Follows Part 3.
FALLS
Yais knelt disconsolately on the floor in the next person in a line of maids and servants waiting to see "The Alpothecary." She didn't know what that was and had been shushed by the girls around her since speaking while in a queue was apparently forbidden and strictly policed. The girls had to stand "properly," hands and their sides, chins up--no fidgeting. She, apparently being a "pet," was allowed to kneel. At least that was something even if it highlighted her demeaning position in the household.
She'd expected the girls to be a bit nasty with the new girl--but they seemed to find her cute and appealing, even though she was at their ages and every bit a girl like they were. Rather than finding her lot appalling and abusive and unfair, they, instead, volunteered to "walk her"--a dreadfully intimate humiliation and had cheerfully fed her in the kitchen--meaning she wasn't required to eat from a bowl at least (she had to kneel and open her mouth and be patient until some of the food was put in--but the food! The food was amazing!).
The morning had passed into midday and then to afternoon with her kept blessedly out of the way of the functionaries preparing the great house for the "event" that was to begin tomorrow as the guests would start to arrive.
Girls on their breaks came by to look at her--and even offer her "treats" from a bowl to make her "beg" (the book she has read on being a pet informed her that failure to beg would be punished by the girls and so she dutifully did). She'd submitted to being petted on the head by a distracted girl who stroked her while involved in another conversation as if she really would enjoy the affection.
It was demeaning, as intended--but it wasn't exactly unpleasant--and the bowl of treats contained some kind of cookies that she found unbelievably delicious. She had never tasted the confectionaries she saw in shop windows and on display in the better parts of town where she was watched or hunted.
Now, having tasted them, she was almost happy to be given the order to beg for one. But she hadn't seen Cais yet--and she had betrayed him. Now, in the afternoon, she sat, fretting, worried about what this Alpothecary was doing to the various victims who entered the room they were in--and exited, apparently, somewhere else--since they didn't come back out.
She felt she MUST get word to Cais that his sister had pried the secret out of her. Why had he left her alone with Virona? Did he have any choice? Probably not--but still--he must have some idea of how perceptive his sister was. She shifted. "Squirming" and, far worse, "Scratching" or playing with her hair would get her disciplined. She had read the rules--and there were many.
"NEXT!!" CLAP! CLAP!
Yais jolted up--she was up--for... something. She came forward and crawled through the door, the almost non-existent wrap she wore giving the girl behind her a good view of her aft.
The room was wood paneled and had been converted into a kind of workshop with burners and small cauldrons and glass jars and all sorts of things she couldn't recognize. The 'Alpothecary' turned out to be a large heavy woman dressed in silks and smelling strongly of strange spices. Her fingernails were painted in odd colors that seemed to shift and run as she moved, bustling about.
"What have we got," The Alpothecary asked, seeming far too happy. "Are we being a pet?"
"Yes'm," Yais answered unsure if she was truly allowed to speak but feeling she'd better say something.
The large woman seemed thrilled.
"We're being punished?" she asked.
Yais nodded cautiously.
"Taught a lesson then," the woman decided. "Well climb up on the table here, pet."
She patted a table covered with fresh wax paper. Yais stood and climbed up, putting a knee up and then, drawing a deep breath, waited on all fours on the table.
The servant who was admitting girls eyed Yais with distrust as though if she took her eyes off her, Yais would do something to get her in trouble.
The Alpothecary was looking in a log book full of scribbles, turning pages, and glancing up at her--then back at the log.
"I--oh!" She found what she was looking for and scanned it. "We're in for quite a time of it, pet." she said, whatever she was reading apparently impressed her.
"Now--let's see." The woman bustled over and begin feeling under her jaw, fingers pressed into her flesh. Yais sat there, worried about what was scheduled to be done with her as the woman took measurements of her head with fairly intricate instruments and then moved to feeling about her breasts and, making her lay forward, inserted something into her anus and after a few moments of doing other things, removed it.
Yais thoroughly hated all of this but while it was humiliating it, at least, hadn't hurt.
"Okay," The woman said. "We're ready, pet. Drink this."
