Author: JustSkipIt
Rating: R to NC-17
Feedback: Please leave feedback on the Waiting for Dani thread on the Kitten Board.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own Willow and Tara and the Buffyverse. I'm not saying this universe is totally original but I didn't steal it from any author or creator that I know of. No copyright infringement is meant by this fic and I will not make any money from it.
Distribution: Kitten Board, Through the Looking Glass, Mystic Muse. Everyone else, send me a note.

Note: Additional note after the conclusion of this update.

I waited until I had 17 summers behind me before taking my marks. I could have taken them earlier, much earlier for I had started bleeding more than three summers previous, but I wanted to wait. My waiting, while unusual, was my choice. Occasionally a family would decide to postpone the taking of marks for timing or maturity but in this case the delay was entirely up to me. My father never approached me about the marks although Melanie did.

She came to my rooms a few months after I had become eligible. Dani offered Melanie tea which Melanie politely refused, then Dani bowed to her and left, carrying with her a few plates and cups from a snack we had been enjoying as we studied. She bid me to stay seated and pulled up a chair on her own.

"Miss Tara." She reached out and took my hand, gently stroking the back. "Your father, Lord Maclay, wishes to know when you will receive your marks."

I looked away for a moment. "I do not feel ready, Miss Melanie."

She nodded her head slightly. "Your education has progressed very well and very quickly. I hope you know how pleased your father and I are with your studies." She said this like a question, her voice rising on the last syllable.

"Yes, Miss." I smiled at her.

"And you know also that T'solde feels that your magical power is, if anything, higher than expected. Your focus and purity are excellent and your artistry training is an unexpected value."

I took a breath. "Yes, Miss Melanie. But I don't feel that this is the right time."

She looked like she was considering whether to speak or not. "If you are worried about Dani, D'elam tells me that she is not ready for her marks yet. She can follow when she becomes ready."

My words seemed to catch in my throat but I swallowed audibly. "No, Miss Melanie, she is not." I was no expert on such things but I wondered if her slimmer figure meant that her bleeding would not come so young as mine. While I had noticed the changes in my body, hers had not started these changes yet.

Again Melanie took my hand. "Dani is a wonderful and devoted girl. You will both bring pride to your family when you take your marks." When I didn't answer she let go of my hand and sat back in her chair. "I will tell Lord Maclay your decision. " We said goodbye and she left my rooms.

Dani was back a few minutes later with a bowl of water to wash my hair. I sat in the chair and she put the water on the table and began to work the lather in. "She came about your marks, Miss Tara?" I believe that only our closeness allowed her to ask such a question.

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. "I am not ready to take my marks, my girl."

"Yes, Miss Tara." We were silent for the rest of the hair wash and as she combed and set my hair.

As had now become tradition, when she had finished her work on my hair, she took my seat and allowed me to wash and brush her hair as she had done mine. The water was less warm than it had been for her but I craved the opportunity to do this for her. I loved the feel of her hair against my fingers, to let the strands just fall through the spaces. I brushed her hair for an extra long time and then bid her to sleep in my bed tonight. As usual, she insisted that it was not her place and I that her place was at my side. It had become a traditional and playful argument between us: where she would sleep. More often than not I prevailed and I hoped that in those cases, her actual intent was to sleep in my arms just as it was always my wish. I knew that she was bound by her position to lobby for her meager mattress but I was bound by my love for her to dissuade her. That night I held her especially fiercely. Just the thought of Dani taking those marks was enough to fill my eyes with tears for her tender skin.

Not long after Donnie and his servant took their marks, I had been attending a magical lesson with Melanie. Faith and Anne were free from this lesson because they were attending a gown fitting for the upcoming celebration and Donnie and his man rode by, waving a greeting. I watched them and then turned to Melanie commenting that the marks seemed very well done and powerful.

At first her reaction had been that the marks were indeed well done. Then she narrowed her eyes slightly and asked me what I meant by powerful. I explained the impression I had of the static current between the marks and then described similar connections between herself and D'elam, father and D'rek, and others at the wedding. Apparently this was a great discovery for she quickly called D'elam over and they whispered for a few moments. We continued with our lesson and within the afternoon, T'solde galloped up on her horse.

