Rose leaned over the green growing things, breathing in the smell of new life. She ran a gloved finger over furry leaves, bruise-dark blossoms shrinking at her touch.

"Hello, you pretty, deadly things," she murmured.

She snapped the blossoms from their stems and set them aside in a basket, collected the milky sap that flowed from the injured plant in a vial, careful not to let it get on her skin. She corked the bottle and held it to the light, smiling.

"There," she said, satisfied.

A mouthful of Maresbane sap could kill a full-grown horse. By the time she was finished distilling and refining it, a drop could kill a whole village.

Rose pulled off her gloves and dropped them into the basket, looking around her little poisonous tower garden. She liked the subtle poisons best, the pretty flowers that hid their venom beneath bright petals. She picked up her basket and sighed, contented.

"Rose."

She heard the heavy tread of armor on the stone behind her, turned, holding the basket in front of her like a shield.

"My lord," she said.

"Rose," he said again, voice rough and full of hunger.

She felt her skin prickle. Gold eyes stared into her from beneath a black helm. She set the basket aside and went to him, took black mailed hands in her own.

"Welcome home, my love."

He bowed his head, black helm touching her forehead, held her so tightly she thought he would break her back.

"Did you miss me, darling?" she asked, winded.

She reached up, pulling the black helmet from his tangled dark hair, and kissed him. Their lips met like an electric shock, and she felt her heart lurch, as it always did. He lifted her up, pressed her up against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his hips, skirts hiking up her thighs.

"Oh! What are you- No,not here!" She gasped, cheeks flushing. "Someone could see us!"

"I don't care," he whispered, body pressed against hers, sliding a hand up her thigh.

She felt her legs tighten around him, an involuntary spasm, felt her cunt grow flushed as her cheeks burned.

"No," she whispered again. "Please."

He made a low noise of displeasure, but pulled back from the wall and carried her in a few broad strides across the hall to her bedroom. He slammed the heavy door, sent her tumbling to the bed. She lay gasping against the pillow, heard the sounds of armor falling to the floor. She turned, and he caught the edge of her sleeve, ripping her dress open, exposing a pale breast. She gathered the tattered remnants to her chest and backed away, flushed and panting.

"I missed you, too," she gasped.

"My sweet little Rose." He came after her, caught her chin in a massive hand and turned her mouth to his. "I love it when your face is as red as your name."

"Don't tease me!"

"Oh, but I love to tease you, little plaything." He trailed a hand down the curve of her neck, the swell of her breast, caught her nipple and gave it a cruel tweak. She moaned, stiffening. "I love the sounds you make when I toy with you."

"Please," she whispered.

His hands slipped lower, stroked the curve of her thighs beneath the dress, electrifying her.

"Please what?"

"I want..."

"What do you want?"

She covered her face with her hands and whispered something. He pulled the tattered dress down around her hips in a rough motion, and she gasped. He ran a finger gently over the taut skin of her stomach, slid lower, stroking her clit, felt her start to move her hips against his hand.

"What do you want, Rose?"

"I want you to fuck me," she whispered, covering her face.

"Such language, Rose. Imagine, if anyone else could hear you now."

"I don't care," she gasped out, voice growing husky. "I don't care, just fuck me!"

He seized her arms and pushed her spread-eagled against the bed, staring down at her with a cruel smile. She blushed, the heat of his gaze moving over her body.

"Stop torturing me, gods damn it," she panted.

"Oh, my love, I've only just begun."

He spread her legs apart, slipped a finger into her, beckoning. She moaned, twisting against him, trying to pull away from the mad hunger he woke in her, tense as a harp string. He held her down with his other hand, amused.

"Do you ever wonder why I wanted you, and not your sister?" he asked.

"What?" She looked at him, annoyed. "How can you talk about my sister at a time like this?"

He pulled his fingers out, and she gasped. He ran a thumb down her cheek, and she shuddered.

"I chose you over Velvet, darling Rose, because she...she would have enjoyed this unreservedly." He pushed back against the bed and thrust into her savagely, held her there. "But you, my love, you're ashamed by what you feel. Part of you loathes the fact that you love this."

"Stop it," she gasped. "Don't say that."

"But it's true, isn't it?" He wrapped her braid around his fist, driving into her. She moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck. He turned her head and kissed her ear. "You're even more of a slut than your sister."

"Don't do this to me," she gasped. "It isn't fair."

"I've never been fair," he whispered.

"No," she gasped. "No, please don't, please, stop-"

"Is that what you want?"

He pulled away from her then, rose from the bed and walked to the window. He looked back at her, smiled his cruel smile. Rose held the sheets to her breasts, lips parted, heard herself make a mewling noise full of need.

"Come here," he said.

She stood, kicking her way free of the dress, trembling. Slowly, she walked to his side. He pushed her down against the windowsill.

"Wait," she whispered, cheek against the stone. "Wait, if someone looks up here, they could see us!"

"Imagine if they could see you, Rose." She felt his cock pressing against her thigh, and it was all she could do to keep from pushing herself onto him. "Imagine how that would feel."

She shivering, imagining people staring, the whispers, above all, the shame, if he fucked her in the middle of the village square, in front of everyone. Everyone would know what she was, everyone would see her degraded- She felt her cheeks grow hot, her body burning.

"Oh, gods," she whispered, reached back and pulled him into her.

He growled, pushed her up against the iron lattice of the window. Her fingers curled around the metal and she cried out, loud, unable to stop herself, as he pounded into her, grinding her hips back against him. Her breasts brushed the lattice work with every thrust, and she could see the whole of the village spread out beneath the tower, see shepherds tending their flocks. Everyone could hear her, she thought, she should be quiet, if they heard they'd look up and see her- His hand tangled in her braid, yanked her head back. He kissed her, feral, and she cried out against his lips, came in a tumult, ears ringing, shuddering against him.

