely do, and I think Benjamin is coming too, he might be able to help.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking that I should ask him. I’m just being stubborn.” She got up from her chair and grabbed her blazer. “I’ll be right out.”
Fifteen minutes later Sophie was sat in a restaurant with her colleagues, everyone chatting about work, of course. They always said that they should use their breaks to talk about something else, but then academics can never seem to leave their work in the office. Miriam and the others were in a deep discussion about Russian formalism that Sophie didn’t much fancy to join. She smiled at the older woman sitting across from her, Lucila Ortega, a professor specialising in colonial Spanish literature. They didn’t have that much to do with one another at work as Sophie’s specialised in Medieval French literature, but they had gotten to know each other through a social group for queer staff members at the university. Sophie and Lucila knew more about each other’s private lives than most at work did.
“So, how is she?” she asked, giving Sophie a look that expected her to know of whom she was talking about.
“Sorry? Who?”
“Ari, of course,” Lucila said, referring to Sophie’s girlfriend.
“Oh, she’s fine,” Sophie said smiling.
“Is she?” The woman from across the table raised an eyebrow. She looked stern.
“Eh… should she not be?” Sophie asked, confused.
“She’s sick, is she not? She asked me for an extension on her paper due to terrible illness.”
There was an uncomfortable silence as Sophie realised she might have stepped into a trap. A trap, not meant for her, but for her undergrad girlfriend who also happened to be one of Lucila’s students. Shit.
“Eh… oh yeah,” she said, a bit embarrassed. She didn’t want to lie, but she couldn’t help it.
“She’s not sick, is she?”
“I…”
“Sophie, you would not lie to me, would you?”
“Oh, well…” She sighed. “Alright, I don’t know anything about this terrible illness.”
“Which is strange as you live together. I asked for a doctors note, but she said she was too ill to get out of bed and that is was probably just a tummy bug.”
“Lucila, please don’t fail her,” Sophie pleaded to the older woman. ” I’ll handle it. She’ll work hard. I promise.”
“She has until the end of the week,” Lucila said sternly.
“Thank you!”
“And you can send her to my office on Thursday for some extra motivation, I’m sure you agree she has earned it.”
“Oh, yes, ma’am. She’ll be there,” Sophie agreed. “And I am so sorry for… I mean, I didn’t want to lie. I didn’t even know and I just panicked. I just want her to do well.”
“I understand. You care about her. But you do realise, don’t you, that if it had been another student I would have given them an F? Her special treatment comes with special consequences.”
“Well, you’re not the only one who is going to give her some special consequences.”
“Good. Glad to hear it.”
At home, in the apartment, Ari was very busy procrastinating. She had tried to write this paper for weeks, and she kept doing just about everything else. The worst part was pretending to working hard so that her girlfriend wouldn’t notice how bad it was. Now she had lied to a professor because she failed to hand in her paper on time. She was ridden with guilt. To calm herself down, she took a long warm shower. She then put on clean cotton pyjamas and blowdried her hair. She heard the door to the bedroom slam shut. Was that Sophie home early?
“Ari?” Sophie called from the bedroom.
“Yeah?”
“How are you honey? Are you feeling well?”
Ari came out of the bathroom brushing her long blond hair. “I’m fi… eh… wow… what… what are you wearing?” She swallows nervously, looking at her sexy partner standing in front of her in a tight, short, white dress that had a very low cleavage showing the redhead’s generous chest. She was also wearing nice, lace stockings held up by garters. She stood in the middle of the room with one hand on her hip, holding out her stethoscope in the other, and her legs slightly spread as if she was posing in a dirty photo shoot.
“What am I wearing? A nurse’s outfit, of course. I’m here to nurse my baby back to health.”
“Ah…” Ari struggled to find words. She had to concentrate not to drool.
“I met Professor Ortega while out for lunch today.” Sophie raised an eyebrow.
“Oh really? How is she?”
“Concerned,” Sophie replied. “Apparently you were terribly ill. So ill, in fact, that you couldn’t hand in your paper on time.”
“Uh oh…”
“Yes, uh oh, indeed.” Sophie approached her girlfriend, and pushed her chin upward so that she met her eyes. “I’ve been very lenient with you lately. I’ve done most of the chores, I have walked the dog every day, and I have even made dinner every day.” Her voice was very calm, but dangerous. “I have taken on both of our responsibilities.”
“I know,” Ari squeaked.
“I have done this, so you can focus on your paper, so that you could meet your deadline.”
Ari nodded.
“And now… I have to find out from your professor that you are sick?”
Both of Ari’s eyebrows rose. That was not what she had expected.
“Umh… well…”
“Shhhhh,” Sophie held two of her fingers to Ari’s lips. “My poor, baby. I’ll have to take care of you now, don’t I?”
Ari nodded.
She noticed a flat, round and colourful item sticking out of, Sophie’s pocket.
“What’s that?”
Sophie gave her a mischievous smile. “It’s a lollypop.”
“Gimme.”
“No, no, little girl. Before I can give you the lollypop, I’m going to have to check how ill you are.”
“You do?”
“Oh yes, it’s going to have to be a thorough physical.” She smiled at Ari as she grabbed her upper arm. “Let’s get you over to the bed.”
Sophie pushed Ari down on the bed and placed her hand on her forehead. She asked Ari questions about her health while checking her pulse. Then she asked Ari to open up whilst she looked into her throat with a tiny flashlight. Ari was playing along, though they both knew that Sophie had no idea what she was doing. Sophie was intelligent alright, but her specialty was French literature, not medicine. This was clearly a role play, hence the costume, but Ari wasn’t sure if she was in trouble for faking her illness. After having Ari bare her chest so Sophie could use her pink stethoscope to listen to her heart beat and lungs, the play-pretend nurse turned around and got something else from her little pink medical bag. She turned around holding something that looked like a white plastic stick that narrowed on one side.
“Time to take your temperature,” she said, grinning. “Now, why don’t you be a darling and pull down your pants and turn around.”
“Wha… eh… what do you mean?”
“I need to check if you have a fever.”
“But you already felt my forehead.”
“Yes, but I need to know for sure. Turn around please…”
“But…”
“Be a good girl and turn around.”
“Sophie… what….”
“Fine, if you’re going to be difficult.” Sophie sat down next Ari and hauled her over her lap.
“Sophie! What are you… that’s not how you take a person’s temperature!”
“Oh, yes it is. I’m following the instructions that came with the costume,” Sophie argued as-a-matter-of-factly.
“You’re supposed to take the temperature in my mouth or under my arm or in my ear. They even have laser thermometers now.”
“Sorry, it’s not that kind of termometer.” She pulled down the younger woman’s pyjama bottoms and panties. “Be a good girl, keep still,” she said as she spread her girlfriend’s cheeks. “Hmmm… let’s use a little bit of vaseline on this. Now… lie still, and it’ll be over before you know it.”
“But…Soph… oh…” Ari gasped.
“Good girl, now keep it in.”
“Sophie, come on! I think we both know that I don’t have a fever,” Ari complained. “You’re just trying to torture me.”
“But honey, if you’re really ill I need to know. I have to take care of you.”
“But I’m not ill…”
“But you told Professor Ortega that…”
“I lied,” Ari said, exasperated, just a little beep came from the termometer.
“What? You lied? No way!” Sophie said in a false dramatic voice. She pulled out the termometer. “Ninety-eight point six. Perfectly normal.”
