The Lady of the Wood

The forest was dark, the ground damp from yesterday's rain. Aemilia pulled her cloak tighter to ward away the chill in her bones. Strange birds croaked some distance above her as she pushed her way through a tangle of leaves and shrubbery. Just as she thought she couldn't possibly be more lost, she stumbled into a clearing.

Light enveloped her, blinding.

When her eyes adjusted, Aemilia saw a woman sitting on a small lake. She wasn't in the lake, but atop it. Somehow, the water lapped gently about her legs and feet, but none of her body was submerged beneath it. Aemilia stared in wonder. She was so stunned that it took her a few moments to realise the woman was completely naked.

"Are you the Lady of the Wood?" Aemilia asked. Her voice trembled in spite of her conscious will to sound strong and resolute.

The woman laughed. "Yes, you've found me, little girl. Oh, don't look offended; everyone in the world is little to me. I am older than the wood itself." She rinsed water through her hair, which was gold and flowing, strung with small leaves. All the while, she kept her eyes on Aemilia. There was something in that look that made Aemilia nervous.

The woman's voice was deep and melodious. It brought sweet images to Aemilia's mind, though of what she could not say. The effect made her more relaxed, somehow. "Well," the woman continued, "I am Jessalain of the Wood, and you have not told me why it is you come. Do you seek my wisdom? Is it a boon you wish me to bestow upon you? Or, do you crave the simple pleasures of flesh? I can give you all three and more, if you entertain me with your company. It has been so long since I've had a guest in my home."

Aemilia's eyes lingered for half a heartbeat on the woman's breasts, round and beautiful. Jessalain seemed to sense her, and met her eyes with a wry smile. "Speak, girl. Tell me your name."

"I am Aemilia of Cainhall. I come seeking the wisdom of the forest. More importantly, I seek to do what no novice has done before. Our sect worships you, fair lady, but, as you yourself confess, few have ever sought you out to learn of your magic directly. They say it is forbidden..."

Jessalain smiled. "Ah, so it is knowledge you seek. Knowledge to stand above your peers - the power to be better than all those who came before you. I sense great ambition in you, little girl. A lust for power, chained inside a delicate girl so frail and precious, like a fruit ripe for picking." The woman thought for a moment. "Come closer," she drawled. "Let me get a better look at you."

Hesitantly, Aemilia approached the small lake.

Jessalain let out a low growl. "Slender features, wide hips, high cheekbones, and... Light eyes. You are born of nobility, little girl."

Aemilia opened her mouth to speak, but could find no words.

"Ah, so you're a bastard. Nobody told you who your father is, did they?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Aemilia snapped. "I came to ask questions, not answer them. If all you will do is speak in riddles, I will be leaving."

Slowly, the Lady of the Wood sat back and spread her legs, making ripples in the water. Her bare hand covered the space between her thighs. "Sometimes," Jessalain said, "a little girl must sacrifice of herself if she is to achieve her goals. I can see the lust in your eyes. I admire it. You want to be a powerful mage, do not deny it. But, if you would have something of me, I would also take something of you in return."

Aemilia tried hard to control her impatience. As frustrating as this encounter was, she couldn't afford to go back to her masters empty handed. When she again met Jessalain's cunning eyes, she saw that the sorceress was well aware of that fact. "What would you take?" Aemilia asked.

"I think you know," Jessalain said. "A trifle, only something that you would readily give. I am no witch that steals from my prey, like the people of the South would have you believe."

"What would you have of me?" Aemilia repeated.

"Lay with me," Jessalain said bluntly. "Give me the pleasure of your flesh. Give yourself to me, all of yourself. Spend the night in my Wood, and leave in the morning with more power than you could ever imagine. This pact I offer. You may have what you desire, if you would only sign it."

Shocked as she was, Aemilia considered for a moment. She didn't want to go back, having broken all of her guild's empty rules for no gain. She could feel her skin tingle at the thought of giving herself to Lady Jessalain, of lying with her, letting the woman own her body and soul - just for one night. The first time was a gift that could only be given once, but for her ends, Aemilia was more than willing to give it. Better this than being married off in a few years. Why shouldn't she seek pleasure, even if it came from another woman?

"I will agree to your terms, if you provide me with the knowledge I seek. I will lay with you this night. I will let you do with me what you will, if I leave in the morning as the most powerful mage in the Western world."

Jessalain grinned. "Come, bathe with me in the water. I will show you its secrets."

