by Sharon Green
"Thank you, master," the female breathed, and then she was slowly moving toward the door in a kind of … flowing motion. The slave had also laughed quietly at the way Tain couldn't keep from squirming where she knelt, and all those things together made Tain really hate that female.
"Come and serve me, Kitten," her master said as soon as the other slave was gone, immediately capturing Tain's full attention. He'd taken a chair near the big table, and sipped at the wine while he waited for her. Tain winced even before she began to hurry, but that didn't stop her from hurrying. She wanted to serve her master, wanted to do for him more than anything else in the world, and now she was finally going to get the chance.
Taking the plates from the tray and putting them in front of him gave Tain a good deal of pleasure, but when she also put the bowl in front of him he laughed and shook his head.
"No, Kitten, that one is yours," he said, having spent his time watching her carefully. "Take a spoon and kneel next to me while you eat, and then I can get on with my own eating."
Tain did as she was told, but the smell of the food her master had been given made the cereal she ate even more tasteless than usual. She swallowed down the horrible stuff as fast as possible, hoping that her master might leave a small taste for her, but he didn't. He ate every bit of the baked loaf of meat and the potatoes and cooked vegetables, and only then did he sit back and finish his wine.
"That was really good," he said after putting down his wine glass and standing. "You can put all the empty plates back on the tray now, and the glass and your bowl as well. When that's done you can take a drink of water from the small bowl near the washstand."
Standing up still wasn't easy, but once Tain was up she lost no time in obeying the orders she'd been given. The washstand was in the corner of the room beyond the foot of the bed, and Tain hadn't noticed it before. She also hadn't noticed the small bowl standing next to the washstand, but if she had she probably wouldn't have known what it was for. The bowl didn't take much of the water in the pitcher that was meant for washing, and when Tain swallowed the water she almost wished she hadn't. But water that was warm and somehow almost dusty went really well with the kind of meal she'd had.
"Good girl," her master said when she replaced the emptied drinking bowl. "If you continue obeying me so well you probably won't be paddled more than once in a great while. Come over here and tell me how your bottom feels now."
"My bottom hurts, my master," Tain said as she went to where he sat in the soft chair again. "That paddling was terrible and I hope it's a very long time before I'm given another one."
"Everyone says that a girl with a tender bottom works really hard to please," her master said with a smile as he took her hand to draw her closer. "Since you now have personal experience with a tender bottom, do you agree?"
"Of course, my master, but I didn't need a tender bottom to want to please you," Tain assured him, her insides fluttering at the way he touched her hand. "I want to do everything for you, and I'll try to learn your preferences as fast as I can."
"I'm sure you'll learn really fast, but if you don't then the paddle will help to teach you," her master said, still smiling and stroking her arm. "Right now I'm going to teach you a different way to kneel."
The different way he meant was for her to straddle his lap in the chair on her knees, and then he took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Tain didn't know what the pressing of lips was supposed to mean, but for some reason her insides really twisted around when it was done. The experience was actually pleasant until she unthinkingly sat on the lap she straddled, and then it was all she could do not to yelp and pull away from the lip-touching.
"That was very nice," her master said when he ended the touching, the amusement in his eyes telling her that he knew what she'd inadvertently done. "Now I'm going to do what I'll enjoy just as much."
His hands came to push open her vest and move it part way down her arms, and then he was slowly touching his lips to her breasts one after the other. Tain gasped as her flesh hardened, then gasped again only louder when one of his hands moved under the front panel of her skirt to touch her there. She felt as if she were about to burst, and couldn't have kept herself from writhing and squirming if her life had depended on it.
"I think it's time you served me in that other way," her master said, gently pushing her off his lap and standing up himself. "Come over here and I'll show you what I mean."
The place he took her to then was the bed, where he made her kneel on forearms and knees. She had no idea what was going to happen, especially when the back panel of her skirt was raised again. The vest still clung to its place on her arms, making it difficult for Tain to lean on her forearms, but somehow she managed it.
And then something very large and hard touched her before it moved slowly into her body. Tain was miserable not understanding what was happening, but the deeper the big, hard thing went the more her thoughts whirled around crazily. Mewling noises started to come out of her throat again as she fought not to move, but then the big, hard thing began to move in and out of her. She didn't want that to be done and yet she did, needing the movement in spite of the way it forced her to writhe and squirm. And each time the thing went deep her aching bottom was touched, which made her squirm even harder.
The time went on and on, but it didn't take long before Tain was completely lost to what she was being made to feel. She knew she'd never enjoyed anything as much as what was being done to her, and the moaning she did should have made that absolutely clear. Her body seemed to explode over and over again, and finally there was another explosion to match hers before the big, hard thing was withdrawn from her body. She no longer felt terrible, but as she collapsed flat to the bed she almost wished that the time hadn't ended.
"Now that wasn't bad at all," her master murmured from behind her, oddly enough sounding short of breath. "Every time this is done to you, I want you to be infatuated with the man who does it. You'll feel faintly flustered by the infatuation, but you'll still feel it and act accordingly. If you aren't a very very good girl, I won't be the only one doing this to you."
