by Syra Bond
Chryseis managed to find her way to the temple. She crawled into a small cellar and cowered between the pillars that supported its low ceiling. She pushed herself into a cage in the darkest corner. She quaked with fear. She squeezed her hands together tightly, dropped to her knees and prayed to Apollo for deliverance from this hellish nightmare.
Chapter 13
The sacking of Troy
Achilles led the Greek army through the streets and alleys. Nothing stood in their way. The frustration of years of stalemate was finally released in their vengeful brutality. King Priam was killed on the steps of his palace. The invading army burned buildings, set fire to grain stores, polluted water supplies, desecrated temples, stole treasure. They dragged terrified occupants from their houses and lined them up in the streets. The men they chained, marched out of the city, and drove to the beach as slaves. Women were herded together and taken into the great square. They stood in rows beneath the shadow of the wooden horse - the beast which had brought their destruction. Their hands were tied in front of them. Some were hooded. Some were gagged.
Eva stood with Calliope behind a crumbling wall. Her mission to find slaves was foremost in her mind. She watched the women who had been captured. She was interested in the desires of the Greeks, keen to know more about how they were best satisfied. She tugged at Calliope's lead, who went down on all fours. She looked up at her mistress with wide eyes. Eva rewarded her with a sharp tug at the collar.
The captured women were filed between the forelegs of the wooden horse. They were made to kneel and were branded with the sign of the bronze-tipped ash spear - the emblem of Achilles.
Ajax, led by a girl, chided Achilles for the branding. He feared the wrath of Agamemnon. Achilles dismissed his worry.
'Achilles fears no one. Not even the gods. There is no man who can better the great Achilles. Even kings and princes must bow before the one who has taken the great city of Troy. Let the world know. Achilles is indestructible. Now, Ajax, come. We shall celebrate our victory.'
Agamemnon and Menelaus joined them. A great table was laid out. Chairs were brought. Soldiers of the victorious army gathered around. They toasted the wooden horse. They congratulated their own bravery. They demanded pleasure from their captives.
'Let the entertainment begin!' cried Agamemnon.
Five women were brought forward for approval. They stood naked, their wrists tied before them, their heads bowed. Two were red-haired, two were dark, one was blonde. Their hair was long in the Trojan style; pulled back from their face and hanging down between their shoulders in a plait. Soldiers with sticks prodded them and made them raise their hands. They poked them in the back and made them bend over.
Achilles ordered the blonde to be caned across the buttocks because he thought her too slow to bend over. She yelped with each stroke. He inspected the red wheals but was not satisfied. He ordered her to be caned some more. She squirmed and had to be held in place. She fell silent and was dragged away.
The two redheads were forced down on all fours. The two dark-haired women were bent down across them, their buttocks lifted high. Their knees were secured to their bound wrists by leather straps passed beneath the redheads, their rounded buttocks taut. Their sex lips were exposed, pink and soft, glistening with moisture.
Eva wet her lips with her tongue. Calliope nuzzled close against her leg.
Two men stood behind the women. They held canes. They flexed them to show how whippy they were. They held both ends and bent them almost double. They released them to demonstrate how they sprang back with a snap. The two dark-haired women both closed their eyes and pushed their heads down as low as they could. The dark plait of one fell into the crook of her neck. The other's slipped forward from her shoulder and touched the ground.
Eva thought of walking forward, of joining the gathering of the chiefs, of sharing in the victory, but she did not. Watching secretly, observing without anyone seeing her was more delightful. Looking in on what was happening without being seen was more tantalising to her senses. Calliope purred, sensing the heat of her mistress's excitement. Eva stroked her and wet her lips again.
The two men pulled the canes back and waited. Agamemnon raised his arm. The men brought the canes down. They bent as they descended through the air, but straightened just before they struck. There was a stinging crack as they hit their targets. The women both reared back. They opened their mouths at the same time. They screamed in unison. They were twinned in suffering. The canes lifted back again. There was a moment's pause, a moment's silence. It was broken by the swishing sound as again they swept down. The crack fractured the air as they laced across the upturned buttocks. Another red line arose against the first.
