Lesbia Chronicles: Over Witch's Knee

by Ther Renard

  Rogette opened her mouth to speak, but only a whimper came out. Her arm was locked very firmly in Ayla's grip and no amount of tugging could dislodge it.

  A hush fell over the room as everyone waited to see what Ayla would do in response to Rogette's rash actions. It seemed as if time itself stopped as Ayla looked down at the once fearsome, now scared lawbreaker.

  Then it was Ayla's turn to do the unthinkable.

  She laughed.

  The laughter was not entirely borne of amusement, but there was some affection in the sound as she gently removed the blade from Rogette's hand, placed it casually on the table and proceeded to turn Rogette back over her lap for the continuation of the spanking.

  It was such an unexpected response that Rogette quite forgot to protest the rest of her punishment. She was entirely compliant aside from the odd whimper and yelp as Ayla finished the task of toasting her cheeks. Not a word of censure had been spoken, but it was obvious to all concerned that Rogette understood she had been shown very generous leniency.

  The force of Ayla's benevolence was so great that even when the witch tipped Rogette up so that she had her palms flat on the floor, her legs kicking to and fro as Ayla's palm landed on her sitting spots, there was barely a murmur of complaint from the red bottomed miscreant.

  Gone was the lady of airs and graces, gone too the scrappy little robber with the pretty blade. In her place was a compliant woman with a cherry red rear. Her cheeks bounced quite prettily as Ayla skimmed her hand across their burning tops, taking a moment to soothe some of the heat away.

  Atrocious' pity for Rogette had grown over the course of the spanking. She knew what it was to be punished by Ayla. It was a deeply intense, deeply personal experience, one that left the recipient quite different than they had been before.

  Hanging down over Ayla's lap, Rogette was something of a pathetic figure. Her shiny dark locks hung about her head, obscuring any view of her face. She was moving very little as the witch made soothing motions, rubbing the red rounds with slow care.

  For a brief moment, Atrocious was a little worried that Ayla might have broken the robber. She'd never seen Rogette so quiet, so still. She was on the verge of intervening on Rogette's behalf when Rogette shook her head slightly, parting the curtain of her hair. She looked up at Atrocious, who was the only one who could see her face.

  She winked.

  She winked as a sly grin spread across her pretty, well shaped lips.

  For a moment, Atrocious could not believe what she was seeing. Then the words came tumbling out, propelled by a gasp of shock and outrage.

  "She did it on purpose!"

  "Hmm?" Ayla inquired gently.

  "She!" Atrocious stood up and pointed at Rogette. "She did it on purpose. She got in trouble on purpose!"

  Ayla shook her head at Atrocious. "Hush," she said. "Rogette has been dealt with very thoroughly."

  "Because she wanted to be!" Atrocious spluttered with outrage - outrage that only grew as Rogette uttered a little whimper that sounded real, but Atrocious knew was fake. "She's not even sorry!"

  Rogette let out a little sob, one that would have melted the heart of anyone listening besides Atrocious, who could see how Rogette's lips quirked and trembled with the effort not to part in a broad grin.

  "This is a matter between Rogette and I, and Rogette and Kira," Ayla said. "It does not concern you. If you have nothing better to do than try to get someone already sorely disciplined in further trouble, I can find something to occupy your time."

  Atrocious' jaw dropped. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all. Rogette had just soaked up all that spanking in her big round bottom and now she was going to be cuddled and cosseted and god only knew what else. Atrocious knew all too well how amorous Ayla could get after delivering her brand of discipline.

  "She's just trying to get naked with you!" Atrocious tried one last attempt at convincing Ayla.

  It failed.

  "Kira," Ayla said. "Perhaps you could use a smithing assistant?"

  Kira frowned slightly. "It is late."

  "But not too late to teach Atrocious the finer points of shaping a blade," Ayla said, holding Rogette firmly in place over her lap in a way that was suddenly far too familiar for Atrocious' liking.

  "You're just trying to get me out of here so you can sheath yourself inside her," Atrocious snarled, becoming quite agitated. "You... you... you... harlot!"

  There was a brief moment of silence during which everyone digested the fact that Atrocious had just gravely insulted Ayla in a way that put Rogette's previous efforts to shame.

