Trojan Whores Page 17

  Sappho did not let go. She held onto his testicles. She gripped them tightly as they throbbed.

  He threw his head back and roared.

  'I will have more of a guarantee than your promise, my fine priestesses! You will not have the allegiance of Ajax without some investment of your own.'

  Sappho and Chryseis fell back, frightened and shocked by his sudden outburst.

  He grabbed both by the hair and lifted them off the ground.

  'Can you suffer pain for the cause you propose?'

  'My lord,' begged Sappho, 'we have no intention to deceive. You do not need to test us.'

  He dropped Chryseis to the ground. She fell on her side. Her mouth dropped open. Semen dribbled from its corners.

  'Ah, but there you are wrong, my little priestess,' he said gleefully, shaking Sappho like a toy. 'Ajax has been tricked before. He is wiser now. He will not be deceived again. Bind their ankles!'

  He tossed Sappho to the ground alongside Chryseis. Guards ran forward. They grabbed their ankles and bound them tightly with leather thongs. They lay side by side. Sappho stared into Chryseis' eyes. She wanted to tell her she was sorry. She wanted to tell her she had hoped for freedom, not for further punishment. She opened her mouth to speak. A guard clapped his hand across it and stifled her effort.

  The guards tied two leashes to the bindings at their ankles. They dragged them both in front of Ajax. Sappho choked on the dust thrown up in clouds around them.

  'We have them bound, lord. Shall we drag them as Achilles dragged the vanquished Hector?'

  'Yes, haul them for a while. I will decide their test to the accompaniment of their cries for release. Yes, the music of their pleas for mercy will accompany my thoughts on how they should suffer.'

  The other women were pulled hurriedly to the sides of the compound. One fell. Her wrists twisted in her chains. She was pulled roughly out of the way and kicked. She screamed in pain. A guard, angered by her outburst, took a cane and thrashed her roughly. It struck the backs of her thighs and behind her knees as she struggled to get back in line.

  'Haul them!' shouted Ajax. 'I want to hear the priestesses cry out to their master. I want to hear them pleading for mercy. I want to hear them begging to be spared.'

  Guards took hold of the leashes, and Sappho gasped as they were drawn taut. She was frightened and confused. She was shocked by the suddenness of Ajax's response. She had not expected it. She was filled with guilt and remorse. She looked again at Chryseis. She wanted to reach out and tell her she was sorry for bringing this upon them. She tried to speak, but her words were suppressed by a sudden jolt as the two men yanked the leashes and ran.

  Sappho bounced on the dusty ground. Her shoulders scraped against the rough soil. Her mouth filled with the acrid dirt as it billowed up around her. Her hands trailed above her head. She tried to grip the ground. She clawed with her nails, struggling somehow to arrest the giddying motion, to prevent the bruising jolts, but it was impossible. She hoped she could bear it. She hoped she could survive until it stopped.

  They both twisted on the leashes, rolling onto their fronts then onto their sides and backs. When she was face down Sappho's nipples, hard with fear, scraped the ground. The pain was intense. She choked and coughed. When she tried to swallow she could not, her throat too dry and filled with the desiccating dirt.

  The woman who had been caned kicked out at them as they were pulled past; she blamed them for her punishment, her suffering and pain. When they were pulled past her again she spat at them. The glob of saliva landed on Sappho's face. The next time they were pulled around more of the women spat on them, each one venting their anger at their captivity and helplessness.

  Sappho's head spun giddily. She did not know which way was up. The sky and the dust swirled around her in a madness of blurred images. She heard Chryseis groaning every time she jarred on the ground, and with every thump she was overcome with a fresh wave of guilt. Her body was racked with pain, but the feeling of guilt filled her more than the agony of her physical suffering.

  'What is happening to them?' shouted Ajax. 'What are those sounds I can hear?'

  'They are being spat on, lord,' said the slave at his side. 'The other women are venting their anger on them. They do not know how to lash out, and so they lash out at their own kind. Their spit dribbles on the faces of the two priestesses. They are humiliated and sullied.'

