Encircled

by Robin Roseau

  “You’re right. We wouldn’t hire her.”

  “After that, it was no longer about the inn. It was entirely about Sally. It falls outside our agreement.”

  “No, it does not, because word is going to get around. She came to you for a job, and you talked her into becoming a slave instead. That is going to have an effect on our reputation! No, not hiring her is the right decision, and I may not even have complained if you turned her away. And I also think that she’s in a far better situation now than she was going to find anywhere else.”

  “Then what’s the real problem?”

  “Because it’s going to get around! It’s going to affect our reputation. I told you that. She came to you for help, and you sold her into slavery.”

  “I didn’t sell her.”

  “That’s how some people are going to think of it.”

  I stared, and I realized: Lisbon was right. I slumped and admitted that. “How badly have I screwed up?” I asked in a low voice.

  “That’s not entirely what this is about,” Jessla said. “Lisbon saw something you didn't. If you had talked to her about your plans before you moved forward with them, you could have discussed whether this was the right way to do it. We could have found another way that didn’t implicate the inn, if it was decided necessary.”

  “You’re right, Your Honor. Lisbon is right. I made a mistake. Before you decide how long I belong to her, I would like to know how badly I screwed up.”

  “Your honor,” said one of my guards. “May I speak?”

  “Please do.”

  The woman stepped into the space between Lisbon and me. She turned to face me. “Those of us from Ressaline would say you did the right thing, from what we know of this issue. You have not harmed your reputation with any of us. If anything, we’re heartened.”

  “It’s better than that,” Olivia said. “Claary took time to discover that Sally is a budding artist, and so she is now wearing purple.”

  “I wouldn't have thought of that,” said the guard. She inclined her head to me. “I can’t speak of your reputation with other people born in Charth, but with those from Ressaline, this would enhance your reputation.”

  “Thank you,” I said. Jessla echoed me, and the guard moved back to flank me. That was ominous, but I wouldn’t fight them when the time came. I had screwed up, even if Sally was better off.

  “How about the rest?” I asked.

  “About half the people I talk to are constantly bringing up their first time, or their latest challenge,” Lisbon said. “They’re excited about it. They’re happy to be done with the men, too. They’re happy the streets are safe. And frankly, almost no one cares who runs the city as long as things are run well. And so far, things are run well.”

  “All right.”

  “Those people are probably going to be fine with this.”

  “All right.”

  “Then there are the ones who hate the Ressalines and would rather kill all of them.”

  “Right,” I said. “I can guess how they’re going to feel.”

  “They don’t really come to the Baby Blanket Inn anymore. We’re seen as too close to the occupiers, and besides, we’re always filled with menacing women wearing leather.”

  “We don’t try to look menacing,” said my guard.

  “You could be the sweetest peach on the planet, and those people would hate you,” Lisbon said. The guard didn’t answer. “I don’t know what the overall effect is. I think with our existing clientele, it won’t hurt, and it might help. But I’m a little concerned about the hotheads. We’ve given them one more reason to hate us. And maybe that’s okay but we should have talked about it.”

  “And maybe have done it a different way. I don’t even think that way.”

  “I do.”

  I nodded. “You’re right. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

  “When you arrived and argued with us,” Jessla said, “I was going to assign you two weeks, and it would double every time in the future.” I nodded. “But you appear contrite. Is this going to happen again?”

  “Probably.”

  “Yeah,” Lisbon said. “Count on it.”

  “48 hours,” Jessla said. “I consider that a slap on the wrist.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor,” I said. “I’m sorry to have troubled you.”

  They could do it right there. I held still as the guards undressed me. They shackled my legs, and there were hoops embedded as part of the support structure for the railing. More manacles went around my wrists, and the ropes went around another hoop at the base of Jessla’s bench. They pulled me forward, and I bent over the railing, my legs spread widely and my ass in the air.

  It was becoming a familiar position.

  “This is not done with pleasure,” Jessla ordered. “You will receive no reward for following orders.” But I looked as she gave my sister one of the devices. Lisbon tried to hand it back. “I’m not doing that.”

  “Either you do it, or she belongs to whomever does,” Jessla said. “You understand that, don’t you?”

  Lisbon took it like it carried a disease, holding it with two fingers. She stared at it. Then she set it back on the bench. “I’m not using this on my own sister.” Then she turned and headed for the exit, leaving me.

  “Lisbon Rosebush,” Jessla said firmly. Lisbon frose but didn’t turn around. “If you walk out now, Claary is going to believe you don’t have it in you. And frankly, so will you.”

  Lisbon stood there for a minute without moving. Then she turned around, stomped back to the bench, and grabbed the device. She stomped over to me, then lifted my head to look into my eyes. We stared at each other.

  “You’ve been trying,” she said. “You were right not to hire her. And she’s in a better place than otherwise possible. But we should have discussed it.”

  “You’re right.”

  She stared at the device. And then she stepped past me, and a moment later, she was pressing at me with it. I was actually surprised. I didn’t think she’d do it. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it to her, and I was pretty sure she wouldn’t to me. But she pressed it into me, setting her hand over it to press it flat. She kept one hand in place but then lifted my head by my hair. “I’m not finishing it this time. But if there’s another time, I will. Do you believe me now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” She dropped my head, and I listened to her storm out of the courtroom.