As it turned out, my ability to feel the connection between marks was an indicator of an ability to create them. We already knew that I had a fondness for art as it was the activity I used to fill much of my free time when I did not have studies or other responsibilities. However, no one had expected me to have this unusual potential. T'solde gave me a few quick tests before declaring that we would have to take a journey to the marks-artist. Everyone cluck-clucked that it was too bad we hadn't realized this earlier since the marks-artist had just been to the estate fifteen days earlier to create and bind D'le's (Donnie's servant's) marks.

Nonetheless, a message was sent to Miss T'dre the artist who had bound Donnie and his man as well as most of the other nobles we knew. She responded immediately that she would be out to visit and examine me two days hence.

The next two days were spent verily scrubbing myself inside and out. T'solde stayed at our estate and she and Melanie drilled me on magical theory every waking minute while Dani and D'elam prepared my wardrobe, skin, and hair for the visit. At night I fell into bed without even the energy to cajole my lovely girl in with me. She must have known how overwhelmed I was and taken pity on me for each morning although I woke alone, I could feel her heat still on the sheets just next to me.

T'dre arrived at mid-day and was welcomed into the castle by father himself. She accepted the formal greetings and then requested that she and I walk by ourselves. The walk seemed almost like a dream. We visited the gardens and stables and much of the grounds as she asked me questions about myself, my family, my horse, my intended servant, and my interests. I performed magic both by myself and jointly with her and stopped to draw pictures in the sand or on a small roll of paper she pulled from her pocket. By the time we had finished, I looked up to notice that it was growing dark about.

"My girl will be worried about me."

T'dre looked at me. "It is lovely to have someone who cares about you so much. Please tell me about her."

And so for a long hour or more, I went on about Dani's beauty, her intelligence, her laugh, everything I loved so about her. When I finished we had arrived at the castle to find the lamps burning brightly and the table set but the house waiting dinner on us. We sat down and shared our banquet in relative silence. When she had finished eating, T'dre simply said that she would train me. She made no promises but allowed that my potential was strong. My father, Melanie, and T'solde all looked very pleased when they embraced me and Faith whispered that I was a "hot dog" whatever that meant.

And so I began an apprenticeship in mark artistry or just artistry. Faith teased me about my studies saying that she was also going to be a marks-woman if she had her way. It was a weak joke but she made her point.

For the first fourteen to eighteen moons of my apprenticeship, my entire study was academic. Tadre (for she quickly asked me to use her name rather than title) visited once a seven-day to deliver scrolls with marks symbols listed. I was expected to study and memorize the symbols and practice drawing them until I could reproduce them quite literally with my eyes shut with pen on scroll. Once I could reproduce them perfectly with my eyes shut, I would be required to draw the mark with my left hand and then with my left hand but my eyes shut. Each of these attempts was tested by Tadre and she was a strict but kind teacher. She would not allow any imperfection but she was very clear and gentle in explaining where my reproduction deviated from the sample she had provided. When she came to test me, she did not show me the scrolls but would say the nature of a binding or a family name and expect me to produce the correct mark.

Dani was, of course, invaluable in my studies. While her artistic ability was, shall we say, less than ideal, her memorization skills allowed her to quickly digest the information and test and retest me wherever we may be: whether in my rooms or out on a ride. Her quick mind allowed her to see thematic connections between similar symbols that were not immediately obvious to me. I once asked her how she learned them so quickly and she seemed almost embarrassed to explain that when she had seen something even once, she retained a sort of mental image forever.

I don't mean to make it seem that my education was put on hold for the sake of my artistry. If anything, my education intensified in all areas. I now studied or spoke Latin, Greek, French, and Slavic, memorized Astronomy and the movement of the stars and planets, Geometry, Oration, Agricultural planning, deportment, dancing, needlework, diplomacy, and, of course, magical application. While all of these subjects had varying intensity and difficulty, by far the most difficult was Geometry and later Trigonometry. But for Dani's repeated and painstaking instruction, I don't know that I ever would have been able to produce acceptable examinations in these subjects.

