Lord Strahds guest. (Closed for Faerun-girl and I)

[faerun_girl]

Isopel looked back at her lover, as she cuddled the pillow close to her chest and spread her knees for him. She could feel him poke and prod her leaking slit with the blunt head of his cock, and she could literally feel how empty she was. When he shoved the massive rod inside her she cried out, her voice undoubtedly echoing throughout the room and possibly the halls of Castle Ravenloft.

She moaned softly and arched her back, biting her lip as she felt his hands leave her hips. "So mean...." she whimpered, and began to move back and forth, impaling herself on him again and again, her nether lips clinging and caressing his hard shaft. She felt the blunt head drag against her inner flesh, hitting the right spots but with less force, as she seemed to be unable to recreate how hard her fucked her on her own.

"It...it feels better when you do it, my Lord.." she moaned, but continued to impale herself, her sweet bottom pushing back against his hips, her pace much slower and less forceful compared to the powerful vampire. Nonetheless, she felt another climax coming as she was able to feel his tip right at her womb. Her toes curled and she spread her legs wide, panting, and soon she was riding a slow wave of pleasure that rippled throughout her body, her wet channel fluttering around his cock, urging him to spray her sex with his cream.

 

[Ravenloft]

"Hush now, my love, you'll wake the dead with with such screams of pleasure!" Lord Strahd said with a wicked laugh, knowing how true his statement could be. She looked so sweet and innocent, hugging the pillows to her breast even as she presented herself to him so blatantly. "How do you do that? Look like an angel, yet fuck like the devil's own whore? Is it the fire in your Vistani blood that makes you so horny for my cock? It must be, I have never felt a woman cling so tightly to my shaft! If I didn't know better, I would think you a succbus, draining me of my very soul, you milk me so well!"

The slower pace of Isopel's backward thrusts were much more gentle than Lord Strahd's, but they allowed them both to really feel and appreciate the contures of each other's sex, every ripple of Isopel's flexing love canal stretched taut around lord Strahd's throbbing girth. She truly was the perfect sheath for his lordly blade!

"Oh, by the dark powers, I can feel you! Cumming!" Lord Strahd couldn't stand it anymore and took her by the hips, bringing her back against his cock, his heavy balls slapping against her mound wetly as he spurted his seed violently against the mouth of her womb! "Take it! Take it all! My seed, my heart, my soul! It means nothing if not for you, Tat... Isopel!" He had nearly called her by that most hateful of names, but caught himself! No, she might wear her face, but Isopel was not Tatyanna... No, she was far, far superior! And he intended to cherish her for as long as he could! He only hoped she never found out the truth of her reincarnation, it would be so much easier if it simply never came up and he could just love her for herself, she was perfect as she was now!

----------

Elsewhere in the castle, Jander was leading in a group of men, shackled together, by their arms and legs, wearing black silk bags over their heads, to the dungeons, to be dealt with later.

In Isopel's room, the dark image of Tatyanna stood, trapped in her mirror, arms folded and patient contempt gleaming in her eyes, staring at the cover of her journal laying upon the bed side night stand.

 

[faerun_girl]

Isopel vaguely heard her lover call her name, somewhat, her pleasure-addled mind filing the moment away for later to examine. At the moment, she felt exquisite, as her lover coated her insides with his cream, painting her inner flesh with his scent and fluid.

The feeling of his balls slapping against her slit made her cum a tiny new orgasm on the heels of the last, and her body felt loved and stretched in a way she never thought possible. She collapsed onto the bed, her body going limp even as his seed leaked out of her, a testament to their intense lovemaking.

She wanted to say he was wonderful and what he made her feel was amazing, but she closed her eyes for a moment and fell asleep from pleasure and exhaustion.

================

The journal and a whole set of prisoners waited for her to wake, though they didn't know it.

 

[Ravenloft]

Lord Strahd stayed by Isopel's side for an hour or more while she slept before Jander knocked at his door, alerting him to the capture and arrival of his prisoners down below. With a sigh, he whispered a spell into her ear, gifting her with pleasant dreams of him while she slumbered in her exhaustion. He rose from his bed with a yawn and stretched, motioning for Jander to bring him his clothes.

All of Isopel's resurrected furry companions filled in around her to keep her warm after he slipped out of bed. He lingered, admiring her in her sleep, running the back of his hand along the curve of her spine before departing.

"The prisoners arrived much sooner than was expected..." Lord Strahd observed as Jander walked with him through the halls of Castle Ravenloft.

