by Robin Roseau
“There’s still the luck of the draw,” Teasest said. “I might get a particularly poor challenger.”
“Good luck with that,” Jaerella said. “Enjoy your vacation.”
“I’ll probably get someone who makes me a house slave,” she muttered. “Just damn it.”
“At least you won’t have to work in Claary’s inn,” I said. “You can be thankful for that.”
“Right. Thanks for the pep talk. I’m going to go make Olivia uncomfortable.”
She set off for the door Jaerella and I had used. We waved to her, although she ignored us, and then we waved to the crowd. Jaerella leaned to me, “Ever done anything like this?”
“Nope. You?”
“I’m probably more comfortable than you are. Can you hold your own?”
“Sure. Take turns?”
“Sure. You start. Think you can get them to quiet down?”
“I doubt it.”
She laughed.
I stepped away from her and held my hand up. They didn’t quiet down. So I stuck my fingers in my mouth and gave a shrill whistle. I had to do it twice, but the arena grew quieter.
“Thank you,” I yelled. “We have a choice today. You can go on and on like that, and we can hold our events without introductions, or you can calm down now and then.”
“I want you, Ambassador Cuprite!” someone yelled.
“Get in line!” Jaerella yelled back. Even I laughed.
I lifted my hand. “Lady Olivia, I would propose a future event.”
“I like it already,” Olivia yelled.
“A tournament,” I said. “Winner gets a challenge with me.”
They went crazy at the idea. Olivia had to stand to get them to quiet, and then she turned to me. “You can’t say something like that if you want to ever make it through the afternoon.”
That was when Teasest appeared. The two sat, and I said, “We can discuss that another time.” I turned a slow circle. “We’re going to have a lot of fun today. Jaerella, how many events are there today?”
She counted. “There are seven, and then the… what are we calling it?”
“The monthly, I believe,” I said.
“I actually have never seen it. Is that one big event, or will it be sixteen small ones?”
“We can be here until next week,” I said. “Normally they do several at once. Unless we have more than sixteen, let us do four at a time.”
“Very good. And I also do not know how challengers are selected.”
“Ah. Well, they foolishly put us in charge, so we can do what we want. How about you and I discuss it during the first event.”
“An excellent suggestion.” She lifted the paper. “Our challengers today!” She read the first name, and a woman stepped out of the shadows of one doorway.
* * * *
We ran four of the events, and then Jaerela said, “We’re going to take a very short break. All of the participants, we want you to descend from your seats and meet us here.”
“Challengers, you will come out in the order assigned. We’ll decide our pairings, and then we’ll host the remaining normal events.”
It took perhaps five minutes for sixteen women to appear and form a large circle. Jaerella and I circled in opposite directions, taking turns introducing each woman. Near the end, I reached Claary. We smiled at each other, and then I introduced her as “My friend, Claary Rosebush. Claary operates all the public restaurants and inns of Charth, so if you ever want a decent meal again, consider your choices carefully.”
Teasest was next, and Jaerella said, “If you ever expect to safely stand on this grass again, consider your choices carefully.”
We reached Olivia together. Jaerella and I grinned at each other, and then she announced, “Lady Olivia.”
And I said, “Kick her ass.”
Olivia protested, but the audience was quite pleased.
We called for challengers to come out and claim their challenge partners. Lassa was the first woman to appear, and she walked straight to Claary. Claary bitched and told her to pick someone else, although she did it quietly enough the audience wouldn’t have heard. Lassa laughed, patted Claary’s bottom, and moved one person further, selecting one of the other women from Charth. Jaerella called the match.
I stepped to Claary. “What was that?”
“She owns my sister, Allium. That’s just too weird for me.”
“Oh. I don’t blame you.”
“I’ll be good for anyone else, except the woman who owns my mother. Lassa knows that and was just teasing me.”
Three matches later, Bee and Dee appeared. I laughed and announced them. They stepped to Lady Olivia, which the audience loved, but they simply hugged her and then stepped to Claary and claimed her arms to lead her away. I announced the match. Jaerella moved to my side. “You were competing against both slaves together?”
“No, only one at a time.”
In the end, everyone was led away. Milistara, Olivia’s aide, claimed Calemardie, the youngest of Jaerella’s delegation, excepting Jaerella herself. I didn’t recognize the women who claimed Teasest or Baliesta. Bess and Marda claimed two of the women from the delegation. Gigi appeared and took another of the women of Charth. Lisolte appeared and walked to me. We embraced, and I asked her how she was.
“I miss you,” she said.
“Win the tournament and you can have me back.”
“Is that what it would take?”
“No, Lisolte. You know that.”
“I’m going to give you a few more months.”
“All right.”
She took the last of the women from the delegation. Aresht appeared, hugged me, and then took Olivia’s arm. Jaerella stepped back to my side. “Those women seemed comfortable with you.”
“The first was my first,” I said. “And Aresht and I have had a good time together.”
“That’s a euphemism.”
“It was only a one-night challenge. She won easily.”
“You said you’d only been challenging Olivia’s slaves.”
“I never said any such thing. I said Dee has been teaching me.”
“Just how many challengers have you faced?”
