Pale Painter Ch. 010

It started out as a friendship. That's all.

The marchioness invited her to a few dinners, then a few parties. Whenever Esther had the time, she attended these engagements, and she would usually end up socializing with very high class people. One day, Esther found herself taking a risk. She went to the marchioness' townhouse unannounced, as if they were close friends, and she brought a worry stone as a present. It was a smooth creation made of rose quartz with an indentation for a nervous, fidgeting thumb to rub into over and over.

Esther was smiling when she was led into a drawing room by a butler, and her smile widened when the marchioness came to her with open words and a complete absence of annoyance. They took tea together, and Esther gave her the gift.

The noble's nearly perfect teeth were licked for only a moment as she examined the worry stone, testing its smooth, firm structure with her small fingers. "It's a thoughtful present, Miss Urvine. I'm quite fond of it."

Within a week from that day, they began using each others' given names, and Esther learned of the marchioness' much more vulgar speech that she fell into when she was comfortably casual.

And one morning, as they walked together in a public garden full of a variety of flowers, Esther noticed Lillitu's fingers fishing out something from a pocket. It turned out to be the worry stone. As Lillitu chatted on about everything from tea to ballet, she rubbed and flipped and tossed the stone again and again.

The woman didn't speak about any of her troubles, but she clearly had some, probably even more than Esther knew about. All one had to do was look at her hands to realize just how much concern was in Lillitu's mind. Esther was beginning to have her own worries over the little woman. Even if she turned out to not have the sort of interests Esther wanted her to have, she was still a good friend.

She chose a private morning visit to bring the subject up. Lillitu was sitting in her favored drawing room, flipping her pink stone about. Esther sat beside her, tapping her fingers onto a table loaded with dominoes.

"I'm surprised your hair hasn't turned gray from all the stress you have," Esther said.

Lillitu squeezed her worry stone with her fingers, holding it against her palm. Her eyes went from her hand, to Esther's calculating features, and back to her hand again.

"I suppose I express more stress than I deserve to have." Lillitu said with a strangely defeated voice. "I must say, though, that I've earned the right to much more hardship than the poor Adurants. They're excellent people. They never deserved the horrors sleeping in their castle."

"What do you think you deserve?" Esther straightened her position in her seat, her pale orange over-skirt rustled against the matching under-skirt.

"Give me a moment, Esther."

Lillitu ordered all the servants away. Then she rose from her seat with the elegance expected of an aristocrat. As if her feet were on air, she seemed to float as she went to the drawing room's door. Her shoes didn't even click against the hardwood. She might have altered her gait to be quieter. She closed the door and then she glided back to her seat.

Lillitu put her worry stone between her two hands and over her lap. Her smile was painful and sardonic.

"A woman was once my friend years ago, and now she's dead."

Esther nodded and laced her fingers together.

Lillitu continued, "Lady Bethaline Bransted was my friend, long ago." Her nearly flat bosom rose a bit more than usual. "She was also engaged to marry dear Erdgar ... ah ... His Grace, Duke Adurant."

"I didn't hear about that." Esther mostly focused on crimes. "Obviously, he didn't end up with her. He ended up with the pretty blonde."

A curt nod, and then Lillitu tilted her head. Her eyelids flickered a bit. "There was a terrible fire at Castle Adurant, and my sweet friend became disfigured. Bethaline was disgusted by him. She abandoned him, and she even lied to their peers. She said he actually threatened to kill her. I know him too well to ever believe something so ridiculous."

"How did His Grace react to that?"

Lillitu tapped her worry stone with a clean fingernail, making hard little noises. "He held his home close. He didn't enjoy the Social Season for years, and he hid his face behind masks of fabric. Eventually, though, he found a sweet little woman to be his bride, and he soon let himself walk bare-faced, literally bare-faced, in front of even the most judgmental people."

Esther patted her hair and said with a soft expression, "I wish his story had ended there. This recent bit of drama couldn't have been good for him."

Lillitu's fingers turned visibly hot and dark pink as she increased the pressure on her worry stone. "I hadn't spoken to Bethaline since she had harmed Erdgar." She seemed to be forgetting that Esther wasn't on an informal basis with these people, and in Esther's mind, it was strange to have these people referred to by their given names.

