The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Tam let out a defeated sigh as he looked at Yelena sitting there, holding the piece of parchment before her in her bound hands. A quick check confirmed his error—the most recent command imprinted in her was the words “Stop fucking talking”. He must have made it a rule without realizing it when he shouted at her in the stable. That certainly explained why she had only moaned and wailed while he fucked her ass instead of cursing at him.

He briefly considered if there was some lie he could concoct that would explain why words didn’t come out when she opened her mouth, but anything he could think of would require a whole elaborate castle of lies. Better to just reveal the truth. He’d known this point would come eventually, and to be honest he was relieved.

“Yelena, I will give you back the ability to speak in a minute. Before I do, please sit down. I have some things to tell you, and I think you will want to be seated when you hear them.”

Tam took the chair from behind his desk and carried it around so that he could sit facing the couch. Yelena was clearly terrified, but she made herself settle on the couch facing him. She obviously knew something was very wrong. He briefly considered a gentle way to phrase things then shrugged; there was no need to be cautious anymore.

“The spell I cast on you was much more than a compulsion to tell the truth. What actually happened was a completely different order of magnitude. By enchanting your chi, I now have complete and total control of your mind and body. The truth compulsion was simply the first command I gave you, as is your current inability to speak. I can command you do anything, and you will obey. When I told you that you would eventually come to accept your role as my slave, this moment was what I was referring to. You are literally and completely my slave, to a degree undreamt of in human history.”

Yelena shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. Tam released her from the command for silence.

“You can speak again. I’m sure you have questions; ask as many as you wish without worrying about counting. The game of questions is pointless now.”

“I don’t believe you. It’s impossible. You can’t control someone else’s mind.”

“Clearly it is possible, as I have done it. I will prove it to you.”

Tam reached out and tapped the silk binding her wrists, letting it fall to the floor.

“Stand up. Raise your hands above your head. Now extend them to the side. Put your hands back above your head. Turn around slowly. Hop on one foot. Sit back down. Don’t move from your current position.” With each spoken command, Tam added the mental push to make Yelena’s body move, dancing like a puppet.

“Did your body do anything of those things by your command? No. It was mine. You cannot lift even a finger on your own while I command you to stay still. Do you need more proof? Slap yourself in the face, hard.” Yelena did it, yelping in pain.

“Take your left index finger in your other hand. Bend it back until it hurts. If you need more proof, I can command you to break your own finger.”

“No, please, don’t break my finger. I believe you, I believe you. I don’t understand, how is this possible?” Yelena began to hyperventilate, tears streaming down her cheeks, her body still unable to move from where he’d seated her without permission.

“Yelena! Don’t faint. Calm down.” Yelena’s breathing slowed and the tension immediately flowed out of her posture. “How do you feel?”

“Confused. I should be terrified and I was a moment ago, but now I’m just rationally trying to understand what’s going on. You just commanded me to be calm, didn’t you? That must be why I’m not panicking anymore. It’s not just making my body move without me telling me telling it to, you can actually change my emotional state too.”

Yelena’s eyes narrowed in concentration as she continued. “Can you change my thoughts as well? That would be horrible, I wouldn’t be me anymore; that would be so much worse than just controlling my body. You’ve already done that though, haven’t you? That explains why fucking you felt so incredible, even while you were hurting me and humiliating me. And why I feel so pleased whenever you praise me. If you weren’t making me feel calm right now I’d be a wreck. I’m just sitting here, realizing how horrible my situation is, and I know that I should be curled up into a ball shaking and crying, but I can’t feel that way, because that wouldn’t be calm.”

She blinked and paused for breath, still unnaturally calm.

“Um, could you let me stop bending my finger please? It’s really quite painful.” Her tone was as calm as if she was asking him for a bit of honey in her tea.

“Of course; make yourself comfortable on the couch. Your current behavior is fascinating; the command to be calm seems to be helping you process things rapidly. You’ve correctly deduced most of the situation, a few minor details aside. You really are amazingly intelligent for a barbarian.”

Yelena gingerly shifted on the couch so that her weight was on her hip, tucking her legs beneath her and leaning on the arm of the couch. She flexed the finger he’d had her hurt, gently massaging the joint.

“Thank you. Sitting like that hurt; you really did a number on my ass last night. I hate you for this, you know. The fact that I just felt pleased when you told me I was intelligent is almost worse than being raped and beaten in some ways.”

“I admit I lost control last night. I’m not proud of it. If it reassures you, I do not foresee needing physical violence to control you again. You are taking this rather well, even with the command to be calm.”

Yelena shrugged. “Without the command I think I’d be a wreck. But it’s also kind of a relief to know. I thought I was losing my mind, but it’s actually you tampering with it. The truth is worse than I ever could have imagined, but it’s good to finally have some idea what’s going on.”

“I’m sure you have questions. Go ahead and ask them.”

“Yes, a million questions. Are there any limits to this? Is there anything you can’t make me do or feel?”

“Not in the way you might think. I’ve tested the spell on animals, and they killed themselves or their children on command. There is no reason to assume you would react any differently to such a command; the differences between a human and an animal are just an increased level of complexity. No one has ever found evidence of a soul or some such thing when cutting a human open. So, none of the rules that normally govern your behavior would apply if they opposed a command from me.”

Tam felt himself warm to the subject; this was the first time he’d ever been able to discuss his spell with anyone, and it felt amazing. If only the girl had enough of a scholarly background to truly understand what he’d done. He continued, resisting the temptation to discuss chi theory, sticking to practical answers to her question.

“There are limits to my control, mainly the limits of the human body. If I commanded you to fly like a bird, you would not grow wings and launch from the ground. Beyond obvious things like that, I am very curious to find out if there are other limits to what I can do with you. You are the fourth person I have done this to, but you are the only one who has lived more than a few hours afterwards. Su Wen killed the other three. You are quite valuable to me, so rest assured that I will be very careful to avoid breaking you in the testing.”

“That opens up a whole new line of questions, but I’ll stay focused on the most important ones for now. I’d very much like to know two things next: what have you already done to change me, and what are you planning to do with me now that I know? Even with this enforced calm, I’m screaming in my head at the thought of you toying with my thoughts and turning me into someone else.”

“I suppose it won’t hurt anything to tell you. Let’s start with what I’ve already done. I suppose we can generally classify the commands I give you in two fashions. First, there are immediate commands, like when I made you dance around a moment before. Those commands last only until you complete them. Second, there are deeper commands, which I suppose we could call rules for you to live by. Each of those stays with you until I explicitly remove or alter it, like when I commanded you to stop talking. The spell lets me visualize them. Give me a moment and I’ll summarize them for you.”

Yelena nodded. She looked a bit haunted even through her unnatural calm.

“First, the commands you were already aware of. Complete honesty, answer questions you are asked fully, respond in the language they were asked. As far as anyone beyond you and me knows, those are the only compulsions you are under. Second, there are some basic commands I put in place after I purchased you and brought you here. You cannot physically harm me or my servants, guests, or patients. If you had tried to brain me with that stool when I first released you from the cage, you would have found your effort as ineffectual as when you tried to punch or kick me last night. There is also a rule that you cannot leave my manor, and you cannot free yourself through suicide or mutilate yourself in an attempt to spite me.”

“Suicide or mutilation hadn’t occurred to me yet. It’s disturbing that you considered those possibilities already.”

“I simply tried to imagine what measures I would consider if I were you. I do not think I would commit suicide, but I do not know exactly how distressing it would feel to be in your position, so I could not rule it out.”

“I don’t think I would either, but I’m still trying to adjust to the scope of what’s happened to me. You said those were the basic safeguards.”

“Yes, there are a few more commands, though not as many as you might think. You’re correct that there is a rule that you will be pleased when I praise you, and another that you feel a sense of sexual arousal whenever my cock is inside you. You may not wish to hear this, but that command is simply an encouragement to your body’s natural responses—when you were on top last night, I was actually using a command to hold you back from orgasm until I released you. And of course the final rule you are currently bound to is the one to be calm. Aside from that, I haven’t tampered with you too much, though I have raised your arousal level a few times while I was enjoying your body, to make it more satisfying for me.”

“What about when you had me locked in the cage for the afternoon? You definitely didn’t have your dick inside me then.”

“Ah, yes. The command to not orgasm was in place then, and I commanded you to remember an orgasm from the previous night whenever you thought about me. I thought it would be amusing, though the effect was greater than I had expected. Oh, and it is up to you whether or not you believe me, but your response when Ho Tien attended you in the cage during that time was your own. It may have been keyed by your heightened arousal and frustration, but I never commanded you to be aroused by being watched or humiliated.”

“I’m not sure if I believe you about that or not. It seems odd that you would be so open about everything else you’ve done to me and lie about that, but you’re also clearly devious and you’ve demonstrated you’re only interested in what’s best for you, not me.”

“I don’t deny that. I wouldn’t have enslaved you if I was interested in your well-being. You can take comfort in the fact that I wish you to be in good health, mentally and physically, to ensure that you are a useful tool in my hand.” Tam gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

“Do you have any idea how disturbing this is? You’re so nonchalant, talking about altering my mind in all these different ways. I’m the one who’s under a magical compulsion to be calm, but you’re just clinical about this. Do you even feel emotions beyond anger and lust? Any normal person would be overcome with guilt at what you’ve done to me.”

Tam shrugged. “I’ve never bothered myself with guilt. I act in my own best interest. Everyone else should do so as well; it doesn’t benefit me to look out for others. As far as emotions go, I do feel them; I’ve noticed that others seem to either feel them more strongly, or be more easily swayed by their emotions, but I can only control minds, not read them, so I can’t say how valid that impression is.”

“I’ll take your word for it. What are you going to do to me now that I’m just your helpless doll? Well, now that I know it; I suppose I’ve been your puppet since you completed your spell even if I thought I was just your captive.” Yelena seemed to have something more to add, but she held back and waited for him to answer.

“My primary plan is to use you as a test subject. As I said, you’re the first person to live more than a few hours after I took control. Even better, you’re also legally my property; no one will interfere with me doing whatever I want with you, as long as I’m discreet. As I said, the only practical limits I’m aware of are your physical limitations and my imagination, but all of that is untested theory. What happens if I command you to physical exertion until you pass out? What are your actual physical limitations, not the ones you self-impose because you get tired and your muscles burn? What happens if I give you two contradicting commands? How do you respond to complex commands? There are a million aspects of this that are only theory and if I am going to use this spell to gain influence and power in the wider world, I need to know how to wield it like a scalpel, not a cudgel.”

Yelena’s face paled as Tam warmed to the subject. He paused for a moment. “I suppose you weren’t asking about the theory that much. I apologize, I’ve been dreaming about this opportunity for years. I suppose you’re more interested in how this will affect you.”

“Yes. I’m worried about being in pain, and I’m worried about being fucked and degraded and starved, all the things you’ve done to me already and how much worse it will get. But mostly I find myself terrified about losing my identity, my mind, whatever makes me, well, me.”

Yelena took a moment to pick her next words. “Being Yelena Alexovna, helpless victim, is terrifying. But not being Yelena Alexovna anymore, whatever that means, is the worst thing I can imagine right now and it sounds like that’s my future. Last week I would have thought that being enslaved and raped was the worst thing possible, but confronted with loss of myself, it seems trivial in comparison.”

“I suspect you only say that because you’ve never experienced real physical suffering. Have you ever watched someone undergo real, prolonged torture? After a certain level of pain, a human mind breaks down. Nothing matters except making the pain stop.”

