Maidenless No Longer (Elden Ring)

Rya was on top of the world. She was over the moon! Even if it meant she’d dared to talk back to Lady Tanith, she couldn’t help but be thrilled with herself. Lady Tanith… she hadn’t even reprimanded her! That made Rya all the surer in her decision to defend her hero from the Lady. As much as she owed everything to Lady Tanith… she owed plenty to the Tarnished as well.
 
And she was right, too! She’d TOLD Lady Tanith that he would return. That her silent hero would not abandon them so quickly! She knew he had the stuff of champions, that he had the heart of a warrior and the true valor of a knight! He’d proven her right by returning after that first mission, successful at that. He was prospective no longer, but a Recusant in truth and deed instead.
 
It had only made sense to her, to mention her concerns to the Tarnished. Perhaps she should have spoken to the Lady instead, or one of the other members of the family, there at Volcano Manor. But she wanted an… outside perspective. So, she’d mentioned hearing things from behind the walls to her Tarnished, to see what he thought. Of course, she’d immediately felt self-conscious and tried to walk it back, but he’d placed a hand on her shoulder and shaken his head solemnly, all but telling her that he would look into it for her, or so she’d interpreted.
 
Of course, then he’d gotten his next assignment from the Manor, and had to leave again. But Rya knew he would be back soon. She knew he would return any day, successful and-
 
Her hero steps into the room, and Rya stiffens up, forced to contain her gasp of delight. He walks over to her with the bearing of a man who has once again proved victorious. The Volcano Manor’s newest Recusant, successful once more. Oh, how Rya was beside herself with happiness. But she… she had to play it cool, of course. He was clearly here to talk to her, but no matter how happy she was to see him, she had to be careful, right?
 
“Brave Tarnished, what is your business here? I’m afraid this is not a guest room.”
 
Looking down at him, as he in turn looks up at her with a raised brow, Rya frowns.
 
“What’s that peculiar look on your face?”
 
Then it hits her, and she shudders in surprise and horror. He’s looking UP at her… she’s looking DOWN at him! In an instant, Rya, or rather, Zorayas, realizes she’s not in her human form. No, she’s in her Snakeborn form, her TRUE form.
 
“G-Goodness, am I still a serpent?”
 
Oh no… oh no, oh no, no, no! She’s ruined everything!
 
“Oh, how dreadful… how dreadful indeed.”
 
He’ll hate her now! He’ll despise her with every fiber of his being! She’d… been such a fool, to relax even here! After all, nobody else is to know her true form. Not even the rest of the Volcano Manor’s family. Not even Bernahl and Patches know, and certainly not that other newcomer, the one who seemed too afraid to even leave the Drawing Room. She’d thought she was secure… but she’d forgotten how inquisitive her Tarnished could be.
 
But regardless, only Lady Tanith and her Knight knew, and… well, Lady Tanith was the one who taught Zorayas how to take the form of Rya the Scout in the first place. And the Lady’s Knight wasn’t talking…
 
She had considered telling her Tarnished about her true nature! Truly! It wasn’t… it wasn’t anything to be ashamed of, or so the Lady always said! But now he’d think she’d been intending to hide it from him! Now he’d hate her for lying to him!
 
Except… as Zorayas looks down at the Tarnished, at her hero, he’s looking at her expectantly. No differently than usual, really. And that kindness in his eyes is still there, even as he offers her a smile. He… actually didn’t mind? And here she was, making a fool of herself and moaning all silly-like.
 
“Oh… forgive my distress, Tarnished. I ought to be thanking you for treating me as usual, despite this appearance.”
 
Right, well, there was nothing for it was there? She simply had to tell the truth now, as it were.
 
“Brave Tarnished. This is my true form. My real name… is Zorayas.”
 
Ducking her large serpentine head, Zorayas flushes as much as her scaly visage allows her to do so.
 
“Please forgive the deception. Understand plainly, this duplicity was my own doing. Lady Tanith has spoken no falsehoods, and the Volcano Manor is exactly as it seems.”
 
He nods, accepting her words… but with an expectant look on his face all the same. Zorayas wrings her hands for a moment, before squirming happily.
 
“C-Could it be… that you wish to hear my story?”
 
When he nods again, she very carefully contains the urge to squeal for joy. Keeping herself calm, she chooses her words carefully.
 
“Lady Tanith is my mother. I am told I was born by the grace of a glorious king. My mother cherishes this form I inhabit. I am proud of what I am. But… people are cruel. If they saw my true form, they wouldn’t speak to me.”
 
Shaking her head, Zorayas shrugs her shoulders.
 
“As such, I assume a guise when seeking new recruits.”
 
Tilting her head, she eyes her Tarnished, and smiles.
 
“But you are not like the rest, are you? Until now, my serpentine form, and my true name of Zorayas, were secrets known only to Lady Tanith and I. Now I share the secrets with you, as well. Please… k-keep them safe from anyone else.”
 
