The Countess’ Estate... Within Svaneti

A cold breeze blows through the air, deep shades of indigo and violet splashed across the sky. Pinpricks of light are beginning to peek through those purple hues, stars shining bright as the sun slowly dips beneath the horizon.

“Nhhh...!” Thea grimaces, clutching at the fur coat wrapped around her shoulders, pulling it even closer to her subtly shivering body.

Krvavy slowly shakes her head, pale lips spreading into a wide and teasing grin. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. You sure have been spoiled by our hot springs, enjoying that wonderful warmth whenever you want. Hows it feel to be a normal person who doesn’t have such a luxury always on hand~? A bit chilly, perhaps~?”

“Not everyone is a nudist Dragon who is meant to live on a barren ice sheet...!” The bratty blonde huffs back, lifting her chin high... only to quickly duck back into that fluffy jacket of hers a second later.

The Drakling pointedly looks towards her scantily clad puppy, leather straps and silvery metal hardly covering more than the bare minimum of that Were-Beast’s buff and busty body.

“Not everyone has fur either...!”

Krvavy simply shrugs, smiling all the while. “Still... it isn’t that cold out. I mean, Adeline is doing just fine, and she is wearing much less than you are~.”

Thea doesn’t even need to speak for anyone nearby to know what her response to that nonsense would be. Her expression says it all, unimpressed gaze levelled on the bundled-up bunny-mouse held in a bridal carry by that barbarian, bottom-heavy body all but burrowed into those big breasts.

If it was colder out, then wisps of heat would be visibly rising from Krvavy’s pale-skinned cleavage, fiery mana diffused throughout her entire being. Not for her own comfort, but for the sake of her third fiancée. Adeline already trembles and shivers more than enough, even without this cool autumn breeze blowing in from the north. No need to give her even more reason to be so jittery.

Thea exaggeratedly rolls her soft-blue eyes, her still silver rimmed glasses emphasizing that bratty gesture. “Hmph...” Her heels click and clack on the cobbled road, that noise echoing through the increasingly quiet twilight. “Did we need to walk all the way here...?”

“I did offer to carry you,” Krvavy points out, giving her Halfling a slight squeeze... for no reason other than to hear that adorable girl softly squeak. “So you could have spent all this time cuddling Adeline in my arms. But, nooo,” the Drakling tilts her head back and sighs, dramatically lamenting the decision that her beautiful brat made. “You had to be all ‘dignified’ and use your own two legs...!”

“I am not showing up to the house of that hellish harlot as nothing more than luggage for you to lug around!” The noble girl haughtily states, resisting the urge to lift her chin once more. “And speaking of...”

Not too far ahead, at the end of this paved street that they are walking along, stands a gate of wood and wrought iron. Not much can be seen behind the decently tall stone wall it is set into, that barrier successfully separating the outside world from the more private property within. That they are currently climbing a hill also helps with that, making anything more than the peak of a roof nigh impossible to see.

The Drakling glances down at the blushing little bunny in her arms, then at that gate. She faintly frowns. “Hey Khalia, can you knoc–”

A loud thump cuts Krvavy off, followed by the squeak of hinges under stress as those heavy and reinforced wooden doors slowly swing inwards, revealing a courtyard crammed full of carriages.

“Never mind.”

A single knight steps forward, halberd resting over his shiny pauldron. “Krvavy! It is good to...” He pauses for just a second, helmeted head slightly turning towards Khalia. “To see you again...!” His voice is a little weaker now, but he is doing his best to not let the presence of the apex predator that is this wild Were-Beast unnerve him... too much.

Unlike the man in charge of that mercenary company, who took a second for Krvavy to remember, this knight is someone she immediately recognizes.

“Hey, Piotr. Good to see you too.” Krvavy shoots a friendly smile towards that knight, the same one she spent many evenings sparring with while on the way to Vratsa. “Don’t worry about Khalia here, she only bites a little~.”

That precious puppy’s shaggy tail wags back and forth as she playfully clacks her teeth together.

Piotr steps to the side, the side that Khalia isn’t on, and gestures for them to come in. “The Lady is expecting you.”

“Of course.” Thea scoffs, soft-blue eyes trailing past the carriage cluttered courtyard, looking over the stone-brick mansion that stands just beyond. It is... slightly overgrown, vines of creeping ivy climbing up its walls. But it is still quite nice and clean despite that. It just feels a little lackluster compared to the castle that this brat grew up in. “That ‘Lady’ invited us, only a few hours ago.”