  No one else moved, but I could feel the magic working at me. It wasn’t pleasure, but I squirmed once. “Please,” I whispered finally.

  “Please, what?” Jessla asked.

  “Would one of you finish this?”

  “48 hours in black,” she said. “Lady Olivia, if you please.”

  I didn’t see where they got the resin, but I dressed all in black and spent 2 days at Government House, doing anything I was assigned.

  * * * *

  We saw an uptick in business. If additional hate was directed towards us, I didn’t see it.

  That wasn’t the only time I found myself in front of Jessla, having forgotten to consult with Lisbon before making a choice. The next time, Jessla assigned me to a week, and this time, Lisbon accepted. I wore blue and spent the week doing a deep cleaning of every corner of the inn.

  The next time, I received another week, but I apologized profusely. Lisbon asked I be allowed pleasure this time. Jessla relented. But I was appalled when Lisbon made me wear red. I was to be her pleasure slave?

  She didn’t use me for herself. Instead, she set me near the front door. I was to clean the shoes or boots of everyone who came through the door. Furthermore, anyone who wished her feet washed could ask, and I would do it.

  They could also pay two crowns to receive a foot massage, based on my having the time to do so. I sold a lot of foot massages as the woman sat in a chair near the door. I had to wash boots when people arrived, but the women didn’t seem to mind.

  Business boomed for that week, Ressalines and Cha
rthans alike stopping by. All my former pleasure slaves came, some of them several times.

  I didn’t mind. It felt good to serve. Later, I thanked Lisbon for that part and apologized for forcing her to those decisions. She smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I love seeing you on your knees. Keep screwing up. I’m fine with it.”

  “I bet,” I said.

  If it has happened since then, I’m sure we’ll see by the end of my story.

  Group

  It was a Monday night, and the inn was closed for the evening. Gigi invited me for a dinner party. “Doll up for me, Babe,” she said with a smile. “Show me some leg.”

  “It’s a dinner party, not a date.”

  “Please.”

  “Of course,” I told her.

  And so, yes, I dolled up, as she put it. Dinner was actually at the Fairstreet Club, where both Gigi and Rondi worked. When I arrived, I was escorted to a private room, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see both of them already there. I probably shouldn’t have been, but I was surprised to see Lisbon. She grinned at me.

  Ultimately, all the Charthan women from my group event, plus Lisbon, were there. And so we were eight. Everyone had dressed; I thought they looked nice.

  I got hugs and kisses from my former slaves, including Lassa. Becksta asked for a hug, and then Gigi gave me a hard time until I hugged a grinning Lisbon.

  The club had given us two rooms. One was set for easy entertaining with ample seating and a small bar. The other was for dinner. We held casual conversation prior to and through the dinner, and then we moved back to the sitting room. Gigi and Becksta saw to drinks, and then we all took seats.

  “I have an ulterior motive for bringing us all together,” she said. “Some of you knew that prior to the invitation. Some of you guessed. And a few of you probably arrived oblivious, but you may have guessed once you saw who was here.” She looked at me for the last part. “Some of us have had additional challenges. Some have not. I am proposing we form a club.”

  “I am not doing this with my sister,” I said.

  “That doesn’t have to be a problem,” Gigi said. “Unless you make it one.”

  “You think I’m going to be Lisbon’s pleasure slave?”

  “You have before,” Lisbon said with a grin.

  “That’s different, and you know it.”

  “I’m not entirely sure it is,” she replied. “But I’m fairly sure we can arrange this so you don’t have to worry about that. We can structure the events however necessary.”

  “Some of us were only interested if Claary participates,” Gigi said. “Most of us would love if Lisbon could be included, and there may be one or two who think if Claary isn’t flexible, that’s her choice. I’m not sure what happens, but I suspect the group would fracture. I’d rather avoid that. For the record, I only wish to do this if Claary participates, but I know we can make this work.”

  She turned to me. “If Lisbon weren’t in the picture, are you interested?”

  “Yes.”

  “Without other reservations?”

  “I don’t necessarily want to agree to just anything, but yes, without reservations.”

  “What if we want to expand the group?”

  “I think that should require unanimous agreement,” I said. I thought about it. “I’m uncomfortable, but I suppose we can have an event and don’t necessarily need both Lisbon and I to participate for them.”

  “Or structure the event so you both participate, but you won’t be enslaved by the other.”

  “Or by someone in common,” I said. “I just am not interested in that.”

  “Then we’ll just have to consider that a requirement,” Gigi said. “I’d rather a little more flexibility, but I understand why you feel that way.”

  “I don’t see anyone else’s little sister here,” I said. “Don’t judge.”

  “I’m not judging,” she said. “Do we have a vote to allow Lisbon?” Everyone raised their hands. “Is everyone interested in participating, assuming the events are good?” We raised our hands. “Does everyone understand she could find herself belonging to someone else here, excepting the two sisters?” We nodded. “Look around,” she said. “Is there anyone here you can’t treat as well as the others?”

