Author's note -- All characters are over 18, as established within the story.
Paradise Obtained: Chapter 8 -- Trouble in the harem
Georgia Harding had developed a routine while staying at Hawk Castle. She rose with the sun just after 7 a.m. each morning and went for an hour's run before breakfast, taking her out of the castle, across the valley to the wooded slopes to the east, through the woods and then back to the Castle. It was a solitary affair; she invited no one and had rebuffed the only offer to accompany her, made by Ilse.
This morning was bitterly cold, as early February in the Carpathians was wont to be, but fortunately there was no snow and she was soon warmed by her exercise. When she had just entered the treeline on the outward leg of her run Georgia stopped and turned aside, leaning her back against the trunk of a tree. She knew she had to make the call here as further up-slope mobile reception became patchy at best. Anyway, it was the designated time for her report.
Georgia hated doing this. It was spying at best and felt horribly like a betrayal of trust. For one thing she loved Matthew Mitchell and had from the moment she met him. She realised there was something a bit odd about that, but it still felt very real. But more than that, Georgia had now spent months travelling round the globe with Matt and she had developed a real regard for him as a friend, mentor and guide. She genuinely liked the man.
But she had no choice in the matter. Georgia rang the number she had been given, just has she had each day for months now. Helga answered as usual. Georgia briefly wondered about that. What hours did she work? Did she never take a holiday?
"Good morning Helga. It's Georgia Harding."
"Good morning Miss Harding. I will put you through to Herr Heller."
Moments later that cultured voice Georgia knew so well said: "Good morning Miss Harding. Gamma 231350; I repeat, Gamma 231350."
"Yes Herr Haller. I am your servant and will obey your orders," Georgia replied automatically.
"Excellent. What is your report?"
"No major new developments, Herr Heller. As you know Kanako and Millie have arrived. Matt has let them rest for a few days following their long journeys, but he has Delilah and Nikki organising a ceremony for what he calls Kanako's 'deflowering'..."
"Let me stop you there Miss Harding. As I have said before, I have no interest in the love life of Mr Mitchell or your colleagues. I am more concerned about anything that could disrupt the group. You have reported before that you feared Mistress Delilah and Corporal Parsons might clash. How is that developing?"
Georgia sighed, "Not well. But I believe Matt is aware of the situation and will take action when he needs to."
"Good. In that case I only have one other task for you. I need to speak to Miss Paulescu privately. Please arrange for her to take a call from me at 23.30 local time tonight."
"Yes, of course Herr Heller."
"Thank you Miss Harding. I wish to commend you on your efficiency. It's a pity that Mr Mitchell found you first; I could easily have found you a place in my organisation. Still, I hope you enjoy the ceremony. Goodbye until tomorrow."
Georgia stayed resting against the tree for a minute. She was busy hating herself at that moment, but in truth she knew she couldn't help but obey. Matt had queried how Haller seemed to know everything he was doing. She longed to tell him the answer. But she couldn't.
*****
Millie's arrival had prompted a fresh round of nicknames. "Matt," she reminded me, "you always give your mates names. You should know that... Boss." She had already christened Georgia as Brains, in reference to the American's academic skills. I had decided to accept 'Boss' as a compliment, and she called herself Butch, although I didn't regard that as especially appropriate and never referred to her as such.
The first of the others to acquire a name from Millie was Nicoleta and it happened within a couple of minutes of the Australian's arrival at the Castle. She was standing in the entrance hall, admiring the weaponry hung on the walls.
"You could do someone some serious damage with that, Boss," Millie was saying to me, pointing to a halberd, when down the main staircase to greet her as hostess came Nicoleta, wearing one of extraordinary outfits she favoured, and of which I had purchased several at some considerable expense. She claimed they fitted the ambience of the castle.
As this purple-themed vision in fitted bodice, lace, frills, wispy chiffon, laced boots, necklaces, rings, bracelets and masses of curled chestnut hair descended the stairs, Millie took one look and exclaimed, "Fuck me dead! It's bloody Cinderella!" And so Nikki was named, which Millie soon shortened to Cinders.
Of the various nicknames given out by the Australian this was the one that got the most traction and it became something of an affectionate term for Nikki amongst her harem sisters. Nor did the Romanian girl take offence at this, seeing the funny side. It wasn't in her open and friendly nature to get annoyed about such things.
