by Van ©2015
		Chapter 4

The next day was a Friday.  There were no rush orders at Archer Metals, so both Chloe and Dorothy would have the weekend off.  Hayden, however, as the new librarian on the roster, had pulled weekend duty.  That meant her Saturday would be a normal workday and Sunday would be a half-day, starting in the afternoon.  As a budding writer lucky enough to live with her great aunt, Andrea would continue working at home (or goofing off full time, as Dorothy delighted in characterizing her lover's work habits).  Sharon, of course, was fully retired.

Anyway, that night after supper, they were all lounging around the parlor and watching the start of a rerun of Bones on Sharon's ginormous big-screen TV.  They were all wearing jeans and either t-shirts, tank-tops, or blouses.  Hayden was wearing socks and her favorite pair of sneakers, but the others were all barefoot, including Sharon.

"Seen it," Andrea sighed.

"Same here," Dorothy agreed.

"I don't like Bones, anyway," Chloe said.  "The first few seasons were okay, but now it's getting old.  They should cancel the thing and let the cast move on."

Hayden didn't have strong feelings about the show one way or another, and from the tolerant smile on Sharon's face, neither did she.  "What else is on?" Hayden inquired.

Andrea picked up the remote and started flipping through the schedule.  "A whole lot of nothing, which is why we're watching Bones."

"We already looked," Dorothy said to Hayden, "before you came in."

"We could watch a movie," Chloe suggested.

Andrea heaved a petulant sigh.  "I don't want to watch a..."  Suddenly, she sat up and beamed at Sharon.  "I know!  We can play D&D.  Please, Sharon?  It's been forever."

Dorothy sat up in her chair and smiled.  She winked at her fellow Hobbit, and together they began a cajoling chant, in perfect, well-rehearsed unison.

"Pleeease, Sharon.  Please, please, please, please..."

"Oh, will you two shut up!" Chloe huffed, rolling her eyes.  She then shifted her gaze to Sharon and smiled.  "It has been a while."

Sharon smiled and winked at Hayden.  "This is some of that nonsense I warned you about before you moved in."

"D&D is not nonsense," Andrea pouted.

"I played D&D in college," Hayden admitted.  "Actually, AD&D—Advanced Dungeons and Dragons."

"Not Dragons," Chloe purred.  "Damsels."

Hayden frowned.  "Huh?"

"Dungeons and Damsels," Dorothy explained.  "It's a game of our own invention."

"D&D is similar to D&D," Andrea said, "only different from D&D."

Dorothy rolled her eyes.  "She means—"

"I get it," Hayden chuckled, then turned to Andrea.  "How so?"

"There's a LARPing element," Andrea explained.

"That's one way to put it," Chloe chuckled.

Dorothy smiled at Hayden.  "LARPing is—"

"Live Action Role Playing," Hayden chuckled.  "I know I hide it well, but I'm just as hopelessly nerdish as the rest of you."

Andrea was pouting again.  "Let me finish telling it."  She then turned to Hayden and her smile returned.  "We roll polyhedral die to establish a scenario, then keep rolling to see what happens, and—"

"It would be easier if we just show her," Dorothy suggested.

"Well, yeah," Andrea conceded.  "When it's your turn we'll walk you through your moves and—"

"Or," Sharon interrupted, "this first time, she can just watch."

"I don't mind playing," Hayden said.

Sharon's smile turned somewhat dubious.  "Even though you don't know what you're getting yourself into?"

Hayden shrugged.  "How bad can it be?"

"Pleeease, Sharon," Andrea begged, and again, Dorothy joined in.

"Please, please, please, please..."

"Stop!" Sharon chuckled, and the Hobbits did, indeed, stop their annoying (and adorable) chant.

"Since it's her first time," Chloe said, smiling at Hayden, "we could just assume all her rolls come out as 'one,' or whatever number is the minimal outcome.  That way she can get her feet wet without any danger of drowning."