  With Ayla's eyes locked on her with clear punitive intent, Atrocious took a step backward, then began sidling toward the door.

  "Stay. Still," Ayla ordered.

  Atrocious did not obey. She was upset and she was scared and she did not want to discover what the consequences of her actions were. She wanted to run as far away as she possibly could. She made more sidling steps towards the door, watching as Ayla's lips moved silently. She was casting a spell.

  Preparing herself for the impact of the spell, which would no doubt root her to the floor, or make it impossible for her to leave the cottage, Atrocious glared back at Ayla. She could hear little sounds at the edge of her hearing, tinkling laughter, a war like cry.

  Hahahahaaa AIAIIIEIAIAIAIAIIEeeeeee hehehehehhheeeee!

  Ayla's lips stilled. Atrocious braced herself for the spell, but it never came. All that happened was a momentary frisson of pristine white airborne sparks which burst into life around Atrocious, then fell to the floor and evaporated almost instantly like snowflakes on a fire.

  It was Ayla's turn for an attack of the discombobulated jaw. Atrocious had never seen that kind of surprise on Ayla's face before. The witch couldn't have been more stunned if she'd accidentally turned herself into a toad. The spell had failed.

  Atrocious didn't stay long enough to bask in Ayla's shock. Instead she took to her heels, pushing past Kira to run into the dark village night. She ran as fast as her feet would take her, hoping to find somewhere to hide and be angry and scared. She was full of anger and fear to the point she thought she would burst if she could not vent it at something or on someone.

  She was running blind, and it was perhaps fortunate that she did not get all that far before a hand reached out of the darkness and grasped the back of her collar.

  "Leave me alone, Kira!"

  The hand clenched harder, drawing her back. Atrocious saw that it was not Kira who had come after her, but Ayla.

  "Let me go, Ayla!" Atrocious repeated the request with more vehemence. "Go back to your little slut."

  Ayla shook Atrocious sharply, a movement that momentarily brought Atrocious up off her feet. It was a reminder of the witch's physical presence, but Atrocious did not care for that either. She could still hear the chattering at the edge of her hearing, little yips and cries of excitement.

  AIAIAIEIEIEIAIAIEIEIEIEEEE...

  It grew louder and more intense as Atrocious glowered at Ayla, unable to pull away.

  "Let me go!"

  Ayla held firm, saying nothing. Her gaze was intense, but calm. It was as if she didn't hear what Atrocious was saying, not really. She was interested in something else, something that was happening not just in Atrocious, but around her.

  AIAIAIIIAIEIIEeeiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

  There was a POP and something broke through. Something two feet tall, wild eyed and bushy haired. Something chattering at the top of its lungs and wielding what looked like a small branch with a pearl orb atop. It was wearing what appeared to be sack-cloth and leaves, a long dress that fell all the way to its mud covered feet.

  "IGNIBLOBOWACKSI!" It declared, pointing the scepter at Ayla. "YOBLINGBONG!"

  Ayla dropped Atrocious and stared at the creature. Atrocious stared too, though she was largely wondering where the others were. She could still hear them chattering away somewhere nearby, almost as if they were surrounding her and Ayla in an unseen circle.

>   "ASBIBLALAWORORLOLOLOLORLO!" The creature shook the stick at Ayla, scowling fiercely at the witch. "HEBEBLEDGEY."

  Ayla nodded. "Hurglesplurt."

  The creature nodded, turned to Atrocious and blew her a grimy kiss before disappearing back into the ether.

  "Well," Atrocious said, putting her hands on her hips. "That settles that then, doesn't it."

  "This matter won't be settled until you're in bed with a sore bottom," Ayla said. "You do not use your powers to avoid discipline, young lady."

  "I don't have powers, dummy," Atrocious said, rather rudely. "Don't blame me because your spell fizzled out. Rogette probably drained your energy. Maybe she 'harvested' it."

  Ayla sighed into the night sky. "How long are you going to remain willfully ignorant of your own abilities?"

  "I'm not willfully anything," Atrocious scowled.

  "You summon creatures out of forever," Ayla said. "You breach dimensions to call forth powers that have not walked these lands for centuries. And you don't so much as blink."

