“Enid! Ayika!” Motley bounded up the stairs three at the time, bodily yanking herself up by the railing where her legs failed her. Her frilled white apron billowed behind her and threatened to trip her up, and her hairband was slipping, risking allowing her dark curls to spill into her face and block her vision. “Wait ’til you hear the news!”

On the final step, her foot misplaced itself. Motley squeaked, falling back, arms flailing wildly to recapture the rail—

A hand shot out and grabbed her by the collar of her dress. She hung there in place, suspended at the top of a very long flight of stairs.

Enid, her fellow maid, smirked down at her. “Mind your footing, Motley. These stairs are unfriendly to fools’ feet.”

“Verily. Right.” Motley nodded, flushing pink. “Thank you for the rescue, Enid!”

Her fellow maid raised an eyebrow. Her steely gray eyes looked Motley up and down, as if searching for cracks in a piece of pawnshop porcelain.

Motley squirmed a little under that gaze. Enid had a very intense stare, and she had the kind of pretty face that would make Motley blush even under normal circumstances—even if Motley didn’t know exactly what the fiery-haired flirt was capable of. “So, ah, are you… going to help me up?”

Enid’s lips quirked.

“Yes, help her up, Enid.” A sigh heralded the arrival of Enid’s partner, Ayika, a taller maid with deep dark eyes and plump dark lips that rarely parted wide. Ayika tossed her long black hair out of her face—Motley couldn’t help but admire how it rippled and shimmered in the light—and gave Motley a cool smile. “We mustn’t let her Ladyship’s newest hire get damaged, now, must we?”

Enid sniffed, then pulled Motley up the rest of the way. Though about as short as Motley, she had a plumper build, with curvy hips that Motley supposed no doubt offered a fine counterweight to Motley’s waifish figure. Motley tried not to fixate on things like that at the moment.

Motley stumbled as she returned to solid ground, giggling nervously. “Ah—thank you, Enid. And thank you, Ayika!” She reached up to straighten her frilly white hairband, trying not to shrink under the gazes of her two fellow maids—her coworkers only for the duration of their mistress’s visit, but that visit kept extending longer and longer, it seemed. “I owe you both!”

“Yes.” Enid smiled. “Now, what was it you were so eager to tell us?”

“Ah! Yes!” Motley beamed, remembering herself, and raced off down the hall towards a large picture window. Skidding to a stop, she could scarcely keep from bouncing on her heels as she pointed outside. “Look! Look! To the south, to the south!”

The other two maids followed her and gazed out over the estate. The castle of Lady Wellmint, her mistress and Enid’s and Ayika’s temporary hostess, stood atop one of the tallest foothills on the eastern edge of the Rose Valley, and in all directions but east, its towers were gifted with a generous view of the whole realm. “You see that plume of dust, on the lakebound road out there!”

Enid craned her neck. “Yes?”

Motley beamed. “Well, I know whose it is! For you must have heard that the Prince of Wellseek County embarked a fortnight ago to the lake of Miss Bell, the drifting handmaiden?”

“Right, certainly.” Enid nodded. “For the royal test.”

“Every noble with any remote claim to the Throne will try it at least once.” Ayika giggled. “Although some do not return from that jellymaid’s special charms, she is said to be one of the strongest tests of a Prince or Princess’s legitimacy.”

“Verily!” Giddiness swelled in Motley’s chest. She only vaguely registered that Enid and Ayika were moving to encircle her, trapping her between them and the wide window. “Well, I have just heard that not only does he return with his will intact—” She clapped her hands with glee. “—but with a vote of full confidence from the fae creature herself!”

“Ah, so our little Motley knows something about the Rose Valley after all.” Enid’s eyes crinkled slightly as she reached forward to adjust Motley’s hairband. Motley didn’t think to flinch. “But this isn’t the first time someone has passed Miss Bell’s little test.”

Motley blinked rapidly. “It’s… not?” Enid’s hand was not leaving her head, and the soft, familiar touch was making it a little hard to focus.

“Claimants come and go.” Ayika smirked. “It’s rare, but not unheard of. No mistake, this is a real step forward…” She took a step forward, and Motley started to register how close the pair were getting. “… but it’s hardly proof enough.”

“But—” Motley bit her lip. It was a cold autumn morning, and she could feel the heat radiating from the two bodies pressing in around her. “But the Prince surely has one of the best claims of any so far!” She wrung her palms. “With his bloodline, and his support—not to mention how beloved he is by his people! Everyone speaks of his great kindness, don’t they?”

