I lingered at the dais, receiving the respects and compliments of my sisters. It all still felt so surreal. Not moments ago, I had planned to betray them all, consigning them to an eternity as Errol’s depraved playthings. But now with the sigil of acceptance and pride emblazoned on my chest, that simply felt impossible. I glanced up to the statue of Solaris, half expecting it to rain blazing judgment down upon me, but it didn’t. Perhaps the dreams had been omens of this moment. Perhaps, Solaris hadn’t forsaken me after all. I had worked my whole life for this, and I couldn’t simply abandon it for the forbidden fruits Errol had shown me, no matter how sweet those fruits proved to be, or the insatiable hunger they ignited in me, or…

“You know, you technically outrank me now,” Janelle said with her typically radiant smile. Even as the crowd had thinned, Janelle had remained by my side, faithful and supportive as always.

The warmth of her voice pulled me back to reality. “I hadn’t realized that. This is all still sinking in.”

“Just don’t go abusing your authority,” she said with a wink.

If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought she was flirting with me, but of course that was absurd. Janelle was my oldest friend, possibly my only real friend. We were like sisters. “I’ll do my best to live up to the responsibility.”

“So did you get a chance to talk to your guest?” Janelle began fidgeting. “Did she have anything interesting to say?”

I flushed with embarrassment. Had she heard about my state of undress when Amara came upon us? Midnight, news couldn’t travel that fast, could it? “Oh, you mean Liana? Nothing, um, particularly out of the ordinary happened, if that’s what you were wondering.”

Her eyes lit up.“You seem awfully embarrassed about nothing. She didn’t happen to tell you about a friend who might be interested in you, did she?”

I swallowed so hard I practically choked. Had Liana confided in Janelle about her feelings? That seemed unlikely, but then again she had already been here for days, and Janelle was a superb listener.

“And now you’re being awfully quiet! You can talk to me about anything, you know?”

The words nearly erupted from my throat, like a geyser yearning for the release of the surface. It dawned on me how alone I’d been, even in the company of Liana and Finnick. I felt a sudden longing to open up to my friend, and maybe I could. She didn’t need to know about Errol or his schemes, at least not until I found a way to deal with them, but surely I could confide my feelings. “Well actually, Liana did mention something like that.”

“Did . . . did she give any hints as to who the secret admirer might be?” Janelle practically vibrated as she spoke. I’d never known her to be much of a gossip, but she certainly seemed invested in this. 

“Not exactly, but Liana… Liana. Where is she anyway?”

“The prisoner has escaped!” Belle shouted as she flung the cathedral doors open. 

Time froze. That wasn’t the plan. Did Master know that I’d switched sides? No, not Master, Errol. He wasn’t my Master anymore. Still, how could he know? I’d only decided myself minutes ago. Liana must have gone to him during the ceremony! But still he shouldn’t have abandoned the plan. 

The remaining sisters broke into a frantic scramble, taking up their weapons. Janelle and I exchanged anxious glances. She looked pained to break off our conversation, but heeded the call of duty. We joined the queue flowing out of the hall to search the grounds. 

I did my best to blend into the crowd, like I was any other Knight, except I wasn’t. Dread began to well up inside me. Had Errol learned of my betrayal? Did he intend to come for me? Would my sisters discover my role in his escape and would they imprison me alongside him? All these questions swirled in my mind as I left the cathedral, or tried to leave. Just as I crossed the threshold, a firm hand seized my arm. 

“You’re coming with me,” Amara commanded. 

***

“So you had no knowledge of this escape?” Sienna asked, voice somehow both gentle and ruthless.

The sun had fully set, yet a golden glow filled Matron Sienna’s chamber. The light of her magic swept over me, searching my every word for any sign of falsehood. Amara leaned against the wall by the door, hand resting on her blade. “No, Matron. I had no idea.” Thank the Goddess that was true. 

“I see. You never suspected he might be up to something?”

Midnight, I had to choose my words carefully. “He is a cunning mage, and I wouldn’t have put such a scheme past him, but I never thought he could escape the dungeons on his own.” without my help or Finnick’s. 

“So you suspect he had assistance?” Sienna continued. 

“I hate to cast aspersions on poor Liana, but perhaps he still had some sway over her,” I mumbled, unable to meet her steely gaze.

“Yes, that seems exceedingly likely. The last thing Belle remembers was seeing her. But you didn’t know anything about this plan?”

