The rest of the school day passed by in a whirl for Clayton, who was struggling to process the fact that he had actually shrunk three whole inches in a single spurt. If he had harbored any lingering doubts about the reality of Scarlet’s power over him, he certainly didn’t anymore — it had been as clear as day, when she made him stand up in front of her to measure, that his half-sister now stood a good three inches taller than him. He had been staring straight into her chin; there was no way around it. And it was all because she had forced him to cum in front of the whole classroom, in a humiliating display of masochism and submission. Clayton couldn’t believe that Scarlet had the power to force his mind into this hitherto-unexplored and uncharted region…a region that he hadn’t even know existed…a region that was dark and scary, and crawling with images of submission and humiliation. If she could control him so completely now, what was it going to be like when he shrunk down even more?? Clayton knew that he had to try and resist with everything he had, but already, one day into his servitude, Scarlet was wearing him down. 

What was even worse, Clayton began to realize that he hadn’t just gotten shorter — his whole body just looked…a little smaller all over. He had been a well-built young man, with long limbs that were not overly muscled or overly skinny. His muscle tone had been nice, though, to the point where he had become accustomed to hearing compliments from admiring young women about his toned arms and legs. But after his big shrinking spurt in front of Scarlet’s class, he couldn’t help but notice, as the day wore on and he crawled and knelt at Scarlet’s feet, that his arms looked a bit…smaller…punier. Was he just imagining it? His legs as well…they looked a little bonier, a little less toned. Surely he was just getting shorter, right!? Scarlet wasn’t taking his size and muscle tone too, was she!? It took a massive effort on Clayton’s part not to have a full-on panic attack as he kept trying and failing to wrap his mind around this awful crisis he was mired in. All he could do was crawl after Scarlet, from class to class, totally naked and embarrassed in front of the hordes of schoolgirls who laughed and giggled as they looked down on him. 

A couple of the girls had even asked Scarlet if they could pet him. Clayton had recoiled at the bizarreness of the request, but each time, Scarlet had chuckled and yanked up the leash, so that Clayton was forced into a kind of erect kneel. 

“Haha, sure, go ahead!” Scarlet had laughed. “He doesn’t bite, I can tell you that. He’s pretty docile. But I’ve only just begun to train him. He’s gonna be a lot better behaved in the future — you’ll see.” 

Better behaved!? Clayton didn’t know what more Scarlet wanted him to do. He had done everything she asked, mostly just because he was terrified of the consequences of disobeying her. He racked his mind desperately as he crawled after Scarlet after the last period class was over. He wanted her to recognize how well he was obeying her…how completely he was following her orders. Clayton didn’t realize it, but already, Scarlet had trained him to crave her praise and recognition. She had already started to process of remolding his mind to directly fit her own wishes and desires.

As he crawled after Scarlet, Clayton chewed on the dog treat that she had fed him moments before, right on cue, as the bell rang. The dog treats were all Clayton had eaten that day, and he had been so hungry that he actually found himself looking forward to the treats at the end of each class. Scarlet had noticed how eagerly he had eaten the treat out of her hand, and seeing his total embrace of the dog role made her laugh out loud. As Clayton chewed hungrily on the salty treat, he crawled after Scarlet as she walked out of the school’s front doors. 

“Can we come over this afternoon?” Gillian was asking Scarlet eagerly. “Pleassssseee??”

“What, have you not had enough of my little pet for one day?” teased Scarlet. 

“Not even close to enough!” laughed Gillian, lifting Clayton’s face up at her by raising his chin up with her shoe.

“I’m with Gillian,” said Cora seriously, her blue eyes traveling hungrily across Clayton’s naked, shrunken body. “I wanna play with him some more….and, you know…see how many times, and how many different ways, we can make him cum.”

“Haha, wow Cora!” Scarlet teased. “I can see that little Clayton has really brought it out of you! You hear that, slave? Quiet, innocent Cora here wants to force you to cum over and over. What’s your response to that?”

