Our Seven Deadly Sins

First Taste

            Recap: Blanche's blood dripped onto the Countess' hand and the Countess feels young again. She was told by a friend that drinking and bathing in human blood stops aging. Blanche met Samuel, a gardener at the castle, who seems to take an interest in her. The Countess and Baroness Florence are planning to kill someone with potion. Joan's potion made with human blood from a villager hasn't been tested out yet. Desdemona is still trying to find out who the other witches in the castle are and who their new victim will be and she is blackmailing Prudence into spying for her. Rebecca has decided to try out witchcraft but wishes Desdemona would leave her alone. The Countess threw a feast to announce her betrothal to Prince Luther. Lady Delilah fainted at the news. When she wakes up, Blanche tells her the prince wants to meet her at midnight in the gardens.

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            Luther sat on a stone bench in the garden, deep in thought. It was so dark out, Delilah hardly noticed him. She did not approach him immediately; instead she stayed hidden behind the rose bushes.

            How could she face him after embarrassing herself like she did at the feast? And how could he not have told her of his betrothal to the Countess? He knew she fancied him, she had made it clear as day. And how could he possibly love the Countess anyway? With her cruel eyes, thin lips, and bony figure, she was neither attractive nor pleasant in any way. She did have money and power, and lots of it, but Prince Luther never struck her as terribly interested in those sorts of things. He seemed fun-loving… spontaneous. Delilah's mind wandered back to the night of the masquerade. She sighed dreamily.

            "Who's there?" The Prince called out. He must have heard her sigh. "My lady, is it you?"

            Delilah knew she was "his lady". With eyes downcast, she stepped out from her hiding place.

            "You came."

            "I came." She responded quietly. "I came to apologize for the nuisance I have been. If I had known the extent of your relationship with my mistress, I assure you I never would have approached you in such a manner."

            Prince Luther stood and took a few steps toward her. "And that is precisely why I avoided telling you. I wanted to speak to you, to spend evenings in the garden with you. The fault is all mine."

            Delilah took a step back in shock. "You tricked me! You knew all along you were betrothed and you knew my where my interests lay, and yet you let me believe I had a chance?"

            "Please listen to me, Delilah-"

            "No!" She shook her head, her dark hair falling messily around her shoulders. "I must go…"

            But as she turned to leave, the prince grabbed her by the wrist and drew her towards him. "You must understand this; it is not by choice that I  am betrothed to the Countess. It is as my father wishes, and how can I go against his will? But my heart lies with you."

            Still Delilah doubted him. "You are not telling me the truth."

            "Will this make you believe me?" And he kissed her, softly and gently, a respectful, meaningful kiss. She melted into his arms without hesitation.

            Luther smiled as he pulled away. "I promise I do not kiss Elizabeth like that." He knew at once that mentioning the Countess had been a mistake. Delilah tried to pull away from him as she grimaced.

            "You cannot kiss me like that when you should love my mistress." She pouted, angry at herself for giving in to the Prince so easily.

            "One night, Delilah. Just one night together. I will show you how much you mean to me, how much I would rather be with you than her. Stay with me."

            Delilah bit her lip in deliberation. "If we stay out here, won't we grow cold?"

            Her words made the prince chuckle darkly. "We shall keep each other warm."

            How could Delilah possibly say no to that?

            "I feel stiff as a board, Florence." The Countess complained. "Earlier this evening I felt full of life. It was that maid's blood, I am sure of it."

            "Perhaps a hot bath will do you well." Florence suggested, but the Countess shook her head.

            "No. A simple bath will not solve my problems. Prince Luther will never marry an old hag; I must retain my youth, don't you understand?" She hissed furiously.

            "I understand, madame, but you are still beautiful-"

            "Be quiet, you idiot!" The Countess bellowed. "Bring me the girl."

            Florence paused. "The girl?"

            The Countess made a frustrated motion. "Yes, the girl. The maid from earlier this evening. She is young, blond, a pretty thing. She will do."

            Florence wasn't sure what the Countess meant by that but she didn't want to stick around to ask. Instead she hurried off to find this maid the Countess spoke of.

            Blanche was heading to the servants' quarters, daydreaming of the strong, muscular, handsome Samuel when she nearly ran into the Baroness.

            "My apologies. Excuse me, ma'am." She tried to make her way around the Baroness but was stopped.

            "You, girl. Come with me. The Countess would like to speak to you." The Baroness ordered quietly, trying not to wake anyone.

            Blanche couldn't imagine why the Countess wanted to speak to her but she would never dare to question the Baroness; she valued her life too much to risk that. So she followed the Baroness up the many flights of stairs to the Countess' chambers.

            The Baroness rapped sharply on the Countess' door before entering. "I brought her."

            The Countess turned to face them. "Good, good." She slowly walked towards them, her eyes never leaving Blanche's face. "You're a pretty thing, aren't you?"

            Blanche stuttered. "Th-Thank you, ma'am." She looked down at the floor, trying to hide her trembling.

            "Florence," The Countess addressed the Baroness, "tie her to that chair."

            "What?" Blanche gasped as she was shoved into the chair. "Please, I haven't done anything wrong! What are you doing?" She tried to struggle but the Baroness' grip was tight. "How have I displeased you?"

            The Countess picked up a kitchen knife from the table that was still covered in bread crumbs. She wiped the crumbs off with a napkin before advancing towards Blanche. "Use a flask to catch her blood, Florence. We wouldn’t want to miss a precious drop. This concerns my youth, after all."

            Perhaps if Delilah hadn't been preoccupied in the gardens or if Prudence hadn't been asleep they might have noticed their friend's absence. But Delilah was enjoying each passionate kiss with her lover, the Countess' fiancé, too much to think of a silly airhead of a maid. Maybe if Prudence hadn't eaten an extra helping of dinner earlier, she might have woken up to make a late-night visit to the kitchens and realized her friend's bed had not been slept in. But no, the only person thinking of poor Blanche was Samuel and for all he knew, she was safe in bed dreaming of him too.

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I know it's been a few months and I'm really sorry. I was focusing on my other story. I hope this satisfies you though. It's a bit dark and depressing but hey, I never said this was a happy story.