"However, soon after the Adurants returned to the Social Season, and I realized how happy they were, I constructed a plan. I wanted Bethaline to see how happy she could have been if she hadn't been such a vicious fool, and that she could never have that happiness. I had her believe I wanted her friendship again, and then I tried to make an opportunity to crush her spirit."

Esther shrugged and crossed her ankles under her gown. "Sounds pretty satisfying to me."

"But, in the process, I've committed a terrible crime."

A pause.

Esther leaned toward the other woman, her dark eyes narrowing. "Would you mind explaining?"

A sigh. Lillitu's lips tightened. She tapped at her worry stone again. Then she explained.

"I invited the couple, and Bethaline, to my home. And ... completely without their consent ... I drugged the Adurants' food."

Esther's throat was filled up with an angry mist. She barked out, "That's disgusting!"

"I know! I know!" Lillitu's finger joints seemed to click. "I put a strong aphrodisiac into their food, and I offered them a guest room, claiming that they seemed tired. The couple went in there, all bothered and ready to make a two backed beast. Then, I asked Bethaline to come with me into a secret room with peepholes. I had Bethaline watch the couple for a tick. Then I led her away. I explained just how badly she ruined herself, and then I threw her out of my house. I didn't socialize with her since then, and I believe the reason why she killed herself was because of me. She's been so depressed all these years because of me. I did this."

"I don't know what to think of you!" Esther honestly didn't. She stood up and looked away from Lillitu's miserable, uncertain expression. "I need to leave. I need to sort out my feelings. Please, excuse me."

"Of course." Lillitu nodded. "You are free to leave whenever you wish."

"Fine, then. Have a good day, if you can."

Esther left the townhouse in such a hurry that she nearly tripped on the stairs that led to the street.

She needed to figure out what in the world she was supposed to think.

***

It was a cozy summer night, a soft night. It was the kind of night in which one's pillow feels especially comfortable, one's body is blissfully relaxed, and one could fall asleep quite easily.

Rosanda was at peace.

Her life was completely free of anything horrible. She painted whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She had so much free time that sometimes she wasn't sure what to do with herself. Whenever Alex was around, they would engage in pleasant activities, and most of them weren't even sexual. There were board games, cue sports games, leisurely walks, theater shows, and sometimes a ball or two. He had to be selective about which ball to escort her to, though. No royal balls, because the king was guaranteed to be there. As for any balls he knew the king would attend, those were also out of the question.

There were also gifts! Lavish gifts! Jewelry, cosmetics, perfumes, kaleidoscopes, books, bouquets of flowers, and the finest sweetmeats available.

As Rosanda snuggled and cuddled with her pillow, relishing the perfect balance of softness and firmness, she considered all the wonderful memories piling up in her mind. She was nearly bursting from the happiness.

That was when she felt him sliding under her blanket, smelled his cologne of wood and roses. At first, she was upset that she would be disturbed, and that she might not be able to sleep soon. Then her mind melted into a submissive state.

"Mmm ... Alex!" Rosanda tugged on his arms and pulled him up to her. She fumbled a bit in the darkness, but she soon found his mouth and gave him a very sloppy, noisy kiss. He was eager, and every bit as messy as she was. The flesh around their mouths was moistened with each other's saliva. Soon, she broke away, turning her head to one side, and wiping her face with a corner of her blanket. She giggled and pushed the blanket into her lover's face, blindly swiping at his skin.

"Do you have another present for me?" Rosanda asked, caressing his chest as she slipped her hand between their bodies. Then she found his penis.

He groaned as she stroked him, and then he released a curse.

Something ...

Something was wrong.

Rosanda pulled away from him and tried to reach for her oil lamp.

He put his weight on her. She had difficulty breathing, but she was able to say, "Stop!"

His arms went around her body, clinging, tight.

"Stop it!"

There was the crashing, shattering sound of breaking glass.

The man's arms loosened. Rosanda's knee rammed into his belly, and he cried out another curse. She wiggled out of his embrace and hopped off of the bed. She found her oil lamp and turned its dial. When she had more light, she searched for her glasses. When they were on her head, she gingerly stepped towards the window. She was afraid of cutting her bare feet.

The lamp's light revealed a large stone on the floor and pieces of glass. She rose her lamp, and she saw that there was a jagged hole in one of the panes of her bedroom's window.

