I took another sip of the tea, and blinked drowsily. This room was so cute and cozy…

  Mi came around the couch and I gnced up guiltily. Had I overstayed my welcome?

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” I said shyly. “Thank you.”

  “I’m just gd you’re safe, Ellie.” She sat down next to me, and hesitated. “Look, I don’t want to compel you, but I need your silence, and I need to know that you understand what that means.”

  I nodded quickly. “I won’t mention you to anyone, or even let slip that we’ve met.”

  Mi’s beautiful, dark eyes, watching me.

  “Or Roxa,” I added hurriedly.

  “It’s also very important that you aren’t seen coming and going from our room.”

  My heart sank. I had been hoping that Mi would want me to visit again.

  “For your own protection. Our enemies might target you if they think we have a connection.” Mi frowned. “I’ll have to tell you more about that soon, and we can assess risk and talk about silence more clearly then. But for now, keep this all entirely secret.”

  “I will, I promise.” I looked down. “And I’ll stay away from this hallway.”

  Mi snorted. “I said don’t be seen, not that I don’t want you to come back.”

  A pleasant fsh of heat shivered through me. She wanted me to come back? I looked up hopefully, and she raised her eyebrows. “If you want to. You seem to have tucked yourself away quite safely here, and being friends with us is risky. Maybe more risky than the protection we can offer is worth.”

  “I want to be friends,” I blurted. “With you.” My cheeks heated.

  Mi smiled. “Good. I want you come back tomorrow. Whenever you can spare at least an hour—and don’t worry about waking us, if it’s te. If we don’t hear from you, I’ll assume something has gone awry and I’ll have Roxa dowse you.”

  “Okay,” I acquiesced, a little breathily. I was beginning to suspect that I liked being told what to do by pretty girls.

  Mi’s eyes lingered on me. “Roxa was right about you, huh?”

  I looked back at her, puzzled for a moment. What had Roxa said about me? My mind fshed back to when she’d first floated me in, all trussed up. For some reason I don’t think she hates it. My eyes widened and I blushed furiously, hyper-aware of the warmth pulsing between my thighs. I felt like a deer caught abruptly out in the open.

  The corner of Mi’s mouth curved. “The other thing I want is a few of those bck dresses and aprons and headscarves. And make sure at least one of them is tall enough for Roxa, got it?”

  I nodded softly. There was a melty heat draped over all my thinking. Was she bossing me around a little? If so, it felt…way too good.

  Mi reached out and patted me on the head a few times. I felt my pussy clench at her touch. “If you do well, I’ll give you some more orders to follow.”

  I stared at her, open-mouthed, my face burning. She grinned back cheekily.

  “’kay,” I choked. I twitched a little as heat lightning sheeted along my inner thighs.

  “Do you like this, Ellie?” Mi said softly.

  “Y-yess,” I whispered. If my face got any hotter, I was sure I would faint.

  “Good, because I like it too.” Mi smirked and a tiny pant escaped me. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”

  A warm glow was suffusing my insides. I stared into the dark pools of her eyes, my lips slightly parted, feeling entranced. This was sooo nice.

  “In fact, I’m sure I could tease you all day and never get bored. You look so pretty with your face all red like this.”

  A wave of lusty euphoria pulsed through me. Mi watched it happen—I could see her watch it unfurl through my eyes. It was the safest, hottest, most intimate thing I’d ever experienced. I shook involuntarily and Mi’s lips curved a little more.

  “Say thank you,” she said softly.

  I squeezed my legs together. “Thank you,” I choked.

  Mi grinned. “Good girl.”

  I exhaled tremulously, unable to look away from her open, clear, dark gaze. How did she know? It was like she could read me better than I could, as if she knew exactly what to say and how.

  Mi winked at me and stood. “Well, I need to study and you’ve got to clean, so.” She stretched. “Take all the time you need to finish your tea, though. Come back tomorrow, all right?”

  I nodded and hurriedly slurped my cold tea, trying to blink away the melty daze overying my mind. I thanked Mi again, blushing furiously, and then stumbled out into the corridor.

