Annabelle (Part 27)

After Christophe left, Annabelle watched him fly over the walls surrounding the castle and she felt an emptiness. It hurt, standing there by the window and watching him fly further and further away until she couldn’t see him anymore, knowing that he wasn’t coming back. She had no idea when she’d see him again. Somehow, it had been easier being away from her mentors knowing that she had a connection to home through Christophe, but now that he was gone, she felt the homesickness more than ever. Tears ran down her cheek, she felt an ache in her chest and breathing became harder. She wanted to go home, but the anticipated journey would take her further away from it.

“Annabelle?”

Annabelle felt a hand on her shoulder. Lydia’s voice was soft, but Annabelle couldn’t turn around to face her because she didn’t want Lydia to see her crying.  Lydia could tell something was wrong, she came closer, standing next to Annabelle and put her arm around her. Annabelle caved in and leaned towards her and rested her head on her shoulder.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lydia asked her, kissing her forehead.

“I miss home,” Annabelle said, hating herself for sounding so childish.

“You’re lucky,” Lydia said, making Annabelle turn to face her.

“Lucky? How am I lucky? I miss my mentors, but even if I get out of here, I can’t go home. I don’t know when I will see them again.”

Lydia smiled at her, and wiped tears off Annabelle’s cheek with her thumb.

“You are lucky. Your homesickness means that you have someone at home you love very much and who loves you very much. I don’t know what that feels like, I have never been homesick before. I’m not sure I could miss anyone.”

“Not even me?” Annabelle spoke before she had time to think it through, she hated that about herself.  “I mean… eh… if I left, but you could still stay here… wouldn’t you…?” She couldn’t finish her sentence. She felt her face turn red. She felt like an idiot.

“You know…” Lydia said smiling, “I would, Annabelle. I would miss you if you left without me.”

“So then you’re lucky too.”

“I guess so.”

They looked at each other for a while without saying anything.

“Lydia?”

“Yes?”

“How old are you?”

Lydia laughed.

“What kind of question is that? Why do you want to know?”

Annabelle blushed.

“Well… Christophe said that Gwen and Leda have met you before.”

“Yes, and?”

“Well… I was wondering if… eh…” Annabelle hesitated, she wasn’t sure why she wanted to know. “I guess I was wondering if you knew them because you were around the same age. It’s so hard to tell with witches, ya know. But I thought you looked a little younger.”

“I see,” Lydia said, still smiling at Annabelle’s curiosity. “Well… Gwen and Leda are not the same age, I think there’s at least a decade between them. And as for me…”

She waited, torturing Annabelle with suspense.

“Yes?”

“I am 31,” she said smiling.

“Oh?” Annabelle said, feeling relief for some reason. “So… then you’re not super old. Your only ten years older than me.”

Lydia gave her a suspicious look. “Why do you care if I’m young or old?”

“Oh… I dunno… I don’t, I guess. I was just curious.” Annabelle looked down at her feet. “I guess… it’s good to know things about one another if we’re going to be traveling together, isn’t it?”

“That’s true,” Lydia said, smiling.

“Did you want to check my homework?” Annabelle asked, changing the topic.

She and Lydia went over to where they had drunk tea, and Annabelle let her look over her homework. For the most part Lydia was happy with what she had done.

“You’re improving,” she said, smiling.

“But what I wrote for history is just BS,” Annabelle commented.

“It is,” Lydia said, not denying it, “but it’s BS Octavia Sprytt wants to read, so this is good.” She gave Annabelle an approving smile. “Besides, the structure of your paper is really good. I like how you have presented the arguments, and strengthened them with more information, even if like you say, it’s all BS.”

Annabelle yawned.

“I think it’s time for you to go to bed now. I should too.” She got up and pointed at Annabelle’s bed.

“Go on.”

Annabelle hesitated.

“When will we talk about… about what we’re going to do to get out of here?”

“We can talk about it tomorrow. I believe Dorota is going to let you out tomorrow. I will find Eylion so we can have a conversation with her too. We’ll need her help. But… I’m not sure where we can talk. We risk being overheard here, and although I trust Dorota, I think the less she knows the better it is for her.”

“Eylion and I know somewhere we can be alone.”

“Where?”

“I’ll show you tomorrow, it’s hard to explain without showing you.”

“Oh, but… oh, alright.” She sighed. “Well get into bed, young lady. If you’re getting out tomorrow, you can’t sleep in.”

She pulled Annabelle’s covers aside, and pointed at the bed. Annabelle got into bed, but she didn’t lay down. She sat in her bed, Lydia put her covers over her and sat down next to her.

“Will the headmistress want to talk to me when I come out?” Annabelle asked.

“Maybe, but I hope not,” Lydia answered. “If she does, just describe all the symptoms Dorota gave her, and tell her that you feel much better now.”

“Yeah… okay… but I don’t really wanna see her. Just looking at her makes me angry.”

“But if you do have to see her, keep your temper in check, missy,” Lydia said. She tapped her index finger playfully on the tip of Annabelle’s nose.

“Yeah… okay.” Annabelle said rolling her eyes.

“Brat,” mumbled Lydia. She smiled at Annabelle. “Now… goodnight!”

She looked at Annabelle softly, and leaned in to kiss her forehead. But Annabelle had a spontaneous idea and met her halfway and kissed Lydia on the lips.

The kiss lasted a little while. It wasn’t wet, there was no tongue, it was just Lydia’s lips on hers, soft and warm. When the kiss ended, they stared at each other.

“I should go,” Lydia said quickly.

Annabelle felt her heart break.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… I shouldn’t have…” What could she say?

“Don’t be sorry,” Lydia said.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Annabelle said looking down at her hands. This was just too awkward. She had never wanted to kiss anyone before, and then suddenly she felt like it… and so she just did!

“You didn’t… I mean… I don’t want to use you, Annabelle,” Lydia said seriously.

“Use me?” Annabelle asked, confused. “How could you use me? I was the one who kissed you.”

“Yes, but I am your teacher,” Lydia reasoned. “I am in a position of power over you.”

“Not for long,” Annabelle pointed out. “Why do you care about the rules? You’re about to leave this place anyway. And we are both grown women. Besides… I was the instigator. I wanted to kiss you and I did…” she looked at her Lydia, she felt like she was on the verge of crying “But… maybe… ” she looked away from Lydia, “maybe you didn’t want me to kiss you. I’m sorry.”

Annabelle felt Lydia’s hand on her cheek. She stroke her cheek softly, and pushed her chin so that her face turned towards her. Then she kissed Annabelle softly.

“Goodnight, Trouble,” she said, as she pushed Annabelle down, tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead and left the room.

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Annabelle (Part 26)

The following days Annabelle stayed in the infirmary as ordered. Dorota had said that she was contagious and they had to make that lie believable. It was terribly boring having to stay there as there was very little to do, and Annabelle had just been let out from house arrest. It felt like ages since she had had any fun and at times she could get in a bad mood, and her smart mouth had gotten her a couple of swats from the nurse who would have none of it. And being locked up in the infirmary did not stop the teachers from drowning her in homework. At night Lydia would come to visit her, and the first thing she did was check her homework, and make her redo anything she felt was unsatisfactory. Lydia was determined that Annabelle should get rid of her label as a troublemaker, and appear as a hardworking and obedient student.

*

The second day Annabelle was in the infirmary, Eylion had snuck out after lights out to visit her. They managed to have a brief chat about how things were going and what they would do to get Annabelle out of the castle for her big escape, but fifteen minutes in they were interrupted by Lydia who had come to check on Annabelle’s homework, and a stern looking Dorota who grabbed Eylion by the ear and swatted her in the direction of the door. The nurse escorted Eylion back to her room, and it was a while before she came back which suggested she took her time to “chastise” Eylion before she returned. After claiming her innocence to a stern-looking Lydia, Annabelle got off without punishment, which, in Annabelle’s opinion, was more than fair as she did not ask Eylion to break the rules, even though she had enjoyed her visit. Eylion did not come back after that.
She wondered when Christophe would be back with more news from Alexis, and she wondered if Gwen and Aisling new about what she was going to do. She also wondered if Andromeda was expecting her.

What if Christophe tried to find her while she was in the infirmary? Would he know where to go? Would he find Eylion and ask her? Annabelle would lie awake at night and ponder over these questions at night, worrying about what she would do once she was outside the walls of this castle and all alone again.
Then on the fifth night of her stay in the infirmary, as she lay awake thinking, she heard a tap on the window. She sat up in bed and saw a bat outside. Annabelle hurried out of her hospital bed, ran over to the window. She nearly fell to the floor as she stumbled over her book bag on the floor, Dorota had given her many a talking to about picking up her things and tidy them away. Annabelle studied herself and hurried to open the window. The bat flew inside, and there was a familiar “pop” as the bat turned into her friend.
“Christophe!” Annabelle hugged him. Her hands embraced him around his waist, as her head only reached his chest. Christophe was a very tall man.
“Always in trouble, aren’t you, Annabelle?” He said as he ruffled her hair. “It was good I had a letter to Eylion first so she could tell me you would not be in your regular chamber.”
“It’s not a crime to be sick, is it?” Annabelle said, smirking with a glint of trouble in her eyes.
“Oh, you’re sick? That’s funny, Eylion didn’t mention that as she recounted all of your adventures exploring the castle and breaking rules.”
“Show off,” Annabelle mumbled.
“She can’t help it, honey. It’s in her bones, just like trouble is in yours.” He gave her a wide smile.
They walked over to Annabelle’s bed and sat down.
“Did she tell you about our teacher? Lydia. She’s the headmistress’ great great eh… something grandaughter, but she’s on our side! She told me herself.”
“No, she must have forgotten that, but it doesn’t surprise me, we were counting on that. I know both Gwen and Leda have had dealings with her before, and when they heard she was a teacher at the school, they were very relieved.”
“Oh… Gwen and Leda know her?” Annabelle felt a little disapointed for some reason. “Does that mean… eh… is she… like… really old too?”
She looked innocently up at Christophe who chuckled.
“Honey, you are talking to a 400-year old man.”
“No way!” Annabelle said with wide eyes.
“Way,” Christophe said smiling.
“I was only wondering if she was a century old or something. It’s so hard to tell with witches.”
“Well witches and vampires are different from mortals. Witches live a very long time which means they age really slowly, and vampires… well… vampires are dead, and dead people don’t age.”
“Well it wouldn’t be too shocking if they did, I always believed that dead people were… ya know… dead, but you’re a living dead person! That’s just really weird.”
“I know, hon, it’s best not to think about it, you don’t want to exhaust your brain.”
He got up from the bed and coughed. Annabelle could tell it was for dramatic effects because vampires don’t cough to clear their air ways, vampires don’t breathe… they’re dead.
“I said I would return when I knew more about Andromeda’s whereabouts.”
Annabelle nodded.
“And I know I said that I wasn’t sure I would advice running away…” he brushed his fingers through his perfect, black hair, and scratched his neck.
“However, it seems Alexis has other plans for you.”
Annabelle sat up more straight.
“What are her plans? When can I leave?”
Christophe raised an eyebrow at Annabelle’s willingness to do something this risky.
“Well… she can’t help you out, she can only provide you with the information you need to find Andromeda. I have some things with me, I believe Leda and Alexis have been meeting in private to plan this without your mentors finding out.”
“Yeah, Gwen made it clear in her letter that she and Aisling wanted me to stay put and behave myself,” Annabelle said biting the nail on her thumb nervously.
“That they do, and I can’t believe I am helping Alexis with this, Aisling would kill me if she knew. I’m not scared of a lot of people, but if there is anyone who could make my death permanent, it’s Aisling. You should have seen her after I almost took a nibble out of you. That was scary.”
Annabelle smiled.
“Gwen told me that Aisling let you feed from her.”
“Yes, that was pretty decent of her. She softened up a bit when she realised how hungry I was. I hadn’t had a meal in a while, and even vampires gotta eat. My regular boy at the time had left me for another vampire, said I wasn’t dominant enough. Me!”
He flexed his muscles.
“Don’t I just ooze dominance?”
Annabelle shrugged.
“I dunno.”
Christophe sighed dramatically, and he even pouted. It wasn’t very noticeable, but there was a small hint of a pout on his lips.
“So… what have you got for me?” She asked, turning the conversation back to her escape.
“Oh right.” Christophe put his hand in one of the inner pockets of his coat. Today he was wearing a big leather coat, with a lot of pockets. Annabelle wondered what he had in it, that wasn’t for her.
He took out a scroll.
“A map,” he said, answering her puzzled look. “It’s a magic map that can only be read by you. Well… you and Alexis and Leda.”
“Really? How is that possible?”
“I believe Alexis took some hair from your hairbrush and used it in the ritual.”
He also took out a small satchel. It was of dark brown leather, and it didn’t draw a lot of attention to itself, which Annabelle guessed was the purpose.
“This is a brand new satchel made for you. It works the same way, you’re the only one who can open it. Leda put an expansion spell on it, so it’s roomier on the inside. There should be some clothes and other things you might need on the inside. If anyone tries to open it, it will just look like an empty satchel. Look.”
He opened the satchel and showed her the inside. It was a small and empty space. He handed her the satchel.
“Now you open it.”
She did, but now it looked different. The satchel was very roomy on the inside and she could see clothes, a couple of books, and there were smaller pockets with tools she could use for potion-making. There were also some glass bottles with potion fastened in little pockets on the side to.
“This is so cool…” She tried to stick her arm into the satchel and all the way down to the bottom, the tip of her index finger only just manage to brush over the surface.
“Have a look at the map,” Christophe said as he handed it over to her. “You will keep that in your satchel so it doesn’t get into the wrong hands.”
Annabelle opened the scroll of parchment. It was blank.
“This map’s not working,” she said looking worried.
“Tap it twice with your index finger. Tap it three times to hide it again,” Christophe instructed.
Annabelle tapped the map. Suddenly colours started pouring out from nowhere and ink of different colours formed a very detailed map.
“The red dot right here, that is you,” he explained and pointed with his finger. Then he moved his index to a purple dot on the side of the map.
“The purple dot is where you are going. Right now the map is showing you the closest surrounding areas, but if you drag your finger from your dot to the purple dot, if should show you the entire journey you will have to make. When you don’t have to do that and the red dot and the purple dot are both visible on the map at the same time, you are getting close.”
Annabelle dragged her finger from the red dot to the purple dot, and the map changed, suddenly showing her a much larger area. Suddenly there were mountains on the map, and that was where she was going.
“Wow… that’s… eh… that’s a long walk…” She looked at Christophe, wide-eyed.
He nodded.
“I don’t suppose there’s a broomstick in this satchel?”
He smiled and shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
“Great… that’s just great.”
“You’ll be much harder to find on the ground, hidden among the trees. Remember, if you get out of this place people will be looking for you. You can’t hide in the air.”
Annabelle tapped her map three times and put it into her satchel.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Christophe said, pulling something tiny out of a smaller pocket in his coat. “Alexis got you this stud.”
“A what?”
“A stud, a silver stud for you ear.”
He held out his hand and showed her what looked like a silver pin with a round ball at the tip.
“My ear?” Annabelle was confused.
“Oh my, you really are from another world, aren’t you?” Christophe commented. “The stud is to fasten on your ear, some people use it for decoration, but Alexis has put a spell on this so that your movement shows up on a map that she has made for herself. That way she will know if you have left the school and she can keep an eye on your movements until you make it to Andromeda’s. I think I should fasten it on the upper side of your ear, it’s much easier to hide by covering it with your hair.”
“How are you going to fasten that on my ear?” Annabelle asked, looking at the little silver pin suspiciously.
“Well… I’m going to have to use a needle and pierce a hole in it, and then…”
“What? No way!”
“Annabelle, don’t be difficult,” Christophe tried.
“Difficult? Difficult? How am I being difficult? I just don’t want to punctuate my ear with a needle.”
“People do it all the time.”
“People are stupid, it doesn’t mean I have to… I mean… will it hurt?”
“Not so much, don’t worry. And I promised Alexis I would do it, so… it’s happening.”
Annabelle cupped both her ears with her hands, looking worried. She knew she had to do it, but she didn’t like the idea of Christophe sticking a needle through her ear.
“Honey… just lie down.” Christophe looked into her eyes. His were gleaming now, they made her feel calmer. She felt sleepy looking into them. She laid down on her bed, feeling drowsy.
“Your doing some vampire hocus pocus to me, aren’t you,” she said looking around the room, it was foggy.
“Maybe,” Christophe said, grinning so wide his fangs were showing.
He took something out of his pockets, but Annabelle couldn’t make out what it was. She felt something wet on her ear, and she smelled alcohol. Then suddenly she felt a sharp prick on the upper part of her ear.
“Ow! Fuck!” She yelled.
It had hurt! But the sharp pain was brief, and it quickly turned into a stinging sensation. Her ear felt hot.
“There we go,” Christophe said. “All over.” He grinned at her.
“What?” she said rubbing her smarting ear.
“You have officially been earmarked by Alexis.”
“Shut up,” Annabelle mumbled, though she had no idea what earmarked meant anyway.

