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As the door opens, the spirit winks out into nothingness and Mira stands there in the entrance, Lemia peeking over her shoulder.

'Who were you talking to?' Mira asks, more out of curiosity than suspicion. 'Did Dakrom trouble you in my absence?' Her face ripples once again. It is not a scowl but a brief glimpse of the monster that resides within the woman.

Alysa turns the skull over in her hand as she glances over at Mira. "I missed you my sweet, I see you've brought Lemia to help me, I seem to injure myself so much when beautiful women are around silly me. Dakrom? No not at all, I was talking to myself, I do that sometimes, helps me make big decisions if I picture it from someone else's point of view, don't you find it so?"

She motions for Mira to join her "also it seems in your concern for me you dropped something my dear, but don't trouble yourself, I found it for you and kept it safe, I know how much your little charms mean to you and I would hate to think how sad you would be if you lost one!"

Her voice is sweet and cheerful and she's smiling despite the pain and confusion that she's feeling. Her blue eyes are sparkling with glee as she looks from Lemia to Mira, hoping her sudden change of mood is not suspicious to them.

Raising an imperious eyebrow, Mira nods slowly. 'You are under great strain, my beauty, and I have not been as honest with you as I should have been. In my haste to make you my companion, I failed to consider your own desires. Forgive me, darling. I was just as enraptured by your charms as you were with mine.'

A slow smile spread across her lips but when her eyes fix upon the item in Alysa's hand, they widen and she hurries forward. At first, Alysa might expect the worst, another physical rebuke from the woman but, instead, she gingerly takes it from the blonde and gazes at Alysa with such tenderness that, for a moment, she almost seems human.

'Oh, Alysa! Thank you so much! This is a very valuable charm. It was the first given to me by my mistress and she has told me that it is enchanted to bring luck to the one who wears it!'

Then, rather unexpectedly, Mira laughs.

'However, I believe my mistress, who is wise in all things, may, just this once, be mistaken. I cannot count the number of times it has managed to come loose or fall away! Do you remember, Lemia, when I thought one of you had taken it?'

Lemia, who has also started forward towards Alysa, peering carefully at Alysa's injured wrist, nods somberly.

'I do, mistress,' the maid says in a colorless voice. 'You gutted that young boy because you thought he was the culprit.'

Mira giggles at this. 'Yes, and all along it had simply fallen away and gotten lost in my bedsheets! Oh, sometimes my temper does get the better of me.'

'Oh, indeed, mistress,' Lemia agrees with a tight smile of her own, though she now bends down by Alysa to inspect her damaged wrist. 'It took us many days to completely clean him off the walls.

Alysa shudders as Lemia speaks, wondering just how close she had come to suffering that fate herself with her attempts to free the necklace from Mira's body. Her uninjured hand brushes through her hair nervously, wondering what Lemia must think or if she truly knows what Mira had done.

"Oh mistress, the strain is not so great as you think, what wounds me more is the idea you felt you had to hide your dream for us from me, as though I would cast you away for it" she purrs softly, "as if I would ever wish to leave your side, my beautiful Mira"

She looks over to Mira with her enchanting blue eyes and smiles to her, "perhaps when Lemia patches me up I shall make up for our little fight. After all, you deserve the best even from me and I intend to make sure that you will always have just that, the best".

'If you shall excuse me, my lady and mistress,' Lemia says after a few moments, 'I shall need to fetch some warm water and bandages.'

'She shall mend,' Mira nods confidently.

'That she shall, mistress,' Lemia responds, 'but she shall require more delicate attentions for the moment.' The old maid does not need to look up at the lady of the house to know that Mira is glaring at her coldly.

'Mind your own concerns, Lemia,' she suggests, a dangerous calm in her voice. 'Go and fetch what you must. I shall take Alyssa to my bedchamber. Have Lucia bring us some more of the wine and perhaps some prepared sausages if any are yet ready to be cooked.'

By the sound of her words, Mira is irritated by any implications that might have been hidden in Lemia's words and Lemia, for her part, knows to remain cowed and otherwise humble before the woman. Without another word, she hurries back out of the room, the door now unlocked.

