From nowhere@nowhen.com Thu Apr 24 21:56:00 1997 Path: news1.infoave.net!news-dc-10.sprintlink.net!news-east.sprintlink.net!news-dc-26.sprintlink.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!sprint!ix.netcom.com!news From: nowhere@nowhen.com (Legion) Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories Subject: Re-re-post: Lottery 1-40 in 25 parts - lottry11.txt [1/1] Date: 25 Apr 1997 01:56:00 GMT Organization: None of The Above Lines: 1046 Message-ID: <5jp2vg$959@dfw-ixnews7.ix.netcom.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: pon-mi2-14.ix.netcom.com X-NETCOM-Date: Thu Apr 24 8:56:00 PM CDT 1997 X-Newsreader: WinVN 0.99.8 (16bit) Chapter 22 Gaslight Alima blushed. I sent her packing with a swat, and instructions to wait in her room for Thuy to help her with her costume. The other girls I gave instructions to fetch their costumes to my room. Then I went to the dungeon and fetched up some toys. When I got there, all three girls were waiting. They eyed my burden with expressions ranging from curiosity to unease. "The main thing about tonight's costumes," I said, setting down my burden. "are the corsets. Ladies, these are real Victorian hourglass corsets with steel stays. They'll reduce your waist by at least two inches and at first will feel uncomfortably tight. But don't worry, your bodies will adjust to the constriction in a few minutes. Mei, since I want you to lace Sherry, you'll be first. Take off your clothes." Mei blinked in surprize, then smiled and pulled off her top. She was wearing shorts and sandles, which she discarded. Clad in bra and panties she walked over to me. I unhooked her bra, pulling it off and tossing it with her other clothes. Then I pulled her panties off. "I did say take off your clothes." I said, touching her nose. She just smiled and shrugged. I lead her over to my bed, a massive Victorian thing with a canopy and thick supporting posts. Quickly I secured the manacles to one of the footboard posts and told Mei to put her wrists in them. "Corseting." I explained, snapping a snaffle hook through the hasps to secure her. "involves an awful lot of physical effort for the person lacing the corset. I'm binding Mei to the bedpost simply to help her keep her balance. You'll see why in a minute. Hand me her corset, would you Rachel? Thanks." "The first thing you have to do is loosen the corset lacings, like this." I said, demonstrating. "Next, put it on the victim, like so." Mei chuckled as I wrapped the thing around her middle. "Finally, hook the front like this. It's easiest if you start at the top, then the bottom, and do the middle ones last." "Comfortable?" I asked Mei. "Can you feel anything poking you or chafing?" "No, master." She said. "Ok, it's time to start the lacing. There are three sets of laces on these corsets. They control the top, middle, and bottom third of the back of the corset. What you have to do is start at the top and work your way down." "Notice," I said, "that you should wrap the strings around your hands. This will give you the pull you need. And believe me, you're going to need it!" There was a three inch gap at the back of Mei's corset. "The idea." I said. "is a lot like fastening screws. You don't fasten one screw as tight as possible then go onto the next. Instead, you make all of them finger tight first, then tighten them down in a way that keeps the pressure even. In this case, we pull the top strings tight first, like this." I pulled with all my might. Mei wheezed in surprized protest as the gap narrowed to just over an inch. I tied the top strings off temporarily and moved to the middle set, taking out the slack, working from the top down. When the slack was clear I heaved again. Mei grunted as the middle part of the gap narrowed. I tied off the middle set and repeated the procedure with the bottom set. "Oh, that's so tight.." Mei said. "I can see why women gave these things up." "Oh, you're not finished yet." I said cheerfully. "Now, ladies, we've gotten through the first pass. Usually the first time a corset is laced it takes three or four passes. Notice that the top lacings have some slack in them." "The stays in the corset are made of steel, and are now bending just a bit to accommodate Mei's curves. As a side note, although I won't allow this, it's quite possible to force the body to quite ridiculous extremes. I believe the record is thirteen inches for a waist measurement. "God." Thuy breathed. "That's incredible." She was staring at Mei avidly. The Chinese girl already had an hourglass figure, the corset was making things bulge interestingly above and below. "Take out the slack." I said, doing so. "Then pull." I drew the laces hard apart, forcing the corset another half an inch. Mei actually gasped. She gasped again when the second lacing tightened. "It's often necessary to put your knee against her to tighten the bottom laces." I lectured, doing so and heaving with all my strength. Mei made an inarticulate groaning noise as the bottom of the corset closed. "The stays are now bent." I addressed Thuy and Rachel. "There's only a half an inch to go. Thuy, why don't you finish up? Don't be afraid of hurting Mei, you're going to have to pull for all your worth. You might not be strong enough. If not, we'll have to let Rachel lace Alima." "I'll try." Thuy said. She did a good job of removing the slack, but only barely had enough strength to close the laces. "Damn." She panted, tying the top set. "That's hard work!" "You ought to feel it." Mei said faintly. "I can't breath in this thing." Thuy only barely managed to close the middle laces, the bottom ones proved to be beyond her strength. She rubbed her hands dolefully where the laces had bitten into them. "I'm sorry, master, I'm just not strong enough." She apologized. "That's ok. I didn't think you'd be. Rachel, you try it." Rachel had no trouble at all, as Mei's gargle attested. The corset gap was gone now gone. I knotted the corset strings, and clipped them, making it impossible for Mei to remove the corset without help. I released her, telling her to get dressed. She had trouble at first, but soon adjusted to the tight grip of the Victorian high-fashion bondage gear. Soon she was fully attired in a servants dress, and looked quite fetching. "I think you make a stunning maid, Mei." I said. She performed a full curtsey. It was lovely, all lace and petticoats. "Rachel, you're next. Strip." I ordered cheerfully. "Mei, you'll be doing the corseting." Rachel obediently took off her blue jeans and shirt, and the lacy underwear beneath. She'd been shopping, I noted with approval. Mei bound Rachel and then, with only a couple of mistakes, had the Amerind girl panting from the full constriction of the corset. "Damn, Mei, I see what you mean." Rachel complained. "This thing's killing me.." But she too adjusted after a while, putting on a maid's outfit like Mei's. "Rachel, you get to corset Thuy. Come on, lovely lady. I want you bound and naked." Thuy actually blushed as she took off her clothes. Her bare pubic mound drew my attention. "How did that come to be?" I asked, caressing it. She blushed harder but answered. "I used electrolysis, master." She said. "I have no hair below the neck. Does it please you?" "It's very distinctive." I said approvingly. "You'll notice Rachel's bare too." Now the Apache girl blushed. "But in her case it was dipilitory wax, not electrolysis." I grinned at Rachel. "And I don't think she'll make a habit of it." "I hope not! That stuff hurts." Rachel grimaced. Unlike Mei and Rachel, Thuy's corset went around her tiny figure without much effort, her original gap just over an inch to the other girls three. Consequently she had a lot