"Yes, my Lord, in fact, they were caught poaching in Ivalich forest.The six brothers and her father, after a short battle, they gave up and threw down their weapons, rather than fight to the death. They managed to injure one of the Kargat, but none too severely. One of the son's was caught off guard and had a blade put to his throat. Rather than see his boy killed, the father ordered them to give up."Jander reported as he opened the metal gate leading to the old rat infested dungeon.

Lord Strahd yawned and rolled his eyes. "No one could ever accuse you of neglecting a single detail, Jander. I don't suppose you can tell me what they had for breakfast as well?" Jander bowed. "No my lord, but I can certainly find out..." He offered. Lord Strahd shot him a look of disbelief. Elves... Damnable literal buggers! "Go somewhere!" Lord Strahd spat out, trying to contain a laugh, pointing the way they had come. "By your leave, my liege." Jander said, bowing as he backed out of the room.

Going to the cells where Isopel's family sat, chained together, Lord Strahd announced himself. "So, you are Isopel's abusers... You each have one chance to save your miserable skins. Admit to me what you have done to her, your own daughter, your own sister and I may not have you flayed alive for your actions!"

 

[faerun_girl]

Isopel's family, composed of her father, Merryweather, and his six sons, looked up at the Lord of Barovia, and felt real fear. Ever since this man had taken Isopel for whatever nefarious purpose, their life had deteriorated, as they were forced to subsist on the common rations of their troupe. The vardo was in disarray, Maman Elsbeth treated them like anathema, and food was cooked poorly. All the things Isopel used to do for them were either simply not done or were done badly.

The sensitive nature of the vistani felt the oppressive aura coming from the vampire, and their fear made them dumb.

"The girl, Lord von Zarovitch?" the old man, his frame still strong but his clothes in tatters asked. "She is my daughter and we treated her well enough...given the circumstances."

There was a clear scoff in that reply, coming from someone who thought he did no wrong. Her brothers agreed with this, each voicing out that she was not maltreated--given that they had no mother and all. It was Isopel's fault, you see, they had said, that their mother died in childbirth.

"I am just a poor widower, my Lord." the old man wheezed, his face nothing like Isopel's. "She honors her mother. What has she been telling you?"

 

[Ravenloft]

A written report rested upon a table, with the captives names and a list of their known crimes. Lord Strahd picked it up, read it then set it aflame on an ensconced torch while Merryweather, the father blathered on. "Only that you have willfully kept her in ignorance, too busy with chores and duties to give her the time and training to even learn how to read. Using her to dance for coin, rather than let her even learn the Taroka from her grandmother!" Lord Strahd accused, his voice rising with fury over the seven of them as they tried to justify and minimize their actions.

"Circumstance? Please, do elaborate... " Lord Strahd requested, staring coldy through Merryweather. "Silence! I will not tolerate such foolishness!" He spat, upon hearing they blamed her for their mothers death! "Oh spare me the your pitious act! You blame an innocent baby for murder?! Admit your contemptuous heart and be done with it! She may honor the memory of her mother, but the seven of you.... Little lost boys, lamenting your lot in life, heaping such contempt upon your sister, your own daughter!? You disgust me!"

Lord Strahd lunged at the bars in a rage, baring his fangs at them. "In the past I would have killed you all for what you have done! But death is too good for you. No, I will parade you out in front of Isopel, you will admit to every last abuse you have ever inflicted upon her, to her face and then... She will lash each of you with the cat of nine once for each abuse!" Lord Strahd pronounced his judgement, white knuckled, gripping the bars between them so tightly, there was a low whine from the metal as it bent.

 

[faerun_girl]

Old man Merryweather would normally be unfazed with anyone questioning how he ran his family, but there was something in the Lord of Barovia's intense menace tonight that he felt in his very bones. He knew of the standing agreement of help and a blind eye to the vistani culture forged with his ancestors, but this man seemed to be much younger than the imposing, austere, cold Lord that rules over Barovia in his youth.

This man looked different. His skin wasn't the bone pale of his memory, and the man's eyes reflected a savage life. The Lord he remembered would slit his throat and his sons' without blinking. This one, with his accusations and savagery seemed to want to play with his food.

What had that brat told Von Zarovitch?!

Still, the old man felt a certain ambivalence. This vampire Lord had no idea that his daughter would sooner die than hurt a spider, let alone her own family. But that put them in a difficult position. Tempt this new version of Von Zarovitch, or give his whore daughter the satisfaction?

