Halgrim's Tower (PM to join)

[RennyStyle]

Lark wasn't the type of woman who would ever admit being afraid of anything. In fact, she had only survived this long by leaping headfirst into danger, daring to do what other wouldn't think, and outrunning the consequences. She refused to admit that she was nervous, that butterflies were starting to flutter in her stomach, or that her walk had slowed down. One of the guards behind her pushed her forward, and she continued marching.

She did her best to ignore the people hurling insults and dirt at her. When she looked away, she saw a man with his trousers low and his cock in his hand, furiously stroking it while staring at her, his tongue pushing inside his cheek. When he caught her eye, he showed off his shaft lewdly and called her out. A few men next to him joined in, whipping their cocks out and waving them at her. The first man climaxed right when she passed and he saw her perfect ass. What he would give to shove his hard cock into that ass. He shouted as much as the brunette made her final ascent to the front gate.

 

[Knightmare27]

Tyann saw the shock in Emmeline's face when he told her about Thom's fate. He smiled thinly.

"Shocked, aren't you? Yes, I noticed how popular he is with the prisoners and the slaves. Much too popular. That is exactly why I had to punish him. If I had let him continue like that, all of you would have probably gotten strange ideas about how you should be treated. Remember, young lady: Just because I am going to keep you here, in my personal quarters, I will not treat you any better than the dirt you are. We are getting a new prisoner today, and you will accompany me to the torture chamber and keep a protocol of her interrogation. Now that you are my scribe, I can have everything she says - or screams - written down on the spot, so that is exactly what you will do."

He let her get to work and sat down opposite her, to prepare his own work for the day. From time to time, he looked up and saw how hard she was working. Good. She did not let what must have been considerable pain in her thumbs slow her down even a little bit. A brave woman, and a good slave.

"Come now. I am going to see whether our new prisoner has arrived yet. Take your writing utensils with you."

He stood up and took her by the hand, then gave in to temptation. Still holding on to her wrist with his right hand, his left shifted her slave dress up a little and moved in between the rough fabric and the smooth skin, over her rumbling stomach, over her ribs and to her breast. He cupped them in his palm as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

Still fondling her breast, he continued: "You are doing a fine job, slave. I can see you were taught very good handwriting. Even with your thumbs mangled like that..."

There was a knock at the door, and he quickly took his hand out and loosened his grip on her. "Lord?" It was Guntar's voice. "Come in!", Tyann barked, a bit disappointed.

Guntar opened the door. There was the master jailer and also a beautiful young woman in a slave outfit, writing. She had to be a new one, and probably one of those nobles. Who else would get such light work as scribe duty around her? Damn lazy bloodsuckers. He noted with some satisfaction that her thumbs were bandaged. At least she had been tortured properly, and she had probably screamed her pretty head off.

"My lord, I hear disturbing reports. About Thom, and the slave...his lover. He seems to have gotten her...pregnant."

"What?", Tyann gasped in surprise before catching himself and putting on a stern face. "This must be investigated immediately. I want that slave brought down to the torture chamber immediately. And see if Thom is conscious again. If he is, bring him to the torture chamber, too. If not, I want him down there as soon as he can talk again."

Guntar grinned and saluted. He had not forgotten that hit in the crotch, and he really wished he could be present when they tortured a confession out of her. Oh well. Just breaking the news to her that she would be going down to the lowest floor, that pit of despair, made him so happy he almost sang his reply: "Yes, my lord. I will have both of them brought down there as quickly as possible."

Guntar left. Tyann turned to Emmeline. "We have a busy day today. Three people might end up under torture today, and you will have to write down everything. Make sure to bring plenty of paper and the whole box of quills. They will have a lot to talk about. Especially that soft-hearted fool."

He wondered if Thom would be ready for anything yet. In the state he was in, just the threat of having to sit for interrogation would probably cause him to spill everything. Oh, what a fun end to their stupid affair that would be! He was looking forward to it.


*****************************************************************


As Lark grew more afraid, the shouts grew louder, the laughter nastier. The walk up the hill in the scorching mid-day sun seemed to take forever as they passed row after row of people hurling insults and dirt at her, everyone seemingly eager to see her humiliated, in pain - or just naked. Even caked in dirt, she still provoked whistling wherever she went.

Some men even got out their dicks and relieved the pressure she was causing right there as she passed. The area right next to the castle entrance was quite a respectable one, but not today. Rich merchants and high officials lost all their shame as she passed and screamed things at her they would never have said to their wives even in their own bedroom. She was getting a truly tumultuous welcome.

Finally, they passed through the castle yard and to the tower. From the inside, a guard hidden in the darkness suddenly threw a massive bucket of icy water at her. Taking advantage of her shock, the four guards with the chains surrounded her and shackled her wrists and ankles together behind her back, with a massive chain connecting them all. Now she was ready for torture deep within the belly of this hell.