less trouble adjusting. Thuy would be cooking, so I sent her down to the kitchen to get started while Rachel and Mei went off to corset the other girls. I got dressed in the formal Victorian dinner clothes of a high class gentleman. Ties are almost as bad as corsets. I went down stairs, unsurprised to find no one else there. Corseting takes time, as would doing their hair and the formal gowns Alima and Sherry would wear required longer to put on. I went to the kitchen. Thuy was humming happily as she stirred something in a pot. She threw a smile over her shoulder then concentrated on what she was doing. Deciding to stay out of her hair, now pinned up under a bonnet, I went to the living room. It took about fifteen minutes before Rachel and Alima came down. Rachel was cooly formal, adapting to her role. Alima seemed overwhelmed by everything, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes darted everywhere. Rachel disappeared in the direction of the kitchen. "Good evening, Miss Jahrain." I bowed politely. Alima curtsied, managing the long skirts of her gown easily. I wondered how many times she'd dressed up like this. "Good evening, Professor Reiner." She picked up her cue flawlessly. "It was kind of you to invite me to visit you. I hope I haven't put you to any trouble." "The pleasure is mine, Miss Jahrain. And a beautiful woman is seldom a troublesome house guest. But I will admit to an ulterior motive." I gazed solemnly at her. "Oh?" She asked flirtingly. "And what ulterior motive might a Royal Fellow of the Queen's Archaeological Society possibly have?" I smiled. Alima certainly didn't stint in her fantasies! "I should have thought that would be obvious." I chuckled. "I'm referring, of course, to the Chains." "Of course." Alima smiled wickedly. "The Chains of Love. Tell me, how much do you know about them?" Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Sherry, wearing a deep purple gown with what amounted to a lace turtleneck. Around her throat was a tasteful gold necklace with emeralds. I blinked. The necklace looked real. I wondered where she'd gotten it. Matching earrings caught the light, winking. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a traditional Victorian style. You've seen a hundred like it in Dracula movies. "You look lovely tonight, Sherry." I said, bowing gracefully to her. She bobbed a little curtsy, still too unsure of the unfamiliar clothing to attempt anything like Alima's magnificent production. "Miss Alima Jahrain, may I have the pleasure of introducing my niece and ward, Miss Sherry Reiner." "What a charming young lady." Alima said, looking at Sherry. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Sherry." "Charmed, I'm sure." Sherry's accent was thick enough to cut with pinking shears, pure Old South. I was surprized to learn later it was her natal accent, she'd worked hard to tone it down. "Sherry, Miss Jahrain was just telling me about her father's marvelous discovery." Alima frowned, looking between Sherry and me disapprovingly. "I'm not sure I should speak of it around one of such tender years. Unlike us, young Sherry is not a trained archaeologist. Her sensibilities might be offended. And it was my discovery, Professor Reiner. Although my father laid the ground work." "Forgive me, Miss Jahrain." I bowed in apology. "It's just that I'm not used to seeing young women willing to dig in the pits to unearth History's great treasures. And you needn't worry about my niece. She's often accompanied me on digs. She's done considerable anthropological research in her own right." Sherry bit back a laugh, surprizing me. I'd underestimated her again. I would have thought the joke too subtle. But maybe she'd heard it before. "Very well then, if you're sure?" Alima asked, looking at Sherry. "Miss Jahrain, please don't worry about me. I doubt you could shock me. As my guardian has told you, I have some small knowledge of anthropology. We are all scientists, here." "I should have known the niece of the world's foremost expert on lost civilizations would be a scholar as well." Alima smiled at the taller girl. "Very well, then." Alima moved to the couch, and sat down. She gestured that Sherry should join her. I took an easy chair. "It all began when my father became interested in some of the more exotic lost cultures." Alima said. Her voice became dry and pedantic. "Like many before him, he became enamored of the tales of Atlantis." "He spent many years searching for remnants of Atlantean culture, any relics of that bygone age. As the years passed he became obsessed with the search, spending his own money on expeditions when he couldn't find backers." "They thought he was mad, or deluded, or both, you see. Throckmorton's theory seemed to prove that Atlantis was just Homer's fancy, a good story and nothing more." "It was in Bombay he made the first discovery, an ancient iron pillar that refused to rust. No one seemed to know where the pillar came from, or how long it had been there. But everyone agreed it had been there before living memory.." "Fired by professional curiosity my father traveled to Tibet, where it was rumored, other ancient things were to be found. He spoke with the Dali Lama, the leader of the holy city of Lhassa. He was shown sacred things dating back before the founding of the city, which is known to be at least three thousand years old. "The Lama gave him leave to study in their library, and among the archaic and crumbling scrolls he found other clues which lead him to Egypt." Her tale had caught Sherry in its Gothic magic, spinning gossamer hints of unknown horrors and ancient curses. "In Egypt he discovered more of the puzzle, which lead him home to England to prepare an expedition to Araby. And when he left on that expedition two years ago, I went with him." Her tale was interrupted by Mei, who had slipped unnoticed into the room. "Dinner served, master." She said, bowing. Her hair was unbound, loose around her face. "Cook, she say no talk all night or food grow cold. Eat now." Mei's eyes twinkled. "No discuss old things over good food. Cook be very angry!" The thought of dainty little Thuy charging about, meat cleaver in one fist as a maniacal gleam speared from her eye made me smile. "Tell Cook to put down her cleaver." I said, chuckling. "We're coming. Miss Jahrain, you must continue your story over dinner. Poor Sherry may collapse from suspense if you don't!" Laughing we trooped off to the dining room. Sherry seemed very taken with Alima, who was charming the birds from the trees. This was a very different Alima than the one I'd talked to on the phone. I seated Sherry first, then Alima. Sherry seemed pleased by the traditional courtesy, while Alima took it in stride. We were served by Mei and Rachel. The two girls stood quietly in the background until someone looked like they wanted something, when one of the girls would instantly be at their side. It unnerved Sherry. Alima liked it, and I did too. It would be perilously easy to get used to this, I thought to myself. Dinner was noodles in some kind of thick white sauce, very spicy. A rice dish helped cool the noodles bite, and a red wine accompanied the meal. I can't tell great wine from mothballs, but it tasted good. I even nodded when Mei hesitated in front of Sherry. Undoubtedly the teen had drunk stronger spirits. Sherry raised her glass to me in silent salute. I returned the gesture gravely. "Now, Miss Jahrain. Please continue your fascinating tale for us. I believe you and your father had just left England for Araby?" "This is a very good dish." Alima commented, sampling the noodles. "What is it called?" "Something totally unpronounceable, I'll wager. Cook is fond