Maiden Page 9

  ‘Fine,’ Elethrine replied, ‘just let me have some more water, my mouth tastes truly dreadful.’

  As Aisla passed her the waterskin again Kaulak appeared between two rocks, his skinny frame instantly recognisable in the dimness. He greeted the girls and gave Mausac a friendly kick, producing only a grunt and a muffled curse.

  Within a half-hour they were underway, none speaking as they picked their way carefully down the slope towards the yellow dunes. The day was windless and threatened to be hot, with the cool night air rapidly dissipating as the east flushed turquoise and jade with the coming of dawn. For two hours they rode without pause, the dunes becoming ever higher and more regular, like enormous waves. In each trough they could see nothing but fine yellow sand to all sides, and from the crests only an endless succession of similar dunes. There was no sign of any track whatever, and after what seemed an eternity of dunes Elethrine started to worry.

  ‘Are you sure of your way, Sir Kaulak,’ she finally asked, judging the honorific address suitable for someone who had taken the maidenhead of a Princess.

  ‘So I am,’ Kaulak laughed, turning back to her. ‘We ride due east. It is near to solstice and so the sun must be always to our left. If we keep this pace for twelve hours we shall either arrive at Gora-Jome or strike the Ephraxis a little way to the north or south. Do you not find your path this way in you native land?’

  ‘Mund is a land of mountains and hills, woods and rivers and no two views are the same,’ Elethrine replied, ‘also, the sun is always in the south, but not always visible.’

  ‘Not visible? How can that be?’ Ulak demanded.

  ‘Clouds cover it,’ Elethrine explained, ‘indeed they often cover the whole sky.’

  Her answered evoked a snort of disbelief from Ulak but cautious acceptance from the older Mausac and Kaulak, who had been in the east of the empire. The debate continued, softening their thoughtful mood of the early morning. Given a chance to air her education, Talithea quickly began to cheer up, although Elethrine was sure that thoughts of the shame veil and the celibentuary could not be far from her mind. The thought brought a new alarm to her own ponderings, and during a break in the conversation she pulled her camel up beside that of the Princess.

  ‘Talithea,’ she said softly, ‘you and I must make a pact.’

  Talithea turned a hopeful glance to her.

  ‘As you doubtless heard,’ Elethrine continued, ‘Mausac did not take me last night, yet is seems hardly credible that I will reach the end of his journey without being forced to accept the same fate as you did.’

  ‘True,’ Talithea sighed.

  ‘What was it like?’ Elethrine asked, suddenly unable to restrain her curiosity.

  ‘Exquisite, beautiful, too beautiful for words to describe, yet also dirty,’ Talithea answered. ‘That seems odd, yet until you do it you will not know. What pact do you suggest then?’

  ‘That we, or just you if by some miracle I am not ravished,’ Elethrine continued, ‘visit a witch before returning to our homes. There are several in the wilds of Aegmund and northern Mund who have little or no contact with other humans and are said to look with sympathy on soiled girls. With your maidenhead restored you could return to Thieron in pride, and you may rely on Aisla and myself to say nothing if you give the same covenant.’

  ‘How would we pass through Mund unrecognised?’ Talithea demanded with a trace of temper.

  ‘In Aegmund we might pass,’ Elethrine suggested.

  ‘There is a flaw in your plan,’ Talithea responded. ‘We cannot travel through the wilds of Aegmund without a guard for fear of goblins, wild beasts and so forth. Yet we cannot command a guard without revealing our rank. The first noble holding we reached would demand to have their matrons inspect us for chastity and we would fail. Still, I readily accept your offer in the hope that luck will favour us, and suggest an exchange of names of seal the pact.’

  ‘Very well,’ Elethrine replied with a slight blush, ‘my pet name is Pommette, the little apple, for the shape of my bottom, and yours?’

  ‘Mine?’ Talithea laughed. ‘My sisters call me Snivels for my temper, but I prefer Moth for my pale hair and quiet movements.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Elethrine responded and fell silent, feeling a new sense of intimacy with the Princess.

  The journey continued, the group pausing only briefly to take water and food, then once more setting off across the Eigora Khum. At length a line of low, sun scorched hills appeared ahead, which they reached with the sun already throwing their shadows well in to the front. The ground became rocky once more, then broken by dry ravines and finally a cliff, at the edge of which Kaulak reined in his camel.

