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  “Ouch!” Emily gasped as the tiny bumps grew thorns that pricked her sensitive peak all over. Had she thought an accidental touch was painful? This was a thousand times worse—she thought she might faint from the pain! “Ow, oh my God—that hurts—take it off! Please, take it off!” She clawed frantically at her breast but the silver thimble was clamped on tight and there was no getting it off.

  “No, no—wait but a moment, little Mistress. It hurts at first but then the nubbins numb the pain.” Grandy See-er took her flailing hand and stroked it soothingly. “Just a moment more—you’ll see.”

  Emily tried to take a deep breath but it came out as more of a ragged sob. Oh God it hurt so much. Like being shot and stabbed and burned all in one of the most sensitive parts of her body at the same time! But then, gradually, she became aware that the pain was fading. Fading and being replaced by a blessed numbness. A cool tingling sensation started in her nipple and spread to her entire right breast, making her feel calm and relaxed and not nearly so upset.

  “There now—you see?” Grandy See-er asked. “Sorry to put it on you sudden-like, little Mistress, but it’s best the first one goes on quick.”

  Emily blinked tears out of her eyes and examined herself more closely.

  “Will it come off?” she asked doubtfully, looking down at her silver-tipped nipple with the long golden chains hanging from it. It looked like she’d decided to wear some kind of weird pasties like a stripper who only wanted to conceal the bare minimum of skin.

  “Oh certainly—any time,” Grandy See-er answered easily. “Of course, if you take it off too soon, it can’t do its job. And it’ll hurt twice as bad to put it back on again,” she warned as Emily began to fumble for the hinge on the side of the silver thimble.

  “It will?” She let her hands drop reluctantly to her lap where, strangely enough, the caterpillar-cat was still humming contentedly despite her earlier outburst.

  “Yes, indeedy-do,” the old lady said brightly. “But if you leave it on, twill hold back your nectar and keep you from going to the second stage of Scintil.”

  “Okay, that’s good I guess.” Emily eyed the other silver nipple cap warily. “Do I have to put that one on as well?”

  “If you want it to work. Here—” As before, the old lady was incredibly quick. Before Emily could jerk away, she was clamping the other silver thimble onto the left nipple.

  The pain that followed was intense but not quite as bad as it had been with the right nipple. Emily writhed and moaned, squeezing her hands into fists as she tried not to faint from the sharp, stabbing, burning sensation.

  To her relief, the pain began to fade quickly, replaced once more by the cooling numbness that made her feel calm and relaxed.

  “There now, there now…” Grandy See-er seemed pleased. “That’s the top taken care of. Now for down below.”

  “Down below?” Emily looked up from her contemplation of the weird nipple clamps, her heart beginning to skitter nervously in her chest. “What do you mean ‘down below?’”

  “Why, you know what I mean child—your honey pot.” Suddenly the old lady produced something that was infinitely scarier than the silver thimbles with their long golden tassels. It looked like a silver dildo, with golden studs all over, much like the ones that covered the insides of the thimbles but larger.

  “What are you expecting me to do with that?” Emily asked flatly. As if I didn’t know, whispered a little voice at the back of her brain. “Because whatever it is, I’m not doing it.”

  “Oh, so you don’t want to stop the Tenrah after all?” Grandy See-er raised one bushy silver eyebrow at her. “For I thought you did. But no matter, I’ll put it away. And perhaps you’d better give me back the nubbin pinchers too. For they’re no good without the chafing shaft, so they aren’t.” She started to get up, taking the strange silver dildo looking thing with her.

  “Wait—” Emily put out a hand to stop her.

  “Yes?” Grandy looked at her, the faded blue eyes glittering strangely. “What is it, little Mistress?”

  “Explain it to me. Just explain it.” Emily crossed her legs tightly which caused the caterpillar-cat to hiss angrily. “Tell me what it does and if it’s going to hurt.”

  “No, twon’t hurt—not like the nubbin pinchers did. Because you’re not in the third stage of Tenrah yet—you’re not into Vlammen,” Grandy explained. “And the chafing shaft will keep you from getting there. It’s star-silver as well and fits inside your well to keep your honey from flowing, do you see?”

  “Um, no—I don’t see. Does it have some kind of chemical on it?” Emily asked, frowning.

  “Mostly the star-silver itself does the job. But there’s also sssence of Yarros root and a dab of Bitter Sorrow flower from Rageron rubbed on it,” the old woman said promptly. “Keeps your well from flowing, see? Without this to stop it, your honey would flow like a fountain once you reached Vlammen. But with the chafing shaft in place, your Shift can’t continue. So you’re safe from moving forward with the stages.”

  “Okay, I guess…” Emily looked at the thing uncertainly. “But… I have to wear it inside me?”

  “Tis the only way,” Grandy assured her. “Just stand up and slip it in, old Grandy won’t look.”

  She handed the shiny silver dildo with its golden nubs to Emily matter-of-factly and then turned back to the table, busying herself with sorting through the bric-a-brac that covered it.

  Emily stood uncertainly, brushing the angry Tatem from her lap who hissed and stalked off to nurse her wounded dignity in the opposite corner. She looked down at the weird dildo thing again and shivered. Should she really do this? It looked to be about six inches long and it was fairly slim—only as thick as two of her fingers put together. Still, she hadn’t had anything inside her since that awful night with Grayson—not even a tampon. And she didn’t particularly like the idea of having to wear something inside herself all the time. Plus, how would it stay in? She didn’t see any straps to hold it on. Also, how did she know it was clean? Sure, it looked all shiny and new but—

  “Now don’t worry about the chafing shaft—tis clean and new,” Grandy said, as though reading her mind. “I made it for another Khalla but she went through the stages too quickly and wasn’t able to get here for my help in time.” She shook her head sadly. “Ah, what a tragedy that was. She was never the same after, no she twasn’t. I only wish I’d been able to help her before she changed.”

  Before she changed… The words chilled Emily to the bone. The other wasn’t bothering her right now but she could still remember the horrible dreams she’d had of it taking over her body completely. And that was what she had to look forward to if she let this process continue—the complete and total obliteration of her personality, her appearance—everything that made her her was going to be gone.

  No, I can’t let that happen—I can’t!

  Not letting herself think about it anymore, Emily reached under the short hem of her nighty, pushed her panties aside, and pressed the cold metal head of the chafing shaft against the entrance of her pussy. She gritted her teeth and pushed, trying to get the damn thing inside before she had time to regret her decision.

  To her surprise, it slid in easily. It went all the way inside her but just when she was wondering if it was going to just slide out again, something strange happened. She felt the bottom of the thing change and expand, forming a kind of metal seal around the outside of her entrance. When she felt it with her fingers, it was like a flat, metal disk about the circumference of a silver dollar and it seemed to be holding the chafing shaft inside her. At the same time, she felt the golden nubs that studded the outside of the shaft expand, growing larger and bumpier inside her. It was an odd sensation but not a painful one, she thought. So at least Grandy had been telling the truth about that.

  “Well, well, little Mistress—do you have it in?” the old lady asked, breaking her train of thought.

  Emily realized she was standing there with her nighty pul