Allergic to Revenge (The Favourite, F)

[Wilde]

After seeing the film recently, my brain decided to twist the scenario into something extremely indulgent and fetish-y, and I tried my best to turn it into a one shot.
For context, just like the film, the story is set in 1708, at the court of Queen Anne, with whom the young woman Abigail has gotten very friendly over a short period of time. The Queen's long time friend Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough, is not all too pleased with this development, and decided to take her revenge on Abigail. Enjoy!

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Aside from the sound of the birds chirping in the palace garden, accompanied by the muffled clicking of Abigail’s heels on the thick carpet, it was dead quiet in the hallway. However lovely the gardens were this time of year, every time she went outside something in the air seemed to set Abigail’s nose ablaze, causing an insufferable tickly sensation which often led to uncontrollable fits of sneezes. Hence, she had sought refuge in the hallway leading to Queen Anne’s chambers, knowing the Queen would be in a meeting with the House of Lords for the rest of the afternoon. The thought alone of Anne seeing her as vulnerable as she was now turned her cheeks red with shame and anger, but she had not yet found an excuse to disobey the Queen’s wish for company during her walks in the garden, and so Abigail had been forced to suffer through the misery from the start of this spring on.

Abigail rubbed her nostril with her pale fingertips, but when that seemed to do nothing against the itching tickle, she retrieved a handkerchief from her sleeve. Slowly, she unfolded the lace-rimmed cotton, and brought it up to her slightly upturned, red tinted nose. She rubbed her nostrils carefully but thoroughly, which normally helped to alleviate her reaction, but something was off; rather than the scent of the mild soap that it had been washed with, the cloth gave off a heavy floral odour, as if it had been sprayed with a perfume distilled directly from everything in the garden that was giving her hell at the moment. The exact moment she realised it must have been tampered with, her breath hitched and her head thrusted forward as she erupted into a triple of sneezes.

“Hiiii-hiii-hitsciew, hih-sshoo, h’tschoo”

Without the handkerchief to muffle them, the sneezes echoed through the hallway. This worried Abigail, as she could absolutely not be caught. Her affliction could not cost her her position. To make matters worse, the perfumed handkerchief seemed to have done more harm than good, and she could feel the urge to sneeze gain more and more power over her. Leaving the traitorous piece of cloth on the floor where it had fallen, she turned around and tiptoed towards the door of the Queen’s bedchamber. Maybe she could just hide there, if only for ten minutes, to think up a plan for what to do about these wicked allergies. She held a finger under her nose and rubbed gently, hoping to subdue the tickle long enough to find a hiding place. Making as little sound as she could, Abigail sneaked into the Queen’s bedchamber. The air was heavy, contributing to Abigail’s growing headache. As she sniffled heavily, her eyes fell onto the large four-poster bed at the end of the chamber. She could lie down, just for a second. Perhaps some rest would alleviate her symptoms, and she’d be able to leave without raising suspicion. Without a second thought, she climbed into the bed and rested her head on one of the many gold-embroidered cushions.

Just as Abigail was about to doze off, she heard a pair of heels moving across the floorboards. When she opened her eyes, she saw the silhouette of the Duchess of Marlborough moving towards her. Of all the people in the palace, the Duchess was quite literally the last person she wanted to see right now. Realising full well that she was in a compromised position, she sat up against the cushions, trying to think of an excuse.

“Sarah,” she said, trying to sound as innocent as possible. “What ever are you doing here? Don’t you have your own chambers? I am only here because Queen Anne asked me to wait for her here, I must have drifted off.” Hearing her own words, spoken in a thick congested voice, the reality of her problem hit Abigail. She felt the next fit of sneezed build up in her nose.

“Worry not, dear” Sarah replied in a voice that was just that bit too sweet to be believable. “You won’t get caught with your… affliction.”

In that moment, Abigail saw that Sarah was holding the handkerchief that she had dropped earlier. The Duchess of Marlborough saw her look and said: “Oh, yes. Did you like my perfume?” Seeing Abigail’s facial expression grow angrier, she continued: “Dear, is that what made you sneeze earlier? Yes, I heard. Poor thing, you are in quite a state indeed, and that in the Queen’s chambers. Don’t you worry, I will personally ensure we’re not interrupted.”

