by Van ©2015
		Chapter 3

Moving into Tauton House took only a week.  Actually, Hayden's first night sleeping in the attic happened the day after she toured the house and met her fellow tenants, but they had to wait for Chloe's next day off to move Hayden's remaining possessions out of storage.  Chloe drove a Ford F-150 pickup, so transporting the furniture and boxes only took one trip.  Hayden's chest of drawers, chairs, and bed went into a small room in the basement, the boxes went upstairs in the attic, and it was all over but the final unpacking.

Actually settling in took Hayden a little longer.  She continued being very pleased with her new landlord and fellow tenants, and they welcomed her into the house with the proverbial open arms.  It was mildly nerve-racking starting her new job at the town library and moving into new digs, but Sharon, Chloe, and the Hobbits did everything they could to minimize Hayden's stress.  Chloe showed her the best running paths in the neighborhood, including the extended weekend path around the closest city park.  Andrea and Dorothy invited her to join their yoga sessions in the solarium, and schedule permitting, she did.  And then, there were the "hen parties" with Sharon and the others down in the parlor.  They watched TV, DVD's, chatted about various innocuous topics, and consumed mass quantities of popcorn and diet soda.

After not quite a month in residence, Hayden was introduced to what she quickly came to consider to be one of Tauton House's finest amenities.  It had been a particularly hectic day at the library and Hayden had dragged herself home showing her exhaustion.  Chloe suggested a "refreshing and rejuvenating run of three or four miles," but Hayden accepted the Hobbits' counteroffer of showing her the sauna in the basement.

"I think I know where I put my swimsuit," Hayden said.  "I remember unpacking it."

The Hobbits giggled.  "Swimsuit?" Andrea demanded.  "Who wears a swimsuit in the sauna?"

"Don't be rude," Dorothy said as she nudged Andrea in the ribs, then smiled at Hayden.  "Sharon insists we use the sauna properly, Scandinavian-style."

"Nobody ever wears anything in the sauna," Andrea added.

"I know that," Hayden said, blushing delicately.  "I mean, I know that intellectually.  It's just..."

"You've never been naked before?" Andrea inquired gravely, causing Dorothy to nearly choke on a suppressed giggle.

Hayden knew she was being teased.  "I've never had occasion to use a sauna in the proper social context," she answered carefully.

"Oh," Dorothy giggled.

"That explains it," Andrea said, also giggling.

"I assume it's okay to wear a robe between the attic and the basement," Hayden said with a coy smile.

"You better," Dorothy answered.

"Sharon has a dim view of streaking," Andrea added, then hurried towards the kitchen and the stairs to the basement.  "I'll go turn it on," she said, and was gone.

"It takes at least an hour to heat up," Dorothy explained.  "Two hours is better.  The sauna, I mean."

"I got you," Hayden said with a smile.  "We can use it after supper."

Well after supper and the subsequent cleanup, Hayden went up to her room, stripped to the skin, pulled back her long, auburn hair and tied it in a ponytail with a narrow green ribbon, then donned her slippers and a light, apple-green bathrobe.  She then made her way down to the basement.

Like most of Tauton House, the basement was a warren of small rooms.  Hayden knew this was common building practice when Victorian mansions were in vogue, to partition such structures into veritable puzzle boxes of narrow hallways, cramped staircases, and small, often oddly shaped rooms for dedicated purposes: ladies' parlors, gentlemen's smoking rooms, music rooms, sewing rooms, children's play rooms, etc.  And for the servants: pantries, laundry rooms, baking rooms, emergency doily storage, etc.  At some point in the past, Tauton House's first floor had been opened up into a more modern layout.  The kitchen had absorbed the formal dining room and three separate tiny parlors had been consolidated into the current parlor/living-room.  The changes meant that two cramped, awkwardly narrow back staircases no longer went all the way down to the basement, but they did link the second and third floors to the attic.  And as for the basement...