  "Because it's not me doing it," Atrocious said. "I don't know what they're doing. They're just doing whatever they want to do. Like you. Like Rogette."

  "Stop worrying about Rogette," Ayla said, her tone becoming somewhat short. "There are more important things."

  "Oh sure there are," Atrocious said, flailing her arms about. "Everything is more important than cataloging the people you fuck. How dare I bring that up as relevant!"

  "Atrocious," Ayla said patiently. "Not a moment ago, a creature appeared out of thin air. Now she is gone. Does that not strike you as strange?"

  "Things appear and disappear all the time," Atrocious shrugged. "Like that carrot I saw disappearing in and out of Rogette."

  With a supreme effort, Ayla remained calm. She reached out, took hold of Atrocious and drew her close, holding her in place with one hand on each of her upper arms. "I need you to concentrate on something other than Rogette.”

  "I need you to fuck someone other than Rogette," Atrocious replied smartly.

  Ayla's look was incredulous. "Are you really so consumed with petty jealousy that you cannot even begin to think about these greater matters?"

  "There aren't any greater matters," Atrocious insisted, her voice cracking with frustration. "These are the matters of my heart. There are no other matters that matter." She began to cry, hot tears of frustration and hurt.

  Sighing again, Ayla drew Atrocious close, hugging her against her bosom as she released her pent up emotion. "I have never intended to hurt you," she murmured. "I am sorry that I did."

  "You don't even see my feelings," Atrocious sniffed. "It's like you don't understand me at all. You don't even think about what your actions will do to me. You just do things because you think you should do them."

  "I do what needs to be done," Ayla said softly. "I confess, I never suspected how deep your rivalry with Rogette went."

  "Six inches," Atrocious said, "as deep as that carrot."

  "You are a possessive little thing, aren't you," Ayla said, her expression softening into fondness.

  "Aren't you a thousand years old?" Atrocious queried. "Haven't you ever had a partner before?"

  "Once," Ayla said. "A very long time ago." A wistful look passed over the witch's face, an expression of powerful love and longing so strong that Atrocious felt it as if the feeling were her very own. In that brief instant, the flicker of an expression, she was granted an understanding of Ayla that went beyond anything that had come before it.

  Ayla had loved.

  And Ayla had lost.

  There was a long moment in which Ayla was away with her memories. She came back to the present, a slow, slightly sad smile on her face. "I am sorry for the hurt I have caused you," she said. "I did not think."

  "Well," Atrocious said, feeling as if she'd unintentionally stumbled into a wake. "I guess it is okay."

  "Your tears tell me otherwise," Ayla said sorrowfully. "I have caused you pain."

  "Well, Rogette..."

  "No," Ayla said. "Your quarrel is with me, not with Rogette."

  "She got spanked on purpose," Atrocious said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  "No more than you," Ayla replied. "You must understand, she craves all the things you do."

  "Well she can crave them with someone else," Atrocious said. "You're mine."

  "I am not an item to be owned," Ayla said gently. "My care for you is not diminished by my caring for someone else."

  "Yes it is!" Atrocious stamped her foot. "I'm going to tell Rogette to stay away from you. I'm going to tell her right now."

  Before Ayla could say anything, Atrocious ran back to the cottage, pushed open the door and pointed a finger at Rogette, who was sitting by the fire. For once, she was fully clothed. For once, she wasn't in the middle of having sex with someone.

  "You," Atrocious said. "You leave Ayla alone. She's mine."

  Rogette got up and walked slowly around the table, her dark hair hanging loosely around her pretty face as she stalked over to Atrocious. She drew closer and closer and closer, until their noses were almost touching.

  Keen to stand her ground, Atrocious remained perfectly still as Rogette almost whispered.

  "Who's going to make me?"

  "I am," Atrocious growled. She brought her hands up to her chest and pushed Rogette. She'd only meant it to be a little nudge, just enough to get Rogette out of her face, but it turned out to be much more powerful. Rogette stumbled a couple of feet, then returned with an open palmed blow that sent Atrocious to the ground, her ear ringing with the force of the blow.

  “My ear!” Atrocious swore. “You hit my fucking ear!”

