Anne awoke to the sound of a soft knock at her door.
"Come in?" she said, sitting up in bed.
A dark haired girl, a cheetah-morph Anne had never seen before stuck her head in, smiling cheerfully. "Good morning! You're going to be late for breakfast. Eat quickly, and then go to Silva Marie's chambers. You've been summoned," she said, not without a note of jealousy. She ducked her head out again and softly closed the door.
Anne sighed, looking out the room's only window and finding it had been full light out for at least an hour. Her various welts no longer throbbed; they had settled into an ache that could be ignored with effort. She stood, and readied herself to meet Silva Marie.
Anne came to Silva Marie's chamber door to find it already open, servants carrying bundles rushing in and out. A tall, well muscled, snow leopard male in grey and brown carrying a strange assortment of leather straps came close to running right into her as she moved inside. He glared at her and muttered a curse over one shoulder as he continued on his way, in a great hurry.
Bewildered, Anne looked about for Silva Marie, and found her sitting at a dressing table, a gaggle of servants swarming about her performing various tasks; two were tending to her hair, brushing and perfuming it as others buffed her fingernails and tightened a corset's ribbons at her back. She turned as Anne drew in close, smiling a nervous, excited smile.
"Anne! It's about time. What kept you so long? And what are you doing in that plain thing?" she said, wrinkling her nose and pulling at Anne's shift with distaste.
"I, it's all I have, Mistress Silva Marie. I could put on the dress I arrived in, if you would prefer?" she asked, lowering her ears and stepping out of the way of a servant girl bent on the task of fetching Silva Marie's jewelry box.
Silva Marie scoffed, looking at herself in the mirror and waving a paw in Anne's general direction. "Brutus, take Anne to find something more appropriate. We can't have her accompanying me to Richard Shawn Banon's castle dressed like that now, can we?"
Anne turned, and found Brutus to be the tall, rude man who'd bumped into her previously. He had a handsome face, she now realized, a strong jaw and grey eyes the color of storm clouds. His lips were full, on the verge of pouting but retaining a semblance of masculinity.
He lumbered to the door, waving at her to follow with one large paw. "This way… Anne, right?"
Anne nodded, rushing to keep up. "Yes, I'm Anne. Mistress Silva Marie called you Brutus?" she asked, tagging along behind him as he led her to a storage closet, his tail swaying lazily. He grunted at her in an affirmative, opening the door and rummaging around inside.
Turning to her, he held out a gorgeous grey, ankle length dress. It appeared deceptively demure, but as Anne drew in close and lifted the material in her fingers, she realized that the dress' cut made it just the opposite. Two wide holes had been cut and hemmed at the waist's curves, as well as one at the small of the back and another at the front. A fifth and final hole lay at the breast, this one long enough so as to reveal a great deal, but not everything.
She blushed as she realized the erotic nature of the dress and looked up at Brutus to find him gazing down at her with amusement. He chuckled at her embarrassment and dumped the dress into her arms. "Mistress'll want you back soon's you're dressed," he grunted, grinning, then turned and ambled off.
Anne watched after his back for a moment, then continued on to her room to slip into the dress. It fit her like a glove, skin tight and cut as if tailored to her in particular. She turned to her dresser's mirror and flushed hotly at her own reflection, lifting her paws and pressing them to her body as she turned one way, then the other.
The femme gazing back at her was the epitome of sensual perfection, tendrils of thick red hair curling over her shoulders and teasing at the slope of her breasts beyond the deceptively demure neckline of the dress. The various holes in the fabric cast shadowed temptation, not pressing tight to as she had thought they would—instead they remained raised, pulled away from her form just enough to offer a dark glimpse of what lay beyond.
She turned away from the mirror, a flush creeping over her cheeks again, then laughed softly to herself. "To think, embarrassed to look at myself in the mirror…" Turning back, she bent to the task of quickly piling her hair up on top of her head, forming it into a clumsy make-shift bun that offset the sculpted perfection of the dress.
Smoothing her paws down over her body, looking in the mirror and assuring herself she hadn't put any wrinkles in the dress, she sighed to herself resolutely and left her room on bare feet.
