A Gift from the Countess

“Mngh...” Krvavy groans as she splashes water onto her face, having to lean over quite a bit to even get close to the sink. The Far-Speaking ring nestled on her horn glistens faintly, specks of water beading on its polished surface like dewdrops.

Soft beams of sunlight filter in through the window. They aren’t all that bright, as it can hardly be consider morning right now, but they were enough to wake Krvavy up.

That is a downside to living underground. She isn’t used to the sun rising and making everything brighter. And the last week of travelling wasn’t enough to change that, especially since she welcomed waking up alongside the sun just so that she could spend more time on the move...

Granted, it is probably for the best that Krvavy woke up so early. She wouldn’t want to keep Rina waiting, or to give Vera more reason to hate her.

Knock, knock, knock.

As if on cue, an insistent rapping sound rings out through the room.

The barbarian takes a brief moment to dry her face before heading over to answer the door.

Knock, knoc–

The door swings inwards to reveal a certain albino maid standing there with her gloved fist raised. Her pale pink eyes narrow into slits, glaring through her glasses as if annoyed by the fact that Krvavy is already awake. There is just no pleasing this girl. She wordlessly takes a step back.

“Glad to see that you are already up and about.” Rina warmly smiles, drawing the Drakling’s attention. As usual, she is wearing a rather nice purple and black dress, though this one doesn’t seem quite as layered as some of the others that she has worn. “Though perhaps we are a little early~?” Her amethyst eyes glance downwards as her melodious tone grows faintly teasing.

Oh. Maybe that is what annoyed the maid. Krvavy’s cheeks turn rather red as she brings a hand down to cover her cock. Not that that does much. “Sorry, I just... morning routine... I’ll, uh...”

“No need.” The Countess steps into the room, followed closely by her maid who is pushing... a cart with a sheet draped over it...? The door clicks shut behind her. “That you have not yet dressed is convenient, for that is why we are here. Though had someone seen you answer the door in the nude... it may have started rumours. So do please be more conscious of that in the coming weeks.”

“Right, yeah.” Krvavy sighs and idly rubs the back of her neck. Her semi-soft cock throbs, causing a scowl to spread across Vera’s face. Well, more of a scowl than her usual expression. “So... you’re here to play dress-up then?” She lightly replies, trying to sound more confident and less embarrassed than she actually is.

“Yes indeed~.” A playful gleam dances across the elegant half-Elf’s eyes. “I did promise an assortment of outfits and a suit of armour as a bonus for taking this job. But, as we have limited time this morn, forgive me for skipping the proper clothing in favour of the armour. It is what you will be wearing for the majority of our time together, at least until we reach Vratsa. And I suspect that you are more interested in that anyway~. Vera?”

The albino maid reaches beneath the sheet, grimacing as she pulls out a bit of fabric, holding it between finger and thumb. Without any fanfare, she tosses it towards the Drakling, earning herself a disappointed tut from her Lady.

Krvavy catches it with ease. Her mild confusion quickly fades away as she realizes what this is. It’s underwear. And is clearly designed for her, having noticeably more fabric in the front and a rather ‘Y’ shaped back. Without wasting any time, Krvavy steps into it.

“Not too tight? Good.” Rina nods and appreciatively gives the near-nude Drakling a good look over.

As expected, rather obvious and fairly obscene bulge fills the front of this underwear, made all the more prominent by the fact that is is basically a thong. There really isn’t much fabric to it beyond the pouch at the front. The thin but rather strong band reaches up over Krvavy’s hips and over her waist, nearly at the same level of her bellybutton.

“Now,” Rina softly claps her hands together. “Let us truly begin. There were a number of designs that I could have gone with, some more exotic than others. Ultimately, I decided upon a design somewhat in the middle. It is alluring and imposing. Functional and aesthetic. A design which will have a use to you even beyond this trip. It would be a terrible gift otherwise.”

As the Countess talks, Vera pulls the sheet back to uncover the cart, revealing various pieces of dark metal armour. Some are a lot more obvious in what they are, but others are not quite as clear. Mostly because of how they’re stacked and arranged.

The albino maid scowls, as usual, as she holds out what is undeniably a leather loincloth backed with beige-white fur. The corner of her eye twitches as the Drakling takes that off her hands.

