0 - 0 - 5 - 09:42 - Ileana

When Ileana slipped through the portal and into the grave, the human woman was crying. Her chains were rattling as she shook. For a brief moment Ileana was annoyed but she suppressed her emotions and nodded to herself. This is how it happens. Ileana had seen it before multiple times. It was time to move forward with her plan.

“Shhh, Nothing,” Ileana said as she slipped up beside the human and settled her body tightly against the shaking woman.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Goddess,” the human said. “When you leave, I try to think of happy things, but the darkness and the silence begin to overwhelm me. Can’t you just stay with me all the time? When are they going to dig me up? Oh, Goddess… How am I going to survive?”

“Shhh…,” Ileana whispered stroking the human’s hair. “It is OK. You are Nothing now. This emptiness is your world. Emptiness is plenty for Nothing. I will teach you to love your world.”

The human continued crying, seemingly not soothed by Ileana’s words, regardless of the logic and truth that they held. Ileana exhaled. “Nothing, last time, you were telling me about your first love after you were considered an adult. You said that the day you became an adult, you were placed into training to become a courtesan for the castle. You said that you were boarded in a cell with another woman… What was her name? Tell me about her.” Ileana brushed her fingers through the human’s hair. She let her fingernails scrape gently across the human’s scalp - massaging. Slowly, the woman’s sobbing slowed down.

“Her name was Maggie. She was bought from a slave farm. Generally, the castle did not raise slaves from children. Slave Zeigh and I were exceptions for some reason. You can generally tell people who are born into slavery versus people who are sold into it in order to benefit someone financially. Lifelong slaves are generally more diminutive like me. Indeed, Maggie was shorter than even I, but she was a bit bigger boned - much more voluptuous. Her farm was concerned that with her slower metabolism, she would tend towards obesity as she grew older. So, they applied a bit of insurance to keep her waist small. Before she had finished growing, they welded a very heavy chain around her midriff and had it magically hardened to make if virtually unremovable. By the time she and I became cellmates, she was full grown, of course, and the chain was quite tight, even as small as it was.

”As cruel as the act was, the result in the end turned out to be quite sexy. The chain was shiney and plated - unscratchable. And the contrast of the gunmetal against her pale skin was stunning. They had handicapped her with the chain, no doubt, but it was a manageable handicap and she never let it hold her back. She had a way of moving and thrusting her stomach that made the chain dance. She could hypnotize anyone observing her dance with the movement of her chain.

“Well, it turns out that she had an even more insidious and debilitating modification than her waist chain. When she was young one spring a huge storm blew through the slave farm. There was a woman who acted as the mother for the child slaves. It was her job to secure the slaves when bad storms came through. Rather than maintaining a structure under the ground, her farm instead used punishment holds to secure the child slaves during storms of this nature. These holds were nothing more than shallow holes in the ground covered with barred gates. The Mother Slave had just finished locking Maggie’s hold when disaster struck the slave barn. Maggie described how the sheet metal roofs were ripped off by winds and a finger of the Goddess herself descended from the clouds above, ripping her Mother Slave off the ground and sucking her up into the heavens. This was no transcendence though. Maggie described it as violent. Her last view of the Mother Slave was watching the blowing sand stripping the skin from her fear framed face.

“The Mother Slave’s body was never found.

“The Farm told Maggie that her Mother Slave had fallen off the Earth and they instilled and encouraged a fear within her that she, too, may easily fall. They taught her that the only way to save herself was to make sure that she was always physically well secured to some sort of heavy structure.

“So, Maggie was always lead around by a long heavy chain. When she was escorted into our cell, it was always my job to make sure that her heavy chain was locked into a bolt driven into the stone floor lest she may float up into the heavens.

“Whatever they did to her to make her believe such a thing defied the limits of normal rationality. Maggie was quite smart, but if her anchoring chain became unattached she would descend into an inconsolable mess. Once I witnessed another slave tease Maggie by leaving her untethered. Maggie jumped under a table, then rolled towards the wall, finally grabbing on to a nearby door frame screaming as though in pain.

“After that we were admonished that whoever leaves Maggie untethered would spend a week in the service of the King’s Witch. That was quite a threat, because sometimes slaves would never return, and sometimes, when they did, they would be… different somehow.”

Ileana had continued stroking the human’s head as she told her story. “So, this Maggie person was always chained to something?”

