The Dukedom

by Dagny Aldan

  “Ok, ok. I’ll look into it, and I’ll try to keep it quiet. But I am making no promises Hans.”

  “That’s all I ask,” said Hans, his stomach unknotting a little. He had some hope now, hope that he would get to see Isabel again. Then James said,

  “You realise that even if you’re right, you might find that Isabel won’t want to see you again.”

  Hans swallowed hard and nodded,

  “I know, and I will find a way to accept that. I just want her to be safe.”

  James nodded again, as if he had been hoping for that answer, then stood up.

  “Ok, sit tight, if you can, and I’ll see what I can do for you.”

  They shook hands and James walked out, leaving Hans with a sense of hope and anxiety. Hope that he might yet get out of this place, anxiety that Isabel seemed to be missing and no one cared.

  As he went back to his cell, he mused that that seemed to be the truth. Isabel had run away from school, joined the military and headed to a war zone and her parents didn’t seem to care.

  Hans knew that Felix and Chloe had married to unite two powerful families, and it had always been the gossip that they had both had lovers once Isabel had been born. Yet Hans, like most people in Tisza, had assumed they were decent parents, raising Isabel to be well educated and politically minded. From what Hans had seen, the two monarchs seemed to forget that they had a daughter, until she became politically useful.

  Sure, they had pulled her out of the military when the threats came in, but Isabel had been injured more than once and she had told Hans that they had not tried to check on her. So it would probably have been easy for Lena to take Isabel away without their objection.

  “Assholes,” muttered Hans, suddenly feeling a rush of hate for his King and Queen. They had a lovely child in Isabel and had all but abandoned her, to school, to the military, wherever they could leave her. No wonder Isabel had been starved for affection.

  As he sat on his bunk, Hans had to admit to himself that he had taken advantage of that need. He should not have forced Isabel over his knee that first night, she had not consented to that treatment and he should have known better. Lena had told him to do it, but Hans had to own up to his own culpability. Lena didn’t force him to do it, she had only made it much easier.

  Hell, could he really claim that he had gotten Isabel’s consent for sex that first time? He tried to reassure himself that he would have stopped if she had said… but hadn’t she shown reluctance at the start?

  Hans covered his face with his hands, his stomach rolling with guilt as he thought about what he had done. Isabel might have responded to him, but the situation had put her on the back foot. They had been trapped, and Hans remembered how fixated he had been that day. Had Isabel really known she could refuse him? She had to, she had fallen in love with him for goodness sake!

  Yet there was a nagging doubt in his mind. The only thing he could hope was that he would be able to talk to Isabel, apologise for his actions and then maybe they could… could what?

  At the end of the day, Hans knew, Isabel would never be able to marry him. She would marry a fellow heir, probably Prince Sander since he was the younger prince of Tisza’s favourite ally. Hans would never get to stand at her side. It was the reality of Isabel’s life. She could not marry just anyone, it had to be someone appropriate. What appropriate meant was up to the council and to some extent society. Only if something drastic happened to alter people’s expectations and demands from the heirs.

  With his hope feeling rather dampened, Hans picked up one of the books he had brought from the library, this one on Communication. He was stuck where he was for the time being, he might as well work on improving himself, even if he could never be with Isabel.

  Chapter Seventeen -Isabel

  Isabel’s nerves were getting to her again. After Ahmed had fucked her into the mattress that morning he had told her she would be joining Adrian and Sander for some sort of submissive game. He had not elaborated on what that would mean, and now she was worried about what they were going to make her do. It didn’t help that he had not allowed her to orgasm, saying that it would be counter-productive to her training.

  ‘This is what you wanted,’ she reminded herself, ‘You wanted to give up control. All you have to do is accept each order as it comes.’

  “Easier said than done,” she muttered to herself.

  “You know talking to yourself isn’t a good thing, yes?”

