Lesbia Chronicles: Over Witch's Knee

by Ther Renard

  ~~~

  Kira woke the next morning still feeling hollow. She felt the same the morning after that. It was as if she'd been cored from the inside. She no longer cared that she was hungry and thirsty. She consumed only the barest scraps. Ayla tried to engage her in conversation, but Kira had heard enough from the witch and made little to no reply. She felt her physical self wasting away, but paid it no mind. Best to let the exterior match the interior, she thought glumly to herself as she lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling. What was the point of nourishing a body that had no soul, of sustaining a life that was empty. She no doubt would have stayed in that direly depressed state for weeks on end if it were not for an unannounced visit from the high witch.

  Ariadne blew in across the village, bringing gentle showers and a cool wind. "I want to see my Imperial."

  “She is resting,” Ayla said. It was true, or close enough to true. It sounded better than saying, 'she is wasting away.'

  "Hello Imperial." Ariadne stood over Kira's prone form with a triumphant smirk. "How is my pet?"

  Kira looked up blankly, then shrugged.

  "Do not play the fool with me, Imperial."

  "I am dead inside, that's how I am," Kira said.

  Ariadne looked at her with a twisted surprise, then turned to Ayla, who was straightening her robe and doing her very best to behave as if everything was in order.

  "I left you with a cocky, brave soldier. Now look at her." Ariadne scowled and poked Kira, who barely reacted. "What did you do to her?"

  "Nothing really," Ayla said. "We had a little conversation that's all."

  "I know what you and your conversations are like," Ariadne said. "You have a talent for disrupting people's souls, Ayla. You better pray this one is not too far gone." Ariadne pushed the toe of her boot into Kira's flank. "Get up, Imperial."

  Kira got up, her muscles obediently doing Ariadne's bidding. She looked awful. Her hair had lost its gloss, her eyes had lost their spark and she hunched where she stood, not bothering to hold herself straight. Ariadne's jaw tightened with anger.

  "Ayla," she said, her voice dangerous and low. "This is not acceptable."

  Ayla had the good grace to look a little guilty. "She said I was a hybrid."

  "You are a bloody hybrid," Ariadne snapped. "What did you say to her?"

  "I said... well, I believe I may have said..." Ayla was clearly trying to think of a way to put things in a palatable light, but Kira was more forthcoming.

  "She said that I died five years ago. That I am dead inside. That I care for nothing and no-one."

  "And you believed her? Imperial, you are not dead, but you are gullible."

  "She gave me a chicken that turned to ash in my mouth," Kira said, spilling the beans more completely. "She said it was a chicken of good intentions."

  Ariadne's eyes sparked gold fire as she turned to Ayla. "Do you think it is amusing to play juvenile pranks on those I leave in your care?"

  "No," Ayla said quickly.

  "There's no such thing as a chicken of good intentions," Ariadne snapped at Kira. "It's the sort of trick young witches play on their mothers and mentors. Usually with physical consequences."

  "Oh, Kira said, starting to feel a little differently about things. Not better, necessarily, just different.

  "You really have to start thinking about things people tell you," Ariadne tapped Kira impatiently on the forehead. "I will not have a dullard in my service."

  "I'm not a dullard," Kira protested.

  "You believed the judgment passed on you by a dead chicken," Ariadne said dryly.

  Unable to argue with that, Kira turned to Ayla. "Why did you lie to me?"

  "Because you're a thoroughly intractable brat who wouldn't even consider for a second that she might be in the wrong," Ayla said. "I thought you might learn some humility through the chicken."

  "She is a warrior, Ayla," Ariadne explained. "Warriors need to believe that they fight for what is good and right or they crumble and die. Can you imagine a soldier questioning her motivations mid battle? That would be disastrous. She needs discipline, not doubt."

  "I see that now," Ayla agreed.

  Ariadne looked at the witch and warrior with a long suffering expression that clearly conveyed her dim opinion of them both. "I will return in three days," she said. "I expect to see a significant improvement from both of you by then." She swept out, turning the sky thunderous as she moved back across the village.

