Petite, and very pretty

Li’sar awoke and rubbed her eyes, as the memories of the previous day flooded back. It was nice and warm under these furs. She felt the welts on her bottom, as she recalled the previous night’s events.

She looked up to see Dalvid looking down at her. She had to admit, he was nice and handsome. She pulled the furs over her, making sure they were covering her completely, and she looked down, blushing.

He didn’t like a slave girl covering herself in front of him. “On your feet girl!” He ordered, with harshness that almost surprised himself.

She stood, looking at him with fear and timidity in her eyes, now covering herself with her arms and hands.

“That is not how a slave is to stand before her master.” He said, “did we not whip you hard enough last night?” He asked, looking over towards where the block was, with the strap lying across it.

“I-I’m sorry Master,” she replied, faltering, blushing, as she removed her arms and stood up straight before him. He smiled at her, and softened, taking her cheek in her hand, and raising his eyes to meet his. She managed a smile, to meet his, but then remembered herself, and got flustered. “A-and how may I serve you Master?” she asked, thinking it the right thing to say.

“You are serving me just fine at the moment,” he said, his eyes unwavering. She got flustered again, blushing, and looking down. What could she do or say, in the presence of this man who could have her enpained at a moment’s notice?

Breakfast was eaten: dried bread and water. Not very exciting, but these men were used to such squalid food while on a raid. They of course had the pleasure of the females to make up for it. The females didn’t have as much to make up for it.

After breakfast, the men began to pack up. They loaded up their two pack horses, and prepared to leave. The females were then lined up, and each one had a leather collar put around her neck. Dalvid saw to it that he put Li’sar’s on personally. He smiled at her as he fastened it around her neck. She stood before him, scared, but managed a smile anyhow. She felt alot more comfortable with him doing it, then one of the other men doing it.

When this was done, the females stood in a line, and each one had her collar tied with a rope to the collar of the female in front of her. It was time to leave; Dalvid mounted his horse, and led the party, with the females walking in line in the middle, each tied to the one in front, and the other men on their horses around them.

The women were unaccustomed to walking like this, and struggled to walk at a reasonable pace. Dalvid got tired of their slowness, and turning to them announced, “when we stop for a break, at least one of the females is going to be whipped – the one who slows us down the most.”

With that he smiled and quickened the pace slightly. The women struggled to catch up. “These women really slow us down alot!” Ragnor remarked.

“Don’t worry, we will train them to walk in an orderly slave-like manner by the time we arrive in Valua city,” Dalvid replied, a grim smile crossing his face.

The women trudged along, some of them resenting the humiliation of being tied together naked, while being surrounded by gloating men, and some of them just plain scared.

They walked for hours. The sun got hotter and hotter, and the path slowly got wider and wider, as they began to emerge from the forest. The women began to get tired of so much walking, and when the path met a stream, Dalvid signalled for a halt.

The horses were dismounted, and the girls untied from each other. Dalvid ordered for rations to be distributed, and after conferring with Token, he ordered for one of the girls – Dinah – to be whipped.

She was a dark-haired, dark eyed girl. Petite, and very pretty. The men would enjoy watching her get the strap.

The punishment block was produced, and she was made to kneel on it, in the servile position that girls received their punishments on. The strap was produced, and Durip whipped her, slowly, methodically, hard, while the men watched, eating their lunch.

She received six lashes, then was made to stand, for inspection before the men, tears rolling down her cheeks, before being sent to sit back with the girls, who were all huddled together, eating nervously.

After lunch, Dalvid ordered for the girls to have their collars removed, and to be washed in the river. He suspected these barbarian girls were only typically washed once every few months, if that! They would soon get used to the ways of Valua, where they would be always clean, ready to serve men, and usually washed every day.

The girls actually enjoyed the water more than they thought they would. It was a nice break during the heat of the day. Cloths were handed around, and they were ordered to scrub themselves down, with the threat that any girl who didn’t clean herself properly could be punished.

Dalvid stood, looking down into the river. He watched Li’sar trying her best to wash herself, and once again he smiled at her elegant form. Instinctively, he called for her to come over to him. She walked nervously toward him, emerging from the river; he wiped her with a cloth, drying her. Then he looked at her, looked over her clean, white body. She blushed again, looking at the ground.

Suddenly, for a moment, she overcame her fear, and dared to speak, “do you own me now Master?” she asked.

He looked back at her. Wishing it was true. Wishing he did. But no, his employer owned her. He could try to claim her as an extra – as one above quota – or he could try to buy her back with his wages. These might, or might not work, either would be difficult. It would be likely that his employers would want to auction her, to get the highest price, and if a wealthy merchant took a liking to her, then he would have little chance of securing her. So no, he didn’t own her.

“No. No I don’t” he replied, and then turned away. He knew he was being silly. Why would he take such an interest in a silly slave girl?

Dalvid quickly masked any softness he had shown, by ordering all the girls out of the water. They were made to dry, and then line up in front of the men, with their hands behind their heads, standing straight, their legs apart. Dalvid walked up and down the line, inspecting each one, as they stood their blushing under the gaze of so many men.

Dalvid selected three of them out of the line, who he deemed to not have cleaned themselves properly. He ordered them back into the water to clean properly, telling them that next time there would be no such second chance.

After they were all washed to his satisfaction, Dalvid ordered for the females to have their collars put back on. He once again made sure that he put Li’sar’s on personally. Token looked with bemusement on his leader. He hadn’t seen Dalvid so fascinated with the merchandise for many years.

With the girls tied to each other again, the slave caravan resumed its march. Dinah made extra dilligent effort to keep up with the pace, her stinging bottom reminding her what would happen if she didn’t. The path wound up a hill and the forest grew sparser and sparser.

“By the end of the day, we will almost be back in the realm of Valua,” Dalvid remarked to Ragnor. Another routine mission was coming to a close.

Kalhune spurred his horse, riding up alongside Ragnor and Dalvid. “Sir! Look, over there!” He said, pointing.

Dalvid looked over the vast expanse of land they could see, now that the forest had cleared and they were on this hill.

Dalvid looked, and saw a group of horsemen, many miles distant. “Now who do you think they are?” he asked.

Kalhune squinted – he having the best eyesight of any in the company – “Sir, they fly the banner of Sernan!” He said.

Of Sernan! So the villagers were not issuing empty threats when they promised they would send for soldiers.

“How many are there? Are they armed? Can you see?” Dalvid asked.

“I think there are, maybe a score of them.” Kalhune replied, “and I think they’re armed, they have lances, and shields.”

“They are still half a day’s ride from us,” Dalvid remarked, “But there is little chance of us making it back to Valua with the speed the females walk at. What shall we do?”