The Drakling’s tail twists to the side, its tip whacking into that brat’s butt... only for the noble girl’s thick coat to soften that spank into little more than a tap. “Be nice.”

“Hmph...!” The haughty noble girl lifts her chin, resisting the unpleasantness of this chilly air just to put on an air of her own.

With a creaking squeak, and then a loud thump, the gates close behind them.

Krvavy is all but forced to keep moving, lest she let Thea get ahead. But that doesn’t stop her from glancing back over her shoulder to look towards Piotr, watching as he and another knight ‘lock’ that gate simply by slotting a thick metal beam across it. “So you’re stuck on door duty then, huh?” She idly asks, squinting slightly at that second knight. His visor is down, face covered, and his body language isn’t distinct enough to be recognizable...

“Just for this shift. I was lucky enough not to get any of the later ones.” Piotr replies, picking up his halberd from where it had been briefly resting against that stone wall. “Have a good dinner and a good night.”

“Yeah,” Krvavy lightly bites the tip of her tongue, resisting the urge to simply say ‘you too’. “Good night.” She casually waves at those two knights.

Thea swiftly ascends the short steps leading up to a decently grand front door. She reaches out from the warmth of her heavy coat, grabbing at a solid brass knocker and uses it as intended.

Dunn dunn dunn!

The door swings open just a second later, the young maid beyond bobbing in a quite clumsy curtsy. “C-come i-iieEE!?” She suddenly squeaks and stumbles back, her already nervous anxiety pushed to the next level by the sight of that grinning Were-Beast looming behind the noble brat.

It is a little frustrating, these instinctual responses of fear and unease that so many people face upon seeing Khalia for the first time. Sure, it makes sense and is expected, her very nature as a Were-Beast intended to draw out exactly that reaction. But it still isn’t nice to see everyone treat her like a volatile monster that may snap at any second...

At least that precious puppy herself doesn’t seem to mind it... at all, really. And at least it distracts from how people usually react to Krvavy’s presence...?

No, Krvavy would rather take the apprehensive caution and suspicious concern that strangers so often level her way simply for her being a Drakling over having her Khalia be treated the same, let alone this extreme version that the poor puppy has to deal with...

“Eehhh!” That young maid sharply gasps, stumbling back just far enough to bump a shoulder into the wall, wobbling and looking even more unsteady as Thea’s heavy fur coat is pushed into her arms.

“Where is your Mistress?” That bratty blonde asks, her tone just a little on the harsher side. Which is something Krvavy would normally scold her for, but...

Idly and without thought, Thea brushes down her relatively regal dress, that sky blue fabric clinging to her every curve. The darker geometric patterns stretch slightly as she inhales, soft breasts squished even further, only to return more closely to their intended shape as that breath leaves her lungs. A hint of her bellybutton can even be seen, this nice dress cinched so tight around her waist...

Much like how the Drakling is distracted, so too is this maid. Albeit for entirely different reasons. She fumbles slightly, moving on instinct but still struggling to find a hook capable of holding the weight of that fluffy fur coat, her mind clearly racing as she also tries to answer Thea’s question. Which at least has the benefit of pulling her attention away from Khalia, removing that source of anxiety. “I-I-I...!” Unfortunately, that alone isn’t quite enough to keep her from being so flustered.

“I am right here~.”

Krvavy quickly snaps free from her appreciation of Thea’s beauty, turning to look across this rustic entrance hall.

A warm and welcoming smile plays at Rina’s painted lips, amethyst eyes gleaming like bright gems as she steps forward, onto a thick and woven carpet. “I would not leave my most honoured guests waiting on me~.”

Thea simply scowls at her fellow noblewoman. A moment later, she nudges Krvavy in the side, head not too subtly gesturing to the still rather stunned maid.

Krvavy stifles a sigh. With great reluctance, she gently lowers Adeline down onto the ground, that adorable bunny-mouse girl leaving the warmth of this barbarian’s big breasts. Breasts which are soon put even more on display, the Drakling doing as her first fiancée wordlessly asked and slipping off her jacket.

The poor, slightly disassociating maid takes that article of clothing and, with just a bit of fumbling, hangs it up as well.

A tinge of colour finds its way onto Krvavy’s cheeks. As casually as she can, she rolls her now almost entirely bare shoulders, trying to act natural.

