Forever Again Ch. 07

Thankfully at that moment the bell that signaled the start of the banquet sounded giving Vala an excuse to escape before lust won out over good sense.

Vala was heading towards the one of the exits when the Steward caught her arm. "Where do you think you are going?" She pointed ahead. "Come with me." She made her way through the crowd and up to the head table.

Vala stared at the table uncomprehendingly.

"There." The Steward said pointing at an open chair quite near the head of the table.

"But I can't..."

"The Baroness insists." The Steward said simply, pointing again at the empty chair.

"But... the Head Table?" Vala asked.

"Yes. As I said, the Baroness insists. She will be here shortly and wishes to have you at the table with her." The Steward smiled, "I believe she wishes to reward you for a job well done. She is quite pleased I assure you." She leaned in close and whispered, "And don't worry, I'll be right next to you."

Just as Vala and the Steward were getting into their seats a trumpet's loud clarion call filled the chamber. The Herald announced loudly, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Lords and Ladies, your hostess for the evening, the Baroness von Wolffe."

At the far end of the room Vala could see a woman enter the chamber through the main doors. The Baroness was tall and slender with a regal bearing that carried even across the great distance between them. Unlike all the other ladies in the room whose dresses were various shades of color from bright red to pale blue, the Baroness dress was coal black, perfectly matching her black hair. Her skin was pale and seemed all the more pale against her brilliant red lips.

A prickling familiarity began to climb up Vala's spine as the woman came closer and she could see her better. When the Baroness had closed to within one hundred paces cold sweat broke out across Vala' brow and down her spine. She became lightheaded and the room started to spin around her. It was at that moment that the Baroness locked eyes with her.

"Mistress." She breathed as the woman continued to walk steadily closer.

The Baroness closed the last few paces and stopped before the head table, never looking away from Vala.

Vala's mind reeled. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and couldn't even think at that moment. Her entire world became the Baronesses beautiful face looking down at her. Her Mistress was here before her. As she stared breathlessly she saw a sparkle of amusement deep in the Mistress's grey eyes and heard that blissfully sweet voice pour through her mind, "Yes, my Valamera, your Mistress is here for you now, for tonight and every night from now on, forever."

Vala's mind only dimly realized that the Baroness had not spoken aloud, that she had somehow spoken directly into Vala's thoughts. A ghost of a smile played at the corners of the Baroness's luscious red lips. At last she broke the intimate, secret connection and turned to face the crowd. "Lords and Ladies, thank you so much for sharing in my hospitality..."

The voice was as smooth and beautiful as Vala had remembered from her dreams. The words purred through her mind but she didn't comprehend what was being said. It was as if her mind was drenched in thick, sweet syrup. Everything was a slowly drifting miasma around her. She couldn't make her mind work. She didn't want to make her mind work. She could only stare at the woman before her and drink in her unearthly beauty.

The Baroness finished her welcoming speech and walked around the table, stopping behind the Steward and Vala. She looked down at Vala and smiled. "So, this is the young woman I've been hearing so much about."

"Yes My Lady." The Steward said formally. "Baroness, may I present my new assistant, Vala Strauss. Vala, meet your employer, the Baroness von Wolffe."

Vala stared at the Baroness dazedly, unable to remember how to speak.

The Baroness reached out a hand and gently touched Vala's cheek. The contact was like an electric shock. Instantly Vala came back to her senses and gasped. "Mistress..." Vala felt herself blush furiously as soon as the word slipped past her lips and she quickly corrected herself, "My Lady, it's an... an honor to meet you." She stammered trying to collect her wits.

The Baroness smiled knowingly. "Yes, I'm sure it is." Around them, everything went quiet as if they were suddenly alone in the room. Vala could see out of the corner of her eye that beside them the Steward was frozen in place as if turned to stone. Glancing to the side she could see that the same was true for all the guests in the room. The only two that even seemed to still be alive were Vala and her Mistress. It was like a moment frozen in time for only the two of them.