 

[RennyStyle]

Lark shrieked as the ice water struck her, chilling her to the bone. She shut her eyes, and felt strong arms try to force her into position. She did her best to fight back, to free herself but it didn't do any good. She spit out water and tried to move as she felt heavy manacles lock around her wrists and ankles. She screamed curses at the shapes surrounding her to no avail. In a few seconds, she was chained. She couldn't move, couldn't squeeze her wrists through the locks, and she could feel the heavy chain pulling her arms downward.

The guard behind her pushed her forward. She tried to wipe her face on her bare shoulder and open her eyes, but even open she could barely see ahead of her in this dark place.

The guards led the naked woman down a spiraling set of stone stairs.

 

[LandiKirk]

LaVonda was standing in front of a basin of dishes. She had just gotten the hot water poured in and was working on washing them clean. She was thinking about the possibility of who might be the father. She mentally made a list. Tobias of the Royal stables, that scarred man from another kingdom that stops by with exotic silks Mistress of the brothel would buy, Logan who was rumored to be the King's nephew by marriage, Thom, and The Master Jailer.

Just then someone had come to escort her to the torture chamber.

oh nooo the Wooden Horse! LaVonda worries that because of her deed in caning Master Thom would suffer on it anyways.

LaVonda removed the apron and hung it on a peg. She went to the Head Cook so he knew where she was at.

"I have been summoned downstairs Master Cook" LaVonda shouted loudly and clearly.

He looked up at her and nods then shouts at her. "Best be back in two hours. You have rabbits to skin and chop for tomorrow's last meal of the day. Do you hear me, girl!"

LaVonda bowed and nodded then left with the escort.

In his opinion she didnt need to tell the old seaf man anything and hoped he wouldn't be in trouble for their delay. "If I do, you will get twice as bad. I promise you."

LaVonda notices the direction she is going and wondered if she was going to be promoted to her old job. Once they passed the archway to the torture room, LaVonda and collected her cleaning supplies and moves over to one of the whipping posts and began scrubbing off the blood that stained the wood with vigor.

 

[SandS13]

Emmeline tried not to think about the torture chamber, about how she would have to sit there and see it all...hear it all...record it...

She focused on her task. Her eyes flicked up at the sound of Tyann's voice. She stopped what she was doing and blew on the ink.

Emmeline stood, his hand pulling her up. She gasped as his hand moved over her body. She trembled as his fingers brushed skin. It wasn't the same as when he bathed her. This was because he wanted to touch her. She was breathing hard, her breasts moving in his palm.

Her lips parted, head going back just a little as he complimented her. How quickly he could take her fear and ease it. His voice in her ear was soothing. That strange tension in her body that he had caused when bathing her returned. She was just about to press back against him when the knock rang out in the room. Emmeline was brought back to the present. Her dress was replaced, his hands gone.

She looked down at the floor. What was wrong with her? She felt so strange, so conflicted. Pain, fear and what....desire for him to hold her, touch her more? No, that couldn't be right.

Emmeline didn't look up but turned to gather the things Tyann asked her to get. She paused as she overheard the guard's words. Thom and a slave? She heard Tyann mention investigating and Thom being conscious. What she had been through was going to be nothing compare to what she feared was in store for the poor guard. And the poor woman! To be with child and now, tortured! Her heart hurt for her.

"Yes, Master Tyann." She gathered all her supplies and then faced him. Her eyes looked up to his face. "I am ready."

In terms of supplies yes, Emmeline was ready. In the sense that she was about to bear witness to torture, to record it all...nothing could make her ready for it.

 

[LandiKirk]

LaVonda was working on a whip that she was familiar with. A moderate sized cat-o- nine tails. She took the scrub brush and was cleaning each piece of metal that adorned the end of each leather strip.

There was a second whip sitting next to her leg that would need to be refixed as the leather that held the strips of leather to the handle was coming off. LaVonda whispers to that whip "Pray you are not leaving pieces of yourself in the hands of those that use you."

One guard saw her and became agitated. "What is she doing back here?"

His partner released the broken body of another prisoner to the floor. "Didnt you hear about the one that Tyann caned yesterday? That's her. Stupid slut went crazed after being the one to cane ole one eyed. I saw her come within spitting range to walloping Captain Tyann before they took the cane from her gands."

The first stared at the slave working vigorously. "Wish I could have seen that. But I was transporting two slaves to the mines."

They both wondered why she was back down here . Then winces as the aroma of clean floors came wafting to their noses. Damnation for the asshole that brought her down.

Lavonda was still cleaning the metal tips when The Master Jailer arrived. LaVonda bites her lower lip wondering if she had done enough to please him or if he had more jobs for her to do

 

[Knightmare27]

As Tyann and his new scribe went down to the torture chamber, they passed several guards dragging a cursing woman in rattling chains between them.

"Our new prisoner has arrived", he said to Emmeline with a smile. "Let us go and welcome her like she deserves."

