Diavla's heart began to race when she heard Tom coming up the stairs. Does he have it? Are we actually going to do this? She had expected to have more time to think it over before wearing the collar, but Eubexa wanted someone else to try it out first. It's just for a minute. Just to demonstrate. Calm down, Diavla.

“Dee, are you sure you want to do this?” Varga asked for probably the third time. Diavla simply nodded.

Everyone was looking at Tom when he arrived. “Hello, everyone. Um… hello, all.” Since Eubexa's door was open already, Tom simply leaned in and knocked on the door frame. “Hello, Eubexa. May we come in?”

“Yes, of course, Master.”

Tom entered the room and Diavla followed, bringing the rock light she had picked up back when they were still on the road. Tom had abandoned it, but it hadn't taken very long for Diavla to refill it once she spent a while meditating on the thing. Varga followed, and the men had to hang out in the hallway, because there wasn't space for all of them.

Tom set his pack down, and pulled out the white wooden case. He set it on the small table by the bed and opened it, so Eubexa could see. “This is it. I'm (something something something) mithril.”

Eubexa said something Diavla couldn't parse, but it sounded like surprised agreement. “It really is mithril,” Eubexa murmured in Elvish. “At least, it's not fake metal. And it is quite beautiful.”

“Diavla, you are good?” Tom asked.

“I'm ready.”

“She's ready,” Eubexa echoed in Western.

“Eubexa, please tell her…” Tom kept speaking, then Eubexa translated.

“…If you want to stop at any point, you are under standing orders to say so… This way we will test out standing orders, too… We need to learn exactly how this thing works… Go ahead and take it out of the box, Diavla.”

Diavla carefully picked up the necklace and held it in front of her, peering at it. It was a little heavy, which was only to be expected given its size. An intricate spiderweb design was meant to hang down, draping over much of the chest. She examined the clasp, but it looked like a perfectly ordinary arrangement. How does it lock?

Tom spoke, and Eubexa translated. “He wants to know whether you can tell if it is filled or not, and whether filling it is something you can do.”

“Tell him that checking would take me several minutes. I can do that first, if he wants.”

“…He says it's up to you.”

“Well, I'll put it on, and if it doesn't do anything, then I'll check to see if it is empty of magic.” Diavla took a deep breath, and pulled the collar against her throat. Reaching behind her neck, she worked the clasp by feel. “I'm not sure how to…” Something clicked into place.

Oh.

Diavla relaxed with a sigh, her arms falling to her sides.

She was…done. She could rest. There was nothing she needed to do. She wasn't focused on anything, thinking about anything, she was just…blank. She felt nothing, except a vague, faint sort of contentment.

< … >

She didn't feel compelled to do anything, so she didn't. She just stood there and breathed.

< … >

Diavla sort of woke up, and realized that she was just standing there. She collected herself mentally for a moment. “I'm… awed. That was really interesting.”

“What did you feel?” Varga asked.

“Nothing,” Diavla told her friend. “I just completely and utterly relaxed.” A moment later, she made a discovery. “Wait. I can't move.” She couldn't even turn her head to look at Varga, just her eyes.

< … >

“Tom says, try now.”

Diavla thought about that. “Saa, I still can't move. I mean, I can, but I can't make myself do it. I can think about it, but I can't make myself want to do it, if that makes any sense. I'm…not actually hearing any commands. Is Tom saying anything?”

“Not out loud.”

< … >

Diavla moved a bit. She blinked at that and looked around. She lifted her hand and examined it back and front just to demonstrate that she was able to. “All right, now I can move.” Everyone had gathered around her as best they could in the limited space. Tom was a couple of steps back, holding the white wand that came with the collar. “Tom, what did you tell me to do?”

It took a minute of back and forth before Eubexa felt confident she correctly understood Tom's answer. “He says…he didn't do anything at first, you just stood there. So he told you, ‘Diavla, you can think and speak normally.’ But that didn't seem to do anything, so then he ordered you, ‘Diavla, think and speak normally.’ ”

Tom asked through Eubexa, “Do you feel all right?”

Diavla thought. “I…think so? I mean…” She hopped on one foot for a moment, spun in a circle, and ran her fingers over the many pieces of the jeweled necklace. Then she felt the back of her neck. “Hm. How do I take this off?”

“Let me see,” Varga offered, stepping close behind Diavla and putting her hands on Diavla's shoulders for a moment. There was a pause, and Diavla could feel Varga's fingers poking at the collar. “I don't…see a hook or clasp, or anything. It looks like an unbroken chain.”