“I…I…uh, as…as long as it’s wh-what you want,” stammered Clayton.

“Awwww wooowwww!” laughed Cora. “He’s such a submissive! And very obedient already!” 

“Yeah,” said Scarlet, shrugging her shoulders as she looked down at Clayton. “That was the right answer, but he has a looonnnggg way to go before I’m anywhere close to being satisfied.” 

“Sooo, how about it, Scarlet?” asked Gillian eagerly again. “We can come home with you?”

Scarlet shook her head. “No, not yet, unfortunately. Maybe I can have you two over later on tonight, but I need to have some time to myself with Clayton this afternoon. There’s some important training that we need to get through, and for that, I don’t want Clayton to be able to take refuge in any distractions. You two are lovely, don’t get me wrong…but Clayton needs to really learn some proper discipline around me. He hasn’t had a bad first day, but he could be better. A lot better.”

“Aw ok,” said Gillian, rolling her eyes playfully. “You go do your thing, Scarlet…but please, you know…hit us up if you get to a point where we can come over, ok?”

“Sure thing, girl!” said Scarlet, winking at Gillian and waving goodbye to her and Cora. Clayton suddenly felt a not-insignificant weight plop itself down on his back, and he almost crumpled completely to the ground. He was able to hold himself up, his arms unsteady and shaking a bit from the effort of holding up the weight. Scarlet had just hopped on his back as if he were a horse. 

“Giddy up!” she exclaimed, slapping the underside of his stomach with her hand. “Take me home, slave!” 

Clayton crawled a few paces with Scarlet on his back like this, and his knees hurt more than ever due to the extra weight. Was she serious!? Did she actually expect him to crawl all the way back to the house with her on his back like this?! There was no way…there was just no way that such a thing was possible. His knees would crack! But after another stinging underbelly slap from Scarlet, he proceeded along, having no other choice than to do what she wanted. 

“Hmmm, I think I need to get you a harness of some kind,” mused Scarlet as Clayton crawled away from the school, passing groups of giggling girls who pointed and laughed as they passed. “That way I can steer you more easily in whatever direction I want.”

As Clayton unsteadily made his way toward the road, he suddenly found his way blacked by two shapely legs. 

“Oh what’s up Tarryn?” asked Scarlet pleasantly, pulling Clayton to a stop. “You like my little horsey? Make a horsey noise, Clayton.” Clayton neighed out loud, his insides shriveling up from the shame of the humiliating act. 

“Yes I do,” came Tarryn’s soft velvety voice. Clayton looked up at her and saw her beautiful face staring down at him, those mysterious green eyes fixed squarely on his face. “Thank you for bringing him to school, Scarlet. Hopefully this wasn’t just a one-time thing?”

“Oh no,” chuckled Scarlet, squeezing Clayton’s sides with her legs. “He’s my transportation now! I mean, how am I gonna get to school without him?” 

Tarryn laughed appreciatively, a soft, luscious laugh that carried on the air, the same as her lovely voice did. “Well, that’s nice to hear,” said Tarryn, bending down to peer closer into Clayton’s face. “And I’m glad that I’ll be seeing a lot more of him. It’s always nice to see a guy know his true place.”

“You’ve got that right!” laughed Scarlet. “And Clayton knows full well that his true place in on his hands and knees, under me. Isn’t that right, slave?”

“Y-yes,” grunted Clayton, hating that he was starting to get another erection. 

“Well, I’ll let you get on home,” said Tarryn dreamily. “Just thought I’d let you know how much I appreciated you bringing him today.” 

“Haha, no problem Tarryn,” said Scarlet. “Get used to seeing him, cause he’s here to stay.”

A few minutes later, as Clayton crawled painfully across the sidewalk, Scarlet laughed out loud, emerging from her thoughts. “Haha, how about Tarryn, huh? She sure seemed to take an interest in you. How do you feel about that, little pet?” 

