🕸 IV 🕸

I followed Lurkson and Miss Easter into the hedge maze. I could not speak intimately with Lurkson because of the maid’s presence. We came to three paths that lead in different directions.

“Our hedge maze is unique because it has three starting paths,” explained Lurkson. “Perhaps we each should take a path and race to the center of the maze?”

“That sounds like a fun game,” said Miss Easter.

“I am at a great disadvantage since you both have experience with this maze,” I complained. “I request that I be escorted.”

“I volunteer,” said Miss Easter as she raised her hand. “I was assigned to look after you.”

“Marvelous,” said Lurkson. “It would give you two a chance to bond.”

I pouted and said, “I would rather take my chances alone then.”

The maid giggled. “Oh, it would seem Madame Gothia would like to have some alone time with you, Lurky. But the Duke did make it very clear that you two were far too reckless to be alone together.”

“I am going in on my own then,” I said.

I marched into the straight path. Lurkson to the left path and Miss Easter went right. I had been in hedge mazes before and was familiar with the mindset behind their creation. Typically I could find my way around such a maze. But this time was different.

The paths were narrow and the hedges tall and thick. And the paths twisted and turned in ways that I did not anticipate. It was disorientating and I found myself going in circles. I was too proud to call for help but I did not wish to waste my day lost in a maze.

I heard rustling on the other side of one wall. Someone was on the other side. And they were following me. I kept quiet and planned to meet my pursuer once our paths met and surprise them.

I hoped it was Lurkson and I prepared to spring into his arms.

I turned a corner and at the first sight of something other than green, I leapt toward them. And I leapt into Miss Easter’s arms. And she was very strong and held me in the air before pinning me against a wall. The branches on the hedge wall poked me.

Miss Easter lowered me to my feet but still kept me against the hedge wall. It is worth noting that she was taller than I, like most others. Her small bosom was right in my face. She smiled at me in a very playful way and started to played with my hair.

“You gave me a start,” said Miss Easter. “You are a very curious little thing.”

“Forgive me, I thought you were Lurkson,” I said. As she continued to fondle my hair, my heart raced and my mouth watered. “I wanted to play with him.”

“Yes, I understand all too well,” said Miss Easter. “He is so very charming. And dark and mysterious, like from a novel. Oh, and he is well endowed. I know, I’ve seen so myself.”

“Really?” A hot and prickly shockwave of jealousy rippled through me. “Under what circumstances?”

Miss Easter then leaned close so her lips were to my ear and whispered, “Do not fret, I had not robbed him of his virtue. That honor belongs to a woman he truly desires.”

“You have not answered my question, Miss Easter,” I said.

Her breath was hot and the smell of her perfume was intoxicating. I had never met a maid who wore such sultry fragrance before. Her lips hovered over my cheeks and stopped an inch from my lips.

“I assist Lurky when he bathes,” said Miss Easter. “I see it all the time. It is quite impressive.”

“And yet you do not seduce him?” I asked.

Miss Easter sighed and her sweet and warm breath filled my nose. “I do like dear Lurky but a few things stop me from claiming him for myself. One being that I am technically his half sister.”

“Really? You and him share a parent then?” I asked.

“No, that is why it is a technicality,” explained Miss Easter. “The Duke had an affair with a low ranking noble girl. She was my poor mother who died during childbirth and the Duke took me in since I was his flesh and blood.”

“I see,” I said. “And you were made a servant to keep the Duke’s affair a secret? How dreadful.”

“Not really, I have lived a good life as a maid,” said Miss Easter. “And a maid really should not fraternize with her masters.”

“So, there is being half step-siblings with Lurkson and your etiquette as a maid,” I listed. “Any other excuses as to why you do not take such a dark and glorious man as your own?”

“There is one other and it is happening right now,” explained Miss Easter. She moved closer to me and our lips were dangerously close to touching. “Have you had your first kiss yet, Madame Gothia?”

“I have not,” I said without moving an inch. My heart was racing and I was speechless. “You wish to steal it?”