  ‘Perfect!’ he called back. ‘Too perfect even, for while we have come to Gora-Jome in a near straight line, we must now skirt the cliff.’

  ‘Where is the city?’ Elethrine asked in puzzlement, only to swallow her words as her camel came to a halt beside Kaulak’s. To either side the cliff curved, forming a great bowl of land, formed of barren yellow rock all around but a carpet of green in the middle. Two features broke the green, the majestic sweep of a river besides which the great Phætes seemed a mere trickle, and a tumble of yellow structures within high walls which she took to be the city of Gora-Jome.

  ‘To the north, where the cliff is broken,’ Kaulak explained, pointing to a distant gap in the cliffs, ‘is where the Ephraxis comes down from the desert. It passes through a sheer gorge some two hundred feet deep and close to a league across. Where the valley opens out is a tithing post, which we must pass if we are to travel north. It will not be easy, as the captain might well view you three as exotic contraband.’

  ‘Exotic contraband!?’ Talithea snorted.

  ‘Restricted goods, if you prefer the term,’ Kaulak continued. ‘Trade laws forbid the export of human slaves…’

  ‘Slaves!’ all three girls interrupted in utter horror.

  ‘What would pale skinned girls with blonde hair, let alone red, be but slaves?’ Mausac put in.

  ‘This is so,’ Kaulak said, ‘there are truly but three social classes in Vendjome, the imperial family, free citizens of the Empire and slaves. In theory the son of a dung gatherer might rise to govern a city, but slaves are slaves and you three are clearly not born of Vendjomois stock.’

  ‘I would sooner die!’ Talithea declared.

  ‘I also,’ Elethrine echoed.

  ‘Likewise,’ Aisla added.

  ‘Be calm,’ Kaulak continued, ‘there is a simple solution. Trade in nymphs is commonplace, and we three could easily pass as traders taking exotic nymphs to the north. Very exotic nymphs, it is true, but there are often new breeds on the market.’

  ‘Nymphs!’ Talithea snorted, but without the vehemence of her previous retort.

  ‘Your beauty and colouring is sufficiently exotic to pass,’ Kaulak went on, ‘although your size is a problem and the trade normally comes down the river rather than up. Still, there is no law against inept merchants and so we should pass unmolested. Who, after all, would think that three ex-soldiers would be escorting three Mundic ladies up the Ephraxis? What, after all, would you be doing here in the first place?’

  ‘I have a simpler plan,’ Talithea put in. ‘Rather than endure the indignity of pretending to be nymphs, why do we not simply ride north to beyond the gorge and pick up a boat there?’

  ‘Not impossible,’ Kaulak said with a shrug, ‘but the gorge runs sheer for some two hundred leagues and barge captains might well be suspicious of travellers in the middle of the Eigora Khum and refuse to pick us up. A worse hazard is the sandstorms, which would bury us should one blow up in the three days it will take to reach the northern extremity of the gorge. Then there is the problem of Ythan, the country to the north of the desert. I understand that it is not a friendly land and that travellers without treaty passes from the Vendjome authorities are likely to be taken as slaves without question. Still, I am Kaulak and without fear. You may chose which plan to attempt.’

&n
bsp; ‘Your’s will do,’ Talithea admitted grudgingly.

  They listened as he outlined the details his plan, then set off once more, heading south to where the cliff slowly declined to meet the bank of the vast Ephraxis. A ferry took them across, to where Kaulak led them into a dense copse of the same feather-leafed tree Elethrine had seen near Fujome.

  ‘You must wait here,’ he instructed them, ‘while Ulak and I sell the camels and purchase the necessary elements of your disguise.’

  The two men disappeared among the foliage, leaving Elethrine to wonder once more as to whether they could be trusted. It seemed likely, as it would have been far more convenient to have sold them as slaves in Fujome than to travel to Gora-Jome for the same purpose. Despite her reasoning she felt nervous as the shadows lengthened and dusk began to fall. Mausac had demanded that Aisla suck his penis and then quickly gone to sleep with a satisfied expression that further relaxed Elethrine’s fears. Only when it was fully dark did Kaulak return, bearing a lantern and driving a strange combination of cart and cage pulled by a single ox.

