by Syra Bond
'Your pride is admirable, my little priestess. But it is misplaced. You are forgetting that it is I who am now in the position of power. It is I who will shape your destiny. It is I who will decide on your suffering. And it is I who will decide if it will end.'
Calliope pushed herself against Eva's leg. Eva stroked Calliope's head. Calliope purred.
'It is interesting, my little captives, that you have spent time in a cage. I would not like to take you away from something to which you have become accustomed. Yes, that is where you shall stay while you are with me. I cannot think of anything more comfortable or to your taste.' She turned to the guards. 'Take them to the cages. I will visit them later.'
Sappho and Chryseis were pulled to their feet and dragged away. Sappho kept Eva fixed with a glare until she was finally pulled through the huge doorway of the magnificent room.
The guards stripped away Sappho's torn and grimy smock. They lashed leather thongs around their wrists and hauled them out of the palace.
Sappho and Chryseis were dragged through the streets. Greek soldiers were still looting houses, women were being pulled from hiding places, men were being chained and hauled away to the beach. Sappho and Chryseis shrunk back in fear as they were prodded and poked by soldiers and beggars alike. They were stopped when a looting crowd blocked their way near a rich man's house. Some women spat on them and threw clods of mud. Sappho felt ashamed and humiliated.
The guards brought them to a courtyard enclosed by a high wall. It had been a transfer station for wild animals, imported from Asia and Africa and sold to the rich nobles of Troy. Most of the animals had escaped, been released or had been stolen. Enslaved women now took their places. They crouched inside the iron-barred coops, holding their hands out for food or appealing to their guards for rescue. Many of the cages were stacked one on top of another. Those near the tops of piles swayed precariously when the women moved inside them. Sappho and Chryseis were pushed into two separate cages sitting in the full glare of the sun in the middle of the courtyard.
Sappho struggled against the guards as they stuffed her inside the cage. She braced her legs against the doorway, itself barely big enough to allow entry. But it was useless. She was weak and exhausted. She could not resist them. The guards laughed as they prised her legs away. They teased her for acting like a cat. They called her 'Calliope' and kicked her as they bundled her inside.
In the cage there was no room to move. Her legs were squeezed up so that her knees touched her nipples. Her arms were folded around her shins. Her head was bent at an angle. She had to strain her neck to see what was going on around her.
Some of the women were hooded, some gagged. Some of them were bound by the wrists and by the ankles. Some, like Sappho and Chryseis, were bound only by the wrists. When any of them were taken out to be inspected for sale, or thrashed for punishment or amusement, they were chained to a stout timber post near the centre of the courtyard.
Sappho crouched in the cage all day. The sun beat down on her. There was no shade. Food was given to some of the women but not all. If any of them begged for food or complained they were dragged out of their cages and beaten.
There was always someone chained to the post. Sometimes it was a young girl, pulled from her family house, and now destined for service to a rich Greek lady. Sometimes it was a delicate woman, once noble and used to a life of favour and ease, and now reduced to slavery and servitude. Sometimes it was a beautiful African or Nubian slave, proud and tall, slender and perfectly shaped. These the guards took particular pleasure in punishing. They chained them carefully so that they could not move their wrists at all. They bound leather thongs around their waists and pulled them tightly to the post. They beat them slowly and methodically with canes or whips. Sometimes they smacked them with the flats of their hands. They counted how many strikes it took before the women cried out. They laughed as they watched them jerk in response to their punishment. They felt between their legs. They prised their fingers into their sexes. They bent and licked there too. They listened to their cries when they came. They increased the strength of their beating so that the cries grew louder. They let them hang there still screaming long after the punishment had ended. Sometimes they forgot about them and they were left tied to the post all night.
All through the night naked Sappho shivered with the cold. She thought of the terrible destruction of Troy. She looked at Chryseis, pinned inside her cage. A wave of sadness and fear swept over her. She wanted to call out, but she knew the guards would come and punish her if she did. She stared at a Nubian women hanging on the post. The outline of her muscular body was picked out by the flickering torchlight. Her head and her pubic hair had been shaved by her previous masters. She was oiled. Her dark nipples were hard and prominent. She stared over at Sappho.