“Yes, even at night in bed,” Nothing continued. “We only had a single bed in our cell which we shared. Somehow she always managed to arrange her chains so that they were not painful to sleep on.”

“And you fell in love with this woman?” Ileana asked.

“As I said, I was newly declared an adult. This was my first formal foray into the erotic arts. I mean, I never had any illusion that I would be anything other than a courtesan. I was blessed with a certain beauty and I was a slave. Accordingly, I set out in my youth to be the best possible courtesan in the hope that it would lead to a life of adventure that I dreamed of my entire childhood.

“By the time I was taken in to the courtesan quarters, I was well practiced at the act of self pleasure. And my days at that time were filled with training to perform for others - for clients. Generally, that is, we were taught how to pleasure a man. But, it was at night that I learned my most treasured lessons - how to please another woman. These lessons were not part of the normal er… curriculum. These are lessons that Maggie taught me.

“Yes! I fell in love with her. A well trained courtesan slave learns to move within her chains in such a way that those familiar with her know who is approaching just by their signature sound of ringing links of metal. Just the song that Maggie made with hers, could make my pussy clench and flush in expectation.

“She had a sixth sense for building and maintaining arousal at levels so near the edge, that she’d render me delirious for hours. She had a stud piercing in her tongue. Her tongue was like velvet as it slipped across my sex except for that one hard dome of metal. And I couldn’t help but twist and turn to try to center on that point, but she knew how to move it in such a way to frustrate me in the most delicious ways.

“In fact, it was Maggie and her piercing that set me on my own quest to become well jewelled. I had several studs and a ring in my tongue. They were even glued shut. I liked knowing that they would be there forever, but… Well… the asshole who put me here proved me wrong on that account.”

“Stick out your tongue,” Ileana said. And when Nothing complied, Ileana examined the surface for a moment. “The piercings have all healed over. That is the power of my milk.”

“Wow!” Nothing said. “I had piercings all over my body… in my body… I guess they are all gone now…”

“All gone,” Ileana confirmed. “But go on, tell me more about this Maggie person that you loved so much.”

“I just remember that I liked it a lot when she would lie on top of me as we made love. I liked her weight pressing me down. I liked the way I could feel her chain between us. I pretended like it attached us. I felt like it made our coupling even more intimate.”

Nothing paused with a smile lingering on her lips, seemingly lost in thought.

“Tell me more,” Ileana said gently stroking Nothing’s hair.

“She wasn’t a lesbian. She actually preferred men as sexual partners. That is… other than me, of course… hee hee… She was very loving… A rich nobleman brought his son to the castle...It was to be a rite of passage for the young man… whatever… The father paid for Maggie’s services with this boy-man.” Nothing was frowning now. “She left quite an impression on him apparently. He came back again and again. After three months he offered to buy her. I told her to discourage him. I didn’t want her to go. I would argue that there is no way he would ever treat her with respect. But in the end she left the castle. Luckily, I was wrong. He emancipated her and married her. I haven’t seen her since, but the Princess told me that they adopted a young girl from a slave farm to raise as their own.” Nothing paused. “Maggie was handicapped by her waist chain in a way that pregnancy would have likely killed her, but now, regardless, she has a family.”

“Well, is that not a sweet story,” Ileana said with only the mildest trace of sarcasm. “What did she look like?”

Ileana watched Nothing’s face. Her eyes stared into the darkness, into her memories, picturing her old friend.

“She had thick, long blonde hair. Her pale complexion would flush the prettiest pink when she was winded or aroused. Blue eyes, a small nose, thick, pouty lips…”

Ileana’s eyes rolled back in her head and she whispered something in an inhuman tongue. With a sudden spasm, Ileana’s open hand slapped across Nothing’s face with a resounding clap. When Ileana made contact, a cloud of memory burst from around the human woman’s head like pollen from a pine in bloom.

Ileana leaned close to the human woman’s face and inhaled deeply, pulling the memory into her lungs - absorbing it. The stuff of memories is like a drug - so much power. And the intimacy of pulling it inside her… taking a part of Nothing within her... Ileana’s eyes returned to normal and she stared down at the human woman who lay somewhat stunned, the glow of a hand print on her cheek, her lips slightly parted.

Ileana quickly kissed Nothing’s lips, pressing hard, bruising the bound woman. Nothing kissed back tentatively at first, but quickly responded in kind, moaning. Ileana knew that the human would be unable to resist. They typically are starved for any physical sensation after the drudgery and emptiness of the grave.

