Encircled

by Robin Roseau

  “You enslaved her.”

  “She’s had me since,” I said. “I won some. I lost more. I’ve been a temporary slave more times than I can count. I spent six weeks belonging to Queen Lisdee, and she kept me so tightly snared, I literally do not remember anything that happened immediately in front of me, except the things we did to each other. If she talked to anyone else, I don't remember it. People have had to tell me of some of the things that happened right in front of me, things they thought I knew, but didn’t.”

  “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “I became a citizen a short while ago. The woman in question came to me. Everyone expected me to easily win. Unbeknownst to us, the game was rigged.”

  “What?”

  “There was a mechanical factor to our challenge. It was supposed to be even, but it was rigged to give her a distinct advantage. She was winning. Do you know how I turned it around?”

  “No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

  “It was a combination of my own stubborn nature coupled with so much practice. I had practice resisting, and I had practice overcoming resistance. You have had none of that.”

  “So? I won’t be taking any challenges. I won’t need practice.”

  “Do you know what’s going to happen? You’re going to have to attend the big events, twice a year. One of the Ressalines will pick you. She will win. For the record, whoever it is will beat me, too, and anyone else not raised to that life. She will pick you, and then you’ll be hers for two weeks. Do you remember the withdrawal after your first time?” She said nothing, but I knew she did. “Two weeks isn’t so bad. Then six months later, it will happen again. Then every six months, you’ll lose. You’ll lose. You’ll lose. Over and over. In the meantime, they’re going to be whispering to you. They’re going to whispering how good it feels. And you remember how good it feels, don’t you? It feels so good.”

  “Then why are you a citizen instead of a slave?”

  “Because I still play,” I said. “I will continue to play. Sometimes I’ll win; sometimes I’ll lose. I’ll enjoy it either way. I still give myself to Lady Olivia. I love it. I absolutely love it. My lover is a woman named Gigi. We play a lot. She wins more than her share, but I’m fine with that. I win, too. And she loves it. We include Sarala sometimes. She loves it.”

  “You’re a hedonist.”

  “True. I didn’t used to be. But I’m a citizen, and you’re on the path to becoming a slave. Is that what you want?”

  She stared then looked away. “No. I think you’re wrong.”

  “Maybe I am. Are you sure I’m wrong?” I didn’t wait for an answer. “I’m here because Sarala asked me to try to help you. She loves you, and she’s afraid. Please don’t be mad at her for it. She cried while trying to convince me.”

  “I don’t need your help.”

  “That’s your choice,” I said. “This is my proposal. You and I should play.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Our first practice challenge will have me at a distinct advantage. You will almost certainly win, unless you’re really, really bad, worse than anyone I’ve faced, and far worse than Sarala.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “You’ve been on one side. I think you should see the other side. You can have me to play, or you could just put me to work. I know a thing or two about waiting on customers. Or both.” I smiled. “You don’t look convinced. My new slave? She dresses largely in purple now. Purple are the artists and performers. Oh, she wears red, too, and she’s quite clever. But do you know what she does for me? She repaints my sign and my building. Yours could use a fresh coat. She can’t replace rotting boards, but she can scrape and paint.”

  “Why are you telling me this.”

  “Agree to play with me, even if it’s just once. After you release me, I’ll bring Slip over. You’ll have to provide the paint so we can use the right colors, but she can spend a week on your entrance. It will gleam.”

  I glanced at the bill and then left coins on the table. I stood. “Think about it. You know where to find me.” I turned for the door.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  I turned back. “Because someone very important to me asked me to. What do you have to lose?”

  * * * *

  She waited the better part of the week, but then when I saw her seated at one of my tables, I knew she’d decided. I sat down and smiled.

  “How does it work?”

  “It can vary,” I said. “We have to agree on papers. They specify who – the two of us, when, where, and for how long. They can optionally specify how. They don’t have to. We can decide something amongst ourselves, or we can ask the courts to do it for us. We can have witnesses if we want them or do it in private. It is assumed that if you sign the papers, that you accept the results, even if I cheat.”

  “Cheat?”

  “Imagine we agreed to do this somewhere I control, but I drug you ahead of time. I wouldn’t, but others might. We can only get away with that for practice challenges, and only those of limited duration. If it’s more than two weeks, then it must be well-supervised. I wouldn’t cheat. We could also agree to meet in the arena, but I think that’s a poor place for your first time.”

  “What do you recommend?”

  “I recommend we ask Lady Olivia to oversee our event. She might host it in her house, but Government House is more likely. There will be a modest audience, perhaps very modest. You can decide if you want to invite Sarala. You may offer to let me invite Gigi, but unless you offer, I won’t.”

  “Doesn't she get jealous?”

  “She better not,” I said. “Because she does this as much as I do. How do you think we won?”

  “But you don’t have to do it anymore.”

  “It’s fun. I don’t see us stopping.”

  “When?”

  “Well, we could try to get an appointment with Lady Olivia immediately. In the past, she’s always accommodated me fairly quickly. Unless there were good reasons to wait, we could do it today or tomorrow.”