Sappho pushed her fingers between the tops of her thighs. With her legs bent up her flesh was stretched tight. The soft lips clung to her fingers. She could barely move, but she managed to shift her buttocks enough to allow her fingers deeper. She watched the beautiful Nubian, hanging in chains on the post; naked, humiliated, still twitching with the pain of her lashing. Sappho felt a sudden flow of ecstasy, set off by the sight of captivity, of suffering. It welled up inside her. She could do nothing to stop it. She moaned, and quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard. They had.
A guard came over and shook the cage. She pulled her fingers from her sex and shrank down as much as she could. Another guard came over. They pulled her out and dragged her to the post. The beautiful Nubian was released and forced back into her cage. Sappho was chained in her place. A leather strap was wound around her waist to bind her to the pillory.
They took turns, one with a short lash with several tails, the other with a leather strap.
The lash cut into her buttocks. She felt the sting from every one of its tattered ends. They curled around the side of her buttocks and lashed her hips. Some of the blows were directed downwards and the leather flails cut across her back or between her buttocks. She hung onto the chain at her wrists, the weight of her body hanging on its unforgiving links.
The leather belt was heavier. Its pain jolted her. It was thick and dense. It ran deep inside her. It penetrated her with overwhelming pain. Its smooth flat surface conveyed bursts of agony. She shuddered every time it landed. She sagged on the chains, not knowing when it would end, only hoping that some time it would.
She saw the beautiful Nubian staring at her from inside her cage. Her legs were pulled up, her knees pressed against her breasts. She had a finger inside her sex.
Sappho bit her lip. With every blow she gasped and cried out. She heard her cries of suffering echo around the courtyard. She knew they were accompanying a growing surge of joy now running out of control through her. It throbbed in time with the thrashing belt. It kept pace with the rhythmic movements of the beautiful Nubian's fingers as they slid in and out of her wet, glistening sex. Every gasping scream, every jolting smack of the belt, every fresh glisten of moisture on the woman's fingers fed the fire of Sappho's delight.
They unchained her and pushed her back into the cage. She fought against them. She struggled against release. She fought to keep out of the cage, not because she feared its imprisoning bars, but because she wanted more pain tied to the post.
They forced her in. She clung to the door. Her hot buttocks were cooled by the iron bars. She stared at the Nubian woman and, without touching herself, tightened in the grip of a sudden, jerking ecstasy. She kept her eyes on the Nubian until the last quivering of her pleasure subsided. By the time she closed her eyes the torches had burned out and everyone was asleep.
Next morning the guards fed some of the women. They held bowls at the bars and the women struggled to slip their hands through for morsels of food. Neither Sappho nor Chryseis was fed. Sappho watched as the guards filled a bowl with their semen. They brought it to all the cages and offered it to the women. All took it eagerly, lapping at it through the bars, or slurping it down
when the guards held it at an angle against their imprisoning coops. Sappho watched Chryseis accept the bowl. She watched her lick and lap at it thirstily. She saw it sticking to her friend's lips. She watched her throat tighten as she swallowed eagerly. They came to Sappho. The bars of her cage were closer together and she could not get at the bowl. They opened the door and placed the bowl on the ground. She bent forward on her knees and lapped until the bowl was empty.
Eva walked into the courtyard with Calliope on her lead. 'Ah, I see we have animals again in the cages. They feed very well too. Let me see this one.'
She bent and grabbed Sappho's dark hair, pulling her head back.
'Well, it is an animal indeed. I do not know what sort, but I see it is the sort that drinks semen. It is clearly not a very proud animal. And that will suit my purposes. I want an animal who will be easily humbled. Ah, your bowl is empty. And you still look so thirsty. I cannot have my animals thirsty. Not when it is so hot, and they have no shade. Push her back in her cage!'