Like her new underwear, this loincloth is a bit different from the others that Krvavy has worn before. Those ones had all tied together over her hips, but this seems to be something she is meant to step into and then tighten in place.

Luxuriously soft fur brushes against Krvavy’s pale skin as she pulls this first piece of armour up her legs. A large metal ring rests at the very front of it, binding the wide belt to the even wider flap that dangles down from it. Two rounded metal plates, a slightly lighter shade of grey than the ring, rest over her hips, holding up the corners of the front flap and the smaller but even wider one in the back. Krvavy pulls a padded strap over the top of her meaty tail, securing the whole thing in place.

“The first and most important piece.” Rina smiles, amusing herself with this narration and explanation. “It emphasizes your more ‘barbaric’ nature, but not in a crude or base manner. No, this loincloth is of exceptional quality. The leather is from one of the woolly rhinoceroses of the east, incredibly tough and resilient like the Orcs who raise and hunt them. The fur is that of a stoat, or rather that of many stoats. Not as luxurious, as they are bred locally for this very purpose, but quite comfortable, yes? As for the metal... that is simply Tenebrine steel. Not the most exotic of materials, but not too common either.”

Vera rolls her pale pink eyes as she grabs what is quite obviously a breastplate, pushing it into Krvavy’s hands.

That piece of armour is made of two solid and separate plates: one for the front and one for the back. The inside is padded with layers of what looks like the same furs as the loincloth. It definitely feels equally soft and luxurious. The breastplate, more true to its name than is typical, barely covers more than the barbarian’s breasts. It reaches from rib to collarbone, roughly conforming to the swell of her chest. A few leather straps secure the two pieces together, being buckled beneath her arms.

“I was so very tempted to commission a much more bold breastplate for you~.” The Countess confesses, her black painted lips curling into a teasing smile. “One which would have you truly show off that amazing body of yours~. But sculpting your breasts in metal is not particularly professional, and would not be looked kindly upon at the council we are heading to. So forgive me, Krvavy, for providing you a piece of armour that only slightly emphasizes your femininity. Though, I must admit, the armour thus far does do quite the amazing job of highlighting those delectable abs of yours~.”

Krvavy’s cheeks flush slightly, but she doesn’t get the chance to respond before an entire chain of thick metal plates is thrust upon her. She blinks in confusion, looking down at the layered line dangling from her arms.

“That is for your tail, dear.”

Vera noticeably bristles as her Lady uses that affectionate word, even if Rina’s tone was more friendly and joking than anything else.

“Right...” The Drakling lightly nibbles on the inside of her cheek as she twists her torso around, clumsily laying the padded plates atop her meaty tail. It takes a bit of effort, but she is able to secure the uppermost part to her loincloth belt, which makes buckling the various other straps dangling down from this odd piece of armour a bit easier.

Krvavy slowly swings her tail left and then right. The numerous overlapping plates shift as she moves, but they don’t feel like they’re going to slip off any time soon. Maybe she didn’t need to pull those straps quite as tight...? They’re kind of digging into the pale underbelly of her tail. Not exactly uncomfortable, but not quite comfortable either...

“Apologies for only covering half of your tail – the scaled half at that.” Rina smiles and gently shakes her head. “We did not have enough measurements to fully encase it. Though I suspect that doing so would have looked a bit odd, what with your belly being entirely bare.”

Clearly wanting to get through with this as quickly as possible, the albino maid begins moving the next few pieces onto the bed.

“Vera, dear, we may be limited on time but we are not yet rushed.” The Countess softly scolds her maid, who simply continues to glower and glare at the Drakling. “It would seem that the armour for your legs is up next.” Rina lightly sighs out.

Sitting down at the edge of the bed, Krvavy begins pulling the fur-padded metal up her legs, trusting the order that Vera left them out in. As antagonistic as the maid is, she clearly doesn’t want to drag this out by unnecessarily sabotaging the barbarian.

“Admittedly, I have little to say about these pieces. The cuisses were designed to leave your inner thighs, as well as the areas immediately adjacent to the loincloth’s belt, bare. That helps to tie the whole outfit together by making your bare belly less of an anomaly. From there down it is fairly standard armour, not unlike that of my knights, though with one exception: your feet.”

