The BLTS Archive - Lady Kathryn
by ILuvKate & The Reverend

---

The spires of Castle Meridian rose above the kingdom like the horns of
Satan, a wicked reminder of the evil that dwelled within the grey
stone walls. The days when good reigned supreme were but legends,
distant memories spoken of only in the way one speaks of a dream.

B'Elanna Torres took in the landscape with a sweeping glance, yet only
one image filled her mind... a solitary figure imprisoned within the
distant castle. B'Elanna knew she had only herself to blame. She was a
Knight of the Olde, a defender of the True. She had been entrusted
with the greatest responsibility a knight of the sacred order could
ever know... and she had failed. And she had fallen in love in the
process.

B'Elanna wasn't sure which bothered her more. Not that it mattered...
there was only one solution to both problems.

Tired shadows crept along the face of the castle as B'Elanna
approached on horseback. Getting inside would be a simple matter... if
she was careful and kept her wits about her. If all else failed, she
would rely on her skill with a blade.

Upon gaining entrance, B'Elanna made her way through the dank
corridors, moving from door to door with purpose until she at last
found the one she so eagerly sought. Unbolting the door, she anxiously
took a step inside... and saw her.

She was sitting on the bed, looking a bit weary but as beautiful as
ever. She looked up at the sound of the door and smiled. "You
certainly took your time in getting here, " Lady Kathryn said.
B'Elanna dropped to her knees.

"My Lady, I beg your forgiveness."

"It was a joke, my dear, " Kathryn smiled. B'Elanna frowned.

"At times your humor escapes me."

"Speaking of escape, " Kathryn said.

"Yes, " B'Elanna said. "But first I..." Kathryn fixed her with an
expectant look.

"What is it?" B'Elanna dropped her head in defeat.

"To the code I am honor bound, and I must therefore confess that my
feelings for you have changed in these last few weeks. Many is the
night I have lain in bed, imagining your nakedness, wishing that I
could drink of your lips and nuzzle your bosom. I am your guardian.
Such thoughts are dangerous. I must remember your place... and keep
mine." Kathryn lifted B'Elanna's chin so that she had no choice but to
meet her lady's cold, deliberate stare.

"Your insolence does not become you."

"My Lady..." B'Elanna pleaded.

"On your feet, " Kathryn snapped. B'Elanna quickly obeyed.

"I do not always need protecting, my dear guardian, " Kathryn said. "I
do know my place... and I know yours. It is with me." She cupped
B'Elanna's face in her hands, drawing her close, finding the young
woman's mouth and covering it with her own.

"Oh, my Lady... " B'Elanna whispered. "I am yours, body and soul."

"And I will collect, " Kathryn smiled playfully. "But first... I
believe you came here to rescue me." B'Elanna grinned.

"I did, my Lady."

"Then we must go, " Kathryn said, a wicked grin surfacing as she took
a measured step toward her knight in shining armor. "But tonight...
you will answer for your insolence." B'Elanna smiled.

"Yes, my Lady."

B'Elanna secured a mount for Lady Kathryn by the simple expedient of
rendering one ot the sentries unconscious and taking the gray Arabian
tethered near her post. Luckily for the sentry, she wasn't one of the
six of Arvilla's crew who had ambushed B'Elanna and Kathryn that
fateful day, or she would now lie dead in a pool of her own blood.
B'Elanna led the animal over to the small alcove where she had placed
Lady Kathryn and dismounted. She took the horse over to the doorway
and stepped into the small opening.

"My Lady?" she called out in a low voice. Lady Kathryn stepped into
view, wrapped in the fur mantle they'd picked up on the way out of the
castle. B'Elanna half expected another one of Lady Kathryn's acerbic
comments that passed for humor, but the weary Kathryn said nothing,
mounting the gray steed with an ease that brought an admiring glance
from her knight. Scanning the surrounding area, B'Elanna determined no
approaching threat and mounted her own horse.

