Part 6
Chapter 27: Reckoning
Ellie swung her hips as she crossed the square heading back to the Saucy Adventuress. She was still on a high from her successes and meeting with Goldie and a little tipsy from the cocktail. She was conscious of the eyes that followed her, furtive looks from shadows and overt ogling from adventurers who passed her and it excited her. She was sure a dark haired, buxom Jewell, a slave lead past on a leash had winked at her seductively. Maybe, she thought, Caliban would be in the bar, and maybe she could hook up with him. She was sure she could seduce him now. Fuck she could probably seduce Felix now.
Her day might have started badly with the warrior, abusing her and then her encounter with Tabatha and Gygax, but since then she’d accrued a decent sum in stolen goods and then there was the commission from Goldie. She might even be able to buy herself some new clothes in the morning but for now, perhaps an elf-silk thong was exactly what a hot young Seductress should be wearing.
The offer from Goldie intrigued her and she wondered about the Merchant path as an option for her character. Goldie was clearly doing well on that route although Ellie had always imagined herself following a more adventurous route. It would, she reasoned, be prudent to ensure she could defend herself and thought the way of the Assassin seemed, in some ways, safer than the way of the Merchant. She had no desire to end up like the Seductress in the Cabinet of Delights, trapped and helpless, her abilities used for the benefit of others. The path of the Assassin held more allure too, clandestine rendezvous, a world of secrets although she’d read this could lead to darkness, the alignment shift that could follow setting her on a tortuous path. There were theories that the AI had a way of entrapping those who crossed to the dark, the way of the Dark Seductress in her case.
Goldie’s comment about the men in chains in the basement came back to her. Was that Goldie’s Dark Seductress surfacing? Perhaps going that way wouldn’t be so bad: the Assassin, the Spy, the Torturer, the extractor of secrets, the furtive encounters, the selling of information to the highest bidder. It sounded so glamorous, alluring. Surely, it was more exciting than trading in Wands of Lust but then if she followed the path of the Merchant, there was the path of the Slaver, the chance to own others, the allure of the Goldie’s Kristal had not been lost on her.
A familiar figure appeared ahead of her.
The Cleric that had denounced her that morning. He was swaying a little on his feet having clearly been at his cups and Honey whispered a desire for revenge in the back of Ellie’s thoughts. Her heightened senses told Ellie the purse at his belt held more than copper coins and stones. Colliding with him was easy and her fingers slid almost effortlessly to the purse, lifting it from his belt. ‘Like taking sweets from a small child’ a French student had said to her once on an exchange programme trying to use an English idiom.
Then something snagged. She tried to turn away but he caught her wrist.
‘Guards...’ he shouted, ‘call out the Watch.’
A moment later there was the sound of booted feet pounding on the hard dirt of the square and a dozen men surrounded her. It didn’t take them any time at all to seize her, ripping the satchel from her body and then the elf silk was torn away leaving her naked.
‘No!’ Ellie struggled, ‘I’m sorry,’ she said but the Watch gave no quarter and she found herself being dragged to the platform in the middle of the square.
‘No!’
Strong hands pushed her into the pillory, her neck into the centre and her wrists clamped on either side and her legs shut in the stocks below leaving her bent forward at the waist, her legs spread wide, her head at about the same level as her hips.
‘I take back what I said,’ Luci said, her body shimmering as she returned to female form.‘I think you will make an Adventuress.’ She, once again, held the amulet. ‘Though, of course it’s not up to me.’
‘Who…’
‘Artemis, of course,’ Luci said and Amanda supposed that in this world goddesses could be real or, at least, there could be representations on them.
‘What if I fail?’
‘Most who fail become Warriors, a few give up entirely.’
‘How will I know?’
‘Oh, you’ll know.’ Luci walked towards the lake.
‘Aren’t you going to untie me?’ Amanda called after her, now lying on her belly in the hogtie.
‘Final part of your training!’ Luci said. ‘Any Adventuress worth her salt is going to get captured and tied up once in a while.’ She tilted her head to the side. ‘Or more frequently if she’s lucky.’
‘Are you just going to leave me here?’ Amanda squirmed, tugging at the leather ropes and realising just how helpless she was.
‘No,’ Luci said, ‘I’m going to set you the task of escaping and swimming back. You’re almost Level 2 now. It should be relatively easy for you.’
‘But…’
‘I wouldn’t make too much noise.’ Luci made a show of looking around. ‘The local wildlife has probably given us a wide berth seeing as there are two of us but once it realises you’re helpless and I’m not here, it’s quite likely it will come and investigate.’
‘Any final advice?’ Amanda called a little more quietly struggling against her bonds.
‘Yes. Always have a knife hidden somewhere.’
Ellie heard the click of heels on the stairs leading up to the pillory.
‘That was a little careless,’ Goldie said.
‘Yeah, well...’ Ellie shrugged as best she could. ‘You win some, you lose some.’ She didn’t feel anything like a calm as she tried to sound but, somehow, she didn’t want to show that to Goldie.
‘That’s the spirit.’ Goldie patted her bottom.
‘I just hope they let me out tomorrow morning, we’re supposed to be leaving town.’
‘Oh, they will,’ Goldie reassured her. ‘Once everyone’s had their fun.’
Ellie felt something cold on her bottom.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Vaseline.’
‘Vaseline?!’
‘Vaseline,’ Goldie repeated. ‘You’re going to be here all night and with a body like that…’. She paused as her fingers ran down over Ellie’s pussy, smearing it with the Vaseline. And that pussy really is cute and inviting…. It makes a girl want to run her tongue over it.’
‘Ugggh.’
‘And every red blooded adventurer this side of Thoth is going to want to test out that tight brown ring of yours.’ She pushed a finger into Ellie’s bottom ensuring she was well coated in lubricant.
A moment later, Goldie appeared in Ellie’s view. She was dressed in the tight red dress from the night before, her blonde hair hanging loose and shining with highlights; there were diamond pendants hanging from her ears, glinting red in the setting sun. Behind her she trailed a Topaz, the system’s standard black slave; the girl’s wrists were cuffed behind her back in gold cuffs and there were gold rings around her nipples pinching them erect; she wore strappy gold sandals with high heels but was otherwise naked, she was lead by a gold chain clipped to her gold slave collar.
Despite her predicament, Ellie couldn’t help studying her, enjoying the vivid rendering of her body, the rich dark skin like polished mahogany and the prominent puckered nipples that were almost black. The girl was pretty with almond eyes that gave a slight oriental appearance to her face and thick, full lips.
‘Can’t you do anything?’ Ellie pulled uselessly at the pillory.
‘Do anything?’ Goldie sounded surprised. ‘Why would I want to? Think of it as your first big challenge.’ Goldie pulled the slave towards her and teased one of the girl’s swollen nipples. ‘In an hour or two, you’ll be as desperate as poor denied Nula here and then, well…’ She kissed her slave. ‘Before the night’s over you’ll be deep-throating like a pro at one end and giving anal at the other.’ She turned. ‘Think of all the XPs you’ll earn. Anyway, can’t stop. The night is young as they say and I have entertainment to provide.’
She led Nula away.
‘Enjoy!’ She called as she tripped lightly down the stairs and left Ellie alone.
‘So, you guys come up trumps.’ Battle Babe said, sitting down to join them at their table in the tavern.
Amanda lay back against the wall of the tavern. After freeing herself from the bondage in which Luci had left her, she had swum back across the lake to find her clothes and weapons still where she had left them along with a brief note ‘See you in Thoth, L.’
