After a little time had passed, my tears stopped, and my breathing became more steady. I looked into Princess's eyes for a long moment, and she looked surprisingly gentle. It occured to me that she was an extremely busy woman, despite her claimed ability to avoid sleep, and here she was, spending time comforting me. I couldn't tell where the division on that was between her being sort of nice in her own way, as her numerous loyal followers seemed to show, or that Mind Magic was just that important to her.

 

"You feeling a bit better now, puppy?" A bit condescending, but still affectionate as she petted my brow and stroked my ears. I nodded.

 

"You're my loyal little bitch, and you're such a sweet girl... I'll take care of you even if your Mistress dies or throws you away, okay?" I nodded again, sniffling a little.

 

"I didn't expect I'd have to recollar you so soon, so it will take a couple of days to set up. If you promise to be good, you can hang out with the other girls-- I heard you're getting along well with Velt and Ava." There was amusement but also pleasure in her voice there... she enjoyed when her slaves got along, and, well, played together, I guess. That explained a lot, actually. "But if you feel you can't be good right now, I'll put you in a comfortable prison until then." I hesitated for a long moment, and then nodded.

 

"I promise I'll be good, Princess." She scritched her fingers around my collar, drawing a soft moan from me.

 

"That's my good girl." She kissed me softly on my lips, and stared down into my eyes like I was a treasured possession. "Don't disappoint me, okay?"

 

"Yes, Princess...." I sat up on the edge of her opulent purple bed, and started putting my clothes back on-- well, my skirt, at least. She snuggled up behind me, breasts pressing against me, and suckled on the side of my neck, drawing a soft moan.

 

"...I'm... I'm confused, Princess... I kind of got the impression that I was supposed to be leaving, but now it seems like...?" She sighed softly.

 

"Mmm, no, you were right... I have other tasks to get to, especially if we're going to get that cute neck of yours fitted into a new collar soon. I just wanted to leave a little mark on you for now... maybe I should just imprison you in the meantime... you wouldn't mind that, would you, puppy?"

 

"You're really into ownership, huh..." I hesitated. "It's fine if you want to imprison me, I'm here to make Princess happy, after all." She rubbed my belly with both her hands and kissed the back of my neck, making me squeak and squirm.

 

"Ooh that's such a good girl, such a good pleasure slave... no, no, run along and have fun, now." She released me and pushed me gently to my feet giving me a little smack on my ass as I started walking away, which made me tense and yelp.

 

"Sorry darling, your butt just looked fun to smack~" I shrugged a little.

 

"...well, you own it, so...." She giggled. I was getting wet as I walked towards the door, although luckily the skirt hid it now. Was admitting I was basically owned by her arousing? How submissive was I, really? Was it a natural state of mine in itself, or just that my brain defaulted to fawning when I couldn't reasonably fight or flee or freeze?

 

I left, and the lamia outside the door gave a whistle as she saw the mark on my neck. I rolled my eyes and kept going... yes, yes, it had gotten lewd. It wasn't really my fault it had, but sure, whatever.

 

Unsure where else to go, I started to head back to my room, only to feel a large hand on my shoulder, at which I reflexively spun around, aiming a punch at my assailant's arm to disable it without killing them hopefully.

 

Valentine blinked as my fist bounced off her arm, and then smiled and let go of my shoulder. "Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you like that. Was just worried." She looked vaguely guilty. I glared up at her.

 

"If you're really worried about me, come with me, I need to talk to someone." I took her by the hand and lead her to my room, drawing some looks and smiles from other girls we passed, the massive tiger lady looking surprisingly bashful... I guess everyone still saw her as the undefeatable champion of the arena. Once in the room, I closed the door behind us, and looked up at her, then shook my head in disgust.

 

"I can't believe you sold me out!" She raised her hand a little, then lowered it, and finally sat down against the wall, making us a little more even in height... well I was taller than her, now.

 

"Look... I don't know what else you expected me to do, really. Princess Asperia is my owner and also a good person and also the Crown Princess." She smiled up at me. "I did talk you up the best I could to her." I sighed.

 

"Yes, yes, I know...."

 

I turned around and sat down in her lap. This woman who betrayed me still might be the closest thing I had to a real ally here.

 

"...why does everyone betray me?" Valentine petted my head gently.

 

"Nah, everyone doesn't betray you. You just remember the ones that do. But why so often? Because you're in a position of power."

 

"Power, sure, right. And not betrayed by everyone, sure... just everyone I get close to."

 

"I heard you got close to Ava the other night."

 

"Oh my god, is there nothing but gossip here?" She played with my hair idly.

 

"Mmm... well, there's a lot of gossip, but new girls are a hot topic." She laughed. "I'm guessing everyone will be talking about us going into a room together with you with a hickey already on your neck after exiting Princess Asperia's room."

 

"...That's not exactly making me feel better."

 

"...sorry."

 

"She's going to recollar me. I'm some sort of chain to wield against... Mistress."

 

"Recollaring isn't so bad, Zince puts you out for it. And I thought you were mad at her anyway? What better way to show your anger?"

