Encircled

by Robin Roseau

She paused and then nodded.

  * * * *

  Twenty minutes later at Government House, I came face to face with Olivia. “Hello, Claary.”

  “Lady Olivia,” I said. Pain crossed her face for a moment. “You remember my mother, Kathareet.”

  “Hello, Kathareet. You have an event today.”

  “Actually, Olivia,” I said. “I’m glad I ran into you. She’s nervous.”

  “That’s common, especially when you weren’t brought up to this,” she said. She stepped forward and reached for Mother’s hands. “Do you mind if I come along with you?” Mother shook her head, and so Olivia tucked Mother’s arm in hers, and I followed along behind them. Olivia spoke easily to Mother, asking questions about her childhood. The two compared notes, and then we came to one of the changing rooms.

  “Will it be like the events we witnessed?” Mother asked.

  “No,” Olivia responded. She stepped in front of Mother and set her hands on her shoulders. “Would you like me to help?”

  “She needs help?” I asked.

  “No. Some people like to attend this fully aware. Some like to be forced. I have never understood that. But many, especially when they are this nervous, like a little help calming down.” She looked over Mother’s shoulder at me. “If you go through that door,” she gestured with her nose. “And then the next doors, you’ll find Bee and Dee. Bring them back here.”

  I nodded and slipped from the room. There was a short corridor, and then the gymnasium. There was to be an audience, apparently. The door was guarded by two women, but they looked at me and smiled. “Hello, Marda.”

  “How is your mother?’

  “Nervous. We ran into Olivia.”

  “Understandable, as she was patrolling the halls, hoping to make it look like you ran into her.”

  “She’s always ten steps ahead of me.”

  “About that, yes.”

  “She sent me for Dee and Bee. Do you know where they are.”

  She pointed. “There, center, second row.”

  “Thank you.” I crossed the room, ignoring the equipment that was set up. Dee and Bee saw me and begin grinning.

  “When are you coming to play with us again?” Bee said. Then she stood and nearly threw herself on me. We hugged tightly, and then Dee was there, too.

  “Olivia sent me to retrieve you,” I said. “My mother is here, and she’s nervous. Are you allowed to come with me?”

  “She told us you might retrieve us,” Dee said. “So yes. Normally, no.”

  “She’s this way,” I said. And then I took their hands. They giggled and let me.

  When we got back, Olivia had her arm over Mother’s shoulder, and the two were talking quietly. “Oh, good,” Olivia said.

  The girls dropped my hand and hurried forth, Bee moving to stand over Mother’s shoulder, and Dee stepping in front of her, taking her free hand and smiling at her. I was pretty sure with those two on the job, Mother would be charmed in moments.

  “Do you want Claary to stay?” Olivia asked. “Or should I send her away?”

  Mother thought a moment then said, “Come hug me.”

  I hugged and kissed Mother, and then Olivia indicated I should return to the gymnasium. “We’ll take care of her.”

  I nodded, and a minute later found me with Marda again. “So,” she said. “I bet five was a handful.”

  I laughed. “We had a very nice time. How about you?”

  “You know? I’m glad I kept Becksta. Cerelle and Verla were high maintenance.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. It was sex, sex, sex, morning, noon, and night. I had to keep giving Becksta to them if I wanted any sleep at all.”

  I laughed. “So it was good.”

  “Oh, yeah,” she said. “But I’m not doing three at a time anymore, not if they’re all pleasure slaves.”

  “Five was fun,” I said, “but I think my five weren’t as aggressive as your two.”

  “Not if Becksta was any measure,” she said. “I heard about the little club you’re putting together. That’s not a bad idea.”

  “I’m not doing it. I think it was Lassa’s idea.”

  “Well you should see if Becksta wants to join.”

  “I’ll mention it to Lassa. Not you?”

  “I’m getting too old for that,” she replied.

  “Yeah. Right.”

  “You should go sit down now,” she said. “They’ll be out soon.”