“Like you knew it would be,” Ari mumbled. “Can I get up now?”
“You mean you don’t want your lollypop?” Sophie pulled the colourful item out of her pocket and handed it to Ari who was still lying bare-bottomed over her lap. The younger woman grabbed it at once.
“But… this isn’t a lollypop! It’s fake,” Ari complained, feeling cheated. The item Sophie handed to her was made out of wood. The top was round, about a third of an inch thick, painted with pretty colour swirls, and the lower part, that looked like the lollypop stick, was slightly thicker than it should be.
“Isn’t it lovely? It’s a lollypop paddle. The taste of this is not so sweet, though. It has a wicked sting.”
“A paddle?”
“Yes, for naughty girls who pretend to be sick.”
Ari groaned. “Of course, it is.”
“Well, you didn’t think I would reward you for telling lies to your professor, would you?” Sophie swatted the bottom over her lap. “Bad girl! And what about me? You let me think you were doing okay with your paper, but you’ve clearly had some trouble seeing as you couldn’t hand it in in time. You told me you knew what to write.”
“I did. I do.”
“Then why haven’t you?”
“Because… I… procrastinated.” It was hard to admit, but it was the truth.
“So I’ve been taking on all your chores for no reason?”
There was an uncomfortable silence.
“Well?”
“I… I guess,” Ari admitted. She didn’t want to, but it was the truth. “But I meant to work.”
“But you didn’t,” Sophie said. “And you could have told me.” She gave Ari’s bare bottom another sharp smack.
“Ow.”
“If you had told me, I would have made sure you wrote something.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You will be, young lady. Because I’m going to paddle your behind.”
Ari sighed.
“Oh… and Lucila said to tell you that you have until the end of the week to finish your paper.”
“Really?” Ari turn to look at Sophie, smiling.
“Yes, but she wants you to come and see her in her office on Thursday. No doubt she’ll want to dole out some punishment too.”
Ari’s smile turned into a frown. “For reals? She spanks students?”
“Well, only a selected few. You should take it as a compliment. It means she likes you.” Sophie gently rubbed her partner’s bottom. “Though I’m not so sure you’ll like her ruler very much.”
“But… can she do that?”
“Ari, if you had been anyone else in her class, she would have given you an F. She has given you an extra week to write the paper, which you don’t even deserve because you lied to her. Do you want to be treated like everyone else? Or will you accept some old fashioned discipline and get another chance?”
“I’ll take the punishment,” Ari mumbled, feeling guilty.
“Good. Now, let’s get started on your punishment from me.”
“But… if I am getting punished by Professor Ortega, why should I get punished now?”
“Because, brat, you get in trouble at school, you get in trouble with me. Besides, you lied to me by making me believe you were actually working on this, when you just wasted your time doing other unimportant stuff.”
“Fine,” Ari sighed. “But is it going to be a real punishment or are we just playing, because, baby, that costume is confusing me. How can you dressing like that be a punishment?”
Sophie grinned.
“Let’s just say, if you behave yourself, and you take your punishment like a good girl, then we might be able to play a little later. I do think that I should do a proper physical, but then you’ll have to take all your clothes off.”
“Or we can do that now.”
“Oh, no, young lady. Punishment first, rewards second.”
Sophie shifted Ari a little over her lap, making sure her bottom was positioned nicely. Her right knee was levelled slightly higher than the left, so her bottom was lifted up.
“You may hold on to the lollypop paddle for a while. I need to give you a warm up with my hand before I properly roast your behind with it.”
An unhappy whimper came from her girlfriend, lying prone over her lap. Sophie rested one arm on Ari’s back while she lifted her right arm. She brought it back down sharply on Ari’s left cheek, causing the brat to let out a little squeak. Then she repeated the action landing a smarting swat to her left cheek. She admired the two red marks blooming on her girl’s bottom, promising to herself that she would kiss it all better once she had painted it properly red. She peppered Ari’s bottom with swats, gradually increasing the force. She made sure to properly cover the sit-spots. Ari had started to squirm over her knee which told Sophie that the brat was learning her lesson.
“I’m starting to think that this is what you needed, missy,” she said, stopping a while to rub the bright pink bottom over her knee. “Do you think you would have worked harder if you knew you’d get spanked for slacking off?”
“Probably,” Ari sniffed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“Yes, I’m sorry too, honey. Sorry that you actually managed to make me believe that you were doing something for these past couple of weeks!” She gave Ari a sharp smack right on the middle of her bottom. “I think, in the future, I should make you report to me every night before a deadline to make sure you are making some progress.”
“I think that is a good idea,” Ari agreed. “Can I please get up now?”
“Oh, not darling. I still want to use my lollypop paddle.”
Ari groaned, but picked up the paddle and gave it to her girlfriend.
“Thank you, darling.” Sophie smiled and gave Ari a gentle pat on her bottom. “I think I want you standing for this one. Get up, bend over and touch the bed.”
Ari got up begrudgingly.
“You know I hate to bend over like that,” she complained. “It’s so embarrassing.”
“I like it when you bend over for me, it is such a submissive pose. And what do you mean you don’t like to bend over? You don’t seem to mind when I fuck you.”
“That is different. Bending over for a spanking is embarrassing.”
“Well, mindset is half the punishment.” Sophie turned Ari so she face the bed, and placed her self behind her lover. “Now, naughty girl,” she whispered softly into her ear. “Bend over and offer your bottom for punishment.”
“You so owe me a nice nurse treat after this,” Ari said as she bent over, toughing the mattress in front of her.
“I’ll remove these,” Sophie said, bending down and pulling off Ari’s pajama bottoms and panties.
“Spread you legs a little, and stick out your butt a bit more,” Sophie instructed. “That’s it, baby.”
She gently tapped the lollypop paddle against Ari’s red cheeks a couple of times before she raised her arm, and brought it down again with force.
“Yiouch! That thing stings!” Ari shot up and rubbed her bottom furiously.
“Get back into position, girl,” Sophie said sternly. “I’m not done with you.”
She guided the brat back into position, and started paddling her in a steady rhythm, alternating between right and left cheeks. She paddled her hard, but not as hard as the first swat. She had to save the harder swats until last if she wanted her girl to get through the paddling. Ari’s bottom was a dark pink, and she had a deeper red shade on her sit spots where Sophie was now focusing her attention. The brat didn’t get up again, but she would occasionally shake her bottom as if that would get rid of the sting, but unfortunately, that wouldn’t help at this point. The sting in Ari’s bottom would last for a while.
“I’m going to give you ten more, and these will be a little harder. You’re going to count them for me and say that you will not lie to your professor. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Smack! “One, I will not lie to my professor.”
SMACK! “Owww….. two, I will not lie to my professor.”
Sophie kept delivering hard but not full-force swats, and saved the hardest for the tenth.
SMACK! “Ouch! Oww…. ten, I will not lie to my professor.”
“Good girl,” Sophie praised as she rubbed the younger woman’s bottom gently. She bent down and kissed her sore cheeks softly.
“Does this mean I get a reward now?” Ari begged.
“What do you want, baby?”
Ari got up, rubbing her bottom with a pout. She studied Sophie carefully, looking her up and down, and her pout was gradually exchanged with a grin. She carefully reached out to Sophie’s cleavage, cupping her hands around her breasts on the outside of her tight nurse’s uniform.
“Mmmhh… this dress definitely highlights your assets.”