  No one said a word, and she said, “Good. All right then. I’m sort of running this, but do we want someone else to do it?”

  “You’re going a good job so far,” I said. Everyone agreed with me, so she continued.

  “We have a few basics to decide. First, do we have a standard term of agreement for our events? Second, how soon do we want to start? Third, do we want individual events, small group events, or entire group events, assuming we can make it work for the sisters? Are there other questions?”

  “How often,” Becksta asked.

  “Okay, that’s question four.”

  “You mentioned growing the group,” Lassa said. “Did you have something in mind.”

  “Maybe,” Gigi replied. “I don’t want to propose anything yet. Anyone else?” They shook their heads. “I think we can either do longer durations but less often, or shorter and more often.”

  “There’s also another choice.” I told them of my event with Jessla. They all loved that idea.

  We talked for an hour, not reaching any conclusions. It was just talk. At one point I said, “Owning five was amazing, but it was also a lot of responsibility. I’d rather not be in that position again. But two or three slaves is great, if they’re pleasure slaves. I suppose they won’t always be.”

  “Why would we do this if we weren’t pleasure slaves?” Becksta asked. The others laughed and agreed with her.

  “So tentatively at least, we agree that’s a guideline for our events,” Gigi said. “Three slaves max, at least for now. Do we want to discuss it?” She called the vote, and we all agreed. “I would like an event soon, and I’d like it kind of big, and with a duration longer than two days. Could we do something big this month, and then something with a short duration next month. Maybe long, short, short. Long, short, short.”

  “That works for me. But not two weeks.”

  “I was thinking a week or maybe ten days sometimes, but usually a week.”

  “If I win, you’ll be pleasure slaves,” I said. “But you’ll also work at the inn.”

  “I thought that was fun,” Lassa said. “I’m cool with that. If I win, the same, but you’ll work at the bakery.”

  “This is what I was thinking,” Gigi said. “A big event with all participants,” she said. “We structure it for Claary and Lisbon. I’m not going to keep saying that. We just assume that’s an ongoing requirement. So do we want something highly structured, or something chaotic.”

  There were calls for each, and so that was more discussion. There were more calls for chaos, which amused me. Chaos had worked for me in the past, but I was sure it wouldn’t always. “How many for Chaos?” The vote was five for chaos and two for structured. I didn’t vote.

  “I want to grow the group,” Becksta said.

  We laughed. “Now?”

  “Yeah. Why not make it even more chaotic?” People identified three others they wanted to invite.

  “We need to meet them,” I said. “And we need to talk about how we’re willing to be treated. When can we do that?”

  “Now?” Gigi said.

  “Now?” I echoed.

  “We can talk about events,” she said. “They can go see if their friends are free.” Five minutes later, Becksta, Sareet, and Lassa took off. I moved to Lisbon. “How do you feel about Lassa inviting someone else.”

  “We’ve met. She’s nice.”

  We discussed events, comparing notes of what we’d experienced so far. There was a lot to discuss, and while we didn’t come to conclusions, we had fun. Lassa was the first to return, and she had the most stunning woman with her. Lisbon laughed at my expression. “And she’s nice, too,” she whispered.

  Becksta and Sareet arrived together. And so we met Mehgra, Tah
reen, and Slip. We told the newcomers what we were discussing then said, “If you’re interested, then you each get five minutes to convince us we’re willing to let you have us.”

  The three laughed nervously, but then Mehgra stepped forward. “I waited for my First. I hoped to find a way out of it. But then Lassa told me about her First, plus belonging to…” She looked around. “You. Claary, right?”

  “Right,” I said.

  “She told me how you treated your slaves. By the time she was done, I was convinced. I arranged my first, but I was afraid to do any practice challenges unless I was sure I could trust how I was going to be treated.” She talked another minute then ceded the floor.

  Tahreen said flat out, “I want to lose the first time.” We all laughed, and a few people expressed doubt. “I do. I want to see how you treat each other. I trust Becksta. She and I did a challenge. She beat me.”

  “Barely,” Becksta said.

  “I liked what happened after that. But I don’t want to limit my challenges to Becksta.”

  “Well, I intend to win,” Slip said. “But Sareet said you gave your slaves permission to do what they want to you. She told me some of the things they did.” She fanned herself. “That sounds pretty darned good to me. But before we do that, I want to talk about the responsibility. Sareet said you were worried about that, and when I think about it, I think she’s right. So could we go to lunch or something before any event?”

  “I’d like that,” I said. I grinned. “We could have a mini event if you want to see what it means to belong to me.”

  “Are you sure you can beat me?”

  “Are you suggesting you’d go for a win even though you want the lesson?”

  “It’s not my nature to give up.”

  “We could do 24-hour.”

  “Sure,” she said. “Any time.”

  Gigi asked if there were questions. Then we chased the women out. Voting took twenty seconds before we invited them back and congratulated them. They beamed widely. We verified they could do the first event we were discussing.

  “I’ll make a proposal,” I said. “We should collect everyone’s information then a couple of us could talk to Judge Jessla and maybe Lady Olivia.”