By the time I neared my fourteenth summer, Tadre allowed that my knowledge of marks and my ability to reproduce them were acceptable to accompany her and learn the actual application and binding of the marks. Not until I went with her, did I start to understand my chosen and gifted craft. Artistry is about knowing the correct symbols and being able to reproduce them as well as being able to create truly beautiful art but it is also about the strength and purity the artist puts into the mark. Every mark. Every mark requires a magical bond. Whether it is a mark declaring a noble man or woman to have achieved maturity, a free joining marriage bond, a servant bond, or the very rare freed-servant bond, the mark must have a very specific and delicate yet powerful piece of magic within it.

The first mark artistry I attended was the binding of a one mark servant to the second cousin of the Lord of a neighboring estate. The noble woman was fifth of seven daughters with no magic among her or her siblings and none in either parent's line. In other words, this mark would not be terribly elaborate. It would still contain the basic anchors to bind the servant and her mistress together but the design was fairly basic. After she had completed the noble woman's mark design, Tadre had brought me the scroll and asked me to dissect it for her, which I had done thoroughly and repeatedly. When asked, I could reproduce the design with my eyes closed and with either hand. Tadre asked me to explain in great detail about the anchors she had placed in the design. These spots were placed into the original marks of a noble man or woman. Later when his or her servant was bound or when the joining marks were created, the anchors would be used to "tie" the servant to the binding or the pair to each other.

I do not know if my initial reaction upon attending an artistry would have been different had I attended the noble woman's binding rather than her servant's first. Our marks, as I've explained before, are placed on our palms-right palm for a woman and left palm for a man. The joining marks are created on the backs of our hands even extending up the forearm if necessary. As you might imagine, in spite of the joy of the ceremony and the preparation we have undergone, the application of marks to one's hands-hands filled with bones and sensitive nerves is quite painful. The elaboration of a set of marks is notable and impressive not only because it indicates the wealth and prestige associated with a family, but because it is such an ordeal. Another reason that the elaboration of marks is impressive is that any noble family of worth will supply the artist and receiver with adequate healing and herbal medicine to make the taking of the marks palatable. Without the numbing herbs-usually an herb called Opiaum-I believe most people could not accept the marks on their hands.

No servant ever receives his or her marks simultaneous to his master so that he can care for the master (or mistress) throughout the recovery period. While the nobility's prestige is enhanced by the elaboration of his marks, it is also enhanced by realizing that any servant bonded to that person will have equal marks on his or her hip. This marking, on the hip, is done without the aid of a healer or herbs. Although the hip is a more forgiving surface to the hot vibrating needle, it is by no means a pleasant experience for the servant. Servants are respected for their ability to withstand the artistry in devotion to their mark-master. That first artistry I attended was shocking. The servant was very good at withstanding the pain and did not scream, but she did cry as her mistress held her.

So when Melanie came to me every four or six moons after the initial visit, I continued to delay the taking of my marks. I had no fear for myself, for my family had an excellent healer living on our estate. But I couldn't stand the thought of Dani hurt so badly. One of the first assignments Tadre had given me once I had finished my memorization was to design my own marks. It was a project she had returned to over and over ever since. I knew that the marks would be extensive and elaborate-more elaborate than any I had ever seen before nor that Tadre had created.

After each visit from Melanie, Dani would respectfully ask me about my marks and I responded each time by telling her that I was not ready. She did not question me further but I wondered if she had an inkling of why I was so reticent. When I had sixteen summers, this conversation altered. Dani began to urge me to take the marks, to trust that she would serve me well and make me proud. It was her voice but I could hear D'elam and thus Melanie's words passing through her mouth.

The following winter I received a visit from Faith. She no longer seemed my baby sister. With fifteen summers behind her she had been released from her academic studies after receiving adequate marks in all subjects. Her love remained the out of doors, gamesmanship, riding, hunting, and she now headed all hunting expeditions initiated by our estate. Our region was quite peaceful at this time but I occasionally heard murmurings of her fitness for military lead. Either position-gameswoman or military leader-- was unusual for a noble woman but my family had great prestige and respect and my father was always very liberal in his thinking. Additionally, she was the third daughter in our family. Pressure was not so intense on her as on myself or Donnie or even Anne.

