Familiar

by Roseau, Robin

  "You are serious," Martina said to me.

  I pressed my card into her hands. "I hope you will leave her somewhere safe when you are done with her. She has annoyed me, but I would not like anything too horrible to happen to her."

  "Of course. And may I call you?"

  "That is why you have my card. Perhaps you would come for dinner in three days time."

  "Am I to be the dinner?"

  "Yes."

  "I'll be there."

  Martina was lovely and sexy and exceedingly passionate. She was a fine meal, a very fine meal, although not at all in your class, Moira. Still, she was one of the best meals I had in Atlanta.

  I seduced her, of course. She came to me quite willingly, and she knew what I was doing, she literally begged me for more. I kept her for two months, but in the end, she bored me. I discovered she was small-minded and petty, and she attempted to manipulate me. I do not care to be manipulated.

  So finally I released her. I wasn't cruel. I withdrew my magic from her and sent her away. I could have kept her wrapped in my magic and still sent her away, but that would have been cruel. What I did was no worse than any other breakup of an intense two-month-old relationship. It should have been the end of it.

  But she cried to her mother. And her mother talked to the grandfather. The grandfather talked to Josephine.

  And Josephine became enraged.

  I found out about this with no warning. It was Sunday morning, three days after I had released Martina. Four of Josephine's men were on my doorstep demanding I accompany them.

  In my arrogance, I kept them waiting. Oh, I knew I couldn't ignore a summons from Josephine, but I thought to put her in her place by making her wait. I took my time dressing and having lunch, then I accompanied her men to her estate.

  Then, Josephine made me wait. I was shown to a sitting room and left there, the door locked, with nothing to do for six hours. When finally the door opened, I was livid. It was a wonder I hadn't torn the room to pieces, but violence wasn't my nature, as I have told you.

  I was escorted to Josephine. She lounged in a chair, barely acknowledging me when I was shown in.

  I remember her eyes. They were black. She finally turned to me and rose from her chair. "Come, Arianna," she said. "Let me show you what I have done to prepare for your arrival. You will want to see this."

  She led me through her house, ignoring my questions, and we descended the stairs into her basement. I had never been in her basement before, and I actually was naive enough to not realize the danger I was in.

  She opened a door to a room that turned out to be a cell, gesturing for me to enter ahead of her. Bound to an ancient, heavy table in the center of the room I found Raven. She had been tortured, tortured quite cruelly, although she was not dead.

  As I said, Josephine is a death witch. She acquires her power from the suffering of innocent creatures. Raven was, for all her faults, an innocent. More importantly, for a time, she had belonged to me, although I had thrown her away two months previously.

  I turned to Josephine, suddenly realizing the danger I was in. I lifted my hand, ready to launch a spell, but she laughed.

  "Try it, and you both die," she said. "Even if you still had your familiar, Arianna, you would be no match for me without the familiar you gave me. With it, ten of you is no match. Besides, what would you do? Make me love you to death?"

  Then she walked around me, studying me.

  "Josephine," I told her. "I did no harm to the girl. She came to me willingly and begged me to do everything I did."

  "She is mine!" Josephine spat at me. "I may have overlooked a minor indulgence, but the girl dropped out of college to be with you, and then you threw her away with barely a thank you!"

  "I released her from all my magic. She should be no more upset than any other breakup. She is dull and boring."

  "Yes, she is, and you should have determined that before taking what is mine. If you had asked me for her, I would have told you she would bore you but allowed a little fun. But you took without permission, and that I can not allow!" She thundered the last.

  I was sure she was about to kill me, and I thought it would be terrible. I also was sure she would kill Raven.

  "Do you care about this creature on the table?" Josephine asked after a moment.

  I studied her. "Not enough to willingly take her place."

  Josephine laughed. "No, I did not think you did. Do you care for her?"

  "Not particularly," I said. "But I would not want you to harm her any further."

  "If you wish to spare her life, you will bind her to Martina. Once you have done so, we will discuss your life."