"Let's show Castle Meridian our heels, Dama," Lady Kathryn suggested
and with a short nod B'Elanna spurred her horse into action as Lady
Kathryn followed suit. They galloped at full speed across the
countryside until they had put considerable distance between them and
Castle Meridian. B'Elanna was not unduly worried about immediate
pursuit. Her entrance into the castle had been stealthy and she'd
raised no alarms. She suspected it would be mealtime before Arvilla
discovered that her prize was missing. Several leagues from Meridian,
they slowed their mounts to a leisurely trot to give them respite.

They arrived back home as darkness began creeping over the land.
B'Elanna and Kathryn pulled up before the entrance to Castle Leigh,
home of the Queen of Bardania, and Kathryn's home as well. B'Elanna
dismounted swiftly and went to help Lady Kathryn dismount.
Throat-drying, heart-pounding heat swept through her as she put her
hands on Lady Kathryn's slim waist to hand her down. Their gazes met
and locked and Lady Kathryn's was warning. B'Elanna kept her
expression neutral and placed her lady on her feet.

"Thank you, Dama B'Elanna," Lady Kathryn said formally as B'Elanna
dropped to one knee before her. "For your bravery and skill in
rescuing me from Arvilla. The Lady Queen will no doubt see you
tomorrow to reward you. Rest well."

"I only regret, my lady, that I allowed Arvilla to even come within an
arm's length of you," B'Elanna replied. "I shall do penance in truth,
for such a lapse. Rest well, my lady."

"Nonsense," Lady Kathryn said briskly in response to B'Elanna's
apology. "Arvilla's animals nearly killed you. There was little that
even Dama B'Elanna Torres could do against six such as those. I will
hear no more apologies regarding that."

"As you wish, my lady," B'Elanna said, bowing her head in assent.

"Now as to the matter of your insolence," Lady Kathryn continued,
"that I will deal with tomorrow. You will await my summons."

"I will, my lady," B'Elanna said. Both trepidation and excitement
welled up in her at Lady Kathryn's pronouncement. Lady Kathryn would
punish her soundly for her insolence: of that she was certain. But
Lady Kathryn had also declared that she would "collect" the "body and
soul" B'Elanna had vowed was hers. That would be worth whatever
punishment Lady Kathryn chose to levy.

---

Standing the next morning before the Queen of Bardania, her liege,
B'Elanna silently cursed the heat of the sun that made her sweat like
a pig in her metal armor. Sweat poured down her face and dripped into
her eyes. She stood down on the grass of the fairground, her sword
drawn. She held it in one fist, her arm out to the side and down, the
point resting on the ground. Her other hand, fist clenched, was behind
her back. Thank the spirits that the Queen was not given to
long-winded speeches. A knight herself in her early youth, she
remembered all too well the discomfort of full armor in the heat of
the summer sun.

B'Elanna didn't listen to the words of praise the Queen was saying.
She still felt keenly, a sense of failure in allowing Arvilla to
capture and imprison Lady Kathryn. Even though her side still bore the
healing, ugly red wound from the sword Udah, Arvilla's knight, had
slashed into her, and she felt the burn and tear of injured muscle
every time she moved, she still blamed herself for not being vigilant
enough. She still had a headache from the blow of the mace another of
Arvilla's knights had given her, and her helmet still bore the dent,
but to her mind, it was less than she deserved.

"Approach, Dama." she returned to the present at the Queen's command,
and thankfully moved forward as Ayilla, true Queen of Meridian
descended the steps of the shaded box where she and her nobles had sat
in comfort. B'Elanna knelt before the Queen. Ayilla raised an engraved
silver medallion on a chain and B'Elanna nearly recoiled. The Queen
was about to bestow the Order of Regina, the highest order of the
land, upon her.

"No my liege!" B'Elanna said in an agonized whisper. "I do not
deserve--"

"Yes," the Queen broke in impatiently, "I have already heard how you
have continually chastised yourself for your perceived failure
regarding my Lady Kathryn's capture. I will hear no more of it."
B'Elanna bowed low.