The owner of Castle Ravenloft pulled the bars of his millenia-old prison slightly apart, the metal whining, and old man Merryweather was still defiant. He lost his wife, and his sons lost their mother. What did they get in return? A daughter who barely looked like Marlena. Seeing Isopel's face the moment she was born as his wife's eyes died was the worst moment of his life.

Isopel was not his daughter.

================

On her lover's luxurious bed, the covers smelling distinctly of the lovemaking they finished hours before, Isopel dreamed, just as Lord Strahd wanted. What he didn't understand was that their interactions involving magic never quite went as he thought they would, and soon a lucid-dreaming astral projection of the vistani girl made her way through Castle Ravenloft, Strahd's own spell leading her to his location.

What she found happening there erased almost all the joy she had at their growing closeness and intimacy.

Why were her brothers here?! Her father?! What was Strahd threatening them with? Why did he look so violent?!

Her spirit moved closer to the cells, where she saw her father and brothers kneeling in the dungeon filth. She saw her brothers terrified, from oldest Luc to youngest Hashim, and she felt horror take root at how the passionate man who just held her under his straining body could do this.

How painful this was!

But what she recognized the most was the look on her father's face, the same look he had when he was insensate with drink, and the foulest obscenities fell from his lips. He was going to challege Strahd, and get himself killed.

All her spirit could do was watch helplessly.

=======================

"My daughter no doubt caught your fancy, Lord Von Zarovitch," the old vistani man said, even as he was terrified of the strength this new vampire lord was exhibiting. But he had a bone to pick with his daughter, his dead wife, and this man who would interfere with personal family matters.

"Just like her mother, straying from the vardo, getting up to mischief. They are the same, and they will both pay for what they've done." if he had his pipe he would take this moment to puff it, but his hands were shackled and he had none.

Let her lash him. If this Ravenloft lord could be lead around by his cock by his murdering daughter, he would get none of Merryweather Seehuwe's respect.

In the other cells, her brothers called for their father to quiet down, and for Lord Strahd to listen to them, but they fell on deaf ears. Her father would cost them all their lives.

Wake up now, Isopel!

 

[Ravenloft]

Lord Strahd stared intently at Merryweather, reading him like a book. There was an all too short flash of fear in his eyes before he relaxed in dispassionate defiance. He was clearly a man who's joy had long since been ripped from him, Strahd recognized that look in his eyes. It was one he had long seen in his own after repeatedly losing Tatyanna and her reincarnations. If only the man and his sons had not tormented poor Isopel for something out of her control, he might have had a shred of sympathy for the man and his sons...

Far too incensed with a cold rage at her father's unfeeling words, Lord Strahd did not sense Isopel's presence in the room and acted out of anger. "Speak ill of Isopel again and I shall have your tongue removed!" Lord Strahd bellowed, striking at the bars, making the lot of them jump. One even yelped and pleaded with his father to stop taunting him before he got them all killed!

Getting a hold of himself, Lord Strahd realized the old man was baiting him on purpose and flashed him a cool smirk. "Your boys clearly have a stronger sense of survival than their own father, you should really listen to them more. I can only assume that was their mothers influence upon them? Death is too good for you, but this foolish pride of yours has a cost!" Using his vampiric charm, Lord Strahd commanded Merryweather to come to the bars and put his arms through.

His children stared in horror as he did what Lord Strahd commanded, only to be pulled roughly against the bars and have his arm bitten for it. Lord Strahd drank some of the man's blood while he struggled in vain to pull free of his iron grip. Strahd drank enough to leave him weak and faint, but not enough to kill him.

Turning to the boys, Lord Strahd wiped their fathers blood from his mouth and addressed them as a group. "Now, would you care to admit to your crimes against your sister, or will you persist to annoy me as your father has?!"

 

[faerun_girl]

Isopel whimpered, restless, as she watched her lover abuse her family. While she heard everything her father said, what concerned her more was the growing violence that her vampire Lord seemed to be leading to, and how her father seemed unfazed at the danger he put himself in, as well as her brothers.

She flew to Strahd, and tried to pull him away, her ethereal hands passing through his broad shoulders. Just hours ago, she held onto them as he pleasured her, and now she wanted to pull him off her insane, aged father.

"Lord Strahd! Please, you must stop at once! He does not know what he's saying." she sobbed, but the not-dream continued with escalating violence.