Eva pulled the loop of the leash against her sex. Calliope pulled back slightly, increasing the tension, making the leather slip more cuttingly against her mistress's soft flesh. Eva tightened her jaws as the canes flashed through the air. They were raised at the same time. They were held for a second. They were brought down together. They worked in harmony, in a measured rhythm. Eva rubbed the leather against her clitoris, causing it to throb, teasing her growing need for satisfaction.
The women were untied from the backs of the other two and changed around. The canes punished the redheads. They lashed mercilessly, covering their buttocks with angry red stripes. They too jerked and wailed, but gradually fell silent. When they lay limp on the other's backs they too were untied.
The four of them lay on the ground, gasping for breath, shivering. Buckets of water were thrown to rouse them. It splashed on their exposed bodies. It slopped onto their faces. They were dragged to their feet and made to stand in a line. They stood, their hands held up to their faces, water running down their shivering bodies. A soldier threatened them with a cane. They cowered before it as he forced them to bend over. Their reddened buttocks, wet and dripping, glowed in the sunlight. Water ran down between their legs, over their feet and onto the ground in puddles.
Soldiers came forward and stood in front of them. They lifted the women's heads and forced their cocks into their mouths. The soldiers with the canes started thrashing again, making the women lurch forward against the cocks in their mouths.
Eva wanted desperately to walk out into the square. She could hardly hold herself back. She watched one of the women falling sideways. The soldier held her shoulders tightly. He kept his cock deep in her throat, but still she fell. Her knees bent. With the cane flailing her buttocks she crumbled and fell to the dusty ground. The soldier's cock pulled out. Its ribbed shaft pulsated. Its swollen end throbbed. Semen spurted from it - a soaking surge. It ran into the woman's mouth as she fell. It splattered over her face and down her neck. It slithered onto her breasts. It stuck to her nipples, glistening.
The woman rolled onto her side. Dust stuck to her face. The semen smudged in dirty strands. It mixed with the mud. She lay face down, gasping into the puddles from the water that had been thrown over them. The soldier pulled her up. He bent her over his knee and the caning continued.
Eva could stand it no longer. She tugged Calliope's lead. Calliope straightened her arms, dipped the small of her back and lifted her beautifully curved buttocks. Eva jerked her forward. The fading sunlight caught the facets of the golden ring in Calliope's clitoris. It reflected between the soft dunes of her sex, radiating the beauty of her moist labia, illuminating her luscious flesh.
Eva strode out into the square. Achilles saw her first.
'Ah! The beautiful Eva. And her new pet, the delectable Calliope. I hope your slave is behaving herself, my lady?'
Eva walked over to the chieftains. Calliope crawled on all fours, never letting the leash go slack yet at the same time never showing too much resistance.
'She is, my lord. See how she awaits her mistress's orders. See how she purrs and presses herself against her lady's leg.'
Calliope looked up at Ajax. His blinded eyes stared uselessly ahead. His jaws tightened at the mention of her; the one who had tripped him
and sent him headlong into the spears.
She leant against his leg. He tensed. She pressed harder. He relaxed. She pressed her face against his knee. He felt her warmth and reached down. She licked his palm. He touched her head. She pressed up against his hand.
'Yes, my lord Achilles, I tolerate only obedience.'
'Then Praxis will be pleased with you as well.'
'He will, my lord.'
Ajax tensed again. This time at the mention of Praxis, the one he'd blinded, but who had returned to take his revenge by blinding Ajax.
Calliope sensed his returning anger. She licked him harder. She felt him responding to her wet caress.
'And you are here to find slaves for your master?'
'I am.'
'Have you found what you are looking for? Are these women who tease us with their screams to your taste? Will you choose them for Praxis' flock?'
Eva pulled on the lead. Calliope followed obediently.