  “And you would be mine for two months?”

  “No, no. I’m running a business. Two days. It may be that with more warning, we could progress to something longer. I’ve done two hours or until morning a lot, but I think we should do a little longer. Two days gives you a chance to get a taste, but it’s not so long that if you’re shitty to me, I can’t put up with it. If you treat me poorly, then I’ll be done helping you. My friends will figure out why, and that means Sarala’s friends will figure out why. If you want more practice, you’ll have to find it elsewhere.”

  “All right,” she said. “Two days. What can I do with you after I win?”

  “It’s illegal to do anything to me that is harmful or that has long term effects. You aren’t allowed to tattoo me, unless that is agreed to up front. You can’t even cut my hair. You have to free me on time. You are not allowed to beat me, unless that is agreed to ahead of time, and I won’t agree. You won’t need to, anyway. I’ll be utterly obedient. But you can use me for pleasure. You can order me to do almost anything you want done to you, and you can do them to me, within the rules set above. If you like kinky sex, we can have kinky sex. If you like hurting me, you can do that, but then I won’t be back. If you’re nice to me, we can play more in the future. If you hurt me, I won’t be back.”

  “And I can make you work.”

  “Yes, even the shitty jobs, but just because I’m a slave doesn’t mean I know how to do all the shitty jobs. I can do minor repairs, but major work I leave for the carpenters. It’s a long story, but I belonged to my sister a few times. It was an agreement based on both of us owning the inn. She made me wash the shoes of everyone who entered the inn, or even wash their feet. For two crowns, I would give foot massages, time permitting. Business spiked as people came to see me kneeling and washing feet.”

  “I bet you hated that.”

  I smiled. “No, I didn’t. I was filled with pleasure t
he entire time. I became deeply focused on providing them with clean shoes, and I loved when they let me wash their feet. I loved giving massages but felt bad because I had to see to new arrivals and couldn’t give proper massages. I don’t recommend making one person do both at the same time.”

  She smiled. “I’d love to see you on your knees.”

  I bet she would.

  * * * *

  Olivia made room for us, and then she held an immediate event. Sarala was there; Gigi was not. I began already tied and physically helpless, although I had some ability. But even then, she was bad. Really bad. I not only was given such a significant handicap, but I had to help her win besides, and do so without her realizing it.

  But then the magic took me, and I was hers.

  She brought me to The Golden Tulip. I worked as a waitress until closing, and then she brought me home and used me for her pleasure.

  She wasn’t cruel, but she wasn’t kind, either. Maybe that was because she blamed me for Sarala leaving her. She took her pleasures, but then she ordered me to sleep on the floor. There was a rug, but no blanket.

  The next day was more of the same, although during quiet times, she invited me to pamper her. When I wasn’t pampering her, I was kneeling. She liked seeing me kneel.

  She took me home for a second night, which was a repeat of the first.

  The next day, she freed me after the lunch meal. If she hadn’t, Olivia was waiting and could have arrested her. She’d have let me forcibly claim her, and I wouldn't have had a moral problem with that. But she freed me properly and then sent me home. She didn’t offer to take care of me. I’d never done that to anyone. I always took care of them afterwards.

  I waited two days and then came back with Slip. I told Tivesh that she should tell Slip and me what she wanted and show us the supplies, and then I’d put Slip to work. But I told her that Slip was mine, and I wasn’t going to make her follow Tivesh’s orders. If she didn’t like the job Slip was doing, she should tell me.

  Slip offered no complaints. The restaurant looked a whole lot better when she was done.

  I collected Slip for the last time and then told Tivesh, “You’ve had me. If you want to start learning how to win a real challenge, you know where to find me.”

  It took her two weeks to show up.

  * * * *

  We agreed on another two-day duration, and I offered to loan someone to her restaurant to help oversee it during that time, assuming I won. But it would be a fair event this time. She agreed. I won.

  And then I spent two days showing her how to treat a slave. She worked as a barmaid, and she was as good as Sarala had said. At night, we shared pleasures, and I shared her with Slip as well. I saw to her needs, and I was as sweet with her as I ever was.

  I freed her, and then we cuddled. I didn’t say anything about how I had treated her. If she learned, she learned. When she was ready, I escorted her out but said, “If you want more practice, we can do short duration challenges. That often means until morning. We can do a lot of those in a short period. If you want to risk more time as a slave, or the chance to win me for a longer duration, we can do that, but right now, unless we give you a handicap, you’re going to lose. You might get better. You might not.”

  * * * *

  She came back. We agreed to overnight. I gave her a nice time. She came back. She came back. And then she nearly won.

  Of course, I had to work to make it look that way.

  I let her win the next one, barely. She treated me little better than she had the first time. It wasn’t abuse, but it wasn’t tender, either. She didn’t see what we did as a gift to each other but only saw it one way. While maybe I was asking a lot, it wasn’t like I hadn’t shown her, several times, how to treat a slave.

  She wasn’t interested in the lesson.

  I won the next one. I let her win the next two.

