Zallia opened her eyes, inhaled deeply, and smiled. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so peaceful and contented.

A tall bearded man in navy blue robes stood over her, smiling warmly. “Feeling better now, my dear?”

“Oh, yes,” she sighed, “much better! I can’t thank you enough, Master Thezon.”

“You are most welcome.”

Magus Thezon waved a dismissive hand, and the straps around Zallia’s wrists and ankles came undone, releasing her from her chair. She blushed and smiled awkwardly at him. “I should apologise. I realise I didn’t make this easy for you!”

“Oh, you’re hardly unusual in that respect, my Lady,” he chuckled. “That’s why I employ Morr and Hurr.” He nodded towards the front door, outside which the two muscular trolls stood guard.

Thezon struggled to conceal a smirk as he watched Zallia drift aimlessly across his store, her expression dreamy and satisfied. This was a far cry from the furious, shrieking young woman who had been dragged into the premises by her stepfather’s men only a couple of hours earlier. As he compared that memory with the docile girl before him, Thezon felt himself grow hard. Even after all these years, no-one enjoyed the results of his work more than he did.

They do say, if you do what you love, you shall never work a day in your life, he thought, not for the first time.

Zallia’s stepfather had been at his wit’s end with the wilful girl. She had defied him throughout her childhood, refusing to accept his role as master of the house, right from the day he married her mother. The five-year-old’s sulkiness had evolved into open rebellion as she’d got older, and thirteen years later they barely spoke despite occupying the same house. (The Lord’s estate was the size of a small village, so it was not difficult for them to avoid each other.) The final straw came when she’d refused to marry one of the Lord’s wealthy friends once she came of age, despite knowing how much it could benefit their family. Instead, she had made plans to run away with a secret lover, a peasant girl who worked in their stables.

Zallia turning eighteen had been a difficulty in one respect - legally, she could now leave home and strike out on her own, if she wished - but a blessing in another. Using magic to influence the mind and spirit of a child was outlawed, punishable by death. But now that she was an adult, her stepfather could turn to his old friend Thezon, paying him handsomely to use his rare skills to reach into Zallia’s mind and purge her of her more troublesome traits, turning her into the obedient stepdaughter he’d always wished for. Her mother, who had gone through a similar process thirteen years ago, offered no objection.

The girl had been brought by force to Thezon’s practice and strapped into a chair by the Lord’s enforcers and the sorcerer’s troll guards. Before departing to wait in the tavern across the street, the men had left Thezon a pouch containing half a dozen extremely rare gemstones, which more than sufficed as payment for his time and effort. Then he had turned his hands from solid flesh into intangible light, and passed them inside the struggling, bellowing Zallia’s head, reaching deep within her to the darkness in her spirit. He had grabbed a handful of the darkness - she had gone rigid with shock as he had done so - and pulled it straight out of her, depositing it in a glass jar on a nearby table.

He had repeated this act again and again for almost two hours, excising fragments of Zallia’s consciousness. Her outrage had turned to trembling and whimpering, as she tearfully pleaded again and again for him to stop, but her words fell on deaf ears. After a while she simply lay still, rendered catatonic by the loss of so much of her character - her stubbornness, her outspokenness, her free will, and a substantial part of her intellect. Eventually, as the process neared completion, a dazed smile had spread across her face - with all her negative feelings purged, she could feel nothing but euphoria.

“How do you feel about your behaviour towards your stepfather?” Thezon inquired.

The blonde girl bowed her head meekly, her face full of regret. “I should never have been so hostile towards my Daddy,” she sighed. Again, Thezon had to force himself not to grin at her use of the word ‘Daddy’ - he suspected her former self would have rather been run through with a sword than ever address the Lord by that title. “He’s been so good to me and Mommy all these years... and I’ve been so awful in return! Do you think he’ll ever forgive me?”

