Slaves of the Amethyst (Part Eight) SeXStoRY

See Part One for the preamble to this series. Chapter Sixty Three. Rebecca and Alice were sitting on a huge back terrace of the Hall eating a light lunch as Robin and Daniel returned. Their return was somewhat flamboyant. They came around a corner of some Lawson Cypresses, arm in arm, singing an off key version of “On Ilkley Moor Baht’at” at the top of their voices. Rebecca nudged Alice and noted acidly “Behold our intrepid hunting heroes return! Fresh from their struggles with the savage b**sts of the wild!” “They’re pissed as newts! T’ pair of ‘em!” “Male bonding is the technical term I believe Alice.” “Wot gerrin’ blathered before lunchtime?!” “Yes well fear not! Retribution awaits! They‘ll sober up right sharpish when they learn that we’re formally invited to tea with the Lady at four thirty on the dot! That’ll wipe the smile off their faces!” “I’ll kick our Danny’s backside fer ‘im if ‘e ‘ain’t up ter scratch afore we ‘ave ter meet ‘Er Ladyship fer tea!” “Why do you think the human race came up with the idea of the cold shower Alice? It was considered as efficacious in keeping the male of the species under control in English public schools for many generations I believe. I’ve often felt that it was a great loss that its usage fell out of favour.” Robin and Daniel stepped up on to the terrace grinning foolishly. “Morning girls! Morning!” Robin greeted them with great bonhomie, if a little too loudly. Rebecca regarded him rather as she would some unpleasant object she’d just discovered blocking the drain. “Whilst I am gratified by your effusive greeting My Lord I must nevertheless point out a minor technical error in its content since it might have escaped your addled notice that it is in fact close to one o’clock in the afternoon!” “Really? Is it that late?” “It is indeed My Lord!” “Well, well! Tempus fugit!” “Yes My Lord! I can’t think where the hours have gone to!” “We’ve been fishing!” “Indeed? How nice for you.” “Danny caught a beauty!” “There’s been two beauties dangling on a hook and waiting for you all morning My Lord Robin!” “Oh er… have you been wondering where we were then?” “Yes My Lord! Those are essentially the facts although I would have phrased it a little more strongly myself.” “Well er… sorry about that. You know how time flies when you’re out fishing.” “I’m afraid not My Lord. I’m not a devotee of pis**torial activities.” “Well it just shoots past!” “Especially if one has a few shots to shoot it with I presume.” “Oh yes well we did have a wee dram to celebrate Danny’s fish.” “A wee dram My Lord? From where I am sitting the effusion would seem to suggest a fair percentage of the output of a medium sized distillery!” “Oh does it whiff a bit?” “Short of the entire terrace bursting into spontaneous combustion with the fumes in the atmosphere I can hardly see how it could “whiff” less!” “Well sorry about that! How about a bite to eat?” “We may possibly spare you a few crumbs and leftovers on one proviso.” “That is?” “That is My Lord on the condition that you now immediately shower, change your clothes, comb your hair, brush your teeth and generally make yourself fit to be seen in our company. Once you are presentable we shall condescend to accept your grovelling apologies for leaving us kicking our heels all morning and your solemn promises to conduct yourselves with due propriety and deference for the rest of the day!” “An that goes fer you an’ all Danny me lad!” Alice interceded. “We’re ‘avin’ tea wi’ Lady Mathom at four thirty. God ‘elp yer if’n yer not in a fit state be then! Any bl**dy pong o’ whisky or fish on yer be then an’ yer won’t be catchin’ t’ fish yer’ll be joinin’ ‘em!” Daniel shuffled his feet and lost the stupid grin that had adorned his face. Robin turned to Daniel and observed. “I rather think we’re in the doghouse Danny. We’d better go and jump under the shower. There’s a cold chill out here.” The two men left rather more subdued. Once they were out of earshot Alice burst into laughter. “Oh Becky! Yer just brilliant! You ‘ad ‘em shufflin’ their feet like a pair of naughty schoolboys up in front of t’ ‘eadmistress!” “Well, as I observed before Alice, one’s got to have a little discipline. We’ll make them squirm for an hour or two and then, if they fawn upon us satisfactorily, we’ll graciously forgive them with a pat on the head and permit them to accompany us to tea.” Alice giggled, “Aren’t yer bein’ a bit ‘ard on ‘em?” “Not at all! Merciful if anything! If they think there’s a cold chill now can you imagine the Siberian blast they’d have had to face presenting themselves before the Lady in that condition?” “Aye there is that! bl**dy ’ell! I wouldn’t like to get on ‘er wrong side! It don’t bear thinkin’ about!” “Well I’ve been there and done that and got the scars to prove it! So you may take it from me that I’m only saving them from a far worse fate!” “Anyway I never got round ter askin’ yer. Ow was your Jenny?” “She seems fine Alice. Feeling a little harassed and sore