Patience and Virtue · Part 5 (5/6)
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Alena smacked Pat's bottom. "You will do this. No more stalling! Go all the way to the top without stopping."
Still Pat hesitated. "Climb!" Alena ordered. "Don't force me to beat you."
Gulping down her fear, Pat started up the ladder. Alena stayed close behind her. Amazingly, Pat made it all the way to the top without falling. The only time Alena had to put a hand on her bottom to steady her was at the top, where Pat had to step sideways to transition from the ladder to the balcony.
Alena chirped, "Here we are! That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Maybe not for you. You weren't one step away from a hideous death."
"Oh, don't grump. Pat. A bit more practice and you'll climb the ladders without even thinking about it." Alena moved the mat blocking the door to her room. "Inside, lover. The sooner we get started the longer we have to try to find out what you remember."
Once inside the room Alena stripped off her tunic and loincloth. She said, "Turn around, and I'll retie your hands in front."
Pat shook her head. "Keep them tied behind my back. If they're tied in front you'll have to stretch me out and tie me to the floor rings, and that'll keep me from moving around on your body."
"All right, but I can't leave you too free to move around. Sit next to the bed." Alena looped a rope through a floor ring and tied both ends to Pat's collar. "Now you can move, but you can't reach any knots." She opened Pat's tunic and pushed it down to her bound wrists.
Pat said, "Lie down, on your side, facing me." Alena complied, and Pat joined her on the bed. Pat kissed Alena, and their tongues met. This went on for quite a while, and Pat could hear Alena's breathing quicken. She slithered down so her mouth was opposite Alena's breasts and licked a nipple. Alena responded by clutching Pat's head and moaning. Pat thought, 'This seems to be working. What's next on Lea's list? Ah, I remember.'
Pat whispered, "Roll onto your back." Alena did, and Pat applied a string of kisses to her belly, going down until she reached the mass of hair covering Alena's mound. She slipped farther down, then extended her tongue and started to probe Alena's lips. She rubbed her tongue on Alena's clit. Alena gasped and hugged Pat's head between her thighs. Pat continued probing until Alena screamed and spasmed.
Pat was jostled by Alena's convulsions until she was able to get her head loose from Alena's clutching thighs. Alena eventually regained enough control to find the rope tied to Pat's collar and pull it until Pat's head was next to hers. She panted, "That was wonderful. You remembered a lot." She hugged Pat and crushed their breasts together.
"I didn't really remember. Lea told me what I should do. I'm glad I pleased you."
"That you did." Alena yawned.
Pat and Alena stayed locked together for some time. Pat whispered, "Alena? Could you tie my hands in front now?" There was no response from the sleeping Alena. Pat extricated herself and rolled onto her front. She muttered, "This is going to be an uncomfortable night. I hope I can get some sleep." She closed her eyes.
The next thing Pat knew Alena was shaking her. "Wake up! It's already after sunrise."
Pat tried to move her tied arms and groaned. They were stiff and painful. Alena said, "You should have woken me! I could have tied you in a more comfortable position."
"I didn't want to disturb you."
"You should have. I don't want to hurt you unless I have to." Alena smoothed Pat's tunic into place and untied her hands.
"Unless you have to?" Pat moaned as Alena massaged her shoulders.
Alena smiled. "Discipline must be maintained, and you will learn to climb ladders without using your hands."
Alena was fully dressed, with her ax sheathed at her side and her shield and bow slung on her back. She untied one end of the rope on Pat's collar to use as a leash. They left the room and stopped at the top of the ladder. Alena said, "I'm not going to tie your hands until we reach the ground, but I want you to go down the ladder without using them. If you do, I'll punish you later. Understand?"
Pat nodded and began the perilous descent. Alena follow her closely, and several times Pat used the leash to regain her balance. Once successfully down, she exclaimed, "I did it!"
Alena snorted. "Not really. You needed to pull on the leash several times." She tied Pat's cuffs together in front. "Let's eat. I want to get on the trail."
After they ate Alena took Pat to the plaza where the labor gangs were being organized. "Goodbye, lover. I'll see you at Big Bluff the day after tomorrow. I can hardly wait." They kissed. Alena handed Pat's leash to one of the guards, and she was off, striding across the plaza. Pat watched her until she was out of sight.
Jaid saw Pat at once, and soon Pat and Lea were harnessed to the water lift once again, with Pela as their minder. It was different today. The water jar had been replaced by a large wicker basket, and instead of lifting water up Pat and Lea were lowering bundles down the cliff. The whole city swarmed with people shifting goods.