“Please don’t torture me.” Yelena’s eyes were wide, her muscles tensing. The magical command to be calm was still holding, but it was being tested.

“I apologize, Yelena. I’m discussing this as an intellectual curiosity; I should have remembered that this is a very real concern for you. Don’t worry; I have no plans to torture you. Let me go ahead and finish answering your question about my plans.” Tam shifted position in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, fingers steepled.

“Let’s talk about the physical first, as that’s easier. I have no intention of doing anything that will cause you permanent physical damage. Some of the tests I conduct will leave you in pain, but inflicting permanent damage reduces my options. Think of your body as a tool at my disposal; breaking the tool does me no good. As far as sex and humiliation goes, everyone outside this room thinks you are my pleasure slave. It suits my interests to maintain that illusion, both as a disguise and for my own personal pleasure. The exact details need to be worked out, but your daily life will mostly consist of the same duties as any other bed slave. You’ll fuck me, bathe me, dress me, serve my meals, and help out around the house just like any other slave in your position.”

“Now for the mental aspects, the part you say you are most frightened of. I will make changes to your mind, because the mental aspects are key to many of the experiments I want to perform. However, most of those changes will be temporary; I’ll try something out, then remove it and make you tell me what it was like. You have a useful intelligence and insight, and you know your own mind better than anyone else. I’ll value that perspective as I experiment. I’m sure I’ll make some permanent changes in your personality if they seem useful, but I’ll be careful to keep them minimized. I’ve seen patients where the human mind has broken; many times it’s impossible to cure. I will do everything I can to make sure you do not become one of those cases.”

Yelena studied him carefully as he spoke. She opened her mouth when he finished, then paused, carefully considering her words before she finally spoke. “May I have a minute to silently consider what you’ve said?”

“Of course. Take whatever time you need, I’m sure this is a lot to process.”

“Thank you.” Yelena closed her eyes, her brow creased in thought. Tam watched her patiently. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and spoke again.

“So, this is what you meant by realizing the reality of my slavery. Thank you very much for the order to be calm, I don’t think I could have handled this without it. But I’d like you to release me from the command please.”

“Are you going to lose control of yourself if I do? I assume this has been a very traumatic conversation for you. Do not underestimate the buffer the command is providing.”

“I don’t know. I think I have the motivation to control myself right now, but you’re right, I don’t know how much the command is helping. Maybe give me a minute or two to try and collect myself when the emotions come back, and if I can’t handle it you can just command me again?”

“Very well. If you become violent or abusive, you will lose the grace period.”

After Yelena nodded in confirmation, Tam erased the command. She let out a gasp and instinctively huddled into herself. Tears sprang from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks and she let out a low moan. Tam waited and watched. Yelena huddled on the couch crying for a minute, but then she began to visibly master herself. Her shoulders straightened with an effort, and she choked back her sobs slowly. Faster than he would have thought possible, she straightened up, wiping her tears away with her sleeve. When she looked at him, her eyes were red in her bruised face, but her gaze was clear.

“I have something I need to do.”

Tam raised an eyebrow at her.

Yelena pulled her feet out from under her and rearranged herself so that she was kneeling on the couch, her head lowered and hands on her knees. “Master, your slave would like to beg you for a favor. In order to do so properly, she has two requests she must make first. May she make them?”

Tam was puzzled, but curious. “She may.”

“Your slave requests that she be given permission to leave the couch. She does not know if making herself comfortable on the couch was a ‘rule’ or just an ordinary non-magical instruction, but she does not wish to displease her master by testing.”

“You can leave the couch.”

Yelena gracefully slid from the couch and dropped to kneel at his feet, her face to the floor.

“Your slave requests that you temporarily suspend any rules influencing her sexuality or arousal. She wishes to beg her master with her body, and requests that she do so purely of her own will so that her master will have no doubts about her sincerity when she begs.”

Tam was definitely interested to see where this was going. He paused and considered the possibility that she was trying to get him to lower his guard, but he couldn’t see any loopholes in the basic safeguards. Still, best to be sure. “Yelena, have you thought of some trick to try and get free or harm me or my interests in any way?”

She looked up, meeting his eyes. “No, Tam, I can’t think of any way out of this trap right now. You own my mind and body. All I can think of is begging you to spare me in one small way, which I do not think will disadvantage you. It’s a tiny thing, and I know I can’t make you do it, or even be sure you’ll do it if you say yes, but it’s the only hope I have. If you tell me to, I’ll tell you what I want, but I think my odds are better if I beg you first, and then ask. I think you’ll like the way I plan to beg.” She parted her lips and slowly dragged the tip of her tongue along her upper lip, her eyes full of lewd promise.

Tam swallowed and shifted slightly in his chair. “Your request is granted.” He opened up her rules in his mind and erased the ones touching her sexuality and arousal.

Instantly Yelena’s head dropped back to the floor. “Your slave is very grateful, Master. Please, sit back and relax as your slave begs you.”

She slid forward on the floor and bent her head to his feet. She kissed his slippers, working her way from toe to ankle on first one, then the other. When she reached his ankle the second time, she took the edge of the slipper in her teeth then waited, completely still. Guessing at her intentions, Tam tugged his foot loose from the slipper. She drew it off with her teeth then set it down and took the other slipper in her mouth, waiting again for him to pull his foot out. Once both his feet were bare, she took both slippers in her mouth and crawled over to set them beneath his desk, her hips swaying as she crawled.

Yelena turned back to face him and smoothly rose to her feet. She caught the hem of her dress with her hands and pulled it over her head in one fluid motion as she straightened. She tossed it out of sight behind the couch and walked back until she stood two feet in front of him, gloriously nude. She slid down to kneel facing him, her knees spread wide, back straight, head lowered. She pulled her shoulders back, pushing her breasts forward. Keeping her eyes lowered, she spoke in a low, sultry voice.

“This slave knows that she was not chosen for her beauty, but she hopes she is pleasing to Master’s eyes. Her breasts are small, but they are firm and high. Her nipples stiffen quickly, even without Master’s magic.” As she described herself, Yelena followed her words with her hands, cupping her breasts to present them to him, pinching her rosy nipples. Her hands trailed down her body as she spoke.

“This slave’s stomach is firm and tight. Her skin is pale, but it is smooth and has only small blemishes beyond the marks Master chooses to make on it. Her legs are strong; her hips are not round enough, but she hopes they are sufficient to please master. Her pussy is smooth shaven, but her yellow hair can be regrown there. She will keep it however Master desires. Her pussy lips are smooth and well formed.”

Yelena turned around on her knees and bent over, reaching back to hold her ass cheeks apart, spreading herself for him.

“This slave has a firm ass, pleasantly rounded. Master has chosen to mark it with his hand. This slave has been told by her master that she possesses three warm holes that can take a cock. Master has been gracious enough to tell his slave that he enjoys all three of her hot, tight fuck-holes.”

“This slave’s first fuck-hole is her mouth, which she is using to describe her body to her master. Her master took her virginity there, and has left his cum in her throat and in her mouth. Her second fuck-hole is her pussy. This slave had her first orgasm when Master put his fingers in her pussy. Master can see that his slave’s pussy is damp already. His slave is getting wet as she abases herself before Master, even without his magic.” Yelena paused for a barely noticeable moment then continued.

“This slave’s third fuck-hole is her asshole. Master took her virginity there as well. Master told her that it was her tightest hole, and he made her orgasm multiple times before he let her take his cum in her asshole.”

Yelena continued to display herself, letting Tam appreciate the view. When she heard him shift slightly in his seat, she crawled back to his feet and began to kiss them, worshipping his feet with her mouth. She kept at this just long enough for Tam to become impatient before she slid her hands up over his legs, kissing his trousers as she rose to kneel between his legs.

She pushed his robe open over his knees and disappeared beneath it, kissing between his thighs and kissing his straining cock lightly through his trousers. She pulled her head back out from under his robe and bent to work at the catches with her mouth. She was more practiced than the first night, and soon had his robe open, hanging from his shoulders.

She pushed his tunic up and kissed his torso, rising from her knees as she worked her way up, resting her hands on his shoulders. She kept her body tight to his as she rose, dragging her breasts across his crotch then up his torso. When her kisses reached his collarbone, she slid forward to straddle him then undulated against him, her pussy grinding into his still-clothed crotch, her breasts sliding across his face. Tam growled and grabbed her bruised ass as he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. She yelped in pain, but quickly resumed pushing against him, presenting first one nipple then the other for his mouth to use.

“Ah, if it would please Master, this slave wishes to beg him with her first fuck-hole now.”

“Yes, do that. Do that now.” Tam let go of Yelena’s ass, and she slid off him to kneel between his legs. Sensing his impatience, she didn’t bother using her teeth, quickly undoing his trousers and pulling them off, Tam lifting his hips to aid her. She took him into her mouth and began working at him with her lips and tongue. Once his cock was slick with her saliva, she used her hands as well, stroking him with one hand and fondling his balls with the other while her tongue moved over the sensitive head. She tried to take him into her throat once, but without a command to do so, was unable to suppress her gag reflex. She redoubled her other efforts, clearly determined to do the best she could with her mouth.

Tam grunted. “Almost there, slave.”

Yelena pulled off him and looked up, her green eyes wide. “Does Master want to come in his slave’s mouth or on her face?”

“Tits.”

“Yes Master.” She bent down and took him as far as she could, making him as slick as possible, then worked him with both hands, aiming him at her collarbone. When he came, she aimed the ropes of semen so that they ran in long lines across her chest, dripping down over her breasts. She knelt back on her heels and cupped her breasts, holding her cum-stained chest up before him like a painting on an easel.

“Ah, very pretty. That was an exquisite job of begging, slave.”

Yelena bowed her head blushing. “This slave is embarrassed. She has not finished begging her master yet. She had hoped to beg Master with her second fuck-hole as well.”

Tam grinned. This was definitely not what he had been expecting. “Give Master a moment to recover, slave. While he does, scoop all that cum off your perky tits and swallow it.”

“Yes Master. This slave will not waste a drop of Master’s cum.”

Yelena proved to be as good as her word, carefully scooping every drop of cum off her chest and licking it from her fingers. She held her mouth open as she did so, letting Tam see it slowly fill with cum, then carefully swallowed and opened her mouth again so he could confirm she had obeyed. Tam took the opportunity to shrug out of his robe and pull his tunic off so that he was as naked as his slave.

When Yelena was done eating Tam’s cum, she leaned forward to clean his cock with her tongue, taking him into her mouth again until he hardened. She looked up at him with a mouth full of cock and raised her eyebrows.

Tam nodded permission, and she moved to straddle him then took him in one hand and guided him into her wet heat, balancing herself with her other hand on his shoulder. Tam let her take her own pace as she worked him into her tight channel then cupped his hands loosely around her waist as she began to ride him.

“How does that feel, Yelena? Is it as good without the command?”

“No Master. I can feel; sorry, this slave can feel that she isn’t rising as quickly. But her pussy still got wet when she sucked Master’s cock and when Master painted her tits with his cum. And she likes how it feels to have her little pussy stretched so wide by Master’s cock and feel it sliding inside her. Before, with the magic, it felt like she was pulsing all through whenever she took Master’s cock; like someone was rubbing her clit even if no one was. But this slave still feels good; it’s not like when the Tong raped her or when her lover was fumbling with her. There’s the anticipation, and the foreplay, and the humiliation of being Master’s hot little slut, and all of that adds up together and her body likes it even though her mind is horrified at what she’s doing.”