Enid laughed. The back of her hand touched Motley’s cheek, like a master offering his hand for his hound to sniff. Motley did flinch, now, but there was nowhere left to retreat to. She ducked her head, begging her heart to quit its fluttering. She reminded herself that Enid and Ayika always loved to touch her like this, and it didn’t always mean… it didn’t always mean there was anything to worry about.

“Kindness can only take one so far.” Enid’s voice rose to a high-pitched breathy squeak, seemingly mocking Motley’s formal tone. “Especially within the great Valley! Or do you, so new to our lands, verily forget what befell the last legitimate ruler?”

“That was… many, many years ago, Enid.” Rallying her courage, Motley lifted her head and smiled defiantly. “And Wellseek has grown prosperous from the Prince’s reforms, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, and made plenty of enemies among the newly landless landlords. But…” Ayika reached down and casually ran her fingers down Motley’s side. Shivers spiderwebbed out from where her fingers touched Motley’s skin. “The claim is strong. We’re not saying it isn’t. A little more politicking, a few great feats, and this claimant could well take the throne.”

“Then—” Motley’s heart leaped. “Then you agree that the Prince may soon reunite the Rose Valley under one banner!”

There was a short silence. Ayika’s hand crept further back, and Motley’s back arched with a tiny shudder, instinctively trying to escape.

“Something like that.” Enid shrugged, tucking a lock of coppery red hair behind her ear. “But you show how behind the news you are, you little fool. Have you not heard the word?”

Motley blinked. “What word, Enid?”

“Word that the Prince is no longer that at all.” Ayika patted Motley’s rear, nearly making Motley squeak. Then, to Motley’s relief, her hand dropped away. “She wishes to be called Lily now.”

“Oh!” Motley’s smile returned even brighter than before as her spirit leapt in joy. “A Princess, then! A beautiful Princess—and soon, verily, a Queen—to rule over the whole great Valley! Oh, how grand!”

Ayika gave her a sly closed-mouth smile. “Nothing fazes you, does it, Motley?”

“Verily!”

Enid and Ayika exchanged knowing looks once again. Motley felt her cheeks heating slightly. She knew they loved to see her scared, to see her squirm, but she refused to give them the pleasure. Would that these two would stop smirking long enough to deliver a straight answer for once.

“Well, not a Princess yet, I fear.” Ayika’s dark eyes glimmered as she looked over Motley’s shoulder toward the south. “This transition has set Lady Lily’s claim back a little. The Rose Valley nobility have rules for these things, you see!”

“Rules?” Motley cocked her head. “Why would there need to be rules?”“

Enid rolled her eyes. “Oh, naive Motley.” She folded her arms—Motley tried not to notice how they pushed up her ample chest, but she knew Enid wanted her to look—and regarded Motley with a sly grin. “You’re far away indeed from your little peasant village.”

Motley needed a moment to process the insult. She felt something catch in her throat.

But…

“Well! Little surprise is it to me that you two should wish to be so skeptical.” Motley tossed her hair back with a little giggle. “All know of Princess Lily’s dearth of patience for the amorous cruelty of the Rose Valley’s nobility. And that of their houses. Such as—such as their maids. And when those little rules have been fulfilled, and her claim is completed, and she is crowned, many things around here are going to change.”

She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward with a brazen smirk. “And you two will have to start being a little nicer to me.”

At that, she had the immense satisfaction of seeing Enid’s and Ayika’s smiles briefly falter. Enid blanched. She thrilled inside at the sight. For once, she was the one making these two squirm, and it served them right!

Then she saw a hardening in Enid’s eyes. She noticed Ayika’s posture straightening slightly. They exchanged looks again.

Motley’s heartbeat quickened. The little maid wondered if she’d gone too far.

Enid’s tongue flicked out to lick her lips, as if tasting the air.

“Oh, Motley.” Ayika gave a soft little laugh and took a step closer. “It’s so adorable seeing you so excited about something that’s never going to happen.”

“I.” Motley’s eyes darted rapidly between the pair. “Um.”

“As if we could be any nicer to you,” Enid sang, advancing on her, “than we are now! Since we’re so nice to you.”

She started reaching into her pocket. Motley’s eyes followed that hand. Oh. Oh, no.

“Poor ‘Princess Lily’,” Ayika purred, her hand slipping back behind Motley’s rear, “has a long and difficult road ahead of her.”

