Burning for Love by Evangeline Anderson
40
Gentle Reader,
Who could have predicted the mayhem and confusion of the past few days? Duke Grabbington—of whom this author has never been particularly fond—has been shot in a duel. Well—a sort of duel, anyway. It is rather hard to sort out the fact from the fiction and there appear to be many different accounts of the process—often contradictory to each other. At any rate, we know that the Duke is not dead, thanks to his own treacherous and cowardly behavior. But there is much to discuss in regards to the duel, its origins and its consequences.
Some say that the Duke attacked our dear Princess Ka’rissa and so her guard and Companion, Sir Robot, called him out for a duel. Others, however, maintain that it was Sir Robot who offended the Princess’s modesty and so the Duke called him out for it. Obviously both cannot be true, but it is difficult to know which account is accurate.
Another bone of contention is the duel itself. Some are saying that the Duke fired before the count of ten and shot Sir Robot in the back. But this author has also heard it said that Sir Robot only pretended to be deceased and then turned when Duke Grabbington was close enough and shot him right in the chest! Either way, it is a scandal of the highest magnitude which had the entire Court in an uproar! How can one be sure of anything nowadays?
At any rate, the bullet intended for Duke Grabbington apparently bounced off the chest shield His Grace was wearing and hit the hapless Lord Flobberton, who had agreed to serve as his second in the duel. Lord Flobberton survived, but has lost part of his left lung as a consequence and swears he will never see the Duke again—and who can blame him?
But then again, it seems that none of us is destined to see His Grace again. Duke Grabbington has apparently fled to The Second Court to avoid scandal here. To this news, this author can only say, “Good riddance to bad rubbish!” The Duke has never been a favorite of anyone at Court and now that he is gone, we may all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
But though Duke Grabbington is gone, the Steward is most seriously displeased with the whole business, which cast rather a shade upon our poor Princess Ka’rissa’s heretofore unsullied reputation. It is said that he has rescinded Sir Robot’s status as the Princess’s Constant Companion and given the spot back to the long-suffering Lady Mildew. Sir Robot is now only her guard, without access to her rooms or her Royal person and that, presumably, is how things will remain until she is married.
The Steward has yet to name a new suitor for our Princess—indeed, there is little interest in the post since the Princess turned the first two down and the third had fled in infamy. But it is expected that she must and will name the next man named to the post as her Royal Consort. Her Heat Cycle continues apace and her points have been seen giving off a tell-tale glow once more. She will have little choice but to accept the very next suitor who is proposes to her—unless she wishes to go up in flames, just like her dear, lamented Mama.
Continue to follow my Crumbs for more on these developing scandals!
Your humble servant,
Lady TittleTattle
Rissa was rereading the last issue of the Breadcrumbs for what felt like the tenth time when she noticed that droplets of moisture were wetting the printed page. Reaching up, she felt her cheeks and realized that the droplets were tears, pattering down on the parchment like rain.
She crumpled it up and tossed it away from her, wincing as she did so because the sudden motion caused her new Chastity Device to dig into her.
“Oh James,” she whispered, swiping at her face, which was as hot and miserable on the outside as she felt on the inside. “Oh, James—I miss you so!”
After the ill-fated duel and the forbidden kiss she had shared with the big Kindred, gossip had torn through the Court like an unchecked wildfire. And while most of it was detrimental to Duke Grabbington, enough of it cast Rissa herself in a questionable light that her Uncle, the Steward, was exceedingly displeased.
He had announced that Lady Mildew would resume her post as Rissa’s Constant Companion and chaperone and that James would only be a personal guard, relegated to standing outside Rissa’s rooms and keeping her safe from afar. Once more, Lady Mildew was sleeping in the small bedroom at the front of Rissa’s apartments, which meant that there was no way she and James could spend any time alone together at all.
To make matters worse, the very first night of the new arrangement, Lady Mildew had realized that Rissa’s Chastity wire was broken.
“I knew it wasn’t working!” she had exclaimed, grasping the wire in one hand and tugging it fiercely when it didn’t so much as shock her. “Why didn’t you tell me, girl?”
“I…I don’t know,” Rissa had faltered.
Lady Mildew had glared at her.
“Have you been touching yourself, you dirty girl? Or letting that horrid robot touch you? Is that why you didn’t tell anyone? Disgusting!”