of her native dishes. I indulge her because they're invariably superb. But about your expedition?" "Uncle, I think Miss Jahrain would rather eat first." Sherry said. "I can wait to hear the story until after supper." "You might be able to, you saucy little minx, but I'm positively consumed with curiosity about the nature of her discovery!" I retorted. Mei, who was standing beside me, let out a theatrical sigh, all the funnier because it was too quiet for the others to hear. "Cook be very angry, master." She chided me. "All time talk talk talk. Old things better left alone. Much bad magic lingers in world, master. Best to let forgotten things lie hidden." "Nonsense!" I exclaimed. "Mei Ling, you have no grasp of modern scientific ideas! Magic indeed!" I snorted derisively. "Magic no care who laugh, master." Mei insisted quietly. "Magic is. Will be when we gone." An uncomfortable silence descended. "She may be right, you know." Alima said, sipping her wine reflectively. "Not that I believe it's magic, of course, but-" She shrugged. "What are you saying, madam? That you've brushed elbows with magic?" I scoffed. "I brushed elbows with something, well enough." Alima replied. "As to what it was, I can't truly say. Only that it was very strange. And it almost killed my father." Sherry was delighted. She had never dreamed of anything like this. The look on her face as she leaned forward to follow Alima's story said she was enjoying herself immensely. "Please, Miss Jahrain, what happened? Was it frightening?" Sherry asked breathlessly. Alima smiled at her. "Not at first, Sherry dear. The voyage to Araby was lovely, especially after we'd entered southern waters of the Sea of Araby. Did you know," She asked whimsically. "that in the Sea of Araby the dolphins are so tame they actually race with ships?" She had a dreamy expression as her eyes watched dancing grey forms slip through the water. Whatever else she was, Alima was a superb storyteller, and not a bad actress. She visibly tore herself from her daydream and continued. "Anyway, after we docked it took my father only a week to prepare the expedition. We were headed inland, to the ruined city of Al'kalabet. None of the natives would guide us to the city, only to the closest settlement, a dirty little village of scarcely a dozen huts. "When the headman of the village learned we wanted to go to Al'kalabet he became very frightened. He told my father that the villagers would not come near that cursed ruin, and that he would pray to Allah to dissuade us." "Of course my father laughed. We were not afraid of ancient curses, he said. We were explorers bent on uncovering the truth." "'The truth?', The old man asked puzzled. 'The truth of that ruin will char your bones, and scatter them under the desert sands.' He shook his head, looking at me. 'There are things there worse than dying, sahib. Worse still for a young innocent girl. Heed me and stay away.'" "But my father was convinced some relic of Atlantis would be found in Al'kalabet. And he refused to listen to the old man." Alima looked at me. "It might have been better if he had listened." "The city was three days away by camel. The desert heat was something I won't miss." She laughed. "Or the camels! Nasty beasts. At any rate after three days we found Al'kalabet." She shivered. "It stood half-buried in desert sand, the walls engraved with base reliefs of-shall we say-physical love? The walls were only partially exposed, but what was above ground was remarkably well preserved." "You've seen desert ruins." She said, looking at me. I nodded. "Pitted and rounded from countless sandstorms, as though Nature herself had taken an emery board to them. But the walls of Al'kalabet were smooth, as though just finished. The statues were remarkable, very lifelike." She grinned. "At the risk of being crude, you could caress the statue's skin, and easily imagine it to be the most perfect of satiny flesh." "It was the same everywhere in the city. Public buildings with the same form of decoration as the outer walls. And inside. Whoever made Al'kalabet had a vivid imagination, if a one track mind." "The natives we talked to in various places all agreed on one thing." Alima leaned forward. "Every single story agreed that Al'kalabet's people were destroyed by Allah for perversions of the flesh!" She leaned back, satisfied with Sherry's involuntary gasp. "After seeing the city I could well agree. We had originally planned to take over one of the buildings and use it for a base camp." "After the first night in that unholy place it was unanimously agreed that we should camp in the desert." "Why?" Sherry asked curiously. "Surely an empty city offered no threat?" "You'd think so." Alima agreed.. "But you see the city wasn't empty. At night the desert wind would sweep through the city and make the statues cry like lost souls. Or whisper like lovers in the dark." She paused. "And then, of course, there were the shadows." "Shadows?" I asked, intrigued. "At night?" Alima nodded. "It was the wind again. The wind would make the flames of our camp fires and lanterns dance. In the darkness it made the statues seem to move with life and purpose." She shivered. "And considering what the statues were doing when still, seeing them move was totally unnerving." "Between the sounds and the shadows no one got much sleep that night. And when you could get to sleep there were the dreams." "What kind of dreams?" Sherry prompted when Alima didn't continue. "Dreams of carnal pleasures, of lust and debauchery." Alima shivered. "I would fall asleep, and dream I was-" She stopped. "No, I can't bring myself to say. But the dreams were powerful, very real. As though your soul had stepped into another world." "And when I'd wake up and hear the statues moan in unnatural rapture, and move in their obscene rites-" She shuddered. "Not even my father was proof against it. The next day we spent sleeping in the desert camp, and most of that night. "On the third day, by daylight we began to explore the city. As ruins go it was only moderately large, but unlike most desert ruins it was remarkably well preserved, and so offered more nooks and crannies for exploration." "In daylight the city was tolerable, even pleasant if one ignored the carvings and statues everywhere. My father had us split into teams. I was partnered with John Seymour-you know him, of course?" I nodded. "Bright young chap. He's going to make his mark someday, without a doubt." "I agree. He has a wonderful eye for detail. That's what got me into trouble." Both Sherry and I made polite noises. "I'm getting ahead of myself. It was the fourth day when my father discovered the temple. It was filled with all sorts of art objects, and holy relics. We thought it was a magnificent find." She laughed. "My father was beside himself. Everyone was busy cataloging and making sketches. My father asked John and me to map the temple itself while everyone else was busy with the temple contents." "As I said, John Seymour has an eye for detail. We were mapping in the back of the temple, in the area where the clergy lived, when John noticed a large blank spot in the maps we were making and a large stone wall plain except for runes, in the otherwise decorated area. Excited by the discovery we tried to translate the runes, only to realize they were unlike anything else in the city, and totally unknown to either of us." John went to report this discovery while I stayed behind to 'poke around', as my father would put it. Quite by accident I must have pressed a hidden release because before I realized it the floor gave way beneath me and I was flung headlong into the darkness below!" Sherry gasped. "What happened