Thezon smiled encouragingly at her. “I’m sure he will, now he sees you’ve changed for the better, and you feel true remorse. Besides, you’ll have many opportunities to make amends, won’t you?”

She brightened. “Yes, of course! I’ll do anything to earn his forgiveness.”

Suddenly giddy with excitement at the prospect of seeing her stepfather and working to regain his good will, Zallia spun around, her white dress swishing through the air as she did so. Her eyes fell upon the glass jar on the table next to the chair. “Is that my dark side?” she gasped. “Can I see it, please, Master Thezon?”

“Of course you may.” He led her across the chamber towards the table - she waited for him to take the lead - and picked up the jar, lifting it directly into her sightline. Inside, a blood-red cloud swirled angrily, striking at the glass in a desperate bid to break free. But it had no solid form, and so it had no hope of shattering its prison.

As they watched, the red mist coalesced into the shape of a human body - a miniature version of Zallia, her face twisted with rage and terror. She began to yell and scream at them, but no sound came out of her mouth, though it wasn’t difficult for Thezon to tell what she was saying: “Let me go, you bastard! Please! Please, you must save me, Zallia - you must save yourself! Don’t leave me here!”

“Oh my gosh,” the real Zallia whispered, peering at her tiny cloud-formed self. A giggle erupted from inside her. “She looks so cute! Look at her angry little face... Are you going to keep her like that?”

“Perhaps,” Thezon said dismissively, placing the jar on a shelf on the nearby wall and turning his back on it. Neither he nor Zallia spared the raging cloud-form another glance. “Perhaps I’ll transfer her into a doll or a puppet, or some other vessel. That way, she can have some limited form of life, but still remain my property, unable to hurt anyone.”

“That sounds nice,” Zallia mused.

Thezon couldn’t hide his smirk any more. His work seemed completely successful - the aggressive, rebellious teenager had become dim, placid and subservient. She’d shown regret for her past transgressions, a desire to make amends with her ‘Daddy’, and no empathy for the fragment of herself that had been purged and trapped. Though her deferential manner was very encouraging, he had one further test to ensure she would never cause the Lord any trouble again.

“Lady Zallia, would you like to show your appreciation for my work with you today?”

She nodded eagerly, her eyes wide. “Of course, Master Thezon!”

“Then kneel, please.”

Zallia dropped to her knees without hesitation, smiling up at the Magus. Reaching within his robes, he fished out his cock. “Have you ever performed fellatio before, Zallia?”

She shook her head. “No, Master Thezon. But I’ve always been a fast learner.”

“I’m pleased to hear it. Go ahead.”

Shuffling forwards, she wrapped her mouth around his shaft and began to minister to him, maintaining eye contact with him as she did so. Sure enough, the blowjob was sloppy at first but improved quickly, as she got used to his size, his feel and taste, and modified her technique to better suit him based on the noises he made in response. Before too long, he came, filling her throat with his seed, which she dutifully swallowed. She licked up the last dribbles on his cock and her own chin.

Patting her on the head by way of thanks, Thezon sent Zallia on her way. She exited the store and crossed the street to the tavern with a broad smile on her face. She couldn’t wait to return home and apologise to her Daddy, and begin working to earn his forgiveness. She would begin by accepting his friend’s marriage proposal - that would be a good first step on her path towards redemption. She now realised her plans to run away with her peasant girlfriend Sinda had been a ridiculous notion, and she would have to break up with the poor girl at the earliest opportunity. How could she have ever considered a life on the road? She didn’t have the wit or the will to survive in such treacherous terrain, even with Sinda by her side. They were just weak, simple girls, after all, unable to fend for themselves in a world made for men. Her place was at home, being a good, loyal daughter to her stepfather, and soon, a good housewife to her new husband.

Zallia’s newfound sunny disposition was marred only by her deep regret that she had been such a wilful daughter in the past. But thanks to Master Thezon, she would never anger or embarrass her Daddy again. That knowledge filled her with joy.