A Pet for Samhain

Massive appreciation to NewOldGuy77 for his editing support!

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“Don’ ya go inna dem Nor’ Woods,” Nana always used to say. “No’one leaves dere da same. An’ most ne’er leave t’all.”

She would say it the same way she told me to brush my hair or Brownies would collect it for their nests, or that I should put a ring of salt round the bed to prevent the Far Derrig from playing their tricks. But, when I didn’t brush my hair for three days, no little fae came to cut it off. And when I swept the salt from the floor, the rat boys never appeared.

So, forgive me for thinking it was the same with the North Woods.

“C’mere lass. Ay need some o’ ta brown ‘shrooms, ya know wi’ ta blue freckles? Off wi’ ya now. Don’ come back ’til ya ‘ave a handful.” Nana said.

“Nana!” I whined, “Tis Sah-win an’ ay don’ wan’ ta spend it huntin’ ‘shrooms. ‘Sides, ay’m grown now an’ can do as ay wan’!” I whined.

I’d been looking forward to Samhain for weeks, and now Nana was ruining it with chores.

“Silly lass. So, ya all growed, huh? Ya ken tha’ mean ya can disobey Nana?” She waved her broom menacingly at me, illustrating the threat.

I sighed. I was grown up, sure. But until I married and moved to my own house, I was still under Nana’s thumb. No one in the village would blame her for beating me, even now. And then no mother would choose me for her son, if I was seen to be unmanageable. So, if I ever wanted to leave home, I had to do as I was told.

“Ay’ll go a huntin’, Nana,” I said wearily, waving my hand in resignation.

I grumbled to myself as I went out to the fields north of our farm where the mushrooms grew wild. It would take hours to find a handful of the tiny fungi, especially as Nana had just had me harvest some last week. I’d emptied all the regular spots already. I wanted to spend my day preparing for the bonfire tonight, not tromping all over on a mushroom hunt.

Samhain was the best festival of the year, and this would be my first time enjoying it as an adult. There would be dancing, the story men would tell their tales, and the food! I’d spent a week on my festival mask, and I had just a few pieces of my guise left to finish before tonight.

I eyed the North Woods speculatively. I always saw the glint of the speckled shrooms in there when I got close. Surely, it would be quick to collect them. I’d never gone in the North Woods before, mindful of Nana’s warning. But I was an adult now and too old to pay heed to this last of my childhood tales meant to make me behave as Nana wanted.

Confident of my plan, I walked towards the woods. The massive trees had thick trunks as wide as I was tall. They had dark, deep brown bark that was rough and cracked. Dozens of crooked branches that sprouted glossy dark green leaves created a canopy of shade overhead.

I could already spot a circle of the small, but brightly colored, mushrooms just beyond the line of trees the marked the edge of the forest. I took one last look around the grassy knoll just in case there were some of the mushrooms on the right side of the trees. But there were none.

Cursing my fear for superstitious nonsense, I took a deep breath and stepped into the woods.

I marveled at how quiet and peaceful it was. I had never noticed before how beautiful it was here. Unexpectedly, my sex pulsed with arousal as my skin prickled and the hair rose on my arms. There was magic here!

My pulse beat wildly as I stood just inside the threshold of the forest. Maybe I should leave. Maybe this one time, Nana’s warning had been true.

I stepped back. My foot struck a root and I fell down. The woods, so peaceful and beautiful a moment before turned dark and frightening, as if a cloud had passed over the sun. The soft sound of laughter tinkled through the air.

Terrified, I staggered to my feet, turned back towards the farm, and ran. But, instead of being on the edge of the woods with the fields only a step away, I saw nothing but trees and more trees.

“Nana!” I shouted, even knowing she could never hear me. “Help!” I cried, even knowing no one ever came to these woods.

The road to town had been built skirting the wood, out of superstition, I’d thought. Or, if the men had been practical, then because the underbrush was too thick and the trees too close. But now I knew myself for a fool. The roads went around the forest because Nana was right. The North Woods were a place of magic, and the magic had only needed one step within to work.

I ran, still. Because what else could I do? All around me there was the echo of girlish delight. And, then I saw the flashes, glimpses of something, some things, running with me. They were running through the trees, chasing me, and they were joyful.

My skirt caught in a low branch as I ran, and it tore away. My shirt was caught and torn. Piece by piece my clothes were torn from me by the forest until I was running naked. My bare feet throbbed from their unaccustomed exposure to the rough ground. My legs and torso and arms and chest were bruised and cut from my wild run. And still I ran.

But the forest never ended, and my cheerful pursuers never tired. I ran until I collapsed, my legs turned to jelly, and my lungs were on fire.

I stared up at the leaves which filtered the glorious light of day. The laughing stopped and, in its absence, the silence was ominous and cold. A shiver went through me, and again, through my vagina and clit. My nipples hardened in the cool forest air.

The branches of the trees shifted in the wind and looked like hands, waving and groping. One branch waved lower and lower and touched me with its delicate waxy leaves. The tender gentle feel of those leaves running over my exposed pussy and stomach sent a tingle through me.

More and more branches descended lower and caressed me with their leaves. I shuddered at the exquisite sensual feel of it. I opened my mouth and moaned, abandoning myself to the arousal that flooded me with each delicate stroke of a leafy branch.

A gentle leaf poked into my open mouth like a probing tongue. Tilting my chin back to grant it access, I licked the intruding foliage. It tasted of mint and sugar. I closed my lips around the leaf and suckled it, savoring the precious taste of it, forgetting all my fear.

Branches found their way under me, poking into my sides and back and butt as they filled the space between me and the ground. And then I was being lifted. Branches wound under and over me, binding me in place. Every one of my injuries was pressed with a soft waxy leaf, and a cool balm spread from each spot.

I was lifted up and up until I looked down and could no longer see the forest floor. I was among the trees now.

My bed of branches arranged me until I was no longer parallel with the ground below but was now perpendicular to it. I had been brought close to a huge tree trunk which filled my vision. Even at this height, the trunk was wider than our small cottage. The pieces of bark that covered it were each as wide and thick as my thighs.

My arms and legs were held outstretched. My thighs, knees, ankles, waist, wrists, shoulders, and each breast was encircled with branches. They pulsed and writhed against my skin, their rough bark abrading me harshly.

My pussy was wet with need, my clit throbbing. I wanted, Nana help me, I wanted to rub my pelvis into the trees until I came, and then do it again and again. I wanted to impale myself on one of these probing branches and fuck it, in and out.