The guards kicked at Sappho and drove her back. She cowered inside and curled up as they slammed the iron grill shut.
Eva paraded around it. Calliope followed her on the lead. Eva handed the loop of it to one of the guards. Calliope strained on the lead as Eva stepped away from her, then bent down and stroked her head.
'Do not be afraid, my little pet. I will not be out of your sight. You wait; I will have your lead back in my hand soon.'
Calliope sat back on her knees. The guard pulled. Calliope turned and bared her teeth, and the guard released the tension.
Eva stalked around Sappho's cage. Her robe opened wide as she strode purposefully. Her beautiful naked body was exposed. She placed her fingers to her lips in mock thoughtfulness.
'I cannot decide what to do. How can I make sure my little animal does not go thirsty? Of course! I am such a fool.'
She stepped up onto Sappho's cage. She placed her feet apart and threw back her robe so that it hung over her shoulders and down her back. Her oiled body glistened in the morning sunlight. Sappho cowered beneath her.
'Here, my little animal. You can drink my own liquid. I will quench your thirst.'
A shower of golden urine issued from between Eva's legs. It flowed down copiously. Its central stream broke into a sprinkling downpour of separate droplets. They flooded over the bars of the cage, separating into a fragrant drizzle before raining down on Sappho.
Sappho crouched beneath the showering flow of urine. She was unable to move. It soaked her hair and wet it down in straggly strands. It ran across her forehead. It stung her eyes and ran down her cheeks and nose. She tasted it on her lips; salty, piquant, aromatic. She licked it with the tip of her tongue. It ran off her chin and soaked her breasts. Her nipples hardened. It ran from their tips down her stomach and between her thighs. It cooled her own heat. It mixed with her own moisture. It glistened as it ran over her anus, forming a pool around her buttocks. She sat in it, drenched by Eva's urine, covered in the downpour of her golden rain.
Sappho swallowed. It quenched her thirst. The savoury bite burned her throat. Her lips parted with the keen anticipation of more. She tipped her head back and opened her mouth. The flow continued. It filled her mouth, and she swirled her tongue in the pool it formed there. She waited for it to overflow then swallowed again. Her thirst was both quenched and increased. She was enlivened and refreshed by the beautiful liquid that filled her, and the more she drank the more her need was not satisfied.
She stared up between Eva's legs as the flow ceased. She kept her mouth open, hoping for more - even a single drop. She could show nothing else but that she was not yet satisfied.
Eva ordered one of the guards to stand above her. Sappho waited until the flow began again. She closed her eyes in delight as it filled her mouth. She swallowed it greedily. One by one more guards took their position on the top of the cage, and Sappho drank all that rained down on her.
Each day the same happened. The women were fed semen and given showers of urine to drink. It seemed never ending. Sometimes Sappho was beaten at the post, sometimes it was Chryseis' turn. They never got a chance to speak to each other.
One day the women were made to stand in a line to be inspected by a Greek noble. Sappho stood by the beautiful Nubian woman. She pressed her fingers between the woman's thighs. She did the same for Sappho. When they were discovered they were both bent over at the pillory and beaten with a cane.
One morning they were all dragged from their cages and chained together in a long line. Guards led the way as they were marched out through the gates of Troy. They walked all day without rest or water. Some collapsed from exhaustion. They were beaten until they got to their feet and continued. At the beach they were herded into groups and tied up for the night. The next day they were chained in a compound lined with shields, and told there was no chance of escape. That they were slaves to the victorious Greeks and that their lives persisted only at the whim of their triumphant masters.
Sappho was filled with despair. She could not imagine ever again being happy. The idea of being free, with Chryseis as her friend, now seemed an empty dream.
Chapter 16
Sappho and Chryseis are humiliated
Time passed. The chained women stood each day, huddled together in the compound. The sun burned down on them. They were offered no shelter. The strict guards watched them. They looked out for the slightest transgression and punished them if one was detected. One day Chryseis was whipped for looking up towards the rising sun.
