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Vanadis - Ludmilla's mistake
🕑 Added 2018-09-15 10:00:00 +0000 UTC
After the war maiden Eleonora Viltaria and her vassal Tigrevurmud Vorn failed to take the fortress protected by fellow war maiden Ludmilla Lourie, the Bruneman offered to scout the mountains and look for a path which could be navigated by his white haired liege's forces.
Never in a hundred years had he expected to cross paths with the enemy commander, much less end up spending the night together inside a small cave to shield themselves from the sub-zero night temperatures.
But that is exactly what happened. Thankfully, Tigre had been given a bear-skin coat to keep himself warm as well as hide his body and face from the slender blue haired warrior. He had adopted the pseudonym 'Urs', and gained her trust through a marvellous feat of dexterity with his bow.
Holed up inside that cave, the two had spent hours talking in an effort to wile away the evening. But with night falling, it was time to get some sleep. An awkward situation for a man who couldn't risk showing his face.
"It's getting late, we should start taking turns for holding watch tonight." Tigre told Ludmilla.
"You might be right Urs. Even though this mountains are basically abandoned, there is a military force nearby. It's unlikely, but if one of Eleonora's scouts makes it this far and finds us both asleep we'll be in trouble."
The red haired archer shifted uncomfortably. He didn't want to lie to the cute bluenette, but confessing at this point that he was that scout would probably get him killed.
"I'll take the first shift." He offered instead.
"That's kind. But there is no need, Urs." She replied.
After all, Ludmilla was a master of defensive warfare, cautious by nature. Even if he had proven to be a skilled hunter, she had no real reason to blindly trust this masked man with her safety. Dropping consciousness so far removed from her fortress would be foolhardy!
"I am a war maiden from Zhcted, we are trained for all kinds of combat situations, including endurance runs. I can easily pull through an entire night.
"Wouldn't that compromise your abilities in the battle tomorrow?"
"That's IF there's a battle. Eleonora might be cocky and brazen, but she isn't a fool. After her first failed siege, even she would take some more time to regroup."
"Nevertheless, don't force yourself. If you feel tired, wake me up." The disguised hunter replied, turning his back and lying own on his side. In a matter of minutes he was deep asleep.
"Hm, so he clearly trusts me implicitly." She muttered, feeling somewhat calmed by Urs' willingness to let her stay up all night. The slender warrior pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, feeling just a tinge of guilt nagging her.
I hope I didn't insult him by turning down his offer to take shifts…
Left with nothing but her own thoughts, curiosity hit the young war maiden. Despite Urs explaining to her it was tradition not to remove the bear skin coat whilst up in the mountains, she wanted to see this accomplished archer's face.
But as serious as she was, she held back her urge to violate his traditions –and his trust–.
Instead turned her attention to the cave's exit to stand watch.
Around midnight Ludmilla's eyelids began feeling strangely heavy. To her annoyance, she was starting to have trouble staying awake. The long travel, hasty preparations for Eleonora's siege, the actual battle and finally that long hike up the mountain for her hunting had finally started taking their toll.
"Sitting still isn't for me…" She grumbled. "If I were alone I'd take a walk outside and clear my mind. But Urs trusted me to keep watch..."
The beautiful warrior let out a soft sigh. "I don't have a choice. Resting near this warm fire, I'll doze off before I know it."
So she quietly crawled over to Urs' side and gently shook him awake.
"Change your mind?" He asked calmly.
"Yes." She pouted. "It seems the past few days took more of a toll on me than I expected."
"That's nothing to be ashamed off. I'm sure a war maiden's duties are too heavy for any normal human."
The bluenette blushed. "T-thank you."
"You're welcome. Now get some rest."
She nodded, and lowered her slender yet curvy body onto the soft stamped earth. Mere seconds after she closed her eyes, Ludmilla was fast asleep.
Now it was Tigre's turn to sit there with conflicting thoughts.
If I took her back to Eleonora, we might be able to talk this out without a siege. Ludmilla only stands against us because of her ties to Duke Thenardier... But kidnapping a war maiden might start a different war altogether...
He clenched his hand around his rucksack, digging his fingers into the leather as a rudimentary stress ball.
I almost wish I didn't run into her. This opportunity seems too good to pass up. But does ending this conflict without any more bloodshed really justify betraying Ludmilla's trust? She could become a powerful ally, but what is the best way to make her one...
The cute bluenette stirred gently, indicating she wasn't yet in her deep sleep.