  Isabel jumped and nearly dropped the glass vase she had been carrying. She looked around and saw Benjamin across the room. She stared in disbelief, wondering how she had not noticed him at once. Benjamin’s arms were bound above his head, his legs kept open by a spreader bar. A thin metal pole rose up from the ground between his feet and disappeared behind him –no, disappeared into him.

  “Are you –is that a d-dildo in your…?” Isabel flushed and gestured at him vaguely with the vase. Benjamin grinned at her, and she noticed he was panting slightly and sweat shone on his brow. It was hard to tell because of his dark skin but she was sure his face was flushed too. However easy that grin was, he was definitely feeling the effects of that toy inside him.

  “I thought you were ex-military Isabel, can’t you say ‘cock up your ass’?” he asked, his voice slightly breathy. Isabel’s mouth fell open slightly as she stared at him.

  “I… well… I just haven’t really seen anyone else being…” She couldn’t stop herself looking down at his cock. It was hard, but she could see the ring around the base. She stepped forward, hugging the vase to her chest as if it would keep her from doing anything stupid. “Does it hurt?” she asked, eyeing the leaking head of his cock.

  “Not exactly, but it’s not comfortable,” Benjamin chuckle, then moaned softly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Damn thing keeps hitting my prostate,” he groaned.

  “Oh my god, it’s a vibrator?”

  “Of course, wouldn’t be cruel enough if it wasn’t.”

  Isabel stared at him, her eyes roaming over his hard chest, his six-pack stomach, his lean legs. He was stunning.

  Benjamin snorted softly,

  “Close your mouth Isabel before someone’s cock slips in.”

  Isabel snapped her jaw shut, blushing harder than ever. She half turned away, she was meant to be refilling the vase with flowers, but something made her turn back.

  “What did you do to earn this punishment?”

  Benjamin laughed, a surreal thing to watch considering his position.

  “Ah, this isn’t a punishment. It’s just… what they can do to us.”

  “It isn’t? I’d hate to be in your position,” said Isabel.

  “Don’t let them hear you say that. You’ll end up next to me,” said Benjamin. Isabel swallowed and ducked her head as her sex pulsed.

  “I should –yeah,” she mumbled, turning away and heading for the door. As she reached the threshold, she paused as another question popped into her head. She dithered for a moment, then turned around and walked back to Benjamin. He watched her approaching with a little knowing grin, shifting on his feet. Isabel’s eyes were drawn to his cock, arching towards his stomach. Unconsciously she licked her lips, imagining kneeling down and taking that dark cock into her mouth.

  “Did you mean it?” she asked quietly.

  “Hmm?”

  “Did you mean what you said the other night, that you had been waiting to kiss me?”

  Benjamin’s grin slipped a little, becoming more thoughtful.

  “I did.”

  Isabel tilted her head, trying to decide if she wanted to pry further. In the end her need for information outweighed her fear.

  “How long have you wanted it? I mean, why would you want it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, why me? Was it just because I was the last one?”

  Benjamin squirmed, panting softly as his cock twitched.

  “No, not just because you were the last one. I’d hav
e happily kissed you back in school, if you’d let anyone get that close.”

  Isabel stiffened, looking him in the eyes,

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You never let anyone get too close back then, Adrian and Sander were the only ones who managed it and even then you kept them at arm’s length. No one in our year knew why.”

  Isabel swallowed hard, rocking onto her bare heels as she tightened her hold on the vase.

  “No one really wanted to know me, I was the fat, stupid one in the year. I know you all made fun of me, so I stayed away.”

  Benjamin scoffed,

  “We never-”

  “If you have time to chat, slave Isabel,” said a sharp voice that made Isabel jump again, “Then you clearly need more work.”

  Isabel looked around to see Esquire Justin watching them from the door, his arms folded. Isabel dropped her eyes at once, bowing at the waist.

  “I’m sorry Esquire Justin!”

  Justin did not answer her for a moment, then he walked over to them, standing next to Benjamin.

