"Such a delight to see you again, Master," Scarlet said, her voice soft and delicately clicking like an old music box. The grapevine dryad wore a very dark red dress, along with a black cartwheel hat and veil. All-in-all, she looked like she was dressed for a funeral. Her yellow-green skin, covered in elaborate tattoos of writhing vines and blooming flowers, was only accentuated by the dark garb. She stood right beside her bed, a sly smile on her red lips as she looked over the three new arrivals. She curtseyed, a blush painting those pretty dimpled cheeks. "M-Mommy. Always a pleasure."

"I'm sure it is, little one." The holstaur chuckled as she descended the stairs. Senya couldn't help but marvel at the ease with which the fey managed them—with breasts that big, it was a wonder she could walk at all, much less go down such a steep path. She wore a simple rag skirt, like that of a scullery maid, and nothing on top. Her silver hair was done up in a bun, accentuating her two curved cow horns. "Oh, my sweet Vinifera."

"Hello, Miss Scarlet," Valina said, bowing her head slightly. The catgirl came up behind Senya, giving his ass a little squeeze. Like him, she was naked, though he noticed she'd found a bandana somewhere.

Senya swallowed. He couldn't shake the feeling there was a distinct pecking order here.

All around, the shelves were lined with bottles of wine and empty, glowing bottles. Senya was carefully avoiding looking at those, remembering the last time he'd gotten caught up staring at the little dancing sprites within. Instead, he focused on the conversation, and on managing the thousands of little doubts stamping their feet in his head and waiting to be heard.

"Is it time?" Miss Scarlet asked, her expression turning serious.

"Yes, Miss Scarlet," Valina said, her expression meek as she walked ahead of Senya and up to the wine dryad. "The fleece sprites are loose. Bobbi is being held up by the Thriae."

The dryad rolled her eyes. "Then we'd best be swift indeed. Is there a reason our Master is here?" She raised an eyebrow at Mommy. "Has my Mommy grown submissive in her old age? Or is he..."

Senya glanced back at the holstaur, who smiled widely at him, eyes heavy-lidded, and patted his head. "Sen—Master here has decided to help us for now, the darling boy. He's free as he could be right now."

Right now. The threat was clear. Senya swallowed and nodded. "I'm here to help," he said, himself uncertain.

"I see." Miss Scarlet tutted, shaking her head. "Well, then, I suppose we must find uses for him in the meantime! Tell me, Master, do you know where the Chamber of Ambrosia is kept?"

Senya blinked. He glanced uncertainly towards the vent in the back of the wine cellar, where indeed, a faint light emanated.

"Yes, yes." The dryad sighed, shaking her head. "I referred to some manner of door, master."

He bit his lip and shook his head. He was conscious of everyone's eyes on him at this moment. Miss Scarlet always knew how to embarrass him, to make him doubt himself. It made his cock throb slightly.

"Ah, well. I suppose I can't expect our beleaguered warden to keep track of such things. Not when he is so constantly... diverted!" Miss Scarlet smirked. Though he didn't meet her gaze, he knew where it was directed.

"Don't you know?" Valina asked.

"Oh, sweet Kitten, you have been here longer than I." Miss Scarlet giggled. "That's why you have acclimated so thoroughly to submission, while I... largely abstain." Her eyes flitted to Mommy, then back to Valina. "And I know that the lovely holstaur does not know, naturally."

Mommy's expression soured slightly. It was an unpleasant sight for Senya—like fresh cream curdling before his eyes. Her lip curled. "Well, do you have any idea of what lies within, little one?"

"Oh, yes." Miss Scarlet gestured to the vent. "In fact, I was only just... ah, there he is!"

Senya gave a start, realizing that there was a faint flashing coming from the vent. A red glow grew brighter and brighter, then burst out into the room with a squeak.

A lithe little sparkle sprite, this one evidently male, had emerged. With short spiky hair and a fit, effete build, he fluttered about in the air, sparkles trailing him wherever he flew. Senya bit his lip, trying not to get lost in the light and utterly failing. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Valina was biting her lip, also staring at the sprite.

After a moment's theatrics, the sparkle sprite settled upon Miss Scarlet's outstretched finger, beaming up at her. "Miss Scarlet!" he sang, bouncing with excitement. "I went a rockhole in through the briefways—just flitter and a second-ten, outgoes you inasmuch!"

"I see." Scarlet used her finger to lightly pet the sprite's hair as she spoke, eliciting little gasps and happy sighs from the perching fey. "And what was in the room?"