This sleeveless top that her first fiancée made Krvavy change into is... It is somehow even more revealing than the previous one she wore. Thanks to the ‘buttons’ that don’t directly connect, instead having a string stretch across the gap of her snowy skin, so much more of her abs have been left uncovered. Though, of course, that is a lot more obvious when it comes to her tits. The incredibly deep neckline of her top, which plunges all the way down to where it tucks into her still too tight pants, just barely covers her pale areola.

It was a mistake letting Thea of all people pack the clothes that were to be brought along on this trip. And it was an even bigger mistake letting her choose how Krvavy would dress.

This is an entirely inappropriate shirt to wear to a dinner with the ruler of an entire region.

Rina’s smile only grows wider as she sees that sight. “Come,” this elegant half-Elf gestures for her four guests to follow, heading back the way she just came. “Dinner is nearly ready, but there is something I wish to show you first.”

A suspicious scowl fills the beautiful brat’s face, narrowed eyes drilling deep into that pink-skinned noblewoman. With hardly a thought, her fingers grasp onto and interlock with Krvavy’s own, possessively pulling that black-scaled hand into a spot right above her heart. The rest of that strong arm is all but forced to drape itself over Thea’s shoulders, lest it accidentally elbow her in the head.

Four pairs of feet, all but one of which are inhuman in form, make their way across the thick carpet.

“Hhhh...” A soft sigh of relief is drawn from that incredibly nervous maid as she is left alone in the entrance hall. Not that those guests go far, remaining within her line of sight as they hardly turn the corner.

Rina pushes open a heavy wooden door braced with worn iron. Light spills downwards, over stone steps that descend into darkness.

Thea purses her lips, nose scrunching in just the right way for her glasses to go slightly askew. She still isn’t entirely used to the presence of that accessory, even if she is wearing it increasingly often as of late. “Just what sort of trap have you set for us?”

“Trap? Why, do you think I am leading the lot of you down into my deadly and dangerous dungeon~?” Teasing laughter dances through the air, pearl earrings jingling as the Countess softly shakes her head. She reaches into the descending stairwell and flicks a switch, mana-fed lamps hissing softly as they come to life. “I have not been in possession of this property quite long enough for there to be traps scattered about~. What I wish to show you is merely down here, in the cellars.”

“Hmph...!” Thea huffs, bravely following after that pink-skinned half-Elf and, courtesy of the arm that she has imprisoned, forcing Krvavy to come along as well.

Little fingers grab at the very tip of the Drakling’s tail, Adeline holding herself steady as she carefully descends down the stairs that are, to her, quite tall. Khalia takes the rear, softly giggling at that adorable sight.

Heels and claws alike click into those sturdy steps.

Rina’s delicate fingers glide down the polished railing, letting go only once she has reached the bottom. “Mind your head, Krvavy. The first vault may be a bit close to the stairs for someone of your height.”

That warning is both appreciated and not entirely necessary. The stone arch in question is indeed low enough that Krvavy’s horns would have crashed right into it. But so would her face. Which means that she already knew to duck. Still... “Thanks,” she replies, bending over a little more than is needed, leaning into Thea and squishing her barely covered breasts into that brat.

Which is something that the noble girl would normally complain about, if just for performative reasons, but right now... Thea seems more than happy to show off her ‘possession’ of this Dragon, lording how close she is with Krvavy over Rina’s head.

Not that the Countess particularly cares about that. But the brat can be a bit petty at times...

Long shadows stretch throughout this basement, thick brick pillars that must support the entirety of this mansion rising into the grid of groin-vaulted ceilings above. Between those chunky columns rest countless crates, cupboards, shelves, stands, barrels, and bags. As well as a few tables with chairs neatly stacked atop them.

“Is this it? You wanted to show off a disorderly storeroom?” Thea sighs, sounding genuinely disappointed by what she sees.

“Patience, dear Theadosia.” Countess Alexandrina smiles as she scolds that noble brat, stepping around a stack of folded canvases. “What I wish you – or, more precisely, Krvavy – to see is hidden amongst the neglected belongings of the former owner of this estate. Not as something that they had owned, I should clarify, but as something which I myself had placed down here. We have not yet taken stock of... all this.” The elegant half-Elf waves at the mess she is effortlessly traversing through.

