Punished

Elizabeth here: this story contains non-con, humiliation, and buttplugs, and is the first part of a series. Enjoy!

~~~~~ ~~~~~

When an adorable blond twink in knight armor barged into Rosa's downtown potion shop, she could barely believe that he was Princess Juniper's most trusted knight. Was this really him? It had to be, because nobody else walked around with a solid gold sword and shield. Rosa knew real gold when she saw it, and this was it.

"Potion seller!" he demanded as he stuck the tip of his gold shortsword into the polished oak floor. "I need your strongest summoning potion."

"Sir William?" Rosa asked as she wiped her hands on her smock. When she looked down and saw the sword poking an inch into her floorboards, her eyebrows twitched. But, she refrained from saying anything about it.

"Yes. I'm going into the Cherry Woods at dawn tomorrow to seek a unicorn horn. You know how unicorns are; I'll need your strongest summoning potion."

Rosa started to sweat. Weren't the Cherry Woods sacred? Nobody she knew would dare barge into the sacred forest of the fey to slaughter a unicorn.

"Don't you mean the Bleak Woods? But you won't find any unicorns—"

"No. I said the Cherry Woods. Potion seller, give me your strongest potion."

"I don't think the fey will like the people of our town if someone were to barge in and—"

"Did I stutter?"

"You'll anger a lot of fey, and—"

"That's why I need the potion. To slay them if necessary and find a unicorn. My beloved princess needs the horn to cure her jaw deformity."

"I have some perfectly good bone-fixing treatments in the back. Just take one a day, and—"

"I need a permanent cure for my lady, not your weak brews!"

Insults, unicorn murder, and floorboard damage: If this were any other customer, Rosa would have told them to get the hell out of her shop. She could tolerate a lost sale if it meant shattering someone's ego. But William? Not a chance. He had too much political clout. And given how he carried that sword around like it was nothing, the axe under the table wouldn't help much if she tried to kick him out by force.

So, she played along. "What specific summoning potion do you want?"

"Your strongest."

"I need more information. There is no strongest potion, every summoning potion is good for different things. If you'd like, I can give you a free guidebook on potion subtypes, their varying effects by environment, and—"

"I don't need to learn about potions. I need to chug one!"

"How much do you know about proper potion use?"

"Drink the magic liquid and a magic happens. Easy. It's not surgery."

Rosa held back a devilish grin. If Sir William was that much of an idiot and an asshole, she ought to find some way to punish him for his behavior while also thwarting his plan to raid the Cherry Woods and anger the fey. But what to use? Poison? No, too slow. And he might have a cure, or some magic that made him immune. A potion of spontaneous combustion? No, that one didn't always kill. William would have her head if he survived.

Then an idea struck her. If he was going to the Cherry Woods, then the fey magics would attune to a plain fox summoning potion, and...

She couldn't help but smile wickedly. An idiot like this? And a trickster like that? Perfect.

"I have just the potion."

William approached the counter. "How much for it?"

Rosa decided to have a little fun. "It's not for sale."

"Why not?"

"You can't handle it. It's my strongest potion."

"I can handle it. I am the right hand of Princess Juniper, slayer of the Dragon of the Four Valleys, warrior of the—"

"Do you think that qualifies you to drink my strongest potion?"

William slammed his hands on the counter. "I need that potion."

"If you drink this potion... it might prove to be too powerful. It'll summon the most fearsome creatures from the corners of the abyss to fight for you. But is your body ready for the dark power inside?"

"My body is ready."

"Four hundred gold."

"What?"

"Like I said. You can't handle this potion. The price is that high because I'm sure it'll overwhelm you. Only those with the strongest constitution can withstand it, and you don't look the part. How about you try a lesser potion? My spectre-summoning potion is a mere twenty silver, and—"

William reached into his backpack and tossed a giant sack of gold on the counter.

"There is enough in here to cover it. Give me the potion."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Potion. Now."

"It's too strong for you. But fine, let me fetch it from my triple-locked vault. It takes a while to open. Have patience."

"As long as I receive your strongest potion."

Rosa opened the door behind her and walked into the backroom, filled with cauldrons and machines and herbs and empty bottles. She closed the door behind her, locked it for good measure, and walked towards the store safe in the back of the room. Maybe her act would be even more convincing with some vault opening noises. But instead of immediately opening it, she fiddled with the lock for a minute before finally opening the vault, slamming it shut, and locking it once more. Then, she grabbed a fox summoning potion from a dusty bin and emerged into the main part of the store.

She carefully set the bottled mixture on the counter.

"Is this it?" William asked as he peered into the brown fluid.

"You don't want to buy it."

"I do."

"It's suicide."

"I'm strong enough to handle your strongest potion."

"Fine. Four hundred gold."

After the sale was complete, Rosa held back a chuckle as William walked out the door with his potion. It normally sold for ten silver; William overpaid by a factor of four hundred. And, she was confident that neither she nor anyone else would ever hear from this knight again. The fey would only be angry if William left the forest with his treasure, and there was no chance that would happen. She was doing the town a public service, and thought her reward for it was fair; four hundred gold would pay the rent on the shop for a month, and there was some spending money left over.

She reached under the counter, grabbed a cold ale from her magically chilled cabinet, and leaned back as she took a swig in celebration of a job well done.

