Through winding hallways filled with dusty suits of ancient armor to maze-like corridors accented by hanging cobweb-covered portraits of Gloomcrests who came before, Bertrand escorts us through the depths of Castle Mourneheart.
His shameful attitude is still on display as he teaches me where each branching path led, but for the most part, I've gotten used to tuning his under the breath comments out. Despite all of Bertrand's passive-aggressive negativity, he does his job well. I feel like I have a good understanding of the castle and its many features after listening to his detailed explanations.
This tour, while fascinating, is starting to wear me out. The castle is vast, and apparently, Opalina's guest room is located on the top floor. Thankfully, we ascend the final set of stairs just as it starts to wear on me.
"And here we are," Bertrand exclaims with exaggerated chipperness. He points down the large hall into a wide chamber. There are two grand, exotic red doorways on one wall and a third on the opposite one. The second of the connected doors has what looks to be a sizable doggy door, yet I don't see a trace of any sort of animal fur at all. Strange.
The remaining wall leads to more corridors, and a staircase that I presume goes to the castle roof. "If you look to the left, you'll see the combined chambers of His Grace and the lovely Lady Abigail. On your right is what once upon a time used to be the guest suite but now serves as Miss Opalina's permanent home away from home."
"One of them, anyway." Opalina holds her hand to her lips as she stifles a laugh.
Without thinking, I ask, "Did I mishear you, or did you just say that the Duke's room is connected to his daughter's?"
"Yes, His Grace is quite protective of the young Lady, and for a good reason. Lady Abigail is a very delicate, worrisome girl..." Bertrand's expression softens, for once making his slimy smile appear genuine.
We walk towards Opal's suite, but the Chamberlain stops us briefly to point out a suit of armor on the wall. "On our way here, you no doubt saw the many decorative armor stands on display. Well, if you find yourself lost in the castle, then merely search for armors like this one which has a helmet in the shape of a raven's beak."
I wondered how this would help me navigate better, but Bertrand demonstrates by taking the armor's right gauntlet and twisting it clockwise. The stony bricks behind the display recede into the wall, opening up a secret sliding door. "Doing this will open up a series of secret tunnels. From there, just keep heading higher and higher, and you'll reach the top floor in no time. The space inside these tunnels is enchanted, meaning if we used it, then it would have only taken us five minutes or so to get here..." He sighs and whispers, "Thanks a lot, asshole, not like I needed all that extra cardio today..."
I have half a mind to tell Bertrand I'm just as pissed as he is that Opalina suggested we all take a walk through the castle, but I hold it in and rub my temples. Opalina smirks at my misfortune like a minx. "Fascinating. Have these always been a part of the castle?" I ask mainly to distract myself.
"No. A former Duke was very paranoid about being assassinated, so he had many different escape methods installed throughout the castle. Ah. That reminds me, I should warn you..." Bertrand's face goes cold as all warmth leaves him. He looks me over top to bottom and asks like he doesn't believe it to be true, "You... are Miss Opalina's lover, correct...?"
"Yes." I squint threateningly at the man while adjusting my glasses.
He cowers at the thought of confrontation and holds up his palms. "Forgive me, I meant nothing by it! I only wished to confirm it for myself. No doubt she knows where I'm going with this, but... the walls, you see... they're..."
"Oh, you're going to tell him? No fun." Opalina laughs and shifts her hips to the side while shaking her head.
"I'm quite sorry, but for my Lord Duke's sake, I must inform his guest that the walls on this floor are very thin. This is just another quirk of the castle left by a different, although still very paranoid, Duke. He was afraid he wouldn't hear his assassins coming for him, so he had his Court Mage enchant the stone walls so that sound travels much farther here. Awful ironic since in the end his Court Mage was the one to assassinate him, but the magically thin walls remain." He bows to apologize before smirking and whispering, "Good luck trying to get laid now, you squinty-eyed jackass..."
Immediately I turn my attention to the old witch, who's smirking and avoiding eye contact. "You knew about this?"
"Now, now, Dear. We'll talk about it later." Opalina points her finger at the door to her suite and opens it with magic. "If you don't mind, we're going to go make ourselves comfortable. Bertrand, make yourself useful and brew me some expensive tea from Osbourne's collection. I don't care what kind, as long as it's obscenely rare. Bring it up with that nice little kettle of his I like, too."
"Yes, Miss. Right away," Bertrand bows and begins walking away.
"Oh, Bertrand?"
"Yes?" He cocks his head over his shoulder.
"Go fuck yourself."
"Very good, Miss, right away." Bertrand sighs dejectedly but, for whatever reason, doesn't make a snippy retort as he vanishes into the secret passageway which closes behind him.
Satisfied, Opalina turns to enter our room, and I follow after her, asking, "Theoretically speaking... if I were to lose my patience with Bertrand and end up punching him square in the teeth-"
"You would hardly be the first," She looks over her shoulder, grinning. "You're the Duke's honored guest, Dear. You could get away with a lot worse than slapping around his glorified butler."
"Really? Good to know." We share a smirk as I close the door behind us.
The room goes dark as the void between Realms until my lover snaps her fingers, triggering several sconces that spark to life, lighting the dreary guest room with a blue flame. The chamber is spacious, though most of it is cluttered. Bookshelves sit upon the walls, full of ancient tomes and scattered notes written in Opalina's handwriting. In the corner of the room is a makeshift study. A comfortable black leather chair is placed in front of a weathered, ink-stained desk upon which numerous open books lay waiting to reveal their secrets. Magical knick-knacks are strewn about the room as well, such as skulls of unknown creatures or glowing crystals, giving the place a distinctly Mage-like feel. If not for the extravagant bed with expertly crafted red blankets and pillows, I would have guessed this was a spare laboratory. Two doors on opposite sides of the chamber lead to a storage room filled with even more magical whatsits and a vast bathroom with gargoyles guarding each of the massive tub's four corners.
