A few days later, the wizard hosted another banquet. Langwidere insisted that West take the chair beside her instead of beside Glinda.
That was the first thing Glinda noticed. The second thing she noticed was the near-constant smile on her sister's face. The third thing she noticed was the absence of poppy resin on her sister's hands. She had to admit, she was afraid she'd been wrong to try to intervene in whatever they had going with one another. The Queen of Ev obviously had a positive influence on her wayward sister.
The queen, the witches and the wizard, along with everyone else at their end of the table, talked, drank and laughed as if they were all good friends. Well, everyone except Glinda. Glinda talked, but she did not drink or laugh.
When one of the men made a crass comment to West that she would normally have entertained, she purred, leaning closer to Langwidere. "Lady Ev would not approve of my engagement in such topics," she said.
"What should that matter to you?" the man asked, a little drunk and too unobservant to notice the women's posture.
West looked at Langwidere sideways, and the queen laughed softly. "By all means, reveal whatever you like. I find no shame in it."
"Because battling vulgar wits with you, my good man, is not worth upsetting my lover."
The wizard choked on his wine. One of his High Council had to come rushing over with a cloth to get the burgundy liquid out of his beard. He pounded his chest and coughed until his breathing returned to normal, and then looked over at the women. "Well... unconventional as it may be, it seems congratulations are in order. When is the wedding?"
Langwidere choked on her wine. West, fortunately, had just swallowed a mouthful.
She kissed the dripping drink away from the queen's chin before it could splash onto her dress, and smirked. When her queen was settled, she regarded the wizard. "I said lover, not betrothed."
"But surely if you're going to engage in such deviant behavior you should at least be married. Two women, and out of wedlock?" He shook his head as if the point he didn't make should be self-evident.
To everyone's complete and utter shock, it was Glinda who responded, pushing back her chair and standing, cold eyes boring into the wizard's skull. "I will not have you trying to remove the smile from my sister's face when it has only just begun to simmer. Hold your tongue on the matter, or we will have a problem." Her voice was so steely quiet that no one dared make a sound for fear of missing what she said.
West had to prevent herself from jumping across the table and hugging her sister. It was the single nicest thing she had ever said or done in their entire lives. "Thank you, Sister," she said breathlessly.
Glinda gave a barely perceptible nod and pulled her chair back in, re-taking her seat.
"So... does this mean you're no longer a whore?" the first man asked casually.
"She was never a whore!" Langwidere shouted, slamming her hands on the table.
"Well, technically-" West started, but the queen's icy glare made her close her mouth.
"No?" the man continued. "You mean for us all to believe she's not bought and paid for?"
Now it was West's turn to shout. "The only reason I have not literally separated your tongue from your body is because I promised Lady Ev to behave!"
The situation was going downhill fast.
"Go ahead," Langwidere said, tossing fuel into the fire. "Remove his tongue. He obviously doesn't know how to use it properly at all."
"Unless you plan to cut it out with a knife, I would advise against it, Mistress West. There will be no magic used here tonight," the wizard spoke up with a smirk that tried to disguise itself as a benevolent smile.
"Must you ruin everything!" West snarled at him, furious.
"Me?" the wizard asked, a hand to his chest innocently. "I am merely upholding the law."
"Yes, your law! That you decreed! Because you are a-"
"That's enough," Langwidere said, not wanting the witch to go too far in insulting the wizard when he did still hold a significant amount of power in Oz.
The only thing that kept her from continuing her tirade was the gentle hand on her lower back, and she deflated, practically pouting at her plate, as if the potatoes were the cause of all her troubles. "I hate you," she whispered to the offending meal.
Langwidere forcefully smothered a grin and turned to her own plate, picking up her fork and knife to cut her meat.
After the banquet wound down, Langwidere was headed home to attend to some matters of State and West needed to return to the brothel to make sure Tip was handling everything all right. They kissed goodbye at the gates and West watched until Langwidere was safely in her carriage and on her way home before she headed back into the city.
She encountered Glinda, who was presumably on her way back to her incredibly boring fortress in the north. "What was that at dinner, Sister?" she asked, unable to contain her grin.