Krvavy pauses briefly as she reaches that part of the armour. She often forgets just how inhuman and Draconic her scaled feet are, being digitigrade with three forward facing clawed toes and a smaller, seemingly useless, thumb claw nearer to the ankle.

“The designers had a bit of difficulty with your more bestial form.” Rina admits, smiling a little apologetically. “But ultimately they came to a solution: rather than create full sabatons for your feet, they only built the top halves and, much like your tail, added numerous straps to secure the armour in place.” She watches Krvavy do just that. “Hopefully they are not uncomfortable.”

The Drakling curls her toes. The armour atop them is fully articulated. She can barely tell that it is there. Well... except for the bits that go over the tips of her toes. The metal there is shaped into decorative claws that overlap her own, and while they’re not sharp they do extend out a bit further than what she is used to. “Yeah, they feel fine.”

“Good. We are nearly done. Let us do your left arm next.” The Countess turns towards her maid, who does what is expected of her. “This was one of the more complicated pieces, yet was also one of the easier ones to make. It is, after all, quite similar to the standard armour of my personal guard. The smiths are quite practiced in making rerebraces, vambraces, pauldrons, couters, besagews, and gauntlets. Of course, yours are slightly different than usual. Plate armour is typically made to be worn in layers, but, as you have obviously noticed by now, that is not the case for my gift to you. Instead of a separate layer of padding, we built that in with the stoat fur. That makes equipping the entire set a much faster affair, even with our fairly slow pace.”

Krvavy secures the last piece in place and flexes her armoured fingers. The overlapping metal is so well articulated that it hardly restricts her movements at all. Honestly, this gauntlet is only really noticeable when she tries to make a fist, as each of her fingers is capped with an exaggerated claw. She idly pokes herself in the belly, wincing slightly. Unlike her ‘boots’, those metal claws are sharp.

“Yes, do be careful with those.” Rina’s amethyst eyes gleam as a playful smile dances across her painted lips. Her albino maid pushes a couple more pieces of armour towards the barbarian unprompted. “Here we have a degree of asymmetry: the right arm differs from the left. It is a bit lighter, with a spaulder instead of a pauldron and nothing for your elbow. Aesthetically, it ties in with the plates on your tail and the bare skin once again connects to your exposed midsection.”

Despite only being only able to use one hand, the Drakling has a fairly easy time securing these few pieces of armour in place. Strapping down the plates that rest atop her upper and lower arms isn’t a hard job, neither is securing the articulated shoulder piece to her breastplate. Really, the only ‘difficult’ part is the gauntlet which, much like the armour for her feet, leaves her palm and the undersides of her fingers bare. There are quite a few little straps that need to be pulled tight there.

“Are the claws necessary?” Krvavy asks, her tone light and almost joking.

Rina steps towards the nearly empty cart. “Of course~.” She grabs what appears to be the front of a helmet. “They help to make you look imposing and intimidating. More so than usual~.”

The albino maid’s brow furrows as she watches her Lady hand that piece of armour over to the Drakling.

“This, admittedly, is more decorative than functional.” The Countess apologetically sighs out. “It was initially intended to be a helmet, but... Of the proposed designs, the vast majority looked incredibly unappealing. My smiths are not accustomed to working around horns as thick and prominent as yours. Or any horns at all. Thus, their usual expertise was lacking. A helmet would have little use if it transferred all of the **** it could block into your horns and, through them, into the base of your skull. Avoiding that would have resulted in an incredibly bulky and cumbersome helmet. So do forgive me for choosing style over form on your behalf.”

“That’s alright.” Krvavy nonchalantly replies, already bringing the thing up to her face. She pulls the padded leather straps over the bases of her upper horns, tucking them beneath her crimson hair as she ties the ends together like a headband. And that honestly is what this piece of armour feels like, even with the angular metal reaching down from the chunk on her forehead to cover the majority of her cheeks. “I’d probably have done the same. I don’t really wear helmets anyway.”

Rina simply nods her head. “Now, before I gift you the last few finishing touches, how about you head to the mirror and see what you look like in all of this?” She smiles warmly, gesturing towards the open bathroom.