  "You're in trouuubbbllee," Kira said, drawing out the word in a long sing song drawl. A little smirk played over features that had not smiled in days.

  "Not nearly as much as you are," Ayla replied, giving Kira a look that made her feel hot and prickly all over.

  "What do you mean?" The soldier made protest. "You were cruel to me. You lied to me."

  "I was perhaps cruel and I did lie, but only to save you a different sort of pain."

  "What is that supposed to mean?"

  "If lecturing you makes you miserable, and abstract lessons leave you confused, then I am left with only direct means of teaching you lessons, little soldier," Ayla said, turning up the sleeves of her robe as she smiled a tummy-turning smile at Kira. "For the next three days, consider your bottom mine."

  "My bottom will never be yours," Kira said with an arrogant little sneer. "If anyone's bottom is going to be anyone else's yours will be mine."

  Ayla gave her a strict, maternal sort of look. "Young lady, I have been practicing the healing arts since before you were born. I am older than your mother and your mother's mother and your mother's mother's mother."

  "That's impressive and all," Kira said in the sort of tone that implied that she didn't find it impressive at all, "but age doesn't mean anything to me."

  "Were you not taught to respect your elders?"

  Kira smirked. "I am already one of the higher ranking captains in the Imperial guard. I command men and women twice my age regularly. I thank you for patching me up all those years ago, but as I see it you've done me no favors since then to be worthy of my respect."

  "Ariadne wanted to kill you."

  "I would not have cared if she did - and you know that. That's why you said what you did about me being dead inside." Kira's gaze grew solemn. "You were right you know, I am already gone. So I care nothing for your age, or your tricks or your sparing of my life. You have your own reasons for doing so I am sure."

  An expression of mild irritation passed over Ayla's normally calm features. "You are a maddening little wretch," she said. "But I do owe you an apology. I should not have said what I did. You are not dead inside. You are brave and bold and you embody the values you hold dear. Other people speak of fearless sacrifice, you make it without thought or hesitation."

  Kira frowned slightly, then smiled in spite of herself. "Well, I suppose that is somewhat true..."

  "You were born to the blade and baptized in blood," Ayla continued. "To treat you like a simpleton and play tricks on you, that was a mistake. I lost my temper when I said those terrible things. I should not have spoken as I did. I should not have used that power on you."

  Kira perked up. "There was some magic in what you said?"

  "There was no magic in it, but words can be more powerful than even the deepest magics," Ayla replied, her voice holding a mystical note. "The world begins and ends with a word."

  "Sure it does," Kira said in tones of deep disbelief. "And a chicken is capable of making moral decisions. I will not be so easily fooled again, witch."

  In spite of herself, Kira was beginning to feel better, a lot better. Finally she was being given her due and recognized as a force to be reckoned with. She stood straighter and puffed her chest out, feeling much more like her old self.

  "So what am I to do with you, little soldier?" Ayla moved to sit in one of the wooden chairs. "How am I to tame you?"

  "It can't be done," Kira said proudly.

  Ayla smiled slightly and crooked a finger in Kira's direction. "Why don't you come here and
prove that."

  "Okay." Kira stepped forward bravely. "How can I prove it?"

  "Lay over my lap," Ayla said sweetly. "Let me spank you. A captain in the Imperial guard will not be affected by such a silly little punishment, will she?"

  Kira was slightly suspicious, but overriding all suspicion was the need to prove her valor. If Ayla wanted to play paddywhack on her backside, well, what of it? It would be like a gnat biting at the hide of an elephant. "Just a spanking, that's it?"

  "Just a spanking, no magic, no tricks."

  Kira smirked. "Very well, witch." She moved around to Ayla's side, meeting the witch's gaze with one of defiant pride. She only regretted that it was impossible to maintain eye contact as she lowered herself over Ayla's lap, settling her leather clad hips over Ayla's thighs. Ayla adjusted her slightly, lifting her thigh so that Kira's hands touched the ground with palms flat, her toes not quite making contact with the kitchen floor. It was an oddly vulnerable and intimate position.

  "Are you comfortable?" Ayla's sweet, silken voice washed over Kira.

  "Absolutely, spank away!" Kira grinned towards the floor.