Hayden made her way to the kitchen, then down the stairs to the "front basement."  The utilities and laundry were tucked into alcoves, and two narrow hallways led to storerooms—like the one now crammed with Hayden's unused furniture—and other spaces.  Except for the laundry area, the lighting was dim, and the further one strayed from the front, the more the housekeeping was decidedly not up to Sharon's standards for the upper floors.  There weren't hanging cobwebs and a carpet of dirt, but things were a little dusty... and creepy.  Hayden loved it.  It added to the Tauton House ambiance of Romantic Adventure.  Someday soon she resolved to explore the entire Dark Labyrinth that was Sharon's basement, but certainly not tonight.

The door to the sauna was directly off the front basement, and was clearly different from the others.  It was constructed of waxed cedar planks, with a wooden handle and a small window set at viewing height.  A modern, digital control panel was set in the wall to one side, and glowing on its touchscreen in big, LCD letters Hayden read 66°C / 150°F.  Wooden duckboards were underfoot, and to the door's immediate right were shelves laden with stacks of neatly folded towels and a row of wooden pegs.  A pair of cotton robes, one sky-blue and the other white, already hung from two of the pegs, each with a pair of slippers neatly placed underneath, side by side on the floor.  To the left was a tiled alcove with a drain centered in the floor and a large shower head with a pull-chain.

Hayden removed her robe and hung it from a free peg, arranged her slippers underneath, then padded to the shower.  She knew the proper etiquette: one always showered before entering the sauna.  She took hold of the dangling handle, braced herself, and gave the chain a firm tug.  She was immediately deluged by a steady torrent of cold water.  The shock was expected, but she shivered and gasped, nonetheless.  Hayden made sure she was thoroughly wet, but most assuredly did not prolong the frigid shower.

Now dripping from head to toe, Hayden padded to the sauna door, grasped its wooden handle, and pulled it open.  She was greeted by a wall of hot air and a pair of soprano voices shouting "Close the door!"  This was followed by giggling.

It was Salt & Pepper, of course, and the pixies were as naked as the proverbial jaybirds and already glistening with sweat.  Both had their long hair pulled back and tied with ribbons, like Hayden.  Andrea's ribbon was sky-blue, and Dorothy's was red.

"Sorry," Hayden said, entering the spa and closing the door behind her.  Hands on hips, she smiled at the still giggling Hobbits.  "How am I supposed to get in here without opening the door?" she demanded.

"Oh, we say that to everybody," Andrea explained, "every time."

"It's a tradition," Dorothy added, and the giggling resumed.

Hayden rolled her eyes, then looked around.  The sauna was quite large, with two tiers of wraparound seats.  The stainless steel heater was in the middle, surrounded by a screen of cedar.  Everything was raw, sanded cedar—walls, ceiling, and floor.  The lighting was indirect, with glowing cedar shades that directed yellow-white light towards the ceiling.  There was also strip lighting under the benches that cast more indirect light and added to the warm ambiance.  Finally, there was a faucet with a wooden handle beside the door, as well as a wooden bucket holding a wooden ladle.

"Allow me," Dorothy said as she climbed from her perch on an upper bench, ladled water from the bucket, and wet a section of lower bench.

"That's so you won't burn your buns," Andrea explained.

"Don't be crude," Dorothy scolded, then shared yet another giggle with her fellow Hobbit.

Hayden carefully settled onto the wet cedar as Dorothy resumed her seat.  Hayden couldn't help but notice the tiny gold rings dangling from Dorothy's nipples.  Other than their hair ribbons, they were the only things any of them were wearing.

"That's her costume," Andrea said, grinning at Hayden.

Obviously, Hayden had been caught staring.  She hoped her blush would be interpreted as a reaction to the heat.  "Costume?"

"My Foxwood costume," Dorothy clarified, not at all offended.  "Part of my Foxwood costume, anyway."

"She plays a Southron Halfling," Andrea said, nodding at her smiling fellow pixie.  "I play a Hobbit Ranger."

Hayden was quite familiar with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and knew the girls' supposed designations were not Middle-earth canon.  She focused on Dorothy.  "Southron Halfling?"

