Kurt unlocked the iron collar from around the blondes neck and instructed her to stand up. She complied. But as she stood, her legs felt sore and weak...and she wobbled a bit, nearly losing her balance. He caught her, realizing she wouldnt be able to function through the day without a bit of rest and recuperation. Kurt allowed Elizabeth to lean on him, leading her quietly up the stairway and then another until they reached her bedroom. He helped her onto the bed, smiling down at her. She couldnt. Should they behave as society expects of them now or should she listen to her body and accept what she knows is right.She read the stories of my experiences with other subs, knowing that she needed these experiences in her life but scared to trust and scared to admit her desires. But she pushed on her desire to explore to strong to ignore. She craved this and needed to see if she could be the sub she yearned to be. Once she admitted to me that she had cum many times reading the stories I knew. The only external component was the control panel atop the dais. She’d never requested access, having no interest in the portal’s inner workings, not after learning how lethal the components were to human life.“Why is it open?” she demanded. Was she already lethally irradiated? Where were Arma, Frieda, Gudrun, and the other palace inhabitants? “Do I need to evacuate the palace, Siri?”Siri adopted a soothing tone. “Procurement detects nothing dangerous in the exposed compartment. It is a storage. The Duke shook his head and cancelled the spell. "Send the Regent's order," he said as he turned back to Jaris. "We willproceed as planned." Yes, Your Grace."After the knight was gone, the Duke returned his attention to the wall,staring at it for a long time. Finally he shrugged, muttered somethingabout the noises an old castle makes, and left the office.Behind the stone, in a passage protected by powerful arcane wards, LordChamberlain Fenril breathed a sigh of relief.CHAPTER 20At first Marc.