“I…I, uh…” grunted Clayton, already starting to tire from the effort of carrying Scarlet’s weight. “I don’t know.” 

“Well you’d better get it into your thick skull to be thankful for the attention of my friends,” said Scarlet, slapping Clayton in the underside of his belly again with her hand, and making him wince in pain. “Tarryn is one of the smartest, kindest, and most beautiful women you will ever meet. You don’t deserve to lick her feet, you pathetic piece of vermin. Same with Gillian and Cora. They’re miles…light years…ahead of you in every way. But you’ll learn…you’ll learn to be grateful for their attention. Especially when you see what I have planned for you when we get back home. Now go on, giddy up! Go faster! I don’t have all day, you know!”

Clayton sped up his pace, his knees burning in pain, his stomach smarting from Scarlet’s blows, and his limbs throbbing and shaking from exertion. He was dreading whatever it was that Scarlet had planned for him back at home, but he was forced to focus solely on getting her home. It was beginning to feel like an impossible task…they had several miles to go, and already, he felt like he was breaking down. 

Half an hour later, they were barely even halfway home, and Clayton’s body could take it no more. Exhausted from his exertions and overcome with weakness, he sank to the ground, his arms and legs giving out beneath him. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Scarlet snarled, and immediately she started slapping both of his sides hard with her hands. Clayton cried out in pain, but he did not get up just yet. 

“You think that you can just give up?” continued Scarlet in the same dangerous voice. “You think you can just decide when you’ll work and when you won’t? Well think again, slave. You don’t get to decide anything — you’ll learn that eventually, one way or the other.”

As Scarlet spoke, she continued to rain blows down on him, tormenting the delicate and vulnerable flesh of his sides with her cruel and persistent palms. Clayton could feel his mind breaking from the pain, but he still couldn’t find the energy to rise up. Only when Scarlet started digging her sharp fingernails into his flesh and tearing did he let out a desperate wail and rise back to his hands and knees. 

“See, I can make you do what I want eventually,” she hissed down at him. “It’s up to you how much pain it’ll take…haha see, I’m giving you a chance to decide something in your life! You should be grateful — now go! Crawl! And you better not fall down again; next time I’m not going to be so nice.” 

By the time they got home twenty minutes later, Clayton was dripping with sweat, and he was crying tears of pain and near-total exhaustion as they came in through the front door. He didn’t know how on earth he had managed to crawl all the way back to the house with Scarlet on his back…and he didn’t know how he was going to do this every day…every day!? Scarlet seemed to know his thoughts, and as she hopped off his back, she seized his face in her powerful grip, jerking his chin up to face her. 

“Every day,” she nodded, smiling cruelly into his eyes. “Every single day…and you better be ready for it, pet. But you made it home on the first day, and you deserve a little token of appreciation. Here — ” and she spat in his face. Clayton was startled by the spit, and simply blinked. Scarlet’s face screwed up furiously and she slapped him hard across the cheek. 

“What do you say?!” she thundered down at him.

“Th-th-thank you,” he managed to spout out, his voice sounding alarmingly hollow and exhausted. 

“Hmmm, having some early discipline problems already?” came Kazehana’s voice. Clayton turned to see her standing in the archway to to the main living room, clothed in her short purple bathrobe, her huge form nearly filling the entire space. 

“He’s slower and dumber than I thought he would be,” answered Scarlet, shaking her head. “But I’m gonna work on him more this afternoon. He shrank three inches in front of the class today, though! I made him jerk off, and he had a huge shrink spurt…also a huge cum spurt, haha.” 

“Well let’s see it,” said Kazehana. Scarlet jerked Clayton up to his feet by his leash, and she had to try it several times before he was actually able to stand. 

“Psssh, see how weak he is?” said Scarlet. “Fucking pathetic.”