Dorothy nodded.  "I'm from a jungle oasis near the Bay of Belfalas, between Harandor and Umbar."

"South of Gondar," Andrea added.

Hayden frowned, picturing the map of Middle-earth in her mind.  "That's all desert, isn't it?"

"Like I said," Dorothy responded, "jungle oasis."

"Oh," Hayden nodded.  Whatever.  She shifted her gaze to Andrea.

"Hobbit Ranger," she explained without prompting, "from south of the Shire in Minhiriath, between the Brandywine and Greyflood rivers.  The place is supposedly wilderness, but there are Hobbit homesteads and settlements hidden under the forests and hills.  We mostly hunt and forage, trading game meat, furs, herbs, and rare mushrooms with the South Farthing and Buckland.  I'm one of the band of Ranger-Constables who patrol the country on pony-back, using our bows and swords—"

"Letter-openers," Dorothy interrupted with a grin.

Andrea glared at her companion.  "Our bows and mighty swords," she continued, "to keep out the goblins and trolls."

"I see," Hayden said, rather dubiously.

"We both have very realistic Hobbit-boots that look like hairy bare feet and leather gaiters," Andrea explained.

"With the appropriate skin tones and hair colors, of course," Dorothy added.

"Of course," Hayden agreed.

"I wear a sort of Robin Hood-slash-Peter Pan outfit in browns and greens, with a longbow—"

"Short bow," Dorothy interrupted again.

"Appropriately scaled longbow," Andrea conceded, "and pointy-ear appliances."

"Again," Dorothy said, "in the appropriate skin tones.  I don't know where she gets them, but Sharon has a source that supplies her with really lifelike ear thingies."

Hayden nodded, then smiled at Dorothy.  "Southron Hafling?"

"My outfit is skimpier than the blond Hobbit's," Dorothy explained, "and the colors are mostly shades of tan, to blend into the desert.  Also..."  She indicated her pierced nipples with a sweeping gesture.  "Gold rings in my ears and nipples.  Also, a long, hooded cloak of mottled desert colors.  I'm armed with curved daggers, a scimitar—"

"Scimitar letter-opener," Andrea interrupted with a grin.

Dorothy grinned back.  "An appropriately scaled scimitar, and an appropriately scaled double-curved bow.  We've visited Foxwood under both the green and orange banners."

Green and orange banners? Hayden wondered.

"Once," Andrea said enthusiastically, "on an orange visit, we pretended we were captured slaves and escaped from the Stone Tower and into the forest.  We ran into Cricket and Constance playing Wood Elves, and together we captured Princess Alice and held her prisoner for two days."

"It was a blast," Dorothy sighed, then focused of Hayden.  "You know Cricket, Constance, and Alice, of course.  Sharon said you've visited Foxwood."

Hayden's head was spinning and it wasn't the heat.  "Yes, I know them, but..."  The only banner she'd ever seen flying from the Paramount Tower of the Foxwood Keep was olive-green, with a leaping fox.  There were other colors, but it was predominately olive-green.  "Green and orange banners?"

"The green banner means Jillian's PG-rated rules apply," Dorothy explained.

"No funny business," Andrea added, "not even NC-17."

Both Hobbits' smiles widened.  "But the orange banner means all bets are off," Dorothy continued.

"Within the bounds of both the law and common indecency, of course," Andrea giggled.  "Actually, the 'orange' is more a light rust or reddish ocher, maybe a dull copper."

Hayden was still frowning.  "Wait.  What exactly do you mean by—"

"Consensual sex!" the Hobbits said in unison, then started giggling again.

Hayden was shocked, of course.  (Not really.  She hadn't thought "funny business" meant mooning Jillian or toilet-papering the Keep.)

"That includes bondage games, of course," Andrea said once they were sufficiently recovered from their shared giggling fit.

"You can't role-play a prisoner without bondage," Dorothy confirmed.

"Jillian's Saxon goon chained us to the wall of a Stone Tower cell," Andrea said.  "You probably know her, too.  Hannah?"

Hayden nodded.  "I know Hannah, but... c-chained?"