Everything stopped at noon. People crowded around the chief's building and lined the roofs and balconies of the buildings that overlooked it. Even Pat and Lea were there. A warrior unhitched them from the lift and tied their hands behind their backs. She joined their collars with a rope and led them to the back of the crowd on the plaza. At precisely noon the senior chief removed the red ball and replaced it with a fan of blue and white feathers. The crowd cheered. The Peace had officially begun.
Eventually the people dispersed. Pat, Lea, and their guard sat down in the shade of the chief's building and waited for Pela to bring them some food. This took some time because of the crowd around the kitchen.
Iona found them. She was carrying her shield and weapons, since the exchange of prisoners took place the instant the Peace was proclaimed. She kissed Lea. "Once the Peace is over I'll capture a lot of Ce'jk warriors. I'll make sure you're exchanged at the next Peace".
Lea returned the kiss. "Thanks, Iona. You've given me something to live for."
Iona saluted and left. Pela arrived with food, and the four women ate, Pela feeding Pat and the warrior feeding Lea. The had just finished when Jaid arrived. She commanded, "Take Lea and find some work for her. The other one is going to Big Bluff. I'll take care of her." She untied the rope from Lea's collar and used it to yank Pat to her feet.
Jaid led Pat to the stairs going down the cliff. Pat was terrified. It would be so easy for Jaid to make her fall. This threat preoccupied her so much that she wasn't bothered by the height. When she reached the ground she was surprised to be alive. Jaid ordered, "Down the river and around the point. The caravan is forming up west of the city."
The women followed the trail below the cliff and came to the junction of the Plains River with the Big River. The water level was low at this time of year and it was easy for them to wade the Big River. The caravan was waiting there, about fifty carts lined up along the trail leading to Big Bluff.
Each cart was made from three poles, arranged in a triangle. The base of the triangle faced forward, and was wide enough to allow two people to stand side-by-side along it, inside the other poles. These outside poles were about twice as long as the base pole, and their apex at the back of the cart was supported by a small wheel cut from a log. Just forward of the wheel was a wicker basket for the cargo. All of the carts except the last one were crewed by two teenagers. About fifty armed warriors were intermingled with the carts. Pat was the only captive.
Jaid led Pat to the last cart. "Get inside the poles," she ordered. Jaid released Pat's hands from behind her back and tied her wrist cuffs to the front pole, about a shoulder width apart.
The caravan commander asked sarcastically, "Are you ready now, Jaid? Can we start?"
Jaid flushed at the insult but said only, "Ready, Melia."
Melia shouted, "Forward!". All of the cart girls leaned against their poles and the carts creaked into motion.
Pat also pushed on her pole, but the cart didn't move. Jaid said, "Too heavy, Pat? Somehow this cart got loaded with a lot of iron tools. How did that happen? You need some encouragement." Jaid was carrying a cane, and she slashed the back of Pat's thighs, just below her tunic. Pat yelped and pushed harder. The cart started to move.
Pat couldn't keep up with the rest of the caravan. Jaid allowed her to fall behind until all the other carts were out of sight. For the first few hours the trail was flat and the dry ground was hard. Pat struggled, but she could keep the cart moving at a slow walk. When they came to a small hill this changed. She strained to move the cart. Jaid tucked the hem of Pat's tunic into her collar and hit her bare back with the cane. Pat screamed, and struggled to keep the cart moving. Jaid kept hitting her, and by the time they reached to top of the hill Pat's back was covered with swollen red welts. Pat was exhausted, but she recovered some as the trail went downhill.
The next hill was higher. Long before she reached the top Pat was spent. Finally she collapsed, and she couldn't get up. Jaid kept hitting her, but the only results were screams and moans. Pat begged, "Please stop. I can't work any more."
Jaid snarled, "Yes you can, Pat. I can hurt you so much you'll beg me to let you work."
Melia and four warriors materialized on the trail. Melia ordered, "That's enough, Jaid! Stop hitting her." She and the warriors looked at Jaid with contempt.
Jaid blustered, "I'm the labor overseer. If I want to discipline a lazy slave that's my right."
"This isn't discipline, this is torture. I wondered why you weren't keeping up with the caravan." Melia inspected the load in the wicker basket and removed three large bundles of iron pickax heads. "We'll divide these among the other carts. That will help you to keep up." She untied Pat's wrists and carried her to the side of the trail. "Until she recovers you can push the cart alone, Jaid."
Jaid protested, "I'm a warrior! I don't have to push a cart."
"Warriors are expected to do anything that's necessary. I gave you an order, Jaid. Are you going to obey it, or do you want to lose the rest of your beads?" Melia snatched Jaid's cane from her hand and broke it in two.
Jaid glared at Melia, but she got inside the cart poles and pushed it along the trail.