“Well did you really expect anything more from the son of his daddy?” laughed Kazehana. “Let’s see…oooo yesss…he did get shorter! Let’s line you two up, back to back…ah yes! Excellent! His head only comes up to your eyes, Scarlet! And look at his little body…it’s gotten skinnier and punier…can you tell?”

“He has??” asked Scarlet eagerly, turning around and grabbing one of Clayton’s arms, examining it closely. “I couldn’t tell about the size or not!” 

“For sure, he has,” said Kazehana knowingly, nodding her head slowly. “You need to learn to look more carefully.”

“Well, pretty soon I’m not gonna need to look carefully,” said Scarlet, putting her hands on her hips as she drew herself up to her full height, looming over Clayton as she made wide eyes down at him. “Pretty soon, he’s gonna be so small that I’ll be able to see a difference from a mile away.” 

“That’s the spirit,” laughed Kazehana. “How about it, Doug? What do you think of my daughter’s new pet?” 

Just then, Clayton realized that someone was standing next to Kazehana…a man. But Scarlet’s mother was so huge, and so full of energy and life, that she literally seemed to swallow up all the attention around her. Clayton could see that this man couldn’t have been much shorter than 6 feet tall. But next to Kazehana, he was an absolute shrimp. The top of his head barely came up to her breasts, each of which were far bigger than his head. He was dressed only in his underwear, and his limbs looked tiny and measly next to Kazehana’s curves. 

“Uhh…I — I d-don’t…uh…I don’t know,” he stuttered, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. 

“I — I d-d-don’t…uh…I — I — I,” mocked Kazehana. “Sheesh Scarlet, Doug here would lose an intelligence competition with a lamp post.” 

“Then why do you keep him around?” asked Scarlet, staring at her mother’s boy toy with evident disgust. 

“Oh you know…whenever I want a moderately thick cock I call him up…and he always comes over, don’t you, little Doug?”

“Y-yeah,” he nodded, the tent of his cock now clear in through his underwear. 

“Yeah,” breathed Kazehana down at him. “Because Doug just can’t say no to me.” 

“Can you blame him, mom?” laughed Scarlet. “I mean, god, look at the two of you. He probably lasts thirty seconds before he blows his load, I bet.” 

“That’s fairly accurate!” laughed Kazehana, palming the back of Doug’s head as her curves jiggled behind him with her laughter. “But I solve that problem by making him cum again…and again…and again…until there’s nothing left.” 

“Mmm, yeah, about that,” said Scarlet, turning back to Clayton. “It’s time for your afternoon training…and I think that you’re gonna shrink down a little more by dinnertime.”

Clayton looked up at Scarlet in fear, and she laughed down in his face. “Haha! You can try and fight it, but you aren’t going to be able to deny your nature, Clayton. You’ll see…just wait.” 

Scarlet was true to her word, and for the next several hours, she put Clayton through a wide variety of humiliating pet-training activities. She made him play fetch with a stick in the backyard, timing him each time to see how long it took him to bring the stick back to her in his mouth. After an hour of this game, Clayton once again collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion, unable to move or get up. Scarlet was prepared for this, though — she had a bullwhip in her hand, and after three or four lashes to his back, Clayton was up again with a desperate yelp. 

“If you can’t respond to my orders, then you’ll be forced to respond to pain,” she intoned darkly down at him. “Either way, you’re going to do as I say and give me what I want…and right now, I want more of your cum.” 

Scarlet’s hungry mouth started to descend down towards Clayton’s cock, and he tried to back away in fear, knowing that any more orgasms would shrink him further. 

“W-wait!” he cried out. “Wait…S-Scarlet…we’re…we’re brother and sister! W-we…we can’t be involved like this!”

“Half brother and sister,” Scarlet corrected him. “And what are you talking about?” 

“It’s…it’s messed up, Scarlet!” cried Clayton desperately. “Having…s-sibling or…or half-sibling or whatever, doing…s-sexual things together!” 