~~~~~ ~~~~~

William left his horse in town. He was a lot stronger than his horse, and didn't think she'd survive. Instead, he trekked across the town pastures, intimidated a few curious cows to keep them away from him, and crested a small hill. As soon as he made it to the top, he saw an enormous field of pink cherry blossom trees ahead of him, perpetually in full bloom. The home of the fey was beautiful, but he tried to ignore it. He was only after that horn.

The winds blew in his direction as he approached the frontmost patch of trees, and the sweet, fruity air made him think that maybe the fey would be pushovers. In his experience, the stronger someone's home smelled, the easier they were to fight. Bakers, perfume salesmen, and trolls all lived in odorous environments, and he never had much trouble with them. But a dragon or a powerful wizard always kept their homes tidy, clean, and relatively scentless, and they were far harder to fight, yet they were rarely too much to handle. The correlation was clear to him, so he didn't expect the fey to put up much of a fight. Maybe he wouldn't need that potion after all.

He entered the Cherry Woods and discovered a convenient path between the trees and shrubs, marked by white cobblestones embedded in the ground. He followed the trail. Perhaps he could find a gnome or pixie along the trail and interrogate them to figure out where the unicorns were hiding. As he trekked deeper, the blue sky above was replaced with pink and white cherry blossom petals. Even though William couldn't see the sun, its light filtered down through the trees, and he could easily see.

Soon, the sound of running water came from ahead, just past a bend. He was about to press forward when the sound of a

neigh

came from around the bend.

As soon as he heard that noise, he ducked behind a tree trunk and waited. Hooves were lightly treading on gravel. A unicorn? If it was, it didn't see him. Now was his chance.

Even though it was mostly like a common horse, the unicorn's magic horn allowed it to teleport away. And, it made for a good spear. William wasn't afraid of being impaled, but he wanted to slay the creature as quickly as possible so it couldn't flee.

He decided on a battle plan. He would drink the potion, summon allies, and rush the unicorn. If he or any of his summons could land one sturdy blow before the unicorn fled, the horn was as good as his.

Slurping sounds came from ahead as he fumbled around in his backpack for the potion. This was even better. The unicorn was busy drinking. An easy kill.

He uncorked the potion for good measure and brought it to his lips. The mixture tasted like soap and honey, and had little strands of hair in it. Gross. Still, he was used to the taste of potions, and chugged the small flask in only a second.

His skin faintly glowed for a second before the glow faded, and the only side effect was a tiny stomach ache. It would have been nice if that potion seller were here to witness this. But he tried to push his fantasies of smug gloating aside. He had a job to do.

He readied his sword and shield and snuck towards the bend in the path. No allies came. Where were they? Or were they here, but invisible?

Maybe his allies would reveal themselves when he attacked. When he came to the bend, he saw the majestic white unicorn in front of a sparkling, bubbling stream. Its head rose and fell as it drank, exposing its glorious gold treasure.

William took in a deep breath and charged at the creature. As soon as his first footstep clanked against the ground, the unicorn lifted its head and spun around. There were only ten feet between William and his prey. But rather than run, the unicorn charged ahead. The perfect opportunity to strike.