"Yes, my liege," she said. The Queen dropped the chain over her head
so that it fell around her neck, clinking softly against her armor.
Ayilla held out her hand with its heavy gold ring and B'Elanna pressed
her lips to it.

"Rise, Dama Knight," the Queen intoned. B'Elanna rose to her feet and
applause, yells, and cheers resounded around the fairgrounds. She
stood silently until the last cheer had died away and then she raised
her sword before her face in salute and inclined her head in
acknowledgement. A page led her horse up beside her and she turned and
mounted, galloping off the field. She hurried to her rooms thankfully
and divested herself of her armor. Her page had prepared a bath and
she sank into it gratefully. It always felt good to come home at the
end of a quest. As she shifted her position in the warm water, the
healing wound in her side twinged and she grimaced at the reminder of
her failure. Despite what the Queen had said, she had failed. She
might not speak of it aloud again, but it was still a heaviness in her
heart.

Ravenous, she consumed a hearty meal and then decided to take a stroll
around the castle grounds. Leigh was one of her favorite places in all
the land and its peace was a balm to her heart. Dressed in trousers of
buttery-soft dyed grey leather and a snowy white loose linen blouse
over which she wore a dark gray brocade vest, she secured a tankard of
ale and left the castle to wander around the beautifully landscaped
grounds. She wore the Regina and it caught the sun, throwing off
gleams of light. She drank from her tankard and continued down a
gently sloping bank to where a pewter-hued stream gurgled and bubbled
over red and black stones. Her heart lifted a little and she perched
on a craggy boulder at the edge of the water and watched the swirls
and eddies of the water. Her mind wandered and she found herself
thinking about Lady Kathryn, wondering what she was doing at the
moment. She swallowed some more of the golden ale. Probably soaking
languorously in a hot bath as she herself had done earlier, letting the
weariness seep out of her.

"Mmmh," B'Elanna made a small noise in her throat and got up
restlessly. Envisioning the steaming bath water lapping over Kathryn's
breasts, was anything but easeful. She gulped some more ale. She
wished she could get roaring drunk. That's what she needed: to feel
the dizzying rush of spirits to her head, and feel the fire in her
belly. Seize one of the young, shapely bar girls and kiss her soundly
and feel of her lush young breasts, making the nipples rock-hard under
her touch, finally making the wench beg her to take her to bed and
finish the job.

B'Elanna shook her head. As long as Lady Kathryn ruled her thoughts,
there could be no other. Were she to bed another, it would be Lady
Kathryn's name on her lips, and Lady Kathryn's breasts she'd be
sucking.

I will deal with your insolence tomorrow. That's what Lady Kathryn had
told her last night. B'Elanna winced. If anyone had ever told her she
would betray the Code in this way, she would have drawn steel. But she
had betrayed her trust. And if she knew Lady Kathryn, punishment would
be severe. Lady Kathryn was a stickler for convention--as were most
nobles, she'd discovered. Well, it was tomorrow, already and Lady
Kathryn had not yet summoned her, and B'Elanna realized that it might
be part of her punishment to be kept waiting. She sighed. So that was
why she could not get roaring drunk, as she wished. That would be a
fine sight, indeed, to stagger drunkenly into her lady's rooms....

She made her way back to Castle Leigh and meandered back over to the
sideboard where she refilled her tankard.

"Dama Torres." B'Elanna turned at the sound of Grethen, the Queen's
consort. B'Elanna gave the noblewoman the brief bow her station
accorded her.

"My Lady Grethen," she murmured, setting down the tankard.

"The Queen requests your presence in the Audience Chamber," Grethen
said.

"I shall go at once, lady," B'Elanna replied. Grethen gave a brief nod
and left the room. B'Elanna started toward the Queen's Audience
Chamber. Her heart gave a painful bound as she saw Lady Kathryn seated
near the Queen. She knelt before the sovereign whose expression was
inscrutable.

