Mirror, Mirror Ch. 02

My dress ceases its silken whisper as I stop in front of the door leading to the tower room. Carved and dark, the wooden door is old, as old as the castle itself, and like the castle, it knew happier times. The hunting scene carved out as decoration changed under the strange shadowing of the blood symbols my step-mother, the Queen, had drawn unevenly across the grainy surface. Wooden huntsmen once rode happily through a stylized forest, but now stare out with evil eyes, keeping a tortured grip on their skeletal horses. Hooves crushed down on skulls and bony reaching hands.

I wrap my sleeve cuff around my knuckles and slowly reach out to knock on the door. The wood feels too yielding under my hand, warm with some putrid heat, and the sound is muffled, as if I rapped on flesh. As fast as reflex, I withdraw my hand and wait for long moments, rubbing my hand against my dress. A quiet click comes from the direction of the lock, and then the stealthy sound of the bar sliding back. The door cracks open, enough for me to slip inside, my skin shrinking away from the wood.

I never know if she's inside waiting for me. Sometimes, the door opens on its own.

The circular room stretches away into dimness. I know only thirty steps straight across the stone floor is the window, covered now by a thick velvet curtain. Even knowing the distance -- for this had been my bedroom for many years before my step-mother, and ever after -- it looks farther, stranger, more intimidating. There is very little furniture remaining here now. A simple chest, where I keep my clothes -- I have nothing else -- and a rough bed. The mattress is old straw and the bedding is rough sack. I think she took it from one of the maids. To her, the most important detail about the bed is that it has sturdy posts.

"The bitch is coming, and we both will have work to do." A deep male voice prompts me to action, and I scurry to the bed, my legs full of panicked energy. She's not here yet, but she will be soon. I rush past, but I spare the hand mirror lying on the dresser a look. The white blur of his face is visible; no time for details. I scramble to assume my position by the bed before I hear her at the door. Fear steals my breath as I make adjustments to my body, knowing perfection is the only defense against punishment. My fingers tremble and everything clenches. All the blood rushes to my cunt, and quim slides down my thighs. "Faster," the voice from the mirror urges.

I stand facing the low bed and bend over as far as I can, pressing my face into the coarse fabric. Quick and urgent hands hike my dress up above my bare ass. She does not permit obstacles or barriers, so there are no undergarments to pool around my ankles. My fingers spread open my pussy, holding it open for the coming inspection. I have one moment to struggle against the temptation to brush my clit before there's a noise at the door.

The lock clicks, the bar slides back, and the ancient wood slams against the stone walls.

"Did you miss me, you stupid girl?" she purrs. I know better than to answer. Her sharp heels click against the floor, and I can hear the swish of her gown as she crosses the floor. She stops right behind me, her dress brushing against the bare skin of my calves. The sharp musk of her smell winds up off the floor to curl like smoke into my nose. The air becomes thick with desire, as if lust could be a wet humidity hanging in the air. I try to breathe gently, softly, to avoid pulling her magic inside me.

The sharp sensation of her nail dragging up the back of my thigh makes me jump, and a quiet whine of fear escapes me. I pull in a quick gasp of the air, and take in her spell, the insinuating feeling of warmth spreading up my body, centering in my nipples and my clit in tight, hot eddies.

The edge of her nail digs into the shivering skin under the roundness of my ass, and I raise myself up higher, exposing myself further. Its a struggle to pin down the slick and swollen lips of my pussy, to keep them splayed open. "I can see you're ready to have a lovely time. But-" she touches me, stroking my pussy with deceptive gentleness, checking to see I am still intact and unviolated "- see you don't forget yourself and break the rules." There is a short pause while she withdraws her hand, and wipes my cum on my ass. "Will she please you at all, my dear?" I can tell from the sound of her voice she has turned her head to speak to the mirror.

"She cries, she begs, she whines." Mirror's voice is hard, bored and dismissive. I'm forcibly reminded they are mother and son. "She only comes out of fear of you." He laughs, cruel and cold. "Find me something else, mother. Something more fun."

"She bores you?" The hand digs with fierce rage into my ass, marking my flesh with intent. "Are you not trying hard enough to please, you ungrateful little whore?" I twitched, trying hard not to flinch, tighten my muscles or pull away. Such things are disrespectful. Worse marks have decorated my body than the bloody crescents left by her claws.

"She tries hard enough," comes his voice. I can tell he's trying hard to manage his tone, to navigate between the jagged rocks of her displeasure. On one side, if I have not tried hard enough to follow her orders, she will be enraged. If he is too pleased -- or if she thinks any pleasure I might receive is unalloyed with pain and humiliation, she will separate us. Or worse, use our bond against us. "She's naturally stupid and ungifted. It's expecting a mule to fly, or a dog to speak."

"But her enthusiasm is memorable, is it not?"

"I suppose," comes the skeptical drawl.

"Do I detect a hint-" she slaps my ass cheek, hard and stinging, "-ingratitude, my son?" Her voice whips through the room. Glass creaks.

"No, mother," he hastens to add, all arrogance gone from his tone. "No."

"Excellent." Her voice falls back into bored pleasantry, with just an edge, a tiny burr, of her predatory nature underneath. "I'll leave you to it, then." Silk rustles as she turns to the door, full skirts dragging the floor. Tiny muscles in my back and neck relax. Feet ease into the floor.

Her hand tangles in my hair, pulls tight before I can react, and wrenches me upright. Hot breath plays at my ear, her teeth nipping at my lobe.

"Try harder, slut." Blinding pain bursts through my head, and the darkness swallows me whole.