  'Pull them in front of the women. The little priestesses must not go thirsty while they are in the care of their master, Ajax.'

  Extra leashes were tied to their wrists, and with the tension still on the bonds at their ankles the two were stretched out.

  'Take me to them,' said Ajax, and the slave led him over to Sappho and Chryseis. They both lay on their backs. Ajax stood over them.

  'Bring each of the women to them. Let us see if they can satisfy the thirst of these hungry beasts.'

  The first woman was made to stand over Sappho, her legs apart. Sappho looked up between her thighs. She watched the stream of urine pouring down on her. She welcomed it into her mouth. She let it fill. She swallowed all she could. Its biting, heady taste thrilled her. She consumed it. She was consumed by the delight of it.

  The next woman doused her in the same way. Sappho guzzled it down. She watched the shimmering waterfall. It dazzled her as she stared into it, glistening and twinkling in the bright light of the sun.

  Ajax listened as each of the women was brought forward. He knelt by Sappho's side as she drank. He held his hand in the flow and watched her reaching after its changing course, desperate not to miss a drop.

  The last woman was taken away. Ajax got up and straddled Sappho. She looked up between his legs and waited. She opened her mouth and held out her tongue. She braced herself against the bonds at her wrists and ankles. She inhaled deeply, increasing the tension of her body.

  The golden cascade flowed down onto her. It splashed heavily in her eyes and stung them. She swallowed ravenously. She turned her face into it so that it ran across her cheeks and down her neck. She bathed in it. She writhed beneath it, steeped in the ambrosia of his drenching torrent of urine.

  As she reached desperately for the last drops he stood back. She turned her face to the side and let it rest in the pool of urine that lay around her. She still wanted more. She lapped at it. She was filled with a rising tide of pleasure as she listened to the sounds of her own efforts to gain satisfaction, and felt a jerking spasm of ecstasy throbbing in her agonised body.

  Ajax bent down to her. His unseeing eyes wandered across her soaked skin.

  'Now, little priestess, can you tell me how you will bring about the pleasure of your lord, Ajax?'

  Sappho lifted her head. She moved her lips. She could hardly speak.

  'With...'

  She choked. She jerked as another jolt of pleasure ran through her.

  'Speak up, my little priestess. That is if you are still offering to help your lord.'

  Sappho's heart pounded with excitement. She tightened her buttocks together, her cunt squeezed. Another jolt of ecstasy gripped her.

  'I am, my lord. I am.'

  'Then how will you please me?'

  'With guile, my lord. Your revenge is close at hand. With guile, my lord. That is how I will please you. With guile.'

  Eva slept deeply in the ornate chair. Her arms hung lazily over its clawed arms. She had dropped the wine goblet and let go of Calliope's lead. Her legs were apart and stretched out. Her sex was exposed, its flesh soft and moist and glistening in the light of the torches. She had not roused during the punishing test to which Ajax had subjected Sappho and Chryseis.

  Calliope, still on her hands and knees, slunk from the shadow of Eva's chair. She crawled into the open. She had heard everything. She knew what was planned; the conspiracy to overthrow her mistress Eva, the salvation for Sappho and Chryseis, the revenge of Ajax against Praxis. But she did not crawl to her lady's side. She did not rub against her drunken patron. She did not wake her from her ineb
riate slumber. She did not alert her to the threat of treachery, or warn her of the plan for her downfall. No, that was no longer her purpose. Her time of servitude was at an end.

  Trailing her lead behind her, Calliope crawled on all fours to Ajax. She rubbed her cheek against his leg.

  He dropped his hand to her head. 'You have heard everything,' he said.

  She rubbed her shoulder against his knee.

  'You know what is planned. You have listened in on our plot to overthrow your lord Praxis.'

  Calliope purred. She looked up at Ajax. She stared into his blind eyes. She recalled the trick she had played on him; how her conspiracy with Praxis had led to his terrible fate on the spears. She sneered and bared her teeth. Her time as Eva's pet was drawing to a close. The game was finished. For that is what it had been. Now she would make the final move. Her own conspiracy with Praxis, her game at the expense of Eva, would not this time work against Ajax. This time her secret agreement with Praxis - one which had catered to her own need for the treatment she had so much enjoyed as Eva's pet - would be at the expense of her haughty 'mistress'. Eva, the captured slave, had been led into the trap like an innocent fawn to a huntsman's arrow. Now it was time to release the bow. Calliope was the hunter and she was ready for the kill. She quivered with anticipation of the final chapter of the entertainment.

