Chapter 5: What are we?

There was very little sound as Lavinia and Judith sat in the dim backroom together. Only the occasional scraping of stone against stone as the goblin street-sweepers cleared the rubble outside disturbed the solemn stillness of the late afternoon. Lavinia stared into the depths of the cup of tea clasped in her hands, savouring the peace of the moment.

“So…” the grand dame’s voice pierced the silence.

“Quite.” Lavinia murmured. She looked over to the shuttered window, the light from the street outside diffusing through the blinds into the cozy room.

“How are you, my dear?” Judith’s tone was soft, and caring. “It’s been a lot, hasn’t it?”

“I don’t know.” Lavinia said mournfully. “I suppose so. If I’m honest, I can’t really remember it.”

“Oh? Perhaps, yes… yes, I think I know what you mean.” The grand dame moved to pour herself more tea. “Some of the faster, more death-defying parts I struggle to grasp at now, and sometimes I suspect that things have been shunted into the wrong order in places. Is that how it is for you?”

“No. Not at all.” Lavinia said, sadly. “It’s all gone. Just a big chunk neatly excised from my mind, from right after…” she trailed off a moment and absent-mindedly massaged her neck. “I was there, by all accounts. Running around, doing things. I know about some of them because I’ve been told but…” she looked pensive for a moment. “There’s no connection to it, you know? And no context. It’s like it’s all only been written down in some awful book I didn’t read.”

“Really?”

“Well. Perhaps two. It was quite a lot to happen that quickly, so I’ve heard.”

Judith only nodded in reply. There was silence again and Lavinia took the opportunity to take a long sip of her tea. It wasn’t yet lukewarm, but the flow of time in the warm afternoons these days was deceptive, and this wouldn’t be the first cup she had lost to hazy neglect..

“I suppose you’ll have no need for our little playdates any more.” Judith said, a little sadly. “We finally have a new guildpact, and you’re free from the terrors of Beleren’s neglect.”

“You do say some very silly things sometimes, Judith.” Lavinia tipped her head, an eyebrow raised dubiously. “Of course, yes, all my woes are ended because Ravnica has thrown off the manacle of the teen with too many outside responsibilities. Now the guilds answer to the dragon famous for his lofty distractions and personal ambitions it will all run much smoother.”

“Already bad, then?” Judith smirked into her tea.

“Dreadful. I’ve scarcely been there five minutes and I’m already saddled with far more nonsense than Beleren’s conscience would ever have let him leave for me.” Lavinia took the opportunity to down her own tea. “And it’s made my relationship with Ral very… odd. Though perhaps that’s more about what happened… well, before. I don’t like to think about it. In fact, if you would indulge me, Dame Judith, for a while I’d like not to think at all.”

“Very well, Arrester.”Judith rose from her chair with perfect grace. “You know what to do.”

Lavinia did. She returned her teacup to the table and stood up. Electing to turn around and face the wall to undress, she pulled up her tunic over her head and set it on the back of the chair. She kicked off her boots against the chair itself, and then inelegantly shrugged off her trousers, electing to take her underwear with them rather than remove it separately. Finally, she undid her bra, and swept it away from her body in a motion that filled her mind with gleeful anticipation. She was naked for her diva. How it should be.

“Wonderful.” Came Judith’s voice behind her. “Now turn around, and get on your knees, my pet. I have something for you.”

Lavinia complied, turning her gaze upward in rapture. Past her diva’s boots, her stockings, her skirt… to her hands, her perfectly manicured hands, holding… the collar…

Thin, shooting pain shot through Lavinia’s leg and arm and she collapsed backwards into a crab-squat, unable to properly move.

“For the strong-willed, as I said, the process requires my assistance.” A voice that made her blood curdle spoke. A man’s voice… that man’s voice. “And, I’m afraid, a great deal of pain.” the collar writhed in Judith’s hands, pulsing with magical energy that raised every hair on Lavinia’s arms. It seemed almost to shoot forth horrid protrusions and devices…

“NO!” Lavinia screamed in fear and scrambled backwards, hitting her head on the weathered wainscotting. He couldn’t be here, it couldn’t be happening again! She screwed up her eyes, gritted her teeth and braced herself for the pain she knew would presently wrack her body…

“Oh my goodness.” She heard Judith’s voice and a sharp clatter. “Oh no, oh no.” The dame’s tone had assumed an air of panic that did little to assuage Lavinia’s own roiling fears.

