“They? Meaning…?”
“The masters, of course!”
“Am I in some kind of brothel?” she murmured, hoping no one could see her lips moving.
“Basically,” the sprite replied. “If they want you badly enough, they’ll make you big again.”
“They shrunk a town for this?” she gasped, now really wanting to look around.
“Not exactly,” the girl sighed. It was then that Neena saw the eye in the sky.
She jumped to her feet in a panic, staring at the night sky above her. Suddenly, she could hear the sound of thunder in the background. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but she saw another eye, and another, and another.
“THERE she is!”
“Atta girl!”
“Wake up and shake it, honey!”
“…TOLD you she’d be up faster than the rest…pay up!”
Slowly, the realization dawned on her. The thunder hadn’t been rain coming, it was applause. The sky was no more than an illusion, painted onto a vaulted board and the town itself was nothing but dollhouses slapped together to resemble a real town. Even the ground beneath her had fake rocks and chunks of stone made of sawdust. Oh, gods, she thought, I’m in a peepshow!
“…like that little outfit she’s almost not wearing.”
“…grant MY wish right now…”
She glanced down quickly at her own clothes and almost screamed aloud when she saw the skimpy djinni outfit she had on. Concentrating hard, she tried to change the outfit, but felt a wave of pain that dropped her to her knees. The sprite who first talked to her ran over and helped her lean against the wall of the Saucy Sprite Inn. “Don’t try to change anything they give you, especially the outfit. It’s what keeps you from escaping Fairyland.”
“F-Fairyland?” she winced.
“Yeah, silly name, isn’t it? Only sprites in here, anyway. The fairies they keep human sized and working on the floor,” she replied. “It’s not so bad, though. I mean, it’s mostly just waling around looking pretty and trying not to draw too much attention to yourself. And the pleasure spells aren’t really bad at all…keeps you from thinking about being trapped.”
“What pleasure spells?”
“If someone pays enough, they cast a spell on the whole place that makes you feel like you’re mating with someone.” The sprite shrugged. “Our masters seem to like watching that. Sometimes they’ll spend the money to take you out and watch you while you’re under the spell. I don’t know why.”
Of COURSE they would, Neena thought frantically. A chick with a body like hers losing all control and writhing about in the palm of your hand? It’d be the ultimate power trip for these guys! This sprite probably though nothing of it, but Neena had lived around humans long enough to know what humiliation of the opposite sex was. “I REALLY gotta get outta here!” she said, looking around her for any sort of way out.
“You can’t,” the sprite sighed. “We’ve all tried. If you fly up near the top, the pain makes you have to come down. If you try to take off the outfit, you feel pain. If you try any magic at all, it’s just more pain. Nothing works. You might as well just make the best of it until you turn to crystal from being trapped here so long. Of course, if you REALLY please the masters, you’ll be out enough that you won’t have to worry about that trapped feeling. I’ve known some sprites that lasted a whole month before they turned!”
The prospect of having only a month to live, coupled with the outfit, the exhaustion and the general sense of helplessness worked Neena into a frenzy. No longer concerned about what the eyes above her saw, she jumped up and ran down the street as fast as she could. She tried for a moment to fly, but the magic it took brought her crashing to the ground amidst giant laughter. She leapt up again and continued to run, only stopping when she reached the wall that was the edge of her prison. From here, she could look up and see where the lid of this enormous diorama met the sides, effectively sealing her in. She pounded on the wall with a furious yelp, then glared up at the eyes watching her. “When I get out of here, you’re ALL gonna PAY for this!”
The threat seemed to stir a frenzy in the eyes, which suddenly backed away from the holes. This satisfied her immensely. At least they knew who they were dealing with. But as she listened to the voices, she realized she was far from a threat.
“I’ll pay 25 gold?”
“I’ve got 30!”
“46 here!”
“At least 100 with the spell, gentleman.”
“We could share her…got just enough…”
They were going to buy time with her!, she thought in horror. Suddenly, she understood why the sprite had mentioned not drawing too much attention to yourself. She heard the lid being removed and looked around her, trying to find a place to hide. The building nearest her had a door ajar, so she bolted inside, gratified to see a solid ceiling instead of the open air above her. She hunkered in the corner of the room, waiting. There was no way a hand their size would fit in that doorway.
Another grating sound and the ceiling above her flew away, revealing the face of Orinel and 3 other men. “There she is!” Orinel grinned, reaching down for her. “Come on, little one.” She made a frantic bolt for the door, but was blocked by his hand. As she turned to avoid it, his other hand came down and both closed around her. She yelled as she felt magic suddenly coursing through her, then felt his hand lift her up. She felt dizzy, trying to focus on the three large faces peering down at her and trying to fight off the effects of the spell cast on her. “Just give her a few minutes, gentleman and she’ll…ah, there she goes.”
As he spoke, Neena’s dizziness started to clear and she could see the three men in front of her. She smiled hesitantly, feeling a gentle tingle that spread down her back and into every part of her. She gave herself a little hug, then giggled as the feeling grew stronger with her own touch. This was WONDERFUL! Experimentally, she rubbed a hand down her leg and thrilled at the sensations it sent up her spine. If her leg would do that, what about the rest of her?
Her last coherent thought, as she ran a hand across her own chest, was of how much the little sprite below her must be missing. What could be more delightful than a moment of pure pleasure…?
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