It took quite some time to get her down the four stairways and many locked door, but eventually, they arrived in the place of horror. "Sit and write down everything she says", he said to Emmeline, before turning to Lark.

"Calm down. Nothing bad has happened to you yet. Nothing bad will happen to you, unless you insist on your innocence. The court has declared you guilty. Why do you insist on lying?"

He stepped closer to her and put the fingers of his right hand under her chin, turning her to face him. "You can still confess and hope for a mild sentence. Or you can insist on forcing me to torture it out of you. But in that case, I will be very angry at you, and you will feel the full force of my anger. There are so many ways I can hurt you here, and I am more than willing to use every single one of them if you persist."

"Do yourself a favor, and confess. If not, I will give the signal, and we will begin with the first torture. Not a bone-breaker yet, though it will feel like it. Just a rough rope, wound around your arms again...and again...and again... so tightly it cuts off your blood. And that is just the beginning of what we can do to you down here. So think for a moment, and then decide if I should give the signal or if you will be reasonable."

He spotted LaVonda happily cleaning away in one of the corners of the dungeon and grinned. That had been a slight misunderstanding... he calmly walked towards her and pulled her up by her left shoulder. Not roughly, but in a way that showed he was used to handling cattle.

"No, slave, I did not need you for cleaning. I need you for answering. You are pregnant, I heard, and I am dying to find out who the father is. Which means you will die unless you tell me. Work your memory, little slave. Who could it be that got you pregnant?"

Just at this moment, another group of guards appeared. Between them, more hanging on their arms than walking by himself, was Thom, still extremely sore from the caning and wincing every time he was forced to take a step. Tyann greeted him with a smile that would have counted as polite if not for the tone he adressed him in.

"So you got the slave pregnant. For things like that, I should really just have you castrated, but, sadly, no punishment without a confession, so I need you to confess to it. You know very well what will happen if you do not give it to me. Do not make me remind you."

Thom was too weak to respond, or to resist as the two other guards removed all his clothing. At a signal from the jailer, they set him down on the Spiked Chair. Normally a minor torture, but he howled in pain and threw his head back as his mangled butt made contact with it.

"Strap him in and put the pregnant girl in the cage. Pull the cage up, but not too far. She should have a clear view of what is going to happen to her next."

As the guards hurried to fulfill his orders, he turned to Emmeline again. "I know the screaming will take some getting used to. I am reasonable. I do not expect you to write down everything they scream. Especially the blasphemous parts. But do protocol everything important they say. I expect to find every bit of information I get out of them in your protocols. Remember that I can send you back to your cell at any time."

Back to Lark. "Well... you have had more than enough time to decide now. Will we hear a confession from you, or screaming? Remember, you have an audience today. Do you really want to frighten the poor girl in that cage with shrieks of agony? Show her how to be good, and lighten your conscience with a confession or two. Do not make all these poor people have nightmares for weeks because they saw what I did to you."

Just in case she still refused, he had two of her guards remove her shackles while holding on to her tightly. Two others retrieved the rope with the wooden handles and wrapped it around her wrists once. Suddenly, without warning, they both leaned back and tightened it so shockingly fast you could hear it creak. Then they stopped.

"Just a warning. ONE loop. It is" - he measured her forearm with his eyes - "thirteen or fourteen loops to your elbow."

 

[SandS13]

Emmeline was petrified. She had been prepared to write, prepared to keep her eyes on the paper, on her work. Then it was controlled chaos. Prisoners...a woman in chains, naked. The slave, cleaning as she had during Emmeline's torture. Then Thom.

Her eyes moved about the room, fear filling them. She shivered as Tyann spoke of the rope. She remembered the demonstration she had received. The blue orbs darted to the slave, now being taken into custody in a cage. Pregnant.

Thom, stripped and screaming as he was forced into a chair.

Then a reprieve. Tyann's voice filled her ears and despite the topic, the sound was soothing. Emmeline nodded. "Yes, Master Tyann."

A shaking hand lifted a quill and readied to write anything he was told. She would show him her worth, her usefulness. Thoughts of escaping had been replaced by thoughts of her task.

 

[LandiKirk]

"No, slave, I did not need you for cleaning. I need you for answering. You are pregnant, I heard, and I am dying to find out who the father is. Which means you will die unless you tell me. Work your memory, little slave. Who could it be that got you pregnant?"

LaVonda went to answer him when Thom was drug into the room. Getting a full look at him made her feel ill and she fought from vomiting.

"So you got the slave pregnant. For things like that, I should really just have you castrated, but, sadly, no punishment without a confession, so I need you to confess to it. You know very well what will happen if you do not give it to me. Do not make me remind you."

LaVonda cried out."nay Master Jailer neither he or you could have fathered the child. It must have been one of the patrons from the brothel. I fear that this one will be as before."

""Strap him in and put the pregnant girl in the cage. Pull the cage up, but not too far. She should have a clear view of what is going to happen to her next."

