Chapter Text
It was a bright day in the city of Baldur’s Gate. Though it had only been a few weeks since the Absolute’s attack upon the city, in that short time almost all the damage had already been repaired. Shadowheart was happy to do her part in helping the rebuilding efforts, but she was even happier to be summoned by their newly crowned Empress.
Minthara waited for her in a large shaded pavilion overlooking the central road of the city. Crowds of people, some in carts, some mounted, and some on foot, moved by like a constant river, overlooked by two armored mind-flayers. It was a heartwarming sight, right up until the tadpole’s veil was ripped away.
Shadowheart staggered, suddenly feeling her own thoughts flowing unimpeded. Her eyes fell on the crowd again and saw the sharp contrast between the smiles of the infected and the scared eyes of the normal citizens. The latter outnumbered the former by a wide margin, yet still were herded like sheep at the whim of their new gods.
“A pretty sight, isn’t it?” Minthara’s voice was like poisoned honey. It sounded so sweet and beautiful, until you realized what she was saying.
The cleric didn’t bother responding. In an instant, Shadowheart turned on her heels and called on her goddess’s power. Then just as quickly, she felt her hand freeze mid-gesture as she choked on the incantation.
Minthara hadn’t even looked at her. She still sat at her table, refilling her glass of wine casually. Shadowheart was left frozen as she slowly took a sip, savoring the taste before swallowing.
“I suppose no one ever accused you of being smart, but even so I thought you’d have more tact.”
The hold on Shadowheart’s throat released, but she felt her hand descend back to her side. Her eyes darted around, as she spoke, trying to put on a confident voice. “Well, you miss every shot you don’t take, and I’d really like to shoot you.”
“Hah!” Minthara’s amusement seemed genuine, even if her reaction was exaggerated. “In another lifetime perhaps we could’ve been great friends.”
“In another lifetime I was smart enough to stick a knife in you back at the goblin camp.”
Minthara’s smile shrank until it was limited to the corners of her lips. “We all must live with our mistakes. Now, come here.”
Shadowheart felt herself start walking forwards. It took her a moment to even question the movement, it all seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Yet even once she questioned herself, once she tried to tell her body to stop, she couldn’t stop it. The urge to obey was overwhelming, like an itch filling her entire consciousness.
“Kneel.” Minthara stretched out a hand and lazily caressed her face as she obeyed. “As I said, in another lifetime-”
“Maybe you’d not be an unlikable bitch.” Shadowheart finished for her.
The drow glowered at her. “Teaching you manners will be quite enjoyable.” She sighed and leaned back, crossing her legs. “Busy that annoying tongue with cleaning my boots.”
Shadowheart tried to resist, but even merely trying to resist was hard. No matter how hard her soul raged, her mind didn’t want to fight the pervasive itch filling her mind. Every inch she leaned forwards, every scratch of the itch, was like a little moment of paradise. When her tongue rubbed against the black leather of the drow’s boots, tasting the dusty streets of the city, her mind sang and her soul screamed.
“Now, as I was saying: In another lifetime we might’ve been friends. You may have been standing here at my right hand, enjoying the indulgences of power yourself.”
As her empress spoke, Shadowheart’s tongue continued to clean the leather. It didn’t take long for her to remove the powdered dirt and clay from their surface. “Polish them.” The order rang in her mind in Minthara’s voice even as the elf continued to speak. Shadowheart couldn’t help but obey, swirling her tongue around in an effort to produce a shine.
“I was quite fond of you for a time. I saw such great potential in you, but then you threw it away.”
Shadowheart kept working, she couldn’t stop herself. A constant thought looped in her mind: “You can do better. Your empress deserves better.”
“Not content to prostrate yourself for a new goddess after freeing yourself from the old, you refused to even sever Shar’s hold on you completely.” Minthara’s voice brimmed with resentment, but also genuine disappointment. “That scar on your hand is a leash as much as that symbol you wear around your neck, and you refused to sever either.”
The drow resumed drinking from her wine, letting Shadowheart’s work continue for a little bit before silently ending the command. In an instant, her mind was her own again and the joy of submission was replaced with pure disgust. She recoiled back, covering her hand with her mouth as she gagged at the lingering taste.
“The only leash…is the damn tadpole.” Shadowheart responded, her voice wavering as she regained control of her throat. “How the hell can you do this to us after what we went through?” Despite herself, she could feel her pain and anger boiling over, remembering the way Minthara once spoke of their affliction.
“You were the one who chose slavery. We merely changed who you were chained to.”
“You’re worse than Shar.”