“I-I don’t see how…” Motley squeaked as Ayika gave her ass a light swat. She struggled to keep her focus. “H-How it can be harder than—than w-what she’s already faced.”

Ayika’s hand rose up to start lightly stroking Motley’s hair. Motley’s eyelids fluttered as she felt herself instinctively relaxing despite herself. Ayika’s touch was so tender, so familiar, so soothing, as the fingers slowly entwined in her curly black locks and—

Motley squealed as Ayika yanked her head back to face the ceiling, baring her neck to the pair. Her breathing became panicky and ragged; she squirmed uselessly, whimpering at the feel of Enid’s lips drawing near her cheek…

“Women like Lily,” Enid whispered in her ear, “are… special.”

“Delicate,” Ayika added, her eyes never leaving Motley’s. She smiled down at her. Motley’s lower lip quivered.

“Vulnerable,” Enid agreed sweetly. Her hot breath tickled Motley’s cheek. “At least in the eyes of the nobility!”

Motley wiggled and keened as Ayika’s free hand trailed down her neck, the sharpness of her nails sending tingles of frightened pleasure through Motley’s suddenly captive body, “S-Stop it,” she whined, but she knew this would only encourage them, she needed to not react, she needed to take control of herself before—before they did—

“They have so much to learn in such little time!” Ayika cooed, reaching down to hike up Motley’s skirt and greedily grope her sensitive thigh. Motley’s chest shook with barely-contained moans. “And their confidence, their self-control, their dominance… all of it is now in question.”

“B-But that’s not—” Motley gasped hoarsely as Ayika gave her ass another swat with the back of the hand, her eyes nearly tearing up with the effort of not crying out. “—f-fair! She—but she’s still—”

“Her body, transforming. Her self-image, fragile.” Ayika leaned in close. Her lips brushed Motley’s ear. She nipped Motley’s neck, left so exposed by Motley’s position. “People can’t help but think of noblewomen like that as… easy. Open-minded. Inexperienced.“

“Victims.” Enid drew back to meet Motley’s eyes. Her own sparkled with malice that took Motley’s breath away. “Who have yet to earn any respect alongside their names.” She reached forward and pinched Motley’s nipple through her shirt, forcing out a squeal of pain before Motley could think to hold it in. Motley trembled, blushing hot. “Submissive sluts captivated by the unknown desires of their new bodies, their newly sensitive breasts… their weak, neglected girlcocks~”

“N-No,” Motley whimpered. The lewd language was bad enough, and the groping and pinching and petting was already too much to bear, but—but bringing up the Princess’s pretty little—

Her cheeks heated up even more at the thought, because that wasn’t fair, they didn’t even know how her heart had fluttered the second she’d heard Lily’s new name, she couldn’t bear to think about—about Princess Lily in such a coarse, wanton way—

They were barely holding in their laughter. Enid was grinning. Motley squeezed her eyes shut, trembling—oh, they knew, they already knew— “S-Stop it,” she whispered. “The—the Mistress will—I’ll—!”

“Oh, the Mistress?” Ayika laughed softly and groped up Motley’s thigh. She gave Motley’s neck a little lick. “Did I hear you say you want the Mistress?”

Motley felt her chest contract. Her heart started to pound. “I—I’ll—”

“You’ll what? Scream? Beg?” Enid’s eyes gleamed. “Well, if you want the Mistress so badly…”

The hand in her pocket stirred… and drew out a long, curved glittering silver bell.

The second Motley saw the bell, it was like her world slammed into a funnel. Everything stopped, and then everything reordered, squished, shrank.

Suddenly, all she could think about was the tender way Enid’s slender fingers caressed the bell’s handle. The pretty way light bounced and warped and refracted off of the silver bell’s shining surface. The wonderful sound she knew the bell would produce.

And the certainty burning through her mind that letting these two maids keep groping her suddenly didn’t sound so bad if only they would please, please put the bell away.

“N-No,” she whispered. She shook her head desperately, feeling the floor starting to drop away beneath her. “No! No, please, I-I only meant if—if the Mistress knew—”

“Oh?” Enid’s grin widened. Her eyes were taking on a hungry, predatory gleam. “And will you tell her, little slut?”

