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“Pacey, what you did to me was horrible," Elaine said as she trudged painfully up the final stretch of hill towards the arched castle entrance. Her throat was scratched, not just from Ranulf's brutal rape hours ago, but also from being dragged behind the cart by the noose around her neck.

The lanky young man's eyes widened. His grip on Elaine's upper arm tensed.

Elaine tried so hard to meet his eyes. This was important. The boy, despite his eighteen years of experience, just somehow didn't understand. There was a strange, brutal naivety to him. Maybe she could stop him from taking advantage of other helpless women. She never would have considered doing so, but… a gross, shameful gratitude festered in her for how he stayed by her side for this torturous walk.

“Was I too hard? Gosh, Elaine. I'm really sorry. It was so fun! And I was all excited to have sex with you."

“Pacey," Elaine said. Her heart hammered, and she had to swallow down her anger. She knew he didn't understand. That's why she needed to talk to him. But gods, what the fuck was his problem? Sure, he was barely an adult. He still had the awkward ganglyness of a late teen. But Elaine knew many squires and pages younger than him who understood simple concepts like rape is bad.

Elaine swallowed down a glob of cum. It was disgusting, slimy, and tasted bitter and salty and awful. But that's how every swallow had been for hours. She winced, and then continued, “I didn't want to have sex with you or your Pa. It hurt me. I felt filthy and used."

“But Sir Elaine, you agreed to it! We gave you something, and we got something back. Pa says that sometimes you gotta take a bad deal and be happy with it. Sometimes a merchant is happy making silvers for his gold, because it's better than earning nothing at all."

“Pacey," Elaine said. She took a heavy breath that hurt her throat. “Your Pa leveraged the cruelty and torture that Ranulf… that The Wolf of the Eastern Boughs inflicted on me. It was as if he set a knife to my throat and demanded sex. In fact, if he had physically threatened me and I agreed, it would still have been rape."

The boy looked shocked. His fingers trembled on her arm. “You think I raped you?" he asked, voice quivering.

Elaine nodded. Her head hurt. She wanted desperately to shut up and try and focus on anything else. But without Pacey, she might still be dragging behind the cart, maybe with a snapped neck. The boy was dull and inflicted an unimaginable cruelty on her. She still had to make him understand.

“But you said yes to it. And you got something back. That's why whorehouses are okay, Pa says."

“Whorehouses where the workers are paid and participate willingly are acceptable," Elaine agreed. “Slave whorehouses, where you take advantage of the unfortunate souls owned by others are not. Those folks have no choice in their suffering. If they behave, their masters may not punish them. But is that truly getting something back?"

“So, you say sex with you was like sex with a slave instead of sex with a real whore," Pacey said, puzzling over her words. “Cause if you said no, you wouldn't get real money?"

Pacey let go of her breast to dig through his belt. He retrieved a money pouch. The leather darkened with the wolf cum that now slicked his fingers.

“You gotta be worth lots. How much do you want? I don't want to have raped you, Sir Elaine! Your vagina felt really wonderful. I loved cumming inside you!"

Elaine groaned. She shook her head. “The money is not the point, Pacey! It's… about the consequences. It is rape if a woman has sex with you because you…" She mulled over the proper way to word it. Fuck, she hated this. It made her think the abuse she'd suffered for the past night—that she was still suffering. But she swallowed down the disgust. “Because you leverage it as the only real choice for them to avoid a worse outcome. Demanding sex from a starving beggar for a copper is rape. Demanding sex from a vulnerable traveler in exchange for her protection is rape. Telling a slave that sex will stop their beating that night is rape. These are the same to me."

“Oh," Pacey said. His voice shook. “I think I understand. I… didn't want to rape you, Sir Elaine."

Elaine swallowed again. Her mouth was so dry but so thick at the same time. A salty glob of cum stuck in her neck. Gods, she could survive with the cum sticking to her scales, but having it constantly refill inside her mouth, vagina, and ass was a whole other degree of torture. Her stomach felt bloated with the amount of the disgusting, slimy fluid she'd had to swallow.

“Do you hate me?" He sounded so fucking pathetic.

Fury flushed Elaine's body with heat. How dare he act like he was the one to suffer for her rape?

They walked in silence for another minute.

“I don't hate you," Elaine lied.

Pacey perked up. “Mean it?"

Elaine nodded.

“I'm real sorry, Sir Elaine. Real sorry."

She bit her tongue. Her vagina still hurt. Her legs screamed in numb agony. Her neck felt like it had been stomped on. She was a mess of cum, blood, bruises, and broken scales. Everyone stared at her naked, abused body. Her pathetic, degrading weakness was exposed for all Nefelihold to witness.

At least Pacey no longer groped her breasts.

***

When they finally approached the gates to the castle keep, Pacey untied the rope from her neck. His fingers deftly worked the knot. Even though it sopped with cum, the cord easily unwound.

Elaine thought she would feel a grand sense of relief and joy on treading this final path she had walked so many times before. Instead, she just felt dull exhaustion. Her legs were numb with hot prickles. Her neck burned. Her shoulders ached. She would have given the world for a bench to rest on.

Thalia lay somewhere beyond the gate, past the courtyard, and through the keep's ornate wooden doors. What would she think of Elaine? How would she react if she understood what the kobold had been through? Worse, how would she handle the truths about her sexuality that Ranulf plied out of her? Would she be disgusted? Horrified?

For a moment, Elaine considered lying. She couldn't hide her rape—the evidence was all over her. But maybe she could go back to pretending to be normal again, hiding her love and her sexuality.

No.

Elaine lifted her head. Her love was what broke her free from Ranulf. Strength lay in confronting her own truths. There was a risk in accepting them, sure, but to hide from the truth only brought more pain.

Pacey patted Elaine's shoulder. “We're uh, my Pa's heading off now. Thank you, Sir Elaine. I—I'm sorry."

Elaine looked at the boy with a confusing mix of emotions. She wanted to keep hating him, but she found that surprisingly difficult. Exhausted won out as she said, “Goodbye, Pacey."

Pacey climbed back up with his father. Jesper trotted the horses around in a circle, and then led them down the hillside from the castle gates.

Elaine was alone again. She listened to the low chatter of activity in the courtyard beyond the gates. This early in the morning, few were present in the outer courtyard. Some merchants had set up shop. Elaine recognized Horace, who sold bright, calming tea. She hoped that he wouldn't recognize her.

Elaine approached the gate, holding herself tall despite her short stature and wobbling legs. Her heart sank. Tolis was on duty today.