'As for you,' Mira says, purring with a sultry gleam in her eye as she turns towards Alysa. 'It is I who shall make amends to you. my dearest Alysa. I shall show you that the same touch that can cause such pain can also bring you unending pleasure.'

Her gaze roves over Alysa and the rogue knows precisely what the woman is thinking. Dead or alive, there are times when people are not only open books to Alysa but written in large print.

The bandit trembles as she watches Lemia leave, hoping she can find some way to resist the food and wine she knows Mira will offer her. Her blue eyes turn to her would-be lover, still full of sweetness and perhaps what could be interpreted as admiration if the circumstances were different.

"Mira, my sweet I have no need of food or drink right now, I only wish to be close to you", she whispers, allowing Mira to draw her own conclusions as to what the blonde woman truly desires of her right now. She smiles seductively and motions with her good hand for Mira to join her with a lick of her lips. "After all, the only thing I have a taste for right now is your sweet kiss mistress, and surely you're not cruel enough to deny me that".

'Never so cruel,' Mira says, as she reattaches the small animal skull charm to the chain of keys around her neck, 'to deny anything to you, my beauty.'

She slowly, sensually saunters over to the sedan chair and lowers herself to one knee so that she can share another kiss with Alysa.

'I see that your hunger for flesh expresses itself in much more interesting ways than the others. Let us be away to my bedchambers and I shall indulge you for the rest of the evening and every night thereafter.'

She slips her arms under Alysa, hooking around her back and under her knees, and lifts her up from the cushions, her lips still brushing against those of her blonde lover. 'You shall see, my beauty, that service to me is not so bad and you shall be so greatly rewarded.'

Her tongue flicks along Alysa's chin and jaw. 'Together, we shall travel Angalon and they shall tell stories of us to warn others what terrors the darkness conceals.'

Alysa leans forward, closing the distance between herself and the kneeling Mira as she kisses her passionately, wrapping her good arm around the woman's neck. "Never send me away Mira, let me stay with you always, we can go anywhere, do anything, I promise you".

As Mira lifts her from the chair she smiles and kisses her again, her free hand stroking through Mira's hair affectionately. "It may be the wine or your blood or perhaps I'm falling in love with you Mira, but you're the only thing I want right now, every inch of you and I will make you scream my name with every touch". She falls silent and nuzzles against the vampir's neck like a kitten, "I will be such a wonderful companion to you Mira, I will give you the world if you let me".

Once again, Mira raises an eyebrow. 'I believe that may be my blood calling to you, my beauty, rather than your own words.'

She sighs. 'But it is what I desire to hear from your lips, such lovely, sweet syllables, like honey in my ear.'

In her strong arms, Alysa is borne away from the lounge and out through the corridor opposite that by which Lemia exited. As before, Mira must stop to ensure that the tower door is unlocked before taking Alysa into a small hallway that she shall recognize. The door on the far wall leads into the library but it is to the left that Mira strides.

Despite her powerful grip, Alysa must still wrap her arm around Mira's shoulders to steady herself and prevent her other arm from shifting with every step. Mira is somewhat petite but whatever horrible malady that has afflicted her, it has clearly granted her greater prowess and Alysa might consider the possibilities it would offer her to become such a being.

Into another wider and longer corridor they emerge, this one also boasting a peaked skylight which is intact, though the iron shutters here are only partially withdrawn. There are still more doors on either side as well as one at the opposite end of the hall. Through this, they go and Alysa shall realize she is in the sitting room that adjoins the entrance.

Unlike during the day, all the candles and lanterns in the manor are now fully lit, allowing Alysa to survey her surroundings. The sitting room boasts a large fireplace around which are situated a number of large, stuffed chairs and a long sofa. This would be where the family would entertain less formal guests or would gather in the evening for a meeting. That is, were this estate populated by any ordinary family or servants.

Out into the entryway, Mira carries Alysa. There are a pair of men standing there, dressed in the same simple tailed waistcoats and trousers that she had seen worn by the other male servants. One has a head of balding, blonde curls and rather ruddy features while the other is darker in complexion, possibly from the South like Alysa herself, as well as flashing eyes and a short dark shock of hair on his head.