perhaps but otherwise just fine.” “Where is she Becky? Is she somewhere else in t’ ouse?” “She’s in the cellars Alice.” “In the cellars?” “Yes Alice. We have a disciplinary wing down in the cellars where we slaves are apt to find ourselves incarcerated from time to time.” “Yer mean she’s locked up down there? Like she’s in jail or summat?” Alice looked shocked. “Not quite like that Alice. Actually unless she’s in fact chained up for the moment there isn’t a thing from stopping her walking out other than the fact that she hasn’t any clothes on that is.” “What? Yer mean she’s got no clothes on? What the ‘ell is all this?” “Look Alice. I need to talk to you about this. I’ve asked if we can go and visit Jenny this week because I really want you to meet her but before we do, I’ve got to explain about the circumstances. Will you promise to listen and not be too shocked by what I have to tell you?” Once Rebecca had extracted a promise she proceeded to tell Alice about the cellars and the circumstances in which a slave of Mathom Hall might find themselves in for a stay in them. When she had finished Alice stared at her in astonishment. “Yer mean yer can be sent down there any time ‘Er Ladyship wants an’ fer as long as she wants?” “Yes effectively.” “An’ yer just accept this?” “Absolutely. Oh it’s a bit wretched the first couple of times but you do get used to it. After a while you even get to look forward to it. Becomes a little bit of a holiday actually.” “A holiday?” “Yes a bit of a break. Time to chill out. You get an awful lot of time to relax in jail.” “Fergive me fer sayin’ Becky but it ‘ardly sounds like Butlin’s” “No you’re right! It’s considerably more pleasant than that.” “T’ redcoats don’t exactly chain folk up ter t’ wall an’ ‘ave ‘em whipped Becky!” “No they don’t. They really ought to institute the practise. I’m sure they’d find their bookings quadrupling over night! It would be a bl**dy improvement on Karaoke! Me I’d ten times rather have a sound whipping than have to suffer some prat, without one iota of musical talent, murdering a Gloria Gaynor song! Much as I admire Japanese culture they have an awful lot to answer for as well.” “Be serious Becky. I’m ‘avin’ an’ ‘ard time getting’ me ‘ead around all this.” “Listen don’t let it worry you. Maybe I’ve made it sound worse than it really is. I thought that maybe on Wednesday, the night before you leave, we could go and join Jenny for dinner in the cellars and you could get to know her. Then maybe you’d see that it’s not anything like as bad as it sounds. What do you think?” “Would we ‘ave to go naked an‘ all?” “No Alice. We’re just visitors. Jenny would have to be of course but I dare say by Wednesday she’ll be pretty much used to it.” “Ave you ‘ad to go down in t’ cellars an’ all before?” “Oh yes! More than once! I once spent six weeks down there!” “Six weeks!” “Yes and I’ll tell you this Alice I’d do it again! The cellars can change you in ways you don’t expect. It’s an experience you never forget. Sometimes we even ask to be imprisoned voluntarily. You get to like it. I can’t really explain it to you but there’s a certain comfort in being cocooned in the cellars. You get to know a great deal about yourself. You get to learn to live with your own company and it can be illuminating. You emerge from a period in the cellars feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world again. The sun always seems to shine a bit brighter after a few days in the cellars. Life’s problems never seem to be so horrendous after all. And you’re not always alone either. We have a saying here, you might have heard me use it, when we love somebody we say that we’d like them to share our prison cell. The cellars aren’t just about punishment they’re about love too. Where do you think Robin and I first got together?” “What in these cellars?” “Correct. I slept with Robin for the first time in a cell in the cellars so you might say I have a certain fondness for them. Hundreds of people have gone down alone into the cellars and come out on the arm of a lover Alice. In a sense that’s what they’re all about. They’re a little bit like our purgatory in a way. We go down into the cellars for our sins, find redemption in them and emerge with the slate wiped clean and in love, the most cleansing balm to the soul there is. Nobody leaves the cellars regretting the experience for one minute.” “Becky if …I mean if’n I was to become ‘Er Ladyship’s slave too would I ‘ave ter spend time down there an’ all?” “Almost certainly Alice. Would you like to join me there? I would love to share your chains Alice.” “Eee! I don’t know Becky! This is just so weird!” “Alright then let’s leave it until Wednesday. After you’ve been down there to visit Jenny you might see the thing in a different light.” “Are the boys coming along for this as well?” “No I think we’d better leave them upstairs. Robin knows the score but Daniel would probably fall down in a dead faint. Anyway Jenny might be a bit put out having to entertain two men completely