  I nodded and then climbed to a point in the back behind a mountain of a woman. She smiled at me as I slipped past her. I didn’t want to make Mother any more nervous than she was.

  * * * *

  I didn’t need to worry about that. Olivia appeared first, alone. She crossed the space then looked for me. She looked disappointed when she finally saw me then made a “come here” motion I could have ignored. I stood and descended to her.

  “I thought you’d sit with me. Aren’t we friends anymore?”

  “I didn’t want to make Mother nervous.”

  “She of such little faith,” she said. “Sit with me. Bee and Dee will be very disappointed if you don’t, and then I’d have to let them do all sorts of things to me. It’s terrible.”

  “And you hate it,” I said. But I let her lure me to a seat.

  A minute later, the doors opened again. Dee and Bee stepped out, leading Mother by her arms. She was wearing one of the shifts, and I could tell instantly she had been pacified. “She was afraid of that more than anything,” I said to Olivia. “Did you have to force her?”

  “Do you think anyone resists those two? No. They did what they always do, and then I did what I had to do.”

  “I really don’t know how I feel watching this.”

  “They watched you.”

  “Still.” But I didn’t stop watching. Dee and Bee led Mother to the middle. Then Judge Jessla stepped forward with a woman, just a little older than Mother. She was dressed all in leather. What else was different?

  “Will she be kind?”

  “Of course, Claary. She and Kathareet have met, although your mother didn’t know who she was at the time.”

  Jessla introduced both women. She explained this was a First Enslavement. Then she asked Bee and Dee to prepare the subject.

  The two turned Mother and led her to a rack. It could have been the same one used for me, for all I knew, although that had been in Olivia’s home. They pressed her against it, and she stood as they bound her feet and then her hands. Then they cranked the two handles, pulling Mother completely into place.

  Then Mother’s challenger stepped forward. She talked for a few minutes and stroked Mother gently, but soon she withdrew a device. She made a point of lubricating it with some gel, and then she stepped behind Mother.

  I looked away, and then buried my face in Olivia’s shoulder. She wrapped an arm around me and said nothing.

  A few minutes later, there was applause. In between, I ignored the noises I heard.

  But I watched as two guards stepped forward and carried Mother from the room.

  I brushed at the tears.

  “She’ll be so happy,” Dee said. I hadn’t even realized she was there. “You know she’ll be happy.”

  “Giselt is so nice,” Bee said. “Her slaves all say so.”

  There was a rousing endorsement, I thought.

  “Why don’t you use the resin for First Enslavement?”

  “Because they don’t last that long,” Olivia said. “And that’s just too intense. But it’s what we would do if we wanted all of you to accept forever.”

  “I understand,” I said.

  “Olivia, may Cee come home with us?” Dee asked.

  “Her name is Claary,” Olivia said.

  “Oh. I’m sorry. May Claary come home with us? We miss her.”

  “I miss her, too,” Olivia said. “Claary, would you like to come home with us?”

  I looked into her eyes, and then to Bee and Dee. They looked so earnest. I turned back to Olivia
. “I think I’m going to go home,” I said. “But maybe you’ll invite me to dinner soon.”

  “That would be nice,” she said.

  I stood up and walked from the building.

  * * * *

  I roamed the streets for an hour. It was strange. A year ago, this wouldn’t have been safe, not for a woman alone. All that was changed, and I didn’t even think about it anymore.

  And then I made a decision.

  * * * *

  Olivia herself opened the door. She took one look at me then held the door open more widely. I stepped past her then turned to face her. “I don’t know if I’m really welcome.”

  “Bee!” She called. “Dee!” The two appeared at the top of the stairs, and then they both were squealing and nearly flew to the bottom, throwing themselves on me. I received numerous hugs and kisses, and there was no doubt how they felt about it.

  “Bee. Dee. This is Cee. We’re all going to bathe, and then you may do anything you like to her and me.”

  They began squealing again, then grabbed my arms and began hurrying me towards the baths.