"Your... lover..." It was hard for her to say but she managed it. "... told me that if I were truly a good witch I would not care about perceived embarrassment to the family, but only about your happiness. I brushed it off, of course, but now that I see your happiness, I can't help but think she was right." She waited a beat, then continued, forcing the words out past the barrier of her pride. "I was wrong. You have my apologies for my rash judgment and the actions I took, and, Sister, you have my support."
West's eyes filled with tears. "I don't think there is anything I have waited longer to hear. Thank you, Glinda."
Glinda gently slid her palm beneath one of West's hands and lifted it to eye level. "This, my dear sister, is something to be marveled at."
"Don't give me too much credit," West said, her face falling. "I haven't been home in days."
Glinda wanted to be angry, to say 'I should've known', but miraculously she didn't. "I have faith in you, Sister," she said instead, patting her sister's hand.
It meant the world to Mistress West, even if she didn't know whether the faith was justified. "Thank you, Sister," she said, taking a deep breath. "Well, I must be off."
"Myself as well," Glinda said, kissing West's knuckles and releasing her hand. "Good night, Sister."
"Good night."
The next morning, West returned to the palace, and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a kiss at the front doors, despite the presence of Langwidere's guardsmen.
"Hello to you too, my lady," she said as she followed the queen up the stairs.
When they were in the suite, Langwidere made her customary gesture toward the washroom.
West bit her lip, a shy smile on her face. "No poppies," she said softly.
Langwidere spun around, eyes wide as she took off her mask and approached the witch. "No poppies?"
West wasn't sure what to make of the queen's expression, and stood awkwardly under the scrutiny. "Are you... happy?"
"I am quite happy, but Mistress West, I never asked you to change who you are. I simply require you to scrub the resin from your hands because my room is clean," she said with a smirk. "I have never judged you for that particular manner of escape."
West sighed with relief and came to love her more in that instant. "Thank you, but I-" She stopped to shrug and slide her arms around the queen's waist, a blush dusting her cheeks as she looked away. "I suppose it's just that after a few days of a clear head, I prefer not to cloud it, at least not when I'm with you. I know this is going to sound stupid, but being with you is enough to mask the pain of my entire life, and I feel no need to escape."
Langwidere kissed her, slow and sweet, resting their foreheads together as she answered. "Well then I, for one, am not complaining," she said simply.
"There's also something I have to tell you," West forged ahead, pulling their hips together. "It's part of the reason I wanted to stay at home last night."
"Oh?"
"My messenger returned."
"Oh."
"Three out of five are still breathing."
Langwidere gasped. Somehow she hadn't thought Mistress West would actually be able to find anything out.
Hesitating, West chewed the inside of her cheek before continuing. "Do you want to know more?"
Langwidere swallowed back her nerves and nodded.
"One is in Quadling Country running some ruby mines and two are in Evra, still gambling at the same saloon every night. They'll be dead before tomorrow, I swear to you."
Langwidere's breath caught and she leaned into West for support. "I'm coming with you," she whispered.
"Princesa, are you sure? I can handle it swiftly and efficiently and be back before you sleep tonight..."
"I don't want it handled swiftly and efficiently, I want them to suffer. I want them to see me, that I survived all this time despite them, and I want to hold your hand while we extinguish their lives together."
"Is it very wrong to be excited by the prospect?"
West could not have said anything more perfect, and Langwidere laughed, squeezing the witch's waist. "I adore you, Mistress West."
West blushed. "And I you, Lady Ev."
"Quadling Country is going to be a long journey."
"Have you forgotten that you have your very own witch to make the mundane business of travel much faster and more exciting?"
"Oh," Langwidere said thrillingly. "I must have, yes."
"Your very own powerful, cardinal witch."
"How utterly silly of me to forget."
"When would you like to leave, Lady Ev?"
"As soon as I'm properly dressed."
"Can I have a spanking before we go?"
"Oh!" Langwidere said, laughing. "I would be delighted."
West grinned, her embarrassment at asking fading with Langwidere's response.
The queen sauntered to the bed and sat on the edge of it, and West laid across her lap.
"Why do you want a spanking, if I may be so inclined to ask?"