Diavla's heart began racing again. Is it stuck? Am I trapped?

When Eubexa translated, Tom stepped forward. “Let me.” He tapped at the necklace with the wand in a few different ways, then discovered that pressing directly on the back of the collar with the tip of the wand caused the clasp to reappear and release. Diavla caught the necklace before it could fall.

She felt a little shiver, imagining what might have happened if the collar had been stuck on her permanently. Following Tom's every order, forever… It was frightening…and stirred other feelings, too. But when she remembered Tom's short lifespan, and imagined the wand falling into someone else's hands, the prospect was horrifying.

“Tom wants to know whether you feel back to normal now.”

Diavla rubbed her neck, and did her best to calm her racing pulse. She was sure she was blushing furiously. After a bit, she gave Tom a reassuring nod, and told Eubexa, “Yes, I think I'm fine. I mean, I thought I was fine as soon as he told me to act normally, but I guess I was fully under his command. Which gems did he use?”

A moment later, Eubexa relayed the answer. “Only the first one.”

Spirits, what will the others feel like? Diavla took a deep breath. “All right. We need to test the other gems. I'm…” She took another breath. “I'm putting it back on.” She did so.

All her emotions faded away, all her needs, her wants, her desires, her thoughts, everything was gone. There was only waiting, and breathing.

< … >

Diavla blinked a couple of times, quickly. She checked that the collar was still in place.

“Are you back with us?” Eubexa asked.

Responding took her a moment. “Yes.” Diavla considered. “How long was I unaware?”

“Only a heartbeat or two.”

“Did Tom order me to “Think, speak and act normally’?”

“…That's correct.”

< … >

Diavla suddenly felt very warm. She immediately began fanning herself and sweating. It was as if she were just outside a smithy and walking closer.

“How do you feel?” Tom asked, through Eubexa.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“Hot. Sweltering.”

< … >

Abruptly, she felt a strong chill. She wrapped her arms over her chest and began to shiver. It took a few heartbeats to shift all the way from hot to cold. “Brrrr…”

“I take it you feel cold now?”

“Yes!”

< … >

The strange feelings of heat and cold faded. She tilted her head. “And… I'm back to normal. Well, that certainly worked.”

“Tom, tell her to feel no pain,” Varga asked.

“Don't hurt her,” he warned.

“I won't.”

< … >

A moment later, Diavla felt Varga spank her bottom, hard. “Hey!” She took a small step forward as she regained her balance. She felt it, but it didn't hurt at all. She turned and glared at the redhead, anyway.

Varga just shrugged, trying to hide a smile. “What? We had to test whether it turned off pain or not.” She added, “I don't want to slap your face, because it would be all red after.”

Diavla held out her arm. “Try here.” Varga promptly slapped her arm hard enough to knock it down a bit.

“It's just a touch sensation. A little intense, but no pain.” She observed that her arm was starting to get red. “Hm, I wonder if you could command my body not to be hurt, or to heal faster.”

< … >

Diavla suddenly sat down on the floor.

Varga frowned. “Dee? What are you doing?”

“Meditating to try to summon spirits of Healing. I'm really bad at it, but…”

< … >

Diavla stopped. “What happened?”

A pause. Eubexa paused to listen to Tom, then translated. “He says that he commanded you to ‘Heal faster’, and then said, um, ‘Cancel the last order.’ Or something like that. I'm not quite getting every word, sometimes. How are you understanding him? Is he thinking at you in Western or Elvish?”

Diavla thought about it. “I'm not aware of the commands, but I'm also not feeling any ambiguity. Perhaps it is soul-to-soul, communication without language.” She got back on her feet. “He'll still have to be careful with commands. Sometimes, the reaction won't be what he was expecting.”

“…Tom agrees.”

“One more thing,” Tom declared in Western.

< … >

Diavla obediently closed her eyes.

< … >

She could feel Tom's arms going around her, hugging her tightly, pinning her arms to her sides.

< … >

Diavla shivered as Tom planted a string of kisses on her neck. So bold. In front of everyone?

< … >

Tom's fingers slid down her spine, leaving tingles behind. Diavla flinched as his fingers slid lower, and felt his hands grip her behind firmly and give a slight squeeze. Her breath hitched and she did her best not to squirm.