  Jessla

  I stepped into her chambers. She looked up. “Well, well. Sit.” I took the seat. “What can I do for you?”

  “Two weeks, you said.”

  She smiled broadly then turned to a filing cabinet. It took her a moment to withdraw a folder. She pulled out a piece of paper, glanced at it, then slid it across her desk to me. She pushed the pen and ink after the paper. “Sign at the bottom.”

  I read it. “You had this ready.”

  “Sign it.”

  “What if I want to discuss it first?”

  “Do you?”

  “No.” I picked up the glass pen, dipped it into the ink, and then signed my name, using a flourish at the end. The judge took it back, dried it, and slipped it back into the folder.

  “Tuesday. Ten AM. The arena.”

  “You’re awfully brusque today.”

  “I’m awfully brusque every day. Get out of my office.”

  I stared at her. Finally she slumped. “Seriously?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I just thought…”

  “That the thought of your clever tongue between my legs would make me all warm and loving?”

  “I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it that way.”

  “Tonight. Dinner. I’ll send a carriage for you. Claary, I have a rather annoying case in fifteen minutes.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. You could have told me to come back.”

  “I did. Tonight. I’ll send a carriage.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor.”

  She shook her head. “Jessla until this is over.”

  “Jessla,” I said. “Thank you.”

  * * * *

  I dressed to kill. And then Lisbon found me. “There’s some guard captain here for you.”

  There were two of them, actually, and a third driving the closed carriage. We sat quietly for the ride, and I thanked them when they led me to the house.

  The door was opened by a slave in blue. “I am Claary Rosebush,” I told her. “Judge Jessla invited me for dinner.”

  “Of course, Ms. Rosebush,” she said. She opened the door wider, and I stepped in. “Her Honor is in the library. If you will come this way.”

  I followed the slave through the opulent house. We reached a double doors. She knocked and opened them then gestured me inside.

  “Thank you, Emmy,” Jessla said. “Claary.” She rose, and I crossed the room to her. She opened her arms, and we actually offered a brief hug and set of cheek kisses. Then she took my hand and said, “How soon is dinner, Emmy?”

  “Fifteen minutes, Your Honor,” the slave replied.

  “Very good, Emmy. Please close the door for now.”

  The slave gave a small bow and stepped from the room. The door clicked shut, and then Jessla turned to me. “I’m sorry for this afternoon.”

  “I arrived unannounced,” I said. “I was lucky to find you in your chambers.”

  “Well. Sit.” She pulled me down onto the sofa, and we rotated to face each other. “I’m not one for small talk, but I would like to know how things are going.”

  “Lisbon and Mother are fully recovered,” I said. “Mother isn’t saying much about hers. Lisbon wasn’t, but we’ve talked. I’ve advised her to give it time before she begins taking Practice Challenges, although suggested she might want to lose a short one just to help get Olivia out of her head.”

  Jessla nodded. “Giselt has been to see me. She would happily add Kathareet to her household, if that is the direction your mother leans. It is my opinion that your mother is not the sort to win challenges.”

  “You might be right, but can’t she just stay home and help run the inn?”

  “Yes, and that is what many do, but there are legal repercussions. We have not implemented all the laws here yet. Five years from when we entered the city, we will add a new clause. This is not yet common knowledge, although if anyone read our laws, it would be.”

  “I’m not a lawyer. What are we talking about?”

  “Non-citizens born outside Ressaline city must accept a full challenge within seven years of their First Enslavement.”

  I stared at her for a minute. She calmly returned my gaze. Finally I asked, “Is there some reason you’re not telling people?”

  “Almost none of you has fully accepted our presence. As more and more of you experience your First, it grows easier.”

  “It’s hard to come out of that angry, especially when we can safely walk the streets.”

  “Quite so,” she agreed.

  “You’ve told me. Aren’t you afraid I’ll blab?”