  I turned to Raven. I caressed her cheek, and she opened her eyes. "Arianna?" she asked. "It hurts, Arianna. It hurts!"

  "I know," I said. "I am so sorry. Raven, do you want to live?"

  "Please don't let her hurt me anymore."

  "I won't," I told her. Josephine didn't point out I couldn't have stopped her. "Do you want to live?"

  Raven began to cry but said, "Yes."

  "Did you like what Martina did with you?"

  "She wasn't cruel, Arianna. Please, make it stop hurting."

  "She is not hurt so badly," Josephine said. "Your magic can ease her pains, and my doctors will see to her after you bind her to Martina." She offered a predatory smile. "Or I can take what remaining magic her body can give me."

  I began humming, stroking Raven's body, easing the pain away and calming her. Her grimace relaxed, and her eyes grew clear.

  "If she is going to kill me, can she make it quick?" Raven asked.

  "It is not in Josephine's nature to make death easy," I said. "But she has offered to give you to Martina. She has not made any other offers."

  "Martina tasted good," Raven said.

  I turned to Josephine. "I will need Martina, and I need to touch her."

  "Martina!" Josephine said firmly. And Martina appeared in the door. "Do you wish this creature?"

  "Yes, Aunt Josephine," she said. "I do."

  Josephine turned to me. "Bind the girl."

  I began my magic, wrapping it around Raven. She accepted the spells easily. I cast love and I cast obedience, and then I held out my hand for Martina. I wrapped the controls of the spells around Martina's hands, and a moment later, it was done.

  I had used all my stored magic to do so, and Josephine knew it. Not that it would have mattered.

  Josephine gestured, and two of her men came forward. They released Raven from the leather binding her to the table, and one of them carried her away. Two others remained.

  Josephine looked at me. "Take her place."

  I had absolutely no choice. With dread, I climbed onto the table and lay down. The men secured me: arms and legs. There was a strap around my neck and another around my hips.

  Once I was secured, they left me, closing and locking the door and turning off the lights.

  I lay there in the dark, terrified of what Josephine would do to me.

  I didn't know how long she left me there. One or another of her men came in periodically. They gave me water. I had a small amount of magic left, and I thought about trying to glamour one of them, but I thought perhaps Josephine was waiting for me to attempt just that, and I did nothing.

  When I slept, they woke me. The third time they woke me, Josephine returned. "If you fall asleep again, I will be the one waking you. You won't enjoy it."

  After that, I fought to stay awake. It was difficult, very difficult. I kept nodding off, jerking myself back awake. The next time someone came in to give me water, I begged for him to find a way to keep me awake.

  He did. He went away and returned with a spiked ball. He told me to arch my back, and then he placed the spiked ball underneath me. If I relaxed, I would drive the spikes into my back.

  It didn't take long before I was trembling with the effort to avoid the spikes. But I didn't sleep.

  They continued to pour water into me, of course, and eventually I s
oiled myself. The embarrassment was intentional.

  And they had other torments for me. They changed them periodically. All the torments were designed to prey upon my body only if I relaxed. I could avoid the torment only as long as my physical strength held out. None of them would have done significant damage to me, but I knew Josephine was drawing power from my misery.

  The next time Josephine returned, I had been kept awake for three days. I was delirious and in a blind panic, terrified of the next time I would see her. I knew that's when everything they were doing to me would appear to have been child's play, and the real torture would begin.

  When she walked in, and I could see who it was, I began to gibber in fear. "I didn't sleep! I didn't sleep!" I screamed.

  "I know you didn't," she said, standing next to the table and looking down at me. "You have been a delightful meal. If I weren't already so full, I would keep this up for some time."

  "Please, Josephine," I said. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

  "I know you are," she said. "You have become so arrogant, Arianna."

  At the time, the spiked ball was underneath my buttocks, and she began pressing down on m pelvis, pushing me onto it. As soon as I felt the spikes, I began to beg.