I moaned and groaned and cried in frustration at the need to touch myself, and the inability to do so. And then I heard it, the laughing returned. All around me, joyful laughter. I tried to turn my head to look, but my hair was caught, holding me still.

“This one feels the need,” A high pitched voice said from my left.

“Maybe this one is just a whore, Maeve.” Another voice responded, sounding very pleased with the idea.

“Look at how this one craves, Sidonie…” Maeve said. “Whore or no, we mustn’t let this one suffer when this one wants to please us.”

A round face appeared in front of me. It was a beautiful face of a young woman. She had skin as dark as tree’s bark and bright green eyes, the same green as the tiny braids of her hair that hung down to her waist.

She moved her face close to mine and tilted her head, considering me. She licked my cheek, one long lingering pull of her pointed wet tongue from my chin to my eye. I leaned into it, enjoying the feel of it. I needed so badly to be touched, I would have enjoyed any sensation right then.

The woman pulled away from me and I could see she was naked with a slightly rounded belly, thick and smooth thighs, and small pert breasts that bounced gently as she swayed from a branch.

“But Maeve… I like the way this one suffers.” The green-eyed woman said. Sidonie, I guessed.

A tall, thin woman climbed down the trunk in front of me, using her slender fingers and toes to hook into the crevasses of the bark. Her fine white hair hung straight from her head and draped over her light brown breasts. Her eyes were as white as her hair, unsettling me. With eyes so white she should have been blind, but she looked right at me.

“You may enjoy this one’s suffering, if you wish, Sidonie. I would not deny you your fun, not when it’s been so long since we’ve searched for a pet. But be careful please. Do not break this one,” the white-haired woman, Maeve, said.

“I like the way this one’s sex drips wetness down its’ thigh. I like the way this one’s clitoris presses forward and pokes out crudely from its’ folds. I like the way this one’s nipples crinkle. And I like how it tastes.” Sidonie said, inspecting me.

I shivered with fear, which pierced even my intense arousal. The way the spoke of me, like an object, no like a pet, it disturbed me deeply. At least the white-eyed one didn’t want to break me. I tried to take hope from that small mercy, but deep down I wasn’t sure I should. Maybe it would be easier, to be broken.

The green-eyed woman swung close to me again and grabbed onto the branches that held me in place. She rubbed her body into mine. Her hard nipples bumped across mine. Her stomach pressed into mine. Her pelvis came so close but didn’t touch. I tried to arch my hips forward, needing contact, needing release, but I could not reach her.

I closed my eyes and groaned with disappointment. Sidonie kissed each of my eyes softly. Then she kissed my nose, then my lips. Her mouth was soft and warm against mine. I tried to pull forward, my hair tightening painfully as I tugged. I wanted to press her lips more firmly, to kiss more deeply, but she pulled away, keeping the same light touch.

“Please,” I moaned into her mouth.

Sidonie laughed with delight as my plea. She kissed my neck and my shoulders, and then latched her mouth around one of my nipples. She suckled it hard, and I cried out.

In front of me, Maeve still watched, now sitting on a branch that seemed to have just protruded between her thighs where there had been no branch before. Maeve rocked herself into the branch and pinched her nipples as she stared at me with her white eyes.

Sidonie’s braids brushed my body softly as she suckled passionately. I thought I might almost be able to orgasm with no pressure, no touching at all, on my clit. And as if sensing how close I was, Sidonie stopped sucking and bit my nipple. I gasped and flinched, but I could not move or protect myself.

She laughed. Then, Sidonie climbed up my body and wrapped her legs over my shoulders, burying my face into her bald cunt. She smelled like citrus and wood.

Ardently, I licked the cleft between her labia. She was wet under my tongue. I groaned, my arousal taking on a new urgent need. I flicked my tongue into her folds wildly, desperately. If her clit was in there, it was far more hidden than mine and I could not find it.

Anyway, she could move her body if she wanted because I could not move my head. I just licked what she put in front of me as well as I could. I wanted to suckle her folds too, but she did not come close enough to let me. My own clit throbbed painfully, and my one nipple still pulsed with the pain of her hard bite.

“This one is eager.” Sidonie laughed fondly as I licked her. “Mmmm, you should try this, Maeve.”

“I… love… watching…” Maeve said breathlessly, in the rhythm of a woman who was humping herself to orgasm.

The sound of her voice, on the verge of orgasm, sent a thrill of jealousy and arousal through me. Sidonie ground her pussy into my mouth at that moment and I finally caught the feeling of her small nub with my tongue. I latched on and sucked as she ground into me.

The two women started moaning rhythmically. My clit pulsed in time with their audible pleasure. My whole body was taut with need, and I took all my frustration out in the one thing I could do. I licked.

Sidonie’s legs tensed, and I tasted sweet sappy fluid. I lapped up as much of her cum as I could, reveling in the citrus tang of it. Sidonie’s loud moan was echoed by Maeve’s a moment later. But, as much as I wanted release, it didn’t come for me.

“Oh, oh… Maeve. Yes, let’s keep this one.” Sidonie said lustily.

She slid her legs off my shoulders and down to my hips. She let her pelvis drop and rub into mine, deliciously. I ached to press harder, to cum, but it wasn’t enough, still not enough.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Maeve groaned, whether in agreement or pleasure as she came, I couldn’t tell.

Sidonie jumped off me and swung on a nearby branch over next to Maeve. The two women kissed passionately. Sidonie grabbed Maeve’s small breast and squeezed it. Maeve arched her back and shuddered.

“Please…” I begged.

“Please, what?” Maeve asked as she continued to grind her pelvis into the tree.

“Ay… Ay need…” What did I need? I had never felt so aroused in my life. I have never seen women so beautiful either. I wanted them, both of them. I wanted to taste them, to touch them, to serve them.

Yet I knew that it was magic that compelled me to want them. I knew who these women were. They were the Aos Si. I had been such a fool to step foot in the woods. And thrice a fool to do it on Samhain. I’d thought myself grown and wise, but I had just been a fool.

A wide branch grew under Sidonie’s feet, and she stood on it. When the branch had grown all the way to me, she lightly flipped across it, tumbling as gracefully as a dandelion fluff on the wind. She landed in a crouch in front of me and pressed her face into my pussy. She inhaled deeply and rubbed my thighs with her hands.

“Need? What does this one need?” She asked me, her breath hot on my exposed clit.

Maeve jumped straight out from the tree trunk and latched on to the branches that held me. She smirked as I flinched and licked my face the same way Sidonie had.

“Yes, this one does taste nice.” Maeve commented.