  “We don’t hide this. It’s in our laws. Anyone who looks could discover it. We just haven’t advertised it. Blab if you want. Of course, if you’re caught, you’ll face Challenge.”

  I snorted. “Did you just threaten me?”

  “Not at all. I just told you what will happen.”

  “Would I even have a chance, or would I be pacified first?”

  “It depends on how annoyed Olivia is with you, and after her, me. And my level of annoyance would be related to how long she yells at me for telling you.”

  “If people don’t suck up to the people with the power, influence, and knowledge,” I said. “It’s their fault if they remain ignorant.”

  She laughed. “Just so.”

  “So. That’s Mother and Lisbon. The inn is doing well. We have the help we need now.”

  “Good.”

  “And I have a practice challenge coming up. Maybe you’ve heard.”

  She laughed. “I have actually.”

  “I want to ask you about something else.” I told her about Lessa’s club. “What do you think?”

  “We get that all the time. We even can do paperwork so you don’t need to file new petitions for each challenge. It can be good experience. I was involved in a similar club, but it was after I was a citizen.”

  “What happens to your slave if you lose?”

  “It’s not long enough to forfeit your ownership,” she said. “Although you are obligated to see to her needs. In my case, however, I had sold my slave. I was starting out and needed money and didn’t want the responsibility of feeding both of us.”

  “Ah.”

  “It worked well for me. If you like the women in question, my advice is to consider it, but be careful about the things I told you last time we talked.”

  “I will.”

  “The five women in question will actually be susceptible to you, although it’s been long enough maybe they’re fully over you, especially if they’ve had other practice challenges.”

  “That makes sense.”

  We talked for a few more minutes, and then Emmy knocked and entered. “Dinner is ready, Your Honor.”

  “Thank you, Emmy.” We stood, and Jessla offered her arm.

  * * * *

  “So. Our challenge. I believe that’s what you hoped to discuss.”


  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “Yes, you do.”

  “How many do you have?”

  “Eleven.”

  “How many are pleasure slaves?”

  “It varies, as I change them as suits me,” she said. “There are four I use in that fashion, although rarely more than two at a time. I typically keep one in red to see to basic pleasures, and I rotate through them.”

  “And you’ll rotate me.”

  She smiled. “You’ve already admitted you’ll belong to me.”

  “I’m going with your assumptions,” I said. “Lulling you into underestimating me.”

  “Yes. That’s why I haven’t lost in thirty years, by underestimating my challengers.” She squeezed my hand and smiled again. “I won’t mistreat you, Claary,” she said. “I don’t even mistreat the ones who sought to trick me, the daughters of my rivals. I’ll use you as I need you. But the most important part is that you will be exposed to a wide, wide variety of challenge types. You’ve really only seen different flavors of one type. There are others.”

  I nodded. Then I shifted my position on the sofa, moving close to her. I smiled and stroked her arm. She looked down and then smiled again. “Are you attempting to make this more interesting?”

  “I am trying to tell you that I want to be here,” I replied.

  “Then don’t beat around the bush.”

  “All right. I won’t.” I shifted again, throwing a leg over her lap. And we met for a kiss.

  I didn’t stay the night, but I did get both of us worked up.

  * * * *

  Our event was third of eight. I stepped into the arena from one end, much as I had before, and I saw Jessla across from me. We both wore white shifts. I barely recognized her.

  We strode forth. I didn’t recognize the woman who was waiting, but I came to a stop facing her. “Your Honor?”

  “Colonel Melstie,” she corrected. “I am pleased to meet you, Ms. Rosebush.” Then she greeted Jessla.

  I looked at the tableau. “We’re having a drinking contest?”

  “Of sorts,” Jessla said. “If this were a smaller venue, our first event would have been different.”

  Colonel Melstie took over, speaking to the crowd. She introduced Jessla and me, although from the noises, I didn’t think either of us was unknown.

  And I had a cheering section, a rather vocal cheering section. I was the crowd favorite, but I was going to disappoint them.