Tigre's mind kept racing for the next hour, with him talking himself into and out of the option of abducting the Zchted royal warrior lying at his feet.
Until finally, he made his decision:
To keep Alsace safe, we can't afford to lose any time here. If I bring Ludmilla to Elen, then either through talks or coercion, we will make our way through here...
His mind was made up, he would journey back to the camp with the bluenette in tow.
After confirming his target was fast asleep, he opened up his hunter's bag and pulled out several lengths of rope...
[5 hours later, as the sun was rising]
"Mnnrrn..." Ludmilla grunted. The first rays of the sun making their way into the cave, combined with Tigre cleaning up the fire and his belongings, had woken the slender girl. Her night rest had been an incredibly deep one, testament to how truly exhausted she had been.
"What's happening?" She moaned softly, reaching up to rub the fuzz out of her eyes. It took her brain a few seconds to process why that didn't work. Something was pulling at her arms, restricting them.
"Mnrrgg!" The bluenette groaned softly as she tried using more force to get her arms to do as they were told. But they wouldn't budge. Something coarse and strong had been woven around them.
Whilst she had been resting, the masked hunter had bound her hands and feet with rope!
Her arms had been pulled behind her back, bent at the elbows so her wrists touched together and pointed upwards.
Tigre had secured the reverse prayer with several loops around her wrists to ensure they would be completely pinned, then enforced it by wrapping a second rope around the middle of her forearms and pulling those closer together as well. The pressure he applied there had the effect of drawing in Ludmilla's shoulders. Thanks to that he didn't just lock nearly the whole of her upper body in place, it also forced her to thrust out her chest. A bust which by war maiden standards could be seen as moderate, but definitely was anything but small.
To finalize the upper body ropework, the red haired archer had pulled a rope around her waist, just below her breasts, which trapped her arms flat against her back. The knot to that rope was located in front of her, but remained equally invisible to the bluenette because it was hidden beneath her bosom.
"What?! What's going on?" She muttered silently as she opened her eyes and tried to sit up, only to discover her legs in a were similar predicament.
No less than five tightly cinched up lengths of rope trapped the warrior's powerful legs together. Her ankles had been tied together, her calves, above and below her knees, and finally her thighs.
She immediately began straining to snap the ropes, but they left her with far too little leeway to make any impact.
"Hmrnng! Come on!" She growled angrily, as if to scare her ropes into submission. But they held their ground better than an earth dragon hunkering down.
Damn! This is all too tight! My spear! Where is my spear?!
She began looking around for her trusty Dragon gear. But it was nowhere in sight.
She did however spot Urs' back a few feet removed from her. He was seemingly preoccupied with preparing for departure.
"Urs?! What's going on?" She asked nervously. "Why did you tie me up?"
"So I can take you back to my camp."
"Mrrgn-oww!" The blue haired girl mewled as she strained herself to free her arms, only to find they wouldn't budge. "What camp?!"
"The one currently sieging your fortress."
"WHAT?! You're with Eleonora?!!"
"I am." The hunter replied.
He hesitated, but eventually chose to keep his face hidden. He assumed it better for future relations –and their current trip down the mountain- if the warrior maiden didn't know just how close her captor was to Eleonora.
"She charged me with tracing a pathway through the mountains which her men could use. I told her chances of such a route were slim, but she let me head out anyway."
"And now you're taking me back?!"
"Better than returning empty handed. If it makes you feel any better, this was never the plan. So you weren't tricked."
"I beg to differ!" She snapped back, squirming around on the floor.
But after wriggling around for a good while, her heart sank. Nothing she'd tried had had any effect on her bindings. The ropes were completely fixed into place, and with it her limbs.
This is bad... I can barely move like this.
"Oooff! How did you do this?!" She gasped as her lungs were momentarily emptied by rolling onto her stomach. "This ropework is ludicrous! I can't use my hands at all!"
"To be honest I half expected to fail. You must really have been exhausted not to wake up when I pulled your arms tight."
"Hmgrrnn! Release me!"
"No."
"Aaaaarrhhh! LET ME GO! Don’t you care what happens to me when you deliver me to the enemy in such a state?!" She tried to guilt trip her kidnapper.
"The reputation of war maidens reaches far and wide. I know that other war maidens would never hurt you. Surely, you must know that too?"
"That's not the point!" Ludmilla snapped back, bucking on the floor, her back arching as she simultaneously lifted her legs and chest off the floor in an angry spasm.
The slender bluenette wasn't worried about incurring any damage. But the smug look on her rival's face when she would be brought in helplessly bound. She would never live that down!