Nothing could not move very much with her neck wrists and ankles secured so tightly. She was able to thrust her chest out  and when Ileana’s fingers slipped across the human’s sex, Nothing tried to follow with her hips.

Frankly, Ileana was starved for physical sensation too. As she had attended to the human she occasionally got a taste of the human’s sex. Now though the taste would not be a fleeting sensation. Ileana slipped down and placed her lips over the human’s sex. She manifested a hard metal knob along the flat of her tongue and slipped it in proximity of the human’s clit, teasing.

The human abandoned niceties and began to cry out, begging Ileana to fuck her. She raised her hips and chased Ileana’s tongue. As for herself, Ileana found the lip of an ankle iron - a perfect little nodule to work her own hips against. But more, it was the control she had over the human’s screams that set Ileana off and when she knew she was there at the edge of orgasm, she pushed Nothing just ahead of her feasting upon the woman’s screams of ecstasy.

In the aftermath, the small space was lit by the heat rolling off the bound human and filled with the musical murmuring as the human bathed Ileana in praise.

After they settled, Ileana whispered, ““Nothing, last time, you were telling me about your first love after you were considered an adult. What was her name?”

“Mmmm…” Nothing moaned. “Her name was…” Nothing paused. Her eyelids were heavy with exhaustion and they kept swinging shut. “I’m so tired… Her name was… Well… there was Lydia, but before that, there was… I’ve forgotten, but...”

“You sound so tired, my love,” Ileana whispered. “Let me feed you and maybe you can tell me about this Lydia person next time…” She pressed her nipple into the human’s mouth and they lay in silence as Nothing fed and slipped into a deep sleep.



0 - 0 - 5 - 17:44 - Maisie

“I love you,” Maisie whispered, her words slightly distorted by the chain pulling on her tongue piercing and dangling out her mouth.

Piper lay tucked in Maisie’s arms with her eyes still closed, but a lazy smile slipped onto her face and she hummed a response.

“I’ve been fighting this feeling of doom all night,” Maisie said. “I mean, why would they put us in the same room and allow us to get together like this?”

“...mmm…” (5 words) Piper hummed a short response.

Her language contained no hard consonants and the soft ones used made no consequence to the communication. It was the duration and pitch of the hums that mattered. In fact, Maisie had been surprised to see that Piper was gagged when she arrived. Gags… well, most gags, at least, had no effect on Piper’s ability to communicate. Unfortunately, the gag Piper had been forced to wear punished with electricity if she made any sound. Luckily, that gag now hung harmlessly from Piper’s neck collar.

“Yes, but what are they monitoring for? It’s not like we have any secrets against the Church to discuss.” Maisie took a deep breath and settled her cheek against Piper’s.

“...mmm…” (8 words), Piper hummed.

“I’m almost glad that it will be impossible for them to decipher your songs. I mean, I hated that you couldn’t communicate for so long before we met, but now… it’s probably for the best. Maybe it was meant to be.”

They lay silently for a minute or so snuggling as close as they could. “I just want to make sure that every moment we have together matters,” Maisie said. “They could change their minds and end us at any moment… I love you, Piper. I love you!”

“...mmm..” (4 words) Piper smiled. Suddenly, she grunted and extracted an arm from the tangle of body parts, pressing a finger to the device anchored in her ear. It was some sort of ear piece that had been set deeply within Piper’s ear canal. Piercings had then been used to ensure that the ear piece could not be removed.

“What’s wrong?” Maisie asked, sitting up.

“...nnn…” (11 words), Piper responded and she began to sit up. “...nnn…” (6 words).

“They want you to feed me?” Maisie asked. “OK… It has been a pain in the ass with this fucking chain pulling on my tongue all the time. I haven’t had anything solid to eat for days.”

Piper slipped out of bed, the cable attached to the harness strapped around her chest retracted into it’s wall recess a little. She knelt by the bed placed a finger on her ear piece again.

Maisie looked over the edge of the bed on Piper’s side straining against the cable attached to her body suit. “Wow! What are all those tools for?” She rolled over to her side of the bed and looked below the mattress. There was only a blank wall. “There’s nothing on my side.”

She turned back and saw Piper holding up some sort of tube with a nozzle on the end. “...nnn...” (8 words).