Reaching up, the Baroness, her Mistress, touched a finger to the nape of Vala's neck exactly where she had bitten her the night before in her dream. Pleasure flowed instantly through Vala's veins and she barely managed to suppress a moan. The Baroness leaned in close and whispered in Vala's ear, "I look forward to seeing more of you very soon. Much, much more my Valamera." She gave Vala's ear a sensual lick. Then kissed her cheek before straightening.

Vala closed her eyes and sucked in a ragged breath as time abruptly resumed and the world snapped back into focus around her. The Baroness was turning away and the Steward was saying something in Vala's ear. With an effort she brought her attention back to the Steward.

"She seems quite pleased with you." Said the Steward as she sat down. If she had noticed anything odd in the last few moments she gave no indication. She also seemed not to notice Vala's flustered state or if she did she didn't mention it.

Dazedly, Vala sat as well. She wondered if that had really just happened. It seemed like a dream.

The rest of the meal was much like a dream for Vala as well. The Baroness was polite and cordial to everyone, even warm to some of her guests. But she seemed especially attentive to Vala, going so far as to ask her opinion on various issues several times throughout the meal much to Vala's embarrassment.

When the meal was finally ended the Baroness rose and started to leave. She stopped by Vala and paused. "Please come by my chamber when you leave the party. I have something I wish to discuss with you." She smiled at Vala, nodded to the Steward and left.

Vala's head reeled. She now knew the truth of it all. Everything that had been happening to her over the last months... years? It had all been real. The woman in her dreams was real, and she had just met her. And the woman wanted to see more of her. It didn't take any great leap of imagination to picture just what the Baroness wanted from her. Vala wondered if perhaps last night's dream hadn't been a dream after all. The Baroness could very well have been in her chambers last night.

Her hand again rose to the side of her neck where her Mistress had bitten her in her dreams. The skin tingled hotly at her touch. Yes, Vala thought, it had been real, not just a dream. Her Mistress had really been with her already, maybe more than once?

Vala belatedly realized that she was already making her way through the crowd of people towards the grand stairway at the center of the keep. The massive stone stairs curved upward in a long, graceful arc towards the third floor. From there three more stairways, less ornate than this one led up to the Baronesses private chambers.

Another thought occurred to Vala and now that she thought about it she wondered why a bit nervously why she hadn't really worried about it before now. Had her Mistress really bitten her? Why would she do that? Perhaps it was some way of marking her as a possession?

Or maybe she hadn't really been bitten at all, her overtaxed mind tried to rationalize. There was no mark on her neck after all. Shouldn't there be a wound or at least a scar? Vala didn't know.

Before Vala could sort through her confused thoughts she found herself standing before the massive double door that led to the Baronesses private chambers. The tall narrow doors were a gleaming polished oak with heavy brass straps and hinges that were buffed to a mirrored shine. In the center of each door was an elaborate brass knocker in the shape of a hissing snake. Vala studied one the snakes for a moment, feeling strongly drawn to it for some reason. The snake's gleaming ruby eyes seemed to stare back at her, drawing her in. Her hand lifted slowly towards the snake, her fingertip just caressing the cold metal when there was a loud metallic clang from the door that made her jump.

The heavy doors swung inward revealing a large, elegant parlor. Two young women, both extraordinarily beautiful, were each holding a door handle. In union they smiled and bowed deeply. "Good evening Miss." they both said.

Vala stared in amazement at the girl holding the left door. She was completely unlike any woman Vala had ever seen. Her skin was the color of rich earth and her curly hair was even darker. She had wide dark eyes, a broad nose and full lips painted a deep, reddish brown.

"I... I... uh..." Vala stammered.

"The Mistress is expecting you." Said the other girl, drawing Vala's attention.

She looked to the other girl. She was a bit older, maybe in her mid twenties and half a head taller than Vala. She had light auburn hair with hazel eyes. "I, uh, yes, she asked me to come see her." Vala said dumbly.

"Yes, she said you would be. She is in the inner chambers. If you would please follow me." The taller girl turned and headed towards the back of the room. There Vala found herself before another great oaken door, this one only slightly smaller than the outer door. "My name is Odele and she is Lotte. Please let either of us know if you require anything." She pulled the door open and gestured Vala in.