*

“What is going on in here?”
Both Annabelle and Christophe turned quickly to see Lydia staring at them.
“Fuck,” they both said at the same time.
“Who are you? What is going on? Annabelle is this man bothering you? I heard you yelling out in pain.” Lydia came closer, pointing a finger at Christophe, reading to cast a spell at any moment.
“No!” Annabelle said quickly. “Lydia, it’s not… he’s not bothering me, he’s… eh…” she looked at Christophe, not knowing what to say.
“Why were you yelling?”
“Because…” Christophe got up slowly, he had his hands raised. “Because I pierced her ear.”
“What?” Lydia looked at him incredulously.
“It’s true,” Annabelle said getting up and walking towards her. “Look.”
She showed Lydia her ear, now tagged with a silver stud from Alexis.
Lydia grabbed Annabelle’s arm and pulled her behind her.
“Why would you pierce her ear? Who are you? This castle is full of witches, and you’re…” she studied him closer. “You’re a vampire.”
She turned around quickly and checked Annabelle’s neck for bite marks.
“Lydia, chill,” Annabelle said calmly. “Christophe is my friend. We know each other.”
“But… I… I don’t understand…” Lydia suddenly looked very tired. This was all too much for her.
“If I may come with a suggestion?” Christophe said, calmly. “Why don’t we all sit down, have some tea, and talk about this. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have, as long as you will give us your word that you keep this conversation to yourself. You will not, for example, tell your headmistress about this. As I understand it, you care about Annabelle’s wellbeing, and it is not in her best interest to relay this information to someone in the order.”
“I am in the order,” Lydia said sadly.
“Family ties,” Christophe said shrugging. “From what I’ve heard, your heart is not really in it, and your family is planning on finding a replacement for you here at the school.”
Lydia’s eyes filled with tears. She knew it was true.
“Come now, my girl, don’t be sad. Let Uncle Christophe make you a cup of tea and we can talk about what your options are.” He made a flamboyant show as he was filling water into a kettle and finding cups in the small infirmary kitchen.
Lydia turned to Annabelle and whispered,
“Uncle Christophe?”
Annabelle giggled.
“Darlings, can one of you witches get this water boiling? I don’t have the magic touch.”
Lydia helped him get the tea ready, she was still a little shocked that a stranger had made it into the castle.
They sat down in a seating area in front ofa fireplace. It was a cosy and small nook that Annabelle and Lydia used when they went over her homework, and when Dorota had time she and Annabelle had used it to play cards.
Christophe served the tea.
“How did you get in here?” Lydia asked Christophe as he handed her a cup.
“I flew over the wall as a bat. They’ve been thorough with the protection around the school, but there are holes in the spell work. It seems their spells don’t work on animals, if it did birds wouldn’t be able to fly into the school… birds and bats.” He winked.
“I also have a suspicion that it is possible to get under the wall without problem.” He gave Annabelle a knowing look.
“If a person were to, transform into something small, and use a small tunnel… they might be able to get in…” he studied his finger nails closely, “or out.”
Lydia put her cup down on the small table in front of her without drinking her tea.
“Why did you come here? Why did you pierce Annabelle’s ear?”
“I had something from her family, the stud was also from her family.”
“Why?”
Christophe chose not to answer her question right away.
“Let me ask you a question. Why are you here?”
Lydia was taken aback. “I… I was sent here by family, and I didn’t really have much choice.”
“And now they are going to send you away, that is the word.”
“How do you know this?” Lydia asked looking at him.
Christophe grinned. “My boyfriend’s father is in the order, and he’s been giving me lots of useful information. Such a good boy. His father has no idea however, that his son is a prancer, or that he has a thing for vampires.” He took a sip of tea.
“But enough about my delicious source, I want to know what you are planning to do once you are tossed out of here like a potion past its due day.”
Annabelle was shocked at how sassy Christophe could be with Lydia. She could sass too, but she’d never be this forward, if she was she’d probably get a good smack.
“I don’t know,” Lydia said quietly. “I’m not sure what my family wants me to do, all I’ve been told is that I have failed them here at the school, and that I have to leave.” She looked quickly over at Annabelle, a tear ran down her cheek. “I’m sorry, Annabelle. I don’t want to leave you in this place, but… but…”
“Oh, Annabelle is not staying, young lady. No no.” Christophe winked at her.
“I don’t understand,” Lydia said looking at Annabelle.
“Annabelle, is leaving, very soon.”
Annabelle was wondering why he was so very open about this with Lydia, she had been under the impression that it was top-secret, that only she and Eylion was supposed to know. The only reason Eylion knew was so that she could help Annabelle out, but stay put herself. Annabelle hated that, she hated having to leave Eylion here, and she hated that she had to find this Andromeda person all on her own.
Then suddenly she realised what Christophe was doing, telling Lydia all of this.
“Christophe, why are you telling her this?” Annabelle asked, but she already knew the answer.
“You mean he’s telling the truth?” Lydia asked. “Annabelle, you can’t be serious? Where will you go? You can’t go back home, they’ll look for you. It’s dangerous, you should stay here and just behave yourself and be safe. You can’t go out there on your own, you don’t even have full control over your powers. I don’t mean to insult you, but you are no match for a grown witch or wizard.”
“Which is why she can use a grown witch to accompany her on her journey,” Christophe pointed out. “Say… a grown witch like you.”
“Me?”
“Do you have anything better to do? You can’t stay here, they won’t let you, and you obviously don’t want to go home, wherever that is. Who knows what they have in store for your now. Why not go with Annabelle?”
Lydia looked at Annabelle. She didn’t look angry, she looked worried, but she had a soft look in her eyes, and Annabelle knew she could trust her.
“Where are you going, Annabelle?”
Annabelle sipped her tea, she felt the warm drink inside, and she decided to take a leap of faith and trust Lydia.
“Have you ever heard of Andromeda? I’m not sure what her last name is.”
“Of course, I have. Who hasn’t heard of Andromeda?” Lydia answered.
Annabelle looked at Christophe, she had no idea she was famous.
“Oh, well… I hadn’t heard of her…” then she realised she was giving herself away, she didn’t feel ready to tell Lydia about not being from this world. “I mean… I didn’t know she was like a big deal, just that she was Leda’s mentor back in the day.”
“What about Andromeda, Annabelle?”
“That is where I’m going,” Annabelle answered. “I’m going to find her, and… well… then I don’t know. You see, I’m afraid I don’t have all the answers. I’ve just been informed that if I can escape this place I should go and look for her, and I wanted to go with Eylion, but…” Annabelle suddenly felt a lump in her throat and she felt her eyes getting wet. “But Eylion says she can’t come with me. She says that she has to stay here and make sure that the order don’t win here at school.”
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and she wanted to beg Lydia to come with her, because suddenly the idea of going all that way to find Andromeda seemed possible, now that someone might come with her. She opened her mouth to beg, but she was interrupted.
“Please, take me with you.”
Annabelle looked up at Lydia, shocked at her words.
“What?”
“I want to go with you.”
“Really?”
Lydia smiled, her eyes were wet too. “Yeah,” she said, her voice cracking a bit. “I do. I don’t think I’ve been so sure of anything in my entire life. The idea of betraying my family terrifies me, but I really hate them, Annabelle. I really do. They are awful, and they don’t treat me well. My parents died when I was young, and the people who were supposed to take care of me have never really loved me, they just treat me like a pawn in their game for power. I want out, and this is my chance, so please take me with you.”
Annabelle nodded. “I will.”
Lydia looked as if she was thinking hard, then she said,
“But just so we’re clear, I am still in charge.”
“What?” Annabelle looked at her incredulously, and then at Christophe. “How can you even think about that now? Besides, we’re not going to be in school, you’re not going to be my teacher anymore.”
“That doesn’t mean you won’t need me to be in charge,” Lydia said, as-a-matter -of-factly. “I am older, I have more power, I am more responsible, therefore I should be in charge.”
“Why does anybody have to be in charge?” Annabelle asked.
“Because one of us needs the other one to be.”
“No, you mean you’re a control freak and you want to be.”
“You watch your smart mouth, young lady.”
Christophe laughed.
“Oh, if I could only be there to witness you to on an adventure like this.” He got up. “Ladies, I have to leave, I need to make it back to my tomb before sunrise.”
He hugged Annabelle.
“I guess we won’t be seeing each other for a while now that I have given you your bag, but I must say that I feel a lot better knowing that you will have someone with you when you leave this place, and I know Alexis will feel better to.”
“I’m going to miss you, Christophe,” Annabelle said hugging him tighly.
“Me too, miss Annabelle. Me too.”

 

Two announcements – two new websites

First of all, I am LATE! My friend Alyx published her first story on Amazon ages ago, and I said that I would announce it on my blog. It’s not something I would normally do, but I offered to do this for Alyx because she is my friend and she has been so supportive of me since I joined this online community of F/f spankos.
So if you didn’t already know, but you probably did because most of my readers read Alyx, you can find her work on Amazon under Alyx Rancher, AND she has a new blog to promote her work. So go and visit Alyx Rancher and give her your support! Great stories and… great  covers. *wink* *wink* My personal favourite series is the Clare and Erin series…. oh my… so HOT!  😳

Announcement number deux! Anna Reilly, author of Abby’s Bodyguard has a new spanking blog. Anna has gotten an interview with three famous F/f spanking authors: Stardawn Cabot, Claire Britain and… my pal Alyx Rancher! Her interview with Stardawn is already up and I can’t wait for the other two. So hurry on over and give Anna Reillya visit. 🙂

 

Annabelle (part 25)

Although Annabelle had been tired after exploring with Eylion, she found it hard to sleep. She tossed and turned, her head full of questions, her chest tensing with worry of how she would escape this place and find Andromeda all alone. It was agony. She had been looking forward to getting out of the school, but now, knowing that she would have to leave Eylion behind and continue on her own, what was going to be an exciting adventure had become something she dreaded.
“Annabelle, are you sleeping in my class?”
“Huh?” Annabelle raised her head as somebody tapped her on her shoulder. She looked up to Lydia’s stern face.
“Care to explain yourself?”

“I’m tired,” Annabelle mumbled.
“That I can see,” Lydia said frowning. “The question is, why would you be tired when lights out is at 10.30 ?”
“I… I couldn’t sleep,” Annabelle replied which was partly true. She had also been out after midnight with Eylion exploring the secret passages, but she didn’t feel the need to give Lydia that information. It was top secret.
“Annabelle, everyone else are half way through their potion, you haven’t even started? There is no time for you to do it now, the lesson is almost over.” Lydia gave her a stern look. “I’m afraid I will have to ask you to come to my office after lessons today to you do your potion.”
Annabelle groaned. She was looking forward to lessons ending so she could sleep.
“And where is your homework for today?”
Annabelle scratched her nose. She had totally forgotten about her homework in her excitement to go exploring.

“A bat ate it?” She looked nervously up at Lydia.
“Annabelle!” Lydia gave her a warning look. “Do not talk back like that. This is not acceptable.”
“I’m sorry, Lydia but… but… I’m not feeling well… not well at all. I think I’m sick.” She pouted.
“I suppose I should take you to the nurse then?” She folded her arms and tapped her foot.
“Eh… can’t I just go up to bed and rest?”
“Oh no, Annabelle, if you are ill the school nurse must see you. Those are the rules. She will determine if you really are sick. If she says you are ill, then of course, you can rest. If she says you’re just playing sick…”
“I’m not,” Annabelle lied. “I feel awful.” The last part was not a lie, she really did feel awful. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open. “I think I should go see her… I feel so… weak.” He held two fingers to her temple for dramatic effects. “I’ll find her myself, you should stay here and help the others. It’s not fair that they should be without you because I have to go to the nurse.”
She got up from her desk. She held her hand up covering her face from the light that shone through the window. She felt groggy. All the other girls looked at her as she made her way out of the classroom.
“Go straight to the nurse, young lady. No detours.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Annabelle said giving her a salute.