Melia said, "Geta, you stay with Pat until she recovers enough to walk. Give her some water. The rest of you bring those pickaxes. It's time to eat. I'll stop the caravan."
It was a while before Pat could move. When Pat could walk Geta tied her hands behind her back and the two women ambled along the trail. Geta was in no hurry, and when they caught up with the caravan she deliberately stayed back from the cart pushed by Jaid. She took some dried meat from her pouch and shared it with Pat.
The journey continued for the rest of the afternoon. About two hours before sunset the caravan reached the campsite, which was right at the base of the bluff. From here the trail climbed steeply, using many switchbacks. The caravan had covered most of the distance to their destination, but tomorrow's journey would take longer than today's did.
A spring fed a small stream and the stream supported a large grove of trees. A number of brush huts were scattered among the trees, along with benches and tables made from logs. There were many stone-lined fire pits. A large kitchen area featured several stone fireplaces, each with a large iron grill.
Many of the cart girls splashed in the stream, cleaning up after their sweaty labor. Others built fires and started preparation of the evening meal. Warriors were detailed to form a picket line around the camp. It was Peacetime and savages had not been this close to Big Bluff in living memory, but Melia was following standard procedure.
Geta got a blanket from a cart and spread it in the shade of a tree. She said, "Lie here, Pat, and I'll see what I can do about those welts." Pat dropped to her knees and then to her belly. Geta tied her ankles together and untied her wrists. She pulled up Pat's tunic and bared her back. "Nasty. I've got a poultice that should help. It may sting a little." She dripped a gooey green paste from a gourd onto Pat's back and spread it along the welts. Pat gasped, but soon the pain of the welts eased.
Geta said, "You rest here until the food is ready, Pat." Geta tied Pat's wrists to two small trees so her arms were held out to her sides. She wasn't stretched, but she couldn't bring her hands together or reach any knots with her teeth. Pat didn't care. She was too tired and sore to even think about escaping, even if she had somewhere to go. She fell asleep.
Pela shook Pat's shoulder. "Wake up. The evening meal is almost ready." She took a close look at the welts. "I'm sorry you were hurt so badly. I am ashamed this happened. Melia said the chiefs will punish Jaid when they hear about it."
"It wasn't your fault. For some reason Jaid hates me." Pat pulled against the ropes on her wrists. "Can you untie me? I have to pee."
"Yes, Melia gave me permission to untie you. You can stay untied as long as you stay in the camp." Pela untied the ropes holding Pat's arms and the ropes around her ankles. She helped Pat stand up. "I'll go with you to the latrine."
When they returned to the camp the evening meal was ready. Pela and Pat shared a bench after they got their food from the kitchen. Pat said, "This is the first time since I was captured that I haven't been tied. I like it."
"Now that the Peace has started you can't hurt anybody if you try to escape, so you don't have to be tied so tightly." Pela lowered her voice so only Pat could hear her. "Is it true that you didn't just lose your necklace, you never had a necklace?"
"I don't know. I can't remember anything about my past, including where I came from. I don't think I came from any of the cities around here, though."
Pela hugged Pat. "I'm so sorry for you." She yawned. "I'm tired, and tomorrow we have to push the carts up the bluff."
"I'm tired too. Do we sleep anywhere, or are places assigned to us?"
"Nothing's assigned for me, but I don't know about you. There's Geta. I'll ask her." She stood and waved.
Geta asked, "You want something, Pela?"
"Yes. Pat wants to sleep now. Can you help her?"
"Sure. Come with me, Pat." Geta led her to a small brush hut. It was a waist-high half-cylinder woven from small branches. It had once been thatched with grass, but this had blown away and hadn't yet been replaced. There was a stake driven into the ground in front of the door, and a small tree at the other end of the hut.
Pat commented, "This must be the captive's hut."
"Yep. Hold out your hands." Geta tied Pat's cuffs together with a long rope. "Crawl inside the hut and poke the end of the rope through the back." Pat complied, and Geta tied the rope to the tree. She tied Pat's ankle cuffs together and tied them to the stake. "Here's a blanket." Geta spread a fur blanket over Pat's body. "Good night."
Pat found she was surprisingly comfortable. There was a mound of leaves covered with a cloth blanket under her, and a furry blanket over her. She could still feel the welts on her back, but the poultice had relieved most of the pain. She closed her eyes and was instantly asleep.
Dawn was a faint glow on the horizon when Jaid crawled into the hut where Pat was sleeping and shook her awake.
Pat muttered, "What do you want?"
Jaid whispered, "I have a special mission, and you're going to help me with it. Be quiet! We don't want to disturb the camp."
