Adult Changeling (Chapters)

5

The sun isn’t moving.

The thought struck Mariah, as she was roused from a daydreaming doze by another baby bottle. Her first reaction to the bottle had been that it was far too soon to eat again. The shadows hadn’t moved at all. The bees were still happily humming. The temperature was constant too, a gentle warmth that was relieved only by short-lived breezes.

Finding herself hungry, Mariah sucked on the cloth. She was glad there was no one to see her greedily slurping away at a bottle like a baby. No one but faeries, but they didn’t count for embarrassment. Mariah’s caregiver, Podra, was personable enough, but had already demonstrated some bizarre qualities in their one afternoon together.

The Garden Mistress, Lualdina, had seemed like more of a caricature of a lady from a period piece than a person. The others she’d seen interact were truly alien, more like elemental monsters than people. With the exception of the goblin, she supposed. The goblin had seemed like a pretty typical working stiff, other than her horrible voice.

Another thing that reinforced the difference was the power of the creatures that had imprisoned her. Podra held Mariah effortlessly as she drank from the bottle. She’d been holding Mariah for what felt like hours.

At five and a half feet tall, Mariah considered herself regular sized for a woman. Perhaps on the smaller end, but not tiny. Podra was taller, but not six feet or more. She wasn’t built like a tank either. Podra’s green limbs were, if anything, a bit spindly looking. They held Mariah like they were made of actual wood and carved in place, instead of belonging to a creature that moved and talked.

The beautiful, golden taste of the milk came to an end. Mariah sucked desperately at the cloth nipple, extracting every bit of the honey-vanilla sweetness that clung to it. An involuntary whimper escaped her lips when Podra put the bottle aside.

“Still hungry, baby Mariah?”

“No.” Mariah blushed. She was feeling a little full, if anything.

“Oh, you like the taste? Is that good milk for my baby girl?”

“Yes Mama.”

“Wonderful! I’m glad we were able to get something right the first time, at least. I suppose it’s not surprising. Faerie food has always enchanted you mortals, hasn’t it?”

Mariah blinked. She’d already had magic used on her several times. Even so, she hadn’t considered that the milk could be magical as well. All she could do was hope that Podra meant the enchantment figuratively. If simple scents could relax her muscles or calm her mind, she didn’t want to know what drinking an entire bottle of magical milk could do.

Podra laughed. “You didn’t know, little one? Oh, but of course you didn’t, you’re still a child.”

“Wh-what does the faerie food do?”

“It will help you be more like us, little one. I don’t know what kind of education you’d have gotten in the mortal world, but the Queen has said you’ll be raised as a faerie child, which is a great honor! You’ll be slower at it, I imagine, but in four or five hundred years, I’m sure you’ll be as accomplished as a faerie child of one hundred.”

“Four or five – a child of one hundred?”

“Oh yes, no one would trust a faerie child with real tasks before a hundred years have passed. Can you imagine the mistakes they’d make? Even then, we don’t ask much of them until they’re much older.”

“How old are you, Mama?” Maria’s thoughts were spinning. Not that she wanted to be trapped for decades, but she was at least supposed to be out in twenty years, wasn’t she?

They can’t make me live for a hundred years like this. I’ll go insane!

“I was grown from the garden when Holy Danu’s folk yet resided in your world, before your people mastered iron. It gives me some seniority, but I am still young in comparison to many in this court.”

“Before… before we mastered iron?” Mariah swallowed, hard. She couldn’t recall offhand when the iron age started, but it had to be thousands of years ago, at the minimum.

“That was a simpler time, we could go about your people in our full glory. Iron forced us to be sneaky, to retreat here, to courts like this in Faerie. That’s why the Queen is so strict with you, little one. She was born in the court of the Dagda himself, and remembers a time when your kind worshipped us.”

“I didn’t do anything to her!”

“I know, little one.” Podra stroked Mariah’s hair gently. “It was your mother that caused offense. Don’t worry, you may never have to see the Queen again. Her Majesty has very little interest in mortals. I’m sure she considers the matter with you to be finished.”