“Lavinia!” Judith called hoarsely. “Lavinia poppet it’s all right. It’s only me. The collar’s gone away now, it’s just me and you’re safe. I’m over here and I’m not coming near you unless you want me to.”

Lavinia chanced a glance. There was nothing there. Only Judith, stood up straight, reaching out towards her pleadingly.

Lavinia scrambled to her feet and padded forward, falling into Judith’s waiting embrace. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right, darling.” Judith soothed. “I should have thought. Let’s just skip the collar for today, shall we?”

“No!” Lavinia cried in panic, apparently surprising the grand dame. Judith looked down at her in askance. “I… I don’t want…” Lavinia struggled, shuddering at the thought of Tezzeret’s voice flashing through her mind. “I don’t want to skip it. If we stop using the collar because I can’t handle it, because of what he did to me… it’s like he gets to take it away from us. I need this, Judith. It’s… it’s all right if it’s you.”

“I understand.” Judith said, a little doubtfully. “Are you ready to try again?”

“I think so.”

“Very well.” Judith reached behind the cushion on her armchair and produced the collar. Presumably that was where she had thrown it in her panic. “I’m going to put the collar on you now, my pet” she soothed, taking hold of her chin with his metal hand, grip inhumanly strong, and gently pressed the thing around-

“NO!” Lavinia cried, tears welling in her eyes. The vision dissipated, Judith returned, her hand retracting from Lavinia’s face. “Sorry, I’m sorry.” Lavinia backpedaled. “Please, please carry on.”

Judith furrowed her brow and looked rather upset, but returned to advancing the collar towards Lavinia’s neck. Lavinia concentrated on trying to clear her mind. She thought nothing, she insisted, she was troubled by nothing , how little you understand.” He glanced sideways, at the hovering apparition. “I could kill you, but it seems like a waste. I’ve always believed in being-

“Niv-Mizzet.”

Lavinia looked up in surprise. The voice had not been hers. Judith stood before her, streaks of black, white and grey streaming down her face as tears made her makeup run.

“Please stop making me hurt you, Lavinia.” She sniffed. “I can’t bear it.”

Lavinia was shaken. She’d barely ever seen Judith look this vulnerable. Only once, in fact. Only… tears began welling in her own eyes.

“You said the safe word.” She said in a small voice.

“That’s allowed.” Judith replied. “Usually… usually I’m in control, so I don’t need it, but… I can’t do this, Lavinia. You… you can’t see your face every time I bring it near you. It’s too real for me.”

“Oh… oh Judith…” Lavinia wept. “I’m sorry. I just… I don’t want to be this way. Giving up feels like… like Tezzeret and Bolas still have power over me, even now. That they can still take the things I love away from me.”

Judith nodded. “I understand, but I really can’t bear it. Your face fills with… such a real fear. It’s too visceral. Nothing like the play-fear I want to see. I would never properly hurt you deliberately, Lavinia. Never. Remember that. Knives and boots and commanding words I always have, but it’s theatre, smoke and mirrors. I’m a jumped up circus clown; one who loves you very much.” She breathed deeply, and adjusted her corset. “I do have an idea, though. Maybe this might work, if you’ll trust me?”

“Of course.”

Judith produced the collar again, but rather than edging it toward Lavinia’s neck, she simply took the arrester’s hand and placed it in her grasp. Then she stepped away, assuming an officious walk.

“We have done this dance enough times, Lavinia of the Tenth.” She intoned, in that voice that sent a pleasurable shiver down Lavinia’s spine. “You no longer need me to take ownership of you by force. I have shown you what you are, and where you belong, and you know what your proper place is. You will put yourself there willingly.”

Of course. “Yes.” Lavinia replied, struggling to suppress the joy in her voice as she realised the collar in her hands remained just a collar, the nightmare nowhere to be seen . “I am your pet, my Diva.” She brought the collar to her neck, and as she closed the buckle tears filled her eyes again. Warm, soft tears of joy. “ And my place is at your feet.” She descended to the floor onto her hands and knees at looked up lovingly at Judith… her Judith.

“That you are, and that it is, my pet.” Judith squatted down to caress Lavinia’s cheek with an alabaster hand. “Come on, I have a plan for today. Hop up in the big chair. You’re allowed, just this once.”

Buzzing with anticipation, Lavinia clambered up into the sitting position in Judith’s great high-backed armchair. Her entire body felt like a tuning fork, vibrating at the mystery of her owner’s intent… and her arousal was evident to someone who knew where to look.