Several guards shared a particular distaste for her. Though she had always worked her hardest to make friends with the castle laborers, plenty of them turned their noses up at her efforts with a sneer. Many at the castle would never see her as anything more than a kobold. Tolis was one of those.

The attitude had surprised Elaine at first. Tolis was a half-orc, a race which itself suffered from its own fair share of stereotypes and preconceptions. Yet, he seemed to bask in them. He was a crude, rough man who partook regularly in taverns and brothels. His green skin rippled with powerful muscles.

A gleaming silver polearm snapped out to block Elaine's path. She stopped walking and looked up at Tolis.

“What business do you have in the castle?" the half-orc demanded. His red eyes gleamed. A smile tugged his fanged lips.

Elaine stared past at the outer court. She remembered chasing Thalia underneath the merchant stalls that ringed the central garden, behind carts, and over the tops of fountains and statues. This was her home. Her heart ached.

“Tolis, it is me. Please, I must see Thalia," Elaine said.

“You who?" The half-orc mocked her. He curled his squat nose. “I just see a disgusting lizard. One fresh out of a long brothel shift."

Tolis nudged her backwards with his polearm. Elaine wobbled on her feet. She hated not having her tail available for balance. How did so many races bear such clumsiness?

“Tolis, this is not funny," Elaine hissed. “I do not know what you have against me or my kind, but now is not the time. I order you to let me pass. I am a knight banneret."

“That's funny," the half-orc said, voice gruff, “because I see a kobold whore. Probably an escaped slave. Some scaly cunt who heard the princess takes lizard pets and hopes she'll want another."

Elaine's heart pounded. She was so close. She needed to get past Tolis. At her full strength, she'd easily push past him. However, with her wrists magically bound behind her back and her legs in agony, there was no way she could duck or dodge around his polearm.

“Perhaps the tea merchant might verify my identity for you," Elaine hissed. She hatefully spat a glob of cum on the ground. “Horace!" she tried to shout. Her voice wheezed and barely rose to her normal volume. After a night of throat rape and after being dragged around by the cart, she couldn't manage a real shout.

Elaine opened her mouth to try again, but the haft of the polearm rammed into her solar plexus. Stars burst in front of her eyes. She heaved through her scratchy throat.

When her vision cleared, Tolis had dropped his weapon. He took hold of her tail in his massive grip. Stuck to her neck, it served as a convenient handle. He lifted her as if she were a small dog caught by its scruff.

“I'll smash your snout into your skull if you try that again," Tolis said.

Elaine didn't care. She opened her mouth. Her eyes searched the outer court. Did anyone see her? Could anyone help her?

A powerful fist bashed the side of Elaine's snout. She bit into the inside of her lip and tasted fresh blood. The world spun around her.

“You gonna try that again?" the half-orc demanded. He was carrying her somewhere. Tears began to pour down Elaine's cheeks. She had been so close to home. And now, the moment it was in her reach, she was being dragged away once more.

“Fuck you," Elaine spat with a mix of cum, blood, and phlegm.

“That what you want, whore? I can do that."

With no preparation, a fat finger rammed into Elaine's vagina. She squirmed. This time, along with the now familiar dread and discomfort, the small kobold was simply overcome with an overwhelming exhaustion.

It was happening again. He was going to rape her.

“You are disgusting," Elaine wheezed.

“You're a fucking cum-soaked lizard whore. You reek even worse than normal," Tolis said.

Elaine didn't answer him. The world finally steadied. The light that blinded her eyes after the painful blow faded into colors and shapes. She stared at the path up to the castle gates, now a dozen yards away.

“You are leaving your post," Elaine said.

“Like anyone fucking cares," Tolis grunted. He wriggled his finger inside her vagina, causing Elaine to writhe. “I stand there and look pretty. Ain't guarding anything."

He slapped her down on a bench. She glanced to the side, at the sharp craggy drop down the hill to the bustling city below.

“Like the view?" He grinned. Yellowish white tusks glistened menacingly in the morning sunlight.

Is this how it would end? After all her ordeals, so close to home, this horrible man would rape her and throws her off the cliff to die? Elaine stared sullenly over the edge.

Tolis unbuckled his trousers. He wasted no time fishing out a terrifyingly large, green-skinned penis. It was humanoid, like Jesper's and Pacey's. Unlike theirs, the foreskin bunched up behind the dark pink head of his cock. The shaft was thicker than Elaine's arm, longer than Ranulf's penis.

Maybe the cliff wasn't the most immediate danger to Elaine's life.

Elaine stared at the monstrous penis. Precum oozed out of its tip and into the crevice between the ridge of its head and its foreskin. Dread grew inside her the longer she stared. How could that possibly fit inside her? How horribly was this going to hurt?

The brute knelt in front of the bench, his crotch now level with Elaine's prone form. He roughly dragged her over the surface to angle her against his hips. Splinters dug into the raw, bloody skin where her scales had ripped off. She made a strangled noise.

That position must not have worked to his liking. After a moment, he flipped her onto her belly and draped her numb hind legs over the side of the bench. Her nipples scraped painfully against the wood.

At least Elaine got to stare out over her city. At least she didn't have to look at that disgusting penis or the cruel brute of a half-orc about to rape her.

“You're trash, Elaine. Worthless lizard whore," Tolis said. “I wanted to do this for a long time."

A hot, fleshy cock head rested against her magically splayed pussy. The wet drool of fresh pre-cum mixed into to the existing wolf and human cum.

A squeak escaped Elaine's lips as the cock battered into her vagina. She found it funny that despite the terrible bruising of her pussy, the initial pain hardly bothered her. The numb tingling of her overworked legs stretched all the way up to her hips, muting some of the pain. The other innumerable hurts and aches in her small, battered body distracted from the rest of it.

Still, it stretched her walls uncomfortably wide. It didn't fill her to the extreme of Ranulf's knot, but it came close. And unlike the wolf's knot, the entirety of the half-orc's penis shared the same awfully wide girth.

Searing pain soon cut through the constant aches, despite her numb hips. Her bruised walls complained about the constant stretching. It felt like he might rip her insides in his careless, brutal thrusting. The pain wasn't as bad as Ranulf tearing his knot free, but it was constant as Tolis fucked her, unending.

To Elaine, it was all just a dull, terrible extension of her whole evening. She wanted the cock out of her. She wanted it to stop hurting. But most of all, she wanted to stop feeling used. She wanted to forget the horrible nausea that turned her gut with each thrust, the feeling of an unwanted penis throbbing and pulsing inside her.

