Towards the evening, Milton was told they would relax and wash in the hot springs, and Hilda sent him ahead. He couldn’t find Rennard or the giant Alluere he’d been with, so he chose to go alone, although preferring not to.

There was one larger pool and multiple smaller sections, the stone fortunately covered in moss. Most of the giants were in the larger one, sounds of conversation plenty. Young naked ladies around his age would usually be an exciting prospect, but Milton didn’t feel safe around giants. He moved towards the more secluded portion. To him, the low wall of stone encircling the water was a cliff he had to climb. Using the base magics made it easy, however, skipping his way up like a grasshopper. On the lip of the pool he overlooked the clear waters, barely steaming, then jumped inside.

He landed on a mat of yellow hair. He must have missed the giant underneath, who sat just against the bit of rock he’d stood on top of.

“Oh lord,” he said, losing balance. She stirred into movement. Milton fell ahead but grabbed a wet bunch of hair, swinging onto her face. His torso was on her nose, his knees down at her mouth. Two green eyes were locked on him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Her hand took him from behind and pulled him off her, hand enclosed around his chest and groin.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.” Then he realised his mistake, uttering the classic phrase giants used to mock humans. “No, I mean I—”

She raised him high and threw him in a wide arch. Wind whipped at his skin. Milton summoned his base magics and hoped he wouldn’t land on stone. The clean surface of a pool raced up to him. Breaking the surface was quite an impact, but far from anything Milton couldn’t handle. He swam up. First he had urgency, to surface, take a deep breath, stay afloat and gather his surroundings. But no one was in the pool, and slowly the calm began to set, the warm easing his nerves, the quiet an echantment, the sunset by the mountain peaks gleaming through the mist with its faded yellow.

Milton drifted around on his back with closed eyes. He missed the Charmer, his mistress. Someone could repeat to him a hundred times that he had been charmed and that it was the work of magic, but that didn’t matter for him. To him, he had seen the truth, he was reborn. To love the Charmer was the way of life.

Milton swam over to the side of the pool where he could sit back against a moss-covered boulder, legs still in the water.

“I thought I saw something flying into these areas.” It was Alluere, the copper-skinned giant who Rennard had been with. She leaned on the edge of the pool, breast squeezed together, a hearty smile. “Who did you annoy?”

“Oh, it’s you,” Milton said. “Was an accident. Do you know where Rennard is?”

Although it seemed impossible, her smile widened. Alluere stood to her full height and stepped on higher ground, raising her waist above the wall of the pool. Doing so revealed her womanhood, where Rennard was, his head sticking out between her lips like a large button. She put her hands on her hips triumphantly.

“Hello pal,” Rennard muttered, a stubborn frown.

“What’s going on?” Milton said, mistrust creeping up on him. It was inevitable that they’d get bullied around here, though there had to be a limit to how much they would take. However, the fact that Rennard wasn’t cursing and yelling, instead sitting all agreeable inside her, told Milton that nothing had gone too wrong.

“I lost a bet to her,” Rennard said. “If I got three fireballs out of five past her club, I’d have won. Fuck, I was close. I was gonna make her do what I say until sunset, impress everyone around her.”

“But instead,” Alluere said. “I got him until sunset. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

“Yeah yeah, sun’s almost down, so I hope you enjoyed it.”

She rubbed her thighs seductively before his eyes, brushing them against his cheeks, then petted his head with a finger. “I certainly did.”

“You’ll be sure I’ll win the next time,” Rennard said, and of course Alluere smiled at the prospect of repeating this. She must have been quite perceptive in how she approached Rennard. Rennard was headstrong, stubborn, and confident in his own abilities, of course he’d take a bet. And his problem was that no matter how one-sidedly he lost, he’d always find the light, the opportunities to win, and consider it possible, and worth another shot. In some ways it was inspiring, most of the time foolish. He was also honest, not one to turn back on his word. Alluere had identified the best angle to get Rennard where she had him without his complaints.

Alluere dipped one foot into the water, and Rennard immediately reacted. “Hey, relax! I can’t breathe if you go in.”

“I’m aware.” The outermost part of the water only reached her knees. Alluere moved along the periphery, coming to Milton. Once there, she pulled enough of Rennard out so he could push and wiggle himself free, splashing into the water between her legs. He swam towards the bank by Milton while Alluere leaned back and drifted through the pool, sighing.

“What did you do today?” Rennard said.

“A lot of training, strengthening my tethers and… practicing my dodging skills.”

“Why’d you say it like that?”

“I don’t know. Feels like we spent a lot of time on it, on her behest. Hey, I was going to ask you, back in mistress’s room when we were thirsty and weak, did Hilda not come in and stomp us?”

Rennard watched the skies in thought. Alluere surfaced from a dive, streamlets of water dripping off her, her long hair looking even darker.