“Do you remember our first playtime, my pet?” Judith sat down on the edge of the coffee table. “How inexperienced you were? What I told you we would need to fix at some point?” She leaned forward, her face approaching Lavinia’s oozing nethers.

“Oh…” Lavinia breathed in surprise. “You mean… my… oh you needn’t trouble yourself, My Diva!”

“Needn’t I?” Judith looked up and extended like a cat until her face was level with Lavinia’s. “Make no mistake, my pet. Nothing has changed. I’m still in charge here. All that’s happening is that I think you deserve a treat…” She ruffled Lavinia’s hair. “…because you’re a very good girl, and you’ve had a nasty shock. Do you have any objections, or are you going to let me continue?”

Lavinia shivered at having been called a very good girl .“No, my Diva! No objections! ” she squeaked, fearing the promised reward slipping through her fingers, the way that a child might.

“Very well then.” Judith’s face retreated down Lavinia’s torso, back to her cunt.

Lavinia sat upright, tense with trepidation for a moment, then gripped the arms of the chair spasmodically as a surprised moan of pleasure escaped her lips. She couldn’t imagine this being something Judith- dominant, domineering Judith; her Diva, her owner- did often, and yet she could feel what she imagined must be a level of practised skill. She hung her head against the tall backrest in ecstasy as Judith brought her closer and closer to climax; reaching the home stretch in a minute or so, powerless to resist .

In rather short order , she came. A thin, joyous cry escaped her lips as she gazed down the length of her body at the smug, satisfied face of her owner, before her head was thrown back as her back arched in spasm. She collapsed into the chair, slack and sated.

“Did you enjoy that, my pet?” Judith stood up, her triumphant smile contrasting the dried streaks in her makeup.

“Yes, my Diva.” Lavinia gasped. “Thank you so much.”

“Very good.” Judith purred. “Now once you can move again, get out of my chair, please. You know you’re not allowed on the furniture unless I say so. And come with me to the en-suite. I think both of us” – she gestured to her ruined makeup – “could do with a wash.”

Lavinia scrambled off the chair in an ungainly fashion and onto all fours on the floor. She waited until Judith had crossed the room to the unmarked door in the north wall, then scampered over to join her as it was opened. Within was a small, cosy room containing a moderately sized porcelain bath and toilet , a far more ornate brass-fitted sink with a similarly styled mirror hanging above it, and a carved dark wooden cabinet. Lavinia had been in here many times on her visits, but never as the pet.

“Run the bath warm, my pet.” Judith instructed. “Until it covers your lower legs when you kneel in it. Then do so. I shall be with you in a moment.” She crossed to the cabinet and withdraw from it’s deceptively voluminous depths a host of paints and potions that Lavinia, whose calling in life had rather led her more down the path of a makeup appreciator than wearer, could only guess at the function of.

Lavinia busied herself with running the bath. Princely as the fittings in the en-suite were, th e plumbing was more on the level of the weathered wall panelling. It took her some time to coax the creaking, spluttering pipes into filling the bath up above ankle height , and when she finally stepped into the warm water and knelt down, Judith was by the bath’s side with her makeup once again pristine.

“Wait there, my pet.” She stepped over to the cabinet, and returned carrying a round, soft sponge and a bar of blood red soap.

“Now then.” She crooned. “First thing’s first.” Wetting her hands in the warm bathwater, she gently took hold of Lavinia’s face and reverently wiped away the dry stains of her tears.

“Thank you, my Diva.” Lavinia breathed.

“There we are.” Judith looked down at her lovingly. “All better. Now let’s get you all clean.”

She lathered her hand with soap and began to sensuously rub down every exposed inch of Lavinia’s skin. Lavinia shivered as she felt the grand dame’s silky soft fingers trail across her breasts… down the nape of her neck… over her exposed rear… always followed by the gentle swirling of the soft, wet sponge. She shivered in ecstasy, prompting a concerned inquiry from Judith as to whether the water was perhaps too cold.

Finally, she felt Judith’s hands expertly massage her scalp, plying her hair softly and tenderly. Almost reflexively, Lavinia’s mind began to empty, her thoughts and troubles being replaced with a simple fuzzy euphoria that crowded out everything else. She dared to stretch into Judith’s fingers, savouring the wonderful feeling of her owner’s touch on her head.