  And then she ran out of time and had to accept entry into the monthly event. I talked to her at length about that. “You’re going to lose. They are far better than I am, and you are going to lose. You’re going to belong to her for two weeks.”

  “I don’t want to do this, Claary. I really don’t.”

  “You have very limited choices, Tivesh. You can do it, or you can find a way around it. I know of three. First, you can try running. They’ll catch you. They aren’t letting people leave. You will then be involuntarily enslaved for the rest of your life. You can break the law in another way for the same results. I consider that one. Two. You can flat out offer yourself to someone.”

  “Become a willing slave?”

  “Yes. You know it would feel good.”

  “I’m not doing that!”

  “Third: you could ask someone for a Real Challenge and hope to win.”

  “I don’t know what to do. I did okay against you. Maybe I could win.”

  No, she couldn’t. “Maybe. You’ve been getting better.”

  “I beat you the last two times. That’s more than just getting better.”

  “I suppose it is,” I said. “There’s something else I want to talk to you about.”

  “What?”

  “Sarala and I have a Real Challenge this weekend. She’s going to lose. I’m better than she is.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “Because she doesn’t want to go to the event in three weeks any more than you do.”

  “What happens if she wins?”

  “She gets me and Slip.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s the agreement we’re making. I’m giving her odds, you could say. I can win her. But she can win both of us. Let me know if you want to talk more about this.” I basically pushed her from the inn.

  My event with Sarala was the second from the last on Saturday. Yes, I won. Tivesh was there, watching.

  Two days later, she came back to The Baby Blanket. She had a challenge petition. She slid it to me. I read through it. She was trying to sucker me. That’s okay; I was trying to sucker her.

  “No,” I said, sliding it back.

  “But…”

  “First, if you win against a lopsided agreement, you don't become a citizen, but I become a slave. The risks are ridiculous. I’m not risking myself for nothing. Second, why should I agree to this? The risk is too high.”

  “But-”

  “You won the last two, and they were even events, Tivesh,” I said. “Now you want to severely handicap me, plus you’d be getting not only me, but Slip and Sarala, too. I’m not agreeing to this.”

  “You can’t blame me for trying.”

  I could, a little. If I’d agreed to that, I deserved to lose on the grounds of extreme stupidity.

  “If you want a fair challenge, I’ll give you one. If you’re worried we’ll pick one to appeal to my abilities, we can pick one of the standard ones. We can even pick one of them randomly, as long as we each get one veto. If you win, you get me. And because I would want to keep them in my life, you may have Slip and Sarala, too. I’d want promises you would treat us well and let us share affection.” I pushed the papers back to her. “Take it or leave it.”

  She left but was back a half hour later. “I’ll take it, but we need different papers.”

  She lost. Badly.

  * * * *

  Olivia gave me The Golden Tulip. I installed Tivesh as one of the waitresses. I then interviewed the employees and found one who was willing to stay on and help to manage the day-to-day operations. They didn’t do breakfasts, so that made it easier.

  I gave Sarala a choice. She asked to stay as cook at The Baby Blanket. But she thanked me over and over for keeping her sister safe, and keeping them together.

  I felt a little shitty for how I had done it, but only a little.

  It took time. I oversaw the needed maintenance myself, although I had Slip and Tivesh do the work they could do. Slip loved painting, and she needed very little oversight. Tivesh didn’t enjoy needlework, but she was at least competent at it, and being enslaved put a
new perspective on it. We returned the restaurant to its former glory, at least physically.

  The meals were harder. Full staffing was harder. It took time before I lured every single employee into challenges. Some saw how happy my slaves were and directly approached me. Some were harder. Two came to me after their first time in the monthly event and begged me to protect them. I told them there was only one way I could do that.

  It took time, but The Golden Tulip began to thrive.

  * * * *

  Hessey approached me. She was due to go through her First Time. But she said, “Just claim me, Claary. Promise me a good life.”

  We cried together. And then I took her to Olivia’s, and she helped me do it legally.

  That weekend was one of the monthly events. I registered as an aggressor. As part of the event, we had a chance to meet the women we could elect to challenge. I roamed the grounds until I found a plain-looking girl of perhaps twenty years old. I walked all the way around her then approached. I held out my hand and smiled. “I am Claary Rosebush.”

  “Claary Rosebush?” She blushed, but she had enough mind to offer her hand. I used that to pull her closer then set a hand on her shoulder.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Hannah Teashore.”

  “Are you scared, Hannah?” She nodded. “You’ve had your first.”

  She nodded. “She made me work at the stable.”

  “I bet you were expecting something else.” She nodded and blushed again. “Do you know who I am?” She nodded. “If we have our challenge, I’m going to win.”

  “I know.”

  “And then you’ll belong to me for two weeks.”

  “I know. You’ll make me blue and I’ll work at your inn.”

  “That’s partly true. I’ll make you red and blue. Do you know what that means?” She shook her head. I smiled. “Blue by day; red by night.”

  Her eyes widened. “No,” she said.

  “You don’t want that?” I said. “Because that’s what I’m offering, but there are other women here.”