Sidonie reached out and pinched my protruding clit between two delicate fingers. I screamed in pain and pleasure as she gently rolled her fingers. Maeve cut off my scream with a kiss, covering my mouth with hers. Each of the women grabbed one of my breasts. Maeve was gentle with hers and Sidonie was harsh.

I groaned and struggled but I couldn’t move at all. I was completely at their mercy. They pinched and kneaded and kissed me until I felt the glorious release of an intense orgasm. I was exhausted and finally sated.

Sidonie and Maeve were not satisfied though. They ignored my orgasm as if nothing had happened. They twisted and squeezed just the same. Only now everything was more sensitive, and I didn’t have the need of arousal to help turn the pain to pleasure.

I screamed and cried as Sidonie kept pinching and twisting my clit, keeping it from shrinking back inside my folds. Maeve rubbed her body into me and kissed my tears. Her soft kindness was a stark contrast to Sidonie’s rough treatment.

“Shhh… Don’t cry,” Maeve hushed me gently, “we’ll take care of this one. This one belongs to us now.”

Strangely, Maeve’s words calmed me. I gasped as I realized she was using magic on me.

“Aos Si,” I whispered, my voice hoarse and quiet.

Sidonie grinned at me, revealing a full mouth of pointed teeth. “Yes, very good!” She chortled.

Fear filled me. Nana had told me a lot of stories about faeries, and none of them were pleasant. My clit burned as Sidonie continued to play with it. She straightened next to me, still holding my clit with one hand as she rubbed her body into my side, and Maeve rubbed into my other side.

“This one belongs to my sister and I,” Sidonie echoed Maeve’s claim.

It almost seemed as if they were talking to the forest, and not to me at all. As if they were staking a claim on me to warn away others who might try to take me for their own. I shivered at the thought.

“Ay ne’er b’long ta no’one,” I protested weakly.

Sidonie giggled with delight and Maeve crooked an eyebrow.

“This one is wro-ong.” Sidonie said in a sing-song voice, pinching my clit harder to punctuate her point.

Sidonie and Maeve exchanged a significant glance, and then they left me. I was alone, unable to move in the strong grip of the tree branches, my clit was still exposed and now aroused again. I pulled and twisted with all my strength, but I couldn’t get free.

“Sorry!” I called out, eventually. “Ay b’long ta ya!”

There was no response, not even a hint of the laughter that had chased me through the woods before. It had been stupid to argue with the faeries. I had come into their land, trespassed in their woods, and they were right. I belonged to them now.

From what I’d heard of faeries, they very well could leave me here to starve to death to punish me for being rude.

“Ay’ll serve ya!” I yelled, desperately. “Ay’ll do anyt’ing, please!”

The silence was terrifying. But worse, was my continued arousal. The need for sex just continued to grow. My nipples were so hard it hurt, my clit pulsed rhythmically, and my abdomen tingled.

I cried, defeated, and hung limply in my arboreal restraints. I didn’t even notice that I was being slowly lowered until my feet touched the ground. The branches released me, and I was free. I fell to my knees and wept as I urgently rubbed at my clit, desperate to cum.

I should have run, looked for a way out of the woods. But Sidonie was right, I belonged to them now, so much so that I couldn’t even consider trying to escape. I just wanted the faeries to come back to me.

I imagined the taste of Sidonie’s cum and Maeve’s mouth as I masturbated myself to orgasm, but it didn’t relieve my arousal. Somehow, it just made it more intense. I tried and came again and again, and it was not enough. I rubbed my clit and nipples raw with my fingers.

I masturbated until I passed out from exhaustion. But when I woke, I still couldn’t stop. My stomach grumbled with hunger and my throat was dry and parched from thirst, and still, I couldn’t stop masturbating.

“This one belongs to us,” Maeve said in my ear, her voice like a soothing balm calmed my intense need.

“Ay b’long ta ya,” I agreed, accepting my fate.

The tinkle of laughter sounded through the forest.

“Come, Pet,” Maeve beckoned me to follow her.

I tried to stand, but I was too weak. So, I crawled after her. She stopped next to a stream.

“Drink,” she commanded.

I fell to my stomach and dipped my head into the water and lapped it up eagerly.

“T’ank ya,” I said after drinking enough to wet my throat.

“A pet does not speak.” Maeve corrected. “If a pet is thankful, it simply obeys. Nothing else is needed.”

I bit my tongue keep from saying anything.

“Are you hungry, Pet?” She asked.

Silent, I nodded.

Maeve held up a blue speckled mushroom, reminding me guiltily that Nana would never get the ones she’d asked me to gather. I watched as she put the mushroom inside her vagina.

“A pet will eat only food that comes from my or my sister’s cunt. You may eat nothing else but what we choose to serve in this manner, do you understand?”

I nodded, my cheeks burning with shame, even as my own cunt pulsed with arousal.

Sidonie stepped out of the trees and settled next to Maeve. She held up a delicious looking cake, then stuffed it into her vagina. The two faeries sat next to each other and spread their legs.

“Dinner first, then dessert,” Sidonie told me.

I stood up to go to them.

“Pets crawl.” Maeve said reproachfully.

I hung my head and crawled.

I stuck my tongue into Maeve’s vagina and hooked the mushroom. I put my hands on her thighs to brace myself as I dug for my meal.

“Pets certainly don’t touch their mistress with filthy paws they been putting in the dirt,” Maeve reprimanded me as she pushed my hands off of her legs.

I put my hands back on the ground, so I was on all fours again. Desperately hungry, I pressed my face harder into her pussy and tried to fish out the mushroom. It took a while, but finally I got it. The mushroom was slimy with Maeve’s vaginal fluid and tasted of her earthy musk. It was the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten.

When I finished, Maeve held up a carrot in front of my face, then pushed it inside herself. I moaned and went after it, pulling it out a bit at a time with my tongue, then biting off bite size pieces to chew right from her pussy. After three more servings, Maeve directed me to Sidonie.

By now, the cake had absorbed lots of Sidonie’s fruity secretions and it was mushy and wet. I was less hungry now and more aware of the subtle flavor of faerie vagina that seasoned the food. The cake crumbled as I licked it out, making the process slow and painstaking. It was both disgusting and wonderful.

When I had finished my meal, I sat back on my heels and hung my head, waiting for a new command.

“Come along, Pet.” Sidonie said, giggling as she and Maeve stood and started walking.

Dutifully, my clit tingling with arousal, I crawled after them like the faithful pet I was. I wanted nothing more than to please the Aos Si. I belonged to them now.