Eva walked over to the women. Semen dripped from their wet lips. Water ran from their sweating bodies. Their buttocks glowed with the stripes from the caning. Their hair was tousled and stuck together in wet strands. Eva looked at each one in turn. She pinched her thumb and forefinger around the left nipple of one. The woman winced. Eva squeezed harder. The woman's mouth fell open. Eva released her grip and the woman fell back. She stumbled and only just managed to stay on her feet.
'Pathetic,' said Eva in disgust. 'If this is what is on offer in Troy I am wasting my time.' She strutted back towards the seated chieftains.
'You are quick to find fault, lady,' said Ajax.
She shrugged and tossed back her mane of red hair.
'Yes, lady Eva. Finding fault is useless unless there is also a remedy. Do you have the remedy?' added Achilles.
Agamemnon and Menelaus both laughed.
Eva stopped. She would not be mocked, even by the great Greek lords who sat before her. She turned and walked back past the four women. She stood against one of the legs of the great wooden horse. She pushed Calliope away with her foot. Calliope sat back on her knees and scowled.
'I shall be the remedy, my lord. And the example. I will take the cane. Command your soldiers, Achilles. Have them punish this poor slave, Eva. And tell them not to hold back.'
Still holding Calliope's lead she bent forward and rested her arms against the leg of the horse. She dipped her back and lifted her buttocks. Their smooth skin, touched by a hint of moisture, stretched tautly. The dark valley between them opened at its base as the oval of her sex pressed out. It glistened with moisture. Her clitoris rose from its protective shell, throbbing at its exposure, pulsating with her need for more.
Her hair fell over her face. She waited.
A soldier stepped forward with a cane. He laid it against her buttocks. He measured their distance from him. He pressed it down, testing the springiness of her flesh. He tapped the cane several times against her pale skin. He pulled it back and waited.
'Remember, do not hold back,' ordered Achilles.
The cane came down. The air was cut by its loud swish. It bent sharply as it neared its target. It landed squarely across Eva's upturned buttocks. It cracked as it made contact. It reddened her skin instantly. She jerked, but did not pull away.
The soldier drew the cane back again. This time he did not wait for an instruction. He brought it down harder. It curved then slashed against her skin. She jerked again as another red line appeared.
She pulled on Calliope's lead. Calliope moved closer to her. Eva stared down at the ground. The thrashing continued. When she felt the pain urging her to scream out she bit her lip and contained it. But every slash of the cane stoked the fire within her. The agony of the beating only fed her desire for more. Each stroke made her want the next. Each flame of pain only ignited a wish for something more severe. She took it all, and still was not satisfied.
When the soldier stood back Calliope crawled behind her mistress. She pushed her head between Eva's legs. She moved her cheeks up and down against the insides of Eva's thighs. She straightened her arms, stretched up and laid her tongue across the hot lines the cane had scorched.
Eva rose as she felt the cool tongue against her stinging skin. Calliope licked along each line. She dribbled saliva along the raised welts. Eva pulled the lead. Calliope held herself against the tension. She let her tongue drift between Eva's buttocks. She found her anus. She tasted it. She probed at its centre. Eva tightened with expectation. She opened her buttocks. Her anus opened for the tip of Calliope's tongue. It slipped in; probing, investigating, forced in by Calliope's eagerness, sucked in by Eva's desire.
Eva clung to the wooden leg. Her nails clawed the timber. She breathed hard as her heart pounded in her tightened chest, savouring Calliope's penetrating tongue and the staring eyes she knew were upon her.
She pressed back onto Calliope's tongue. She let her probe her rectum with its tip. She let her taste her innards. She dug her nails into the leg of the wooden horse.
Suddenly she pulled away.
She stood up, containing her passion, holding it back. She walked to one of the four women who still stood in a line. She took her jaw between thumb and fingers. The woman's mouth opened. Eva pressed her lips against the woman's and tasted sperm. She licked inside her mouth. She went to the next three and drank from them as well.
