I woke up to see Valentine curled up next to me, stroking her own head with her hands and massaging her ears. I sat up, wincing a little as my muscles complained-- apparently Valentine's determined attempts to make me cum were a little too much for my body. Her shoulders heaved a little as she sniffled, trying to cry as silently as possible and not quite succeeding.

I patted her shoulder. "Hey, you okay there? ...what're you doing?"

Valentine stopped petting her own head and sat up, looking over to me with reddened eyes, and grinned. "Oh, um... used to comfort myself this way back in my Arena days. Fantasize about being owned by some noble who had whisked me off to be their personal slave, y'know?"

Maybe that wasn't the right question. "...okay, um... why are you doing, then?"

Valentine blinked, and leaned in a bit closer. "Cause I let this entire situation crumble to ashes? I didn't rein in Princess Asperia, I didn't stop Mistress Eve, and now if Lady Wren ever finds out what I did with you, she's going to hate me."

I blinked, than shrugged. "More of a 'to you' than 'with you' sorta thing, but sure."

"...is that not what you wanted?" Valentine searched my eyes for a moment, then laughed. "No, no, of course it wasn't. Sorry, I... lemme know if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, I guess." There wasn't much confidence in her voice.

I slid closer to her and rubbed my cheek against her arm. "Look, we're slaves. You're very good at physical combat and charismatic, and I know a little magic and am okay at talking to people sometimes... but our strongest powers are getting people to care about us and alter their behaviour, and that's never going to be some kinda perfect mind control." I laughed a little. "Fuck, even Mistress Eve's mind control isn't perfect, clearly."

Valentine wrapped her arm around me and drew me a bit closer. "You're pretty smart, too, don't undersell yourself."

"Mostly I'm able to think differently because I'm from somewhere else, for good and ill." I shrugged. "But I guess I shouldn't talk down about myself when I'm trying not to get you to."

"Yeah..." Valentine sighed, and held me for a little while as I stared off into space, and I tried to space out. Obsessing over the situation wouldn't help, since I had decided to be passive.

Finally, she spoke up again. "Do you think Mistress Eve is going to be able to do it?"

"I don't know. I'm more worried if she'll believe that she truly succeeded if she does."

"...Oh. Fuck." Valentine moved her free arm up to pet her own head again.

I slid up onto her thigh and reached up to pet her head for her, and she let out a soft sigh.

Valentine let her hand drop down onto my shoulder, starting to purr. "I'm sorry... I should be the strong one in situations like this."

"I mean... I'm more used to dealing with Mistress Eve's bullshit than you, to be fair."

"Yeah, if she could just be reasonable...." Valentine shook her head.

I took the tips of her ears between my fingertips and rubbed them softly. "That's not exactly fair, is it?"

"...no... sorry...." Valentine was somehow both purring and crying now. I didn't know she could do them at the same time.

Soon we were cuddled up with her head resting in my lap and her arms around me as I stroked and petted her head. She was a little heavy, but it was so nice to make her feel a little better.

It made me feel like I had just the tiniest bit of control over the situation, even though I knew I didn't.

There was a loud thump, and I blinked, looking over to the door just in time to see it splinter to pieces. Princess Asperia strode in, wearing a fur cape with a high collar. She looked over to us, and pointed to the ground.

In an instant, Valentine had swept my legs underneath me and set me down on the floor in a kneeling position, and followed suit at my side.

Princess Asperia smiled, and walked closer, petting our heads a bit distractedly, and I could smell rose and sweetness and something bitter on her, maybe tea, rather than her usual almost-musky smell.

She scratched under my chin and I looked up at her with a mixture of adoration and nervousness... what exactly was going on? "Valentine... Sasha... I am glad to see the two of you are still okay. I suppose that my fiancee ran off with my adorable little body double and Zince, is that right?"

I had no idea of how to respond to that, and judging from Valentine's silence, she didn't either.

After a moment, I nodded. "I... didn't know you had a body double, my Princess."

"Of course. What sort of fool does not have a body double in this day and age? If the snake dies when her head is cut off, it would be foolish to rely on a single head, don't you think? Of course, I never thought that Eve would go that far... a shame, really. I liked her."

I tensed. "Mistress... I mean, Eve is dead?"

"Perhaps not yet." Asperia's voice lowered a little. "Where do your loyalties lie, Sasha?"

I swallowed. "I... I just want the two of you to be alive and happy."

Princess Asperia sighed, and leaned in to kiss my brow gently. "You are far too softhearted, Sasha."

"And you are far too naive." Mistress Eve's voice, and there she was, she already had a sword swinging down to point at-- where was Princess Asperia?

Princess Asperia was somehow back by the shattered door. "Well, you left me such nice bait for the trap-- you're surrounded."

Mistress Eve stared at her for a long moment. "You're not Princess Asperia. Your mental defenses are all different."

Princess Asperia sketched a bow. "Perhaps, or perhaps I never met you in person before now. But either way... is it truly relevant? As long as a head survives. It doesn't have to be my body double, doesn't even have to be me."

Mistress Eve stared. "You're either stalling for time, or you don't want to fight."

The woman formerly known as Princess Asperia shrugged. "I absolutely want my cute little body double and elegant little snake back. I want my cute little puppy back. I even want you back under my foot, my beloved little fiancee... if you are willing."

"...really? So it doesn't have to end in violence?" My voice was desperate with hope.

Mistress Eve stared at the woman for a long moment, and shook her head. "You don't trust me and Sasha enough to let us live, clearly."

The woman smiled regally. "Oh, I'll absolutely let you live in some form, if it is at all possible. You are both my precious treasures, after all. And Sasha, unlike you, is a very good girl."

Mistress Eve took my hand, and walked forwards, and I trailed along helplessly as Princess Asperia slowly walked back, unwilling to get too close.

Mistress Eve's smile widened slightly as she saw Princess Asperia give way. "I don't think either of us want a confrontation right now. Sasha could get hurt, and that Sasha is vulnerable here and would prefer I not kill you all are the only reasons you're still alive."

She knew different form of mental defenses, so probably a noble, high cape, probably to hide a collar that was blocking her magic... Wren?

I cleared my throat. "Would you cry if I died?"

The woman stared at me blankly for a moment, then smiled. "Of course I would, my sweet pup. Talk some sense into your Mistress, would you?"

...no, she knew the Shadow Arts, and Wren didn't, as far as I knew. Also Wren would absolutely want to kill Mistress Eve if she had turned on Princess Asperia, not avoid it.

...Ava?

"Princess Asp..." I let it hang in the air a moment, and saw her eyes narrow, before finishing with "...eria." Almost certainly Ava.

Of course, now I needed to convince her not to spring her trap.