Elise leads Princess Tori to her bedchambers, she’s rife with anticipation, but she can’t help but feel somewhat anxious as well. This is far from the first time she’s gone to that room under the pretence of an excuse her princess had made up on the spot, but two years is a long time to be apart, and she’s clearly changed so much in that time, who’s to say if she’s even the same person?

“Been a long time, hasn’t it Elise?”

“Huh… Oh, it certainly has, my princess.” Tori’s question comes as a bit of a surprise to the maid who doesn’t have a clue how things will play out after that display in the courtyard. She knew the princess better than anyone, but she doesn’t know what to expect from this much stronger, much larger, much more confident Tori. If nothing else, idle conversation is at least a sign they’re still on good terms.

“They haven’t been working you too hard, have they?”

“No harder than before, at the very least. To be honest, the past two years have been… quiet, to put it politely. Very little has changed at all in your time away.” The two have plenty of space to talk, any servants nearby quickly make themselves scarce upon seeing the princess approach. Some of them whisper to each other as the duo pass, only stopping when Tori glances at them with a smirk, making it clear she’s aware of the attention.

“What about the council?”

“They’re all still around, and taking orders from the queen.”

“Damn, was hoping one or two of the older ones would’ve died while I was gone.” Elise almost trips over herself in reaction to that statement. “Oh well, guess that means I’ve still got a lot of work ahead of me, huh?”

The small talk is helping Elise calm down, she’s noticed Tori is behaving a little differently since they’ve stepped inside. Her confidence is still clear in her stride, but she seems a little calmer, more approachable, even. Is it because she’s no longer in front of a crowd, or just because she’s no longer dealing with her mother? There’s little time to ponder, however, as they’ve reached the door to Tori’s chambers.

“We have arrived, my princess.” Elise holds the door open so that her princess may enter.

“Thanks, I’d never have found it on myself, Elise.” Tori says with a grin and a bow, fully leaning into the excuse she made to bring Elise with her. “I’d better thank you for your service.” Tori walks through the doorway, but puts her arm out just as she’s passing Elise, grabbing her by the waist and carrying her inside in a single effortless motion, locking it behind her. The maid was planning on entering herself, of course, but Tori couldn’t wait any longer, not after having spent so much time apart.

Elise barely has time to process what’s happening before she’s practically thrown onto the bed, Tori climbing on top of her, and it only takes moments for their lips to connect, reigniting feelings that have lacked any outlet for the past two years. Muscle memory reactivates as Elise instinctually puts her hands around her princesses head, and in return she finds a pair of firm hands feeling around her back, refamiliarising themselves with the woman in their grasp. Elise is pleased to find a familiar warmth in the embrace of the princess, and while it’s certainly much stronger, maybe even a little forceful, compared with what she knew previously, it’s undeniably answered a question she’s been anxious about this whole time.

The Princess Tori before her is indeed the same one she’s loved all these years.

She finds herself crying tears of joy as she surfaces for air. Things haven’t exactly been bad for her in the time Tori has been away, relatively speaking for someone of her position, of course, but she had missed the moments like these, and indeed her princess’s presence in general, quite dearly. Part of her wants to resume kissing, but she instead holds herself close to her princess, putting her head against her lover's firm chest to make sure that this is real. In return Tori holds her tight, making her feel safe and protected in a way that wouldn’t have been possible with her old physique.

“I’m sorry I was gone so long, My love. I’ve missed you so much…” Tori says with a softness she hadn’t shown anyone in years.

“My princess…”

“I wish I could’ve returned sooner, but it was too risky. I needed to make sure I was strong enough to stand up to my mother, and the council. Do you remember the promises we made to each other, Elise?”

“Of course, the night that we snuck up to the highest room in the castle to watch the blood moon together.” This was a precious memory for the both of them from their early teenage years, from a few days after Tori had learnt that her story had already been written for her. Even when she did eventually become queen, she would be beholden to the council, who would continue to answer to her mother. She was to be little more than a figurehead that would be married off to continue the bloodline.

“You said you’d become strong enough to be able to choose your own path, and not be bound to the will of your mother.”

“Yes, and you promised to stay by my side every step of the way, no matter what they do to keep us apart.”

Tori sighs, and for the first time today starts to sound less confident, and unsure of herself. “There are… There are still some things I have to make sure of… but I think I’m finally able to make sure we can keep those promises.”

“That’s why you returned so close to the blood moon, isn’t it? So that the coronation would happen before they have a chance to plot against you.”

“Yes, but that’s a topic for later, there’s something much more important I want to talk about…” Tori leans in, and starts whispering directly into Elise’s ear.

“I saw how you were looking at me in the courtyard earlier.” Elise’s hair stands on end.

“You’re wondering how I got like this, aren’t you? Well, I’ve been very busy the past few years, making sure I’m as strong as I need to be, and I think it’s fair to say that all that hard work has paid off… wouldn’t you say?”

Elise can hardly contain herself, the thick arms wrapped around her, the firm pectorals she’s resting against, the sweet words in her ear, it’s almost too much for her.

“You want to touch, don’t you, my love?”

“I-I… T-Tori… My P-Prin…” Words are proving a bit too difficult for the poor girl.

“You’re allowed, you know. You won’t be the first, but all of this is for you… So that we can be together, forever…” Elise slowly shifts, turning so that she’s facing her princess, who responds by holding up one arm and flexing, while putting the other on her lover’s back, encouraging her to move closer. “Come see just how hard I’ve worked, Elise…”

She nervously starts to move her unsteady hands towards her princess’s arm, not sure what to expect, and when she finally gets a good feel…

Ba-bump.

Something shifts in her mind.

Tori’s bicep is rock solid, and Elise can hardly believe how powerful it feels, she can only barely wrap both hands around it. It’s driving her wild, and she immediately needs more. She starts feeling up every centimetre of the princess’s arm, and not just with her hands, before moving to the other, all the while Tori just revels in the attention. It’s only a matter of time before this is no longer enough for Elise, and driven by an intense passion she’s never experienced before, she starts removing the accessories and clothing Tori is wearing, one by one, with the princess allowing the maid to push and move her around as needed.

With each item thrown carelessly onto the floor, a new patch of bare skin and firm muscle is revealed for her to discover, to feel, to investigate, to worship. No matter where she looks she finds rock hard flesh that continues to shatter all her expectations, there are only a couple of places on the princess’s body that are on the softer side, and Elise makes sure that they get plenty of attention as well. Eventually, Elise gets her fill, panting heavily after having fully explored Princess Tori’s new, exciting form, the lust driven daze starting to wear off.

“Seems like you’re pretty happy with what you’ve seen.” Elise just nods, speech still a bit beyond what she’s capable of. “I’m certainly glad you appreciate all my hard work. I guess it would only be fair if I returned your enthusiasm now, wouldn’t it?”

Elise suddenly finds a set of hands moving all over her, expertly removing her uniform step by step.

“I met a lot of women while I was gone, and I learnt a whole lot of things from them, so we have a good deal to catch up on, my love…”

Over the next couple of hours, Elise would come to understand why the female mercenaries had so much worse injuries than the others.

SyntaxSpeedway

Thanks to everyone who's been reading my stuff since I've started posting it here! This chapter is my first time writing this sort of thing so I'm not really sure how it came out, but I hope it's okay. I'm also still in the process of figuring out exactly what sort of voice I want Tori to have, so things might be a little inconsistent for a bit, but when I do settle on something I'll likely go back and edit parts of the earlier chapters if they need it.