  "Please! Josephine, please! Whatever you want!" I begged, I begged far more than you did. And she relented.

  "Anything?" she asked.

  "Anything!"

  She reached underneath me and removed the ball. I collapsed to the table, panting.

  Josephine paced around the room for a while. She turned to me. "You once gave me a very good deal on a familiar, in which I remain very pleased. And we were once friends. For these reasons, I will show mercy. You are banished from Georgia. You may never return without my permission. You will go where I send you, and you will remain there for a full two decades. You will not leave where I send you for any reason."

  "Where?"

  She paced around, asking herself, "Where, where, where should I send you?" She returned to me and said, "Kotzebue, Alaska."

  "Oh god, Josephine, please. No. I will die from the cold."

  "Perhaps you would like to buy yourself a warmer location."

  "Yes! Please."

  She studied me. "No, I think perhaps you're not desperate enough. Arch your back, I need to put the little toy back." She waved the spiked ball at me.

  "Please, Josephine!" I begged. "What do you want?"

  "You will transfer to me all your worldly possessions. I will send you packing with one small suitcase of your clothing and some pocket change. Everything else you own you will transfer to me."

  "Where?"

  "Wisconsin," she said slowly. "You must admit: Wisconsin is not nearly so cold as Kotzebue. Arch your back now. I will return in two hours and you will give me your decision."

  "Yes!" I said. "Wisconsin. Please, Josephine. Wisconsin."

  I gave up nearly thirty million dollars to live in Wisconsin for two decades rather than Kotzebue. And I wasn't sure she would have let me leave with my money, anyway. She wanted me punished. More importantly, she wanted me deeply humbled.

  Four hours later, I was on a private jet to Madison. She bound me with her own spells, locking me to Wisconsin for two decades. Furthermore, I am permanently banned from Georgia. If I need to travel through Atlanta airport, I must buy permission, and I do not expect it will be cheap.

  Household

  Arianna had grown increasingly withdrawn as she told me her story. When she finished, she allowed me to pull her into my arms. I held her for a while before she asked me if I were horrified to know some of the things she had done.

  "Kiss me, Arianna," I told her. "Kiss me and feel my love for you."

  And she did. It was not a passionate kiss. But it was sweet, with a hint of hunger. When we separated, she smiled weakly at me.

  "If I had to do it all over again to meet you, I would," she said. "When Josephine discovers I found you here, she is going to be livid with herself."

  "Is she a danger to us?"

  "If I break her rules, she will take us both and spend a great long time killing us. But otherwise, no. However, I must be very, very careful how I travel, once my banishment is lifted. I do not dare do so much as fly over the tiniest corner of Georgia. I don't even eat Georgia peaches."

  I laughed.

  "I am serious. She could use it as an excuse. And Moira, you should assume that any rules that apply to me apply to you. She may not know if you leave Wisconsin, but she could be having us both watched. Similarly, you must never set foot in Georgia."

  "Where is Kotzebue?"

  "It's on the western coast of Alaska, north of Nome, north of the Arctic Circle."

  "Wow," I said. "Harsh."

  "She wanted my money. And frankly, I needed the wake up call." Arianna paused. "And I'll say it again. It all led me to finding you."

  "Yes, it's been a long time since you've had a familiar."

  Arianna stroked my cheek. "Familiar or not, Moira."

  "I love you too," I told her. Except she hadn't actually told me she loved me, and I knew she didn't. I felt a shadow cross my face for a moment, but then I kissed her again, chasing it away. She may not love me, but the year with her hadn't been like I thought it would be. She hadn't made me do anything evil, and she treated me well, if a bit autocratic. I could deal with that.

  "My turn to tell a story?" I asked.

  "Please," she said. "But perhaps more wine first?"

  * * * *

  Arianna didn't figure out what "W" meant on the calendar. I told her that if she didn't figure it out by one week previously, she owed me a 24-hour orgasm.

  She laughed. "I could do it, you know."

