After another day of training, at the hot springs during evening, Hilda asked Milton to tend to her feet again. He stood on the same spot, she lay comfortably the same, presented her feet to him, but this time she placed her arches on the ledge so the toes were level with him.

“Take care of them this time,” she said. “You did a good job yesterday.” It was quiet. “Aren’t you going to say thank you?”

“Um, thank you, madam.”

Hilda rolled her eyes. “Looks like I have to teach you basic manners too.” Milton kneaded the tip of her pinky toe and slowly moved down the ten digits. It was only going to get worse. Hilda’s requests would only increase, her advances on him would become bolder. The only thing protecting him was her shame, that she held onto some strange pride and would still put on the performance of him being some worthless little thing in need of her guidance.

“Get in between the toes too,” she said. “At the base.”

Milton reached deeper inside, but the toes took the invitation too hard, reaching forward so he was in between the second and big toe. They were holding his waistline snugly. Milton blushed, working the base of her big toe. “I— Is this really necessary, madam?”

“Stop being weird about it,” she said with a hint of shame which, evidently, revealed she couldn’t act normal about it herself. “You’re not touching my legs or something like that, I’d never let you. This is meant to be demeaning, not romantic. You’re tending to the feet that crush and toy with you with in training. It’s a reminder of your place.”

“Well… Some people find an attraction in the demeaning part…”

“M—Maybe you do, because you’re weird.” She had a very defensive tone. “Keep your eyes lowered, don’t look at my body.”

Milton did. He had to provoke her embarrassment sometimes, to let her know he had an eye on her advances. Her shame was his last bastion. If she lost that, nothing would protect him. But it felt as if his efforts weren’t enough. She was slowly inching towards him. This morning had confirmed it, the sight of her wet pussy after a night of him sleeping beside her feet. He watched the pale, slender peds around him, knowing they were hungry for him, that each day they worked to get closer to him.

“Umm, so where are you from, madam?” Milton said. He tried to occopy her mind, maybe earn some of her respect so she wouldn’t see him as a tool. “Where did you live before they took you and made you a giant?”

“Just some village. It wasn’t far from the border to Humius.”

Milton squeezed her second toe. The foot was relaxed. “Huh. Sounds like a strange place for the village to be in. Didn’t people try to flee towards Humius?”

Her head leaned back against the moss-covered stone, eyes drifting through the skies. “The dumb ones, yeah, but they’d get caught, and it wouldn’t end well for them.”

“Do you miss your family?” It was a bold question. He feared she’d frown and punish him for trying to be friendly with her. But she watched the skies thoughtfully instead.

“Yeah, I do. I see them sometimes.”

“Really?”

“After a few successful missions, I get a visit home, and I bring them some money. Alluere told you we have a mission soon, interrupting a royal escort and freeing our sisters? After that, I get a visit home.”

“You know, yesterday, you told me that it’s better to be made a giant early, to get into the giants’ way of life easier. But family is family, there’s no breaking that tie.”

She hummed. Her eyes came down and caught him looking at her. Milton shied away, but she didn’t scold him for it, so he dared to stare back. They made eye contact. She had a rather cold look, though it didn’t show any resentment. Her big toe moved up and down along his back, rubbing him, and Milton got goose bumps.

“Your body must be sore,” Hilda said. “I can return the favor and give you a rub, but you have to ask nicely.”

“It’s fine, madam,” Milton said, a nervous smile to play it off. “The warm water does wonders.”

Now she gave her customary frown. “Your superior is offering kindness. Me asking is just a formality, you’re supposed to say yes.”

“Um, yes,” Milton said with mild discomfort. “Could you please show me your kindness, madam?”

“I can.” Her feet retracted and left him alone. Hilda swam towards him, her size fleeting closer and closer until she loomed over him. Her pink little nipples stared right at his face. They were stiff. Hilda’s hands arrived, put Milton on the moss with his chest down, and an index finger ran across his spine with mild pressure.

“Thank you, madam.”

“I can be kind too. But only if you behave. Now, tell me how you got here all the way from Humius.”

And so Milton told where he was from, what it was like in Humius, and he recognized Hilda tried to be apathetic about it or downplay the meaning of freedom for humans. He went on to his story, minus some of the details around Ada. He wanted to suppress those details, still unable to believe what the farmgirl had done to them. Hilda was engaged, asking questions, giving her own opinions, and the two were bonding.

From the kind finger working his muscles, all five fingers wrapped around his torso and threw him across the pool.

