The time went on and on, but it didn’t take long before Tain was completely lost to what she was being made to feel. She knew she’d never enjoyed anything as much as what was being done to her, and the moaning she did should have made that absolutely clear. Her body seemed to explode over and over again, and finally there was another explosion to match hers before the big, hard thing was withdrawn from her body. She no longer felt terrible, but as she collapsed flat to the bed she almost wished that the time hadn’t ended.

“Now that wasn’t bad at all,” her master murmured from behind her, oddly enough sounding short of breath. “Every time this is done to you, I want you to be infatuated with the man who does it. You’ll feel faintly flustered by the infatuation, but you’ll still feel it and act accordingly. If you aren’t a very very good girl, I won’t be the only one doing this to you.”

Tain didn’t know what to say to that, and also didn’t understand why part of her liked the idea of having that done by others but a very small part hated the idea. Her master moved around doing things in the room while she lay still with her eyes closed, but after a while he came back and began to take her clothing off completely. Opening her eyes showed that the lamps had been blown out, and then his hands were on her again, bringing back the terrible feeling she’d suffered with earlier.

But when the hard thing was put in her again, this time while she was on her back, she eagerly waited to give her master pleasure as many more times as he liked—and take some for her own…

It was still pouring rain outside when Tain woke up to the new day. Her master had kept her in his bed all night, probably so that he could have her serve him again just the way she was doing. He was behind her the way he’d been the first time, and while she moaned helplessly she suddenly became aware of that slave coming in with another tray. Her master knew the slave was there, but he didn’t stop making Tain serve him in that odd way. That was his right, of course, but for some reason Tain lost a good part of the pleasure she’d been feeling.

Once the odd service was done, Tain was allowed to lie unmoving only a short time before her master made her get up to serve him breakfast. She scrambled out of bed and over to the table where he already sat, put his food in front of him, then reluctantly knelt with her own food. This time it was the smell of eggs and bacon and fried potatoes that made her cereal even more tasteless than it usually was, and if she’d had the choice she would have gone hungry instead.

“The cook in this hostel is really good,” her master said when he’d emptied his plates again and had sat back with a cup of coffee. “Aren’t you finished with your own meal yet?”

Tain had had a lot of trouble stuffing down the tasteless cereal, but with her master’s attention on her she gulped the last two spoonfuls and was finally done.

“Good girl,” her master said as he pushed his chair back and stood. “After you clear the table, come over to where I’ll be sitting. There’s something I want to tell you.”

Tain stood up fast and hurried to finish her chore, wondering what her master might have to tell her. She was hoping hard that he had other chores for her to see to, other things to do that would make her feel this good doing them. She loved doing things for her master, wanted to do those things very badly, and couldn’t wait to get on to the next chore.

“I’m glad to see you’re being a good, obedient girl this morning,” her master said once she’d knelt in front of him where he sat in the comfortable chair. “It looks like that paddling did what it was meant to. Has your bottom stopped being tender?”

“Almost, my master,” Tain answered, needing to speak the truth even though it was somehow embarrassing. “I can still feel a shadow of what the paddling produced, a shadow I’d probably feel more if I were sitting instead of kneeling.”

“As long as you still have a memory of that paddling, I may not have to give you another one right away,” her master said, amusement in his light eyes. “I want you to keep in mind everything that’s gone on since we got to this room, and then I want you to come back to yourself.”

For an instant Tain didn’t understand what he was talking about, then memory of her real self came crashing back to freeze her with shock. Her mouth opened without any words coming out, and Killen leaned forward in his chair.

“I think it’s safe to say you now understand thoroughly what being a slave can mean,” Killen said while Tain’s thoughts whirled in a blur of confusion and horror. “I can’t afford to have the reason for my being in this town messed up, so if you defy me even one more time for any reason at all I’ll put you back into that other persona and leave you like that. As I said once before, I don’t bluff.”

Tain stared at the chair rather than at Killen, still completely unable to say anything at all, and the man seemed to understand the point.

“It will probably take you a few minutes to come back to yourself all the way, so I’m going to leave you alone to do it,” he said as he stood. “But when I come back I’m going to ask you that question again, and if I don’t get an answer that satisfies me I’ll consider your refusal an act of defiance. If becoming that slave permanently is what you want, you now know how to make it happen.”

And with that he walked away, the sound of the door opening and closing a moment later to show that he really was gone. Tain continued to kneel where she’d been for a time, and only when she finally noticed that her knees were hurting did she shift over into sitting cross-legged. Sitting down didn’t actually hurt, not even on the floor, but she couldn’t help remembering what her other self had said…

Her other self. Tain bent forward with her arms wrapped around her head, nothing but iron self control keeping her from screaming in torment. She hadn’t believed something like that could be done to her, something that could turn her into a simple-minded, happily-eager slave. But it had been done, and a lot more besides, and remembering the time was so painful that the aftermath of a whipping would have hurt less.

“And he said he’s going to do it again if I don’t choose to obey him,” she whispered, her insides twisting at the thought. “I’d rather be dead than go back to being that other person, and if I have to live like that until we’re back where we belong I know I’ll come out of it insane. I know it, I know it, I know it…”

Tain’s body had started to rock without her being aware of it, and once she noticed she did nothing to stop the motion. She was so devastated that the idea of dying sounded better the more she thought about it, and the soft wailing that started to come from her throat was a kind of prayer.

Please let me die now, the sound begged inside her head. Please let me die so it will all be over. Please!

Jake walked into the common room and closed the door to his bedroom behind him, more than a little disturbed. He’d expected Tain to fly into a rage when he finally released her, but instead the woman had looked as if she’d been hit between the eyes with a sledgehammer. He’d also meant to press the question of what was bothering her immediately, but seeing how shaken she was made him change his mind. He’d give her some time to pull herself together, and then he’d talk to her again.

“Good morning,” Jake heard in Tandro’s calm and even tones. Looking up showed that he hadn’t noticed the native sitting in a chair, which meant that he really had to pull out of his thoughts. “Did you sleep well?”

“Actually, I slept very well,” Jake answered, moving forward to stand and look down at Tandro. “How about you?”

“Sleeping in a bed is better than sleeping on the ground any day—or night,” Tandro answered with a faint smile. “The rest we got probably would have been useful—if our appointment with Gordi hadn’t been changed. He sent word to reschedule our talk until the rain stops because he likes to relax and enjoy rainy days.”