Thomas walked the length of Blackmore Estate's banquet hall. The tables were set, the fires were lit, the banners were raised, and the ropes were ready. A smile crossed his angular face as he looked up at the rafters and remembered his first banquet, his first time seeing Leanna suspended and suffering beautifully for the crowd's delight. There would be no shortage of slaves on display tonight, Thomas knew. Lords and ladies from across the realm, and even some from across the sea, as well as merchants, captains, artists, and other men of influence would be arriving soon and he was ready to open the gates. His gates. Thomas' smile faded. He was used to acting as host for the twice yearly banquets, as his father had not attended them for the last few years before he died, but this would be his first time hosting as Master of the Estate, and not a stand-in for someone else. No more excuses for the old man's absence, no more pretense of doing business on his father's behalf. Tonight his decisions would be his own and they would be final.
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Tara stared at her reflection in the looking glass as wave after wave of nervousness washed over her. She barely recognized the girl she saw looking back at her. No, not a girl, she thought. A slave. Her hair had been brushed till it shone, the curls pinned back from her face and then left to fall freely, giving her a look of playful innocence that contrasted sharply with the cold, steel chain that attached to her collar and then split in two to connect to the silver clamps biting into each of her tender pink nipples. Her blue eyes had been lined to make them look darker, her lips glossed over, her skin perfumed, and her ass firmly plugged. Leather cuffs with silver rings in them encircled her ankles and wrists, suggesting that she was to be bound. But how? And by whom?
"Tara, you look lovely," Siara's voice interrupted her thoughts. Tara's gaze shifted to Siara's reflection in the mirror and she breathed an "ohhh" of wonder. Each section of her long brown hair had been braided and then the sections braided together again to create an intricate, silky rope down her back. Her already golden-hued skin had been brushed with a shimmering bronze powder that at first glance, gave her the look of a beautiful statue. Tara noticed that she too had cuffs around her wrists and ankles. Seeing the look of worry on the younger slave's face, Siara smiled reassuringly and placed her hands on Tara's shoulders. "You'll be fine," she said. "Just relax, don't resist, and remember your training."
"Do you think Sir Lucas will be there? Or Sir Liam?" Tara asked.
Siara paused at the mention of Liam's name, but before she could answer, Mistress Leanna was calling for them and they immediately presented themselves at the doors to the slaves' quarters.
Leanna looked them over critically. She ran a hand through Tara's hair and pinched Siara's nipples so that they grew hard and stood out from her body, the perfect accents to her full, firm breasts.
"Where's Katya?" Mistress Leanna demanded.
"She's in bed, Mistress," Siara replied, her eyes downcast. "She's... ill." Even Tara could tell she was lying.
With her mouth set in a firm line, Leanna threw back the curtain separating the entrance from the rest of the quarters and marched towards the slaves' bed chamber. Siara and Tara looked at each other as the sounds of a muffled argument came through the heavy curtain. They heard Katya cry out and then silence. A few minutes later, Leanna emerged with Katya in tow. One side of her face was bright red and her eyes were glassy with tears. Her hair had been coiled and pinned high on her head, the same cuffs worn by the other slaves fastened around her wrists and ankles. Tara watched as Mistress Leanna pulled what looked like a long string of glittering crystals from her robe pocket and fastening one end to the front of Katya's collar, ran it down her body, up between her pussy lips, into the crack of her ass and then all the way up her back to fasten the other end to the back of the bejeweled collar.
Just then there was a knock at the door. A paige had come to fetch the slaves for service at the Banquet.
"Now remember," Leanna said, "You represent your Master tonight. Serve everyone who would use you as you would serve Him."
And with those words, she sent the three slaves to the Banquet Hall, hoping that three slaves would return.
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The evening was going well. The remnants of supper had long since been cleared away, the ladies had retreated to the guest quarters, and now the wine flowed freely, the music played loudly and the entire hall was alive with pleasures and perversions of every sort. Thomas surveyed the sea of slaves before him, some tied down to the tables, some pinned against the walls, some bent over chairs, some suspended in bondage from the rafters with long coils of rope. Out of the crowd, he picked out his own slaves and was pleased to see them performing well. Katya was on her knees in the middle of a circle of hard cocks, sucking them and jerking them off in turn. As she leaned forward to take one in her mouth and one in each hand, the man behind her gave the studded chain she wore a savage tug, cutting into her pussy, and the circle laughed heartily as the slave yelped in pain.