"Almostmuch leafroots overall the flatspace!" The sparkle sprite giggled. "I saw the foursmany on one! There was deadgrass girls and nicegood on giggleslut, and I saw a shining bibblebabble!"

He clapped his hands excitedly, clearly exhilarated with his report.

Senya heard Mommy mutter, "... what?" under her breath.

"Thank you," Miss Scarlet said sweetly, leaning in close. Her other hand gently wrapped around him, holding him still even as he squirmed. "You've been a very good boy."

Her tongue snaked out, and she licked delicately over the tiny fairy-like creature's body for a second, holding him helpless against her careful attentions. The sparkle sprite shrieked happily, clutching at his cock as he came almost instantly.

She tossed him down into a teapot on the table, flashing the others a satisfied grin. "Four scarecrows. And it sounds like Sylvia left something out in what she told you—she's in there, alright."

"Who is?" Senya asked, tearing his eyes away from the tiny fey—who was now hungrily stroking himself and softly mewling. Valina, he noticed, was still staring intently. "Wait, there are scarecrows down there? Have they... always been there?"

"I see." Mommy sniffed, ignoring his questions. "Still, it changes little, don't you think?"

"Yes, Mommy," Miss Scarlet said. She pouted, glaring at the holstaur.

The holstaur turned to Senya and Valina. She reached out a hand and gently took Valina's jaw, closing the drooling catgirl's mouth and turning her away from the sparkle sprite. The catgirl gave a confused whimper as her red, sparkle-spiraling eyes returned to their normal green—a little hazy, but otherwise back to normal.

"So," Mommy declared, "we need to find a way in. My little Ki—Valina might fit in through the vent, but I fear my particular assets would hold me back." She winked at Senya, who felt his cheeks burning. "Master, sweetiepie, Mommy needs to talk to her Vinifera for a little while. There should be a secret door somewhere around here. Won't you and Kitten work on this puzzle for us?"

Senya nodded uncertainly. Miss Scarlet, too, looked uncertain as she went off behind the shelves to talk to the holstaur.

Meanwhile, Valina had recovered and was looking over the stone, biting her lip. Her eyes darted over the dull gray walls; her tail was twitching. "This is going to be difficult."

"Yeah." Senya gave a short laugh, joining her in her searched. He made a limp effort at looking for obvious seams or out-of-place books on the nonexistent bookshelves. "Do you have any idea? Why doesn't Mo—um, the holstaur know something?" He chewed his upper lip as the pet name almost slid out. It probably wasn't a good idea to call her that if he could help it. It might remind Mommy how much she enjoyed brainwashing him.

On the other hand, not calling her by it might rile her up and make her want to 'fix' his programming. It was lose-lose.

Or win-win, hissed a mischievous voice in the back of his head.

Valina shook her head as her fingers ran over cracks in the stonework. "The only prisoners that were around back then who haven't been sold or traded were Brigitte and the Thriae. They didn't have this entrance when the Masters started out; I don't know how they got in at all, really. And the Thriae won't tell us."

"Why not?" Noticing a suspiciously-placed red candle, Senya reached up and lifted it swiftly from its holder in the wall. Nothing happened. Disappointed, he put it back.

"They're very, um, well-spelled." Valina gave a slightly manic giggle. "And they're not very helpful to us. Their alchemy is the cause of many of our problems, and they did it for treats and pets. They don't care about anyone, really."

Senya hesitated, noting the bitterness in Valina's voice—and the way she clutched the bell at her neck. He was about to ask who Valina cared about here when a thought occurred to him.

"Brigitte?"

"Yes. She has been here a long time." Valina sounded slightly terse, but the venom had left her eyes. "She is a good gir—good prisoner who does not make trouble. She and Tricin get many privileges for behaving. They do not help us."

Senya frowned. Words were ringing in his mind—Brigitte's words, smooth and clear as crystal. The Verdant Star.. "Actually, I think Brigitte might have done more than you think."

Valina turned to him, an eyebrow raised..

"Brigitte, she..." Senya scratched his head, trying to gather his thoughts. "I was trying to ask her about this place's past a few days ago, just before Market Day, and she gave me this... weird riddle. It didn't click for me until a few minutes ago that it might have been about this. I think she was trying to give me a clue, as well as she could with all the spells on her."

The catgirl's head cocked to the side. "Yes?"