"It was horrible," Dorothy said with a grin that suggested it was anything but horrible.  "Anyway, on the second day, when Hannah delivered lunch, Andrea distracted her, I slipped the key from her belt, and after she left we escaped."

"It was all part of the scenario, of course," Andrea said.

"As was running into the elves and capturing Princess Alice," Dorothy added.

"It was a blast!" the girls said in unison, again, then started giggling, again.

Hayden was amazed, but just to be sure it wasn't the heat, she ladled some water over her head.  By this time, they were all sweating like crazy; but that was the point of the sauna, of course.

The Hobbits didn't provide any more details, and Hayden didn't press the issue.  She basked in the dry heat and imagined being chained to the wall of one of the cells she'd seen in the Stone Tower.  Yes... chained to the wall, she thought.  Naked, like I am now... with Hannah bringing me meals, dressed in one of her sexy leather fantasy Saxon outfits.  It would be... horrible... like Dorothy said.

"I bet if you ask Sharon," Andrea said at some point, "she can tell you more about Jillian's orange banner."

Hayden had been deep in thought, still imagining herself a prisoner in the Stone Tower... maybe the oubliette.  That would be really horrible.  "Huh?" Hayden blinked in surprise.  "Sorry.  Uh, maybe I will ask Sharon... at some point."

"Good," Andrea said with a grin.  "It's a blast."

'I need to cool off," Dorothy said, climbing down off the top bench.  "I'll be back."

Hayden knew it was standard sauna protocol to take periodic cold plunges.  She assumed the shower would serve as a suitable substitute for a half-frozen lake or fjord.

"Get ready for when she comes back," Andrea said.

Hayden could just hear the shower running through the closed door.  "Got it," she said with a grin.

Seconds passed... then the door opened and Dorothy reentered the sauna.

"Close the door!" Andrea and Hayden shouted in unison, then all three giggled.

Hayden decided she really liked her diminutive companions, not that there had ever been any doubt.  So far, life at Tauton House was a hoot and a half... and very intriguing.

There was a quiet knock at Sharon's bedroom door and the mistress of Tauton House looked up from her book.  "Come!" she shouted, loud enough to be heard by whoever was in the hallway, but not too loudly.  It was late.

The door opened and Andrea and Dorothy trooped in.  The Hobbits were dressed in slippers, cotton robes—sky-blue and white, respectively—and nothing else, other than sky-blue and red hair ribbons, respectively.  They stood side by side at the foot of the bed, their eyes respectfully downcast.

"Well?" Sharon asked with a warm smile.

"It went perfectly, Mistress," Andrea said, still gazing at the carpet.  "Hayden has gone to bed."

"She's interested, Mistress," Dorothy added.  "She's definitely interested."  She also continued being properly submissive, her gaze locked on the toes of her slippers.

"Is she now," Sharon purred.

"Yes, Mistress," the Hobbits said in unison, then suppressed a shared giggling fit—and for once, quite successfully.  The rest of the evening, of their evening, was in Mistress' hands.

Sharon placed her bookmark in her book and set it on the nightstand, then removed her reading glasses and placed them atop the book.  "In that case..."

The Hobbits waited for Mistress to continue.  Finally, Andrea grew impatient.  "Yes, Mistress?" she inquired.

Sharon gazed at the inquisitive little blonde.  "I suppose it's time to invite Hayden to play a game.  Everything is in readiness?  The new pages have been added to the notebook and the pages I specified removed?"

"Yes, Mistress," the Hobbits chimed in unison.

"Removed and safely hidden so they can be put back later," Dorothy added.

"Very well, we'll play tomorrow night, as discussed," Sharon purred.  "Tell Chloe for me."

"Yes, Mistress," the Hobbits chimed, again.

Sharon's smile broadened.  "My little pixies deserve a reward."  She leaned over and opened the nightstand drawer, reached inside, and produced a large coin.  Even from the length of the bed the girls could see it was a commemorative, copper-clad token from Foxwood's last yule festival, with the Foxwood crest stamped on one side and a holly sprig and the year on the reverse.  "You'll both share my bed tonight."  She held up the coin.  "Call it, Pepper."