Yelena never stopped fucking him as she talked, sliding herself up and down his cock with varying speeds; her breasts pushing against him, her legs bent and braced against the floor, her hands on his shoulders. She was sweating with effort, but when she found a pace that Tam seemed to particularly enjoy she settled into it with determination. She began to pant as she rode him, her shoulders flushed.

“But, ah, this slave’s pleasure is not important, unless it pleases Master to see how hot his little slave gets riding his cock. This slave only hopes that her tight cunt is pleasing Master. She hopes Master is pleased by her efforts, and by her hot little cunt weeping on his cock. Master can fill her pussy with his cum, and she will dig it out with her fingers for him and swallow it for him.”

Tam almost came as he pictured that, but he had a different ending in mind.

“Unfortunately, slave, your master only has one load of cum left in him right now. If you’re planning to beg Master with your third hole too, you’ll have to do it before you make Master come with your pussy.”

Yelena froze mid-fuck, then slowly resumed. “Ah, of course. If this slave truly wants Master to grant her wish, she must beg him with all of her holes. She would like . . . she is ready . . . no, damn it, why can’t she lie! She has to find a way to say it that is true. Ah, Master may make this slave beg with her third hole whenever Master is ready to do so.”

“I won’t let you get off that easy, Yelena. It’s up to you to decide how much you want whatever this is, but it was your idea to beg me this way. If you want this that much, you’ll have to do the begging, not just let me make you beg.”

Yelena groaned and twisted in his lap, then bent forward to rest her head on his shoulder with a sob, still impaled on his cock but no longer actively fucking him.

“Your slave is so scared, Master. It hurt so badly when you took her ass before; and that was with the magic. She’s terrified of doing it without. But you’re telling her that if she doesn’t do it, everything she just did will go to waste. She didn’t think she’d have to beg Master with her asshole, but she should have realized she would have to. She wants this favor very badly. She wants to be able to beg Master with her asshole, but she doesn’t know how to do it. Master pushed so hard to get into her tight little ass, and she doesn’t know how she can get him in if she has to do it herself. Please help your slave, Master; please tell her how to beg you with her asshole so that she can please you.”

Tam was amazed. He hadn’t really thought she’d go through with it. Still, she was saying she wanted to let him fuck her ass even though it would hurt her. He had never felt more powerful.

“Alright slave, Master will help.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“I think this will work best if I lie down on the floor. Then you can come down from above, and let gravity help you. You’ll need to make sure to get lots of lube inside you and on my cock, but your pussy seems to be pumping out a fair amount.”

“Ah, yes Master. Now, Master?” Her breathing was short and quick with fear.

“It’ll only get worse if you let the anticipation build.”

Yelena nodded and lifted herself shivering off his cock. Tam stood and picked up his robe, spreading it on the floor as a makeshift blanket. He lay down and put his hands behind his head, cock jutting into the air. Yelena knelt down beside him and traced his cock with her fingers.

“Your slave still can hardly believe this can fit in her pussy, let alone her ass. It hurt so much when Master did it last night and now she has to try and do it to herself.”

“It’ll be easier if we work a finger or two in first to stretch you. Here, point your juicy little cunt towards me and I’ll do that for you; you can keep my cock hard with your mouth. Just be careful you don’t get me off.”

Yelena nodded and knelt over Tam’s chest, bending down to wrap her lips around his cock. Tam slid his fingers into her still slick cunt and then began to gently rub her juices into the tight ring of her ass. He made sure she was soaked there before he pushed one finger against her brown star. She froze as he began to push in, muscles rigid, but he made soothing noises and stroked her thigh with his other hand until she managed to relax a little. Tam briefly considered lowering her sensitivity to pain, but he was curious to see how brave she actually was.

Once he had his finger in, he slowly pushed it in as far in as he could, then pulled it out, rolled it in her cunt again, and pushed it back in. The process slowly became easier, especially once he positioned his other hand on her clit and began to gently stroke it. Yelena began to whimper softly around his cock. She stiffened and cried again when he added a second finger and then a third, but slowly adjusted to those too.

“Alright, Yelena, you’re going to have to do the rest yourself.”

She slowly moved to ready herself, crawling down his body. She slid his cock into her pussy for a few quick pumps, remembering his advice to lube it as thoroughly as possible, and then knelt above him. She leaned back slightly until she could brace herself with one hand, then, balancing on three points, reached behind herself and guided his cock to her rosebud with her other hand.

She pushed herself slowly down onto his cock, sobbing with the effort. She had to stop several times, but eventually her bruised cheeks were pressed against Tam’s pelvis and he was fully sheathed in her tight heat. He reached up and stroked her shoulder.

“That’s a good girl, Yelena. You took me in the ass all by yourself. Now go ahead, slave. You’ve got my cock in your ass, fuck me with it.”

She slowly began to move up and down on him, gasping as she did so. “Please, Master, may your slave touch her clit? She’s still sore from last time, it hurts so badly. She thinks she could do better if she could rub herself.”

“Go ahead, Yelena, touch yourself. Make yourself hot while you fuck yourself on my cock. Tell me all about it; Master likes it when you talk about the dirty things you’re doing.”

“Ah, yes Master! Your slave likes that too. It makes her hot when she tells Master what a slut she is. Ah, your slave is such a little slut, Master. Your slave used to be a free woman, Master. She’s fallen so far. She’s fucking her own ass on her Master’s cock because she wants something. Um, she’s, she’s like a whore, using all three of her holes to try and trade for something she wants. But she’s worse than a whore, because a whore gets paid. She’s just a dirty little slave slut giving it away and hoping Master will be happy enough to do her a favor.”

Yelena was frigging herself desperately now, pushing herself harder and harder onto him, caught up in a trance. Her face was fascinating to watch, her expression a strange mix of horror and rapture. Tam gritted his teeth and tried to hold back his orgasm as long as possible; her rear passage continued to be an amazing fuck, and the knowledge that she was doing it to herself combined with her narration was going to push him over the edge soon. He couldn’t resist grabbing her hips and beginning to thrust up to meet her as she descended.

Yelena’s eyes suddenly widened, the pupils dilated, the green of her irises darkening to jade. “Oh god, everything she’s saying is true, Master didn’t take that command away. She’s his slave, she’s a filthy little slut, and she’s getting off on getting fucked in the ass. It hurts, Master’s cock is stretching her little asshole so wide it hurts. But she’s getting so hot doing it; she feels so full. It feels good even though it hurts, and she’s rubbing her little clit so hard, because getting fucked in the ass makes her hot. God have mercy on me, I’m a slutty little slave who likes getting fucked, it doesn’t matter what hole!”

Tam roared when he heard that, reaching up to grab Yelena’s shoulders and pull her against him as he flipped them over with his hips, pinning her back against the floor as he pulled her legs up so that he could keep fucking her ass. She gasped and twisted under him to keep her hand on her clit, her body bent in half beneath him. Propping himself above her, Tam fucked down into her ass with brutal force, desperate for release. He couldn’t tell which of them came first, one triggering the other, but she was still shaking in orgasm beneath him when his last jet of cum painted her bowels.

He pushed off her and fell back onto his back, staring at the ceiling which seemed to be spinning above him. They lay beside each other, naked and sweaty, Tam on his back and Yelena on her face. Yelena rolled onto her side and whimpered a little. Neither one was capable of conversation for a while. Tam was the first to break the silence.

“Yelena, you amaze me. I can’t believe how hot that was, listening to you talk like that while you fucked me with your ass.”

“I can’t believe I said all those things. Wait, was that a lie? I mean, I obviously believe I said it. Did you take away the lying rule too? Please tell me I was lying when I said some of those things.”

“No, you believed them. Saying you can’t believe something is just a figure of speech. Like if you said ‘Oh no, you’re ripping me in half’ while I was fucking your ass, you and I would both know I wasn’t literally ripping you in half. Your mind interprets the rule in such a way that you can carry on a conversation normally. At least, that’s my theory. I haven’t figured out how to test that yet.”

“And you really didn’t have any rules in place to make me more aroused that whole time?”

“No, I took them away like you asked.”

“So I’m your slave and your slut. That really was all me, whoring my body out to you, coming while you fucked my ass.”

Yelena contemplated the ceiling for a minute. Tam turned to watch her; he hadn’t replaced the command to be calm, but she looked almost relaxed.

“It’s interesting what you said, that I’m translating your rule for me in my head. Is it written down somewhere?” Yelena sounded idly curious.

“You could think of it that way. The spell lets me visualize the rules mentally and stores them for reference so I can review them with a thought. I picture them as sentences when I create them, so your mind presumably interprets them that way too. But I don’t think you just fucked the hell out of me so that you could discuss the details of how I control you.”

Yelena propped herself up on an elbow so that she could see his face. “I guess I’m putting it off because I’m scared you’ll say no. But the details about how the spell works are kind of important to me. It helps me understand what’s happening so that I feel a little less crazy. And I’ve always been fascinated with language; you can’t help being curious about how languages work after you learn enough of them, or at least I couldn’t. If the way you control me is based on language, I feel like I can understand what is happening a little bit more. But you’re right, I should ask for my favor now.”

She began to struggle up into a kneeling position. Tam rolled into a seated position himself and stopped her as she tried to bow, pushing her to sit facing him. “As much as I enjoy all of the ‘your slave wishes to request’ behavior, don’t worry about being formal right now. There’s a time and a place for it, but it isn’t now. You’ve fucked all the formality out of me, and I’m feeling as generous as I’ll ever feel. Just tell me what you want and I’ll decide if it’s reasonable.”

“Yes Master. I just have one request, and I think I really will go mad if you don’t grant it. I can survive being property, the fucking and the beating and the constant hunger, at least I think I can. I can probably even survive the crazy stuff like not being able to lie or feeling like I won a prize when you compliment me. But I can’t survive constantly wondering if what I’m thinking is me or something you put inside me.”

“I’m begging you, Tam, and I’ll fuck you every way you can think of again if it’ll help you say yes. If there’s something I can offer you besides my body, I’ll offer that too. Please, please, please: tell me when you fuck with my mind. Let me read all of the rules you write in that strange magic place in your head that says ‘Rules for Yelena’. I think I can adapt to being changed, if I know where it’s coming from and what it is. But I can’t handle wondering if my thoughts are my own. I’m barely holding it together anymore without the rule to be calm. I don’t even know if what I just did was your idea or mine.”

Tears were pooling in her eyes again, and her voice broke at the end. Tam reached out and cupped her face in his hand, brushing the tears away.

“Yelena, listen to me. That was just you. I don’t know if that makes you feel better or worse about throwing yourself at me, but it wasn’t my idea. In fact, I admire you for what you just did—you decided what you needed to survive in a bad situation and put everything you could offer on the line to get it. I respect your courage. I will grant your request, with conditions.”

“What conditions?”

“First, there may not always be time to tell you what the new rule is, or we may be in a position where we should not be discussing mind control, for example if there are other people around. I will do my best to keep you up to date on things in a timely manner, and if I forget, you have permission to ask for an update as long as it’s in a safe environment.”

Yelena nodded. “That’s perfectly reasonable.”

“Second, and you will like this less—I may want to test scenarios where you are not aware of the command I have given you. In some of these scenarios, I will give you warning ahead of time that there will be a mystery command or rule, but in others it would ruin the test. I do not envision any of these lasting longer than a few hours. I will try to keep them as brief as possible, and I will always tell you what I did afterwards, whether or not I warned you ahead of time.”

