"I think I know what you want."

For a long moment, the two women looked at each other. The princess, copper haired, green eyed. Naked from the waist up, and not knowing exactly what to do about it. Torn between two conflicting desires. The primal need for intimacy in the form of sex, and a higher need for something more. She looked at Sarah, begging her silently with her eyes. Needing her to understand.

Sarah took a moment to think. For the blond haired maid, it was a moment that seemed to stretch on forever. What Susan was asking seemed insane, it seemed impossible. What she meant... what she wanted...

Something solid....

Something real...?

Was she....was she even capable of that anymore? Of love rather than lust? Of anything other than desire fuelled by arousal? She had been once, before she came to the castle, but since then, she'd been broken down, stripped to her basic components and build back up, a perfect little ****. Stuff like this... it wasn't meant for her... she wasn't good enough for it...

She wasn't.

She couldn't be...

Could she?

And yet, in the face of all her doubts, she looked into the gaze of the princess, seeing her flashing green eyes, her natural beauty, the way her words could reach out to her, the way her pain could make her flinch.

Maybe...

Maybe she wasn't fully gone yet...?

Sarah took a deep breath, steeling herself as she stepped forwards.

"I think... I think I know what you want..." She said slowly. "Susan, I am not sure that I can give it to you. I'm not... I'm not the person I was before I was brought here. That girl is gone. I broke... I became what they wanted me to... I don't think I can be what you need me to be."

The Princess seemed to shrink, looking away, crumpling into herself. But before she could withdraw, she felt Sarah's hands gently cup the side of her cheek, a finger tracing down her temple. So gentle, and yet so insistent. She turned back to Sarah, and the maid stepped forwards.

"I don't know that I can be what you need me to." She whispered softly. "So much of me is gone... so little of the original girl left... under all these chains, these punishments, these torments... I don't know how much I've been changed, twisted. But....but I do know this... Princess... Susan, for you... I will try."

She gently reached out her other hand. Slowly, almost unbelieving, Susan took her hand, and for the first time, there was real, genuine connection there. Not shared lust or animal arousal, but something deeper drawing them to one another. There was a spark, like the flickering ember of a fire that neither of them was sure would last.

Sarah pulled the princess into an embrace, the two young women clinging to each other tightly. Pressing their bodies against each other, nestling their heads. They could feel their hearts beating, each one enjoying the other's presence, her warmth, her closeness. In that moment, it was not about sex, or arousal, or fucking. It was just about being close to each other. Being connected. Being understood.

Slowly, Sarah looked up, meeting the princess' shaky gaze.

"I never..." the former maid said slowly. "I never thought we might end up like this..."

"Makes you want to laugh, doesn't it?" The princess said. "We knew each other so well back home, but this is the first time that I feel like I have ever really connected with you. I'm so worried, Sarah. I know I have to be strong, but this feels so good right now, just being close to you. I don't... I don't want this to end..."

They kissed. It was not the fiery, passionate kiss of two lovers. Not the hungry embrace, the needful dance of lust and desire. No, this was deeper, a slower, **** kiss. They drew into each other, gently, almost hesitantly at first, their lips locking together as they never had before.

After a moment, they broke apart. Both of them gasping, arousal was resurfacing now, but there was something else to them as well. A tenderness that promised more.

"Do you..." Sarah asked slowly. "Do you want to go further?"