Her day had left her full of contentment and she was enjoying the atmosphere of the tavern recalling her younger years in bars as she had travelled and the atmosphere of music festivals. The lanterns in the square and in the tavern had been lit and fire crackled in the hearth in front of which two wolfhounds slept contentedly. They’d been drinking wine and Amanda sat beside Val dreamily listening to the warriors’ conversation about the day’s combat training.
It sounded like her lover along with Bu-Shi-Doll and Katana Girl had battled every creature in Fantasia and despite or perhaps because of the distractions of the day, Amanda took pleasure in Val’s relaxed mood, noting that her lover’s skin shone after a day in the sunlight. She could smell the blonde’s scent and feel the warmth of her body as she leant against her. She’d tried to tell Val a little about her own day but her lover had shown little interest and she thus contented herself with the contact between their bodies thinking of the pleasures of the day and trying not to compare them with those of previous night. Maiko seemed excited too, glancing at Val as she too recounted her tales of weapons drill and battling foes.
Bu-Shi-Doll’s expression, as always, remained impassive.
BB held up the rod Amanda had recovered from the Kristal the previous day. ‘I took this to one of the Artificer’s in the town and…drum roll please….’
‘What’s an Artificer?’ Amanda asked.
BB rolled her eyes. ‘Am, you’ve really got to do some prep if you ever come here again.’
‘An Artificer is a magic user who imbues objects with magical powers,’ Val said.
‘Anyway,’ Battle Babe called back their attention. ‘This is the part of Sister Stephania’s Wand of Warding which is a Legendary Object.’
‘So this is a Golden Quest.’ Bu-Shi-Doll leant forward in a display of uncharacteristic enthusiasm.
‘A what?’ Amanda was pretty sure she was the only one who was not following.
‘They’re assigned at random. It means double XPs from now on,’ Val explained. ‘I might even get to Level 5.’
‘It means kudos too.’ BB said. ‘Not a bad start for you newbies.’
‘What does it do?’ Amanda asked.
‘Ah!’ BB frowned. ‘I have no idea at present, but this is a real opportunity…bragging rights…levelling up…’
‘What do we have to do?’
‘We have to find the other pieces for a start,’ Battle Babe said. ‘It’s pretty standard so I went to the library and spoke to one of the Scholars. He said that to find the next part we need to go to the village of VanillaVille.’
‘VanillaVille?’ Val scoffed. ‘Sounds dull!’
‘Yeah,’ said Battle Babe, ‘very dull but the second part of the wand is just outside and I think you’ll find obtaining it a challenge.’
Chapter 28: A Night of Punishment
The first man was gentle; at first, anyway.
‘What have we here?’
He, his avatar, appeared to be in his mid-thirties; a little grubby and wore a leather doublet and hose; a Thief probably or a Rogue, maybe an Assassin.
‘Nice bod!’
She could hear the boards of the platform creak as he circled her.
‘Nice ass!’
His hand slapped down hard on her bottom and she wondered briefly if this was destined to be the way she met anyone male.
‘Sir…’ Ellie fluttered her eyelashes even if he wasn’t looking at them. ‘You wouldn’t hurt a poor helpless girl would you?’ She tried to pitch her voice as she had done with the half-orcs; like she had tried with the blonde Warrior.
‘Oh!’ He seemed amused. ‘A Seductress…and not a very good one.’
He slapped her bottom again.
‘Cute ass though.’
Slap.
‘Nice jugs too.’ He cupped Ellie’s right nipple, hefting the heavy breast.
‘Sir…?’
He stood in front of her.
‘Yes?’ His hand slipped into the front of his hose.
Ellie looked up. He was dark haired and unshaven, his nose was bent and he had a livid scar on his right cheek. When she looked down his cock was in front of her face.
‘Sir…!’
He silenced her by sliding himself into her mouth.
‘Shmmmshlgh.’
‘Better do a good job,’ he told her taking hold of her hair and pushing himself in deeper.
Ellie gagged trying to turn her face away but he held her firmly, thrusting further into her mouth. As if if it had a life of its own, her tongue flicked over the man’s cock and she caught an acrid taste that should have reviled her.
‘Ohhh. Good girl.’
‘Eh?’ She gasped around his cock.
A tingle of Experience ran though her and it came again even as she closed her lips around the broad shaft. Her body tingled again but this time there was sexual pleasure too.
‘Mmmm.’
It was hard to tell whether the XPs were making her feel like this or the act of fellatio was something her character needed to do, a response to the quickening, like scratching and itching. She’d almost instinctively dropped to her knees to suck Charles off the first time. It was clearly a little like her need to toss off the second orc before she left him. Playing with cocks was clearly one of her latent abilities, something a Seductress could just ‘do’ and she briefly wondered if this was some sort of training scenario Battle Babe had set up.
She was sure this sort of thing hadn’t been anywhere in the manual for the Seductress class but then this world was a little niche, its unwritten rules known to those who came here and a few message boards. There did seem to be quite a lot of ‘in jokes’ within the coding, mostly at the expense of female characters.
With all this in mind, she wasn’t surprised that, when he climaxed, she had the overwhelming urge to swallow.
‘Good girl.’
‘Thank you, Sir.’ Ellie licked her lips and then flicked her tongue over his cock even as her body trembled with pleasure.
If Goldie was right this was going to be a hell of a way to get to Level 2.
‘Where is Ellie?’ Amanda said suddenly, pausing yet another story about a creature the warriors, in particular Val, had dispatched.
‘You mean you didn’t see her as you came back?’ BB said.
‘See her. Where?’ Amanda turned to Val.
‘Um…’. Val’s tone was uncharacteristically evasive and she looked away.
‘Where? What’s happened?’ Amanda stood up in alarm, the bench behind her tipping back against the wall and nearly unseating Val..
‘Have another drink.’ BB said standing, her huge frame doing little to calm the situation..
‘I don’t want another drink. Where’s Ellie?’
‘She’s fine,’ Val said, holding Amanda’s arm, ‘she’s just outside…er, doing a little reflection on her day.’
‘Oh!’ Amanda felt embarrassed at the scene she had made. Hardly the self control of an experienced Adventuress. She sat down.
‘She in pillory.’ Maiko said.
Amanda stood again, this time succeeding in tipping the bench over completely and nearly sending Val sprawling across the floor.
‘But it’s night time and you said that at night they…. She’ll be taken advantage of…. By Artemis, no! She’s in that…that…slutty body and she’ll be completely helpless.’
Amanda took a step towards the door but Val grabbed hold of her.
‘She’s been put there by the watch,’ BB said, rising quickly and blocking Amanda’s way to the door. ‘There’s nothing you can do about it.’
Amanda struggled but Val held her firmly and then Battle Babe grabbed her arm and they dragged her up to the room where they bound her to a chair and gagged her.
‘On the plus side.’ BB said as she left the pair alone. ‘Seductresses get experience for sexual acts. By morning she’ll probably be a higher level than me.’
For Ellie, things were getting rougher.
At first it was single adventurers coming out of the tavern who stumbled across her and took full advantage of her plight, slapping her buttocks and groping her breasts, squeezing her nipples and probing her sex. An Assassin spanked her mercilessly for what must have been ten minutes and left her bottom burning before plunging his cock into her sex. A Warrior milked her nipples as he took her, pinching and twisting them as he humped her and then a female Cleric flagellated her before bending in front of her and making her tongue a plump and very wet pussy.