  “What exactly was so interesting that you two thought to have a chat?” he asked, and Isabel watched with wide eyes as Justin wrapped his hand around Benjamin’s cock and started stroking him. Benjamin moaned low in his throat, throwing his head back and trying to rock his hips into the grip. Isabel watched, mouth slightly open, as Benjamin’s long body rippled, muscles bulging in his arms, and his legs.

  “Isabel wanted to know if I’d wanted to kiss her when we were in school?”

  “Really?” Justin stretched the word out and Isabel thought she might bolt as her face burned. “Why was that so important to know?”

  Isabel said nothing, she kept her head down and bit her lip.

  “She seems to think we all made fun of her back then,” said Benjamin, his voice breathless but strong.

  “And did you?” asked Justin. He sounded so amused, and Isabel closed her eyes, hating him in that moment. How could he use her nightmares for his own entertainment?

  “No more than we made fun of each other,” said Benjamin. “Kids are assholes, Esquire. Doesn’t mean we didn’t like her.”

  “Sounds typical enough,” said Justin and Isabel watched him speed up his massage of Benjamin’s cock. Benjamin’s head fell back again and his legs trembled.

  “Oh, esquire, please, please,” he gasped, sounding desperate. Isabel wondered if his need was worse than hers would have been. What was it like for a man to need to orgasm?

  Justin chuckled,

  “Aw, poor Benjamin, I already told you, begging won’t help you.” He turned to Isabel. “You see Benjamin is very good at begging, even when he isn’t as desperate as he seems. Do you think he looks desperate now, Isabel?”

  “Yes Esquire Justin.”

  Justin laughed and let Benjamin go,

  “You might have Isabel fooled, but not me. I know you can last longer than this Benjamin.”

  Benjamin groaned miserably and hung his head.

  “So, let’s go back to Isabel’s assessment of your school days. Isabel, you think your classmates disliked you back then?”

  Isabel grimaced and looked up at him,

  “I never said that. I said they didn’t like me, they made fun of me… I was the fat, stupid one in the school.”

  Justin narrowed his eyes, turning back to Benjamin,

  “Did you think she was fat?”

  Benjamin blinked and shook his head,

  “She was probably the heaviest in our year, but I never called her fat, and I don’t know who did.”

  “Well, perhaps we should gather your other classmates and ask them their opinion,” said Justin.

  “No!” Isabel cried, dropping to her knees, “Please don’t Esquire Justin! Please, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for not doing my duties quick enough. I’ll do better.”

  Justin stared at her, looking startled.

  “What are you so afraid of Isabel?” he asked.

  “I… I…” Isabel sucked in a shuddering breath, “I d-don’t need –I don’t want to be reminded of how pathetic I was and am. I know I’ve always been useless, fat and stupid. Please don’t make me stand before my peers and be reminded.” The idea of doing so was making her heart race and her breathing picked up, she lost her grip on the vase and it clattered to the floor, a crack appearing in its once flawless glass. “Oh god! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she gasped, her nails scratching over her chest as she tried to control her breathing.

  “Isabel! Listen to me,” said Justin, his voice calm and reassuring, “Stand up. Stand up now.”

  Isabel staggered as she obeyed, feeling like she was going to either be sick or faint. Justin pushed her backwards several steps and said,

  “I want you to do jumping jacks, now. Count them!”

  Isabel obeyed, swinging her arms up and down and jumping her feet apart and together,

  “One –Two –Three,” she could barely get the words out her breathing was so erratic, but she was terrified if she fucked up again she would end up in the stocks. Spots danced in front of her vision, and she stumbled,

  “Keep going, match your counts to the jumps,” said Justin.

  “Yessir, Five –Six –Seven, Eight, Nine… Ten… Eleven…” Her breathing started to even out, and she started to slow down, recognising what Justin wanted her to do. She got to twenty before she felt calm and glanced at Justin who nodded that she could stop. She did, feeling shaken, then noticed that Benjamin was looking at her just as worriedly as Justin, but he was still bound up with a pulsing toy in his ass.