Maeve and Sidonie quickly outpaced me, and I struggled to keep up while on all fours. Sidonie looked back at me and laughed cruelly. I felt humiliation burn in my gut. And with the humiliation was a thrill of arousal that shocked me.

“Oh, let the pet walk, Maeve,” Sidonie said. “It will take forever for us to go anywhere at this rate.”

“Fine, walk.” Maeve agreed with a huff of irritation.

Gratefully, I stood up, my knees and hands aching with the pain of crawling. I hurried to catch up with the two faeries. We had been walking for a while when I saw the break in the trees that marked the edge of the forest. I sucked in a breath, there was Nana! She was pacing back and forth at the edge of the wood, and she looked angry.

As if seeing her had broken a spell, I suddenly couldn’t fathom why I was following these faeries so docilly. Of course, I should try to escape. I ran forward, bolting for freedom. Sidonie laughed as I ran face first into a tree. I fell backward and felt warm liquid pour down my face. I reached to my nose and winced in pain when I gently probed it.

“Has this one already forgotten?” Sidonie giggled.

“A pet must not run away,” Maeve chided gently.

Tears burned in my eyes and fell, mixing with the blood from my nose.

“This one has made its’ face a lovely mess,” Sidonie sighed happily.

She pulled me to my feet and licked the blood and tears from my face, my neck, and my breasts as well. At her touch, the throbbing in my nose ceased and the blood stopped flowing. The green-eyed faerie cleaned me as a cat might clean it’s young, and afterwards, she licked her lips and winked at me.

“Perhaps we should let the pet run again,” Sidonie said. “I do so like to clean the blood.”

“Our time is short, sister.”

Sidonie tilted her head and pouted, “Of course.”

I looked with longing at Nana, who was pacing and appeared to be cursing up a storm, although I could not hear her.

“That one does not deserve a pet,” Maeve told me. “That one could not keep a pet. This one is oursss.”

Maeve’s words ended in a long sibilant hiss. My heart constricted with fear. Nana hadn’t been kind, but I suspected I was about to learn a whole new scale on which to judge such things.

Sidonie and Maeve stepped into the circle of blue specked mushrooms that had drawn me into the woods that morning. I followed. The faeries spoke something in unison that sounded like a poem in a foreign tongue. Mist swirled around us, and when it cleared, we were somewhere else.

It was like a forest, but the foliage was drained of color. No, it wasn’t gray, the plants were dark and muted. Where leaves should be light and waxy enough to glint in the sun, these leaves were still green, but they sucked in the light and reflected almost nothing. Like the whole forest had been covered with a matte dust.

I followed after Sidonie and Maeve as they moved smoothly through the new forest. As they walked, they chatted incessantly, but nothing they said made sense to me. I tried my best to observe the route we took, in case I ever had a chance to return, to try to escape. But even if I could make it back to the portal, I couldn’t remember the words they’d said. Who knew if the magic would even work for me, a human, anyway?

“Finally home,” Maeve sighed.

She had stopped in front of a rectangle of purple fabric strewn between two trees. The space to either side of the trees was open and clearly showed there was nothing behind the fabric. Sidonie pulled the fabric aside and walked through the passage. Maeve and I followed.

I was surprised to see a cozy room with close growing tree trunks for walls and a canopy of leaves for a ceiling. Various plants grew around the room in the shape of furniture creating a dining area and a seating area. The floor was softly carpeted by moss. I spotted three more hanging pieces of purple fabric, which I assumed hid more doors.

Sidonie sprawled on a couch like growth and Maeve settled in a chair next to her. Maeve curled her fingers at me and pointed to the floor between her seat and Sidonie’s. I walked over and settled onto the floor between them, kneeling.

Maeve reached over lazily and pet my head gently. I tilted my head into her hand, craving the contact for reasons I couldn’t quite grasp. I should have been afraid; I should have desired escape. But instead, I just wanted my owners to be happy with me. My drive to run away had vanished when Nana faded from my sight.

I gasped as I felt soft fingers twist my nipple. Sidonie had reached a hand over and pinched me. My clit pulsed with heat and my entire pelvis clenched with arousal and need. How long could I continue to be this painfully horny, I wondered.

As Sidonie continued to playfully tease my breast, the arousal took over my mind. I lost all sense of propriety, of normalcy. I crawled over and wrapped my arms and legs around Maeve’s calf and began rubbing my clit into her shin frantically.

“No!” Maeve commanded irritably and pushed me away.

She was much stronger than me, even if she appeared to have no muscles at all. I fell backward and whimpered.

Sidonie laughed and rose from her couch, “The pet has needs.”

From my prone position on my back where I’d landed, I reached my hand to my clit and began rubbing. Sidonie sat on the arm of her couch and reached out one delicate foot and kicked my hand away. She then pressed her toes into my slit, kneading my pussy with her foot. I moaned and pinched my nipples.

“The pet does not touch itself,” Sidonie instructed and stopped kneading me long enough to kick my hands away from my nipples painfully.

She returned her foot to my clit. Maeve watched from her chair, frowning. I could tell that she was touching herself, though. I dug my fingers into the moss below me and pushed my hips up into Sidonie’s foot. I came hard and a pulse of wetness spurt out of me.

“Clean my foot,” Sidonie commanded, “with your tongue.”

I got on my hands and knees and licked the faerie’s toes and the base of her foot thoroughly. Her foot was dirty from walking barefoot, and while that should have bothered me, it didn’t now. I was too aroused, too degraded, to care anymore.

The faeries ignored me for the rest of the day as they moved around their house. When they sat at the table to each dinner, I watched as they each chose a piece of food and then pushed the selections into their vaginas. They didn’t even need to tell me; I knew what I had to do. I crawled under the table to eat my meal.

At bedtime, I joined them in their room which had one large bed. I curled up on the ground at the foot of it, as instructed. To my surprise, I fell asleep easily and quickly, the arousal ebbing away and allowing me some respite. I wondered momentarily if the arousal lessened because the faeries withdrew some magic, or perhaps because they fell asleep. But before I could chase that thought, exhaustion dragged me down into sleep.

The next day, Maeve and Sidonie took me for a walk. I walked behind them through the muted forest. After just about twenty minutes, the trees thinned, and we stepped into a clearing. Throughout the open space was a great variety of tables were spread with goods and all kinds of faerie folk walked about.

Shame flooded me as I felt dozens of curious eyes look at me. Sidonie and Maeve linked their arms and bounced happily through the market. I wasn’t collared or leashed, but I couldn’t imagine that there would be anything to be gained by trying to run. The last time I’d tried that, they’d grown a tree in my face. And now I was in their world. Who knew what magic they could weave here?

