The valley of fear ch.4
The sisters being little shits gives me life
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Silence, one would quickly learn, never lasts too long in the castle. There was always something, like the shuffling of a broom or a butler going back and forth to the ladies’ whims, or Dalia going to check on the maids under her supervision.
Or the daughters returning from a hunt.
It didn’t even take being at the main entrance to hear them come in, the echo of the doors and the following giggles and voices being heard even from a few corridors away, where Anita was sweeping the floor. She did try to stall for as long as possible before having to clean the room they were in, hoping they would move on, but by the time she was in the doorframe, Cassandra was still bickering with Bela over the dead buck at the entrance.
“Do you want to carry this whole thing all the way to the kitchens?”
“For the last time, we aren’t butchering it in the entrance hall.”
“As if we don’t get blood stains all over the floors on a regular basis.”
Daniela watched her sisters seemingly ready to take out a bag of popcorn. Instead of pacing around like them, she was standing right by where the deer was laying on it’s back in the doorway.
“Just get Cyntia and her cooks to take care of it,” Bela’s voice came with the same strain of any elder sibling having to deal with the younger ones’ whims and stubborn fits. Something that she was no doubt familiar with.
Daiela pulled out something from one of the many pockets of her hunting pants and crouched down above the animal, grabbing one leg to keep it still. The action went unnoticed by the other two, still engrossed in their back and forth while Anita was keeping to the outskirts of the room, not wanting to risk disturbing them. If Daniela had noticed her, she gave no indication.
“We should’ve taken the back door, like we usually do.”
Apparently the thing in Daniela’s hand was a knife, it slid smoothly through fur and skin, most likely sharpened on a regular basis. She was quite skillful with the carcass, making quick work of the gutting and gathering the intestines, and getting blood to pour onto the floor and at the feet of a mildly concerned guard positioned at the door that had greeted them. She seemed almost as uncomfortable with the situation as Anita.
“You’re the one who whined and complained that the back door was too far for your impatient self.”
“Bela, catch!”
Daniela’s voice cut through their argument, together with an array of guts flying at the blonde, who instinctively grabbed them in her arms, some of them whipping around her shoulders while another section slapped her face with an oddly comical splashing sound. They made even more of a mess of her outfit, dripping crimson onto every inch of the fabric. Bela didn’t react at first, either surprised or utterly annoyed with her sister’s antics, but after a few long seconds she simply opened her arms and let the gory mess fall to the floor with a sigh and a glare that would send anyone running for the hills. Well, almost anyone. Laughter from the younger two followed, Cassandra grabbing her midsection and bending over slightly while Daniela leaned on the brunette’s shoulder in a fit of giggles.
“I’m done with you two. See you at dinner,” Bela deadpanned and broke into a swarm, gracious and with smooth movements not unlike a miniature version of a flock of starlings, to fly up the stairs and away from the scene.
It would have been somewhat funny too, Anita realized, if she weren’t the one who had to clean all that mess. With a sigh, she went about doing other tasks while the remaining two sisters sectioned the deer and took it away, with the help of the guard.
---
The upside of being filthy rich and having marble floors? It’s easy to wipe blood off of that, a fact that she suspected came into play whenever the Lady had renovated the castle. It had miraculously only taken an extra hour to clean the gory mess from the entrance,but by the time her shift was finally over, Anita was ready to collapse in bed, shoulders stiff and in dire need of a good long stretch.
Her plans were thrown out the window when a hand closed around her arm out of a sudden and pulled her into a dimly lit hallway. The yelp that threatened to turn into a scream was momentarily silenced by a gloved finger pressing to her lips and mismatched golden eyes meeting hers. The sight of Daniela did little to calm her nerves.
“It’s just me,” she said with her trademark smile, as if that were of any comfort. Well, she probably thought it was. “What took you so long?” Her lips formed a pout that would’ve been cute had she not been the very reason for her prolonged shift.