"Well... it has been a little while, and the last one I got was not from you, and- honestly I just- fuck me. All right. The thought of flying you around the world with a stinging behind is too intoxicating to resist. I miss the feel of your hand when you spank me. I miss the sting when I'm trying to concentrate on something or sit comfortably. I miss knowing that it was you who punished me, who gave me what I so richly deserved, who turned me over her knee and disciplined me fairly but with unyielding strength. I have come to crave your correction even when I haven't misbehaved."
Langwidere found herself slightly breathless with the explanation, her cheeks glowing hot with desire. "Your words threaten to undo me completely, Mistress West. My composure is already gone. I fear what's next to go." Her hand found its way beneath the skirt of the witch's dress and she dragged her fingernails from calf to thigh, then without warning moved her panties aside and slipped two fingers into her.
West cried out in surprise, hands fisting the bedcover as she pressed her hips down into the queen's thighs, parting her legs in further invitation. She hadn't expected that. "Thank you, Lady Ev, I didn't- I wasn't trying to manipulate you into anything, I just-"
"Hush," Langwidere said fiercely. "I know you weren't. You were bleedingly honest with me and this is the result. I will spank you in a moment. I just needed to feel you around my fingers. Settle down and behave."
Groaning quietly, West tried to relax. She loved it when Langwidere spoke to her that way.
Langwidere closed her eyes and breathed deeply, reveling in the slick heat that enveloped her fingers. "You're wet."
West squeaked. "Yes, Lady Ev."
"Allow me to share a secret with you, little witch," she drawled in a positively indecent voice, leaning down to brush her lips over West's ear. "I'm dripping." And without giving the witch even a split second to react, she pulled her hand away, bunched the dark green sexy dress up around her hips, jerked her underwear down to her knees and started spanking.
"Ohmy-fuck-what-" West tried to breathe, wetter now at the queen's confession, and without warning her spanking had begun. "Oz help me," she muttered to herself with a wry grin, settling in for the ride. Apparently the queen wasn't pulling any punches, and she was quickly in tears, squirming over Langwidere's lap, her ass burning like the fires of a forge - red hot and most likely glowing.
"I don't know how long the journey is going to take," Langwidere explained between punishing slaps. "I don't want the sting to wear off before we arrive. You did say you wanted to fly me around the world with a stinging behind; yes?"
"Yes," West gasped, burying her face in the bedcover.
"Is this too much?" Langwidere asked, sensing the witch's distress.
"No," West hurried to assure her. "It hurts terribly but it's going to feel wonderful when it's done. Thank you, Lady Ev, and please don't stop."
Langwidere paused, resting her hand gently on the witch's thighs. "But you're crying."
"Yes," West admitted, swiping at a few tears. "Not in a bad way, though. Please, Lady Ev. Spank me."
Langwidere allowed a half-hearted slap to land.
"Spank me until I cry so hard the entire palace can hear me."
Langwidere's breathing picked up speed, her posture straightening. She let another slap land.
West could tell her words were starting to affect the queen. "Spank me until your bare hands leave bruises on my ass..."
Langwidere spanked her a little harder.
"Spank me until the thought of even wearing panties has me sobbing on my knees," West begged.
Now her breathing was officially labored, her thighs clenching against the unfamiliar sensation of being this affected, and she laid into the witch with loving force, intent on granting her wishes. "All right, little witch," she exhaled softly, and continued even as her hand began to ache.
Langwidere spanked her until she was indeed sobbing - loud enough for the sound to carry past the confines of the suite and be heard in the halls and neighboring rooms.
She cried, and cried, and cried, long after it was done and the queen was humming softly and rubbing her back. She didn't think she would ever want to sit down again, and the thought that Langwidere had done that for her, simply because she asked it, warmed her entire body and bathed her in a glow of almost ethereal safety that she'd never before allowed herself to feel with another person.
When she felt she could move, after her tears had finally died down to sniffles and occasional whimpers, she shifted so she could wrap her arms around Langwidere's waist, and laid her head in the queen's lap. "You truly amaze me," she whispered, her voice dry and scratchy.
"Me?" Langwidere asked, eyebrows raising. "My hand is still throbbing; I can only imagine what your behind must feel like."
"It hurts more than I would have thought possible but it makes me feel so very safe and cared for," West admitted.
"I dare say that is an astonishingly good example of irony."