She glanced to the side. That was a mistake. People walked along the path just over a dozen yards away. Some glanced at the two of them and then turned their heads and continued walking. Her face burned hot with shame.

She met a man's eyes as he left the castle. Sir Roderik. Long, straight black hair hung like a mop over his shoulders. He fought well with a battle-axe and had always been respectful to Elaine. His eyes widened with recognition. She wept and mouthed, 'Help. Please.'

Sir Roderik pursed his lips, turned his gaze to the ground, and kept walking away from the castle.

Elaine couldn't help the wailing sob that shook her. Her whole life was a sham. The proof lay with these men and women of the castle who passed by pretending that there was nothing amiss. Elaine had tried to befriend so many of them over the years.

In the end, a lecherous guard was just having fun with a gross kobold whore. No one said anything.

Elaine couldn't bear to keep watching. Her heart hammered. Anxiety churned inside her. Did anyone even like her? She thought she had some scant friends in the castle, even within the knights. Sir Roderick had always acted friendly towards her. She had wondered if she could count him as a real friend. Did he just tolerate her? Would anyone care that she was being raped in open daylight outside the castle walls?

The horrible orcish penis battered her vagina. The searing agony intensified like a raging bonfire as the half-orc picked up his pace. He pounded against her deepest depths like a battering ram. She felt beyond full and stretched. Her insides were bloated and awful.

Pain flashed white-hot each time he bottomed out inside her. His cock just didn't fit. Although his hefty sack slapped wetly against her lower belly with the momentum of each thrust, his hips wouldn't mash against her own like Ranulf's or Pacey's had.

He clearly tried. Each thrust was like a punch up into her guts. Her vagina burned with the force, straining like it might just rip down the middle to accommodate his huge length.

Elaine stared at her city. Grunts and mewling whimpers burst from her snout with every jerking thrust inside her.

There was the roof of her favorite bakery. They made delicious buns and hot spinach pies. The stone structure with a smokestack was the master weaponsmith where Eaglescreech had been forged. Next to a bustling plaza was Thalia's favorite bookstore. Thalia had dragged Elaine there twice a month, gushing about her favorite romance novels. Elaine protested that she had better things to do, but she read every single book anyway. She would never miss out on the princess's lovely smiles and infectious excitement as she gushed about their latest read.

Elaine sobbed. She looked back to the road, and then looked away again. Thalia was so close, but so far away. People Elaine knew surrounded her, but she was so alone.

So many people passed by and saw Elaine's tender vagina distended around a far too large green penis. They didn't just see her exposed intimacy, they saw her violation, the wet thrusting and squelch of cum as Tolis humped into her bloodied, limp body.

She wrenched her gaze back to the city below. Her stomach turned. Did they think her to be a street whore that Tolis picked up? How many recognized her? How many knew that it was Knight-Banneret Elaine of Nefelihold sobbing as she was raped on a bench outside her home? Some would hurry back to their rooms and vigorously stroke their own cocks to their memories of her abuse. Others would keep their heads down and pretend they saw nothing.

No one helped her.

Elaine wished she wasn't crying. She didn't want anyone to see her cry. Of course, she also didn't want anyone to watch a massive green cock stretching her small pussy either. But what really twisted the dagger in her gut was how weak she looked. How pathetic.

Elaine had carefully cultivated an image of strength. To appear weak, to be seen as a kobold rather than a knight, was to lose the hard-earned respect she had fought tooth and claw for.

The thick cock plunged inside Elaine. It mashed her guts, curdling her with disgust and nausea. She felt every twitch and throb against the walls of her vagina. Her ears rang, but that couldn't block out the schlik, schlik of the monstrous penis churning the endless magical cum in her pussy.

Tolis groaned. “Fuck, you're a tight little whore," he said. His cock throbbed hard against her walls. Then, hot bursts of fresh semen painted her insides.

Elaine's face burned with shame. She looked to the road. Three people stared at her. Sir Halvar's squire, a merchant who sold flatbreads, and another man she didn't recognize. They all watched as Tolis came inside her.

They got to see him grunt, step back, and slide his horrifyingly large cock from her distended, abused cunt. A hot flow of fresh cum spilled from her splayed pussy. It dripped down and off the underside of the bench.

Tolis slapped her ass, and she squealed. He stuck two fingers inside her vagina like hooks, then tugged her even wider open until it felt like her vagina was being ripped in half.

At first, Elaine didn't understand. Then, she looked back at the road.

Oh. It was a show for the onlookers.

All three sported tented trousers as they stared at the kobold's lewdly splayed pussy. She felt so horrifyingly exposed. The urge to vomit overtook her as Tolis moved his fingers around her pussy, splaying the cum-glistening, bruised pink skin this way and that. Anyone who looked could see every angle of Elaine's tender vagina and the mixture of cum that spilled out of her.

She hacked and dry heaved. Anxiety fuzzed her vision. Her scales felt hot and clammy.

Sir Halvar's squire was named… Antony. She had congratulated the boy on his position. He had shaken her clawed hand, complimenting her on her latest duel.

Now, he stared, aroused, as Elaine's abused vagina was painfully stretched. He enjoyed every intimate, violating angle of her tender, bruised insides. Others did too, hesitating on the road as they looked at her.

Elaine sobbed. Her stomach tried unsuccessfully to empty itself. She had to look away, back out over the city. She couldn't bear to watch everyone stare at her brutalized vagina.

The fingers finally pulled out of her. Her passage ached horribly. She jolted at the second sharp smack on her ass.

Then, wordless footsteps led away from her bench. She was alone again. As alone as she could be with her tail stuck up and her vagina magically displayed for anyone passing by to see.

What home could she go to after this? How could she be a knight when half the castle watched her pussy raped? So many saw her cunt left splayed wide open and drooling. How could she bear to be around anyone who had watched this happen and yet did nothing?

Elaine's thoughts were interrupted, and horror magnified, by the patter of lighter feet hurrying over to her. She turned to see who it was, but a sudden grip on her good horn forced her eyes back over the city.

Clothes rustled. Warm flesh pressed to her drooling pussy.

With no fanfare, a cock thrust into her again. It throbbed hard. Its owner raped her with rapid, shaking thrusts.

His shaft was much smaller than the half-orc's. Elaine was disgusted to find that she could tell he was uncut and not beastfolk. The sliding of his foreskin against her walls gave that away.