  ~ ~ ~

  Curled on the cot in my little stone cell, I stared at the low ceiling, feeling well-fed and sleepy. Jaques had beckoned me into the crowded office at shift change, and charged me with filling bowls of stew from a cart and pouring cups of strong, sweet, milky tea for everyone as staff bustled around, chatting, ughing and clocking in and out. And though I’d been wide-eyed and sweaty-palmed at first, I had done it—I had passed again, and also cemented my reputation as the shy new girl.

  Roz had tried to engage me in conversation but quickly found me too quiet for her tastes and lost interest. I’d finally rexed when it was clear that the old-timers had started talking over my head. I was used to being invisible, to having attention slide off me.

  I wrapped my arms around myself and squeezed. I had nded safely, and the ground beneath my feet even felt somewhat stable. Most importantly, I got to be a girl. Aralia had come through for me in a big way. Another buoyant rush of euphoria filled me. I was so lucky.

  And I had met Mi, and Roxa…

  A strange mix of emotions swirled inside me. There were...how many people, now, who held this power over me? It was getting more than slightly worrisome. Only a few weeks ago, I had been vulnerable to no one—not like this, at least.

  Of course, a few weeks ago, I had also been far more alone.

  I sighed happily, thinking of Mi’s warm, dark, clear gaze, locked on mine. It was admittedly hard to muster any wariness towards her. The unsolicited friendship she had offered me still glowed softly inside me, like a powerful charm.

  And she had called me pretty. That was another glowing ember lodged inside me, one that I’d taken out over and over today to marvel at. I couldn’t stop thinking about the utterly delicious and euphoric way she had teased me.

  I felt so bolstered by Mi, but a seed of guilt starting to grow in me for lying to her. Had it been a mistake for me to omit any mention of Aralia? What if Mi found out? Would she be disgusted with me? I bit my lip.

  Should I have risked everything, and revealed Aralia’s hold over me? I suddenly thought of Aralia, making me swear to keep her involvement secret. I wondered what she might do to me, if I hadn’t and then she found out. I was suddenly relieved my lie about acting alone seemed to have passed scrutiny.

  No, I had to remember the bones of the situation. Aralia, and now Mi and Roxa too, held all the cards. All of them could do whatever they wanted to me without repercussion. The only protection I had from them y in the fact that they didn’t seem to know about each other. Yet.

  If this apparently stable ground beneath me abruptly colpsed, I might still have some leverage—so long as I could turn to one secret ally if the other threatened to betray me.

  At least for now, I had to keep them in the dark about each other. Even though Mi had been so unexpectedly kind, I still didn’t know almost anything about her. Wouldn’t it be hopelessly naive of me to trust her so quickly?

  And yet, what reason would Roxa and Mi have for hiding their intention from me, if they meant to use me for their own ends? They didn’t need to be kind to me, not with how much power they held over me.

  What would they do, if they knew Aralia had such a strong hold over me? I shivered. Even if they were grateful to me for being honest, surely they would distance themselves from me. I was too compromised to be worth the risk. And if I didn’t tell them and they found out ter? Same result.

  My heart sank. What could I do?

  The idea of Mi’s friendship abruptly evaporating—I swallowed, my throat aching with armed aloneness. I desperately didn’t want to drive her away, but the tangle of promises I had started making in order to survive was already tightening into a trap.

  I was already feeling caught up by contradictions. If two loyalties conflicted, how was I supposed to know which one to honor and which one to break? Would I simply choose whichever side seemed most likely to save my skin?

  The mystery of Aralia was that all the power she held over me depended on her willingness to betray me, and she had gone out of her way to assure me that she wouldn’t. Her leverage over me was effectively null if she was unwilling to turn me in. Still, I was reluctant to defy her. If there was even a slight chance that she could protect me if I were discovered, I had to keep her as an ally. And I did feel genuinely grateful to her for helping me.

  I chewed my lip. The kindness that Mi had shown me also felt precious, like something I wanted to defend and protect. But was I willing to throw away all that Aralia could do for me, just to keep my promise to Mi? That seemed a little dramatic—what did Mi even have to worry about, compared to me? It was just too soon to know anything...

  I drifted asleep with the memory of her dark-warm gaze catching me, again and again.

  ChaoticArmcandy