Ari buried her face in Sophie’s chest and kissed the top of her breasts softly. She then pulled the dress aside, and released one of them, putting a nipple in her mouth. Sophie felt chills down her back, and moaned. Ari pushed her down on the bed and got on top of her. She pulled off her own pajama top so that she was sat naked on top of her lover, and she put her hand up under Sophie dress.
“Oh, naughty nurse, you don’t have panties on. Are you sure, I’m the only one who deserve spankings ?”
“Don’t push, brat,” Sophie reminded her, raising her eyebrow. “Any insolence and I will put you back over my knee, and I don’t think your bottom can take any….”
Ari shut her up by kissing her hard. She gave Sophie a hungry look, while she thrust her fingers into her. Sophie moaned and Ari thrust her fingers in and out, pinching the nipple Ari had released from the confinements of the dress.
“Oh, yes! Mmmm…. you just wait until it’s your turn, brat.”
Ari pulled Sophie’s dress up over her hips and spread her legs more before she put her mouth on her pleasure button, kissing and licking it.
“Tell me what you want to do to me?”
“I’m going to get my strap-on, and then I’m going to fuck you senseless.”
She moaned loudly, as Ari took her to a spasming climax, leaving her panting on the mattress. While she waited for her lover to “recover” from her orgasm, Ari took her other nipple in her mouth. She played with it, sucking it and circling her tongue around it, while looking up at her lover, giving her a naughty grin. She then gently used her teeth to tease Sophie.
“Oh, well, now you’re just asking for it,” Sophie declared, pushing Ari to the side and disappearing into their closet.
She came back naked, wearing her strap-on.
“Get on all fours now,” she commanded as she approached her lover, who was waiting in anticipation.
Ari immediately turned around on all fours, presenting Sophie with a full view of her red, sore bottom. Sophie grabbed her ass, squeezing her cheeks and spread them gently. She could see that Ari was more than ready for her. She teased her brat by rubbing the tip of her dildo over her wet slit without entering her.
“Mmm…” Ari gave an impatient moan, trying to push herself back onto the phallic form pressing against her.
Sophie pulled back and smacked her ass.
“Patience, young lady. I’m the one fucking you.”
“Then fuck me already! I’m bursting.” Ari spread her legs even more, and arched her back so her bottom was sticking out, presenting her wet slit to Sophie. “Please?”
Sophie chuckled. She slowly pushed the dildo into Ari, who moaned in pleasure. She started slowly pulling out and slowly pushing it in, knowing that Ari wanted her to do more.
“Sophie, you fucking tease! Come on! Be rough with me!”
SMACK! “You want it rough?” Sophie asked, smacking her lover’s already sore behind.
“Yes, please,” Ari begged.
With her hands firmly planted on Ari’s hips, Sophie then started thrusting the dildo in and out, hard, causing her brat to make primal sounds of pleasure.
“Oh, god, yes!”
Ari reached between her legs, rubbing her clit, until she came hard and loud, and with Sophie thrusting in and out of her, she rode the wave of pleasure until her knees buckled and she laid prone on the bed, breathing heavily.
Sophie laid down over her, kissing her neck and whispering into her ear,
“I love you.”
“Ow, you really lit up my ass, you know that?”
Ari was studying her bottom in the mirror. “I hope Professor Ortega will be more lenient.”
Sophie gave a chuckle. “That is not likely, darling. Oh, but that reminds me, I got you something.”
She quickly left the room and returned with a shopping bag. “This was actually the reason why I went to the sex-shop in the first place, but then I saw the nurse’s outfit and I thought it was perfect for me.” She opened the bag and pulled out an outfit.
“What is that?” Ari exclaimed with wide-eyes.
“This?” Sophie asked, holding up a school girl uniform. “Oh, this is just the outfit you’ll be wearing when you go see Professor Ortega on Thursday. Isn’t it cute?”
I don’t usually do this, but those who know me know that I was obsessed with the book Reining in Riley by Claire Britain that came out in 2015. I swear, I have read it many times. I just really enjoyed it! I loved the story and I really connected with the characters. Because of this, I was really excited to find out that Claire was working on a sequel, and I have been really patiently waiting for that to come out. Well, now it has and I have just finished Riley’s Reckoning. I was not disappointed. I highly recommend it. It is available now on Amazon.
Riley’s Reckoning continues the story about the slightly wild and free-spirited, Riley Carrington and her romantic relationship to her boss Joanna Armstrong, who firmly believes that she can tame Riley with some good old fashioned discipline (and by that I mean spanking!). In addition to it being full of delicious spanking and love scenes (it gets hot, you guys!), the storyline in itself is really great. Riley again finds herself in some trouble, but this time there is a shady character lurking in the shadows, and Riley gets reckless trying to catch him and bring him to justice. Joanna, however, is not too happy with Riley risking her safety! We also get to meet other characters again, like Helen Klein, Riley’s other boss and the woman of my dreams. Whew! I dunno, you guys, there is something about Helen that makes me go weak at the knees. *blushing*
If you haven’t read Reining in Riley, you will probably still enjoy Riley’s Reckoning, but I really would recommend reading both. There are so many good, relatable and lovable characters. Some are new, and some we know from the prequel. It’s a really good read, and I personally couldn’t put it down. I found myself reading late into the night to finish it, even though I had something important the next morning! I wonder what Joanna or Helen would say about that…
Reader discretion: This chapter is a little steamy.
“Annabelle? Wakey-wakey.”
Annabelle felt someone gently nudging her while she slept, however she didn’t feel like she was done sleeping yet, so instead of opening her eyes, she grunted, “Go away.”
“It’s time to get up, my sweet,” Lydia’s sexy but dangerous voice whispered in her ear.
“I’m sweeter when I get to sleep.”
Lydia landed a healthy swat to Annabelle’s backside. “We need to get moving. Come on, get up,” she said dropping the sugary sweet tone she used to stir Annabelle awake.
“Ow…” Annabelle mumbled as she slowly opened an eye and saw Lydia turned with her back to her, getting a fire ready. She stuck out her tongue at her.
“Are you trying to catch flies with that tongue?” Lydia said chuckling as she put a tiny frying pan over the fire.
Annabelle closed her mouth and spluttered. “What? How did…”
“I saw your reflection, genius,” Lydia said, pointing at small mirror laying next to her sleeping bag.
“You put that there on purpose,” Annabelle accused as she got out of her sleeping bag.
Lydia gave a snort as she started scrambling eggs while bits of bread where floating in the air, toasting over a flame.
Annabelle sat up rubbing her eyes. It was after noon, but they had walked all night, taking advantage of the darkness. The previous night they had walked for hours in the dark, trying to get as far away as possible from the school. They had set up a tent in a clearing and Lydia had cast several protective enchantments around it, to make sure that they were hidden from others.
The tent was pretty amazing. It was round and tall, and it had a place in the centre that was meant for a cooking fire. This was where Lydia was now seated, making them breakfast whilst Annabelle dragged herself out of bed.
She still couldn’t believe that Octavia Sprytt had been her saviour the previous night. The woman who had shouted at the students, punished them if they had spoken up against her propaganda history lessons; how could she be working with Alexis? She had played her part well.
“Shouldn’t we wait until it gets dark before we move?” she asked, crossing her fingers that it made enough sense for Lydia to let her lay back down.
“Actually, after we’ve eaten, I am going to teach you how to make a new potion.”
“What potion?” Annabelle asked, somewhat interested.