“Hmmm,” said Scarlet, bringing a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “It is pretty gross, to think of me actually blowing my half-brother. Especially when he’s as pathetic and submissive as you are. Hmmm, ok, you actually have a point there, Clayton. Start jerking off, then.” 

“W-what?!” cried Clayton, terrified of getting smaller. 

“Do it,” snarled Scarlet, grabbing his cock in her hand and shaking it threateningly. “Or I’ll tear it off, balls and all. You want me to neuter my pet?” 

Clayton hurriedly shook his head and started jacking off — Scarlet yanked him to his feet and started walking around his naked, masturbating form, analyzing his body from every angle for several minutes, until she finally stopped directly in front of him. 

“Look up at me,” she commanded, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t just want you to jerk off, Clayton. I want you to jerk off to me. I want you to feel lust for me…for my strength and size and power…all of which are superior to yours. I want you to really feel it, Clayton…and give in to it. Keep going…yeah, that’s right…keep jerking…jerk it, jerk it, jerk it.” 

Clayton had been soft for the first few minutes, but gradually, as Scarlet increased her taunts and stood there in front of him, several inches taller, Clayton found himself giving in to her beauty. She really was incredible attractive. And rising up before him as she was, her body took on a new and imposing magnificence that Clayton was not finding it easy to avoid appreciating. And she wanted power over him…she sought it…hungered for it…and Clayton was finding that this mere fact alone was enough to drive him to lust for her. Her desire to dominate him, to subsume him, to train him, to infiltrate into every aspect of his mind and being, was impossible to resist. He looked up into her dark eyes, which stared back down at him intently, unblinking…she licked her lips. God she was hot…she was so hot…so sexy…so powerful…and…and taller than him…and sure to get taller…sure to get bigger than him, as he shrunk down…as he became punier and punier…as his muscles wasted away…as he dropped lower and lower down in height…as her shadow loomed up higher and higher above him…as she swallowed him up with her body, with her mind, with her dominant essence. 

Scarlet smirked down at him as she raised an eyebrow. That was all she needed to do, and Clayton came violently, spurting and sputtering his cum at her feet as he gasped and panted out in agonized, searing pleasure. Almost as soon as he finished squirting, he gaped in horror as he felt himself diminishing. He was shrinking again! And this time, it was right in front of Scarlet, whose eyes had lit up in delighted, ravenous joy. From Clayton’s perspective, it looked like Scarlet was literally rising up in front of him as he shrunk down…with horror, he saw her boobs rise up in his vision, until he was actually looking straight forward into her rack.

Her rack…was she…had Scarlet’s boobs gotten bigger?? Clayton blinked his eyes a couple times, thinking he was seeing things. But the reality was plain in front of his face: Scarlet’s boobs had gotten bigger. Like, an entire bra size or two bigger…Clayton looked over her body in panic, and saw that it wasn’t just Scarlet’s breasts that had appeared to have grown. It was all over…her arms and legs looked a little thicker…a little more substantial and robust. Her hips looked thicker and wider, and her once-tiny ass seemed to have sprouted a little in her backside. It wasn’t a huge ass now, by any means, but now Scarlet could definitely be said to have a bubble butt. Clayton felt himself shaking as he looked up into Scarlet’s face. He felt a bubble of awe buoy up inside him as he looked up at her, still staring down at him with that same smirk on her face. Her face…it somehow looked…even more beautiful than it had been before. Her features just looked…a little sharper, or something. Her eyes looked even darker, even more profound…and her cheeks looked even fresher and fleshier. Scarlet licked her lips with her tongue, and Clayton could see that even her lips looked better…somehow enhanced to look firmer, plusher, and more luscious. He felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked way up at her face, almost speechless before his half-sister. 

“Mmmm yeeahhh,” she breathed down at him. “That was another good one…I felt that one, Clayton. I felt that one in my bonessss….in my muscles…everywhere….oh god, look at you now! You’re a pipsqueak compared to me now. Haha, I mean…look at this!” She measured with her hand from the top of his head. 