" please Master Jailer, twas four months past I lost my second child. Ten days Mistress let me rest. The twelfth day I was bought by merchant from Conra. He sells silk fabrics to Mistress and a night with a slut was his payment. A month later another man came and I was his plaything for a week. The month before the fire I laid with Auther, who claims he was kin to the King. It had to happen then.. after the loss of Selig until I was brought here."

Her reasoning was accurate she was too far along for it to be Thom's or Tyann's. She had always been honest with Tyann when she was first interviewed concerning her marks. She just didnt tell him when she lost her last child since he didnt ask and Mistress beat her prior to the second loss.

"I know the screaming will take some getting used to. I am reasonable. I do not expect you to write down everything they scream. Especially the blasphemous parts. But do protocol everything important they say. I expect to find every bit of information I get out of them in your protocols. Remember that I can send you back to your cell at any time."

LaVonda went to the cage on her own and waited at the door. The guard was surprised she went without fighting. She had the mark of a slave but most of them fought from going into the place of torture. This one was the strangest of all the females slaves he had ever met.

Once the door opened she stepped inside crying as Master Jailer had said nothing to her confession of truth.

 

[Knightmare27]

Giving Lark a little bit more time to decide, Tyann went over to Emmeline. "I know, this is a lot of work on your first day as a scribe. Write it down: Lark, accused of witchcraft and wanton sexual behavior. Pronounced guilty, but continues to protest her innocence. Brought to the torture chamber to be questioned harshly. She was warned of the consequences of her behavior, and the torture of the rope was applied to her..."

While everyone was distracted by the naked Lark and the rope cutting into her arms, the jailer snuck in a hand under Emmeline's slave dress and placed it on her thigh for a moment. Still, no one was looking, so he grew bolder and snuck in a kiss on the cheek.

"You must be careful not to feel too much for the prisoners. Just write down what they say, or scream. You are doing well so far, but I still want a flawless protocol. Remember that, scribe or not, you are still a slave and will be punished for any flaws. And since this is your first time doing this, I will be especially careful to see if I was not mistaken in appointing you to this position. Pull yourself together and do well today."

He walked over to the cage which LaVonda had entered without a fight or even a word of resistance. It was quite small and cylindrical. Even a short woman like her would barely find enough space to crouch in it and could not stand without stooping. She was now dangling slightly above his ground, her feet at shoulder height for him, facing the whole torture chamber which was now lit by many torches.

"So you say you are too far along in your pregnancy for it to be his?" - he had heard the 'or you' part, of course, and it did not exactly soften his heart - "well, I do not understand much of these womanly matters. I will ask the healer later if that is true. Provided you have not confessed until then, because that would, of course, make things very clear. Well, we will see what you will spill - or Thom, if you stay stubborn."

He was playing her with marked cards. He knew that. Her chances of surviving a few hours under torture without "admitting" the truth were very slim indeed, no matter how much pain she was used to. But she - and especially that guard - had provided him with far too good an opportunity to make an example of them: Look what happens if you fall in love with a slave! That was far more important than whatever the healer said.

Ah yes, that guard. He went over to the spike chair where Thom had stopped howling and was now sitting as stiffly as he could, still whimpering a little and noticeably pale in the face, with a slight green tinge.

"Would you not love to be able to get off this chair, Thom? I can see it. You are doing yourself no favors by holding on to your lie. As soon as you admit to being her child's father, we can have you out of here and you can lie down in a cell until we decide your fate. Or you can keep sitting here, fighting the pain, and watch her get tortured until I hear the confession from her. You would be a fool to make the wrong choice."

Thom was too weak to answer. The threat of more pain did not even make him flinch, but when his cruel lord reminded him that he would have to watch LaVonda tortured, his eyes widened in horror and he had to fight a nearly insurmountable urge to doom them both, just to spare her that. No, you idiot. Stay silent, stay strong. If you "confess" to any of that nonsense, far worse things will happen to her...

 

[SandS13]

Emmeline had written down everything the slave, the pregnant one was saying. Her quill skipped as she heard the woman say the baby could not be Thom's or his...

She fumbled and began to write again. His? Had the master jailer used this woman, bedded her as Thom had? Her cheeks warmed at the thought of the men with the poor woman.

Tyann came to her. Emmeline looked up at him, eyes wide and lashes fluttering. She nodded and drew a fresh paper to her. She wrote in neat scrawl all he said.

Lark...witchcraft...sexual....protest... Her mind recited everything and her hand flowed over the paper. When he stopped she blew on the paper to dry the ink. Pursed lips, soft breath so as not to blow the ink out of place.

His hand was rough and warm on her thigh. Emmeline tried not to show any reaction. He kissed her cheek and her eyes fluttered closed.

"Of course Master Tyann..." His tone was stern and she wanted him to know she would not fail.

He was moving to the cage and so Emmeline pulled back the other paper and continued the account of this slave's torture and confession.