When finished she stood before the chieftains. 'Now have my pet thrashed. All she wants is what I command. You will see how she longs for nothing but obeying her mistress. Thrash her and you will see me satisfied. Then you will have the answer to your own question. You will know if I have the remedy.'
Eva lay back in the chair Achilles pushed forward for her. She straightened her legs and opened them wide. Calliope crawled between them. She squeezed her face between Eva's thighs and poked out her tongue. She licked Eva's sex; still wet, still open, still available. She lifted her buttocks, tightening them together. When the cane struck she only raised herself for more.
Eva let her hair fall back on her shoulders. She pulled and drew Calliope in as close as she could. Calliope's face pressed against her open cunt. Eva felt her nose against her clitoris. Calliope nibbled. She nipped it between her teeth. Her saliva mixed with Eva's flowing moisture and ran down her chin.
Eva lifted her hips. She braced her forearms on the chair. She let her head fall back. She craned her neck, exposing her throat. She looked up into the sky. She stared at the sun. Her head filled with its golden rays. She tightened again. She throbbed all over. Her heart beat heavily in her constricted chest. Her temples pounded. Her head spun. She opened her mouth. She held her breath. She fell back: replete, filled, overjoyed.
Calliope licked her for a while longer. Ajax pulled her back. She nuzzled up against his leg and purred. He stroked her head. She responded to his attention. Eva did not notice.
As night fell soldiers were sent to search the city.
Polydorus had evaded capture and Paris and Helen had not been found. Agamemnon would not rest until the aim of the war had been achieved; the capture and return of his brother's wife, Helen. Achilles led the search party. They roamed the streets. They prised out those who had hidden in holes and cellars, torturing them for information about the ones they sought. They worked their way through the back alleys, the shops, the places of worship, but they did not find the ones they sought.
Chryseis clung in terror to the bars of her cage beneath the Temple of Apollo. She held her breath as the soldiers searched the rooms above. She heard feet running for safety; other fugitives desperate to avoid capture. She stared out blankly, filled with fear. A figure appeared at the entrance of the dungeon. It wore a cloak. It was a man. He peered into the gloomy darkness, looking for a place to hide. She stared back at him. He turned and went.
The soldiers of Achilles returned that night disappointed and angry. Achilles gave them heart, offering them bounty for the capture of the two princes and the truant Helen. They cheered him and swore it would not be long before t
he fugitives were in their hands.
Chapter 14
Torture on the rack
Chryseis clung to the bars of the cage, afraid to move. She had not eaten. She felt dizzy. She heard a noise. She thought it was a rat. She cocked her head and listened carefully. It was a scratching sound. She cocked her head the other way. The scratching stopped. She saw a shadow at the entrance to the dark dungeon. She thought it was the cloaked man returning. She froze with fear. The shadow darted back. It stopped. It was a woman. She peered into the cell. Chryseis held her breath. She felt her cold hands shaking with fear. The head darted back. The shadow disappeared.
Chryseis was shaking as she crept to the doorway. The low ceiling was barely above her back. She shivered. She had not been so aware of the tight confines of the dungeon while in the cage. Now, outside its protection, she realised the low ceiling, the close walls and the tiny entrance conspired like a heavy weight to press down on her and close her in. She managed to get to the entrance. She looked out. She saw no one. The shadow must have been a cruel trick of the light.
She crawled back to the safety of the cage. She sensed something behind her. She could not move. She could not breathe. Her mouth dried. A hand touched her shoulder. She went ice cold with fear. The fingernails dug into her skin. Her eyes widened. Her heart pounded. She thought it was going to explode.
'Chryseis,' said a voice. 'Chryseis, it is me, Sappho.'
Her head spun giddily. Still she could not move. She must have gone mad. She must be imagining it. It was not possible.
The fingers pressed against her shoulder, urging her to turn.
'Do not be afraid, my darling Chryseis. It is truly me, your friend Sappho.'
