Gradually the intensity of the pain of the whipping began to recede. My screams that had echoed around the stone walls of the dungeon now diminished to a series of low, soft sobs, my futile fight against the thick leather straps that pinioned my body to the heavy timber cross now ceasing. I felt a strange calm descend upon me, an oddly pleasant sensation that I would experience again and again after harsh punishments had pushed me to my limits of endurance, and beyond.
I was aware of my mistress beside me now, her warm breath wafting over me as she released each of the steel buckles that had held me in position throughout her vicious assault. With the removal of the final strap I slumped to my knees, my strength now completely sapped by a combination of the effort of the hunt followed by the whipping.
Lady Athelnia's twice weekly hunts now fell into a pattern. I was tracked, captured and returned to the castle where a punishment of varying severity was administered, wholly dependent upon mistress' whim. Our enjoyment of this became mutual, albeit very different in character. The beatings, the prize for her success in the hunts, were inevitably punctuated by the sounds of her mounting satisfaction at each stroke of whip or cane. I had little doubt that the sighs and moans that fell upon my ears represented a substitute for the pleasures that widowhood denied her. For my own part however being locked into her cruel little device denied me the ultimate satisfaction that she quite clearly enjoyed.
This harsh treatment by my mistress was something that I accepted readily. I saw it as a relatively small price to pay for not being consigned to one of the province's many plantations, the inevitable destination of all the other captured prisoners, routinely auctioned off to be used as slave labour. Not that the punishments were easy to take. Lady Athelnia derived immense satisfaction from her position of supreme power, her use of the whips and canes displaying her expertise. This was, quite literally, her domain. It was a place where she could exploit to the full her authority and where conversely my inability to control any aspect of our relationship completed the circle of power exchange to perfection. Once within her dungeon my cries of pain reverberated around the cold stone walls. I had absolutely no doubt that, for her, these sounds eclipsed totally the most mellifluous music.
This period of my captivity had given me ample opportunity for consideration. Whilst prior to my capture my only concern when confronted by a woman of Lady Athelnia's many virtues would have been how I might have my way with her she had sought to re-educate me in respect of these attitudes, pointing out to me how such thinking was responsible for all the drawbacks within such patriarchal societies as mine. I was forced to come to terms with the fact that the one that I now found myself within had many advantages over the one of my birth.
Despite the restrictions on my freedom, being confined within the castle apart from on our hunts, being fed from a bowl at my owner's feet like a common cur and having my genitals locked within a silver cage denying me sexual release, my respect for my mistress had grown exponentially over the past weeks. I would even have gone so far as to characterise her as a fair woman, despite the fact that my body now carried the traces of her frequent use of canes, quirts and the one she referred to oddly as a sjambok, those marks not having time to fade before the aftermath of her next hunt added to their random pattern across my back and buttocks.
In our last hunt I had made it beyond the wooded area at the end of the bay. The adjacent one was entirely similar in its topography. Another wide sweep of pristine yellow sand with a thick wooded area in the far distance. I knew that just beyond this lay the border with my own province and that this piece of woodland was more a forest than a mere copse. Once I was in this heavily overgrown area I would effectively be home. The chances of recapture here would be slim once daylight disappeared, all I would need to do would be to lie low until dawn. My immediate problem however was how I could cover this distance in the time allowed. I calculated that I would need to cover well over two leagues, a distance that Lady Athelnia's mount could travel in half an hour. It was then that fortune smiled upon me.
My mistress had decided that the time allowed between my release and the start of the hunt would be increased to half an hour. I reckoned that this would allow me to cover over half the distance before the chase began. On the evening of the hunt the wind had increased, quite fortuitously sweeping along the bay in my intended direction of travel. I was released at precisely half past the hour and headed directly down to the tideline. My thinking was that the incoming tide would cover any footprints, and so it would prove to be. Approaching the water's edge I deliberately curved in the opposite direction to that which I intended to travel before doubling back, giving the impression that I had gone in the other direction. I had covered the first sweep of the bay when I heard the three quarter hour chimes. I was too far away to hear the hour chimed. What I did not know was that my mistress had initially fallen for my ruse and set off in the wrong direction. However, quickly realising her mistake she had turned her mount around and spurred it to full speed.
I was well past the half way point of the second bay when I turned to see my pursuer at full gallop. My mistress now had me in sight and it was a straight race to see who might reach the forest first. I had possibly only a third of the distance left to cover and this gave me a second wind. As i progressed the tree line became more distinct and my hopes of not being caught began to grow to a point where the possibility of escape was now a realistic one. The final incline to the forest arrived and I began the climb towards the trees. Once inside my chance of discovery would be virtually nil. It was a large area, impossible to sweep in the manner that the smaller wood lent itself to. I was now close enough to smell the forest, the pungent aroma of vegetation and sap already in my nostrils, the smell of freedom!
It was then that something inexplicable happened. I made it to the first tree, a massive oak still in full leaf. I stood briefly with my back to its trunk, ready to turn and fade away into the densely wooded forest that was already turning to dusk. Lady Athelnia was close enough now for me to see her features clearly, her pretty visage already showing her disbelief that I had achieved the seemingly impossible feat of making good my escape, already she was accepting that her thousand Real slave was as good as gone.
What I did next was unfathomable, as confusing to myself as it was to her. I turned to face the oncoming stallion, dropped to my knees and placed my hands behind my back, head bowed in submission. Then I looked up, for a long moment staring directly into her face, detecting a slight hint of a smile in her emerald eyes. She slipped from the saddle, taking up a position just a few paces away, the lowering evening sun reflected in myriad mobile pools on the black leather of her hunting outfit. For a brief moment she seemed lost for words at this totally unexpected outcome of what she had already accepted was our final hunt. I had been in a position to complete my escape but had chosen not to claim my hard won victory.
She was standing so close now that I could hear her breathing, smell the aroma of her leather, see the smooth patina of her riding boots.
"What are you doing?"
The question was put in a manner that conveyed her confusion at this turn of events.
"Mistress, I desire nothing other than to remain as your slave."
I swallowed, fully aware of the implications of what I was doing, and not yet entirely sure that I was making the correct decision. She flexed the riding crop between her gloved hands.
"What if I were to tell you that from this point on your punishments were to become far more draconian, that your surrender today will buy you no mercy whatsoever, that my resolve to break you will only be strengthened and that you will live to rue the day when you failed to seize the opportunity to escape a cruel mistress?"
There was a short pause as she stood before me, tapping her open palm with her riding crop.
"And now if I tell you that you have a couple of minutes in which to consider your situation, to decide on your future. You are at liberty to walk away into the forest and make your way home. You have earned that right."
Turning away from me she walked back to her horse. The thought of accepting her offer occurred to me briefly. To return home and be welcomed as a hero. I remained kneeling before the oak tree, watched her unbuckle her saddle bag and take out two coils of rope. Striding back purposefully she moved behind me. Soon my wrists and arms were bound. Her knee pushed into my back as she cinched the ropes tight.