"My liege," B'Elanna said. "You sent for me?"

"Dama," the Queen said, "I have a question for you. Answer it
truthfully."

"Always, my liege," B'Elanna replied, startled, raising her eyes
questioningly to the queen. "When have I--?" The queen silenced her
with a gesture.

"You have always been a good knight and true, Dama," the queen assured
her. "Except in one small instance." B'Elanna kept her eyes on the
floor, knowing what was coming.

"Have you fallen in love with your lady, Dama?" the queen demanded.
B'Elanna's face was scarlet.

"Yes, my liege," she said in a low voice. She wondered miserably why
Lady Kathryn had seen fit to inform the queen of her insolence. Bad
enough she must face Lady Kathryn.

"Lady Kathryn said nothing to me," the queen remarked, eerily echoing
her thoughts. "It is painfully evident in your face when you look at
her." B'Elanna swallowed. That was a relief, at least. She did not
dare look at Lady Kathryn.

"Dama," the queen said, "state the precepts of the Code."

"A knight of the Olde must defend and protect her lady's honor. If
necessary, with her very life. She will always hold her lady in the
highest regard, be aware of the respective places of her lady and
herself." B'Elanna's voice was steady.

"Is it implicit in the Code," the queen asked, "that a knight will not
lust after her lady, or pander to any feelings of carnal desire for
her?"

"It is, my liege," B'Elanna replied. The queen leaned forward.

"So what do you have to say for yourself, Dama?" the queen demanded
sternly.

"I have no excuse to offer, my liege," B'Elanna replied. "I have let
my mind dwell on carnal matters regarding my lady."

"I shall leave it up to Lady Kathryn to deal with you," the queen
said. "It is really none of my concern, actually. I was just curious
to see if Dama B'Elanna Torres had a failing." She glanced at Kathryn.
"I trust, Kathryn, that you will deal with Dama B'Elanna's insolence in
an appropriate manner."

"You may be sure of it, my queen," Kathryn said. B'Elanna wished she
knew what that meant.

"Kathryn, it appears we are going to have to revise the Code," the
queen sighed. "Your knights keep falling in love with you."

"I do not encourage it, my queen," Kathryn said quickly.

"You don't have to," the queen said drily. She glanced at B'Elanna and
then at Kathryn. "I must say," she continued musingly, "that I do
quite envy you this one." She nodded in B'Elanna's direction. "She is
quite....delectable."

"My queen," Kathryn said, "if--"

"No, no," the queen broke in. "I do not poach. And besides, Grethen is
enough for me to handle." She spoke to B'Elanna. "You may withdraw,
Dama Knight." B'Elanna got to her feet and bowed low to the queen and
Lady Kathryn in turn, carefully avoiding her lady's gaze. Then she
turned and left the room. In the corridor, she headed for her room,
feeling unutterably weary.

Before she reached her rooms, however, she was intercepted by Urtha,
Lady Kathryn's page.

"Dama Torres," Lady Kathryn asks you come to her rooms," the young
page told her.

"At once," B'Elanna said and turned in the direction of Lady Kathryn's
rooms. She entered at Lady Kathryn's "enter" and stopped dead in her
tracks.

Amidst a nest of white silken pillows lounged a very naked Lady
Kathryn, her auburn tresses spilling down across her creamy shoulders.
B'Elanna caught her breath. " Well, Dama," Lady Kathryn drawled
lazily. One hand strayed across her breast and it was all B'Elanna
could do not to lunge onto the bed. She waited.

"Do you want me, Dama?" Kathryn asked in a sibilant whisper, rolling
her nipple between her thumb and forefinger. B'Elanna swallowed
convulsively.

"I can't help myself, my Lady," she said helplessly. Kathryn tugged on
her nipple, running her tongue around her lips. B'Elanna took a
ragged, hitching breath.

