"Silver? Who makes blades out of silver?" Laura asked. "No idea. Doesn't seem like it'd be a very good weapon of choice," They replied as they examined the long, blood stained blade. "Help me remove her armor." Laura nodded and began unstrapping the armor. Once they removed each piece of armor, LaFontaine cut open the linen shirt that knight was wearing. "Oh god," They gasped. Laura rushed over to the side of the table they were standing by. "What? What is it-" Laura trailed off when she saw the odd shade of blue Carmilla's side had turned. It looked like someone had burnt the edges. Some sort of black goo was seeping out of the wound which made Laura's stomach churn. "What… is that?" LaFontaine stuck a finger in it and sniffed. "Smells like blood to me."
"Why is it black?"
"Maybe she's having a reaction to the silver? Do you know if she's had any bad reactions to it before?"
"No… she never touches the stuff." LaFontaine examined her once again. Carmilla let out a groan. "Oh, she's awake."
"Laura…?" She moaned in pain. Laura took Carmilla's hand, feeling a new warmth she had never felt before. "God, she's burning up," Laura mumbled mainly to herself. "I'll get some wet rags to lower the fever. I should probably get my jar of leeches, too."
"Wait, leeches?!" Laura exclaimed. The doctor went into the back room and came back holding a glass jar filled with leeches "What are you gonna do with those?"
"Leeches can suck out any bad things that are in her body." They picked up one of the leeches by the tip of its tail and watched it wiggle between their fingers. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Laura asked as she cringed at the site of the slimy pest. "Don't worry. Doctors use them all the time." They gently placed the leech by the wound, letting it crawl on Carmilla's side. "I better go get that rag now." LaFontaine walked out of the room and returned with a wet rag. They placed it on top of Carmilla's forehead, which caused her to groan. "Carmilla?" Laura said softly. "Where am I?" Carmilla mumbled. "In the castle. You passed out, someone stabbed you. Do you remember who?" The knight reached up and held her head and slowly shook it. "I… I just remember I was walking back to the castle and… somehow, someone stuck me with a knife. I got really sick feeling, and that's all I remember." LaF was examining the leech closely and noticed it wasn't latching on to her skin. "Huh. The leech doesn't seem to be feeding."
"Do you blame it? Her blood looks disgusting."
"You put a leech on me? How ironic…" Carmilla mumbled.
Laura quickly covered the vampire's mouth and shot her a look, but it went unseen because her eyes were closed. "What does that mean, LaF?"
"Means that I guess I'll have to drain the blood out myself." LaFontaine pulled a stool over to the side of the table and squeezes the sides of the wound to squeeze out the black liquid. "Fuck, what are you doing?" Carmilla groaned as she tried to move away. "I'm draining out the blood. I'm hoping it'll help with the healing process." LaF continued to squeeze out the black gunk, but there wasn't a drop of red. "Huh . . . it looks like most of her blood is black." LaFontaine stopped squeezing out her blood and began to bandage up her side. "What does this mean?"
"I'll have to use a different method." They reached in the pocket of their long coat and pulled out a small coin purse. "How is money going to help during this situation, LaF?" Laura muttered. This doctor really is crazy, she thought. "This isn't full of money." They opened it up and pulled out a small rock. It was very smooth, shiny and a pure white. Laura then noticed that it was a symbol carved into it. "What is that?"
"A rune. I made them myself!" They said proudly as they puffed out their chest. "Wait… you can do magic?"
"Well, a fair amount for a human. They call me the Miracle Doctor for a reason, my Queen. Now, since I'm not very skilled in magic, it won't heal her immediately, but I can do enough to help get the process going." They rubbed the small stone between their hands and held it over the bandaged wound. "Laguz," LaFontaine muttered, and the stone began to emit a blue-ish white glow. Laura stared in awe as the stone glowed and small particles of light began to flutter around Carmilla's wound. After a few moments, the blue color in her skin seemed to fade. "Wow… that's impressive, LaFontaine." LaFontaine pulled the rune away, letting the glow die down, and placed it back in the coin purse. "Thanks. I taught it all to myself." Laura could tell that the doctor was very impressed with their magic abilities. Carmilla seemed to have relaxed and slowly turned her head towards Laura. "I'm sorry.." She mumbled. She reached out and grabbed Laura's hand, giving it a small squeeze.
Laura shook her head and kissed Carmilla's hand, not necessarily caring that the doctor was there to witness it. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said the things I said to you." Carmilla's eyes are foggy, Laura noted. She was trying to figure out how this could happen to Carmilla. She's a vampire, they can't die or get hurt by anything. Wait.. She thought, That's not true. As if reading her mind, Carmilla lifted a hand weakly and pointed to the discarded knife that had previously been wedged in her ribs. Laura looked up and over to the object, then finally connected the dots, "Silver?" She whispered to the knight. She nodded her head weakly. "Hurts.." She choked out.
