Problem Solving
by Kinto Mythostian


The door opened soundlessly and two female figures entered.

"Wait here, Ferenya. Mistress Halo wishes to speak with you," said one, a vixen wearing a smart gray dress with red trim.

Ferenya, a donkey dressed in a revealing two-piece outfit made out of translucent red fabric, nodded obediently and sat down to wait on one of the many cushions that were scattered about the floor. The vixen closed the door behind her on her way out, leaving Ferenya alone in the room.

Ferenya looked about idly. She was in the Mistress's playroom; she was no stranger to this place. It seemed a bit odd to see it so empty - usually there were at least a half dozen other slaves around to entertain the mistress. The dark red curtains were drawn across all of the many windows that normally provided an expansive view of the city. The high-ceilinged room, normally light and airy, was dimly-lit and stuffy, and half the room was shrouded in total darkness. 

Ferenya was curious as to what the mistress had in mind; a private session was often a good thing, something to gloat about to the other slaves, but they usually took place in the Mistress's own chambers. Ferenya absentmindedly stroked her arousal at the thought - whatever the Mistress had in mind was sure to be fun.

The door opened and Mistress Halo entered, wearing a black silk kimono decorated with a red floral pattern. She was accompanied as usual by Toy, her favorite young vixen slave, dressed in a lacy white dress festooned with frills, pink silk flowers, and little bows - the overall impression was of an elaborately dressed doll.

Ferenya immediately stood to attention and automatically assumed a submissive yet seductive pose. "Hello, Mistress Halo," she offered in greeting.

"Hello, Ferenya. As you were."

The donkey returned to an obedient kneeling position in front of her mistress. Her mistress usually preferred to converse with her like this, since when they were both standing Ferenya was taller by several centimeters.

"Do you know why I've called you here, Ferenya?"

"No, mistress," she answered truthfully.

"I have two problems, Ferenya. I believe you may be able to help me solve both of them."

"I live to serve, mistress."

"Yes, I'm aware. The first problem is that one of my slaves has been stealing from me."

Ferenya's heart skipped a beat; there was no way Halo could possibly know about that. "That's terrible, mistress," she said in her most sincere voice.

"Little things, mostly. Things that wouldn't be missed. Things that I might even have given away to a trusted slave if they had asked politely."

Ferenya said nothing. 

"But instead they chose to steal them. I cannot and will not tolerate disobedience in my slaves, as you well know."

Ferenya nodded, taking care to keep her expression one of innocent concern.

"Do you know who that thieving slave is, Ferenya?"

"No, mistress. If I knew, I would certainly tell you."

"Of course you would, because you're a good little slave," Halo said, patting the donkey on the head, ignoring the fact that Ferenya outweighed her by a good ten kilos and wasn't exactly little. "But, out of curiosity, what would you say if someone had told me you were the thief?"

"It's a preposterous accusation, mistress. I would never disobey you. What was the second problem, mistress?" Ferenya tried to change the subject.

"We'll worry about that later. Ferenya, I'm going to ask you right out. Are you the thief?"

"No, mistress."

"Hmm." Halo looked to Toy, who had been watching the whole exchange in silence. "Well?"

"She's lying, mistress," the little vixen said quietly.

Beneath her gray fur, Ferenya's skin paled.

"Yes, I know. She's very good at it," Halo said, and turned back to glare at Ferenya, "but not good enough."

"Mistress Halo, I-"

"Silence, slave!" Halo snapped. "I do not want to hear another wretched lie from your lips. You will not speak unless spoken to."

Ferenya nodded meekly, her long ears laid flat against her skull.

"I feed you, I clothe you, I house you, and all I ask from you in return is faithful obedience. Is that so terrible? You live a better life than many free citizens of this city, yet you saw necessary to betray my trust and steal from me. And then, when confronted, you have the gall to lie about it to my face. If you were a worthless little whelp like Toy here," Halo lightly smacked the dolled-up vixen next to her, "I would not hesitate for a second to have you executed for this outrage."

Ferenya recoiled as though she had been slapped in the face.

Halo paused for a moment to regain her normal composure before continuing, "But you are in fact quite valuable. As you're well aware, you're the only one of your kind in my harem, and I rather like having a diverse harem - variety is the spice of life, after all. I spent a good sum of money to bring you here, and getting another one of your kind would be just as prohibitively expensive."

Ferenya said nothing. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and she wasn't going to risk destroying her opportunity at redemption.

"So I'm going to give you a chance to save your life. You are going to remind me why I bother keeping you around, and you are going to do your best. If you do a good enough job, I might see fit to let you live."

Ferenya nodded, and waited for the signal for her to begin.

However, instead of opening her robe, Halo clapped her hands twice and a lightening of the dimness told Ferenya that the darkened half of the room was now lit up.

"Turn around, slave."

Ferenya did so and let out an involuntary bray of fear and jumped back, falling awkwardly off the cushion she knelt on and bumping into Halo's legs. Standing in a pool of light in the middle of the floor, surrounded by cushions and pillows, was a towering guillotine, at least 6 meters tall.  