naked. She’s not very easy around men just yet.” All right then. I’m up fer it but yer must admit it sounds loopy.” “We’re the weirding folk remember. We don’t do normal!” “’Ow big are these cellars anyway?” “Huge Alice!” Rebecca waved a hand at the Great Hall. “If you think the hall is big you’ve no idea just how much of it stretches underground. There are miles of tunnels and caves under our feet Alice. They’re vast! You’ve no idea!” Neither did Jennifer have any idea of the full extent of the labyrinth beneath the grounds of Mathom Hall but she was beginning to gain some impression. She was walking through a part of the network now, attached by the wrist to Rachel who was giving her a guided tour. Jennifer was beginning to feel bewildered. There seemed no end to the corridors and chambers they had passed through and she knew that without Rachel she would be hopelessly lost. Rachel had shown her the cider presses, the fully equipped brewery, the massive wine cellars with row upon row of dusty vintages and the creamery where Rachel had explained the old fashioned way of making cheese. They’d tried a little of the cheese that was still made there and it was tart and delicious. There’d been the big coal cellars. In former times, Rachel had explained, before the installation of central heating, it had taken a small troop of young boys with buckets to feed the innumerable fires within the Hall. The huge coal cellars were fed from chutes from the outside and had been called “Hell” in former times. Now they weren’t used to the same extent and the old black coal from the coalfields to the south had been replaced with smokeless fuels. At one point they entered a region where it was very warm and smelled of chlorine. They were underneath the big swimming pool Rachel explained and the chlorination and heating plants were down here. There was one fantastic room that Rachel had showed her that turned out to be merely one part of an intricate complex. They’d had to enter through a sealed door into an atmospherically controlled chamber where, stretching away for more than a hundred yards, were tall high cabinets on sliding rails. At first Jennifer had been puzzled until Rachel had slid one of the big cabinets out and showed her the contents. It was full of precious leather bound books and bound documents. This room she’d explained was part of the vast archives of the Hall. The archives were one of the wonders of the Hall Rachel had explained. There were documents that went back centuries well back into the first millennium. There were books in here that people hadn’t even looked at for hundreds of years. There were restricted parts of the archives where only those with special permission were allowed to delve into the hidden past of the House of Mathom and its multitude of secrets and there were parts that nobody had any idea anymore what was in them. The chambers containing the archives were a treasure store of historical data, a labyrinth of Ali Baba’s caves of precious information. It would take decades even to catalogue the contents of these archives let alone read more than a tithe of them. There were revelations in there that hadn’t seen the light of day for hundreds of years. Jennifer had shivered. Even to be just in the presence of such a vast store of archaic material from the past had been spooky. Here was where the Hall buried its skeletons and hid its secrets. You could almost hear the dark past whispering at you. They’d passed through some of the more utilitarian of the cellars’ chambers and seen the huge network of plumbing and heating systems. Here they’d had an unexpected encounter for as they rounded a corner they’d come upon a man and a young lad working on some machinery. Had she been alone Jennifer would have run and hidden her nakedness but Rachel led her quite calmly past the two. The elder man had seen them and jumped to his feet to bow politely and the younger man had followed his example blushing furiously but forgetting his cap. His elder colleague had poked him sharply with his elbow and growled “Yer ‘at son!” and the young man had dashed his cap from his head hastily, his cheeks crimson with mortification. The elder man had spoken to them saying “A good day ter yer miladies. Thank you for gracin’ us workplace.” Rachel had just smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. Once past them Jennifer had said to Rachel “That was embarrassing!” “Yes.” Rachel had agreed “I thought the poor lad was going to faint! He’s probably getting his ear clipped now for forgetting his manners.” “I meant it was embarrassing for us!” “Whatever for? We’re high ladies of this House and if we choose to walk about naked that is our business. I’m sure it won’t be the first time that the man there has seen a naked woman in the cellars. I don’t know about the young lad though! He’ll probably be telling all his friends in the pub about it tonight!” “I didn’t know that they were allowed to come down here.” “Of course they are. You don’t think that Sebastian