So, I just followed. Here and there, I spotted other humans. I met the gaze of one of these other unfortunates, but there was nothing of empathy in their face, only a terrible blankness. Was that what it was to be broken? I shivered. I didn’t want to become that. Better to feel the humiliation and shame, if only to feel something.

Maeve and Sidonie had been browsing the market for a while when a short, gray skinned, and furry creature addressed them. Like all the faeries, he was naked, and I could see that his cock was nearly as long as his short legs.

“Nice pet,” he said.

“Why, thank you,” Maeve nodded her head graciously.

“Is she wild?” He asked wistfully.

“Oh yes, just taken yesterday!” Sidonie giggled.

“What will you take for her?”

“This one is not for sale,” Maeve stated flatly.

“What would you offer?” Sidonie asked at the same time.

“We have wild men to offer. Surely male pets would serve better?” The short gray man licked his lips as he spoke.

“What would you use this one for?” Maeve asked, glaring at Sidonie with reproach.

“The Far Derrig would breed her.”

I choked at this. I didn’t want to be fucked by this ugly little man. And from what he said, it sounded like it wouldn’t be just him. I had never been with a man, had never been with anyone before I’d gone into the woods, and I was scared. I ached to plead with Maeve not to let him, but I bit my tongue. I didn’t want to anger her by speaking.

“Tell me, why do you not catch your own wild women?” Sidonie asked.

“We do not have the magic for women, only for men. We can make changelings from the men so we can harvest human babies. But it is hard to grow women from babies and the ones who do grow are tame. We want to breed the wild woman.” The little furry man’s penis grew hard as he spoke, and he began stroking it.

“Wouldn’t it be glorious,” Sidonie sighed, “if out little pet’s breasts were engorged with delightful human milk?”

Maeve looked thoughtful.

“We might rent this one to you. But we would expect this one back in good condition!”

“Oh, yes. We will not harm the wild woman. But the litter she bears is ours,” the Far Derrig glowered.

“You may have this one for a month. But the price is two males. Any offspring this one produces as a result will be your responsibility.” Maeve said.

Despair filled me as Sidonie clapped with joy and the Far Derrig eyed me hungrily.

“Two males? For just a month?” He asked, incredulous.

“You are free to find another wild woman.” Maeve swept her arm across the market to emphasize, I supposed, that he would find nothing.

The Far Derrig took her meaning, “I will have to take it to the council. It is a high price that I cannot authorize alone.”

“Very well. You know where to find us.”

I watched as the short gray man disappeared into the crowd. I did not want to be bred by him and his kind. Tears leaked from my eyes. Why hadn’t I listened to Nana’s warning? Why hadn’t I taken it seriously and never stepped foot into the North Woods?

That evening, after I’d eaten from Maeve’s and Sidonie’s vaginas, the Far Derrig visited. This time, there were three of the ugly men.

“We will offer two human males, but they will be delivered once the wild woman is pregnant, and no sooner. If the wild woman does not get pregnant within six months, then only one male will be delivered. If there is no pregnancy with a year, then there will be no males and we will return the wild woman, in the same condition as you provided her.” The one who stood in the middle said.

Sidonie nodded excitedly, but Maeve put a hand on her shoulder.

“We accept under three conditions. First, we want to watch the breeding. Not all of it, but we want to be allowed to watch when we want. Second, we will choose the males of our choice from your stable. Third, if she gets pregnant in less than a month, three males will be selected.”

The Far Derrig had a hushed conference with each other, then turned to face my owners again.

“It is a deal, if we can take her tonight.”

“You can take her in the morning, and no sooner,” Maeve stated.

The Far Derrig did not argue, “Deal,” they said as one.

That night, Maeve and Sidonie had me lay in the bed with them. I shivered and wept with fear between them.

“Do not worry, Pet. You will be back with us soon. Sidonie is very accomplished at fertility magic. You will get pregnant tomorrow and will stay only long enough for them to confirm it.”

As before in the forest, Maeve’s words calmed me, her magic soothing away my fears. Sidonie reached down to my pussy and slid her fingers into my vagina, probing deeply. She began pumping her fingers in and out rhythmically while chanting in her faerie tongue.

Heat filled me, radiating out from my vagina to my entire body until the sweat on my skin was boiled into steam. I screamed as I came on Sidonie’s hand. The pain of my burning skin added to the power of my orgasm, and fluid shot out of me. I looked down and gasped as I saw my cum vaporize before it even touched Sidonie’s arm.

My body cooled rapidly after that. I fell back into the bed, exhausted. All my fear was forgotten as Maeve and Sidonie held me between them.

In the morning, the Far Derrig came for me. The rat boys, they were called in the stories, and it was a fair name for them. Their faces were human, but their bodies were covered in gray fur. At about half the height of an average person, they could look like boys from a distance, if you didn’t see their enormous cocks. I wished I had salt to put a circle around me now. But even if such a thing could have protected me in my world, it wouldn’t here.

I followed Sidonie and Maeve outside to where the men waited.

“Would you like us to arouse her for you?” Maeve asked them curiously.

I sucked in a breath, so they were controlling my body. I felt relief that I wasn’t quite so sexually depraved as I had been feeling the past two days. But also, it was frightening to realize how thoroughly they owned me.

“No.” The leader said.

I wasn’t sure if I should be happy that I wouldn’t be in thrall or terrified that there would be no arousal to dampen the pain and fear. Before I could even process my feelings, two came forward and took each of my hands in theirs to pull me forward. Their hands were cool to the touch and rough. Fear filled me and I faltered in my step, stumbling.

Without missing a beat, the two who held my hands moved under my armpits and carried me forward. My feet dragged along the ground until another rat boy came and lifted them. And like that, I was carried to their nest.

They carried me into their underground burrow. The tunnels were tall enough that Maeve and Sidonie didn’t have to duck as they followed. I wondered about that, until I saw the human women. There were humans everywhere, here. All were female, and all of them were as blank-faced and dead-eyed as the human I’d seen in the market.

Was that what they had meant by ‘tame’? I shuddered and panic took me. I tried to pull away from my captors, screamed and bucked wildly. But the Far Derrig were strong, and they didn’t even slow down for my antics.

I was carried down and down into the ground until we reached a large round room with a mass of soft furs covering the floor. I was dropped in the center of the room. I looked around, still entertaining some pitiful thought of escape. That thought died as I saw the crowd of Far Derrig swarming the room.

