Then
Sarah did her best not to move around too much. The spot on the stone wall where she'd been leaning had finally warmed to her body temperature, but the rest was still chilly. The church of Iomedae was not going out of their way to make her comfortable. The unheated cell did have some simple furniture, but the ankle cuff and it's short chain that attached her to the wall made it all superfluous; she couldn't reach any of it. They had, at least, done 'something' with her injured arm. It was encased from fingertips to elbow in some sort of plaster, imprinted with what appeared to be celestial script, and wrapped with prayer beads. It was currently useless, but at least it didn't hurt anymore.
She'd been their prisoner for a week or so. She'd rushed out of the burning terror of the forest, to find a large force of paladins and clerics from several denominations moving toward the tree line. She was relieved; momentarily. She was quickly branded as evil, taken into custody, and interrogated about why she'd summoned demons to the material plain. The paladin in charge of her, a horrible woman named Lady Celestine, did not even treat her as human.
Sarah jumped as she heard a bolt being thrown down the corridor that led to he cell. To her knowledge, she was the only prisoner in this area, and any attention thus far had not been pleasant. All she could do was cower and clutch the coarse robe she'd been given tighter around her body. It was all she had after she'd been stripped of her possessions upon her arrest. Even her cantrips had somehow been drained from her. It was small comfort that, while the robe was not warm, it was more than sufficient for modesty.
She further cringed at the voice coming down the hall. Her tormentor was not alone, as she seemed to be conversing with someone, but the paladin's voice was the one that carried; she always spoke as if the world should hear what she had to say. As they approached, she could make out several footsteps; three, maybe four people. They halted. as she expected. outside her cell. The lock was disengaged, and the door was thrown open.
Four people entered; Lady Celestine, several of her lackeys, and William. The paladin had announced her title to Sarah when they had met, but William, a young Iomedaen cleric, had introduced himself. It was he who brought her food. Which apparently he was doing now. He had a bowl of something, balanced on a folded blanket, sitting on a box of some kind covered by a cloth. He made his way carefully to the cell's bed and gently set his burden down. The Lady and her minions stood near the door and simply glared at their captive.
William retrieve the bowl for the pile. "You see, My Lady? The evil you sensed was from the cursed wound. Now that it has been treated and blessed, you shouldn't sense any." He bent down to give Sarah the food, stew it seemed, but she flinched at the motion and cowered.
The cleric looked sadly upon his charge before he reached a hand out slowly to rest on her shoulder and whispered a few words. When the bowl was offered again, Sarah took it.
"Pathetic." Lady Celestine snorted. "But you are correct. I sense no evil at present." Under other circumstances, Sarah might have thought the woman beautiful. She was tall and slim, with a suit of armor wrapped around her that seemed to shimmer even in the relative darkness of the cell. Most striking about the 'Lady', however, was her golden hair. The halo like mane around her head almost seemed supernatural. Her perpetual scowl and horrid treatment of people in general, soured the whole picture.
"Perhaps then, we can move her to more pleasant accommodations?" William asked politely.
"No." Celestine sneered. "By her own admission she traveled with those responsible. She is under suspicion until I say otherwise." Lady Celestine turned on her heel and swept form the room, minions in tow.
Sarah did not concern herself with eating until her tormentor had departed. William, remained however. After tasting the stew, she turned her eyes to meet the calm gaze of the cleric. "What did you do to me?" she asked softly. "That was a spell of some sort."
"Yes. It lessens harmful emotions. Rage. Sadness. Fear" He turned to retrieve the blanket, setting it with in Sarah's reach. "Lady Celestine, for all the good she is capable of, tends to foster those in people. She delights in terrorizing those she feels deserve it and you were a presumably innocent bystander. Your companion has had quite the opposite reaction as you, however."
Sarah took another sip from her bowl. "My... companion?"
"The fey girl you carried from the forest." William turned back to the bed and lifted the cloth from the box, which turned out to be a small cage, And in one corner, sat the tiny green girl. Her armor was gone, as was her sword. She wore what appeared to be under-armor. And she did not look afraid in the least.
"Where did the Porcupine Queen go?" The girl called out. "I hate to miss a chance to tell her where to stick her sword." She was most certainly not afraid. She cast her eyes lazily around the room. "Where have you brought me, Ratboy? This isn't the usual dark hole you've kept me in." Her eyes stopped on Sarah. "What's this sad creature? Is she going to teach me to be a good prisoner?"
William smiled patiently. "Likely not. This is Sarah. The wizard who carried you out of the forest. Sarah, this is... well, she hasn't told us her name."
"Why would I, stump brain?" The girl snapped. "That slug woman you answer to won't tell *me anything."
