Aareesha was exhausted. She re-entered her room. She removed her skirt and shoes. This done, she collapsed in the nude on her bed. Her tit-bells jingled as she moved. She was careful to ensure her tender breasts touched nothing. She listened to ensure no one was nearby. Once she was certain she was alone, she fished out her dildo and placed it on her upper arm. She touched it with one finger and whispered, “Sir, master? Are you there?”

“Yes,” replied Bon, “report. What have you learned? What is happening?”

“I’ve learned that the name of this place is Sanctuary. I have been formally confirmed as a maidservant. My attire is a maidservant’s skirt and heels, an emerald necklace has been placed on me, my nipples have been pierced with hoops and bells, and my breasts have been branded. My Great Lord Saanteeli then sent me to extract rock mouse blood from a pile of rock mouse corpses. I did this with seven other maidservants. There are gallons and gallons of rock mouse blood where I worked.”

Bon looked at the others. Bon and the rest of the party had retreated to the room that had contained the skeletons. That way, any noise they made would be unlikely to be heard by the elves. Elven hearing was quite good. The cavern waterfall had protected them from discovery earlier, but they couldn’t depend on the waterfall’s masking sounds long term.

Kadn said, “rock mouse blood is a useful component for many spells. I use a little to create the wormholes. I can’t imagine why they’d want so much, though. Usually you only need trace amounts.”

“Aareesha,” Bon said, “did you learn more from the other maidservants?”

She replied, “mostly talk about the new king Intaanoo, master. Another claimant was going to arrive, to form a dual kingship, but he was found dead in a tunnel leading here. Foul play is suspected, but not proven. It is unlikely it will be proven. It would be too dangerous to try to prove such a charge against the sole sitting king. They have a large magic device here that creates wormholes to other locations attuned to it. It’s not as flexible as Kadn, but its ellipse is much larger, sir, master.”

“We still don’t know what they are planning.”

“I’m told there will be a ceremony of some kind tomorrow, master. I imagine I will learn more then, master.”

“Continue to learn more. Do your best to please me.”

“Yes, sir, master.”

Aareesha hid the dildo. She hated her new position of maidservant in elvenkind. She hated needing to obey Bon. She didn’t want to betray her species, yet she had to obey Bon to the best of her ability.

She did have one hope. She was among elves. Elves were far more clever than humans. She couldn’t reveal her situation. She had to do everything she could to serve her master Bon. This included hiding her purpose here. Sooner or later, though, an elf might think to check if she was under some sort of mind control. She had no doubt the elves’ powerful magic could undo her vow, once they were aware of it. If the elves released her from her vow, she could share all sorts of information to elvenkind. She could even betray her human party to the elves. She would love to do that.

King Intaanoo might restore her nobility, or even her status as princess, if she could substantially help him counter a threat. He might at least bestow upon her raw pleasure-magics. She had given up any hope of receiving raw pleasure-magics after the fall of her city. Her mouth quietly salivated at the hope of receiving them.

Even if she stayed as a maidservant, with its brutal punishments and endless humiliations, she’d rather serve an elf. She knew in her heart that elves were far superior to humans. Also, in spite of her efforts to resist them, she had some deep desires to visibly submit to male elves.

Having to serve a lowly human was worse than submitting to an elf. Humans were vermin. Being under the complete control of a human was unbearable. As with most elves, she believed humans should be either enslaved by elves or dead. Now that she was enduring a humiliating enslavement to a human, Aareesha preferred humans dead.

Another maidservant woke Aareesha. “Get ready, Maidservant Aareesha,” the other elf servant said, “our great lord will be here soon. You must prepare to service him. He has decided your part of the rotation begins in a few minutes.”

Aareesha rushed to get ready as the other maidservant left. Aareesha jingled as she moved. Aareesha faced the door. She got on her hands and knees and pressed her forehead into the floor. Her tit-bells finally stopped jingling once she was still. She hoped her submissive position would please him. She did not dare disappoint him.

Aareesha’s status as a female elf had fallen from nearly the top to nearly the bottom. She had enjoyed some of her life as a princess. That life was not available to a maidservant. There would never be an elegant gown or a delightful fancy dinner for her as a maidservant. Maidservants were technically not slaves, because maidservants could not be sold without a king’s leave. On the other hand, as a maidservant she was required to obey her guardian’s every command. Her body was his to enjoy. He could punish her in any way he chose, whenever he chose, for any reason he chose. Her services, of any kind, could be sold to others. She could be required to render those services to others for an indefinite period of time. In practice, the difference between a maidservant and a slave was a distinction without a difference. Her hope for now was to serve so well that she would avoid the brutal punishments many guardians enjoyed applying to maidservants.