Jaid untied Pat's hands. She ordered, "Now roll on your belly and put your hands behind your back." Pat wasn't happy about this, but she did it anyway. Jaid tied each wrist cuff to Pat's opposite arm just above the elbow. She wrapped more rope around Pat's forearms and knotted it.
Pat complained, "Not so tight. It hurts!"
"You'll hurt a lot more if you keep talking." Jaid untied the rope holding Pat's ankles together and replaced it with a hobble. "Outside!" she commanded.
Pat awkwardly shuffled out of the hut on her knees. Once Pat was outside Jaid pulled her to her feet. She tied a slip knot in a rope and tightened it around Pat's neck. She picked up a pole she had prepared. It was about shoulder-height in length and two fingers thick. One end was sharpened and Jaid jabbed it into Pat's bottom. "Walk, and if you make any noise I'll pull this rope tight."
Jaid guided Pat along the main trail for a short distance and then onto a track that ran perpendicular to it. They walked in silence for about half an hour, Pat in front of Jaid. Jaid kept Pat moving at a fast pace by jabbing her with the stick. Pat asked, "Where are we going?"
"We'll go along this trail for another hour or so. See those hills up ahead? The trail goes between them and then down to Big Spring. It always has water, even if Camp Spring is dry."
"What are we going to do? We can't be going for water, because we didn't bring anything to carry it in."
"Shut up. You'll find out soon enough what we're doing." She jabbed Pat again, much harder. Pat yelped. She didn't ask any more questions.
By the time the women reached the saddle between the hills it was full daylight. The steep slope down to the flatter ground below was rough and rocky and covered with thick brush. It would have been difficult to traverse it without the improved trail. This region was part of a transition zone between the forested mountains and the grassy plains, and the terrain was mostly covered with head-high brush, with an occasional stunted tree.
Once Jaid and Pat were below the slope they walked for another half hour along mostly level ground. Jaid ordered, "Stop over there near that tree." Pat did as she was told. "Now get on your back." Pat did this too. She had been anxious about what Jaid planned ever since they left the camp, and by now her anxiety had escalated to fear. She was only too aware that she was helplessly bound, while Jaid was fully armed with ax, shield, and bow.
The fear intensified when Jaid tied the rope on Pat's neck to the tree. Jaid used her ax to chop the pole she carried into three pieces. She drove one into the ground just beyond Pat's feet and tied Pat's ankles to it with the hobble rope. She forced another stake between the top of Pat's thighs and pounded it into the ground. Pat cried out as the rough bark scratched her thighs and pubes. The third stake went into the ground next to her neck, and Jaid tied her collar to it. She removed the rope linking Pat's neck to the tree.
Jaid said, "You want to know why we came out here? This is what I'll tell anybody who asks: I took you a short way down the trail so we could have sex. Afterward I fell asleep, and you were able to untie yourself and escape. I followed you to bring you back. Unfortunately, you were captured by savages, and they tortured you to death." Jaid collected dead branches from around the tree. She ripped open Pat's tunic and piled them on her bare belly. "This is one of the savages' favorite tricks. They keep the fire small, so you can live for hours while they slowly burn your guts out. But I won't let it go on that long. After a few hours I'll cut your head off. The savages would do that to get your collar. They always want iron."
Pat pleaded, "Why are you doing this? What have I done to you? Don't kill me!"
"You stole the woman I love. With you dead Alena will be mine again."
"But I didn't steal Alena! You two split up long before she met me. Please, please don't torture me."
Jaid smiled. "I want to torture you. I'll enjoy listening to your screams." She shook her water gourd. "I'm going to the spring. I won't be gone long, and when I get back I'll light the fire. Think about what it'll feel like as it eats into your body. I can do anything to you that I wish, and you must accept what I bestow. While I'm gone try to think of some creative pleas for mercy. I want to hear you beg." Jaid smiled again and walked away.
Pat struggled desperately to escape. Her arms were tightly bound and she knew she had no chance of freeing them. The ropes binding her collar and her ankles to the stakes were also secure and the stakes themselves were solid. Pat now realized why Jaid had taken the rope off her neck. Jaid didn't want her to be able to strangle herself. Pat tried to shake her body and make the wood on her belly fall off, but the stake between her thighs immobilized her hips. She muttered, "I can't get away. All I can do now is deny Jaid the pleasure of hearing me scream." She closed her eyes.
Pat could do nothing but wait until Jaid returned. The sun was higher now, shining brightly on her bare body. She heard footsteps and thought, This is it. Nothing to do now but die quietly.
Alena and her six companions made a quick journey to the Big Bluff camp, and arrived several hours before sunset. Alena make a through inspection of the lime kilns. She was pleased to find that all were un