Silva Marie was up and about when Anne entered her chambers once more, bustling about the room nervously in an ornate brown dress that held her from neck to ankle. The bodice showed off her every curve and valley, tightened by the corset at its back to the point that it made it obviously hard to breath.
Her breasts threatened to tumble right out, large, creamy white globes held high and jiggling fetchingly with her every step. The dress' skirts flared very wide at her hips, swaying heavily as she paced, and obscuring even the hint of her legs. Dusted over the heavy material at regular intervals were tiny little rhinestone rubies, their blood red depths catching the light. Wearing so much red was a risk Anne didn't understand. If brought up on it, Silva Marie would be caught in a serious social guffaw.
Silva Marie's various servants stood around, waiting for any order she might have. Brutus wasn't present, Anne noticed as she stepped farther into the room in the hopes of catching the woman's eye.
Silva Marie did notice her, coming to a dead stop and looking Anne up and down. Several emotions flickered over her face, from desire and wonder, to envy and then fear. "Anne…" she said, voice thick with disapproval, "Why don't you look cute in that. Here, this should top it off nicely."
Walking to one of her many closets, Silva Marie reached in and withdrew a heavy grey smock and handed it to Anne. Plain and unassuming, the garment would hide every little sensual detail the dress she was wearing had to offer. Anne slipped into it obediently.
Silva Marie looked her over, disapproval sated only slightly. She then smiled, "Ah, one last thing." Crossing the room, she lifted a worn leather collar, plain and frayed, and returned to Anne. "Tilt your chin up, girl…"
Anne blinked at the collar then did as she was told, lifting her chin up. Silva Marie moved in close behind her, so close she could feel the weight of her skirts pressing against her tail and the backs of her legs, and looped the collar about her neck. She cinched it tight, fastening the heavy metal buckle with ease.
"Yes, much better…" Silva Marie said to herself, standing back and surveying her. Cloaked in the misleading smock and wearing the collar, Anne no longer outshone her. She shifted under the femme's gaze, fighting the urge to fidget. The brown leather collar rode up uncomfortably high on her neck, at least two inches wide, but was, to Silva Marie's credit, not too tight.
Smiling, Silva Marie nodded then turned, sending servants scurrying left and right on her way to the door. Anne hurried after. "Away with you now! You have the day off." she purred to them, turning to Anne and looping a finger through the buckle of her collar. "Anne and I are going to see Richard Shawn Banon."
Anne lowered her ears, watching the servants quietly file out of the room, most of them giving her sympathetic looks.
The ride to Richard Shawn Banon's estate was much like the ride to Silva Marie's only a couple days ago. It seemed so long ago as Anne stared out the window, unbearably hot under the smock, sitting in the stuffy coach across from Silva Marie. Her welts hummed with a dull ache.
The horse's rhythmic clip clop revealed the hurried pace, as did the occasional 'Heeyah!' and crack of the reigns from Brutus, the hand servant turned driver. She felt a paw on her knee, and turned to find Silva Marie leaning over to her, face alive with excitement, "Isn't it wonderful? Richard Shawn Banon, sending for me."
Anne smiled and nodded, having never even heard of Richard Shawn Banon and not knowing the reason behind Silva Marie's nervous behavior, save for the fact that it was always a cause for excitement to be summoned by someone of a higher caste. "Yes Mistress…" she said softly.
Silva Marie scoffed, sitting back and waving a paw at her, "Oh, you silly girl. I bet you don't even know who Richard Shawn Banon is, do you?"
Biting her lip, Anne shook her head and lowered her eyes, "No, Mistress…"
Silva Marie looked out the window and continued, "Richard Shawn Banon is simply the most highly spoken of Green there is. To be summoned by him is the highest honor." She sat up straighter as she said this, smoothing out her bodice.
Anne nodded mutely. Silva Marie looked over at her, rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Simple girl, why I bother explaining these things to my servants I'll never know. It's not as if you could ever understand the social intricacies." She leaned in again, patting Anne's knee sympathetically, "Suffice to say, girl, it is a good thing."
Nodding again, Anne managed a small smile. "Yes, Mistress…" Silva Marie sat back in her seat, withdrawing her paw, and Anne gratefully resumed looking out the window at the rolling country side.