  ‘This is all I could get,’ he explained, ‘not that I got a bad price for the camels, but we need money for our passage and Ulak took some to buy food. He’ll be at the inn. Come you three. I thought to find you already stripped and perhaps entertaining Mausac.’

  ‘Do we have to disrobe now?’ Elethrine asked, looking at the cage with a feelings of both shame and trepidation. ‘It is terribly undignified and surely not necessary until the morning.’

  ‘You would cause comment in the city,’ Kaulak answered. ‘it is truly best this way, although a pity, as I had hoped we could take pleasure together tonight.’

  ‘Oh, right,’ Elethrine answered, quickly deciding that a night in a cage was a small sacrifice next to the loss of her maidenhead. Kaulak, she was certain, would be less easy to satisfy than Mausac had been.

  ‘So,’ Kaulak declared cheerfully, ‘off with your clothes, and we will cover the cage with blankets if your precious “modesty” is disturbed.’

  ‘Yes please,’ Talithea replied as Aisla began to unlace the front of Elethrine’s bodice, ‘and please also turn your head while we disrobe.’

  Kaulak responded with a grunt of amusement. Elethrine undressed with a mounting sense of shame. As each layer of clothing fell away she felt a little more vulnerable and a little less self-confident. The removal of her chemise to expose her breasts gave her a strange feeling, as if she were doing it for the benefit of men, despite the fact that Mausac was still asleep and Kaulak had given her no more than the occasional curious glance as Aisla assisted with the more complicated fastenings of her underwear. When down to her drawers and pantalettes she had Aisla hold a blanket up, yet she still had to force herself to pull down her pantalettes. Once they were off her feelings of vulnerability reached a peak and she hugged the blanket tightly around herself while Aisla went to assist Talithea. Finally all three were nude under their blankets and huddled in the corners of the cage.

  ‘Pretend to be asleep,’ Kaulak advised as they set off, ‘otherwise folk will think your behaviour strange for nymphs.’

  Elethrine followed his advise, keeping one eye open as the cart bumped over the rough road into Gora-Jome. The cage wagon was parked in a stall that formed part of the inn’s stables. A large area, it was evidently designed for such purposes and as they girls peered from under their blankets another, similar wagon was moved into the stall adjacent to theirs. Inside where true nymphs - lithe, brown skinned females of exquisite, delicate beauty and perhaps two thirds the height of their Vendjomois handlers. While the eyes of the nymphs showed intelligence, their entire being seemed given over to lust. As their cage wagon was moved into place they postured and preened, casting enticing looks at the men and posing to display pert breasts and sweetly rounded bottoms in clear invitation. Simultaneously horrified and fascinated, Elethrine watched as the nymph merchants took turns to enter the cage. Each was immediately swarmed over, the nymphs licking and groping, eager for their owners cocks. The men laughed at the antics of the beautiful females, pulling their cocks out to be sucked and teased to erection. Each fucked two nymphs while the remainder chattered excitedly and did their best to stimulate the ones being entered. It was done with the nymphs bent over, pert brown bottoms raised to accept entry from the rear. When the merchants cocks were in them they came quickly, giving excited squeaks and rubbing at their vulvas. Once each had been serviced the merchant would pull out and finished himself off into the mouth of another nymph, all of which were clearly eager for their share of cock. By the time the last nymph had come and the last merchant had had his sperm swallowed Elethrine felt deeply disturbed and knew that her own tuppenny was moist and swollen. Resisting the urge to masturbate or to order Aisla to lick her between the legs, she curled up beneath the blankets and eventually managed to sleep.

  Her dreams were powerfully erotic, involving being taken roughly from behind by a fat Vendjomois merchant, flaunting her naked bottom for the amusement of a great crowd of dwarves and accepting rear entry from Mausac in the hot desert sand. Twice she awoke, trembling with passion and finally had to sneak a finger between her legs to bring herself to an urgently needed but thoroughly shameful climax over the thought of being used the way the nymphs had been.

  Despite Elethrine’s suspicions of Kaulak’s honesty, the remainder of the night passed without incident and she woke to a bright dawn and the clamour of the city. The three of them stayed huddled under their blankets, both from modesty and the cold, not moving until Kaulak appeared with bowls of gruel. Checking that nobody was near, he leant close to the cage.