Rosanda heard a voice outside.

"Rosie! Rosie!"

Her vaginal muscles clamped in a sickening, embarrassing way, similar to a wince or a cringe.

That was Alex's nickname for her.

That voice sounded like Alex's voice.

She turned and rushed over to the door, her fingers shaking as she slid the lock away. Rosanda didn't even put on a robe. She was completely nude as her feet painfully slapped against the hallway's floor. Her free hand slid down the staircase's railing as her feet took two steps at a time.

She accidentally ran into a piece of furniture as she tried to get to the foyer. A digging pain went to her thigh, and she groaned. Then she managed to get to the foyer. She went to one of the windows. Her palm tapped against the glass, and she called out, "Alex?!"

Under a streetlight, she saw him running to the window. Rosanda heard his muffled voice as she rose her light to see his face. "Let me in!"

Didn't he have his own set of keys?

Rosanda unlocked the front door and let him in. As she closed and locked it, she heard the prince say, "Was someone in your room?"

Her palms were suddenly clammier than normal. She turned to face him. There was panic stretching out his handsome face as she told him, "Yes! There's someone in my room!"

There was the sliding, rustling noises of clothing being pulled as Alex removed his coat. He handed it to her and said, "Cover yourself. I'll handle this."

Rosanda handed him her oil lamp and sunk her arms into the coat. As she pulled her hair over her shoulder, she asked, "What are you going to do?"

The light flickered and danced about as he made an impatient gesture. "What do you think I'll do? Invite him to a party?"

"Wait. I'll need a light. Let me find a tinderbox." Rosanda took her lamp back from him and searched a decorative chest of drawers near the entrance. She always kept tinderboxes in there. She lit some sconces that hung on the wall, and then she gave the lamp back to Alex.

As he ran away, presumably to her bedchamber, Rosanda lit a small candelabra she could easily hold. Then she listened to Alex's stomping, angry feet. She heard pounding on the second floor, disturbing quite a few curious servants.

"What's going on?"

"We have work in the morning! Could you stop that?"

"I was having such a fine dream!"

Rosanda wanted to walk upstairs and tell them to stay in their rooms, but she was afraid she'd become entangled in the fight that would certainly ensue.

And, as if her thoughts were the trigger, there was suddenly shouting and banging on the second floor. She looked up at the dark ceiling. She practically felt the scuffle in her head and belly. The vibrations pounded into her.

Shouting, there was masculine shouting.

"I can't believe you!! I can't believe this!!"

"Aggh! Ahhh! It was ... a matter of time!"

Then there was mostly cursing and crashing.

Rosanda waited, not sure what else to do.

Some time later, she saw one man kicking and dragging another down the stairs. It took her a moment to understand that Alex was the one doing the kicking and dragging. Thank the gods!

The most infuriating part of the scene was the identity of the man he was assaulting.

The king!

Rosanda gasped and covered her mouth with a cold, trembling hand.

Alex pulled his father to the door, but he didn't immediately kick the man out. Instead, he sunk his fingers into the man's neck, causing the king to cough and claw at him.

Alex shoved him into a wall, then he put his face very close to his, and then he said, very solemnly, very coldly, "You're going to grow old. You're going to die. No matter how badly you wish you to remain a charmer to women, you can't. You're going to die. I'm going to die." He made a fast gesture towards Rosanda. "She's going to die. We're all going to die. All you can do is make way for the youth, so they have a place when you die, and if you don't let me have my place, I'm going to make your old age the most wretched, hostile thing in the world."

Then, Alex told Rosanda to open the door.

She unlocked and opened the door. Then she watched him throw the king out into the street, uncaring that he was naked.

As if he still had dignity, the king straightened up and walked down the street.

Rosanda stared after him, wondering if he had an ally nearby to assist him. Then she closed and locked the door. Her brain was throbbing and buzzing from all the insanity that had just happened in her home. She sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose.

"The conceited hog's not in his armor anymore," Alex said as his breath relaxed to something less ragged. "Would you believe he actually stole my keys?"

"He stole your cologne too."

"How loathsome!" His hip jutted out as he leaned against a wall. One of his feet pointed away from his body. His face was dipped in sharp anger and nightly shadows. His nostrils were flaring so intensely that he seemed a little bit less handsome.