As the evening wore on, she found herself surrounded by groups who continued to abuse her, often with one taking her from behind while she delivered fellatio or cunnilingus to one of their brothers or sisters in arms.
In any other setting, this would have been a humiliating ordeal that was, at times, painful; a form of torture and sexual abuse; her avatar repeatedly raped and forced into lewd sexual acts. At some deep level, Ellie’s mind was telling her what degrading abuse this was but, somehow, the AI moderated this, glossing the experience into a haze of pleasure. It was partly the constant stream of Experience Points and the sensations that went with it but it was also the work of the Seductress, a use of the low level whoring skills that her avatar possessed and the needs of that body to use them. Providing pleasure to others was part of what Seductresses did; low level ones at least. She’d done it for the half-orcs, she’d done it for Felix, the Warrior and Tabatha, the Merchant, and now she was doing it for the rest of HomeTown, playing as active a part as her current captive state allowed.
She gave oral, sucking and licking eagerly, swallowed obediently; took cocks and toys anally and vaginally; held cocks in her hands and pumped them until she they spurted into her face and squealed with pleasure as her bottom and her huge breasts were slapped, pinched and assaulted. There was a member of the Watch standing by and occasionally she saw him walk past the platform on which the pillory stood when a weapon was drawn but he didn’t intervene.
And, despite all this abuse, or probably because of, Ellie found herself climaxing repeatedly and, at times so strongly that the pillory in which she was restrained shook as the crowd around her roared with pleasure and they pushed and shoved, jockeying for a turn with her.
Amanda looked up as Val entered their room. She was lying on her side, still bound to the chair with her wrists behind her back and her ankles tied. After they’d left her, she’d struggled violently. However, despite her attempt to use her Escapology skill and even a Feat of Strength, she’d remained firmly secured. In her frustration, she dimly recalled that Viking warriors took slaves and wondered if that gave her lover some sort of bonus when restraining others. Even then she’d tried to work her way towards the door though she hadn’t got very far. Then she’d heard the baying of the crowds and had no way of knowing if this involved Ellie or not but feared the worst and jerked so violently against her bonds that the chair had finally toppled over and she’d lain on her side struggling to restrain her anger and her tears.
The crowds outside seemed quieter now and she hoped that Ellie was safe even as she tried to remind herself that it wasn’t really Ellie in the pillory but Honey and it was only the avatar that would suffer. She hoped nobody had been too rough or attempted anything too lewd.
Val lifted the chair back up.
‘Ish she alride?’ Amanda asked urgently through her gag.
‘She’s fine.’ Val smiled a reassuring smile. ‘I’ve just been to check on her. She’s had a bit of unwanted attention but the Watch is there.’
‘Shang u.’ Relief flooded through her.
‘You, on the other hand, look as if you need a little distraction.’ Val’s words were slurred, Amanda realised.
‘Couldn’d you jusd undie me?’
‘Where would be the fun in that?’ The blonde stood in front of her for a moment, swaying slightly then reached round to undo her chainmail bra. Amanda watched her fumble with the catch then, after a few attempts, slid it off then removed the little chain skirt which slid to the floor in a rattle of links. Then she sat on the bed and pulled off her boots.
She stood and walked back towards where Amanda sat helpless on the chair. ’I said I was going to test your limits this week,’ Val said, naked now. ‘I wonder if there are any toys here I can use.’ She sat astride Amanda’s legs and began to unlace the Adventuress’ leather dress. ‘These aren’t bad you know.’ Val slid Amanda’s breasts out of her dress and began to play with them. ‘Shame you didn’t get bigger ones like Ellie. Those are a real handful.’ She pinched Amanda’s nipples. ‘I might get you a boob job when we get home.’ She said absently.
Val had hinted at this before but Amanda had always changed the subject. It wasn’t that she minded having larger breasts and, now they were just beginning to lose their tone, a bit of extra support would be welcome; it was, if she were honest with herself, more that it would be another thing she would owe her lover. Val was rich enough that she’d barely notice the cost, but Amanda had begun to realise after the first few months of their relationship, Val used ways to control her, not just in the sense of her obvious role as the dominant in their relationship. She was a successful business woman, she was used to making deals, to getting what she wanted and Amanda was the sort of woman that liked to do things for people. They had more or less fallen into a relationship even though for many years now Amanda had thought of herself as more or less straight. It had been the bondage that had clinched it.
And now she’d met Luci.
‘I’m sure I could find something to whip them with,’ Val said, pinching her nipples and stretching them.‘I bet they have a bullwhip in the stables.’
Amanda shook her head but it was clear that, once again, Val was going to do what she wanted anyway. She really wasn’t in the mood with her worries about Ellie but Val had been out and had said it was alright and, after all, she’d been here before and knew what to do.
They were here to have fun and she had submitted to a D&S relationship, she should expect to be treated this way although, she recalled, when she’d been with Lucius, Ellie’s dad, he had managed to dominate her in a way that made her feel special and not coerced. At least, she consoled herself, she was tied up and, here in Fantasia she was probably going to spend a lot of time being tied up.
The thought excited her.
She thought of Luci and the beach, of being tied up and spanked and the surprise of Luci’s large cock inside her. It was some time since Amanda had enjoyed cock. Val used sex toys on her, of course, but having a warm throbbing cock thrusting inside you was something she realised she had missed.
Did people always feel this horny here?
She knew it was all just code, ‘ones and zeros’ Ellie had said but it felt so real.
‘I know, let’s save the serious stuff for later in the week.’ Val gave Amanda’s nipples a final tweak and stood up, walking to the bed where she picked up her knife in its sheath. ‘This will do.’
Amanda gasped, her eyes widening, pulled from her musings as she wondered what the blonde was planning but Val simply slid the belt out of the sheath and walked back towards Amanda.
She was deliciously dominant, Amanda thought suddenly; tall and blonde, standing above her naked. Seeing her lover like this in the real excited Amanda, here it seemed even more intense. Submission was something that turned Amanda von Trapp on. She liked that on a day to day basis she was forced to dress to please this woman and to submit to bondage at her hands even in the office; she liked that Val called her and commanded her presence some nights and the games they played. Before her, it had been so long since she’d had any sort of relationship let alone one that allowed her to play out her desire for kinky sex. She liked that Val enjoyed her body, enjoyed binding it and sometimes punishing it even if she did keep on about the size of her breasts.
The belt stung and Amanda gasped through her gag as Val brought it down on her breasts. She’d been so deep in thought again that she’d barely noticed the belt about to fall.
‘Mmm.’ Val looked at the red weal across the tops of Amanda’s breasts. ‘Not bad.’
She struck again and Amanda sucked air in looking up at the steely blue eyes and the lust within them mirroring her own rising desires.
Several more blows followed. All sharp and stinging, harder than Amanda would normally have been able to endure. Her breasts throbbed with heat.
It kindled a need inside her.
‘Nice.’ Val stopped after nine or ten, running a finger over the hot red flesh. ‘I wonder what else there is.’
‘Mshdresh.’ Amanda called, squirming and turning on the chair to watch as the blonde leaned into the wardrobe and searched the shelves. ‘You gould undie me and I gould pleash u.’ She was eager too now.
Val was bending over an open drawer and Amanda could see her wet pussy. ‘Oh, yes.’ She turned and Amanda saw she was holding up a candle.
Amanda frowned. ‘Whad are you going do do wish thad?’
Val grinned wickedly. ‘Test your limits.’ She walked towards the lantern.
‘Nnggh.’ Amanda shook her head.