Senya took a deep breath. It took him a few seconds for the lines to come back to him. He was actually surprised they did—it was like Brigitte's lovely voice had been seared into his mind. Maybe he was really just that attentive to his mistresses' words. Or maybe she'd done that on purpose. Made him remember.

He cleared his throat.

"Ambrosia pours from a verdant star

Locked in limbo beneath the hearth

Once danced within the covenant's blood

For the crime of perverting the mortal bud

But silver has been outweighed by gold

And now the star's dance has been sold."

His delivery of the last few lines was halting, but Valina seemed primarily interested in the first part, anyway. The catgirl's eyes closed, and her ears flattened. She was clearly in deep thought, tongue thrust into her cheek.

Senya thought, too. He tapped his foot, struggling to piece the rhyme together in a way that made sense. He wasn't even sure if any of it was relevant. A lot of it seemed potentially important, but was it about this particular problem? At a loss, he cast about the basement, searching for a connection.

The second half did seem like something else. Something deeper, more troubling. But the first half...

"A verdant star..." he muttered to himself. He stared straight ahead, chewing on his small finger.

Straight ahead of him, a simple set of jade stars—which he vaguely recognized as one of the symbols the Mountain Folk held dear—hung from the wall. They sparkled slightly in the candlelight.

Senya's eyes widened.

"The verdant star!" he burst out.

"The hearth!" Valina blurted at the same time.

They paused, exchanging confused looks. Silently, he pointed at the stars. Silently, she pointed at the wall a little ways to the left. It took him a moment to register that place she was pointing to was right below the upstairs sitting room.

The chimney.

The hearth.

"What is it, little ones?" called Mommy, and she and Lady Vinifera came back around the racks of bottles. Miss Scarlet, Senya noticed, was quite scarlet in the face right now. "Have we found something?"

"Yes, Mommy!" Valina and Senya said together, both equally excited. The catgirl pranced over to the wall, even as he ran to the jade stars.

"Well, then." Mommy smirked, crossing her arms over her tits. "What did we find?"

Senya hesitated, staring at the hanging relic. His excitement faded slightly as he glanced over at Valina, then back at the stars. He reached out and poked them. They jangled faintly against the wall. Senya chewed his inner cheek with a frown. Is this what Brigitte...

He heard a tremendous grinding from his left. Looking over, he saw that Valina had pressed several concealed bricks deeper into the stone, activating some sort of mechanism. He realized that that part of the wall was actually made of bricks, not stone—and before his eyes, the bricks were rising one-by-one into the ceiling, propelled by some sort of spell to fly out of sight.

Senya blinked, then bit his lip, looking back at his own 'finding'. The jade stars hung there, silently mocking him. See, this is why I'm a carpenter and not an adventure, he thought.

"Well, well, well." Mommy was clearly amused. "Someone's been a very clever girl!" She reached down and petted the almost pathetically happy catgirl, whose head seemed to automatically bow to receive the holstaur's motherly affection and praise.

Senya felt a sting of jealousy, but this was quickly replaced by a sense of dread and excitement as the four of them gathered around the newly-created entryway.

"Goodness," Miss Scarlet whispered, "what do you suppose lies back there?"

Senya felt her hand squeeze his shoulder, long, painted nails digging in slightly. He turned and found himself staring straight into the noblewoman's deep, drowning violet gaze. She leaned in close with a sly smile until he felt her breath on his lips, inhaled her heady, intoxicating scent. "Whatever it is," she purred, eyes darting towards Mommy, "I'm certain we'll be ready to take advantage."

Senya's breaths were ragged. The more of Miss Scarlet he breathed in, the more he remembered of his first submission to her. It seemed that she was ready to start guiding him to a second. But if he hadn't known any better, he'd have thought she was trying to tell him something. And the look she was giving Mommy was a curious conflict between helpless longing and...

... fear.

He felt a soft hand caress his cheek, and as though on a string, his head turned back so he could stare straight into the lovely hazel eyes of Mommy. The holstaur smiled fondly at him. "You've done very well, Master," the fey said softly, continuing to stroke his cheek. Her every touch made Senya feel weaker, more submissive. He knew he needed to move away, but Miss Scarlet was right there, and it felt so good to let Mommy pet him... "And I know it has been... hard. But now Mommy needs one more little fav—"

From up above, they heard the sound of a doorknob turning. The four conspirators froze in place.