Milton tried to help him remember. “When we asked her if we could have something to drink?”

“Oh. Yeah, she did. In fact, she stood on us for a long goddamn time, even twisting us.”

“Right?”

“That girl pretends to be incredibly modest and reserved,” Alluere said. “But deep inside, there’s a wild Hilda. I’ve seen her in battle. We raided a royal convoy once, and I saw her shatter soldier’s head with a kick, and she’s got a resounding warcry.” The waves Alluere’s movement produced came washing over the boys’ legs.

Milton listened eagerly. “Really? Doesn’t feel like her.”

“It’s certainly there.” Alluere had aimlessly floated around, and now she was near them. Her head above water, she got up enough to let her breast emerge too, the nipples staring them in the face. “You know, Renny boy, there’s a bit of sun left peaking over the mountain.”

“Give it a goddamn rest.”

“Come on now.” She drew closer, her shadow engulfing them, the left tit heading for Milton and the right for Rennard. “You can join in on the fun, Milton, you must be starving for some after a day with Hilda.”

They hesitantly pulled back, but whatever inch they retreated her breast took, until they couldn’t even nod their heads without bumping into the nipple before them.

“It’s fine, they won’t hurt you.”

They remained unmoving.

Her expression soured. “Are you boys feeling alright? I can’t imagine the size changes so much. How different can a giant’s attraction be from your ordinary women? Or do you prefer each other?”

“We love our mistress only,” Milton said.

“Huh.” Alluere floated back, giving them space. “I do wonder how much of you is left under the Lady’s magic. I’m sure you wouldn’t choose to be here, but I can’t imagine you’d deny me.” Alluere watched the skies, finger rubbing her chin. “Or am I that ugly? Maybe I am.”

Hilda appeared, naked but holding a hand over her chest. “The Lady said you two will spend this night in her room.”

Milton and Rennard lit up from the news, fistbumping and shaking hands in victory.

Alluere didn’t share their sentiment. “I thought they would be our responsibility, including where they’ll sleep.”

“They need to be close to her every now and then. If they’re too far apart for too long, the charm will weaken. The Lady is leaving for a few days tomorrow so she wants to intensify its effect before that.”

Alluere noted how interested the two were in hearing that. “Wasn’t very smart to let it fall on their ears, was it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hilda said, stepping into the pool and submerging down to her chin. “They’re too dumb from it to care.”

“What do you mean by dumb?” Rennard said. “If being away from her means this love weakens, then I want to be by her side forever. To lose my love for her… I can’t imagine it. This information makes me want to be near her more than ever before.”

“Exactly,” Milton chimed in.

Hilda raised an eyebrow to her giant friend. “See? They’re mindless.”

Alluere was adrift while Hilda remained by the edge, only head sticking out. “I do wonder what they’re like without this charm.”

“Probably the same,” Hilda said. “It’s just when you bring the Lady up that they talk stupidly.”

Milton leaned towards his friend, sighing at their ignorance. “They don’t understand.”

“So,” Rennard said. “When will we be fighting the kingdoms’ trash? It’s good to train and all, but aren’t the Rhinos admitting they’re losers to sit here, holed up in the mountains like this?”

Alluere chortled. “My, someone’s ready. The Rhinos are far more than what you see here. Some districts in the east are entirely controlled by the Gray Rhinos. We’re just one of the Lady’s many factions, and the Lady is one of many commanders. She’s not even the highest ranked. And yes, we do things from here. We have an ambush planned. Our information tells us one of the queen’s puppets, Baroness Chandler, is having captured Rhinos transported to a royal prison through a pass not far from here. It’s in four days. We’re intercepting them and freeing our sisters. But I doubt you’ll be coming.”

Rennard raised his arms in objection. “Why not?”

“You don’t know anything,” Hilda said. “You’re new.”

“I thought you were surprised at my potential when you saw my tethers.”

“Potential for what you can become, not what you are now. It’s not enough now. Right now you’d just be a doormat for any giant. And you could be useful fighting from my shoulder, assisting with your tethers, but we need to practice that, and there’s not enough time.”

“It’s not our decision in the end,” Alluere said. “But it would be hard to integrate you enough in this short time so that you won’t be a hindrance when we fight.” Alluere turned to Hilda with a sudden grin, floating towards her. “Though I heard you’ve worked him hard.”

“Like I should. And I heard you’re just messing around with the other one and having fun.”

Alluere’s smugness hadn’t faded. “Are you sure you weren’t enjoying yourself? Your boy mentioned how much you trampled him, over and over and over again. All for the sake of ‘practice’, hmm?”

Hilda blushed, irritated eyes directed at Milton. “What did you tell her?”

“N-nothing.” Milton pointed at his friend. “I just told him about my day, and she overheard.”