By the door, Sidonie and Maeve stood out, two beautiful women standing tall above the crowd of ugly men. Sidonie was grinning with delight as she watched me. Maeve’s expression was inscrutable. I remembered her in the North Woods, masturbating as Sidonie ground her pussy into my face. She liked to watch, and she’d probably enjoy seeing me get inseminated just as much as Sidonie.

Eventually, the crowd of rat boys stopped growing, leaving an open space around me. Three Far Derrig stepped into the circle with me. I thought it was the three who had negotiated for me, but it was hard to tell. Two of them lifted the third so he could be seen by the crowed, and he spoke.

“Brothers, as you know, we have a great event today. This is a wild woman, caught just two days ago, this Samhain!”

Raucous applause and shouts greeted this announcement.

“We will have her for as long as it takes to breed her. Now, I don’t want there to be any fighting like there was last time. No more than three at a time in the circle with the woman! Only ejaculate inside her. We’re trying to breed her, not drown her in semen. After you cum, you leave the circle and let the next man have his turn. Finally, we agreed to return her undamaged, so no biting!”

A couple groans and complaints erupted from the crowd at these injunctions, but most seemed eager to agree. The speaker jumped off of his perch on the other two men’s shoulders and they turned towards me. Obviously, they would be going first.

Terror spiked through me again. The one who’d been talking walked towards me. I stiffened, closing my legs tight and covering my breasts with my crossed arms.

The Far Derrig, the leader I supposed, reached out and gently ran his hands down from my stomach to my hips. He pressed his lips to my stomach and kissed me gently, passionately. It was not what I had been expecting. I’d been expecting to be pushed to the ground, my legs pried open, and violently fucked, over and over again by dozens of thick-dicked furry men.

That isn’t what happened at all. The three Far Derrig who were first touched me gently, kissed me gently, massaged me. One lifted up another who sat on his shoulders so that he could kiss my ears and neck and lick my throat and the tops of my breasts that my arms couldn’t cover. I was bewildered as my body started responding to the gentle touches.

I shot a look at Sidonie and Maeve in confusion. Were they arousing me? But no, this wasn’t the same feeling that had been before, with them. If they’d been doing this, I would already be on the ground begging to be fucked. No, the Far Derrig were doing this, and they were doing it without magic. I shivered as I realized they were seducing me. And worse, I realized it was working, as my muscles began to relax, and my clit started to tingle.

I held out for as long as I could. Part of me thought it would be easier to take this if it were forced and violent. It would be easier to not feel shame, if I could at least know that I’d fought, that I hadn’t wanted it. If I could resist long enough, maybe they would grow impatient and force me, and save my dignity.

But that didn’t happen.

Slowly, so slowly, they opened me. I don’t know if it took fifteen minutes or an hour or three, but they were unstoppable in their slow conquest of my body. They noted my each and every reaction to their ministrations and adjusted to match. I had been wrong, I thought. This was magic, but of a different kind.

At the moment they judged was right, they gently encouraged me to sit, and I did. The furs felt wonderful on my now sensitive skin as I laid back into them. I still held my legs tight, but the leader’s long thin tongue found a way in to tease my clit.

The other two lay next to my sides and made love to every part of me that was exposed. Neither tried to kiss my mouth though. I knew that if they had, it would have ruined their efforts so far. My natural revulsion for their nature would have made me clamp up again. They must have known it too.

I was shocked when I realized that one of my arms was no longer covering my breast. Instead, one of the Far Derrig was suckling at my nipple. I moaned, and horrified with myself, tears leaked from my eyes.

Sometime later, I felt my last resistance in my thighs weaken and the leader opened my pussy to the crowd. A great sigh of satisfaction erupted from the gathered men. I whimpered as I realized I’d forgot about them, all the watching men who were waiting for their turn.

I tried to close my legs again at this reminder, but the leader had stuck his head between them and was probing my vagina with his tongue. He didn’t push back on my thighs at all as I clamped them around his head. He simply licked and sucked at me more ardently until my thighs relaxed again.

Between the Far Derrig attending to my breasts and the one between my legs, I couldn’t stop the orgasm that flooded through me. I gasped and arched and spasmed with the intensity of it. It had taken so long to build; it was glorious in its release.

The crowd burst into gentle applause as the leader slid his cock into me, breaking past whatever barriers my virginity had afforded me. I would be lying if I said it didn’t feel good. It felt amazing to be filled with his impressive manhood right after cumming. He was quick, a couple thrusts and then his semen spurted into me. Quick and smooth, he moved away and one of the men who’d been at my breast pushed his cock into me. I didn’t even have time to miss the mouth on my nipple before another of the Far Derrig laid down next to me to take up the position.

I was lost in the rhythm of it after that, as the rat boys rotated around me, filling me with more and more of their fluids. Every once in a while, one would lick and suck me to orgasm again. And every one of them was gentle and quick to ejaculate.

When it ended, I found that I didn’t want it to. I regretted judging them so harshly, my unreasoning fear. I regretted Maeve’s promise that I wouldn’t be here long. I questioned my sanity at my strange regrets. But mostly, I missed being touched, and filled, and the orgasms, as they let me sleep in the room of furs.

The next day, a human woman brought me food. It was the first time in days I’d eaten food that had not been in a vagina first. Guiltily, I remembered Maeve and Sidonie and glanced towards the door, but they were gone. I wondered when they’d left and what they’d thought of the Far Derrig’s seduction.

After breakfast, the sex continued much as it had the day before. But today, I didn’t fight it. I gave myself over to the process of being bred. My pussy leaked copious amounts of semen and I couldn’t imagine that putting more in would be helpful at this point, but that didn’t seem to dissuade the rat boys.

It was two weeks of the same. Breakfast, fucking, dinner, fucking, sleep. And then Maeve and Sidonie were there again, looking down at me happily as I let myself be fucked.

“You are preg-nant!” Sidonie sang.

“The Far Derrig knew it days ago, but we let them have a bit more fun with you, since it has been our pleasure to watch,” Maeve said.

I flushed, wondering how I’d missed them watching after that first day.

“Come along, we’re going to pick our males now,” Sidonie grinned with delight.

The Far Derrig who was fucking me grunted and shot his load. He got up, and then the three who’d been with me helped me stand. A gush of fluid flowed out of my vagina, coating my thighs with Far Derrig cum. I realized I hadn’t moved from this spot in a long time, and I felt a bit dizzy on standing. I swayed, but the Far Derrig supported me, and helped me follow after Maeve and Sidonie.

When they’d carried me to their burrow two weeks ago, it had felt cruel and uncaring. But as they supported me now, it felt loving and kind. How my idea of these creatures had changed!

