Even using her dolls with the cadou it exhausts Donna almost completely dragging Natalya to the bed upstairs and shifting her onto the mattress. She leans on the dresser across the room dripping sweat. It's almost so much she wants to take off her veil.

Laying in the bed Natalya shifts and moves, stretching stiffly like an old farm dog. She hisses and lifts her shirt to look at the laceration. Before she can get a good look Donna takes her shirt and covers her chiseled stomach once more. With the fabric in place she smooths it down like sheets on a bed, still breathing hard.

"Nighty night! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Angie flies down the hall cackling. The other dolls in the room shift. Donna watches Natalya watching them. She still isn't scared. Because she can't feel fear. It's not so hard for her to comprehend. The way Natalya can't feel fear she can't feel happiness. It was taken from them.

"Thank you, this is nice," Natalya murmurs and yawns, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Donna moves and fixes Natalya's hair before pulling the blankets up over her and tucking her in. She strokes Natalya's cheek and kisses her forehead through the veil before leaving.

While Natalya is almost immediately dragged into a deep, dreamless sleep Donna is wide awake. Usually she'll lay tired and toss and turn fitfully until she falls into a nightmare realm to reflect her waking life. But now she can't sleep. Something is different. Something is, better.

Natalya.

Donna has seen the others be in love before. Alcina loves the maidens, in her own sick way. Cassandra and Bela follow their mother. Heisenberg doesn't care for anyone but himself. Moreau only loves Miranda. The closest she can liken her feelings is to Daniela, which frightens her. Daniela is the one they make fun of. The one they look down on and talk about behind her back.

But Daniela is also the happiest, in between her heartbreak not understanding her victims do not love her.

Her thoughts keep circling and circling and they keep coming back to Natalya. How sweet her smile was when she looked at Angie. No one smiles at Angie but her. She wants to see that sweet smile for herself, not through the gaze of Miranda's twisted gift. But that would require Donna taking her veil off, and she knows Natalya won't smile if she sees her face.

In the morning Donna is sore and stiff from having moved Natalya all throughout the house and she's too tired to move her again. She thinks about calling Alcina to ask to borrow some of her maids but that requires calling her cruel older sister. No. That is an absolute last resort.

Calling Miranda sends her insides into a tumult. That's also not an option. So she stands outside the door against the wall racking her brain for ideas.

"Miss Beneviento?"

A tingling sensation runs up Donna's spine, and it's not unpleasant. Her cheeks flush and her heart races. It's been so long since anyone called her that.

"Miss Beneviento I know you're there. I hate to be an inconvenience but I kind of need to use the restroom."

Using all of her power requires gathering the cadou from her dolls Donna carries Natalya like a puppet and puts her in the bathroom before locking the door. Mother Miranda may be capable of these inhuman atrocities, but Donna can't imagine nor can she manage keeping this woman immobile.

Hurrying downstairs Donna hesitates and struggles before finally dialing lord Heisenberg. He answers promptly, as usual.

"What?"

"I need, some help."

Heisenberg had been kind enough to help her by making the mechanical mechanisms inside her dolls. Donna could design them herself, it was the fabrication that was the issue. As long as it was inhumane and slightly deranged Heisenberg was always happy to help.

"Alright. What with?"

"Legs."

Heisenberg hesitates, "What?"

"L-Legs!" Donna shouts, "I need legs for her!"

"For who?"

Overwhelmed and angry Angie slams the phone down and flies to Donna's arms where she's squeezed in a tight hug for several minutes to calm her down.

Unfortunately the mysterious phone call intrigued Heisenberg, so several hours later he appears at the door. By now Donna has moved Natalya downstairs into a chair where she can hear but not see her while she works.

"Donna!" Of course Heisenberg doesn't wait for Donna to answer the door he just comes sauntering in with his hammer in hand and his cigar in his mouth. First, he sees Natalya.

Natalya sees Heinsenberg, and if she were a cat her fur would be standing on end.

"Well," Heisenberg takes the cigar out of his mouth and peers at her over his glasses, "Hello."

Stuck in her chair and unable to move her arm Natalya bares her teeth and growls, "Fuck off."

"Oh ho ho! I like you!" Heisenberg laughs, "Donna! Who's your friend?"

Donna comes in with Angie.

"You didn't knock!" Angie shouts.

Heisenberg scoffs, walking closer, "I never knock. So, I assume you need the legs for your friend here."

"She belongs to Donna! Keep your hands off," Angie barks and Donna shifts closer so the space between Natalya and Heisenberg is socially too awkward and narrow to traverse. Of course the lord doesn't care, he pushes Donna aside and squats down.

Natalya thrashes, snarling like a rabid animal, "Don't fucking touch me or I'll tear you apart."

"Easy tiger, I'm here to help."

"Liar."

Once Heisenberg is done poking and prodding verbally at Natalya he's able to talk to Donna. Rather than talk she stuffs a handful of papers into his chest and strings from the darkness drag him to the front door where he's thrown and locked out.

"Nice seeing you too! Pfft," Heisenberg calls through the door, "Psycho."

From her seat Natalya can see Donna shaking. It's not like her other shaking. It's the shaking that usually would accompany a child sobbing and staring at their shoes.

"Hey," Natalya murmurs. She gets no response so she goes on, "He's an asshole. What he says doesn't matter, don't think about it."

"Dolls, don't talk."

"I'm not-"

"Stop, talking!"

Taking her handkerchief Donna stuffs it into Natalya's mouth. It doesn't muffle well so both hands go around Natalya's throat. Strong muscles flex under her palms and Donna crosses her thumbs like she's done before.

"Mif-!" Natalya grimaces. Her eyes search desperately for Donna's as tears spill over one cheek.

Like Daniela's victims, and Daniela.

Donna jerks her hands back. Natalya slumps and gasps, gagging she spits out the handkerchief and nearly loses what remains of her grueling breakfast. When she looks at Donna she's confused, but not afraid. Donna decides that is an improvement over fear.

Over the next couple of days Natalya mostly keeps quiet. Sometimes she'll talk to Angie or the other dolls if she's left in the room with them but she avoids saying anything to Donna except thank you. As long as her neck still hurts she figures she ought to give it a rest.

Donna moves Natalya whenever Donna herself moves where she is in the house. In many ways Natalya draws parallels between herself and Angie. Broken dolls that the lady of the house seems fond of, in her own weird way.

Never in the same room as Donna, Natalya can only guess what she's working on from the soft sounds that echo from her work room. Originally it was machinery, something like a foot pedal operated sewing machine. But with wood. Now she's moved on to fine hand tool work.

Natalya would love to watch and see what Donna is doing. She's long since deduced that all the dolls, except Angie, are hand made. Since she's never seen Donna leave the house and now hearing her work so diligently, it's easy to come to the conclusion that the dolls are hers.

At dinner Donna hand feeds Natalya again. She doesn't hesitate or shake so much. They have a routine now. Donna makes sure Natalya is done chewing and that the food isn't too hot before it's given to her. After a couple of choking fits and one burning incident they've gone through a quick learning curve.

After that Natalya is moved back upstairs to bed, Donna reads a bedtime story to her and several of her dolls, and then everyone is put to bed.

Granted, all of that is about to change.