Motley whimpered. Ayika’s grip on her hair still forced her to stare up at the ceiling, but now the bell was rising up above her…

“Will you tell her,” Ayika whispered in her ear, “what you have let her rival’s own maids do to your pretty body…” Her fingers ran through Motley’s hair, and she kissed Motley on the cheek. “… and weak, obedient little heart?”

Motley’s breath was shaking. She hesitated, trembling, trying to think straight, but Ayika’s lips were kissing down her neck, her hand was pulling down a stocking to grope her bare thigh… Enid was slowly raising the bell directly over her head, her free hand settling on Motley’s breast and giving a shameless squeeze…

The two senior maids giggled.

“Well, then,” Ayika cooed in her ear, “I suppose we have no choice!”

Motley’s heart was thudding dully in her chest. “W-Wh—wait—”

“We’ll just have to hypnotize you again, won’t we?” Enid batted her eyelashes. “For our own safety.”

“S-Stop—p-please, I’m sorry, I’ll…” Motley felt like she was speaking through a mouthful of syrup, and the more frantically she tried to form words, the more jumbled and babbly they became. Her gaze was already helplessly captivated by the bell. She watched Enid slowly removing the cotton used to dampen its song. “I-I’ll be… g-good…” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Aww. We know you will, little Motley!” Enid giggled. The malice in her eyes only seemed to glitter brighter at Motley’s pleas, and Motley remembered too late that this was always the result. “We know how you looove your pretty bell.”

Motley stared up at the bell, world swaying slowly with it. Her lips half-parted. “O-Oh… I… n-no…”

“You’re going to be sooo good for us,” Ayika murmured, planting a long, wet kiss on the crook of Motley’s neck. “Because we’re going to break your cute little silly brain and melt it back down into pathetic, adoring mush like it belongs~”

Panic overrode everything else in Motley’s heart. With a surge of desperate strength, she yanked her hair free of Ayika’s grip and ducked her head to stare determinedly at the floor. She watched her skirt ripple as Ayika groped her ass, whimpered, squirmed at the violating, ][rapacious][ touch…

Enid’s hand lunged out to grasp her throat. Motley’s breath stopped as she felt her chin being tipped back up.

Enid beamed with sugar-glazed contempt as she dangled the bell in front of Motley’s eyes. “Mistress is calling, little maid~”

And as the bell swung to the left, Motley’s whole world followed along for the ride, and she braced for the impact.

And as the bell swung to the right, its swinging clapper struck the far side. A delicate, resonant chime rang through the hall.

Motley’s knees wobbled.

Just one chime, and she felt the words spilling from her lips by pure trained reflex.

“Yes, Mistress!” she cooed.

Shame and panic burned through her at the sound of her own voice. Her stomach churned, her breath caught, she longed desperately to hide behind her hands. But her eyes remained captivated, and she found a dumb little smile creeping across her face.

The bell swung to the left. Chime. “Good little maid!”

Pleasure filled Motley’s hopeless heart. She wriggled as Ayika’s hand started to creep around to the front, but she couldn’t pull away—not when Mistress was talking to her—

“E-Enid…” she managed, her voice a high-pitched whine. “A-Ayika, um—”

“Aw. Silly, stupid girl~”

Enid’s fingers tightened around Motley’s throat. Her hand helped Motley’s head to turn, following the bell’s nice, steady…

Chime.

Chime.

Chime.

“You call us Mistress, remember?” Ayika whispered in her ear, giving her another little kiss. “Like a good little maid should!”

She gave Motley’s ass a firm swat.

“M-Mistress!” Motley squealed, her voice choked and frail by the hand around her throat. “P-Please, I—I’m sorry, I was—”

“Being a pathetic little brat?”

Motley blushed. She nodded weakly, as much as Enid’s hand would allow, and watched the bell in hopeless devotion. She was starting to feel lightheaded, and the grip around her neck hurt, but she didn’t dare tell Enid that.

It would just make Enid want to do it more. To leave her neck decorated with a collar of pretty bruises.

And besides, she thought dizzily, lost in the bell’s glittering reflection of her glazed-over eyes… Mistress would never hurt her more than she needed to be hurt, would she?

As the pair laughed at her, Motley swayed slowly in time, lost in the bell’s curving motions. Every chime sent ripples of submission through her weak, broken body. She writhed as Ayika’s hand slipped further down still, stroking right through her underwear. Oh, gods, she was so wet… “P-Please—I—”

“What’s the matter, little maid?” Enid smiled sweetly. “Didn’t you want to tell your Mistresses about Princess Lily’s triumph?”

