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Disclaimer:
This is a fantasy story. I believe it is perfectly OK to have sexual fantasies, even dark ones, so long as you never act on them. If you feel that you might start acting on them stop reading and get help!
All characters depicted are 18 and over!
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Life could be very unjust for a young maiden in England in the year 1567.
Beth was stuck fast in the town pillory; her pretty neck and delicate wrists were trapped in holes carved between two wooden beams. The beams were sandwiched together, padlocked, and held a little way from the ground on two sturdy posts. She couldn't move her head or arms and the pillory was forcing her bend forward very awkwardly.
This was her punishment, and she would be held here until dawn the next morning. On a whim Beth had worn her best dress and even put flowers in her hair, she wanted to look at her best if people were going to gawp at her. It also felt like a little rebellion against the unfairness of it all!
By any standard she was the loveliest young woman in the small market town where she lived. She was probably the prettiest in the whole county of Norfolk, and she knew it! She was only eighteen, but even then, her beauty was undeniable. Her petite, slim frame gave her a graceful look. Her long, shiny brunette hair framing her stunning face. She had been told that her big brown eyes were as lovely as a fawn's and that her nose was perfectly sculpted. Her breasts were still small but pert and firm and she always made sure that her dresses were cut to reveal their lines to best effect.
Jethro, an old man-at-arms stood next her leaning on his pike and picking his nose. He was bored, his job was to make sure no one went too far with the prisoner. The rules were clear: Hurling dung and rotten fruit was fine, rocks were not! His job turned out to be unnecessary as none the people seemed to want to throw anything at Beth.
Beth was confident that everyone in the town adored her.
The truth was that, while the women of the town envied her looks, Beth wasn't well liked. Especially by the women her age. She could be a complete bitch and they knew better than to cross her. She had a fearsome temper, a cutting wit and could be cruel. A few women had come up to gawp at her, but they had limited themselves to giggling amongst themselves. Clearly glad it was Beth in this predicament and not them.
The men and boys didn't throw anything either. The poor things clearly all in love with her! She couldn't blame them, she was lovely. Most of them just stared at her open mouthed. The pillory forced her to bend over with her little bottom sticking out. A few of the men had taken a keen interest in the back of the pillory and circled behind to get a better look. She couldn't tell what they were doing as she could only see ahead. She tried to ignore them. At least with a man-at-arms guarding her they wouldn't dare try to pinch her bum or look up her skirt.
Her belief that she was so loved and popular made her punishment feel even more stupid and unfair. The only person in the town who wished her ill was the mayor. He just seemed to hate her! Why didn't the mayor see how wonderful she was? She really didn't really know.
At first, the mayor had fawned over her like the other men of the small market town. He wasn't an ugly man; his hair was short and greying and his deep-set eyes were a cold and piercing blue. But he was over fifty, far too old! and not rich enough by a long way.
The thought that man 'bedding' her, amused her by its obvious ridiculousness. When he had brought her a bunch of flowers, she had thought it funny, maybe she had laughed a little too long. A few weeks later, she had rejected his clumsy offer of marriage. But what had seemed to really infuriate the man was when John, a local Knight's son, had started courting her. The mayors' lustful gazes turned to hostile glares. He was probably just jealous she had thought. Jealous, but it also turned out that he was potentially dangerous.
John was good looking and, at twenty years old, was a couple of years older than her. She didn't love him, but he came from a minor noble family and would be a useful steppingstone on her way up the social ladder. Her plan was simple: Marry John then he would take her to London and introduce her to the court. Then she would then use her beauty to make herself the mistress of some Lord of the realm. John would be packed out of the way to die 'tragically' in some foreign war. After a very brief period of mourning, she would marry the Lord. If she got that high in society, she wouldn't care what the Lord looked like or how old and fat he was. So long as when he put babies in her, she was lying on a four-poster bed in a palace.
Plenty of other girls in the small town would be happy to lift their skirts and spread their legs for a 'catch' like John. Beth had agreed to play with John's cock a few times and she had let him put a finger inside of her, but he had wanted to go further. She became worried that he might start to look elsewhere. She knew that many other girls lost their virginity before they married, and no one much cared so long as their husbands-to-be 'did the deed' and were they still pretended to be a virgin in front of the priest.