*

She did not go straight to the nurse. Instead she made her way to the hidden passages. She made sure that she was entirely alone in the corridor as she went into the little cupboard with cleaning supplies, and crawled through the tiny hole behind the tapestry. She brushed dust off her uniform. She would go to the nurse’s office later, she could say that she didn’t go straight away because she had been sick in the bathroom or something. Right now she just wanted a little nap in peace, and she knew she couldn’t go back to her bedroom because that’s where they would go look for her first.
Making her way through the passages, she took the same route she and Eylion had the night before, to the library. There, she knew, was a leather couch with her name on it, and nobody would know to look for her there, except Eylion. She put her locked into the mark in the wall and the wall into the library opened for her. She brushed dust off her napping couch and as she laid down she had just enough time to remind herself she needed to learn a cleaning spell to make this space cozier before she fell asleep.

“Annabelle.”
Someone was tapping her shoulder. Again? Why? What did she have to do to get some sleep around here?
“Annabelle! Wake up, dammit.”
“What?” Annabelle opened her eyes and looked up. It took some time for her eyes to adjust, and for her to realize where she was. She saw Eylion looking at her annoyed.
“Eylion? What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be in class?”
“No, dummy. Classes are over.”
“What?!” Annabelle sat up.
“What the hell, Annabelle? Why did you come here? Everyone is looking for you. You shouldn’t have used this place, now everyone is going to wonder how you managed to hide all day.”
“I wasn’t hiding, I was just…”
“What? Going to the nurse’s office? You knew Lydia would go there straight after her class, and she was told that no students had been in that day. I was there, and right after she pulled me to the side to ask if I had seen you.”
“Oh crap. Well… I was going to go later and say I was late because I had been sick in the bathroom.”
“Right, but instead you missed lunch and all of your lessons, it’s almost dinner and now everyone is looking for you and you are nowhere to be found.”
Annabelle bit her lip. She had messed up.
“What am I going to do?”
“Well you’ll be in trouble.”
“Of course, I’ll be in trouble! What can I do to get out of it?” She had known she might get in trouble, but earlier she hadn’t cared. Now, however, she did care… very much. It was one thing to miss one lesson before lunch, but to miss the entire day?
“I don’t think getting out of trouble is an option at this point,” Eylion said giving her a look. “What we need to do now is find a way to minimize the trouble you’ll be in.”
“How?”
“You need to hand yourself in to Lydia and hope that she deals with you herself.”
“Crap.”
Eylion patted her shoulder. “It could be worse. You could be taken to the headmistress’ office or Ms. Spryt.”
“No! I can’t… I’ll find Lydia. She’s on our side… I think. I mean her family ties are questionable, but I get the impression that she is looking out for us. And I think if I go to her and explain myself, then…”
“Then you’ll still be in trouble.”
“Yes, but I don’t think she wants to hand me over to the evil hags. I think she likes me.”
“But she might have to take you to the headmistress, if you’re really unlucky.”
“And if everyone knows I’ve been missing all day, the headmistress will probably want to see me. And then… I’m dead.”
Eylion looked at her with sympathy. Then she smirked a little.
“Not if… not if she’s distracted.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Lydia takes you to the headmistress then we need to make sure the headmistress don’t have time to deal with you. I’ll go find the others, and we’ll come up with a distraction in case we need it. But we need many people, and we can’t get caught. But it will be enough to distract the headmistress and Spryt. Then nobody can blame you, because you have an alibi, and Lydia will have to take care of it herself which is what we want.”
They left the library and went out to the passages. Annabelle closed the opening with her locket.
“One thing though,” Annabelle said as they stood in the dark passage. Eylion had lit a flame that she was holding in her hand. “What is my excuse? I can’t tell them I’ve been here the entire time. And they must have been in my room.”
“We’ll tell them I found you outside. You can say you went outside for some fresh air before you went to the nurse, and then you fell asleep under a tree.”
“That’s not a bad excuse. Do you think they’ll believe I was really sick and decide that I shouldn’t be in trouble?”
Eylion laughed at this. “Not a chance.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Hey, since we’re already here. Let’s see if we can find another way out of this place. We might as well do some exploring. It’s not as you could get in more trouble than you already are.”

*

This time they continued down the passage from the library. Just a little further down they found a long and steep staircase that took them down what must have been two floors. They followed the dark passage looking for anything that would indicate that there was an entrance to another room or to a way out of the passage. The followed the passage around a corner and found more stairs. Now they could hear voices nearby, but they couldn’t make out what they were saying. It didn’t sound like a normal corridor though because the corridors were usually filled with students laughing and chatting. These voices seemed more serious and there weren’t as many.
“Where do you think we are?” Annabelle whispered.
“Not sure,” Eylion whispered back. “We’re probably on the fourth or third floor, but I don’t think we’re near the kitchen because the passage we took there the first time went the other way.”
They walked a little further and the voices became clearer. They kept quiet, not daring to speak in case they could be heard.
“Well? Have you found her?”
A loud and angry voice rang out nearby, and it was almost as if the person was in the room. They must be very close to the headmistress.
“No, headmistress,” Lydia replied.
“This is your fault, Lydia. You shouldn’t have let her leave your class,” the headmistress scolded.
“But she was feeling ill and…”
“And she was obviously lying.”
“She looked terrible. She might really be sick.”
There was a snort. “The only thing that is terrible is your inner lying detector. Maybe the family was wrong to trust you with this teaching job.”
“Why? I’m good at teaching, the girls seem to like my classes and they work hard.”
“The girls don’t respect you,” the headmistress said sharply. “And why would they? You don’t have any control.”
There was a silence, and Annabelle felt really bad for Lydia. The headmistress was her family, but she treated her really badly, and now she was blamed for Annabelle’s mistake.
“They do respect me,” Lydia finally said. She sounded angry. “They like me.”
“I don’t need them to like you, young lady.”
“But…”
“No, that’s enough from you. When you find the girl, take her to my office.”
“I can deal with her myself.”
“Can you, indeed? Well right now I don’t trust you to deal with anything as important as discipline. If you can’t control the little brat, I will see to her. I will make sure she won’t do anything like this again.”
Annabelle swallowed nervously and looked terrified at Eylion who looked equally scared.
But Lydia protested. “Please, I can do it myse…”
SLAP! The sound of the headmistress hand slapping Lydia’s cheek rang through the passage and stabbed Annabelle’s heart like a knife.
“Enough! I know what you are trying to do, you want to spare her the punishment that she has coming. I can see it was a mistake to let you work for me. Go back to your office, and when the girl comes to find you, which she will because she thinks you will let her get away with a little love pat, you take her here to see me. Now out of my sight!”
They heard a door slam shut. And then they both hurried away from there.

*

They following the passage and went down another set of stairs before either dared to speak, and even then, it was just a whisper.
“She hit her!” Annabelle managed to say shocked. “She bloody hit her! In the face!”
“That’s not on,” Eylion said looking sad. “Poor Lydia.”
“Yeah… I had no idea it was this bad. What is all that bull about nobody respecting her. She’s the one teacher in here who deserves any. She tried to help me.”
“We need to find a distraction or you are so doomed.”
“I can’t go to her office.”
“I know! She’ll beat the crap out of you!”
“Who are you talking about?”
“The headmistress, who are you talking about?”
“Lydia! I can’t go there now.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s been given orders to hand me over to the headmistress, and she doesn’t want to. But she has to, so either she’ll hand me over and feel terrible about it even if it’s all my fault to begin with, or she’ll get into a lot of trouble. If I just go straight to the headmistress, then she won’t have to feel bad.”
“Annabelle, that is suicide.”
“No… it will just really suck.”

*

They suddenly came to a stop. They were at a dead end. They looked around for while, distracted. Then Annabelle saw a familiar symbol carved into the wall and put her locket there.
“Wait…” Eylion said too late because the wall in front of them made an opening.
They stepped out into a long corridor with windows. Now it was dark outside. They were alone.
“Annabelle!” Eylion gave her a glare. “What if there were people here?”
“Sorry,” Annabelle said biting her lip.
“Close that opening. Quick.”
Annabelle did and they made their way down the corridor.
“I think dinner is over,” Eylion said pouting. “And I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” Annabelle mumbled. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”
“Well no time to worry about that. ”

They hurried down the corridor. When they got to the grand staircase they stopped.
“I need to find the others.”
“What for?”
“The distraction. We need to do something big to get you out of trouble. What if we…”
“Young lady!” A voice froze them both before they slowly turned around to see the school nurse.
Annabelle had seen her around, but she had never talked to her. She didn’t even know her name. She stood still, terrified, as the older woman came over.
She was not very tall, for a witch, a little shorter than Annabelle. She was plump with shortish hair, and unlike the teachers, she didn’t wear a witch’s hat. Annabelle approved of this, she never understood why the teacher’s wore hats inside. The only teacher that didn’t wear a hat to class was Lydia, which was good because she had lovely hair.
“Umh… hi.” Annabelle smiled nervously at the woman standing in front of her.
“Don’t hi me, young lady,” she said sternly. “If you are sick I need to take you to the infirmary. Let me feel your forehead.”
She pulled Annabelle forward rather forcefully and put her hand on her forehead.
“Oh dear, not good at all. Did you pass out? Is that why you’ve been missing?”
Annabelle was lost for words.
“I found her outside, ma’am,” Eylion said quickly before Annabelle could ruin anything. “She was asleep under a tree. She went out for some fresh air because she had been sick. I think she must have sat down there and passed out. When she came to, she was very confused.”
“And you are?”
“Eylion, ma’am. I helped looking for her.”
“Inform the headmistress that I’ve taken her to the infirmary.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Eylion nodded importantly.
“And tell her that the girl is very sick, and might possibly be contagious.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Eylion said not able to hide her grin now.
They watched her run up the stairs to the headmistress’ office. Then the nurse took her by the arm.
“It’s the infirmary and bed for you, my dear. You’ll have to stay for a couple of days until you’re better. Do you think you can force down something to eat?”
“I’ll do my best, ma’am.”

*

“What do you mean she is sick?”
Annabelle could hear the headmistress’s angry voice outside the infirmary.
“She’s very ill, headmistress. Vomiting, fever… she passed out, for heaven’s sake. Lydia was right all along, though she shouldn’t have let her go alone, she should have made sure she made it to the infirmary.”
“I want to talk to her.”
“She’s sleeping, headmistress. And it would not be wise to wake her now. But whatever she’s got, she better stay put because these things spread fast and before you know it half the girls and staff will be in here.”
“That bad, is it? Then keep her here until you are sure she’s well again. I’m not getting… I mean I don’t want… my girls to get sick.”
“Of course, you don’t.”
Annabelle heard the headmistress leave and finished her meal. The nurse, whatever her name was, came back in.
“Was there no dessert tonight?” Annabelle asked, licking her lips.
“There was.”
“So… where is mine?”
The nurse raised an eyebrow.
“Do you think you deserve dessert, young lady?”
Annabelle rolled her eyes.
“I only fell asleep, I didn’t kill a man.”
“You fell asleep after you decided to lie to your concerned teacher and skip class. That doesn’t sound like a girl who deserves pudding, does it? You deserve something entirely different, miss.”
Once she had been taken into the infirmary the nurse had quit the act and scolded her thoroughly for all the trouble she had caused, but Annabelle was just so relieved that she had been saved from the headmistress’ wrath. She it was nice knowing there was another person at this school she could trust.
“I said I was sorry,” she mumbled.
“Good, you can tell Lydia that when she comes by later. Though getting her forgiveness might sting a little.”

*

It was a little before lights out when Lydia showed up. She hadn’t been able to come straight away because she didn’t want the headmistress to see her. She had waited until after curfew and after most of the staff had gone to their own rooms.
She came into the infirmary and hugged the nurse.
“Thank you, Dorota!”
“You’re welcome, dear. She believed me, but the girl has to stay here for a couple of days.”
“That’s okay,” Annabelle said sitting up. “Anything to get out of Spryt’s crap history lessons.” She smiled at Lydia who suddenly looked stern.
“You!” She came towards Annabelle with a thunderous expression. “Have you any idea how much trouble you’ve caused?”
Annabelle knew, but she couldn’t tell Lydia she had heard the conversation between her and the headmistress, because then she’d have to tell her about the passages and she wasn’t ready to do that. For now, it was only she and Eylion who knew.
“I’m sorry?” Annabelle said looking up at her from her bed.
“You will be sorry once I’m done with you!”
“But… but I thought we agreed,” Annabelle argued. “That I am very ill. Contagious even.” She coughed and put her hand to her forehead dramatically. “I have a fever.”
“The only thing that will have a fever once I’m through with you is you bottom!”
“Lydia! You can’t be serious!”
“Oh, I am very serious, missy.”
“But… but…” Annabelle looked over at the Dorota for help. “Aren’t you going to do something?”
“Of course,” the nurse said. “I’m going to go outside and stand guard in the hallway, so that nobody hears my patient,” she stressed the word ‘patient’ “getting spanked!”
With that the nurse left the infirmary to stand in the corridor, keeping lookout.
“But… Lydia, I’m sorry. I was just tired and I needed a little nap in peace.”
“That’s not good enough, Annabelle. You could have gone to see Dorota and she might have let you take a nap if she felt you really needed it.”
“How was I supposed to know she was nice?” Annabelle felt that was a good point. “You’re pretty cool, I’ll give you that, but the rest of the teachers are horrible! And your grandmother… or your… great great great…whatever. Point is… she’s pretty horrible too! No offence.”
Lydia looked shocked.
“How… how did you know that she was…”
Annabelle could have hit herself.
“Eh…
“How? Who told you?”
“I can’t remember. Probably one of the girls. I’m not sure.”
Lydia gave her a suspicious look as if she didn’t believe that explanation. However, Annabelle couldn’t tell her that she and Eylion had overheard her conversation with Spryt that time they were hiding from them.
“Never mind. Get out of bed.”
“Lydiaaaa…”
“Now!” Her voice was sharp.
Annabelle got out of the bed. She stood barefoot on the cold floor in her nightgown and looked up her potion teacher. She pouted. She knew she should feel grateful that she hadn’t been turned over to the headmistress, but after she had been taken to the infirmary she had thought she had gotten away with punishment.
Lydia pulled up a chair, sat down and pulled Annabelle over her knee.
“I tried to warn you, Annabelle.” Her left arm held Annabelle in place and her right hand rested on her bottom.
“You need to be careful. You can’t get expelled from this place.”
“I wasn’t trying to get expelled,” Annabelle argued.
SMACK! Lydia’s hand landed hard on her bottom. Annabelle whimpered.
“Be quiet.” Lydia’s voice was quite firm. “You need to be more careful, Annabelle. Do not let the headmistress notice you too much. You’ve already been labeled a trouble maker. You think I’m tough? This is nothing to the punishment that she would have given you!”
SMACK!
“Ow… I’m sorry.” Annabelle winced as she felt Lydia’s hand for the second time, knowing they hadn’t even started yet. “I know I messed up.”
“Yes, you did.”
SMACK! SMACK!
“Buuuut…. I didn’t mean to! I mean… okay… I meant to a little. But I didn’t mean to sleep so long. I was only gonna sleep a little and then say I had been sick in the bathroom and that was why I was late to the nurse. I didn’t think I’d be out of it all day.”
“You shouldn’t have lied and skipped class,” Lydia scolded.
“I know… I just felt grumpy and I wanted to be alone. I felt like…”
“Like being bad?” SMACK!