She came in one afternoon as I was working on my mark design for perhaps the thirtieth time based on feedback from Tadre. Dani was out on a long ride which I have to suspect Faith knew, given that she was Dani's most frequent riding partner besides myself. She knocked and at my invite came in taking a seat on the other side of the table. She waited until I had stopped drawing and replaced my quill in the holder before indicating the paper with her hand. "May I?" I nodded and she took the paper and studied it for a few minutes. "Those are going to be really something, T."

"I don't think that's the final product. Tadre will want to make some adjustments," I explained.

"Have you designed mine yet? Or Anne's?"

I reached into the drawer in my desk and pulled out two very similar scrolls and handed them to her. She looked them over and smiled. "I think I can live with my three marks. You've done a really fantastic job on these."

"Thank you, Faith." I looked at her for a long minute. "Is there a reason for your visit?"

She placed her hand over her heart in mock indignation and hurt. "What? I can't just visit my big sister to hear her witty repartee and see her unending beauty?"

"Seems unlikely."

Faith laughed. "See, witty repartee." I leaned back in my chair and folded my hands across my chest. "Ok. I'm not here for your witty repartee."

I feigned shock at the revelation, again earning a laugh from my sister.

"The estate awaits the taking of your marks, Miss T'ra." She spoke in a surprisingly formal fashion and I wondered whether it was Melanie or father who had sent her.

"I don't feel that I'm ready." I picked up my quill and pulled the scroll toward me as if dismissing her and ending the conversation.

Faith leaned forward and pulled my hand from the scroll and held it in her own. "Tara, there's never been a better prepared Lady. You'll bring all the respect and devotion and love to this family that you could. You know it." She tilted her head. "Are you afraid of the pain? Because the healer stands ready to apply the herbs." She waited a moment after which I did not answer. "Donnie says it didn't hurt that badly when he kept thinking of the honor of his marks and his are almost as elaborate as yours."

I stood and stepped a few steps from the desk. "I don't understand w-why no one will believe that I am not ready."

Faith allowed me to pace for a few seconds before she also stood and stepped directly in front of me. She reached up to tuck an errant strand of hair behind my ear and placed her hands on my shoulders. "Is it Dani?" I flinched, unaware and unsuspecting of her perceptivity. She took that as an admission. "Is... is it that you don't want her hurt?"

Tears sprung to my eyes. I slowly nodded as did Faith.

She stroked my cheek. "I understand." She swallowed audibly. "But people are starting to think that you doubt her. That you doubt her strength and devotion to you."

"Wh-what? That's ... That's j-just ridiculous. Who thinks that? Who..."

She interrupted me to drive home the dagger. "She thinks it too, Miss Tara."

I reached backwards and found that I was standing by the bed onto which I collapsed. "She thinks? But I would never. I mean. She's ... I mean. She's not afraid and I know she..." I leaned forward putting my face into my hands then looked back up. "She really thinks that?"

Faith kneeled down in front of me. "She doesn't know what to think. You're obviously ready and she believes she is too but you keep delaying."

"Father? Melanie?" I could feel my heart pounding. "Do they think that I doubt her? They know she's, that she's perfect? Right? Don't they?"

Faith stroked my hair for a few minutes as I tried to comprehend this misconception. This thought of weakness in my girl. "I can explain to father but everyone else...," she offered

I wiped my eyes and lifted my head. "I will speak to Lord Maclay at his earliest opportunity about the taking of my marks."

Faith nodded. Then she gently kissed each of my cheeks. "She'll be fine and we'll all spoil her crazy."

I gulped and nodded. "I know."

She glanced to my windowpane. "I should get out there for a ride before mother goes hunting down her ‘wild child.'"

Before she left the room, I called after her. "Thank you for talking to me, Faith."

She smiled. "Of course, Tara."

That night at dinner I could hardly eat. I kept one eye sideways trained on Dani, attempting to spot her insecurity. Did she truly think that I wasn't proud of her? That I doubted her? How could she not know how I cared for her? How I felt about her? The rest of the time I spent stealing glances at the rest of the diners. We had visitors as we did nearly every evening but it seemed unusually quiet around the table to me. "Lord Maclay, I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you at your convenience." My formal words sounded foreign in my ear.