'Good evening, my lady,' both of the men say at once but Mira merely gives them the faintest of nods as she passes by them and ascends the stairs. They both watch curiously, peering at Alysa but they dare not speak in the presence of their mistress.

The suits of armors still guard the great brass clock that indicates it is just after midnight. Up to the second floor and here, Mira turns to the left, taking the western corridor. She promptly stops at the first door and reaches for her keys once more.

'I cannot wait to be rid of the need for these keys,' Mira grumbles. 'Once we are away, Dakrom may do as he pleases with this place.'

Though Alysa had explored some of the rooms in this wing, she had neglected this one. It is clearly larger than the other bedrooms she visited, with a much higher ceiling. Thick support beams run along the corners of the room and the walls are painted in layers of rose, gold and white. On the far side, there are windows that overlook the solarium.

There are a pair of large wardrobes in the far corner, a small desk, a vanity that has, in place of a mirror, a burnished brass disk that resembles the sun and, in the corner immediately to their left, a piano rests. Across the hardwood floors, a large crimson carpet is thrown.

Directly in front of them is the vast four poster bed that is of such dimesions that it could likely be put to sea with a proper sail. Drapes cascade down from the ceiling above to surround the bed in a gauzy shroud. It is to this that Mira carries Alysa.

She gazes down at the blonde before passionately kissing her once more. 'I have plans for you,' Mira murmurs with lascivious promise, 'but we shall wait until my maidservant has bound your wrist. I do not wish damaging my beauty once again.'

Leaving Alysa lying there, and the bandit may notice that, in addition to her prodigious strength, the lady of the house has an almost careless grace, moving so effortlessly and fluidly, Mira glides over towards the piano and seats herself on the bench behind it.

Through this whole affair Alysa has snuggled against Mira, acting as though she has surrendered to the pressure the woman's poisoned blood is exerting on her will, meanwhile she is keeping herself mentally sharp, honing her mind like a razor even as she plays the docile kitten, but even the fluffiest kittens hide claws. Her lips find Mira's now and then, layering sweet kisses on them as she carries her through the house. Occasionally her lips drift and she nips at the woman's neck teasingly.

The bandit curls up on the bed as Mira lays her down, drawing the vampir deeper into their passionate kiss, shifting to watch her catlike movements as their kiss is broken. "Do you play my Mira?" she asks as she watches her settle onto the piano bench, "if that is the case I would give anything to hear it, beautiful women always make the most beautiful music and I am certain that yours will be by far the sweetest I have heard". There are so many implications possible in her words and she leaves every single one open to Mira's mind as she stretches carefully, keeping her injured hand away from the rest of her lithe form.

'Oh, yes,' Mira says softly as she glances down at the keys before her. Her nimble fingers take a few exploratory steps across them, causing a light tinkling sound. Then, at once, Mira begins to let her hands dance across the keys much as they had over Alysa's fevered body not so long before.

'Though you should call me mistress in the presence of the others.' A faint smile crosses her lips.

'Yes, I play. It is one of the few pleasures that I have in this place. It reminds me of...other times. Not better, perhaps, but when things were more complicated and I always had the simplicity of music to escape.

'You see, my beauty, I was born different from other women. From the earliest age I can recall, I have been not been drawn to men. They are so coarse, so rough and their voices so deep and unpleasant. Yet I was raised my entire life in the expectation I would one day become a wife and mother.

'My father is, or was, a man of leisure. Not of noble blood but he enjoyed his rich pursuits. He would travel often but I had to remain behind. When he would return, he would bring back wonders of the other lands like Mystykara or the Lost Valley! However, he would always remind me that his life would not suit me, a woman, and that I would be better served following a less ambitious career.'

Whatever she may be, Mira is quite talented at playing the piano and it is possibly her proficiency is only enhanced in her state. She does not look up at Alysa but her eyes follow the patterns of notes and beats written upon the sheets sitting upright in front of her.

'My mother taught me how to play the piano and she encouraged me to read books but she was of the same mind as my father. She was less insistent that I be married and suggested I find a job for myself that would suit me. As I loved children and reading, I chose to become an educator. It did not take me long to become a tutor to the daughters of the wealthy. Most of them were spoiled, conceited creatures and wouldn't listen to a word I told them, let alone follow their lessons. Then I met Lucilla.'

