by Anneke Jacob
My eyes wet the blindfold a little and I sniffled, and felt round with my tongue for what I had missed. I knew I couldn’t possibly deserve these things. If I deserved them, my master would have given them to me. I was a bad jeedy, I was told that all the time, obviously a very bad slave. Worse than other slaves. Other slaves, maybe, were human. I cringed where I was, my head still in the trough which was licked as clean as I could make it, trying not to think about them looking at me, maybe with pity or contempt.
I was chained up in the yard by the collar, kneeling at a post, for a long time after that, still in the hood, blind and deaf and gagged. It was fortunate that my hands were tied behind me, because I might have tried to cover myself, which would have gotten me into trouble. I had never been hooded out in the open before, surrounded by eyes, where strangers’ hands could be a breath away without my knowing it. There was plenty of movement in the yard, I could tell by the vibrations and muffled sounds, but I couldn’t tell whether any of it related to me. I found myself shivering with fear despite the heat, wishing my master would come and lock me away somewhere.
But when I visualized myself tied naked at a post I relaxed a little. There were plenty of other slaves to look at; there was no need to assume that I was the center of attention. In fact, I was absolutely insignificant. And I had no control over anything anyway, so why worry? I settled back on my heels and waited for my master.
Garid and Therin stood watching the motionless, hooded slave from across the yard.
‘There, did you see?’ said Garid.
‘What?’
‘She’s stopped fighting it.’
‘Fighting what? Her chain? I didn’t see that.’
‘No, she wouldn’t do that, she wouldn’t dare. I don’t even think she’d want to. But she was fighting having her senses blocked. It scares her. I’ll have to use it more often.’
‘It’s good on Vizay, too. Did you enjoy her?’
‘Very much. That was a good buy.’
Therin looked toward the house and saw Miseko approaching with Vizay on a lead. Therin’s eyes lovingly caressed the woman’s shape, and euphoria filled him till he felt he could have floated. He turned to Garid. ‘I’m in your debt for life, you great bugger, and I don’t just mean money. Look at that little beauty! You’re welcome to use her whenever you like when she’s with me. I won’t even ask to use yours; that’s how grateful I am.’
‘Soon, I think. But thanks, I may take you up on that.’ Garid didn’t say so, but the severe chastity he imposed on his slave sometimes rebounded on him. Her mouth and ass were very exciting, and he could always anaesthetize her cunt when he wanted it, but a good uncomplicated romp – with a properly restrained female – was something he wanted a little more frequently than his slave deserved the pleasure.
Miseko came up to join them, Vizay following at a precise distance so that the leash didn’t pull or go slack. She stopped between her two masters and glanced up at both of them in turn. Both immediately fondled her, and she managed to press herself against all the hands at once, her eyes half closed. Miseko said, ‘You’re staying, Garid, aren’t you?’
‘No, I have to get back, sorry.’
‘You’re missing a hell of a party,’ said Therin.
‘Maybe next time. But I might see you sooner than you think. Have you ever been to the Shadowside races?’
‘Occasionally. Why?’
‘I was there last week. They were racing vraags, believe it or not.’
‘You’re kidding. Did they go in a straight line?’ More men were drifting up to listen.
‘No, they were all over the track. And off it. Two of them tangled up and started fighting. The crowd was pretty pissed off – they had to scratch the race and some of those guys are serious bettors. But apparently jonthe racing is in decline because they’re getting expensive to raise.’
‘Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?’ asked Therin, a grin spreading across his face.
‘I talked to the Shadowside director. He’s willing to give woman racing a shot. Why not? It’s a novelty to them. Might bring in some customers.’ The conversation around them began to buzz.
Miseko laughed and shook his head. ‘That crowd isn’t going to want to look at women! They think they’re ugly. Don’t they, my pretty girl?’ He squeezed Vizay’s breast. ‘We’re known as perverts; they’re not going to want to see us having that kind of fun.’
‘Well, obviously you’d have to keep your cock in your trousers. They don’t care what the animals look like. They just want a good race.’
‘With beasts that stay on the track,’ said Lave.