My father was nothing if not a consummate statesman. "Yes, Miss Tara," he nodded only once. "We shall speak after dinner."

A few hours later, our visitors had left the estate when D'rek came to get me. I walked back to father's rooms with him and was bowed inside before the door shut tightly. My father sat at his large desk and put away his pen the moment I entered. "Lord Maclay, thank you for seeing me." I bowed formally.

My father extended his left hand to show his marks and bowed in return. "Miss Tara. Please take a seat."

I did so next to his desk and he returned to his chair. I extended the scroll with my latest efforts on it. "If your Lordship deems it appropriate, I am ready to take my marks. The artist does not feel that this is a complete representation but she approves of the basic design."

My father took the scroll and studied it for a few moments, holding it next to his hand to compare the designs. Then he set it on the desk and smiled, leaning forward to take my hands in his. "Tara. The design is beautiful and shows the honor of our house as well as the memory of your mother, Lady Maclay. I will be proud to see you take your marks and become Lady of this house." It was obviously not an afterthought yet he waited a heartbeat before adding, "And your Dani will do this house and your Ladyship great honor when she is bonded. You two are a wonderful and beautiful pair."

I looked away briefly. "Yes, Lord Maclay. Dani looks forward to our bonding."

My father poured me a small cup of tea and placed a sweet stick into it, stirring twice before handing me the cup. "Tara. You have concerns about Dani?"

I felt relieved that we were entering a more informal conversation. "Concerns for her, Father. Not about her. I know that she is completely devoted and I could never ask for a better partner."

"What then?"

I took a deep breath. "I don't like the idea of her being hurt. I know the marking hurts and servants are not given any herbs. I ... I just ..."

My father nodded. "Yes. I understand." He took the tea and set it on the table before taking my hands again. "I do not believe that the marking process is easy for our servants but their pain is part of what binds them to us and gives us pride. I am sorry that it will hurt Dani and that it will hurt you through her." He looked around the room. "I must confess that I had similar concerns about Derek but he has now taken marks three times with me and reports that the pride outweighs the pain." I nodded but apparently I didn't look relieved. "There is something else?"

I looked away and bit my lip slightly. My father easily picked me up and put me in his lap like a small child, wrapping his arms around my waist. "There. Now you can tell me what is bothering you without having to look into my eyes."

I felt like the words were lodged in my throat. I could feel tears in my eyes and wanted to avoid saying this. "I'm not just afraid for her for the mark pain. I... the marks-rights...." Before she had taken her marks, Dani had existed, like myself, in a sort of protected adolescence. It was unheard of, literally unheard of, for an adult man to avail himself of a girl before her marks were bestowed on her. But once she had her marks...

My father tensed slightly in his chair. Then he relaxed and began to brush my hair with his hands. "My darling child, your servant will have five marks. I think of her as my child and can vow that I will never take marks-rights with her." He half-whispered, "And your uncle, Lord M'rtin's interests run more to the ... Well you can discard any concern for his interest." He spoke of T'solde's husband here and I wondered briefly what he meant of the Lord's interests.

I was quiet for a few moments, enjoying the softness of his hands comforting me. "Thank you."

My father pushed me gently into a standing position and stood himself. "We shall schedule your marks taking and ceremony for this summer. Please let T'dre know that I wish to speak to her when she is here next."

I bowed deeply. "Yes, Lord Maclay. Thank you for your patience." He returned the bow, indicating that I was free to leave my audience.

I was only a few steps from the door when I heard his voice once again. "Tara." I turned around to see him looking at me kindly. "Dani is young but there may come a time when she will enjoy sharing marks-rights and your status will ensure her of quality and breeding in eligible mates."

I nodded over the lump forming in my throat and took my leave.

