Chapter 4: What to do with a Slave

Chapter 4: What to do with a Slave

“Now, what to do with you?” Reggie mused, one finger resting against his chin. “What to do with you?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, then added quickly, “Sir.”

“Oh, it’s just a little game Roy and I play. Sometimes he orders me to take a slave to his room and secure her. Later he will come in and wants to be surprised by how I’ve restrained her.” He sighed wearily. “It’s not easy coming up with new ideas all the time.”

Serena said nothing. She did not feel it would be proper for her to make suggestions – at least, not in this case.

“Very well. First, we’ll have to take the chains off your feet.”

He guided her over to the bed and bid her sit down. When she had, he knelt and used a key from his pocket to unlock the bands around her ankles. For a brief moment, she considered kicking him where it would hurt and running. But she was naked and her hands still solidly joined behind her. Her flight would be a short one and would probably result in her being punished. She did not like the way she was referred to as a “slave”. She was not sure what her fate would be when she was captured, but being a slave was the lowest rung on the ladder. So she meekly sat there while this man put the shackles on the table and went to one of the cupboards. When he returned he held some coils of rope in his hands. She grimaced at that, remembering how uncomfortable it had been with her hands tied behind her on the long journey. At least this rope was not the thick, rough hemp rope the soldiers had used. It was a little thinner and appeared to be softer, perhaps made of cotton rather than a harsher material. It might have been white once, but was now a gray color, perhaps dirtied by a lot of use.

“Put your legs together,” he told her. She did not really want to go along with this but saw little else she could do. This Reggie was a fair sized man, not a tall as the Prince or King, but probably more than a match for her in any kind of fight. Besides, no fight would be fair with her wrists locked behind her. She put her legs together, telling herself that at least she was not to be tied with her legs spread. Together might delay the unwelcome attention she would be given sooner or later, at least for a while.

He began slowly and carefully wrapping the rope around her ankles. As he worked at binding her legs, Serena attempted to engage him in conversation.

“Do you do this often for the Prince?” she asked.

“A few times a month. Usually he just has the girl brought here. But sometimes he likes to be surprised. Which makes more work for me.”

Seeing he was talkative, she explored further. “What is going to happen to me?”

“You are a slave. Anything that the Prince wants to have happen.”

This was not sounding too good.

“What happened to the other girls from my village?”

“What girls?”

“Three other girls were taken with me. What happened to them? We were separated.”

“I would say that they’re down in the dungeon awaiting to be distributed.”

“Distributed?”

“Well, slaves are used for different things, you know. Some are used as kitchen help, some personal servants to one of the royal ladies. Were they pretty?”

“Yes. They were my friends.”

“And sexy?”

“Well... Yes.”

“Then they will probably wind up as personal slaves owned by some nobleman. If they are lucky, that will mean only that they will be sexually used, as often and however their owner wishes. And given to his friends for use.”

“And if they’re not lucky?”

Reggie halted knotting the rope to look up at her. “You do understand that some men are stricter than others. That some men enjoy hurting a woman? I don’t know what goes on in a village, but around here there are plenty of men who would best be described as sadists. They love to see a woman suffer.”

Serena was shocked into silence. To be used for sex she expected. That was a given. But being hurt in addition? She had not considered that. Finally, she managed to ask, “How do these men hurt their slaves?” The words came slowly and had to be forced, for she feared the answer.

“Oh, whipped mostly. That’s the fastest way to inflict pain. But some men go in for other things.” He paused for a moment as he saw the utter fear on her pretty face. “Truth is, there are many ways to hurt a woman. Count Mansfield enjoyed branding his female slaves. I saw one once; she had burn marks all over her.

“And then there are those who are more creative. Their methods are more suited to the dungeon and torture chamber than to the bedroom.”