"Thank you." Vala said with a small nod. She turned and slowly walked into the inner chambers. The room beyond was unlighted and Vala walked cautiously. For several heartbeats she stood on a long, narrow slice of light that gleamed in from the parlor she had just left, then Odele closed the door and Vala was plunged into total darkness. She had a sense that she was in a vast chamber but her eyes still saw nothing. Then, gradually her eyes adjusted and Vala found that the chamber wasn't completely dark. She began to pick out a few details. The room was indeed vast. It was a circular chamber with a very high ceiling. The only light in the room was star and moonlight coming in through a series of tall narrow windows around the top of the walls, far overhead. The ceiling beyond was shrouded in shadows.

"Welcome to my sanctuary my Dear." A familiar voice purred from the darkness.

"Mistress." Vala breathed. Her heart thundered in her chest and her breathing was coming in a quick pant. It was just like in her dreams. The words coming to her from the darkness, calling to her, seeping into her very soul. She felt light headed imagining... no, not imagining... knowing what was coming next. A puff of air on her ear confirmed her thoughts.

"Yes my Valamera. I'm so pleased you know who I am. I have looked so long for you my Valamera. So very, very long." The words, spoken right at her ear, flowed through her mind like warm honey, thick and sweet. "Lifetimes, many long lifetimes I have spent alone, so alone, yearning for your return so we could once again be together."

"Lifetimes? My... my soul?" Vala stammered not understanding.

"Yes my Valamera." Her Mistress's voice came from farther away now. Vala tried to follow her movements in the darkness. She could hear the clicking footfalls on the polished stone floor but the way the sounds echoed made it impossible to tell which direction they originated from.

"Lifetimes." Her Mistress went on. "Many, almost countless mortal lifetimes have come and gone before me. You see my Valamera, I am not like others, not at all like these mortal beings. I have been given a great gift by my Mistress, my Goddess. She has granted me a boon for my loyalty. A great gift. Indeed the greatest gift any being could receive," She paused, "The gift of eternity." The voice came closer, "And my greatest wish was to share that eternity with you. But the fates conspired against me and I lost you many, many years ago. But now through the blessings of the fates and by the hand of my Goddess you have returned to me finally."

"I don't understand." Vala said into the darkness, not really sure if she should be questioning her Mistress but feeling confused. "Lifetimes? But how can that be? I have lived only nineteen summers. I cannot be the one you have sought..."

"Ah, but you are, my Valamera." The Mistress interrupted her, now from farther away. "Not you in your current form of course, not in this earthly shell, but in another vessel. Many others in fact over the ages." The voice came closer to Vala once again. "You see, your soul is an old soul. It has been born and reborn countless times through the centuries." The voice came closer still. "Have you ever had a glimpse of one of your past lives my Valamera? Just a glimpse of who you were in another time, another place? Perhaps when you were lying awake late at night, perhaps in a dream? A brief instant of thought, of knowledge, that you are more than you are now?"

Visions of her dreams flashed through Vala's mind. Was that what she had seen in her dreams? Other lives? Past lives? The room spun slightly around her. "I... I don't really know. Perhaps..." She trailed off trying to call the memories back but they were too ethereal to grasp, flitting away like leaves in an autumn breeze. There was a long pause from her Mistress and Vala wondered if perhaps she had said the wrong thing. She opened her mouth to say more but was interrupted.

"If you haven't yet, you will. In time you will understand, you will come to see who you were," she paused, "and who you really are, my Valamera."

"Why do you call me by that name?"

"That is who you are to me, Vala Strauss. You are and always will be, Valamera. That is who you were when we first met those ages ago, that is who you were when I stole your heart and that is who you were when you stole my heart in return. That is who you were on the day that you were ripped from my arms and perished in the sea. And that, Vala Strauss, is who you have been every night in my dreams for over a thousand years."

Vala was trembling at these revelations. She couldn't believe that any of this was real but somehow in her heart, she knew it was true... all of it. All the separate, jumbled pieces of her life, the dreams, the deaths of her suitors, her changing sexual inclinations, her newfound powers, her new position, it all fell into place in her mind, each part interlocking neatly with the others. She wasn't girl she always thought she was, and yet somehow that was exactly who she really was. It was all a part of her.