  'You say nothing, mistress,' Ajax said, stroking her head.

  'Not against you, my lord,' she replied as she nuzzled close to him and started purring again. 'Not against you.'

  'Then you will be my ally in this?'

  Calliope purred her assent.

  'Your secret is also mine, my lord.'

  Chapter 18

  Eva's downfall

  Eva felt invulnerable. Praxis had showered her with gifts. She walked daily on the beach. She wore her purple robe open at the front. It exposed her naked body, her glowing oiled skin, her rounded breasts, her prominent nipples. Her red hair trailed back in the warm wind that blew in from the sea. The glitter of gold at her neck and around her slender wrists reflected from her in dazzling sparkles of light. Slaves fell to their knees as she passed. She was like a god.

  She sat alongside Praxis in his huge tent. Torches were placed in stands, braziers burned, colourful curtains hung from the high walls. Naked slave girls, their heads and pubic hair shaved, stood awaiting instructions from their master and mistress. Some held baskets of flowers, some trays of food, some carafes of wine. Three of them had been bent over a bar resting on two heavy supports and were being whipped.

  Praxis leant across to her and said, 'What is the reason for their punishment, lady?'

  'They were too slow when I asked them to bring me wine and sweetmeats. Do you think I am being too lenient?'

  He smiled, looking around blindly, listening to the cries of the girls.

  'You are never too lenient, lady.'

  Guards came to attention at the entrance as Agamemnon and Ajax entered.

  'Who is it, lady?'

  'It is King Agamemnon and the lord Ajax.'

  Praxis was angered and unnerved by the arrival of his enemy, Ajax. He stood, and with a forced grin masked his displeasure for fear of incurring the wrath of his king.

  'Welcome, sire. And you too, my lord Ajax. It is an honour to receive you both.'

  Agamemnon slumped on a chair which was hurriedly brought.

  Ajax bowed to Praxis. 'I hope you do not mind me bringing a pair of slaves. I think you must know of them. The lady Eva did not decline my request to take them when I visited her. At least, she did not say anything when I asked her. I am so pleased you found them for me. They are delightful. Ah! Here they are now. The Trojan priestesses, Sappho and Chryseis.'

  Praxis' face froze with anger. He could not disguise his annoyance. He had not realised Eva had allowed Sappho and Chryseis to slip through her fingers.

  'And, Praxis, I have forgiven you the theft of my beautiful slave Weena. I bear no grudge. Have her as my gift. I have lost one Trojan beauty, but look, I have gained two! Yes, I am filled with joy and benevolence. They should call me Ajax the Magnanimous!'

  Praxis could not help scowling. He reached back, fumbling to find the arms of his chair.

  Calliope pulled on her lead. She pressed against Ajax's leg, moving him up against a complex construction of wood, metal and leather. She pressed her cheek against its leather thongs. She remembered the torment of Weena - a torture wrought at her own hands. Eva yanked her back on the lead. Calliope looked up at her and tightened her eyes. Eva did not see the contempt and anticipation of release on her face.

  'And what is this, my lady?' asked Ajax, as he stretched out his hands and touched the tangle of materials.

  'It is called the "shrinking man", my lord. It is a device of captivity. It is the lover's embrace from which there is no escape. It has the power to inflict pain like no other. It is the very perfection of suffering. It is the pinnacle of excruciating pain. To witness its use is like being in the presence of the gods themselves.'

  'Is it a device which can also bring pleasure to those who are blind?'

  'It is, my lord. The screams the "shrinking man" draws from its victims are a more powerful source of excitement then anything that can be seen. If you request its use I promise you will be amply rewarded by the tune it brings forth. It will be music such as you have never heard. It will lift you like the lyre of Apollo.'