Solemn as ever, stalwart and kind, her Tarnished nods to her, silently swearing himself to secrecy. Of course, it wasn’t like he ever spoke anyways, so Zorayas’ secret… it was safe with him, wasn’t it? Safer than with even herself, given how her foolish error had resulted in him finding out her secret in the first place!
 
“Thank you, Brave Tarnished.”
 
He leaves soon after, and Zorayas watches him go before slowly transforming back into the form of Rya. Truly, she had been foolish to let her guard down, for even a second…
 
In fact, now that he knows of her secret… Zorayas wonders if, perhaps, she should tell the Tarnished more about what she’s seen, about the strange happenings of Volcano Manor. It didn’t seem possible, that the Lady would be hiding something from her. Lady Tanith was her mother, the woman she trusted with all her heart. And yet… and yet…
 
Yes, Zorayas resolves then and there to warn her friend, when he next came to visit her. She would tell him and ask him to let her in on anything she discovered. Together, perhaps, they would get to the bottom of all of this…
 
-x-X-x-
 
… She’d been a fool, to think she wanted to get to the bottom of… of THIS. Deep within the Volcano Manor’s darker half, Rya the Scout kneels. After the things she’s discovered, she dares not take her serpent form again. She is… she is a monster. It is better like this, that she be the hunchbacked human Rya, then the Snakeborn Zorayas.
 
Her Tarnished had come through for her, and a small part of her hated him for it. When he’d first come back to her and told her about the secrets Lady Tanith was keeping from her, Rya hadn’t known what to think. She’d begun having her doubts then, about some of the things her Lady had told her. So, she’d sent him back, asking him to find more.
 
He had. He’d found… much more. He’d found her womb, the womb that she’d been born from. The Serpent’s Amnion had… it had awakened something inside of her. Something that demanded answers. She could not and would not continue to run from the truth. She’d been willfully blind for so very long, and ultimately, she’d thought she wasn’t afraid anymore.
 
She’d been lying to herself. Venturing into the other half of the Volcano Manor hadn’t truly been all that dangerous to one such as her. But only because she was like the rest of them. A monster. She didn’t have anything to fear from all of THEM, but she had plenty to fear from herself, as she’d eventually discovered.
 
Rya had the answers she sought now. At what cost? Only the cost of her sanity. Of her will to live. She was… she was anathema. She was-
 
The sound of someone entering through the window of her little hideaway startles Rya out of her thoughts. Lifting her head, she blinks blearily through tears to see HIM standing there. The Tarnished, her hero and savior… come at last. Good. Good, she knows she can count on him to do what needs to be done.
 
“Brave Tarnished…”
 
She has to stop and swallow past the lump in her throat, to keep the tears at bay. She knows, once she says what she has to say, that he will agree with her… and deliver unto her death. Perhaps some part of her is still afraid of dying… but the words need to be spoken. He needs to know.
 
“I’m afraid… there is something I must tell you.”
 
Staring down at her hands, currently human, Rya sighs and the words finally slip free.
 
“I was an unwanted child. Born not of grace, but of a hideous ritual. I… I embody something that can NEVER be accepted. Not by men, nor by serpents. Even… even Lady Tanith shouldn’t accept me.”
 
There, now he knows. All that’s left… is to ask. No matter how much of a struggle it is.
 
“… I know that you’ve done so much for me, Brave Tarnished. But I wish to ask one last kindness.”
 
He looks down at her, as if he knows what she’s going to say before she says it. Maybe he does… but it still needs to be said.
 
“Kill me, please.”
 
Shuddering, Rya closes her eyes tight as tears threaten to break free.
 
“I thought I feared nothing, but this… please, Brave Tarnished. Free me from this accursed frame.”
 
Lowering her head, she waits. Waits for his sword to be drawn from its sheath. Waits for it to swing down, and part her head from her neck. Even if she is in her human form, she will still die all the same. And Rya… Rya would prefer to die in this form, rather than the form she’d spent so long being proud of. As Zorayas the Snakeborn, she is a monster. But as Rya, maybe she can hold onto one last bit of humanity, before the end.
 
Except, the anticipated end never comes. Instead of drawing his weapon and bringing her life to a close, her Tarnished… kneels down beside her. Rya flinches at first, before realizing his hands are empty of any blade, of anything at all. He places a hand on her shoulder, and slowly she looks up at him through teary eyes, to find him staring back at her, sorrow in his eyes… but not the sorrow of a man who knows what must be done. No, this is the sorrow of a man who mourns for her lost innocence, and the idea that she thinks she must die.
 
In that moment, Rya knows beyond a shadow of a doubt one simple truth…
 
“You’re not going to kill me, are you? Heh.”
 
Slowly, her Tarnished shakes his head. Licking her lips, Rya lets out another sigh.
 
“You’ve always been so kind to me. And so uncompromising.”
 
Even now, he did not believe her to be a monster? Rya didn’t believe it. She couldn’t-
 
Her eyes widen, as his lips meet hers. She sees it coming but doesn’t comprehend what he’s doing until their mouths are upon one another and he’s… he’s kissing her. Not only does he refuse to kill her, not only will he not slay her… but now he k-kisses her? Despite knowing everything there is to know about her monstrous origins?! Despite having uncovered everything she’s uncovered, and even more?!
 