“A-Ah—” Motley was almost drooling, grinding hopelessly against Ayika’s hand. Her Mistresses’ touches felt so nice, and her own words felt so much sillier and less important than theirs…

Ayika giggled. Her finger slowly swirled around Motley’s womanhood. “Keep talking, sweetie~”

Chime.

Motley swallowed, or tried to. The pounding of her heart was getting louder, but its rhythm seemed to match the swings of the bell in her mind, keeping her focus captivated. She tried to remember… yes, yes, Princess Lily, lovely Princess Lily, she’d been…

“She… um, yes, she’ll… b-be that as it may, Mistress, s-surely there are ways to… prove oneself?”

“Oh~?”

Motley whimpered. Her voice trembled at Ayika’s touches and gropes, at the amused contempt dripping from Enid’s lovely voice, and every chime made her head swirl, but—but as long as she focused on this one thing, on making sure she was saying words and not dumb, sleepy babble, her Mistresses would be happy with her. And it felt so good when her Mistresses were happy with her. “I-I mean… Lily can’t be the first girl to d-discover herself in such a way! Surely they don’t all… get, um… b-broken?”

“No, no.” Enid smiled condescendingly. Chime. “There is a process, of course!”

“For her first year,” Ayika whispered, kissing her cheek softly, “it’s said that she will be ‘wearing eggshell white’.”

Chime.

“A-Ah?” Motley grinded against Ayika’s hand, barely keeping herself from outright humping.

“Her weakness must be disproven.” Enid’s eyes gleamed. “She must make it one full year. To the day. That would be… the day before the autumn equinox, wouldn’t it? The same day she met with the handmaiden.”

The bell chimed. Motley felt its simple song echoing in her head, getting sweeter and simpler with every lovely ring. She found herself smiling dizzily. “U-Uh… um…”

Ayika’s wandering hand slipped under Motley’s knickers, and Enid’s hand briefly tightened to choke out a frantic squeal.

Chime.

“Y-Yes, Mistress,” she moaned, her weak words barely distinguishable from the sounds of quivering lust. “B-But—”

“She must present herself as the perfect picture of control, of dignity, of princessly virtue.” Ayika giggled. She pulled up Motley’s blouse and apron, exposing Motley’s breasts for easy groping. Motley whined—the cold air was almost unbearable. “She must remain pristine and dignified the whole while, no matter what lewd, intoxicating temptations are put in her path.” Her finger flicked a nipple. “Do you think you could manage that, little maidslut~?”

“O-Oh… u-uh-huhh, Mistress…” Motley giggled drunkenly, letting Mistress Enid shake her head for her. She felt like she wasn’t getting quite enough air anymore, but she didn’t need air, not when her Mistresses were making her feel so good and the bell swung so prettily…

Chime.

Chime.

Motley’s knees were beginning to weaken, but Enid and Ayika were so kindly holding her up now, forcing her to keep standing so she could keep accepting their… affections…

“B-But, um…” Motley went stiff as Ayika kissed her on the cheek again, right by the ear, and simultaneously gave a long, delicate stroke between her legs. She barely held in the cry this time. She didn’t want Mistress to choke her any harder, not when it already felt like she was hovering on the edge of unconsciousness… “B-But the true heir would n-never fall to such teasing, would she, Mistress?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Enid swung the bell in slow, even arcs. Ring. Ring. “But girls in their eggshell white can be subjected to truly ruthless teasing. Endless bullying. And as long as none of it is in plain view, she can report none of it. She is theirs for the year. It can be torturous. Just torturous.”

Another tweak to Motley’s nipple emphasized the word.

“And a girl like her… mm.” Ayika sighed softly. “She especially can’t just disappear for a few months, can she? She has to stay public, to keep advancing her claim. Presenting herself as the perfect prey~”

“But… but, um…” Motley’s world was starting to go dark. She was barely conscious of her own speech anymore. She just knew Mistress wanted her to keep talking, so her lips kept moving, weakly pushing toward the words she’d meant to say, like a wind-up doll completing its program. “But with Lily’s new importance, wh-who… who would even… um…” The bell’s chime nearly drowned out her weak whisper. “… d-dare?”

The groping stopped. Enid’s hand at last released her neck, and Motley gasped for air. The two maids pulled back and exchanged looks once again, then smiled at her.

Chime.

Chime.

Chime.