‘Oh, yes.’ Val lit the candle and held it up, the grin still on her face. ‘We’ve never tried this, have we?’ She walked towards her lover.
‘Nnnghh.’ Amanda shook her head, struggling on the chair until it began to rock.
‘Relax,’ Val said. ‘We can do what we like here. A bit of Healing Balm and ‘poof’ it all goes away.’ She angled the candle over Amanda’s breasts.
Amanda relaxed Had she really thought her lover was going to burn her? A drop of wax fell, splashing and stinging Amanda’s sore breasts. It made her jump but, she realised, was not very painful.
Another drop fell and another.
Amanda looked up at Val watching as the candle tip moved a fraction and then followed the bead of wax down to her nipple.
‘Shhs.’ The wax burned and her nipple throbbed and she sat there waiting for another to fall.
‘Lovely.’ Val pinched the other nipple making it swell and dripped a little more wax.
Amanda felt suddenly hot with excitement, mentally shrugging away the acknowledgment that Val had got her own way again. Val had been right as always about taking the opportunity to push Amanda’s limits. Another large blob of wax spattered across her breasts and now she realised she was watching eagerly, expectantly, for more.
When Val tipped the chair back and held the candle over Amanda’s bare pussy, she gave into the inevitable.
Chapter: 29: The Joy of Magic
By an hour or two after midnight the crowds had started to drift away and when the Watch called three o’clock Ellie was finally left alone. Her body was aching; her skin, especially the skin of her bottom and breasts was hot with the slaps and cuffs she had received; her nipples throbbed from incessant tweaking and there was something clipped to each of them increasing her pain; her pussy and anus were raw with abuse; her face and most of her body was smeared with a mix of semen and female juices and her hair matted. There was nothing she could do about any of it including the cum running down the inside her legs and oozing from her stretched anal sphincter.
The thrill of the rapidly accumulating XPs had passed and she shivered slightly then tried to stretch her stiff muscles, the repressed part of her consciousness, the part behind the reflexive responses of her class reminded her of exactly what she’d just endured but somehow it didn’t seem as awful as it should have.
Honey was, after all, a Seductress.
In the darkness she didn’t notice the Mage until he was right in front of her.
‘Caliban,’ she said, ‘come to take your turn.’ She was aware that the man’s crotch was level with her gaze.
‘I thought we had an appointment this afternoon,’ he said.
‘I got a better offer.’ She knew she shouldn’t be baiting him but she couldn’t stop herself, couldn’t stop Honey from acting this way. Even as she looked up at him, her face formed naturally into a coy, mocking smile.
‘You robbed me, you used me as a decoy for your thievery and then you abandoned me.’
‘Yeah well, you know how it is.’ Ellie said.
‘In your predicament, I thought you might be a little more receptive to a conversation.’
‘A conversation?’ Ellie looked up at him feeling oddly amused. She noticed again that he moved awkwardly as if it was difficult to control his legs. ‘I’ve been chatting pleasantly all night,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Look, you couldn’t take these pegs or whatever they are off my nipples could you?’
Her last ‘client’ has handled her breasts excessively and fastened something heavy to each of her nipples.
‘I certainly could.’ He said with a widening grin.
‘Pedantic too.’
He was wearing the same dark robe as he had worn the previous evening held together by a red sash into which was thrust a wand. ‘Do you like to talk because you have a very small wand?’
Even as she said it, she regretted it.
‘This is a very fine body.’ Caliban’s voice showed that he’d registered the insult and he drew his wand. ‘A bit showy for my taste but I can see the appeal.’
‘Didn’t stop you ogling my tits and trying to chat me up last night or this afternoon,’ Ellie said, ‘and I know you’re here for more than conversation now.’
‘Perhaps I had other things on my mind earlier, other goals.’ He laughed. ‘And yes, I’m going to give you a lot more than conversation. I’m going to give you some advice.’
‘Oh, that’s nice,’ Ellie said, pulling uselessly against the pillory. ‘Just what I need at the moment, some fatherly advice.’ She paused. ‘Sorry, but my nipples really are throbbing. Would you mind?’
‘It is not a done thing to antagonise a wizard,’ he said, circling the wand holding it delicately, ‘or to ignore one.’
‘Yeah, well…’ Ellie began to feel uncomfortable. ‘My nipples…’
Ellie didn’t get any further, the Mage tapped his wand to her lips and she felt her mouth fill with something firm yet slightly rubbery. She grunted as it swelled forcing her teeth apart and then with her jaw stretched painfully wide she felt things snaking out of it, straps, out and across her cheeks and under her chin, more spread up over her face encircling her head, holding the swelling ball in place.
‘There.’ Caliban laughed. ‘Now that you cannot contribute to the conversation, you are less likely to get yourself into trouble.
Ellie grunted angrily and felt the gag swell further. ‘Nnnngggh.’ The muscles of her jaw burned as if her jaw was about to be torn off.
Caliban began to walk around her. His hand stroked along her flank and ran over her bottom. ‘It seems someone else thinks you have been naughty.’ His fingers traced across the hot skin of her bottom which felt as if it might be blistered from all the spankings and abuse she’d suffered.
Ellie grunted into her gag and pulled ineffectually at the pillory. The gag swelled a little more.
‘You know I do enjoy magic,’ he said conversationally.‘It has all kinds of properties.’
Ellie felt a tingling in her bottom, it wasn’t unpleasant; quite soothing in fact…
‘Magic can be powerful or subtle. It can create and destroy; cause pain or sooth; bind and liberate; bend a person to its will or be manipulated by them. It’s just a matter of knowing how…’
The soothing coolness in her bottom increased, spreading, the throbbing of her spankings fading as if he were spreading on a salve.
‘Mmmmm.’ Ellie moaned, adjusting her stance slightly aware that he was probably staring at her bottom and her gaping sex.
‘Now, your nipples.’ He bent over. ‘Tarlian fire crabs. Your visitors did have a sense of humour. Without magic they are the devil’s work to remove and if one is not careful the sting can burn for days.’
She felt magic flare and a surge of pain in her right nipple then a repeat on her left. Something, two things, scurried past her feet.
The tip of the wand ran up her back, a tingling rising at the base of her spine as he began to weave a spell, threads of magic emanating from his wand, circling her body, looping around it, around her waist and chest, across her shoulders, enveloping her breasts, caressing her nipples then sliding down her belly, lower and lower, knotting with the other strands before forging its way between her legs.
‘Uuunnn.’
The magic began to caress her sex, teasing it but long before it had reached that spot, she had begun to feel tingling within her body too. Although she might have thought her body sated by her response to the onslaught of rough sex she had just received, this body she now inhabited responded again.
‘Uuunn.’ She gasped mutedly in surprise as her body responded then the XPs started to register.
The strands around her tightened gently still caressing her skin, forming a network of pleasure that linked her erogenous zones; cinching around her breasts and nipples making them throb deliciously; caressing her sex, heating it then pressing against her bottom, the backs of her legs, her thighs, gentle pressure around her neck.
‘Ughhh.’ Ellie gasped again as the magic entered her, forcing itself inside her and seemed to suffuse her with a warm sensual pleasure on the inside that matched that in her skin before settling itself in her loins and her breasts.
‘Magic can do all kinds of things. And if you hadn’t stood me up, we might have made quite an afternoon of it.’
‘Mmmm…’ Ellie squirmed in delight feeling the strands caress her, pressing gently back as she strained against them.
Then, suddenly, he whipped the wand around and the magical strands around her body snapped tight.