Maisie slipped across the bed a placed the nozzle between her lips.

“...nnn...” (1 word) Piper asked.

Maisie nodded. Piper pressed a button and some tasteless goo began to ooze into Maisie’s mouth. “Well, this is pleasant,” Maisie said sarcastically between gulps.

Maisie was looking at Piper’s breasts. The pale skin of each breast was framed by the black chest harness that she wore. Each nipple had been pierced both vertically and horizontally. Metal pins had been threaded through each piercing curving to follow the topology of her nipple to the point where the pin entered a strap extending from the chest harness.

“Does it hurt?” Maisie asked as she ate, pointing to Piper’s piercings.

“...nnn…” (5 words), Piper said.

“Fuckers,” Maisie cursed. “Is there a way to take it off?”

Piper explained how the harness had been built around her. First they had sewn the harness around her chest. It was shaped somewhat like a strapless bra, tucking tightly beneath her underarms. The material across her chest had ovals cut out, through which her breast were fed. Straps pressed firmly into her skin and met at the base of her shoulder blades.

After the first layer had been applied, a long metal wire was comfortably cinched around the base of each breast, then wrapped around towards the back. More long wires were fed through each piercing and then meticulously sculpted with a strong set of pliers to follow Piper’s curves. Some more material was placed between wires whenever they crossed to insulate them from one another when electricity was applied.

Finally a second layer of material was sewn around her to hide all the wires except those through her nipples and those in contact with the base of her breasts. Some sort of heated epoxy was injected at various points between the inner and outer layers of the material of the harness and after it had cured, the harness was a single, solid, seamless bit of attire.

Piper’s wall tether was locked into a connector at the back between her shoulder blades. Maisie had spent some time trying to figure out how to disconnect the tether, but she had been unsuccessful.

“Well, whenever they give you instructions, just do whatever they say. I don’t want them to hurt you,” Maisie said.

After Piper had finished feeding Maisie, she washed the nozzle and replaced it in its holder underneath her side of the bed. She was just beginning to climb back onto the mattress, when she held her hand up to the device mounted in her ear.

“What now?” Maisie asked.

“...nnn…” (8 words), Piper said.

Maisie reached up to her head and felt the soft stubble of new growth. “Oh, well, I hope that you don’t mind having an alien looking girlfriend.”

“...mmm...” (6 words), Piper smiled. “...mmm...” (8 words).

“Thank you, love,” Maisie said. “Let’s make sure that we stash the razor. Could come in useful.”

Piper pressed her finger to her ear for a second, then reached down and pulled some sort of device from the wall below the mattress on her side of the bed. The device was attached to another retracting cable. The device was topped by three small metal disks arrayed in a triangle. Piper seemed to ponder the top for a moment, then she pressed a button on the side. The device began to buzz, startling Piper so much she almost dropped it.

“Hm. No razors, I guess,” Maisie said.

She lay down with her head hanging over the side of the bed and Piper began to press the disks against Maisie’s head, running the electric shaver back and forth across Maisie’s head..

Five minutes later, Maisie was rubbing her head. “That was quite irritating. I think that you got them all.”

Piper was pressing her finger to the device in her ear again.

“Oh, Holy Mother! What do they want now?” Maisie asked.

“...nnn...” (10 words) Piper said and she pulled a tube of some sort out from the wall. She held out a hand and began to squeeze the tube as though it contained some kind of lotion, but suddenly stopped. She pulled two filmy gloves out and began putting them on.

“...nnn...” (13 words) Piper said.

“Why?” Maisie asked. Then, suspecting that they were being monitored, she looked out into the cell, speaking as though there were some hidden microphone. “Why does Piper need to wear gloves to use this lotion?”

Piper shrugged, pointing to her ear, “...nnn...” (8 words).

Maisie looked down at Piper’s breasts. “No! Just do what they say…”

Piper squeezed the lotion onto her gloved hands and began to massage it into Maisie’s scalp.

“It’s probably just polish or something… Stings a little… Not too bad...”

Next Piper took a moist towelette and rubbed Maisie’s head for a few minutes. Finally taking off the gloves and shoving them into a receptacle under the mattress.

Piper remained kneeling by the bed for a moment, then shrugged, “...nnn...” (4 words) She reached out a hand and cupped Maisie’s cheek. Maisie smiled shyly, slowly stroking the skin over the top of her head. “...mmm...” (4 words).