then?" I leaned forward too, enjoying Alima's theatrics enormously. She could really spin a great yarn! "I fell onto a slippery chute, down which I slid helplessly. I can tell you I was terrified! I didn't know if I was going to smash into something nasty or be hurled over some subterranean cliff." "After what seemed like minutes, but was probably only fifteen or twenty seconds the chute leveled off and I skidded gently to a stop. I just laid there for a few minutes, recovering my breath and my wits." "As luck would have it I was carrying a small lantern, for just such an emergency. My father always warned me about how ruins could have such traps, and you never knew when a spot of light would be very welcome." "I managed to find my matches and lit the lantern. Realizing the others would have no way of knowing what had happened to me and I'd have to espy my own way out I examined the room I was in." "That's when I discovered the Chains of Love." "Ah." I said in satisfaction. Alima nodded. "Yes, although at first I didn't understand what I was looking at. You see, the room itself was very large, perhaps thirty paces long and as wide. As I explored, two things struck me immediately. "First, there weren't any carvings or statues." She chuckled. "And secondly, there was no sign of the chute that had deposited me so precipitously into my present situation." "It must have been frightful!" Sherry exclaimed. "Oh, indeed. I was fighting panic with every step. But my father always said if you panic during an expedition, it'll be the buzzards who profit." Sherry shuddered delicately at the gruesome image. "My lantern was only good for a couple of hours, so I knew I had to quickly find my way out. That's when I made another depressing discovery." "There weren't any doors." "However on earth did you escape?" Sherry demanded eagerly. "Balked of an easy exit my curiosity took over. And as I explored the room it became evident that it wasn't some monstrous oubliette. This room had been built for a very specific purpose, which would have required entrance and exit." "On the walls were beautifully rendered lifelike paintings. They were amazing, almost like little windows into other worlds. None was bigger than the cover of a book, but each was amazingly detailed, in full natural color." Alima's eyes shined. "Each painting was a magnificent miniature masterpiece, whoever had painted them had been a genius. And there must have been thousands!" "Many of the paintings were of young women, dressed in what we would call a night-dress of sheerest silk. And while it covered each girl modestly enough, it concealed nothing." "What do you mean?" Sherry asked, puzzled. "The material was quite thin, although opaque, and it was all too evident the girls were clothed only by the gown." Alima stressed the word only lightly. "Oh." Sherry said, leaning back. Alima nodded. "As I said, most of the paintings were of different girls, all of them quite beautiful. But about a quarter were altogether different." Alima shuddered at the memory. "Those paintings came in several "series", like Mr Darwin's "Evolution of Man" painting, each series illustrating one use for this room. And although the paintings chilled my soul they reassured me that this room must indeed have an exit." "Each series showed a different girl taken from her home, bound and brought to this chamber though the city. She was placed on the altar and-" "Sacrificed?" Sherry whispered. Alima hesitated. "Not in the traditional sense." The Arabic girl finally said. "She wasn't killed. In fact, the series all showed the girl rising from the altar afterward, almost as though they were making a point of it." "If she wasn't killed, then how could it have been a sacrifice?" Sherry wondered. "Her life wasn't taken on the altar," Alima said somberly. "They sacrificed her virtue." "That's what the old man meant." I said as Sherry paled. We were all getting caught up in the story. "There are worse things than dying, especially for an innocent young girl." "Exactly." Alima concurred. "If I hadn't been a trained archaeologist I'd have probably fainted dead away from fright." "You mentioned an altar. Was it in the room with you?" I asked. "Yes, but it was so enormous I'd at first taken it for a platform of some kind. It was twenty-feet square and almost eight feet tall." Alima said. "Stone steps on one side led up to the top of it." "But how did you escape?" Sherry wanted to know. Alima held up one palm. "That's an interesting part of the story. I'm coming to that." "So far, nothing I've said contains any hint of magic. There are mundane explanations for each part of my story, the statues, the shadows. Even the trap which had snared me was no great mystery." "I knew I was in some peril, but I also knew the others would try to find me. My father is remarkably good in unravelling ancient mysteries, I had no doubt if I couldn't contrive escape on my own he'd rescue me. My only concern was the lamp light, which would soon be gone. I had no desire to wait for rescue in the dark." "Heavens, no!" Sherry agreed wholeheartedly, shuddering. "I decided to explore the altar, my search for a secret door unsuccessful. That's when I discovered my first hint of supernatural influence." She gazed levelly at me. "I'm a firm believer in coincidence's helping hand toward superstition, but what I found on that altar shattered my credulity in an instant." "What? What?" Sherry demanded breathlessly. "I climbed the steps carefully, wary of the ancient stonework. Despite the city's remarkable preservation I had no desire to be trapped by the altar suddenly collapsing. I needn't have worried." She turned to look at Sherry. "The surface of the altar was padded, like an easy chair or this couch. Even after thousands of years the padding hadn't rotted, it looked brand new. My impression was the padding was a few inches over solid stone, although as you'll soon see it proved impossible to test." "The surface of the padding was strange too, almost like leather, but not quite. Something like India rubber, but again, not quite. It was smooth and silky to the touch, but not slippery when walked on. I've never seen anything like it." "My discovery didn't frighten me, after all a padded floor is hardly an object of terror. Rather I was filled with wonder at the cleverness of the people who had created it, even if I didn't care for their conduct. Imagine a material that had ignored the passage of millennia!" "Having studied the paintings, I knew the victims were chained to the altar, so it didn't surprize me to see five chains stretching from the edges of the altar toward the center. I even knew from the paintings that bizarre devices did the actual work, only fastened to the altar by the chains." "I named them, you know. Each chain. The five tenants of seduction: Obedience, Longing, Desire, Passion, and Lust." Alima shrugged. "But what I found at the center of the chains, innocent though it seemed, proved to me that there was magic of some kind in Al'kalabet." "What?" Sherry nearly shrieked with impatience. Alima smiled. "I found the chains empty, though arranged as though holding a victim. In their midst I found a gown like those worn by the girls in the paintings." "Like the padding on the altar the gown was untouched by time. It was light as the finest watered silk, but strong. In fact, as we discovered later, the gown can't be harmed!" "What? That's impossible!" I exclaimed. Alima shrugged. "I brought it with the chains. The gown can't be cut, burned, or torn." "But what did you find?" Sherry interjected. "The gown." Alima said. "But why did that convince you the city was magical?" Sherry asked, bewildered. "I