‘Ungk.’ Ellie’s body was suddenly constricted in a tight web of unyielding thread, her nipples crushed, breasts tightly compressed; her chest squeezed, breathing hampered; the strands bit into her hot drooling sex and tore at her aching bottom.
Ellie squirmed in pain gasping around her gag, barely able to breathe, shaking her head, eyes widening, the only movements allowed her.
She heard a spark and felt a jolt of pain in her right buttock, then her left , then in her left breast; magic sparking across her tortured crushed nipples.
‘Nnngghhh. Blsh,’ she begged.
The pain came again and began to spread; the magical cords binding her turning to red hot strands that seared; she was sure she could smell her flesh burning as the strands sliced through her skin, smoke rising as her body smouldered. And then, suddenly, it was over, the heat dissipating, the cords relaxing and she sucked in air around her gag.
Caliban chuckled.
‘Bd.’ She hissed around her gag and she felt it grow, fairly sure that her jaw was about to dislocate.
Caliban laughed. ‘Not a bastard.’ He leaned in. ‘And don’t ever say that to my sister.’
‘O?’
‘You must learn to choose who you trust in this world; and so far, I do not think you have chosen wisely. Remember that appearance means nothing; in this realm we can be who we want to be.’
‘Od ar u onga ood e?’ Ellie asked.
‘I’m going to fuck you, of course.’ Caliban smiled.
‘Oh! You look a mess.’
Ellie opened one eye and saw Maiko standing in front of her, eyes round with surprise as she studied the captive blonde. She’d somehow managed to drift off the sleep despite being bent over in the pillory.
‘Mmmgh.’ Ellie tried to speak but realised she was still wearing the magical gag. Fortunately, after Caliban had left her, the gag hadn’t got any bigger.
‘Can I take this out?’ Maiko stepped forward and leant her katana against the pillory. She was flushed and Ellie could see beads of sweat running down her face. Her kimono was wet, sticking to her skin in places, her small breasts outlined and her nipples stiff. Ellie caught the scent of her body.
‘Esh.’ Ellie nodded, becoming aware of the stiffness and the pain in her body. It was getting light and she could feel the chill of dawn in the air.
‘I won’t get trouble?’
‘Nnng.’ Ellie shook her head.
Maiko began to pull on the straps that held it in Ellie’s mouth.
‘Ugh.’ Maiko said. ‘What is this stuff?’
‘Um or o agi.’ Ellie said.
‘You smell very bad.’ Maiko said, still struggling with the clinging rubbery material.
‘Unghu.’ Ellie nodded. She was aware she stank and that her body was covered in semen and sweat. She was fairly sure she had been urinated on a couple of times. A number of her abusers had used her hair to wipe themselves down, those, at least that had not demanded she lick their sexes clean after they’d used her.
‘You gonna need bath.’ Maiko said, struggling to get the huge ball of the captive blonde’s mouth. ‘There lake in field where I practice this morning. We swim.’
‘Uhh.’ Ellie winced as her tortured jaw stretched for one final time and then tried to close her mouth which resulted in just as much pain.
‘You have been whipped!’ Maiko said, stepping around the pillory and out of Ellie’s view, her hand running across Ellie’s back.
‘Spanked too.’ Ellie said. ‘And quite a lot more besides.’
‘I not surprised. You have gorgeous bottom.’ Maiko said, stroking it. ‘Though it look sore now.’
‘Tell me about it.’ Ellie groaned, shifting her position as best she could. Her body ached and the weight of her huge breasts was pulling on her back. ‘I think Caliban might have used some sort of healing spell on me.’
‘Caliban?’
‘That mage you have the hots for.’
‘He here?’ The Samurai sounded surprised.
‘Yes.’
‘And he…’ Maiko paused. ‘You have sex?’
‘I didn’t have a lot of choice.’ Ellie said.
‘Ow!’ Ellie cried out as Maiko slapped her bottom.
‘Honey bad girl,’ Maiko said. ‘You know I like him.’
‘Maiko, I’m locked in the pillory. I’ve lost count of the number of men who’ve used me.’
‘You raped anally too, I think,’ Maiko said, still sounding slightly sullen.
‘Just a few times,’ Ellie said.
‘You lucky girl,’ Maiko said. ‘Maiko spend night tied to cot by Bu-Shi-Doll and she still wear chastity belt.’ The little oriental girl stepped back in front of Ellie and parted her kimono, flashing her the steel restraint. ‘Maiko love to be put in pillory and used like Ellie.’
‘Believe me, it’s not that great.’
‘But you cum.’ Maiko said. ‘Like you cum for orc guards yesterday. Maiko hear Honey scream with pleasure. Ellie very sexy girl.’
Ellie didn’t reply. She could hardly deny it just as she could hardly deny it the previous day when her mother and Val and the others had found her in chains impaling herself wildly on the guard’s cock. She knew too that being restrained had aroused her and she’d found herself actively encouraging it in a way that went beyond the simple need to seduce the guards as a deception. It was, she could now tell herself, the AI implanted tendencies of her character class emerging just like the frighteningly awesome ability to suck cock and lick pussy she had acquired and the desire to flaunt her body to all and sundry.
‘Honey is a bit of slut.’ Ellie said, feeling herself blush as she said it. ‘She’s making me act this way.’
‘You slut already.’ Maiko said with a laugh. ‘Grandmother tell me. You western girl. Grandmother say all western girls sluts.’
‘That’s a little harsh.’ Ellie frowned. ‘I’m not a slut…the real me, Ellie, I mean.’
‘But you have sex before you come here.’ Maiko insisted.
‘Yeah.’ Ellie acknowledged, and suddenly wondered if she might remember the skills she was learning as Honey.
‘Then you slut,’ Maiko said, ‘Japanese girl not have sex before marriage.’
‘Really?’ Ellie found that hard to believe. ‘All of them?’
‘Well.’ Maiko stopped and thought. ‘Probably not all of them.’ She smiled. ‘Maiko like to be western girl.’
A raindrop fell on the platform and then another and then Ellie felt them on her back and bottom. Maiko looked up and picked up her katana. They were big, heavy drops like summer rain creating puffs of dust where they landed in the street and the smell of rain on bare earth lifted into the air.
‘You’d better go inside,’ Ellie said.
‘But you stuck here,’ Maiko said. ‘I your friend, I not leave you.’
‘There’s no point in us both being soaked.’
‘I stay. I keep you company and you tell me about having sex.’
***
Chapter 30: Release
They were both soaked by the time Ellie reached the part about Caliban. Despite her earlier irritation, Maiko had seemed eager to hear the details and seemed particularly excited by the details of the magical foreplay. The sex had been just as memorable; he was certainly a very well endowed Mage and know how to handle his’ wand’ bringing Ellie to orgasm three times despite her ordeal; part of this she guessed although she had not told Maiko, was because she had levelled up as he was fucking her, the culmination of his orgasm and the thrill reaching Level 2 had made her scream into her gag and left her knees buckling.
The rain had begun to ease as she finished the story. It had fallen in torrents, warm and wet like tropical rain, washing the worst of the filth off Ellie’s captive body and thoroughly soaking Maiko’s kimono so it was now almost translucent. The little Samurai had been listening wide eyed to the story and Ellie had noticed her fingers idly playing with the chastity belt.
‘Good morning.’