I summoned all my courage and raised my eyes to meet hers. “I swear on Solaris’s name that I knew nothing of their plan.” Of course, that doesn’t apply to any other plans Errol and I might have had. 

Sienna paused, sweeping her palm across me once more, and then halting her magical inquisition. “Enough. Her answers are truthful. She can join the search efforts.”

Amara barely concealed her disappointment. She was likely looking forward to unceremoniously arresting me. 

“Thank you, Matron.” I turned to leave.

“Of course, you weren’t entirely honest, sister.” 

My blood turned to ice. “Matron? I know not what you mean.”

“You don’t?” she asked, as she began stroking my hair. “I don’t recall dispatching you with an enchanted sword, and yet you carry one now. I should have noticed it earlier.” 

Her slow movements only drove the terror deeper into me. “I took it from the mage,” I lied. 

Sienna yanked me backwards. “Don’t besmirch the brand on your chest. Do you honestly expect me to believe that this scoundrel already possessed a sword that matches our own training blades?”

“I . . . no, Matron.” 

She twisted her wrist, spinning me to face her. “And yet my spell detected no malice in you.”

“Please, Matron. I am loyal to The Abbey,” I pleaded, as desperate to convince myself as her. “He did try to tempt me with gifts and deception, but my loyalties lie with you.” 

“As they should. I don’t need to remind you that we took you in when you were a worthless urchin. We saved you. We made you who you are today, someone of value. You owe everything to us.” 

“Yes, Matron.” A suffocating despair had begun to creep over me. 

“We made you and we can unmake you just as easily. Do you understand me, Holy Knight?”

“Yes, Matron.” I felt numb.

“You are the property of this Abbey. Say it,” she growled. 

“Yes, Matron. I am your property,” I mumbled. I wished she’d use some enchantment to compel my obedience, some balm to soothe the anguish of guilt and conflict that churned within me, but I knew I’d have no such fortune. Sienna did not resort to those tactics. No she only required the withering scorn of her glare to enforce her will. 

“You had best not forget it. You are an instrument of Solaris’s will and nothing more.”

“Yes, Matron.” My eyes had gone unfocused and dull. Suddenly I was a scared child again, being reprimanded by my adoptive mother, letting her words wash over me, never daring to question them. 

“You’re fortunate to have the Goddess’s grace this day. I had not yet written to Queen Astoria to inform her of our triumph. Should you recapture the dark mage, I’m sure Solaris could find it in her heart to overlook your . . . moment of weakness.”

The tugging of her hand pulled my head into a vacant nod, moving me like a puppet on strings. “Yes, Matron. I’ll atone.”

“See to it that you do.” Then she finally released me. 

I fell backwards. I knew from her cold stare that I had been dismissed. I stumbled from the room, still moving like a puppet with no will of her own. 

***

The night wore on in a relentless monotony of futile searching. I combed through the woods around the Abbey, numb and thoughtless. Early on, I had hoped that Errol and Liana would simply reveal themselves to me, but that hope had faded with the last embers of sunset. Now I wandered alone through the underbrush, fumbling around in the dark with only an enchanted torch. My pristine new armor had been thoroughly smudged and scraped by the branches and brambles. 

Even Amara had ceased her relentless stalking. She had been marking me at a distance, likely hoping I’d lead her to Errol, but the long night must have exhausted even her. The entire retinue of Holy Knights had been scrambled to find him and yet no signals had gone up. 

In truth, I didn’t know what I would do if I came across him. I had no chance of capturing him on my own, and I wasn’t even sure I wanted to capture him. Bizarrely, I felt guilt at betraying Errol of all people. I didn’t want to hurt my sisters, but that didn’t mean I wished harm to Master either. Stop calling him that! 

In my moment of distraction, my boot snagged on a root and I tumbled to the ground. My gauntlets smashed into the dirt and leaves as I tried to catch myself. The holy torch tumbled to the ground, sending long shadows creeping over the underbrush.  

I began to cry. 

It was soft at first, just thin whimpers, but soon they grew to stifled moans. My hours of scavenging had finally broken my shell of resignation and the emotions poured forth at last. The guilt of betraying my sisters, my regret at abandoning Master, my longing for Finnick’s touch, my lifetime of loneliness and toil in this accursed building. It could have been any of them, or all of them, or something else entirely. The tears fell the same, regardless. 

“Well, I see I haven’t lost my talent for making women cry,” a familiar baritone called above me. “It took your shadow long enough to leave.” 

“Master?” I managed to croak, as I slowly regained my breath.