Rissa had felt her cheeks heating. No matter how often she reminded herself what James had taught her—that her body was her own and she should be allowed to touch it as she chose—the accusation still made her feel guilty and awful.
“I shouldn’t have to wear it anymore,” she’d said, trying to defend herself. “I own my body—I shouldn’t be forced to wear a wire that shocks me!”
Lady Mildew snorted.
“What ridiculous fol-de-rol! You do not own yourself, girl! You’re only waiting until you find a husband—he will own you. In the meantime, having a non-functioning wire is completely unacceptable. It would be ruinous to your reputation if it got out!” She glared at Rissa. “As would that kiss I saw you sharing with that nasty Kindred robot!”
For it was Lady Mildew who had caught them kissing under the trees after the duel. She, along with many other palace people, had come out to the duel grounds to see what all the commotion was about. Rissa didn’t know if she had told the Steward about the kiss or if it was just the scandal surrounding the duel, but either way, the effect was the same—James had been demoted and Lady Mildew had been restored to her former post as Rissa’s Companion.
She had watched Rissa like a hawk that night and the very next day, she’d had her fitted for a new kind of Chastity Device—one which was infinitely worse than the old silver wire she’d been wearing since the age of ten.
This new device fit around her waist like a thick, metal belt and had a silver plate which covered her pussy with only a thin slit in it. But the worst thing about it was the “plug and shield,” as Rissa had heard the two interior parts of the new device called.
The shield was a small metal triangle that fit inside the larger plate. It had stubby spikes on the inside of it that pressed right against her pussy mound and rubbed painfully against her outer lips if she moved the wrong way.
The plug was even worse. It was shaped like a long spear point that fit inside her inner channel. The blades of it—there were four of them—were dull and the tip was blunted, so that it couldn’t actually cut her, but the horrid device made sitting excruciatingly painful and Rissa had to be extremely careful of how she carried herself when she walked or moved in any way. Dancing, of course, was completely out of the question but that didn’t matter as she was currently confined to her rooms.
She had been thus confined for a week, wearing the wretched device, and her tender insides felt bruised and hurt. She cried and begged not to wear the new device, but every night after her bath, Lady Mildew forced it back inside her, saying,
“This is what dirty, disgusting girls who let their guards kiss them get. Stop your whining and take your punishment! Or do you want me to tell the whole Court what I saw?”
Of course, being unable to help herself sexually had a bad effect on Rissa’s Heat Cycle. It was ramping up again and she was once more waking up drenched in sweat and completely miserable. Not that she would have wanted to touch herself while she was in pain, she thought wretchedly. Even if she had been able to squeeze her fingers under the rigid metal of the belt, she couldn’t have reached an orgasm with the cruel plug cutting into her from within.
But worse even than the new Chastity Device was the fact that she hadn’t been allowed to see James for the entire week. She knew—from talking to her maid, Liza—that the big Kindred was always pacing just outside her door. But as he had been demoted to a mere guard, there was no reason or pretext for him to see her—especially since she was being confined, “for her own good,” until a new suitor could be found.
Lady Mildew was her only Companion and she talked about nothing except how Rissa must accept the next suitor, no matter who it was. That and the fact that she was a dirty, disreputable girl and the sooner she was married off, the better.
“I only hope your new husband will even want you, considering the scandal you have attracted to your name,” she often said. “You’ll be lucky if he is willing to slake your Heat at all! He might decide that you are too dirty to want to help you. He might even let you burn to ashes on your wedding night rather than come anywhere near you! I shouldn’t blame him a bit if he did.”
Rissa felt that would be fine with her. She didn’t want anyone but James to slake her Heat, which, after studying the Royal anatomy book with him, she now knew could only be done by letting a male enter her with his shaft and shoot his seed into her pussy. She thought often that she would rather burn to death than let any man but her Kindred guard do that to her.
But it seemed that was never to be. How could James help her if he could never see her again?
It was at her lowest point, when she was thinking these thoughts, that Lady Mildew suddenly came into her room and told her to get up.
“You are summoned to the Throne Room,” she told Rissa. She made a face. “And that horrid Kindred is to come, too.”
“James is coming too?” Rissa’s heart started pounding in her chest. “Pray, Lady Mildew, what is all this about?”
“You shall see, my dear.” Lady Mildew got a very unpleasant look in her faded blue eyes. “I believe that his Stewardship has a surprise for you.”