Yelena frowned. “You’re right. I don’t like that at all. Can you promise me that we’ll do some of the ones with warnings first? Or that the ones I don’t know about will only happen on certain days or at certain times? Wondering if it’s a surprise test isn’t really different from just plain old wondering if it’s you or me behind my thoughts.”

Tam frowned. “I see your point. Very well, we will stick to only hidden tests with prior warning for the present time. If I think I need to give you a hidden test without warning, we will sit down and have this conversation again.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers; any other conditions?”

“I’m only going to keep track of the rules for you; it would be too much of a bother to tell you every time I give you an order whether or not I’m compelling you to obey. If you really have to know about something, you can ask as long as we’re in private and it doesn’t interrupt anything. I can’t think of any other conditions. If I do later, I will sit down and discuss it with you first. I believe I heard in your culture it is customary to grasp forearms when making a promise?”

Yelena gave him a strange look that he couldn’t interpret. “No, that’s when you make a bargain. Since I didn’t have anything to offer and just had to beg you and hope, this isn’t a bargain. But we can do it anyway.”

She extended her right arm, scrubbing a few loose tears from her face as she did so. Tam reached out with his own, closing his hand around her slim forearm as her fingers lightly wrapped around his.

“Very well. Alexovna Yelena, hear this. I, Hsien Tam, will keep you informed of every rule I set for you and change I make to your personality and mind, within the conditions we discussed. This is my promise.”

He released her and stood. “Now get up and get dressed; we’re both filthy with sweat and sex stains. We’re getting cleaned up, and since you’ve mentioned being hungry twice since you woke, after that we’ll eat. That’s not a command by the way; it’s just me telling you what to do.” He grinned at her.

Yelena sprawled back on the floor. “Oh, this feels nice. I’m disobeying your command to get up and get dressed. Look at me, no clothes on. I know I only get to do it because you’re letting me disobey, but it feels fantastic anyway.”

“Yes, a brilliant plan. You’re going to stay hungry, and I’m going to continue to ogle your naked body. Remember when I said you were intelligent? I take it back.”

“Yes, I remember. You said it more than once. Still compelled to answer any question, I see. Might as well get dressed and get back to my life of slavery.” She sighed and began to look for her dress.

“Ah, thank you for reminding me. I am modifying the honesty rules. They remain in their current state whenever we are in private. If we are some place where others can hear us talk, you are now permitted to lie, but only if it serves to keep secret the fact that I have total control of you. I am also adding a new rule, which is that you will keep my control over you a secret by any means necessary.” Tam tugged his own clothes back on as he talked.

“What does that mean? Any means necessary? Do I get to kill you if I hear you start to tell someone else?”

“Alright, that might not be the best wording. Help me think of the best way to phrase that rule to achieve my intent. This is a command.”

“Um, I have to do everything I can to keep this a secret, unless you choose to tell someone, or keeping the secret would lead to worse consequences for you than the secret coming out? Shit, I shouldn’t have asked, I should have waited for the chance to kill you.”

“Killing me may not work out well for you, given the way the spell works. I approve of your suggested wording; I just set it in place as your newest rule. For reference, the consequences of this becoming known would be that I would almost certainly be captured by someone like the Tong or one of the city’s nobles and forced by torture to teach them how they can wield this power. Once they know how I do it, I will almost certainly be placed under their control using my own spell or killed. So, basically, you should only betray the secret if doing so will prevent me from losing my life or my freedom. Now let’s get cleaned up.”

Once they were both dressed, Tam led her to his bathing chamber. Yelena was impressed with the enchanted tub, which heated the water after the spigot filled it. She confessed that the port town she grew up in did not even have a system of pipes and aqueducts to deliver water into a house.

If one wanted to have a warm bath in her birthplace, they hauled water in buckets from rain barrels or a well, then heated the water in pots before pouring it into a tub. Since this was impractical for all but the very rich, most people either went without bathing or made do with a wet rag or the occasional dip in the sea.

Tam was amazed at the barbarism. She confessed that her native country had no public baths like the ones the Emperor of Han provided for his citizens, though she knew that some of the other barbarian nations used them. The larger cities in her home country at least had rudimentary systems of running water and waste disposal, though they weren’t as advanced as those used in Nihai.

Yelena was initially reluctant to join Tam in the tub to bathe him. He made a few points: first, her public role included being his body servant as well as warming his bed; second, he’d seen her naked and fucked her plenty of times; third, if she didn’t get in and start scrubbing him of her own free will, he’d just make her do it. Cursing under her breath, she stripped down and climbed in.

Tam found being bathed remarkably pleasant. He’d never thought of himself as the sort of person who needed a body servant, but now that he had one he found himself quite taken with the concept. He even decided to have her unbraid and wash his hair. She was probably scowling ferociously, but since he couldn’t see her face, he just relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of her hands massaging his scalp and smoothing out his hair.

Once he was clean, he stepped out and had Yelena towel him off, then watched as she bathed herself. He noticed that she was beginning to grow faint traces of stubble, and had her shave her armpits, crotch, and legs, as he liked the look and feel of her that way. He left her keep the stubble on her head; the humiliation being bald caused her was interesting, but it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing, and he wanted her to regrow her hair as quickly as possible.

Once she was clean and shaved, he had her dry his hair and re-do his braid then dress him in clean clothes. She knelt naked at his feet after putting his slippers on, scowling up at him.

“Is Master ready to face the rest of his day? Does Master need a nice massage first? Or his nails trimmed?”

Tam was amused by her surly behavior; even after what he’d done to her in the stable and what she’d put herself through in his study just now, she still managed to have a rebellious attitude. He considered reprimanding her, but found that he actually enjoyed her little acts of defiance. He smirked down at her.

“Don’t mock being civilized, girl. The simple pleasures are a key element in a good life. Get dressed yourself. You can wear the same dress again, since I only have one other one for you at the moment. Let’s have a late lunch and see if we can’t accomplish something productive in what’s left of the day.”

Once she was dressed, Tam led the way to the hallway door, but Yelena reached out to grab his arm before he could open it.

“Tam, stop. If I wasn’t under your control through the spell, you wouldn’t let me walk around without restraints. I can start acting more docile; if anyone asks, you broke my will with the rape and beating last night. But even broken, you would still be suspicious of me.”

Tam laughed. “I can’t tell if I’m more impressed with you for putting that together so quickly, or with me for inventing a spell that makes you help me like this. I should have thought of it myself, of course.”

Yelena frowned. “Damn, it was the rule, wasn’t it? I just thought of it and said it, without thinking about why. And now I get to be tied up for the foreseeable future just because I’m smart enough to point that out. Do you think you could set up a rule so that I get really dumb whenever you make me assist in my own enslavement?”

Tam found the enchanted green silk and beckoned Yelena over to present her wrists. “I have no idea how I’d phrase that, though now I am wondering if I can increase or decrease your intelligence. Don’t look so terrified—anything I test about that will be done very carefully, with your full knowledge of what we’re doing, and I’ll fix it afterwards. The last thing I want to do is damage your mind, your insights on your condition are valuable.”

“Yes, that’s very comforting. Oh, hey! That’s another way I can lie: sarcasm. Sarcasm and figures of speech, you are my new best friends.” Yelena gave Tam an extremely insincere exaggerated smile as he bound her wrists in front of her.

“I see you’re embracing gallows humor as a coping mechanism. If it helps you, I suppose it doesn’t bother me. Now, look sullen and apprehensive; it shouldn’t be difficult for you.” Placing his hand on her collar to guide her, Tam led Yelena out of the study.

Tam had Yelena kneel at his feet on a cushion as they ate, feeding her by hand as he’d done the day before. After they ate, Tam decided to give Yelena a tour of the manor and introduce her to the staff.

His property was a large rectangle, bordered on two sides by streets and other manors on the other two sides. The outer walls were separated from the manor itself by gardens, with paths of paved stone circling the building and connecting the manor doors to the front gate and to the stable against the back wall. The manor itself was a single story in a ‘u’ shape, two long wings perpendicular to the front wall, joined by a central section. Tam’s clinic and lab took up half of the right hand wing near the gate, with small groves of trees positioned outside the windows to block any patient’s view of the rest of the manor. The back half of that wing was the kitchen, storerooms, and living quarters for Lin Song, Bin Hsui and Ho Tien.

The left wing was the master’s wing. Though Tam mainly used his bedroom, study, and bathing chamber, there were also additional bedrooms and bathing chambers and a few rooms set aside for entertaining his rare guests. The central section that joined the wings was primarily devoted to a large open space for dining, bracketed with smaller parlors that opened onto the gardens, intended for sipping tea or relaxing in other ways.

He introduced Yelena to the servants as they crossed paths, each time having her kneel and tell the servant she was honored to meet them. Bin Hsui found them just as Tam was finishing the tour; apparently a reply to Tam’s message to Su Wen had arrived. Thanking the old man, Tam took Su Wen’s reply into his study to read in private, Yelena dutifully following at his heels.

The reply was actually a small package. Upon unwrapping it, Tam found a wig, a veil, a small origami figure, and a folded note which smelled of Su Wen’s perfume.

He unfolded the note and read it:

Doctor Hsien—

Thank you for your message. Your consideration is, as always, appreciated. Matters with the young lady’s friends are progressing quickly, and I expect to soon inform you that there is no need to conceal her. Until then, I have provided some items that I think would be fetching on her if you wish to escort her about town. Once matters are resolved with the young lady’s friends, I would enjoy seeing how she is adjusting to life with you.

—Su Wen

Tam picked up the wig and veil and considered them with a smile. Give Yelena long black hair, obscure her face, and yes, he could probably walk her anywhere in the city without risk of her being recognized by anyone.

“Here, try these on. They’re a gift, sent for you from Su Wen.”

“That lady frightens me almost as much as you do” she grumbled as she adjusted the wig.

“That is a very healthy attitude. I consider her to be the most dangerous person I have ever personally met.”

Tam studied Yelena. She hadn’t managed to get the wig and veil quite situated right, operating with bound hands and no mirror, but the effect was still impressive. Her pale skin still marked her as a foreigner where the dress and veil did not cover her, and the collar and bound wrists still said slave, but this was a different woman from the naked, bruised one he had treated in his clinic just that morning.

“It looks good on you. Here, come over and let me fix it, you don’t have the wig on quite straight.”

Yelena glanced at his desk as he fixed her appearance. “What’s the little folded paper person supposed to be?”

“I’m not completely sure, but if I had to guess, it’s meant to be you. See how it’s kneeling with its ass up and face to the ground? I believe it’s meant to be reminiscent of your position when Lu fucked you while we watched.”

Yelena flinched back away from him, bumping into the desk as she did so.

“Yelena? Are you worried you’ll have to go through that again?”

“No Master. I’m worried that you’re going to get violent again, like the last time that man came up. I don’t know what I did to make you so angry, but I really don’t want to repeat the experience.”

She didn’t know what she did? The bitch told him that she liked that street cur Lu better, even after how considerate he’d been, and she didn’t know why that made him angry? Tam felt the rage boil up from where it had slumbered. He pushed his chair back from the desk and stood.

Yelena instantly dropped prone to the floor, kneeling with her head between outstretched hands. “Please Master, this slave speaks the truth, you know she must. She did not mean to offend you just now. Please do not hurt her again. Tell her what she did wrong and she will never do it again.”