Her gaze now lifts up and settles upon Alysa. 'She was not that much younger than me when we met and so eager to learn. What I didn't expect, however, was what she would teach me about myself. You can imagine how it changed the nature of our relationship and how we had to keep it hidden from everyone. I so dearly loved her.

'I don't believe my father ever knew but, not long afterwards, he had found a husband for me. As luck would have it, young Jon Harken who served the same household as myself. He apparently had been taken with me for some time but never approached me. Instead, he went to my father and asked for my hand. He was a facilitator for Lucilla's family, the Westons. He would buy and sell commodities for them, everything from stakes in mining companies to property. I must confess to you, my beauty, that while he was certainly kind and in every measure a perfect gentleman, I was already in love. Do you understand what I mean, my darling Alysa?'

"You fell for her didn't you my sweet?" she answers, her face feigning a slight jealousy that she was not the first woman Mira had fallen for, even the woman's blood could not assuage the bandit's ego. "You fell in love with this girl, as you have fallen for me and as I have fallen for you".

Alysa lays on the comfortable bed and listens as the notes of Mira's music surround her, reminding even the blonde of her own better days, though only to her would they seem so. Her mind wandered from the walls of Redcylffe back to the small village of Damora from whence she took her name and the times that her mother had tried to teach her to coax such sounds from a piano. It seemed Alysa's nimble fingers were not meant for music, but of course she insisted the young girl continue to learn. Well, that is until.....

The crushing thought hurls Alysa back into the present and the situation she now finds herself in. She cannot continue pretending to love Mira forever and she has only a few days to make her escape. Something in her mind tells her that by keeping close to the woman as much as she can, plying her with sweet words and soft touches, she might be able to win the very information that will save her. "Perhaps someday I will learn to play as you do Mira, but for the moment it seems my fingers and my mind are put to far better use in other ways".

'Yes,' Mira confesses fiercely, her fingers striking the keys harder, souring some of the notes. 'I loved Lucilla. She was not the first woman I had loved but she was the first that loved me back. Not as a mother or as a sister but as a lover.

'As you know, my beauty, there is not any law against such congress but it is simply left unspoken. Other people don't wish to know about it and they are displeased or even offended if you tell him.'

She smiles despite herself. 'Lucilla, of course, did not care. Her father and mother were always preoccupied with their own affairs. She had spent most of her life being raised by governesses and maids. Like me, she was an only daughter and, like me, she wished to be free of it all. However, I would learn too late just how freely my dear Lucilla shared her love. While I did not long for the affections of a man and she was my one and only object of devotion, Lucilla proved more...liberated. I later discovered she had made lovers of many of the servants, men and women. She craved the attention, you see. The neglect of her parents had left a hollow in her soul and she could never truly fill it. In the depths of my passion for her, I could forgive even these betrayals. When her father began to present suitors and she would promise me that, regardless of with whom she shared her marriage bed, our relationship would not need to end, I accepted these terms. My love was simply too strong for me to deny her anything.'

There is a thunderous, deafening series of notes from the piano before Mira finally pauses in her playing.

'It was weakness, my beauty; mortal frailty. Love is nothing more than a lie we tell ourselves to make something more noble out of simple desires. You don't love me, my dear Alysa. You are only bound to me by the portion of my blood within you. It shall bring us closer together but not in love. Love is a folly for those of weaker minds.'

With that, Mira resumes her earlier fluid, melodic style.

'But I abided it, being the fool I was. It would seem she and I were both doomed to a life of unfulfilled dreams until my husband was dispatched on a long journey to the south. Lucy's father had been contacted by a mysterious caller who was interested in purchasing some of this property near the family estate. As it lay within the very heart of Viktoron, it was very expensive but this caller had offered a great deal of coin for it. So, he sent my betrothed to visit this individual and determine whether or not they were truly of the means to buy the proposed grounds. It is in that way that I would become introduced to my mistress, just as I shall introduce you to her when she arrives.'