"Come, slave." Halo strode toward the evil device, not looking behind her.

Ferenya stood up and, seeing no alternative, reluctantly followed Halo, her tail tucked fearfully between her legs.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? Take a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship, slave. I spent a lot of money on this and, unlike you, it is guaranteed to never disobey me." Halo ran her hand over the dark, polished wood. 

Beautiful was not the word Ferenya would have chosen; horrifying was more like it. The uprights were carved in an elaborate pattern of thorny vines and flowers; vile golden demons were sculpted along the vines, all of them leering, looking down towards the waiting lunette. The blade, suspended perilously at the top, was polished to a mirror sheen.

"Note the detail. The woodwork is entirely hand-carved from the finest cedar. The demons are gilded in genuine gold leaf, and the eyes are rubies. The blade is sharpened after every use, and is precisely weighted and balanced to ensure a smooth descent and a swift and precise cut. It is as decorative as it is functional. What do you think, slave?"

Ferenya gulped nervously. "A w-work of art, mistress."

"Yes, I've commissioned the artist to build me a gallows next. He says it should be done in a few months. If you're still around, I'll have to show you. Of course, if you don't please me tonight, you will become intimately familiar with the operation of this guillotine. Understand, slave?"

Ferenya nodded.

"Undress, slave."

Ferenya did as she was told, removing her minimal clothing to reveal her well-formed breasts and her black-skinned genitals. She stood naked, wearing nothing but her gray fur and a red ankle band. She started to kneel, prepared to pleasure her mistress.

"No, no. Not here, slave. Over there." Halo indicated the guillotine and Ferenya's heart skipped a beat. 

Ferenya started to hesitantly walk closer to the evil device. Halfway there, she stopped and turned to look back at Halo with pleading eyes.

"Go on."

Ferenya forced herself to take the last few steps and knelt down before the guillotine.

"Place your neck in the notch there. There's a good slave." Halo quickly stepped forward and latched the lunette in place. The sharp little sound sent a shiver down Ferenya's spine.

The opening was softly padded and not uncomfortable around her neck, but Ferenya was not reassured. She was trapped, helpless to prevent her mistress from whatever she desired to do.

"Now, on to business." Halo undid her sash and let her kimono fall to the ground; she wasn't wearing anything underneath. Her scarlet-furred loins were perfectly lined up with Ferenya's mouth; it occurred to the donkey that her mistress must have had the height of the lunette custom calibrated. She handed her sash to her ever-present young vixen and instructed, "Toy, be a darling and bind the slave's wrists, please."

Ferenya made no effort to resist as Toy wrapped the sash around her wrists and knotted them behind her back; disobedience had gotten her into this mess, but it certainly wasn't going to get her out.

"You may begin, slave."

Ferenya began to nuzzle her mistress's genitals, softly, lovingly as she had done many times before. From her mistress's scent, Ferenya could tell that Halo was already slightly aroused. She stuck her tongue out and began to lick across Halo's vulva, but the thought of that razor-sharp blade poised 5 meters above her neck, ready to snuff out her life at any moment, made it hard to concentrate. Try as she might, she just couldn't muster as much passion as normal. Though she tried to concentrate on her mistress in front of her, she found her eyes drawn inexorably back and up, towards the deadly blade. From this angle, the carved demons on the uprights looked even more evil, all their little ruby eyes glittering in the light, malevolently staring directly at the helpless donkey locked in the stock; to Ferenya they looked eager for her death, thirsty for her blood. She felt sick.

"Stop, slave."

Ferenya ceased her ministrations and closed her eyes. She fought back tears; she had failed and now her mistress was going to kill her.

"You seem distracted tonight, slave. I can't imagine why," Halo said as she lightly stroked Ferenya's long ears, and her luxuriant tail curled around to brush the donkey's quaking chin. "Is the guillotine bothering you?" she asked tenderly.

Eyes still closed, Ferenya nodded hesitantly.

"Deal with it, slave," Halo smacked Ferenya hard on the nose, and the donkey bit back the urge to cry out, "And look at me when I'm talking to you. You don't get released until you make me orgasm, understand?"

Ferenya looked at her mistress through tear-filled eyes. She choked back a sob as she nodded.

"Perhaps you need some more motivation. Toy, motivate her."

Ferenya felt her legs being spread apart, followed by the snap of a spreader bar being locked into place to keep them apart.

"Here's the deal, slave: Toy is behind you, waiting for my signal. If she makes you orgasm before you make me orgasm, you die. If I orgasm first, I'll probably let you live. Have I made myself clear?" 

"Yes, mistress," Ferenya said meekly. She didn't much like her odds; she'd had threesomes with the mistress and Toy before, and Toy was very good. Nevertheless, she knew she had to at least try.

"You may resume, slave."

Again, Ferenya pressed her nose to her mistress's genitals, determined to remain focused on her goal. At the same time, the donkey felt Toy press her little vulpine snout against her own vulva.