I hope she thinks its finished. Mariah shuddered to recall the glass monster that had sentenced her to live as a baby. The court had been full of big, weird monsters. The only thing that had kept Mariah from panicking had been her belief that she was dreaming. It was a nice escapist thought, but not one she could hold on to any more.

“I want to stay in the garden!” Mariah tugged earnestly at Podra’s dress. The garden was the only safe place she’d seen so far.

“That’s good, because that’s where you’ll be staying for a long time, perhaps for all your time in Faerie.” Podra smiled. “You seem very active now. I think it’s a good time for you to play. More questions can wait for later.”

Podra put Mariah down on the soft grass near the pond. Now that she was resting on it, Mariah felt a definite squish in her diaper. It didn’t feel wet, it was at most damp, but it had gained volume for sure. There were no toys on hand this time. Her caregiver had turned away and was arranging things on the cart of baby supplies. Mariah was unclear on what kind of playing she was supposed to do.

More than anything she wanted to explore the garden, to see if there was a way out of the magical world. Podra was at her least watchful. Though fear of being subject to magic curdled her stomach, Mariah decided to see if the green lady would allow a bit of exploring.

It seemed wise to crawl, both to placate her captors and to stay under the level of the garden plants. There was no reason to alert anyone else to her movements, especially the powerful Garden Mistress.

To Mariah’s surprise, Podra not only let her crawl around a bit, but allowed Mariah out of her direct sight without comment. It wasn’t by accident either, Mariah caught her caregiver glancing at her before she rounded the tree that put her out of sight.

Crawling up a grassy hill, Mariah was overwhelmed by the size of the garden. It stretched out in all directions without apparent limit. From her little vantage point, she could see a forest-sized orchard and a huge lake. Paths wound between beautifully manicured flower gardens, any of them large enough to be considered a farming operation back on earth.

Far in the distance, gleaming glass spires marked the location of the Queen’s castle. With a shudder, Mariah crawled down the other side of the hill; away from those flashing points. Garden was clearly a misleading term. It was larger than the biggest park Mariah had been in. The first thing, she supposed, would be to find a wall or any sort of boundary.

Mariah’s thoughts and her crawling were violently interrupted by something that hit her in the side and sent her tumbling through a field of clover. To her surprise, she wasn’t hurt. The impact had been gentle, despite its speed. The clover was so thick and dense that it felt more like a padded mat than plants.

A creature pounced on Mariah before she’d recovered from being tackled. It felt like the one who’d knocked her down, it was about her size, minimally clothed and covered in soft fur.

A strange hybrid of human and dog face loomed over Mariah. It had the muzzle, nose, and floppy ears of a dog. It’s blue eyes were expressively human. The eyebrows and lips had far more expression in them than any dog.

It wasn’t holding Mariah down, though it had its arms to either side of her shoulders and was straddling her. The body looked almost human, other than the golden fur that covered it. An excitedly wagging tail caught Mariah’s eye. Other than the muzzle, it was the most purely dog feature on the creature.

“I found you!”

The creature’s voice was masculine. It spoke with only a slight accent. There was, thankfully, no splatter of drool. There were some very sharp fangs that flashed when it spoke. The sight of them made the hair stand up on Mariah’s neck and arms.

“Do you talk? I don’t know anything about human kids? They said you were a baby? Are you a baby?”

“No, I’m not a baby!” A desire to protect her dignity overrode her fear.

“Good! I was hoping you’d be a kid when Podra sent for me. If you’re a kid, we can play!”

“What kind of play?”

“Anything.” The dog faerie grinned, flashing those terrible teeth again.

“I don’t know you. We uh, haven’t been introduced.”

Mariah was regretting getting away from Podra. With as formal as the faerie seemed to be, maybe she’d be able to get back to Podra to arrange an introduction.”

“That’s easy, I’m Labdyn!” Labdyn bared his teeth again in what Mariah thought might be a smile. It felt more like a threat.

“I’m Mariah.” She swallowed around a lump in her throat.

Labdyn didn’t answer. He lowered his nose and sniffed Mariah’s neck. She tried to freeze, but couldn’t help but squirm when his wet nose touched her. Snuffling, Labdyn dipped his head to Mariah’s armpits.