The corner of Vera’s eye twitches at that suggestion.

“Sure.” Krvavy rolls her shoulders, getting used to the weight of her new armour. Not that there is much weight to it. Honestly, it is a bit lighter than she expected.

It only takes a few steps before the Drakling is standing in front of the mirror. She puts her hands on her hips, armoured claws resting atop her new leather loincloth, and cocks her head slightly.

Authors Note: Here is the image I made for Krvavy’s armour, with without any shading because I suck at that. Please ignore the fact that I forgot to draw her Far-Speaking ring (which she should have on her lower right horn) and that the image isn’t mirrored even though this is supposed to be her reflection.

“Do you like it?” Rina’s melodic voice softly dances through the room. A hint of pride tinges her tone, as if she already knows what the Drakling’s response will be.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.” Krvavy answers honestly, looking her reflection up and down. The central ring of her loincloth draws her gaze. That patch of her pale skin really makes it look like she isn’t wearing anything underneath it. Suppose that is really more a consequence of how skimpy her underwear is... “It’s great. Pretty comfortable too. But, uh, is it just me or does it look a bit evil?”

“Evil~?” The Countess brings an elegant hand up to her painted lips, hiding a soft giggle. “I suppose that is a matter of perspective. Is there something that you are not telling me~?”

“Ha, ha.” Krvavy sarcastically rolls her eyes, smiling as she does so. “No, it’s just... The metal is pretty much black and is a little dull, not shiny and bright like what your knights wear. Then there are the claws. And, well, my horns don’t help either. I’m not complaining,” she hastily adds, “just pointing out what I see.”

The pink-skinned half-Elf simply smiles and shrugs. “All of that was intentional, yes. This armour is not purely a gift. It is also your uniform on this job that you will be doing for me. And looking intimidating is half of what a good bodyguard does. The matte finish on the metal is meant to make the armour as a whole appear more lived in and used, as opposed to an ornate display piece. But if you would like it to be polished to a fine shine, then I can have that arranged for when the job is done.”

Krvavy lightly bites her bottom lip, glancing back at her reflection. “Thanks, but... nah. I kind of like this.”

“You enjoy looking evil~?” The Countess teases.

“Ahem.” The albino maid impatiently clears her throat, pushing the near empty cart forwards and thumping it against Krvavy’s armoured tail. “The sun is rising, my Lady.”

“Yes yes, dear, I know.” Rina dismissively waves her hand. “The remaining pieces of armour here are optional. You need not wear them on the job if you do not wish to. Personally, I feel they take away from your alluring barbarian aesthetic.”

“A gorget for your neck.” Vera’s cold voice drips with contempt as she holds up an articulated metal collar, pushing it into the Drakling’s chest. “And these cumbersome tassets for your upper thighs.” She taps a gloved finger against one of two angular shield shaped plates.

The Countess softly sighs, but doesn’t otherwise reprimand her pale maid. “Now,” she speaks up after a few long seconds, having given Krvavy enough time to put on those last pieces of armour. “I do have one final addition to your uniform. But it is not a gift: you will need to return it once the job is done.”

Rina steps forwards, pinning something onto the corner of Krvavy’s breastplate, where it meets her pauldron and arm.

“This besagew, more decorative than functional, will be your badge of office. Do not do anything nefarious while wearing it, else I will have to punish you. And not in a way either of us will enjoy.”

Krvavy cranes her neck and looks directly at the ornate little shield hanging over her armpit. Its face is diagonally divided in two parts by a thick silver line. The top is a rich purple colour adorned with upwards pointed silver crescent moons. The bottom is large scaled pattern of the same purple and a reddish, almost maroon, colour. In the very center, overlaid on top of all that, is a crow or a raven standing and facing to the side.

Authors Note: Here is the image I made for Krvavy’s armour in its entirety, with Rina’s coat of arms as a small, non-round and more decorative besagew. I actually prefer it without the big tasset hip plates or gorget, hence why I showed that first.

“Oh. Is this your coat of arms?” The Drakling asks, meeting the half-Elf’s amethyst gaze.

