Lorelei's Note: This story feature's a cisboy's perspective and continues penetrative sex, addictive honey, dubious consent, and memory play. It also plays around a bit with fairly mild betrayals of trust. In real life, consensual nonconsent kink should be practiced responsibly so it can be fun and sustainable for everyone!
In terms of continuity, this story is set after the events of Monstrous Ranch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He was only eighty percent certain this was a bad idea.
Ignoring the giggles of the beembos up in their giant clover bed above, he raised his hand and gave three small knocks. The knocks rang solidly against the wooden door.
In the silence that followed, he almost allowed himself to hope there might be no response.
Instead, the dulcet tones of Sylvia called from within, "Come on in, Master!"
Her use of that word had his heart fluttering as he stepped inside.
He wasn't Master, was the thing. Not anymore, and he never should have been. He was the Warden now--not even Master of his own mind, not really, not when fey were around and in the mood to play. But these particular fey... he hadn't been back to the Thriae's cottage since the battle.
The place had considerably changed since his last visit. First, the kitchen appeared to have been scaled down and, more significantly, separated from the sitting room--the area was no longer open-concept, but split by a wall of just-translucent resin and a large oak door. The living room was still a decadent lounge, with a dangerously cozy-looking towering armchair and a pair of loveseats flanking it, but the crackling fireplace was completely gone, and a couple bookshelves and a workdesk had been added. A painting hung over where the fireplace had been, depicting an unfamiliar Thriae woman dressed in fine white silks. The woman in the painting wore a sly, knowing smile, and cradled in her arms was a little pink rabbit.
Something was odd about the rabbit. It took Senya a moment to realize it appeared to be constructed from cotton candy, with two chocolate truffles for eyes and ovular cookies for ears.
Noticing a shifting of lights behind the resin wall, Senya realized Sylvia must be in the kitchen.
"Well, gosh, come on, sweetie!" called the bimbo beegirl, giggling as he hesitated in the entranceway.
He took a deep breath, appreciating the clean air while it lasted, and opened the kitchen door.
To his surprise, he was not immediately greeted by the overpowering smell of Thriae mead. The smell of honey was subtle and savory, almost buttery. It sizzled and bubbled in a pot Sylvia was carefully stirring.
"Good morning, Master," Sylvia said, giving him a sunlight-through-a-jar-of-syrup smile. "It's
sooo
nice to see you!"
"Nice to see you, too, Sylvia." Senya found himself smiling back--Sylvia's smile was the sweetly addictive kind you couldn't help but return. "It's just Senya now. Or... Warden, if you want."
"Ooh. Senya." Sylvia pronounced the name like it was an exotic new sweetmeat dissolving on her tongue. "That's, like, so nice of you! You have such a pretty name, you know!"
"So... what are you working on?" Senya shifted as he watched her stir.
"A resin piece." Sylvia looked back over the pot with a carefree smile. "I've been working on a new magical item."
"Oh. So it's not..."
Sylvia turned and beamed at him. "Did you think it was some sort of mind control treat, Senya?" She batted her eyelashes.
"Or hoped?"
It was very hot in the kitchen. "Well, I..."
"This long away from the Hive, a girl's got to have hobbies, you know." Sylvia giggled, her laugh airy and bright like dust in a sunbeam. "I can't
always
be brainwashing dumb boys who don't know any better~"
"Right. I... noticed the redecorating."
"Oh, isn't it nice? Like, gimme a sec..." Sylvia gave the pot a very serious appraising look, then took it off the woodstove and spooned the bubbling liquid into the indentation of a strange block of what appeared to be ever-steaming ice. She set the emptied pot down and clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing up and taking his hand. Senya tried not to notice just how enticingly she bounced in her low-cut sundress. "The Crows were, like,
soooo
helpful in finding the books I needed, and I've been trading some of the things I make to get pretty things I like!"
Senya noticed her appealing resin earrings, glinting in the light of the fire. Her eyes sparkled with glee like two suns, almost painful to look at in her happiness.
"What about Lata and Lala? Um, how are they doing?"
"Oh, they're out again." Sylvia waved a hand dismissively. "A Thriae has to conquer something, and they're less happy doing it with, like, creativey stuff." She gave him a sidelong glance. "So they're off playing with the lamia, I think."
"Really." Senya wasn't so sure that that was conducive to the ideal of the Ward's wicked fey breaking their more, well, problematic habits, but it wasn't his job to control them. He just had to keep them from leaving and wreaking havoc.
"Yuh-huh!" She put a finger to pouty beestung lips. "Why? Were you here looking for them, honey?"
"No, no," he said quickly, lured into eagerness by those big, gorgeous eyes. "Actually, I was, um, here for you."
"Oh?" Those lips curved upwards into a smile that was a little too mischievous for his liking. "Is that
soooo
?"
Senya felt his cheeks heating up. His heartrate decided to accelerate when Sylvia took a step closer, tilting her head crooked to the side.
"You want
me
?" she purred, swinging her hips slowly as she stepped closer, closer. "Is that, like, what you just said?"
Senya's mouth was dry. He tried not to look at how her hips swayed, or how her full, honeyed lips visibly savored the word
want
. "W-Well, yes, but--"
"That's so
cuuute
," she cooed, squeezing his hand in both of hers, bringing his hand to her bosom, pressing it between her soft, warm breasts, so smooth, so pillowy... "Gosh, do you have, like, a crush on me or something?"