“I have stolen many before,” said Miss Easter. “My dear half-brother Alberto has so many delicious suitresses come to visit. You would be amazed at how many I tricked into kissing me.”

“And that will not be happening today,” said Lurkson as he appeared behind Miss Easter.

Lurkson wrapped one arm around Miss Easter’s neck. He grabbed her arm that was touching my hair. Lurkson pulled the maid away from me and I finally relaxed and breathed.

Despite how aggressive Lurkson held Miss Easter, they both smiled and seemed to enjoy their horseplay. I felt left out and pouted at them. Lurkson slapped Miss Easter’s buttock before releasing her.

“Ow! Come now, Lurky! That is no way to treat your elder sister who has been nothing but sweet to you,” said Miss Easter as she rubbed her butt.

“Lurky?” I said critically. “Miss Easter keeps calling you that, Lurkson, when no other ears are around.”

It was a childish nickname but it was overflowing with history. I had to know more.

Lurkson sighed, smiled, and said, “Yes, Raven has always been so cruel and teases me endlessly.”

Miss Easter continued to smile and said, “Do not let him fool you, Madame Gothia. He likes it when I call him that. Especially when we are naked in the bath and he relieves himself to my body.”

I knew there was some form of dark intimacy between them. Lurkson did blush but only a little. He simply shrugged, grinned, and said nothing. Miss Easter too turned red but more from laughter then shame.

“So you two have had sex then?” I was blunt because there was no point beating around the hedge.

They both giggled at my question. The tone of their laughter suggested otherwise. I felt a little embarrassed but also very relieved. Lurkson was still fresh and mine for the taking.

“Oh, no, there is always a safe distance between us,” explained Miss Easter.

“And I would never be so crass as to seduce dear Raven,” said Lurkson. “But there are times a man needs visual aid to relieve the tension. And the maid uniform does not do Raven justice. She is most fetching.”

“Oh, stop, Lurky,” said Miss Easter. She then looked at me with a humble gaze. “It is simple play and nothing more. And I’m not as fetching as Lurky claims I am.”

“I find you both fetching and I would not mind playing with either of you,” I said. “Or both . . . in the same breath.”

Miss Easter and Lurkson paused and both gazed at me in excitement and wonder. Miss Easter approached me as if I was a siren and she was a doomed ship enthralled by my song. Lurkson’s hand fell onto her chest to stop her before she could reach me.

“You can wait your turn, dear Raven,” said Lurkson as he pulled her into an embrace.

“Oh, but Lurky, she said we can share her,” said Miss Easter. “Do not be so selfish.”

Lurkson then grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him. She went still and a serious air grew around them. I heard their excuses but their behavior made it evident that there was a history between them.

“Do behave for Madame Gothia, Raven, or I will inform father of your behavior as of late,” insisted Lurkson.

“I cannot help but have a bit of fun,” said Miss Easter.

I could not stand it anymore. They were having all the fun. And without me.

I marched up to them and pulled Miss Easter from Lurkson’s grasp. I then reached up and grabbed her by the neck. I pulled her head down and sank my teeth into her earlobe. I nibbled on Miss Easter’s soft flesh and she groaned in shock and delight.

I then looked right at Lurkson and whispered in Miss Easter’s ear. “If Lurkson fails to be the lover I desire, will you fill that void, sweet Raven?”

“You can have me right now, if you so wished,” said Miss Easter with a trembling voice. I bit her ear harder and she squeaked. “Yes, yes, I will be your lover-in-waiting, Madame Gothia. And keep calling me Miss Easter, please. I like a commanding mistress.”

I stopped chewing on her ear and let her go. I walked up to Lurkson and demanded that he lower himself to my level. He did so and I then indulged his ear next. After a few bites, I whispered to him while looking straight at Miss Easter.

“Do not stop, keep going, or I will give myself to her,” I declared.

Lurkson then moved his head to face me. Our lips were inches from one another. He then pulled away from me and we all came to an understanding.