My marks artistry was scheduled for the day of the summer equinox. Dani's would be two weeks later and the celebration two weeks later still. While the estate prepared for the celebration banquet, I prepared spiritually for my marks. Each day was spent in quiet reflection, writing, drawing, or praying. Tadre informed me that once I had taken my marks I would be ready to artist marks up to 3rd level without her accompaniment. I had assisted her on thirty or forty artistries but I had no idea that she thought this much of my training progress. The last week before my marks Tadre stayed at the estate, working or praying with me for hours a day.

Dani and I continued our playful debate over where she slept but it had been summers and moons besides since she had won the debate. Usually I held her throughout the night, wrapping my arms around her tiny but powerful body and kissing the most tender places on her neck and hair. This week she clung to me like a drowning man to a scrap of wood, her hands pressed to my flat stomach and her breath tickling my ears. A few times I woke in the night to imagine I felt or heard her crying but each time I was too deeply in sleep to ask her about it. When I woke, I asked her about it but she insisted I was dreaming and carried on with her morning duties but each day I knew I felt he impression of her lips on my neck and shoulders like never before.

On the day of my marks, I woke to find Dani already arisen and gone from my rooms. Tadre came in shortly after I had washed and begun to dress and informed me that we would be bathing in the stream. She bid me come to the banquet hall dressed as I was and I did so. Assembled in the hall were my father, Melanie, my siblings, T'solde and representatives of her estate, and servants-in short the entire estate. My eyes watered at the looks on their faces and shockingly, Anne was the first to reach me to wrap me in a hug. "Good morning, Lady Maclay." I looked strangely at her before remembering that the day of marks, a noble man or woman was honored as if she had already received marks all day.

Donnie followed Anne and then Faith and Dani. My father and Melanie followed the two of them and the processional had begun. Breakfast itself was a forgettable affair. My father and aunts made speeches to honor my place in the family and I found myself blushing and saying, "Thank you" a lot. Dani held my hand under the table, giving me little squeezes from time to time.

After breakfast, Tadre and I took our leave of the group and went out to the stream. Dani had laid out everything we would need for our ritual but was not present herself although I would be at her ritual in a fortnight. We bathed in the river and purified ourselves. Tadre made a supplication that her artistry would be worthy of my marks and I that I would be always worthy of my place in my family.

We returned to the marks tent at high-noon to meet the healer and Dani, both waiting for us. They bowed down before us, making me blush a little. Then my father, T'solde, and Lord M'rtin - all those present who equaled my marks-led me into the tent and sat me in my chair. My father handed T'dre a golden coin and the three of them took their leave. Dani entered and immediately kneeled at my side, taking my left hand in hers. Our healer bowed deeply before applying a numbing salve to my palm and giving me a draught of the herb. It tasted terrible but I found myself floating right away.

As I already knew, T'dre, sang as she worked and the music was part of the magic. She wound the legend of my parents' love into the design as well as the story of my finding Dani and my own magical power. I do not know if it was the herbs which our healer continued to administer or my own excitement and pride but the pain was less than I had expected while still enough to cause any reasonable person to think seriously before taking on such a commitment.

I didn't really remember the completion of the marks nor the return to my rooms. Yet, there I was. I lay in the bed with Dani sitting on the coverlet and stroking my forehead. "My Lady," she kept whispering over and over and I thought there were tears in her eyes. Every so often the healer came in to administer more of the Opiaum. I took it gladly. More gladly, I held clutched in my hand a small glass vial I had procured from the kitchens earlier in the week. Each time I took the herb, I coughed, bringing the vial to my mouth thus storing some of the bitter stuff. By full dark it was obvious to me why we were given the drug for my hand throbbed, dulling my senses with a combination of the herb and the pain. I verily floated through visits from immediate family although I remember both my father and T'solde questioning the healer on why I was not taking the pain easier. I felt bad that my subterfuge caused his great skill to be questioned but not bad enough to take the remaining herbs. A few times I thought that Dani looked at me strangely.

Finally everyone had left us alone for the night. I kept looking at my hand wanting to see my marks but unable to do so through the loose gauze covering Tadre liked for the first day. I knew she would come in the morning to inspect my hand and remove the covering. Then my family would see my marks for the first time. While I could not see the marks, I could feel the magic pouring off them. They were the most advanced marks I had ever seen applied and the magical power in them was amazing. "Can you feel it, love?" I think I whispered to Dani who again seemed to look at me through confused eyes but maybe it was just my own alteration causing the confusion.

