CHAPTER 3: CELEBRATION
That night, she slept fitfully. She awoke repeatedly from dreams in which her unconscious mind imagined different absurd scenarios that would be the celebration. In the morning, she arose with less confidence than she had had before, and began to fear what might be expected of her, and what might happen to her next if she failed to meet his expectations.
The middle-aged, silent jailer bashed his truncheon on the cell bars to wake her up. She was already awake, so jumped to attention immediately. He fiddled with his keys and the door was opened. For the first time in a week, it was held open for her to pass through.
She was taken outside and her dress was stripped off her and she was roughly washed down by two kitchen maids who talked to each other about their duties for the day and ignored her as if she were a dog and had no way of understanding them and held no interest for them at all. Once washed she was dried even more roughly with scratchy bits of cloth and then another dress was flung towards her, which she hastily put on. Once it was on her, she realised she had been given back the dress she'd arrived at the castle in. It had been washed and aired, but not patched up or improved in any way. So she would be partaking in the celebration, whatever it may be, in the same tatty dress she'd been wearing when she first met the king - clearly marking her out for a slave.
She stood waiting in the yard behind the kitchens to be told what to do next. The two maids, having fulfilled their duties with regards to Leo, went back into the kitchen to continue their work, leaving Leo alone in the yard. About 20 minutes passed with her waiting alone like this, and then two guards arrived. One of them nodded at her when she noticed their arrival, and began to walk away. She took this to mean *follow*. The second guard followed behind her. They walked in this way through many corridors of the castle, but did not go up or down any stairs. Though Leo did not know her way around the castle, she knew that meant they were still on ground level. Eventually they passed through a door to an outside area. She knew to keep her head bowed the entire time they walked, but allowed herself furtive glances left and right with her eyes. They had passed into a very large, grand courtyard. The light was very bright here; it seemed to catch every ray of the sun. People - dozens, maybe even hundreds - were milling around the courtyard, chatting with each other easily; the air filled with the buzz of their conversation, but hushed at once when the crowd noticed Leo and the guards enter. She swallowed hard to retain her composure and carried on walking behind the guard. As they walked, the feeling of familiarity began to wash over her. She had been here before! This was the very courtyard in which she'd first met the king.
The guard led her towards a wooden structure in the centre of the courtyard. It was a square stage, and the crowd flanked every side. Leo had heard about public executions, though she'd never seen one herself, and they sounded exactly like this. She swallowed again as the guard led her up some wooden stairs to the top of the structure, and wondered for the millionth time what she was expected to do on this stage, in front of all these people.
She was relieved not to find a gallows or guillotine there. Instead, there was nothing but two pieces of wood, about hip height, one parallel in front of the other, held up by two more pieces of wood on either end. They looked like stocks, except there weren't any holes for arms, head, or ankles - just straight, thick pieces of wood. The first guard took her by the arm and roughly shoved her so that she was positioned to stand in front of the first plank, with the second one a couple of feet ahead of that. She chanced a quick glimpse around, and noticed that the crowd, who were to a person watching her unfailingly, were all dressed in extreme finery - these were the king's court, his innermost circle - the senior most men in his army; his noblemen and women; his most trusted friends and colleagues - the most important people, in a word, in the kingdom. She looked upwards and saw that there were more people in a balcony overlooking the courtyard - undoubtedly containing the most important of the most important. But she did not see the king anywhere.
A man dressed extravagantly in red velvet climbed the stairs. Leo recognised him as the king's aide. He stood at the front of the stage and began to bellow out to the crowd.
"Ladies and gentleman! I am honoured to introduce you to a most holy ritual: The Celebration of the King's Pleasure. We are gathered to witness this great and rare occasion. I give you: the candidate."
He gestured towards Leo. She had no idea what she should do in that moment, but, given the company she was keeping here, assumed that she should assume a respectful stance, and so bowed her head deeply and avoided looking at anyone. A polite but unimpressed-sounding smattering of applause lightly aired across the courtyard.
"I give you: the King!"
A huge, thunderous round of applause boomed out of crowd, together with cheers. Leo smiled to herself slightly as the king slowly and gracefully ascended the wooden stairs to join Leo and the aide. He stood facing the crowd, lapping up the appreciation, giving the crowd a long look at their king. After a long time, as they showed no sign of quieting their booming adoration, he held up his hands for silence.
"Noble ladies and noble men. Welcome to The Celebration of the King's Pleasure. I have made my choice and I now present her to you.
"This slave has the possibility of becoming my lifelong servant of the flesh. Her name is Leo.
"I claim her by the feet, that she may walk with me always."
He stood by her side, and then knelt down to her feet. She heard him scuffling around down there and felt something being fastened around each of her ankles. She then heard the unmistakably sound of metal on metal; her ankles being fastened to the bottoms of the first of the two planks of wood she stood before. He stood up.
"I claim her by the hands, that she may hold my own."
He moved to stand behind her, and she felt her hands being drawn together behind her. Two more circlets of some hard material were fastened around her wrists, and then the sound of metal clunking on metal: her wrists were bound together behind her. He moved to be beside her, and put one hand on her back and one on her chest. He gently guided her to bend forward, so that her shoulders and the top of her chest rested on the second plank of wood in front of her, with the first holding up her hips. He moved to stand in front of her and held her head up in front of him so that her face was directly in front of his crotch. He freed his cock and plunged it into her already-open mouth. Lust coursed through her blood.
"I claim her by the mouth, that she may always talk with me."
