The Carriage 1

Lis shook her head, trying to shake the sweat from her brow before it trickled down, the salt stinging her eyes. She pressed her face into her shoulder, succeeding only in smearing the mess around. She couldn't use her hands to wipe away the sweat, thanks to the leather monoglove trapping them behind her.

Her feet hurt, her calves hurt, her knees hurt, her thighs were chafed to hell, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered, but putting one foot in front of the other. Just keep going. Just keep going. Just keep going. It didn't matter, nothing else mattered except continuing forward.

Nothing else mattered because of the chain dangling from the collar on her neck. The other end was firmly anchored to the long carriage in front of her, drawn by two horses with much greater stamina than her. The rest of the caravan surrounded her, but she was the only one walking. She'd earned this fate by embarrassing her Master at last night's dinner, dropping a platter of food onto his lap. Her ass had stung all through the night, but now it was her legs that were receiving the rest of the punishment.

She couldn't go on. Salt filled her eyes again, but it was tears instead of sweat this time. She broke. "Master! Please! Have mercy!" It was the first words she'd spoken in hours, and they were raspy from her dry throat.

Orrin jerked awake from his nap a few feet ahead of her, his head lifting up from the pillow where it had been resting. It took him a moment to remember where he was before she called out again. "Master Orrin! Please, I'm begging you! I'm so tired!" She managed to lift her voice in a whine at the end, hoping to play on his compassion.

Orrin, having just been awoken from a pleasant dream that Lis herself starred in, was not feeling merciful yet. He sat up, looking around and blinking away the sleep in his eyes. He found what he was looking for and called out.

"Boy!" One of the caravan guards on outrider duty looked over from his seat on horseback. "Come here!" The guard dutifully rode up beside Orrin, forcing Lis to shift to the side to make room.

Orrin handed the young man a silver coin, making the guard's eyes widen in surprise. It wasn't a lot, but it was at least a few hours pay. "You have a switch there?" The guard nodded, bringing it out for inspection. "Anytime that slave girl's chain goes taut, mark her backside with that switch."

Lis balked at that, but her pleads for mercy quickly turned to shrieks of pain, until she learned that the guard wouldn't let up until she was silent. Even then, the tears continued to silently fall.

The silence was broken every time she slowed down, every time the chain pulled on her neck. Then she yelped in pain, sobbing as the switch came down on her naked and unprotected ass cheeks.

Everyone in the caravan who could watch did. Those riding behind Lis were treated to a good show, and even a few of the other guards hung back to admire their fellow's handiwork. The young man himself felt immensely proud of himself, providing entertainment to alleviate the crowd's boredom. He made a game of it, coming down even harder on the slave's ass to make her scream that much more.

Lis herself felt terrible. The aches from walking all morning with no reprieve were bad enough, now she was being whipped again on a sore butt that hadn't even had time to recover from last night's beating. Her throat, already parched, was getting sore with all the screaming she was now doing in addition to the pain on her backside. It was a small silver lining that the aches in her legs were mostly forgotten. Until, distracted, her bare feet found a rock to step on.

She stumbled, barely catching herself as she nearly fell onto her face. It was the fear alone that saved her; the fear of being dragged along behind the carriage. For the fiftieth time she called out for mercy, and finally she received an answer.

"Guard!" Orrin called out. He hadn't been looking behind himself at Lis's plight, but her cries tore at his heartstrings all the same. He didn't take pleasure from this, he wasn't a sadist. He just needed to be sure she'd never forget this lesson. "Bring her up here!"

In a flash, that young man had dismounted, coming up behind Lis and scooping her into his toned arms in one smooth motion. He'd enjoyed whipping the star of the show, sure, but he liked Orrin's money more.

Lis felt arms pushing her up into the air and then more arms came down from above. Orrin knelt over, seizing Lis as the guard pushed her up at him. He pulled her ragged body into the carriage, the chain having just enough slack to dump her on the carriage floor. Her punishment had been severe enough to earn relief, but not a cushioned seat.

As Lis sobbed her thanks into the wooden floorboards, Orrin took his own seat again. There was hardly any room on the floor, and his boots competed with Lis's head for space. She instinctively knew enough to defer, and raised her head to allow Orrin's feet into their preferred spot.

Orrin tapped her cheek with the toe, wordlessly giving Lis the permission she craved. She relaxed, setting her cheek on the hardened leather, grateful that her master was giving her his own boots to use as a pillow. She nestled into them, rubbing her cheeks into them, desperate to show her gratitude.

He let her rest like that a few minutes, watching her as the movements in her heaving chest slowed as her exhausted heart began to relax from her hours-long trial. Orrin smiled, then cut it off and replaced it with a frown before anyone noticed. 'I'm too nice to her,' he thought to himself. 'She's getting soft. '

"You're getting sweat on my boot." Lis's eyes shot open, and she chided herself for not putting her master's needs first. Without hesitation, she lifted her head up again. She had a little more strength to do that now she'd had a few moment's rest.

Looking down, she saw that she had indeed allowed her sweat to stain the fine leather beneath her. She knew that there was only one convenient way to clean his boots, and that was what he was expecting. She opened her mouth, and her tongue embraced the boot lovingly.