‘Exactly. And ours certainly do that. That crowd has never seen anything so well trained.’ He looked around for a minute. The idea obviously appealed to them. A lot. ‘Just wear something loose,’ he said, his eyes dancing, ‘and save the sex for after.’
‘But what’s the point, then?’ asked Zleid. His filly was required to service him immediately after every race.
‘Prize money!’ said Therin. ‘I’ll bet Vizay beats your little foot draggers!’
A storm of good-natured teasing made conversation impossible for a while.
‘If this works out,’ Lave said finally, ‘we might want to consider other tracks. There are races at Hasker’s Field in a couple of weeks, a kind of fair in my neighborhood. It’s mostly for fun, pretty casual, but I think they give out prizes.’
‘Why not?’ said Garid. ‘Anywhere that might be interested. If Shadowside likes the woman races, the director will probably help us get the word out to other jonthe tracks. If it doesn’t get out without help.’
Woman Races
As it turned out they raced at Hasker’s Field before Shadowside, which required a number of formalities. While Miseko filled out forms and gave the bookmakers what they needed to determine the odds, and let strangers come to training sessions and feel the ponies’ legs, Lave was arranging a day out for everyone at Hasker’s Field. Garid arrived with Arleben and his pet in the morning, the clouds chasing each other across a bright sky. The air was still cool enough to be refreshing against his skin, but he saw his slave shiver a little as Arleben led her toward him. ‘Tie her up next to the aircar vent for a few minutes till it warms up,’ he said. ‘I don’t want her muscles to get chilled. We can run her on a line a little later.’
Lave came over, met Arleben, and chucked the woman under her bridled chin. ‘Can I have a look at her?’ he asked. Garid stood her up and had her display herself. Lave examined the belt closely. ‘What a pretty cunt she must have. A pity to hide it in metal.’
‘Necessary, though. It’s the only thing that keeps her fingers out of that pretty cunt.’
‘What a bad jeedy!’ Everyone could see the slave flinch at these words, and they laughed. The eyes framed by the bridle looked anxiously from face to face. ‘Wait a minute,’ said Lave, ‘is that all she understood?’
‘Spread!’ Garid directed his slave. Her feet moved apart. ‘Kneel!’ She dropped instantly to her widely spread knees. Garid looked at Lave. ‘She knows a few other words.’
Lave laughed. ‘I’ll bet one of them is “suck”. She really can’t understand Henthen?’
‘I’m going to hang her up by the tits along with the banners as advertisement for the races,’ he said conversationally to Lave, at the same time stroking his kneeling pet soothingly. She looked up at him with gratitude, and rubbed her head against his leg. ‘See? We just taught her the vocabulary she needs to know.’
‘I have to gag mine to shut her up. But listen, have you thought about a transparent belt? I could make one for you easily if you give me the pattern; I work in plastics.’
Garid was struck by the idea. ‘Could it do whatever the metal does?’
‘Sure. As thin as you like, stronger than metal, easy to clean, shape it any way you want.’
More friends were approaching with slaves on leads. ‘Yes, let’s talk later.’
By mid-morning all
the women were being exercised near the fairground. Curious people looked at them over their iced sweets, and then moved on. A young man hung around for a while and watched. He had a dog on a lead, which jumped up on him from time to time, when it wasn’t straining anxiously toward the meatstick stands.
‘Do they make good pets?’ the boy asked. ‘They seem awfully well behaved. Where do they come from? Yarf, sit!’ An explanation seemed to bring back his primary school history lessons, which were clearly a long time ago in his mind, if not in fact. ‘Female people? How weird. I – oh, wait a minute, I’ve heard of them… Down, Yarf!’ He shoved his pet’s hindquarters down unceremoniously. ‘Aren’t they supposed to be dangerous or something? I suppose that’s why they’re all muzzled up.’ He looked down and rubbed his dog’s head fondly. ‘Yarf wouldn’t bite anyone, would you, Yarfy?’ He watched for another minute or two.
Another young man came up and put an arm around him, and they both stared for a while. ‘Choji,’ the first one said at last, ‘I’m betting on the one with the short light hair and the smallest chest things. She looks like she really wants to run.’