Tam forced the rage back. He had promised himself that he would remain in control, and he would do so. With an effort of will, he sat back down.

“Sit up and face me Yelena. Remove the veil.”

“Yes Master.” She scrambled to comply.

“You really don’t know why I was angry?”

“I know I goaded you once you were fucking me over the cage and that made you angrier. I don’t know why you’re angry now, or why you started to get angry before you took me out to the stable last night.”

“Really, you don’t know? Think back to what we were talking about just before I took you there.”

“I asked you to stop fingering me, and you asked me if it wasn’t better this way than getting raped by the Tong. I said no, it hurt more with the Tong, but at least I didn’t feel like I was losing my mind. I don’t understand why you got angry at me for answering a question when you know I’m compelled to do so; you never got angry before when I answered a question, even if it was an answer you didn’t like.”

“That wasn’t what you said. Your precise words were ‘No, it was better with Lu’”. Tam’s voice was ice.

“Maybe that’s how I started the answer, but after that all the rest came out. That’s how your spell makes me answer questions—first the most direct answer, then all the necessary details I can think of, even the really embarrassing ones.”

Tam frowned; the rage told him the bitch was lying to save herself, but it wasn’t in total control yet. Tam knew she couldn’t lie to him. He double checked the list of rules just to be sure, and it was still there—the only time she could lie was to help keep his secret, and that didn’t apply here.

So if she wasn’t lying, one of them was remembering incorrectly. He closed his eyes and thought back. It was hard to remember exact details through the fog of rage, but yes, she had been saying something after the rage descended. So, maybe she was telling the truth.

He opened his eyes and looked at Yelena. She was kneeling perfectly still watching him, like a rabbit frozen before a wolf. “Repeat your answer from last night, as close to the exact words as you can.” He made it a command.

“No, it was better with Lu. It hurt more when he and the others fucked me, but at least I was trying to defend myself and fight back, I still had self-respect. Now I’m fucking you like a whore just to send a letter, or begging you to fuck me because I need release. I can’t understand what’s going on; I think I might be losing my mind.”

Yelena swallowed nervously. “Um, after that you were stalking towards me looking like you were about to murder me, so I switched to saying things like ‘Please, stop, what are you doing, let go of me you bastard’, stuff like that. Do you want me to try and repeat all that, Master?”

“No, that’s good enough. I suppose you would still prefer the Tong’s methods to mine?”

“Yes and no, Master. In the sense that I wouldn’t be your puppet, and had free will, yes, I would obviously prefer that. As far as how I’m being treated, no, I don’t want their methods anymore. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve learned I’m weak. I can’t fight back forever against being beaten and raped, I don’t think I could endure too many more nights like last night or being ‘trained’ the way Lu described.”

“I’d rather bend before the storm and try to find the path that hurts me the least. I wish I was strong enough to keep fighting at every opportunity, but I’m not and even if I was it would be useless since you can make me submit with a thought. I can’t pretend I’m stronger than I am; if I’m going to survive, I can’t afford to lie to myself. And so I hate myself for saying this, but I prefer the way you’ve been most of the time, the conversations and the orgasms, over the beatings and brutal rapes from the Tong or you when you’re angry.” Yelena raised her eyes back to meet his as she finished.

She might say she was weak, but Tam thought Yelena had revealed a core of inner strength. She had abandoned her attempts to preserve dignity and honor, and focused on survival. He respected that ruthless practicality.

Tam closed his eyes and considered the rage again. It was still there, but it was dying down. He should explain the anger to Yelena. But first, he had one more question. He didn’t want to ask it, but he had to know the truth.

“Yelena, compare me and Lu in your mind as men and as lovers. How do you feel about us? Do you have a preference?”

Yelena could tell this was a dangerous question, but she was compelled to answer. “I have a slight preference for you, but it’s complicated. You’re both horrible people. You’ve both beaten me and brutally raped me. I can’t compare you as lovers, since neither of you love me, you just fuck me. As far as the fucking goes, it’s better with you, since you usually like to make me feel good while you do it, not just hurt me.”

She wrung her hands in her lap as she continued to answer. “As far as how I see you as men, it’s complicated. I hate you more than I hate Lu, because you didn’t just rape my body; you raped my mind with your spell. But there’s more to it than just how much I hate you. I think Lu only sees me as a whore, like he said, just a place to store cum that he likes hurting. I think you see me as Yelena. You think of me as property and a toy you can fuck, but you also think I’m valuable and you talk to me like I’m a person and listen to what I say. Sometimes when we’re talking I can almost forget that you’re a monster until you say something that reminds me. So, I guess I prefer you, since the spell forces me to answer. Please, if you’re going to punish me for hating you, remember that I had no choice except to answer with the truth, and don’t hurt me too badly.”

Tam waited a moment to make sure she wasn’t compelled to answer further, then leaned forward, trying to keep his emotions out of his voice.

“Yelena, I’m not angry that you hate me; that’s a perfectly reasonable attitude considering what I’ve done to you. I was angry with you because I’m jealous. I heard you say that it was better with Lu, and I was so angry that I didn’t pay attention to the rest of what you said. You are right, I do value you: you are my prized possession, my beautiful slave, the only mind in the world I control. Simply thinking that you might prefer another’s man touch to mine fills me with so much anger that I have difficulty controlling myself.”

Yelena’s eyes widened. She dropped back to the floor and began to cover Tam’s slippers with frantic kisses. “Please, Master, do not be angry. Your slave understands why Master was angry now. She was a foolish slave and did not communicate clearly to Master. She did not understand that Master valued her enough to be jealous of her. Your slave feels very pleased when Master says she is beautiful. Your slave does not wish to be fucked by Lu, Master, not ever again. Please, Master, do not be jealous, your slave belongs only to you. You do not need to be angry with her or hurt her. You should fill your slave’s hot little holes with Master’s cock, paint her skin with Master’s cum again. Make it so no one can forget that she belongs to you, and only to you.”

Tam reached down and patted Yelena on the head. She quieted, but continued to shower frantic kisses on his slippers. He noticed that ‘I’ had disappeared from her vocabulary again. She’d had success influencing him earlier by slipping into the persona of ‘Master’s slave’, offering up her total submission and her willing body to seduce him, and she was trying it again to calm his anger.

Tam chuckled; even if he could recognize the tactic, he had to admit it was quite effective. His anger was fading, and he was filled with the urge to pet the girl until she calmed, then bend her over his desk and do exactly as she had just suggested. A pretty young woman begging to have her nubile body used was a powerful inducement to go along with whatever else she was suggesting.

“Get up, Yelena, come kneel beside me. Here, rest your head against my knee. It’s alright; I’m not angry right now.” He lifted the wig off and stroked her head gently.

“Fucking you isn’t a cure for jealousy; if it was, I’d already be cured. Besides, your Master is still a mortal man. I’ve come in and on you four times since I woke up, I don’t have any more to paint you with yet.”

“Master didn’t sleep after the stable?”

“No, I cleaned you up and treated you, and then was studying while you slept.”

“Is there anything this slave can do so that Master will not be jealous? She hoped pleasing Master with her body would help, but if Master says that will not help, she doesn’t know what else she has to offer. She is frightened of Master when he is angry, she does not want Master to be angry with her when he feels jealous, but what can she do?”

“I’m not sure, Yelena. I’ll think about it, I promise. For now, just sit there quietly. I’m going to write a note to one of my friends.”

Now that he had the means and permission to take Yelena out in public, Tam intended to get her properly outfitted as his bed slave. Wong Gao was one of his patients and had become a social acquaintance, and was also a slave dealer who specialized in pleasure slaves. Tam wrote him a note explaining what he needed and asking when he could come by. After he’d sealed and addressed the message, he rang the bell for a servant. When Tan Jiao answered, he gave her the message and told to deliver it quickly and wait for a reply.

After the maid left, Tam returned his attention to Yelena. She knelt next his desk where he’d left her, her head lowered. Tam sat down on the couch and put his feet up, making himself comfortable.

“You know, it’s a relief that I had to reveal my control to you. I did want to do more tests to see how long I could conceal the truth from you, but I find it liberating to be able to finally discuss what I’ve done with another person. I’ve spent years working on this spell, and today is the first time I’ve actually been able to talk about it.”

Yelena looked up with a big, exaggerated smile. “I’m so happy for you! The loss of my free will is a small sacrifice to make in order to be able to provide you with a conversation partner!”

“See, I told you that you’d find happiness in slavery. I’m very proud that you’re adapting so quickly.” Tam returned her smile with one that was just as obviously fake.

“Now, try it again, but make the sarcasm subtle. I want to see how close to lying you can get with the rule blocking you. Try as hard as you can to use sarcasm to convincingly lie.” He made it a command, to ensure that she put forth her best effort.

Yelena lowered her head then looked up coyly. “Oh Master. That must have been so hard on you. I’m so ha . . .”

Yelena groaned and grabbed her head. “Oh god, that hurts. Master, I’m very . . . aaagh!”

She fell sideways, grimacing in pain, but gasped for breath and pressed forward. “Master, I’m . . .”

“Stop, Yelena, stop it! You can stop trying to deceive me.”

Yelena lay on the floor panting, her eyes squeezed shut. Tam moved to kneel beside her and sharpened his vision, checking her pulse with his fingers while he scanned her chi with his sight. The anchor points where his chop was woven into her network were pulsing faintly, the brightest pulse coming from the one in her brain.

“What just happened, Yelena?”

“I tried to break the rule about lying, like you told me to. Then my head started to hurt, like there was a dagger stabbed into my brain. But I had to keep trying, because you ordered me to, and that made it hurt worse.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“Not as badly. As soon as you let me stop trying, the stabbing stopped. But it still hurts, like an after-effect.”

“Interesting. While I was trying to test your ability to bypass the truth rule, apparently instead we tested what happens when a command contradicts one of the deeper rules I’ve given you. The symptoms you describe are similar to a migraine headache. Have you ever suffered one of those before?”

“No Master. It hurts very badly; please don’t ever do that again.”

“I will be more careful in the future. Let’s try something else out. Stop having a headache.”

Yelena relaxed, the tension going out of her muscles. After a moment she opened her eyes, which watered slightly as they took in daylight. She tentatively sat up, pushing herself up with her bound hands.

“It just stopped hurting.”

“So the spell can cut off pain sensations, interesting. Feel your body’s natural sensations again.”

Yelena groaned and snapped her eyes closed, her hands going to her temples. “Ow. Headache’s back. Not quite as bad.”

“Very interesting; it’s not healthy for the body to ignore pain—pain is a useful tool that warns of danger. Do you think you can bear the current level of pain?”

“I can bear it. It’s not as bad as long as I don’t open my eyes or move very much. It’s not pleasant, but it is fading, slowly. I would prefer it if you made the pain go away though.” Yelena gingerly massaged her temples.

“I’m not sure if shutting off that portion of your mind would be healthy for you in the long term. As long as it’s bearable, I’d prefer to avoid risking anything. The brain is a sensitive organ.”

“I would also prefer to avoid anything that would risk brain damage. Still sucks being in pain.” Yelena grimaced.

“Let us attempt treating it with conventional remedies for a headache. Lie down on the couch, make yourself comfortable; don’t leave the couch until I return.”

Tam left long enough to get a cloth soaked in hot water and some shredded willow bark, then brought them back. He had Yelena chew the bark while he spread the cloth over her forehead. She sighed in relief at the feel of the warm cloth.