Lurkson was my ideal lover, my prince of darkness, my soul mate. But Raven Easter was something a part of me had always been curious about. I lusted after Maggy so it is only fitting that my desires be vulnerable to Miss Easter.

The two of them then flanked me from side to side. There was enough space down the path for the three of us to be side by side. I took an arm from each of my prospective lovers. And we pressed on towards the center of the hedge maze.

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We reached the center of the hedge maze and I was in awe. There was a pillar of fine marble at the very center of the maze. Small alcoves were carved into the pillar. And in each alcove was a skull.

Human skulls and a great many of them.

Miss Easter kept her distance. She clearly was not a patron of the macabre arts. Lurkson almost dragged me to the pillar to show me every inch of it. I admired each skull all around the pillar. It was dizzying how many there were.

“All of my father's executions are here,” said Lurkson. “It is a monument like this that makes me proud to have been adopted into the Longroper family.”

“How many are there?” I asked.

“Well over one hundred,” said Lurkson proudly.

“This is the most dreadful thing I have ever seen,” I said with a gaping smile.

“Yes, is it not the most gruesome and beautiful thing ever?” asked Lurkson.

“Imagine being one of those skulls,” I said. “Starting off into nothingness, surrounded by your fellow executees, repenting for their crimes for all eternity. It is . . . so very dreadful.”

Lurkson nodded as he walked up behind me and held my shoulders. “Yes, to soak in the eternal damnation of those around you. To ponder the meaninglessness of existence. To question if freewill is a gift or a curse. An eternal purgatory of nothingness!”

“You used ‘eternal’ twice there, Lurky,” commented Miss Easter.

I ignored her and looked straight up into his dark eyes and said, “That is so profound. You are so wise, dear Lurkson.”

“And you are a wondrous admirer, dear Gothia,” he said with a smile.

Miss Easter sat at a bench far from the monument and said, “Look at you two getting on. When it comes to scary things like that monument of father’s, you two are like two skulls in a crypt.”

Lurkson then stared at Miss Easter as if she suggested a dreadful idea. “Yes, the crypt! How could I forget?”

I pushed away from Lurkson and glared at him in frustration. “You have a crypt on your grounds and you failed to mention that to me. You will take me there at once!”

“Yes, yes, the crypt will be our next stop,” said Lurkson eagerly.

Miss Easter pouted and stood with her hands on her hips. “Oh, you know I don’t like that eerie place, Lurky.”

“Yes but Raven, Madame Gothia wishes to see our crypts,” said Lurkson. “I recognize your apprehension of the dead but she is our guest and we should be accommodating.”

“You have an apprehension of the dead?” I asked in disappointment. “And here I was starting to like you as a potential lover.”

Miss Easter became a bit more relaxed. “Well, I suppose I should accompany you two into the crypt since I am to look after the both of you. But I want a reward for my bravery.”

“You are not allowed to have her lips, I have already claimed those,” declared Lurkson.

“Then I shall have another part of her,” said Miss Easter.

“Her toes then,” said Lurkson. “They are furthest from her lips.”

“Her toes are fine by me,” agreed Miss Easter. “If I am brave enough to venture with both of you into the crypts then I shall be rewarded with Madame Gothia’s toes.”

“Do I not have a say in this ridiculous arrangement?” I asked. “It is my body you two are fighting over.”

“So we can change my reward then?” asked Miss Easter as she pouted. “How about I get to choose what part of you is my reward?”

“I am not opposed to the reward of my toes for you, Miss Easter,” I said. I then grinned like a fiend. “But you can only claim your reward while we are still in the crypt.”

Lurkson giggled and said, “That is a fair condition.”

I then turned and pointed at Lurkson sternly. “And while she is entertained by my toes, you will be giving me that kiss you are so eager to claim.”

Lurkson then turned serious and said, “To have my first kiss in the crypts? Gothia, you truly are my dark angel from Hades!”

“And I have been intimate in dirty places,” admitted Miss Easter dismissively.

I then took Lurkson and Miss Easter by the hands and they led me out of the hedge maze. Our next stop was the crypt. And we were about to have some dark and dreadful fun.

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