  Ayla did not spank. Instead she wrapped an arm about Kira's waist, securing her in position. Kira knew she could easily kick out of the hold if need be, but the sensation of a strong, firm arm holding her close to Ayla's body made parts of her mind feel a little fuzzy. Just as she was getting used to that feeling, the witch's fairly large palm settled gently over her cheeks. Kira squirmed slightly, feeling Ayla's hand as a soft, warm weight.

  "Are you actually going to spank me, or was this your way of trying to grope my ass?" Kira looked over her shoulder. "Not that I'd blame you for wanting to grope it." She flexed her cheeks once or twice and grinned the grin of a young woman who knows her body is in prime condition.

  "Patience, soldier," Ayla said, smiling down at her with those enchanting green eyes. "I like to take my time with a new bottom."

  She began to move her hand in slow circles over Kira's cheeks, a relaxing motion that confused Kira even as it soothed her.

  "This is not a spanking," she objected yet again, this time towards the floor.

  "Oh yes it is," Ayla said. "A spanking is much more than the part where hand meets naughty bottom." She continued the slow massage of Kira's cheeks, letting her hand dip into the leather clad space where Kira's thighs were already parted. Although Ayla was nowhere near touching Kira's privates, a little low moan escaped the soldier's lips.

  "Are you trying to seduce me, witch?" Kira asked the question somewhat breathlessly.

  "Seduce you?" Ayla landed the first swat, a light tap to Kira's inner thigh that made the warrior's legs swing open a little more. "This isn't about seduction, this is about taming a wild little beast who put herself over my lap as quietly as a lamb."

  Ayla's hand slid up and down Kira's inner thigh, sending shivers of sensation all over Kira's body. As Kira felt the very core of her being begin to pulse with liquid heat, she came to the only logical conclusion possible. No matter what Ayla said, she was not being spanked, she was being seduced - and she was not in the mood for seduction.

  Without giving any warning, she flexed her muscular form and pushed up with her palms. Standing upright, she kicked the chair out from underneath Ayla, breaking the back legs and dumping the witch onto the ground. Quick as light, Kira knelt atop the witch, pinning Ayla to the ground with one hand at the base of her throat.

  "I know what you're trying to do," she said with a little smiling growl. Loose dark hair hung down in shaggy sheets about her face, brown eyes sparkling with tension as she wrinkled her nose. "And it's not going to work."

  "What am I trying to do?" Even flat on the floor, Ayla maintained her composure.

  "You're trying to make me your little bitch and it's not going to happen. You can't top a top, witch. If you want to fuck me, you'll do it on your back, same as everyone else."

  "You are an arrogant wretch," Ayla said, lashes lowering over her eyes as she took a deep breath, her blonde hair splayed out about her like spun spider silk.

  "Just as long as we understand one another," Kira said. "I don't know what Ariadne wants with me, and I don't care. But you need to start respecting me. I know you scraped me off the ground when I was a kid, but I'm not a kid anymore."

  "You're not as grown up as you think you are."

  "I'm grown enough, witch," Kira said, squeezing very slightly. "You keep trying to trick me and I don't like it. You're treating me like an idiot. I'm not an idiot. This is your last chance to back off. I won't warn you again. Don't try to control me, you will not like what happens."

  The warrior's eyes narrowed as she made her point crouched in what would have been a perfect killing position. She had no intention of harming the witch, but she could no longer stomach the constant attempts to undermine her, charm her and finally seduce her. It was all different facades of the same thing as far as she was concerned.

  "Do you understand me?"

  "I understand you don't want to be controlled. I understand you think you know what you're doing. You don't, but you won't believe me when I tell you that, so you will have to discover that for yourself. Now let me up before I lose patience with you entirely," Ayla snapped.

  "Fine." Kira released her hold and stood up, letting Ayla rise gracefully from the shattered remains of her chair.

  The witch looked annoyed, which Kira rather liked, mostly because it was the first genuine emotion she'd been able to read. All the calm, wise bullshit, she didn't trust that. Irritation made sense. The young soldier smirked as Ayla thrust a broom into her hand and pointed toward the remains of the chair.