was admiring the gown, and as women are wont to do I held it up against me, measuring it for fit." Her next words sent a chill down my spine. Damn, but she told a wild tale! "It was my exact size, as though tailored for me." Sherry gaped at her. "Not only that. By carefully laying between the chains I discovered they would hold me taut without being adjusted." "God in heaven!" Sherry blurted. "If I'd have been there I'd have run screaming!" "I did. At least to the edge of the circle of light. In my panic I'd left the lamp behind. It was a horrifying dilemma! I didn't dare leave the light, but I couldn't bring myself to go near that gown or those chains." "By the time I'd forced myself to calm down and retrieve the lamp, an hour or more had passed, most of my time was gone. I dared not stay in that chamber when the light went out. But I was trapped!" "Forcing myself to act calmly I returned to the paintings, hoping to find some clue in the end of the series. There were a score of series. In each one the last painting showed the unclothed girl walking through a portal in the wall. I even found the portal's supposed location, although if it were a secret door it defied my attempts to find its edges." "Conquering my revulsion I studied each series again. And that's when my disbelief in magic suffered its second great shock. By the foot of the wall where the archway was supposed to be a small amphora had appeared!" "There is no way I could have missed it had it been there earlier. My inspection had been both thorough and minute. This jar was nearly two feet tall and would hold two gallons. It was heavy enough to make me struggle to lift it. It had a spout for pouring, and was wide enough for me to peer inside, then dip a cautious hand in. Do you know what I found?" She asked me. I shook my head, spellbound by her story. "It was lamp oil." She said. "Not whale oil, but something else. It was scented and much lighter in color than my own oil. Not letting myself think of the amphora's ramifications I spent no time using it to refill the small reservoir in my lamp. It even made my lamp brighter." "Where did the oil come from?" Sherry asked. "We never found out. As you'll see, the amphora disappeared soon after I was reunited with our expedition." "Could it have been a native?" I asked. "Some forgotten dweller in the undercity who opened the secret door and put it there?" "I thought about it later." Alima said. "I don't believe so. When I finally found out how to open the portal it made a great deal of noise. No one could have opened the portal, I would have heard them." "Are you sure?" I asked skeptically. "The sound of the opening portal was loud enough to attract the search party from the street." She answered with a smile. "Yes, I'm sure." "At any rate, since I no longer had to worry about my lamp dying, I soon relaxed and was able to think about escape. As I said, I studied each series for clues. I found that no matter what form of obscene practices the victim had been subjected to, the series always ended with the same five paintings. In the very last the naked girl walked though the open portal. In the second to last the priests were freeing her from the chains. The third from last showed the girl sprawled on the altar, all five chains slack, and the open portal in the background." It was the fourth from last painting that provided the key. No matter what form of perversion she'd been forced through in the series, this painting showed the girl flat on her back, convulsed with effort, pulling all the chains at the same time, her face contorted in unholy ecstasy. The fifth from last painting showed her flat on her back, stretched tautly in her bondage." "The answer was exceedingly simple, but terrifying to actually contemplate attempting." "Astounding." I said. "And fiendish. You actually accomplished it?" "I am telling the tale." She pointed out. "I don't understand. What was simple?" Sherry asked. Alima smiled. "Why, child, to open the secret door all one had to do was pull all five chains at once." "But how-" And then her face paled. "You didn't!" Alima shrugged. "I had to. But there's a final twist to the tale." Mei and Rachel cleared away supper, bringing out dishes of yellow pudding for desert. Alima's story was interrupted as we finished our pudding in silence. It was a good sop for the spicy noodles. "Shall we hear the end of your chronicle in the library?" I suggested. She nodded and waited for me to get her chair. In Victorian times that custom was actually quite practical. Encumbered by long skirts and a corset the women had trouble moving their own heavy chairs. "Now, what's this about a twist?" I asked, as the three of us seated ourselves in the library. "At first I tried securing the leg chains, but was forced to remove my boots. The "shoe" on the leg chain was designed for a naked foot. And then the final blow to my disbelief (and my dignity) occurred." "I was able to fasten my ankle into the padded leg iron, and latch the restraint. Before my horrified eyes, the restraint opened itself, unlatching the complicated fastener and letting the manacle slowly open. As you've seen, both wrist and ankle manacles are carved to resemble skeletal fingers. Watching those fingers open of their own accord was unnerving." I was sure I'd figured out the secret of the door. It made no sense that the manacles would open by themselves. Not even if magic were allowed. In my present state of mind I would have understood them closing but that they would open absolutely baffled me." "I'm afraid I lost my composure and used several words my father wouldn't approve of. I cursed that manacle, demanding it stay closed. The second time I tried it closed obediently, and latched, but as soon as my fingers left the metal the thing sprang open, quick as the action of a revolver." "I was ready to cry in frustration when my eyes caught sight of the gown. By this time I was firmly resolved that no metaphysical phenomena would unnerve me." "So when the gown floated over to me and settled in my lap I took it in stride. I'd half expected it, anyway." "Resigned to the inevitable I removed my own clothing and donned the gown, knowing somehow that I would not be allowed any other garment." When I laid down I got another nasty shock. The chains moved on their own! Striking with snake-like speed they soon had me trapped as helplessly and tautly as any of the girls in the paintings!" She shivered at the memory. "I had overlooked one small detail. When I opened my mouth to scream in shock the gag that was part of the headgear rammed itself firmly between my teeth. Helpless I lay there for a moment, chagrinned that I'd been so easily caught, a lamb leading itself to slaughter." "But you escaped!" Sherry said firmly. Alima nodded. "Yes. It was all I could think of. I heaved, convulsing with the hysterical strength of my terror. And the chains resisted for an instant. Then, all at once, they gave way. There was a grinding noise like the whole chamber was collapsing and the portal slab slid aside. The noise attracted the search party who by now were frantic. They came boiling down the stairs in a wash of light." "They found my unconscious body sprawled in the slack chains on the altar, with my clothes neatly piled beside me. I came to feeling hands releasing me from my restraints. "When I opened my eyes my first words were 'You know, for a gag that didn't taste badly at all!" Sherry stared at her. Alima stared back, eyes twinkling. "Is that what you really said?" Sherry asked, a smile tugging at her lips. "God's honest truth!" Alima raised one hand. "Although I had a devil of a time explaining to several young gentlemen