He was sniffing lower when Mariah’s embarrassment drove her out of her paralysis. She scooted out from under Labdyn, gathering her skirt around her diaper as much as she could. The dog fae looked up at her, tail wagging excitedly.

“You can move fast when you need to. Good! That means we can play lots of different games.”

“You’re one of the faerie kids that Podra called, aren’t you? How old are you?”

“Young enough to still count years.” Labdyn laughed with a wheezing sound, his tongue lolling out. “I’m one of the youngest in the Court. I turned fifty with the last change of the seasons.”

Mariah stared at the ‘boy’. He didn’t look fifty. Not that he looked like a child either. He was about her height, with toned muscle rippling under his fur. His clothes were as adult as anything she’d seen on the other faerie, if a bit more plain. Labdyn was wearing a midriff baring tank in baby blue and darker blue shorts.

“Wow that’s uh, young I guess. What kind of stuff do you play?”

“I don’t get to play a lot. I have to learn tracking and swords and magic.” Labdyn flopped on his back dramatically at the last word. He seemed to have the same opinion of learning magic that Mariah had of learning maths.

“School is important, I guess.”

“School? Oh! You mean like for Wizards? I’m apprenticed to an older hound in my pack. I don’t have to do anything boring, like write.”

“An apprenticeship would have been nice, I think.” Mariah wished wistfully she’d had something practical that would have prepared her for a better pair of jobs than housekeeping and a coffee shop.

“Do YOU go to school?” Labdyn sat up, his ears bouncing in surprise.

“I did, but that was back on Earth.”

“Earth? You mean the mortal realm. What’s it like? I can’t wait to go there, but they won’t let anyone go on a Hunt until they’re at least a hundred.”

“I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like here but… not as intense?”

“I’ve heard it’s very drab.” Labdyn nodded. “But it’s a dangerous, exciting place. I’m tired of fighting duels. I want to be in a real fight.”

“I’m not a fighter. I…”

Labdyn leapt to his feet, staring into the tall grass. He was just in time to catch a cat-person who crashed into Labdyn with a great deal more force than he’d tackled Mariah. Transfixed as she was by watching Labdyn go down rolling with the new arrival, Mariah had no warning of the person who pounced her from behind.

She barely had time to identify her newest tackler as a fox before that fox was knocked over in turn by a minotaur. A laughing girl, no more than three feet tall, spun past Mariah. With a ballet-like flick of her foot, she flipped Mariah’s skirt up.

A bird-girl with bright green feathers dropped out of a tree and made a clumsy dive toward Mariah. She rolled out of the way easily. When he fell back on his tailfeathers, she pounced him. It felt good to have the upper hand for once!

The bird girl was as light as a child, though she was taller than Mariah. Her slight weight made it easy to pitch her at laughing girl as she danced back toward Mariah. The dancer had seemed like the first really human looking person Mariah had seen, but on a second look she had dragonfly wings that flashed rainbow in the light.

Mariah’s moment of triumph was cut short by Labdyn grabbing her again. He was laughing, his big dog tongue flopping in his mouth. To her surprise, Mariah realized she was laughing too. She wrestled with the dog-boy, finding him stronger than her, but without the inhuman might that Podra and Lualdina had.

When the cat person grappled Labdyn from behind, Mariah managed to tip him onto his side. The girl with the dragonfly wings grabbed Mariah’s arm before she could grab Labdyn’s tail. The winged girl gave a shriek of delight when Mariah flexed her superior strength and dragged her down into the pile.

The minotaur, fox, and bird jumped on one by one, turning the wrestling battle into a pile of giggly faeries and one human. Mariah was ecstatic to discover that faeries were ticklish, putting that discovery to good use on Labdyn and the fox boy. Someone was tickling her from behind. Her helpless giggles faded to an embarrassed wheeze when she felt her diaper flood.

The bulk of the pile broke away while Labdyn squirmed onto Mariah to pin her to the ground. Properly restrained by her wrists and thighs, Mariah felt her breath catch in her throat. She was suddenly aware of the warmth of Labdyn’s furry body, of the alert shine of his eyes.

This is ridiculous. I can’t be turned on by a – dog dude! I’m just warm from the wrestling.

“Who said you could tickle?” Labdyn asked, still giggling.