Would telling her off for making such a mess be worth the possibility of losing her tongue? Probably not. Instead, Anita smiled to the best of her abilities and grabbed Daniela’s hand, which made the smile return to the redhead’s lips. “Just some extra things to do,” she whispered.
Daniela hummed in response and interlaced their fingers, tugging on her hand and almost dragging her down to a different part of the castle, away from the rest she was so dearly yearning for.
“Come on, I have something for you,” she told her while picking up a tad more speed.
That caught Aita slightly off guard, confusedly staring at her back while power walking. She noticed then that the dirty hunting clothes were swapped out in favor of a black dress that fell more on the casual side for Daniela. All the blood and gore was gone too after presumably taking a bath that left her smelling of lavender. She never failed to look downright gorgeous outside of the programmed murdering sessions and Anite decided to focus all of her attention on that, not letting her nerves and anxious mind wander too far into what was in store for her next. For all she knew, the big surprise could be a one way ticket to the dungeons, sure that Daiela would find that romantic in a weird twisted way.
Despite her expectations, the redhead took her up a few flights of stairs, until they were quietly walking through an unfamiliar hallway, orante with what were surely priceless paintings and even portraits of the ladies among those. Most doors were decorated with the family crest, the white and gold standing out from the other, more simple doors she had to go through on a daily basis.
The faint sound of violin made both of them freeze, Anita more so because of Daniela’s reaction than the music itself, but after a few seconds she let out a breath and whispered: “Just Bela.”
The prospect of being in near proximity to multiple Dimitrescus at once made Anita gulp, having had enough for one day. The fear didn’t have time to fully settle in though, as Daniela quickly unlocked one of the doors and pulled her inside the spacious room. She paused at the entrance, taking in the sight before her.
Had Daniela just taken her to her bedroom?
She had half expected it to be less… normal. Or as normal as it gets for them. But the desk tucked to one side had a handful of half done projects piled on it in what was probably an organised mess. A covered canvas stood just by the same desk close to the door to a personal bathroom with a half opened door. The bookshelves were full with books not unlike the ones from the library but also with a myriad of trinkets, some looking older than her and some looking hand made. One thing that momentarily caught her attention was a familiar wood carving of a goat, one that she had seen multiple times since getting to the castle. The better portion of one wall was covered by a giant painting depicting four bats, three black and a bigger white one standing above the rest like a mother protecting her children.
And then the bed. It was uncharacteristically neat, with every pillow and blanket in matching colors and patterns, with only a couple standouts where a plush was tucked in between cushions or a yet to be folded cover was left on top of the sheets. Also, it was unnecessarily huge.
“Here,” Daniela’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to her and the excited smile pulling at black painted lips.
In her hands was a small carving of a canary, skilfully painted in shades of yellow and auburn and an adorable tuft of feathers sculpted atop its head. Anita took it in her own hand with the same care one would with the real bird, almost scared of breaking frail little bones. She turned it around, taking in the minute details of the wings, tucked against its wooden body, blending into the fanned out tail. The beak was open in a silent eternal trill, even the small tongue painted red and the eyes carved out and replaced with black shiny beads.
Her focus momentarily moved back on Daniela slightly shifting on her feet, not knowing how to interpret the silence that followed her gift. There was no way she would know about Anita’s hobby of bird watching was there?
“Thank you,” she whispered and the way Danela’s eyes lit up shouldn't have been as endearing as it was and neither should the way she shyly averted her gaze.
“We passed through town on our way out. Thought it was cute.”
Ah, so it was a lucky guess. That was somewhat comforting.
And so was the gesture, painfully human in the way Daniela had presented it, as if they were two completely normal people meeting for a second date at a coffee shop, still mildly awkward and getting their bearings. It made leaning closer far too easy, all but ignoring the metaphorical blood soaking Daniela’s hands and instead focusing on her unfairly soft lips. Their mouths met in a tender kiss as Anita raised on her tiptoes to get more on level with her and Daniela’s hand came up to caress her cheek. It turned hungry as Anita shifted her head and pushed her tongue past ashy tinted lips and past fangs that tore into flesh on the regular. Someone more diligent would’ve tried to avoid the possibility of getting their tongue bitten off, but the way Daniela’s breath hitched was far too satisfying to care.