“My girl.” Alluere swam up behind her, and in an instant she grabbed Hilda’s waist and yanked her upwards, bringing her torso up from the water. Hilda instinctively covered her chest. “Why do you hide them? You never were ashamed of having small tits. Or are there new eyes around that’s changing you?”

“Ugh!” Hilda threw an elbow back at Alluere’s shoulder, and Alluere dodged by releasing and throwing herself back with laughter. Hilda escaped to the other side of the pool, sitting closer to Rennard and Milton. They braced themselves for the waves made by the giants’ splashing.

Alluere dove underwater. They could see her shape moving towards Hilda, who sat with red cheeks, chest underwater. Hilda perked up, and Alluere rose from the water with the pale giant’s calf resting on her shoulder. “Come on, girl,” she said, smirking. Alluere’s hands moved to Hilda’s thigh, a gentle stroke and push, leading to a continuous rub. “You always liked this. Why start pretending otherwise? Just because a couple of humans are here? Who are they? Tiny little things, we don’t care what they think. That’s why we do whatever we want when we’re near them, to show them their opinion doesn’t matter, that we swat them away like mice when they think they can judge us.”

Rennard and Milton didn’t know how much they should take those words to heart. Alluere was hard to take seriously, ever playful and with a joke in mind, feeding off of others’ discomfort. But Hilda had successfully been lulled into such a state, closing her eyes and reclining as Alluere massaged her leg.

“You’ve worked hard, my girl,” Alluere said, her fingers working the tired muscle. “Lay back and let Big Sister Alluere take care of you. You always love it when I do. Deep down, you just want all of us to get down and treat you like a princess, don’t you?”

Hilda hummed, whether in response or from pleasure was unclear. She wasn’t her own uptight self, and it was near impossible for her to be. After the many hard days on end, stiff muscles, bruised shins, fatigued body and mind, the hot springs helped massively in melting them all away. And it didn’t matter if Alluere’s motives were to open her up or make the boys uncomfortable, Hilda wouldn’t say no to being pampered like this.

“You want to be someone important, don’t you?” Alluere whispered, kissing the calf beside her head, hands still working on the thigh. “You want to be one of those high-ranked Rhinos one day with a bunch of subjects and slaves. Not just human slaves, no, the ones with giant slaves. Humans are nothing. You want giant slaves who get on their knees before you.”

Hilda’s other leg came up and planted itself on Alluere’s free shoulder.

“There we go.” Alluere gradually fell back until she had her feet before her, massaging them, closing her hand around every toe and squeezing them. With time, she leaned in and placed two delicate kisses on the arches. Hilda hummed again, mouth agape, head slackly hanging as if asleep. Alluere stuck out her tongue, and stroked the soles along their length with just the tip. The toes flexed when tickled, and it became evident that not all the movement was Alluere’s. The feet would search for Alluere’s face on their own accord. While Alluere kissed Hilda’s right foot, the left one planted itself on her cheek and drew circles, even pinching her sometimes. When Alluere moved over to the left foot and closed her lips around the ball, the toes of her right foot came and grabbed her nose, making her inhale her scent. It felt like Hilda’s feet moved on their own, possessed, or they were moved by her heart rather than mind.

Then Alluere’s eyes turned to the two boys, who tried to pretend they were elsewhere. Hilda was supposed to be the prudent one, and when even she had surrendered to Alluere’s games, the two had nowhere to turn for a return to normal. Alluere moved towards them, still with a pair of pale feet eating away at her face. Hilda didn’t sit far from them; her outstretched legs could close the distance. Alluere ended up just a few yards before the boys where she resumed her worship.

“See how easily she can be tamed?” Alluere whispered, mostly directed at Milton. “Are these the feet that trampled you today? All they want is to be loved.” Alluere caught the big toe with the mouth and sucked, giving a sassy wink to the boys. Then she took the other foot and presented it to Milton. “Just a taste. You would get on her good side instantly.” Alluere gave another toe a good sucking. “Give them a bit of love, and they won’t hurt you again.”

“I doubt that,” Milton said, flushed.

“I can guarantee it,” Alluere urged, pushing the foot closer to him.

“She won’t even feel anything from me.”

“Of course she will, it’s like the tip of my tongue, a gentle little tickle. But it’s the knowledge that someone is pampering her that brings her satisfaction.”

Milton noticed how little her feet moved now, as if not possessed by the greedy pleasure anymore. He didn’t want to follow those legs all the way to Hilda’s head to see if she’d opened those eyes and were watching him, too ashamed of eye contact, for he was certain she indeed was watching. He could almost feel the intensity of her stare. As much as it was Alluere presenting the foot, he felt that the lack of an objection from Hilda meant she too, in a way, was presenting it to him. And then the presented foot moved a little, the toes rubbing against one another, curling, wrinkling her sole, an almost flirtatious act. Now it was an invitation. She wanted it.