===================

Merryweather felt the vampire's strength and the vile bite, but he actually did not care at this point. He knew whatever his wife had done those three days she was lost in the Valley would come back to haunt them, and this was it now. This was what she wrought. When he saw her again in the afterlife, he'd make sure to tell her it was all her fault.

"I'm your opponent here, vampire lord!" he hissed, even as the strength started to leave him. This vampire thought his daughter was probably the sweetest young thing on two legs--well he was very mistaken. He'd take them all to hell and back before he would let his wife and Isopel get away with what's been done to him.

"You like weak, old, vistani blood, do you, Von Zarovitch? Does my whore daughter let you drink her blood too?!" Merryweather cackled, and Isopel's brothers continued to plead for their father to stop talking.

"Lord Strahd, I will speak for the family! Please, leave my father alone, I beg you! He is senile in his old age. I will tell you all you need to know of my sister." Luc, a tall, middle-aged man with Isopel's coloring said in the next cell, holding his hand out of the bars, hoping the vampire would take him instead.

 

[Ravenloft]

"Fie, you are nothing but an old fool, Merryweather!" Lord Strahd scoffed, spitting a mouth full of his blood onto the stone floor. It tasted of copper and revolted him, nothing could ever compare to Isopel's blood now that he knew it. "I know what you want, but you won't get it from me... Death would only be your release, and I would see you punished!" Lord Strahd turned his back on Merryweather while he ranted on, cackling like some mad hyena. It was truly a pathetic sight to behold.

One of his sons came, pleading with him, through the bars of his cell and Strahd nodded to him. "Well, well, well, it seems at least one of your son's has some sense after all, Merryweather! Must take after his mother... Go on, tell me what you know, boy! My patience wears thin..."

Something niggled at the edges of Lord Strahd's consciousness, was there a presence here, holding him back or was it merely his imagination? He felt like something was watching... Judging him! He could only assume it was his tormentors, the dark powers, some unknowable force that had kept him trapped in Barovia for over five hundred years! What could they possibly want? To see him consumed by his anger and kill the lot of them no doubt! Well, he would not give in, he would not give them the satisfaction this time!

 

[faerun_girl]

Isopel saw that Strahd was casting about for something, searching his eyes through the astral plane. She hoped he saw her, because she couldn't wake up, no matter how hard she tried! She had already flown back to her body, where she saw herself crying in her sleep, tears streaming down her face.

What a useless thing to do.

So she flew back down and tried to batter at her vampire lord, who did seem to sense something. She was screaming at the top of her lungs until Strahd decided to take a bite out of her father. What was going on? Was this her fault? Was it because she told him she couldn't read?

It probably was. She'd gotten Father, Luc, and the rest of them locked up just because she wanted to learn something. Serves her right to ever ask anything of the sort again.

Even as Strahd continued to intimidate and verbally abuse her family, she found herself kneeling at his feet, trying to hold onto his leg, or staring blankly at the violent tableau before here. Why must he do this?!

-------------------

Merryweather tried to shush the boy, his eldest from ever apologizing for how they treated Isopel. His wife's spawn was more than cared for--given the circumstances, but no one else understood how he was made a fool of and robbed of his wife in the same breath.

"Isopel is no concern of yours, Luc. Let the Lord Von Zarovitch writhe in agony! He can bite me until I'm ground deer and he still wont know a thing!" the old man said, his mania a mirror to Strahd's growing violence.

But the eldest Seehuwe son spoke up, and his brothers were quiet. "I...It's true, Lord Von Zarovitch." he began.

"Iso--my sister doesn't know how to read and write because Papa forbade us to teach her. He said she didn't need it, since she wasn't allowed to go to town or speak to strangers. She does most of the housework, since she isn't required to dance every night, and...and we've never thanked her or helped her do anything.

"She isn't harmed, but with six elder brothers, we could have certainly lightened her burden and became her protectors instead of...Instead of what we did."

The eldest son hung is head in shame. While words didn't paint much, being inflicted with that sort of neglect all her years was not an easy thing to endure. "It's not an excuse, but Papa would only make things worse for her if we were kind.

"We didn't hurt her, but we could have been be--"

Merryweather cut him off. "Silence! You saw your mother when she returned from the Valley! You see your sister's face mocking me every single day!"

"Lord Strahd, we know we have wronged her. My brothers and I will take the lashings. I will accept the ones for my Father." Luc continued, ignoring Merryweather's ranting.

=================

From her space at her lover's feet, Isopel heard her brother admit that he could have been kinder to her, and more helpful. He admitted that he should have taught her to read and write. If her spirit could cry, she would have, but apparently her real body upstairs was doing all the crying for her.