“A camouflage potion, often referred to as the chameleon potion. It will allow the drinker to blend in with the surrounding environment for an hour.”
“That sounds pretty awesome,” Annabelle admitted.
“It is,” Lydia said, smiling. “Now come over here and eat.”
Annabelle sat down next to her.
“Gwen would never have taught me a potion that cool. I bet she doesn’t even know fun potions like that exist!”
She took the plate Lydia handed to her, and they sat in silence and ate for a while. Annabelle was still a little tired and so not very chatty. Lydia broke the silence.
“We should probably try to find some food, though. I didn’t bring that much, and it’s no good increasing it with magic. It doesn’t have as much nutrition.”
“I can do that, Aisling taught me how to survive in nature,” Annabelle said, taking another bite.
“Really?”
“Uh huh.”
“So… she taught you how to survive in nature, but she didn’t teach you how to find North?”
Annabelle shrugged.
“Must’ve slipped her mind.”
Lydia chuckled.
“I can hunt,” Annabelle said, grinning proudly. “Or maybe if we can find water, we can catch fish. I find it is easier to kill fish, I don’t feel so bad after wards.
“There was a small lake on the map. If we find it, we can take a swim too.”
Annabelle nodded.
“As long as we’re careful not to be seen.”
*
After their meal Lydia helped Annabelle brew the chameleon potion, and they each took a sip so they could blend in with the nature around them as they made their way towards the lake.
It took them about three hours of walking to get to the lake, and the sun was setting as they approached. The potion was wearing off, but as it was getting darker they decided to save the rest for the next they. They would probably need more eventually, but they had already decided to use their potion ingredients sparingly. They could restock some of their potion ingredients themselves, but they did not have access to all of them in the forest.
The lake was in the middle of the forest and of medium size, and the water was really clear with a blue tint to it. It almost looked like the water was shining in the sunset. It was so beautiful it was breathtaking.
“Wow…” Annabelle said when she saw it. “I had no idea it was this beautiful. I just thought it was like any old lake.”
“Me too,” Lydia said, mesmerised. “It’s so… romantic.” She winked at Annabelle who blushed. Lydia grabbed Annabelle’s hand and led her to a secluded area by the edge of the water where they hid their belongings, took off their clothes and got into the water, naked.
“Finally,” Annabelle said, “fully emerging herself in the cool water. This bath will be the highlight of my day!”
“Will it now?” Lydia whispered into her ear as she got closer and wrapped her arms around Annabelle’s naked waist.
Annabelle felt a tickling sensation on many different parts of her body, which made her nervous. The truth was that Annabelle really had no idea what to expect from her intimacy with Lydia. Apart from the kisses they had shared, she didn’t really have any experience and she didn’t really know much about “the other stuff”. In her old world, women and men got married, and she knew, of course, what husbands wanted of their wives; but she wasn’t sure what she could do that would please Lydia.
What she knew from romantic relationships between women came from Gwen and Aisling, and although they did not hide their love and affection for each other, what went on between closed bedroom doors, Annabelle had no idea. She only knew that they often came out of said bedroom, looking very happy.
“Well… umh… what else did you have in mind?” she asked, trying not to sound too excited.
“Oh, I don’t know, I’m simply pointing out that a simple bath doesn’t necessarily have to be the highlight of your day?” She traced her hands up and down Annabelle’s back, softly. Then she placed both of her hands on her buttocks and squeezed gently.
“Oh… well, I supposed I’ll have to admit I have been a little unimaginative.”
“I think you have been.”
“Lydia,” Annabelle said a little embarrassed. “I don’t… I mean… I’ve never… umh…” She felt herself blushing even more as she tried to confide in her girlfriend.
“You’ve never been with a woman before?” Lydia asked her, her tone understanding.
“No,” Annabelle admitted shyly as she turned around to look into Lydia’s eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to be your teacher again.” Lydia raised her eyebrow, and smiled at her.
“This is a different subject though,” Annabelle said grinning slightly.
Lydia kissed her passionately. It was a long, hard kiss, that left Annabelle completely speechless.
“There are so many things I can teach you,” she whispered into Annabelle’s ear. Lydia licked her earlobe and Annabelle moaned.
Then they heard voices near by. Male voices. Lydia quickly let go of Annabelle and they both sunk down low in the water. Lydia motioned to a fallen tree that lay with the top half in the water, and they quickly, but silently, made their way towards it so they could hide. Being caught naked was the least of their problems, they had no way of knowing if these men were wizards from the order, or spies working for them.
Lydia held Annabelle close to her as they hid under the branches from the tree. She held up a hand slightly above the water and closed her eyes. It looked as if she was feeling the air.
“They’re not wizards,” she whispered as she opened her eyes, looking relieved.
“Oh, good. So they are no match for us?”
“No, but we still don’t know if they work for people in the order. We don’t want anyone to know which direction we’re going.”
Luckily the mortals did not stick around, but Annabelle and Lydia stayed hidden for a while after they couldn’t hear their voices anymore. When Lydia finally said it was safe to get up, it was dark and Annabelle was freezing. She stood chattering teeth. Lydia muttered a spell and Annabelle felt a warm breeze on her body, and she could see steam coming from her body.
“Wow, that’s impressive,” she said, complementing the older woman. “Can you teach me that?”
“Not now. I’m afraid you’re not skilled enough just yet.” Lydia winked at her. “It can burn and blister your skin if you mess it up.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, very ouch.”
They got dressed and made a small fire. Annabelle was just about plan how to catch a fish when Lydia waved her hand and a fish came soaring out of the water.
“What? Aisling didn’t teach me that!” She looked at Lydia.
“Well, I figured we lost so much time hiding, that I better just get it.”
“Wait a minute, you were going to let me catch it without magic and not tell me you could do that?”
Lydia giggled, actually giggled!
“You looked so cute when you were talking about the different ways to catch fish,” she said, grinning. “I wanted to see you in action.”
“When I see Aisling next, I will be giving her a piece of my mind,” Annabelle muttered. “I mean what is the point of being able to do all these things without magic?”
“Well, it might come in handy one day if you have to pretend not to be a witch,” Lydia said. “Actually, that is not a bad idea if we meet mortals on our way.”
“Pretend to be mortal?”
“Yes. We can’t do that with witches or wizards, of course, they will sense our magic, but mortals have no sensitivity to magical energy, and so they can be fooled.” She smiled at Annabelle. “We have to be able to make them believe we’re mortal, of course. Think we’ll be able to?”
Annabelle laughed.
“I’ll have no problem convincing anyone I’m a mortal,” she said, not telling Lydia she had lived as a mortal for the first twenty years of her life. She wasn’t ready for that yet. “The question is, can you?”
“I… well, of course, I can,” Lydia said, looking a little insecure.
“Good, because we have to pass a village soon, and I’d rather not go around it.”
“We can go through, we just have to plan our journey a little more carefully that day.”
“Can a witch or wizard sense each individual magical person, or can they only tell that there is a magical presence?”
“Both,” Lydia said, opening her bag and finding her spices for cooking. “We can usually only tell if there is a magical presence, but if we’re really close we can tell if a person is magical; however, there can’t be other magicians near by. In a room full of magicians, I would have to touch someone to be able to tell if they are magical too, unless the person was purposely releasing lots of raw magic, and only show-offs to that.”
“Why?”
“They want to show people their power. It is like a mortal flexing his muscles to show people how big they are.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s weird,” Annabelle agreed.