Tam stood back and studied her thoughtfully. “I was thinking I might start some of my tests on you while I wait for the reply from my friend, but it occurs to me that you are probably already under severe stress at the moment. You have been responding well since I told you the truth, but you are dealing with multiple lingering physical maladies in addition to the migraine, and I suspect your current stable emotional state is a degree of low level shock. Does this sound accurate?”

“Yes. I’m trying very hard to avoid thinking too much about the spell, so that I can hold myself together. I’m worried that you’ll punish me if I break down.”

“As I suspected. You are more useful to me if you are not on the edge of a breakdown. I think it would be best if I gave you some time to yourself, to process your emotions. Does that sound like it would help?”

“I don’t know. I’m afraid that if I let myself really feel what’s happened, I won’t be able to recover.”

“I suspect you are stronger than you think; you will recover. I am going to free your wrists then lock you in this room. You are not allowed to touch my desk or any of the shelves or scrolls, but you may make yourself at home otherwise. There is a chamber pot if you require it. I will return to fetch you sometime before dinner, but you can count on at least two hours to yourself. Do you need anything before I leave?”

“I can’t think of anything. Um . . . thank you.”

Tam nodded and left. He had the cook prepare some tea and took it out to a garden bench. There he spent some time meditating and focusing on his chi as it moved through his body. Tam’s level of chi control was advanced enough that he could sip his tea and enjoy the view of his garden even while part of his mind was in a trance state. The exercise was a basic one to increase control and build chi capacity. Tam hadn’t bothered with it in months, as the gains were only fractional at his level, but he wanted to experience it as a baseline. He planned to do this exercise again the next time he fucked Yelena, to see if he could process the qing she gave him more efficiently.

Chi and qing was a cycle as old as time. The male partner spent chi during orgasm. The life energy went out with the sperm, no matter if it was copulation or masturbation. For those not attuned to their chi, it simply registered as the slight feeling of tiredness after orgasm and the refractory period before the male could engage in sex again. The female partner could not absorb the chi; it only found a new home if conception occurred. Several centuries ago, early Taoist chi users had discovered a new form of energy that women produced during orgasm, which they termed qing. They discovered that if the male partner was in contact with the woman while she orgasmed, the qing transferred to the male, replenishing a portion of his spent chi.

The general theory was that this was nature’s way of encouraging both man and woman to feel pleasure during the act of procreation, and allow the male to couple more frequently with a female that was pleased with him, increasing the chance of conception. The Taoists being the enterprising types that they were, they had begun experimenting to see how much a male chi user could exceed his normal capacity for chi use by inducing repeated orgasms in a female partner while refraining from ejaculating himself.

Tam was familiar with the basics of the concept; the man never exceeded his maximum capacity for chi storage, but the Taoist techniques allowed for faster replenishment of chi than the body’s natural regeneration. He had never had the opportunity to really test the technique for himself, his occasional visits to whores too infrequent, but he planned to incorporate it now that Yelena was at his disposal.

Tan Jiao arrived with the reply to Tam’s message while he was meditating. He broke off his trance long enough to read the reply; Wong Gao was delighted to hear that Tam had finally bought a girl, even if Tam hadn’t bought from him, and would be happy to receive him after dinner. Tam told the maid to pass along his request to have dinner served slightly earlier than normal and returned to his meditation.

Once he was satisfied that he was intimately familiar with his current chi capacity and regeneration rates, Tam left the garden. He knocked on the study door and informed Yelena that he would be summoning her for dinner in half an hour, then found Lin Song and sat down to review the budget for the month and determine exactly how much he could reasonably afford to spend at Wong Gao’s. When he retrieved Yelena, her eyes were red from crying, but she had cleaned herself up and seemed stable. Her magically induced migraine had also passed, much more quickly than a natural one.

After dinner, which Yelena spent kneeling at Tam’s feet and eating from his hand, Tam had her don the veil and wig. Securing her wrists behind her back with the enchanted green silk and attaching a leash to her collar, he led her to the front gate of his manor.

“You may remember that I told you that you are not allowed to leave my manor. Go ahead and try to leave, test it out.”

Yelena rolled her eyes at him but looked at the gate hopefully. She walked over, turning around to open the latch with her bound hands, and then tried to step out. She simply stopped walking as she reached the open gate. She frowned and stepped back, heading for the gate with a running start, planning to throw herself through it, but slowed down and simply hopped to the edge of the manor. She turned back to Tam. “It seems I can’t simply trick myself into breaking the rule.”

“So it does. Are you satisfied you can’t escape?”

“Yes Master.”

“Good. I’m removing the rule that prohibits you from leaving the manor. You have a new rule: you cannot be more than ten feet away from me. Let’s test it out here in the garden before we leave.”

He ordered her to walk away from him in a straight line, but didn’t make it a command, not wanting to inflict another migraine on her. As soon as she was ten feet away, the muscles in her legs locked and she was unable to walk. When Tam took a step back, she instantly moved to stay within the allowed radius despite facing away from him.

Curious about the effect, Tam had her stand still next to him, eyes closed, then backed away from her. As soon as he crossed the invisible line of ten feet, Yelena stepped backward, drawn towards him like iron filings to a magnet.

He reset their positions, this time untying her wrists and commanding her to cover her ears and keep her eyes tightly shut. He backed away as quietly as he could, at an angle this time. Again, as soon as he crossed ten feet, she stepped directly towards him, staying inside the imaginary circle. He walked back to her and let her relax.

“Yelena, how did you know which direction I was in? Did you hear me?”

“No. I could feel which direction you were, like a light in the back of my head. I knew that I was too far away and my body just moved automatically to fix it.”

“Interesting; I know I can point exactly in your direction at any time with my eyes closed if I concentrate on it, but I had no idea that sense worked from your side as well. Can you feel my presence now?”

Yelena frowned and shut her eyes, clearly concentrating. She sighed in defeat. “No, I can’t summon it up at will. As soon as I was in danger of breaking the rule, it lit right up, but nothing happens now.”

“Fascinating. Alright, I think we’re ready to leave.”

Tam bound her wrists again and took the loose end of her leash, tugging her out into the streets.

He led Yelena through the streets until they reached the flesh market. This was a large square, built around a central platform on which the slave auctions were held, naked slaves displayed above the crowd while the auctioneer took bids. The square was lined with the shops and pens of the dealers.

Tam led Yelena through the clamoring crowd and a short distance down a side street, stopping and ringing the bell at a plain shopfront with a blue door and a small, discrete sign. The door was opened by a slave girl who led them into a small foyer. The walls were draped with red silk hangings, and the only furnishings were a small lectern with a ledger and a full size gilt statue of a nude pair of figures coupling, the woman on her hands and knees with the man taking her from behind. The air was scented with perfume. The slave girl took up a position behind the lectern and smiled at Tam.

“Welcome to Master Wong’s House. How may we assist you today?”

“My name is Hsien Tam. Wong invited me to stop by this evening.”

“Oh, Doctor Hsien! We have been waiting for you. Please, excuse this one for a moment; Master Wong left instructions to close our doors for the day as soon as you arrived.” With a bow, the slave girl stepped smoothly past Tam to open the door, adding a small sign indicating that the shop was closed for the day. She shut the door and locked it, then returned to bow before Tam again.

“Master Wong is meeting with a client at the moment. He asked this one to see to your comfort when you arrived, and ensure you that he will attend you as quickly as he can. If you like, we have a small parlor which you may find pleasant.”

Tam indicated his assent, and the girl led them down a narrow hallway with the same red hangings as the foyer into a small but tastefully appointed parlor. She offered refreshments and Tam requested tea; with a bow she disappeared. Tam made himself comfortable on a low chair and gestured for Yelena to kneel at his feet. “You can relax, slave. The ten foot rule is replaced with a rule that you may not leave this building.”

“Many thanks, oh gracious Master. What is this place, if your slave is allowed questions?”

“A friend’s shop. We’re doing some shopping for you, Yelena. You need things to wear. You can’t go around with just two dresses to your name. And you can’t keep using that little piece of green silk as an accessory, it doesn’t even match.”

Yelena narrowed her eyes at him but declined to further rise to the bait. A few minutes later, the slave girl who had greeted them at the door entered the room, holding a curtain aside for a second woman who followed her. Seated and relaxed, Tam took the time to study the women.

The girl from the door was a young Han girl, a fresh-faced classic beauty with hair falling down her back in a shimmering black stream. She wore a long blue dress; it covered her from wrists to ankles, but was the cut was so tight and the material so thin that it concealed nothing. Her exquisite breasts, small nipples and shaven pussy were clearly visible through the diaphanous material. She wore tasteful make-up and no jewelry aside from her slave collar, a delicate band of gold.

The second woman was one of the steppes tribespeople, and was completely naked except for the multitude of chains she wore. Her head was shaved on the sides and back, the hair on the top of her head pulled into a tight braid that hung past her shoulders. She was collared and cuffed in shining steel; a foot long chain connected her wrists, a second her ankles, both joined to a third central chain which descended from her collar. Each of her ears was pierced a half-dozen times, a small chain running from her right ear to a ring in her nose, another from her left ear to a ring in her eyebrow. Another delicate chain connected a pair of rings in her nipples. A chain looped around her waist, hanging from a ring in her navel, and a final chain hung from the navel ring to another in her clit. Like the other girl, she was shaved completely from the neck down. She was gagged, a blue-painted wooden ball secured in her mouth by a leather strap. She carried a tea tray before her as she followed the Han woman in.

The Han woman curtseyed. “Doctor Hsien, Master Wong has been informed of your arrival. He says he will be here as soon as he can. Would you like your tea now?”

“That would be excellent.”

The Han woman took the tea tray from the tribeswoman, who slid to her knees in a soft clatter of chains. The tribeswoman crawled forward and turned so that she was presenting her profile to Tam as she knelt. There was a stylized blue tattoo in the steppes fashion of a diving hawk covering her entire right shoulder blade, and Tam could also now see a steel plug in her ass. The Han woman set the tray on the naked barbarian’s back, using her as living furniture. She went through the ritual of tea preparation and presented Tam with a steaming cup fixed to his specifications, then knelt near her comrade’s head.

“Would you like something for your slave as well, Sir?”

“Perhaps a small portion of milk for her would be appropriate.”

“Of course Sir.” She poured milk into a saucer and set it down on the floor before Yelena.

“If there is anything these slaves can do to make your wait comfortable, Master Wong has instructed us to be at your complete disposal.” To ensure her meaning was clear, the Han woman slid her hands up her body, cupping her breasts and pushing them forward slightly.

Tam took an appreciative sip of his tea. He reached over and adjusted Yelena’s veil so that she could drink; she grudgingly bent over and began to lap the milk from the saucer. Given no further instructions from Tam, the Han woman knelt demurely.

Once Yelena finished her milk and sat back up to stare daggers at him, Tam leaned forward and fondled the breasts of the blue-clad woman through the transparent material. They were larger than Yelena’s, not quite as high set, but not quite large enough to sag. Out of curiosity, he took her small dark nipples between his fingers and began to pinch and twist them. The woman’s eyes watered but she took it silently. “Do you have names?”

“Master Wong does not give his merchandise permanent names, preferring to let their future owners choose. He sometimes allows his merchandise to earn use-names, if they serve satisfactorily. At present, this one has the honor to be called Grace, and the gagged one answers to Pretty. The names indicate roles that we serve here.”

Tam tugged on the girl’s nipples, making her shuffle forward on her knees until she was pressed against his leg. “Over my lap, Grace, and pull your dress up.”