Her hands came to rest on the collar of Daniela’s dress as she was leaving a slow trail of kisses across her jawline.
There was an odd kind of poetry in the way Daniela seemed downright out of breath, lower lip caught by a sharp fang in what could only be a nervous tick. Nervous, when any other time of the day it was her that could make Anita’s heart stop in fear by mere virtue of existing in her vicinity. Would getting a weird sort of payback that doubled as satisfying more thoughtless wishes be worth the risk?
“Can I take this off?” she whispered against cool skin as her fingers toyed with the first buttons of the dress.
Daniela stepped back and blinked a few times in a way that made Anita think she had committed a terrible mistake, until she actually spoke. “Are you… sure?” She looked almost baffled.
She nodded and took a mental note of the fact that it was more likely than not that nobody had climbed into bed with Daniela without dying. Well, she was nothing if not determined, and if she were to die in that castle, might as well have a good time beforehand. The smile that pulled on the redhead’s lips then felt as if it demanded all her focus, as a hand closed around her wrist with a tad too much pressure as they moved to the queen sized bed.
“Go on then,” Daniela encouraged, the all too familiar flirty tone coming accompanied by a hungry glint in beautiful mismatched eyes.
And, well, when a beautiful girl asks you to undress her, it would be only rude to make her wait. Each undone button came together with a soft kiss left on newly exposed skin, drawing sounds that came dangerously close to quiet moans as the fabric became more and more loose around Daniela’s shoulders. Anita kissed her again, deep and passionate, as she slipped her hands under the fabric, across an arched back, and finally let the dress fall and carelessly pool at their feet.
“You’re overdressed,” Dniela whispered against her lips, as she grabbed onto her blouse while pulling her down on the soft mattress.
Admittedly, Anita did not trust her not to rip the buttons or the fabric outright, so she made quick work of her own clothes while straddling her thighs. The contrast of undergarments made her pause for a moment, only now taking the time to truly look at what Daniela had on. Hers were a simple black set, made for comfort more than anything else, that came with her uniform. Daniela was wearing matching bra and underwear, with delicate lace forming beautiful swirling patterns that she gingerly traced with the tips of her fingers. She wondered momentarily if she had thought about this ahead, but the fact that she seemed genuinely surprised made that unlikely. Of course she would be the kind of person to just wear the most expensive underwear casually. Why the hell not.
A blush crept its way on her cheeks when she noticed Daniela also taking her in, golden eyes fixated on her chest. Real subtle, she thought until Daniela raised a hand to slowly trace the lines of the flowers tattooed on the skin there, fanning out from her sternum and above her breasts with softly curling leaves. She had almost forgotten about even having it, but the pleasant shiver that ran down her spine at the sensation of cool fingertips exploring her skin made Anita thank her past self for walking into that tattoo shop those years ago.
“Beautiful,” Daniela whispered before reaching up and planting a barely there kiss on her sternum, right on top of the centerpiece of her tattoo, a lilac flower.
The sincerity behind that one word caught Anita off guard and she couldn’t stop a shy smile pulling at her lips. Daniela had complimented her before,sure , but something about the earnest look in her eyes made her forget that anything or anyone existed beyond the shut bedroom door. In that moment there was no my lady, only a girl she was madly attracted to -because why deny it, really- laying under her and looking at her as if she were the sun. Softly pushing Daniela back down came so natural to her that she would’ve been concerned were it not for the increasing warmth pooling in her stomach.
She dipped her head again, capturing her lips and swallowing a low moan when her leg came to rest just right in between Daniela's thighs, who started to grind slowly as if making an effort, and failing, to keep herself still. Her mouth moved lower and lower, moving past the jaw and down the neck, where she took her sweet time sucking softly at an unmoving pulse point. She moved to leave a kiss on her sternum, taking note of the lack of a heartbeat but decided to keep to her priorities.