Sharon smiled at Hayden before answering.  "Well... under those terms... I give my permission."  The Hobbits started cheering.  "But remember," Sharon continued, "tomorrow is a workday for our resident librarian."

The Hobbits gave another cheer, then leaped to their feet and hurried to a bookcase.  Andrea went up on her toes and took down a wooden box from the top shelf.  It was ornately carved in the Celtic style.  Meanwhile, Dorothy went up on her toes and took down a leather binder.

Hayden noticed Chloe was still smiling at her and she blushed, just a little.  What the hell have I gotten myself into this time? Hayden wondered.  She watched as Chloe climbed to her feet and dragged a low coffee table to the middle of the room, then left the parlor in the direction of the entryway.  "Where is she—"

"To get the rest of the gaming supplies from the coat closet," Sharon explained before Hayden could complete her question.

"Oh."  Hayden watched as the Hobbits carried the box and binder to the relocated coffee table.  Andrea removed the box's lid, flipped it over, and placed it on the table.  It was lined with green velvet, and was now more or less a deep tray.  Dorothy then lifted a green velvet bag from the box, opened its draw string, and dumped a set of polyhedral gaming dice into the lid/tray.  They were a speckled gray resembling dark granite, and their engraved numbers were painted bright green for easy reading.  Hayden remembered using similar dice when played AD&D.

Still in the box was a leather dice cup tooled in a Celtic knot-pattern.  Also, a deck of regular playing cards.  The card fronts were in earth-tones, perfectly at home in Tauton House, and the backs featured an elaborate, and in Hayden's opinion, very pretty illustration of the Tree of Life done in the Celtic style.

Andrea opened the binder and began flipping through the pages.  It was a standard three-ring binder, but its brown leather cover was tooled in the Celtic manner and it was more or less a match to both the dice cup and the box.

Just then, Chloe returned with a medium-sized, sage-green, Rubbermaid plastic tote.  She set it down near the coffee table, then sat cross-legged next to the Hobbits.  "Come," she said to Hayden and patted the carpet at her side.

Hayden left her chair and joined the others around the table.  Sharon remained in her comfortable easy chair.

"Okay then, is everybody ready?" Andrea asked with a dimpled smile.

"How do we want to start?" Dorothy asked.  "Cut the cards or roll the die?"

"We have four six-sided dice," Chloe said, "and four players."

"We roll!" the Hobbits exclaimed in giggling unison.

Hayden turned to Sharon.  "You're not playing?"

For some reason, Hayden's fellow players found her question to be very funny, the veritable height of hilarity.  The Hobbits convulsed in giggling fits while Chloe chortled.

"What?" Hayden demanded, trying not to blush (and failing).  "What did I say?"

"I'm far too ancient to play this game," Sharon chuckled.

"Oh, I don't know," Chloe purred, then turned to Andrea and Dorothy.  "What's the opinion from the Shire?"

"The Mistress of Tauton House playing a game of D&D with the lowly peasants?" Andrea giggled.  "The very idea!"

"Scandalous!" Dorothy agreed.

"Keep it up," Sharon chuckled, "and it'll be spankings all around."  She smiled at Hayden.  "Except for you, Hayden dear," she added.  "Anyway, my role in the game is as the all-seeing and all-powerful umpire.  In the event of alleged misconduct or ambiguities in the rules, I make the call."

Chloe dropped a single six-sided die in the leather dice cup, swept the remaining dice into one corner of the box, and gave the cup a shake.  She then slammed it down on the green velvet, lifted the cup, and read: "Six."  Chloe smiled.  "Hah!"

"Shut up," Andrea groused, glaring at the smiling Chloe.  She then grabbed the cup and another six-sided die and made her roll.  The outcome did nothing to improve her mood.  "A lousy four."

"Poor baby," Dorothy giggled, then made her roll.  The outcome was a two.