As we walked through their burrow, I saw more of the dead-eyed women, and a shiver went through me. No matter how kindly they’d treated me, I reminded myself, they were still inhuman. It seemed they must be cruel, to have so many broken human women. Did they arouse these females as carefully as they had me?

Eventually, we entered a large cavern. It was filled with naked human men. Here, my arousal returned and took a more familiar hold. I’d never lusted for a woman before Maeve and Sidonie had trapped me, and I’d certainly never lusted for Far Derrig, but I’d always been fond of men.

“Line up for inspection!” A voice I recognized shouted.

It was the Far Derrig leader, the one who’d been so patient and thorough in his seduction. My clit twitched and I had to resist the unexpected impulse to go kiss him. Still, even after weeks, none of the Far Derrig had kissed me. I couldn’t understand why I wanted that now.

The human males lined up in a row, all of them clasping their hands behind their butts, thrusting their pelvises forward. Each of them looked straight ahead. I scanned their faces. Unlike the women I’d seen wandering the Far Derrig burrow, these men didn’t have the same dead eyes.

I followed Sidonie and Maeve as they walked down the line, inspecting the males carefully. I counted seventeen men. Three of them would be coming with us. I wondered if that would mean a positive or negative change for them.

“Ooh, look at this one!” Sidonie danced around a shorter man with curly orange hair, “Look at how hard this one’s cock is!”

Sidonie reached out one index finger and poked the top of the man’s cock downward. It sprang back up quickly. Sidonie giggled.

“I want this one!” She announced brightly.

Maeve rolled her eyes, “Fine.”

Maeve walked down the line, and back again slowly. She stared at each man in the eyes and pulled open their mouths to check their teeth and poked their stomachs. Finally, she stopped in front of a tall, muscular, blond with a soft penis that nestled hidden inside his pubic hair.

“This one.” She stated firmly.

Sidonie clapped and skipped over to inspect Maeve’s choice. She frowned at the man’s lack of erection.

“This one is not erect,” Sidonie pointed out.

“I know. But this one is strong and has good teeth, and I can make him erect whenever I want anyway.” Maeve snapped her fingers and I gasped as I saw the man’s penis unfurl and stiffen.

Sidonie shrugged, “And you, Pet? Which one for you?”

I was startled and stared at her in incomprehension. They expected me to choose a man?

Sidonie laughed at my expression and even Maeve cracked a grin.

“Yes, yes. Pick one,” Maeve told me, waving one hand languidly.

I looked down the line of men, fifteen left now. I scanned their faces and saw nothing but resignation and despair, except one. One man’s mouth was subtly quirked. Small laugh lines radiated from his eyes and mouth. The wrinkles meant he was much older than me, but that hardly seemed to matter, here. I leaned in close to examine his expression, and he winked at me, quick as lightning.

I opened my mouth to speak but remembered the rules before it was too late. Instead, I took the man’s hand and pulled him forward out of the line. He was skinnier than most, and not too tall. In coloring, he was a mix of Sidonie’s and Maeve’s picks, paler than the blonde but not as pale as the redhead. His hair was golden red and hung in a braid down his back. His hand was warm in mine and sent a shiver through me.

The six of us made our way out of the tunnels and back into the forest. The other two men followed Sidonie and Maeve, but I couldn’t let go of the one I’d picked. My heart fluttered as I wondered what it meant that I’d been allowed to pick him.

None of the men spoke or asked questions. I suppose they’d learned, like I had, that the rules here were very different than where we’d come from. I wondered, briefly, if the four of us could overpower the two faeries and escape. But again, to where?

Maeve and Sidonie led us to a stream and told us to clean ourselves. The water was cold which made my nipples harden painfully and all the men’s cocks and balls pulled up into their pelvises, but none could hide as thoroughly as the blond man’s whose practically disappeared. I carefully washed the excess Far Derrig semen from my thighs and crotch, then washed the rest of my body. It felt good to be clean.

As we stepped back into Maeve and Sidonie’s home, the arousal overpowered me again. I wasn’t surprised to see all three mens’ cocks stir to life as well. Maeve and Sidonie settled onto the couch of trees and moss and spread their legs. I went forward, ready to serve as I’d become used to doing.

“No, Pet,” Maeve shook her head with a smile. She pointed at the big blond man, “Come, Turtle.”

Sidonie giggled, “Oh clever name, sister! It’s because his dick hides like a turtle head, isn’t it? I shall name mine Bunny because he’s ready to fuck! And doesn’t that go well together, like the tortoise and the hare?”

The blond and the red head moved forward together, and each knelt before the faerie that had chosen him. They pressed their faces into the two pussies. The red head bobbed enthusiastically to his task while the blond merely executed his duty without complaint.

I didn’t move, unsure of what I should do now that my job had been taken over.

“And what shall we call that one?” Sidonie nodded in the direction of the man whose hand I was still holding.

“What do you call a pet’s toy?” Maeve asked, tapping her finger to her mouth.

“I have it! Bone. He’s skinny enough to merit the name anyway,” Sidonie chortled.

“Very good,” Maeve nodded. “Now, Pet and Bone, entertain us.”

This was a new sort of request. Up to now, I’d just been doing exactly as told. But a command like this required some personal initiative, some creative action. Arousal pulsed through my clit, and I knew just what sort of entertainment they wanted, but I had no ideas beyond the basic lay down and be fucked.

Bone wasn’t afflicted with the same indecision. He pulled me towards him by our joined hands and kissed me. He slid his tongue past my lips and through my teeth. I darted mine out to meet his, pressing my body into him. I could feel his cock was hard and pressing into me and I rubbed against it.

He sat down on the floor and pulled me down on top of him, fitting his penis into me as we moved. He held me and kissed me for a moment before leaning back on his arms and bracing his feet on the floor. Then, he thrust upward into me, lifting me.

I gasped, surprised and aroused by this strange maneuver. I fell backward from the force of his thrust and supported myself with my arms as well. We were both bending backwards with our pelvises thrusting into each other. The position was awkward and slightly painful, but also felt amazing.

Sidonie clapped, “Very good! Our pet chose well.”

Maeve didn’t answer but watched intently and moaned.

My arms tremored with the strain of holding myself up and I fell. Bone didn’t miss a beat. He sat up on his knees and kept thrusting into me as I lay on my back with my legs up around his hips. For a skinny guy, he had plenty of stamina.

Feeling like I was being less than entertaining, I wondered what I would do to spice it up for our watchers. I had zero ideas. Fortunately, Bone had plenty. He pulled out and flipped me onto my stomach. Then, he rammed his dick into me again and pulled my arms behind me so that I was lifted off the ground, my boobs swinging in the air as I faced Sidonie and Maeve.