His hips squelched against her cum-drenched rear. He held firmly onto her horns for leverage, also preventing her from turning her head. Which of her three watchers was it? Which had followed Tolis's example to rape a helpless woman that they knew?

The stranger shook, nervous. But that didn't stop his rapid thrusts into Elaine's tight pussy. This man had the smallest cock of any of the four that had raped her. However, with her diminutive stature, even it felt too large.

He came quickly. His cock pulsed. Fresh warmth sprayed into Elaine. Tears streamed from her eyes. How could this be happening? She thought she was home. She thought that she could finally see Thalia again.

The cock slipped from her aching cunt. The familiar rush of fresh cum followed. The wrongness of it all shook her core. It was so disgusting, so violating.

The man tried to disguise his voice with a nasally inflection. “If you try and look back before the count of twenty, I'll come back to push you off the cliff."

Elaine's heart sank. It was Antony, the squire. She didn't need to look back as he tugged up his trousers and ran away. That boy had been so earnest, so excited about his position with the knighthood. Had he really just raped her?

How many more would? Who else in the castle would happily rape her if given the opportunity? Which of them had she thought liked her?

Elaine lay on the bench, tail flagged up, labia magically spread wide open for any who cared to see. Everything ached. She was exhausted. She felt so disgusted and used. All she wanted now was a quiet little hole to curl up in where no one could see her. Where no one could hurt her.

Elaine's legs weren't strong enough to carry her away. All she could do was pathetically roll off the bench and curl up underneath, horribly close to the sheer cliffside drop.

It felt like an eternity passed. The thought of all the eyes on caused her to breathe rapidly and shake, but she didn't look back at the road. Looking at the road would make it real again.

Instead, she stared over the cliffside at her city, her home. She remembered exploring little side streets and alleys with Thalia, confident in her ability to protect them both. She drank tea and ate pastries with the princess. They hugged in excitement at Thalia's first successful political maneuvering after a meeting of the royal council.

Elaine hated that it was such a sunny, happy day. She deserved clouds and rain to match her misery. She wanted darkness so that no one could see her humiliation.

She was in a daze when her wet horn was yanked out from under the bench. Tolis lifted her onto the bench, and Elaine's eyes immediately watered again. He tugged his cock free from his trousers.

The half-orc made her suck it this time. He fed the monstrous, green penis into her mouth. It tasted awful. The flavor of all the cum ejaculated inside her still clung to it, along with a gross sweatiness like a forgotten laundry hamper with a knight's underclothes.

The thick length jammed into her throat, gagging her. Just like before, Tolis fucked her with hard, brutal strokes. He drove his penis uncaringly into her. He leveraged her horns as a lopsided, half-broken handle, though his huge hand struggled to grip the broken stump of the left one. She dully wished both horns had been broken in her fight against the lamia.

Elaine's jaw ached. The size of the invading cock burned her throat. She couldn't swallow properly. The sensation of that warm, squishy, throbbing shaft was disgusting. The hefty green balls, wrinkly and sweaty, slapped painfully against the underside of her snout.

Thick, cum-mixed drool dribbled out the corners of her snout and down her neck. The trickles made her scales itch, but she couldn't scratch them.

Somehow, the desire to itch her scales rose even beyond the pain of the cock battering her throat. She shuddered. Her mind was fuzzy. Was it the awful, sweaty musk overwhelming her senses? Or was it the anxiety feeling the eyes of travelers who wandered to and from the castle watching her be throat raped?

Elaine squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to see any more of Tolis's unkempt, hairy crotch as he mashed it to her lips. His hips ground against her snout. His cock lodged so uncomfortably deep in her stomach. Was this because he hadn't been able to fit his entire cock in her pussy? Or did he just want her to suffer, jaw mashed up in gross, scratchy crotch hair, wrinkly balls whacking her chin?

Probably both. Elaine had never liked Tolis, but she found a new loathing for the man. He didn't share Ranulf's sadism. He fucked her with brutal efficiency towards his own pleasure. But he clearly enjoyed seeing her brought low.

Tolis ground his hips against her snout. He moaned. His cock pulsed deep within her. It strained against her throat. Then, hot, slimy liquid pumped into her stomach. The sensation was disgusting. She felt every pleasured twitch and throb of the orcish penis.

Slowly, he peeled her back from his cock. It was horrifying to watch inch after inch of green penis retreat from her snout. How had it all fit inside her? Her neck ached with fresh agony. Her belly was bloated and full. It sloshed uncomfortably with thick semen when he moved her.

“You know your place, cunt?" Tolis grunted.

Elaine knew the right answer. It hurt her pride, but she dreaded what would happen if she defied him. She nodded.

“Good."

The half-orc dragged her along the ground by her good horn. Her tail and hip ached and stung with each bump and lose stone.

Finally, they were back on the street, another small crowd watching them. Tolis hoisted her in the air with a grip on her good horn and tail. He spun in a circle and then let the kobold loose.

Elaine wanted to scream as she whipped through the air, but she only managed a whimper. Cum splattered around her. One moment, Highcastle Street looked far below. The next, paving stones rushed up to meet her.

Pain exploded through Elaine's shoulder. It collapsed with a sickening crunch. Her cheek slapped the pavement as she skidded, rough stones tearing at her scales. Each impact battered her hip and upper arm.

She lay where she landed, panting. Stars exploded in front of her eyes. She tried to shake away the daze, but it was hard after the sheer amount of abuse her body had gone through in the last day. Finally, the world began to reform in front of her. The buzzing in her ears softened.

She looked up. Tolis loomed over her. She cringed.

He seemed to like that.

“You aren't welcome here, lizard. Find a brothel matron to take you in as a pet. The life suits you."

He kicked her hard in the gut. The wind knocked out of her. She wheezed for air.

Tolis turned and walked back up the path.

Elaine tried to collect herself as quickly as possible. Any one of the disgusted passersby giving her a wide berth could turn out to be another Antony and rape her while she lay helpless and hurting on the road.

It still took her minutes to catch her breath and then gradually heave herself painfully into a sitting position. She wriggled undignified to the side of the road where she could push her back to the craggy hill.

No one would meet her eyes. Everyone who passed—merchant, lady, soldier, servant, or errand boy—quickened their steps past her. They all suddenly found the view of the city below to be fascinating.

Elaine groaned. Warmth trickled down her now throbbing shoulder. She glanced down. The impact had shattered several scales. Blood oozed down her arm to dye the thick cum there pink. Even with her hands stuck together behind her back, she could tell that the bone was broken.

Elaine spat on the ground. Blood, cum, and a chip of a sharp tooth splattered against stone.