“Kiss me,” Maisie said.

Piper smiled and leaned forward, pressing her lips to the left side of Maisie’s mouth. Then she began using her tongue to push the chain dangling from Maisie’s lips over to the side in order to get better contact with her kisses.

Suddenly she stopped, sat back and pressed her finger to the device anchored in her ear.

“Fuck! What now?” Maisie asked.

“...nnn...” (9 words), Piper said.

“A notification? OK.” Maisie looked out into the room and spoke to whomever may be monitoring them. “What’s your notification? What the fuck do you want to tell me?”

Piper sat for a moment. Then a look of concern crossed her face, the blood quickly draining away. “uh?” She began shaking her head. “...uh…!!” (1 word).

“What did they say, Piper?” Maisie asked.

Piper looked out into the room. “...uuuuh...” (15 words).

“What’s not going to happen, Piper!? Tell me what?” Maisie asked with growing concern.

“...uh!” Piper stood up and stepped back from the bed.

“Tell me, Piper! It’s OK. Tell me,” Maisie said.

“...uh!” Piper screamed.

Maisie heard a humming sound from Piper’s side of the room. It turned into a crackling sound and Piper’s breast suddenly seemed to be covered in a blue-white glow. Occasionally, jagged streaks of light flickered along the skin from her nipples to the base of her breasts.

Piper raised her hands towards her breasts, but seemed afraid to actually touch them. She let out an ear shattering scream and slowly sank to her knees. After a moment the humming and crackling stopped.

“Oh, Goddess! Tell me, Piper! I don’t care what the news is. Just tell me!” Maisie screamed with her hands held over her ears.

Piper shook her head. The humming sound kicked in again.

“Tell me!”

The crackling began and Piper fell over on her side arching her back and kicking her legs, screaming so loud that Maisie was forced to cover her ears again. Once again, the humming and crackling died away leaving Piper hyperventilating on the floor.

“...uuuuh!” (9 words)

“Yes, Piper. Just tell me!”

“...huuuuh...” (14 words) Piper whimpered.

“What!?” Maisie asked looking at Piper. “What surgery?” she asked again looking around the room. Hoping that whoever was monitoring would answer. “Surgery for what!?”

Piper lay weeping on the floor. She did not seem to get anymore communications in her ear piece.

Maisie got up from the bed and turned away from Piper’s side of the cell. She could not handle looking at Piper collapsed in pain on the floor and mentally process the news at the same time. She looked out into her side of the cell searching fruitlessly for something to throw. They were going to perform surgery on her in six days. They had told Piper to say that they were going to perform her first surgery on her in six days. What kind of surgery did she need? None, of course… Then what?

She saw her own reflection in a mirror near the water spicket. She slowly reached up to touch her bald head as tears began to drip from her eyes...



0 - 0 - 5 - 18:12 - Pet

It had been a day and a half since Pet had asserted her dominance over the Fierce One. That act had not ended well. In the end she had been beaten in the head with some blunt instrument. When she had awoken afterwards, she was in one of the moving caves tightly chained to a padded surface. Both her forelegs and back legs were stretched to her sides, leaving her completely vulnerable and exposed.

She didn’t really care though. She had a tremendous headache and was having a hard time breathing. Her body hurt with every inhalation.

One of the two-leggeds came in occasionally, attempting to get Pet to drink water or eat. But, Pet would just lay there and let the water pour back out of her mouth. She just wanted a small dark space to go where she could die.

When she slept she had delirious, odd dreams of playing with two-leggeds as a small child. She had a vague memory of the faces of the two-leggeds. They were her friends and a tall female came through a door with a pastry stuck with sticks that were on fire and the two-legged children were singing to her. Then they were running free through the desert in the sand, but she was on four legs, as she should be. Then the woman who had brought the pastry was being confronted by a male two-legged. He was hitting her in the face. Pet was filled with rage and leapt upon the male, biting into his neck, pulling him to the ground.

At one point she awoke to the sound of loud vocalizations - some sort of verbal battle. But, she recognized one of the voices. It was the Alpha! She was still alive! The pack of two-leggeds had not beaten her half to death as they had Pet. The Alpha had been able to maintain her dominance over the pack!