Ellie and Maiko both looked up to see Goldie climbing onto the platform. She was trailing her Kristal in chains on a leash; this one was wearing what could only be described as chainmail lingerie like some of the items Ellie had seen when choosing clothes for herself and her mother; it consisted of the usual shiny steel collar with chains running to shackles round the bases of her each of her breasts; she wore the usual steel waist belt and a chain ran from it, disappearing between her legs; her hands were shacked behind her back and she balanced on what looked like steel splints locked to her feet and keeping her up on her toes; she was gagged with a sort of steel bridle and lead by a chain to her collar.
Goldie was dressed in a deep red robe that barely reached below her sex and carrying a large red umbrella.
‘Well, hello.’ Goldie said addressing Maiko. ‘Aren’t you gorgeous?’ She stretched out a hand and cupped Maiko’s chin, turning her face into profile. ‘Cheekbones to die for.’
She released Maiko who was blushing furiously and regarded Ellie.
‘Well.’ The older Seductress said. ‘Someone’s had a good night.’
‘Something like that.’
‘Oh, go on.’ Goldie said. ‘I heard your screams from my chamber. You were having a whale of a time. And you levelled up.’
‘What?’ Maiko said. ‘You levelled up by having sex?’
‘Yes.’ Ellie said aware that she was at something of a disadvantage in the conversation, bent over and naked. ‘Seductresses get Experience from having sex. The kinkier it is the faster the XPs roll in.’
Even telling the story of her night was starting to have an effect on her, the memory of all those men…not just men, lusting after her, wanting her body, the slaps and the hands groping her breasts.
‘Aphrodite’s cunt, I really am a slut.’ She murmured to herself even as she felt pleasure creeping through her body.
‘It’s a moot point.’ Goldie said, walking around her to examine the full extent of Ellie’s degradation. ‘But in conclusion to a day’s training for a Seductress, I’d say it was pretty successful.’ She reached into her bag and pulled out a small jar. ‘Here.’ She handed it to Maiko. ‘Healing Lotion. Not enough to restore Hit Points but it will take away all those nasty blemishes on that perfect body. You’ll need this too.’ She handed Maiko a second pot.
‘What this?’ Maiko asked.
‘Shampoo and conditioner,’ Goldie said. ‘Can’t have the town’s newest Seductress going round with a rat’s nest on her head.’
‘Thanks,’ Ellie said.
Goldie leaned down. ‘I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to apply it for you,’ she said quietly to Ellie. ‘And I hope you’ve had a chance to consider our little arrangement.’
‘Are you ok, Honey?’
Ellie opened her eyes. She’d somehow fallen asleep again after Maiko had spread the Healing Lotion over her body; it had been a very pleasurable experience not only the soothing of the multiple wounds on her body but the touch of Maiko’s hands, caressing her intimately.
Now, her mother was standing in front of her as one of the watch began to unlock the pillory. As the top of the heavy wooden frame was lifted off her, Ellie stood stiffly then hefted her breasts, wincing at the ache in her back and the drag of her breasts. The watchman crouched and freed her ankles.
Amanda gave her daughter a hug. ‘I was really worried about you.’
‘Mum!’ Ellie struggled to extract herself from her mother’s embrace but the effort was only half-hearted.
‘Did anything happen to you?’ Amanda asked anxiously.
With the rain and the Healing Lotion, Ellie’s avatar looked almost as pristine as she had when she’d stepped out into HomeTown two days before. The only real sign of her debauched night was the state of her hair.
Ellie shrugged. ‘Nothing I couldn’t handle.’
Maiko looked at her but said nothing.
‘They messed up your hair,’ Amanda said.
Ellie swept a hand through it feeling knots and tangles and a mix of very unpleasant substances.
‘We go to lake,’ Maiko said. ‘I help Honey wash hair.’
‘What about your clothes?’ Amanda said.
‘I have spare kimono,’ Maiko said.
‘Oh, that’s so sweet of your Maiko.’ Amanda said.
An hour later Ellie and Maiko joined the Party as they were finishing breakfast at the Saucy Adventuress.
After they’d swum in the lake, Maiko had washed Ellie’s hair and put it up in the Japanese style with pins. Ellie was now dressed in Maiko’s spare kimono.
‘Honey, you look lovely.’ Her mother said.
Ellie shrugged noncommittally, not really sure why.
‘She’s right.’ Battle Babe said. ‘It’s a good look.’ She grinned. ‘I hope I don’t have difficulty telling you apart.’
Maiko giggled and Ellie managed a smile.
‘So does this profess a change of career path?’ BB asked.
Ellie looked at her. ‘Not a chance.’ She said defiantly. ‘I’m a Level 2 Seductress so you’d better watch yourself.’
The big Warrior chuckled. ‘Just try to stay out of trouble today.’ She fixed Ellie with a firm glare. ‘We leave after lunch. And, if any of you need to buy any kit, now is your last chance.’
‘I’m going to buy some clothes.’ Ellie said.
‘You might need some new boots too.’ Amanda said.
‘I know.’ Ellie rolled her eyes.
‘Do you have any money, Seductress?’ BB asked.
Ellie glared at her. In truth she had nothing at all except a borrowed kimono.
‘I have thief skills,’ Ellie said.
‘If you end up in the pillory.’ BB said. ‘I’m not waiting.’
Goldie was in her office as was Charles, still hooded and locked in the cupboard as Ellie entered Goldie was feeding him.
‘Honey!’ Goldie said putting down the plate she’d been holding and brushing crumbs from her hands.
Ellie glanced at the helpless man, his nipples still clamped and his cock still rigidly attention.
‘He’ll be fine, darling. I fed him yesterday anyway.’ Goldie said, turning her attention to Ellie. ‘I like the outfit.’ The Seductress appraised her. ‘Sexy but subtle.’
‘Yeah, I suppose so.’ Ellie looked down. ‘Actually, can I borrow your sword?’
‘Oh.’ Goldie frowned. Even this gesture on her face was somehow alluring. ‘Here.’ She passed Ellie the sword stick.
Ellie slid out of her kimono and put it on the desk. Then she brought the sword down in it, cutting off the bottom.
‘Much better.’ Ellie slipped the shortened kimono back on noting how it now hung to the very top of her thighs.
Goldie raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
‘What, too long?’ Ellie said.
‘Maybe.’ Goldie shrugged. ‘You have gorgeous nipples by the way.’
Ellie looked down. ‘Er, yeah, thanks.’
‘Take all the compliments she can get.’ Goldie told her. ‘You’re a Seductress, remember.’
Ellie grinned.
‘So? Will you do it?’ Goldie asked.
‘Why so clandestine? Why me?’
‘I was going to say you’re just another adventurer and nobody will notice.’ Goldie said, a slight smile playing on her face. ‘But that ship has rather sailed, hasn’t it?’ She sighed. ‘I need you to take some artefacts to Thoth and deliver them to a contact I have there.’
‘How do you know we’re going to Thoth?’
‘Everyone ends up in Thoth at one time or another. Besides, I’m on the council, I know about your Quest.’
Ellie looked at her.
‘At the beginning, the AI just assigned Quests at random but as Fantasia developed there were just too many adventurers, Sublimed players started setting up their own; it was carnage, literally. In order to regulate it, the councils were formed. The council in HomeTown keeps an eye on what adventurers are doing. Tabatha’s a member too, so is Claudia, your favourite Slaver.’
‘You said she was 8th Level.’
‘The councils started with the Sublimed but they allow Levellers on them too. It really is quite fascinating seeing what people get up to.’ Goldie grinned. ‘Good for business too.’
‘So these artefacts,’ Ellie said. ‘What are they?’