“Yes indeed, it is that of my family.” A hint of pride shines through Rina’s composed and regal expression, her black painted lips curling upwards slightly. “Quite similar to the heraldry of Raseyne itself, albeit the city uses sable instead of purpure, and greatly simplifies the raven.”

Krvavy slowly nods her head and turns away from the mirror, stepping around Rina as she exits the bathroom.

Vera doesn’t look particularly appreciative of that, despite the Drakling doing what she wants and moving this along. There really is no pleasing this girl.

“I should also add that each individual piece of your new armour is enchanted.” The Countess states, much to her maid’s chagrin. “Though, in the interest of time, I will be as brief as can be. With that in mind... Your armour is self-cleaning, self-repairing, can moderate its temperature, is lighter, and is more durable. There are limitations to each enchantment, particularly its ability to repair more severe damage, so do not expect to much of them. And you need not worry about powering said enchantments: they function off of ambient mana and your excess regeneration. I had wanted to add wards as well, but they would have required dedicated power sources and would run the risk of overlapping in less than ideal ways...”

“Ahem.” The stern albino clears her throat, pale pink eyes narrowed as she glares through her glasses.

“Right.” The Countess lightly shakes her head. “Is your luggage packed and ready?” She asks, quickly moving the conversation on as she gestures to the backpack resting on the ground. Her amethyst eyes linger on the tall, conspicuously wrapped object nestled between it and the wall.

Krvavy strides towards the bedside table, grabbing the leafy bracelet she left there. “I guess?” The barbarian shrugs, squeezing her gauntleted left hand into the band of woven living wood, resting the bracelet that Beryl gave her quite some time ago on top of the fairly bulky armour. It looks a bit odd, but whatever. “There’s nothing important in there. Just a couple snacks that probably shouldn’t be left sitting around for a couple weeks...”

“We have space in the convoy, so you can bring it all the same if you would like.”

The Drakling squats down beside her backpack. The padded plates of her new armour thump against each other, but that noise is rather muffled. Much quieter than the clanking that she would have expected. “Nah, its mostly empty.” She reaches into the bag and removes the few things that she’d like to bring: a small coin purse, a wrapped bundle containing the last of her snacks, and the gourd that Thea delivered on Beryl’s behalf.

Each one gets attached to her new belt, with the pouch of coins getting tucked beneath one of the large shield-like tassets while the other two end up hanging against those cumbersome plates and her tail.

“There. It can just stay here until I get back.” Krvavy straightens up, taking a moment to make sure the nectar filled gourd isn’t going to get crushed as she walks and moves around. Nope, it’s all good. “Not like I’ll need my pelts on this trip, yeah?”

“No. You will not be short on outfits to wear while working for me.” The Countess smiles playfully. Her eyes glance towards the wrapped object, before gesturing to it with an elegant hand. “And that is your axe, I presume?”

“Yup,” Krvavy nods. “I figured that it was best to cover it up like this instead of just walking around town with it over my shoulder, or something. Wouldn’t want to make your people panic, thinking they’re about to get attacked and killed.”

“How considerate.” The half-Elf’s melodic tone is light and joking. “But you need not worry about that while on the job. So,” she taps the covered haft, “may I see it? You have talked a fair bit of this weapon in the past, and I am curious to finally lay eyes upon it.”

Vera shakes her head, softly tapping her foot on the ground in an obvious and almost exaggerated display of impatience.

“Sure.” Krvavy grabs her wrapped weapon, tugging at the various little twine strings holding the tarp-like fabric in place. The barbarian pulls the cover away, letting it fall down onto the ground, and carefully lifts her axe up, avoiding marring the floor or ceiling as she rights it. “Tada!” A wide and carnivorous grin fills the armoured Drakling’s face as she softly thumps the metal capped end onto the carpet, holding her axe straight and tall beside her.

“My, that is quite the weapon~!” Rina reaches out, brushing a delicate finger along the wobbled wooden haft. “I dare say that it fits you quite well~. And it, thankfully, does not clash with your armour.”

The albino maid stands by the bedroom door, looking almost like a cat annoyed that no one is letting her outside.

Rina spares a brief glance towards her impatient servant. “You now have everything that you need, yes?” She asks the barbarian, smiling as she gets a nod in response. “Good, then let us be on our way.”