Hayden didn't understand what they were rolling for, but apparently the desired outcome was a six, she reached for the cup, but Andrea gave her hand a light slap.  "Ow!" Hayden complained.  The tap hadn't really hurt, but it was expected that she should complain.

"Mistress already said you're an automatic one," Andrea explained.

"Okay," Hayden responded, "but what does it all mean?"

"It means you go first," Andrea explained, then nodded at Chloe.  "And having rolled a mighty six, Chloe is the designated 'Dungeon Mistress.'"

"Since you're first," Dorothy added, "after 'Mistress' is done with you, you'll get to watch the rest of us complete round one."

Hayden still didn't know what was going on.  Also, she was feeling slightly... uncomfortable.  The others were gazing at her like she was one of Dorothy's delicious cakes.  She wasn't afraid, of course.  She really liked her new friends and trusted them completely, but this rapidly unfolding and not-at-all understood game was a little disconcerting.  Just a little.

"Since all of Hayden's outcomes are already decreed," Chloe said as she removed the top from the Rubbermaid tote, "we might as well not bother with any more rolling until I get her... situated."

Hayden's eyes popped wide.  The tote was full of neat coils of rope of varying lengths and diameters.  Most of it was braided, white cotton clothesline, although she could also see nylon parachute cord and a couple of balls of twine.  There were also—Hayden's eyes popped even wider!—a pair of steel handcuffs, a tangle of leather straps or belts, some wide and some narrow, another pair of handcuffs, and more leather straps!  Also, there were rolls of various kinds of tape, including silver-gray duct-tape, white medical tape, and clear, heavy-duty packing tape.  Finally, she saw bundles of milky white cable-ties, some long, some medium length, and some tiny!

Hayden watched as Chloe rummaged in the tote and produced a neatly rolled, flesh-colored, elastic Ace bandage secured with a broad Velcro tab.  Smiling at Hayden's stunned face, Chloe released the tab with a loud riiiiip that sent a shudder of alarm (or something) down Hayden's spine (and between her legs).

"Might as well get it over with," the grinning blonde purred.

In the course of the next few minutes, Chloe bandaged Hayden's wrists together behind her back.  That is, she positioned Hayden's cooperative (but incredulous) hands behind her back, palm-to-palm, then proceeded to wrap the redhead's wrists together, stretching the 3" wide and very long elastic bandage as she went.  She used the entire roll, of course, as this particular product was washable and designed to be reused.  Chloe finished her tight, redundant wrap-job, secured the Velcro tab at the end, then gave Hayden's fingers a "pinch test."

"Ow!" Hayden complained as the blond Dungeon Mistress gently but firmly pressed and released first her left thumbnail... and then her right.  The complaint was more a result of Hayden's overall nervousness than anything else.  The two pinches hadn't actually hurt.

"That's a test of your circulation," Dorothy explained.

"If the nail bed goes white," Andrea added, "then pink when the blood returns, your bondage isn't too tight."

"Safety first!" the Hobbits exclaimed in unison, then giggled, yet again.

Meanwhile, Chloe had selected a roll of duct-tape, pulled a few inches free from the roll, and proceeded to tightly wrap Hayden's already bandage-wrapped wrists a total of five times, freeing additional duct-tape as needed.

"Why are you doing that?" Hayden demanded (but strangely, didn't try and impede the process).

Chloe grinned.  "There's a trivially slight chance the Velcro might come loose once you start struggling.  This way, you can't possibly get free."

"Never," Andrea added with an evil smile.

"Not ever," Dorothy agreed.

The Hobbits then shared several seconds cackling like demented villains in what Hayden could only call an evil and conspiratorial (albeit charming and theatrical) manner.

"You girls stop," Sharon chuckled, then smiled at Hayden.  "Are you all right, dear?"

"Uh, yeah," Hayden answered, but a little FREAKED OUT, she added silently. "I'm all right."