The Alpha appeared above Pet. She had a bandage across her right shoulder slightly stained with dried blood. Otherwise she seemed to be OK. Pet smiled despite the Alpha’s look of concern. The Alpha gently touched the side of Pet’s swollen face causing Pet to flinch. She barked out more vocalizations which caused a flurry of activity over near the door. A container with water was handed to the Alpha. She extended her fingers towards Pet’s mouth causing a small rukus of anxious vocalizations from the other two-leggeds in the cave. Pet opened her mouth and let the Alpha push her fingers past her dry lips. She gently sucked the salty skin of the Alpha’s fingers, running her tongue along the length.

Pet was not much in the mood for addressing her urgencies, but still, with the taste of the Alpha in her mouth and the sudden fantasy of the two of them wrestling in the dirt, Pet’s body began to respond. She arched her back pressing her tautly pebbled nipples into the air and briefly stretched her hips from side to side.

The Alpha tipped the container of water to Pet’s mouth, and this time she drank.

Some time later two handlers arrived in the cave. They had loops attached to long poles which they secured around Pet’s neck. She was unchained from the padded thing and forced out of the cave and towards the bushes to take care of her bodily functions. The handlers stood on either side of Pet and the poles meant that they were able to stay a fair distance away. Pet decided that she had their respect.

She could walk, but only barely. She had a sharp pain in her middle where her skin had been discolored by some form of damage.

The Alpha saw Pet and her handlers and came running over vocalizing in displeasure. The situation seemed tense, and Pet was not sure if she would be able to help the Alpha if a brawl broke out, but still she moaned out a warning.

Eventually she was led back to the Alpha’s moving cave and pushed into her kennel. Pet was glad to not be immobilized on that padded thing any longer and she collapsed on her cushion. Sometime later the Alpha arrived and Pet struggled to stand and press her face to the bars of the kennel. The Alpha had a strip of meat in her hands which she held through the bars as she vocalized in a calming sort of way. Pet gently pulled the meat from the Alpha’s hand with her teeth and quickly chewed it up. She did not realize how hungry she had become.

The Alpha held out a second piece of meat and Pet moved to take it, but at the last minute wrapped her lips around two of the Alpha’s fingers. She let her tongue swirl across the Alpha’s skin - the taste of the Alpha and grease from the meat were the perfect combination. She looked up longingly into the Alpha’s eyes. A pet can have many types of hunger.


0 - 0 - 5 - 22:59 - Aife

“OK, so Karma left the pharmacy which is down at that end of the street,” Aife said to Zeigh. She held the drawing of Karma in her hands that Evanescent had made. “We know that she was escorted down the sidewalk by two men past the cafe and the bathhouse, but neither witness said anything about a flatbed steam truck with a red and yellow sign painted on the side. Let’s try this place right here - The Technology Archive.” Aife was pointing to a store on the corner with ample windows.

“I’m so horrified about the possibility that Karma may have had to have ridden inside one of those trucks,” Zeigh said as she followed along, with her hand on Aife’s elbow. “It’s probably all slimey, gooey, and fleshy on the inside.”

“A truck?” Aife asked as they made their way towards the store.

“Yeah, I mean it must be kind of like the inside of a rat, I’d think. Definitely not like anything that I’d want to wrap around myself.”

“I really have no idea what you are talking about, Zeigh,” Aife said. She was beginning to think that perhaps it was time for Zeigh to apply her gag.

“The inside of a truck! It must be nasty!” Zeigh said.

“A truck is not a living thing, Zeigh,” Aife explained. “It’s not bloody on the inside.”

“Well than how does it move, if it’s not alive?”

“Gas. Fuel of some sort perhaps.”

“See! They feed the trucks things that upset their stomachs so they have gas, which is bad enough that it farts out so much air that the beasts are pushed down the street.”

“That’s not food, Zeigh. It’s specially formulated logs which…”

“I know what is in those logs! Cow poop and soggy, plant detritus. I mean, I have been told that I have a stomach of steel, but even I may get a bit of flatulence if I were to eat that!”

“We’ll talk about this later. Let’s go in,” Aife said as she walked through the door.

“I think that perhaps they should at least add a bit of dairy to the trucks’ diets - like cat milk or oats or something. Honey is good too as long as no bees are attached to the honey at the time that you eat it. I mean bees are satisfyingly crunchy but if you catch one at the wrong angle you might end up with a stinger in your tongue. Luckily I’m not allergic to bees. Did you ever notice how the word ‘luckily’ is similar to ‘lickily’. I just almost said, ‘lickily’ which is fitting because after getting stung on the tongue, it could swell up so much that your only option for a few days is to lick things… Oh! Holy Mother!!!” Zeigh ducked behind Aife, pulling her hood more tightly around her head, and pushing the leash handle into Aife’s hand.