could possibly run this entire establishment by himself do you? No it requires any number of maintenance workers to keep all this running.” “Can they just go anywhere they please?” “No naturally not. They’re not allowed into the penal areas where we live for example. That’s not to say that occasionally one doesn’t find himself in there if some lady prisoner decides to grant him the favour of her pleasure and lure him in. I wouldn’t have minded making a man out of that young lad myself. He was cute wasn’t he?” Jennifer sighed and shook her head in bewilderment. They’d wandered far from their jail cells and found themselves in dark regions where Rachel had carried a lamp and shown Jennifer the caves stretching way back under the grounds and into the hills. They’d only penetrated a short distance however and Jennifer was grateful for that for it was cool in these areas and she was frightened of the dark caverns. There’d been signs saying “Danger Keep Out!” and a couple of passageways had been sealed with steel mesh gates and signs saying “Restricted area- no admittance.” She’d been grateful when they’d finally turned back. Now they were once again nearing their jail and it almost felt like coming home. Even in their jail quarters however there were chambers that Jennifer had not previously seen. Some of these were quite frightening for they had an obvious penal function with hanging chains or formidable looking pieces of apparatus that were clearly designed for restraining their victims. Rachel was quite unabashed by all these chambers and even showed a perverse pride in the ingenuity and variety of the penal instruments to hand. What really interested Jennifer however was the graffiti. All over the jail quarters generations of prisoners had scratched graffiti into the stone and brickwork. Many of the examples were funny or poignant. In many cases the prisoner had just left their name but there were numerous examples of lovers’ marks with two or more names or initials around a heart with an arrow through it. Rachel showed her one around a triangle with the names Maureen, Madeleine and Pixie on it and Jennifer found it immensely touching but there were hundreds of others. It was a historic document in its own right cataloguing the multitude of slaves that had passed beneath these vaults. Some had dates on them that placed them back as far as the eighteenth century and even earlier. Others were just funny with silly poems and rude drawings. There was one that said “I was a good girl when I came down here but now I’m really good!” Another that simply said “Annie D was here…. again!” There was a thought-provoking phrase on one wall that said, “If you don’t know why you’re down here you probably deserve to be!” and somebody had written underneath “So you didn’t huh s****r?” There were many uses of the word “s****r” which pointed to the essentially feminine character of the cellar’s prisoners but Jennifer knew that men occasionally were incarcerated here as well. Nevertheless there was a definite continuity of s****rhood among the many people that had left their marks on these walls and a streak of black humour running through the comments. In one alcove underneath some hanging chains there was one comment written close to the floor that Jennifer couldn’t read at first until she realised that it was upside down. It would in fact be perfectly visible to someone hung up by the ankles from the chains above. It read simply “That’s another fine mess you’ve got yourself into s****r!” There were many references to Sebastian as well and some of them were deliciously teasing such as the one that asked “Does Sebastian only take whipped cream in his coffee?… Discuss.” Or another that said, “Please scream quietly… loud noises upset Sebastian!” Jennifer wondered just how long Sebastian had ruled these cellars for some of the graffiti referring to him seemed very old. One even had a date on it and the date was revealing for it said “Belinda and Beatrice… married under Sebastian’s whip, June 1926” Jennifer felt the hair on the back of her neck tingle. Even stranger were the references to Lady Mathom although she was rarely mentioned by name. One ditty ran, “For the sins of my flesh in the times of my leisure, Whipped down here at My Ladyship’s pleasure!” And there were even fond and loving pieces about her such as the one that said, “I will endure my pain and bondage, And not yearn for open skies, Within these halls of penance, Laments, groans and sighs, Nor wish for peace and solace, Until my wretched lies, Be long and well forgiven. By My Lady’s purple eyes.” Jennifer felt some strange kindred with the author of these odd lines and indeed she began to feel a part of greater whole. These were her spiritual s****rs that had passed this way and left the history of their passing for posterity. This in truth was the Line, a continual thread that linked her to all these others and Jennifer felt a great love and sense of belonging within the s****rhood that knew the reality