Ferenya stuck her tongue out and probed Halo's vulva, eliciting a pleasured moan from the dominant vixen. Ferenya risked a glance upwards; her mistress's ample breasts eclipsed her view of Halo's face. Ferenya wanted to reach out and stroke those breasts, to stroke and nuzzle and nibble them - so soft, so furry, so sexy.... 

Between that sight and the sensations provided by Toy, her tongue now prodding the donkey's own vulva, Ferenya felt herself becoming aroused. She sighed, and began to relax. She wanted it so bad, craved release. Her eyes rose upwards and she caught sight of the hanging blade, the leering golden demons. With a horror, she remembered where she was. Release was the last thing she wanted, because if it came too quickly it would mean her death. Ferenya reflexively jerked her whole body forward, away from Toy. Her shoulders slammed painfully into the wooden stock locked around her neck, making the entire guillotine rattle. Halo yelped as Ferenya's tongue suddenly, unexpectedly pushed deeper.

"Be still, slave!" Halo grabbed Ferenya's head and pulled her close, burying the donkey's snout in the musky fur and folds of her loins.

Ferenya exclaimed wordlessly. The erotic musk of her mistress was overriding her senses. Ferenya tried to ignore it, to resist her primal instincts, but nevertheless she felt her treacherous body building towards an inevitable climax. She redoubled her efforts, determined to please her mistress and save her own life.

Halo moaned ecstatically as she felt her slave's tongue sliding into her moist vagina, rubbing against her sensitive clitoris. She massaged the furry cheeks she held firm in her grip, while on the other side of the guillotine she watched Toy, her little snout buried in the donkey's ass.

Ferenya shifted her butt from side to side, trying to pull away from Toy, desperate to buy herself as much time as possible as she frantically worked to pleasure her mistress. Toy grabbed hold of Ferenya's firm gray buttocks and squeezed, holding herself as close to the donkey as possible, doing her best to ignore Ferenya's randomly thrashing tail as it beat her about the head.

"Come now, slave! Is that the best you can do? How much is your life worth to you?" Halo taunted between unfs of pleasure.

Ferenya was working her tongue furiously across Halo's clitoris, her soft warm nose was pressed deep into the vixen's vulva. She didn't know what else she could do; her mistress was obviously on the edge of climax. What more stimulus could she need? 

Ferenya climaxed. 

It was simultaneously the best and the worst orgasm she had ever had. She brayed loudly in unrestrained ecstasy as her vagina squirted its juices onto Toy's face. Her bray of joy rapidly turned into one of horror as she realized what it meant. She drew her tongue back into her mouth and pulled back from her mistress's loins. She looked up, her ears folded flat against her skull, her eyes wide with terror.

Halo leaned forward to look down at her mortified slave. "Tsk, tsk, slave. Not good enough."

"Mistress Halo, please, I-"

"Good-bye, Ferenya."

There was a quiet click that nonetheless echoed like a gunshot in the quiet room as the catch holding the blade in place was released.

There was a rushing sound as the falling blade cleaved the air.

"Mistress Halo-"

There was a single, solid thud.

Ferenya winced as a sharp pain shot through her and was rapidly replaced by a tingling numbness. She opened her eyes and saw Halo's genitals in front of her. Her thoughts were foggy and her sight was dark around the edges, but her training and long service to Halo had ingrained certain patterns of behavior onto her brain, and she instinctively knew what was expected of her. Slowly, she stuck her tongue out from between her lips; she could only muster enough energy to let it protrude two or three centimeters.

Halo pulled Ferenya's severed head forward, away from the guillotine and pressed the tip of the dying donkey's warm pink tongue to her vulva. The sensation, combined with the sight of her decapitated body thrashing about in its final death throes and the sharp smell of her blood, sent her over the edge. With a howl, Halo orgasmed.

Ferenya had one final taste of her mistress's cum on her tongue and then sensed no more.

Halo lifted Ferenya's head up to eye level. A few drops of blood dripped onto the floor to mingle with the vixen's cum. The nose was still warm, the tears still damp on her cheeks, but her open eyes were dim and lifeless. Halo carefully put it down on a pillow on the floor and turned to Toy, now standing attentively at her side.

"Well done, whelp. You killed her," she spat out.

Toy only nodded in response; if she opened her mouth she felt she would be sick, or possibly faint. Toy hated it whenever her mistress made her witness an execution, and it was even worse when Halo made her participate, because she always blamed Toy. Even though she tried to tell herself it wasn't her fault, that she had no choice, Toy always felt guilty. Halo knew about Toy's feelings, and that was why she always made Toy accompany her - she found Toy's intractable sensitivity to be amusing, and oh so much fun to abuse.

Halo looked at the slumped, lifeless body lying beside the guillotine, slowly leaking blood onto the floor, and sighed. "It's a bit of a shame; she had such talent." The vixen was silent in thought for a moment, her large tail swaying idly. "At least it's not a total waste. Toy, run down to the kitchens and tell them I've solved my second problem. We finally have something to serve Rakhmonov when he arrives for dinner tonight."






Author's Notes
First draft began January 7, 2010. First draft completed January 10, 2010. Editing completed January 19, 2010.