Still, no matter what she did, she could not wake herself up. The more she tried, though, a curious moss began to grow around the dungeons, the cells beginning to get coated with the green. Strahd and the other men hardly noticed--but they were all preoccupied with their discussion. By the time Luc had finished his speech, they should have noticed the moss gathering on the cell bars.

 

[Ravenloft]

In an instant, Lord Strahd knew how he would later punish Merryweather Seehuwe for willfully keeping Isopel in ignorance! He knew a spell that would Rob the man of his own intellect, for a time! Perhaps enduring a month, or more, bereft of the higher functions of his mind would teach him a lesson in humility and give him a better understanding of what he had kept from his daughter! Yes, he would feeblemind this old fool and do to him just what he had done to Isopel! Denigh him the power that came with knowledge! Lord Strahd would prepare the spell tonight along with a geas spell to cast over the rest of the boys to ensure that they obeyed him from now on...

"Luc..." Lord Strahd said, soothingly, smiling at the boy. "That wasn't so hard, now was it? I thank you for your honesty. I must say, it is a relief to know none of you laid your hands on her, I would have been forced to cut them off, if you had. I'm sure you understand. You will have your chance to repay her soon, as well as beg for her forgiveness! I see, you are different than your father and brothers, it is good that you bare your shame so openly, I shall be more lenient on you because of it! Soon, you will become the head of your family, I will put you in charge. Do not defy me and it will be well with you."

Once more, Merryweather broke in, scolding his son sharply for his admission of guilt, this time it only mildly annoyed Lord Strahd, who had already made up his mind as to how to deal with the man. "That is more than enough out of you, for one day." Lord Strahd said calmly, not even looking in Merryweather's direction as he cast a spell of silence over the man's cell. An otherworldly and oppressive silence fell over the area, muting Merryweather's rants.

"There now, isn't that far more peaceful?" Lord Strahd asked Luc, fixing him with a stare. "You will not, I have something far more appropriate planned for your father. Weather or not you get a taste of the whip is up to Isopel, however, seeing as her station in life is about to be raised, I think it only right that you and your brothers serve her as she once served you, wouldn't you agree, Luc?"

To Lord Strahd's mind, he was showing an unpresidented amount of mercy, more than he had ever deign to offer anyone before. He would not be the dark powers pawn any longer! But at the sight of the moss growing up the prison bars, he realized that it couldn't be the dark powers. "Isopel?" He whispered to himself. After feeling the power of her blood in his veins and witnessing how it could restore the dead to life, it must be her influence! That her power could reach this far, in her sleep, amazed him. Or was the presence he felt and mistook to be the dark powers, hers instead? What was happening here?!

Lord Strahd left the dungeon and in a hurry, not wanting to appear as insane as he felt in front of his prisoners by talking to the empty air around him. Once he was sure he was no longer within ear shot of his captives. He took down a burning torch from it's sconce on the wet dungeon wall and held it forward. "Isopel, if it is you, give me a sign, make this torch gutter, if you can!" Was he going mad? He wasn't sure. Isopel was sleeping safe and secure up in his bed chambers, wasn't she? Another moment and he would have scoffed and returned the torch to it's sconce, thinking he had overreacted...

 

[faerun_girl]

Soon enough, Isopel's other brothers had begun to apologize sincerely for the way they treated their sister. To Lord Strahd, it seemed that with his silencing spell, and the lack of influence from Isopel's father, the young men were able to speak better, and admitted to their mistakes.

Their crimes were not that heinous, when he looked at them, but they were unforgiveable because they were perpetrated at the woman he had left sleeping sweetly in his chambers after he made love to her. Just the thought of her surrounded by his belongings and her sweet scent on his pillows almost distracted him.

When he noticed the moss, he felt he could breathe a little easier, as the presence he felt could not be the dark powers as they normally tormented him. It seemed that as he and Isopel felt more connected, his life and passion returned--and her own powers grew. Just imagine how she would be when she finally agreed to be his bride!

Isopel watched Lord Strahd with a pout and narrowed eyes. She didn't even look at the moss or notice it--she was too shocked and incensed with how he thought he could just kidnap her family and lock them in the dungeons.

Oddly, this was how Isopel knew she already loved the vampire lord--but she wasn't very in love with what he was doing at the moment. She wanted him to touch her just as much as she wanted to slap his face.