‘Nah, look at the one with the nose ring. She’s real smooth, the way she moves.’
‘Too small, she’ll never keep up. And her chest things will weigh her down.’ They giggled. ‘Yeah, mister, what are those things, anyway?’
They directed this at Garid, who had taken hold of his slave’s reins next to the bridle and was walking her in their direction. She was just warmed up and glowing with exercise, and was placing her feet with grace and precision, despite the close control of her head.
‘Sit, jeedy!’ he told her. She was on the ground sitting on her heels instantly. The dog sniffed her.
‘What are what things?’ Garid asked. They pointed. ‘Oh, those. Haven’t you seen hajedies nurse their young? But these aren’t nursing,’ he said, forestalling the next question. ‘They’re always like that.’
‘And don’t they use their forelimbs? Why do you keep them tied back like that?’
His friend nudged him. ‘They’re dangerous, stupid!’ Yarf was beginning to circle to sniff from the other side, and his owner yanked on his leash. ‘Get back, Yarf!’ he said, casting a wary eye on the female.
‘We had a watchdog like that – remember, Desh? We had to keep it in a pen. Do you keep her penned up when she’s not racing?’
‘Yes, in a cage or on a chain.’
‘What are the rings for?’
‘To chain her up when she’s naughty.’ Garid smiled.
‘I bet she won’t move when you’ve got her tied by one of those!’ The young men laughed. ‘What’s her name?’ asked Choji. ‘I’m betting on her.’
‘Jeedy.’
‘Okay. Good luck.’
‘See you, boys.’ His slave obeyed his signal to rise, and walked with her restricted, graceful step at his side, moving so that her face never pulled away from the controlling hand at her bridle. And a slavering Yarf finally managed to pull his owner to the meatstick stands.
Garid handed his slave over to Arleben for watering and a quick rub down. He broke the sterilization seal on one of the wooden stalls usually used for jonthes, and Arleben led the slave toward the stall by the bridle. ‘Hang on,’ said Garid, ‘I’m going to hood her. There’ll be other slaves nearby.’ He removed the bridle and fitted the leather hood with its gag, blindfold and ear padding over her head, and locked it on. Arleben nodded approvingly.
‘Have you spoken to the other owners about their slaves’ talking?’ he asked.
‘Mm-hmm.’ Garid adjusted the hood a little more, smoothing it back so that the nose ring was more accessible. It just peeked out through the breathing hole. ‘A couple of them were a bit lit-up about it. It’s a great excuse for punishment. The others didn’t much care.’
‘Couldn’t be bothered, you mean.’ Arleben looked vexed. ‘They’re making a real mistake, letting these rascals talk to each other. Can’t you convince them?’
‘It’s not my job to tell them how to discipline their females. But I’m damned if I’ll let mine hear Ranize spoken.’ He fastened her nose ring on a short chain, down low at the back of the stall. Making her stand would be more appropriate, but he didn’t want her tired out before the races. She settled down on her heels facing the wall, blind and deaf and patient. Garid locked the bottom half of the stall’s door, leaving her visible through the open top half. He made sure that Miseko’s staff was on guard as planned. Then he and Arleben went off to stroll through the fair.
The races started in early afternoon with a glider competition and a remote control miniature aircar meet. Some local jonthes were raced across country, starting and ending on the Hasker’s Field track. Then it was time to prepare for the woman races.
Spectators watched as the females were harnessed up. There were nine women entered. The track wasn’t that wide, so they did heats of three. The crowd gathered curiously for the first race, and Garid, who was waiting for the second, spotted several men taking bets. The announcer checked on the filly’s names, stumbling over unfamiliar Ranize consonants in one case, but having no trouble with the one named Shimmer in Henthen. Miseko won that heat with Vizay, as the owner group had expected. The spectators, not having seen her run full out, lost some money.
The crowd was bigger for the second heat, wrestling having finished in the next field. Garid, settled in place in his sulky, directed his small steed with reins and whip to the starting line. The announcer, practicing ‘Ikstha, Ikstha,’ and looking irritable, was pleased to hear that the next animal was simply called Jeedy. ‘Very sensible,’ he commented, ‘as long as none of the others start calling their animals what they are; then we’ll have a confusion.’ He stepped up onto his podium.