She shuddered. Her mind was numb. She wanted to cry again. Her body demanded rest, but her instincts screamed to run away and hide.

She leaned her weight against the craggy hill, using her non-broken shoulder to keep her balance as she stood. Her legs shook. They weren't numb anymore. The muscles screamed with unbelievable pain. They prickled with waves of fiery heat as if glowing coals were pressed to them from every angle.

Good. At least they would support her.

Elaine had to turn around to face downhill. That meant her broken shoulder balanced her against the rocks. When she tried to avoid the pain by leaning more gingerly, the kobold slipped on her cum-slicked feet and tumbled forward onto the hard, painful ground. She screamed hoarsely, her shoulder spiking with terrible agony.

Everyone ignored her.

Elaine endured the pain, tears streaming down her face. She bit her lip and brought herself slowly back to her feet. She bit harder with every excruciating step. The coppery taste of blood surpassed even the bitter cum in her mouth.

Halfway down the hill, the path widened again into a small, natural plateau. There, a row of shops sold trinkets, souvenirs, small bites, and hearty, delicious meals. More importantly, a narrow alleyway ran between the stores and the cliff behind them.

Elaine stumbled down the alley beside the first of the shops, a bakery that sold delicious mince pies. The scent of the spiced meats and sweet pastry made her stomach rumble. She was starving. She hadn't eaten anything but cum since morning the day before.

Behind the alley, Elaine found a small, old cart that she could hide underneath. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough. The kobold lay down and painfully squirmed underneath.

She shook violently. She was so alone. So much of her body hurt. Her shoulder throbbed worse and worse. Blood seeped from painfully torn or cracked scales all over. Her vagina ached as if it had been pulled inside out and then beaten with a hammer. Her sore throat was worse than when she'd survived pneumonia.

How she longed to be in Thalia's arms, next to a warm fire. Thalia would whisper kind words to her, run her fingers over her aching scales, and make everything all better.

Tears streamed down Elaine's cheeks. This was all for Thalia. Everything that happened tonight was for Elaine's princess.

If it had been about anyone else, Elaine might have started to hate them. If she'd suffered a night of horrible rape and abuse to save the king, she would have detested him. How could she endure such torture on anyone's behalf without hating them? The loyalty demanded of her had cost her everything.

But Elaine couldn't hate Thalia. No matter how hard she wanted to hate someone other than herself, she just couldn't do it. Not the bright-eyed young woman who treated her not only as a lady despite her species, but as friend and peer despite her low birth.

Elaine saved Thalia's life. Thalia returned the favor to Elaine a thousandfold. Elaine would do anything for the love of her life. She didn't care if Thalia never loved her back. Thalia deserved everything she had to give.

Curled up, in terrible pain, sobbing beneath the rickety old cart, Elaine would have suffered through every sickening abuse inflicted on her that night again in Thalia's protection.

***

Elaine woke to faint shouting. When did she fall asleep? The soldiers must be quarreling again. She should throw on her gambeson and mail shirt, then go break them up. Armor heightened her presence. It transformed her from a bleary-eyed, bitchy kobold into Sir Elaine, Knight-Banneret.

Her arm twitched, and a blast of searing pain cut through her shoulder. She sucked in a gasp, and a thick glob of cum stuck in her throat. Her eyes shot open, watering.

It was still light out. The same day? Tomorrow? Should she get up? She didn't want to get up. Her whole body hurt. She didn't want to remember what happened to her. She wanted to go back to sleep and hide in her dreams again. She wanted to return to her years leading soldiers, confident and strong…

She could pretend not to be disgusting and pathetic. No one had to see her nudity or the cum that soaked her ruined scales.

“Sir Elaine! Oh Gods, is that you? The Moon's mercy…"

Elaine cracked an eye. She saw feet approaching the cart. Women's shoes. It was a woman's voice. Familiar. Who did it belong to?

She placed it. Pavla, one of Thalia's handmaids. She'd always been so kind and cheery, excited to select matching outfits for her and Thalia. Elaine smiled, then frowned.

Antony had been friendly too. And then Antony raped her.

The round-faced woman ducked to look under Elaine's cart. Her eyes widened, horrified at the sight underneath.

Elaine felt another burst of shame. One more person got to see how far she had fallen. One more person would never respect her again.

“Sir Elaine?" Pavla asked, her voice disbelieving. “Can you… Are you able to get out? Do you need help?"

Elaine tested her leg. Sharp, biting pain shot through her. She winced. A tear dribbled into the pool of cum over her cheek. She shook her head.

“Oh gosh. Let me uh… Wow." Pavla didn't finish her thought. She reached underneath the cart, gripping Elaine's tail in one hand and her forearm in the other.

Elaine squealed. Her eyes watered.

“Oh gosh! Oh gosh. Your arm is hurt too. Gods. Moon shine on you, what part of you isn't injured?"

Elaine didn't answer. She gazed numbly at the woman.

“Okay uh, I'm going to try your tail, alright? I'll tug you out that way. I'm so sorry if this hurts."

Pavla dragged Elaine from under the cart with a wet grip on her tail. Elaine slipped free without an issue. Cum caused her to slide over the stone like it were covered in oil.

“Gods. Thalia sent us looking everywhere for you. I mean, I heard what folks were saying, but… Gods." Pavla tested Elaine's other arm for a moment, then lifted her by that and her tail when the kobold didn't squeal in pain.

Elaine stood unsteady on her feet. She was shaking again. “Thalia?" she asked. Her throat scratched painfully.

“That's right, honey. You just hang on. I'll bring you to her."

Elaine fell against Pavla's hip, sobbing.

Awkwardly, the woman rubbed a hand over her bare, cum-slicked back. “There, there," she said. “There, there."

Elaine's legs screamed with even worse agony than before she'd settled down underneath the cart, but Thalia's name gave her the strength she needed. She set one trembling, unsteady foot in front of the other.

Pavla held her steady with a gentle grip on her arm. It was so much nicer than when Pacey had guided her through the city, molesting her breasts as they walked. Pavla spoke to her with a quivering, concerned voice about mundanities like court gossip and the weather.

Elaine greatly appreciated the distraction. It was something else to think about. It kept her mind from the ones they passed looking at her naked, abused body magically put on display for their lewd amusement. It kept her from slipping back into vivid memories of what had been done to her. It kept her from worrying about what Thalia would say.

And then the castle gates were in sight. Two other handmaids raced ahead as Pavla called out to them.