Lemia enters the room, nodding reverently to Mira before turning back towards the bed where Alysa lies. The old maid carries a wooden platter upon which rests a large brass bowl, the contents of which are visibly shedding steam, and a crisp white handtowel, which covers a roll of bandages and what looks to be several small sticks of wood. This she sets on the small table beside the bed before placing the bowl on top of the thick woollen quilt next to Alysa.

'Here,' Lemia offers, delicately taking hold of Alysa's injured wrist, which happens to be her left, and easing it into the very warm water within the bowl.

'Before I can properly bind it, the swelling must go down. It may require a few hours or more.'

A visible look of disappointment crosses Mira's face but she continues to play the piano. Through the door behind Lemia, Lucia enters, bearing a brass platter, this one bearing the crystal wine decanter, a single serving glass and a small plate heaped with still sizzling sausages.

Alysa notices the disappointment in Mira's eyes and flashes her an enchanting grin, "oh mistress you needn't look so sad, your beauty will not leave your side, you shall have what you desire from me and more still and I assure you my dear mistress that it shall be well worth the wait"

With that she licks her lips and winks at her, virtually ignoring Lemia in her attempts to keep the woman at the piano distracted with her sweet words, fighting not to wince as the maid places her broken wrist in the steaming water, even the slightest touch causing her pain.

"But, I seem to have interrupted your tale mistress, how abominable of me, it seems I shall have more than one transgression to make amends for once my battle wounds are bound" she giggles a bit as she speaks, "oh my mistress, how you could think I would ever refuse you a thing you desired I will never know and I surely hope to never give you a reason to believe I am capable of such cruelty to such a wonderful and skilled woman as you"

Mira, whose ivory skin is almost so luminous by the light of the candelabra set atop the piano, seems to glow more brightly, her eyes flashing.

'Your words are more musical to me than any of these notes I play,' she purrs, continuing to manipulate the keys with her fingers.

Lemia, however, glares at Alysa, her lips turning downward in a scowl. She whirls about to glower at Lucia.

'Put the platter down, you silly, stupid girl! The mistress and her guest do not wish to be disturbed!' she snaps. The younger maid obediently places her platter next to the other one already resting upon the small table and inadvertantly knocks over the towels, bandages and twigs.

'You clumsy oaf!' Lemia shrieks, grabbing Lucia by the shoulder and snarling as she thrusts the younger woman down to her knees on the carpet. Once again, Lemia's features are contorted in more than mere rage. Her eyes have changed to a sickly yellow and her mouth is open, exposing her sharpened teeth.

Lucia simply begins to collect the items that are scattered upon the floor.

'Forgive me, mistress,' Lemia says tersely, bowing deeply before Mira and then doing the same to Alysa, 'and her most honored guest. I shall be certain that this one is sufficiently punished.'

At those words, Lucia's head snaps up to stare pleadingly at Lemia. The older woman is not mollified. 'It has been some time since your last punishment. You are due for another, such a weak and unworthy girl you are to serve in the house of our mistress.'

For her part, Mira only casually glances at these proceedings and continues to play her piano.

Alysa merely returns Lemia's glare with her enchanting smile, feigning innocence. If she didn't know better she might think Lemia was jealous of the attention Mira was getting from their beautiful guest. "Oh Lemia" she coos "I still think of you as a mother to me, you've taken such good care of me the past few days". She hopes to assuage the glaring woman, but is saved by Lucia and her clumsiness.

As Lemia berates her daughter Alysa turns her attentions back to the vampir at the piano, "did I not tell you mistress?" she purrs "Lemia has been so good to me while you sleep, it's almost enough to make your absence bearable, but I fear if I keep her from her work too long you might begin to think I prefer her company to your own".

She watches Mira carefully, wondering what her reaction will be to her words. Her plan is to stay as close to Mira as she can and perhaps nip the keys while the woman sleeps and make her escape. The bandit keeps her piercing blue eyes, now looking like the ocean before a storm as the war in her mind rages on, locked on her opponent.

'That is her role as my thrall,' Mira comments, her eyes roving over the sheet music. 'Is it not, Lemia?'

'Of course, mistress,' Lemia says at once, abandoning her torment of Lucia to bow once more at Alysa.

Lucia takes this opportunity to scurry to her feet and hastily exit the bedchambers.