When he asked her if she was there and to snuff out the flame, she got even angrier, and instead caused the sconce to fall out of the wall--because tree roots had crowded the thing out.

How dare he! After he said he loved her. How dare he hurt her family!

Isopel hoped her knew it was her--so he could wake her up and they could have words. What an awful thing to do to her after saying he loved her. He should have asked her if he wanted to berate them for treating them horribly. It wasn't his place to punish them, and besides, she had forgiven them already!

She didn't know what losing a mother felt like, since she never had one, but she was very sorry that Mother had died because of her. She'd make Lord Strahd see that he was being too cruel for something that really wasn't their fault.

 

[Ravenloft]

Upon seeing the signs of verdant life breaking through the thick stone walls of castle Ravenloft, Lord Strahd's suspicions were confirmed, it had to be Isopel! But how? He had left her safe and sound in his bed chambers. Had his spell some how shunted her from her own body? In a panic, he rushed to his room, immediately dropping the spell as he ran.

He flung the door to his bed chambers open and dashed to her side, shaking her gently. "Oh Isopel, please wake for me! If I had known this spell would cause you to leave your body, I would not have done this to you! I only intended to give you pleasant dreams!"

Seeing her eyes slowly drift open, he let out a sigh of relief, thank the night mother that she hadn't strayed beyond the castle in her astral form! There was no telling what could have happened to her spirit if it had been swept away into the horrible maelstrom that was the night in the lands of Barovia!

Lord Strahd moved to embrace her as she sat up, only to receive a sharp slap in the face! He turned his face to the side, clenching his jaw and closing his eyes against the sting of her hand.

"What in Loviatar's name... Was that for?!" He hissed through clenched teeth, slowly turning his dark eyes upon her. It must have been terrifying for her to have such an out of body experience, he reasoned, staying his hand, having no idea she had witnessed what he had done to her family in the dungeons below. Her ire seemed completely unwarranted and he demanded an explaination.

 

[faerun_girl]

That her lover really did not see anything wrong with kidnapping and harming her family made Isopel completely speechless for a moment. But that moment was soon over and she was already getting off his wonderful bed, a pillow in hand.

She tried to speak, but it only came out as a frustrated scream. When they made love, his height felt like he could keep her safe from anything. Now she was angry, and his height was certainly not helping. She threw the pillow at him, then let him have it.

"How can you tell me you love me for all eternity then imprison and harm my family?! In what world do you think that was acceptable?!" she didn't want to scream, really, but he was the worst down in the dungeon. And to think she had an idle thought of some play they could do in that same dungeon.

Now that idea was gone forever. And if he ever found out, she would say it was his fault.

Her hand undoubtedly stung, and she now wished she didn't slap him, since he had no idea how upset she was. But biting her father was just the lowest of the low. The man was in a prison already!

"Release them at once, Lord Strahd! You're being a brute." she crossed her arms over her chest. "They have done nothing to you."

She hoped she looked suitably upset when she thrust her chin out. What an awful thing to do!

 

[Ravenloft]

"They were caught poaching deer in the old Svalich woods by the royal game warden, whom they injured in an attempt to flee with their kill. They are no innocents!" Lord Strahd shot back as she hit him with a pillow. The whole affair might have been comical if Isopel wasn't so angry.

"You should thank me, if the local burgomaster had caught them, they would be hung for their actions! But I had them brought here, to me, so that I could deal with them personally. For you, in fact! I had meant for it to be a surprise, giving you the chance to confront them for all the times they neglected you. I will admit that your father baited me... Perhaps I could have handled his taunts better, but I have inflicted no lasting harm on any of them." Lord Strahd paced the room, agitated, fearing she would turn against him just like all the times before.

"No, you don't understand, if I set them free now, it would be as good as signing their death warrants. You know how hated the Vistani are... Do you really think the citizens of Barovia would just let them go free? Don't be so naieve, my dear! At least here, they will remain alive!" Lord Strahd tried to reason with Isopel. Having her call him a brute stopped him in his tracks and he whirled around to face her, quite vexed.

"I have been called many things in my long existence... Devil, beast, monster! Most of them have been well earned! But not this, what I have done was born out of love for you! You're wrong! All they have done to you has been done to me as well, because of how deeply I care for you! If that makes me Brutish, than so be it! I would rather be a monster than allow anyone to treat you like garbage! Oh, if you could only hear the things your addle-minded father was saying about you and your mother! Purposefully trying to get me to lash out at him!" Lord Strahd's eyes flashed with anger and he clenched his fists at his sides to avoid going any further into a rage.