Meanwhile, Chloe had gathered Hayden's feet together and was unlacing and removing her sneakers.

"Why?" Hayden demanded.

"I need one of your socks," Chloe explained.  Actually, she removed both of Hayden's socks, then neatly folded one of them first in half, then in quarters.  She then placed the resulting cotton pad between Hayden's ankle bones and used a second Ace bandage to wrap her ankles together.  As with her wrists, the elastic strips now binding Hayden's ankles were tight, but not too tight.  Five turns of duct-tape followed.  Hayden assumed that, as with her wrists, it was to protect the Velcro tab from tampering.

"The sock keeps your ankles from grinding together," Chloe explained.

"How considerate," Hayden muttered, twisting her wrists and ankles, or rather attempting to twist her wrists and ankles.  Chloe had done her job well.  She watched as her captor returned the roll of duct-tape to the tote, then pulled out a roll of medical tape and a pair of utility shears.  Hayden continued watching, with something vaguely akin to growing alarm, as Chloe ripped a seven-inch strip from the roll, snipped it free, then tossed the shears and tape roll back into the tote.

Still smiling her evil, gloating (see also villainous) smile, Chloe stretched the strip between her hands and approached Hayden's mouth.  "Lips together, please," she purred.

"Wait!" Andrea objected, pointing at the lone sock still on the carpet next to Hayden's bound feet.  "A sock is a terrible thing to waste."

Dorothy favored her lover with a truly disgusted stare.  "We are not going to stuff a dirty sock in Hayden's mouth," she huffed, "not during her first game."

Hayden's eyes popped wide, again.  "Huh?  No!"

"Don't worry, Red," Chloe chuckled.  "We won't, or rather, I won't, not this time."

"She means the sock," Dorothy explained.

"I know that," Hayden said, focusing on the smiling Hobbits.  "Mrrrpfh!"  Chloe had taken advantage of the distraction to plaster the tape over Hayden's lips, and was now smoothing it in place with her strong fingers.  This caused a thrill to ripple between Hayden's legs.  She'd been about to tell Chloe not to call her "Red," and now it was too late, just as it was too late for her to back out of playing the game.  Hayden had no idea what was coming next, just as she hadn't realized she was about to be bound and gagged.

"Perfect," Chloe purred, smiling as she continued smoothing the tape.

Who am I kidding? Hayden thought as she ignored the frisson still tingling between her legs. Chloe finally stopped caressing her now sealed lips and lower face.  I knew something like this was gonna happen.  She tugged on her comfortably but inescapably bound wrists.  But what now?

"Next!" Chloe said, then shifted her smile to Dorothy.  "Now serving number two."

"Woe is me," Dorothy declaimed, then reached for the dice cup and a six-sided die.

The cup rattled as Dorothy gave it a good shake.  She then slammed it down on the tray, lifted the cup, and a "3" was revealed.  Dorothy heaved a sigh.  "Could be worse," she muttered, then pulled her t-shirt up and over her head and arms and tossed it to Andrea, who neatly folded the discarded top and set it aside.  Meanwhile, Dorothy had unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans and was pulling them down her legs.  The denim jeans met the same fate as the t-shirt.  That is, they were tossed to Andrea, folded, and stacked.  Dorothy's ensemble was now reduced to a pair of bikini-style panties and a demi-cup bra, both dazzling white with lace accents.

Another thrill rippled between Hayden's legs and up her spine.  The contrast between the smiling pixie's dark skin and the white underwear was... striking.  Also, the glint of gold under the white lace of the bra's cups hinted at the existence of Dorothy's nipple rings.  This was also striking (and thrilling).

"That roll was for costume," Andrea explained.  "The next four rolls are for material, amount, situation, and finally, position."

Hayden would have asked what the hell Andrea was babbling about, only... her lips were sealed.

"There is some degree of creativity expected on the part of the dungeon mistress," Dorothy explained as she prepared for another roll of the die.  She smiled at Chloe.  "Mistress Chloe is always very creative."