Most maidservants’ guardians were nobility. Santeeli wasn’t merely nobility, he was a high-ranking noble. She decided this would probably make things worse for her. She was probably one of his many maidservants, and thus she was easily disposable.

Saanteeli arrived to see her grovelling in the nude. She declared, “This worthless maidservant serves at your pleasure, great lord.”

“You call this an appropriate position? Spread your legs much further apart. What, are you using your hands? Only your knuckles, knees, tits, and forehead may touch the ground. Do better.”

Aareesha felt her body burning in fire and freezing in ice, with her skin being repeatedly ripped off with hooks. He must have again stroked his emerald ring. She collapsed. She was released after ten minutes. She assumed the required position he had described. She was fearful of further tortures from the necklace.

Her lord commanded, “on the bed, on your back.”

“Yes, great lord. Enjoy your worthless maidservant’s body. Her body’s only value is in serving you.”

Aareesha moved into position, her tit-bells jingling as she did. Saanteeli mounted her and began fucking her cunt. He repeatedly thrust in and out. She did her absolute best to pleasure him. Bon had had no idea how good a female elf could sexually pleasure a male, but Saanteeli would be judging her against the best sexual pleasures the other maidservants granted. Fear drove her to please him with her best efforts. He came after twenty minutes. He kept going. He came after another twenty minutes. Each time he bathed her cunt with cum, Aareesha could feel an increasing desire to be more obedient to Saanteeli and an increasing fear of his displeasure. Bon was still her true master, but if it didn’t conflict with Bon’s desires, she wanted to obey Saanteeli. Fearing Saanteeli wasn’t hard for Aareesha to do. She feared him now.

After she’d been fucked for a while, he stood and said, “down.” Aareesha assumed her kowtow to him on her knuckles, knees, and forehead. She was careful to put her knees apart. She put her legs at precisely the correct angle and ensured her ankles were crossed.

Careful obedience to every rule was the only way for female elves to survive in elvendom.

Saanteeli said, “you are young and inexperienced. Yet the pleasure you gave while being fucked was decent. Not the best, but decent.”

She responded, “great lord, thank you for your praise. Your worthless maidservant is unworthy of such praise.”

Saanteeli continued, “I think I’ll start selling your sexual services next week. Your sexual performance is acceptable. I think many male elves will enjoy fucking and tormenting a former princess.”

Aareesha’s face whitened a little from terror. She didn’t want him to do that, but he had every right. She would need to do her best, or receive more torments. She didn’t want more torments. She knew she was required to respond with a special response. She tried to remember what the correct response was. It was hard to remember lessons from decades ago. It was especially hard to remember the required phrases for situations she hadn’t expected to ever need.

Ah, yes, she remembered. She responded, “great lord, it will be an honor to service others with this worthless body on your behalf.”

Saanteeli said nothing. The silence was deafening. She tried to remember what else she was supposed to say. She felt the emerald necklace’s brutal punishment again. She helplessly collapsed. He punished her for two minutes.

When her torment ended, he said, “you must also say, ‘this worthless body will do all she can to pleasure those chosen by the great lord of this worthless maidservant.’”

« Oh shit, that’s right, » she thought to herself.

She returned to her kowtow and said, “This worthless body will do all she can to pleasure those chosen by the great lord of this worthless maidservant.’”

He declared, “you seem to have forgotten much. Perhaps I should send you to remedial etiquette school for a refresher in how to properly behave as a maidservant.”

Aareesha stiffened again in fear. She couldn’t fault his logic. He was absolutely correct that she’d forgotten some rules. As princess she hadn’t expected to become a maidservant, so she hadn’t paid adequate attention to the rules for them. Elven etiquette rules were fiendishly complex. They varied greatly depending on gender and station. Yet remedial etiquette school was primarily a place of torment, with a little teaching on the side. She had no interest in attending it.

Aareesha carefully replied, “Great lord, your worthless maidservant will strive to learn from your important lessons and from those you choose to teach me.”