exactly how I'd come to be spread-eagled on a sacrificial altar wearing next to nothing!" Sherry lost it, abandoning the game, as she howled with laughter. Alima and I joined her until tears formed in our eyes. "Madam," I said at last. "You are either the world's most gifted liar, or you had a most extraordinary adventure." "If I'd been told this tale I'd be inclined to think the former." Alima conceded. "But I bring proof of my ordeal, the Chains are their own witness." "Ah, yes. And when may I inspect these famous objects?" "Why, immediately, my dear professor. They're in my room, in the trunk that your two porters found so heavy." Alima rose and offered my her arm. "Shall we inspect them, then?" "Certainly. Sherry, if you'd rather not view Miss Jahrain's discovery-" I began, knowing Sherry's aversion for bondage. "Wild horses couldn't keep me away." She said firmly. "As an anthropologist, I'm fascinated by any hint of primitive magic." "The Chains are not products of primitives." Alima said as we strolled toward the stairs. "The metal is some form of steel so hard it can't be cut. Not to mention the gown." "Each link of the Chains" Alima lectured as we trooped up the stairs. "is uniquely different from every other. Although the artistry is amazing, the subject matter leaves much to be desired." She shivered. "Each link shows a nude woman being held captive, or put to torment, or enduring some obscene form of violation. There are 666 links, which some say is the number of the Devil." She opened her door. We stepped into the room with Alima still speaking. When she caught sight of the bed she froze, her face a mask of horror. "What is it?" I asked, alarmed. Shaking, Alima slowly raised one hand to point at the bed. The bed was turned back, ready for use. But laying on the satin sheets, like five heavy serpents with silver scales, were the Chains Of Love. "Professor, I find this joke in the worst possible taste." Alima said shakily, actually paling slightly. A superb actress. "I don't understand." I said. "What joke?" "Having your servants lay out the Chains like that." Alima snapped. I blinked in confusion. "But I assure you madam I did nothing of the sort!" I protested, innocently. And I really hadn't. "They didn't move themselves!" Alima retorted, then bit her lip, eyes widening. I had to fight from applauding her performance. Sherry looked delighted and frightened at the same time. Alima's performance was beyond her experience, she'd never dreamed this sort of thing was even possible. It was like being part of a movie, she told me later. "Are you sure you aren't trying to pull the wool over the old professor's eyes?" I asked lightly. Alima shook her head. "I assure you, sir, that every word I've spoken tonight is gospel truth." "Uncle, she did say that the Chains moved like snakes, capturing her." Sherry reminded me. "Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye. Perhaps the people of Al'kalabet knew something forgotten to modern man." "It hardly seems credible. Even if by some mysterious manner the Chains moved in the temple of Al'kalabet, this is my home, in the very heart of England. Surely whatever powered them had to be confined to the temple?" "It seems not." Alima commented dryly. She moved toward the bed cautiously. "See, the gown is laid out, just like in the temple." There was a gown, of sheer white silk, barely opaque, laying between the stretched out chains. It had tie shoulders but was otherwise solid, the kind a woman would have to pull over her head or step into. "There is one way to prove the thing, one way or the other." I said. Still playing the cool scientist rapidly recovering from shock, Alima turned to look at me. "And what's that, professor?" She asked. "You could put on the gown and let us bind you with the Chains. Then we stand back and see what happens." I kept my voice neutral. "You can't be serious!" Sherry broke in, outraged. "That's monstrous!" "It would prove matters." I said calmly. "If Miss Jahrain is to be believed the Chains do not harm their victim, they merely bind her. We are here and could instantly release her from the Chains. While it might be alarming for her, no true scientist would refuse such a golden opportunity to prove irrefutably the existence of the supernatural." "On the other hand, if Miss Jahrain's merely been entertaining us with a ghost story, then she will refuse to permit herself to be bound, thus disproving her fable, and invalidating her discovery. In other words, she'd be exposed as a fraud." I grinned wickedly at Alima. "You're correct, of course." Alima said reluctantly. "All evidence we have indicates the Chains have never harmed a victim. Indeed they did not harm me when I was forced to use them. My reluctance stems not from any fraudulent behavior, rather distaste for the purposes the Chain's makers intended for its victims." She smiled faintly. "And, of course, for the humiliation of having to wear such an immodest negligee while posed indecently in front of you, Professor Reiner." "Tut, tut, my girl. We are all scientists here. I shall treat any-indiscretions-exactly as would a medical doctor. Have no fear for your reputation. Sherry will act as your chaperon." "I think this whole affair is scandalous!" Sherry said. "If the two of you insist on taking it to its logical conclusion, I suppose I have no other choice but to guard Miss Jahrain's modesty, since she seems disinclined to do so herself." It seemed Sherry was a bit of an actress herself. "The Professor has a valid point, Sherry. If I refuse he would have no alternative but to expose me as a fraud. Which I am not. Professor, if you'd be so kind as to leave the room while I change into the gown?" "Of course. Sherry can fetch me. I'll be in the library." I left with dignity, pleased at the neat trap I'd caught Alima in. I went straight to the kitchen, where Rachel, Mei, and Thuy were just eating supper. "Well, what did you think?" I asked them. "She's a fine actress." Mei admitted, reaching for her wine. "Very beautiful." Thuy commented. "Very talented." "Very arrogant, though." Rachel mused. "She seemed to enjoy ordering me around. I can't say I like her much." "That's going to change.. Starting tonight. In the morning, you may not recognize that imperious bitch." I chuckled at their shocked expressions. "Isn't that a bit strong, master?" Mei asked. I shook my head. "Nope. That's why I brought her here. She's a snooty, spoiled brat who wants to be totally mastered by a man strong enough to do it. Little does she know her prayers have been answered." "I don't understand." Thuy complained. "You mean you knew she was overbearing and spoiled and brought her here deliberately?" "Exactly. Alima wants to be punished, and enslaved. She's proud and haughty, and longs to be broken. Remember I said each one of you has a special reason for being here? Hers is to be punished, and turned from a spoiled brat into a wanton and eager slave." "Excuse me." A voice came from behind me. Spinning around I found Sherry standing there. "Geez, girl, don't do that!" I exclaimed. "You'll give me a heart attack!" "Your slave girl is awaiting your pleasure." Sherry drawled, obviously ticked off. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "You heard." I guessed. She nodded. "I do apologize, Sherry, but these are the games we play. If they upset you, I'm sorry." "Why should I be upset?" Sherry asked. "They seem to enjoy it. Who'm I to object?" Mei stood up and moved to the teenager. Sherry resisted when Mei hugged her. "Mei, I'm ok, really." Sherry tried to disengage but Mei wouldn't let her. Rachel got up and hugged Sherry too. "You're part of the family, Sherry. We stick together, all of us." Rachel said. Thuy looked on in confusion. "Feel better?" Mei asked her. She nodded. Mei and Rachel released her. "I'm not really one of you, you know." Sherry said after a minute. "He won't even touch me. It's driving me crazy." "I'm confused." Thuy spoke from the table, her food forgotten. "Master, I thought Sherry was your ward." "She is." I smiled at Sherry, who smiled back tentatively. "But she wants to be a slave, like the rest of us?" "Yes." Sherry spoke before I could. "Forgive me, master, since I'm probably putting my nose where it'll get stuffed full of lint, but why can't she be a slave too?" I hesitated. "Sherry, it's your privacy. May I tell her?" Sherry thought for a minute, then nodded. "Sherry's only fifteen." I said. "Sixteen!" The teen corrected me. "Sixteen, then. She's below the age of consent." I shrugged. "There are other complicating factors, one of which is she isn't all that fond of bondage, or sex slavery games." "I see." Thuy said. "Sherry, do you really want to be a sex slave, or just have Paul make love to you?" "I-does it matter?" Sherry shrugged. "It'll be two years before either happens." "It matters a great deal, Sherry." Thuy said, oddly intense. "Please answer me as honestly as you know how. Do you want to have sex with him, or be possessed by him?" Sherry hung her head and thought for a while. I looked at Thuy who gazed back, an odd combination of relaxed tension keeping her still. "Why do you want to know?" Sherry asked finally. Thuy shook her head. "I have certain information. It might affect your decision. Tell me. Right now, do you want to be owned or just fucked?" "Owned." Sherry whispered. "You're sure?" "Thuy, what are you doing?" I asked. She raised a hand. "As I trust you, master, trust me now. I ask again, Sherry. Are you absolutely positive?" "Yes." Sherry said firmly. "You should do your legal research more carefully, master." Thuy said, a smile tugging at her lips. "The age of consent in South Carolina is sixteen, not eighteen." There was shocked silence in the room. No one even breathed. Sherry was the first to recover. "Oh, Thuy, are you sure?" Sherry was pleading. "Yes. I looked it up when Paul said he lived in South Carolina. I was only seventeen when he first called. My birthday is on March 12. I had only been eighteen for 11 days when he took me." "So I'm legal! Hot damn! Now you don't have any excuses!" She whirled in place, laughing. "Thuy, I trust you. But like Gorby always says, 'Trust, but Verify'. Mei! Get on the computer and link to a legal database! Find out the age of consent in South Carolina. Now!" Mei disappeared like a 959 with the runs. "This doesn't change tonight at all." I told Sherry. "It's Alima's night, it wouldn't be fair to her to change anything. If Thuy's right then you're mine tomorrow night. You say she's ready?" "Yes." "Good, then we'll continue just like we planned. After I've got her bound you can leave and check with Mei to see if Thuy's right. Ok?" "I know I'm right." Thuy insisted quietly. "I hope so." I said. "Let's go, Sherry." As we passed the library I could here Mei typing furiously on the keyboard. We were at the top of the stairs when a triumphant whoop resounded through the house. "Looks like you've got your wish, lady." I said gravely to Sherry. She just nodded, smiling. "I hope you aren't disappointed. You're burning your bridges behind you." "They burned a long time ago-Uncle." She said with a grin. I opened the door to Alima's bedroom. "I'm sorry for the delay, Miss Jahrain." I said. Alima was standing by the bed clad only in the delicate silk nightgown, her curves clearly outlined. "I didn't mind, sir. I'm not looking forward to this." Alima said ruefully. "There are many other things I can think of that I'd rather be doing." "I can well imagine. Well, let's get on with it. Lie down." I ordered her. Alima sat on the edge of the bed, almost falling as it gave unexpectedly under her. "What in the world?" She asked, springing upright. "A new experimental mattress." I said. "It's called a waterbed. A wonderful way to sleep, but disconcerting to the uninitiated, what?" "What other surprizes have you in store for me, I wonder?" She asked. Carefully she laid down, trying to avoid letting the bed toss her about. "Let me see, I suppose we should start with this headpiece." I said, pretending to examine it. Actually I'd already studied it thoroughly. The collar was held closed by a metal hook-and-eye, which I flipped up. Alima had to scoot upward and slide her head into the halo brace, letting the whole device rest on her shoulders. I swung the collar shut, noting the perfect fit from the spacers inserted into the collar before hand. I hooked it shut. "Now I think the shoulder pieces swing down around the armpits and clamp shut like this." I said. Alima grimaced at the tightness. Truth to tell, she was almost totally helpless now, head held immobile by the halo brace firmly clamped to her shoulders and underarms like some old-fashioned diver's helmet. The clamps around her armpits forced her to hold her arms at least level with her shoulders. "Oh, yes, you did say that you were gagged in the temple. Here's the gag. Open your mouth, please." Alima did so, a little hesitantly. I pressed the massive leather plug between her teeth, having to press a little to make it fit. Alima's eyes widened as her tongue was forced down by the leather intruder. I clamped the gag to the frame of the halo brace with the supplied clamps. "Now your left arm." I ordered. Alima obediently put it over her head, she couldn't turn her head to see where the manacle was. I guided her hand into the restraint and closed the loop. Her fingers were held rigid by the finger rings. "And now the right." I said. She let me bind her. "And now, Miss Alima Jahrain." I chuckled. "It's time for another surprize. You see, I know more about the Chains Of Love than you do. I found references to them in some of the tomes in the Arkham library in New England. I brought back the one tome that spoke most about them." I chuckled again. "The inscription on the collar, for example, says "She who wears this collar must obey he who binds her." Alima's eyes got wider. "And the runes covering the gag in your mouth say "She who willing tastes this gag speaks only with the voice of her master." "The chain on your left wrist is even now working it's subtle and lurid magic. You named it the Chain of Longing, never dreaming that was its true name. As I speak to you the metal is sending vibrations of longing through your soul. Soon your longing will tear you apart, you'll beg to be taken, if only to satisfy it." "And the Chain of Desire! Pouring into your veins are all the desires of the victims before you as they were used and taken by their masters. Silly girl! These chains were used to make temple slaves! Willing harlots for the obscene rites of Al'kalabet!" Alima paled and closed her eyes, beginning to breath rapidly. Her fear was at least a little genuine, after all she was a virgin about to be deflowered in all truth. "The ritual is quite specific.. You must be stripped of your gown, naked you will be bound with the chains of Passion and Lust!" And I untied the shoulder straps and pulled the gown downward in one quick yank. Alima tensed, shivering. "Uncle!" Sherry shouted. "Are you mad? What are you doing?" "Enslaving a beautiful woman with the Chains of Love, according to the ancient texts!" I thundered. Seizing her left leg I imprisoned it in the chain of Passion. "Feel the passion of ten thousand years of slaves boil in your loins, bitch!" I chanted, snaring her other leg. She fought me with all her strength, but I put my