“Am I your Master? Or did you sell my secrets to your Matron?” 

His words pierced me like a dagger. “Why?” I whimpered. 

“You’ll have to speak up. It’s hard to hear you down there.” 

“Why?”

“Well a little song bird told me the Knights had learned of my identity, so I improvised. Now I’d like an answer to my questions.” 

“That’s not what I meant. Why couldn’t you just break me?” The question that had been gnawing at me all night finally wormed its way free. 

“Pardon?”

“You could have made me like Liana, eager, devoted, and servile, but you didn’t. You gave me a choice. Why?”

He stared down at me in silence like a judgemental god.

“If you had, I wouldn't have to carry all this guilt, all these choices,” I continued. “I wouldn’t have to hurt anyone I cared about, because I’d only care about one thing. You couldn’t just give me that peace?”

“No, I couldn’t, or rather I refused to.”

I stumbled to my feet. “But you must have known. You must have known this could happen, that I could lose my nerve and turn on you.”

Even in the dim light of the torch, I could see him shrug. 

“And you never answer me!” I stood, drawing Oathbreaker with a rasping scrape. “Either tell me the truth, or face my steel.”

“Mira, we both know you can’t hurt me with that.” 

“I don’t have to,” I growled. “I just have to raise a commotion and the others will come.” 

He chuckled to himself. “Even now, you’re proving me right.” 

I took a step forward. 

“Fine, you really want to know? I was lonely.”

“Lonely? You? With all the women you put under your spell?”

“You said it yourself. They’re all broken shells of their former selves, well with one possible exception,” he grumbled. “My life wasn’t always like this, drifting from town to town, acting on raw instinct.” 

“I’m listening.”

He pulled that bit of metal from his pocket and began fiddling with it again. “And you reminded me of someone who was precious to me.” 

“So I remind you of some former lover? And you wanted me to choose you on my own? Is that it?” 

“Yes, and no. I’m afraid those stories are mine to keep. Suffice it to say that I saw potential in you, so I gave you a choice, and I stand by it even now.”

“Potential?” I scoffed. “Potential to be like you? A drunken letch who uses people up and throws them away?” 

“No, Mira,” he answered softly, stepping closer on his own, my sword practically poking his chest. “You could be better than me, better than I ever was, better than her even. I see it in you, that hunger. You’re like me when I was younger.” 

“You’re wrong about me,” I said, voice trembling. “I’m not like you. I feel too much. I care too much. I can’t do this. I don’t want your hunger. I just want it all to stop.” 

Master sighed. “Mira, I don’t believe you, and deep down I don’t think you believe yourself either.” 

My fingers tightened their grip, my hands shaking. “Well, you had best believe me. You had best break me, and relieve me of this burden, or I’ll bring the wrath of Solaris down on you.” 

“Hmm, tempting offer, but no thank you.”

I raised my blade. “You’re in no position to refuse.” 

“In fact, I very much am. I won’t give up on you, Mira. Wrath is cheap. You’re something else entirely.” 

“You stubborn fool!” I yelled as I swung my blade. 

Yet, he always stayed a step ahead, drifting above the grass like a shadow. 

Oathbreaker sliced through the empty darkness. I spun and struck the air a few more times, but never felt the slightest hint of contact. The sound that escaped my lips was something between a scream and a growl. “Midnight!” 

Stupid old man. Stupid Matron. The weight of my choices felt absolutely crushing, grinding me down into nothing. I had no idea what to do. I so desperately wished one of those two would just use their magic to lift it from me, bind me to their will, and save me from having to choose, but no. That wasn’t the hand I was dealt. “Curse you, Master.” 

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could a shimmering line of silver sliced through his form. He glanced down at it with more annoyance than pain and then looked back to me. “It seems we’ve been interrupted. Until next time, my dear.” Then his image dissolved. An illusion. It had been an illusion the whole time.

“So you were still in contact with the mage,” a woman’s firm voice called from behind the fading mirage. 

I froze. 

“I suspected as much.” Amara’s imposing silhouette came into focus in the dim light.

I did my best to remain calm. “If you saw that, then you saw me draw my blade on him.” 

“I also heard your pathetic pleas.”

I tried to respond but the words caught in my throat.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, Holy Knight,” she said with venom practically dripping from the title. 

“I am.”

“Enough lies. Your words mean nothing before the judgement of Solaris. We gave you every gift a woman could want, a station of honor and respect, and this is how you repay our kindness?”