She found it hard to swallow that he simply wanted the girl to say the guard had fathered her child despite her explanation.

She reached for a fresh paper as he approached Thom. Poor Thom....Emmeline's eyes lifted and grew sad. He was in so much pain.

They flicked to the woman in the cage and then to Lark, the ropes biting her skin. Emmeline bit the inside of her cheek, hard to stop any potential tears. That had almost been her...

 

[Knightmare27]

"Come on, speak. I know you do not want to doom your love. But she is doomed, either way. I will put her under torture, and she will confess. You, of all people, know how stubborn she is. She will go through any amount of pain before she admits it is yours. But admit she will. Save her from this, speak up and I will make sure you will both be punished most mercifully. You might even get away with your lives. Or are you really looking for a more dramatic ending to your story? The two young lovers, executed together?"

Thom worked up enough anger to answer: "I will do no such thing. You know it's impossible. The healer will tell you it's impossible. Free us, don't make us lie just because of one of your twisted games..."

He was speaking without thinking. The pain, the fear, the thought of seeing his girl tortured....

Tyann sighed and walked back to Emmeline. "Write it down. Threatened with torture, the prisoner refused to admit anything. He was left in the spiked chair to await his turn at torture after having been admonished and warned that his lover would be tortured before his eyes."

He came closer and spoke more quietly: "I know what you are thinking, Emmeline. Lark here is going through exactly the same thing you nearly went through. You know how much it hurts... and if she does not talk, she will get much more than you got. She might respond better to you than to me. If you want to spare her more pain, I allow you to talk to her, from woman to woman, tell her how much pain you were in. Maybe that will change her mind, and get rid of her silly notion that she can somehow withstand torture."

 

[LandiKirk]

LaVonda found the cage smaller then ones she has seen and been in before. The frame was raised off the floor and she behind to panic. Her fear of falling from a height was coming out.

"So you say you are too far along in your pregnancy for it to be his?" -

LaVonda answered honestly "Yes Master. Mistress told me from my first loss that the sickness of the belly comes at sixty days or the second miss of the bleeding."

"well, I do not understand much of these womanly matters. I will ask the healer later if that is true. Provided you have not confessed until then, because that would, of course, make things very clear. Well, we will see what you will spill - or Thom, if you stay stubborn."

LaVonda felt awful. The way the Master Jailer spoke, he didnt trust she was telling the truth and now those pains had started again. She clutched her belly and squatted in the cage. It was extremely tight.


LaVonda watches Master Jailer wall over to Thom. He was enduring so much pain for no reason. LaVonda wondered how this warranted another punishment. She could hear him speak to Thom.

"Would you not love to be able to get off this chair, Thom? I can see it. You are doing yourself no favors by holding on to your lie. As soon as you admit to being her child's father, we can have you out of here and you can lie down in a cell until we decide your fate. Or you can keep sitting here, fighting the pain, and watch her get tortured until I hear the confession from her. You would be a fool to make the wrong choice."

LaVonda shook her head then the cramp was getting worse and she could feel the blood sliding down her thighs.

"Come on, speak. I know you do not want to doom your love. But she is doomed, either way. I will put her under torture, and she will confess. You, of all people, know how stubborn she is. She will go through any amount of pain before she admits it is yours. But admit she will. Save her from this, speak up and I will make sure you will both be punished most mercifully. You might even get away with your lives. Or are you really looking for a more dramatic ending to your story? The two young lovers, executed together?"

"I will do no such thing. You know it's impossible. The healer will tell you it's impossible. Free us, don't make us lie just because of one of your twisted games..."

LaVonda was.glad that Thom spoke the truth but the chance that her life would be over. It might happen if she is miscarrying this babe and bleeds too much. At that moment the cramp felt like a knife cutting thru her belly. This time LaVonds cried out in pain, she was right she was losing another child.

"Write it down. Threatened with torture, the prisoner refused to admit anything. He was left in the spiked chair to await his turn at torture after having been admonished and warned that his lover would be tortured before his eyes."

One of the guards notices the drops of blood appearing on the floor from under the cage. "Should I summon the healer, Sire?"

 

[SandS13]

Emmeline did not write how the master jailer taunted the prisoners, attempting to get their confession out of them. She only wrote what they said, the denials and assertions. She froze as Tyann came close. She wrote down what he told her to.

She nodded and was about to stand, to speak to the woman Lark when the woman in the cage started to speak more. Emmeline wrote again how she asserted that the pregnancy had happened before her arrival. She paused as the woman cried out. Fear gripped her. No one had touched the woman yet.

She held her breath to see what the jailer would do as the guard asked about the healer. She glanced at Lark and wondered if the woman was going to get a break because of this or if Thom would get to come off of the chair.

Emmeline gripped the quill and waited.

 

[Knightmare27]

He had noticed Emmeline freezing in fear as he came closer. Good. She was learning the proper attitude...