“Yes, well, enough about show-offs, why don’t you study the chapter I showed you about transfiguration while I prepare our meal.”
Annabelle sighed.
“Ya know… when I imagined you and I together on this journey, I didn’t really think studying would be part of it.”
“Tough,” Lydia said sternly as she started to prepare the fish. “You will be a lot safer once you learn to transfigure yourself.”
*
Once their stomachs were full, they decided to walked for another couple of hours before they set camp. Annabelle was a little disappointed that what they started in the lake didn’t continue after their meal, but she knew they had to get going. After they had set up their tent and Lydia had cast their usual protections, Annabelle managed to convince Lydia that she could collect firewood by herself.
“It doesn’t make sense that we both go. We’ll be much more efficient if we each do a chore.”
“You’re right, but promise not to walk too far.”
“I won’t.”
“I want to be able to sense your magical presence Annabelle, or I swear, I will take a switch to your behind. There are plenty of them in here, ya know.”
“Lydia, relax a little.”
“Annabelle…”
“I promise I’ll stay around the tent.”
She kept her promise and quickly collected the firewood they needed, while Lydia was still inside the tent. Then she quietly put them down outside and picked up a small stick and grinned. She had read about a trick in her transfiguration book, and she really wanted to try it out. She only felt slightly sorry for Lydia who had no idea what was going on.
Annabelle silently muttered a spell and watched as her stick turned into a snake. It was not dangerous, but it looked very realistic. She opened the tent and threw it in. She heard it land with a little thunk, and then she heard a blood-curdling shriek. She opened the flap to the tent just as the snake turned back into a stick. Lydia looked up at her with murder in her eyes.
“You!”
Annabelle grinned.
“I thought you wanted me to learn transfiguration,” she said innocently.
“Oh, very funny. Get in here!”
It was only now that Annabelle started thinking that maybe pranking Lydia this way might not be a good idea. She hesitated.
“Brat, get in here,” Lydia commanded and pointed at the floor next to her.
Annabelle winced as she realised she might actually be in trouble. She knew she couldn’t run away from Lydia, so she sighed and slowly crawled into the tent. Lydia grabbed her ear with one hand, and retried a hairbrush from her own bag with the other.
“Ow! No… no…” Annabelle pleaded. “It was just a joke!”
Lydia ignored her and hauled her over her lap, pulled down her trousers and underwear and immediately started to spank her with the hairbrush.
“Ow ow… I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would be that upset.”
“I am terrified of snakes!” Lydia argued. “And you knew you would get some reaction, so how’s this?”
“Painful,” Annabelle said, wincing as the brush came down on her bottom again.
“I think all this walking and hiding has made you crave some of my attention.”
Lydia put down her brush, and started rubbing Annabelle’s stinging bottom.
“I am, but I’d much rather get the attention you gave me in the lake earlier.”
“Oh, you would like a treat, would you?” Lydia asked, raising her hand and bringing it down sharply on the middle of Annabelle’s bottom. “Did you think I would be giving you hugs and kisses for throwing a snake at me?”
“No…” Annabelle admitted.
“No, young lady, I don’t reward that kind of behaviour. That kind of behaviour gets you spanked!”
“But… but… it was a fake snake! I wouldn’t have thrown a real one at you.”
Lydia ignored that comment and continued spanking Annabelle with her hand.
The spanking wasn’t that painful. It hurt, but Annabelle also felt like it wasn’t as harsh as the spanking Lydia had given her before. There was also something about Lydia’s tone that made Annabelle think that she was a little amused now that she had gotten over the shock of the prank. She did not spank as hard, and she also rubbed her a lot. Previous punishment spankings had been much more painful and intense, which led Annabelle to think that maybe this wasn’t a full on punishment spanking.
“Hmmm… your bottom cheeks are all red and hot,” Lydia commented as she rubbed mentioned cheeks softly. There was a hunger in her voice that told Annabelle she could try to get her back into the mood she was in at the lake.
“Do you like that?” she asked, daringly.
“Do I like your bottom red?” Lydia said, smacking Annabelle’s right cheek, but this time slightly less hard, her hand lingering on her bottom, feeling the warmth from the skin.
“Yes,” Annabelle replied, slightly raising her bottom up.
“Miss Annabelle, are you flirting with me?” Another smack, slightly harder this time.
“Maybe…”
“I thought I told you I don’t reward bad behaviour.”
“But if we do something you like then I can reward you,” Annabelle said, feeling lust deep in her body. She wanted Lydia so bad, but she also needed Lydia to instruct her.
“You did say that you wanted to teach me? Tell me what we can do together,” she said, trying to rouse Lydia.
The older woman traced her fingers slowly over Annabelle’s bottom. “Well that depends on what we want, the possibilities are endless.”
“What do you want?” Annabelle asked, getting more and more turned on by Lydia’s touch. Lydia’s hand went further down and Annabelle instinctively spread her legs a little.
“Well, I think I know what you want,” Lydia whispered as she stroked two fingers between Annabelle’s legs.
Annabelle stiffened with the sensation. It felt good, very good.
“Do you like it when I touch you here?”
“Uh huh,” she moaned.
“I figured you would,” Lydia said softly. “Naughty, naughty Annabelle.”
Annabelle felt Lydia pushing a finger into her and rubbing her on the inside, then she pulled it out and gently pushed her feet further apart. She then touched a spot further to the front that gave Annabelle shivers.
“Do you know what this spot is for?” She asked as she carefully rubbed the area with three of her fingers.
“N… no… oh.” Annabelle moaned and lifted her hips, making it easier for Lydia to access.
“It is for pleasure. Just that. It’s just a pleasure button. We can rub it, or we can lick it, and it will feel really good.” She put her fingers inside Annabelle again and rubbed. “And this is another pleasure spot.”
“We have two?”
“There are many, my love. It depends on each person and what they like.”
“How do you know these things? Should I be jealous?”
Lydia laughed.
“I’m not going to lie and say I have never been with another woman, I am a little older than you, you know.”
“I know.”
“I also learned a lot from books. My cousin Arthur had a lot questionable books and illustrations when I was a teenager, I used to borrow them when he wasn’t looking.”
Annabelle giggled.
“Naughty.”
Lydia pulled her finger out and smacked her backside sharply.
“Me? Never.”
They both laughed.
“Now, why don’t you take off all of your clothes, and then you can lie down on your back for me.”
“Do you want me to do something to you?” Annabelle asked, as she got up. She pulled hurried taking off her clothes, craving more.
“I think right now we can focus on you,” Lydia said. “I think it will be helpful for you to know what it feels like when I pleasure you before you do it to me. I remember being very nervous about pleasuring another person for the first time, I want you to be comfortable. Take you time.”
“Okay, but can you get naked with me?” Annabelle gave her a naughty grin.
“Of course, that is also important.” Lydia started undressing. “It is not just about the touching, there are many different factors that will make lovemaking special.”
“Lovemaking? That is not what Eylion calls it, she calls it fu….”
“Yes, I’m sure she does,” Lydia said, cutting her off. “I am more romantic… well… unless I am bursting, in which case I might use crude language.”
They were both completely naked. Annabelle was staring at Lydia’s breasts.
“Eylion says it’s called dirty language.”
“Are you going to talk about Eylion or are you going to lie down so I can fuck you?” Lydia said, impatient.
Annabelle giggled, but laid down.
Lydia laid down next to her, touching her, kissing her, and licking her all over her body. At one point she put one of Annabelle’s nipples in her mouth.
