by Klara Raškaj
The chains rattled and the pressure around her wrists disappeared.
Krampus took her into his arms and laid her down onto the bed, then undressed her completely.
Geli gently opened her eyes, smiling at him while she watched him rub his thick member as he nestled himself between her legs.
His eyes traveled up and down her body as he smiled back at her.
"You can't ride me without your chain, Master," she told him.
He chuckled. "There will be time for that," he said, slowly caressing her lower abdomen with his free hand. "Right now, I just want to savor you." He leaned in closer and let out a quiet moan as he parted her pussy lips with his thick cock, pushing himself inside of her with a slow thrust.
Geli closed her eyes and arched her back, wrapping her arms around him. "Master..."
"Geli..." he moaned, his breaths slowly becoming thinner. He held her close and continued to thrust into her at a slow, steady pace.
She gripped his hair and pulled his head closer so she could kiss him over and over again.
He was so gentle. It was such a different experience it was almost intoxicating. She wanted it to last for hours on end, just the two of them together as one.
"I'll take care of you," he whispered through his breath. "I won't let anything happen to you, I swear."
She bushed her face against his as she moaned softly, smiling.
"I don't want you to ever have to fake another smile," he added, embracing her harder as he thrust deeper. "Not for me...not for anyone else."
Geli curled her body further, pressing her thighs against the sides of her abdomen. She glided one hand over the small of his back, motioning him to move closer.
He pressed his pelvis against her with each thrust, pushing himself in as deep as he could.
Overcome with desire, she covered part of his neck with her mouth and sucked on his skin.
He grunted in discomfort, closing his eyes shut, and picked up the pace of his thrusts shortly after.
"I want to bear your child, Master," she said, then proceeded to kiss his lips as though she'd been thirsting for them for days, barely giving him any time to catch his breath.
Before long, Krampus grabbed hold of her wrists with both hands and pinned her down as he raised his upper body. He just gazed deep into her eyes, not looking away for a single moment as he continued to thrust.
He didn't push harder. He barely even sped up. But the way he kept staring into her eyes like that made Geli's body shudder with pleasure. He didn't say a single word. It was almost as if her mere presence was enough to satisfy him.
Waves of fire slowly overflew her body. Her heart beat faster, and her chest heaved.
The longer he gazed at her, the worse her loins ached. It was unlike any of the other times they were together. There were no games. No fantasies. Just their bodies and their souls entwining in their purest forms.
The flames in her chest spread like wildfire. She stared at him as if begging for some form of mercy as pleasure took all feeling from her limbs. It wasn't intense like the first time he made love to her. It wasn't a pain that turned to pleasure. It was so soft and gentle, yet overwhelming at the same time.
With a quick, shallow breath, she moaned as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back.
Finally, Krampus moaned through a painful grunt as he released his seed inside of her. When he was done, he lay down beside her, panting.
Immediately, she embraced him and kept kissing his chest. "Thank you," she said softly, "Master."
He tilted her head up and kissed her forehead, smiling at her. "Just 'my love' will do."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
T'Was Beauty Killed the Beast
A KNOCKING ON the door forced Geli and Krampus out of their slumber. They sat up, looking at each other with anxious and confused stares.
"Are you decent?" asked Queen Adelaide from behind the door.
Krampus got up and put his fur loincloth, chains, and cape back on while Geli merely covered herself with the sheets.
He unlocked the door and moved back.
"Come in," said Geli.
Adelaide walked in wearing a long red gown, holding in her hands Geli's long white dress with skintight sleeves and red satin around the top part of the chest which would leave the shoulders bare once worn. "Good morning," she said with a reluctant smile.
"Good morning," Geli replied.
Krampus coughed into his fist. "Good morning, Your Majesty," he said. "I was just...on my way out."
"Thank you," Adelaide told him with a nod.
He turned to Geli one last time before walking out the door.