“Who said you could pin me down?” Mariah squirmed, fighting Labdyn’s grip. It was no use, she didn’t have the leverage. All she could do was wait for an opportunity to escape, and hope her traitorous nipples would smooth down.

“Who said that’s all I’m going to do?” Labdyn playfully dragged his tongue across Mariah’s neck, under her jaw.

“Ah!” Mariah moaned before she realized what she was doing. Blushing, she hoped Labdyn was too much of a kid to know what that sound meant. If the faerie lived for thousands of years, fifty might be too young to understand the way she’d arched her back, or the look she was giving him now.

An excited growl rumbled in Labdyn’s chest. He sniffed Mariah’s neck, lightly flicking his tongue across her jaw and ear. She managed to stifle a moan, but couldn’t contain her squirm.

“I didn’t know young humans could be interested in sex.” Labdyn nuzzled Mariah’s ear with the soft fur of his lips. “That moan even sounded – experienced.”

“I – I have some experience.” Mariah’s body yearned for more touches from Labdyn. Her mind spun in confusion, recoiling from the idea.

Why am I even turned on? It was absurd, given how weird her situation was. Labdyn had a lot of dog features, none of which should be sexy. She herself was wearing a diaper. Now that she’d wet twice, there was a definite feel of sogginess to her padded underwear.

 Nothing that Mariah was feeling should be turning her on. Unfortunately, her body disagreed. Labdyn’s lips were hovering dangerously close to Mariah’s mouth. She was wondering how a kiss would work on a dog muzzle when she caught herself parting her lips.

A dual tackle from the minotaur and fox faeries saved Mariah from solving the question of dog and human kissing. Labdyn fought the two off valiantly, rising to his feet with a manly howl.

No, not manly. A DOG howl. It’s a dog howl. Stop being attracted to him!

A gentle caress across Maria’s breasts made her spring to a sitting position with a yelp. Far from discharging the cat faerie that had touched her, the motion merely poured the cat into Maria’s lap.

“Labdyn! Let’s do something more fun than just wrestling. We never have a human to play with.” The cat girl rubbed her cheek against Maria’s jaw possessively.

“Fine, Pyrrah. Then let’s play Hunt.”

“You always want to play Hunt. Stupid dog.” Pyrrah draped herself bonelessly over Mariah’s lap.

Mariah tried to squirm out from under the cat girl and was stalled by Pyrrah’s needle-sharp fingertips on her arm. She glared at the fluffy orange lap-thief and was ignored.

Separation from Labdyn wasn’t having the cooling effect on her libido that Mariah had hoped for. Pyrrah was equally warm, lithe, and wearing just as little as the dog-boy had been. All the young faeries seemed to have a hot, athletic energy to them. It was like being thrust into a group of professional dancers at the club.

“You could have suggested something. You didn’t. I say we play Hunt.”

“I don’t know how to play. I can sit the first game out.” Mariah smiled hopefully at Labdyn. Hunt sounded athletic. She wasn’t looking forward to running in a soggy diaper.

“The rules are simple.” The minotaur boy’s voice was a sub-bass rumble. “One of us is the Prey. They have to run. Some of us are the Herd, they have to block for the Prey. The rest are the Hunt, they have to catch the Prey.”

“Mariah is a human baby, so we’ll play that the Hunt only have to touch the Prey. No tackling or biting.” Labdyn said.

Biting? Mariah’s protest at her baby status died on her lips. For the purposes of Hunt, she was happy to be a baby.

“Pick the teams so that we can start.” Pyrrah tore impatiently at the clover with her claws.

“Even teams would be… Minarden, Vusyl, Jaycia and Pila as Herd.” Labdyn pointed at the minotaur, fox, bird, and dragonfly-winged girl in turn. “Pyrrah and I will be the Hunt.”

“But then I’m…”

“Prey.” Pyrrah grinned at Mariah, sharp fangs gleaming white.

“Just touches on the prey, remember?” Mariah dumped Pyrrah on the ground, standing nervously. “Do I get a head start?”

“It’s your first time, sure. Start running!” Labdyn grinned.