"Suck up all you want," Chloe purred.  "Your fate will be cruel and unusual, regardless."

Dorothy shrugged.  "It was worth a try."  She rattled the die, slammed down the cup, lifted it, and another "3" was revealed.

"One and two mean tape," Andrea explained to Hayden, "three and four mean rope, and five and six mean steel."

Steel? Hayden wondered, then remembered the handcuffs in the tote.  She assumed that was what Andrea meant by "steel."

Meanwhile, Dorothy was preparing for another roll.  "We do all the rolls for this phase at once," she explained, "so Mistress knows what she'll be dealing with."

The additional rolls yielded a "4" and another "3," followed by yet another "3."

"That's a lot of threes," Andrea said suspiciously.

"Are you accusing me of cheating?" Dorothy asked with a smile.  Both Hobbits were smiling.  "If I was gonna use loaded dice, I'd go for all ones."

Andrea shrugged.  "Point taken."

Meanwhile, Chloe had opened the binder and consulted a table on one of the first few pages.  "Let's see now...  Three, four, three, and three... that's rope, moderate amount, hogtie, and chair."  She gazed at Dorothy, in the manner of an artist examining a blank canvas.  "Hmm... decisions, decisions."  Her eyes still on Dorothy, she made a vague gesture towards Andrea.  "Get the straight-back chair from the kitchen," she ordered.  "Not from around the table.  The one next to the back door."

"Yes, Mistress," Andrea giggled, climbed to her feet, and scampered towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Chloe reached into the tote and began withdrawing neatly bundled coils of cotton rope, coil after coil after coil after—

"Hey!" Dorothy objected.  "That's way more than a four, and you know it."

"I'm not going to use all of it, silly," Chloe chuckled.  "I need to find the coils of the right length."

Sharon gracefully climbed to her feet, stretched, then sat on the floor, cross-legged, next to Hayden.  "The umpire will decide when the dungeon mistress has reached the amount of rope corresponding to a roll of four," she announced, then pulled Hayden's bound and gagged body close, settled her newest tenant's head and shoulders comfortably on her lap, and began combing Hayden's long, titian locks from her tape-gagged face.  "Still doing okay, dear?"

Her eyes locked with Sharon's, Hayden nodded.  (That thrill was back again.)

Andrea returned with a wooden chair.  Hayden recognized the chair with the low back and solidly cross-braced legs that normally was kept next to the kitchen door to the back porch, just as "Mistress Chloe" had ordered.  Andrea positioned the chair a few feet from the coffee table, then executed a graceful curtsey and resumed her place around the table.

Dorothy stood, padded to the chair, and gazed down at its hard, wooden, pad-free seat.  She then struck a dramatic pose with the back of her right hand against her forehead.  "Oh, cruel, cruel fate," she declaimed, heaved an equally dramatic sigh, then turned and settled her panty-clad rump on the seat.

Andrea and Chloe applauded politely while Sharon chuckled.

"Brava," Andrea said.

"Indeed," Chloe agreed, then selected a coil of rope and stepped behind Dorothy and the chair.

Over the course of the next several minutes, Chloe proceeded to bind Dorothy to the chair.  The final result was a sitting hogtie.  Hayden might be new to all this... stuff, but she recognized a hogtie when she saw one.  Dorothy's arms were behind the chair back with her armpits resting on the top rail.  Her hands were palm-to-palm and her wrists bound.  Her ankles were bound in a similar manner with her feet off the floor and linked back to her wrists.  Hence, the hogtie designation.  Additional tight bands of rope bound her knees together, lashed her thighs to the chair's seat, and her waist to the chair's back.  Chloe readied another coil of rope, doubling it and finding the center.

"I believe you're about to cross the line into 'five' territory," Sharon purred.  She continued stroking Hayden's hair.

"One more?" Chloe begged.  "It'll complete the composition."