“Haha! Oh my god! The top of your head doesn’t even come up to my chin! And jesus! Look at my boobs! I finally have boobs! Oh my god it’s finally happening!! I’m finally growing! Yes! Yes!! Yessss!!!” 

Scarlet’s voice was alive with eager energy, and she suddenly whipped out her tape measure again and bent down, measuring Clayton from the ground up. He could do nothing but stand there, letting it all happen, powerless to stop it. His most recent shrinking spurt had left him feeling weak, drained of all energy. Scarlet had taken it from him; she had literally taken it from him and transferred it into herself. 

“Holy shit,” she whispered down at him. “You’re 5’3. You’re five foot three, Clayton!” She threw her head back and cackled to the sky. “Hahaha! Oh my god, you’re shorter than Cora now! You’re a little shrimp next to me! Oooo let’s see…let’s see how tall I am now.” 

Scarlet quickly measured herself, and her mouth dropped open. She measured again, and then one final time, just to be sure. 

“I…I’m 6 feet tall now,” she said unsteadily, almost to herself. “I’m 6 feet tall,” she repeated out loud. She looked down at Clayton with wide eyes, her mouth open and exultant. “Hahaha! Can you believe that, Clayton!? I’m 9 inches taller than you!! Haha, and it’s all because of your uncontrollable feelings of lust for me!! I told you you wouldn’t be able to resist me!! I told you!!”

Clayton hung his head, feeling the lowest he had ever felt in his life. Scarlet was right — he had no one to blame but himself for getting smaller. He had not been able to prevent his crazy lust for his half-sister, and that, and that alone, was the reason why he had shrunk again.

“Haha, look at your puny little body!” jeered Scarlet, bending down and seizing one of his arms. “Look at this little chicken arm you’ve got here! Almost no muscle anymore!” She lined up his forearm with hers, and gave a snort of laughter at the comparison. Clayton could hardly believe it — his arm looked puny next to Scarlet’s…it wasn’t that her arm was huge or muscular…rather, it was that his arm just looked so tiny, bony, and pathetic next to hers, which by comparison looked so much more fleshy, solid, substantial and just…adult. 

“And how about hands?” Scarlet asked, clearly turned on by the size difference between them. “Let’s compare those!” She lined their hands up together, and gave another shout of laughter. The top of Clayton’s fingers barely reached the last knuckles on her fingers; her fingers were longer than his by at least an entire inch. She continued to chuckle, shaking her head down at him, her lovely black hair looking healthier and fuller than ever. 

“Puny,” she teased down at him. “Puny, puny, puny. You couldn’t resist me before; how do you think you’re gonna resist me now, huh?” 

An hour later, they were all sitting around the dinner table in the dining room, which was a huge medieval-like hall with a massive oak table. Alaina was just laying out the evening meal when Scarlet came in with Clayton, leading him by his leash as he crawled across the floor. He was about ready to collapse again, from weariness, from hunger, and from having his size and energy sucked out of him by Scarlet. 

“Dinner is ready, Ms. Scarlet,” said Alaina, looking down at Clayton as her eyebrows went up. 

“Yummy,” said Scarlet, almost high off her afternoon training sessions with Clayton. “Hey Alaina, notice anything different in my pet?”

“Of course I do,” said Alaina, cocking her eyebrow down at Clayton. “Can you have him stand up for me?”

“With pleasure,” said Scarlet, and she yanked on Clayton’s leash, forcing him to rise to his feet shakily. He was so weak and tired form the day’s activities that he could barely stand. Alaina strode over to him confidently in two steps of her huge legs, and she stood in front of Clayton, putting her hands on her big, thick hips. 

“Hmmm yes,” she said mildly from high above. “He seems to have shrunk considerably already.” Clayton managed to look forward, and saw that he was staring straight into the top of Alaina’s stomach, which was clearly muscled and visible through her maid’s outfit. His shoulders were just about even with Alaina’s thick, vigorous hips. At 7 feet tall, she was a full 21 inches taller than Clayton, and at this point, her arms were probably just about as thick as his shrunken legs. 