“Giving your teacher cheek when she asked for your homework that you hadn’t done?” SMACK!

“Lying to get out of class?” SMACK!
“Ow… yes… okay okay… yes. I felt like being bad. I’m sorry… and I’m really grateful that you and Dorota got me out of trouble. Well… not out of trouble because… I’m over your knee, but out of trouble with that…” she sighed “that woman!”
She had wanted to call the headmistress a hag, but she really didn’t think it would help her in this situation, and she was related to Lydia. Even if she treated Lydia horribly she didn’t know how Lydia felt about her own family.
“And you know… it’s not like I’m getting away with it. Even if you hadn’t decided to spank me, I’d still have to stay here… for days!”
“I thought you said you were pleased you got out of history class.”
“Yes… well… that’s a positive, you know how I feel about that Spryt woman, but now that I have thought about it, I think it will be pretty boring. I mean, none of my friends can come in here and keep me company. I’m supposed to be contagious, remember? It will be like being confined to my room all over again, except this time there’s a nurse around.”
“Well it’s nothing less than you deserve, young lady.”
Without saying anything else, Lydia started spanking her for real. First over her nightgown, but even with that protection it still hurt. Lydia wasn’t sparing her backside, and even if this hurt a lot, it was still much better than being handed over to the headmistress who had a big wooden paddle in her office.
Annabelle tried not to squirm and take her punishment, but it wasn’t easy as Lydia’s hand came down rapidly on her bottom. She had barely given one stinging swat before there was another.
“Are you starting to understand the seriousness of your actions, young lady?” Lydia had paused the spanking and was rubbing Annabelle’s bottom.
“Yes… I know that…umh…” Annabelle hesitated because it wasn’t easy to say.
“You know what?”
“I know I shouldn’t get on the wrong side of the headmistress,” Annabelle said. It wasn’t what she had meant to say but it was so hard to say what she wanted to. “She could make my life very difficult.”
“She could,” Lydia agreed. “And I don’t want that for you, or any of the witchlings in here. You shouldn’t give her any reason to punish you. I am trying to keep you out of trouble, to protect you, and I will gladly spank you if it keeps you in line and out of her reach. Don’t think I won’t, because when I spank you, you know it’s because I care. You do know that, don’t you?”
A tear ran down Annabelle’s cheek. She quickly wiped it away hoping Lydia didn’t notice. There was no way Lydia could possibly know how much it meant to her to hear her say that, for Annabelle to know that there was a person in this school who cared and looked out for her. It made being away from Gwen and Aisling much more bearable.
“Yeah… I know. And I’m really glad you got me out of… umh… that little situation.”

“Little situation?”

SMACK!

“Owwww…. okay okay. I mean… thank you, Lydia for saving me from that mess. Before I came here I was told to stay out of Onbush’s way. I don’t think it’s a secret where I come from and who my family is.”

It felt good calling the ones at home for family, but they were. She smiled to herself. But not for long as she felt Lydia pulling up her nightgown.

“Yes, Annabelle. I know who’s waiting for you at home, and how they feel about my great grandmother. I take it Alexis is not happy with her?”

“No, she’s not. Nor should she be.”

“No, she shouldn’t. And living with Gwen, Aisling and Alexis you surely know, don’t you, that my great grandmother is a dangerous woman? That the order is dangerous?”

Annabelle gasped. She had, by now, realized that Lydia was looking out for her and the other witchlings, that Lydia did not agree with the headmistress about everything, but this was pretty much a confession that she was not siding with the order. Within this castle that was being a traitor to the “cause”. If Kendra Onbush knew that one of her own teacher’s, that her own great great great grandaughter told students this, she would get rid of Lydia. But from what she had overheard of their conversation earlier, it sounded like she was already considering getting rid of her. Where would she go? Would the headmistress just let her walk out of her and go back home? She wasn’t a student, she was a teacher. She was a witch, not a witchling. But having been on the inside and seen what the teachers taught the students, would she just allow her to leave and spread the word? Maybe not. Maybe this was dangerous for Lydia too.

“Yes, I know that she is dangerous. I was warned not to cause trouble on the inside. Alexis told me the order did not have our best interest at heart.”

“And she’s quite right.” Lydia pulled down Annabelle’s panties. “So the questions is? Why can’t you stay out of trouble?”

She continued to spank Annabelle’s bare bottom, and she did so thoroughly. This time it did not take long for her to squirm over her knee. It hurt! It seemed that Lydia was determined to make sure Annabelle’s entire bottom was red and sore.

“Owww! Lydia, I’m sorry! I promise I won’t get in trouble again!” She mostly said this to get Lydia to stop spanking her, because as she said it she reminded herself that they were planning to organize a mischief group to make the headmistress’ life hell.

“I don’t know if I believe that, Annabelle, but I’m at least trying to make sure you will be good for a good while! The headmistress is already suspicious of you, and it’s best if you don’t let her notice you in near future. Both she and Octavia are watching you like a hawk.”

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

“I will stay out of trouble! I promise! I’ll be good!”

“Good, because if I catch you even so much thinking about making trouble, I will put you over my knee and make you think better thoughts!”

She helped Annabelle stand up. For a second she was relieved thinking the punishment was over, but then Lydia spoke again sounding stern.

“Bend over and touch the chair.”

“What?!”

Annabelle looked at her as Lydia put her hand into the pocket of her black witch’s robe. When she removed her hand it was holding a strap.

“You have got to be kidding!”

“Bend over, Annabelle.”

“But…”

“Do not make this worse for yourself. I am giving you ten, do you want more?”

Annabelle shook her head.

“No ma’am.”

She bent over. She felt Lydia pull up her nightgown that had slipped down. She closed her eyes as she felt Lydia rest her left hand on her lower back and tapped her already red bottom with the strap. Then Lydia removed the strap and it came back with a WHACK!

“Ow!” Already from the first lick, the strap stung like hell.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

Annabelle almost got up. It wasn’t on purpose, it was like an unconscious protective instinct.

“Stay in position, young lady.”

“Yes,” Annabelle whimpered.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

“Do I have your word, that you will stay low and try your best not to get the headmistress’ attention?”

“Yes,” Annabelle said, tears running down her cheek.

“Do you understand what can happen if she gets fed up with you?”

“I think so…”Annabelle mumbled. “I’m not sure…”

“What do you think she is capable of?” Lydia asked seriously.

“Can she… umh… can she get rid of us? Like… lock us up somewhere? Or…kill us?”

There was a silence. Lydia took her time to think.

“Yes, I think that is a possibility. She’s not letting you go back home like this Annabelle.”

“I know… ”

“Now…  you’ve got three more. Then we’re done, and I want to see you try harder to stay out of trouble. Because you just got out of house arrest yesterday, and you were almost sent to her office today. Stay out of her way, you hear me?”

“Yes, Lydia.”

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

Lydia gave Annabelle the last with the strap, and put it to the side. Then she took Annabelle in her arms and cuddled her close while Annabelle rubbed her bottom. Lydia stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

“Get into bed, I’ll tell Dorota we’re done. And I’ll be back.”

Annabelle nodded and climbed back into her bed. She was pulling over her cover when Lydia came back, Dorota following her. Annabelle was just now reminded that the nurse had been outside, and she had probably heard her getting spanked. She blushed.

“Are you going to be a good girl now,” Dorota asked her. “Because you know… we’ll be seeing a lot of each other these next couple of days, and I don’t let anyone get away with being naughty.”

“I’ll be good,” Annabelle promised her. “You just make sure I get my desert next time.”

Dorota chucked as she went into her office.

Lydia sat down next to her on the bed. She wiped Annabelle’s tears away and continued to stroke her hair.

“Lydia?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you… are you on the other side? Like… are you and Dorota not supportive of the order?”

Lydia gave her a smile.

“Will you tell on me?”

Annabelle shook her head.

“Never.”

“Then… yes, I guess I am on… the other side. My family ordered me to come here, and I accepted the offer, not that I had a choice in the matter, but I acceped because… well… I didn’t have anything else to do, and I thought I could protect the students from those who didn’t care about them.”

“Thank you.” Annabelle took her and and kissed it. Lydia smiled.

“Lydia?”

“Yes?”

“Will you be able to stay? It’s just… if you’re so nice to the students, maybe the order will get suspicious.”

Lydia looked at her suspiciously. Almost as if she could tell that Annabelle had heard the conversation she had with the headmistress earlier, but how could she know?

“You are very perceptive, you know that?”

Annabelle didn’t answer. She only looked at her expectantly.

“I don’t want to upset you, but…” She hesitated. She looked so sad.

“But what?”

Lydia’s eyes filled with tears. Annabelle sat up. She put her arms around her. Lydia didn’t resist, instead she gave a sob and leaned her head against Annabelle’s shoulder. Annabelle had never done this before, but she had some experience from having been comforted by Gwen or Aisling.

“What’s wrong, Lydia?”

“I… I think… my great grandmother is going to ask me to leave this school.”

“And you don’t want to leave this hell hole?”

“No… yes, part of me, but no. I want to stay and protect the students, if I have to leave I failed you all. Who’s going to be nice to you with all these evil hags around.”

Annabelle gave a laugh. It was quite refreshing to hear a teacher call her colleagues evil hags.

“Dorota will be here.”

“Yes, but she’s a nurse. It’ll look weird if she sees them all the time. I’m the potion teacher, you have classes with the every day. I feel like I’m important here. Like people need me.”

“They do,” Annabelle agreed. “You’re the person they come to if they’re in trouble…”

“Exactly. I support them.”

“And you don’t have a big wooden paddle.”

Lydia laughed.

“You should sleep.”

“I’m not tired, I slept all day.”

“And who’s fault is that?”

“Well… I fell asleep in your lesson first soo….”

Lydia raised an eye brow, but she was only pretending to be stern.

“Do you need more spankings, young lady?”

Annabelle laid back down on the bed. “No, ma’am. I’m gonna be good.”

“I’ll come back to see you tomorrow when I can. But I can’t be seen.

“Okay.” Annabelle smiled at her.

Lydia tucked Annabelle in and kissed her forehead.

“Is there anything you need before I go?”

Annabelle rubbed her bottom under the covers.

“Can you ask Dorota if she has a potion for pain relief?

 

 

 

The Claus’s Clause

“Wow… it really is real.” Anna stood on top of a snowy hill and looked at the little village below with big eyes. It was dark, winter was always dark this far north, but the village was lit up and awake.

“I told you it was, where did you think we were going if not?” Charlie, Anna’s girlfriend smiled at her from their snowmobile. The village was so far away from everything, this was the only way for them to get there. All their luggage was in a sled attached to the snowmobile.

“Baby, I’m sorry, but when your girlfriend tells you she knows Santa Claus and that she’s been offered a job in her secret village in Norway, a girl is allowed her doubts.” She gave her girlfriend a look. “I mean… this is crazy. We’re literally in the middle of nowhere. There are no cars, no… well… no nothing. What were we thinking? What if we get seriously ill and need to go to the hospital? Or what if… well what if we just really need to get back to civilization? And what am I going to tell my mother? When I told her we were moving in together and that you had gotten a job offer in a foreign country, she said she was going to come visit. We can’t tell her we moved to work for Santa Claus.”

“Honey, relax. If we get ill, we’ll have a doctor in the village. If we need to go to the hospital, Santa has a sleigh with flying reindeer that can fly around the world in one night, that’s better than any ambulance. And as for your mother… well… she always says she’ll visit, but ends up inviting us over to her place. I think it is highly unlikely that she’ll actually come here.” She patted the seat behind her. “Now come on, I want to get inside. I’m really looking forward to seeing Santa again, I’m so glad she called and offered this job to me.”

“Why did you get the job? Isn’t it cronyism to give jobs to people because you are friends?” Anna got back onto the snowmobile.

“Yup, but if you’re Santa Claus… well it’s not like you can advertise for jobs in the paper, can you? And also, why shouldn’t I get the job? I am awesome at what I do, don’t you think?”

“Honestly?” Anna put her hands around her girlfriend’s waist. “I’m not really sure what it is that you do.”

“I’m a mathematician.”

“Exactly.”

*

They had parked the snowmobile outside the main building, and a man called Odd Ball had taken the keys and driven it to their cabin. He’d only been gone for three seconds when Anna opened her mouth to speak, but Charlie cut her off.

“Yes, I know, but Odd is a male name here and it doesn’t mean eh… well odd.”

“Charlie!” A tall, blond woman came towards them. “Oh it’s so good to see you,” she said embracing Charlie. She had a British accent, and she was drop dead gorgeous.

“That’s Santa?” She meant to only think it inside her head, but she said it out loud, sounding a little rude. However, Santa just smiled.

“Not what you expected huh?”

“Well… no… not exactly,” Anna admitted. “Charlie told me you were a woman though.”

“Yeah, it only took her two weeks to realize I wasn’t joking about knowing you though.”

Santa laughed. She gave Anna a warm hug.

“Welcome to my village Anna, I hope you will like it here. Shall we go inside? I’d love for you to meet my wife.”

*

Santa took them inside the main building and to her office. Inside, sitting by the fire place, was a woman. Like her partner, she was tall and beautiful, but Mrs. Claus had dark brown hair that was pulled back from her face, it made her look strict. She was also dressed for riding, with her crop next to her.

“This is my wife, Clarissa,” Santa said gesturing at the woman, who got up to greet them. “Honey, this Charlie our new mathematician, and her partner Anna.”

Mrs. Claus shook hands with them both.

“Charlie, I’ve heard so much about you,” she said smiling.

“All good, I hope,” Charlie said grinning, and… blushing. Anna observed this with interest. She imagined that she herself would easily blush around a person like Mrs. Claus, but Charlie?

Mrs. Claus raised an eyebrow. “Aspen skiing trip, 2010?”

“Oh eh… well… that’s… I bet she’s exaggerating.” Charlie scratched her neck, always a sign of nervousness.

Anna looked at her girlfriend curiously. “What happened in Aspen, honey? Do tell?”

Charlie was struggling to find words. “Eh…”

Santa grinned. “A story for later, I think. Let’s talk about your contracts. Charlie, did you sign yours?”

Charlie brought out a piece of paper. “I did, yes.”

“Good, very good,” Santa said approvingly. “As for you Anna, I don’t have anything here in the workshop.”