 

"I'm still going to be partially owned by Mistress, or something. Timeshare sort of situation I guess. And how can I go back to Ava now when Princess expects me to train as a slave, and it used to be like, a consensual thing of choice between us? I hate her, too. Princess Asperia, I mean." She scritched under my chin.

 

"That's a lot of anger."

 

"Do you think it's unjustified?"

 

"Mmm? Mostly I just think it's unproductive. You need to have working relationships with your Mistress and Princess Asperia... honestly, relationship building is even more important than sexual skills for a pleasure slave, especially in a longterm situation like this. And if you aren't comfortable with your relationship with Ava, I could train you." I headbutted the back of my head softly against her breast, causing her breathing pattern to quicken for a moment before it went slow and steady again.

 

"Not exactly comfortable with my relationship with you, either, Valentine."

 

"I can find someone else, if you want? Lots of girls have recieved the training, and lots of girls are interested in you, too." I sighed, and relaxed back against her.

 

"I don't know. It just feels really unfair."

 

"...yeah." She stroked my arm softly.

 

"And I don't know who else to turn to, and only three people... well, two people here right now, know who I actually am."

 

"You're lonely and feel like you're without allies."

 

"...yeah."

 

"We're slaves with limited power, we may need to betray each other to survive... but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, you know? I've had friends that had to kill each other, or who I crippled, and... the survivors are still nice to each other. This world is cruel, but we don't have to be crueller than we need to be, I think."

 

"I kinda get that. Will you let me top you and be mean to you?"

 

"...top? ...and how would you even be mean?" Ah, right. Terminology.

 

"You know, like... slave training sort of stuff. Play at being your Mistress? Like, um, like I did with Ava, but you being my slave."

 

"...sure? Any time?" Valentine's voice had raised in pitch almost an octave, and I tilted my head to one side and back to see she was actually blushing.

 

"...wait, Valentine, do you like being pushed around?"

 

"Um, yeah? I don't really hide it, but like... everyone just assumes rawr big tough woman, so, you know." She smiled shyly and looked down at me, licking her lips. "Well, I like making girls happy, so I don't mind playing that role, either...." I turned around in her lap and reached up under her tunic to grope her breast gently, and then pinched her nipple between my fingers, starting softly and slowly squeezing harder and harder until she finally tensed and bit her lip, letting out a breathy sort of whine. I let go, and she smiled down at me a little, her tail curling around my waist.

 

"...didn't say you had to stop...."

 

"...did you get off on the arena when people were trying to kill you? Or when that jerk was basically beating you to death?" I moved up a little and softly bit into her shoulder, biting harder as I squeezed both of her nipples in my fingers. I don't know that I was getting off on it, exactly, but like, it was nice to have power, even if it was illusory, and it was nice to make Valentine feel good. A low rumbling sound came from her chest.... fuck, she was purring now as I was tormenting her. I didn't even know she could purr.

 

"Not usually, no... maybe for cute girls... not into guys so much... well, like, usually? I know your gender situation is complicated, but like, it's not like you're the only guy I've been interested in... if you're a guy...? Y'know, slept with a lot of guys when I was a mercenary...." Her voice was pained, but she was doing her best to endure it. I let go of her nipples and reached down into her pants to rub her pussy, very gently rubbing and teasing at her clitoral hood, making her large body squirm beneath mine as her clit slowly exposed itself, then very gently pinching it between two fingers and looking up at her questioningly. Her face was flushed and fearful and entirely submissive as she stared down at me, her breathing uneven now.

 

"...do whatever you want, Mistress...." I squeezed down on her clit just a little, and she screamed, body writhing beneath mine despite her attempts to stay still, hand gripping so hard at the floor that her knuckles were turning white. I felt a little bad, and let go of her clit, and started rubbing her nipples and breasts more gently as I licked where I had bitten her, than trailed kisses down her belly, eliciting moans from her mouth. I pushed at the hem of her pants, and she wiggled her hips, helping me partially remove them, then I settled between her legs and started lapping at her pussy and abused clit softly, causing her to moan louder, and soon she was screaming again as she came to my lips and tongue, but this time screams of pleasure instead of pain... licking Princess's pussy had taught me something, or maybe this body just had the muscle memory or something?

 

I kept diligently licking through her screaming, until her orgasm seemed over, and then slid back up in her lap, and she was gasping for breath, looking down at me, and I'd never seen her look so vulnerable and grateful. I leaned up to kiss her on her lips, petting her cheek, and she wrapped her larger arm around me and squeezed me against her a little.

 

"Thank you, Mistress... is there anything you want me to do for you...? or anything else you want to do to me...?" Valentine's voice was breathy and more affectionate towards me than I'd ever heard... I guess she didn't get topped much, or maybe it was the way to her heart... although she had seemed affectionate towards Miravel, too... maybe she was just a bit like Princess Asperia, forming bonds through sex? Fighting too, judging from how she had interacted with Mistress before...

 

But, I can't say I wasn't feeling a little more affectionate towards her after seeing this cute side of her. Turns out there's a sense of joy in knowing you can make a tiger purr.