XVII
It was some time before my Mistress returned and released the chains
that bound me to the tub. She said nothing as she led me back into the main
room. She pointed at the tray I had dropped. I quickly picked up the scattered
debris and removed it to the kitchen. I returned with cleaning solution and a
towel and cleaned up the grease and syrup stains from the rug.
The silence continued all of that evening until it was time for bed. It
was broken only by her direction to lie down on the floor, so that she could
shackle me to the foot of the bed. After chaining me and covering me, she lit a
tall candle and turned out the lights.
The room was lit by the glow of the single candle. I could see her
laying in bed, her black silk gown glittering in the candlelight and reflecting
on her open eyes as she looked at the canopy overhead.
I watched as the candle burned down, but her eyes never closed for more
than a moment. It was as if she was watching something far away, something only
she could see. I wished I could touch her, to see if there was anything I could
do to help her. I could feel distress from her, not anger, but distress. About
what I wondered? Had I created a problem for her? No, I had created a problem
for myself, but not for her.
"Mistress," I whispered.
"Yes Michael," she replied not looking at me.
"May I be of help to you?" I asked.
"No Michael, you have been enough help for now." was the measured reply.
"Yes Mistress. Good night." was all I could say.
When the candle had burned almost to extinction she was still awake as
was I. The pain was returning and it was keeping me awake. I rolled over and
moaned softly. Almost before the sound had died away, she was at my side. She
took my head into her lap and stroked my head.
"I never intended for you to suffer pain like this. I should not have
asked you to try and help Lydia." she sighed.
" I wanted to help. And I tried to do too much. I wanted to show her
that a man could be something to be trusted, not hated. And I was wrong. And I'm
paying for it." I said softly.
"As am I Michael. I use pain to condition, not torture. I enjoy watching
a slave being pushed to his limits, but not over them."
"I understand. May I ask what Anna had to say Mistress?"
Minx looked away from me.
"Anna feels that you should be sent away. She was not happy with you or
I or Lydia. Lydia has been ordered to repay me for your loss of service to me
while you heal. I have been ordered to punish you for your error. And I will be
punished by Anna for trying to interfere."
"How will you be punished Mistress?" I asked in dismay.
"I am to be whipped by Anna in front of the group." she said in a
resigned voice. She hesitated before continuing.
"And your punishment will be having to watch me."
"When?" I whispered in horror.
"At dawn, in the courtyard. Anna will come for us then."
I lay, head in her lap, wishing for the darkness to be eternal, never to
see daylight again rather than to see her treated like a slave.
And that is how we spent the night, what might be our last night
together.
Dawn crept into the room from the kitchen, its fingers reaching out to
touch us with soft light.
There was a knock on the door and Anna entered, whip coiled at her belt.
"It is time Minkin. Are you prepared for punishment?" she asked as if by
ritual.
Minx stood and removed her robe. Her proud body stood unmarked in the
light as she spoke.
"I am prepared for the punishment ordained by my sisters." she said, the
courage of a lioness in her voice.
"And you slave. Are you also prepared for this?" Anna asked me.
I started to reply then looked at Minx. She smiled at me and I took
courage from it.
"Yes. I am prepared to face the punishment you have ordained." I said,
not taking my eyes from Minx's.
Anna unlocked the shackles from the bed and relocked them around my
ankles.
"Go." she directed.
We went through the kitchen and into the courtyard beyond. A whipping
post had been erected near the fountain. Anna secured Minx to the post and
locked my shackles to one of the benches.
We were joined one at a time by hooded figures until there were twenty
people forming a square around the post.
"Hear me my sisters," Anna called out. "Witness the punishment meted out
to our sister. Learn from her error."
Anna stepped back and uncoiled the single tail whip.
"The punishment shall be ten lashes for her misjudgment."
The first crack of the whip caused my blood to burn. Across Minx's
perfect skin was a thin line of blood. The second and third lashes came. The
fourth and fifth. Minx struggled to stay mute, as did I.