Light flooded into the wine cellar as the door opened, and three lithe, nubile silhouettes stepped through. Scarecrows, Senya realized. They strode down the steps with almost mechanical purpose, wielding whips that crackled and sparked every few seconds.

And though those button eyes did a good job of disguising their emotional state, Senya could tell that they were not happy.

~~~~

Bobbin made her way in long, purposeful strides through the field of tangling grapevines, the relaxed smile on her face belied by her tense, alert posture. Several rows down, she could hear a man's voice, followed by high-pitched, breathy moans.

She'd been hearing these moans off in the distance for the last five minutes she'd been on her way here. She knew where they were coming from, too, and knew that they had to stop at once.

She cleared her throat as she leaped over a row in a single neat hop, at last coming into sight of—

"Bad girl!"

"NNYAAAAAGH!"

Bobbin's legs quaked, and she nearly fell to the ground, her lips mouthing out the silent equivalent of the main target's squeal. The horrid half-orgasm that was streaming through her was torture, simultaneously making her horribly horny and viciously letting her down without the release it made her crave.

In the middle of the grapevine row, there stood Jerrod, dressed only in his trousers, standing over the shaking, spasming form of the lamia Tricin. The bronze-skinned lamia's face was a brilliant scarlet, and her hands clutched her belly as if in physical pain as the tortuous orgasm claimed her body. Her red hair, normally as fluid and smooth as water, was ragged and tangled. Her cross-cloth blouse was a mess, and one breast had popped out completely, putting the normally proud overseer on pathetic display before Bobbin and the stockman.

Bobbin straightened, took a deep breath. "Jerrod!" she barked.

Jerrod spun, guilt etched on his face as plain as the brand on his forearm. "Bobbin!" He gave a nervous chuckle, recognizing the look in her eyes. "Aw, I didn't—"

"Be more careful," Bobbin growled, advancing on him. "I don't—is that blood?" She'd just noticed some speckles of red on the aforementioned trousers.

Jerrod glanced down and pursed his lips. "Eeyup. Had some trouble with the hen harpies. No casualties, though a couple likely lost a few more brain cells. Nothin' worse than what they get deepthroating me, though."

"You're kidding." Bobbin stared at him, mouth agape. "The harpies rebelled. And Tricin, too?"

"Aw, nah." Jerrod grinned, nudging the quivering serpent woman with his foot. "I've just been doing this for ten minutes to make sure she's good and brainwashed. Didn't wanna go wanderin', figured you'd be here sooner or later, and it seemed like a good policy, y'know."

Bobbin grimaced. "Maybe it would be, but those triggers are so weakened, you might as well just be doing it manually. They only hit me so hard because of... the nature of my binding. I doubt she's feeling more than a light tickle."

"Seriously?" Jerrod glanced down at Tricin, who gave a guilty grin. "Well, this little snake had me fooled, I guess."

"She's good at playing dead." The hob rolled her eyes. "Aren't you, Tricin?"

Tricin bared her teeth, her sharp fangs on display. "Do I get to complain about the deaths of four of my workers, Bobbi?"

Bobbin's eyes narrowed. "No." She flicked her hand, and an item she'd prepared earlier—a small clay pitcher—manifested in it. She was gratified by a new look of wariness and fear in the half-naked lamia's expression. "Tricin," the straw boss said, "you can behave, or you can, ah, make like a beehive. It's your choice."

The lamia's eyes were narrowed to slits. "What do you want?"

Bobbin arched an eyebrow, leaning closer with the pitcher. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I..." The lamia was panting. Her eyes were locked on that pitcher like a fish on a line. She had never been punished, to Bobbin's knowledge, with the mead treatment. She had primarily maintained that streak by being an exceptionally good slave. But she clearly was not used to being tempted like this. "W-what do you want, Master?"

"I want a hundred of your loyalest fairies," Bobbin declared, handing Jerrod the pitcher. "I want you to order them to obey my every command. This Ranch will fall if we don't have some backup. Understand?"

Tricin bit her lip, then nodded. She gave a short whistle.

Bobbin waited patiently as fairies began to gather. She wasn't afraid of Tricin turning. Fairy hypnosis was powerful, especially in numbers, but Jerrod had his amulet and she... well, she could do a lot to make Tricin regret rebellion. Besides, Tricin had always been a good girl. Doubtless, she was as confused by her rogue fairies' behavior as Bobbin was.

Soon, a small swarm had assembled. Bobbin nodded curtly as Tricin ordered them to obey Bobbin as if she was their master, privately reveling in how that sounded.