And then she made a mistake. He had given her an order, and she had stopped, just because she was curious about the other goings-on. He had to teach her a lesson that she was not here to take in the exciting views, but to do his will. If he did not stop her now, she would never develop into a good slave, and always remain the haughty noblewoman. He definitely had been too soft on her, and it was showing. Damn it.

"Don't stand around gaping like that. I told you to speak to Lark and tell her what will happen to her. Maybe even unwrap your thumbs and show them. I am sure that is going to leave an impression on her. There might even be a reward in it for you if you do get her to confess. Not to mention that, surely, you do not want her to suffer? Well, a quick confession would be the best way to avoid that, of course. Off you go."

He was not used to explaining orders like that. He was used to having them followed, and to punishing those who did not do so. Damn. He really was going far too soft. It probably felt like he was being extremely harsh with her, but these many words after an order, with no punishment, were basically a declaration of love to him. A declaration he would not allow himself to make whatever happened, of course.

He left her alone to do as he told her, then walked over to the cage. Shrieks of pain? This early? The cage was quite cramped, yes, but it normally only caused screams after a few hours. Especially in someone as used to pain as this slave. What was happening? He approached the place where she was dangling from the ceiling and noticed the drops of blood on the floor. Had she cut herself? Was she so desperate that she had taken this way out? He found himself caring more about the life of a slave than he normally did.

"What is it, slave? Speak up! Why are you bleeding? Why are you screaming? Is there something you would like to confess? You must be quite desperate for a way out of here if you cut yourself this early in the proceedings. Well, I have a way out for you: Admit that he is the father, and you can be off to be punished, and out of this horrible cage. How does that sound to you? Come on, I just need a few words..."

He managed to get one hand through the bars of the cage and touched her bare legs, moving the rags she was wearing up just a little bit, looking for the wound. Wait...there was no wound... he could see where the blood was coming from now! What was happening? Maybe she did need the healer. Yes. He would have someone call for her. She was not going to bleed to death without a confession, not in his torture chamber.

Thom let out a deep breath when the horrible old man stepped away from him. It almost felt like a relief to be left alone with the pain and the desperation, and the thought of seeing LaVonda tortured in front of him. Yes, a relief, compared to this monster's taunts and games. He was furious now, and the anger almost deadened the pain in his backside a little bit. Deadened it enough to think, to maybe come up with some trick...

Her screams pulled him out of his thoughts. What was happening? He looked around as far as the strap around his neck would allow, but saw no one near her. Was she going mad? Please no. He knew what this place could do to peoples' minds. If the thought of what was going to happen to her had driven her insane, then he was done. The mere idea of it made him wish he had died in battle rather than endure it.

His eyes burned with hatred as they followed Tyann over to the cage, to speak to her, to taunt her again. He was almost angry enough to scream vile insults at him, just to have some outlet for it all. The fire burning in his buttocks. The helplessness in the face of his cruelty. The fear. The rage at being accused of something so absurd. He knew better than to do that and clenched his teeth, tears filling his eyes as he watched her. Be strong, my love. Do not give in to this creature.

 

[LandiKirk]

"What is it, slave? Speak up! Why are you bleeding? Why are you screaming? Is there something you would like to confess? You must be quite desperate for a way out of here if you cut yourself this early in the proceedings. Well, I have a way out for you: Admit that he is the father, and you can be off to be punished, and out of this horrible cage. How does that sound to you? Come on, I just need a few words..."

LaVonda looks at Tyann with tears in her eyes and her belly contracted causing more pain. "Tis my fault and this is my punishment for it to die. My body is sashe. Shed. Ding"

More blood was coming out and she screamed again as the birthing was much different then before. LaVonda began violently shaking as bile came from her mouth. "Gods tell"
..*screaming as her body convulsed* more blood seeped down her legs.

Somewhere in her mind she was teetering on a ledge she muttered. "Like its father to cause pain.. only to die."

Tyann might think she meant hom but she thought of the patron who had her for a week. Enjoyed causing pain ten weeks past. That was her reflection of truth.

The guard became more frightened as the slave was losing more blood but wasnt suffering under any implements. He ran out to bring the healer.

She wasnt thrilled to see the guard. But knew what was happening when he said.

"there is a female slave in the cage, she bleeds but has not been punished yet. Screams in a way I've never heard and it rocks my soul." he told the healer.

She grabbed some things and put them in a sack and followed the guard to the torture chamber.

When the healer arrived LaVonda made another sound wrenching scream.

Yep, she is birthing. The healer thought to herself.

 

[Knightmare27]

Tyann had LaVonda removed from the cage and spread out on the rack as she kept screaming. Born on the rack, he mused grimly, I wonder how that child will turn out.... The healer removed the slave's clothes and quickly went to work as two guards assisted her. Of all the things that could happen down here, a birth was the last thing he had expected. Quite the opposite of what normally happened in this chamber.

