WARNING: SMUT. Also, note that the main character is an OC. This is NOT Jade's story.

Story inspired by Season 1 of AMC's "Into the Badlands"

THE RED BARON: CHAPTER 2

"There's a clean dress and underthings on the chair in the corner. If you need anything else, I'll be right outside Miss."

"Miss." That's the first time I'd ever been called that. The room was cool and dark, with only sunlight filtering in from the hurricane shutters between the heavy embroidered curtains. In the center under an unused chandelier was a large, brass bathtub, steaming with the scent of confederate jasmine. In the corner was a plush, velvet upholstered throne of a chair that had been delicately draped with a fresh, brand new dress and stark white underwear.

Something was wrong.

The Baron's Cogs, despite the red banners that loomed over us, wore dusty blue. From head to toe, everything that was visible was always that ever fading color that blended into the hot Louisiana sky. The dress that graced this chair, though, was a rich plum. There must have been a mistake. Maybe the house Cog thought that the bath she was drawing was for the Baroness?

Regardless, the bath was going to get cold if I had continued to stand around pondering, so I stripped down to my dingy bra and knickers and took pause. I had never had a proper bath before. I'd heard stories of the members of the household bathing completely nude, and while that sounded terrifying, was the most exhilarating idea I had ever heard. After gently folding my things over the stool next to the tub, I swung my leg over the edge and stepped in.

"Agh!" I squeaked and drew back. It was hot! I tried again, but this time slowly dipped my feet into the large basin one at a time. I sank into the piping water all the way up to my neck, being careful to keep my cut hand and bandage out of the water. I didn't want to tarnish this with the blood still oozing from my hand. I cautiously closed my eyes and cherished the moment as if it were my last.

A gentle knock at the door startled me out of my stupor and I watched as the door slowly peaked open and a younger woman slipped through with a large leather bag.

"Hello." She padded over to the opposite side of the room and picked up a small wooden chair from the vanity under one of the huge windows. Gingerly placing it next to the side of the tub, she sat down and reached for the small cloth that rested on the rim. "I was told you had a cut that needed tending?"

I glanced at my hand.

"Here. Let me take a look."

I tried to hide my fear as I sat up and stretched out my wrapped hand towards her. She carefully unwrapped the blood soaked rag and let it drop to the floor, inspecting the wound as well as she could in the low light.

"That's quite a cut. I'm going to have to stitch it closed, but first we'll need to clean out the dirt to prevent infection."

She dipped the clean cloth in the still steaming bath water and paused, looking at my face that could no longer hide the unease underneath.

"My name is Veil. What's yours?"

I didn't respond, my voice not wanting to break through the tight seal I had on my emotions.

"It's alright. I'm here to help. This is going to hurt, but I'll try to make it as quick and painless as possible, ok? Here..." she trailed off as she rummaged through her bag and produced a small bottle. She scanned the room and stood to fetch an empty glass from the vanity, pouring a small sip of the amber liquid from the bottle.

"Drink this and we'll wait a bit for it to settle in." She handed me the glass and started to tie her long, curly, black hair behind her. I stared into the cup, trying to decide if it would benefit her at all to poison me. "Come on. The sooner you drink it, the sooner you'll feel better. Between you and me," she whispered, her brown eyes sparkling with a smile, "I have to give this to the Baron before he'll so much as let me look at a wound, so I know it works."

I smiled a little and shot down the bitter liquid, gagging as it passed my throat.

"Yeah, he does that too."

She chuckled and started to scrub away the grime around the wound as tenderly as she could. The muscles in my palm were still tender, but by the time she started to clean inside the wound, I could hardly feel a thing.

"I take that it finally kicked in?"

I nodded lazily, watching as she continued to pick out dirt and poppy seeds.

"You know you helped to make that? The opium in that tincture came from the first harvest of the year. I don't like using it, but in small doses, it helps with minor surgeries like these."

I knew that opium was the end product of the harvest, but Cogs had no way of affording a taste of the fruits of our labor. We never got a salary. Only food enough to get by, a shelter to live in, and our blue uniforms. I had never felt a euphoria like this. It was as if everything had melted away. I was no longer in the tub, or in the Baron's huge house, or even in the Badlands. I felt a freedom like I never had before. I wasn't a Cog anymore. I wasn't even human. I just existed as a being in the universe.

I was just starting to come back to the room when Veil was snipping the last stitch in my palm. "There. Now, I'm going to bandage this back up and leave you with a few clean bandages and some salve. Keep it clean, replace the bandages daily, and it should heal up in a couple of weeks. Just be gentle with this hand, ok?"

I nodded that I understood.

"I can't leave you like this. I don't want you drowning on my watch. Here's something to help you come back to the land of the living." She handed me the glass again, but this time, the liquid was sweet and the color of mashed raspberries. By the time she had packed up, put her shawl on, and stood, I was wide awake and wondering where I was supposed to go next.

Veil was about to turn the door when she paused and turned to look at me. On her face was an expression of concern as she seemed to be trying to decide what to say.

"I suggest that you wash and dress as quickly as you can, get out of this house, and return to your family." Her tone was hushed and troubled. "I don't know why the Baron seems to have taken to you, but it would be in your best interest to stay as far away from him as you can."

Before I could ask questions, she was already out the door.

Unsure of what she meant, but spooked nonetheless, I hurriedly finished up in the last of the warm water, climbed out of the oversized tub, dried off with the large clean cloth draped over the brass rack next to the tub, and surveyed the fresh clothing on the velvet chair. Before I could decide what to do with it, two house Cogs came scampering in to the room. While one started to empty the tub, the other came to address me.

"Miss, the Baron has asked that you join him for dinner in the main dining hall. May we assist you in dressing?"

Confused and still reeling from Veil's warning, I nodded half heartedly and the Cogs bustled to their respective duties. One helped me into the bra, knickers, and corset provided, while the other shook out the dress and hung it from a hook on the wall. A third Cog came rushing in and prepared the vanity table with an ornate silver brush and several silver and porcelain pots and bowls filled with various cosmetics and perfumes. Within minutes, I was dressed, my hair was combed and pinned, my lips, cheeks, and nails were painted, and I was slipping my feet into the most lovely shoes I had ever seen. The first Cog led me to a massive mirror in the corner and I gasped aloud at the reflection.

The woman I saw in the mirror wasn't someone I recognized at all. The floor length wine colored gown I wore fit perfectly. From the hem gracefully brushing the wood floors to the gold clasp reaching across my collar bones, the dress looked as though it was sewn just for me. The slit up to my thigh revealed the high heeled shoes, with a chain stretching over my toes and my ankles. My lips were plump, the color of the poppies I had spent my whole life caring for, and my lashes were heavy with kohl. My hair, which had been brushed and curled with a hot iron, tumbled effortlessly over my shoulders and down my bare back. I had never dreamed that looking like this was possible, much less that I'd be staring at my own reflection in the Baron's house. Not even my mother, in all her glamour, had ever come close to the reflection staring back at me.

"Are you ready, Miss? Dinner is about to be served. The Baron is waiting."

I snapped back to reality. The Baron! I had almost forgotten what I was about to do. But no time for that. The house Cogs ushered me out the doors, down the hall past the most gorgeous paintings of lush, green landscapes and immaculately dressed men and women, and down the stairs toward the dining hall where the man who owned my entire life was waiting to sit down to dinner with me.