Daniela whined when she shifted lower down and had to remove her leg and with it the sweet and needed pressure. Hopefully she wasn't as impatient as one would believe. Anita kissed her way down surprisingly toned muscles and only paused once she was at the lacy edge of her underwear, waiting for any cues that she should stop. None came, in fact Daniela's fingers found their way in her hair, now loose from the bun done while working, to push her down where she needed her the most. She didn't need to be told twice, hooking her fingers under the lace and slowly, tortuously so, pulled down the pesky piece of garment that was in her way.
She took her in her mouth and that's when Daniela seemed to change her mind about the hand in hair thing, choosing instead to grab a handful of the bedsheets and dig her nails into the fabric. Anita went at a slow pace, fumbling her way through what movements drew out gasps and barely restrained moans, relishing in the sight of Daniela crumbling under her touch. She increased the speed steadily, wanting to make it last as long as possible, until the redhead all but slapped the free hand over her mouth to muffle a broken moan while her hips rolled into her climax.
To describe her smile as smug would be an understatement. Anita took in the sight of the woman panting slowly under her, unsure if breathing was even a necessity to her, and left a kiss at the corner of her mouth before laying down on the mattress too.
---
After catching her -unneeded- breath, Daniela switched positions, pulling her back in her lap while taking her turn to leave a trail of sloppy kisses down her neck, stopping to suck at a point that had Anita's breath hitch in her throat. Having a vampiric killer kiss her neck may not be a good idea, but she couldn't bring herself to care at that moment, especially with the discovery that Daniela was more than capable of causing pleasure and not only pain with those fangs. Her fingers found their way through red hair, coming to scratch lightly at the side that was shaved and only stopping when she felt Daniela flinch.
A look at where her hand had been revealed the dark scar, partially hidden by hair and sending black veins under the skin in its vicinity.
"Sorry-"
Daniela cut her off with a shake. "It's fine, it doesn't hurt. Just sensitive."
Anita cocked her head just slightly, somewhat like a curious puppy, and moved to touch it again. The tips of her fingers gently moved across darkened skin, careful not to apply pressure. It drew a shy smile and a sigh out of Daniela.
The moment was graciously interrupted by the doorknob twisting and a voice yelling: "Daniela, dinner!"
Anita almost jumped two meters in the air like a spooked cat, which gained her a chuckle and a protective arm draped around her waist. Fuck, she was still only in underwear. But the next sound that came from the door was a heavy thud as it wouldn't budge.
"Did you… lock the door?" the voice that she now recognized as belonging to Cassandra came muffled from outside.
"Mhm," Daniela sounded amused, whether at Anita’s reaction or at her sister’s apparent mild indignation. Probably both.
"Why?"
"Well, you did just try to barge in, so maybe ask yourself a few questions."
A small pause and a groan later: "As if you don't do that all the time."
Daniela then rolled her eyes, evidently exempt from such foolish critique. "Do you miss me so much already that you can't walk to the dining room by yourself?"
A low growl could be heard and stomping steps away from the door, together with a muffled whatever. Anita was still frozen in place while Daniela was giggling. "How to get rid of Cassandra: accuse her of feelings," she said, not containing a laugh but still keeping her voice down.
"Holy fuck," Anita more mouthed than said, not trusting that she won't be heard by someone else.
"It's okay," Daniela said dismissively. "I do have to go though. But before that…"
She bent and pulled a small scarf from a drawer of her nightstand, tying it around Anita's neck with a small bow at the front. At a confused frown, she clarified. "Can't have the others see that."
Anita sighed. A hickey. Seriously.
But the protest died on her tongue as Daniela got up and put her dress back on, before giving her one last kiss.
"Wait until my moms pass by and then get out, you'll be safe," she instructed and then gave one of her trademark smiles. "See you tomorrow, love."