My girl so carefully dressed me for bed before preparing herself and brought me a cup of milk, holding my head as I sipped from it. She had put the slightest bit of chocolate in it and it was a sweet treat to anchor me to this reality for a few minutes.

She snuggled up against me, being careful to avoid touching my hand and nuzzled my neck with her nose, making me giggle. It probably wasn't that funny but I felt a little elsewhere and otherwise and something about her nose and my neck just tickled me. "Your nssese. Myneck," I mumbled.

"It's ok, my Lady," she kept whispering but I could feel her shaking. "Please take the rest of your herbs, my Lady."

I tried to deny that I had done anything but I couldn't do a reasonable job and Dani always knew everything about me anyway. "sss for you," I finally slurred. I tried to run my free hand along her face but my palm fell on the coverlet. "Can't have you hrting." I lifted her chin with my fingertips, making clumsy contact this time, and noticed the way her green eyes were shining wet.

"It's ok, my Lady." She kissed my neck where she had been nuzzling but it didn't so much tickle as make a strange warmth travel down my body. "It's ok," she continued whispering as she advanced with her soft kisses. She lifted herself above me, onto her knees and gently placed a kiss on my wrist, just above the gauze. I thought it would hurt but it felt cool and refreshing. "It's ok." She placed another kiss just above the last and then one nearer the side of my wrist. Her lips moved slowly, tortuously wonderfully up my arm, covering every inch, every millimeter of skin and raising goose bumps all along. At my shoulder she continued her amazing efforts and then moved to my free hand, taking just as long as she had on my injured hand. Longer even as she was able to spend long minutes on each of my fingertips.

I had no idea what she was doing, where she had learned this, what she intended, but every touch felt incredible. I was floating through a fog of pain and herb and pleasure and could only occasionally manage a moan or short word or her name. Each word brought her fingertips to my lips, allowing me to kiss them as she shushed me. "It's ok, my Lady," she whispered again and again.

Her lips strayed to my soft breasts, touching the edges and circling. I didn't understand her intention, her movements, or my reactions. All I knew was that right now, this, was the greatest feeling I had ever had. More exhilarating than riding my horse at a gallop toward the sunrise, more fulfilling than drawing a great and expansive mark with Tadre, more wonderful than laughter shared with Faith and Dani and everyone I loved. Through it all, she just kept telling me, "It's ok, my Lady. I'll make you feel better."

I wanted to ask her what she was doing. What it meant. What she ... But I couldn't. I just wanted the feeling to go on and on. And her soft and beautiful mouth kept moving, never staying in one location long enough for me to get used to the sensation. Every new spot felt as if she was electrifying the skin before she even reached it. I made small needy sounds in my throat and again felt her fingertips against my lips. Her hands and mouth caressed my feet, my toes, my calves, and legs. Her hot breath was on my most intimate part and I was keening and then her lips touched me and I thought I would collapse but I was already on the bed. And she kept whispering, "It's ok, my Lady" or "I'll make it better, my Lady." And her lips touched me, shaping me, shaping the future of my life and love--the present of my everything.

The next few moments or perhaps it was minutes or hours or days even, were... I can not even describe them. I do not think I would if I could. I floated through a world of pleasure, a world I feared would never return, a world I had certainly never visited. I wanted Dani to never stop what she was doing and at the same time to crawl up and hold me in her arms forever. I wanted her mouth on me just as it was and that same wonderful mouth nestled against my neck as we finally faded to sleep. I clutched at her silky hair and knew I should relax my hand, that I was not riding a horse bareback and I could hear my own desperate whimpers although they didn't seem to be coming from me. I, a fifth mark Lady was brought to this by my girl's mouth. I was brought to everything I had ever dreamed of. I was brought...

I was brought.

I think I screamed and screamed again but perhaps that sound was only in my head for no one came running, no guards burst through the door, no one. Only Dani and always Dani and she was moving up my body again whispering to me. Whispering that it would be ok and I felt her lips on my cheek and I wanted to stay with her but she was whispering that I needed sleep and I did.