  "Yeah, right."

  She narrowed her eyes. "Do you doubt my word?"

  "You have given me a long series of individual orgasms," I told her. "But none that has by itself lasted an extraordinarily long time."

  "Take your clothes off," she ordered.

  "Arianna-"

  "No talking," she ordered. "Take your clothes off, right now."

  I immediately began pulling off my clothing, unable to talk to protest. We were in the living room at the time, about to watch a movie.

  "Pick a movie and put it on," she said.

  I selected one of the movies and inserted it into the player. Once it was going, Arianna said, "Sit next to me."

  I pleaded with my eyes, but my body was already obeying.

  Then she began wrapping her magic around me, nearly absent-mindedly. It took a few minutes before I was panting with desire. When I tried reaching for her, she said, "Hands on your knees."

  The orgasm came slowly. She never touched me; it was all her magic. She brought me to the cusp and said, "This is in fun. If I am making you angry, you may ask me to stop."

  I shook my head. I wasn't angry.

  She grinned. "Once the orgasm starts, it will continue until you kneel on the floor, kiss my feet, and admit you were wrong. Enjoy."

  She gestured, and I slipped over the cusp.

  It was not a mind-blowing orgasm. It was actually quite gentle. My body began to spasm with the pleasure, and it felt really good. I moaned, unable to control the reaction.

  Arianna smiled sweetly at me.

  But it went on, and on, and on, my body continuing to spasm, not uncontrollably, just clenching and unclenching. For a long time it felt amazingly good.

  But I began to sweat, and my muscles grew tired from working. And still the orgasm went on.

  And I realized where this was going.

  I dropped to the floor in front of her and began kissing her feet long before the pleasure turned into pain. "I was wrong," I said. "I was wrong."

  "Who was right?"

  "You were right!" I said. The orgasm hadn't stopped. "I shouldn't doubt you!"

  She did something, and I collapsed at her feet, my body offering a few more quivers. She petted me with a foot, then ordered me to kiss them once more before crawling up on the sofa with her.
She let me lay with my head in her lap, and she stroked my head.

  "Twenty minutes," she said. "You only lasted twenty minutes."

  "I knew it would start to become unpleasant. I didn't want that. Could you really make it last an entire day?"

  "Yes," she said. "But I'd have to stay awake for it. It's not the sort of spell I just turn on and leave."

  "Did you enjoy doing that to me?"

  "Yes," she said. "Quite a bit. Did you enjoy it?"

  "You know I did. Why haven't you done that before?"

  "Open your eyes and look at me," she said. I looked up at her, and I saw she had drained herself of magic. "Now, check your own level."

  I was down. Not a lot, but it would take a week or so before she would top me off, just using the magic she gathered from excited home buyers.

  "So you can't do that to me for twenty-four hours, if twenty minutes drained us that much."

  "Care for me to try?" she asked, smiling knowingly.

  I studied her. "It doesn't take much to maintain?"

  "No. It's a lot to set up. But I admit, you'd be drained pretty dry by the time the day was over." She caressed my face. "So, we were discussing what W day is. You are going to tell me."

  "You don't want to figure it out?"

  "I do enjoy your puzzles," she replied. "Do I get hints?"

  "You have all the information you need," I told her. "Do you want hints?"

  She laughed. "One a day," she said.

  "All right," I replied. "That was your hint today. You have all the information you need. May I please get dressed?"

  "No, but you may retrieve a blanket."

  The next day, her hint was that she may need to look through my eyes rather than her own.

  The third day I told her that if she wanted to make guesses, she had to kiss my feet if she was wrong. "You're not in a position to enforce that rule."

  "You can always order me to tell you," I told her.

  "What is my hint?" she asked.

  "No guesses?"

  "No. Your feet probably stink."

  "They don't. In fact, I'll let you wash them before you kiss them."

  "How very kind," she said, smiling. "My hint?"

  "The W is not an obscure reference," I told her.