"Thankfully, I resisted his taunts once I realized his intentions... I regret having bitten him, but you yourself have experienced the sting of my fangs and survived! How can you call me a brute for only doing what is necessary for my survival?"

 

[faerun_girl]

Isopel was about to get even angrier, but Strahd's explanation as to why they were brought here stopped her. It was just like Papa and her brothers to poach, especially now that she didn't help. If what the vampire said was true, then he did do her a favor. But what she witnessed in the dungeon was still too much.

If put in that light, then he did save them from a lynching. Still, did that only mean that he would be the one who put them to death instead? That was no better, even if he was Lord of Barovia. How sick would it be if he was fucking her in his own bed without a pledge of marriage while he imprisoned her family in the dungeons?!

Ah, but he did pledge marriage--in fact, he pledged eternity. Isopel stewed.

"I....Thank you, for taking them here, then, Lord Strahd." she deflated, but she still felt quite angry at what she witnessed.

"Are you saying you bite me just like you bite my father...?" she couldn't help but tease him, knowing the trap he laid for himself. She truly didn't want to fight or argue especially after he treated her tenderly.

 

[Ravenloft]

Lord Strahd had braced himself for the inevitable moment Isopel would turn her back on him, just like all the others had, so he was completely taken by surprise when she tanked him instead. "You are welcome?" He replied, uncertainly, truly, it was more because her father welcomed death that Lord Strahd had denied it to him, he wanted to make the man suffer for the way he had treated his love!

"Certainly not, with you, I feel... Oh, I see, trying to distract me from the subject at hand, are you?" It was a pleasant diversion, but there was still the issue of punishment to be determined. Still, it set his mind at ease to hear her teasing words. "Of course, there is still the matter of your father and brothers punishment. I have decided that I will teach your father and brothers a lesson in humility." Seeing her eyes narrow, he held up a hand to stop her from arguing.

"Your brothers will be yours to command. A just punishment for years of neglecting you. as for your father, I intend to show him the err of his ways by robbing him of his intellect for a period, so he will know how it feels to be purposefully kept ignorant. The poaching, I will overlook just this once as the kill was recovered and is being served for dinner tonight, you will even have the pelt, if you wish." He was genuinely proud of how just he was being, on her behalf.

 

[faerun_girl]

She couldn't hide her smile when he was baited into answering her taunt, but she squashed it quickly. It was so hard to stay mad him when he took everything too seriously. At least she knew he was earnest. Her brothers and father never took her seriously and always neglected her out of turn. But hurting others who did no wrong to you (well, aside from the poaching) was out of the question. It wasn't his place to punish them!

"I don't want to punish them. I forgive them." she said. "So, now you have to let them go." she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

 

[Ravenloft]

"Then don't consider it a punishment, you will soon be a Countess and as such, you need to grow accustomed to having servants at your command. Being in charge of your brothers is a good step toward grooming you to accept your new role, by my side. As I have said, they cannot just be set free, else the citizens of Barovia would have them all lynched. But if they are made your personal guards and serve you, they will have my full protection. There is plenty of work for them to do here, in Castle Ravenloft, as you have pointed out, leaving you free to focus on your studies."

 

[faerun_girl]

She thought about that, but she truly didn't want to treat her family like servants. Still, it wasn't his place to determine their fate for something they did to her. He was very good, but when Isopel said she didn't want retribution, she meant it.

"I didn't say I'd be your Countess yet, Lord Strahd." she walked towards him, her hands on her hips. Only when she was in the space directly in front of him, her bare toes touching his boots, that she realized how much taller he was, and damn her sex-crazed mind, but even then she found him delicious.

So she swatted his chest, but only because he was handsome. She hoped he took it as her being angry.

"And it's not your place to punish them for what they did to me. It's true, I killed our Mother. Am I supposed to be punished for that as well? Are they not allowed to grieve and fear Papa?" Yes, was much taller, especially since she didn't have anything else on but her ruined dress. Good thing it still covered the important parts, but it did not hide the bite marks.

 

[Ravenloft]

"Oh? Are you weighing your options then?" Lord Strahd found himself smirking, enjoying their interplay. She was so near that he could smell her scent and feel her heat. It took all of his resolve just to refrain from snatching her up into his arms and ravish her again.