“I’m not sure. Let me count.” When I reached eight, she began squealing. “You’ve had more challengers than I’ve had challenges!”
“It’s not like I’ve been winning,” I said. “Well, except once, but she gave me a huge handicap.”
“You said you hadn’t won a single one!”
“No, I didn’t. I said I hadn’t enjoyed the rewards of winning. I’ll tell you about it during the next event.” And then I called out two names.
* * * *
She loved the story.
We held the rest of the standard events, and then we announced the first of the monthly event matches.
Claary did well in her event against Bee and Dee, but they picked an event that played away from her strengths, and there were two of them. They entirely overwhelmed her, although she did far better than I would have. Once she had succumbed, they helped each other, and soon there were three slaves in red resin. They didn’t need any help moving from the arena, and a few minutes later, I saw the three of them seated in Olivia’s box over the arena.
Gigi, Lassa, and Lisolte won their events. Olivia very nearly lost to Aresht and was nearly entirely coated in resin when Aresht succumbed to the magic.
“A good challenge,” Jaerella declared.
Baliesta faced a grappling challenge, and she looked defeated even as her challenger led her into the arena. She didn’t surrender, but the younger woman had little trouble. But then the woman climbed atop her, and it became more even. But ultimately, the advantage was to the challenger, and Baliesta lost, and fairly thoroughly. Beside me, Jaerella was beside herself.
“Pleased about that, are you?”
“Baliesta was one of the loudest voices in support of making this event mandatory,” she replied. “It’s about time she got a taste of it f
or herself. If we didn’t accomplish anything else, seeing that is worth the entire trip.”
“Not our upcoming event?”
She grinned. “Okay, that part is pretty good, too. But do understand I’ve wanted to see her taken down a peg or three for a long, long time. And it’s all because of you.” She hugged me. “Thank you.”
The last event ended. The crowd was quite boisterous. Jaerella and I separated and worked them for a minute. And then we decided to not even try to calm them down. Instead, she gestured, and two of the slaves stepped forward, each carrying a white shift.
Jaerella and I moved to the center of the arena then turned to face each other. Grinning, I took off my hat and handed it to the slave. Jaerella did the same and then asked for help with her dress. The audience went insane as we undressed, and there was significant catcalling.
We changed into the slips, each of us being quite obvious in eying the other. I thanked my slave, and we sent them away, then Jaerella and I came together at the center. “Hug?” She nodded. We hugged tightly, and then, to much catcalling, we exchanged a deep kiss.
Then, as I stood there, fingers lifted to my lips, she yelled, “Begin,” and threw herself at me.
I reacted instinctively. I ducked under her lunge, actually dropping to one knee, but then I pressed my shoulder into her pelvis, wrapped both arms around her legs, and then quickly stood.
Jaerella gave a screech as she flopped down over my back. “Put me down! Put me down!”
I turned a slow circle, letting everyone see, and then headed for the nearest trench.
“Put me down!” She began beating her arms against my back. Luckily, she either didn’t know how to hit or wasn’t trying very hard. Still…
“Hitting is against the rules,” I yelled. And so I freed one arm and gave her three serious swats on her bottom.
The crowd, already loud, jumped to their feet, roaring, so they probably didn’t hear Jaerella’s squeals of outrage.
Hugging both her legs tightly, I carried Jaerella towards the trench. She went back to her demands to be put down, adding squirms in an attempt to free herself, punctuated by more strikes against my back. I ignored them but reached the trench, aligned the way I wanted her, and then yelled, “Hold still or I might drop you.”
I didn’t wait but bent over and deposited her directly into the resin. Before she could move, I grabbed a rope, pounced on her, and had her wrist tied in seconds.
She tried fighting me off, but it was only another thirty seconds before I had the second wrist secured. I tightened both ropes, stretching her arms widely, then, panting, looked down at her.
She didn’t stop fighting the ropes, but they were well secured, and I didn’t think she was going anywhere. I took a minute to catch my breath, and then I moved away. I removed the ropes from the furthest stakes then returned to her. I tossed the ropes aside but moved into the trench, kneeling down to straddle her, then sat on Jaerella’s hips.
She glared up at me. “You haven’t won yet.”
I smiled but said nothing. Instead, I began removing her shift. She protested, and twice she tried to buck me off, but I pulled her shift away and set it aside. Then I turned around, sitting back down, and grabbed one of the ropes. I didn’t tie her ankle; I tied it about her knee. I used the second rope on her second knee.
“What are you doing?”
“You’ll see.”
I climbed from the trench and then pulled one rope to the same stake that secured her right wrist. I added the rope, crossing over her body, left to right, and snugged it. I did the same on the other side. Then, moving back and forth, I slowly tightened, pulling her legs up and up further, forcing Jaerella into a stomach crunch, her back firmly in the resin and her bottom just lifting clear of the liquid.
“What are you doing?” she screeched.
I stood and turned a circle, my hand in the air. It took a minute, but they quieted. I came to a stop facing Olivia, now up in her box, Aresht leaning against her. “Lady Olivia!” I called out. “I believe hitting is not allowed in these events.”