“I want to do that to you later,” Annabelle said, craving it.
Lydia chuckled.
“I knew you were staring at my breasts.”
“I can’t help it. They’re big and soft-looking. They want me to touch them, I know they do.”
“I think maybe you’re ready to come soon.”
“Come?”
Lydia moved further South, she put her mouth on “the pleasure button” and kissed and licked it.
“Oh my!”
“Let me know when you’re about to come, I want to look into your eyes when you do.”
“But I don’t know what that means.”
“You will…” Lydia said mystically.
She sucked the button, then circled her tongue around it. Annabelle squirmed at the sensation. How could she not know it was possibly to feel this kind of pleasure? This was much better than she thought it would be. Then she felt it, her muscles started to spasm.
“Now!” she gasped.
Lydia quickly got up. She put two fingers inside Annabelle, rubbing her inside, at the same time as she used her thumb to rub her pleasure button. She sensation got stronger and her entire body stiffened. She bit her lip.
“Look at me,” Lydia said, working her hands, keeping the climax going. “Don’t be afraid to make a noise, hon. I know you want to. You like that, yes?”
“Yes! Yes! Oh my…” Annabelle put a finger in her mouth and bit down on it, hard, while she moaned loudly, her entire body spasming. She kept eye-contact with Lydia for as long as she could, however, after a while she threw back her head and closed her eyes, feeling like she was about to black out from this jolt of sexual energy.
Afterwards she lay naked, panting, whilst her lover spooned her and kissed her neck. After a while, after Annabelle had relaxed a little, and she was just laying there, enjoying Lydia’s caresses, she finally opened her mouth to speak.
“That was crazy. I’ve never experienced anything like that… you know… that feeling at the end.”
“It’s a little different, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but a good different. Like… at first it felt super odd, but I didn’t want it to stop, and then it was just a wave of pleasure.”
“The first time I had an orgasm, I wasn’t even sure if I liked it,” Lydia mused, “but then I got used to it.”
“Is that what it’s called? Well… I thought it was great!”
“Of course you did, darling, and you’ll have many more. Just don’t focus too much on it, or it might ruin it for you. If you keep worrying about getting the big climax, you might not enjoy the part that is leading up to it.”
“I enjoyed all of it,” Annabelle said. She turned around and kissed her lover.
“Good, baby. Then we should do it again soon. I have so much to teach you.” Lydia kissed the tip of Annabelle’s nose softly.
Annabelle gave her a mischievous grin.
“Well… you know I’m an eager student; therefore, to further my education, I think I should study the female anatomy and conduct some experiments.”
As Annabelle sat it the darkness she tried to think of ways to get out of this situation. Well, at first she thought of all the different ways she could hurt the head bitch. She imagined running towards her and punching her stupid face, no magic but just pure muscle power; however, she’d probably hurt her hand, that is, if she even made it that far, which was very unlikely as the headmistress should create a magic shield against attacks. Then, once she got the violent thoughts out-of-the-way, she started more productive thinking, but that didn’t get her anywhere either. She had tried casting spells at the door, but it would not budge. She had tried using the spell that would let her stick her hand through wood, but that didn’t work either. It seemed like the door was warded against most kinds of spells. It was probably not unbreakable, but the spellwork required was probably too complicated for Annabelle to have even read about it yet. She didn’t even know if anyone could hear her on the other side of the door, for all she knew, the door could have been sound proof. They certainly could not hear her in the castle above her.
Eventually Annabelle fell asleep on the floor, where she had bundled up her cloak as a pillow, now that fireballs were keeping her warm. She slept uncomfortably. She didn’t know a spell that would turn the stone floor soft, even if she had once done that. She woke up in the morning by the sound of someone opening the door.
“Let me out!” Annabelle shouted angrily, as Octavia Sprytt walked into her cell. Behind her Annabelle could see one of the women who pushed her into it the night before.
“Be quiet, girl,” Miss Sprytt said, using her magic to force Annabelle down. “I warned you to behave yourself.”
“I haven’t done anything,” Annabelle replied, her eyes welling up with tears. She hated knowing her enemies could see her cracking. She didn’t want them to see her cry.
“You know what you did,” Miss Sprytt said coldly, waving her hand so that a tray of food appeared in front of Annabelle.
“Here are some things that will make your stay more…. comfortable” she said, tossing a bag at Annabelle, before turning around and leaving her. Annabelle threw a glass from the tray after her, but it missed.
Miss Sprytt turned, used her magic to repair the glass and smiled at Annabelle.
“Remember, Miss Brown, good behaviour is rewarded”
She turned on her heels and left the room, and the minion outside glowered at Annabelle as she slammed the door shut.
“You can shove your good behaviour up your ass!” Annabelle shouted at the closed door, banging her fist against it.
*
After throwing a tantrum and screaming curses at all the members of staff she hated, Annabelle sat down and started eating the food on her tray. She was rather hungry. She wondered if Eylion and Lydia had guessed where she was, and if they were planning to rescue her. It seemed as if the headmistress had no plans of killing her yet as she had been given a decent meal. She then remembered the bag Miss Sprytt had given her. She had said it would make her stay in the cell more comfortable.
She opened the bag, which had been enchanted so it was bigger on the inside. She found a change of clothes, a blanket, a sort of thin mattress that she supposed she was supposed to put on the floor, a glass bottle of some drink, some nibbles, and a book. Annabelle opened the book and a piece of paper fell out. She quickly picked up the piece of paper and read it.
Tonight after dinner. Be ready.
That was all it said. So Eylion and Lydia knew where she was, but how on earth had they been able to get the note into the book in the bag without Miss Sprytt noticing it. She supposed that Lydia would be able to open the door, maybe even Eylion. She knew that they couldn’t get her out now, not until they were ready to leave. They had to pretend they didn’t know where she was until they were ready to execute the plan, otherwise they would risk the security being strengthened. All she had to do now was wait, and trust that Eylion and Lydia knew what they were doing.
*
Waiting for dinner time drove her out of her mind. Sitting alone in a dark, windowless cell was really boring, and the book she had been brought really wasn’t that interesting. Annabelle had gone through every page to make sure there weren’t any other hidden messages, but there were none. She spent the day trying to rest on the mattress she had been given, as she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, and she probably would need to be well-rested for her trip with Lydia. They would probably have to walk most of the night to get as far away from the castle as possible.
When she couldn’t rest anymore she would get up and walk around in her cell just for something to do and so she could stretch her body. When she was feeling extra ungrateful, she thought that Eylion and Lydia could have tried to sneak some form of entertainment into the bag as well! Not having anything to do was driving her crazy and at times she’d find herself counting to sixty, making rips into her piece of paper for each minute. She had no idea how many hours she had been there or how many hours were left until dinner. It felt like she had been there for ages, and it made her even more angry knowing that the headmistress would probably leave her in there for even longer.
*
Then, just as Annabelle had laid back down on her mattress to rest som more, she heard a noise outside. Was it Eylion or Lydia coming to save her? Or was it the minions coming with her dinner? Annabelle got up grabbing her cloak, ready to leave if she was being rescued. The door opened with no trouble and Octavia Sprytt walked in. Annabelle felt a sinking disappointment when she saw her.
“Bring your cloak and come with me,” she said to Annabelle who had sat back down on the floor.
Annabelle looked up at her in surprise, her mouth open.
“Come on, girl. Hurry.”
Annabelle got up, not sure how she should react.