"Maybe it would be best that we let her rest your majesty," LaFontaine said from somewhere behind Laura. She looked up to them with pleading eyes, "When will she be better?" LaF shook their head, "I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like this before. I don't know what's going to happen further down to the road or what treatments will work. It'll be best I keep her in here for observational purposes." Laura looked back down to the knight and noted the wooden table she was laying on. "Can she be moved to one of the beds?" Laura looked over to the other half of the room that had two beds, and was separated by a curtain. LaFontaine nodded. "Of course, I'll just get some men in here to move her."
"No,"Carmilla muttered weakly. "I can walk myself." Slowly she began to sit up. Laura helped her up and made sure to keep a steady hand on her back, so she wouldn't fall backwards. "Are you sure?" The Queen asked in a kind voice. Carmilla nodded, feeling some of her strength come back, very slowly but surely. She moved her legs over to the side of the wooden table then shakily stood up. She leaned on Laura for support, knowing that the Queen would have asked her to anyways.
They slowly made their way over to the beds, LaFontaine behind them, being the back spotter in case Carmilla fell. Heavily the knight fell onto the bed, and laid back. Laura helped her bring her legs up onto the bed with her. "Do you need anything?" LaFontaine asked, from the other side of the bed. Carmilla nodded, "Water, if you don't mind." LaF shook their head, "No problem." They left to go to the kitchen to get a cup of water.
"Laura.." Carmilla whispered out. Laura's head snapped to her, and her hands were on her cheeks, holding her face in an instant. "Yes?" She said looking into Carmilla's eyes. "I'm so sorry about what I said to you. I didn't mean any of it." Laura shook her head, "We both said things we didn't mean Carmilla. But.." She stopped herself and bit her lip. Carmilla brought left hand up to rest on Laura's, over her cheek. "What is it?"
"Are you really The Black Knight?" Carmilla winced beneath Laura, but nonetheless, she nodded.
Laura leaned forward and kissed her forehead, letting her lips linger there for a few extra seconds before she pulled away. She moved her hands down to rest on Carmilla's chest and was just about to say something else when LaFontaine walked back in, bringing Carmilla her water. The knight sat up a bit and greedily took it from the doctor and chugged it down rather quickly.
Once the glass was empty, Carmilla moved it away from her lips and let out an "ah" sound. "Thank you," Carmilla said before laying back down on the soft bed. "Could we have a moment, LaFontaine?" They nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind them. "I don't care if you were the Black Knight. You're… different now."
"How am I different?" Carmilla asked, her strength slowly coming back to her. "Well, when we first met you were very closed off. Now you're open with me."
"Not with everything," Carmilla retorted. "Maybe not everything, but you still are open with me. And I know you're not cruel. I saw the apologetic look you gave me when I came down into the dungeon that day. I saw it right after you had killed my father. You didn't do it out of cruelty either… you did it for me." Carmilla's mouth twitched. "That doesn't mean what I did was right. That doesn't change the things I've done-" Laura placed her hands on Carmilla's cheeks. "Carmilla… I love you." Carmilla's eyes widened. She was speechless. "Wh-what? Princess I…" She moved her eyes away from Laura's, not wanting to look in to them. She wanted to sink into the bed and disappear. "I love you, Carmilla." Laura repeated with a certain finality that had Carmilla's cheeks getting warm. Blushing? You're a vampire, murderer of hundreds, a knight… and you're getting flustered over this? She thought. She finally looked back into Laura's honey brown eyes. "I… I don't know what to say," was all Carmilla could manage to get out. Not only were her cheeks a light shade of pink, but she could feel her eyes starting to water. She began to feel a pang of guilt.
Deep down she wanted to return the words to the Queen, but she couldn't do it. "You don't have to." Laura softly kissed Carmilla's lip, and she pressed her forehead against hers. "I just wanted you to know. People change, Carmilla. You're a better person now, and that's what matters to me." Carmilla slowly closed her eyes and gave a small nod. "Now get some rest so you can get better."
Laura pulled her hands away and began to raise off the bed. Carmilla grabbed her wrist before she could. "Princess… I need to feed."