The barbarian’s brow furrows. “What happened to that ‘former owner’?” There is a lot of stuff down here, more than enough to sell had they come on hard times. And the outside looked as if it had been completely spared by the siege. So unless they had purposefully left the safety of this estate to go out and fight...

“No need to worry, it was nothing nefarious~.” Rina reassures, her regal dress nowhere near the tightest of those present, but still it hugs her swaying hips. “He simply had no interest in maintaining ownership of an estate that he had not personally visited in... I believe it was twelve years? Or that may have been when he moved further west, to be nearer to his wife’s family? Either way, this residence has been mostly abandoned, though still maintained by a few servants – who have been kept on, by the way – for quite some time.”

“You know an awful lot about this for a person who only just arrived in Svaneti today.” Thea points out, accusation in her voice. The Perception bonus from this brat’s glasses must be doing wonders for her to have picked out that detail~.

The Countess stops mid step. Slowly, she glances back over her shoulder, amusement glimmering in her amethyst eyes and playing at her black, painted lips. “My, since you caught me out on that... I may as well let you in on a little secret~. Do not tell the Baron, but I actually acquired this property last month. Which does mean that, yes, I paid for it twice over. But as long as everyone is happy~...” She shrugs and continues on, slipping between two towering stacks of crates.

Reluctant to leave Krvavy’s side, especially in this slightly chilly ‘cellar’, Thea all but drags the Drakling after that deceitful noblewoman... no matter how tight a squeeze this path may be. “Why?” The bratty blonde continues to question, growing ever more hostile with each breath she takes. “Were your plans to conquer Svaneti laid so far in advance?”

“I would hardly consider a month as ‘far in advance’~.” The Countess cheekily returns, still unbothered by Thea’s barbs. “But also no. I purchased it for private means. Because of you, in fact.”

That seems to catch Thea off guard. “Me...?”

“Yes,” Rina’s warm expression falters, gaining a slight tinge of sheepishness. “As a gamble, admittedly. See... while Krvavy was quite cagey with your identity, she still said a fair bit about you and, more importantly, omitted crucial details. A picture can be painted just as easily by what is missing as it can be painted with what is there. Your physical description and personality matched, while your background... well, were you of the commonfolk she would not have needed to hide that so ardently.”

Thea slowly raises her head, narrowed eyes lifting up to pierce into Krvavy’s emerald pair.

An apologetic smile plays at Rina’s painted lips, directed towards that Drakling. “The potential that Krvavy would have had a greater connection with Svaneti was enough to justify acquiring property here. Because, regardless of what you may think of me, I do wish for us to be on good terms.”

“Hmph! So that you can continue to manipulate and use her?!”

“Manipulate?” The Countess shakes her head, jewellery jingling and jangling as she does so. “No. That is not conducive to a good relationship. It would only lead to disaster in the long run. Use? From a purely pragmatic perspective...” She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. “Yes. I am by no means a slouch when it comes to combat, but neither am I specialized in it. Not like Krvavy so clearly is, as she has proven beyond a doubt. To have someone with such talents that I could call upon when needed... that is more valuable than this estate, a dozen times over.”

Thea’s dainty fingers squeeze her Draconic lover’s hand, keeping it firmly in place above her heart. Some of her tension fades away, leaving her a little less wound up, as she hears that this other Champion of a God simply wants to use Krvavy’s strength, as an ally of sort.

“That said, I do not simply wish to use Krvavy’s strength. I... would like us to be more than mere allies.”

Immediately, the apparently self-appointed gatekeeper to Krvavy’s harem goes tense once more.

“I have grown... quite fond of her.” A rosy hue comes to colour cheeks that are already a vibrant pink, amethyst eyes peering deep into an emerald pair even as the Countess continues to speak to Thea, to the first fiancée – soon to be first wife – of that Draconic Champion. “She has many qualities that I find to be endearing. Her dedication and determination, her self imposed duty to defend those she holds dear, regardless of the dangers she may have to face. Her confidence and courage are so captivating, the certainty she exudes a comfort. But even when that falters... there is a charm to the awkward moments that are sure to follow, to the vulnerability that peeks through the cracks of her soul. Her boundless love for you three, for Beryl and for the Dwarf of whom I have yet to meet, is... it is beautiful beyond measure. She... is alluring. Attractive and admirable.”