“What time is it?” she asked, confused. Was she getting out? Where was she taking her? To another cell? How would Eylion and Lydia be able to rescue her if they moved her?
“It is after the dinner, didn’t you get the note?” Miss Sprytt asked, still holding the door open. “Will you hurry up, girl! We don’t have that much time.”
“It was you? But…”
“Lydia is waiting for you upstairs. Now, move.”
Annabelle hurried out of the cell, and then she followed Miss Sprytt up the stairs and out of the dungeon. She wanted to ask questions, but she didn’t know what to say. Should she trust her? Would Lydia really be waiting for her?
The answer was waiting for her at the top of the stairs. Lydia stood there waiting for her, holding the satchel Alexis had sent her. She hugged Annabelle tightly.
“I don’t understand,” Annabelle said looking confused.
“No time to explain,” Lydia said, letting go of her.
“Annabelle!” Eylion came running down the corridor. She hugged her best friend.
“Well?” Miss Sprytt gave Eylion a demanding look.
“It’s done. They’ve been frogs for two minutes exactly, and they should remain so for at least forty-five minutes.”
“And the guards outside?”
“Anna, Tilly and Mina went to serve them dinner, they gave the signal. It should be all clear.”
“And I created the tunnel. Then we should get going,” Miss Sprytt said and nodded at Lydia.
Eylion hugged Annabelle one last time.
“I’m going to miss you so much. I hope we see each other really soon.”
Annabelle was lost for words and she felt herself starting to cry.
“Take care, Annabelle,” Eylion said before letting her go.
Then Annabelle felt herself change. She was shrinking, her entire body felt strange. She suddenly looked up at the three witches in front of her. They were all really tall. She looked at herself and saw that her hands were little, pink paws. Everything felt strange. Her vision was different, she suddenly had a wider sight and things looked lighter, and it was as if she could suddenly smell and hear everything. She felt like a super human, except she was in feline form.
“Meow,” she said, realising she had lost her ability to speak with her new form.
“Now, we will change,” Lydia informed her. “Annabelle, you will follow Octavia to the tunnel, I will come behind you. Then when we get to the tunnel, we will go through and you will follow me until I stop. Understand?”
“Meow.”
“Well then, we’ll be off.”
The two older witches changed. Miss Sprytt became a big tabby like Eylion once had been, and Lydia was completly black with green eyes. Annabelle noticed that the two cats were bigger than her. She compared size and realised she was kitten size! Not new-born, but definately a kitten.
*
They hurried up the stairs and Eylion followed them. When they got to the entrance hall there were frogs everywhere. There were a few students who hadn’t turned into frogs, probably because they were late for dinner. Annabelle had to fight hard against the instinct to play with the frogs. She really wanted to pounce at them.
“Dang! Someone must have opened the door,” Eylion said as she came up behind them. She ran over to the front door and opened it.
“Take care!” she called after them as they ran out the front door and into the park area outside.
Annabelle followed the big tabby cat between tree trunks, that were so much more visible to her with night vision. They headed towards the big stone wall that surrounded the school. Once they got to the wall the tabby stopped next to a hole in the ground, Annabelle stopped too and turned to see Lydia coming after them.
“Meow,” Lydia said, reaching out a paw and swatting it towards Annabelle’s hindquarters. She guessed that meant “Go on!”
Annabelle jumped into the hole which was more than big enough for a kitten to get though, and went through the tunnel, appearing on the other side of the wall. She was quickly followed by Lydia who had to crawl through. They had done it!
“Meow,” Lydia said, signalling for Annabelle to follow her. There was no time to stop now, they had to get far away from the school while the staff were still frogs. Hopefully nobody would realise that they had gone for a while after they returned to human form.
*
They kept traveling as cats for over an hour before Lydia finally stopped in the middle of a thick forest and transformed them back to human form. It was pitch dark for a human, and for a moment Annabelle felt like she was going blind, until Lydia cast a small, blue, light globe. It gave them light, but it wouldn’t draw too much attention if anyone happened to fly over them on a broomstick.
“Finally,” Annabelle said as she stretched her legs and cracked her neck, adjusting to her new form. “I’ve been waiting for ages for answers. What the hell happened back there?”
Lydia smiled at her and pulled her into an embrace.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into her ear. “There was no time for explanations.”
She kissed Annabelle softly on the lips.
“We knew they had taken you when you weren’t in your room, but we couldn’t just storm into the dungeon and rescue you, not if we wanted to escape the way we did. I hated leaving you in there.”
“But Miss Sprytt?”
“Alexis’s inside spy.”
“You’re joking!”
“Nope,” Lydia said grinning. “You’ve got to give it to her, she’s a brilliant actress.”
Annabelle couldn’t believe it. How? Octavia Sprytt had been unpleasant from the beginning, she had punished students in her history class for trying to correct her lies, everyone hated her.
“But she was a total cow before we even knew we had to go to school! She was rude to Alexis. She punished the students in her class for telling the truth, she…”
“She kept up appearances, Annabelle. She did what she had to do in order to make Kendra Onbush believe she is one of her closest allies. I hope nobody suspects her of helping us today. We need a spy like her in there.”
“Did you know she was a spy?”
“Me? No, not until last night when we couldn’t find you. We were in your room when Octavia came to find you. She believed you were in danger and she wanted to check on you, but she was too late.”
“And then she just told you that she was a spy?”
Lydia laughed and shook her head.
“No, but I guessed. She seemed as shocked as we were to find you gone, and when she said something about you probably having been taken to the dungeon, I realised she was on your side. I could see the worry in her eyes.”
“Octavia Sprytt was worried about me?” Annabelle asked sceptically.
Lydia nodded.
“And then we told her of our plans and we decided to included your other friends to help us.”
“This is crazy,” Annabelle said, sitting down on a log. “So many secrets. I almost feel like pawn in some sick game.”
Lydia sat down next to her and put her arm over her shoulder.
“I know how you feel. I have been a pawn in my great grandmother’s game for too long.”
“But not anymore,” Annabelle said.
“No, not anymore,” Lydia said smiling. “And you know what? It feels great! I can’t believe I am away from her and other members of my family, it feels like I have been rid of something toxic poisoning my life.”
“Yeah, and now we just have to find Andromeda,” Annabelle reminded her. “Ain’t that gonna be a hoot?”
Lydia laughed.
“It is so far!” Annabelle complained.
“We’ve been locked in that castle for ages, and you complain that you have to walk freely in the open?” Lydia pulled her closer. “Just you and me, under the stars, nobody else…”
Annabelle blushed.
“Alright, that does sound nice,” she admitted. “But we’re still on the run, and we should keep going on a bit. While it is still dark, I mean.”
“Yes, but first we need a bite to eat,” Lydia said opening her bag. “You open your satchel, I can’t access anything in that, remember. You need to check the map the vampire gave you.”
Annabelle opened her satchel and retrieved the scroll of parchment that was the map. She tapped it twice with her finger and ink started flowing on the parchment, forming a map. She could see the red dot on the map which pointed to where she was, but the purple dot was on the side of the parchment and not on the map, which meant that they still had a really long way to go.
“We’ve still got a long way,” she said showing Lydia the map. She dragged her finger from the red dot to the purple like Christophe had shown her, and the map changed showing a larger area. “We have to go North-West.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Lydia said and handed Annabelle a sandwich.
“Lydia?” Annabelle said sounding worried.
“Yes, Annabelle?”