A shrill, brittle laugh rang from my throat. Kindness? They let me scrub latrines and stables while the precious noble daughters sat back and watched. They let me train through the night with rusted hand-me downs. They let me struggle every day just to prove I deserved their scraps.

My laughter only deepened Amara’s scowl. “This amuses you? You mock the sanctity of your oaths?” She drew her sword and began to advance with the careful, measured footsteps of a veteran warrior. 

I raised Oathbreaker in response, and began slowly backing away. “Sienna ordered me to assist in capturing the mage. You would stop me from following her commands?”

“I would expunge the parasite that’s leeched away at our order for far too long.”

Suddenly the swirling tempest of conflicting emotions coalesced into a single overwhelming drive:

Rage.

“You call me a parasite? You have no idea what I’ve been through, the choices I’ve made, the temptations, the struggles, the sacrifices. None of it means anything to you.”

“None of it holds meaning before your duty, cadet. You’re a disgrace to your station.” 

I practically exploded towards her, but just managed to restrain myself. No, I would not take her bait. She wanted me to attack so she could claim self defense. “You think me a fool.”

“A fool and a traitor.”

“Dawn Blade, you call me a traitor?” Then it hit me. “This is a grave insult.” 

Her eyes narrowed, studying me. 

“You have impugned my honor before Solaris, and left me no choice,”

“Don’t,” she hissed. 

“Left me no choice but to challenge you to single combat before the witness of our sisters and our Goddess.” There. That would at least buy me time until morning and force her to face me in public. 

“You’re a traitor, and a disgrace. You have no honor. Your challenge means nothing.”

“But what of your honor, Dawnblade? Would you sully your own reputation by ignoring my challenge and striking me down in cold blood?”

The flickering light danced across her blade as she shook with anger. I knew I had her or she would have already pounced. Amara was the most capable swordswoman in our order, speed, power, technique, all immaculate. If she had a weakness it was only her slavish devotion to the rules.

“Fine,” she spat, slamming her sword back into its scabbard with a thud. “Sunrise in the courtyard. Should you flee before then, know that I will hunt you down without mercy.” Then she turned and marched back towards the Abbey

I let Oathbreaker fall to the forest floor and collapsed, shaking. I had no hope of besting Amara, but at least she wouldn’t kill me in front of our sisters, at least I hoped she wouldn’t.

***

The first blushes of pink began tinting the sky, and I knew my stay of execution had run out. I watched the time pass from the open window of my humble chamber. My brief respite had not yielded any miraculous insights into how to defeat Amara or capture Errol, or clear my name, or regain Errol’s trust, or do anything besides collapse. Fatigue hung over me like a sullen cloud. I could scarcely escape the conflicting voices in my mind long enough to think, yet alone plan.

As I watched the sun begin to rise, I did the only thing I could think of, the thing I’d been trained to do my entire life, I prayed. My hands came together and my eyes closed. “Please Solaris, it’s me, Mira. I know we haven’t always been on the best of terms, but if you have any love in your heart for me, please let your light protect me and guide me. Let your radiance set me on my true path. I stand at a crossroads of duty and temptation and I feel so utterly lost and alone. Please, I beg you, send me a sign. In The Dawn Bringer’s name, I pray.”

I half expected to be spirited away to some abyss of fiery judgement, but when I opened my eyes, only the lightening sky greeted me. I felt like a fool. Just because Solaris would take the time to torture me in my dreams, I had thought she might finally answer my pleas. Of course she wouldn’t. “Why won’t anyone just give me an answer?”

“Mira,” a voice whispered. 

“Solaris!” 

“What? No. It’s me, Finnick.” Just then, his muscular arms faded into existence, gripping onto the edge of my window sill. “Though my charms have been described as a gift from the gods before.” 

“What are you doing out there!?”

“Well I was hoping to climb into your room, but found my path blocked by some raven haired beauty with her eyes closed. Would you mind moving?” 

I looked frantically about, but it seemed my sisters had retired their search and returned to their rooms prior to the duel. Before I could second guess myself, I grabbed Finnick’s hand and pulled him through the opening. 

“Phew. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to scale a building while holding your breath.” 

I didn’t respond with words. I just pulled him into a hug and buried my face in his chest. “I missed you.” 

He seemed surprised, but soon wrapped his arms around me. “I missed you too. Sorry I couldn’t reach you sooner. This whole place is on high alert. What in Elysia is going on?”

“It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.” 