"You jerk! I trusted you!" She sneered at him.
"And I trusted you, by letting you take first shift. Had you taken off my mask, you would've known I was here under Eleonora's orders."
"Unlike you, I respect other people's wishes!" The spear user spat.
"I can only apologise."
"Stow it, I'll just bust out of these ropes and tear you apart!"
But to her humiliation, Ludmilla got absolutely nowhere from rolling around the ground and kicking her legs around. She might have boasted impressive combat abilities, they counted for nothing if you couldn't actually move your body the way you wanted it too.
"Haah, haah, haah. This is impossible!" She groaned. "I can't be stuck!"
"Why not?"
"I'm a war maiden! How in the world can ropes be this effective on me?!"
"You may be a war maiden, you're still human. And unarmed for that matter. Those ropes aren't coming off easily."
"It seems to be that way, yes." The bluenette grumbled. "So now what? You're just going to drag me through the snow?"
"Of course not." Came back from the hunter as he hung his bow on his back, followed by his backpack. He then picked the bluenette up in his arms... in a princess carry.
"Y-y-you're holding me like this?" She shrieked.
"Would you rather I draped you over my shoulder like a piece of game?"
"W-well no… but this is embarrassing!"
"Even so, you'd best keep still, unless you want me to drop you by accident." Tigre replied calmly as he carried Ludmilla out of the cave and started his way back down the mountain.
The masked hunter didn't utter a word for the entire walk. And Ludmilla was too embarrassed and upset to try and make conversation.
Her silence wasn't just out of spite or humiliation however, the clever bluenette was carefully keeping an eye out for any chances to make an escape.
It didn't take long to discover that quietly picking at her ropework was a useless plan. Not only could her captor easily pick up on every move she made, her meek struggles only made it clearer that her restraints weren't coming off without some help.
If only I still had my spear. 10 to 1 it's stowed away in his rucksack. But even if I'm right, that doesn't make getting to it any easier…
The blue haired girl eventually gave up on recovering her dragon gear whilst still bound. But that left her with only one possible escape plan:
I have to get away from him for long enough to free myself, then ambush him and get my dragon gear back.
Her tactical prowess meant Ludmilla knew right from the start her plan was fraught with difficulty.
Getting away from this skilled hunter for long to both locate a sharp tool and use it to free herself would be daunting in itself. But to sneak up on someone who's range was as long as his would be next to impossible, even if she were completely free again!
Nevertheless, the stubborn warrior refused to go down without a fight, even under these conditions!
Ludmilla patiently lied in her captor's arms, stealthily scoping out the terrain in front of her for a suitable location for the first step in her plan. On multiple occasions she had to stop herself from being too hasty.
There's still time, Ludmilla. She kept telling herself. We're not even halfway down the mountain yet...
Until finally, the perfect opportunity presented itself:
A narrow bend with a steep, snow covered ledge running for a few dozen feet. There was barely any shrubbery on the hill itself, but where it levelled out it was dense, providing perfect cover for her to crawl away.
Given the lay of the land, there are bound to be a few rocks lying between the bushes. One of them will be sharp enough to cut my ropes. I only need a small nick so the hemp weakens enough for me to tear it...
Ludmilla took a deep breath.
Okay... here goes!
Without any warning, the feisty war maiden started squirming and bucking as wildly as she could, startling TIgre.
"W-wha- Hey! Ludmilla! Calm down!" He yelped, struggling to keep hold of the feisty bluenette.
"Forget it! I'm not letting myself be turned in to Eleonora without a fight!"
The archer did his best to keep a hold off the slender warrior, but because he was carrying his bow, backpack and heavy bear skin cover, he wasn't mobile enough to keep up with Ludmilla's frantic fidgeting.
In the end she slipped out of his grasp and started rolling down the slope, diving into the bushes down below and disappearing from sight.
"LUDMILLA!" Tigre cried out in genuine panic. "Are you hurt?"
No response.
"Ludmilla!" He called out to her again, forced to make a slow descent to prevent tripping up and spraining or breaking anything.
Meanwhile Ludmilla had begun crawling through the snow, her bare hips sensing the ground for her. For now, there was nothing but grass and stamped earth beneath the snowy blanket.
With gritted teeth the beautiful damsel raised her legs closer to her upper body, the ropes tightening their grip as her muscles bulged.