The healer had LaVonda moved upstairs, carried by two guards. She was still screaming in pain - quite clearly the birth was not an easy one. Well, how could it be, in this dungeon?

This was, of course, incontrovertible proof that she had not become pregnant here... and that meant he now had a naked guard strapped to a spiked chair whom he had nearly tortured into "admitting" his fatherhood of a child that could not be his. He hurried to have Thom freed from the chair and put back into his clothes, the guard glowering at him all the while, but not speaking yet. Neither did the master jailer, unsure of what to say.

The young guard was first to speak: "Did I not tell you, old man? Did I not tell you? Now she is dying, and it is all your fault! I wish nothing more than for all the tortures you inflicted in your life to be used on you, for a thousand years! If she dies, then I wish for your soul to be damned forever. What kind of fiend are you, to put her in the torture chamber instead of calling the healer, when she is clearly pregnant?"

He was losing his mind, and he realized it. It was just too much. The pain. The fear. The humiliation. And now, worst of all, the thought of his love dying in childbirth because of the awful life down here and that monster of a jailer.

Tyann stood there silently and took it. He knew he deserved that. He had let his anger about Thom getting too friendly with the prisoners get the best of him, and done a great injustice to him. The slave - who cared, let her die. But he had put one of his own men, soft-hearted or not, under torture on a vague accusation. There was nothing he could do to make up for that, and the young man was right to be angry.

 

[LandiKirk]

LaVonda had quit screaming early in the evening the birthing was over. The healer notices the red tear drops and sighs poor girl would be adding three more of those red tears

The healer held all three in her one hand. Poor slave had endured a whipping, an illness of her belly, the stress of everything. What shocked the healer was LaVonda spoke in her delirium that there was only five lovers, Tyann being one of them.

The healer gave her some draught that would calm the nerves. It would take a week or two for the bleeding to return to normal.

LaVonda still wept for her child. LaVonda felt even worse learning it was not just one. The healer gave LaVonda the tiny babes and let her grieve. All boys was apparent and the records would have to bear their birth, death, and names.

Red, yellow, and dark threads was the birth order wrapped carefully around the ankle.

LaVonda finally went to sleep and the infants were placed into tiny urns with a matching thread tied around the lip.

A message was sent to Tyann for his report

"I believe she was over two months along. All three died . Reason - they came too soon. Slave will recover in a week or so. Her mind may be injured. No sexual use until her bleeding stops or she may be fertilized with a new babe."

Now it was a waiting game to see if LaVonda would recover from this horrible tangle in her life.

.

 

[SandS13]

Emmeine jumped at Tyann's voice and moved to Lark.

"Just confess. It is going to get worse if you don't. They will do things that hurt more than this. I felt the ropes. I know how they are pulling and burning your skin. He might put the screws to your thumbs as they did mine. It would have been a mercy for them to break I think..." She pleaded in hush tones to the woman.

Her eyes moved to where the woman was being taken from the cage. Laid on the rack it was clear to all she was bleeding heavily. Emmeline had never seen a birth or even a woman pregnant if she really thought about it. She was scared for the woman. Worse was the look on Thom's face.

Things were coming to a stand still. The slave was taken out. Thom was let up and dressed. Emmeline went back to her papers but was unsure of what to do. She wrote basic details and blew on the ink. She would wait for Tyann to direct her next move.

 

[Knightmare27]

Now that the young guard was dressed and being led out, Tyann had to think about what to do with him. He could not risk keeping him on as a guard - he shuddered at the kind of damage a (righteously) vengeful guard could do. On the other hand, he was a little bit short-handed here. He could buy his forgiveness with money and a promotion, of course - but there was no way to tell if that would work, or if Thom would use his new rank to wreak havoc.

No, there was only one way. He would use the accusation of impregnating the slave, as absurd as it was, to have him removed, and get a replacement sent. That was evil even by his standards - to betray one of his men because of charges he knew to be false! Yet it was the easiest way to rid himself of Thom. Keeping him on was a risk to the entire tower's security, and he needed a reason for dismissal. This was one. He had to do it.

He went over to Emmeline again. "Well... you tried. Really, I had expected you to put on more of a performance. If you can talk so calmly about your time in the torture chamber, maybe it is time for another round." He chuckled, "no, do not worry. At least you tried. We will see if she will be brought to reason by this, or if you are going to have to protocol a whole lot of wailing and crying soon. Just stay ready."

Now that everyone was distracted by the slave being carried upstairs, moaning in the pain of childbirth, he felt bold enough to step behind the sitting Emmeline, hug her from behind and kiss her on the neck. His hands went under her slave shift and placed themselves on her hips as he gave her another kiss. "I know it is a very confusing day. I did not expect it to go like that, either. I know you will do well, though..."