To watch Hilda’s face was death. Milton knew the moment he made eye contact, he’d uncover her, Hilda would know she’d been uncovered, and she would know that Milton knew what she wanted. With how obnoxious and argumentative she’d been when Milton insinuated she’d trampled him for enjoyment more than practice, the downright denial she’d entered when speaking of the incident in the Charmer’s room where she’d stepped on them, Milton couldn’t go down that road. And as fruitful as it would be for his future here to be on her good side, becoming her foot slave was no solution.

Milton took the best option left; he rejected the foot with a show of unawareness, giving it the appearance of a rejection to Alluere’s games more than Hilda’s invitation.

“You just won’t fucking let off, will you?” Rennard said. Holding Hilda’s ankles, Alluere pressed her soles on both of them, giving them a quick smothering on their moss-covered platforms before letting go. Hilda’s feet retracted, trying to show that only now had she returned to her senses.

“Nasty thing,” Rennard said and threw a casual fireball striking Alluere’s shoulder.

“Ouchie!” she said in half humor, but the smile didn’t need long for a return.

The rest of the bath was quiet and peaceful, even Alluere allowed herself some peace and floated about with closed eyes. Not long after, Milton and Rennard were taken to the Charmer’s house. In her room, she sat by her desk with only a gloomy candlestick to light the room, slicing an envelope with her letter opener. She wore a bright blue satin bedgown, her dark hair arranged in lovely curls. Her right leg was crossed over the left, foot dangling.

Milton and Rennard scampered over to the darkness under her table, to the standing foot, Milton hugging the heel and Rennard lying over her toes.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said, peering down from the table ledge before returning to her letter.

“We’ve missed you, mistress,” Milton said, both of them nuzzling against her foot like kittens. “A day apart is too long.”

“You’ll have to be more tenacious than that, my boys,” the Charmer said. “I will leave for two days tomorrow, to Underfall, where I first received you.”

“Two days?” Rennard said in a moan, burrowing his head into the soft gap between her third and second toe.

“Be strong, and think about me when it feels difficult. I will return in due time, before the charm wanes.”

“Please don’t let it go away,” Milton said. “It’s the happiest I’ve ever felt.” As the Charmer kept reading her letter, her expression soured, and Milton noticed. “What’s wrong, mistress?”

“They uncovered a Rhino hideout. It was a key position to get an angle on an important duchy. The kingdom are recruiting more and more powerful magic-wielding humans.”

“They should be ashamed,” Rennard said, sticking his head out from her toes. “Royal puppets.”

“It’s a new tactic they deploy,” the Charmer said. “They have new soldiers, called Mageriders. Humans’ importance have usually been put aside when giants fight, understandably so. Very few mages can challenge a giant in combat alone. But the kingdom invested in developing technology, and it’s led them to these new tiny ‘saddles’ where the mages can be buckled in place on a giant’s shoulder, and from there they comfortably support them with magic. Even if the mage isn’t powerful enough to defeat a giant, they don’t need to. They need to help their fighting giant defeat the enemy giant, and in that, a mage will absolutely tip the balance. These Magerider units, typically a soldier and a mage on each shoulder, have given them an enormous edge. The Rhinos are slow to adapt. I’ve planned to test this strategy for some time. I already have my two sweet mages, I just need those shoulder-saddles, which only the kingdom have. We don’t even have any sketches to build them ourselves.”

“We’ll help you take anyone down,” Rennard said.

“Indeed you will. But I need you to work hard and train. You are replaceable. There are powerful mages out there who you’ll be competing with. I’m on the hunt for mages to charm, and if they’re stronger than you, I’ll be picking them.”

Their holds around her tightened, both of them moaning urgent worries and concerns. The Charmer’s foot kicked to the side, sending them both tumbling away. “Silent! Greedy dogs.” She left the letter on the table and pushed her chair back, both feet on the floor.

“We’re sorry!” Both of them scurried back towards her.

“Stop.” They froze in place before her digits. “Know your place, you worms. You don’t deserve my love, you earn it. Get on your knees.” They did, and already did they feel so terribly cold when away from her touch, the sight of her but unable to touch the most tortorous temptation. The Charmer stood up, took the candleholder and snapped her fingers by the waist. “Follow.” They jogged after her. She had a graceful lady’s walk, her hips swaying, feet flashing out from under the glossy gown. The Charmer placed the candle on the bedside table, then pointed to the legs by the bed. “You will sleep on the floor today.”

They didn’t dare complain. “Yes, mistress,” Milton said, both of them with heads lowered.

The Charmer crawled onto the bed, blew the candle out and went to sleep. In the morning, the Charmer was gone, and the boys resumed practice with Hilda and Alluere.