As she said this, the Duchess sat down on the edge of the bed, drawing the heavy curtains around the bed closed in one fluid movement. As she had intended, this arose a storm of dust. In a beam of light coming through a gap in the curtains, Abigail saw the millions of particles float through the air. She could only hold her breath for so long, and when she finally gasped for air, she could feel the dust particles join the pollen and the perfume to aggravate her already sensitive nose.

“Heh- heeeh- but why, S-eh-arah?” she asked, her breath hitching uncontrollably.

In response, the Duchess leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Well dear, see, I feel you need to be put in your place a bit. You’ve gotten very close to the Queen, while we both know that your meddling is not required nor appreciated.”

However much it angered Abigail to hear these words being spoken, she had a terribly difficult time focussing on what was being said, as her nose was in the curvature of the Duchess’ neck, and she was being tortured by that same sweet rich floral perfume that was all over her handkerchief.

“Hehh- heeeeh- I need to- hiihh- I- hih- need to- heehh…” Abigail tried to speak, but there was just no use. The tickle in her nose grew worse and worse, but there was no relief. She tried to bring a hand up to her face to massage her nostrils, hoping to somehow get the allergen out, but Sarah had a tight grip on her arm.

“You need to sneeze? Yes dear, I figured. Worry not,” she said, as she tightened her grip of Abigail’s arm. “You can just stay put, I figured this might happen, and I brought just the thing!”

From her wide dress sleeve, Sarah produced an ornate peacock’s feather. Abigail’s eyes grew wide as she knew what was about to happen. While the spring allergies were fairly recent, birds had always caused her great trouble. She stiffened as Sarah started to trace her bright red nostrils with the feather.

“HIH-TSCHIEW! HIIIIII-TCHIII! HAH-TSCHIE!” Abigail burst out into uncontrollable sneezes. The combination of the flower pollen, the perfume, the dust and the feather finally sent her over the edge. After a short while, Sarah removed the feather, looking quite pleased with herself. Abigail, not nearly ridden of the combination of allergens, desperately looked up at the feather, knowing nothing else could bring her relief at this point.

“Oh dear, how rude of me,” Sarah remarked in response. “I hadn’t given you back your handkerchief yet!” She held the heavily perfumed fabric in front of Abigail’s nose, and upon coming into contact with the allergen, the young woman burst out into a violent attack of sneezes, caught in and worsened by the handkerchief.

Sarah swiftly got up and walked towards the door, having mercifully left the feather on the bed. Stood by the door, she turned around, looked down on the miserably sneezing Abigail, and said: “Consider this revenge, dear.”

[Snapdragon]

Wow. I haven't seen the film yet, but the whole idea of a prim and proper noble lady vengefully plotting to set off a rival's allergies is SO HOT. *fans self*

[Wilde]

5 hours ago, Snapdragon said:

Wow. I haven't seen the film yet, but the whole idea of a prim and proper noble lady vengefully plotting to set off a rival's allergies is SO HOT. *fans self*

Aww, thank you! I can highly recommend the film; though it’s apparently not super historically accurate (I wouldn’t know tbh) the direction, setting, props etc were all beautifully done. 

Spoiler alert: Abigail isn’t one to take a warning to heart so I might well continue this 

[curlyq9393]

oooooh I like this very much! Would love it if you continued, & would not at ALL mind it if Sarah ever became a victim in a similar situation 😏

[Wilde]

29 minutes ago, curlyq9393 said:

oooooh I like this very much! Would love it if you continued, & would not at ALL mind it if Sarah ever became a victim in a similar situation 😏

Thank you so much! That sounds like a very good idea actually, not making any promises but I’ll see what I can do 

[Snapdragon]

17 hours ago, Sooph said:

Spoiler alert: Abigail isn’t one to take a warning to heart so I might well continue this 

HERE FOR IT 100%. (Also thank you for the rec! I do love a good period piece even if it's not super historically accurate.)