'That useless girl!' Lemia snaps, shaking her head and moving to follow after Lucia but then she seems to remember her duties and returns the side of the bed.

'Would you care for some wine or sausages, my lady? They are both very fresh.' The old maid's features have resumed their humanity and, as Lemia reaches with one hand towards the decanter of wine, Alysa will notice that her long nails slide slowly back into her fingers.

Alysa smiles and shakes her head "oh Lemia, I wish I could but you prepared such a lovely dinner that I couldn't possibly eat another bite!" her voice is full of regret, a stark contrast to the nervous and rather gloating voice in her head that hopes this will be the first small victory in the grand battle for her freedom and some may say her very soul.

"Perhaps in a while though, they smell delicious", she knows she cannot outright refuse or both women might sense that something is amiss and that would be the end of her plan. She turns her eyes back to Mira and watches as she plays the piano, the candlelight making her look even more radiant, if she could of course look past the horror of the woman's true nature.

"You seem intent on spoiling me mistress" she laughs "such lovely company, the beautiful music you're making over there, though I must admit I'm rather jealous of those piano keys for I know how delightful your touch can be, and now you seem intent on ruining my figure before I can even join you!"

'You should eat to regain your strength,' Lemia says hastily, pouring a glass of what appears to be the same wine as before. She pushes the goblet towards Alysa's face as if intending to force her to drink. 'The sausages are freshly made, freshly cooked! You surely must be hungry!'

Indeed, the aroma of the meat is just as overwhelming as the desire to hang up every word that Mira speaks. Her stomach loudly contradicts her assertions and a gnawing pain momentarily supersedes the ache in her wrist.

'If she does not wish to partake of it at the moment,' Mira states, 'then she need not do so. I believe our guest can manage that on her own, Lemia. You may return to the kitchens.'

Yet again, Lemia's face shifts into the masque of gray skin, yellowed fangs and feral eyes as she growls softly at Alysa but she looks human once more when she turns to face Mira.

'Yes, mistress,' Lemia answers, without a hint of misgiving in her voice. As she moves towards the door, however, she will give Alysa another glimpse of her monstrous visage before she departs.

'You must forgive my thralls, sweet Alysa,' Mira remarks, smirking. 'They are very protective of me. Without me, they are like lost children. I give them food, protection and, most important of all, purpose. Their devotion is determined by how greatly they respect and fear me. Were I to appear weak to them, they would turn upon me at once. The consequences would be...unpleasant.'

Finally, Mira finishes the composition and rises from the piano. 'Lemia instructed you to soak your wrist until the swelling goes down so I expect it is for the best that you do so. As I said, I forget how fragile I used to be. Now, so very little concerns me.'

She sighs and makes her way over to the opposite side of the bed, sitting lightly upon it. 'It has been lonely, I shall admit. My mistress took everything that used to be important to me but she has given me so much more in return. Still, there is no replacement for some of that which I have lost.'

Reaching over, Mira places her hand on top of Alysa's other hand and squeezes gently. 'Now that you're here, things have changed.'

Alysa glares back at Lemia as she leaves, the look that momentarily overtakes her sweet facade could cow a grown man and yet she knows it will have little effect on the woman. "I don't mind mistress, I find myself becoming rather protective of you myself, I can only imagine how they feel".

As Mira takes her hand Alysa smiles to her, her blue eyes softening from their glare and becoming more the sweet woman that the other will remember. "I will never leave you Mira as long as we both live I will stay by your side, protect you from anything that might seek to harm you and give you everything you deserve". The blonde attempts to use her good hand to pull her quarry towards her and into a passionate kiss.

"You are the only thing I want right now Mira, injured or not. And Lemia has every right to be angry with me, I have behaved horridly towards you tonight and if i have hurt you then even more the reason I deserve her wrath. We've both said things tonight tha we shouldn't have though the majority of the blame lies with me and my reaction to your revelation and for that I am truly sorry, I should have heard you out instead of screaming at you as I did and I certainly did not mean it when I called you a bitch, after all you are too sweet to me and to repay you as I did was horrendous. I hope that you can find it in your heart or mind if you prefer, to forgive me". She looks over at Mira with pleading blue eyes, once again looking like a rebuked child.