"You must come here often," I remark while taking it all in.
Opalina plops herself down on the bed and sighs. "Thanks to the warp stone network, I can pop on over at any time of day. My arrival usually isn't treated as much of a big deal, but since this is your first time here, I suppose it warranted special treatment."
"I think I could have gone without that special treatment, honestly." I groan and sit down on the bed's edge, happy to get off my feet, too.
"Speaking of special treatment..." Opalina muses as she lifts her foot and prods me with the tip of her heel.
"Really? It's not my fault you trekked through a stone castle in heels."
"Getting spoiled is a two-way street, my love. Give and take." The smug witch gives me a coquettish grin as she continues poking at me with her shoe. Finally, with no other option, I turn and strip Opalina of her heels. A pleasured groan flutters out of her lips when I begin to give her a foot massage through her stockings.
"Oh, Gods..." She whimpers, her eyes closing from comfortable bliss as my thumbs dig into her aching foot.
"Careful, don't be too loud. I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea..."
The mature woman struggles to contain her deep amusement. "Still worried about the thin walls?"
"Somewhat. I was told we'd have a nice vacation with just the two of us, so forgive me for thinking that implied there'd be a deal of intimacy."
"And who said there wouldn't be? Those girls have of have gotten you all to themselves for a while now. We have a lot of catching up to do, as far as being intimate is concerned..." Her warm, purple eyes flare with a hint of mischief, sending a nervous chill down my spine.
"Neither of us is quiet in bed, Opalina. So forgive me if the idea of making love a room away from the Duke of Arrark and his Lady daughter scares me more than it excites me."
"So you're saying it does, in fact, excite you?"
"That's very beside the point," I sigh and grind my thumbs even deeper into her weary flesh, hoping to distract her.
"AH! YES! HARDER, DEAR!" Opalina moans with as much exaggerated sultriness as she can muster, causing my heart to skip a beat and my hands drop her foot. Then, after seeing my red cheeks and my panicked sweat, she bursts out into uproarious laughter unbefitting of her age. "Oh, my... this is going to be so, soooo much fun..."
"You were planning on teasing me with this all along, weren't you?"
The witch says nothing. She only smiles and raises her opposite foot for me to rub. I resign to my fate and start massaging, fighting back an erection as Opalina continues her lewd, purposeful moans.
"Isn't the Duke in love with you?" I ask as my nervousness increases.
"Yes, Dear. One of the reasons I brought you here was to firmly get it through his skull that I'm spoken for and that no other man will satisfy me. Even after I told him about you, he was obstinate and refused to listen."
Really? I almost can't even believe what I'm hearing, and my heart races. "Opalina, I love you with all my heart, and I always have. You were my first crush, my first wet dream, my first fantasy, but... this is just... you told me I was going to make money here. I have to discuss business with this man. Do you really think screwing the woman he loves right under his nose will make Duke Gloomcrest eager to give me shovels upon shovels of gold?"
She remains coy with her answer, saying, "Even if it wasn't a good idea, let's not pretend you won't do it anyway."
"What makes you figure that?"
"Because you're you," She grins.
"I hate how right you are..." I sigh and drop her foot so I can lay horizontally across the foot of the bed. Opalina must sense my anxiety becoming worse than she thought it would because she sits up and begins stroking my hair with love and affection.
"Just trust me, my sweet, sweet little man... calm yourself. I've known Osbourne for a very long time now. He's a kind man, but a very, very weak one. I know for sure this will not only get him off my back for good but will make him respect you."
"Opalina, this isn't one of my bargain bin erotic tomes. I can't imagine that cucking the Duke of this entire Province is going to make him respect me."
Her voice takes on a venomous tone. "You aren't cucking him. I was never his, and I never will be. No, you'll be showing him what a real man is like... which frankly is something he desperately needs, right about now..." She sighs, and I catch a disappointed tone ringing throughout it. For whatever reason, Opalina is convinced that I need to do this.
"And what about his daughter?"
"Don't worry about her, Dear..." The witch tilts her head away towards the door, elusively. "Worry about fucking me so hard tonight that the entire castle can hear it, not just everyone on this floor."
My eyes open wide, and my face becomes even redder. Once Opalina looks back at me, she smirks and places a finger to her lips. With great amusement, she notices where all the rest of the blood in my body went. "Oh, dearie me. Did the thought of showing an entire castle what a big, strong, masculine man you are give you that naughty bulge?"
"That's... not why..."
Her smile grows impish, and she reaches behind my back to pull me up so I can recline against her impressive chest. "No? Hmm... and here I thought for sure that the mental image of pounding me until I'm nothing more than a sweaty, quivering mess while all of Dawnstead hears me scream how much I love you and only you was what gave you that swollen stiffness threatening to burst the fabric your pants..."
Opalina's hand cups my chin before snaking its way down the length of my torso. She rests a single pointer finger on the tent in my pants. "Relax, sweetheart. I'll help you get more comfortable with the idea... we'll start out nice and quiet, alright?"
"Opal, I don't think I can..." I put up a few token words of resistance, only for the witch to flick her finger, magically undoing my belt and pulling off my pants with her wordless sorcery.
She grabs my erect cock with her silky, gloved hand, and soon my ability to defy her capricious whims melts into nothing.