Tain didn't know what to say to that, and also didn't understand why part of her liked the idea of having that done by others but a very small part hated the idea. Her master moved around doing things in the room while she lay still with her eyes closed, but after a while he came back and began to take her clothing off completely. Opening her eyes showed that the lamps had been blown out, and then his hands were on her again, bringing back the terrible feeling she'd suffered with earlier.
But when the hard thing was put in her again, this time while she was on her back, she eagerly waited to give her master pleasure as many more times as he liked - and take some for her own…
Chapter Seven
It was still pouring rain outside when Tain woke up to the new day. Her master had kept her in his bed all night, probably so that he could have her serve him again just the way she was doing. He was behind her the way he'd been the first time, and while she moaned helplessly she suddenly became aware of that slave coming in with another tray. Her master knew the slave was there, but he didn't stop making Tain serve him in that odd way. That was his right, of course, but for some reason Tain lost a good part of the pleasure she'd been feeling.
Once the odd service was done, Tain was allowed to lie unmoving only a short time before her master made her get up to serve him breakfast. She scrambled out of bed and over to the table where he already sat, put his food in front of him, then reluctantly knelt with her own food. This time it was the smell of eggs and bacon and fried potatoes that made her cereal even more tasteless than it usually was, and if she'd had the choice she would have gone hungry instead.
"The cook in this hostel is really good," her master said when he'd emptied his plates again and had sat back with a cup of coffee. "Aren't you finished with your own meal yet?"
Tain had had a lot of trouble stuffing down the tasteless cereal, b
ut with her master's attention on her she gulped the last two spoonfuls and was finally done.
"Good girl," her master said as he pushed his chair back and stood. "After you clear the table, come over to where I'll be sitting. There's something I want to tell you."
Tain stood up fast and hurried to finish her chore, wondering what her master might have to tell her. She was hoping hard that he had other chores for her to see to, other things to do that would make her feel this good doing them. She loved doing things for her master, wanted to do those things very badly, and couldn't wait to get on to the next chore.
"I'm glad to see you're being a good, obedient girl this morning," her master said once she'd knelt in front of him where he sat in the comfortable chair. "It looks like that paddling did what it was meant to. Has your bottom stopped being tender?"
"Almost, my master," Tain answered, needing to speak the truth even though it was somehow embarrassing. "I can still feel a shadow of what the paddling produced, a shadow I'd probably feel more if I were sitting instead of kneeling."
"As long as you still have a memory of that paddling, I may not have to give you another one right away," her master said, amusement in his light eyes. "I want you to keep in mind everything that's gone on since we got to this room, and then I want you to come back to yourself."
For an instant Tain didn't understand what he was talking about, then memory of her real self came crashing back to freeze her with shock. Her mouth opened without any words coming out, and Killen leaned forward in his chair.
"I think it's safe to say you now understand thoroughly what being a slave can mean," Killen said while Tain's thoughts whirled in a blur of confusion and horror. "I can't afford to have the reason for my being in this town messed up, so if you defy me even one more time for any reason at all I'll put you back into that other persona and leave you like that. As I said once before, I don't bluff."
Tain stared at the chair rather than at Killen, still completely unable to say anything at all, and the man seemed to understand the point.
"It will probably take you a few minutes to come back to yourself all the way, so I'm going to leave you alone to do it," he said as he stood. "But when I come back I'm going to ask you that question again, and if I don't get an answer that satisfies me I'll consider your refusal an act of defiance. If becoming that slave permanently is what you want, you now know how to make it happen."
And with that he walked away, the sound of the door opening and closing a moment later to show that he really was gone. Tain continued to kneel where she'd been for a time, and only when she finally noticed that her knees were hurting did she shift over into sitting cross-legged. Sitting down didn't actually hurt, not even on the floor, but she couldn't help remembering what her other self had said…
Her other self. Tain bent forward with her arms wrapped around her head, nothing but iron self control keeping her from screaming in torment. She hadn't believed something like that could be done to her, something that could turn her into a simple-minded, happily-eager slave. But it had been done, and a lot more besides, and remembering the time was so painful that the aftermath of a whipping would have hurt less.
"And he said he's going to do it again if I don't choose to obey him," she whispered, her insides twisting at the thought. "I'd rather be dead than go back to being that other person, and if I have to live like that until we're back where we belong I know I'll come out of it insane. I know it, I know it, I know it…"
Tain's body had started to rock without her being aware of it, and once she noticed she did nothing to stop the motion. She was so devastated that the idea of dying sounded better the more she thought about it, and the soft wailing that started to come from her throat was a kind of prayer.
Please let me die now, the sound begged inside her head. Please let me die so it will all be over. Please!
