Empress (A Tickle Commission)

Ticklish Festival

Xian bloomed with a merry explosion of laughter and mirth. The streets had ruptured with citizens and visitors alike attending the yearly harvest festival. Vendors traveled from neighboring empires and beyond to sell their wares. Stalls of colorful trinkets and clay antiquities lined the roads that splayed through the bustling village. Farmers brought out their best produce and livestock to sell for rates much higher than the months prior. Local and exotic winemakers offered samples and sold whole jars of the elixir that poured down the throats of patrons freely as they did to the Xian roads. Music from every corner of the village gave drunken patrons a means of expression through song and dance. Lanterns hung with decorative streamers that fluttered endlessly. Laughter and intimate exchange came as natural as the moonlit glow that cast down on them all. Most of which came bursting from the village square.

"Mmmmmhhhaaaaahahahahahahaha!!! Stahahahahappp!! It tickleeesss hahahahaa!!!!" Meiling cried out, sitting atop the stocks almost exclusively reserved for her. The wooden stocks cradled her ankles, tightly enough to hold her in but still allowed her feet to squirm slightly from side to side. Her wrists had been cuffed down by the side of the seat which had become her throne. Her bare feet stuck out of the stocks, perfectly framed to be the focus of any mischievous or sadistic tickler.

"Haha, awww, she's so ticklish!" said a young couple visiting Xian for the festival. Meiling had on a more elegantly fashioned hanfu than what would be her normal, preferred attire, but alongside offering to provide the performance of a tickle punishment demonstration, she elected to dress up for the occasion. It flowed beneath her and still managed to cover between her legs as her legs were splayed by the stocks. It was cherry red, the same shade of her cheeks while she squealed with ticklish laughter.

"Her toes are so soft," said the man, tall and middle-aged. The couple used their fingers to scribble across Meiling's soles. Her feet had been lathered in cream and oil to enhance their plush texture. They were warm to the touch, even in the cool night air. The couple giggled and continued to tease Meiling. The man worked his fingers around her pearly, squirming toes while the woman, on the other foot, dashed her nails across Meiling's arch.

"Stahahahahahahapp!! Pleeheheheheeese!!!" Meiling pleaded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. All around her, spectators watched and shouted advice and encouragement. They laughed at her expressions, some watching more intently than others. Many waited their turn while those that had gone stayed behind to witness the slow deterioration of the 'Xian Thief'. Many of the faces were familiar while the rest were travelers, traders, and visitors there to enjoy the entertainment of the Xian Harvest Festival.

"Hmmmm... nope, I don't think I want to," said the woman. She was young and spritely, her nails scribbling madly over the stretched arch of Meiling's hyper ticklish foot. Meiling gasped through her laugher, a tone of anguish beneath the squeaking, shrieking cries. Many people around came closer and moved to get a better view, commenting to one another through Meiling's howling laughs. Beside the stockade was a sign that detailed who she was and why she was to be punished.

Thief!

This woman was caught stealing treasure from the royal family!

Tickle her feet to teach her a lesson!

The sign, along with many other factors in the torturous event, was presented as intentionally hyperbolic in many ways. It was, for the most part, a performance like any other. Tian stood to the other side of the stockade, filling in for her father who was indisposed and orchestrating the nightly watch. She kept an eye on Meiling, knowing well her limits and pension for being tickled. While the setting for the scene had been fabricated for the sake of endearing an audience, the tickling that she suffered was all too real.