That seemed to get under the newly-crowned empress’s skin. Her real face shone through for a moment, a cruel angry expression. “Shar is a depressed child who thinks we would all be better off dead.”
There was a pause, and her expression returned to her normal neutral look. “Unlike Shar, I wouldn’t deny the pleasure and pain of my subjects.” The corners of her mouth rose, her eyes lighting up. “Go ahead, masturbate.”
Her entire mind was consumed by the itch in an instant. Both her hands raced to slip up her skirt. Her left hand pulled her panties to the side, while her right grasped her swiftly hardening cock and began to massage it.
It was hard to keep a straight face as the waves of pleasure hit her. Realization dawned that in the weeks since Minthara and Tav’s betrayal, she hadn’t once even thought of sating her urges. The tadpole had held them at bay all that time, but now it allowed the flood-gates to open.
“Perverted…bitch…” Shadowheart gasped as her hand pumped away.
“Sex is a tool. Using it a certain way is no more a perversion of it than your horrendous fighting is of a dagger.”
“So what next?” She panted, her left hand pressing into her taint and sending ripples of pleasure through her body. “Rape I assume?”
“You think too highly of yourself. Why would I stoop to raping you when I share my bed with a goddess?”
“So…what?” Her hand squeezed her cock so hard it hurt. “This is…just some twisted…show for you?”
“This, Shadowheart, is punishment.” Minthara set her drink down and stood up. A silent command resonated in her mind. “Stand at the railing. Do not stop.”
Shadowheart rose to her feet, hand visibly pumping away under her dress. As she turned, she was reminded of the large, constantly moving, crowd mere yards from the two of them. Legs shaky from shame and pleasure, she found herself walking forwards until she was in full view of all of them, her hand still working just as fast.
“Shame is a powerful tool.” Minthara remarked. Shadowheart could feel so many eyes on her. Sweat beaded on her skin and she squeezed her eyes shut. “ Look at them. ” Her eyes snapped open again at the command.
“Go…to…hell.” Shadowheart gasped out. Her entire body screamed at her, waves of lightning racing up her spine as she neared orgasm.
Minthara ignored her comment. “Subjects will see how we treat those who obey and the rich rewards they receive. In the same vein, they must see how we treat those who have wronged us; a service you shall provide.”
Minthara turned back to her, leaning on the stone railing. Shadowheart could only barely see her face in her periphery, her eyes forced to focus on the crowd, but she thought the drow was smiling. She was forced to see the disgust and fear on peoples faces at her torment. Much worse than that though was to see that the amused smiles weren’t limited to the infected drones.
“Now, obey your empress and cum.” The order wasn’t erotic. It wasn’t laced with seductive tones whispered into her ear. Minthara simply gave her a command the same way she would if she wanted Shadowheart to stand, sit, or slit a throat, and like all her other commands, Shadowheart had no choice but to obey.
Shadowheart felt her muscles tighten. A chill raced up her spine. Her cock twitched and painted the inside of her white skirt with ropes of cum, leaving a visible dark stain on the fabric. The waves of pleasure drowned out all her shame and suffering, but only for a fleeting moment.
After a moment, the haze of orgasm departed. Her hands slipped out from under her dress and folded themselves in front of her unconsciously. She could still see the crowd watching her, new faces appearing as often as old ones left.
“Look down.” Minthara commanded, Shadowheart obeyed. Some sticky cum hand managed to cling to the back of her hand. “Clean it.” Shadowheart knew what her cum tasted like, but this time the taste was more potent than ever. An involuntary wince crossed her face as she swallowed down the salty cum.
Once again, her hands instinctively fell to her sides. Shadowheart took a deep breath and steeled herself before speaking, lacing her voice with as much sarcasm as she could muster. “I have truly learned my lesson. Why, I can’t imagine any of your subjects turning on you in the face of such harrowing punishment.”
“Hmph, another nasty trait of yours we’ll have to remedy.” Minthara reached up and and easily pushed the straps of her dress off her shoulders. Shadowheart felt as the fabric fell away and the cool city air touched her breasts. “Sadly I do not have the time to tend to re-educating you at the moment.”
Minthara stepped away, before speaking again as if she’d just remembered something. “Oh, but if your punishment is so dull, you won't mind it continuing until I return in a couple of hours. Go ahead, enjoy yourself, I insist. ”
In an instant Shadowheart had fallen to her knees. She felt her eyes pulled towards the crowd again, forced to look at them watch her as her hands snaked under her dress and went to work. By the time Minthara’s footsteps faded, she was already hard again.