Saanteeli said, “Good. I will consider these things. Now, for your morning punishment. Remember, you must always properly present yourself to the king.” He rubbed his emerald ring. She collapsed in pain. He left her there in agony for an hour. He returned and released her. Once released she rushed to kowtow to him on her knuckles, knees, and forehead. She declared, “Thank you for teaching your worthless maidservant this important lesson. This worthless maidservant serves at your pleasure, great lord.”

Aareesha was not enjoying this process. A whole year of this long punishment, twice a day, was a hellish thought.

Saanteeli ordered her to dress and follow him. She put on her skirt and heels. Saanteeli led the way. She followed, jingling as she went. She was soon put in a line of maidservants. Each wore the maidservant outfit of an emerald necklace, bare pierced nipples, heels, and a humiliatingly exposing skirt. Each maidservant jingled as part of the chorus of tit-bells.

An hour later, Aareesha walked in the procession of maidservants into the semicircular room. A throne, with King Intaanoo seated in it, sat near the center of the room. His throne faced away from her and toward the flat wall. She was placed in position, behind and to the side of the king. The king was still facing away from the procession. She kowtowed, like other maidservants nearby, facing the king. She ensured only her knuckles, knees, tits, and forehead touched the ground. Aareesha’s body below her waist was completely exposed. She felt humiliation from her exposed position. She felt a twinge of desire to please the king with her clearly submissive pose.

The sound of tit-bells jingling was loud as every maidservant moved into her assigned spot and moved into a kowtow. The jingling stopped once they were all kowtowing to the king. She could slightly see many other elves entering wearing their best finery. She stayed in position, like the other maidservants, humiliatingly showing off her lower privates to everyone else in the room. She couldn’t see Saanteeli, but she was sure he was somewhere in the room. She suspected he was somewhere behind her, enjoying the view.

She heard a male voice yell out, “regard our gracious majesty, the ruler of the realm, the sword of retribution, the king!”

Aareesha lifted up her head to look at the king. So did everyone else. She heard a brief clatter of every maidservant’s tit-bells. Many others were around her, so her vision was blocked in many directions. She could clearly see the back of the throne. The throne was on a platform. The platform extended out from around the throne towards the flat wall. The king was still seated on his throne. She could see one of the king’s arms, covered in sumptuous purple. Closer to the king, on the floor, higher-ranked female elves were curtsying to the king. She envied the female elves’ elegant floor-length sparkling dresses, their priceless jewelry, and their elaborate hairdos. Higher-ranked male elves were bowing to the king. The male elves were wearing formal jackets with tails. The large room in Sanctuary was filled with elves. All the nobility were dressed to impress. All were giving homage to the king. All were carefully watching the king.

Aareesha’s position started to hurt her. Her knuckles and knees were supporting her full weight on the polished stone floor. It was difficult to precisely hold her awkward position. She didn’t dare shift out of position. She willed herself to stay still like the other maidservants.

A flat ellipse reappeared in front of the flat wall. Like everyone else in the room, she could see it plainly. Everyone in the room was more-or-less facing it. Everyone but the king was facing the king, who was in front of them. The king in turn was facing the ellipse. The ellipse was hazier than before, having something of a shimmer. In the ellipse was the image of an ancient elf wearing an elaborate multi-leveled crown and luscious purple robes. It was not a painting. She could see the ancient elf move his head to look at various aspects of the spectacle Aareesha was part of. The room the ancient elf occupied had a similar spectacle. The ancient elf’s room held a legion of well-dressed elves paying homage to the ancient elf.

She could also see, directly behind the ancient elf, two nude female elves. Each of the two female elves were raised on a pedestal. The pedestals were placed on each side of him. Both of the female elves were gagged and chained to their respective pedestals with fine metal chains. Their wrists were held high to ensure their entire nude bodies were exposed to view. Each nude female elf was squirming in agony from the blazing hot magical fire burning her entire body. Their bodies were not turning black. Some sort of magic was ensuring they were continuously on fire without being burned up. She realized that these unfortunate elven females were living torches for the ancient elf’s amusement.

King Intaanoo, the ruler with absolute unchecked power over this continent’s elves, stood up. He was in full view of this universal homage by the other elves here. His glittering crown dazzled in the room. The king stepped forward on the raised platform from the throne towards the ellipse. King Intaanoo stared at the ancient elf on the other side of the ellipse. Aareesha could now see the king was in his full ceremonial garb.

The most astonishing thing was yet to come. Aareesha couldn’t believe her eyes as she watched what happened next.

King Intaanoo prostrated himself before the ancient elf.