Tied Down

"Alright Chester, arms up!"

A young, 4-year-old Chester lifted her arms as her mother removed her tiny frilled dress. The two were in the bathroom, as Joui had run a bath for Chester. Just as Chester started to pull her socks off, Joui noticed something on her child's back.

"Wait just a second, Ches!" Joui ordered, causing Chester to freeze. Carefully, Joui knelt behind Chester and observed her back. Two long, raised lumps ran down her back. Joui extended a hand and gently touched each ridge.

"Does this hurt, sweetie?" Joui asked.

"Nuh-uh!" Chester replied, trying to wiggle out of range of her mother.

Joui's eyes lit up at the realization as to what this strange formation on her back was. Quickly, she took Chester by the hand. "Chester, let's go find Daddy. I want to show him something."

"Nooooooo!" Chester whined. "I wanna take my bath!"

"It'll only take a second!" Joui reassured, taking her child into the living room, where Malechai sat in his recliner, watching TV absentmindedly.

"Mal-ee! Look, look!" Joui stood in front of the TV, scooping Chester into her arms and quelling her wiggles.

"Hey, stop that!" Malechai snapped, making a shooing motion with his hand.

"Chester's got wing stumps, Mal-ee! She's going to be a dominant dragon!"

Malechai froze as his wife's words set in. Quickly, he shut the television off. "Let me see her." he said sharply, to which Joui handed Chester over to him. Malechai flipped Chester onto her back over his lap, examining the two lumps that had emerged on Chester's back. Malechai felt an emptiness on his back, a place where, despite his dragon's blood, never sprouted a pair of wings. He was a lower-level dragon, only granted horns as a trophy of his heritage. The fact that his daughter, the mistake he never wanted, was going to have something he never did, and thus be of higher value than him, infuriated him. He shoved Chester off his lap, to which Joui quickly scooped her up before she hit the floor. 

"Just give her a bath, Joui." Malechai groaned. Joui was taken aback, timidly walking back to the bathroom.

"What's wrong?" Chester asked her mother as they returned.

"Ches, baby, you're gonna grow some wings!" Joui rejoiced as her daughter's eyes lit up.

"Can I fly? Can I fly now? I wanna fly!" Chester sprang up and down, bubbling over with energy. 

"Not quite yet..." Joui comforted, rubbing Chester's back reassuringly. "Do you feel these bumps? These are where your wings will be. When you're older, your wings will grow out. Then, you can fly. Alright?

"Okay!" Chester, chirped, removing her socks. "Can I fly tomorrow?" she asked.

"No, you'll have to wait." Joui replied, carefully folding Chester's discarded dress. 

"How about the day after that?"

"No, not then either."

"After that?"

"No, not then."

"After that?"

"Just get in the bath, Ches."

~3 Years Later~

"Do we have to do this, dear?" Joui asked, standing behind her husband as he knelt next to his daughter.

"Of course!" Malechai said matter-of-factly. "She could fly off! And you wouldn't want that, would we?"

Joui looked at her feet as if they held the most interesting thing in the world. "No..." she said softly. "But...Mal, Chester is very well-behaved. We could just hold her hand when she goes out, or we could just keep a close eye on her, or--"

"Now, where is the logic in that?" Malechai asked. Chester sat perfectly still on the living room floor. Her wings had grown out, and they were almost as big as she was. They were folded together tightly as her father ran his hands around them, binding them tightly with rope. Malechai gave a firm tug to the rope that bound Chester's left wing, emitting a cry from her. 

"Shut up." Malechai ordered. "It doesn't hurt that bad."

Joui watched on with a feeling of helplessness. "But, she wouldn't fly off, not unless she had a reason to...right?"

"No, no, no." Malechai shook his head as he bound Chester's right wing, having tightly tied the first one up with no hope of extending it. "She would fly off anyways. Kids are always so ungrateful. She certainly is." Malechai pulled the rope tightly, causing Chester's wing to fold tightly as the rope dug into the scaly flesh around it. 

"Mom...!" Chester called out, tears starting to roll down her face. Joui reached out to her child, but was quickly stopped by a firm snap from Malechai.

"Dry it up, waterworks." Malechai barked, reaching the end of Chester's wing and knotting the rope. Malechai stood and admired his handiwork. Chester stood shakily. Her still-developing wings were tied tightly, wrapped in black rope criss-crossing every which way, secured with two firm knots at the base. The fibers of the rope dug into the burgundy scales framing the delicate flesh of the wings. Chester strained her wings against the restraints, but to no avail. The rope dug deeper into her skin as she tried to spread her wings, eliciting a meltdown from Chester as she realized what her father had done.

"Mooooom...!" Chester called through her sobs. "Mom, I don't like this! Take them off, Mom! It hurts...!"

Joui's heart ached at the sight of her. daughter. However, she had to deny her daughter's call for help.

"I'm sorry, Chester, baby, but I can't..." Joui swallowed the lump in her throat as her daughter sobbed more.

"That's enough, brat!" Malechai barked, tugging Chester's hair sharply. "Now, go to your room."

"Take them off of me...!" Chester wailed. Malechai grabbed Chester by her bound wings and dragged her back to her room, tossing her in and shutting the door behind her.

"Stay in there, spoiled little shit!" Malechai ordered through the door. "It's not like you can fly off anywhere, anyways."