“Mira, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he said softly. 

“No, it is. I ruined everything.” I could hold back the flood no more. It all just came pouring forth, as I recounted the events of the last days.

“Not everything. You still have me.” 

I looked up into his blue eyes and the weight bearing down on me felt a little lighter. “You would stay with me? But I thought you had planned to join Master.”

“Well, that’s the funny thing about plans.” He bent forward, kissing me on the forehead. “We think we draw them with indelible ink, marking down a sure path to the future. However, in the end, they’re all just scribbles on sheets of paper, always subject to be tossed about on the changing winds.”

I surged up and returned his kiss with one of my own on the lips. I melted into him, pressing our bodies closer together. 

When we finally broke, he was the first to speak. “I’m sure we can find a way out of this. If all else fails, I can sneak you out of here.”

“It won’t work. Amara will hunt me to the far corners of Elysia. She’s the best of us. I’ll never escape her or defeat her either.”

“I don’t know about that. In my experience the more skilled fighter doesn’t always win. Besides, I have a hard time believing she’s better than you. What happened to the Mira who wanted to take on a squadron of city guards single handed?”

“She got buried,” I mumbled, looking down. “Buried under the weight of her own guilt. I betrayed them all, Finnick, my sisters and my Master. I can’t think. I can’t sleep. I can’t get a moment of peace.”

A delicate finger landed under my chin and tilted my gaze back to his. “I’d be happy to help take your mind off things.”

I smiled despite myself. He was so incorrigible, and in truth it was tempting. What better way to spend my final moments than losing myself in our passion? Losing myself. Losing myself. “That’s it!”

“What?”

“It’s so obvious, I should have thought of it sooner.” I stepped back and began slowly drawing Oathbreaker.

“Um, Mira?” 

Then I turned it around and held the grip up to Finnick. “I want you to use this on me.”

“WHAT!?”

“Don’t you see? I can’t silence the raging voices in my head, but this can. You can tell me to calm down, to stop wallowing, to focus on finding a way to defeat Amara.”

His eyes darted from the blade to me. “It can do all that?”

“In truth, I’m not sure, but it could only help.”

“But I could make you do anything.”

“I trust you.”

“You shouldn’t, Mira. I told you, I’m no good. I’m a liar and a thief. I’ve failed everyone I ever cared about.” Still, his fingers slowly curled around the grip. 

“As have I.” Perhaps I should have been scared, but I truly did trust Finnick. I had no choice. I had no one else. 

He held the blade aloft, studying it in the torchlight. “The enchantment on this is worth a fortune. I could take it and run, live out the rest of my days in comfort.” 

“But you won’t.”

“How can you sound so sure?”

“I just know. I don’t know how I know it, but I do. You’ll help me. Help me, Finnick.”

His arm snapped, dragging the blade quickly across my chest. I never felt a thing. Then we were staring at each other, both at a loss for how to proceed. 

“Do you feel, um, different?” he stammered.

I looked down at my armor, not finding any trace of a blow. “I feel the same. Try giving me a command.”

“Snap to attention.”

My body moved as if possessed, my spine straightening, chest sticking forward, feet snapping together. “Yes, Sir,” my voice answered, flat and even. I hardly sounded like myself. 

“Oh, I could get used to that. Keep calling me that.”

“Yes, Sir.” The words formed on their own, followed quickly by a flush of embarrassment, and then a flush of a very different kind. Then the image of Liana splayed out on the cave floor returned to me again. Perhaps I’d finally found my own way to experience that bliss. Who knew what depths of pleasure Oathbreaker could summon, what we could do together. No, I had to focus. “Finnick, Sir, we have to stay focused. They could come to collect me any moment. Give me the commands.”

“Mira, stop beating yourself up,” Finnick answered immediately. “It doesn’t matter what you did in the past, or who you hurt. Focus on what you can do right now. Be the powerful, confident woman, I know you are.” 

The suggestion hit me like a great wave, capsizing my balance completely. The world blurred out of focus as my eyes rolled back and my mouth fell open. The cacophony in my mind dissolved into whirring static. I felt myself faint, but could scarcely process even that. When I came to, Finnick was holding me, kneeling on the ground beside me. 

“Mira, are you ok?”

“Yes, Sir.” Then I seized the back of his hair and dragged him down into another deep kiss. 

“What are you doing?”

“Being powerful and confident.” I clambered up to sitting and kissed him again. 

“So you’re not dwelling on your guilt?”