"Of course." William said. "I've been leaning all the best fey insults. In truth, Mistress Fey, Sarah has been treated at least as poorly as you have by... I'll go with Porcupine Queen. It sounds more respectful. It was my thought that both of you could use, shall we say, less hostile company."
"What do you care, Holyman?" The fey girl got to her feet and stomped to the mesh the made up the walls of her cage. "You miserable god-people only seem interested in torturing me."
"Some of my more militant brethren seem to forget," William straightened and started toward the door, "while we are sworn to destroy evil, we are also sworn to protect and heal the innocent. I'll return later, to check on you. With any luck, The Lady will allow me to move you out of this cell. Be well." With that, the cleric left the cell, closing the door behind him.
The diminutive fey turned on Sarah. "So it's you're fault that I'm here! Why did you take me out of my forest? What happened to my family?"
"I... I'm sorry." Without William's fear relieving magic, Sarah might have cowered before the wrath of the tiny girl in the cage. "You were hurt and there was fire and demons..." she took a deep, steadying breath. "I didn't see any others of you kind."
The fey snorted and stomped back to her corner, slumping to the floor. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at the human. Finally she closed her eyes and released a long breath. "I'm an atomie." The fey girl sighed. "My name is Jixia Bramblehome."
Now
Sarah's eyes opened slowly. That in itself struck her as odd. Since her night in the forest, she'd mostly jerked to consciousness; usually several times a night. She felt, for all the world, as though she'd had a good night's sleep. Also, she generally slept curled up on her side, but she was flat on her back, arms and legs sprawled comfortably. And she was naked. She could feel the coarse sheet all down her back; even her butt was bare. Everything clicked home when she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes and neither arm would move, as if her wrists were strapped to the mattress. Jix had cast that spell on her, stripped her, pinned her, and... At that point, Sarah felt the small form lying under the blanket, between her breasts.
Sarah lay still for a time, reflecting of her current situation. Her ankles and neck appeared to be held as well, though her mouth was free. That was good. If Jix didn't wake soon, she would have to take action. She would have to relieve herself shortly, and the innkeeper was forgoing the room fee in return for her using a 'Flaming Sphere' spell the keep the outdoor walkways clear of snow. She couldn't stay in bed all day, though currently she could do little else. So for the time being, she was content to be still and recall the odd events of the previous evening.
It wasn't long before there was stirring under the blanket. There was initially mumbling and a little squirming. "Whu..? Where..?" The tiny fey, it seemed, had gotten a little sweaty during the night and thus had to peel herself from Sarah's skin. Once she was free, she crawled around blindly before her tousled coppery locks emerged from the bedclothes. "Oh, um..." Jix stammered. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Jix." Sarah replied. "How did you sleep?"
"Pretty good, I guess." The tiny girl answered. "I got a little sweaty, but I wasn't cold." She paused. "You're still chained to the bed, aren't you." It wasn't a question.
Sarah flexed her trapped body in demonstration. "I am."
Jix closed her eyes and took a breath. "You feel calm. Maybe not happy, but you're not unhappy, so that's good."
"I think content is the word you're looking for Jix." said Sarah. "Besides, it's not as though you didn't pay for it." She smiled and the fey.
"What? Oh." Jix's arms twitched as if she had a sudden urge to cover herself, but in the end, not only did she drop her arms, but shrugged off the blanket to reveal more of her nude body, though her cheeks did color a bit. "I suppose I should let you go now."
"Well, let me up anyway. I have to use the chamber pot."
"I probably have enough magic back to stop the spell too." The atomie did look a little down at the thought.
"But you don't want to?" Sarah asked.
"Well, it is fun having you like this." Jix admitted, "But I don't want to make you mad."
"Tell you what." said Sarah. "Do as I say for a few minutes, and you can leave the spell on me for a while longer. How does that sound?"
"Yeah?" Jix grinned. "I'm listening."
"Ok, push the blanket back and stand up." Sarah ordered. "Put you feet a little bit apart and stretch your arms straight out to the side." She watched as Jix complied. "Good. Now, press your lips together and don't move until I say it's okay."
"Hrm?" Jix grunted, looking slightly confused.
"I just wanted to see what it felt like for myself." Sarah grinned. "It *is fun. And you're trapped, naked, right in front of me."
Jix blinked. Then her temporarily sealed lips turned slowly into a grin. "Murmph!" She grunted, twisting her body against nonexistent bonds. She twisted the opposite way, then arched her back, impressively not moving her limbs in the process. She struggled a moment longer before sagging. Mmmn," she whimpered piteously. Sure it was a little embarrassing, but she could feel Sarah's reaction through the spell. Completely worth it.