Elaine looked at the bench where she'd been bent over and raped by the half-orc Tolis. She sobbed and shook at the thought that Tolis might still be on duty. But she didn't see him.

And there she was. Beautiful, golden locks of hair draped over her shoulders and glistened in the sunlight. She wore a brilliant purple dress whose hems and frills were disheveled. Mud clung to the bottom of her dress. She held a handkerchief to her red nose. Her eyes were puffy with dark circles underneath.

Thalia. Elaine hated to see her in such a state.

“Elaine?" Thalia started, voice cracking. “Oh, Elaine!"

The princess ran forward, bunching up her dress so it wouldn't catch under her feet. She wrapped her arms around the small, messy kobold and pulled her from Pavla's grip into a tight embrace.

“What has he done to you, Elaine?" she whispered. Her voice broke with a sob.

Elaine heaved with her own wretched sobbing. She shuddered and buried her snout in Thalia's warm shoulder. “I'm disgusting," she whimpered, voice scratchy. “I'm ruining your dress."

“Fuck this dress," Thalia growled. She squeezed Elaine tight. The kobold finally broke and squealed with pain.

“My shoulder," she gasped. “My shoulder…"

“Oh Elaine. Gods, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Thalia said. She curled the kobold onto her side, careful to avoid the broken shoulder. She cradled Elaine to her chest like a baby. “I'm so sorry…"

Elaine nestled her face into Thalia's dress and cried. Over the reek of wolf cum stuck in her nostrils, she faintly smelled familiar lavender perfume and cinnamon scents.

Thalia carried her into the castle's keep. She walked, then bustled, and then sprinted down the stone corridors.

Elaine jostled and rattled in Thalia's arms. Her bruises and broken shoulder spiked with pain. But she just winced and bore it. She didn't want Thalia to set her down.

They came at last to a pair of heavyset wooden doors. Thalia adjusted her grip on Elaine and hammered the knocker until the door creaked open.

“What seems to be—" an elderly voice protested as Thalia elbowed her way inside.

Oh. It was Marcial of the Reaches, senior court magician. Elaine had sat down with him for a short time after her first campaign against Ranulf, determined to understand the most effective ways to fight against the wolf's magics.

Marcial's workspace was a cluttered mess of papers and magical implements. A wealth of gemstones haphazardly littered the floors and clustered on countertops and shelves. This room would be a thief's paradise were it not for the innumerable magical wards attached to the treasures inside.

Thalia gently placed Elaine onto a worktable. Even after every humiliating abuse she'd been put through, Elaine reflexively strained to cover her splayed pussy. She didn't want Thalia to see her like this. Or Marcial.

Elaine winced at the spike of pain in her broken shoulder. Her hands, of course, remained stuck together behind her back.

Tears dripped lazily out of the corners of her bloodshot eyes. Cum oozed off her, soaking countless papers that had been strewn on the workbench.

“Fix her!" Thalia shouted. “I don't care what you must do. Spend the whole Gods damned treasury! Fix her! Undo whatever that monster did to her!"

“My lady," Marcial sputtered. He frantically tugged soiled sheets of parchment out from underneath Elaine and clutched them to his chest. Then, heaving, he fiddled with his spectacles. “Please, slow down. This old heart cannot take it! What… Gods, is that Elaine?"

Marcial stopped, dumbfounded.

Elaine turned her head away, towards a bookshelf laden with hundreds of dusty tomes. It hurt to see how he looked at her: disgust, morbid curiosity, but worst of all, pity like she was a broken puppy.

Thalia huffed. She shifted awkwardly, then seated herself at the worktable. Tenderly, she gathered Elaine's disgusting head into her arms and cradled it. “Can you help her?" she asked quietly.

Marcial sputtered, staring at the two. Then, he rustled through the scattered papers on his lectern desk. He plucked out a small opal, as well as a bound notebook. He flipped the pages and then turned back to Elaine and Thalia. He pressed the opal to Elaine's forehead.

With a half-dozen deep, chanted words, the opal disintegrated into dust. Marcial stared at her and then frowned. “Sun burn me," he swore.

“What?" Thalia asked. She sniffled and wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve.

“I will require the other court wizards. This enchantment is… sadistic. Ranulf's work, for sure. Two enchantments, actually. Wait just a tick." Marcial hurriedly gathered a fistful of various gems, carefully selected from the chaos strewn on his floor. He turned to flip through the ancient spell book atop his lectern.

Thalia stroked Elaine's cheek. “What did he do to her?" she asked quietly.

“The bindings on her tail, wrists, and uh…" Marcial glanced over at Elaine's lewdly splayed vagina. The kobold squeezed her eyes shut, face flushed with shame. “Those are a simple force-binding spell. They would have worn off by the end of the day. I'll dispel them momentarily. I…"

The wizard's eyes had been narrowed in thought, skimming over minute text in his spell book. He jumped and then hurried to the door to stick his head out.

“Boy! Errand boy!" Marcial roared into the echoing hallway. Then, he shuffled back to his spell book. His eyes lit up as he placed a finger on a line of text. “Yes, yes. This will do. Right!"

With careful, scanning eyes, each gemstone was placed around Elaine in a loose oval. She shivered when Marcial gently guided Thalia's now cum-drenched arms off her. She felt so cold again. So alone.

“What did he do to her?" Thalia asked.

“It… I think this spell should serve to both break her bindings and suppress the greater enchantment. Only for a time, however. It will require more of my fellows to break it. And… I do not believe that some of the effects can be reversed without irrevocable damage to the girl."

“What the fuck did he do to her?" Thalia demanded.

Elaine sobbed. She started to shake again. She needed to be strong for Thalia. This wasn't right. “The… cum won't ever go away," Elaine croaked. “He made it easier for others to rape me. They feel less pain, but I feel it all. And… he made me receptive to his seed. He said his child is growing inside me."

Elaine didn't want to look at Thalia, but she did. Her beautiful princess was a mess. Tears smeared makeup smeared down her cheeks. Long golden locks of hair clumped together where they'd brushed over the kobold. Her dress was soaked with disgusting slime. Cum had even gotten on her face.

Thalia reached out to Elaine once more, but Marcial urgently waved her hand away. Hesitantly, she returned it to her lap. “Fix her," she growled.

Marcial nodded. He looked ashamed. The final gemstone settled in place next to Elaine's scaled foot.

“It's… worse than that," Marcial muttered. He opened his mouth but was interrupted by a brief knock at his door. “Oh! Errand boy. What was it I wanted from you? Right!"