"Hmrrggn." The blue haired warrior grunted as she dug the toes of her boots into the snow-covered ground, pushing herself forward along the ground. She soon discovered that, to make a decent move forward, she did well to lift her chest off the ground before each push. It kept her from rubbing her knockers into the ground, which created more drag and caused a very confusing feeling to plague her body. It was pleasant, painful and embarrassing, all at the same time.
Ludmilla blamed the ropes for making her feel like that, and soldiered on with raised chest. However it made the effort twice as draining. Within minutes her back was starting to throb. The strain of her arms and legs being wrapped in Urs' tight ropes for hours on end was starting to make itself known.
Just how long was I asleep whilst tied up?! She thought astonished. You'd think something like this would wake me up! I really should stop pushing myself so hard... AFTER I get back at Eleonora!
All the while her slender legs and taut belly had been brushing into the icy snow, courtesy of her skimpy outfit. But her whole body had both been trained and magically protected to withstand the cold. Otherwise she never would've lasted this long in a short skirt and bare belly tank top.
Her resistance to the cold notwithstanding, Ludmilla was still in trouble. Moving around along the ground was proving to be a lot more difficult than she expected. And even if she felt confident enough to climb to her feet, it would expose her to her kidnapper who was no doubt looking for her.
With her hands trapped in their reverse prayer and her legs uselessly trapped together, snaking along the ground was the only means she could think off for moving unseen.
This would go a lot easier if my hands weren't stuck behind my back. She complained mentally.
Then again, if I hadn't dozed off my hands wouldn't be useless in the first place. And I wouldn't be slithering between these bushes!
To the war maiden's relief, she soon discovered a rocky patch. Now all she needed was to feel out a sharp one and pick it up.
However, fumbling around blindly with your hands behind your back turned out to be a lot more enervating than the bluenette thought. On multiple occasions she felt with her body what could have been a great tool to cut herself free. But bringing her hands within reach and the blind search for that one good rock between half a dozen others was greatly taxing her patience.
"Come on!" She growled, just barely containing herself from shouting and exposing her location. "Why is this so difficult?! It's like my hands are never where I want them to be! Stupid ropes!!"
Eventually though, she closed her nimble fingers around a stone with a sharp enough edge to be of use. Once again, she had to keep herself from expressing her relief out loud.
Now to finally get rid of these annoying ropes!
Ludmilla began to carefully search scrape around with the sharp edge of her rock, aiming at the ropes covering her wrists. But after trying to twist her hands in multiple directions, she had yet to make contact with it.
A small pit began to form in her stomach.
What is the deal with these ropes?! I can clearly feel where they are, but my hands can't bend the way I need them to... If I had a knife this might have been easier, but this rock isn't exactly a nimble tool.
She gritted her teeth in frustration.
If only I could see what was going on! Right now I have no idea if I'm just barely missing the rope or miles off!
The proud war maiden began squirming agitatedly, twisting her hands and arms to check if she couldn't slip any ropes to a more accessible position on her body. But not only did the ropes refuse to cooperate, in her impatience she also lost grip of the rock!
"Aarrhhh!" She let out a near-primal growl. "You've got to be kidding me!" The bluenette added, bucking around with kicking legs and twisting torso.
After tiring herself out, Ludmilla took a few deep breaths and started her search for the rock again. Thankfully it didn't take her long to close her fingers around by now all too familiar shape of hardened earth.
"Okay Ludmilla, calm down. You can do this. Just calmly point the rock down and start scraping."
The bluenette started to gingerly slide her hands up and down, making full use of the few inches of wriggle room she had at her disposal. This time she at least felt some resistance when manoeuvring the rock back and forth.
After what felt like hours, Ludmilla ceased her assault on her ropes and tried flexing her arms a little.
Still stuck.
"Mggrnn!" She grunted as she exerted more force, but the ropes wouldn't budge. However the young war maiden could swear she felt there was a little bit more leeway for her to struggle.
It might have been her imagination, false hope to keep her spirits up, but it did the trick. Ludmilla began to eagerly scrape away at her ropes again, determined to keep going until she heard the satisfying sound of snapping rope.
The young warrior had been so focused on escaping her ropes she never even heard the soft creaking of the snow from Tigre's boots.
The young hunter had tried to approach his target as stealthily as possible, but not even he could tread snow this thick without a sound. So, he felt rather lucky that Ludmilla had been so deep in concentration.
The skilled hunter had discovered Ludmilla's location over half an hour ago, using the trail she'd left crawling through the snow.
But rather than jump her then and there, he decided to use the time she would spend trying to escape for preparing a more effective means of transport.