  Rogette stood over her, smirking dark and pretty. "Don't start fights you can't win, peasant."

  "I have powers!" Atrocious yelled from the ground. "I have powers and I can hurt you if you don't do what I say!"

  Rogette's expression turned to disdain. "You barely have the power to walk straight," she replied, returning to her place by the fire.

  "I do have powers!" Atrocious yelled. "I will..."

  Nobody found out what she planned to do, for in that moment Ayla picked her up off the floor and hauled her to her feet, laying a hard, very punitive slap to her bottom. It was enough to make Atrocious cry out in immediate pain.

  "Your powers are useless," Ayla said. "Because you do not understand them. You are not interested in them beyond chasing off those you perceive as romantic rivals. You could be a great summoner, but you are little more than a trickster because you have no interest in anything beyond your skin."

  Atrocious' lower lip trembled as she faced Ayla's wrathful words. They hurt far more than the slap, which was still burning through her bottom as the witch lectured her.

  "Forget about lovers," Ayla said. "Forget about powers. Learn what it is to serve another person. Learn what it is to sacrifice something of yourself."

  "Tell Rogette you're mine," Atrocious insisted. "Tell her."

  Ayla's eyes narrowed a fraction. "You have not heard a word I have said, have you?"

  "Rogette hit me," Atrocious whined. "She hit me right in the face!"

  "I think her ears are painted on," Rogette commented from near the fire. "Either that or her stupid peasant head is filled with sawdust. Maybe they weren't handing out brains the same day they were handing out powers."

  "Shut up!" Atrocious screamed at Rogette, her anger blowing out of all proportion. "You get out of here! I don't want you here anymore! She's mine! She's all mine!"

  Another hard slap caught Atrocious off guard, searing across her buttocks. "You are getting ahead of yourself," Ayla said, her expression growing very grim and very hard.

  "You are mine! Aren't you?" Atrocious' lower lip trembled.

  "I tell you one last time," Ayla said. "I am not one to be owned, certainly not by the likes of you."

  "The likes of me? What does that mean?"

  "What do you think it means?" Rogette stood up, her dark eyes blazing. "Ay
la is one of the greatest witches in Lesbia. She is hundreds of years old. She has served this land in spirit and deed for longer than you'll live - and you think you can lay claim to her because she takes you into her home and into her bed?" Rogette stopped and snorted. "You think me arrogant, but you are far more arrogant than I would ever dare to be. You are given an honor and instead of being grateful for it you whine and you snivel and you demand more, like a suckling pig. You are a tedious wretch and I wonder that she has not tired of you yet."

  Atrocious stopped dead. Her anger faded away in an instant, replaced by something much quieter, much more dangerous.

  "The likes of me," she said, repeating the words to herself softly.

  "I do not say that to be cruel," Ayla said, turning away to caution the other young lady. "Rogette, I would appreciate you speaking more kindly."

  "The likes of me," Atrocious murmured yet again. She was looking at the floor, her eyes flicking around the edges of the room. "The likes of me." Her shoulders slumped as she murmured the words, then turned and made her way toward the stairs.

  "Atrocious..." Ayla called her name.

  Atrocious shook her head as she trudged up the steps. "The likes of me," she muttered one last time before disappearing away upstairs.

  "Hmm," Rogette said. "I feel a little bad."

  Ayla turned her glittering gaze on Rogette. "That speech was not at all necessary."

  Rogette shrugged. "I didn't say anything that wasn't true."

  "You wielded your tongue as surely as you would a knife," Ayla said. "You did violence and harm."

  Rogette's finely shaped brow rose at the witch. "If Atrocious is hurt," she said, her voice melodic and poised. "It is not because I hurt her."

  For a moment, Ayla and Rogette locked eyes and wills, but the truth lay on Rogette's side and no imperious look from the half-elf could change that.

  "You would do well to watch your tongue," Ayla said finally. "I will not have you sowing seeds of discord."

  "Ah, but every time you touch me, you tear Atrocious apart," Rogette smirked. "So be careful what threats you make."

  A slow smile spread across Ayla's face. "You forget, there is always Kira."

  "Kira will not lay a finger on me if she wishes to keep it."