"I should have you flogged," Kathryn remarked in the same lazy voice,
her hand moving down from her breast across her flat belly, the tips
of her fingers just brushing the edge of the reddish hair hiding her
sex. B'Elanna felt a trickle of sweat slide down between her breasts.

"Yes, my Lady," she said tonelessly. The thought made her stomach
clench with nausea. Kathryn slid her hand down farther and slid a
finger into herself, licking her lips again. Her eyes were slightly
unfocused as she began to massage herself.

"M-my Lady," B'Elanna whispered hoarsely. Kathryn smiled.

"Does the thought of being flogged bother you, Dama? she inquired
silkily, her finger moving harder and faster.

"Yes, my Lady," B'Elanna said resolutely. Kathryn had her head back,
and her eyes were closed as she played with herself, approaching
climax. In just a minute or two, her body spasmed as her orgasm washed
over her. She sagged against the cushions, sighing. She looked at
B'Elanna, who was flushed.

"This is your punishment, Dama," Kathryn said. "You will come here
every night and watch me give pleasure to myself." B'Elanna sighed.

"Yes, my Lady," she said.

"Don't get complacent, Dama," Lady Kathryn warned.

"Never, my Lady," B'Elanna replied.

"Leave me," Lady Kathryn said. For one long, dangerous moment,
B'Elanna considered throwing all caution to the winds and making a
dive into that bed. Her gaze locked with Kathryn's and Kathryn stared
back at her boldly, daring her. She swallowed hard. She was in trouble
enough as it was. She bowed low and turned and left the chamber.

---

She should have known Lady Kathryn would choose that sort of
punishment, B'Elanna thought as she stopped outside the door of Lady
Kathryn's chambers. Lady Kathryn knew well the heat boiling her blood
and just how difficult it was for her to manage it. And how dangerous
it would be to let it get out of hand. She leaned against the wall and
rubbed her hands down her face. Well, she would not let it get out of
hand. She wasn't a Knight of the Olde because she was weak in body or
spirit. She smiled suddenly. Besides...it was obvious Lady Kathryn
wanted her as much as she wanted Lady Kathryn. Could Lady Kathryn hold
out indefinitely? Well, they'd see, wouldn't they? She pushed away
from the wall and walked down the corridor, turning toward her own
rooms. She very briefly considered going in search of some company for
the night, but discarded the idea. If Lady Kathryn heard about a
liaison, however temporary, she might become angry enough to deny her
knight her bed completely.

More than nine days and nights passed, with B'Elanna reporting to Lady
Kathryn's chambers to watch her stroke herself and massage herself to
orgasm. Sometimes more than once. By the ninth night, B'Elanna was
strung tighter than a huntsman's bow and her blood was thundering in
her ears as she reported to Lady Kathryn's chambers. Lady Kathryn
tonight, was dressed in a diaphanous pink garment that did little to
hide her lush body. She also held a goblet of Meridian's powerful wine
and judging by the flush on her cheeks, it wasn't her first goblet.
She walked to the foot of Lady Kathryn's bed and stood as usual. She
had herself tightly in control, but she feared losing it. She had had
little sleep since Lady Kathryn began this torture, and had eaten even
less. She bowed low before Lady Kathryn and then straightened,
wondering idly why her lady was clothed this evening.

"Good Even, Dama," Lady Kathryn's voice was slightly slurred as she
drank from the goblet she held.

"Good Even, my lady," B'Elanna replied, feeling her throat dry as Lady
Kathryn leaned over to place the goblet beside the bed, making the
thin fabric of the robe she wore stretch tightly over her breasts,
outlining her dark nipples. She clenched her fists behind her back.
Lady Kathryn lay back on the pillows and studied her knight, a slight
smile playing about her lips.