"Wouldn't want to spoil the composition," Andrea said, gravely.

"Et tu, Andrea?" Dorothy sighed.

"Nothing too elaborate," Sharon said finally.

"Yes, your Imperial Umpire-ness," Chloe chuckled, then dropped a doubled loop around the chair and Dorothy's upper body, positioned it above Dorothy's bra-clad breasts, then pulled out the slack, all the slack.  She threaded the rope through the slats of the chair-back, between Dorothy's upper arms, then took a second turn around Dorothy and the chair, this time positioning the doubled stands below Dorothy's breasts.  Chloe tied a hitch, then used the remaining rope to bind Dorothy's elbows together, not so close that they touched, but close enough to cause the captive beauty to rotate her shoulders, thrusting her breasts against the already tight ropes, and to heave another tragic sigh.  Chloe then tied a final redundant knot and took a step back.

"That looks decidedly five-ish, if you ask me," Andrea said.

"Perhaps," Sharon agreed, "but it's my fault for not intervening sooner."

"I think it's well within the bounds of give and take," Chloe said with a shrug.  "A solid five would require two more coils and at least a little cross-hitching."

"I'll allow it," Sharon said.  She leaned down, planted a kiss on Hayden's forehead, then whispered in her right ear, softly enough so that only the redhead could hear.  "If Dorothy had complained, my call would have gone the other way.  As you can see, she really doesn't mind the extra rope."

Hayden blinked as she gazed at Dorothy, her smooth, brown, semi-naked body, and the neat white ropes lashing her so tightly to the hard chair.  The Brown Hobbit squirmed, testing her bonds.  Obviously, she wasn't going anywhere.

Hayden had decided to start calling Dorothy "Brown Hobbit" and Andrea "Pink Hobbit."  She shifted her gaze to Andrea.  "Tan Hobbit," might be more accurate, but it didn't sound right.  Maybe she'd ask Chloe's opinion... some time when she wasn't gagged and could say something more eloquent than "M'mmpfh."

Meanwhile, Chloe had rolled the die one more time.  The result was a "four."

Andrea smiled at Hayden.  "Odd means tape, even means cloth, and the higher the number, the more stringent," she explained.

Tape?  Cloth?  What the hell is she...  Oh.  Hayden realized Andrea was talking about gags.

In the bottom of the tote were gallon-sized plastic zip-lock bags full of neatly folded scarves and bandanas.  Hayden watched as Chloe selected a bandana from one bag, a long, narrow scarf from a second, then returned the bags to the tote.  She draped the scarf over her right arm, then crumpled the bandana into a tight wad as she stepped behind Dorothy and her chair.  "Any last words?" she inquired sweetly.

Dorothy heaved another sigh.  "I only regret I—Mrrrrf!"

Chloe had interrupted Dorothy's speech by stuffing the bandana into her mouth.  She then positioned the center of the scarf between Dorothy's teeth and across the cloth wad, tied an overhand knot at the nape of the captive's neck, under her tousled hair, and gave the two ends a firm tug to take out the slack.

"Mrrrf!"

Chloe ignored Dorothy's complaint as she pulled one end of the scarf from the left and the other from the right, tied a simple overhand cinch across Dorothy's already cleave-gagged mouth, pulled out the slack, took another hitch at the nape of her neck, under her hair, then added yet another hitch, making it a simple square-knot.  Dorothy was now tightly and thickly cleave-gagged, with stuffing.

"Again with the sixishness," Andrea sighed.

"A category six would involve multiple cloths or bandages," Chloe said defensively, "probably with a little padding."

"I rule that to be a four," Sharon purred, making the official call.

Dorothy probably had an opinion—not that it mattered—but she was hardly in a position to make it known.

Chloe smiled at Andrea, something in the manner of a great white shark eying a baby sea lion.  "Well?"

Andrea sighed—giving Dorothy a run for her money in the drama queen department—and reached for the die and cup.