Marcial shuffled to the door and cracked it open. “Fetch a healing potion from Daniella. Strong. Broken bones and internal damage. And a shoulder splint. Chop chop!"

He shut the door, then turned back to Thalia and Elaine. A grave look fell over his face as he resumed his place on the opposite side of the workbench.

“There is far more at play in the spellwork than what the kobold mentioned. The outer enchantments are so strangely made. We can unravel them, sure, but what I wouldn't give for a chance to study—"

The wizard had the decency to cough and look ashamed when Thalia glared at him.

“No, no, of course not. What I mean is that they have many strange effects. One of which is to somehow shelter another enchantment underneath them. A powerful scrying spell. It shouldn't work past the city walls, the magical barrier is too potent. And yet… I am sure that it does. Perhaps I should not say too much of it, for the wolf wizard is likely party to this very conversation. I doubt we may feed him any information he is not aware of. He already thinks so little of our magics. Yet—"

Marcial coughed again. This time, seemingly, to interrupt his own train of thought. Was there a secret in this room he wished to hide from Ranulf? Or did he simply not wish Ranulf to hear more of how woefully lacking modern Nefelihold magic was compared to his own?

Those questions just bided time to avoid acknowledging the dreaded implications of Marcial's words. Elaine's head swam. Ranulf had been watching her this whole time?

Of course he had. He'd said that plainly right before teleporting her. He had watched every further rape, every abuse and humiliation of her body. Had he laughed when her neck had nearly snapped while she was dragged behind the cart? Had he masturbated to Tolis raping her? Antony? Pacey and Jesper?

Ranulf had delighted in her torture. The image of the wolf staring at her while she stumbled pathetically to his bathtub stuck in her mind. She saw his cruel grin, his delighted, predatory eyes, and she heard the shlick shlick of his paw stroking the his glistening, cum and pussy-slicked canine cock.

Elaine trembled. She wanted to curl up tight again and pretend to hide from his eyes, just like she had under the bench outside the castle. Ranulf had seen everything. He had enjoyed every abuse of her body. He had gotten to watch Tolis spread her bruised vagina painfully wide to show off the cum dripping out of her to the onlooking crowd. He had been given his wish. No one cared about her. No one helped her. The Nefelihold citizens were happy to indulge in her debasement. No one lifted a finger to help their “Sapphire General."

Thalia's soft, tender hand wiped the tears from her cheek along with a thick smear of cum. Why did she bother? It was pointless.

A shuddering breath drew from the kobold's tail all the way up out her mouth. Thalia… She pushed against her princess. The closeness shielded her from the horrible thoughts and memories that wormed incessantly into her mind.

Elaine had Thalia. Ranulf told her that no one cared about her. Thalia would reject her. She would see a disgusting, defiled pet and find a new kobold to play dress-up knight with. But that was a lie. Thalia cared about her.

“You lose," Elaine wheezed.

Thalia and Marcial had been talking amongst themselves, but Elaine toned them out. They turned to her, looking at her oddly. She ignored them. She stared up at the roof. There was no way of knowing what angle Ranulf watched her from, but up felt right.

“I win. You were wrong. You were wrong," Elaine said, struggling to maintain her composure. She couldn't break down again right now. This was too important to her. Still, she shook violently in Thalia's arms.

“You did not break me. I am not alone. You lose. Fuck you, you lose again!"

***

As Marcial went about the time-consuming task of preparing the ritual, Elaine said nothing. She barely twitched, despite her agonizing pain. She simply stared at the ceiling, her expression hard. Thalia fretted over her, but she seemed to catch on quickly. Ranulf was a party to their every word and action. Elaine refused to offer him more entertainment.

Unfortunately, during that time, the wizard simply could not keep his mouth shut. He talked about the magic inside her body as if he had discovered a new toy. Every time Thalia glared at him, he grew solemn and sheepish, but quickly devolved back into near childish excitement.

Worst of all, was his revelation after casting what must have been the dozenth diagnostic spell on her. Marcial frowned. “I… believe that we can reverse all the magics, except, perhaps, the child inside her. It has taken already and… he wound his spell so tightly into her organs, I fear that unwinding it might tear her insides apart. It could kill her."

Elaine made a strangled noise. She hated herself for that. Ranulf was watching. He wanted to hear her discover this news from Marcial. She saw the wolf's cruel face inches from her own, smugly telling her that she would bear his child as his cock throbbed inside her vagina.

Why couldn't the damn wizard keep his mouth shut? Why couldn't he tell her this once he'd stripped the scrying spell off of her?

A cold, hard feeling settled in Elaine. Tears streamed down her face. Thalia still hugged her. But she spoke again for the first time since she last addressed Ranulf.

“I will rip it from my womb," Elaine hissed. “If it survives, I will snap its neck. I will cut it apart and feed it to the dogs."

That finally shut the wizard up. He didn't interrupt her stony silence until the preparations had finished

Marcial tapped a ruby on the table next to Elaine. He quietly said, “I am ready to begin. Try and be still, child."

With that, he began to chant. This incantation lasted far longer. Marcial's eyes narrowed with focus. A bead of sweat dripped down his brow. His hands worked through slow, precise motions, drawing shapes in the air.

Then, with a crack, all eight gemstones surrounding Elaine shattered. The shards crumbled into dust.

A wave of tingling discomfort washed up from the kobold's feet like a ring of marching insects. Her scales crawled. A cold rush stung her vagina as if it had been smeared with peppermint oil. The sensation slithered up inside her. She squirmed.

The magic spread past her shoulders, up her tail, and down her arms. It washed over her wrists and neck. Finally, it marched dully to the tip of her horns and then faded into nothing.

Elaine's tail fell limply to the side. Her good arm rested on the workbench, wrist no longer bound. Blessedly, for the first time in so many hours, her labia closed and hid her vagina from the world.

When she swallowed, the awful, bitter taste of the mixed cum from three separate men faded. It hurt terribly, but she swallowed again. Her mouth was dry. It wasn't slimy anymore. Fresh tears poured down her cheeks.

It was over. Her nightmare was over.

***

The healing potion tasted like a strange mixture of mud, sage, and the smell of wet dog. As Elaine forced the last of it down, Thalia gingerly wiped some of the wet mess from her body with rags. When they were done, Marcial affixed the splint.

Elaine tried to stand, but Thalia refused to allow it. She wrapped the naked, injured kobold in a towel and held her carefully to her chest.

Elaine's cheeks burned, not only at the indignity of the situation, but at how close her face lay to Thalia's bosom. She turned her head away to avoid the thoughts.

