That evening Ana stood smiling in front of the door, her hair in pigtails, wearing a simple gown. Underneath her smile I saw there was something on her mind.
I motioned and Adrijana came forward to apply a basic wrist tie. Ana submitted, staring down at the loops and the knot, with no excitement in her body. When I opened the door she walked out, still staring at the floor.
I guided her to the bed, had her kneel on it, and waited.
Finally the whisper came. “My Lord, I wish to be taken by the Dragon.”
“What?”
“I wish to be taken by the Dragon!” she repeated aloud.
“Why is that, my dear?”
“You think people like me are backward and superstitious. But I honor my father’s and my family’s wishes. They wished me to die, to spare the village from the Dragon, and if I have any choice in the matter, any will in this matter, that is what I will do.”
I sighed. It seemed I had lost this one.
“So you wish to sleep in the cage tonight,” I said.
“No.”
I stared in disbelief. “You wish to sleep with me?”
She blushed. “Yes. I wish to lie with you, to have you in me. I will die for the village, but I don’t need to die a virgin.”
She looked up. “You have … built a fire in me.”
She looked down again, blushing even harder.
I found myself confused and blushing a bit myself! “My dear, I don’t usually take women on my first night in bed with them, especially not virgins like—”
“Please!” she cried. I touched her head, her hair, to calm her. There was much going on inside her soul.
“Tonight Ana will lie with me,” I announced to the three of them. “Tomorrow night … she may get her request.” Neither Marija nor Adrijana looked surprised.
I lifted her from her knees, and pulled her towards me. As our bodies met, her lips too met mine. Her eyes shut, and she pressed into me, sighing, and kissing harder …
It was a most curious night! Despite what I had said, Ana definitely felt this was her last night, and in her desperation she never stopped. A couple of times during the night, just so that she would take a break, I had to hogtie her and give her a soothing massage. The result was an active but oddly unfulfilling night for me, and I think for her, too. When a few hours before cockcrow she remained frantic, I gave her a mild sleeping potion with a little push from a spell, and she dozed off soundly as I fell asleep beside her.
I let her sleep in while I had breakfast with Marija and Adrijana the next morning.