Tara, meanwhile, was stuffed airtight, her legs spread wide and attached by their cuffs to either end of a metal bar while her hands had been cuffed together and stretched over her head. There was almost nothing to be seen of her, sandwiched as she was between the man beneath her buried in her cunt, and the man behind her pounding her ass. Even her mouth was being well used as one after another, Thomas' guests enjoyed tilting her head back and fucking her face, more than a few of them forcing their cocks deep into her throat so that she could barely breathe. Tears streamed down her face and Thomas could see her distress, but she didn't scream or struggle and when the men were through and had bathed her in hot cum, she thanked them for using her as she knew she should. Well done, Leanna, Thomas thought.
Siara had attracted a small audience of her very own and was dancing seductively for them, stopping occasionally to offer her ass for a slap or her breasts for a squeeze. Her body was streaked with cum and when she bent over, her asshole gaped invitingly, showing that she had already been used and was ready for more. The eyes that watched her were wide with desire, the mouths practically salivating for a taste and Thomas knew that she would be in high demand, not just tonight, but likely for days to come.
"She's a fine slave." Thomas turned to the Merchant who had come to stand beside him and was now also watching Siara bounce and sway. "I said as much to your boy at the inn last night."
Thomas took a moment to register what the man was saying. "You've seen her before?" he asked.
"Oh yes, with a red haired lad, her trainer I suppose. I'm surprised you'd let him mark her like that.. although I guess we all practiced on someone, eh?" Thomas didn't answer and the Merchant continued, "With your permission, Sir, I'd like to leave this one with him for a few days. Maybe he can teach her a thing or two. I can pay you for his time of course."
Thomas scanned the room for Liam, but already knew his Steward would not be there. He cast a glance at the girl kneeling at the Merchant's feet, a hollow-eyed scrap of a slave whose body showed signs of use by a master who was either careless or cruel or both.
"Maybe he can teach you a thing or two," Thomas muttered. "Please excuse me, I have to attend to my guests," he said, standing abruptly and making his way through the crowd, stopping to shake hands and exchange pleasantries as he moved towards the doors. On his way, he caught the eye of the Maharaja, a rich and respected guest from the East who his father had entertained many times, but this was his first visit in several years and the first time he had brought his sons with him. He always arrived with valuable goods and information about the goings-on of the world and Thomas knew he would be wise to spend some time in conversation with the turbaned ruler. For the moment, the Maharaja's attention had been caught by a slave trying to take two cocks in her pussy at once and Thomas took the opportunity to slip out of the hall and up the stairs to the slaves' quarters.
He didn't bother to knock on the door, he simply let himself in, pushed past the curtain and went straight to the Training Room. He heard Liam at work inside before he saw him. The Steward was shirtless, glistening with sweat, swinging a whip at a dummy used for archery practice tied to a post. So engrossed was he in his task, that he didn't notice Thomas enter and stand at the back of the room, contemplating. The young man he saw before him was skinny and awkward, but at the same time skilled and loyal, as his father had been loyal before him. His mother was Kitchen Mistress, his younger brother a paige. Liam was part of Blackmore Estate and as such, he was family.
"You're missing the festivities," Thomas said. "Come downstairs."
Liam stopped what he was doing, but did not turn around. "I'd rather not, Sir." he replied. Thomas heard pain in his voice.
"There's a Merchant at the Banquet who requests your services," Thomas said. "You met him at the inn last night, correct?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Were you alone?"
Liam paused. There was no point lying now. "No, Sir."
Thomas approached deliberately and stood next to Liam. Although they were roughly the same height, Thomas was the bigger man and the more commanding presence. He didn't need to look at his Steward to sense his anguish and his fear.
"Do you love her?" Thomas asked in a quiet voice.
"Yes," Liam replied.
Thomas took a moment, giving Liam's reply the weight it deserved. Then he said, "This is her home, Liam. She will be Slave Mistress one day." Liam said nothing and Thomas continued, "This is your home too. Your family will always be taken care of and if you take a wife, your children will have a place in the world. You are both valuable to me. What would you have me do?"
Liam shrugged, his eyes glued to the post in front of him. Finally Thomas said, "Be to each other what you will. But you will not interfere with her work and you will see to it that she does not interfere with yours, understood?"
Liam nodded. Be to each other what you will... were they free to be together then? His mind swirled with possibilities. "And you will not mark her without permission.. again.
Colour filled Liam's face and he clenched the whip's handle ever tighter. His secret was a secret no more! He forced himself to look the Young Master in the eye.
"I understand," he said. "And... I'm sorry. What I did to her... that never should have happened.
Thomas nodded curtly. "And it won't happen again," he said, turning to leave Liam alone with his thoughts and for the first time in a long time, a growing eagerness rather than a looming dread to see Siara again. It seemed there might be hope for a strange love story like theirs after all.
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Lucas groaned. He had already carried two heavy barrels of wine up from the cellar and although the crowd at the Banquet was beginning to thin, there still remained a handful of guests revelling into the night, leaving him with the task of carrying two more barrels up so that their cups would not run dry.