Milton swam up and drew breath. “What are you—”

“Evening, Alluere,” Hilda said, her attention elsewhere. “What are you doing?”

Hilda didn’t want to be caught being soft towards him, and Milton withdrew with understanding. But the sight of Alluere brought its own confusion, as she came running on all four. Rennard was on her scalp, holding a pair of ropes, a makeshift pair of reins tied to Alluere’s nose. Alluere arrived at the lip of the pool and reared back, imitating a horse.

Rennard laughed victoriously. “Would you look at that, Milton! I won the bet. I’ve ridden her over these mountains like a good, obedient animal.”

Alluere watched the sunset. “And that’s the last of the sun. It’s down.”

“Hey, come on now,” Rennard said. “It’s my first time winning, loosen up a bit and don’t be a sore loser. Another couple of minutes, yeah?”

“It’s all according to the bet, and sunset is over,” Alluere proclaimed. “You’ve had plenty of minutes.” A thoughtful smile came to her. “Hmm, actually, I can humor you a bit. I can be your dog.” Alluere started barking, growling, snapping her head forward as Rennard held himself.

“Be a good bitch now and—”

Alluere threw her head to the sides, reared back and cast her head forward. Rennard was thrown off. “And dogs love to lick their owners!” Alluere lunged at him while he was down, grabbing his torso with her mouth and giving a long, wet kiss, which transitioned into a rabid licking session as she slobbered all over him, her tongue assaulting his body. Rennard exclaimed whatever couple of words he could get out before the stroke of her tongue passed his mouth and interrupted. He tried to wrestle the soft, wet muscle off, but her head moved frantically, up and down, up and down, bringing the tongue with it, slipping in the occasional wet kiss.

“Bad bitch!” Rennard yelled, still enough playfulness in him to entertain the joke. Alluere had changed him. Alluere focused the tip of her tongue around his belly and sides, more methodic now, and it prompted chuckles out of Rennard. She was tickling him, and that ensued for a good several seconds until she returned to making out with his chest. Alluere grabbed his torso between her lips and rose, a dog with the toy in her mouth. Her lips closed around his body and the irregular squeaky sound of suction came, her cheeks hollowing in.

From the sides, Hilda watched with a visible flush on her cheeks, a shy hand over her mouth.

“Bad bitch!” Rennard yelled again and used a free arm to slap her cheek with a fiery punch. Alluere recoiled with a twist of the head, Rennard released from her maws with enough momentum to be thrown into the pool. Alluere rubbed her cheek with a giggle.

"You know, there are specialized giants who behave like dogs," Alluere said. "A powerful magic that changes them when they're made. It belongs to a powerful woman, Leylee Richwood. Some of her hounds came here the other day, hunting you two, but when they knew the Charmer had you, they left."

"Why would they be after us?" Rennard said, to which Alluere shrugged. She joined the pool and the evening proceeded as usual, Rennard and Milton speaking with one another, Alluere and Hilda mentioning the upcoming raid they had on a royal escort, and sometimes Alluere poked around and teased someone.

But then there came a moment for Milton he couldn’t quite explain, a flush of some feeling erasing everything he currently felt. Emptiness was the closest he got to describing it.

“Hey, are you ok?” Rennard said. His expression made it very noticeable.

Milton blinked and shook his head. “I don’t know.” He asked to withdraw early, and Hilda took him to the dormitory when it hadn’t gone very dark yet.

“You’re pretty quiet,” she said. She changed to her linen shift in front of him, no request to make him turn around.

“Yeah.” That was the only answer he had.

Hilda lay down and stretched out her legs, feet on either side of him. “I got kind of surprised back there, that’s why I threw you.” That was the closest thing to an apology Milton would get. “I’ll be nice and continue with the massage.” Though the detail she omitted was that she didn’t plan to do it with her hands this time, as her big and second toe came and pinched his leg and dragged him to lay nice and available before her. The peds of her right foot rested on his back and flexed, ever so slightly, alternating between a smooth sideways, stroke of a motion and a harder, downwards press. She was getting more and more comfortable dealing with him by the days.

“I was thinking,” Milton said, a part of his mind still in the blank state he started experiencing. “You’re a true citizen, you know. If you went to Humius, you could settle there and the kingdom’s guards wouldn’t send you back.”

“And?”

“I mean, you could sneak your family in there, get them a freer life.”

“Why do you assume I hate it here, that the human life is the best thing for me? I’m a giant.” From his thigh to neck, her toes tucked him in against the ball of the foot and compressed, soft and warm flesh gently working him. The affection was a stark contrast to the brute force of the training sessions.