That was weak. Elaine was weak.

No, she would be strong and tell Thalia… later. This was a terrible moment. Of course, she couldn't say anything now. She was disgusting, pathetic. She needed to heal first and present herself as the strong kobold knight worthy of serving her princess. She couldn't admit her love as a sniveling lizard wretch, clutched in a blanket and shaking.

Thalia brought her to the private royal baths. Her handmaids rushed to prepare the water. She just wept and clutched Elaine so tight that the kobold almost protested. She didn't, though. Her bruises and torn scales hurt, but that pain was an acceptable price for Thalia's embrace.

Boiling water was fetched from the fireplace in the great hall and poured into the bathtub. The handmaids then poured cold water to bring it down to a perfect, steaming temperature. Thalia gently lowered Elaine inside. She only unwrapped her once the kobold had been submerged up to her neck. Even after her wipe down, a cloud of gross, milky white seeped into the bathwater. Unlike in Ranulf's enchanted bathtub, this water remained clouded.

Elaine groaned as the hot bath welcomed her battered body. Even amid her dread and terror, the bath Ranulf had provided had been a wonderful respite. Now, after being dragged through the city by her neck, with her legs throbbing, her shoulder broken, and so many scales broken and ripped, the water was heavenly.

Thalia slid into the tub next to Elaine, naked. Elaine turned away with a fierce blush.

“I'm so sorry, Elaine," Thalia whispered. She reached a tentative arm around the kobold's side, avoiding her splinted shoulder. “I've always tried to protect you. Ever since you saved my life as a child… I've been in debt to you. Whenever I even start to pay that debt back, you simply deepen it with your devotion, your bravery, your heroic deeds. You make me proud. You saved the kingdom. And… I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you. You would have protected me…"

Elaine shook like a leaf in Thalia's arms. The hot water soothed her aches, but those words rocked her to the core. How could Thalia say that? “Saving your life was a fluke," she whispered back hoarsely. “I was a scared child, pretending to be brave."

“You are brave, Elaine."

Elaine shook her head. “I've never fit in. I'm a terrible knight. They threw me away into wars where I struggled just to survive. I didn't win those wars. Eaglescreech did. My armor did. And—"

“Elaine, stop!" Thalia demanded.

The kobold's heart pounded. Thalia's fingers tingled against her scales. She tried so hard not to think about how naked they both were. Because Elaine was pathetic. She was weak, worthless, and undeserving.

“You silly little lizard," Thalia finally said. She gently stroked Elaine's side. “How can you say that? You won the grand melee two years in a row. You dueled Sir Benton and beat him so magnificently that you left the announcer speechless!"

Thalia's voice cracked. She sniffled, but continued forcefully despite the periodic sob that broke in. Elaine listened quietly, full of shame. “You saved every damned one of us in the wars, showing up my stupid brother Tommas who would have thrown our kingdom away for his ego! You did that three times! Elaine, you're the best knight I've ever known. You're the best person I've ever known. You're magnificent. You're strong. You're beautiful."

Elaine hated herself. She wanted to fight against Thalia's words. She felt dreadful, so horribly violated and used and hurt. It was so much easier to bask in self-loathing. Still, Thalia's words touched a place deep inside Elaine's heart. Elaine's heart had suffered as much abuse as her body.

Thalia should be disgusted by the pathetic, brutalized kobold in front of her. Thalia should see her as a failure, lured to the tower through her own idiocy and now suffering for it. But the earnest princess held her tenderly in the bath, uncaring of the disgusting mess that spread from her.

Elaine had to try and make Thalia see. Everyone thought she was nothing more than a pathetic kobold pet to the princess. They were right.

“Ranulf sent me a package with a lock of your hair," Elaine whispered sullenly. “When I was in Gopherburrow, following the lead on ogre sightings. He claimed to have you and threatened your life if I didn't go to him."

“Elaine…" Thalia wept.

“He tortured me. He raped me so many times. I fell apart. He nearly took my will from me."

Thalia held her close. She was warm, safe, comforting. So many things that Elaine didn't deserve.

“He… made me admit that I'm a lesbian," Elaine whispered. She rubbed her painful, puffy eyes. Her throat hurt. Talking was so hard, but she couldn't stop. She needed Thalia to see her the way she saw herself. Weak, disgusting, a failure.

“He needled it out of me. I never admitted it to myself, and he mocked me for it as he raped me. If my will broke to him, he would have puppeted my body in a brothel for a month. He knew how pathetic I am. I can swing a sword, Thalia, but I'm weak."

The hug squeezed her torso so tight it was hard to breathe. Elaine wrapped her good arm around her injured breasts to hide them. She felt so exposed.

She couldn't stop talking. She couldn't bear to hold back her secret. She had already suffered so much that she could rip the band aid off right now and feel only a dull ache as her heart was broken again.

“He made me admit that I'm in love with you. He made me tell him that I know you can never love me back. Because I'm a kobold. Because I'm weak. I don't deserve you. I survived. He didn't succeed in breaking me... But everything he said was true. My journey back here proved that."

Thalia made a strangled noise. She started to speak, but Elaine cut her off. “Antony raped me too. Sir Halvar's squire. I… thought he at least saw me as a knight. I'm just a kobold to him. To all of them. They raped me in daylight outside the castle gate. No one stopped to help."

Thalia made another noise. She squeezed Elaine so tight the kobold worried her ribs would crack. “I will fucking kill that boy," Thalia hissed. “I'll strangle Ranulf myself. I'll execute every one of them."

Elaine had no more tears. She let Thalia hold her. An unreadable slurry of emotions contorted Thalia's teary face. A terrible hollowness yawned inside Elaine as she gazed into her princess's eyes.

And then Thalia kissed her.

Warmth burst through the kobold. Her heart flipped, and her stomach did a twirl. Her eyes widened. She stared up along her scaly snout. Thalia's lips were so soft and silky. They met her with such gentle tenderness.

Elaine's heart hammered. How could this be happening? Nothing made any sense. She struggled to hold onto the terrible truths that had been beaten into her, raped into her, but they slipped from her grasping claws.

Thalia finally broke the kiss. She looked down into Elaine's wide eyes as tears streamed down her own cheeks. “You have been through so much for me. More than I could ever ask for. You're brave. You're loyal. It breaks my heart. I love you so much, Sir Elaine."

It was as if a final, lingering enchantment cast upon the kobold broke. Elaine believed her. She sobbed and buried her face into Thalia's side.