"But I thought you could go without blood for more than a day?" Laura questioned. Carmilla gave a nod and replied, "I'm weak from all the blood loss. I mean… you, of course, don't have to. I can wait-" Laura pressed a finger up against her lips. "Don't worry. I trust you." Laura scooted closer to Carmilla and brushed her hair to the side, revealing her neck. Immediately, Carmilla licked her lips. She gently pulled Laura onto her lap and pressed her lips up against the smooth skin of the Queen's neck. First, she planted a kiss over the pulsing vein and then let her fangs slide out of her gums. Slowly, she slid the needle-like canines into her neck, causing Laura to wince. The Queen had placed her hands on her knight's shoulders and was now squeezing them. Carmilla sucked at the puncture wounds she had created, taking in the sweet taste of Laura's blood. It had been a while since she had fed off of Laura, and she had forgotten about how delicious she tasted. She quickly reminded herself Laura was more than a snack though. She took a few more gulps of blood and then retracted her fangs. She slid the tip of her tongue over the bite marks to collect the small droplets of blood. The feeling of the vampire's tongue on her neck caused Laura to shudder. Carmilla pulled back and looked at Laura, whose face was a deep shade of red. The knight raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What? Why are you making that face?"
"What face?" Laura asked feigning confusion.
"That face you always make when you're embarrassed."
"I'm not embarrassed," Laura mumbled. "Your cheeks say otherwise." Carmilla quipped.
"Shut up!" Laura exclaimed, puffing out her cheeks. Carmilla laughed and placed a hand under her chin. She brought her face closer to hers, their lips just barely touching. "I think it's cute," Carmilla whispered. "I'm going to my room!" Laura rose off of her lap and left the infirmary, not missing the opportunity to turn around and stick her tongue out at the knight. Carmilla chuckled a bit before laying back down. As much as she hated to admit it… she was feeling a bit of giddiness from Laura's words earlier. Damn human, She thought as her lips curled into a small smile.
Laura laid in her bed, sleeping soundly. Her sleep was quickly interrupted though by someone yelling, "Queen Laura!" She sat up in her bed and widened her eyes. Fire was surrounding her. She let out a yell, "Carmilla? Guards! Someone help!" She was trapped within her room with no way out. Then, she noticed something in the flames. It was a small boy standing within them, staring back at her. "Wh-who are you?! You need to get out of here! It isn't safe!" That's when she took notice to his eyes, causing her to gasp. One was as black as coal and one was as bright as gold. "Wh-what are you?"
Then she woke.
Laura jolted up, panting and sweating. What a nightmare… She thought as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She stood up and moved toward her window and saw that the sun was just peaking over the horizon. She quickly set about getting herself dressed for the day, then made her way down to the infirmary. She pushed the door open with a squeak and was surprised to see Carmilla up and just strapping in the last of her armor.
Carmilla looked up and smiled at the sight of Laura. "Good morning Princess. I was just about to go upstairs and see you." Laura scrunched up her nose, a confused look gracing her face. "The sun is has barely risen. Why are you up so early? You aren't a morning person last I checked." Carmilla looked down at the ground with a smile, "Well, a very cute Princess told me that people change." Laura blushed. "It's Queen now, Carm." Carmilla shook her head and walked towards Laura, taking her into her arms and hugging her close to her armored body. "Let's go see if Perry is up making breakfast." Laura hooked her arm through Carmilla's and causally they strolled into the kitchen to see LaF and Perry quietly talking amongst themselves.
"Oh! I see you two have already met," Laura said with a smile. LaF looked over and was just as surprised as Laura was to see Carmilla up and about. "Carm-" LaF was cut off by Laura "Charles here seems to be doing much better. He is in need of breakfast though, aren't you Charles?" Laura asked, emphasising the name a second time hoping that LaF picked up on her ques. The doctor furrowed their brows but went along with it anyways.
I'll have to have a talk with them later this afternoon about Carmilla's situation, Laura thought.
Carmilla nodded absentmindedly as she picked at some dried blood that was on the side of her armor. Laura swatted her hands away and spoke to Carmilla softly, "We'll have that cleaned for you later today."
Perry smiled at them fondly, taking notice to how happy they both seemed to be. "You two look cheery. I just got a loaf of bread out of the oven. Would you like some bread and wine?" She asked. Laura nodded and moved to sit at the little table in the corner of the room. Normally the servants sat there and ate, but ever since Laura was a little girl she had sat at the same table whenever she could. Carmilla sat next to her and smiled as Perry set down two glasses of wine in front of them. Laura sipped at hers, but Carmilla found herself staring at the Queen with a light smile on her face. LaF and Perry continued their conversation as Perry placed the breadboard down in front of them. Everything seemed to be near perfect for Carmilla. She was in the company of the nicest people she had ever known, she had the roof of a castle over her head, and she had the love of a Queen.
The love of a Queen, Carmilla repeated in her head over and over. Laura's quiet confession the night before had replayed itself in the knight's head all night, even getting into her dreams. She could say without a doubt that her affection for Laura was more than any other person she had ever known. But love? Love is a word that her mother had once said to her, but the constant reminder between her legs and under her gums was proof enough that love only went so far. Or that it could be broken by a misunderstanding. And what a stupid misunderstanding it was. Carmilla had done nothing wrong yet the person that was supposed to love her most in this world had turned her back on her, for a man that wasn't even Carmilla's biological father.