When William swung his enchanted blade, hoping to decapitate the beast, the unicorn parried his blade with a swift strike of its durable horn. Neither the horn nor the blade were chipped. William's sword could cut through steel, so the horn had to be stronger than that.

William's second strike was luckier. He scored a glancing blow on the unicorn's neck. Blood squirted out as the creature jumped back. As strong and fast as the unicorn was, William had the upper hand. But when he went in for the kill, the unicorn neighed and vanished in a blast of radiant light.

Now that the unicorn was gone, he was left alone in the woods with a dirty blade and no summoned allies. Where were they?

~~~~~ ~~~~~

Itami was asleep in her comfortable bed until she woke up to a faint burst of magic coming from miles away. Her nine yellow tails straightened in excitement. It was a summoning spell. But even though the magic was far too weak to pull her there by force, she went willingly and allowed the spell to teleport her to the woods near whoever it was that drank the summoning potion.

She only came because of a lingering emotional aura in the potion's spell. Her magical emotion senses were keen enough to tell that whoever made it was spiteful towards the person that drank it, and wanted to see them humiliated. There was a fellow trickster out there in the world, and Itami was happy to help them. But first, she had to figure out why they warranted this kind of punishment. Didn't they know what kitsune liked to do to unruly forest travelers?

After a flash of light, she was behind a wide tree next to a half-buried cobblestone path in the woods. She knew this place, and knew that a stream was close by. The first thing she heard was the clanking of a sword against something hard, followed by a neigh. She weaved a quick spell to silence her movements and ran forward to see what was happening. Her silk gown and leather boots didn't make a sound as she darted through the grass.

She arrived behind the knight just as the unicorn teleported away from him. Anger was boiling inside this knight, whoever they were. And there was blood on his sword. What did he do to anger a unicorn? They were almost always entirely peaceful, and loved a warm hug.

"Summoned help?" the knight shouted as he glanced to the left and right, not noticing Itami. "Where are you? Find that unicorn!"

After lowering her nine huge tails to seem non-threatening, Itami dismissed her spell and coughed. "Ahem," she said.

The knight spun around and pointed his sword at Itami. "Where were you a minute ago? The potion seller told me that this was her strongest summoning potion. It should have worked sooner!"

Itami shrugged. "Queuing. There were too many summons on the continent trying to teleport at once." Even though she was chuckling inside, her face flawlessly hid the lie. "By the way, I'm Itami; who are you?"

The knight's emotions started to calm down. His anger was replaced with determination; Itami had never sensed someone's anger fade that quickly. What was up with this knight?

She kept her magical senses fixated on him as he spoke.

"William. No matter; just help me track this unicorn! It couldn't have gone far." The knight sheathed his sword and began peering around the stream.

"Looking around here won't do you much good. The thing must have teleported to the unicorn grove to rest with its family. Unicorns need their beauty sleep after using so much energy to teleport."

"Asleep? Now's our chance. To the grove!" William lifted his sword and heroically jammed it into the sky. "...Where can I find the grove?" he added.

"It's miles and miles away. But unicorns sleep for a long time, and they only sleep after teleporting, or once every hundred years. I once saw one sleep for a whole month!" Every word was a lie, but it was the kind of lie that could be defended as a bad joke. She needed to know what William knew about unicorns.

"A month? Excellent. We'll make it there with ease. You lead the way. Onward!"

So he knew almost nothing. "Why are you looking for unicorns?" she asked. Itami thought she knew the answer, but wanted to verify.

"I need to kill one, cut off a horn, and use it to cure the jaw deformity of my first and only love, Princess Juniper."

"Jaw deformity? Yes, a horn can cure that. I'm always eager to help nobility. The grove is this way; it'll be a long walk, and we'll need to rest for the night at my home, which happens to be on the way there. This forest is larger on the inside, you know. It's a very big place."

Now that Itami knew why he was here, she made up her mind. This knight wasn't going to leave the forest. She wished she could thank the potion seller for helping notify her, whoever she was.

As Itami led him through the forest and made small talk with him, it became increasingly apparent that this knight was a total dick. He recounted the events at the potion store, and it was obvious to Itami that he was in the wrong, yet he remained proud of everything he did. Even when he told her a story about how he suplexed an orc in a bar the week prior, William's overwhelmingly positive portrayal of himself still had enough cracks in the story for her to know that he was yet again in the wrong.

After two hours of walking, the sun began to set, and they arrived at Itami's home.