"My most prim and proper little whore." She sagged against him, and he picked her up, carrying her back to the bed. "I'm not finished with you yet."

"Please," she gasped, propping herself up on her elbows to look up at him, hair flying loose from its braid. "Don't- don't call me that, I'm not-"

"Oh?" He climbed onto the bed, moving with sinuous strength, pushed her back with one dark hand. "What would you prefer, then? Harlot? Slattern?" He grabbed her by the thighs, in one swift motion pulled her onto his cock. "Slut?"

"Ah!" She felt her body responding, hands tangling in the sheets as she cried out.

"Gods, Rose," he panted. "You're so...ah! You're so bloody loud."

"Ah, please-"

He thrust into her, bestial, grip a vise on her thighs, fingers digging into her pale skin. She moaned, part of her despairing, while another part exalted in her debasement, the complete and utter loss of control. She could feel him tensing, felt everything trembling, felt him come with a hot rush and a low growl. He pushed into her, furious, and then she felt his muscles uncoiling as he glared down at her, panting.

Rose smiled up at him, arced an eyebrow.

"Did the earth move for you, too?" she said dryly.

His face eased into a smile, and he sighed, laid back and took her in his arms. She snuggled back against his broad chest.

"I lo-" she started to say, then heard a scrabbling outside the door. She frowned. "Ugh! Those little perverts!"

"I'll deal with them later."

"I've forbidden your bloody minions from sneaking into my tower, you know, but they just keep finding their way up here and into my things. I've had an uncountable number of unmentionables go missing. I'm going to start setting traps if they don't behave themselves."

"You can't just tell them not to do something, Rose. You need to smack them around a bit to really get it through their skulls."

"I'll let you handle that, then. Brute force is more your forte." She gave him a wry look. "Speaking of which, you absolutely ruined my favorite dress."

"Oops." He said laconically. "Don't you have five or six more exactly like it?"

"Well, yes, like I said, it is my favorite. And now I have only five more exactly like it, thank you."

"It looks better on the floor," he said, remorseless.

"Cad."

"I never said I wasn't."

They lay in the golden silence, warm light dappling the bed. Rose smiled, contented, then stopped short as a thought occurred to her.

"I have a question," she said slowly, not sure if she would like the answer.

"What?"

"Did you mean what you said?" She twisted around to meet his eyes. "What you said, about- about me and Velvet. Was that the only reason you chose me?"

He sat up and looked down at her, and she flushed

"No," he said slowly, voice hoarse. "You...balance me, Rose. With you, it doesn't matter that I can't even remember my own name, or who I used to be." He touched her cheek, suddenly gentle. "I think I might love you, and sometimes it makes me want to break you."

She shivered, suddenly aware of how strong his hands were, how much bigger he was than she.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"No." She pulled him to her, wrapped her arms around his neck. "You built me a garden, love." She kissed the side of his chin. "And you also know that I am not defenseless- like every rose, I have my thorns. Oh, and in regards to that, we have some business to discuss."

She untangled herself from the sheets and pulled on a robe, picked up a sheet of parchments from her desk. He groaned, laying back against the pillows.

"Does it have to be now, Rose?"

"We've put this off for far too long," she said briskly.

"Maybe we could discuss it in bed."

She gave him a wry look.

"We've tried that before, remember? I recall it ending in spilled ink, and...ahem...some rather damp and crumpled pages. No, thank you, we won't be trying that particular experiment again."

"Ah, fine...if you insist." He sat and gave her a rather woebegone look, and she hid a smile.

"Right. Taxes in Spree have been tallied. After going over the revenue from mutton, fleece, and grain versus the tribute we asked this season, it looks like we can afford to raise taxes a little bit. I've also been thinking of instituting a method of taxes where individuals would be taxed based on their income, would you like to hear about it?"

"I- not particularly, no."

"There's bound to be some grumbling at first, but then, there always is. Right. I'll draft some announcements, ask the mayor in Spree to hold a town hall, to make sure that everyone understands the new system." She made a note.

"In unrelated news, we've been having some trouble with the governor in Heaven's Peak. I've been over the tithe from the region, and compared it with their economic gains this season, and things just simply aren't adding up. I think he's been skimming from the top. He also hasn't been subtle about his...displeasure...with your rule."

"I could make an example of him."

"We could...but it would be tricky. He's quite popular, and I'm sure if we simply killed him outright we'd see our revenue from Heaven's Peak drop precipitously."

He rose, stretching, stalked to the window.

"Well, then, what do you suggest?"

"I know he's very fond of Dwarvish mead, so much so that he gets a shipment every month. I've had the minions find the route the shipment takes through the mountains, and I'm brewing up something special to slip into the next batch. If we do things my way, I guarantee he'll no longer be a problem."

"Hmm." He came up behind her, slipped his arms around her waist. "Yes, that will do nicely."

"I've also come up with a couple of recipes I'd like to test on a minion or two, if you don't mind."

"Whatever you need."

"Ooh, and if you happen to have a halfling or two in the dungeons..."

He nipped at the back of her neck, hand sliding beneath the robe to cup her breast, and she made an indignant noise.

"Darling, we're not finished yet! We still have to go over the tithe from Evernight, and-"

His other hand traced the curve of her hip, sliding back to cup her ass, and she caught her breath.

"Oh, gods damn you." She tossed the papers aside, turning to him. "It can wait."