Bone’s dick pressed into me and rubbed just the right spot. My vagina spasmed with an orgasm. Bone kept thrusting until both Maeve and Sidonie came, and then I felt him cum inside me. I was thoroughly impressed.

It seemed that Sidonie was as well, because she commanded Bunny to do the same with her. Bone held me and caressed my breasts as we watched Sidonie have another orgasm on Bunny’s dick, her boobs bouncing in our direction.

Maeve didn’t fuck Turtle; she just kept his face between her legs as she watched.

That night, I slept at the foot of Maeve and Sidonie’s bed again. But the men were sent to sleep in another room, a new room as far as I could tell. They appeared to be locked in by some sort of magic barrier. I wondered if that meant that the faeries were vulnerable while they slept, and if so, why was I allowed to sleep with them? Because I could do nothing, was the obvious answer.

Weeks turned to months and our lives fell into a routine as my belly grew with my Far Derrig babies. I became more limber and stronger as Bone worked me into new positions daily, gradually extending my endurance. I felt I came to know him, although we could never talk. I wondered if the men spoke to each other at night, but there was no way to know.

Maeve and Sidonie stopped having me eat from them, as they seemed to be getting enough attention from their new men. Instead, we were all given the same food as they ate, but we had our meals on the floor while they sat at the table.

When Sidonie and Maeve went out, they left the men behind in their room, but took me. The more pregnant I appeared, the more interested the other faerie folk were in me. Somehow it felt like the whole faerie world had a pregnancy fetish.

“They are fascinated because for most of the faerie folk, it is extremely rare to breed,” Maeve commented after one such encounter.

“I could help them, but I won’t,” Sidonie sang and giggled. “They don’t deserve it!”

“I was surprised you agreed to help the Far Derrig,” Maeve commented.

“Ah, but the Far Derrig didn’t ask for my help. They only asked for the chance to fuck a wild woman, and I approve of that.”

“They said they wanted to breed this one. They seemed pretty focused on that.”

Sidonie giggled, “I wanted to breed this one too. So, it was a fortuitous meeting. And you saw how they fucked. Oh, I do like the Far Derrig much better than I used to! I wonder if they would like to breed a faerie?” She mused.

Maeve shook her head, “I do love you sister, but I don’t always understand you.”

After eight months my belly was more swollen than I’d ever seen in a pregnancy, even when a woman had twins. My breasts were large and tender as well. And still every day, Maeve and Sidonie commanded Bone and I to entertain.

Bone loved to fuck me from behind so that my giant belly and large boobs would bounce for Maeve and Sidonie. That was harder now. He’d taken to laying under me so that I could kneel on him, facing his legs. He would thrust up into me, so I all I had to do was keep myself upright. Even that was becoming more difficult as the days went on.

By the time I was nine months pregnant, I was miserable. Bone did his best to care for me, massaging me and rubbing some cream that Maeve had given him into my belly and breasts. But even through his amazing ability to find everything humorous, I occasionally caught worry in his eyes.

It was clear that I was carrying more than one Far Derrig, and more than two too. I had no idea how big rat boy babies were compared to humans, though. Sometimes I thought I might be carrying a full dozen, but that seemed unlikely.

One evening, after Bone had fucked me, slowly these days and only while I laid on my back, pain shot through me. I tensed my whole body until the spasm passed. But then another spasm hit just minutes later. Bone noticed first.

He went to Maeve and gestured towards me. Even through the contractions, I could see he was struggling not to speak. Maeve looked over and immediately saw the issue.

“Sidonie!” She called, “Our pet is in labor.”

Sidonie skipped into the room, Bunny following along behind her. She knelt next to me and spread my legs to look at my vagina.

“Oh! She’s opening up, just a little now.”

Everyone gathered around to watch as I grunted and strained. The pain drove everything from my mind. I could think of nothing but just making it through the next contraction.

“Can ya gi’ the lass not’ing for t’pain?” An unfamiliar male voice blurted at one point.

I glanced up in shock to see that Bone had spoken. Maeve backhanded him across the face viciously. That shocked me too. The faeries could be cruel, but they had never been violent. Bone wiped blood from his nose and glowered at Maeve, his eyebrows raised in question.

Sidonie giggled, “Bone is perfect for our pet. He bloodies his nose through stupidity too!”

I knew she meant the time I’d tried to run, and face planted a tree they grew in my path. It seemed a lifetime ago, now.

“This is a Aos Si birth, in the Aos Si world,” Maeve hissed reproachfully. “The only way to ease the pain is magic, and magic could as well kill her. Everything works strange when there’s a fae birth.”

Bone lowered his eyes in defeat. I saw the worry before he glanced up into my eyes, quirked his lips and winked. I knew he just did it to make me feel better. But it worked anyway. Can you fall in love without talking? I think I had, with Bone.

The pain went on and on.

Sidonie skipped around, occasionally looking into my vagina curiously. Maeve sat in her chair and waited, occasionally tapping her foot. Turtle and Bunny stood. I had noticed, in the last months, that each of them had grown less animated. Their faces had lost expression and they looked almost as dead-eyed as the human women with the Far Derrig had been. Not Bone, though.

Bone’s expressions were as lively as ever as he knelt next to me and held a cool cloth to my head and held my hand through each contraction. When exhaustion threatened to pull me away from consciousness, he kissed me and whispered in my ear, desperation giving him a voice that had been silent for so long.

“Don’ ya dare fall t’sleep, lass. I got ta fuck ya t’morrow for ta faeries. Ya cannae leave ma ta do it maself, lass.”

Bone’s whisper was tinged with worry and humor, and I tried to smile for him, but it was too hard. I didn’t sleep though, didn’t drift off. I knew what that meant. I’d been to enough births to know that women who didn’t stay awake and push, died. I wasn’t ready to die.

“Oh, there it is now, Pet!” Sidonie crowed with delight. “Push now!”

I gathered what was left of my strength and pushed. There was a baby cry and then Sidonie was yelling again for me to push. Again and again, it went, pushing out each of my litter of Far Derrig babies. In the end, there were eight. Each was about half the size of a small human baby, which seemed appropriate considering the Far Derrig themselves were half-sized people.

Two babies were pressed into my body, and they suckled at my breasts. Turtle and Bunny and Bone each held the others and then they cycled them out, so that each got a chance to suck the first colostrum from me. The babies were about as cute as human babies, which means not at all. They were gray skinned and wrinkled. There were seven boys and one girl.