Day by day Sappho carefully worked her way nearer to Chryseis until she was close enough to talk.
'Chryseis, dear Chryseis, I am so happy to be close to you again. I have missed you so much. I thought we would never be together again.'
'Sappho, I never doubted we would be together. And I do not doubt we will again take our rightful place, as ladies of the temple.'
'Do not tease me, Chryseis. I am too upset to think of it.'
'I am not teasing, my darling. It will happen, I promise.'
'Then it will be like my dream.'
Sappho felt a surge of excitement run through her body. If only, she thought. She clung to Chryseis' arm. She felt her sex moisten at the touch of Chryseis' smooth skin.
There was a clamour of activity outside the compound. The gates were thrown open.
Eva had returned from Troy. There were no more women to be found in the city. Her mission was accomplished. Now she would show her booty to Praxis. Now she would claim her reward.
'Line them up!' she shouted as, with Calliope on her lead, she strode into the compound. 'Lord Praxis will be here to inspect them at any moment. Make sure they are presentable. I want nothing to go wrong.' Guards pulled the women into a line. Sappho stayed next to Chryseis although she was forced to let go of her arm.
The guards walked along the line checking the bedraggled and dirty women.
'They need washing, lady.'
'Praxis will be none the wiser,' she joked. 'What he does not see he will not know. And he does not see anything! Do not waste water on them.'
The guard was unsettled by her words. He did not think it wise to hold the lord Praxis in such contempt. 'My lady—'
'I have ordered you!' she shouted in a temper.
Calliope pressed herself against Eva's leg and purred. Praxis appeared, Master Wang leading him. He sniffed around the face of the first woman. 'This is a sweet one.'
He bent and pushed his face between her thighs. He probed his nose into her sex. He inhaled deeply. 'Yes, very sweet.'
He took her nipples between his fingers and twisted until she yelped. He put his ear by her mouth and listened attentively. He twisted her nipples more. He listened to her cries. He walked to the next and did the same. She tried to bear the pain, but could not. He smiled, rewarded.
He sniffed at Sappho's sex. He cocked his head to one side. 'I know this one. I have inhaled her aroma before. It is especially fragrant.'
'You have, my lord.
She was a priestess in the temple of Apollo. A remarkable find. She will command a good price. As will her friend, the daughter of Pelador himself, the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo.'
Praxis smiled. He was overjoyed. He had never had so many slaves. He saw before him only a future of riches and good fortune.
'You have surpassed yourself, lady Eva. You will command your every wish. Nothing will be unavailable to you. I am your lord, and yet I am your slave. My pleasure is beholden not only to your beauty, but to the gifts you bear. Now, treat me to the sound of suffering. I want to know how these beautiful maidens respond to punishment. I want to listen to their humiliation.'
Eva signalled the guards. Sappho stood behind Chryseis. 'Bring that one to me,' shouted Praxis, hearing her move. 'The one who hides behind her friend. And hold her friend. She will taste my punishment in a moment.'
They dragged Sappho forward. She struggled against them. It was pointless, she knew it, but it was an unavoidable reaction to her fear. The hopeless effort made her feel even weaker, even more feeble and unable to resist the power they had over her. Her stomach filled with a burst of anxiety. She was overwhelmed with her vulnerability, but she fought on regardless.
'She struggles, sire. She is like a tireless beast, fighting against the hounds until the last. She does not realise the battle is lost even before it starts.'
'Yes, you are right. She is an animal who cannot see her own doom. Blindfold her. This little beast will share my blindness. Wang, you shall be her eyes as well as mine. We will both see the punishment of our high priestess in the images you paint for us.'
A band of black material was pulled across Sappho's eyes. It was tightened with a yank and knotted firmly. It precluded all light. She shook her head and stumbled in the confusion of dizziness, darkness and dazzling stars. She cocked her head to the side and listened. She heard the scuffling of feet. She heard Chryseis gasp under the pressure of being held tightly. She heard her pleas for release. She heard her heavy breathing.