Once Krampus was gone, Adelaide sighed and smirked at the princess. "Well...I certainly hope he's done a decent job of helping you unwind. Pardon my honesty, but he doesn't exactly strike me as an experienced lover." She took a few steps closer to Geli. "But I think I understand what you see in him. He was against me telling the guards to take the night off, but he yielded once I managed to convince him you wouldn't get into any more trouble for it. With a heart such as his...I don't blame him for fighting tooth and nail to protect it. Especially from the person who'd stolen it."
"Sometimes I wonder if that kind of pain is better than having your worst nightmares come true all at once," Geli told her. "Possibly losing the man I love forever...being disowned by my own family...getting either exiled or executed...learning that the one person I trusted the most was lying to me and sleeping with my father behind everyone's backs."
"I never lied to you, Geli," Adelaide argued. "I just...thought it'd be best not to tell you everything about my past."
"Mothers and daughters shouldn't have to keep secrets from each other," Geli protested, glaring at her.
"Oh, really?" said Adelaide. "Then please explain when exactly you were meaning to tell me you'd slept with the Khazarassi leader's son. If I hadn't figured it out on my own, you would have likely waited until you couldn't fit into any one of your gowns anymore."
"We don't know if I'm with child yet," Geli added.
"Look... I've made the wrong choice to keep certain things from you, yes, and I'm sorry," Adelaide confessed, "but Elisabeth is happier now than she's ever been. Your grandmother and I both helped her escape. She's finally free to do what she wants."
Geli and sighed and looked away with a saddened gaze. "I just... I wish you'd have told me... Maybe I would have been angry, but I wouldn't have held it against you forever. Especially since my own mother decided to run away without me."
Adelaide sat down next to her and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Geli...I'm not going to pretend that I understand why your mother decided to leave without you," she told her. "But the reason why I chose to keep everything a secret from you was because I was terrified of the possible consequences." She averted her gaze for a moment. "I didn't know what it would do to us. We'd grown so close... I was so deathly afraid you would hate me forever if you knew." She turned to her with glimmering eyes. "Please...you must understand... I--"
Geli threw herself into her arms, causing Adelaide to fall silent. She then pulled back a bit to look her step-mother in the eye. "Can we just...promise not to have any more secrets? Once this is over, we will tell each other everything."
Adelaide smiled at her, and Geli smiled back.
There was a knock on the door.
"It's time, Your Majesty," announced one of the guards.
Adelaide sighed and let go of Geli. "You will get through this, my dear. I've seen you fall and cry more times than I can count," she told her and handed her the white dress. "But you always got back on your feet. Every time."
Geli nodded and gave her one more smile before she was left alone in the cell once more.
• • • •
Geli walked into the throne room with shackles around her wrists and two guards beside her, leading her towards the small wooden stand that was designated for the accused.
The Khazarassi sat in chairs on two sides
of the room while the rest of the guards stood against the walls. At the end of the room were the king and queen's thrones and a seat for the dowager queen upon which the three were sitting, and in front of them was the witness stand.
"Must she be chained up like this?" Adelaide asked Maximilian with a worried expression on her face. "She is your daughter, not some common criminal."
"She's not my daughter," argued Maximilian without even glancing at her. "If she were truly my own blood, she would never have thought of betraying me like this. I'd rather she'd have put a knife in my back than bred with one of these pigs." He then stood up and stared down at Geli. "Before his majesty, the king, and before the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, how do you plead?" asked the king.
"For the crime of consummating the love that is Him by definition, you are looking at a guilty woman," said Krampus as he entered the room. "But that is not why we've all gathered here today."
Geli gazed at him as he walked past her.
"And just what exactly is the meaning of this abhorred performance of yours?" asked the king.
"Your Majesty," said Krampus, "I wasn't planning on causing a disturbance in your way of life when I arrived here a few days ago. Regardless of what disgusting behavior I've witnessed form you, I'd decided I was going to mind my own business and keep my mouth shut. However, that is no longer a possibility." He strolled around, occasionally glancing back at Maximilian. "After the amount of hostility you've displayed yesterday, one of us suggested we commence a direct assault on your entire castle during tonight's final feast." He then turned to the Khazarassi. "But I told them that it was the absolute dumbest idea I'd have ever heard." He looked back at Maximilian. "We are not the animals you take us for. We lead different lives, but we are all born from the same women. Therefore, we are equal in the eyes of God." He continued to stroll around with his hands behind his back. "Enough families have been separated because of this ridiculous conflict between our people. Regardless of who emerges victorious, the change begins today."