"He turned vile, didn't he?" Rosanda squeezed the edges of the borrowed coat together, hiding her torso.

"I'm happy to know you're willing to say that." Alex smiled a bit, and he seemed to put himself into a much better mood. "And I believe I have a way to have him finally respect your refusal of him."

***

One evening, Lillitu heard from the butler that there had been a visitor in the morning, Esther Urvine.

She ... she had actually tried to visit again.

Lillitu smiled to herself. She was probably a bit too giddy. She ended up laughing to herself and hopping up the staircase to her bedchamber. She undressed and combed out her hair with an excited vigor. She wanted to send Esther a letter, but her pride was too strong. Lillitu wanted Esther to come on her own terms.

So, she purposely waited in her townhouse on the next morning. Her efforts were rewarded. Esther came. She was waiting in the drawing room. Lillitu went to greet her, her shoes scarcely touching the floor.

She wanted to kneel before the lovely, darker woman, but her stupid pride stabbed at her mind again. She gave a warm greeting and took a seat near her.

"Good morning, Lillitu. I'm glad to see you." Esther's eyes seemed a little puffy, but she kept up a civil demeanor.

"Have you been well?"

Esther nodded. Her plump lips seemed to glimmer as she smiled. Her pretty monolid eyes sparkled, almost as if they were little windows to a night sky.

Lillitu's toes wiggled in her shoes. Her thighs were heating up.

"Forgive me for being bold. Has your opinion of me changed?"

Esther's long fingers slid around her over-skirt, making gentle little swiping noises. "I've decided that the only crimes you could be accused of are drugging two people with no medical reason to do so, and without their knowledge, and wrongful invasion of privacy."

Lillitu pressed down on a bejeweled comb that had been impaling her coiffure. "Are you going to report me?"

"I don't believe anything would happen if I did." Esther shook her head, but she was still smiling. "You didn't intend to harm the couple, did you?"

"No."

"And the couple didn't suffer from your crimes, did they?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

Esther patted her covered knees as if she was playing a set of drums. "A judge might not convict you. After all, this was ... years ago, correct?"

"Perhaps five years, I'd imagine."

Esther's pink tongue slid across her lower lip. Then she said, "There isn't anything to do. I can't think of a reason to dwell on this matter."

"But, what if my crime to Bethaline?"

Esther waved her hand like a parent shooing a child away. "She killed herself. You didn't even tell her to do that. You aren't responsible for other people's actions." She rose then, her skirts falling into place, her curved bosom heaving a little against her slightly low neckline. "I think you need to focus on more pleasant things."

Something in her voice was velvety and dense. It put a spark in Lillitu's form.

Esther walked over to her. Then she layered her hands together, over her chest, and he bent down to whisper in Lillitu's ear, "I happened to hear a few rumors about you."

She certainly had interest in those rumors.

Lillitu's eyelids lowered. She felt a blush in her lips, a tingling heat. Her bodice seemed tighter, even against breasts that were rather small. Her hardening nipples scraped against her chemise.

Knowing exactly what those rumors were, Lillitu fearlessly murmured up to Esther, "Rumors? I'd love for you to give me your reaction to them."

And Esther's mouth was right there, right against Lillitu's lips. A faint taste of wine and toasted bread was coming to Lillitu's senses as a hot tongue slipped inside.

Lillitu put her arms around the taller woman and deepened the kiss, whining up into her.

Then they pulled apart, and Lillitu said, "Follow me."

Upstairs, to Lillitu's bedchamber, they went there, practically ran. Once inside, they peeled away each other's clothing, shucking off fabrics away like they were the most irritating things in the world. They tangled against each other and fell back onto Lillitu's bed.

Tight, teasing little kisses were all over her small breasts, occasionally pulling on her nipples. Lillitu squeezed and patted a firm, beautifully dark buttock. Then she slid her fingers up and over to play with her navel. Esther had a sweet little belly button. It was curved inward.

Happy little whimpers and giggles danced between them.

Then a knowing, poised smile was hovering over her as two fingers slithered between her thighs, pressed up and down her heated labia. Lillitu took in a sharp breath, but then she made an expectant, deep groan. Then she had the feeling she had always loved, probing digits sinking into her, shoving aside all negative thoughts.