< … >

The sensations of Tom playing with her body vanished. Her eyes stayed closed. She swallowed. “That…saa…that was very…” A thought struck her. “…realistic. That didn't actually happen, did it? Tom didn't touch me?”

“He hasn't moved, Diavla. Did he tell you to feel something pleasant?” Eubexa asked quietly. Diavla nodded vigorously. “So, he could do that to me whenever he wanted,” the sickly elf mused. Diavla couldn't tell from her tone how Eubexa felt about that.

He could do that to me whenever he wanted. Diavla knew her face was heating but didn't care. He was bolder than I thought he would be. At any moment, he could do that. He could…

Tom asked Eubexa something, and she answered him in Western.

< … >

Diavla's eyes opened. “Did he tell me to open my eyes?”

“…Yes.”

Diavla nodded and returned to her own thoughts. Her imagination started to run a little wild with ideas for things Tom might do to her. She didn't pay close attention to know what they were discussing. Finally, Eubexa asked, “Diavla? Are you all right?”

Diavla urgently tried to push those interesting thoughts aside and focus on the conversation. “I…believe so. I was just …thinking. Unless, Tom gave me some sort of command…?”

“No. Are you sure you're all right?”

Diavla thought a moment, then nodded firmly. “Yes. I'm fine, as far as I can detect.”

“Tom asks, are you ready for the third gem?”

Diavla hesitated, then nodded again. This one supposedly commands my reality, she recalled.

< … >

Diavla abruptly lost her vision entirely. “I'm blinded,” she announced nervously, feeling more alarmed by the moment. Instinctively, she raised her hands, wary of something bumping into her.

< … >

Her vision returned. Diavla couldn't quite help sighing in relief. “My sight is back.”

Tom and Eubexa argued for a moment. “…Tom says that wasn't a good test of the third gem because he could probably do that with the second one. He's going to try something else.”

< … >

Diavla glanced at Eubexa, and a black cat was trying to climb into Eubexa's lap. “Saa, saa! Off, cat! No!” She darted forward. Eubexa didn't react to the cat at all, but did flinch away from Diavla.

< … >

The cat vanished.

“I lost it,” Diavla warned, looking around. “I must have blinked. Sorry, Eubexa. I didn't mean to startle you. Where did it go?”

“Where did what go, Dee?” Varga asked.

“The black cat! The one that was just…” A suspicion entered her soul for a moment, but then she shook her head. “No, I know there's a black cat in here, somewhere. It's not Tom playing a trick.”

“Actually, it is, Diavla. There's no cat,” Eubexa corrected her.

“I know there's a cat. I saw it.”

“Diavla, I didn't see any cat,” Kervan confirmed. Diavla glanced that way, and Orvan was also nodding.

< … >

Diavla stopped short. She was suddenly, absolutely certain that there had never been a cat. “Demon shit.” She stared around at everyone. “I was utterly convinced. Even knowing that Tom is standing right there with a magic item mind-controlling me, even though Eubexa told me that there wasn't a cat, I was still totally certain that there was a cat in here.” Diavla shuddered. “Please, don't do that one again.”

Eubexa translated, Tom replied, Eubexa translated back. “He says the last one might feel even worse afterward, but he'll try it when you're ready.”

“Wait!” Diavla held up a hand. “Tell him to do another thing like the cat, but don't undo it. Then, when I take off the collar, we can check whether I still believe it.”

A quick babble of Western later, Eubexa answered, “He says the seller told him it should all wear off.”

“We should still check. Maybe it takes a while.”

< … >

Tom seemed to be thinking hard about something. While everyone waited, Diavla wondered how Simon was doing, and if he would be joining them for dinner. It would be interesting getting the perspective of another elf who lived in Rivermarch.

Eubexa said, “Tom wants to know where Simon is.”

“He's waiting downstairs,” Diavla told her promptly.

“Who's Simon?” Kervan quietly asked Orvan.

Tom was still thinking. Finally, Varga asked with a wicked gleam in her eye, “Does Tom want suggestions?”

Diavla glared at her friend, feeling a bit stressed by the experience. “Don't you dare.” In a low voice, she muttered, “I think he's doing just fine without help.”

If this last gem works, he's going to tell me to want something, or love or hate something. Wait…is he going to tell me to feel tolanor for him? Diavla found that alarming, and started wondering how she would be able to tell.