For Kanako, Millie settled on Babe. This started from 'baby', a reference to the Japanese girl being the youngest of the group at 18. But I also suspected that it had a double-meaning. Kanako was indeed a 'babe', in the sense of an attractive woman, and Millie would most certainly be one to notice that.
Ilse acquired hers in the following manner. Millie may be a lesbian but in most ways she has a fairly conventional and straightforward attitude to sex. It is very much a case of 'wham, bam, thank you, Mam' with her. Kinky stuff is not really her scene. So, when one afternoon she walked in to one of the living rooms to discover Delilah petting and stroking two fur-covered human 'cats', their tails waving, she took one look, muttered "Jesus fucking Christ", spun on her heel and walked out again.
What had happened was that Delilah and Ilse had persuaded Nikki to try out Ilse's cat fetish. She had borrowed the grey fur outfit, while Ilse had donned her favourite tabby one. After Georgia had explained to Millie what this was all about, Millie promptly bestowed on Ilse the name of Puss.
As to Delilah, Millie declined for some time to give her a nickname. "I told you, Boss," she explained, "you come up with names for your mates and she's no friend of mine." Millie usually referred to Delilah in those early days as 'that bitch', if she wasn't too annoyed with her, or 'that fucking pom bitch' if she was. Delilah in return made a point of ignoring Millie entirely. It was as sign of worse trouble to come.
*****
I thought I knew the original members of my harem well, but people constantly surprise you. I would have put money on my belief that Delilah was constitutionally incapable of working harmoniously with someone else for any length of time. But I was wrong. I had set her and Nikki a joint task and it had all worked out splendidly.
Of course Delilah hadn't changed that much. She was still getting Nikki to do most of the actual work, while she "undertook the creative side" as she put it, which seemed to include a lot of lazing around as far as I could see. But Nikki didn't seem to mind and in terms of the actual results they were genuinely both contributing. More than that, they were getting on tremendously well with no major bust-ups, sulking or other histrionics. I was surprised, but delighted.
It had come about like this. I had promised Kanako that when I took her virginity I would make it a special day for her. I had in mind some sort of ceremony, with the entire harem present. By rights as my 'events' organiser' it should have been for Delilah to arrange. However, knowing how her imagination worked I was fearful that we would end up with something that resembled a coven sacrificing a virgin to the infernal powers, which was not at all what I intended.
Nikki with her neo-pagan philosophy looked a much safer bet, and indeed when I mentioned it to her she was promptly brimming with ideas. I escaped before I heard too much stuff about the triple goddess and the powers of natural fertility. For one thing I wasn't planning on fertilising anyone if I could avoid it, having already ensured that Kanako, like my other girls, was taking the contraceptive pill. Despite this, Nikki's ideas for the ceremony were clearly much nearer to my own.
The problem was if I simply gave Nikki the job, then Delilah would be offended. My solution was to get them to work together on it and to my amazement that had paid off. They had shared their final plans with me the day before and I had approved them. The costumes were organised, the room was arranged and I felt more than ready myself. My unlikely planning team confirmed that Kanako was eagerly looking forward to it too.
And now the day and time were finally here. The ceremony was to take place in the dining room of the house, a room chosen because it was well provided with windows and so natural light. What was going to happen here was a celebration of life and not to be hidden away as if it were sinful. The furniture had been cleared to the edges of the room and a bed of sorts had been created in the centre consisting of a low wooden platform with a mattress atop it covered in a crisp white sheet and several pillows.
We were all wearing robes, sandals and nothing else. Mine resembled a bathrobe, in that it was split down the front and then tied in place by a slash round my waist. It was in a rather a nice shade of royal blue -- blue for a boy I assumed.
The girl's robes were one piece and were put on or taken off by pulling over the head. Nikki, who was officiating at the ceremony, had one of a lime green shade, no doubt representing nature. Kanako's was pure white, fairly obviously reflecting her virginity. The other four women of my harem had robes of a saffron colour.
Those with longer hair had tied it back into buns and some art had been put into make-up to achieve a fresh natural look that still brought out each girl's natural beauty. It pleased me that everyone was helping with making the day special for Kanako, a very sweet young lady who fully deserved such consideration.
I was sitting on the bed waiting. I knew Kanako was also waiting, just outside the double doors to the dining room, now doubling as a 'temple of love'. The others were standing around the bed. Then Nicoleta stepped forward with a flourish, and held her arms aloft for silence before speaking.