Zagreus and Rezu made their way up towards his workshop. Rezu talked about places he had visited and people he had known. It was interesting but Zagreus felt a growing tension in the air. Just as they turned down the hall towards his workshop Rezu stopped and took a deep breath.

Rezu said. “You look stressed and frustrated. All of this has really got to you hasn’t it.”

“In every way possible.”

“Yea. Well. I will be in my shop working on your wedding dress when you are done.”

“Done?”

Rezu nodded. “I have some good news, and some bad news. The good news is, you are going to get to release a lot of that frustration. The bad news is, you broke the second rule with that strangle comment yesterday.”

“What second rule?”

“Never threaten Karimere Lifeshaper with a good time.”

Rezu reappeared down the hall, with a flash of cyan arcane. He walked into his tailor workshop.

The walls, ceiling and floor turned into a mosaic of ominously glowing purple runes. A thin trail of safety led down the hall. He groaned and followed the overly dramatic summons. He reached Karimere’s door. It opened. He went inside and… he saw twins. A solid gold statue and a flesh colored duplicate in the exact same pose and state of undress.

The flesh one spoke. “I have waited for so long for this Eleventh. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am for you to finally be in my room.”

“You look different. Did you do something with your hair?” He said.

“Always such a gentleman. I will have to break you of that habit.” Karimere said. “Do you like my big girl form?”

“I thought you didn’t want to use me like this.”

“Things are different. Before, you were fragile, you could be broken.” She stepped to him and ran one hand around the back of his neck the other into his shorts.

He stood still and tried to ignore the attention.

“But now.” She gasped as she teased. “Now, you have your betrothed to bolster your strength. You will endure the humiliation, the punishment, for her. You will bare your burden and come out stronger.”

“Betrothed? I had no idea she would take it that way.”

Karimere smirked, squeezed and pressed her delightful flesh against him while whispering in his ear. “I know you Zagreus Shadowbane. You will marry her. You will volunteer. You will demand it. You will, beg, for it. Because that, is who you are. Within a six-day you will be bred and wed. Do I lie?”

He could not remember her ever using his name. But he needed to focus. There were too many games, too many pieces. Cinder, Karimere, Lilithana, Jade, Gwenyr. He wasn’t managing to keep up with one, much less all of them. He shook his head. Karimere seemed so sure about what she was saying. But how? No. No. No. He could worry about that later. He had a more immediate problem. His body and half his brain were completely agreeing with the nimble fingers that were manipulating him. He needed to regain control. “Why have you summoned me?”

“That should be obvious. I expect you to make good on your threat. I will be thoroughly disappointed if you prove to be limp and useless.”

“You want me to strangle you to death?”

“I expect you to fuck me, while you try. Hurt me. Don’t hold back. I won’t.”

“Really?”

She stepped back and with a flourish and a flash she was now wearing a copy of the peach and white, pleated, frilly dress that Rezu had been wearing the day before. “Do I look good in it?”

Karimere was beautiful in the most terror inducing ways. The dress looked completely adorable on her. This was breaking some fundamental law of nature. He stared.

She bent over, presenting her rear as a target. “I heard you yesterday. I know you had thoughts of doing things to my ass in this dress. Here it is. Come on…and in.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

She straightened up with a demanding posture. “No. This is all you have time for. This is part of your and Cinder’s punishments. I am allowing Lilithana and Jade to have their fun. I think it will be the most effective solution. But I will not be denied. You will do what I want or I will proceed to torture the four of you until I am thoroughly bored.”

“Four?”

“Lilithana allowed Cinder to get this far gone. Jade took great liberties with a simple order and started this whole game. You and Cinder are obvious.”

He groaned and rubbed his forehead.

A tiny silver tray spawned in her hand with a cube of chocolate on it. “After sleeping nude with a goddess you must be so… frustrated. I know what you need. I have what you need. I just ask you give me what I need in return.”

He glared at the nightmare. Strangling her would be fucking therapeutic.

“I will grant you a god favor in exchange.”

He raised an eyebrow. “A god favor? Can I stop this whole game?”

“No, child.” She smirked and shook her head. “I will not allow you to stop this. But there are certain, unfortunate outcomes that I feel are quite likely. A god favor could allow Cinder an opportunity, to avoid the worst consequences. You would be wise to take my offer. And if you don’t need it now, you can save it for later. Rezu has a god favor owed to him. Cinder has none. She is defenseless.”

For Cinder. All other considerations vanished. His doubts and reservations were meaningless. He was going to do whatever he needed to help Cinder. He knew Cinder wouldn’t like this but that was half the point of Karimere forcing him to do it. The other half was Karimere was sociopathic masochist of the highest order. He reached for the chocolate.

She pulled it back. “If you tell Cinder about the god favor it will be void. And there is one more condition.”

“What now?”

“I think you have been saturated with this punishment nonsense for too long to get properly angry. I think you need something new…or old.” She gave her most devious grin and spawned a collar on the tray as well. It was purple leather, with a gold plate and the name Kitten etched on it. “You will put this on me and call me Kitten while in my room. This will fuel your anger, and your lust. And they will feed each other. Exactly what I want.”