“How do we tell which way is North-West?”
Lydia chuckled.
“Oh, Annabelle, what would you do without me here?”
They both sat in silence for a while, eating their sandwich and enjoying the view of the starry sky. It was so beautiful, and Annabelle felt so lucky to sit there next to Lydia alone. Suddenly she felt like maybe this journey to find Andromeda wouldn’t be so bad; after all, she would be with Lydia. She imagined the many nights in the future when she would be lying next to her on the ground, under a blanket, enjoying the starry night sky. No, that didn’t sound bad at all, she was actually looking forward to it.
“This place is crazy,” Lydia said, following Annabelle and Eylion down a staircase.
They were leading her to the corridor outside the headmistress’ office.
“You already said that,” Eylion pointed out.
“Yes, but it is. And I can’t believe that they didn’t know about these passages when they chose the castle.”
“I know right, it totally makes sense that there should be passages in a haunted, old castle!” Eylion turned to Annebelle. “See? I told you that time, didn’t I?”
Annabelle nodded.
“So you don’t know why they chose Glasegrove castle?” Annabelle asked Lydia.
“No idea.”
“Oh…” Annabelle said, disappointed.
She had hoped Lydia knew something. It was all just too weird. The locket, the castle, and the fact that her mentors had given it to her of all people. There was no way they didn’t know its connection to the castle. And why didn’t it open?
“We’re getting close,” Eylion said as she stopped. “We should try to keep silent when we’re near her office.”
The other two nodded.
They walked in silence for a little while longer, but it didn’t take long before they heard the muffled sound of voices. With Eylion in the front they walked a little longer before they stood directly behind the wall to the headmistress’ office. Her voice was much clearer now, and so was the voice of Octavia Sprytt.
“I tell you, Octavia, this has Alexis Nightshade written all over it.”
“We can’t know that, Kendra. We don’t have proof.”
“Then why is she gone? She was staying with her former apprentice, but their house is empty. Leda Clagarian is also missing, you know.”
Annabelle and Eylion looked at each other, confused. Missing? They didn’t mention in their letters that they were going anywhere.
“Well, that does makes sense if they found we had our people watching their house.”
“But how? How would they know? I had my best people keeping an eye on Alexis, and now she is gone.”
The headmistress sounded angry, very angry.
“I don’t know, Kendra, but we always knew she was a smart woman. Smart, and very sly.”
“Too true, Octavia. I wish I knew what she was up to, but I think we can be sure of one thing.”
“What?”
“She has a spy on the inside, it’s the only explanation.”
“You mean Lydia?” Octavia Sprytt sounded like she was doubting this very much.
“Of course not! Don’t be silly. Alexis is too smart to use that stupid girl. I keep her in the dark when it comes to matters of the order, and if she really were a spy she would work harder to stay here. Anyway, I don’t need her anymore, the new potion teacher should arrive in two days time.”
“So you’ll just let her leave.”
“I’m not sure, she has been on the inside for a while. She might know too much.”
“And what do you intend to do about that?”
“I haven’t decided yet, but that’s not the most important thing right now. How can we get to Alexis?”
“Well, you have to admit she’s good at keeping her secrets. We have now idea where she is, what she is up to, or how to get to her.”
“She’s always messing things up for me! That was all she ever did in the order, going against me, voting against my legislations. I want to get her where it hurts.”
A bell rang in the distance.
“Come on, time for dinner.”
*
Dinner was rather uncomfortable. The few times Annabelle dared looking up at the teachers’ table, she found the headmistress glowering at her. She tried to focus on her plate instead, and occasionally she would join conversations with the others on her table. She found it difficult to focus on their conversations, she was too worried about getting out of the castle before the new potions teacher came to take over for Lydia. They hadn’t had much time to discuss it since they had to hurry out of the passages to make it to dinner in time, they almost forgot to use a cleaning spell to get rid of the dust on their clothes. They had agreed to meet in Annabelle’s bedroom after bedtime. Now that Lydia was in on the plan, that shouldn’t be too difficult. If anyone caught them, Lydia would pretend to catch Eylion out of bed.
*
Annabelle lay in her bed waiting for the other two to arrive. She had a book open so she wouldn’t fall asleep, but it was still a little early. It was after lights out, but they all felt it would be much safer if they didn’t meet until after midnight. It was still only eleven o’clock when she heard a knock on the door.
“That’s odd,” she muttered to herself as she got up to open the door; however, before she even reached the door, it swung open and one of the teachers came inside. Annabelle didn’t know her name, she didn’t teach any of her classes.
“Miss Brown, you are to come with me,” the lady said in a low, booming voice. She was of average hight, but quite wide, and she had a strong jaw on face with a severe expression. Her eyes were dark and scowling.
“Why?” Annabelle asked, confused. It was after lights out after all. She couldn’t think of anything so important that it couldn’t wait until the morning.
“Because the headmistress has ordered it,” the teacher replied, sourly.
“But…” Annabelle started.
“But nothing, Miss Brown. Don’t make me use force.”
Annabelle felt shivers down her spine, she had a bad feeling about this, but she put on her slippers and grabbed her cloak from a peg on the door, and followed the woman out of the room and into the hallway outside. Was she in trouble? Outside they were met with another of the headmistress’ minions.
“Where are we going?” she asked, wrapping the cloak around her. It was chilly.
“You’ll see,” minion number two said.
They walked down several flights of stairs, they were definitely not going to the headmistress’ office. Annabelle kept quiet, only because every time she tried to asked questions she was refused a proper answer. Why would the headmistress want to see her so late? And why not in her office? Would she make it back in time to meet with Lydia and Eylion? And what would they think once they came to her room and discovered that she wasn’t there?
The minions took Annabelle down a dark corridor and then down yet another staircase. Annabelle had a feeling that this one was taking them under ground.
“Are we going to the dungeons?” she asked, she started to feel a panic inside.
“Keep walking, girl.”
She didn’t really have a choice. If she stopped walking, they would force her to keep going, and she didn’t really know how she could escape two grown witches by herself.
They walked down a dark corridor with walls of stone as if it had been cut out of the rock, and they stopped in front of a wooden door. It had flap at the top that could be opened so one could look into the cell, because that was what it was, a cell, Annabelle knew that now.
Minion number one opened the door and minion number two gave Annabelle a push in the back.
“Get in, girl.”
“No way, I’m not going in there,” Annabelle said, refusing to move.
Behind the door was a tiny room. It was dark and dirty, and it smelled. The air felt humid and cold.
The two minions didn’t answer her refusal but simply worked together to push Annabelle into the cell. She fell on the floor, and before she had time to turn around, they had slammed the door behind her, leaving her in total darkness.
Annabelle screamed for them to open up the door, but to no use. She cast a spell and made a fireball that levitated in the air so she could see, and then she ran towards the door and started banging her fist on the hard wood.
“Let me out! Let me out!”
Nobody came. They had already gone back up to the castle. She was all alone in the dungeon, and Lydia and Eylion had no idea where she was. How would she escape this place now? What this what she had meant about getting Alexis where it hurt? And was this what the headmistress had planned for Lydia once the new potion teacher came? Or would Lydia have to leave without her once she couldn’t find her?
Annabelle sat down on the hard, stone floor and started crying. She made more fire balls to help against the cold and she leaned against the wall. She was so tired and scared, and she felt a raging fury towards Kendra Onbush. She had never felt this much hate towards anyone.
“That bitch is gonna pay.”
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