"Heads," Dorothy said with a grin.

Andrea rolled her eyes and shook her head.  "It doesn't have a 'heads' side, simpleton."

"The crest has a fox," Dorothy noted, "and a fox has a head."

"Oh."  Andrea gave a shrug and had the good grace to blush with embarrassment, ever so slightly.  "Whatever."

Sharon enjoyed the byplay, as always.  The Hobbits were always a ton of fun.  "Now that that's settled..."  She tossed the coin, caught it, slapped it on the back of her left hand—paused for effect—then lifted her right hand, revealing the leaping fox of the Foxwood crest.

"Damn," Andrea cursed, quietly, then smiled at Sharon.  "That means she's the one that gets tied up, right Mistress?"

"Nice try, Salt," Sharon chuckled, then focused her smile on Dorothy.  "Try not to mark her too badly."

"Yes, Mistress," Dorothy said sweetly, then kicked off her slippers and padded to the walk-in closet for the needed supplies.  All the tenants of Tauton House knew where Mistress kept her toys, except for Hayden, of course.

Andrea watched her lover depart, then heaved a truly tragic sigh, released the sash-belt of her robe, removed the garment, and folded it neatly.  She removed her slippers, set them atop the robe, and placed the bundle on a chair.  She then padded back to the middle of the bedroom, placed her hands atop her head with her fingers interlaced—and heaved another sad, truly sad, truly tragic sigh.

Sharon sighed as well—quietly, carefully.  Andrea was now nude, of course, and she was beautiful... tiny, petite, vibrantly healthy, and beautiful.

Dorothy returned with a large canvas shopping bag full of neatly coiled bundles of white cotton rope.  She stopped next to Andrea.  "Mistress?"

"Hand and foot and everything in between, Pepper," Sharon purred, "and behind her back so she can't play with herself."

"Some reward," Andrea complained in a whisper.

"Shut up, you idiot," Dorothy whispered back as she pulled a coil of rope from the bag.  "She'll hear you."

"She will, indeed," Sharon chuckled.  "She might even take offense, if she wasn't such a kind and beneficent mistress."  Still smiling, she nodded towards Andrea.  "Get on with it."

"Yes, Mistress," Dorothy said, released the coil, and set to work.

Hayden slept in pajamas.  Tonight, they were shorts and a camisole top of lightweight cotton in a pink floral print.  The sauna had baked away the stress of the day, leaving her totally relaxed and ready to sleep, except...

Hayden lay on her back, squirmed under the covers, and stared up at the dark ceiling through half-closed eyes.  The bedroom lights were out, but it was nearly a full moon, the drapes of the dormer windows were pulled back and the shutters open, and there was more than enough light to see the pattern of shadows cast by the rafters against the ceiling panels.  Hayden's thoughts kept turning to Andrea and Dorothy's revelations about Foxwood.  The orange banner, kept running through her mind.

Her visits to Jillian's fantasy domain, which she now knew were called green banner visits, had been as a medieval noblewoman of no particular station, no one important enough to be a political pawn or target.  That let her wander about the Foxwood grounds enjoying the flowers and butterflies without the need of men-at-arms to protect her from ambitious bachelor knights or other potential kidnappers.  That was all deep background for her role-playing, of course, if you could call enjoying Foxwood's general setting and delicious meals while wearing a medieval gown a role.  She'd already realized it wasn't enough, hence her interest in Jillian's Stone Tower.  Hayden wanted more, she wanted an adventure!

As if on its own, her hands crept under the waistband of her pajama shorts, the waistband of her panties, as well, and she began caressing her labia.  Imagine, she mused, I'm a high-ranking noble maiden, one of the most eligible maidens in the kingdom, captured by one of my noble father's enemies at court and sequestered in Foxwood Keep.  Jillian is an ally of the dastardly duke responsible, and I'm chained to the wall in a Stone Tower cell... one with a nice view of the garden, of course.  The gentle strokes of her sliding fingers continued, and a thrill began building in response.