“Oh… bad luck,” Anna said sounding disappointed. This wasn’t the plan; the plan was for them both to work. What would she do every day if she didn’t have a job?

“However,” said Mrs. Claus, “I do.”

“Oh,” Anna said sounding more positive. “Good, I really want to have something to do.”

“You can work for me in the stable, you don’t mind animals, do you?”

“No, I love animals.” Anna smiled. She really did love animals, especially horses. But she’d never been allowed around them as a child, and as a grown-up she felt she was too old to learn to ride, even if she was only twenty-five.

“Good, then that’s settled.” She picked up a sheet of paper on Santa’s desk, “This is your contract, I suggest you read it carefully.”

Anna nodded.

Santa patted her on the shoulder. “I suggest you take it home, read it, and come to my office tomorrow morning. Shall we say 10 am? If you have any questions, you can ask me then. If there is something you’re unhappy about, we can discuss it. Then if you accept the offer, you sign it and report to Clarissa in the stables afterwards.”

“Okay,” Anna said smiling. “See you tomorrow.”

*

“A spanking clause?” Anna looked up at her girlfriend in surprise. They had settled in to their cabin, and were now huddled together on a couch in front of the fireplace.

“Yeah… I meant to talk to you about that,” mumbled her girlfriend.

“What do you mean you meant to talk to me about it? You knew? Is this for real?”

“Well… honey… I… eh… it’s not really relevant for you, at least, I don’t think it is.”

“Explain,” Anna demanded.

“Well… okay… it’s like this, in this village spanking may be used for discipline if someone is not behaving themselves. That is, those in charge of others, can use it. If you work for someone, they can discipline you.”

“Do you work for someone?”

“No, I… well… I work for Santa, we all do, but I’m kind of my own boss to tell you the truth, and I’m not likely to spank myself.” She winked.

“Can you spank someone else?” Anna tried not to sound jealous, but she hated the idea.

“No, I’m not in charge of anyone. There’s really only need for one mathematician here, so I don’t work for anyone and no one works for me. I don’t have that clause in my contract.”

“But I will be working for Mrs. Claus, and so this means that she can… you know?”

“Yeah… I guess. But honey, it’s discipline if you misbehave, you’re not going to break the rules, are you?”

“Emh… no… I want to do a good job.”

“Exactly, and look… you can talk to Santa about it tomorrow if you want. Tell her it makes you feel uncomfortable and ask her how it will affect you. She’s a good friend, I trust her, and I know she will be happy to talk about it and try to come to an agreement that will work for all.”

“Yeah… okay…”

This gave Anna a lot to think about. Her problem wasn’t that she was against spanking, her problem was… she was sooo for it! She craved it. She had, since before she could remember, been fascinated with spanking. She had so many times practiced conversations in her mind where she would tell Charlie about her desires, where she would tell her that she wanted her to spank her. She always chickened out because she scared that Charlie would think her weird, that she would not want to be with her anymore if she knew. And now… well now she had a work contract that had a spanking clause, a clause that stated that if she misbehaved she would get spanked by Mrs. Claus. It was tempting to misbehave on purpose, but wouldn’t that mean she was being unfaithful to Charlie? If she desired spanking, fantasized about it, how could she let another woman do that to her? And even if she could overlook that detail, wouldn’t she be taking advantage of Mrs. Claus, use her to get what she had always desired? It was very confusing.

She yawned. “I think I need to go to bed now, are you coming?”

Charlie grinned. “Is that a suggestion?” She wiggled her eyebrows jokingly.

“Baby, no offence, you know I love making love to you, but it’s been a really long day and I’m super tired. I don’t want to fall asleep during the act.”

Charlie laughed. “I know, sweetie, I was just kidding. I’m super tired too. However, I think since it’s so cold up here, and we’re not used to it yet, we should definitely lay close together and share body temperature.”

“Is that code for “we should cuddle?”

“It might be,” Charlie said nibbling her neck.

*

The next morning Anna went to Santa’s office to talk about her contract. Santa was sitting behind her desk, and motioned for Anna to stand in front of her. It kind of made her feel like she was in trouble and she wondered if Santa had a paddle in her desk drawer like had read in many spanking stories.

“Did you read your contract carefully?”

“Yes…”

“And?”

“Well… eh… there’s a…” Anna blushed. “There’s… a spa… spanking clause?” She stammered, embarrassed even to mention the word.

“Ah yes, see why I wanted you to read the contract and think about it overnight?”

Santa gave her a kind smile, and Anna nodded.

“And what do you think of this clause?” Santa got up from her chair and gestured for Anna to sit down on a sofa in her office, and sat down next to her, putting her hand on her knee in a comforting way.

Anna tried to keep eye-contact and not to seem embarrassed, but she found it very difficult.

“It’s just… well I… eh… I wasn’t expecting that to be in the contract, and I’m not really sure what why it’s there. Does everyone have this in their contract? And what does it take to earn a spanking? What if a someone is uncomfortable with this clause? Or what if a person signs the contract but changes her mind?”

She didn’t want to seem accusing, but she did find it weird that she, a grown woman, should have to sign a contract that allowed her boss to spank her.

“Hmm… well… it’s complicated. Not everyone has this clause in their contract, and the reason for this is because they don’t need it. Those who do have it because they are okay with it and they understand that they need it. A lot of my helpers are… well… a bit bratty at times. They are kind people, good workers, but they tend to be a little naughty. I find that this is a good a way for me to keep them in line. Sometimes, when they haven’t been spanked in a while, they tend to act out for attention.” She grinned. “And when they do, they get attention… over someone’s knee.”

Anna’s eyes went wide.

Santa carried on. “And sometimes I leave out the spanking clause in a contract, but that is because I sense that the person don’t need this clause, or because I know they would never agree with it. Maybe they are just not likely to be naughty, maybe they were born to lead, or maybe they cannot accept that kind of disciplinary action. It’s important to be able to read other people and know their needs, and I must admit that I have never been wrong in my assessment of other people so far. Charlie, for example, does not have the clause in her contract.”

“Because you knew her from before and you knew she wouldn’t need it?” Anna asked trying to make sense of this.

“Exactly. And she’s much more of a leader.”

“But why include it in my contract?” Anna found it difficult to keep eye-contact as she was asking this, because she already knew that she would be signing the contract.

“Because I sense that you do need it, my dear.” Santa pattet her cheek. “And… that you, perhaps, crave it…”

“But…” Anna looked deep into Santa’s blue eyes. “But you made the contract before you met me. How could you possibly know what I needed before you met me?”

Santa smiled.

“Because, little girl, I am Santa. You might not have met me, but I know you. I know the naughty things you’ve done, the things you thought would stay your secret forever.”

“Like?” Anna challenged her. If she was going to believe that Santa truly knew her, then she would have to prove it.

Santa suddenly looked stern. “Three years ago, you…” she whispered the rest of the sentence into Anna’s ear.

Anna’s eyes widened. “How did… but…”

“I’m Santa, Anna. I know you.” She smiled at her. “So… how about that contract? Is there anything you wish to change?”

“No, ma’am. I think the contract seems fair,” Anna said as she picked up a pen and signed it.

**

After speaking to Santa, Anna went straight to the stable to work for Mrs. Claus. She first had to hand over a copy of her contract for Mrs. C to keep in her files.

“Now, young lady, I also want you to say it.”

“What?”

“I don’t just want it in writing, my dear. I want you to tell me, woman to woman, that you trust me with your discipline and that if you break the rules I can spank you.” She kept eye-contact with Anna, and Anna found that she could not look away from Mrs. C’s stern gaze.

“Well?”

“I… emh…” Anna took a deep breath. “I trust you with my discipline, and if I break the rules you can sp…spank me.”

Mrs. C smiled at her. It was a warm smile, and she gave her a hug.

“Good girl.”

Anna felt a rush of warmth through her body at Mrs. C’s approval.

“Now… I need to take my horse Greyfell out for a ride, but I still have some work to do, so you will have to make him ready for me.”

“But… I don’t know how to make a horse ready yet,” Anna started, shocked that she was being asked to care for a horse her first day.

“Let me finish, my dear. You will get him ready for me, under the supervision of Glaze. She normally works for Santa, but since she’s worked here before, she’s filling in as the flue is going around.”

“Oh… good,” Anna said relieved.

“Yes, well… you go and find his stall. Out the door to the left, his name will hang over the door. I will be out in a minute to give instructions. Meanwhile try to socialize and get to know people.”

“Okay… thanks… I eh… I’ll go and do that.”

“Oh and Anna, before you go I should warm you about Glaze.” She looked like was trying to think what to say. “Oh dear how do I put this? She’s a very kind person, I personally care for her very much and you should definitely be friends, but keep in mind that she has a propensity for getting into trouble, and her ideas might get others in trouble.”

“Oh…”

“Yes, oh. So if you were planning on sitting comfortably in near future, think twice before you agree to any of her whims, won’t you dear?”

“Yes, ma’am. I will be good.”

“Good girl.” Mrs. C gave her an approving nod.

*

Anna backed our slowly smiling and then she quickly got out and shut the door.

She nearly walked into a girl outside.

“Hey, you’re new!” The girl walked over to her grinning.

“Hi. Yes, I’m new.” Anna smiled at her shyly. “I’m supposed to find Greyfell, could you maybe show me?”

“Of course, this way. I’m Glaze.”

“Oh that’s you! We’re supposed to get him ready together since I don’t know anything yet.” She studied Glaze curiously. She was a little taller than Anna, but she could definitely see what Mrs. C meant about naughty. She had an impish grin.

Glaze took her to the horse stalls, and stopped outside a stall. Greyfell sure had a huge… bottom because that’s all she could see of him as he had turned around.

“So… new huh?” Glaze asked, even if they had, just recently established that Anna was new.

“Yeah, I just moved here with my girlfriend, Charlie. She’s Santa’s new mathematician.”

“Cool! Eh… what does a mathematician do?”

“No idea,” Anna said shrugging. “She has tried to tell me several times, but I don’t get it.”

“So… Santa and Mrs. C seem like a great couple,” Anna said, just to have something to say.

“Oh yeah, they were made for each other, those two.”

Anna nodded.

“And they can be quite revolting about it,” Glaze added smirking. She put on fake voices and used her hands as puppets to imitate what could only be Santa and Mrs. Claus.

“Snugglepuff!”

“Oh! Santy-Pooh!” Glaze made smooching sounds.

“Ahem…”

Glaze turned around at the sound of a woman behind them.

“Snugglepuff! I mean… eh… Mrs. C! How long have you stood there?”

“Long enough…”

“Uh oh”

“Yes, uh oh, indeed.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Well… eh… oh gosh, look at the time. I have work to do. Byee!” She started walking down the hall.

“Hold it!” Mrs. C’s sharp voice called after her, and Glaze stopped and winced.

“Your work is here with Anna. She needs you to show her how to get a horse ready for riding.”

Glaze turned around slowly.

“Oh… right. Yeah, I’ll do that. And I’ll do a super duper good job!” She grinned confidently.

“You better, and you better not get Anna into any trouble on her first day.”

Glaze shook her head. “No way! Look… Santa spanked me yesterday. I’m still sore. I’m going to be really really good. Santa said if I was good, she wouldn’t put me on the naughty list.”

“The naughty list is real?” Anna looked at Mrs. C with wide eyes.

Mrs. C gave them a smile. “I’ll be in my office until Greyfell is ready. You two behave yourselves.”

She started to walk back to her office, but before she turned a corner she said. “And Anna, remember… if you wish to stay out of trouble, do not follow her example. Glaze is an expert at getting her bottom warmed, if you get my drift.”

Anna blushed. She felt a tingling feeling inside.

*

“What sort of naughty stuff have you done to get spanked?” Anna asked Glaze while they were brushing Greyfell. She was dying of curiosity.

“Oh plenty of stuff… though… last year my friend Reigh and I borrowed two of her reindeer to go skiing after curfew and then we lost them… and our way back.”

“Wow…”

“Yeah… I mean… the reindeer were fine, they just went back home, but we got in serious trouble for sneaking out after curfew and getting lost. We got caught in a blizzard and we hadn’t told anyone where we were going, so it was really dangerous.”

“So you got spanked? Like… for real?”

“Yep! Pants down and over the knee! And we had to bend over the sofa for some swats with the paddle!”

“A paddle??? Like a big one?”

“Yeah, made out of wood. We have a paddle hanging on the wall in our cabin to remind us to behave.”

Anna unconsciously pulled her hands back to cover her behind. It scared her, but it also intrigued her.

“Emh… do you always get spanked with a paddle?”

“Nope. Sometimes just with a hand, and sometimes a paddle. It really depends. I work directly for Santa so I often get spanked in her office.”

“Does she have… stuff… like… in her desk drawer?” Anna blushed, and she tried not to sound to excited, but Glaze sounded like she didn’t mind sharing details.

“Oh yeah! She has a paddle and a ruler… and… she even has… a candy cane.”

“Ah what? Candy cane? You mean those small minty things?”

“No! I mean yes. I mean… she has a cane, like to spank with, that looks like a candy cane.”

Anna gasped. By now she was totally freaked out and not at all “interested”. She had wanted to try the cane, but never be punished with it.

“And… she uses her candy cane? On people???” Anna asked horrified.

Glaze smirked.

“Well… I’ve never heard of anyone getting candy caned before…” she giggled to herself. “But… one time, and don’t you dare tell anyone cuz I wasn’t caught or nothin, but one time… I snuck into her office and snooped around.”

“Noooo!”

“Yes!” Glaze grinned. “And that’s when I found her candy cane in her cupboard. But like I said… she never uses it on people who break the rules, but she must have it for a reason. I mean… she might have it for… ya know…” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Pleasure?”

Anna grinned. “Maybe Snugglepuff is naughty sometimes.”

They both laughed. And they were still laughing when they heard someone approach behind them.

“What are you two laughing about?” Asked Mrs. C.

“Nothing,” they both said at the same time.

“Right…” Mrs. C gave them a suspicious look. “Well I’m glad you are getting along. Is my little man ready?”

“Little?” Glaze looked up at the huge stallion they were getting ready. “Eh… yeah, just about. We just need to saddle him.”

*

That night Anna laid in bed next to her snoring girlfriend and thought about what Glaze had told her. Just because one got spanked, it didn’t mean that you would get the paddle. And no one had been caned, even if Santa had a candy cane. Also, Glaze was happy to talk about her experiences with spankings, so it wasn’t like the discipline left people traumatized. Perhaps, if she did something a little naughty, Mrs. C would spank her with her hand, and it wouldn’t be too bad. She smiled as she imagined the older woman, dressed for riding, smacked her riding crop on her desk, demanding Anna to bare herself for a spanking.