< … >

While she was waiting, a distracting thought occurred to Diavla. She tapped her forehead. “Everybody, do you know what we forgot? Hats! When we were getting clothing. We absolutely should all buy hats that can cover our ears, to draw less attention. Plus, in the colder weather, it will really help us to keep from freezing so badly. Varga, did you see any hats at Whistler's? I didn't.

“We should find a place that sells hats and get a bunch of them. I want a pretty hat. But it should have a string to keep it from blowing off in the wind. What color do you think would look best on me? I'm thinking blue, to match this dress. Varga, I'd like to see you try on a bunch of hats. I…what?”

Varga was staring at her strangely.

< … >

Diavla stared back at her friend in confusion, then dismissed it for the moment and with growing excitement, she turned and lifted her chin. “What do you think? Imagine a hat from this side. I've seen some human women have their hats attached with some kind of pin. Some of them wear their hats far to one side, which looks ridiculous to me, but I guess it's creative. I prefer—”

The magic released her, and Varga caught the necklace as it fell from Diavla's neck. “Oh! Thank you. I wonder how that happened?” She looked across the room, but Tom wasn't where she had last seen him. “Where did Tom go? I thought we were going to test the last gem.”

“Diavla, are you very interested in hats for some reason?” Eubexa asked.

“What? No, it was just a thought. I suppose cloaks with hoods are better in a lot of ways. We don't know how much rain we will get on the road, so we should use whatever works best. …Wait, what were we talking about? Sorry, I got distracted talking about hats, of all things.” A flicker of motion caught her eye, and when she turned to see what it was, she discovered that Tom had gotten behind her, somehow. Oh, that's how the collar came off. Why didn't I notice?

“Diavla?”

“Yes, Tom? Did you want to test the fourth gem?” Eubexa translated into Western.

“I did. It works.”

“How do you know? Did you…I don't feel any mad compulsions to kiss Orvan or anything. Varga, what did you do?” She glared at her friend.

“I didn't do anything! Why are you accusing me?”

“Because when trickery happens, you either made it or you helped.” That wasn't quite fair to Varga, but Diavla was feeling edgy.

Tom spoke for a few moments, then Eubexa explained that apparently Tom had caused her to want to talk about hats. Then he had told her to ignore him, while he moved around behind her. Clearly, it had stopped working almost the moment the collar came off. It was fairly disconcerting, though. Diavla absently rubbed her neck.

“Diavla, do you know anything about an elf named Simon?” Eubexa asked.

Diavla nodded. “Yes. I met him in town earlier. Like I said, he's waiting downstairs.”

“What's he like?”

“He's…” Diavla was about to give a generic description, but made herself stop and think. “Wait…” She tried to remember what Simon looked like, or where exactly they had met and when. She came up empty. “Tom! Did you make me forget about Simon?”

A few moments later, Eubexa replied, “There is no elf named Simon, Master made him up. All Master commanded was, ‘There is an elf named Simon who you met in town. He is waiting downstairs.’ None of us could hear it, but that's what he says that he sent to you.”

Diavla needed a minute to sort out that Simon didn't exist, first. “Wait…Simon isn't real?”

“So, there are lingering effects,” Eubexa pointed out.

Diavla sighed. “I was so sure. But obviously, I'm wrong…right?”

“What, Simon? He and I are drinking buddies!” Varga declared. Diavla quickly turned and focused on her, scared and uncertain. Varga's face fell as she took in Diavla's expression. “I'm kidding. There is no elf named Simon, Dee. I'm sorry.” She swallowed, and repeated, “I'm really sorry, Dee. That collar can really mess you up, huh?”

Diavla shuddered. “I'm glad Tom bought it, because I'm horrified to think about what some other human would do with it.”

Tom spoke for a while, then Eubexa translated, “Apparently, anything you are told using the third gem just gets added to the things you believe, but once the collar is off, you can figure out that they aren't true. Filling someone's head with lies that they believe still holds potential for wreaking wide havoc, even after the collar is removed,” the sick elf mused.

Tom and Eubexa had a long discussion. Diavla guessed that Eubexa was having second thoughts after seeing the collar in action. Eventually, though, Eubexa asked in a strained voice, “Diavla, would you please put the collar on me?”

“Of course.” Diavla took the collar and squeezed past people until she could reach behind Eubexa. As she lay the necklace against Eubexa's chest and gripped the clasp, she heard the faintest whisper in Elvish.

“Please, don't let him hurt me.”

Diavla's eyes filled with tears, but she nodded firmly.

“I won't,” she promised, quietly. “Ever.”

The clasp locked.