‘Oh, the usual stuff: wands, elixirs and the like.’
‘Wands of Desire?’
‘Possibly.’
‘From Tabatha?’ Ellie asked. ‘Is that really ethical.’
Goldie shrugged but Ellie could tell she was only trying to appear nonchalant. ‘Others may be more…personal objects.’
‘You…?’
‘A girl has to eat,’ Goldie said by way of explanation. ‘Besides, if you’ve got it, flaunt it.’
‘And remind me why you’re not going.’
‘I dislike travelling and fighting and…well, the whole wilderness thing.’
‘And?’
‘And it’s illegal to take them into Thoth,’ Goldie said. ‘They’re rather keen on their trade monopolies.’ She flashed a smile. ‘And their taxes.’
‘What if I get caught?’
‘You’ll probably be enslaved,’ Goldie said. ‘Or maybe put in prison or may both. Try and avoid prison; it will make your night in the pillory seem like a walk in the park.
‘I’ll try to remember,’ Ellie said with a degree of sarcasm.
‘This whole place is about having adventures and taking risks,’ Goldie said. ‘And it strikes me you’re a girl who’s up for that.’
Ellie couldn’t help smiling, wondering why she felt this way in the presence of Goldie and was so diffident with her mother.
‘How much are you paying?’
‘That’s my girl,’ Goldie smiled. ‘Twenty now and twenty when the goods have been delivered.’
‘Twenty five.’
Goldie laughed. ‘Already planning the path of the Merchant?’
‘No, I’m wearing a borrowed kimono and I don’t even have any money to buy boots.’
‘Maybe not a Merchant then.’
‘Tabatha said that too.’
‘I’ll pay twenty,’ Goldie said. ‘Do we have a Bargain?’
‘Twenty two?’
‘Twenty,’ Goldie said firmly. ‘You work for me but as a gesture of goodwill, I do have these for you.’ The Seductress reached behind her desk and lifted Ellie’s boots onto the table.
‘My boots!’
‘I have this too.’ She put Battle Babe’s dagger beside it.
‘How did you…?’
‘Tabatha owes me a favour.’
‘I don’t suppose you have my satchel or my money?’
‘That was mostly taken by the watch I fear and, before you ask, Claudia has reclaimed her earrings.’
Ellie shrugged. ‘Thank you.’ She picked up her boots and hugged them.
‘Is that a foot fetish I see developing?’ Goldie asked archly.
‘No, but I do love these boots.’ Ellie pulled them on. ‘I feel like a real Seductress again.’
‘They are gorgeous.’ Goldie winked, grinning as Ellie lifted the hem of her shortened kimono to tie her dagger to her thigh. Then she reached for her wine bottle and poured two glasses. ‘A toast to our Bargain.’
‘Isn’t it a little early?’
‘It’s never too early for a glass of wine.’ Goldie tossed the wine back and Ellie followed suit trying not to cough as the liquid warmed her throat.
‘Now,’ said Goldie. ‘Let’s go and spend that money of yours.’
‘But…’
‘Come along, darling.’ Goldie said. ‘A Seductress must learn about shopping.’
Chapter 31: Shopping
The store that Goldie led her to was in a backstreet and Ellie knew she would never have found it without a guide. It was called ‘Adventure with Style’ but was only recognisable by a small plaque on the door beside a bell. The owner of the store was an elf dressed in a bright blue jacket embroidered with a yellow leaf pattern who answered the door after Ellie rang the bell. He nodded approving at Goldie in her elegant robe but raised an eyebrow after studying Ellie briefly.
The expression on his face suggested she might not have been admitted if she hadn’t appeared in the company of the other Seductress.
‘They make the best tailors.’ Goldie said quietly as the little dark haired man with pointed ears and silvery skin ushered them into what was clearly a backroom.
‘Indeed we do, Madam.’ The man said with a clipped accent. ‘Did madam have anything particular in mind?’ He turned to regard Ellie disapprovingly again.
There was material scattered all over the room, rolls of it, though mostly in leather, lace, silk and rubber; there were rails of clothing too; leather bustiers and lace frocks, silk dresses including some made in elf silk. There were other items too; flasks that presumably contained potions, a display of rings, even some sort of tiara; Ellie saw weapons too, mostly small weapons that could easily be concealed; daggers, a fighting claw, throwing stars.
‘You’ll have to find your own look.’ Goldie said. ‘I’m guessing something brazen to suit that body.’ She winked. ‘Those really are nice boots. You should probably coordinate. But only one outfit at a time.’ Goldie smiled. ‘You’ll only lose it.
‘Perhaps something like this.’ The elf pulled out something that looked like the sort of hareem costume a slut would have worn to a sex party.
‘Do you have anything more subtle?’ Ellie said.
The elf raised an eyebrow again.
‘Well, you know.’ Ellie was aware of the effect of the wine she’d gulped down about ten minutes before. ‘Sexy but understated.’
‘Something in leather perhaps?’
The elf frowned.
‘Rubber?’
The elf scowled.
‘I don’t know.’ Ellie said. ‘Something to match my boots.’
The elf grinned and bowed. Goldie winked as he disappeared.
‘Better get ready for when he comes back.’ Goldie said.
Ellie looked at her unsure what she meant.
‘Take of the kimono.’ Goldie said.
‘But I’m naked under here.’
‘And your pain is?’ Goldie said in a mocking tone.
‘Fine.’ Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘This really is going to happen a lot isn't it?’
‘More than you can imagine.’ Goldie said, watching with a smile as Ellie stripped again. ‘But then that’s why you paid for that body.’
Ellie laid the kimono to one side and folded her hands under her breasts.
‘Posture.’ Goldie advised. ‘Head up, back straight, flaunt your assets.’
Ellie lifted her chin.
‘Shoulders back and push your hips forward.’
Ellie obeyed. The posture felt natural.
‘Good.’
At that moment the elf returned, smiling and apparently nodding in approval. He was carrying something pink that did indeed match Ellie’s boots; it was shiny and smooth and seemed to flow through his hands like a liquid, almost dripping rather than hanging there.
‘Is Madam left or right handed?’ He asked.
‘Er.’ Ellie wasn’t quite sure why he needed to know. ‘Right handed, I think.’
Goldie frowned and reached up to her hair. ‘Draw your dagger.’
‘What?’
Goldie pulled what appeared to be a pin from her hair but was clearly rather more substantial. She suddenly lunged at Ellie who stepped back, almost knocking over a tailor’s dummy as she fought to pull her dagger from the silken strips binding it to her thigh. The other Seductress lunged again and Ellie swung her dagger to block the thrust, dropping into a crouch.
‘Left handed, I’d say.’ Goldie said, slipping the pin back into her hair. ‘And we’d better get you some proper weapons.’
‘Beebee gave me this.’ Ellie said, waving her dagger.
Goldie and the elf took an exaggerated step back.
‘There’s nothing wrong with keeping the gifts of others but a Seductress needs appropriate weapons.’
The dress was open sided.
‘Spider silk.’ ‘The elf commented as he draped it around her body, pulling it across her breasts. ‘More forgiving than elf silk. Allows for a little more movement. It cushions a blade’s edge too though it won’t stop a point. As if to emphasise this he jabbed a pin through it into Ellie’s right breasts.
‘Ow.’
‘You’ll bruise, of course and if the blow’s hard enough it will go through.’ He pulled it tight onto her belly. ‘Fire’s a different story, of course, it will go through like a knife through butter.’
