It had been an awkward couple of days after Jacob left. All of the women were quiet and nervous around me, not sure what to make of the new situation. I was the head of the house, as dictated by Jacob with all rights and duties. I did not rush into making any changes or exerting my authority, I didn't have to. Mary was still the same shy submissive girl she had always been, however she stopped her flirtatious behaviour for the time being. Rebecca seemed to enjoy the situation. No longer afraid of setting off Jacob's hair trigger temper she started to assert herself more over Mary and even Sarah to a degree.
Sarah showed the most noticeable change in her behaviour, no surprise there. It is not every day that your 19 year old Foster ward sees you bound and beaten in a hidden dungeon, then the next day is given full rights as your husband. Our discussion had cleared some things up for me, but she had not said anything related to the suggestion that I had planted. Instead, she went about her day with a quiet efficiency, making small talk but trying to avoid being alone with me whenever she could. I was just about to press the issue when she came to me.
It was late evening, after supper and all of the evening chores were finished. I was in my room in the basement, killing time until I fell asleep when I heard a soft knock on my door. I opened it and Sarah stood there, she was in her nightgown and robe and had done her hair in braids for bed. Clearly, there was nothing sexual about this I thought as I met her gaze.
"I was wondering when you would be ready to talk." I said as I backed up and waved her into the room. She walked in and gave a small flinch as I closed the door behind her. She looked around nervously, her hand fiddling with the belt of her robe. I gestured to the bed "Please, sit down." I said as I leaned against the dresser and crossed my arms.
Sarah sat and looked up at me, her blue eyes darted around sliding away from my gaze then coming back for a second before looking elsewhere again. She licked her lips nervously and adjusted the hem of her robe so it covered her legs. "How about I start." I said in a gentle but firm voice. "Sarah, what was going on in that room under the barn?"
Sarah looked around the room, then took a breath and answered, "Jacob uses that place for my confessions, and to administer my penance." She looked up at me, "Every Sunday evening we would go there and he would hear my confession. He did not believe that the Minister at church was sufficiently strict to properly address my sins."
This made sense, it was pretty much exactly what had happened between us in her bedroom last week. I remembered that Jacob had left on Sunday afternoon, and here it was mid week. Sarah must be boiling over.
"Maybe we should start from the beginning, so I understand where you came from and how you got here. Tell me about yourself, the whole story." I said and she nodded.
"I was raised in a very strict household, my father believed that children needed to be taught early to respect their elders and God. My mothers were very respectful of his wishes and they made sure that no sin, no matter how slight was allowed to pass." She said, in a surprisingly firm voice with no malice or anger.
Wait a second, "Mothers, Sarah did your father have more than one wife?" I interrupted and she nodded. "Yes, he was the head of our church and as such was responsible for the supervision and discipline of all of the women in the congregation."
Holy shit, this explained a lot. "Sarah, were your parents Mormons?" She nodded again. "Then how did you end up here, with Jacob? I thought that Mormons didn't allow people to leave the church?" I asked, of course all I knew about Mormons was from Reddit.
"It was difficult, but my mother realized that the Bishop was going to give me as a wife to one of the senior members of the church when I came of age. She didn't want happened to her to happen to me, so she took me and ran. They found us though so an arrangement was made, I didn't have to marry the person I was originally intended for but I did agree to marry a man from our faith, and that was Jacob. We settled here and the Church bought us this farm." She said proudly as she looked around the room. I guess for someone like Sarah, that was a win.
Things started to fall into place, this explained not only why Jacob was such a self righteous asshole but also why he was so determined to start his own church. He was going to start his own Mormon congregation right here, and I bet that Rebecca was set up to be his first Concubine. No wonder he was so hard on her; and why he was so pissed that she left for college with Mary instead of staying on the farm.
"Thanks, that explains a lot." I said, "Now back to you and Jacob, when did he start to discipline you?"
She looked down, suddenly shy again. "He has always done that, it is how we, we um..."
"Sarah, Jacob has asked that I serve in his place. I need to know what to do if I am to obey his command, now tell me about what happens in the dungeon and how it makes you feel." I barked in a commanding voice.
Sarah flinched in response to my tone. I had been fostered to enough messed up households to see the symptoms of battered wife syndrome. This is how she expected to be treated, I couldn't pussy foot around if I wanted her to answer me.
"My Lord bids me to attend him in the confessional every Sunday, unless I have committed a grievous sin that needs to be dealt with right away. When I get there, he binds me to the altar or the cross so that I may not display any weakness about my penance, then he takes my confession. I tell him of my sins in great detail so that he may properly administer my punishment. Once I have confessed all of my sins, my Lord administers the penance as he wishes and I accept it as is right for a sinner." Sarah said with a firm voice, filled with conviction and pride.
"Go on, what happens after your penance has been completed?" I urged, leaning forward.
"After my sins have been purged, the love of God flows through me. I feel so elated and joyous that my Lord has saved my soul that I am overcome with feelings of, of..." she hesitated, looking at me shyly.
"Pleasure, ecstasy, arousal? After he has punished you, you and Jacob have sex, don't you?" I said and she nodded. "Sarah, I know what it is and how it is done so you have no reason to be nervous around me." I said and she looked up at me with a grateful expression.
"Jacob is the only man I have been with. I have never told this to anyone else and it is a great relief to be able to talk to you about it. Thank you Chad, thank you for understanding how difficult this is." Sarah said with a sigh.
I stood up, raising my chin and looking down at the woman sitting on my bed "Sarah, I will hear you confession in Jacob's stead. Go to the confessional and prepare yourself for me, I shall be out soon." I said in a firm no-nonsense tone. Sarah lowered her head and nodded, "Yes, my Lord" she replied in a quiet voice. Then she left the room without looking back.
I gave it about fifteen minutes, and then headed out to the barn. It was dark but I saw that the hatch to the dungeon (confessional now I guess) was open and a dim light shone up from the hole. I descended the ladder and looked to see Sarah waiting for me. She was kneeling on the bare ground the center of the room She was still wearing her nightgown but she had unbraided her hair and it hung in golden waves around her head. Her eyes were downcast and her hands were on her knees submissively.
I stood there for a moment, towering over the woman who knelt before me awaiting my command. We had been here before, but now she was giving herself to me, not Jacob. It was intoxicating. "Where should I restrain you Sarah, the cross or the altar?" I asked as I pointed to the sawhorse and the X-frame.
"Jacob preferred using the cross for the confession and the penance, then moving me to the altar after." She replied, not looking up.