back into it and soon had her leg trapped, spreading her widely. "Now experience the lust of your Chained sisters in their times of travail!" I screamed, placing my hand on her pussy. It was damp with arousal. "I leave you now, to sink into the very depths of yearning for that which you will receive. The longer you lie here, the more tortured with lust you will become, the more impassioned will be your prayer for your own defilement!" I spun, grabbing Sherry by the wrist, pulling it behind her. Leaning down I whispered. "It's all part of the act. Relax." "Now, Sherry, my lovely ward, I'm going to take you to your room and bind you hand and foot. Tomorrow, it will be you in the Chains!" "No, uncle, please!" Sherry pleaded as I pulled her toward the door. "I will have your virgin flesh yet!" I said, pulling us out into the hall, slamming the door behind us. I let go of Sherry immediately, slumping against the wall, laughing. "Virgin flesh?" Sherry asked, dropping her accent. "That's not exactly the case you know." "I know that. But Alima doesn't. Besides, it sounded good. Let's go see what Mei found out." We went down the stairs to find the girls clustered in the library. "I was right!" Thuy said, bouncing in her eagerness. Mei nodded and hugged Sherry. Rachel just smiled. "You mean I'm really and truly legal?" Sherry asked. "I can become a slave like the rest of you?" "If you want." I said. "But it's not a decision to be taken lightly. For twelve hours of each day I can do anything I like to you. No exceptions, save that you'll never be injured." "You're on." Sherry said instantly. I grimaced. "Ok, slave girl. Mei, did the rest of you finish eating?" "Yes, master. Even desert." "Sherry, you get to wash the dishes. That's an order from your master. If you do a good job I'll reward you. If you don't, I'll suspend you from the ceiling and whip you." "You're kidding, right?" Sherry asked uneasily. "I'm serious. Go." Sherry went. "Were you serious?" Thuy asked. "Yep. Listen, Thuy, I want you to go to your room. Tonight you're going to eat cucumber." "What?" Thuy asked blankly. Rachel and Mei exchanged knowing looks. "Rachel, go bind Thuy to her bed, would you pet? Mei, I want to speak with you in the library. Oh, Rachel, strip her naked first. And all five chains, mind!" "Yes, master." Rachel curtsied. She and Thuy left, Thuy looking apprehensive. I took Mei's arm and guided her into the library, closing the door. "Ok, tell me about Sherry." I said. Mei smiled. "There's nothing to tell, master. The age of consent in South Carolina is sixteen. She's legal." I waved her words away. "I trust you to have the facts straight, love, but that's not what I meant. Tell me about how Sherry's going to fit in with the rest of the harem." "I think she'll do fine." Mei said firmly. "She's been through some hard times but she's in a place where she can be loved now. This is a family, master. You're the head, and we're all sisters. It really is a wonderful place." "So you don't think it will screw up her head or anything?" Mei cocked her head, considering. "No." She said finally. "If anything it'll help her stabilize. This isn't a garden-variety environment, of course, but I think she'll be happy here. As long as you don't push her too hard." "Then I'm giving you the job of warning me of that." I said. "I push too hard, I go too far, you let me know, right then. Ok?" "Of course, master." She kissed me lightly. "You'd better get back to Alima." "I'm letting her stew." I said. "But there's still the matter of Sherry's reward." "Reward?" Mei asked. "For washing the dishes. I'm thinking about offering her a range of possibilities, and letting her choose one." "For instance?" Mei prompted. "Being tied up and made love to by you, or Rachel. Or, say, being bound helpless while vibrators are strapped into her and onto her, or a two quart enema while she's helpless. That sort of thing." "A lesbian scene?" Mei asked. "Isn't that a bit heavy for an intro?" "She is, or rather was a hooker. She's made love to women before, by her own admission. And she won't have to choose that." "But all her choices will involve either Rachel or me, right?" Mei asked. "Yes. I'll be with Alima all night. Does that bother you?" I took her hands. "Of course not, master." Mei said. "I've made love to Rachel and Thuy, at your command. I like Sherry. Making love to her would be a treat." "Then we leave it up to her." I decided. We went to the kitchen, to find Rachel lounging at the table. Sherry was just finishing up, her sleeves pushed up above her elbow. "Finished!" She said in satisfaction, turning to face me, pulling her sleeves down. I made a show of examining the sink and the dishes she'd dried and returned to the cabinets. "Very good." I said finally. "I'm pleased with you, Sherry. You've done well. You are to be rewarded." Sherry grinned, pleased. "I'm going to give you a list of possible choices. First, because I want to give you a taste of what your slavery would be like, all of them involve you being bound helpless, perhaps blindfolded and gagged. Do you understand that?" "Yes, sir." Sherry said. She watched me steadily. "Second, since I'm going to be with Alima all night, you'll choose either Mei or Rachel or both to be with you tonight. Do you understand that?" "Yes, sir." She repeated. It didn't seem to bother her. "Ok. Let's see. First choice, having one or both of them make love to your bound body. Second, having one or both spank you while you're bound face down on the bed. Third, a two quart enema while helpless. Or lastly, having various kinds of vibrators inserted in your bodily openings and others against sensitive areas of your body." "An all girl party, a spanking, an enema, or a Tupperware party." Sherry mused. "I've had women, and dildos, and I'm in no mood to be spanked. I guess the enema." "From Mei, Rachel, or both?" I asked. "Mei." Sherry said instantly. Rachel looked just a trifle disappointed. I bowed to Sherry. "As you wish, young one. Mei, you're to strip her naked, bind her, and administer three two-quart enemas." "I thought you said just one?" Sherry protested. "One to clean you out." I explained. "One to soak you, and a final one to rinse you out. Mei, I expect her to be cumming all night, hard enough to make her faint. Use every skill at your command." "Yes, master." Mei said quietly. "Come along, Sherry. You heard the master." "And what shall be my fate, master?" Rachel asked after the two girls left. "Brave Rachel." I smiled. "Lovely lady, what would you?" "Whatever you command, master." Rachel answered quietly. I felt warmth stir in my belly. "Want to help me psyche out Alima?" I asked. She nodded instantly. "Would you be willing to help me punish her?" Rachel hesitated. "We aren't really going to hurt her, are we?" "Not injure." I temporized. "But I imagine it will sting more than a little. After all, that's the whole idea about punishment. It hurts." "Has she done something to deserve it?" "She's been unlikable. Even you admitted that. For which, she's going to be punished." "You won't go as far with her as you did with me will you?" Rachel asked in concern. "I don't think she could handle that. It might make her leave." "No." I chuckled. "Oh, I almost forgot. I promised Thuy the Cucumber tonight. And you're going to insert it." "Me?" She gulped. "Why me?" "A grand old tradition, stemming back from the beginnings of the harem." I grinned. "Mei socked it to you, now it's your turn to pass it on." "Who did it to Mei?" Rachel said. "The chicken and the egg." I said. "I started the ball rolling, and whoever's last does it to Mei. Now let's get Thuy squared away and get back to Alima." Continued in part 12