* * *
Jake walked into the common room and closed the door to his bedroom behind him, more than a little disturbed. He'd expected Tain to fly into a rage when he finally released her, but instead the woman had looked as if she'd been hit between the eyes with a sledgehammer. He'd also meant to press the question of what was bothering her immediately, but seeing how shaken she was made him change his mind. He'd give her some time to pull herself together, and then he'd talk to her again.
"Good morning," Jake heard in Tandro's calm and even tones. Looking up showed that he hadn't noticed the native sitting in a chair, which meant that he really had to pull out of his thoughts. "Did you sleep well?"
"Actually, I slept very well," Jake answered, moving forward to stand and look down at Tandro. "How about you?"
"Sleeping in a bed is better than sleeping on the ground any day - or night," Tandro answered with a faint smile. "The rest we got probably would have been useful - if our appointment with Gordi hadn't been changed. He sent word to reschedule our talk until the rain stops because he likes to relax and enjoy rainy days."
"I'm glad somebody will be enjoying the day," Jake muttered as he rubbed at his neck with one hand, not in the least pleased to find that they wouldn't be leaving as soon as he'd hoped they would. "So what are we supposed to do while we wait? Sit and watch the rain come down like Gordi?"
"I don't know about you, but I could use some exercise," Tandro responded as he got to his feet. "I don't usually mind having nothing to do, but something tells me we'd be fools to sit around with our feet up."
"Because until we speak to Gordi we'll still be targets," Jake agreed with a nod. "That's a good point, so I'll definitely be joining you in getting that exercise. And before I forget, how's the girl doing? Has her stomach settled down, or is she still feeling shaky?"
"I'm not really sure how she's feeling," Tandro answered, disturbance flickering briefly in his eyes. "I made her eat something before she slept last night, and she didn't seem to have any trouble holding it down. When she woke up this morning I asked her how she was doing, and she assured me she was fine. She also ate all the cereal in the bowl while I had breakfast, but there's something … different about her now. She didn't say a word until I spoke to her, then she answered briefly and to the point. All without looking at me even once."
"She's probably still frightened about what she saw yesterday," Jake told the other man with a clap to his shoulder, for some reason getting the impression that Tandro needed reassuring. "Once the memory fades a little more she'll most likely be back to the way she was, so my advice would be to enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts."
"Most likely you're right," Tandro said after taking a deep breath to help him shake off the dark mood he'd almost fallen into. "By the time lunch is served she'll be all ready to tell me how I ought to share my food with her, so let's go and find that exercise. Even if we aren't attacked again, the effort won't be a waste."
Jake agreed with a chuckle, and the two of them left the common room, Tandro locking the door behind them. If they'd been on another world they probably would have had to go downstairs to find what they were looking for, but on Oliven the men didn't want to be constantly trudging up and down stairways. For that reason the only things to be found on the ground floor were the entrance lobby with its registration desk, and the stable.
The rooms on the second floor, most of them suites rather than single rooms, were arranged around the outside of the wide half circle the hostel had been formed into. That left the center of the floor and the front part of the hostel for other things, latticed walls separating the different sections. Jake knew that the third floor had mostly single rooms, with a couple of doubled suites in case a really large party came in that didn't want to have separate accommodations. There were guest-convenient arrangements up there as well, so the only people on the second floor were those who had rooms here.
"As you can see, the kitchens are over there," Tandro said as they walked, nodding toward what would be the front of the hostel. "The lattice lets guests see the food being prepared, so they don't have to guess about what
they're being given."
Jake nodded to acknowledge the information, at the same time seeing something besides food being prepared. One of the female slaves was bent over holding to a low wooden frame of some kind while a woman who, by the clothing she wore showing she was free, used a switch on the slave's backside. The slave danced and writhed and squirmed every time the switch struck her, but she made no noise Jake could hear and also made no effort to let go of the wooden frame.
"Now, that's a sight you don't often see," Tandro said, obviously looking at the same thing Jake was. "The slaves who work in this hostel tend to go out of their way not to do something that will get them switched, so that slave must be either very clumsy, very stupid, or very unlucky."
"I can understand their not wanting to be switched," Jake said, having no trouble seeing the red lines left by the switch strokes on the girl's bottom. "After that she won't want to do a lot of moving around, but I can't picture the ones in charge of her letting her lie around until the pain eases up."
"The situation is a bit worse for the girl than that," Tandro responded, his voice as calm and even as ever. "All the slaves in this place are kept under strict discipline, which means they get three strokes of the switch in the morning before breakfast, in the afternoon before lunch, and in the evening before supper. They're also made to sit down to those meals, which gives them even more of a reason to avoid doing anything that will get them punished. A full switching on top of the discipline is more painful than it would otherwise be, and getting switched for something during the day doesn't excuse the slave from being given any of the strokes of discipline that come afterward."
"Ouch," Jake couldn't help saying softly, flinching inwardly as the switch kept landing on the poor girl's behind. "It takes a real sadist to make an arrangement like that, and I can't help wondering if the sadism was there before slavery became so widespread."
"You think having slaves encourages sadism?" Tandro asked, clearly seeing Jake's point. "What makes you believe that?"