"I--I--" Senya felt his head swimming as he stared into those eyes. "No, wait, you--"
"Omigods,
sooo
cute!" She bounced closer, lashes fluttering lower and lower, seductive bedroom eyes not releasing his. "The silly boy has a little crush on me!" Her eyes locked on his. "Gosh, I wonder what he'd do if I gave him a little...
kiss
?"
Senya backed away, sputtering. He tried to find words to object, to resist, tried to pull his hand out of her grip, but Sylvia was so beautiful, and her voice sent tingles across his mind, nullifying his concerns, melting his doubts, and it felt so nice having Sylvia smiling at him like that...
Sylvia burst out laughing. "Oh, relax, silly! I'm only teasing."
Senya stopped sputtering. He swallowed and rubbed his eyes. "Yes, um... I noticed. But I've... I've noticed that fey's idea of 'only teasing' tends to escalate kind of quickly, doesn't it?"
Sylvia smirked.
Then, still holding his hand, she took another step closer. He stiffened--but she just brushed past him and led him out of the kitchen.
"Things are totally different now," she chirped. "Now that you're not our Master, I don't feel like I always need to, like, put you in your place, you know?" She winked. "Now that I know that I could have you
anytime
. Now that there aren't any boring triggers protecting you from me." She twirled mid-stride to face him, the hem of her sundress fluttering around her ankles. "It's a lot less high-pressure!"
"R-Right." Senya laughed nervously. "Well, believe it or not, I'm... I'm really
not
here to fool around."
The fluttering of her thick lashes over those big golden eyes was almost absurdly innocent as she released his hand and went to sit at one of the loveseats. "Oh, really?"
His eyes flitted up to the painting. Curiosity itched at the back of his brain. "Who is that, by the way?"
"Her?" Sylvia glanced back at the portrait. "That cost me a super special commission--a resin sword that can cut through and poison mind protection spells so they turn on their user." She grinned proudly. "Which I totally nailed, by the way. Super pretty, too!"
Senya was sure he didn't want to know how an imprisoned Thriae managed to get these goods to market. The fact that she was so happily open about it told him that she wasn't the least bit worried about him putting a stop to it, and he didn't really want to try and test that confidence of hers right now.
"That sounds..."
"Awful?" Sylvia asked sweetly. "Awfully hot?" She patted the deep, soft armchair next to her, eyes twinkling. "Don't worry, sweetie. The sword is way too sharp to hurt
people.
And the corruption effect... well, it feels
soooo good
."
That didn't really make it any better, but Senya bit his tongue. Not the time.
"Anyways, the pretty lady in the painting is named Aposta." Sylvia looked up at the portrait. "She's kinda infamous among the Thriae. She's one of super few of our kind who's ever left her Hive and decided, like, not to start another. She's, like, totally one of the best alchemists in the
world
." Her eyes had a faraway glaze to them. "The work she's done is... like, gosh, her candies are legendary. They say her old Queen is still sending warriors after her, and those few that make it back return totally brainwashed to sabotage their own Hive."
The look was almost worshipful.
"Is it hard to leave your Hive, then?"
Sylvia glanced back at him, some awareness returning, and giggled. She patted the armchair next to her. "Is that what you came here to talk about, sweetie?"
"Sort of." Senya hesitated. The armchair off to the side was off-limits--he knew from experience how vulnerable he'd be there. Sitting across from her was just as bad. He'd be staring right at her, right at her gorgeous, enticing, hypnotic body.
In the end, he decided on a show of trust and walked over and sat down right next to her. Sylvia blinked, clearly startled. "We're bringing two more Thriae to the Verdant Ward tomorrow. I was... wondering if you could give me some ideas what to expect. I mean, how to, um..."
"Make them feel at home?" Sylvia supplied, and giggled. She scooted a little closer to him, and he smelled fresh honeysuckles. "You want to know about how Thriae hives run, huh?"
Senya nodded, surprised at the feelings of shyness in him. This was by far the most 'normal' conversation he'd ever had with Sylvia, and he was starting to remember that completely outside the risk of being seduced by a fey temptress, he was also just chatting with a beautiful woman.
Sylvia beamed. "I can
toootally
help you with that!"
Senya almost thought he caught a spark of something wicked in those brilliant golden eyes. But the next moment it was gone, and left was pure, molten sweet innocence.
He gulped.
~ ~ ~ ~
"The most important thing to understand," Sylvia said, one finger playing around a pigtail, eyes as bright and guileless as if she was talking about a math problem she didn't understand or a boy or girl she liked, "is that all fey have, like, Primal Codes, right? Those are, like... like, if mortals are made of Dust and Sin, fey are
juuuust
made out of Dust, so we tend to be a lot simpler! Primal Codes are the things that make us exist." She beamed. "And, like, the more further we get from them..."
She appeared to struggle, then. Her eyes crossed a little, and she sucked on the tip of a finger, clearly searching hard for the words. "It's like... like, when we weren't allowed to leave the cottage, it was kinda like trying to hold too much water in a glass. Like, forcing a whole gallon of milk into a pint bottle."
"And the Primal Code for Thriae is, um..."