Even if he caught the bluenette again, she would simply struggle to escape his grasp again and slow their travels down again. In the best case they would end up having to camp out another night, forcing him to stay awake a whole night to ensure she wouldn't free herself. Worst case: she'd hurt herself during one of her precarious escape attempts.
So, Tigre had constructed a small sled using leftover rope, several strong branches and parts of dry but sturdy bark.
Now that it was finished, he snuck back to the spear wielding warrior and inspected her restraints.
Good, she hasn't managed to free herself. It's a good thing I played it so safe by binding her hands like that. If I'd been less thorough Ludmilla would probably be free by now...
The slender war maiden was lying on her stomach, arching her back and groaning softly. "Come on!"
Her left hand was definitely more mobile than when she'd started out, but it still couldn't slip free from those aggravating ropes. Her shoulders were screaming at her to relax, but Ludmilla kept pulling, gritting her teeth and her eyes squeezed shut from the effort. Her entire body, every muscle was pulled so taut from her herculean effort that she'd adopted a crecent-moon shape, with her chest and legs both lifted off the snow-covered ground!
Because of her deep focus, the young woman damn-near had a heart attack when something grabbed her right arm completely out of the blue and pressed down on her.
"AAAHH!" She yelped in reflex, squirming instinctively. Her mind had initially jumped to a predator leaping onto her back to attack. But a split second later the realization came that it was a hand wrapped around her arm.
Which could only mean...
"YOU!" She snapped, craning her neck to see her masked kidnapper.
"Hold still, I don't want to hurt you."
"Then you shouldn't have tied these ropes so tightly. I'm sore all over!"
"That's because you've been struggling so much."
"Of course I've been struggling! I am being held captive against my will!!"
"Fair point. But I'm afraid you didn't make much progress."
The blue haired warrior's eyes widened. "You're lying!" She replied, writhing around in the snow in protest.
"Well you haven't untied a single rope." Came back dryly.
"I am very close to freeing one of my hands!"
"Then I suppose it is a good thing I arrived when I did." Tigre replied, kneeling to inspect her ropes. Ludmilla had indeed loosened her wrist bindings somewhat.
"NO! Let go of me!" She mewled as her wrists were tightened up again.
Minutes, maybe even hours of hard work undone in a matter of seconds! Ludmila felt so cheated she wanted to punch something. Which only made her helplessness more frustrating.
But Tigre didn’t stop at fixing her current restraints. He took the last lengths of rope from his backpack and pulled Ludmilla's legs up close to her body.
"URS! W-what are you doing?" She stammered as Tigre guided her thighs to rest against her belly.
The warrior's cheeks lit up as his gloved hands caressed her bare skin, moving down from her thighs to her calves.
She tried to fight him, but between the ropes and her drained stamina she stood no chance of resisting the red haired archer.
His first rope Tigre wrapped around Ludmilla's waist and thighs to keep her bent double. The next one ran underneath her body from her ankles to her upper back, completely securing the young woman's legs. With the added humiliation of her every twitch now wedging a thick rope into her skirt and panties.
"This is even more uncomfortable than being carried in your arms!" She protested.
"But it's safer." Was the calm response as the archer lifted Ludmilla onto the sled and connected several ends of his ropework to the wooden construction, preventing her from rolling off.
"Aaarhhhgg!" She screamed in outrage as even her wildest efforts were reduced to meek wriggles. "Release me!"
"You can shout at me all you want, my mind is made up. Although I would advise to stay silent."
"Or what? You'll gag me too?!" She spat.
"That might be a good idea." He warned.
Ludmilla glowered at her captor. "Don't. You. DARE!"
"Then keep your voice down. Unless you'd rather start an avalanche or announce your arrival to the camp beforehand, when we finally get there. I'm hoping to bring you in unnoticed."
"Tsk, is that supposed to make me feel better?" Ludmilla snided.
Although deep down, it really did.
I didn't expect him to care about my honour or reputation to this extend. Urs is a complicated man...
"If we play our cards right, Eleonora will be the only person who ever needs to know of this." Tigre continued.
"She's the one person I'd never want to be seen by like this!" Ludmilla snapped, rocking the sled with her frantic struggle.
But Tigre had ended the conversation by finally getting a move on, dragging the sled carrying his trophy behind him.
And poor Ludmilla had no choice but to quietly lie there and wait for them to reach their destination. The bluenette was fuming, embarrassed and nervous.
I am never going to hear the end of this from Eleonora…