“Hello, sir,” Aife said to a nobleman standing behind the counter. “Please disregard this one,” Aife said, pointing over her shoulder. “She has an affliction that prevents her from keeping her mouth shut. We are looking for anyone who may have seen this castle slave.” Aife presented the drawing of Karma. “She was on this street six days ago on October 1st. She was seen with one or two men. She may have been struggling.”

The man smiled at Aife, though the smile evolved into more of a grimace as he tilted his head to acknowledge Zeigh who was continuing to attempt to somehow climb underneath Aife. He looked down at the drawing.

“...carnage everywhere! The smell is going to make me sick…” Zeigh was loudly whispering in Aife’s ear.

“Zeigh! Shut the fuck up!” Aife whispered back.

“The trees have been murdered! Millions of them!”

“This is like a book store, Zeigh,” Aife whispered. “The pages are made from hemp.”

“It doesn’t smell like hemp!” Zeigh whispered back.

The man looked up from the drawing. “These are old books from a time when the pages were made from trees.”

Aife groaned.

“See! I told you,” Zeigh whispered. “That could have been me! Ground into pieces, stamped into sheets, cut by sharp blades, forever tattooed by toxic inks!”

The man’s forehead wrinkled for a moment as he stared at Zeigh who continued to cower behind Aife. “Ahem… I have not seen this woman. But, let me ask my wife. She used to be a castle slave.” He pushed the drawing back across the counter towards Aife. “Lottie! Could you go get your mother for me, please.”

A small girl, about 8 years old or so stood up from behind a stack of books where she had apparently been watching Zeigh with some interest. “OK, daddy!” She called out as she walked through a back door.

“...it’s like a slaughterhouse in here… One where the carnage has been left to rot…”

“Zeigh! Gag!” Aife whispered.

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Don’t call me that!” Aife said then smiled at the man. “Zeigh, here, knew the castle slave really well. That’s why I’m bringing her along to help look for her.”

Zeigh pulled her gag from the pocket of her robe and shoved it into her mouth, making quiet humming sounds as she did.

There was a rattle of chains from beyond the back door. The young girl, Lottie, walked through the door carrying a heavy metal leash in her hand that was attached to a chain tightly wrapped around a short, particularly attractive woman’s narrow waist. The woman wore a bikini top and a long black bohemian skirt. Lottie pulled the metal leash up to an eye bolt fixed firmly in the counter and the woman pulled out a heavy padlock that she used to confine herself.

“These women are asking about a missing castle slave, Magda,” the man said pointing to the drawing.

“She’s wearing glasses!” Zeigh whispered into Aife’s ear. She had pulled the gag back out of her mouth again. “Slaves are not allowed to wear glasses!”

“Magda is my wife. She’s not a slave,” the man said.

“Then why is she chained to the counter?” Zeigh asked, leaning around Aife a little.

“She is free to do what she wants,” the man said.

“See!” Zeigh whispered into Aife’s ear, pushing the handle of her leash into Aife’s hand once more.

“You say that she is missing?” Magda asked frowning. “Oh, dear.” She took her glasses off a wiped a tear that had suddenly sprung from her eye. “This is Karma,” she said to her husband.

“Karma? Your friend?” the man asked, wrapping his arm around Magda’s shoulders. “The one you always talk about?”

“Yes. The one who inspired me to learn how to read.” The woman looked down at the drawing again. “Still so beautiful… She seems to have a thing for piercings, doesn’t she? But, wow…” She looked up. “And you must be Zeigh.”

Zeigh crouched a little lower behind Aife. “You know me?”

“Of course I do. When Karma first became a woman, we shared a cell together. She talked about you all the time, Zeigh. You were too young to enter the courtesan quarters at the time, of course. So, I only saw you from a distance back then. She said that you were a complete pain in the ass,” the Magda smiled. “But she loved you more than anything.”

Magda looked down at the drawing again. “I hope…” She looked up at Aife. “Do you think she is OK?”

“Oh, yes,” Zeigh said from behind Aife, but Aife could only look down at the drawing and frown.