I wanted to scream my anger and defiance at Anna, at the group. It was
my fault. MINE! I turned away and heard the crack of the whip next to my head.
"You were ordered to watch her punishment. You defy the order?" Anna
asked loudly.
I looked back at the scene. Minx, my love, my Mistress, was in pain and
I was the cause.
"No. I question its fairness. I was responsible for the problem. I
should be up there, not her." I protested.
"She is responsible for you, your actions, and your mistakes. You are a
dumb animal. ", She reminded me.
"And you know why I did what I did. Do the rest know why I did? ", I
asked.
"Your reasons are not important."
She turned away and coiled the whip to strike again.
"The needs of the many..." I called to the hooded figures.
One of the figures stepped forward.
"Outweigh the needs ", a voice said in a clear soprano.
A second figure stepped out.
"Of the few ", continued an alto tone.
And yet a third figure who removed her hood and looked at me.
Lydia
"Or the one." she said.
"I did what I did to try and repay Ay'esha for permitting me to serve
Mistress Minx. She returned my life to me. She felt Lydia's pain at her loss. I
too have suffered such a loss, and she thought I might be able to help. I tried
and failed. If trying to help someone in pain is to be punished, then I should
be punished as well."
Lydia stared at me for a long time.
"You are a fool. It is your false sense of duty that will be your
destruction." she responded.
She turned to the group.
"This is why we must control the males or destroy them. We do not need
their help. We already have control of much of the world through our puppets. We
should strike now." She declared.
Anna turned to her.
"You have made your opinion quite clear in the Circle. But I am the
Mother of Many. Your methods Lydia are as crude as those of the average male
are. That is why we follow the plan of the First Mother of Many." she stated.
"You have your plan, and I have mine. There are others that agree with
me. Time will judge which of them is right. I shall leave Ay'esha." Lydia swore.
"And you, slave. There will come a time when you will regret this meeting. I
shall not kill or harm a sister, but you will pay for your foolish ways."
With a final defiant toss of her head, she marched off, followed by
three of the hooded figures.
Anna turned back to me with a look of sorrow on her face. It was the
look of a mother sending her only child off to war. For an instant I saw tears
forming in her eyes, then the look was replaced by one of determination.
"Slave, you have caused a great disruption today. And we shall all pay
the price of your folly. But what is done is done. ", Anna said walking towards
me whip raised.
I knelt before her and waited for the lash to fall. I deserved it and I
knew it. I closed my eyes.
"I now understand why Minx loves you. You are indeed a good and rare
man."
I opened my eyes to see Anna smiling gently down at me. The smile passed
as she turned back to the group.
"Shall I continue to punish our sister, or will you accept the blood of
her slave?" she called out.
"BLOOD!" was the reply from all assembled.
"You will have it. The slave will take the remainder of our sisters
punishment." Anna replied.
Minx was released from the whipping post and I was secured there
instead. She looked at me as Anna lashed me to the post.
"He is my slave Anna. I shall administer his punishment", she said.
Anna looked at her and I, then handed Minx the whip. They walked out of
my vision.
"Prepare yourself slave." my Mistress called.
I braced for the impact on my tattered back.
CRACK!
"ONE!" she called out.
CRACK
"TWO!"
CRACK
"THREE!"
CRACK
I screamed as the fourth one cut across the weals of the previous night.
Only one more left.
"FOUR!"
CRACK
I slumped against the post sobbing. The fire of pain burned through me
leaving the gray ash of numbness.
"FIVE!"
I waited for more. Surely I would now be punished for my errors.
"And what punishment shall we mete out to the slave for the trouble he
has caused, my sisters." Anna called. "Is there one who will speak for him
before I determine his punishment?"
"I shall", I heard Mei Ling say.
"And I", called Ruth.
"I speak for him." said Master Melody.
Other voices new to me spoke as well.
"It seems that you have won some converts, slave", Anna said as she
walked towards me. "His punishment shall be the withholding of pain
medication for his wounds. Pain makes man think, thinking makes man wise, and
wisdom makes life endurable." she called out to the group.
"This session is ended!"