  ‘Remember,’ he said as he passed the steaming bowls through the bars, ‘you are nymphs. Say nothing, merely twitter and giggle while making doe eyes at the men. If somebody touches you…’

  ‘I could never behave so!’ Elethrine interjected, recalling the lewd posturings of the brown nymphs.

  ‘You must,’ Kaulak answered.

  ‘Could we not simply pretend to be asleep?’ Talithea asked.

  ‘For the guard point, yes,’ Kaulak continued, ‘but you cannot sleep all the way to Dry Ulan. Besides, the guards may wish to inspect you.’

  ‘Inspect us!’ Elethrine demanded, thinking of the intimate inspections given by Nurse Anaka.

  ‘To ensure that the cargo manifest is correct,’ Kaulak explained. ‘Look, just smile and simper at the guards. Beyond the tithing post the ship master can be persuaded to continue - at the point of our swords if necessary.’

  ‘Very well,’ Elethrine sighed. ‘I shall try, but it is all highly undignified.’

  Kaulak made an unreadable gesture and stepped away.

  Some time later he returned, along with Mausac and Ulak. The three girls feigned sleep as the cart moved out into the street, feeling intensely vulnerable in their nakedness despite the covering blankets. No challenge came on the way to the docks, nor as the barge was loaded. Elethrine risked a peep as she heard someone call for the cart to be put aboard. They were on a dock of yellow stone worn slick with years of use. Along its sides large sailing barges were moored, broad, shallow drafted vessels each with a single tall mast. Beyond the barges the Ephraxis stretched away towards the high cliffs that marked the entrance to the canyon in which the river flowed through the Eigora Khum. As she looked back towards the city she found herself looking straight into the eyes of a longshoreman, who gave her the same sort of smile she might have bestowed on an exceptionally pretty cat.

  She smiled back and hid herself hurriedly, not daring another glimpse until they were well out on the water. This time the view was even more alarming. A long, sleek craft painted in the gaudy purple and gold colours of Imperial Vendjome was pulling alongside them, a squad of soldiers standing ready at the gunwales. Hiding herself once more, she listened as the tithing officer spoke to the ship master.

  One by one the items of cargo were checked and the correct levy of export tax collected, the tithing officer using a thoroughness an
d precision worthy of a dwarf. Finally their own berth was reached and Elethrine heard the tithing officer speak to Kaulak.

  ‘Not slaves I trust,’ the officer asked with a laugh.

  ‘Not at all,’ Kaulak laughed back, ‘three nymphs, bound for Dry Ulan.’

  ‘You are taking nymphs to Dry Ulan?’ the tithing officer demanded. ‘You would as well try and sell iron-work to the dwarves.’

  ‘No ordinary nymphs,’ Kaulak replied smoothly, ‘but strange, wild ones captured in the high Glissades.’

  ‘Remarkable,’ the officer replied. ‘I must see these nymphs that are so unusual that you take them north on the Ephraxis.’

  ‘They are asleep,’ Kaulak replied, ‘and I would prefer to leave them so. The truth is, they are scarcely tamed yet and tend to become over excited in the presence of males.’

  ‘Their training will provide fine sport on the journey north then!’ the officer laughed. ‘But come, I must in any case confirm that they are nymphs, the captain is a stickler for precision.’

  ‘Very well,’ Kaulak sighed, but take care not to wake them.’

  Elethrine closed her eyes and did her best to feign slumber as the blanket was drawn away from her. For the first time in her life her naked body was exposed to male eyes, and it was impossible not to tremble, while it took all her will power not to give in to her rising anger and shame.

  ‘Extraordinary!’ she heard the officer exclaim, amid a chorus of surprised murmurs from other onlookers.

  ‘They are beautiful, certainly, but they are enormous! What hair though, pale as elf hair, brilliant pale gold and gold-copper! And their skin, so white! You caught them in the Glissades you say?’

  ‘High in the Glissades,’ Kaulak confirmed, ‘beyond Lake Phægron.’

  ‘In Oretean held territory? You are bold indeed!’

  ‘It is worth the risk. Ayapan the Merchant has already offered five hundred imperials for the biggest one.’

  ‘As I would had I so much gold. She is magnificent. Never have I seen such breasts, and her bottom is a delight. Yet the others are nearly as fine, although the smallest had perhaps a weight or two excess flesh on her buttocks. Still, her purse looks moist and ready. May I test her?’