He growled at her. A real, throaty, shadowcat growl.

“Oh Zaggy you are scaring me.” She said in Jade’s voice and squirmed in dramatic terror. “What are you going to do to me? Please don’t hurt me.”

He stood in stunned silence.

In her normal voice, “I have projectors in here. I can make an illusion for the full effect. I have full body scans of her.” Karimere held the tray up for him. “Say the name and the deal is good.”

For Cinder. His thoughts repeated. ‘Dense as a black hole.’ Yes I am. He ate the chocolate and put the collar on her neck. “I’m about to break your ass Kitten.”

“Do your worst.” She tossed the tray.

He grabbed her throat and drove her into a wall. He squeezed and pressed with all of his weight. She clawed and kicked. This was not playful, she meant for him to earn that god favor.

Mecromancers are damned hard to kill. They can store oxygen and food and medicine inside their mecromails allowing them to function when anyone else would be long dead. Unless you plan on burying them to where they can’t breathe, for some extended period, it’s almost impossible to strangle a Mecromancer.

He set a link with her and sent a full body sensory hit. Seering, hot, pain. She screamed and writhed and flailed wildly. He could feel an echo of the pain but he could keep that effect dulled. He sweated and strained. Her convulsions got stronger as her sounds got deeper. When he couldn’t keep it going any longer he let her slide down to the floor. He leaned against the wall, soaked and breathing heavy.

“You…you…you…bastard.” She gasped up at him, her body still twitching.

“The safe word is ‘two god favors’.”

“If you force me to use a safe word, I will give you three god favors.” She sat up, her crumpled dress sticking to her skin. “Marry me.”

“What?”

“Marry me. Collar me. Own me. I don’t care. Just do that to me whenever you want. That power is…” She shuddered.

“I thought I was supposed to marry Cinder.”

“I’ll marry her too, and Jade, and Lili, I don’t care. Oh damn. Why did I wait so long to do this?”

“Are you ok?”

“Best. Foreplay. Ever.”

“Foreplay?”

“Oh yes Zaggy.” She said in Jade’s voice. “You’re not leaving until you can get away without me stopping you.” She launched from the floor and was wrapped around him. His clothes were fragments and memories in a moment. She latched herself tight to his chest and whispered in his ear. “Zaggy, please make me purr.”

His emotions were in knots. He wanted to destroy Karimere. His body agreed. It wanted to destroy specific parts, in specific ways. He spun and fell down on the bed with her under him.

She clawed and fought as he tried to control the writing mass of limbs and cloth.

He wore several new scratches as little marks of crimson stained her, now thoroughly ruined, dress. “Stop!”

She growled and hissed and took a swipe at his face that he barely dodged.

“Kitten! Stop!”

She stopped resisting, and started rubbing and writhing slowly. In Jade’s voice, “Sorry Zaggy. I got all excited. I was bad. I guess you will have to punish me. Are you going to put me in loud time?”

“Do you really have to do the voice?”

She hissed and dug her fingers in his back.

“Kitten.” He grit his teeth. “Do you really have to do the voice, Kitten?”

“I like the faces you make Zaggy. They make my soft parts tingle. Are you going to make me a woman now? Are you going to violate me? Are you going to break my ass?”

He had a sudden urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all. He didn’t know how Karimere would respond. He didn’t think she would care as long as she got what she wanted. “Take off that dress… Kitten.”

“I’m sorry Zaggy.” She squirmed. “It won’t come off. I need your big, strong, paws.”

He grabbed the cloth between her breasts and snatched. Delightful tearing noises were accompanied by delightful Jade noises. A few more times of grab and snatch and Karimere was left in the remains of her torn peach stockings and one of those white arm-sleeve things.

She lay limp, looking delicate, vulnerable, delicious. Terrifyingly beautiful.

If it had just been him and her at the lab, he could easily see him enjoying being her plaything. But this was a deal.

She stared up at him. In her own voice, she longingly said. “I’ve wanted this since the day I first saw you, Zagreus Shadowbane. You are a magnificent specimen.”

For a moment he wanted to tenderly kiss and lick every part of her delicate form. But he knew what he had to do here. He pushed her ankles up to her shoulders and pinned her limbs down while he kissed her deeply. He drove himself into her less-than-delicate flesh, quickly, thoroughly, roughly, all business.

She strained and fought as he penetrated her but it was to no avail. He had her pinned completely.

He released the kiss, “I told you I was going to destroy your ass Kitten.”

She gasped up at him. “Best. Foreplay. Ever.”

Hours later, he staggered to the door. It opened as he leaned against the frame.

Jade was there, the real one. “Are you ok?” She said.

“You should see the other guy.”

“I did… I’ve been watching. If I didn’t have orders, I would have stopped you a dozen times. You were scary.”

“I earned a god favor. I did what was necessary.”

Jade caught him as everything went dark.