Anna pulled down her pajama bottoms and her panties, she lowered her hands between her legs and discovered that she was wet. Then a loud snore got her attention and she drew back her hand and quickly pulled up her panties and pajama bottoms. She looked over at her girlfriend, sound asleep and oblivious to Anna thinking of another woman.

“No,” Anna thought to herself. “I’m not… I don’t want to have sex with her. I just… I want… I want her to…” She suddenly felt tears run down her cheeks, and she gave a sob.

Charlie woke at once. Usually a small sound like a little sob would never wake her when she was in deep sleep, but this time she woke.

“Baby? What’s wrong.” She pulled her lover into her arms.

“Nothing,” Anna mumbled. She sniffed and buried her face into her girlfriends generous and squishy chest. It was a part of Charlie’s body she found great comfort in.

“Baby, something is wrong, you’re crying.” Charlie patted her hair.

“I’m just… I’m just feeling a little sensitive right now,” Anna said still cuddling close. “You know… like… when you just feel a little sad and you don’t really know why? I think I just need to cuddle a little if that’s okay.”

“Of course, that’s okay.” Charlie hugged her closer. “I love you, baby.”

This made Anna cry even more. She sobbed more loudly.

“What? What did I say?” Charlie pulled her from chest to look into her face.

Anna always hated when she did that because she felt so ugly when she was crying.

“Baby?”

“I just…” Anna sobbed. “I just… I just love you sooo muuuuch!” She cried, and she cuddled back into her girlfriend who kissed her on top of her head.

“I’m such a freak,” Anna sobbed.

“No, baby…”

“Yes, I am.”

Charlie shook her head. “Well… Then you’re my freak.”

*

The next morning Anna spent extra time in the bathroom.

“Baby, you’re gonna be late,” Charlie called to her as she was putting on her shoes. “I’m leaving now, and you should too.”

“Yeah, I’m almost ready. You just go.” She smirked to herself as she was looking in the mirror. Knowing she would be a little late to the stable, and knowing how Mrs. C felt about tardiness.

“Okay, byee. And hurry up or Clarissa will get cross with you.”

Anna heard Charlie close the door shut. She looked herself over in the mirror.

“Oh my! I’ve forgotten to brush my teeth!” she said in a sing-song tone.

She brushed her teeth very carefully. Then she went to the bathroom again, even if she didn’t really have to go. Then she took her time getting dressed for the cold, and making sure to lace her boots properly. Then she took her time as she walked towards the stables.

*

“Young lady!”

Anna stopped in her tracks as she was walking past the main house. An angry looking Mrs. Claus was coming towards her. She suddenly stopped breathing.

“You were supposed to be at work 20 minutes ago.” Mrs. C glared at her with folded arms and she stood towering over the much shorter Anna.

“I… I am so sorry, I overslept,” she lied. She had planned to let it slip that she had spent too much time in the bathroom getting ready, but now, facing Mrs. C she chickened out.

“Your dillydally walk to work does not seem like someone who overslept,” Mrs. C pointed out. “People who know they are late hurry.”

“Well… I… I forgot myself.”

“I told you we had people sick, I need people to come on time or nothing gets done. I don’t have time to personally come and get people.”

“I’m sorry,” Anna mumbled bowing her head in shame. “It won’t happen again.”

Mrs. C sighed. “Well… make sure it doesn’t.” She patted her hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Now come along, we have work to do. There are horses to groom and reindeer to feed. We mustn’t keep the animals waiting.”

“No, ma’am.”

*

When they walked into the stable Mrs. Claus sent her to work with Glaze again.

“Boy, she wasn’t happy with you,” Glaze said as she approached.

“No… well… I overslept.”

“Liar.”

“What? I’m not…”

“You don’t look like someone who overslept. Your hair looks perfect, you’ve got makeup on, your clothes match.”

“I… well…”

“You don’t think Mrs. C can tell when someone is late or just slow?” Glaze gave her a look.

“Why didn’t I get in trouble?” Anna asked, embarrassed that she had been caught lying. “I mean… I lied to her face about why I was late.”

“Your new, she wants to give you a chance.”

“But…”

“But you want to test her and get spanked.” Glaze grinned.

Anna’s mouth fell open.

“What? You don’t think I can’t tell when a fellow brat is craving discipline? It’s not that uncommon, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mrs. C knows too. She usually knows when someone needs a little extra attention, she and Santa.”

Anna blushed. “I’m so… embarrassed.”

“Don’t be. Happens to everyone. Well… to those of us who signed the clause.”

“But I have a girlfriend.” Anna was so shamed of herself.

“Doesn’t matter,” Glaze said. “You don’t want sex, do you?”

“No! Never. Charlie is the only one I’ll ever do that with.”

“And does Charlie know about the clause?”

Anna nodded.

“Then she knows you might get spanked on the job, doesn’t she?”

Anna nodded again.

Glaze leaned in closer. “I’ll tell you what… I will help you.”

“You will?”

“Yes… well…. I will tell you what to do, but you will do it yourselves.”

Anna nodded enthusiastically.

“AND, Glaze added. “You will never tell that I was in on it. Because I was just spanked, and I’m good for a while… trust me. I never told you anything.”

“Never,” Anna repeated.

“And I had no idea what you were up to.”

“No idea.”

“Okay. This is what you do.”

*

That night after Charlie had fallen asleep, Anna snuck out of bed and got dressed. She was careful to dress properly with wool under her clothes because it got awfully cold at night. She put on her outwear and shoes, grabbed the bag Glaze had provided her, and carefully shut the door.

Holding a small flashlight, she made her way through the darkness to the stables, but instead of going in the main way, which would probably be locked anyway, she made her way around the back to a big fenced area where the reindeer were. From inside the bag she pulled out twenty Santa hats complete with matching beards. She made sure to get Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolf which were the “Amazing Nine” according to Glaze. They had their own area apart from the other reindeer because it was so close to Christmas.

Prancer came closer to nibble her bag. He wanted carrots. “Oh alright gassy pants, but not too many. You know how your tummy gets.” She pulled some carrots out of her bag and made sure to spread them among all of the reindeer so Prancer wouldn’t get grabby.

That left her with eleven hats for the others. She just picked eleven random reindeer as she couldn’t name them.

“I wonder if they can fly too?” she thought as she made her way out of the area, but before she climbed the fence she pulled off her glove and dropped it on the ground.

“There… I’m leaving now, and you lay still there like a good little glove and work your magic.”

*

She came early to work the next day. People, even people who didn’t work in the stables, were outside pointing at the reindeer and laughing. The hats and beards were still on, Anna had made sure they would stick. It didn’t seem to bother them, they just went on with their reindeer business looking a bit more festive.

“Alright, that’s enough. Everybody get to work,” Mrs. Claus sharp voice rang through the crowd as she made her way towards the reindeer. “I will get to the bottom of this, so the guilty one might as well fess up right now.”

Anna suddenly felt weak at the knees, but she pulled herself together and went inside with the others. Glaze wasn’t there. Balder, the guy she had covered, for was back.

“It is pretty funny,” he said laughing. “I wonder if it was Glaze, it seems like something she would do.”

“I don’t think it’s here, she was just in trouble with Santa and said she had to be good or she’ll go on the naughty list.”

Balder laughed. “You don’t believe in the list, do you?”

“I…” Anna laughed nervously. “No, of course I don’t. But that’s what she said.”

“Well it looks like we’ll be working together outside today,” he said smiling warmly at her. “It’s your first time working outside, right? Be sure you’re dressed properly, it gets cold.”

“Oh I was hoping we’d say inside,” Anna said biting her lip. “I’ve lost one of my gloves.”

There! Seed planted.

“Oh I’m sure Mrs. C has extra. Here she comes, I’ll ask her for ya.”

Anna tried to look innocent as Balder went over to Mrs. C and explained about the missing glove. Then he went outside.

Mrs. Claus approached Anna.

“So… I hear you’re missing a glove.” There was no dangerous tone in her statement, she sounded quite normal. Maybe she hadn’t noticed the evidence she had planted for her.

“Yes, and it’s really cold out.” Anna batted her eyelashes, it was subtle, she was careful not to over-do it.

“Right, well take mine for now and I’ll see if we have a new pair somewhere.”

“Thanks, Mrs. C. I’ll be careful not to lose yours too!” She gave her a quick smile and started to make her way outside.

“Anna.”

Anna stopped in her tracks and turned around.

“Yes?”

“Come see me on my office after work, you can return my gloves then.”

A chill went down Anna’s spine.

“Yes, okay.”

She turned around and hurried outside.

*

*Knock!* *Knock!* Anna stood outside Mrs. Claus’s office door, she was almost shaking, she was so nervous.

“Enter.”

She went inside, and slowly closed the door behind her. There was no going back now. She turned to see Mrs. Claus sitting behind her desk. On the desk, right in the middle of it, lay her glove.

“Anna dear, I think I might have found your glove. Do you still have the one you didn’t lose? We can put the next to each other and see if they’re a pair.” She said this in such a sweet and dangerous tone that Anna felt like turning on her heels and running out of the office.

“Yeah, I still have it,” she said smiling and trying to look calm. She pulled her glove out of her pocket and gave it to Mrs. Claus who laid it down on the desk next to the other.

“Well… will you look at that! They do match, don’t they?”

“Uh huh.” Anna nodded.

“So,” Mrs. Claus said looking stern. “We like to dress up reindeer, do we?”

Anna swallowed nervously.

“Emh…”

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

Anna nodded and looked down on the floor. Why had she let her curiosity lead her into this situation? It was positively self-destructive.

“Emh… I’m sorry?” she tried, quickly looking up.

“No… you’re not. Nor were you sorry when you were late for work looking like you had spent hours in front of the mirror. Oh yes, my dear, I know you didn’t oversleep.”

“But…”

“That is two transgressions in the few days since you got here. They were not accidents, they were pure naughtiness. I let you off with a scolding the first time, and instead of behaving in future you went on to something bigger. You leave me no choice but to spank you. We do not play pranks in the stable, and more certainly NOT with Santa’s reindeer.”

She got up from her desk and made her way to Anna, who stood there frozen. She grabbed her arm and pulled her towards a sofa in the back of the office. Anna was lost for words, she was struggling to say anything, but suddenly everything seemed like a terrible idea. Being twenty minutes late for work on purpose? Sneaking out after curfew and messing with Santa’s reindeer? Had she gone mad? And all of this to get spanked, to go behind Charlie’s back and get what she had fantasized about for so long because she was afraid to tell her girlfriend.

Mrs. C started taking off her outwear. Within seconds it was all off, and Anna stood there in her wool underclothes looking horrified up at the stern older lady who was about to spank her bottom. A 25-year-old bottom that had never been spanked.

She sat down and pulled Anna over her lap. She gave her one sharp smack, and Anna winced and then she came to her senses.

“Wait! Stop… I can’t let you do this.”

“Excuse me?”

“I did it on purpose,” Anna confessed.

“Well of course you did, that is why you are being punished.”

“No… I… you misunderstand. I did it on purpose because…” Anna blushed profusely. This was so humiliating, but she couldn’t let Mrs. C go through with this. She looked a deep breath.

“I did it on purpose because I wanted you to spank me.” She was so glad she was staring at the floorboards and not at her face.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

“I’m sorry…” Anna mumbled. “I was curious, I’ve always wanted to be spanked. So you see… I can’t let you do this because I’d be taking advantage of you, and also… I feel like I’m betraying my girlfriend. She deserves so much better. I should have told her.”

Mrs. C helped Anna up again.

“Sit down.” The command was not unkind, Mrs. Claus had a mild look about her as she steered Anna to sit down on the sofa. She took Anna’s hands in hers.

“Anna, do you think you’re the first brat who’ve been curious about spanking? The first brat to push the limits just to see if they can get a reaction?”

“Umh… I dunno…”

“Well… you’re not,” Mrs. Claus said firmly. “It’s quite normal around these parts. And what these brats also have in common is that, once over my knee for real discipline, they find that they are not so curious anymore.”

Anna’s eyes widened.

“Oh yes, they get their comeuppance, and it is not fun or sexy, it’s a real punishment that leaves them sore and sorry.”

“Oh…” Anna’s fidgeted with her hands. “I don’t suppose I could get a second chance?”

“Of course, you can,” Mrs. Claus said smiling and patting her hand.

“Really?”

“Yes, after you take your punishment.”

“Oh… well… you know… that’s not exactly what I meant,” Anna pointed out.

“I know, dear, but you’re not getting away with this kind of behavior. You need to learn a lesson, and you will learn it. Your bottom will be red and sore when I’m done with you.”

“But… but… what am I supposed to say to Charlie? I can’t let her see my bottom like that!”

“How about the truth?”

“The truth?”

“Why don’t you tell Charlie how you feel?”

“I can’t.” Anna felt like she was on the verge of tears.

“Why not?”

“Because… because I love her and I don’t want her to leave me because I’m a weirdo.”

“You’re not a weirdo, didn’t you pay attention to what I’ve been saying? Plenty of brats are curious about spanking. If you can’t tell her how you feel, you can always tell her you got spanked for being naughty. It’s not like you would be lying.”

“But that’s so embarrassing,” Anna mumbled.

“Probably not as embarrassing as actually getting spanked is going to be.”

“Look… Mrs. C… ya know… I’m new around these parts and yeah, okay maybe I shouldn’t have decorated the reindeer, but they look perfectly happy. It’s not like I harmed them. I even gave them carrots and I made sure Prancer didn’t eat all cuz he gets gassy…”

“He did eat too many… he is gassy.”

“Yeah, but it’s the thought that counts, right? And… where was I going with this?”

“Let me guess? You shouldn’t get spanked?”

“Yes! See you understand!” Anna got up smiling.

“God… you are such a brat. I see now why Santa was so sure you needed the clause in your contract.”

She pulled Anna over her knee.

“You misbehaved.” SMACK! “You will be punished.” SMACK! “And you will learn your lesson!” SMACK!

“Ow! But… Mrs. C!” Anna turned her head to look up at the older woman. “I… I’ve never been spanked before. I know I was curious, but now I’m not sure I can handle it.”

“Oh nonsense.” Mrs. C rubbed her bottom. “What did I ask you to say when you came with your contract?”

“That you could spank me,” mumbled Anna. She sighed.

“Yes, but that’s not all. What was the other part?”

“I’m not sure…” Anna admitted.

“It was about trust.”

“Oh right. I said that I trusted you with my discipline.”

“And didn’t that mean anything to you? Didn’t you believe in those words. Don’t you trust me?”