An intense shade of red, not unlike that of her crimson hair, fills Krvavy’s heavily flushed face. “And... what does...” She bites her bottom lip, glancing to the side and turning her head away from that gorgeous half-Elf who won’t stop staring at her. “How does any of that... relate to...” Her other hand, the one not being possessively held by Thea, weakly gestures at their surroundings. “To all this?”

Rina’s gaze drops down, lingering for just a moment on the Mark that Khalia so proudly bears, before she too turns away. “If I wish to grow closer to you, then so too must I grow closer with those you already call your own. Thus, strengthening my ties with the homeland of not just one but two of your girls is only natural. But this property will be more than just an embassy or a trading outpost. The true purpose of purchasing it is... what I wish to show you. Come, it is only a little further.”

Thea grinds her teeth together, heels angrily clicking and clacking as she all but stomps her way across the basement floor, dragging along her hesitant Draconic lover.

Adeline’s fur-tipped tail gives Krvavy’s much meatier one a soft squeeze, having coiled around it some point since they reached the bottom of those stone stairs. Which makes it a bit more difficult to navigate this growing mess, boxes and barrels now piled up high enough to reach the many arches of the ceiling above. Especially since the clingy Were-Beast won’t let herself get left out, grabbing her Mate’s unattended hand with both of her own.

The reason for these increasingly inconvenient piles of trash soon becomes apparent.

One last squeeze sees Krvavy and her girls step into a section of this basement that is utterly bare. Stone walls stand on three sides, while what was stored here has been shoved aside to form a crude fourth, broken only by the ‘valley’ that they had just passed through.

“I would like to completely wall this off, with brick and stone, so that it is only accessible via a hidden and secret door.” The Countess almost idly comments, weaving between the thick columns that hold up the house above. “Perhaps you and your Earth Magic can help with that, Krvavy? The former, I mean. But not at this moment.” She slows to a stop, turning her back to the far wall of this basement. “Here we are.”

“Hmph.” Thea huffs and rolls her soft-blue eyes. “That is what you wanted to show us?” The silver-blonde brat derisively sneers, slowly shaking her head. “That is what all of this is about?”

Looming behind this elegant noblewoman... is a doorway. Wide and tall with a semicircle of a top, nearly touching the pillars it is nestled between while seeming to follow the arch of the vaulted ceiling above. It does not appear to have been carved into that wall so much as grown from it, the frame a single solid piece extending outwards from the bricks within and around it by less than a fingers width, the very edges rising out just a little further than the rest.

The barbarian’s brow knits together, taking in each and every detail she can see.

Patterned lines and intricate markings mar the otherwise smooth surface of that stone doorframe. The shallowest are nothing more than mere concave channels, swirly and curved. Not quite runic in design, not like the circuit-esq lines of Inanna’s work, yet still they elicit a similar feeling. Between those lines rest a number of crescent shapes. So too are there a number of stars, arms counting from five to nine surrounding a rise in the center of each. Deeper still are the lines, straight and wavy alike, all appearing to radiate out from within the door, perpendicular to the frame all the while.

Four flat-faced gems have been embedded in that stone, in the corners of the vertical sections of that doorframe. Each one is inky black, gleaming with a dark purple light emanating from within.

A spot for a fifth stands in the very center, in the arch at its top.

“Yes,” Rina calmly answers Thea’s question, her vibrant eyes on Krvavy once more. “This is what I wished to show you.” From her dress, or perhaps her Dimensional Inventory, she pulls a gem which matches those already present. A prism longer than the length from her fingertips to her wrist.

A hand of purple light manifests beside the Countess. She passes that nine-sided prism into its grasp. The fifth hole is swiftly filled.

Silence sweeps through the basement. Unnatural, quieting even the sound of Krvavy’s heartbeat.

The shallowest lines begin to glow soft shades of pink and purple. The crescents and stars begin to shine, brighter and more vibrant. The radiating lines pulse deep purple hues. The flat faces of those five gems suck in the surrounding light, swirling without moving.

As if ink had been spilled on a tiled floor, darkness begins to pour along the grout lines of the wall within that doorway. That lattice of black is soon completed. Those channels swiftly overflow. Shadows spill across stone, bricks falling back into their embrace. A canvas of utter darkness fills that doorway... only to shimmer, specks of light sparking to life across it.

A picture of the night sky looms behind the Countess. Her eyes, along with the gem on her forehead and the one resting in her cleavage, shine with the same light that flows through those many magical channels. Her gaze remains as it was before: locked on Krvavy, on the Dragon possessively holding onto her girls.