Hannah the Saxon enters my cell with a simple meal: a wooden bowl of some sort of stew, a slab of bread, a chunk of cheese, and an apple.

Her hands picked up the pace, slightly.

And some wine... also some wine... in a wooden cup.  Since I'm chained to the wall and can't feed myself, Hannah feeds me... smiling... superior... all hot and sexy in one of her leather costumes... one that really showcases her tan, smooth, skin and smokin' hot, well-toned body.  As usual, her hair is parted down the middle and plaited in a pair of Saxon braids... and she's gorgeous!

Hayden began pleasuring herself in earnest.

Hannah reaches down my dress and begins toying with my breasts.  I tug on my chains and tell her to get her 'filthy Saxon hands' off of me, so she gags me with a rag and rips the bodice of my dress!

Hayden paused to lift the front of her top and stuff it into her mouth, simulating a gag, then resumed stroking herself.

Hannah's mauling my breasts and groping between my legs, when suddenly—Chloe charges into the cell!

Hayden squealed through her "gag" as she imagined the fierce battle that ensued.

Hannah pulls an ax from her belt and parries a thrust from Chloe's sword.  Chloe's wearing leather boots and pants, a leather tunic over a linen shirt, and a steel breastplate with hammered cups for her breasts.  Like Hannah, she's hot, medieval she-warrior hot.  I continue tugging on my chains and mewling through my gag.

In the real world, Hannah was getting close, very close—not to being rescued, of course, but to an orgasm.  Back in the Stone Tower of Foxwood Keep...

The opponents are evenly matched.  Both were breathing heavily and starting to sweat.  Hannah doesn't call for help for Lady Jillian's men-at-arms to come deal with this sword-wielding invader, of course.  That would be dishonorable.  I whimper and struggle as the battle continued.  Suddenly, Chloe reaches behind her back, draws a dagger, and throws it at Hannah's chest, all in one fluid motion.  Hannah parries the dagger with the flat of her ax blade and sends it clattering to the side; but in the process, she gives Chloe a momentary opening!  Rather than run Hannah through or lop off her head, however, Chloe uses the pommel of her sword to deliver a stunning blow to the side of the Saxon beauty's head!

Hannah drops like the proverbial rock, and Chloe pulls leather thongs from her belt and quickly ties the Saxon's wrists behind her back, her ankles together, then links her wrists and ankles in a stringent hogtie.  Next, she stuffs the ends of Hannah's braids in her mouth, reaches under the unconscious amazon's leather kilt, strips off her loincloth, and uses it to tie a tight cleave-gag.  She then sheathes her sword, recovers and sheathes her dagger, then turns and smiles... at me!  Smiling sweetly, she slowly strolls forward.

Hayden was very close!

Still smiling, Chloe takes up where Hannah left off, fondling my breasts and reaching between the folds of my ripped gown to... to...

Hayden went over the top!  Screaming into her gag (real and imagined), her body froze as Chloe's strong hands groped her breasts and teased her pussy (imagined) and a crashing orgasm rippled through her pussy and up her spine (for real)!

"Mrrrrrrph!"

The wave of pleasure reached its peak... and ebbed.

Hayden panted through flaring nostrils, her breasts heaving.  She took her wadded and now slightly damp top from her mouth, pulled it down her body... and basked in the afterglow.  Chloe, she thought, where did she come from?  She didn't mean how did Chloe manage to sneak into Foxwood Keep to rescue her, she meant...  Why was she in my fantasy?  No answer was forthcoming from the dark attic.  And the bed was sooo warm and comfortable.

Between her exhausting day at the library, the fabulous time she'd had in the sauna with the Hobbits, her imaginary "rescue" in the Stone Tower, and the after-ripples of the orgasm that had just rocked her world—Hayden was soon out like the proverbial light, and she slept like the proverbial baby.

Hayden dreamed that she was tied down and Chloe and the Hobbits were tickling her feet while Sharon watched... but she didn't remember any of it when she woke up in the morning, rested and refreshed.