He reached behind him and stroked a toe in a return of kindness. “For your family, perhaps. I only mean that there are other options. Wouldn’t they want it?”

“Stop talking about my family.” Hilda said nothing thereafter. Perhaps it was how reasonable his suggestions were and how she began to see the alternatives which made her uncomfortable.

Then Milton realised the source of his emptiness. He lost purpose in seeing why he was here. He was homesick. Although his thoughts of the charmer were still aglow with love and adoration, the things surrounding her were fading. Yesterday he saw purpose in Hilda being here due to fighting for the Charmer, now he was suggesting ways for her to get out. The charm was weakening.

“When is the mistress returning?” Milton said.

“Maybe tomorrow. I’ll be busy preparing for the raid on the royal envoy tomorrow, so you’ll have to train on your own for the most part. When I leave for the raid and hopefully return, I don’t know how things will change. Maybe I won’t be responsible for you anymore.” She left it there, and Milton didn’t know what to make of that. Was it a suggestion? What he did know was that a slender second toe slid under his chin, and the big toe rested on his scalp, brushing his unruly hair. “I can be kind too, you know.”

“You should show it more often,” Milton said. He could sense where this was going, her toes becoming more comfortable around him, especially with the first and second toe holding his head and idly caressing him. Unlike Rennard, Milton didn’t have the defiance to push back, and although Milton and Henry could be grouped as the two with some form of composure, Henry had the character to stand for himself when the time needed it. Too mild, lenient, and soft, those had been Milton’s problems, always the one of the three prone to bullying. So if Hilda abandoned her pride and pushed herself upon him here and now, he wouldn’t know what to do.

Sunlight faded more and more through the one window. Not a word had been said for a while, her toes contiuing to cuddle with his body. It had the faint touch of an absent-minded motion, brushing over his back lightly, the second toe placed on his cheek and drawing little circles, but the tension in the air was palpable. The pretext of her giving him a massage was being stretched thin, these slender, dexterous toes exploring different options. Milton’s heartbeat rose. Behind the pair of knees, no doubt her expression was flushed and anxious.

A row of toes grabbed his torso and lifted him. The knee curled, bringing him towards her, and placed him against her calf. “You can get warm in there.”

“Thank you, madam.” Like a duckling hugging its mother’s underside, Milton snuggled in under a fold of her soft calf muscle. Although it wasn’t needed, the foot of her other leg approached and plugged him inside, surrounded by warm comfort. Milton pushed the nervousness aside and went to sleep.

He woke in the middle of the night to her touch. More specifically, the touch was around his nose and mouth, and it was her big toe prodding him. This wasn’t movement during sleep, the repeated precision was very much conscious. Hilda was awake. There was nothing to hide behind, the intention was clear. She was testing him, seeing if he would accept the offer and kiss.

Milton feigned complete ignorance and pretended to be asleep still, not moving, not responding to the gentle advance. Then he heard a soft, vulnerable little sound in the still night, a girlish squeal emerging from this Rhino warrior. It barely registered in his ears, her attempt of keeping quiet almost succeeding. The legs squirmed somewhat. With his heart rocketing up to his throat, Milton realized she was masturbating. All her discretion made it somewhat difficult to tell, but once he suspected it, it was clear. Perhaps it had been the dawning realisation that she would leave for this raid and might not see him again, or jealousy had overcome her when she watched the way Alluere behaved and wondered why she couldn’t enjoy those liberties herself. Milton prayed she had enough pride, shame, or whatever mixture of the two it was to keep her desires at bay. He lay quietly and endured the probing toe which tried to earn his worship, all the way until her efforts died down and he fell asleep again.

He woke in the morning from her movement. Hilda had gotten dressed, and of course pretended nothing happened during the night. “I have to go speak with my sisters. Something has happened. You go and train as usual. And don’t be lazy.” On the way out she stepped on him, mushing him into the mattress to wake him up.

Milton made his way to the usual spot, by the large boulders and fallen trees he would hoist up with his tethers. But there was no sense of duty, no need to do anything. “What the hell am I even doing here?” The Charmer should have returned some time ago, and her absence was taking effect. The enchantment was all but gone, and all the effort with which Milton had diligently trained and made sure to be strong for his mistress, it was replaced with the familiar urgency of finding a way home. They were supposed to find the border. Where the hell had they ended up?

“Milton…” Milton turned around to see Rennard approaching him, and those keen eyes were full of sober intent. The two saw each other for the first time in days. “We’re getting the hell out of here.”