Motley smiled dizzily up at her Mistress’s bell, tongue lolling as she panted like a dog, and humped slightly against Ayika’s hand. The air flowing back into her brain should have helped her think clearly, but instead it just made her feel dizzier.

“’Princess’ Lily isn’t the only one returning from a holiday,” Ayika murmured. “For Princess Anairete has returned as well, and will be in attendance for all upcoming events.”

As the bell swung, Motley thought she briefly caught a distorted reflection of her whole form. Her breasts were fully out and bouncing slightly with her humping, nipples pert from the cold morning air. Her skirt was a mess, hitched up to the waist. One of her stockings was pulled down. Her headpiece had nearly fallen off. Her underwear was basically ruined. She was a panting, pathetic, blushing, lust-drunk mess.

The sight was humiliating, shameful, but it also made her breath catch with raw, hopeless adoration and need. Need for more.

Her mind felt small and captive, molten and mushy. She blinked sleepily, forcing her mouth closed. She didn’t stop humping her Mistress’s hand, though, because it felt nice and she knew it made Mistress laugh, and she loved her Mistresses, oh, she loved them so…

Chime.

“Lady A-Anairete, th-the… philanthropist?” The name was barely familiar. The big words came out clumsily on her lips. “But… she has no standing. No one has ever seriously presented her a-as even, um, having a real claim, let alone…”

Chime.

Motley giggled stupidly, forgetting what she’d just been saying.

“Perhaps,” Enid said, flashing Ayika a knowing smile. Ayika seemed to flinch. Out of the corner of her eye, Motley saw Enid give Ayika’s free hand a squeeze. “But rumors persist that Princess Anairete means to declare herself for maidens soon. A similarly delicate process.”

“O-Oh.” Motley’s drunken mind wondered how pretty Princess Anairete was, and if she was as lovely as Princess Lily. She humped a little faster. “But… um…”

“Mind your Mistress’s bell, Motley,” Enid teased, giving the bell a few little rapid chimes. Motley’s knees trembled, and her mind melted back down into adoration as she beamed at the bell she loooved so much.

“Everyone knows, you see… ” Ayika said, pulling her hand out from under Motley’s dress. Motley keened softly at the loss. “... that girls in their eggshell white make for the best coming-out displays.”

“O-Oh…” Motley whimpered, squirming. “I…”

“The cutest, weakest little hypnodolls to display one’s desires for,” Enid hissed, pressing in close, “with zero consequences~”

Motley’s breath started to quicken. She wanted urgently to look away, to search for an escape route, but the bell was swinging, and oh, oh, she loved it so…

Chime-chime-chime.

“And they also,” Ayika added, grinning widely, “make the best stupid little bimbo tranceslut playpets on whom to indulge all those wicked, lusty fantasies on… without them being able to do a single thing to stop it~”

They both took her hands. Enid lowered the bell, and Motley’s mind started to return to her, but with a clear mind came tumbling vertigo, and she spun frantically, squirming against their stronger grips.

“And so, in turn…” Enid began, eyes sparkling.

“W-Wait…” Motley’s world was twirling. Enid and Ayika were so close, and they were so pretty when they smiled at her, and the hotter Motley blushed, the dizzier she felt— “P-Please, I don’t…”

“… do weak, pretty little victimmaids,” Ayika sang.

They started to drag her across the hall, and Motley realized they were heading for a broom closet. Motley squirmed and keened, but weakly, unconvincingly, because these were her Mistresses and she was a weak little maid and she felt so, so—

“Little maids should be quiet for their Mistress,” Enid cooed, as Ayika opened the door to reveal the cramped closet. There was barely enough room for one maid in there, let alone one pinned between two.

Seeing that confined little space, Motley felt something switch inside her. She felt panic take hold. Her fear and dread finally rose up fast enough to overwhelm the shame.

And Motley opened her mouth wide to let out a shrill, panicked scream.

All that slipped past her lips was a pathetic little moan.

She heard the sound echoing weakly back to her, and blinked rapidly in confusion.

Enid and Ayika only smiled. Enid’s hand slipped forward to cup Motley’s cheek. “Good stupid girl. Just like that~”

Motley swayed and nuzzled Enid’s hand like an eager pup. She heard herself let out a shy giggle. Mistress’s hand was so soft and warm.

She wondered dreamily if she’d only tried now because she’d known it wouldn’t work anymore.

The pair roughly shoved Motley into the closet, then followed her inside.

And with a mechanical click, the three of them were locked into darkness.