*****************************************************************


Meanwhile, in one of the first floor "luxury" cells, the healer was busy delivering the third of LaVonda's triplets. All dead. Tiny, lifeless, their births brought on by the harsh conditions of the dungeon and the stress of her caning. Mara the healer could tell this was not her first birth, but it was definitely her most painful one. A potion for her nerves was all she could do for her for now. She would have to deal with the rest by herself.

Old Mara was an infamously abrasive woman, but she did not have a heart of stone. A young mother, miscarrying triplets because of the dismal hell she was living in.... she scraped together all her caring and said, in her hoarse, raspy voice: "That is not your first stillbirth, is it? Well, maybe they are better off dead than at that orphanage. I know how they treat the girls there. I have treated so many of them."

 

[LandiKirk]

LaVonda being red eyed and aching shook her head. The orphanage would have been worse to her boys. Instead she asked a favor. That Master Thom and The Master Jailer come to see she was indeed still alive and give first names to the urns that would be buried in the graveyard of the Tower.

Afterwards she would return to her duties. Despite of the Healer's rejection of such an idea. LaVonda could only do what a slave was to do. She still was expecting a punishment for not revealing the truth to the Master Jailer.

 

[SandS13]

Emmeline was worried. The woman didn't respond to her words. Tyann came up to her. She went stiff. She shook her head a little when Tyann said that perhaps she needed another round. She was only calm because she was so overwhelmed by the whole experience it was as if her mind shut down.

Then Tyann was holding her. His hands were under her dress. Her heart raced. His lips were on her skin.

Emmeline was so very confused. She was starting to equate the fear of pain with his voice, his touch and words of almost praise.

"I promise to do my very best, Master Tyann. I am learning but I am a fast learner." Her voice was soft and she turned fearful, blue eyes to him. She had been so sure, so angry when she arrived. She had thought she could get out, escape but her life relied on her courtly manners and being compliant.

 

[Knightmare27]

Mara chuckled joylessly. "Oh, of course, girl. I will call the master jailer and a guard and they will be so kind as to name your children. Children you probably got somewhere at that brothel you used to work at. But, well, if you still cling on to that stupid hope that they consider you more than dirt..."

She gave her a patronizing pat on the head, then left to fulfill the slave's wish - she would be disappointed, but that way, at least it would be her own fault. It was not long before she returned. "Thom was carried away. Apparently he did not take that caning too well. And the master jailer" - she cackled - "is still busy torturing that one poor young woman while doing some, quite frankly, sinful things with the other one. He must be the happiest he has been in years."


*****************************************************************


"I know", he said and pressed her to himself a little harder, his fingers sinking into her just above her navel. "There are reasons I chose you to be my scribe, and it is not only because you are the greatest beauty I have ever had the honor to punish here."

His good scribe. His good, beautiful scribe. In the daylight world, she had probably been one of the most eligible noble ladies around.

"I am going to take a little break", he announced. With the guards still holding Lark's purple, swollen hands and a birth going on, there was not much to write down at the moment, anyway.

"Come", he said as he took Emmeline's hand. "You will have enough to write about later. Guards, take over and remember anything she confesses. You know how it goes."

 

[SandS13]

Emmeline felt his fingers dig into her skin. His arm tightened around her. She was being held to him and she dared not even breathe. She batted her eyes, not on purpose but out of surprise at the almost possessive way the jailer held her. He announced he would take a break.

He took her hand. Emmeline looked down at it, then to him and then back to the floor. She nodded and followed him out of the room.

She chanced a last glance behind her to the papers, the quill and inks and the woman bound in the ropes.

Where was he taking her? Would he make good on the comment that she needed more punishment?

Her stomach hurt both out of fear and hunger but she followed. Her eyes looked around, just a little. What she saw was disheartening. There really did not seem to be a way out of this place. Corridors were straight lines with no outside access. The air was stale.

Emmeline truly feared she was never going to leave here.

 

[LandiKirk]

"Oh, of course, girl. I will call the master jailer and a guard and they will be so kind as to name your children. Children you probably got somewhere at that brothel you used to work at. But, well, if you still cling on to that stupid hope that they consider you more than dirt..."

LaVonda snapped for a few moments. Her eyes darkened at the healer. "A slave is merely a slave and has a responsibility to complete her duties as given by her Master. I took no tone with you for you are a healer. Your title is your honor and here you would taunt me to say things of anger and pain unjustly. Nay I won't be follied to fall in that trap."

LaVonda felt bad about losing her temper. The healer seemed to ignore her anger to being in a mind set of despair.

LaVonda looked up when the woman returned.

"Thom was carried away. Apparently he did not take that caning too well. And the master jailer" - LaVonda went rigid at the woman's laugh.

"is still busy torturing that one poor young woman while doing some, quite frankly, sinful things with the other one. He must be the happiest he has been in years."

LaVonda put her head in her hands and wept. She would never be forgiven by the pair of Master's. As for her sons, she would probably name them from the biblical stories she heard at the orphange.. possibly Abel, isaac, and Solomon.