She had a tin cup with some dark fluid in it. The fluid had an unpleasant chemical stink and Yais glanced up at the woman.
"Go ahead, love. Drink it down and we'll get started."
"It smells like poison," Yais said--she knew this was stupid--resistance was harshly punished--but she didn't want to drink the thick looking fluid and not knowing what was being done, she felt panic rising--
The assistant girl came forward. "We have a funnel and clamps to force your mouth open girl--"
The big woman held up a hand. "She's just scared. Go out and manage the girls--"
The assistant looked like she would much rather get the forced-drinking device but with a look from the big woman she slunk out, closing the door and leaving them alone.
"You're new to this?" the Alpothecary asked. Yais nodded.
"V-very, miss."
"Are they being beastly with you?" The woman asked--Yais was surprised to find that it seemed a real question.
"I--think--not--" she remembered being taken by Cais--and having told him she'd play "her part." Virona had been incredibly annoying but the woman had yet to really... do something horrible to her. "N-not too bad," she answered uncertainly.
"They can be rough until you acclimatize," the woman said. "The draught will make you sleepy and feel a bit warm. It tastes awful but the effects aren't bad."
"W-what comes after that?" Yais asked--still feeling panic crawl up and down her spine.
"Let me see--I will be applying magikins to strengthen your knees and back and neck--improve your flexibility and increase your hearing and sight and, erm, sense of smell."
She looked up into Yais' eyes. "The family is spending quite a lot of coin on you--you must be a 'rare' breed."
Yais stared back. The idea that this woman was going to work powerful magics on her was utterly beyond her frame of reference. She desperately wished Cias was here! The descriptions of those things were understandable but she felt certain there would be some drawback or risk or some other thing--maybe it would hurt? How did one" Strengthen a neck?"
"I don't understand," Yais said--and she was actually trembling. "W-why--I don't--"
The woman came forward. "Calm down pet--breathe deeply---"
Yais couldn't. "G-get Master Cais. I am his pet! Get him! Make sure he knows this is to be done to me! Miss--MISS--PLEASE PLEASE!! GET MASTER--"
She felt certain the woman was going to do something awful to her but she couldn't help it--she had moved back from the edge of the table and huddled against the wall.
The Alpothecary was looking slightly annoyed but she actually took a step back. "No yelling, pet--I'm not going to harm you."
She stepped over to the door and called for the assistant. Yais was certain she was in trouble but she heard Cias' name mentioned and then the Alpothecary came back.
"They're fetching your master, pet. It's not proper for you to sit like a household member but I think we can manage something." In one of the closets off the main room, the woman--moving dexterously despite her great size placed a cushion on the floor and laid a thick cloth over it like a sheet. "There you are pet. Wait for your master."
Yais, feeling both relief and an amorphous anger at this being done to her, settled down and lowered her head and took long ragged breaths.
Time had passed in the dark--the Alpothecary apparently doing things with other girls when she heard Cias' voice and she raised her head. The sense of relief she felt at hearing him close by was deeply annoying to her. He wasn't her friend or, really, her 'master,' she reminded herself, her internal voice speaking sternly. He was a terribly spoiled boy whose interest in her was the theft of an item. She had that skill. Then they would never see each other again.
But she couldn't deny the sense of pleasure when he opened the door--and the look on his face at least faked true concern. He knelt down. "Are you well, pet?" he asked, well aware the big woman was looming behind him.
She made herself nod--not able to speak as emotions warred and roiled in her.
He looked over his shoulder.
"A moment, Doktor Alpathocras. Let me see to her."
The woman nodded. "She's skittish."
Cais nodded and she moved back--the door was still open to let light in and he shifted sitting.
She suddenly felt like she would cry and she wasn't even sure what specifically it was about. She felt an overwhelming sense of embarrassment--whatever was being done here it clearly wasn't meant to injure her.
"I was unavoidably engaged with my elder sisters," Cais told her--his voice as close to an apology as she guessed he got. I thought to let you rest--I didn't realize Virona was waiting to pounce. I was told she was to be working with me."
He shook his head--apparently things had gotten well beyond his control.
"She knows," Yais said softly.her voice shook.