  'You have won me over to its use, my lady. Perhaps the little priestess, Sappho, shall be the first instrument to be played on this amazing apparatus. Yes, my personal guard will bring her.'

  Sappho was dragged forward. She drew back at the sight of the terrible apparatus. She dug her heels into the soft earth as Ajax's guards pulled on her arms.

  The assembly of the wooden frame, laced together with metal fixings, was draped with leather straps and thongs. It dripped with water. It looked like a monstrous creature arisen from the depths of a hellish ocean. It was encircled by buckets filled with water, which reflected the lights from the torches and lamps. It was as if the "shrinking man" was ringed by iridescent moons.

  'Your little priestess is fearful now, but she will soon warm to the loving embrace of it. Here little priestess. Do not be afraid to approach your paramour. He will clutch you so close you will never want to be released from his arms.'

  Ajax's guards struggled to bring Sappho close. Her heels lost their purchase. She fought against them, spitting and biting and bracing her feet against the heavy timber base. As the guards offered her up to the device they looked confused. They seemed unable to carry out their instructions. The apparatus was too complicated. They could not work out which way to place their struggling victim, how to bring the bindings together, how to close them properly around its captive's limbs.

  'Sire,' said one. 'It is beyond us.'

  Ajax held a hand to his forehead. 'Forgive me, lady. My guards are untutored in such things. And they are right to admit it. I am corrected. I could not allow them to bind one of my slave priestesses into such a contraption for fear of making a mistake. They have made me understand that this apparatus of perfection must be operated perfectly. It seems as though I am to be disappointed.'

  'No, my lord,' urged Eva, anxious to please. 'Let my own guards perform the duty. They know well how the mechanism works.'

  'I could not, lady. You can see, the little priestess is such an animal. I fear they could not restrain her sufficiently well. And she would be injured in the ensuring struggle. Or perhaps bring harm to your "shrinking man". No, lady, that would never do.'

  'Then I will instruct your guards myself,' she said with a burst of impatient arrogance. 'And you will have the pleasure of listening to my own commentary. Yes, I will act as the victim so that your guards can learn the technique. Then, when they have mastered it, I will be released and your little priestess will take my place. Yes, it amuses me to do so. Perhaps you will hold my pet, sire.'

  Eva handed Ajax Calliope's lead, who pressed herself eagerly a
gainst his leg. Ajax smiled.

  'First, my lord, you must imagine how the "shrinking man" welcomes his lover. I step into the cage of leather and metal. His drapes are loose at the moment. They have already been soaked so that they are soft and stretched. I can enter with ease. His leather strapping is like silk against my skin. Now, I kneel within him. His shape fits my body perfectly. He welcomes me to kneel on all fours within his carcass. Now, a metal clasp closes around my head. It is tight. It is a constricting band around my forehead. Once in it I cannot move. Now your guards must be careful to pull these straps closely across my face. They have done it, but they leave them free of my mouth, for I must give you the commentary. As they pull the leather straps tighter they close around my body. I feel them tensioning now. The tightness takes my breath away. The straps are broad enough to hold me, thin enough to cut into my skin. There are so many that as they wrap me in their clutches I cannot move at all. My arms are already fixed by them. Now they must wrap each of my fingers; even they will not escape the caress of the "shrinking man".'

  Calliope sat up on her knees. Sappho's eyes brightened as the guards slackened their grip on her arms.

  'Now, my lord Ajax, I cannot even move my legs. The straps have a hold of me there as well. And each of my toes is bound with delicate wet thongs of leather. Now they lash more straps around my thighs and knees. They already have my calves and ankles tight. Now they must pull a strap up into my sex. It must be as tight as they can make it. I need to feel it deep between the folds of my lips. They are doing it now. They are pulling it between the flesh. Yes, it is tight. My flesh is wet and the slippery leather slips easily between. It has made me even wetter with its tension. And it is painful, but I cannot pull away or gain any relief. It is truly a delectable tension. And there is more to come. The "shrinking man" has only just begun to work his magic.'

  Calliope stood up. She draped her arm around Ajax's shoulder.