Aemilia approached the lake and stepped inside. No wetness clung to her clothes or skin. It was as if the water did not exist. She walked right up to Jessalain, making to sit beside her. But at that moment, the ground collapsed beneath her, and she fell into the water, losing consciousness.

When Aemilia woke, she was in a different place altogether. The forest had changed, its branches lighter, the forest floor painted with pink petals instead of wet soil.

"Come to me."

The voice echoed all around her, penetrating her very bones. Aemilia followed the path of flowers. Petals clung to her boots as she hurried forward. She could smell a heady scent, one unfamiliar to her. Dizzines overcame Aemilia, and her skin felt funny, as if someone had lit small fires all over her. Aemilia walked, then stumbled for no reason. Her left knee hit the ground, and she... moaned? The moan was high pitched, almost a shriek. She stood back up, but felt a tension in her legs, like she was walking through thick treacle. Aemilia slid a hand into her trousers and gasped when she pulled it away, slicked with something wet. She knew instantly what it was. How?

What was happening to her?

She stumbled forward, supporting herself against the trunks of trees, feeling the fine grain of the wood as she rested her hand against its body.

Ahead, she saw the lake where Lady Jessalain had been before. She walked towards it, feeling a pang of arousal, and a heat filling her from the waist up. Aemilia's ears rang with the sounds of girlish moans. Lips smacked against lips. There was a sharp rush of breath, as if before a great plunge. It released into a sigh of ecstasy. Aemilia had never felt this way before. She needed to take her energy out on something.

Someone.

She ran the short distance remaining to the lake and fell to her knees in its waters. On the surface was herself, looking right back at her. Only, different...

Her hair was different: white instead of red. She had not aged, her face remaining youthful, but she wore a crown. Jewels of all sorts gleamed inside it. At the centre was a ruby, smouldering like a hot star. She was...

Queen?

Aemilia felt herself drawn to the image, the cold sheen of perfection on her brow, the calculated smile and level gaze. Is this who she could become?

She fell through the water again...

... and surfaced into the embrace of Jessalain. They sat atop a soft bed, still in the forest. Pink petals coated the warm, white sheets.

"Lay with me," the woman commanded. "Lay with me and I will make you Queen. Give me everything, and you will receive everything."

"Yes!" Aemilia moaned, collapsing into Jessalain's arms. "Take everything, I'm yours. Use me as you please."

"This once, I will do as you ask," Jessalain said, kissing her neck. Somehow, Aemilia was naked. When had that happened? How long had she been in that vision? Where had the bed come from?

In that moment, Aemilia realised the Woods were an illusion. The only real part of it all was Jessalain, and the sorceress had taken her virginity while Aemilia remained unconscious, a thrall to Jessalain's power.

But she didn't care. She wanted this.

She turned her head and kissed Jessalain, her essence melting into the Lady of the Wood's. The woman's scent was sweet. As her hands kneaded Aemilia's breasts, Jessalain pushed her tongue into Aemilia's mouth. Their lips danced like fencers inside the circle. Aemilia lunged into a kiss, parrying Jessalain's tongue with her own. Aemilia's nipples felt like melting butter.

Her thighs were slicked with wetness, and that drove her forward. She ran her hands over Jessalain's soft curves. Her body was like that of a goddess, her breasts brimming with a softness that made Aemilia purr as she licked them. The two of them were like one big tangle, their bodies entwined so much that Aemilia didn't know what was hers anymore. In that moment, she felt so much more than herself.

She remembered the sensation of Jessalain's lips on her, climax upon climax ripping through her like a sword.

She remembered being surrounded by feminine curves, moans echoing through her. Wetness on her face, on her tongue.

She remembered her thighs interlocked with Jessalain's, fingers pressed into soft flesh, a hot wetness sliding against her, a dull ache throbbing through her legs as she thrust again and again, a pleasure she thought impossible.

Their lovemaking passed in a haze. Aemilia would've called it a hallucination if it were not for how she remebered the sickly sweet pleasure of their coupling, of how every part of her body ached to be held and used again and again, drained like the very lake they lay on.

No, Aemilia would never forget that night she spent with the Lady of the Wood. Even later, she would dream she was back in the forest, looking for Jessalain again. She would stumble into the clearing, and find the Lady of the Wood. The woman would greet her with a smile and Aemilia would approach, throbbing with anticipation, only to fall through the water and wake up.

That night, Aemilia had tasted what was forbidden, and she would never taste it again.