‘Second heat in the woman races, folks. Three likely looking animals at the start. Teats on the far side – and aren’t they big ones? Is-ketha… sorry, Ikstha, in the middle, and Jeedy on the nearside. And what cute little critters they are.
‘And they’re off! Teats takes a short lead – Iketha right behind her. Little Jeedy’s struggling to get up to speed. Iska moving up – will she pass Teats? No, they’re even, but now Teats has the advantage on the curve and stays in the lead. Jeedy up to speed but well back. Here we go round and into the stretch – they’re going full out now – drivers using their whips – Jeedy’s moving up. Teats is falling back a little, it’s Iktha ahead, it’s Iktha, now Jeedy’s moving up fast, look at that! Jeedy’s in second place, Iksa going full out, not enough, here she comes, it’s Jeedy by a – by a…!’
Garid’s filly won her heat – by a nipple ring, according to Therin. The crowd enjoyed the tight race and exciting finish, and was buzzing loudly. Choji came by and offered congratulations, flashing his winnings on his way to the drink stands. Garid tried to keep something between him and spectators until his erection subsided. The sight of his pet’s harnessed buttocks still flashed before him. He let Arleben wipe her down and walk her round to cool off. Garid had been dismissive of the idea that they couldn’t race the women without using them for sex, but it turned out to be no easy task. The number of spectators watching the performance made it far lewder than any of them realized.
And his Jeedy? Arleben had wiped down the slave’s thighs, but Garid could already see the juices starting to seep out around the crotch band. He thought of the dildos hidden in her flesh. Her face and body like an open book, he could sense her extreme humiliation and excitement at her exposure in a crowd of this size.
I came third out of three in the last race. I put everything I had into it, but not enough, obviously. When my master got out of his seat and came round to me, I lowered my eyes and wept, I was so ashamed of failing him. Of course, the tears might have had something to do with the whip marks engraved in my flesh, and the utter humiliation of being raced in public like this. He stroked me soothingly, and by the time they had me unhitched and wiped down I was calmer. I hadn’t been able to see his expression through my tears
and the blinders. I would just have to wait for my punishment; I supposed he wouldn’t punish me in front of this crowd.
He didn’t, but the stall with the door closed top and bottom was available to punish me in. Whenever I had lost a practice race recently he used a static electricity wand on me, running it along my welts, buzzing my nipple and labia rings with it, and worst of all, the ring in my nose. He had to hold me down because I jerked all over the place when he did so. This time he strapped a bar between my ankles and held me back by the hair while he used the wand on me. I cried around my gag as my nose ring zapped and buzzed. My nipples tingled and stung and hurt as he turned up the charge. Then he turned me around, tucked my head firmly under his arm, and began on the welts on my ass and thighs, while I struggled and squealed. He finished with a few good shocks to my labia rings where they were fixed in my belt. Then, businesslike, he returned me to Arleben to be packed up in my crate.
A Bunch of Grapes
Therin, full of mysteries and looking pleased with himself, asked Garid to come and visit him at home. Garid hadn’t been to his friend’s house more than a couple of times before, felt in fact far more familiar with it by vidcam than in real life. The house had a brighter air than he remembered, as if there was more light than usual. His friend was no longer a solitary man. Therin met him at the door, and ushered him through and out the back.
The courtyard they entered was shaded, the light greenish air dappled and rustling. There were a number of crossbeams overhead, covered with grapevines and green leaves. Fruit hung down in bunches, scenting the air with a sweet tang. One bunch hung near the head of Vizay, who hung a little above eye level, her back parallel to the beams above their heads. Her waist, chest, and hips were circled and crossed with straps, and several chains attached the straps to one central ring. This was suspended from a single pulley fixed in a broad beam overhead. Garid’s eyes followed the rope over the pulley to a ring in the wall near the door, then turned back to the form above his head. As he watched, a breeze pushed through the vines, making the grapes sway slightly. There was a tiny tinkling noise somewhere.