“You are correct, Ambassador Cuprite.”
“I believe spanking is.”
She laughed. “Yes.”
“I believe one of us broke the rules, and the other did not.”
“What?” Jaerella screeched. “No!”
“I agree with you, Ambassador,” Olivia said.
“You didn’t happen to count her strikes, did you?”
“I’m afraid not. I did count the three spanks.”
“Well, I counted, and there were seventeen. She has already received three spanks.”
“And now you propose fourteen more? Very well. Carry on, Ambassador Cuprite.”
“What?” Jaerella squealed. “You are not spanking me!”
“She has had three,” I called out. “The next one is four.”
I knelt back down beside her, lifted my hand, and gave her a firm swat. She squealed, and the audience yelled, “Four!”
“You were a naughty girl,” I told her.
She protested for the entire spanking. The audience yelled the count for each swat. But at sixteen, instead of swatting the final spank, I began rubbing her bottom.
Jaerella glared up at me, but there really wasn’t much she could do. I rubbed her bottom and leaned down. “You look cute.”
“I can’t believe you spanked me. Would you please finish and lower my legs?”
“You’ve had your last swat,” I said. “Now I am simply relishing your lovely bottom. Close your eyes and try to enjoy it, and eventually I’ll give you a position that is somewhat less exposed. Otherwise, I’ll do it like this.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Of course I would,” I told her. “Close your eyes, my pet.”
She glared first, but then she gently closed.
* * * *
I touched. I teased. Eventually, I lowered her legs then told her to put them the way she wanted them. She didn’t even try to fight but opened obediently.
I moved into the trench. I slid one of the devices into her. And then I took my time, taking her deeper and deeper.
The resin was to my waist by the time she finished her surrender. As she shuddered and shuddered, I stared down at her.
I had won my first even challenge, and done so easily.
I untied her, then lay down in the trench with her. Still panting, she moved to me, holding tightly. I felt the resin climbing higher, but I had won, and I knew it would drip from me when I stood. And so I held her there, the audience chanting their approval.
Then Olivia was there, kneeling beside me. “Are you with us, Allium?”
“Yes,” I said. “I won.”
“You certainly did.”
“My first real win. I really won.”
“Yes, Allium. Congratulations. Do you need help?”
“Yes. Could you ask Claary to come down?”
“Claary?”
“I don’t know how to add more colors.”
“Oh,” she said with a broad smile. “Of course.” She lifted her voice and gestured. Then she said, “Let’s get you out of the trench now. How are you doing?”
“Wonderful. Jaerella, what are you typically called as a slave?”
Before she could respond, Olivia said, “Pick a name for her,” Olivia said. “She’ll answer to it..”
“Jay-la,” I said. “You are now Jay-la.”
“Jay-la,” my slave repeated. “What do I call you?”
“I like my name from your lips, my pet. Allium.”
“Allium,” she echoed.
“Sit up now, Allium,” Olivia said. She moved to help me, but I was fine, a little overwhelmed, but fine. I sat us both up, side-by-side in the resin-filled trench. I looked down to watch the resin sliding from my body.
“I wish I could keep it.”
“You know, there are times I do, too. We have special clothing for you to wear, the traditional clothing of a woman who has won her first compe
tition. Climb on out.”
Bee and Dee arrived, Claary between them. She was dressed in red resin. “Oh,” I said. “I forgot.”
“She can still help,” Olivia said. “Or I can. Perhaps tell Bee and Dee.”
“I want my slave more colors,” I said. “How many can Claary do?”
“How many do you want?” Dee asked.
“Can she add some swirls, and then some lines of black on one side and blue on the other?”
“Cee,” Dee said. “Do you think you can do that?”
“I can try,” Cee said. “Which are most important, Allium?”
“The swirls, and maybe the blue after that. I already have Cha and Vi-vi in black.”
I steadied Jay-la. Cee moved close and then began to manipulate Jay-la’s colors.
“Ooh,” she said. “Oh, that feels nice.”
Cee gave her swirls of orange, the colors of a sunrise. She added a line of blue down her side, but she slowed by the end then straightened. “I’m sorry, Allium.”
“Cee, it’s lovely. Thank you so much.”
“Come to dinner tomorrow,” Olivia said. “Bring her with you. And you know what? Bring Cha and Vi-vi as well.”
“I will,” I said. Then I led Jay-la to the center and slowly turned her so the entire crowd could see her.
Cee, Dee, and Bee dressed me. I admired the clothing then hugged everyone.
Olivia helped me take her home.
* * * *
We made love.
And we made love.
And we made more love.
Then we cuddled and napped. I woke to Jay-la touching, and as soon as I was fully awake, she began licking.
We made love.
For much of the two weeks she was mine.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I kept Jay-la for two weeks. Olivia came over and helped me release her, and then I took her back to bed. We cuddled for a while, and then she asked, “May we make love one more time?”
“Yes, my pet.”
“Not anymore,” she said. “But your friend and your lover.”
“My lover,” I agreed. “And my friend.”
She stayed for one more day, but she didn’t need the same sort of aftercare that I always did. I told her that.
“I’m just being indulgent now,” she said.