“Yes Sir.” The girl lay over his knees and gathered her dress in both hands, pulling it up to her waist, baring her round buttocks. Tam reached down to play with her cunt as he sipped his tea. She was well trained, and his probing fingers quickly became slick with her juices.

“Describe these roles.”

“Yes Sir. Master Wong specializes in training and selling the highest quality pleasure girls, as you may be aware. Any girl who leaves this house is trained to serve exquisitely in the bed of their future Master or Mistress, but Master uses some of us to demonstrate the advanced training this house can provide to a girl. A Grace is a model for the pleasure slave as an elegant companion. This Grace can sing, dance with partners or for display, play multiple instruments, and serve at table among other skills.”

She was having difficulty maintaining her composure as Tam continued to play with her, but continued. “A slave fully trained to the Grace role may accompany their Master to any social occasion and enhance their Master’s prestige, in addition to serving in bed. Ah, does this slave have permission to orgasm, Sir?”

“No. Describe Pretty’s role.”

“Yes Sir. A Pretty is a showcase for the different ways a girl’s body can be, ah, decorated. Tattoos can decorate her skin, and piercings highlight the girl’s beauty. The rings and chains can, ah, can be used to cause her pain or increase her sexual responsiveness. The girl in front of you is a new Pretty, the last model was recently sold. The last Pretty had many more rings in her; this one has almost healed from her first set, and will have more added soon to model if she does not attract a buyer in her current state. Grace has not been pierced, but she has, ah, heard that the pierced areas become more, ah, sensitive, and certain piercings can make a girl become hot very easily.” Her fists were clenched tightly on her dress as she fought the urge to orgasm.

Tam pushed Grace a bit further, until she was helpless and gasping, then removed his hand before she came and nudged her off his lap. Her pupils were dilated and she was biting her lip, but she dropped back to her knees without complaint despite being denied release. Tam beckoned Yelena over and had her suck Grace’s lubrication off his fingers. She wrinkled her nose slightly but carefully sucked each finger clean.

“That’s the first time you’ve tasted another woman’s juices, isn’t it? Do they taste the same as yours?”

“Yes Master, that was the first time. It’s similar, but different.”

Tam turned his attention to Pretty. The girl had remained still throughout her comrade’s brief ordeal, patiently staring at the floor, tray balanced on her back. She was drooling around the gag, saliva dripping down her chin. A few drops had already fallen to the floor beneath her. Tam leaned forward and tugged on the thin chain between her nipples, watching her breasts stretch and sway as he played with the chain. Pretty grunted into her gag but stayed still. He let go and was reaching to play with the chain leading to her clit when the curtain parted again and Wong Gao entered.

“Tam! I am so glad you have finally honored my humble house with your presence! I hope the delay was not too inconvenient, I came as soon as I could conclude my other business.” Wong Gao looked like someone’s genial uncle, which he very well might be. Slavers have families too, after all. He was middling height, overweight without being obese; his long braid was still black, but his thick beard was shot through with grey. He was smiling widely as he approached Tam, arms outstretched.

Tam quickly rose and stepped forward to endure a bear hug from the man. After Gao crushed the breath out of him, he stepped back and bowed slightly. “I passed the time quite pleasantly thanks to your hospitality. I did not realize my visit would disrupt your normal business hours; I hope I haven’t inconvenienced you.”

“Of course it is no trouble. For the man who keeps my gout from crippling me, I would open my doors in the middle of the night. I assume the girl at your feet is the one you mentioned in your note?”

“She is. Through a stroke of luck, I was able to purchase Yelena here directly from the court after she was convicted. I’ve had to discipline her a bit, as you can see, but she’s learning quickly. However, matters progressed so quickly that I find myself singularly unequipped to keep her properly. I need to purchase some restraints so that she can help around the house without me looking over her shoulder, and I also wish to buy whatever other basics a man needs to keep a pleasure slave.”

“Ah, I have the perfect restraints for you. Pretty here is already modeling them. Grace, take the tray. Pretty, present!” Pretty clearly was trained to the command. As soon as Grace lifted the tea tray from her back, she rose to her full height, feet set as far apart as the chains would allow, hands clasped behind her neck. The posture pulled the central chain tight to her chest, the restraints clearly having been fitted to just barely allow this stance.

Gao stepped over to her, demonstrating with his hands as he spoke. “This is called a sirik, a perfect restraint for ensuring a slave is constantly reminded of her place and can make no trouble, while still able to serve. The ankles are hobbled, meaning she can walk but not run. The wrists have a good range of motion for carrying things or working, but she is always conscious of the restraint in her movements, and the attachment to the central chain means she cannot reach very far or make violent strikes. All of the chains are adjustable in length, and the locks for the set are all opened and closed with the same key.”

“Many men prefer to remove the sirik before taking the girl to bed, but if you wish, you can leave portions of them on, or even use her fully without removing any of them. The mouth of course is as easy to use as it would be without restraints. The lower holes can be entered from the rear, either standing, kneeling, or on the ground. She can also be entered from the front, the easiest way being to place her on her back and push her legs up.” As Gao discussed the positions, he moved Pretty through them, ending with Pretty on her back on the floor, legs folded above her.

“That is precisely what I had in mind, Gao. How long would it take for Yelena to be fitted for a set?”

“I likely have one here that would fit her, we keep several in stock. We’ll just check her measurements for the cuffs. And, Tam, I hope you don’t think me presumptive, but you are planning to replace that horrible stock collar with something prettier, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I was thinking about that. I thought I might have to visit a blacksmith though.”

“Nonsense, we’ve got tools here. Let’s take your girl back to one of the other rooms and have her measured.”

Grace was dispatched to fetch one of Gao’s assistants, and Pretty was sent to return the tea and bring back wine. Gao led Tam and Yelena through a small hallway around several corners before bringing them into a well-lit room with several cupboards and a counter along one wall. The opposite wall was occupied by a low table with a set of leather restraints built into it.

Tam removed Yelena’s wig and veil and set them on a counter, then reached to tap the silk around Yelena’s wrists, freeing them. “Go ahead and get undressed, Yelena, then present yourself like Pretty did. We’ll have you measured for clothes as well as chains.”

Yelena blushed furiously, but followed instructions. As she did so, Gao asked Tam for permission then picked up the enchanted silk and examined it.

“How long did it take you to make this?” Gao ran the silk through his fingers.

“A minute or two. It’s a relatively simple binding spell.”

“Ah, you magicians. Create a marvel and dismiss it as simple. Do you have any idea what I would give to be able to outfit my girls with restraints that could be removed with a touch and a thought?”

Tam shrugged. “You’d limit your pool of customers quite a bit. I believe the only person in the city with even a trace of Imperial blood is our governor.”

Gao sighed. “Yes, I know the law. Still, it’s a pleasant dream. Ah well, that’s not why you’ve come to visit. Let me inspect your girl.”

Yelena blushed as the two men studied her, the “present” posture putting her body on full display.

Gao circled Yelena slowly, inspecting the lines of her nude form as she presented herself. “A really fine specimen, Tam. Do you know how lucky you were to get her? These northern girls are notoriously hard to find as slaves. Their culture doesn’t have debt slavery, and there are so few of them in the city. I don’t mind telling you, I’ve only had two pass through my doors in the last ten years, and neither were as pretty as your girl here. Would you be interested in trading her? I’ll let you take your pick from my trained stock, and pay cash as well. There’re quite a few powerful men in this city who would love something rare like her.”

“It’s a generous offer, Gao, but there’s something special about this one. I won’t be parting with her.”

“I thought you’d say that, but I had to ask. Ah, here’s Pretty with the wine. Pretty, pour two glasses then assume position three on the table.”

After presenting them each with a cup of wine, Pretty walked to the table and awkwardly climbed atop it in a jangle of chains, kneeling on all fours with her head up. Gao took a metal hook attached to a leather cord from one of the cabinets and walked over to her. He removed the plug from her ass, quickly replacing it with the hook, and then tied the cord into her braid, tightening it so that any movement of her head jostled the hook in her ass. Pretty grunted into her gag in discomfort. Gao loosened the gag and let it fall around her neck.

“Now, I saw you admiring Pretty’s piercings when I came in. She’s got one more here in her tongue, come take a look. It makes for an incredible sensation when she sucks your cock. If you decide you’d like to have anything put in your girl, this is the table we use to do piercings, and Zhu’s a fine hand with a needle. A particular favorite of my clients is the clit piercing; it doesn’t matter how untrained she is at taking cock, a girl with a pierced clit will be moaning in lust after just a few thrusts.”

Tam grinned. “That’s one problem I don’t have with her. Yelena’s been very responsive. Tell us, Yelena, how often do you come screaming on my cock?”

“Almost every time you fuck me, Master, often more than once.” Yelena shut her eyes as she spoke, flushing furiously in humiliation.

Gao let out a deep belly laugh. “If that’s true, you’re a lucky man, Tam. It usually takes weeks to train a girl to take a cock that well. Was she a whore before she was a slave?”

Tam grinned. “No, she’s just a fast learner. I see that you think I’m bragging. Go ahead and try her out. Yelena, get wet.”

Yelena’s body was already betraying signs of arousal, the humiliation of stripping and presenting for a stranger triggering the part of her that fed on such things. A mental command from Tam had Yelena’s pussy soaked and her nipples hard in the time it took for Gao to step over and press a finger inside her.

Gao whistled in appreciation. “Damn, this little slut is dripping. Do you mind if I test her skills?”

“Be my guest; she’s not professionally trained, but she’s been making up for it with enthusiasm. Yelena, use your body to pleasure Gao however he pleases.”

“Please Master, no. Don’t humiliate me like this.”

“It wasn’t a request, slave.”

Yelena moaned in despair, but didn’t protest as Gao pushed her to her knees and pulled out his cock. Hands still clasped behind her neck, she took him in her mouth and began sucking him. Gao let her work at her own pace until he was fully erect, then set a hand on the back of her head and pushed her to take him deeper. Yelena gagged as he hit her throat, her eyes watering, unable to take his full length. With an annoyed grunt, Gao slid his thumbs into her mouth, holding her teeth apart as he forced his way into her throat. Yelena’s hands moved to rest on his thighs, but Tam’s command meant that she couldn’t push Gao off.

Fortunately for Yelena, Gao wasn’t interested in really fucking her face, just testing her capabilities. He pulled out after a few thrusts and let her cough and gasp for breath, tears streaming from her eyes. After she’d caught her breath, Gao pulled Yelena to her feet and moved her over to face the wall. He positioned her bent forward with her hands braced on the wall, ass thrust out. A couple of light slaps to her thighs widened Yelena’s stance so that her pussy was fully open and on display. She let out a startled gasp as Gao grabbed her waist and thrust into her.

Gao nodded to Tam, who had moved over to watch from a better angle. “She’s got a nice slippery tight cunt. Doesn’t seem to know how to really milk a cock with it though. Oral skills are weak, but she did try her best. Have you used her ass yet?”

“I just started recently. She’s still very inexperienced there, and it’s causing her pain.”

Gao nodded. He stepped back, letting his cock fall loose, and inserted a finger into Yelena’s pussy. Once it was lubricated, he probed her asshole with it. Yelena whimpered in discomfort, anticipating more to come, but Gao seemed to have learned all he needed to with her reaction to a single finger. He stepped away and picked up a cloth, wiping his cock and hands clean before he pulled his robes back into place. He hadn’t bothered to come in or on Yelena, simply putting through her paces without much concern for his pleasure or hers.