Maximilian smirked as he sat back down. "I'm very amused by this." He chuckled. "I've never heard of a pig that could read and speak so eloquently. That is a neat little trick you've taught yourself."
Krampus smiled back. "I only hope it amuses you enough to allow me to keep talking."
The king leaned onto his knuckle. "That depends," he said. "Do your words have any bearing on this trial?"
Krampus bowed to him and then walked behind the witness stand. "Well, if you are accusing Princess Gerlinde of having lain with me before marriage, I suppose that makes me a prime witness in this trial. I couldn't have exactly taken your daughter's innocence if I were in a different room at the time. I'm afraid I'm not that well-endowed."
Maximilian's smug grin turned into an annoyed frown as he leaned back into his seat.
Some of the Khazarassi chuckled for a brief moment.
"Regardless of what a foul mouth you have, you do speak the truth," the king added. "So, do you confirm that the accused has indeed lost her virtue, to you nonetheless, without having been married to you beforehand?"
"I very much deny it, Your Majesty," said Krampus.
Maximilian raised an eyebrow.
"Khazarassi tradition dictates that a man and woman are bound in matrimony when they lay together, and if they had not previously lain with another," Krampus explained. "Ergo, I am indeed Princess Gerlinde's husband and we have merely consummated our marriage by right."
The Khazarassi all looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
Geli tilted her head, gazing at Krampus just as confused.
"You think your pagan devil-worship means anything in the eyes of God?" argued Maximilian.
"Earth was created by him, as were all creatures that dwell on it," said Krampus. "Are you implying he made a mistake upon creating our kind?"
Maximilian narrowed his eyes, like trying to pierce a hole through Krampus's head with his glare.
"As I've said, we are born from the same women. We used to live together in harmony until you decided to proclaim us the Devil. The first records of this image date to only a few centuries ago, right at the time when your hatred for us began to spread." He pointed at the king. "You proclaimed us the root of all evil, not God. We are and always have been as much of God's children as you."
"The holy texts describe the Devil's nature, and that nature is exactly what you and your kind are," said Maximilian. "Or are you going to deny the word of the Lord?"
"I'm not denying His word. I'm denying yours," said Krampus. "Man wrote those texts, not God."
"He wrote them through his acolytes and disciples!" argued Maximilian.
"And what do those texts you so highly worship say? 'God is love. God is perfection. God is the light that shines the brightest. Glory in the highest,'" Krampus told him. "Only man is capable of hate, and to display hate for even a creature meant to tempt man is denying His unconditional love."
"It is not hate, but a warning," said Maximilian. "You and your wretched kin serve the purpose to test our faith in His divine judgment. You come into our homes and you take, and you take, and you take... You take our food, you take our wine, and you take our women. You are the very embodiment of the seven deadliest sins. You are, without question, the Devil himself."
"Your Majesty, like all men, we are not without sin," Krampus confessed. "We are a nomadic people. We do not have the patience nor the means to own land and grow our own crops." He lifted one of the chains from around his neck towards him. "We live for every day. We believe God gave us life to enjoy it. Our ancestors broke these chains when they decided they would no longer allow their lives to waste away toiling at soil just to eat and sleep, then die the morning after. We use them to hunt large beasts on whose flesh we dine upon and whose skin clothes us. We were the ones who taught you how not to remain the prey of such animals. We used to trade with you a long time ago. Have you and your people forgotten that your kindness towards us, accepting us into your homes when food is scarce, all stems from the days when you wished to show us your gratitude?"
"So, you agree that our debt to you has been paid?" asked Maximilian.