I paused, blinking slowly and scanning through my thoughts. I felt . . . strangely free. I knew I had let my sisters down. I knew I’d even betrayed the trust Errol had placed in me, yet somehow it didn’t matter. That was all in the past. “I’m only focused on what I can do right now, and right now it’s just you and me here.” 

“But . . . But . . . your duel. . .”

“Will come when it comes.” I leaned in and whispered, “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Um, of course.”

“I’ve always wanted to see what it was like on the other side.”

“Other side?”

“The one following commands, the one completely subsumed in another’s will, utterly lost in a sea of pleasure and submission. I’ve wanted to experience it ever since I saw Liana in the cave, and now I can.” 

Finnick seemed like he was the one about to fall over. “Mira, I don’t know if this is the best time.”

“It’s the only time. Who knows if I’ll survive this bout. I don’t want to die without knowing what it feels like to be dominated, owned, used. Use me, Finnick.”

“Yes, Mira.” A mischievous glint burst to life behind his eyes. “Kneel.”

“Yes, Sir.” My body moved of its own accord again, legs folding themselves submissively beneath me. I looked up at him, hungry. 

He stood, leaning over me. “Stroke my cock.”

“Yes, Sir.” I still had my gauntlets on in preparation for my showdown, but I did my best to pleasure him, rubbing the soft leather of the palms over his crotch. 

He stiffened, rising more and more with each pass of my palm. I delighted in the feeling of pleasing him, of serving him. I wanted more. 

“Take my pants off.”

“Yes, Sir.” With the same mechanical precision, I released his belt, took his waistband and yanked it down, freeing the beast within, which practically leapt out at me.

“I want you to lick it.” 

I swallowed hard. He hadn’t phrased it as a command, and so the magic had no effect. I had longed for the fantasy of submission, but now that I was staring down his manhood, it all seemed far less romantic. I was a full Knight of the Dawn Bringer now, was I really going to let myself be reduced to this? It wasn’t at all how I imagined. I opened my mouth to object, but before I could, Finnick said, “Now lick it.”

The protest died on my lips, replaced with a sharp, “Yes,Sir.” I gingerly stuck out my tongue and inched forward, making quick contact with the tip. It tasted like sweat.

“You call that a lick? Lick it like a whore.” 

“Yes, Sir.” Once more Oathbreaker’s power compelled me and I found my tongue stretching out scandalously far, tracing up and down his length as though it didn’t taste repulsive. 

“You like that?” 

I wanted to respond, but I couldn’t will my tongue back into my mouth, so the response came as a grunt. 

“I thought so. You like it.” 

And then that tingling sensation swept through my thoughts again. It was really happening, my desires were being bent to serve him. Not a moment ago, his taste had disgusted me, but now I didn’t care. Instead I focused on the way he twitched and squirmed beneath my ministrations. 

“Next, you’re going to suck it.”

I froze. Somehow that hadn’t occurred to me. I was sure Errol had made use of Lianna’s mouth in a similar fashion, but I’d done my best not to look. “I . . . I don’t know how.” 

“Well you’re going to figure it out,” he growled. “Now suck it.”

“Yes, Sir.” My fingers wrapped themselves around his shaft and held him steady as my lips fell open. 

I took his tip in my mouth, as far as I dared, which was admittedly not particularly far. But I still sealed my lips around him and began to suck. Even as the bitter, musky taste flooded my senses, the enchantment worked its magic, making me love it, crave it. 

“I thought you were being courageous. That’s as deep as you can go?”

Finnick didn’t need any magics to goad me on that time. I would not have my valor challenged. I steeled myself and sunk further down his manhood until he prodded the back of my throat. 

“That’s a start. Now up and down.”

Again my head began to bob as if pulled by an invisible string, up and down, up and down. Except before I had moved with numbnes. This time the relentless magic drove me on. Every cycle threatened to overwhelm my constitution, but I kept on choking down my sputtering protests. 

“No you’re getting it. Don’t gag.” 

And just like that, the uncomfortable wrenching in the back of my throat vanished. Freed from the discomfort, I began moving faster, taking him further into my mouth without concern. I began to fall into a rhythm. Now that I had more range of motion to work with, the task felt easier. 

“That’s it, Mira. You’re a natural at this.”

I didn’t feel like a natural. Every movement was a clumsy experiment, slurping and sucking and slobbering. In truth this was a far cry from my fantasy of completely losing myself in the will of another. It had been more of a struggle to breathe amid the labor of my lips and tongue.