of Sebastian’s netherworld beneath the House of Mathom. It put her own incarceration into perspective and made her sufferings easier to bear to feel that she belonged to such an elite sorority. Finally Rachel led her back into the big chamber where they took their meals and lived. They seated themselves at the big table and Rachel took up the rapidly expanding file she was keeping on Jennifer’s progress. “OK.” she began, “Well you’ve had a mixed day so far. I was quite pleased with your posture and balance but your self presentation sucks Jenny!” Jennifer was at least relieved that the latter parts of the morning exercises had passed reasonably well. Rachel had had her walk along narrow wooden beams sometimes with books balanced on her head to test her balance and coordination and put her through a series of yoga exercises to tease some quality of graceful posture and bodily awareness out of her and she’d not been too bad in that context. Rachel had also started to teach her some basic meditation techniques borrowed from Eastern culture to teach her harmony and tranquillity and Jennifer had found them soothing and enjoyable. Rachel had prescribed a programme of light meditation for her; confined to twenty minutes a day, and Jennifer had found the prospect agreeable. She had an interest in Eastern meditative practises and was willing to explore them albeit under strict guidelines. Rachel had had Jennifer adopt a posture she’d described as the “Seven Points of Vairocana” which entailed sitting crossed legged on a cushion, with her spine straight, her hands on her knees, her eyes half opened and focussed down, her chin tucked in, her mouth slightly open and her tongue touching the roof of her mouth. Once in this position she’d had Jennifer empty her mind of future or past thoughts and simply allow her mind to be in a natural state without conceptualisations. The cellars provided a wonderful environment for such meditation and Jennifer discovered the beginnings of a stillness within her that she was eager to explore further. Finally Rachel put down the file and sighed “Little madam here demands that I take a siesta honey so I’ll hand the next part of your program over to Sebastian. This evening I have work to do so after our evening meal you can press on with your essay. Get Sebastian to help you if you get stuck.” “What’s my program for the rest of the afternoon ma-am?” “Oh you’re going to be whipped Jenny.” “Oh!” “Chin up dear! Happens to us all! How was your letter from Julie by the way?” “Difficult! Julie’s handwriting is rotten I could hardly read most of it! Just wanted to say she loves me and misses me. I miss her too.” “It’ll only be a short while dear. If you’d like to write her a quick letter back this evening I’ll make sure somebody delivers it for you. Now let’s find Sebastian and attend to your whipping.” Sebastian wasn’t far away and he was entirely sympathetic to the idea of relieving Rachel of the chore of whipping Jennifer. “Why of course Miss Rachel! I would be delighted to attend to Miss Jennifer in your stead. May I enquire as to your well being Miss? I sincerely hope that you haven’t been overtaxing yourself.” “I’m fine Sebastian. Pregnancy just makes you a little tired on occasion.” “So I understand Miss. When I heard that you were coming for a visit, I felt it incumbent on myself to obtain some reading material and familiarise myself with the symptoms and conditions of a lady’s period of gestation. I found the reading most useful and informative.” “Oh Sebastian! You’ve been worrying about me!” “I must confess that I was somewhat concerned Miss Rachel. It is not usual to have a lady visit these cellars in your delicate condition.” Rachel stood up on tiptoes and kissed Sebastian fondly “Do stop worrying Sebastian. I’m as healthy as an ox just doing what comes naturally.” “I’m gratified to hear it Miss. I understand that you are going to bless this House with a girl c***d Miss.” “That’s right Sebastian.” “May I be so bold as to inquire whether or not you have chosen a name for the young lady?” “No I haven’t as yet. If I’d been expecting a boy I was going to call him Sebastian.” “Miss! You do me far too much honour!” Jennifer was shocked to see the moisture of tears in Sebastian’s eyes. “Not at all Sebastian. I could not possibly do you honour enough. But it’s not a boy so I’m stuck now. Would you do me a great service Sebastian?” “I would be honoured to Miss.” “Would you pick out a name for my baby for me?” “Really Miss! I wouldn’t dare to presume so much!” “Please Sebastian! It would mean an awful lot to me!” “No really I… “ “Please Sebastian!” “Well Miss I….” “Yes Sebastian?” Sebastian cleared his throat “Well there is one name that comes to mind Miss although I wouldn’t for a moment be so presumptuous as to suggest you would use it.” “What is it Sebastian?” “Well I knew a lady once called Gentiana…” “What an unusual name!” “Yes I know Miss. But I often think about her when I see you. You remind me a good deal of her.” “Who was she