With a gulp, Mariah stumbled forward. Her usual smooth run was more of a waddle. The diaper sat heavy between her legs. Every step squeezed some liquid out, making her crotch and thighs soggy. Only twenty yards into her run, the wet was turning itchy.

Rumbling footsteps behind her made Mariah glance back in panic. Her ‘herd’ had arrived to screen for her. Despite knowing that they were on her team, Mariah couldn’t help feeling chased. She tried to run faster, feeling the diaper leak down her thighs.

Out of nowhere, Labdyn was running alongside her. He was moving effortlessly, slowing down from a streak of golden fur to match pace with her. The minotaur launched himself at Labdyn and sent them both flying. Gasping, Mariah ran while the fox, bird, and winged girl closed around her.

Feeling more protected by her teammates now, Mariah was able to spare some attention to look where she was running. She’d unconsciously chosen one of the flagstone paths that wound through the garden. It was carrying her through a small grove of trees in a loop that would bring her back to Podra’s meadow.

Getting back to the green woman seemed like a good idea, in case the game got rough. Minarden had hit Labdyn like a football player. Mariah wished she had insisted on a definition for touch.

Pyrrah dropped from a tree, claws extended. Mariah shrieked in fear. She covered her face with her arms and stumbled forward, but nothing touched her. A glance over her shoulder showed Pyrrah viciously wrestling with the fox boy, claws flashing.

She wasn’t even trying for me. Pyrrah just wants to use the game to fight, I guess. Now I’m really glad they aren’t using normal rules.

The trees opened up to the meadow. Mariah’s lungs were burning, her heart thudded painfully in her chest. It’d been a few years since high school gym class. Years since she’d run with any regularity. Her diaper was streaming wet down her legs. Even the soles of her feet stung from slapping on the flagstone path.

Changing course to run on the grass, Mariah let herself slow down. Pyrrah and the fox boy were far behind. There was no sign of Labdyn behind her, no matter how many times she glanced back.

“He’s coming!” The winged girl sprinted ahead of Mariah like she’d been merely walking before.

Mariah looked ahead. Labdyn had circled around, coming down the other side of the loop to meet her. He was running so fast that his floppy ears were pulled back along his head. The minotaur was chasing Labdyn fruitlessly. If the dog boy was anything, he was fast!

Labdyn shot past Podra like a golden streak, gone before she exclaimed in surprise. Pila moved to intercept him – and bounced off him like she was paper. Jaycia went high, grabbing Labdyn’s shoulders and fur. It was enough to tip the dog boy over, sending them both into a bone-crushing roll in the grass.

How does the prey win this game anyway? DOES the prey ever win this game?

Despite her sore legs and burning lungs, Mariah sprinted toward Podra. She was back on the path, running flat out. The sound of feet slapping on the flagstones behind her put a lump in her stomach. The bird girl hadn’t stopped Labdyn for long.

When the sound of her pursuer was close, Mariah dodged back onto the grass. She was rewarded to see Labdyn stumble, grabbing the spot she’d been. Pila came out of nowhere, slamming her shoulder into Labdyn’s rear and knocking him onto the stones.

I’m going to make it! Mariah ran toward Podra, who was standing with a look of concern or irritation on her face. Her caregiver was twenty yards away – fifteen yards – ten….

Footsteps were silent on the grass. Mariah had no idea Labdyn was behind her until she was already in his arms. He’d launched himself forward and scooped her up, barely catching his footing after the leap.

Tilted forward and off-balance, Labdyn stumbled forward, putting all his speed into getting his center of gravity underneath him again. It might have worked too, had it not been for the pond.

Cold water drenched Mariah and shocked the breath out of her. It was glacial, impossibly cold for a shallow pond on a warm summer day. Her feet found the bottom and she surged upwards, gasping for air.

“Labdyn! Look what you’ve done to my baby!” Podra raged, wading into the pool and reaching for Mariah and the dog boy.

A simple flick of Podra’s arm sent Labdyn flying out of the pool with a yelp. Mariah was gently scooped by the other arm. She was still spitting out water when Podra had her back in the warm sun.

Labdyn shook himself in an impressive spray of water and approached Podra, tail hanging down. The other faerie children vanished into the tall grass under Podra’s glare.

“Don’t be angry, you told us to come play with her.”