At least until Finnick said, “You love sucking cock. It makes you so fucking wet.”

Love sucking cock? How could I love this? It was a sweaty, gasping labor, a far cray from my fantasy of ecstasy. This wasn’t at all what I’d intended when I told Finnick to use me, but I couldn’t speak to challenge it. Yet, I felt a pull, like a leash wrapped around my mind. I strained against it, my motions slowing. 

“Mira, don’t stop. You love sucking cock.”

The leash tightened, but still my will held fast. I grunted in protest. I was a Holy Knight, not some gutter prostitute. Finnick laced his fingers through my hair, tilting my gaze up to meet his. 

“Mira, you love sucking cock. It turns you on so much.” His eyes sparkled with determination. Midnight, It was so unyielding, so commanding, so . . . I loved sucking cock.

The tugging sensation pulled me over at last and the now familiar vertigo came over me, my eyes rolling back once more. I almost went limp and lost my grip on Finnick’s manhood, but I retained just enough awareness to hold on. I couldn’t let his cock go, after all I loved sucking it so much. As I returned to myself, I felt a surge of arousal well up from deep inside me. Everything felt totally different now. What had been a mechanical slog, was now a scandalous delight. I threw myself back to bobbing with a renewed fervor. Just knowing how much I was pleasing him was enough to stoke my own fires. I was doing it, really doing it, finally, losing myself. My mind felt quiet, at peace, serene even. 

There was nothing besides me and Finnick and the taste of him on my tongue. Why had that flavor bothered me so? Sure, it was sweaty and musky, but that wasn’t bad per se, just bitter. Perhaps it was simply an acquired taste, one that I was rapidly developing. 

My pained grunts melted into mewls of pleasure as I took him even deeper. Just as I’d gotten used to his aroma, it began to shift. A salty aftertaste crept across my palette. That only spurred me further on and I picked up speed, up and down, up and down. 

The rhythm became effortless, automatic. I began to discover the art to my newfound craft, guiding my tongue across his length and my lips sealed and sucked. Finnick’s low moans of delight joined my mumbled ones in a depraved harmony. 

Then suddenly, Finnick’s fingers laced through my locks and held me fast. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum.”

Before I could adjust, the salty trickle became a flood, filling my mouth. It was already such an effort to hold his entire length. I could feel my cheeks swelling. In another instant, the tide would overflow and leave his seed spilling down my chin and dribbling all over the holy insignia on my armor. 

“Take it all. Swallow it, Mira,” Finnick commanded in a gruff, husky voice. 

My throat opened on its own, gulping down the oncoming waves. I couldn’t believe I was about to sully my armor. I would not be bested by simple semen. Without the hindrance of my gag reflex, the rising current was no match. A second ago, swallowing all this had seemed impossible and now it felt elementary, second-nature even. 

It dawned on me that perhaps my battle against Amara could be the same. That hill also seemed insurmountable, but maybe a simple change could turn everything around. 

Then Finnick was pulling himself out of my mouth, both of us gasping for breath. “I can’t believe I just did that. I don’t know what came over me. Are you alright?”

“More than alright.” I pawed hungrily at his leg, still dizzy from arousal and lack of air. “I don’t want to stop.”

“Mira, I might need a minute,” he said sheepishly.

“Don’t you want to please me?” I purred as my fingers walked their way back towards his sex. Already it began to twitch. “Come on, Finnick. Get hard for me.”

“How do you do that to me?” he groaned. As if by magic, his member began to stretch out before my eyes. My grip curled around it on instinct. 

“I guess I’m just magic.” As my one hand teased him, my other reached down and began fumbling with the straps on my cuisses. I couldn’t wait anymore. I needed him inside me. I hadn’t even realized how wet I’d grown until I lost the distraction of my pacifier. 

KNOCK, KNOCK

“Mira, it’s time,” Janelle’s voice called from across the door. Then the wooden panel began to swing. 

Meanwhile, Finnick’s wood vanished from my grip as he sucked in a breath and disappeared. 

Janelle entered my room, heavy bags under her round eyes, and dirt smudging her white robes. She looked quizzically down at me, crouched on the floor with one hand still raised and wrapped around an invisible cock. “Mira, what are you doing down there?”

“Um, I was, um, just . . .” sucking cock, which I of course, couldn’t say. “Praying. I was praying.” That was true in a manner of speaking. I had certainly been giving some kind of offering. 

