Menielle flittered along the edges of the great silver fence, singing to himself in that buzzing hum the fairies most enjoyed. His head was immersed in happy little sparkly fog right now, thanks to Mistress Tricin, and so most of his mental processes were dedicated to thinking about the rules of obedience:
A good pet listens to Mistress Tricin.
A good pet lives to be told they are a good pet.
A good pet comes when they are told, and also cums when they are told.
A good pet listens and obeys.
A good pet laughs at Mistress Tricin's jokes.
A good pet...
He paused, blinking compound red eyes rapidly. Curly blue hair bounced around his head as he stopped mid-flight and hovered for a moment, purple wings humming behind him.
Another order came to mind.
If anyone approaches, send three to the farmhouse to report; the rest of you, do whatever you can to stop them.
There was a young woman approaching the gates. She was pretty—plump and pale, with shoulder-length brown hair and hazel-green eyes, dressed in a flowing green robe made out of something shimmery and expensive. Menielle's eyes sparkled as he watched her. She had the most peculiar gait—the stumbling, struggling walk of a sleepwalker.
Or someone still shaking off the aftereffects of hypnosis.
Well, they couldn't have that, could they? He grinned and pointed up into the sky, sending tiny little bolts of light arcing up to signal the other fairies that
he had found someone
. Then he descended into a dive to investigate further. As he drew nearer, he realized she was talking to herself.
"Oh, brother..." she was mumbling, her voice haggard and uneven, "... what have you gotten yourself into? Crows and fey and enchanters..."
"Good evening, Madam!" Menielle chirruped, coming to hover in the air behind her.
Put her between you and the gate. Trap her. Stop her.
He vibrated his wings rapidly. "Where are you going, then?"
"Um..." She blinked at him. He grinned wickedly and vibrated his wings faster, driving the beautiful patterns into her pretty, tired eyes. "I... l-looking for..."
"For what?" Menielle teased, giggling. The fairy started to fly up and down, swooping back and forth, just far enough to make her head bob to follow his movements. "Looking for what, pretty girl?"
"I... um..." She blinked. "I..."
"Well?" He smirked, seeing her eyes starting to glaze once more. Such pretty eyes were
meant
to be glazed, he was sure. That was a rule of Mistress Tricin. "C'mon, sweetie, what is it?"
The woman's mouth opened, and she let out a soft whine.
And promptly blinked out of sight, without so much as a 'pop'.
Menielle stared at thin space, his jaw dropping. His expression screwed up in a disappointed pout. "Well.
That's
just
rude
!"
But the sourness faded quickly, thanks to some fervent edging. And after confirming that she had not simply turned invisible, he flew back into the air and returned, blissfully, to his mantras.
~~~~
Senya stared into the glass chamber, swallowing, and watched the nymph squirm.
"W-what did she do?" he whispered, as Ambrosia wriggled and giggled, tears streaming down her face.
Mommy's breath was hot in his ear, and Senya detected an impossibly rare note of rage buried beneath her creamy-sweet tone. "All fey follow the Primal Codes, and for all fey, those Codes vary. Nymphs can be quite
naughty
with how they bend the rules. But to harm a
child
... no, baby, that wouldn't do at all."
A child.
Senya remembered Bobbin alluding to this. He realized he'd never asked just where that nymph was being kept. Stupid. Thoughtless. He'd been a dumb, thoughtless, absentminded...
He stopped himself. It probably wasn't a good idea to scold himself right now using words that he'd been trained to submit to.
Senya swallowed. "S-so what do we do?"
Senya wasn't a cruel person, by nature. Aside from the odd stone tossed at clustering ravens—none of which had ever done more than spook the noisy birds, anyways—he'd never hurt anything he didn't have to. Really, anything at all.
And as much as the holstaur's words made his blood run cold, a part of him couldn't abide torturing
any
living creature for so long. Ambrosia had to have been here for centuries. That couldn't be right.
But why were he and Mommy here now, then? Were they here to...
release
such a woman?
"Oh, that's quite simple." Mommy have a musical little giggle. "Do you trust me, baby boy?"
The answer came without thought, meek and compliant. "Yes, Mommy."
"
Good
boy." And for a moment, Senya shivered, overcome with the sudden feeling of delight that coursed through him at those words whispered in his ear.
Then he felt a shove, and he was sent sprawling into the room of ivy and glass.
His fall was cushioned by the crawling vines, and just as quickly, he was up to his feet, heart pounding. He whirled around, stunned.
There was no sign of the holstaur in the hallway.
"
Ooh.
"
Senya's heart sank. He turned back to the center of the room.
The four scarecrows had noticed him. And they were smiling.
"U-um..." Senya's mind cast about for the right words. "Hi."
The scarecrows exchanged smug looks. Three of them abandoned their shrieking charge without a word and advanced on him, their narrow hips swaying. One sauntered to his left, and without thinking he edged right, not realizing until too late that she was cutting him off from the hallway.
"I'm—you—it's a—" His tongue fumbled for a solid few seconds as the scarecrows walked towards him, dark dresses trailing after them, twirling those paintbrushes in their delicate doll-like fingers. "I'm the Master of this Ranch, still," he finally managed, "and I...
command you
to stand down."