Tossing the cloth aside, Gao picked up his wine cup and took a sip. “You leave her with me for a week, we can teach her to really use her mouth. Three weeks, she’ll milk your cock with her cunt in a way that will blow your mind, and we’ll get her to walk the way a bed slave should. Better posture, graceful movements, just walking across a room fully dressed she’ll get a man hard.”

Tam thought back to the way Grace walked and admitted that there was something to Gao’s boast. Grace moved like a dancer, in perfect control of her body, and every sway of her hips exuded feminine appeal. Pretty had the same demeanor, though she couldn’t match Grace. He shook his head ruefully.

“Perhaps I’ll send Yelena for training in the future. I’m too attached to her right now to part with her.”

“As long as she makes you happy, that’s all that matters. Zhu should be here soon, we’ll have him measure her for a sirik and get to work filing that collar off while I show you a few things you may be interested in for her. Zhu does tattoos, too, if you’d like. Pretty is going to be strapped on the table here tonight, getting her first slave ink. When you arrived, I was meeting with the factor for the man who just bought her. He wants ‘slut slave’ tattooed on her cheek, and ‘cock hole’ just above her pussy. What do you think about that, Pretty?”

Pretty’s face paled at the news. “Master has found a buyer for Pretty?”

“Yes, the banker. You remember him; he paid to test you out last week.”

Pretty’s eyes widened. “Please, Master, do not sell Pretty to him. He hurt Pretty, he likes hurting girls.”

Gao casually slapped her then gripped her hair and yanked it, tugging on the hook as he spoke. “I’m disappointed in you, Pretty. You’re a slave, you don’t get to choose who owns you. When you go to your new master with your fresh ink, you’ll do it with a smile. You’ve been trained better than to complain, and you’ll reflect the time and expense this house has put into training you. If he isn’t happy with you, I promise you I will sell you to a Red House, even if I take a loss doing it. Do you believe me when I say that?”

Pretty was crying openly now as the hook jostled in her ass. “Yes Master. Please forgive Pretty. She was scared, but she will do better. Thank you for finding an owner for Pretty.”

Yelena stared at this in horror. She opened her mouth, but shut it at a look from Tam. Gao straightened up as the door opened to reveal Grace and a thin man with a dour face.

“Welcome, Zhu, took you long enough. Go ahead and measure the doctor’s slave. Grace, take Pretty back to her room and feed her, then strap some phalluses into all her holes and hog-tie her. I want her to be stuffed full of wooden cock while she waits for her slave ink, remind her that she exists to please her new owner.”

Grace bowed and helped Pretty off the table, the hook making her whimper as she maneuvered herself to the floor. Pretty kissed Gao’s feet, whispering apologies. Gao patted her on the head then waved her away. She crawled awkwardly out of the room at Grace’s heels, tears still running down her cheeks.

Ignoring the house slaves, Zhu began to measure Yelena, holding the tape around various spots on her body and marking down measurements on a wax tablet. Yelena blushed anew at Zhu’s clinical touch, distracted from the anger and horror she had felt at Pretty’s treatment.

Gao refilled his glass of wine, and topped off Tam’s. “Sorry about that little scene. I do my best to prepare the girls, but they still panic at the last moment sometimes. Still, it’s been a good week. Pretty sold for a good price and I’ve taken two contracts to train girls for their owners. I bought three new girls, and hopefully one of them will serve as a new Pretty.”

Gao chuckled, the genial uncle again. “And best of all, now I get to help introduce you to my world, my friend, even if it isn’t with one of my girls. The only blight on my week is being unable to close a deal with the client I’ve been trying to land for weeks. He’s a diplomat, looking for a nice piece of ass to take with him when he goes to treat with the desert warlords in the far West. Grace would actually be perfect for him, and he likes her, but he wants a girl who can speak Arabic, and I don’t have a single one at the moment.”

Tam’s curiosity was piqued. “I have a thought, friend. Yelena, of the many languages you speak, is Arabic one of them?”

“Yes, I’m fluent in Arabic. Many of my family’s business deals in Russia were with Arab smugglers.” Yelena’s eyes were clenched shut in embarrassment, as Zhu had produced a pair of calipers from somewhere and was measuring the curve of her breasts with them.

Gao raised his eyebrow. “I thought you said you didn’t want to sell her?”

“I don’t. However, if Grace is as intelligent as she seems, and there is enough time before your client leaves, Yelena could teach her Arabic.”

“That might actually work; Grace learns very quickly, that was one of the reasons I chose her as the Grace model. I would be indebted to you, my friend.”

“What are friends for? Talk to your diplomat, see if he’s amenable to the idea, then let me know.”

“I’m sure he will be; I’ll speak to him tomorrow. If this works, I will be in your debt. Now, tell me, is there anything permanent you’d like done with your girl? Zhu can work on her after he files the collar off, while I show you some things you might like for her.”

“I honestly hadn’t considered it. Let me think on it and if I decide on something, trust me that you will be the one I commission to work on her. Yelena, behave yourself for Zhu and do everything he tells you to do while we’re gone. That’s an order.”

Gao had several showrooms which he was happy to show Tam. His primary business was training and selling girls, but he maintained a profitable sideline outfitting them as well. He had a room full of restraints, cases of jewelry, two rooms of clothes, and another room devoted to artificial phalluses and various means of inflicting pain, either for discipline or erotic play.

Tam spent a fair portion of his budget. Several outfits were selected, some of which a tailor would need to adjust, some of which only needed to be compared to Yelena’s measurements. He picked out a sirik with light steel links that would fit her, and also a brown leather arm binder that caught his eye.

As they were passing through the jewelry room, Tam found himself fascinated by a pair of nipple studs capped with small silver wings. At Gao’s insistence that the piercing would be no trouble, he bought them, and two pairs of earrings as well. Gao talked Tam into buying as set of anal plugs in increasing sizes, to get Yelena more accustomed to Tam using her there, along with a bottle of oil which was specifically designed for anal lubrication.

Finally, in the discipline room, Tam selected a leather covered paddle for spanking, a light riding crop, and a rattan cane. Tam could afford everything, but it was close to the upper limit he had decided on with Lin Song. The discount Gao insisted on providing made it a little easier to bear.

When everything was collected, it filled a small pack which Gao provided, the cane and crop strapped to the side. They returned to the piercing room to find Zhu setting out his tattooing equipment for his later appointment with Pretty. Zhu had strapped Yelena facedown to the table before removing her collar with the file.

Seeing Yelena’s bare back and the tattooing equipment, Tam gave in to one more indulgence. After Zhu assured him it was no trouble, Tam asked the man to tattoo his chop in the small of Yelena’s back, just above her ass. True, he could see his personal sign written into her living chi when he focused his vision, but he found the idea of printing his ownership in her skin so that untrained eyes could see it appealing on a deep level. Gao retired for the evening as Zhu prepared his needles, thanking Tam again for his business and promising to send word as soon as he had spoken to the diplomat about Grace.

Before he began the tattoo, Zhu locked the new collar Tam had selected around Yelena’s neck. Tam had chosen a slim necklace of closely inter-locked silver links, taller than they were wide. When it closed around her neck, it fit snugly against her skin with just enough give to slide around, an inch wide ribbon of silver encircling her pale throat. Each of the links was just wide enough that a small padlock could be used to attach another chain to the collar, or a fine rope could be slipped through and tied. The sign for slave was on a silver disk at the front. Unlike the harsh iron collar, this one was designed to be easily switched out with other collars and had a lock in the back.

Tam was pleased to see the care Zhu took of his needles, thoroughly cleaning them with an alcohol solution to prevent infection. He watched the ink spread on Yelena’s skin, then moved to watch her face. Zhu had put a strip of leather between her teeth, and she was biting down on it against the pain, her eyes watering slightly. Tam found a quiet sense of pleasure watching her suffering. It wasn’t the angry need to punish her; this was just the knowledge that she was his, and if he chose to put her through pain, she had no choice but to accept it and endure.

Once he was finished, Zhu had Tam inspect the tattoo to ensure it was to his liking and then covered it with a gauze bandage. Zhu then pierced each of her ears and put in the earrings Tam had selected, small dangling silver feathers. When they released Yelena from the restraints, she sat up and tentatively touched her ears, hissing with pain when she bumped the sensitive holes.

She was surprised when Zhu pushed her back onto the table and began to strap her in on her back. “Tam, please, no more. Please, this hurts. Aren’t you happy with me the way I am? Please don’t turn me into a Pretty, I don’t want to be a Pretty.”

Tam motioned for Zhu to wait and took her head in his hands. “Hush, Yelena. Tell me, what can Master do to his slave?”

Yelena shivered in the restraints, tears leaking from her eyes. “Master can do whatever he wants to his slave.”

“That’s right. You’re a good girl, and you’re going to be obedient. If Master wants to make you into a Pretty, he will, and you’ll be proud to wear rings and chains for him. You wear Master’s sign above your ass now, and your ears are decorated, because this makes you more beautiful in Master’s eyes. Do you understand?”

“Yes Master.”

“Good. You were a brave girl, taking the ink and piercings for Master. Now you just have one more thing to endure; your rosy little nipples are going to be pierced, so that you can wear pretty jewelry there too. Nothing more beyond that. Can you be brave for that too?”

“Yes Master. Your slave can, she can endure it.”

“Good. Here’s the leather to bite on again. Go ahead, Zhu.”

Zhu was quick with his needle. Yelena barely had time to flinch with each piercing, though she sobbed at the sensation of the small bars moving inside her as Zhu screwed the end caps on. As they released her and helped her to sit on the edge of the table, she sagged in place, the rush of chemicals her body had produced to buoy her through the pain fading. Familiar with the process, Zhu had her drink a cup of spiced wine. He then went through the process of providing correct care for her new piercings and the tattoo. Tam was familiar with the general principles, though he had never personally had to deal with them. He had Yelena repeat the process back to Zhu twice in case he needed to have her take care of her own treatment while he was busy.

Given permission, Yelena dressed herself, wincing as her dress dragged over her new piercings. Before he bound her wrists again, Tam had Yelena slide her arms through the straps of the pack so that it rode on her back. They were all items for her, so it made sense for her to carry them. He adjusted her rules again as he led her out into the streets.

The sun had set while Zhu worked, so Tam bribed a guard with a torch to escort them through the darkening streets and home.

Once they arrived, he restricted her to the manor again, finding the shifts easier to remember as he grew used to the habit. Tam found himself extremely tired; he had, after all, not slept since dragging Yelena to the stable in the early hours of the morning. He led Yelena to his bedroom then had her undress him and put his clothes away.

Once he was in bed, Tam made Yelena strip and pose so he could admire the way the silver at her ears and nipples shone in the lamplight, but couldn’t summon the energy to do anything more. Yelena had been very subdued ever since they returned from Gao’s shop, lost in her own thoughts. Tam tugged her into bed, extinguished the lamp, and was asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow.

He woke at one point in the dark to the sound of Yelena sobbing beside him. He lay still, thinking she would want privacy for her grief, but something in his breathing must have alerted her, because she softly whispered “Tam?”

“Yes?”

“Could you hold me please? I know you’re the reason I’m crying, but I just feel so lost and alone and I need someone.”

“I suppose I can.” Tam rolled over and gathered her into his arms, letting her sob and shake as she clung to him, a lost little girl mourning the freedom she would never know again.