Blood Ties

Chapter 1: Down & Dirty

Water was swirling everywhere, wet hair floating upwards, thick lashes clamped shut as bubbles came out of her nose. Trisa shivered under the water; it was a cold bath. The bath itself was actually designed as an ornate fountain always circulating water. It was both decorative and convenient. The only thing was it wasn't ever hot. Not a problem for a Magi with nature infused magic. Remaining under the water Trisa held her palms before her. Concentrating on the swishing of the water, letting ripples fill her sense of touch, she imagined the water warming as little whirlpools formed above her palms. Within the space of a few breaths, the water was warmed. After that, she came up for air. Her naked torso's skin pricked against the cold air. Water streamed down her back, and red welts stood out among the slight musculature of her back. She looked down at her breasts, which had thankfully not been hit. There was nothing worse than a sore chest. Moving her hands down the length of her back she felt her spine then finally her butt. She winced that one guard had walloped her on her left cheek. It was earlier in the day when she'd been assaulted; it had started out as a routine check.

"Halt, in the name of the Seventh, who wishes to breach the gate," questioned Plyith, the guard who'd always stared at Trisa a bit too long.

" You know very well who I am Plyith. Please, open the gilded gates," Trisa forced herself to keep her eyes from rolling, while leaning on the staff she'd made for her grandmother.

" Turn around routine pat search for concealed weaponry." He made her do this every time she visited as if Trisa would become hysterical one day and murder her cousin the King. She obliged this silly routine as she usually did and turned her back staff in hand. Plyith patted her shoulder, sides, and then out of nowhere grabbed her ass hard. She swallowed a yelp attempting to escape her throat. Trisa's face seared at this violation. Trisa turned back to face him red in the face. Looking at Plyith, which was smug and empowered.

" When Ryi hears about this you'll be on Lavatory duty for weeks!" Lavatory duty referred to guarding the backside of the castle where the shits came out.

Plyith snorted, " I don't know what you're talking about." She was going to say you can't just violate another human being, but it got lost somewhere when the token staff she made for Grandma Rumi found his face.

There was a satisfying crack. After that, it was a bit of a blurry scuffle. One that involved her getting pushed to the ground by another guard attempting to "subdue" her, at which point she landed hard on her already objectified rear. Just when she regained her composure from shock, Trisa realized something was missing.

The staff she made wasn't on the ground with her; that was when Plyith hit back, with her staff the one she spent so much time working on. Apparently, her craftsmanship needed work, because it split in half across her back by the time Plyith hit her a second time. After which, the other guard subdued Plyith instead. Holding down a wreathing Plyith, he beckoned a bruised Trisa through the gates. She left the staff broken behind her, walking unsteadily toward the castle. After she'd dragged herself inside and upstairs, to the room always kept for her, she discarded her dirtied clothes on the floor and gingerly got into the bathing fountain.

" For all that is holy Yisa where have you been!" It was Cousin Ryi. Had it been any other man in the palace Trisa would have ducked back into the water at this invasion of privacy. Instead, she just stood there back towards him waist deep in water, skin prickly with goose bumps.

Glancing over her shoulder Trisa tried to give a curt reply. " A guard thought it would be funny to...harass me, " Ryi winced when he noticed the red marks on her back and proceeded to blubber out an apology he promised that he'd punish his guard for their insubordinate behavior. "God Ryi shut up. I'm fine. Well for the most part," she said after he cast a noticeable glance at her bruising right side. "Just get the handmaidens to send me some dragon balm, would you... please?" Ryi nodded grimly. Hollering on his way out, "We'll talk more later!" By this, he meant after the ceremony most likely. Trisa had the passing thought of how Ryi was the King, but for her, Ryi was her sweet older cousin. Sometimes it was hard to believe she was a Royal, and it was a pain in the ass that's for sure.