Andrea's first roll—what Hayden had decided to call the "costume roll"—caused a bit of a stir.  The metaphorical dust settled, and a "6" was revealed.

"Oh, man!" Andrea complained.

"Perhaps we shouldn't take things quite that far," Sharon said, smiling down at Hayden's tape-gagged face, "not this time."

"Oh, c'mon," Chloe sighed.  "It's not like it'll be the first time Red will have seen the Hobbit naked.  She's seen both Hobbits naked, in the sauna."

Hayden had also seen Andrea and Dorothy sunbathing au naturel in the backyard—not that she'd surreptitiously gazed down at them from her attic window with her birdwatching binoculars, of course.  In any case, she wasn't exactly in a position to share this additional information.

Sharon smiled at the others for a few seconds before making her pronouncement.  "Very well.  'Six' it is."

In full drama queen mode, Andrea climbed to her bare feet, sighed, and removed her tank-top, jeans, bra, and panties.  She then neatly folded her clothes and placed them next to Dorothy's jeans and t-shirt, then struck a melodramatic (and nude) pose.  "O cruel fate!" she declaimed.  "O horror of horrors!  O—"

"Oh, shut up," Chloe interrupted, then pointed at the die and cup.  "Roll."

Andrea favored her fellow blonde with a withering gaze, but did, indeed, roll.  The results were: two, three, three, and one, which, for Hayden's benefit, Chloe helpfully translated as "rope, low-moderate amount, hogtie, and not-tied-to-anything."

Andrea heaved a final sigh as Chloe selected three coils of rope, two relatively short and one quite long.  Andrea then turned her back to Chloe.

With practiced efficiency, Chloe tied Andrea's wrists behind her back, crossed, then Andrea sat on the carpet and Chloe tied her ankles together, also crossed.  Next, Chloe used her third and much longer coil of rope to tie what Hayden supposed would be called a chest harness.  Horizontal bands passed above and below Andrea's naked breasts, pinning her upper arms to her sides, and diagonal strands cinched the horizontal ropes, passed between her arms and torso, behind her neck, and yoked her shoulders.  Chloe tied a solid knot behind Andrea's back, at the nexus of ropes just below her shoulder blades.  Several feet of rope remained.

"On your stomach," Chloe ordered, and Andrea rather awkwardly flopped down onto her tummy.  "Spread your legs," Chloe added.  With her ankles crossed, Andrea's knees were already apart, but she complied.  "Wider."  Andrea heaved another sigh, but again, she complied.

Chloe pulled the free ends of the harness rope through Andrea's crossed ankles, down and through her crossed wrists, then pulled out the slack.  She then leaned close and used her upper body to push Andrea's folded legs even closer to her body, pulled out the additional slack, and tied a knot.

"Ow," Andrea complained.  The heels of her feet were now touching the palms of her hands.

"Don't be a wuss," Chloe purred, then threaded the remaining rope under the shoulder-yoking strands at the nape of Andrea's neck, and gave a strong tug.  This tightened Andrea's hogtie even further, enough to leave her balanced on her taut tummy.  Her breasts and thighs had only marginal contact with the carpet.

"Ow!" Andrea complained again, this time with more enthusiasm.

"Wuss," Chloe chuckled as she wrapped the remaining rope around the harness-to-ankles-to-wrists ropes and tied a final knot near the nape of Andrea's neck.

Sharon leaned close and whispered in Hayden's ear, again.  "You'll notice Andrea hasn't appealed to the umpire for relief.  That is a stringent hogtie, but stringent hogties are something of a specialty for our Chloe."

Hayden gazed at the two blondes—both the grinning, fully clothed Dungeon Mistress and the grimacing, naked captive.  They're really into this stuff, she thought, and that thrill rippled between her legs, again.

Andrea squirmed and tested her bonds.  Obviously, she was quite helpless.  Hayden thought she might be able to roll onto her side, with effort; but as for escape... that was clearly impossible.