Sebastian?” “A lady I knew many years ago Miss.” “How did she come by such a name?” “It’s of Latin derivation Miss. It is the generic name for the gentian, the little purple flowers that bloom on the mountainsides when the snow has melted.” “Oh that’s beautiful!” “Of course I’m sure that it would not be an appropriate name in this day and age. It was a long time ago.” “What happened to her Sebastian?” “I’m afraid that she died in one of our terrible wars Miss.” “Oh I’m so sorry to hear that Sebastian! Did you know her well?” “Yes Miss. She and I we had…. well an understanding. We were informally affianced you might say.” “Oh Sebastian I’m so sorry!” “I… I have an old photograph of her somewhere. She was very beautiful.” Rachel felt on the point of tears. Somewhere she began to understand Sebastian’s long years of bachelorhood, the years of solitude within these cellars. “What do you think Jenny?” she asked. “I… I think that’s a lovely name Pixie” “Sebastian my daughter’s name will be Gentiana. There’ll be a little purple flower born to this House!” “I didn’t wish to impose that name on you Miss I was just reminiscing really.” “I know you didn’t Sebastian. Nevertheless my daughter will be named Gentiana. I will bring her up to know the wisdom you have shown me in these cellars. You will be grandparent to her. She will become the Lady Gentiana and by the Goddess I will make you proud of her!” Sebastian wiped his eyes hastily. “Miss, My Lady… I am touched…. deeply touched.” “Will you seal it with a kiss Sebastian?” In humble tenderness Sebastian folded Rachel in his massive arms and kissed her lightly. “I shall treasure this day always Miss Rachel.” “Thank you Sebastian. And thank you for the gift of my daughter’s name! Now if you please I must lie down a while.” Rachel disentangled herself and embraced Jennifer gently addressing herself to Sebastian. “Take good care of her Sebastian. This is a queen of the Line!” “Miss Jennifer will be entirely safe in my hands Miss Rachel.” Rachel turned to Jennifer and stroked her cheek fondly “Go with Sebastian now Jenny. Be brave. It’ll only be a short whipping. I’ll see you later on.” Rachel left them and Jennifer felt a strange calm possess her. When Sebastian cleared his throat to say, “If you would care to accompany me Miss Jennifer.” she turned and followed him quietly in tranquil resignation her mind still wondering at the scene she had just witnessed. There would be a c***d to these cellars she now saw. The old vaults would reverberate to the sounds of a c***d’s laughter and become blessed because of it. She could see into a future where a pretty young girl c***d would sip her cocoa and eat her biscuits as her doting old surrogate grandfather told her fantastic fairy stories from his endless repertoire by the fire side in his chambers. There would be a c***d that would run free and unafraid through these corridors, a c***d that would know every nook and cranny of them, who would watch the baby bats clinging to their mothers at their roosts and give them silly names, a c***d who would feed the little cellar mice with crumbs, a c***d who would sit for hours poring over the old books in the archives and find wonder and adventure in them. Jennifer envied that c***d her c***dhood. In the whipping chamber that she had first encountered in the cellars Sebastian gave her a ribbon “Perhaps it would be better for you to tie your hair up for convenience Miss Jennifer.” Jennifer complied calmly, tying her long auburn tresses up in the ribbon so that it would not impede the whip on her back and then held out her hands so that Sebastian could attach the cuffs on her wrists to the chains hanging from the ceiling. Sebastian tightened the chains until her arms were stretched vertically above her and she was standing on the balls of her feet. She looked over her shoulder and watched Sebastian take down a long bullwhip from the wall. She closed her eyes and prayed for fortitude. Somewhere in her mind’s eye she saw a little girl saying to her “It’s only a little whipping Miss. Sebastian doesn’t really want to hurt you. Maybe when you’ve had your whipping we can have some cocoa and cake together and Sebastian can tell us the story about that old Chinese soldier again.” She felt tears prick at her eyes with the beauty of the vision and the hissing lash of the whip across her shoulders was almost bittersweet in its agonising caress. Even as she writhed in her agony and screamed in the quiet of the chamber, with the whip curling around her body, stinging her back, her buttocks, her legs, stomach and breasts, falling away in heavy coils from her tortured flesh after each lash, she saw the little girl sitting cross-legged on the floor before her saying “Only a little whipping! Nearly finished now. Then we can have some fun!” For it was just a little whipping and she, slave of the House of Mathom, must endure it for there was light and pleasure, and love beyond. __________________________________________________________________________