She was distracted from her thoughts when Laura held out a chunk of bread and asked, "What a piece?" She nodded and took the bread, thankful to have something other than blood in her stomach. Just because she was a vampire didn't mean she liked the feeling of being empty for days on end. She let herself be engaged in conversation with the other three people in the room and found herself thinking, maybe.. this is what love feels like.
That day Laura decided that instead of doing her duties as Queen, she wanted to take a stroll through the gardens. Of course, Carmilla accompanied her. "Can I ask you something Carmilla?" Laura said when they were out of sight of the castle. Camilla, who had her hand over Laura's arm that was looped with her own, made a noise to indicate that the Queen could ask her question. "Can I see your cat?" Carmilla stopped in her tracks, and therefor Laura was stopped too. She turned to the stunned knight, not showing any signs of backing down from her request. Carmilla was alarmed to say the least. She hadn't thought that Laura would ever ask this, or ever have to see her cat-side. "Um… why do you want to see it?" Carmilla asked. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted Laura to see the animal side of her. "I'm curious! Come on, Carm. I bet it's cute." Cute's not the best word to use.. She thought. "Laura I don't think that you quite understa-" Laura cut her off, "Carmilla please?" Laura pulled out her best puppy dog eyes, and after several minutes, the knight gave in. "Fine." She scanned around them for any other people, and when she saw that it was only them she sighed and began to take her armor off. Laura squealed in delight and took a seat in the grass. Carmilla carefully laid down her armor and removed her shirt and bandages. Laura tried her best to keep her eyes on her lap but knowing Carmilla was getting naked within a few steps of her was distracting. Occasionally, her eyes fluttered up to sneak a peek at the expanse of Carmilla's tight abs.
Carmilla turned around facing her back towards Laura and pulled down her under-pants. She had taken great lengths to hide her cock from Laura's eyes. She knew Laura had seen it briefly before, but she was still was self conscious about it. She cupped her hands around it, shielding it, and then turned towards Laura in most of her naked glory. "Are you sure Princess?" She asked uncertainly. Laura gulped down the lump in her throat and nodded.
Carmilla cleared her mind of all things human and focused on her cat. Within seconds she felt the shift happening and soon she felt that her hands had been replaced with giant paws and where a tail wasn't, a tail had grew. She opened her eyes, and the world opened up around her but sitting in the middle was Laura. A very wide eyed Laura, with her jaw agape. "Carm? Is it still you in there?" She asked with a hint of alarm in her voice. Carmilla chose to get a small bit closer to the human, a step or two away from her. She sat down on her rump and looked at the human with black eyes. Laura stared at her in awe. "When you said a cat, I pictured a smaller cat, like a stray cat or something!" Carmilla huffed, a large warm puff of air hit Laura in the face. She giggled a little at that. "Aw, you're just the cutest thing." Carmilla huffed again, internally rolling her eyes. Leave it to Laura to find this menacing cat cute. The Queen reached out to touch the cat, and Carmilla was on her feet and backing up in an instant. She shook her large head side to side, hoping that Laura understood. She never let a human touch her cat, and she didn't know if she wanted even Laura to touch her. Laura furrowed her brow and sat up on her knees beckoning Carmilla towards her. Carmilla had to admit that the image of Laura asking for her to come towards her made her weak. She took a hesitant step, feeling the earth shift beneath her paws. Laura raised her hand again but this time she held it palm up, as if she wanted Carmilla to smell her hand first. Carmilla had to admit that it was a nice gesture, so she brought her nose a few inches above Laura's hand and took a deep breath in. Everything that was Laura suddenly filler her senses. She could smell the soaps that Laura used, and the distinctive smell that was just Laura. She was so lost in her thoughts about all the smells on Laura's palm that she barely registered Laura's other hand coming up and resting on her head. She didn't notice until her right hind leg came up and began to shake violently, because Laura had began to scratch her ears.
She knew Laura was touching, her but the scratches were so good that she couldn't bring herself to care. She flopped over onto her back, silently asking those wonderful fingers to scratch her large belly. Laura obliged, being mindful of the cat's male genitals. She used both hands to scratch the expanse of Carmilla's belly and couldn't help but giggle at the purring sound the cat was making. It was loud and obnoxious but adorable nonetheless.
A few hours later Carmilla woke, curled around a sleeping Laura, with the warmth of the afternoon sun beating down on them. She huffed a tiny bit, because of course she let herself be touched by the little human. Not only that but scratched and cuddled. This will not turn into a regular thing, she thought to herself. But who was she kidding? If Laura asked her to do anything, she'd do it with no questions. Why is that? She again thought. There was only one reason as to why she'd break all her rules. One reason she'd go out of her comfort zone. One reason she was changing into a better person.
Maybe I do love her.