Meanwhile, Chloe made the "gag roll."  She rattled the cup, slammed it down, lifted the cup, smiled, then placed the cup back over the die.

From her hogtied position on the floor, Andrea couldn't see what had happened up on the coffee table.  "Well?" she demanded.

Chloe smiled sweetly and started rummaging in the tote.

"Well?" Andrea repeated, still testing her bonds.  "What was it?  What was the roll?"

Chloe still didn't answer.  Her smile never wavering, she selected her materials, with her body shielding the process from Andrea and the others, then moved and rolled Andrea onto her back with her head and shoulders in her lap in much the same manner as Sharon was cradling Hayden.

"C'mon!" Andrea complained.  "Tell me the roll."  She rolled her eyes to focus on Sharon's smiling face.  "She has to tell me, right?" she demanded.  "The rules say she has to—mrrrmfh!"

Chloe had popped a red rubber ball into Andrea's mouth, and now was wrapping her lower face with a roll of some sort of stretchy, cloth bandage.  It was a tan color probably officially designated as "flesh," and seemed to cling to itself quite well.  Chloe wrapped layer after stretched layer over Andrea's ball-stuffed mouth and completely around her head.  A few of her blond locks were trapped under the tight tape, but only a few.  The rest were a tousled mess falling across her gagged face and around her rope-yoked shoulders.

"There," Chloe said with an infuriating, gloating smile.  Anyway, Hayden strongly suspected Andrea thought the dungeon mistress' smile was infuriating and gloating.  Chloe rolled Andrea off her lap and back onto her tummy.  "That's that," she chuckled, then dropped the remaining coils of rope back into the tote, restored its lid, and slid the tote to the side, well out of the way.  She then walked over to Sharon and smiled down at Hayden.  Hayden decided the blonde's smile was, indeed, infuriating and gloating.  "Sofa?" Chloe inquired.  The question was for Sharon, of course.

"I suppose she would be more comfortable," Sharon purred, smiling down at Hayden.  Her smile was neither infuriating nor gloating.  "We're going to carry you to the sofa, darling."

"Don't bother," Chloe chuckled, reached down, lifted Hayden's bound and gagged body, and carried her to the sofa in question.

Hayden gazed up at the grinning Chloe as she settled her on her side, full length, on the soft cushions, then placed a pillow under her gagged head.

Sharon joined Chloe, and dungeon mistress and house mistress smiled down at Hayden.  "The next phase is a test of your bonds," Sharon explained.  "You have one hour to escape.  If you succeed, the tables turn and you become the Dungeon Mistress.  And it's against the rules to try and help each other," she continued.  "That's considered cheating."

"Also," Chloe added, "if you do help one of those twerps escape—"  She nodded towards Dorothy and Andrea.  "They won't return the favor, and then one of them becomes the new Dungeon Mistress."

Andrea and Dorothy gazed at Hayden and blinked their eyes, the very pictures of innocence.  Hayden gazed back.  Would it be any worse to have one of the Hobbits in charge?  She had no idea.

"One hour," Sharon reiterated, then leaned close and kissed Hayden's forehead.  "I'm getting ready for bed."

"Me too," Chloe purred, then spun on her heel, placed Dorothy's neatly folded jeans and t-shirt atop Andrea's neatly folded jeans, tank-top, and undies, and left the parlor, taking the Hobbits' clothes with her.

Sharon strolled to Dorothy and kissed her forehead, continued on to Andrea, leaned down and patted her gagged head, then followed Chloe... and the gamers (helpless captives) were alone.

Hayden squirmed and tugged on her bonds.  Escape?  Yeah.  Right.

Meanwhile, Andrea and Dorothy were struggling in earnest—not that it was doing either of them any good.

Well...  Hayden gave her bonds another weak, hopeless test.  I've got a lot to think about... and at least an hour to do it in.