  "Clean your mess up," Ayla ordered. "Before I use that broom on your hide."

  "Clean it up yourself," Kira said, thrusting the broom back towards Ayla.

  The witch took another long, deep breath. "I am going to count to three," she said. "And if you are not sweeping by that time, you will not like what happens next."

  Completely unconcerned, Kira stood with one cocky brow raised as the countdown began.

  "1..."

  "2..."

  "3."

  When the countdown had finished and Kira had still not moved, Ayla took the broom from Kira's hand, took the warrior by the shoulder and spun her around with a strength Kira had not begun to suspect. The witch then brought the handle down across Kira's behind with a loud WHACK that echoed throughout the room, quickly followed by a yelp of surprise, if not pain.

  "I have had enough," Ayla said, thwacking the broom handle across Kira's taut bottom, "of your continual cheek, disobedience and arrogance. Whilst you are under my roof, you will do as you are told, do you understand me?" She thrashed the length of the handle across Kira's hide with quick, swift blows that made the young warrior dance on her toes and make uncharacteristic squeaking sounds.

  Every time the broom landed it sent a wicked shock crackling across Kira's bottom, a sharp note of pain that got her attention and held it. She tried to escape the sensation, but every time she tried to move away Ayla's inhuman strength drew her back to face another slap of the hard wooden rod.

  "You are, without a doubt, the most willful, arrogant, conceited, brash, rude girl I have ever met," Ayla continued, dropping the broom to smack Kira's bottom with the flat of her hand. "I grow tired of your inability to tell who your allies are. I am not the enemy Kira, but if you keep this up I will do a very good impression of one."

  Ayla transferred her grip to the scruff of Kira's neck and pressed the warrior over the kitchen table, holding her in place with little to no strain at all. Kira was shocked by the witch's strength. More than that, she was shocked by the hot jolting slaps that were painting her bottom with a fire like none she'd ever felt before. It didn't hurt in the way a wound hurt, but it stung and it blazed and it made her hips wriggle from side to side as even the leather of her pants failed to protect her from Ayla's punitive palm.

  The witch made things worse still when she hooked her fin
gers in the back of Kira's pants and pulled them down sharply, baring Kira's pale cheeks. Then and only then did Kira understand what the witch had been threatening her with the entire time as flesh met flesh in thwacking cracking thunder. Ayla's hand was much harder than Kira could have ever suspected it would be. Her cheeks felt strangely numb and yet every time the witch's hand landed, new fire blazed forth.

  It was Kira's first spanking and it was enough to make her squeal and squall as she had not done since she was very small. Ayla had only exposed her bottom, but as Kira's cheeks bounced under the continuing pressure of the witch's palm, she felt quite naked and entirely undone. The facade of a lifetime began to unravel as she sniffed back little drops of hot wet stinging fluid that were gathering inexplicably at the corners of her eyes.

  The more she tried to resist, the worse the spanking got. She crawled forward but only succeeded in presenting her bare behind across the table, two red mounds squirming and wriggling like jelly in a high wind as Ayla held her down and spanked on and on.

  ~~~

  The smacking of hand on bare bottom echoed throughout the little cottage, a satisfying tattoo that put a little half-smile on Ayla's face. Oh it felt so good to finally put the arrogant little warrior in her place, to lay firm palm across her stubborn round rear.

  Ayla was so focused on unleashing her pent up disciplinary ire that she almost forgot to pay proper attention to the recipient of the treatment. It wasn't until the resistance finally fled Kira's body that Ayla stepped back and realized something was perhaps amiss. She looked down at the flaming red bottom, admiring the rosy hue. Kira had a bottom that spanked well, but it wasn't all about the bottom. Taking the soldier by the shoulder, she turned Kira over and saw that the young woman's face was flooded with tears, her dark lashes matted against her skin. She had her eyes shut so as to not have to look at Ayla and her lips were pressed together so tightly to stop from crying that they had become one thin line.

  Ayla did not need to ask to know what Kira was feeling, the warrior's emotional pain hit her like a wave, so powerful it made her feel slightly nauseous. Ayla swore inwardly. This was not good. She should have felt this sooner.