Judith laughed. “Oh you like that , don’t you, my pet?” She removed her hands and poured some water over Lavinia’s back. “There we are, all clean. Come on out and let me dry you off, and we’ll play some more.”

Her senses flooding back, Lavinia eagerly complied, stepping out of the bath into the enveloping embrace of the towel Judith held for her.

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The session ended an hour or so later, with Judith reclining on the couch, stroking the hair of a relaxed, nude but nonetheless re-personed Lavinia as the two spent some time decompress ing .

Lavinia looked up at the warm light penetrating the shutters and softly kissing her body, and then at Judith’s loving face. In the pit of her stomach, something stirred, and slowly grew into a swelling yearning. I took her a few moments more to pin down what she yearned for, before she spoke.

“What are we, Judith?”

Judith looked down into her eyes, lazily. “Human beings still, Lavinia. I think so, in any case. Possibly slightly less so now on my part than yours. I tend to encounter more exciting opportunities to branch out.”

“Very funny.” Lavinia groaned. “What I mean is…” she frowned and took a breath before continuing. “I love you, Judith. I really do. I denied it for so long and now… in such a short time so much has changed in my life. In everybody’s life, really. You’ve been one of the most concrete things that I had to hold on to in that time and… I’m tired of hiding, Judith. Of lying, sneaking around. I don’t know if we should make an announcement or anything like that, it might still be scandalous if we shout it from the rooftops… but… I wouldn’t mind if we could speak frankly about… about us in conversation.”

“But you don’t know what to call us?” Judith mused. “You want us to speak frankly about it with ourselves first?”

“Yes.” Lavinia replied. “That’s it exactly. What are we, Judith?”

“Hmm.” Judith considered. “I don’t think it would be all that prudent for people to hear me referred to as your owner, or your mistress. Without rather more context than we should have to share I imagine that would be rather incriminating, what with your position and responsibilities.”

“And you can’t be my partner.” Lavinia contributed. “That means something altogether quite different amongst the Azorius, it’d be no end of confusion.”

“Well then darling.” Judith continued. “I suppose that means I’m your girlfriend.”

“You are NOT.” Lavinia lurched upwards into a half-sitting position indignantly. “I don’t have a girlfriend, Judith! I’m a grown woman with a career in law enforcement, not a ten year old boy who mustered the guts to ask the classmate who gives him butterflies on a date.”

“Are you sure?” Judith teased, fondling Lavinia’s short crop haircut. “Could have fooled me.”

“Judith!” Lavinia protested. “Please! This is serious. I can’t think of a something I’d like to call you less than ‘girlfriend’.”

“Well then.” Judith said decisively. “I suppose, unless this is your way of telling me you would like to avoid the problem entirely by becoming something more formal…”

“No!” Lavinia balked. “Oh… no… not just yet, but… maybe I’d like to in time? I’m sorry, I… I didn’t think about it… I didn’t know that… I didn’t think… think you’d want…” Her face turned scarlet as she struggled to grasp the notion of what Judith might be… proposing.

“I wouldn’t, poppet, you’re right. Not for me.” Judith caressed Lavinia’s cheek. “It was a little joke, to fluster you because I do so love watching your officious little face burn, Arrester. No, I think the only remaining option, sordid as it is, is that I must be your lover.”

“Hmm.” Lavinia considered the suggestion. “It is a little sordid.” She admitted, after some thought. “But we wouldn’t be speaking of it terribly loudly, or widely. I could introduce you as that…” Her face turned more confident. “Yes. Yes I think that is what you are. What you have been for quite a while now. My lover, Judith the Scourge Diva.” Satisfied, she relaxed onto Judith’s chest, and then wriggled a little until she and the grand dame were in a position where they could more easily cuddle.

“Something else I’ve thought of.” She said, absent-mindedly.

“And what is that?” Judith asked in a loving tone.

“We’re going to need a new safe word.” Lavinia pursed her lips. “Now that I’m working for him it’s not good for me to be trained to yell ‘Niv-Mizzet’ whenever everything’s too much. He might start asking questions.”

“Quite right.” Judith nodded. “That certainly would not do. Did you have a replacement in mind?”

Lavinia let her eyes drift to the thin beams of light at the shutters again, and listened to the twittering of a goblin foreman discussing load weights with his driver. She smiled with contentment, feeling truly relaxed for what felt like the first time in a very long while. Truly relaxed, and truly safe… and truly loved.

“Beleren.” She murmured.