Taking a deep breath, Vala managed to work up enough courage to ask, "Who are you really?"

There was a soft, almost demure chuckle at Vala's ear. "Why I am the Baroness von Wolffe of course. That is all I am now. Who I was is no longer important. Whoever that person was is now long ages dead, along with all the others I was thought to be over the years."

A shiver ran down Vala's spine as a finger tip suddenly caressed the tender skin just under her ear.

"But all that is past my Valamera. What really matters now is that you've finally come to me, and now... now..."

Vala gasped as lips, soft and cool, kissed the side of her neck.

"... Now we can be together..."

The gasp turned into a small moan as the lips moved up and started to worry the tender skin behind her earl.

"... together..." another kiss, another nibble, "... forever."

"Mistressss..." Vala hissed.

Strong hands wrapped around Vala's middle and pulled her gently back. Vala's head spun as she felt a firm, strong body press up against her. It was all really happening but somehow she still couldn't believe it. It was just like the dreams but this time it was real. It was finally real.

The wet, suckling kisses ignited a fire in Vala's center and she moaned with a desperate need that seemed to come from the depths of her soul. A vast hollow emptiness at the very center of her being that she didn't even realize was there now started to fill.

Hands, immensely strong but infinitely tender caressed her body. Moving slowly, the hands gradually, torturously slid up to cup her breasts through the heavy velvet of her gown and the unforgiving stays of her corset.

Whimpering with a desperate yearning, Vala cursed the inflexible garments that kept her from feeling the caress of her Mistress. "Please." She whispered.

A quite laugh answered her plea. "Please what?" The caressing hands became firmer in their attention to Vala's chest.

"Please Mistress, I need you."

"You need me?" The voice gently mocked. The hands released her for a moments and Vala almost cried but before she could there was a quick sensation of something running up her spine. She felt her dress become loose and without thinking she shrugged her arms forward allowing the heavy gown to slip down, pooling around her feed. Another movement and the corset loosened, letting her breasts drop and allowing her to suck in a full breath of cool air.

Before Vala could shrug the corset off the Mistress was back behind her. The hands slid easily under the now loose garment and caressed her sensitive mounds. "You need me?" The Mistress said again. "I think what you really need is this..." The strong fingers wrapped around her nipples and Vala cried out in delight.

"Yesss..." Vala groaned.

One hand released her nipple and slid down Vala's firm stomach, coming to rest just above her petticoats. The Mistress purred in her ear, "Or perhaps this is what you really need?" The hand dipped under the waistband, just touching the soft curls below. "Well, my Valamera?"

"Mistressss..." Vala hissed. "Please. I've waited so... so long."

Another laugh as the hand worked lower, deeper into the fine, curly hairs, stroking the mount beneath lovingly. "You have waited so long? I have waited fifteen centuries my Pet. Can you even comprehend that much time?" Her question was mocking as she teased Vala's aching center. She continued to tease Vala for a few long, torturous seconds before answering her own question, "No, you can't comprehend that much time, no mortal can." She kissed Vala's neck again, gently nipping the skin, making Vala tremble. "But soon you will..." With the pad of one finger she pushed softly on Vala's sensitive nub, making her cry out.

Vala's knees wanted to buckle but the hand around her chest held her up. The well inside her was filling more rapidly now and what little control Vala still had was slipping away. She was getting the sense that her Mistress wanted something from her but her delirious mind couldn't place it. The finger between her legs was slipping deeper now, tracing along her outer folds making her moan with bliss. Vala knew that if she was entered she wouldn't be able to restrain her climax.

The darkness in the room seemed to swell, absorbing all the light until Vala stood in complete, suffocating blackness. The hands withdrew again and just as quickly as her gown and corset had been removed, now her petticoats and underthings were removed as well. Instinctively Vala stepped out of the clothes piled around her ankles and stood nude save her shoes and jewelry in the cool, dark chamber before her Mistress. She shivered in anticipation of the event she had dreamed of for so long. She turned to look for the other woman but the darkness was total, she could not see anything. "Mistress?"

A rustle of cloth to her side, then another. Vala turned to see two eyes, glowing red staring into her very soul.