“Excellent idea. I’ll join you.”

“Oh, that’s really not necessary.”

“Nonsense. I’m not going to leave my closest friend alone in her hour of need.” With that, Janelle crossed the room and knelt beside me. Finnick withdrew just in time for Janelle to clasp my hand in her own grip. “Mira, your gauntlets are sweaty, and your breath smells dreadful.”

“Yes, I’m afraid I’ve been up all night and terribly nervous,” I said, not technically a lie. 

“I don’t blame you,” she said with a sage nod. “It’s just terrible, those ridiculous rumors they’re all spreading about you. I know you had nothing to do with the dark mage escaping.” 

“I can honestly say I did not, but we needn’t dwell on that. We should be going.” Before Finnick’s breath runs out. The small dormitory left too little room for him to sneak past us quietly, so he was effectively trapped.

“Not before I offer a blessing.”

“You really don’t have to do that.” 

“I want to. It’s the least I can do.”

I realized denying her was only dragging things out. “Okay, just not too long.”

“Of course. You know I can’t believe them,” she said, maddeningly not starting the prayer yet. “They’ve always looked down on you and me, just because we’re not from noble families like the rest of them. I studied harder than anyone to earn my place as a cleric, and no one worked harder than you. I used to watch you practice with the sword late into the night. You gave me so much hope.”

“That’s very kind of you to say,” I mumbled, though in truth I was only half listening. I was mostly counting the seconds and wondering how many more before Finnick reappeared. It occurred to me that I hadn’t heard him pull up his pants, which likely meant Finnick’s phantom phallus was hovering somewhere near our faces at this very moment. 

“But you never gave up, and look at you now, a Knight of the second rank. You proved them all wrong, and I know you will again. I can’t wait to see you wipe that smug smirk off Amara’s face.”

“You really think I can beat her?” Janelle’s sincerity had managed to pull my thoughts away from the urgency of the situation. 

Her smile practically lit up the room, bright teeth striking against her full, dark lips. “I know you can.” 

“Janelle, thank you.” Then an invisible nudge came at my shoulder. “Right, but we should get going. Let’s both close our eyes and pray to the Goddess.” I held up our joined hands and made a show of closing my eyes.”

“Please Solaris, it’s me, Janelle. Please let your light protect and guide Mira.”

I cracked one eye open and sure enough Janelle had closed hers. A second later Finnick burst back into existence, still naked from the waist down, still tantalizingly erect. He gasped in a huge breath and then vanished again. 

“Mira, was that you?”

“Yes, apologies,” I answered quickly. “I just felt the Goddess's grace come over me,” I lied. 

“Good. I knew she would smile upon you this day. Please, Solaris, let Mira show my sisters the error of their ways. Let her lead them to the path of truth and compassion.”

A soft warmth began to radiate from Janelle’s hands, as golden light filled the room. Pangs of jealousy shot through me. Solaris would answer her prayers. Why not mine? Perhaps if she had, I never would have found myself in this shadowing situation in the first place. 

“Bring your righteous vengeance down on those who would speak falsely of your blessed daughter. Lend her your strength, your grace, and your mercy. In The Dawn Bringer’s name, we pray.” Janelle opened her eyes, still wearing that glorious smile. 

“That was beautiful, Janelle.”

“I’m glad you liked it.” She looked away and then back again. “Actually there was something else I was hoping we could talk about.”

Another nudge came at my shoulder, not that I needed it. “Janelle, I would love to hear it, but we must be going.” I stood up, practically yanking her along with me. I scooped up Oathbreaker from the floor, and led Janelle out of the room. “Can we talk about it after the duel?” 

“Um, yeah, I guess that would be ok,” she said, smile faltering. 

I felt pained to disappoint her, but I had to get us out of there. I gave her hand a squeeze. “It’ll give me something to look forward to.”

That seemed to lift her spirits. “I’d like that.”

She laced her fingers through mine as we left. I heard the rustle of Finnick pulling his pants up, and I couldn’t help but grin myself. A voice whisper on the wind. “Mira, defeat her.”

“Yes, sir,” I whispered back. 

“What was that?” Janelle asked.

“I said you’re a treasure.” That seemed to restore her grin to its full luster, and it was the truth. I felt so lucky to have Janelle and Finnick too for that matter. I marveled at my own cool confidence. Moments ago, I’d been on the brink of despair, but now I felt perfectly centered, unburdened by my past mistakes. None of that mattered. I only had to do one thing, defeat Amara.