"Our people were the ones who brought you joy when there was nothing but the cold and death around you," argued Krampus. "It may not be something you can hold with your own two hands, but how can you put a price on happiness, Your Majesty? You may not be able to appreciate its presence because you haven't spent a winter without it, but you haven't heard the stories I've heard. You haven't seen what my forefathers have witnessed. Children refusing to eat even when there was food on the table...husbands abusing their wives because they couldn't find anyone else to blame for their unfulfilled desires... We are truly grateful for all that you've given us, but how can you be so blind to the gifts we've been giving you all these years?"
Maximilian stood up. "You want to talk to me about bringing joy?" he roared.
The entire room echoed from the volume of his voice. All eyes were on him.
He took a step forward. "You seduce and take wives from their husbands, daughters from their fathers, and mothers from their children. You break homes and families apart. Go ahead. Ask your whore. She knows better than anyone."
Krampus gazed at Geli with a worried look on his face.
Geli turned her head away with frowning lips. "My real mother fell in love with a Khazarassi ten years ago and left us," she explained. Then, she looked up and glared at her father. "But that was only because you'd made her life a living hell."
Maximilian marched up to her and struck her with the back of his hand.
She grunted and flinched, though her expression remained the same.
Krampus closed his hate-filled eyes and let out a long, enraged huff through his nostrils.
"How dare you speak to me that way?" growled the king.
Geli refused to break eye contact. "The same way you dared to make love to another woman behind my mother's back. You forced her to smile even when she
was burdened with sorrow. You forced her to marry you and bear your child even though you never loved her, but she wasn't allowed to love anyone but you. She was your prisoner, and you are the scum who cares nothing for the wellbeing of his family or his people. You just want to see us smile and to tell you how much we adore you. You only care about feeling that you are loved, and you are the kind of monster who would cut our lips with knives if it meant not having to see how much we all truly loathe you. You never had wives, nor a daughter. Only pets and jewelry."
Maximilian's lips and hands trembled with unrelenting fury. He turned to Adelaide, then spent the longest time staring into his mother's eyes with burning hatred as tears fell down his cheeks. "You don't think I've known how much misery I've brought you?"
Barbara said nothing.
Maximilian sniffled and unsheathed his sword.
Adelaide and the Khazarassi all stood up, following his every move with anxiety and caution.
"I see..." He chuckled as he turned to the Khazarassi. "I'm the only one who is drawing his weapon. I'm the beast here. Is that what you're all thinking?"
But he was answered only with silence.
He turned back to his mother. "I'm the little devil because of whom you could never leave your miserable life! If you couldn't escape, then at the very least you helped Elisabeth get the life you always wanted for yourself! If you despised me so much, why didn't you just fucking end it? Why did you force me to keep living when my own mother resented me for something I had no control over? I never asked to be born, Mother! Why didn't you just do us all a favor when you had the chance?"
Barbara closed her teary eyes.
Suddenly, Pfeil, one of the Khazarassi elders slowly stood up from his seat and walked over to Maximilian. "Please, do not blame your mother or yourself," he said with a smile and took Maximilian's hand.
The king's enraged eyes kept staring at him as his chest heaved.
"I...saw your mother sitting by herself that night," Pfeil explained. "I took one look at her and I wondered...why does such a beautiful girl have a frown on her face on such a wonderful evening? I walked up to her and asked her if she wanted to dance. She thanked me but said she had to wait for her suitors to arrive so she could dance with them first. But when I saw her smile, I couldn't help myself. I didn't want to ever have to see her frown again. I knelt down and I asked her: 'May I court you, then?'" He chuckled. "She had the most charming laugh. My hands couldn't stop shaking the entire time I waited for her answer. I thought she was just going to stand up leave. My heart could burst I was so afraid. But she said 'yes,' and we spent the entire night just talking and dancing and chasing each other in the gardens. We were freezing to death, but...we were having so much fun, it didn't matter in the slightest. My whole life, I was most known for always having slept for the longest time. But that night, I couldn't close my eyes. When she wasn't there, she was all I thought about."