"That is nonsense, you are not to blame for your mother's death and I will prove it to you! The difference is that your family made the conscious choice to keep you in ignorance, you committed no crime by simply being born. How can you not see that? Greiving is one thing, they could have taken solice in having some part of their mother in you, but instead, they shunned you, unjustly, I might add... think of it as recompense for their years of keeping you at arms length. Perhaps you might even form a bond with them now that they are free from their fathers influence and can get to know you as brothers should care for their sister. Why do you find it so hard to accept what I am trying to do for you?"

Lord Strahd knew that all who lived and died in the land of Barovia were not far from his reach, he could bring forth the spirit of Isopel's mother and let her see she was absolutely not at fault for her death. It was most certainly the woman's own choice to sacrifice herself so that Isopel could live. If only she could see that... on the morrow, he would have the appropriate spells prepared to call forth her mother's ghost, bond her brothers to her whims and bind er father's mind. He had not been swayed from his rule by her pleas.

 

[faerun_girl]

"It is not for you to decide on what I should feel, Lord Strahd. Then how would you ever know if what I felt was genuine?" she challenged him. His words did ring true, and the appeal of a better relationship with her brothers was more than she could bear. But Isopel knew that her heart would not be able to stand a relationship that was forced on them. No matter how prettily Lord Strahd made the vision of her brothers being in Castle Ravenloft, it would not do, if it was forced.

"I....I do know you think that this is something that I deserve...But it does not bring me joy." she looked up at him sadly, yearning to please him, but unable to accept suffering in her name. "I cannot be happy when others suffer."

A single tear leaked down her cheek and she turned away. "I have to attend my father and brothers. Unless you order me to stay at your side, that is where you will find me."

She felt ashamed, for all his kindnesses, but it just felt so wrong to be in a luxurious bed when her family were in the dungeons. She stood at the tip of her toes and kissed what she could reach, which was the side of his jaw, and darted out the room, to dress so she could see her family.

 

[Ravenloft]

"Very well, I shall make your Brothers an offer, stay and serve you, help bring Castle Ravenloft out of this sorry state of disrepair, or go and risk their necks to the whims of the Barovian people! I wonder what they will choose? It seems obvious what any sane man would do... Given the option." Lord Strahd weighed Isopel's words carefully and found them reasonable, but only in the matter of her brothers forced labor. Merryweather would still pay for his unkind words... "You can be a very stubborn woman, you know..." Lord Strahd whispered, almost admiringly.

"Oh, Isopel... This world is full of suffering... Be it your own... Or others... You cannot hope to end it all, otherwise you would never have time for joy... If only you could see that. Sometimes, self interest is the only option." Lord Strahd softened as a single tear rolled down Isopel's cheek. He reached out to brush it away, but she turned from him instead, declaring she would go tend to her family unless he ordered her to stay. It as tempting, to give her the command to stay, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "I give you leave..." He sighed, lowering his gaze and looking off the the side. At least he would know where to find her.

The sweetness of her kiss surprised him, soothing the sting of her slap. He watched her leave, followed closely by her Entourage of loyal furry companions. Slowly, he sat down on the edge of his bed, thinking he was along. There was movement to his right and he turned to look. Next to him, a plump old brown hare with long floppy ears looked up at him, sagely. "What are you looking at?" Lord Strahd asked, it wasn't the strangest thing that had happened today... "What would you do?" He added. The bunny only twitched it's nose and turned, hopping off the bed and went bounding after it's master. "Right..." He sighed, falling back in his bed, exhausted.

 

[faerun_girl]

In some ways, Isopel was thankful that her vampire lord had placed a spell in her father’s cell. Just seeing his half mad face already told her he was saying the vilest of things, and it could have possibly preserved all their sanities that he wasn’t loud enough to hear.

She heard her brothers try to apologize and she really appreciated it. How she could trust them, though, was another matter. She wasn't happy they were here, or that they were repentant. She knew she was a poor substitute for the wonderful mother they had before her, and that she was only their half sister. Papa was cruel, and she knew why they couldn't go against him. They had already lost their mother, what more if their father turned away from them.

She had asked Jander where the larder was, and had brought enough bread and water with her to feed them. She didn't want to abuse Lord Strahd's kindness, so maybe she would hunt for their food later.

To be honest, she wished they didn't creep into the bubble she had created with Lord Strahd. It would have been better if they had gone on hating her, and kept to themselves, and she would have a year and a day with Lord Strahd.

Once she made sure they were fed and had blankets that she had taken from her own room, she decided to go back up to borrow some pillows and maybe a throw from Lord Strahd's room, then she would turn in for the evening.