He began to fuck her mouth. Short, hard, effortful thrusts. He came in her mouth almost instantly, and she swallowed him. He moved to the side, and when he returned, he was holding some object. He picked her head up again and pushed the object into her mouth. It felt *exactly* like his cock just had. It seemed he had had a model of his cock made, and was now using it to prise open her mouth again. But instead of fucking her mouth with it, he pushed it all the way into the back of her throat, and then used some material to tie it around her mouth to the back of her head, which held it in place there - her mouth and throat held open to it, with no respite. She felt herself fall into the same dream-like state she was beginning to know well as she submitted herself entirely to this intrusion into her body.
Next, he moved to position himself behind her. She let her head drop down again and so avoided looking at anyone in the crowd, who were avid and silent.
"I claim her as a girl, that she may always service me thus."
He started fucking her cunt. Again he fucked her urgently, again he came quickly, and another model of his cock was inserted into her where the real one had just been, and fixed in place there with some kind of belt.
"I claim her as a boy, that she may always service me thus."
He sunk himself into her ass. He'd been preparing her for this all week and, with the submissive headspace that she was fully immersed in now, she was able to take him without any sign of distress or protest. It took him a little longer this time, but for the third time he spilled his seed into her body and then pushed a model of his erection where he had just had her. This too was fixed in place.
Thus she stood, bent over at the hip, her ankles fastened to the wooden planks, keeping her legs apart; her hands bound behind her; and her mouth, cunt, and ass all filled with his cock. She felt utterly claimed, and fully surrendered herself to the state of total, divine, submission. She felt her body belonged to the king, and the discomfort of her position, and the embarrassment of the spectacle, melted away with her profound sense of giving herself up to him. All that mattered in the world was pleasing him. All that mattered in the world was her submission to him. She knew she could endure this and much more if he desired it of her.
"May every man and woman of the kingdom look upon my Pleasure and know her to be mine, and mine only.
"Let every man and woman of the kingdom know that to take pleasure from the King's Pleasure is punishable by death or banishment, according to status.
"Let every man and woman of the kingdom know that to do insult to the King's Pleasure is as to do insult to the king himself, and it punishable by the stripping of rank, or by the torture of the rack, according to status."
"I give you: the King's Pleasure!"
This time much louder applause roared through the crowd. Leo let her head stay dropped low, avoiding eye contact with the crowd and thinking only about the king. Her mouth, cunt, and ass was filled with her king, and that was all that she wanted and needed.
One by one each member of the crowd came to look at Leo more closely. Each person in turn climbed the steps to the wooden platform, inspected her with their eyes only, and descended again. Then every person on the balcony did the same. After this was over, the crowd dispersed.
But the celebration didn't end there. Once the nobility had all witnessed the ritual and looked upon Leo, the rest of the citizens of the kingdom, and all of their slaves, came next. Each one of them also filed passed Leo to discover the identity of the King's Pleasure. The sun climbed and the sun descended as every man and woman in the kingdom took their turn to view her. She waited in silence and submission for the ordeal to end, concentrating hard to stay present, and not to lose consciousness completely from the heat, or from the pain and discomfort, but this grew harder the longer the day dragged on. Her whole body began to hurt from being held in place for so long. Her king watched from the side the entire time. Every now and then, when she thought perhaps she could endure it no longer, she allowed herself a tiny glimpse at him, and it each time was like the first drop of water after escaping from a desert. Each glimpse sustained her long enough to endure until the next.
Eventually, darkness fell and the courtyard was empty at last. Her mouth, cunt, and ass were freed from their seemingly endless penetration. She could hardly close her mouth, for the soreness in her jaw. She heard the tell-tale sound of metal on metal; her hands and feet were now free, but she didn't dare move until she was told to. In fact, she wouldn't have been able to anyway; she was seized in place there from such a prolonged time with her body stuck in one position.
Strong hands picked her up and took her bent frame into a much bigger and stronger one. She gratefully yielded to the arms carrying her. She closed her eyes and lost consciousness at last.
The next thing she knew she was in a very hot bath. Her aching, seized-up muscles had begun to relax in the heat of the water. She opened her eyes just enough to look around her. She was in a dim bathroom, lit by only a few candles. She expected to see the two kitchen maids from earlier on either side, ready to scrub her and talk about their chores like she wasn't there.
Instead, she saw only the king. He was kneeling by the side of the bath, and his arms were wet to the elbow. He had been bathing her while she was unconscious.
"Leo," he said in a soft, deep growl when he noticed her eyes squint open.
"Sire," she said weakly.
"Rest," he ordered, as she attempted to sit up and ready herself in a state more fit for a king. "Do not try to rise yet."
It felt odd obeying an order that was for *her* comfort, but she knew that the king's orders were always to be obeyed, regardless of what they were. She let herself sink back down into the almost scalding water, and fell back into a slumber at once.
When she next awoke she was dressed in a plush violet silk nightgown and covered in a very thick, hand-embroidered quilt, decorated with orchid flowers. It was daylight, but the heavy dark purple velvet curtains were drawn, so she could not see the room well, but immediately felt the sense it gave off of grandeur and riches.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The terrible ache in her back had almost gone. Her jaw still felt sore, but less so. She stretched her arms out, jumped out of a bed she felt very peculiar inhabiting, and opened the door to the hallway.
Two guards flanked the door, which surprised her so much that she nearly fell over. Her first reaction was to assume that she was being held prisoner in this extravagant room, as she had been the day before in the dungeon, making her heart sink a little. A prisoner is a prisoner in any four walls, after all.
But the two guards immediately jumped to attention, as she had seen them do for the king, and she realised that they were there to protect her, not imprison her.
She had felt nothing like this before, and had no idea how to behave.