“Right!?” burst out Scarlet happily. “Like, he’s getting smaller even faster than I thought he would. And look at me, Alaina! I’ve actually started growing!”

“And beautifying too, apparently,” Alaina said with a slight smile, standing up to her full height and looking down on Scarlet maternally. “Just be careful that you don’t stretch him too thin, Scarlet. There’s a fine line between training and breaking — you know that, right?” 

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” said Scarlet dismissively, plopping her newly-burgeoned ass down in her seat at the table. “I’ll know the line after I’ve crossed it — that’s how I see it, anyway.” 

“Hmmm, well, I think your pet here should have a few moments with me after he eats,” said Alaina, looking up and down Clayton’s battered, sweaty body. “There are some whip marks that need some special attention, I think. You don’t want his wounds getting infected, now, do you?” 

“Uh, no I guess not,” said Scarlet, who was already stuffing her face with steaming cuts of turkey. “Just…have him ready for me in about an hour, ok? I wanna have Gillian and Cora over tonight. We’re gonna play with him some more.”

“Ok, Miss Scarlet,” said Alaina, giving Clayton one last hard look before she went out of the room. Right about that moment, Kazehana walked in with Lydia, Scarlet’s 10-year-old younger sister. 

“Oooo that’s him!?” piped up Lydia, pointing down to Clayton, who was crouched on the ground next to Scarlet’s chair. Lydia was just around 4’6, and totally dwarfed by everyone in the room except Clayton. Even in his exhausted submission, Clayton was strangely happy to see someone smaller than him. 

“That’s him,” said Kazehana, taking her seat at the table. “And apparently he’s gotten even smaller since this afternoon. How tall, Scarlet?”

“He’s 5’3!” said Scarlet excitedly through her food. 

“I’m sorry, I should have said — you can finish chewing before answering me,” said Kazehana, taking a huge swing from a massive wine bottle on the table. 

“Sorry,” said Scarlet, chewing her food and swallowing. “And look at how much weight he’s lost too!”

“It looks like it’s gone straight to you,” said Kazehana, digging into her own food. “You’ve started yourself on a wonderful journey, Scarlet…just never take it for granted.”

“Oh no ma’m!” said Scarlet enthusiastically as Lydia sat down next to her. “Never!” 

“Can I feed him!?” burst out Lydia, waving a piece of turkey in the air. 

“No way Lydia!” exclaimed Scarlet. “I’m in charge of feeding my pet! When you get your own you’ll understand.” 

“Aw come on!” protested Lydia to her mom. “Mom, can I?”

“Scarlet I don’t see what the issue is,” said Kazehana, cutting up her food swiftly with her fork and knife. “Let her have a little fun.”

“Fine, whatever,” said Scarlet shortly. “Just one piece of turkey, ok? I don’t want him getting all spoiled by my freaking 10-year-old sister.” 

Lydia smiled brightly and tossed the piece of turkey down at Clayton. It hit the stone floor right in front of him and he immediately grabbed it, hungrily and greedily gobbling it up. Lydia gave a little shout of pleasure and clapped her hands. Scarlet looked down at him with disgust. 

“Wow, totally pathetic,” she said. “Eating like a dog off the floor. Well, enjoy it, Clayton. You’re not gonna get much more from me.” 

About twenty minutes later, Alaina came in to clear the table, and everyone left the room except her. With Scarlet gone, Clayton felt a strange kind of emptiness, or dearth inside him. He had already been trained to attach his own self worth to her, and with her out of the room, he was left feeling lost. 

“Come with me, little guy,” said Alaina’s soft voice, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see her gesturing him through the door to the maid’s quarters. “I’m going to tend to those wounds on your back you’ve got there. And I want you to listen carefully to what I have to tell you. If you want to survive this servitude, you need to hear what I have to say.”