A Thief Gets Punished

My captor led me through the forest.

I was surprised at the fact that I wasn't cold. Whatever substance he'd put on my body was obviously protecting me from the elements. Dirt didn't cling to my body, wind only gently tickled me.

What I felt instead was humiliation. Now matter how hard I tried to push it away, it was always there, hovering over me. I felt the absence of clothing. I felt the rope tied around my wrists, preventing me from covering up.

Gods above, I was naked!

I put it aside. I

put it aside

. I had to endure this for now. I thought the forest would be easier, but I felt like I could see eyes in every tree. I felt more like an animal in the forest; being led around by a man on a horse made that worse. There's something primal about being naked in the forest.

My friends would rescue me.

My captor went offroad into a clearing. He climbed down off his horse and pulled me over to a tree. He untied the rope around my elbows, then the rope around my wrists. I felt blessed relief at the freedom, stretching my arms.

"Are you sure you want to free my hands, you bastard?"

"You've seen what I can do," he said. Embarrassed, I went silent. He pulled my wrists in front of me and tied a much longer rope around them. He then tossed the rope over a branch, pulling it tight. My hands were held above my body again. He then pulled up my leg, tying the rope around my ankle. I was forced to stand on one foot, my other inelegantly in the air. He then undid the leash and put it in his pack.

I was still trapped, but now I was trapped in a different position. Gods, I was a master thief! I had been planning a bank heist earlier today, and now I was nude, tied to a tree, both hands and one foot in the air like an idiot! When I was inevitably freed, we would have to leave town. Maybe after burning that tavern to the ground. There was no way I'd be able to stand walking around town knowing those people had seen my naked body jiggling as I was tickled.

As I contemplated this, my captor rolled out a sleeping mat next to the fire. He then took out a hammer and a piton with a purple gem embedded within the head. He hammered it into the ground about a foot away from the cot. He then did the same thing three more times, putting them in a square around the cot. Why was he doing this?

He then took a jar and spoon out of his pack and walked over to me. He scooped the spoon in, piling a strange, purple, jelly-like substance on it.

"Open wide, Erica."

"What?"

"This is food. It's time to eat."

I scowled. But we had been walking half the day and I was tired and hungry. I'll play this man's game. I opened my mouth and he stuck the spoon in. I was annoyed to find the jelly tasted great - sweet, thick, and oddly filling. But I was deeply shamed at being hand-fed - no control even over my basic functions. Gods, only eating with permission! Being assisted with my food! How humiliating.

After a few spoonfuls - that was all I needed - he then put the jar and spoon away and pulled out a choker with a purple gem on it, and he put it around my neck. He then undid the rope around my foot, letting it fall to the ground (blessed relief!), pulled the rope off the tree, grabbed it by the slack, and pulled me over to the sleeping roll.

"Conternius," he muttered, and the gem in the choker felt warm for a moment. "Erica, this is where you sleep tonight. We'll move in the morning."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked furiously. "Money? Some kind of demented lust?"

"Remember, you're to call me Sir," he said. "And I'm punishing you because you've been a bad girl. If you hadn't stolen anything, I wouldn't have come after you. Now lay down and go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

He walked off and set up his own bed. It had barely gotten dark and I wasn't tired - I was always more of a night owl anyway. I looked down at the pitons around the sleeping roll. Obviously they did something, but what? I placed a foot outside the pitons, and it instantly went numb. I cried out as I slipped and fell to the ground. My whole body was numb!

I started sobbing. I couldn't help myself. The hopelessness and humiliation of my situation pierced my defensiveness. This was so stupid! Why would he do this to me?! He heard him walk over and turned my eye up to him. He looked impassive.

"I hope you learned something from this, Erica." He picked me up by the wrists - still bound together - and pulled me back onto the cot. The barrier cream was still working; not a bit of dirt on me. I did, however, have tears running down my face. "That's understandable," he said. "There's always an adjustment period to being an ENF. But this is who you are now and you have to accept it. Good night, Erica."

No. I knew to keep my mouth shut. But no, this was temporary. He went back to his bed and laid down. I laid down on mine too. My friends would save me tomorrow.

I slept fitfully. When I did wake up the next morning, he was already up. He tied me to a tree again, fed me again, rubbed me with the barrier cream again, and packed up everything. When he was done, he untied me, then retied me.

This was different though. This time he placed my arms so I was holding my elbows, then wrapped the rope around them that way. I suspected this was so I didn't get tired or have my arms get stuck in any particular position for too long. No worry about that; I'd be free later today. Perhaps I would go to the north, where I had friends in the big cities. Obviously, they would never be told this.

He put the leash around my neck and pulled me along, and so we were walking down the road again. There was a time when a man rode his horse down the other way, and I tried to hide behind my captor's horse, but the man simply rode around to see me. He marvelled over my nude body, and I simply looked at a tree while he did so.

The real horror was when we came into town around midday. The barrier cream had protected me from burns and wind, but I still felt hot. The sight of all those people staring at me was humiliating; some were open-mouthed, many were pointing, some were laughing.

I felt my cheeks burn, as if it contained all my shame. None of it would pierce my skin! The humiliation was on my body, bouncing off. I was immortal, not taking in any of their laughing, any of their horny expressions. I am a MASTER THIEF and this situation is TEMPORARY.

My captor walked us to the nearest tavern. As expected, he tied up his horse and then tied up me. This time, rather than holding my hands above the air, he tied my wrists together behind me, then tied that rope to the porch support beam. He then tied each foot individually to the beam. I could move each one around a few inches. Enough to feel pathetic. He then went inside and left me to contemplate.

This was the worst part, I thought. I had all this time to think, and my mind kept racing around. But then the real worst part happened: I saw another person I knew.

I saw Janice. And she was laughing.

"Look at you, naked little woman!"