"You have surprised me, Dama," Lady Kathryn remarked. "I expected you
to force this issue rather than wait as long as you have." B'Elanna
inclined her head. She did not smile, but felt a small thrill of
triumph. The past several days had been the worst she'd ever spent,
but she'd been determined to wait Lady Kathryn out. "So, Dama," Lady
Kathryn went on, "I have decided that you have been punished enough."
She paused. "Remove your clothing, and come to me." B'Elanna did as
her lady bid, taking pleasure in seeing Lady Kathryn's eyes flame as
she removed each article. Her fingers shook with excitement and
finally she stood naked under her lady's gaze. Lady Kathryn licked her
lips. "Come here," she ordered hoarsely, and B'Elanna climbed onto the
bed beside Lady Kathryn. Their lips met instantly in a searing kiss
that seemed never to end. B'Elanna pushed aside Lady Kathryn's flimsy
robe, groping for her breasts. As soon as her hand found one, she
moved her mouth down and covered the breast with it. Lady Kathryn gave
a small exclamation, arching her body to press her breast closer to to
the lips sucking her nipple rockhard. B'Elanna moved from breast to
breast, licking, sucking, nipping the nipples. She moved back up to
kiss Lady Kathryn again and as she did, felt Lady Kathryn's hands on
her breasts and felt engulfed by sheer flame of passion at her lady's
touch. The things she had watched Lady Kathryn do to herself for days,
she now felt being done to her and she felt as if she were drowning in
a flood of pleasure.

Lady Kathryn did not leave any part of B'Elanna's body untouched with
her mouth, eyes or hands. She made B'Elanna lie quiescent under her
scrutiny and touch. "You'll have your turn, my dear knight," she
whispered in B'Elanna's ear. "For now, let me have my way with you."
Which B'Elanna was only too glad to do. She climaxed more than once
and when Lady Kathryn finally rolled onto her side, lying propped on
one elbows to watch the final spasms of pleasure leave her knight's
spent body.

"Ah, my lady...." B'Elanna reached out to trail her fingers down Lady
Kathryn's cheek. Lady Kathryn smiled.

"Do you feel properly rewarded, dear Dama, for your iron control?" she
inquired. B'Elanna chuckled.

"Quite, my lady," she replied. Lady Kathryn took her hand and kissed
her fingers.

"And," she asked softly, "are you still mine, body and soul?"

"Body and soul, my lady," B'Elanna replied.

"Excellent," Lady Kathryn said, rolling back on top of her, "because I
have not yet finished collecting." She lowered her mouth to B'Elanna's
and kissed her searchingly with a hunger that sent flame sweeping
through B'Elanna. B'Elanna returned it in kind, her hands roaming over
Lady Kathryn's achingly beautiful skin, knowing an answering flame
burned in her Lady. She rolled them over, and poised over Lady
Kathryn, stared deeply into the blue eyes, finding no censure there.
She laid a trail of hot, wet, nibbling kisses down Lady Kathryn's
body, hearing her lady suck her breath in sharply. She plunged into
the sweet heat between Lady Kathryn's thighs, sliding her hands under
Lady Kathryn's bottom to bring her closer to her questing lips and
tongue. She licked, nibbled, probed and sucked until she heard Lady
Kathryn beg her to stop.

"Dama," Lady Kathryn gasped hoarsely, "you can wring no more from me!
Let me rest!" B'Elanna did not miss the subtle steel thread of command
in Lady Kathryn's voice and moved up to lie beside her, pillowing her
head on Lady Kathryn's shoulder, and Lady Kathryn wrapped her arms
around her, pulling her close.

"You are like no other I have ever had in my bed," Lady Kathryn
murmured. B'Elanna did not like to think other hands had fondled those
breasts or other mouths had supped where hers just had, but she said
nothing. Lady Kathryn stroked her knight's dark hair. "And as long as
you're willing, Dama, no other but you shall be in my bed." B'Elanna
raised shining eyes to Lady Kathryn's.

"I am willing, my Lady, until time is no more," she said softly. Lady
Kathryn laughed and buried her face in B'Elanna's hair.

"I was hoping, my dear, that that's what you would say."

---

Copyright 1997 ILuvkate & The Reverend

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The End