Anna thought about it for a second. She thought about the warm smiles Mrs. C gave her when she saw her, the way she patted her on the back and said “good girl” when she did something right, how even if she terrified her she also made her feel safe at the same time, and of how she took the time to tell her that she wasn’t a weirdo for desiring a spanking.

She sighed.

“I do trust you, Mrs. C. You would never treat me unfairly or hurt me. I know I’m safe with you.”

“That’s right. So, if I say you need a spanking, am I being unfair?”

“No…”

“And do you think that I will beat you senseless or traumatize you in any way?”

“No, of course not.”

“Good. Then we understand each other.”

Mrs. C continued to spank Anna over her wool underthings. She covered her entire bottom making sure she was properly “warmed up” all over.

“I think I’ll take these down now,” she said baring the brat over her knee.

“But… do you have to… I mean… since it’s my first time?”

“Oh yes, I have to. A sound spanking is best on a bare bottom.

Anna felt a cold breeze on her stinging bottom as Mrs. C bared her. Then she felt the painful sting on Mrs. C’s hand slapping against her naked bottom.

“Ow! That really hurts!”

“Well what did you expect? It’s just what you deserve, my girl.”

She hiked up her leg a little so that Anna’s bottom was more raised, then she gave her harder slaps on her sit sports.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

“Owweeee!”

“For a transgression like this I would normally use an implement in addition to my hand.”

“No! Please! It was only out of desperation that I did it!”

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK”

“You’ve been craving a spanking for that long, huh?”

“Owowow! Yeah, but I think I’m good now. Really! I think I’m good for a while… possibly forever!”

Mrs. C chuckled. “My dear, I think you will be over this knew quite a few times. Even if you choose to be honest with Charlie.”

She continues spanking Anna’s bottom until it glowed a dark pink colour and Anna was sobbing silently. She knew the brat had had enough and that she had learned her lesson. She helped her up and sat her back down on her knee.

“Owow!” Anna jumped up rubbing her bottom.

“Sit back down again, little girl. Let’s have a chat.”

“But… it hurts sitting…” mumbled Anna.

“Well that’s part of the punishment. You chose to be naughty, now you must suffer the consequences.”

Anna sat down slowly, wincing.

Mrs. C put her arms around her and cuddled her close. Anna rested her head on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. C…” she said quietly.

“I know, dear. And no doubt sore too.”

“Uh huh.”

“Will you ever mess with Santa’s reindeer again? Or any of the animals in our care?”

“No… I guess I was a little mean. I mean… I don’t think they were hurt, but it’s not fair for me to use them for my pranks.”

“No, it’s not.”

Anna yawned.

“Late night last night?” Mrs. C patted her bottom softly.

“Yeah, I didn’t sleep much after cuz I was so excited about today.”

“Well… why don’t you have a little nap here on the sofa while I finish my work.”

Mrs. C helped Anna up and then helped her pull up her underwear and her bottoms. Then, as Anna laid down on her tummy, she pulled a blanket over her.

Anna was out like a light.

*

After Mrs. C had woken her and taken her home, Anna was extra careful around Charlie. She avoided answering my she was late. If she had to sit, she sat down carefully and tried to act natural, not letting Charlie see her discomfort. When Charlie wanted to go to bed, Anna waited so she didn’t have to undress in front of her girlfriend. She put on her favorite pajama bottoms and a t-shirt and went into the bedroom.

“Darling, come to bed?” Charlie patted the bed.

“Yeah…” Anna hurried over to her, trying to act normal. She laid down on her tummy, and gave a fake yawn. “Good night, babe. Boy I’m tired.”

“Are you really that tired?” Charlie cuddled close to her. “I thought maybe I’d get lucky tonight.” She grinned, and put her hand under Anna’s shirt and stroked her back.

“Oh well… eh…” Anna tried to think of a way to turn her girlfriend down. She hated doing it, they hadn’t had sex for a while, and this time she wasn’t too tired, she just didn’t want Charlie to see her naked.

“Honey?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s going on? Why are you acting so strange?”

“Me? Acting strange?”

“Yes, you’re acting strange. Here I am trying to initiate sex, and you’re stiff as a board, you won’t look at me, and you can’t even give me a proper answer. What is going on? Have I done something wrong?”

Anna took a deep breath. Pull yourself together Anna! You’re upsetting Charlie. She forced herself to look at her girlfriend.

“Charlie, no, of course you haven’t done anything wrong. She cuddled closer and kissed her girlfriend. She tried to put a lot of unsaid things into it, hoping that the kiss would let Charlie know how amazing she thought she was, how she had always been good to her, and how grateful Anna was to have such a wonderful girlfriend.

Charlie snuggled closer, she forcefully put her hands on Anna’s bottom and squeezed it.

“Owieee!” Anna squealed.

“What? What happened?”

“Eh… nothing, nothing, everything is fine.” Anna gave a fake laugh. “Sorry, was being silly.”

Charlie sat up looking annoyed. “Anna, what the hell is going…” Suddenly her expression changed to that of a person who suddenly understood something.

“You got spanked, didn’t you?”

“Honey…” Anna blushed.

“Let me see?” Charlie demanded.

“No…” Anna started, but Charlie pushed her down on her tummy.

“Charlie, it’s embarrassing,” Anna tried, but Charlie was already tugging down her pajama bottoms and her panties, exposing her red bottom.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked Anna who had her faced buried down in a pillow, embarrassed.

“Because… I didn’t want you to know that Mrs. C disciplined me.”

“Why did she? What did you do?”  Charlie stroked her hands over Anna’s butt cheeks. “Wait here, I’ve got some cold cream in the bathroom.

She hurried into the bathroom and got the cream, and then she started rubbing it into Anna’s skin.

“Well? Explain. Did she hurt you? Should I go and have a sharp word with her? Maybe this spanking clause thing isn’t such a good idea?”

“What? No! She’d never hurt me. I did something wrong.”

“What?”

Anna told her what she did, about coming twenty minutes late and then she snuck out at night to decorate the reindeer.

“But… but… that’s not like you! Why would you do such a thing? You knew you would most likely get busted, and you knew what the consequences would be.”

“Yeah… I know…” mumbled Anna.

“So why did you do it?” Charlie put the lid back on the jar of cream, and looked expectantly at her girlfriend.

Anna started crying. “Because… because…”

Charlie wiped her tears away with her thumb.

“Baby… tell me.”

“I was curious.” Tears ran down Anna’s face. “I’ve always wanted to… try… well… ya know… and Santa said she put the clause in my contract because I needed it and that she had never been wrong. So I broke the rules on purpose because I thought this was my one chance to have that experience… but once I got into trouble I changed my mind. I told Mrs. Claus that I did it on purpose and it was wrong because I was taking advantage of her and I was betraying you…  but she said it was too late. She said I wasn’t the first to push the boundaries out of curiosity, but that I’d learn that her punishments weren’t exiting or sexy, just very painful. And it was! It really hurt! Charlie, I’m so sorry, please forgive me.” She wiped her tears and looked up at her girlfriend.

“Anna… why…”

“Cuz… I’m weird! But I promise I won’t be weird again. I’ll even tell Santa the clause needs to go.”

“No… that’s not…” Charlie looked annoyed. “Stop saying you’re weird, okay. I don’t want to hear you say stuff like that about yourself. You don’t get to say that about yourself, understood?”

Anna nodded.

“What I meant was… why, if you wanted a spanking so bad, didn’t you ask me? I mean… have I ever given you the impression that I’m a prude? I can try new things, and I’m not so naïve that I don’t know that some people enjoy spanking. If you had been honest with me, your partner, then we could have explored this fascination of yours, and you would never have gotten in trouble with Mrs. Claus.”

“You would do that for me?”

“Of course, I would, baby. I love you. And… I must admit… your butt is kinda cute when it’s pink.”

Anna sniffed and laughed.

“I love you.”

*

“Baby, wake up?”

“Hmrpf?” Charlie grunted as Anna was tugging her arm. “What?”

“It’s Christmas!”

“Yay!” Charlie said, her eyes still closed. Then she turned around, ass out, and kept sleeping.

Anna smirked. She pulled the covers off the bed and laded a healthy stinging slap to her girlfriend’s behind.

“Ow!” Charlie got up glaring at her girlfriend, but there was a hint of a smile on her mouth.

“I thought we agreed that I was the one to administer the spanks, young lady.”

Anna laughed. She stuck out her tongue and ran downstairs to their gifts waiting for them under the tree downstairs. She was just picking out the biggest of them all when she felt Charlies arm wrapped around her waist as she was hauled over to the sofa and placed over her lover’s knee.

Charlie patted her lovers pajama covered bottom. Anna was wearing a brand new drop seat onesie that Santa had given her the night before. It was red and had little reindeer all over it.

“Hmm… let me see. I just open this flap,” Charlie mumbled with a wicked grin. “Oh and look! A white bottom! It doesn’t match the colours surrounding it at all!”

Then she spanked her lover’s bottom, not until it was red, but until it was a healthy pink. It wasn’t a punishment spanking, it was a playful spanking, and Anna was enjoying it very much.

“There,” Charlie said helping her lover up. “I hope you behave now, or there might be a switch under the tree.”

She grinned and then she looked puzzled.

“Honey what are you… now?”

Because Anna was undressing, and within seconds she stood before her lover completely naked. Her pink bottom on display.

“But… honey, what about the presents,” Charlie said, gasping for air as Anna climbed onto her lap and sat astride her. She kissed her neck.

“They will be there when we’re done.” She winked. “Besides… I’m pretty sure I made it to the top of the naughty list this year.”

“Oh really,” Charlie said nibbling her ear. “Is that why we were presented with that enormous candy cane?”

“What?!” Anna turned around to see that, indeed, there was a huge candy CANE, under the tree. She got up from her lover’s lap and picked it up. A note was handing from the handle. She had to laugh at their humor. She read out loud.

To Anna and Charlie

This is an implement that can be very pleasurable when used correctly.

Do not use until you’ve had a proper workshop with us.

Happy Christmas.

Love from Snugglepuff and Santy-Pooh

 

No flying allowed? :(

The other day I saw this sign and I thought about Annabelle. 🙂 

Then I stood on a tree stump and took in the view and it felt like I was flying. I got a lot of inspiration from that hike. 

 

Annabelle (part 24)

Dear, Annabelle
How are you holding up? I hope this letter reaches you and that you have the opportunity to write back, but I imagine that you would respond with some snide remark and then complain about the horrible rules you now have to live under. We haven’t known each other for a very long time, but I feel confident in saying I know you that well.
I know this not easy for you, and I wish you were still here at home where you belong, but we’ve got to do our best and believe that we will see each other again. I think, by now, you have realized that it might be longer than we first anticipated. Aisling and I both miss you very much, but it is our wish that you stay where you are and do your best to stay out of trouble. Do what they ask of you, don’t ask too many questions, and don’t draw attention to yourself. It would be best if you lay low, it is not your job to “take down” the order, you don’t have enough experience or knowledge, it’s your job to be safe.
Since I know you very well by now, and since I know Eylion, I expect you two have already gotten into a spot of trouble, and let me just say that you are lucky not to be within swatting distance and that you better pull yourself together right now, young lady. Do as you are told and stay out of trouble!
Now, lecture over, I will give you an update on things back home. Albert is doing fine. As you might have expected, Aisling has taken on that responsibility, and she takes very good care of him so you don’t have to worry. He gets enough to eat, plenty of exercise and lots of love. He’s a very happy horse, but I’m sure if he could talk he’d say he misses you a lot.
As you also might have expected, we were not the only people who were upset by the way you girls were taken, and there are a lot of unhappy and heartbroken mentors out there. A couple of days after you were taken, all the young wizards disappeared too, but this time people were prepared. However, unlike with you, we have no clue as to where they took them. It would have been easier if they had just taken you all to the same place, but your dear Headmistress is a little too old fashion for that.
Alexis has become somewhat of a leader among those who are unhappy, and there are many. We have tried to solve this peacefully through communication for a long time, before even you came along, but we’re speaking to deaf ears and so we’re taking it a step further. It’s time we formed a resistance to overthrow the order. This is not an invitation for you to do something stupid, by the way! I’m actually glad you witchlings are out the way so you don’t get caught in the middle, but I tell you this because we also fear you will be used against us and I want you to be aware of what is going on in the outside world. You just stay put and stay safe, we’ve got this. We have plans and Alexis is in charge, though sometimes I think my mentor has many more plans inside her head that she shares with me. It’s infuriating, actually, but I do trust her, and I think she is the best for the job.
So that’s what’s been going on, I hope that helps with all the questions you must be having. Be good. Oh and do you still have your locket? Don’t lose it! And destroy this letter when you’re done reading it.
I miss you, and I love you. Aisling says she loves you too.
Gwen

Annabelle read the letter one last time, tracing her fingers over the word ‘love’ written in Gwen’s handwriting. She then took a deep breath before she put the letter in her paper bin and waved her hand over it causing the letter to burst into flames. It hurt, seeing Gwen’s words on the paper crumble together and turning into ashes. She wanted to see her so badly, she wanted to see all of them. Her eyes stung with bitter tears that ran down her check, hot and wet.
She hated the order! She wanted to mess things up for them so bad, yet Gwen expected her to do nothing, expected her to just stay out-of-the-way. Alexis had plans, she said, plans that she kept from Gwen. Annabelle gave a snort of laughter as she thought of the irony as Gwen complained to her that Alexis kept her in the dark, when that was exactly what she was doing to her. What was so important about her locket? Everyone kept saying that she had to keep it safe, but they never bothered to tell her why.
But she knew something that Gwen did not, because Alexis had mentioned to Christophe that Annabelle could go find Andromeda. Apparently she had not mentioned this to Gwen because Gwen was telling her to stay where she was. If she had known of this idea to find Andromeda, what would she say? Would she tell Annabelle to go? Probably not, which was probably why Alexis had only told Christophe, because she knew Gwen and Aisling would say no.
Annabelle got into bed and looked up at the ceiling of her four-poster. She wondered what Eylion’s letter said. Would her letter have the same information she got, or would Leda tell her more than Gwen had told Annabelle? Would Leda know of this plan of possibly running away to see Andromeda? She was her mentor, after all.
She wished she could see Eylion right away, but she couldn’t as the door to her room was locked, and it would only be opened when someone came to deliver her meals. She still had four days left of her confinement. It was so boring she had started looking forward the homework she was given every day to keep up with what the other girls were learning, just so that she’d have something to do. The punishment had sort of worked, because Annabelle had no desire to do anything bad for a while, because being confined to her room with no one to talk to was torture. She sighed and rubbed her temples.

“Just four more days.”

---

“We’re alive!” Eylion said as she saw Annabelle for the first time after a week a part. “I thought I would die in there!”