  Isabel burst out laughing, because it was so ridiculous, but it quickly dissolved into tears. She covered her face and dropped to her knees, sobbing desperately into her hands. She could hear Justin talking but nothing made sense, she was lost in a whirl of emotions that she could not separate. She was so frightened of her peers and how little they must think of her, she was so ashamed of what she was and what she had done. Things she had buried in her mind from her time in the military. She missed Hans and hated him in the same breath, she hated her parents and herself most of all.

  Voices floated around her and then she felt the press and sting of an injection on her arm. She started and threw a punch, hitting someone’s nose before the drug made her feel heavy and slow. She tilted to the side and stared up through half lidded eyes at Benjamin who was looking down on her, his face contorted with worry, his cock now soft against his thigh. Dimly Isabel though he really was the most beautiful man she had ever seen, before she could not fight the drugs anymore and slipped into nothingness.

  Chapter Eighteen –Luke

  Ahmed looked furious as he regarded the unconscious slave. Luke couldn’t think of a time when he had been so angry, and he noticed that Lena seemed to be trying to make herself inconspicuous.

  Isabel was in the medical bay within the Dukedom, the Medical Esquires had given her an IV to keep her asleep until they felt it was time to wake her. Justin stood by her bed, looking upset, and again, Luke had never seen that expression on Justin’s face before. Then again, no slave had ever had such an attack as Isabel had just had.

  This was why training took time, Luke thought viciously. It was not just teaching a slave to obey, it was about making sure they were mentally healthy. He glared at Lena who visibly gulped.

  “So!” said Ahmed loudly, looking around at Lena. “Your charge was so terrified of seeing her peers that the idea sent her into a panic attack, and you thought she was ready to come here?”

  “I… With respect Grand Duke, you told me to get Isabel here as quickly as possible,” said Lena. Luke looked at his friend in surprise, but Ahmed scoffed and waved the point away,

  “I meant train her as quickly as you could so we could begin the next phase of our plan. I did not mean don’t bother to have her assessed for PTSD, or any other mental issues. The slaves have to have a strong foundation to withstand this place, you know this!”

  “I thought she did,” sa
id Lena but her eyes slide away from Ahmed’s as if she was trying to hide something.

  “Clearly she did not,” said Luke, extending his arm towards Isabel’s prone figure. “What if this attack had happened during a scene? What if she had panicked like that when she was bound up, gagged and suspended from the ceiling? These sorts of problems are meant to be treated before they come here.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Lena forcefully, though she did not sound sorry, “I honestly thought she was fine. She’s happily submitted to everything I asked her, there was not a hint of anxiety about being among her peers when I first told her about it.”

  “Perhaps you just weren’t looking hard enough,” said Luke coldly, turning to Ahmed. “Ahmed, we ought to send Isabel home for a while, let her be treated by a professional, then return here to finish her training.”

  “With respect Duke Luke, I don’t think that would help,” said Justin, “Isabel will think she’s let us down. It would probably only make things worse for her.”

  “So what do you suggest we do?” demanded Luke, “Just hope it goes away and continue as normal?”

  “No,” said Ahmed, cutting through the debate. “I will take Isabel under my control full time. I will find out the cause of these attacks, and help her move past them. She can stay in my rooms for the time being, away from the others until she is ready to face them.”

  Luke stared at him in surprise. True, Luke had been about to make the same offer himself, but for Ahmed to do it seemed very out of character.

  “The other slaves won’t necessarily like that she’s getting special treatment,” said Justin quietly.

  “And I don’t think isolating her from them will help her move past whatever is troubling her about them,” added Luke. “Justin, you said it all started because Isabel felt her classmates had disliked and mocked her, but Benjamin insisted they didn’t.”

  “No more than children are apt to do at any rate,” said Justin.

  “Do you believe Benjamin’s word?” asked Ahmed.