“I didn’t tell you to hunt her like a stag.” Podra scolded. “Now she’s soaked. I have to put a new dress and diaper on her.”

“What’s a diaper?” Labdyn cocked his head, shaking a bit more water off his ears.

“It’s this white garment.” Podra set Mariah on the changing table and flipped her skirt up. “Human children soil themselves and wear these, so that they don’t get everything around them dirty.”

“But I don’t really need to wear…”

“Is that why she smells like urine?” Labdyn sniffed at Mariah. “I thought she rolled in something.”

Shamed to her bones, Mariah hid her face and tried to curl into a ball. Podra’s tree-like strength stretched her out on the changing table and pushed her legs apart. Whimpering, Mariah tried to resign herself to having her diaper changed in front of a cute boy.

Not a cute boy! Well, kind of a cute boy. Maybe. Ugh, this is all so messed up!

“Hold still, little one.” Podra’s tone was stern. Mariah wilted. Resisting would get her put under a spell again. She didn’t want that at all, but especially not with Labdyn around.

Podra tearing Mariah’s diaper open was humiliating enough. From what she could see through her fingers, Labdyn didn’t have the manners to turn away. Worse, Podra stripped the dress off before finishing the diaper change. Mariah was left unable to hide her face while Podra dried her naked body off on the changing table.

It was a relief to feel a fresh diaper under her rear, merely for the coverage it promised. She closed her eyes and hoped for Podra to be quick while the green woman rubbed a cream onto her rear.

“Did you have fun playing Hunt?”

Mariah opened her eyes to see Labdyn’s face right above hers. It was a little too intimate for a diaper change. On the other hand, at least he wasn’t looking at her chest or crotch.

“I did – but it’s a little more rough than the games I play.”

“Hmm, mortals aren’t very strong, I guess that makes sense. I’m glad you had fun though. I’m sure Podra will let us play again.”

“After what you did, you’re sure of that, are you?” Podra said sharply.

“She had fun and she didn’t get hurt!” Labdyn wagged hopefully. “She’s the only human here. She needs people to play with.”

Podra rolled her eyes as she fastened the diaper around Mariah’s waist. “She won’t be the only human here for long – but the others won’t be children. You may play with her, as long as you play more carefully.”

“More humans!?” Labdyn asked excitedly, mirroring Mariah’s question but not her emotion.

“I requested some, to help explain how humans care for children.” Podra said. “The Hunt has already gone out for them.”

More people trapped here? I wish there was something I could do.

As Podra put a new dress on her, Mariah realized she’d be diapered in front of actual people. Wearing a diaper was bad enough, but Labdyn was the only one she’d felt embarrassed around. Other humans seeing her in a diaper seemed horrible.

Maybe they can convince these faeries that I’m not a baby. Then I can get out of these stupid diapers. It was a tiny bright-side, but it was all Mariah had. More people didn’t raise her hopes of escape. Additional humans might mean it’d be easier to find a way out, or it might mean more security.

“You’ve exhausted my baby for now.” Podra said, fixing the skirt of the glorious purple princess dress she’d put Mariah in. “Leave for a time, and return.”

“Thank you, Lady Podra.” Labdyn nuzzled Mariah’s cheek.

He didn’t smell like a wet dog. He smelled like a guy who’d just worked out. She nuzzled him back, feeling the confusion swirl in her brain again. The small ache in her heart when Labdyn trotted away only deepened the confusion.

“I’m sure you need to sleep now.” Podra said, scooping Mariah up.

“But it’s still light out.”

“Of course, it will be light until the Queen wills it to change.” Podra laughed. “Don’t worry baby Mariah. We’ll get you to a safe place before night falls.”

“What does that mean?”

Podra deposited Mariah on a flowering bush and hummed to the plant. Branches grew up and over Mariah, forming an egg-shaped cage.

“Sleep now, baby girl. You can call for me if you get hungry.”

Mariah frowned at Podra, but no more explanation was forthcoming. The green woman patted her on the head and walked away. Testing the bars of her bush-cage showed them to be solid as little tree-trunks. With a sigh, Mariah fell back on the cushion of flowers that covered the floor of her crib.

What happens when the sun goes down?