“Me too!” Annabelle said hugging her. “I’ve missed you! Let’s not do anything like that for a while, okay? I say someone else can get in trouble next time.”

“Well someone might have gotten in trouble while we were away, how would we know?”

They hadn’t. Being given an update by their friends over breakfast, they learned that the other girls had been exceptionally good for the week they had been gone. They hadn’t even questioned Ms. Spryt’s abysmal history knowledge.

“No one dared to!” Jean said frowning. “The day after you two caused trouble, we all got punished for laughing at your prank!”

“What? No way!”

Annabelle looked at the other girls who all nodded.

“We did! Everyone had to go to the headmistress office in groups where we all got six whacks with this enormous paddle. It really hurt! And all because we all thought it was funny when they talked backwards.”

“We felt that paddle too, didn’t we Annabelle? Is was this long and this thick.” Eylion measured with her hands. “But we never meant for anyone else to get in trouble for what we did,” she said sullenly. “We just wanted to cheer you guys up and to get the teachers back for being mean.”

“Oh it did cheer us up,” Tilly said grinning for ear to ear. “I’d take a paddling to see that any day! You two should get an award, it was brilliant.”

Eylion got up and took a bow. The others laughed.

“What is going on over here?” The sharp voice of Octavia Spryt rang in their ears as she came over to their table.

“What do you mean? We’re just talking,” Eylion said giving her a defiant look.

“Don’t talk back, missy. You two better be on your best behavior or I’m sure the headmistress will not hesitate to order you back to your rooms for another week.” She gave an evil smile. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

No one said anything as she walked back to the teacher table.

“That hag!” hissed Eylion. “She’s out to get us, it doesn’t really matter if we behave ourselves or not. We ought to teach her a lesson.”

“Yes, but we’re not going to, not right now,” Annabelle reminded her. She leaned closer to Eylion and whispered in her ear so that no one else could hear. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you in private. About… ya know… the letter.”

Eylion’s eyes widened like she had totally forgotten about the visit they had both gotten from Christophe. She nodded.

“Oh and… we need to explore the passages further,” Annabelle said. “Maybe we can use them to our advantage.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Jean asked suspiciously.

“Nothing,” they both said in unison.

“Right…” Mina said. “I bet they’re planning something else. What are you two going to do?”

“Nothing,” they both said again.

“We’ve decided to be good for a while,” Annabelle said. “At least… we are going to try to be good. Besides… how come we have to be the ones to cause trouble? Someone else might pitch in a bit.”

“Here here,” Eylion agreed. “If we’re the only ones causing trouble, then all those hags have to do is remove us and the problem is solved. I think what we need is to team up and take it in turns to stir things up. And if there are more of us, it’ll be easier to get away with things because we can back each other up and cause confusion.”

Eylion looked around the table seriously as though expecting someone to say something. It was quiet for a while.

Jean broke the silence, but she spoke quietly so that all the other girls gathered closely together.

“I agree. We should group up. What if we ask around discretely and see who might be on our side? If we feel we can trust them, we can invite them to join us. We can create this network of trouble makers to make things difficult for the order. It will also help if we can meet and talk about what is going on. It’s not good to be alone in our anger and confusion. If we can talk about it with each other, it will be difficult for the order to brainwash us because we’ll constantly be on the alert and be critical to anything they say. If people are afraid to voice their concerns it will be so much easier for the order to get to them.”

All the other girls nodded in agreement around the table. Ms. Spryt who had been paying attention to them was walking in their direction again.

“We might know where we can talk in private, but Annabelle and I need to explore a little more to find out if it’s safe,” Eylion whispered quickly before Ms. Spryt came within hearing distance.

“Alright, girls,” she said as she approached. “I don’t like how close you are all sitting together, you look like you are up to no good. I think we better split you up.” She raised an eyebrow at them.

“We’re just talking,” Tilly said standing up looking angry. “Since when is it against the rules to just talk?”

“Watch yourself, girl,” Ms. Spryt said sternly. “Sit down, now.”

She pointed at Annabelle.“You. Go sit at that table over there.”

Then she pointed at Jean. “You, over there.”

Then she directed Eylion over to another table. When they got up looking angry, but having no choice but to obey, she said,

“I don’t want to see this group eating together for the rest of the week. If you all behave I might reconsider in the future, but for now this little group is banned at meal times. Now… go.”

---

It was around one in the morning that Annabelle heard a knock on her door. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Eylion all day since they were separated at breakfast. She assumed that she’d come over at night to talk. She got out of bed, put on her cloak and opened the door to find Eylion waiting for her.
“Let’s go exploring,” she said, grinning.
“Just a minute,” Annabelle said. She quickly put a pillow under her duvet to make it bulge up a bit.“Just in case someone decide to stick their head in to check on me.”
They made their way through the corridors as quietly as they could. They were both bursting to talk about the visit from Christophe, but it wasn’t safe to talk until they had made it into the passages. They found the cupboard with the cleaning supplies, crawled behind the wooden crates and went through the tiny hole in the wall behind the old tapestry. It was so dark they couldn’t see a thing so they both conjured a tiny little ball of flames that they held in their hand. It was warm, but it didn’t hurt, it just tickled the skin.
“What if the teachers know about these passages?” Annabelle wondered out loud.
“It doesn’t look like it though,” Eylion said looking around. “You’d think if they did, Spryt and Lydia would have known to look further last time we were here. And it’s not exactly clean here,” she said looking up at a cobweb. “If they were using the passages, wouldn’t they have made sure they were cleaned?”
“You’re right. I just don’t want to get into more trouble just yet.” Annabelle looked around. “Should we walk the other way this time? We know we can get to the kitchen that way,” she pointed down the passage way.
“Yeah, but we got lucky. It split in some places, and I wonder what else we can find.”
“Well… okay… we know one way, let’s focus on one tonight as well. Let’s take it step by step and try to map out this thing.”

She pointed in the opposite direction from where they went last time. “This way, tonight?”
“Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

---

As they walked through the narrow passage ways they talked about their visit from Christophe. Annabelle told Eylion about her letter and the little information she got out of it. She also told her about Alexis having mentioned finding Leda’s mentor Andromeda.
“Have you ever met her?”
“No, Leda doesn’t mention her that often. I have asked her where she is, but she always changed the topic.”
“So then Leda didn’t mention Andromeda in her letter either? I guess Alexis has hidden this idea from her too.”
“Actually… she did mention it.” Eylion stopped and looked at Annabelle seriously.
“What? Really? So then Alexis told her.”
“Well… I don’t know for sure, but maybe… maybe Leda was the one suggesting it? I don’t know, Annabelle, but in the letter she wrote to me Leda did mention the possibility of you going to find Andromeda.”
“You mean we.” Annabelle gave her a look.
“No, Annabelle… you.” Eylion looked at her with a sad expression.
Annabelle’s tummy made a lurch. She was going to have to go alone? Didn’t Eylion want to come?
“Eylion… what are you saying? Don’t you want to get out of here?”
“I do, but… someone has to stay here. Someone needs to make sure that the others don’t get affected by the orders propaganda and brainwashing. Before I even got the letter I thought about it and we could never have run away with the other girls. It’s too easy to find a large number of people.”
“But we could have run together. Just the two of us.”
“But then who would make sure the others were alright? It’s not like we have found any great rebel leader here. They were without us for a week… one week, and they did nothing. They didn’t even object to being fed lies. Jean is right, we need a group, and we need to find a place for our group to meet and talk. We need to keep the thoughts of resistance alive, and I think I need to be here for that. I think that is what Leda wants me to do. Well… I don’t think she wants me to get into trouble, but I think she wants me to make sure the order doesn’t succeed.”
“But… she wants me to leave this place? Alone? Didn’t she say that I should stay put? That’s what Gwen told me.”
“I think I need to stay because I know a lot and I can teach the others things, things the order will not teach them. And I think they need me to keep their spirit alive.” Eylion brushed away a tear that ran down Annabelle’s cheek. “I think Alexis and Leda want you to find Andromeda because you have an important role to play elsewhere and Andromeda can help you with that.”
“What role?” Annabelle asked, her voice breaking from crying.
“I don’t know, Annabelle. I wish I did, but I think you might be special, and I think our mentors are suspecting this. I think Alexis knows more than any of us, but she has so many secrets it drives me insane. This locket of yours…. I mean… what the hell?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been thinking.”
“When you got it, Leda said they had it made for you, and I believed that because it is tradition to give a witchling something when she gets her powers, but it wasn’t made for you, was it? It’s old. Heck, you haven’t even been able to open it. It can’t be new.”
“Maybe it was,” Annabelle said thinking about it. “What if… what if the locket was made for me, but not by them? I’ve been thinking about it and I think they are suspecting something about me. Gwen said she didn’t know where I came from or who my parents were, but that was just a week after I got here. They could have found out more later, and I swear, sometimes when Alexis looks at me it feels like she is looking at someone she has known for a long time. She’s the one who keeps saying I should hide the fact that I didn’t grow up here. I know she knows more than she’s letting on, and it makes me so pissed that she’s hiding it!”

She banged her fist against the wall. There was a bang and a brick fell out and landed on the other side of the wall, leaving a hole.
“Shit! Do you think someone heard? Where are we anyway?”
“I dunno,” Eylion said looking through the hole. “Hey… it’s a library. With books!”
“Well duh…” Annabelle snorted.
“Let’s see if we can find a hidden hole in the wall that leads into it.”
They went a little further, checking the walls thoroughly so they didn’t miss anything. No lose bricks, no lever they could pull or anything like that. The only thing they could find was a little mark in one of the bricks closer to the floor, with a specific shape as if someone had carved it there.
“Wonder where this comes from, think it’s significant?”

Eylion crouched down to have a look. She rubbed the sleeve of her cloak over it to remove some dust. Then she looked closer almost pressing her face to the wall.
“What the… Annabelle, come down here!”
“What is it?” Annabelle crouched down too and looked closer as Eylion backed away a little to give her some space.
“Look familiar?” Eylion asked pointing at the mark.
“No… it can’t be. This symbol…” Annabelle stroked her fingers lightly over the mark in the stone. The symbol carved into the stone looked exactly like the symbol on her locket.
“Did you bring it?”
“Yeah…” she took off her locket and held it near the carved symbol in the wall, comparing the two.
“Well? What are you waiting for?”
“Huh?”
“Place the symbol into the mark, maybe it is a key or something. I always thought that thing was kinda useless, it doesn’t even open.”
“Maybe it does open, but there’s a special way to open it.”
“Yeah, maybe, but for now let’s see if it can open this wall.”
Annabelle turned her locked to the symbol was facing the wall, then she pressed it into the carving in the stone. It was a perfect fit, almost as if the locket was a seal that had made the mark.
The mark and the locket lit up and a hole formed in the stone wall, it got bigger and bigger until it was big enough for a person to get through. Annabelle removed the locked from the mark and hurried through with Eylion behind her.
“Wow! Holy broomsticks!” Eylion rubbed her eyes almost as if she didn’t believe what she was seeing.
They were in a room and there were books, literally everywhere. Hundreds of old tomes, maybe a thousand, and only they knew about it. The order couldn’t possibly know, if they did they hadn’t made much of an effort to dust them off. The only place not covered in books were a little corner where there was a big oak desk and a reading area with leather furniture.
“So… this is the library,” Annabelle said looking around.
“Yeah…”
“I thought it would be bigger, I mean… considering the size of this castle.” She had to be honest, she did.
“Yeah, I see your point, but it’s still bloody fantastic, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah, amazing, and I can’t believe my locket is the key. What’s up with that?”
“This is getting weirder and weirder,” Eylion said nodding.
“Maybe… maybe there is more to the library? I mean… look at that desk over there, it looks like this is a personal library, not a kind of library that a lot of people can use. I can imagine that a lot of people lived in this castle at some point, and wouldn’t many people want to use it?”
“Right, and why would you need a locket to enter the library? I don’t think there are many of your lockets lying around, I’m pretty sure there are few… maybe only one.”
“Fuck…” Annabelle sat down in an old chair and buried her head in her hands, a cloud of dust came of the leather. “What the fuck is this thing?” She looked at her locket? “Who owned it before me? Why do I have it now?”
“It probably belonged to a Glasegrove? Maybe the others think you’re from that family, which is why they don’t want you to tell anyone about your mysterious past.”
“Fuck them!” Annabelle shouted in anger. “Fuck those stupid…” She made a growling noise. She was so angry, it was hard for her to keep it together. “How could they do this to me? Why can’t they just tell the fucking truth? It’s my life, I deserve to know.”
Eylion sat down next to her and put an arm around her.
“On the bright side… this castle might actually belong to you.”
“Why would that be a good thing? It’s not exactly a happy place, the stupid order has it and they ruin everything. Why would I want to be a Glasegrove? By the looks of it, they’re all dead.”
“Well from a girl with no mother and the daughter of the town drunk, imagining your family super wealthy and walking the halls of their giant castle is not so bad. I mean… don’t get me wrong, I loved that bastard, but it didn’t help my reputation much.”
“We don’t know that I’m a Glasegrove. All we have is a locket that fits into a wall in some castle.”
“A castle owned by the Glasegroves,” Eylion added. “Well I think they were Glasegroves, since this is Glasegrove castle. Do people name their castle after their family name? Dang… why don’t we know more people who own castles?”
“The owner of the locket could have worked here or something. And we don’t know if I’m supposed to have the locket. Just because it’s mine now doesn’t mean that it was made for me, or that I am related to its previous owner. I just have it because of those bothersome hags at home.”
“Wow there, girl,” Eylion raised her eyebrows. “I know you’re angry at them holding back information, but they love you and you love them.”
Annabelle took a long deep breath and let it our slowly. “I know. I’m just tired of this.”
“I know you are,” Eylion said hugging her close.

“I’m tired too. You’re not the only one in a horrible situation. I’m not trying to say that you don’t have the right to be angry, but we are both locked up in this castle, and so are the other girls. None of us want to be here, and we all miss our mentors.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I just want to know where I’m from.” Annabelle yawned and leaned in closer to Eylion who rested her head on top of hers.
“And you will, one day. Right now we’re picking up clues that might be useful, and the fact that you have been given a locket that works as a key is this humongous castle seems like an important clue.”
She got up and brushed dust off her clothes.
“Let’s go to bed. You’re tired. We can explore more tomorrow night.”
Annabelle nodded in agreement and followed Eylion back out of the library. They used her locket on the mark to close the hole in the wall, and then they made their way back.
After following Annabelle back to her room, Eylion continued to her own. Annabelle climbed into her bed exhausted and with her head full of questions. How the hell would she be able run away from this place, not get caught and returned, and find Andromeda all on her own? And if she did get caught… would they kill her?