For the next ten minutes, the elf stretched the fabric across Ellie’s body, pulling it tight, trimming and folding until he was satisfied. The dress had a high collar and covered her left arm, it covered her left side too down to the thigh; it was held place by tapering strands at the side of her breasts and at her hips; from the left it appeared she might be fully clothed, albeit in some sort of slinky pink material that shimmered like wet latex; from the right she it appeared she might be wearing the scantiest of pink bikinis.
‘You know I’m leaving town in a couple of hours?’ Ellie said as he pulled the dress off her body and scurried off into the back room.
‘It will only take a few minutes for the first fitting.’ He called over his shoulder. ‘Feel free to browse.’
Goldie beckoned her over. ‘You’ll need these.’
Lying in a display case were weapons like the ones Goldie wore in her hair, the long slender dagger and a knuckleduster that looked like a comb. Ellie picked up a knuckleduster and slipped it onto the right hand.
‘A little bigger, I think.’ Goldie said, passing her the next one which Ellie tried. ‘Yes, that will do. And this dagger, the one with the pink pearl.’ She smiled. ‘One has to accessorise in a coordinated way.’ She helped Ellie slide it into her hair. ‘This does look good by the way. Did your cute little Samurai do this for you?’
‘Yes.’ Ellie looked at herself in the mirror, Honey’s long blonde hair swept up and pinned in place, the stiletto dagger and the knuckleduster now barely noticeable.
‘I’d recommend some of this too.’ Goldie opened a display box which seemed to contain makeup and perfume. ‘The scent is a little over the top unless you’re going out dressed up but a girl is always helped by the use of a little eyeliner, especially after a heavy night. I recommend the lipstick, too. I’m sure it comes in pink.’
Ellie took it and, pouting, applied it to her lips.
‘Hmmm.’ It gave her an odd sensation. ‘Is this… magical?’
‘Yes.’ Goldie said. ‘Infused with essence of Seductress.’ She laughed as Ellie pulled a face of disgust. ‘It doubles your chance of a successful Seduction. Of course, you have to get as far as the first kiss.’ Goldie winked. ‘Maybe you could try it on your hot little Samurai friend.’
‘I’m fairly sure she’s as straight as they come.’ Ellie said. ‘She’s not interested in me.’
‘Oh, she’s interested.’ Goldie said. ‘She just hasn’t realised it yet.’
At that moment, the tailor reemerged from the back of the shop.
‘First fitting.’ He said, holding up the pink material which now seemed to have taken up more of a recognisable shape. He fitted it again around Ellie’s body and disappeared to make more adjustments.
‘You’d better take some of this too.’ Goldie said. ‘Healing Lotion. Does wonders for the skin.’
‘I think I need some of this too.’ Ellie said, picking up a vial labelled ‘Elixir of Courage’ and recalling her encounter with the kobolds.
‘Really?’ Goldie raised an eyebrow skeptically. ‘You certainly don’t need it for the interesting stuff and, if I were you, I’d stand at the back when it comes to a fight and let your pretty little friend do the violence.’
‘Aren’t Seductresses supposed to do a bit of fighting too?’ Ellie asked. ‘We do get Assassin skills at Level 3.’
‘Only if you want them.’ Goldie said. ‘Like I say, I gave up all the combat stuff as soon as I could.’ She frowned. ‘You’re not thinking of following the Dark Path are you?’
‘Not really.’ Ellie said although she had thought of it.
‘It tempts all of us.’ Goldie said. ‘Offering you glimpses of its power just like the other higher level skills that occasionally come your way for you to try out. Which reminds me, you should read this.’ She passed Ellie a book. ‘Madam So’s Pillow Book. Everything you need to know about being a Seductress. Way better than the Players’ Handbook.’
‘Does it come in audio?’ Ellie asked.
‘Just read it.’
The tailor returned again for another fitting and Ellie paid for her purchases along with a sheath for her dagger. Ellie suggested a new satchel but Goldie told her not to worry, her ‘goods’ would come in a bag that allowed plenty of room. It all came to a little over 20 Gold but Goldie simply suggested she take it out of her next payment and then paid the elf to have everything delivered to the Saucy Adventuress when he’d finished the dress.
‘Besides, you never know what might happen on your way home.’ She looked meaningfully at Ellie, her eyes roving over Honey’s curves. ‘That really is a fabulous body. I wish I’d had one like that when I started.’
‘The breasts do give me minus one on dexterity.’ Ellie said, a little embarrassed.
‘Though worth it I’m sure.’ Goldie said, waiting for the elf to open the door for them.
‘Er, can I ask you something?’ Ellie said as they stood outside the shop. She was wearing Maiko’s shortened kimono, already starting to fray at the bottom, and her boots.
‘Of course.’ Goldie tilted her head slightly to the side radiating an empathy in her eyes that made Ellie want to confide.
Ellie felt suddenly clumsy and plain. ‘The quickening…’
‘Ah.’ Goldie said.
‘I realise I get XP for…well for fucking people.’
‘Seducing them, yes.’ Goldie acknowledged.
‘I didn’t do a lot of Seduction in the pillory.’
Goldie smiled.
‘Everyone feels Experience in the same way in Fantasia X. For us it’s a bit more intense.’ She paused. ‘You’re probably best thinking about it as a sort of feedback loop. You get positive feedback from the AI because you’re using your Seductress skills and you get experience for using them. Add in the quickening and, if you’re not careful, you’re behaving like a total slut.’ She smiled. ‘I’m guessing you’ve felt that since you came here.’
‘Yes.’ Ellie recalled the incident with the Barbarian and then what had happened overnight in the room with Maiko. She wanted to ask if she was going to spend the rest of her adventure as a horny slut but Goldie seemed to understand her thoughts.
‘The higher level you get, the more you have to do to get Experience. At your level, just getting laid brings the XPs rolling in. Once you get to my level you'll have to work for it. However, the quickening gets more relentless. You have to learn to control it, channel it.’
‘That kinda sucks.’
‘You’ll find ways. I didn’t set up my little enterprise purely for the benefit of others. It stops me throwing myself at every adventurer in town trying to get shagged.’
‘I’m not…’
Goldie looked at her.
‘Okay. I admit it.’
‘It does get better though.’ Goldie said, reaching out and touching her arm in a perfectly timed comforting gesture. ‘You’ll find you get better at telling what people want which makes it more fun to seduce them and a really good Seduction is almost as good as going up a level. Better sometimes.’ Goldie’s expression became wistful. ‘The power and the sex. It’s way better than coke.’
Ellie opened her mouth to speak but closed it again.
‘Read Madam So’s Pillow Book. It’s like a Rough Guide to Fantasia for Seductresses.’ Goldie reached into her bra and pulled a card out which she handed it to Ellie.
‘What’s this.’
‘Details of a dress shop in Thoth.’ Goldie smiled. ‘If you’re as good as I think you are, you'll find your clothes being ripped off your body regularly. Whatever she’s doing, a Seductress should look good unless you want to go for that grungy ‘bit of rough’ look.’ She turned to go and then turned back. ‘And, in case you’re wondering.’ Goldie said with a wicked smile. ‘I wound up naked at least half of my time before I reached Level 5.’ She winked and walked away.
Ellie watched her go, trying not to focus on the way she moved, on the sway of her bottom and the swish of her long blonde hair and wondering if she could emulate Goldie's confidence and skill. On the far side of the street Goldie turned clearly knowing that Ellie had watched her and that half the street had their eyes on her too. The Seductress lifted her hand to her lips and blew Ellie a kiss breaking hearts all around.