~~~~~ ~~~~~

William looked at the pristine wood door in the side of the small hill. Her home didn't look too impressive, but he was happy that the hill blocked the setting sun.

"Is this it?" he asked.

"Of course," Itami said. "A lot of kitsune live underneath hills. You can tell that this hill is mine because of all the tulips growing on top."

He looked up. The top of the hill was barren, save for short, neatly trimmed grass.

"What tulips?"

"Right there," Itami said. "Only the pure of heart can see them, but as a noble knight, you look to be the pure type."

Still, William saw nothing. "Aha! Now I see them!" he said with a joyful smile, trying to hide his bruised ego. How was he impure? He had a gold sword! Of course he was pure! Who did those tulips think they were, making themselves invisible?

Itami opened the door and waved William into the dome-shaped interior. The house was only made of one room, but furniture was grouped together like there were invisible walls marking rooms. A cherry blossom grew out of the center of the floor, seamlessly merging into the floorboards, and its flowering branches covered the entire ceiling. Lanterns hung from the branches, comfortably lighting the house.

"Like it?" Itami said.

William gently poked the tip of his sword into the wood floor. "It's fine. Where will I be—"

William heard a bubbling noise and looked down. Orange sap was leaking out of the floor where he had struck it.

"Yes, the floorboards are made from the roots of that tree. It's a magic tree, so don't stab the ground again, or it might get angry at you."

William paused for a moment and sheathed his blade. The sap began to bubble and vanish; when it was gone, the floor had repaired itself.

"Right. So, where will I sleep?"

"I'm afraid I only have the one bed. We'll have to share." Itami gestured to the part of the house set aside for her bedroom furniture, and William looked at the huge white bed, covered with a light dusting of yellow fox fur.

"I'll have to decline. My noble lady is the only one I would dare share a bed with!"

"Even clothed?" Itami asked with a frown.

"Yes. I'm saving myself for my beloved Juniper. It would be the gravest of sins to sleep in the same bed as another woman! If I did, I would be plagued with shame and agony for the rest of my days." William couldn't even form a mental image of sleeping with anyone else: the idea repulsed him that much.

"I'm afraid you'll need to sleep on the couch, since that's the second most comfortable place."

"We ought to switch; I'm your guest, and guests should have the best place to sleep."

Itami frowned. "...If you insist. But I have a question for you; mind if I ask something uncomfortable?"

"Yes?"

"Have you and the princess... you know..."

It took William a second to figure out what she meant. "No. I must prove myself first with a deed of enormous magnitude: slaying one dragon or ten is not enough. But if I cure my lady's deformed jaw..."

"Do you have a picture of her?"

"I always carry a picture of her with me!" William smiled with delight. He rummaged through his backpack and took out a tiny, framed portrait of his beloved Juniper. He had it custom-made just so that he could have a reminder of Juniper wherever he went. He showed it to Itami.

"She's beautiful. But she would look even better if her jaw were in the proper place. If only... Hey! Wait a second... I just remembered that I had a unicorn horn in my basement this whole time! And as a powerful kitsune, the strongest of summons, I know how to teleport people to me. And all I need is a picture of them. Do you want me to teleport your beloved princess here so that we can cure her?"

William froze as he processed the information. A cure? Already here? Now was his chance!

"Yes!" he shouted with giddy delight. "When can we do it?"

"Now. Just wait here. I need to do the magic in my basement; but it's dangerous fey magic not meant to be witnessed by mortal eyes. If you watch me while I do it, your eyes will catch fire and explode."

"My eyes are strong. I can withstand it." This kitsune was underestimating him, just like the potion seller. Twice in one day; he couldn't believe it. At least this kitsune was tolerable.

"But you see, that's the problem. Magical fey rituals hurt the strong more than they hurt the weak. You're clearly the strongest knight I've ever seen, so witnessing the ritual is more than enough to turn your face to a charred skull!"