At first, Rya is frozen in disbelief. But after a moment, she surges forward, wrapping her arms around her Tarnished’s neck and kissing him back. How many times has she fantasized about precisely this thing happening? How often has she dreamed of him and her, l-like this? Once or twice, she thought to lay with him in her serpent form… but it would never work. She was more snake than woman like that. Incompatible, right?
 
But like this… Zorayas could never give her Tarnished the pleasure he deserved. Rya the Scout, on the other hand… yes, Rya the Scout could do it. She could spread her legs.
 
Of course, it’s nothing nearly as crass as that. He’s warm and inviting and goes as slowly as Rya needs him to. His armor comes off, piece by piece, carefully set aside as her fingers fidget with straps and buckles while helping him strip himself. His bared chest… she spends minutes just running her hands over it, fascinated by his toned musculature.
 
She’d known he was strong, her Tarnished, but she’s impressed and can’t deny it. Her breath hitches, as she runs hands up and down his body. And still, he’s careful not to touch more of her than she allows him to. Hah, allows… she will gladly give him everything, as is proper, as she should. But… it is kind of him to let her take it slowly.
 
And take it slowly they do. Her dress does eventually come off, but only after the Tarnished is in turn stripped down to little more than his undergarments. As she strips for him, he watches her quietly, an encouraging smile on his face. Rya can’t help but be self-conscious. She knows she doesn’t have the most beautiful human form. A pretty enough face perhaps, but the hunchback she’s forced to bear is rather hideous, is it not? Alas, this is the only form she can take, what with her serpent body always pushing against her ironclad control.
 
She may not be as beautiful as Lady Tanith, but the Tarnished treats her like she is, all the same. There, in her secret little hideaway, amidst the candles and the bones, her hero lays her back upon her own dress, repurposed as a blanket, and carefully frees his mast from the final barrier holding it back.
 
Rya’s breath hitches at the sight of it, and she bites her lower lip in anticipation of the pain, but she doesn’t try to stop him. She wants this… no matter how much it looks like it will hurt. Still, his fingers work along her sex for several minutes first, and she… well, she was already aroused from their kissing. When he does finally fit himself against her, and begin to push inside, Rya gasps, a little surprised by the overall lack of pain.
 
He takes it slowly, of course. Everything is so slow, so gentle, so kind. Rya gives herself to him, to her Tarnished… but at the same time, she can’t help but feel like he’s giving a piece of himself back to her. As he fills her, she gasps, and her hunched back arches all the same. As he pushes in and out of her, Rya’s human legs wind around his waist, a bit like a pair of serpents. She holds him close, and he responds by kissing her and embracing her just as tightly.
 
He's so warm, her Tarnished. And as they couple, she feels safe and secure for the first time in far too long. Letting it all out, Rya allows herself to cry. She sobs, even, though the tears are as much of happiness as they are of sorrow. Her Tarnished seems to instinctively understand that, as he’s always seemed to instinctively understand her. And so, they make sweet, sweet love there in that small room, amidst the candles and the bones, surrounded on all sides by enemies… by the servants of her blasphemous father.
 
When all is said and done, when they are most certainly finished, the two of them, Rya lays back on her dress, panting and doing her level best to catch her breath. The Tarnished, meanwhile, runs a hand across her body, gently caressing parts of her that she’d never truly cared for before. But now… now they might be his favorite parts. She didn’t know, and she was too embarrassed to ask. Still, one thing was for certain… she was happiest in this form now. Because it made her Tarnished happy, and that was all that mattered.
 
Well… almost all that mattered.
 
“Brave Tarnished…”
 
He looks at her questioningly, and she gives him a wan smile.
 
“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you? My father?”
 
Slowly, the Tarnished nods, solemn and serious. He stops stroking her, but Rya reaches out and grabs his hand, lacing her fingers with his as she looks into his eyes.
 
“Good. If you could promise me one thing though… please try to spare Lady Tanith, afterwards. I-If it’s at all possible…”
 
He nods again, solemn and serious, and Rya knows that if it is within his power, her mother will live. And quite a lot has been proven to be within her Tarnished’s power. Letting out an explosive breath, Rya smiles shakily.
 
They part ways soon afterwards. He must continue on his path, and she… she must decide what she will do next. She can not stay here. This Rya knows instinctively, even as she gets dressed. Volcano Manor is no longer… there is not a place for her here anymore. There won’t be a place here for any of the family once the Tarnished finishes his grisly work.
 
But she’s loath to leave him behind. Her hero and savior… and now, her lover. Biting her lower lip, Rya considers where she will go for a moment. Ultimately, she realizes there’s only one place she can be SURE she will see the Tarnished again. And so, she will make her way to this Roundtable Hold… and be ready to help her Tarnished in any way she possibly can.

-x-X-x-

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