He had promised that he would marry her and that he would pull out and not put his seed in her. Eventually, to keep him sweet on her, Beth had let John make love her in the straw of her father's barn.
Her first and, to date, only experience of sex was not all she had been led to believe it would be. Not the 'magical union' her mother had implied it might be. It really hurt at first and made her bleed a little. But after a few minutes it started to feel quite nice and make her tingle. She never found out if John would have kept his word to pull out. The mayor had caught them before he could finish. Just when she was starting to enjoy it.
What the hell was the mayor doing lurking about her father's barn? The old degenerate must have been spying on them waiting for her to slip up.
At first, she thought it was all just an embarrassing fuss about nothing, but it quickly became clear that the mayor wasn't going to let this drop.
Both their parents were summoned, and the mayor demanded that there must be a punishment; Beth was a 'wanton whore' having sex out of wedlock. She should be paraded in front of the town with her hair shaved, humiliated, and ruined! She was the one to blame! She was a maiden, and she should have resisted the young man's advances! Nothing would happen to John, but to get him away from this scandalous girl, his father agreed send him down to Norwich to squire for a local knight.
John was gone from her life, probably for months or even years. Her dreams of a life of wealth and luxury at the court were thwarted, at least for the foreseeable future.
Beth's father had always spoiled his daughter. She was his favorite, but he also he realized that her beauty might allow an advantageous marriage one day. Public scandal would crush that dream. He implored the mayor to spare her good name. To be branded as a slut would bring shame on her and her whole family. Her father pleaded with the mayor long into the night.
In the end a bribe was paid that her family could ill afford. She wouldn't be branded a whore, so her good name would be saved. However, the mayor insisted that Beth be punished for something. It a seemed strange turn of events, but her crime was agreed to be 'perjury'. Beth was persuaded by her father to plead guilty and accept a minor punishment.
The next day she was brought before the town court and stood before the mayor. He was dressed in all the finery befitting his position and gave him an imposing and intimidating presence. In his hand, he held a staff of office, made of dark wood, and adorned with ornate carvings and intricate gold filigree. He regarded Beth with a cruel and cunning gleam in his eyes that suggested a deep and abiding malevolence.
The case was confusing. What Beth's crime of 'perjury' involved, was never explicitly stated to the court. The people at the trial were puzzled but, as simple folk, they accepted that the girl had plead guilty, so the crime was proven. The punishment was mild by the standards of the day, so it probably wasn't even a serious crime; doubtless it was just a silly young maiden telling tales.
Beth would spend a day and a night in the town pillory, but at least her supposed chastity would not be publicly questioned. The mayor banged his staff on the floor and Beth was led away.
That was how she came to be here. The pillory was set up on a small wooden platform beside the road about half a mile outside the town. It was the place they used for all punishments and there was an old tree there that was sometimes used for hangings. Thankfully there was no one swinging there now.
She had been stuck in the pillory all day and her shoulders ached, at least she just had a night to get though. She would miss her bed, she usually insisted on getting plenty of beauty sleep.
By the late evening, the last of the townsfolk had got bored and wandered home. Beth's family stayed a while longer and had fed her a little weak beer and bread to keep her spirits up. Reassured by the presence of the guard they eventually went home for their supper, promising to return first thing in the morning.
So, it was just her and Jethro left at the crossroads. She felt very vulnerable being unable to move and she could only really see ahead with any comfort. She was glad that Jethro was old. He was probably too old and by all accounts had drunk far too many ales to be able to bother a young maiden.
The night closed in, and the stars came out. Jethro lit a lantern that cast a warm glow over them. He sat down, leaning against the hanging tree to rest his old bones. At least it wasn't too cold, it was early summer, and she could smell the wheat growing in the fields around them.
After about an hour Beth heard the clip clop of a horse approaching from the town. Not many could afford a horse and judging by the way Jethro jumped to attention it was someone important.
The horse stopped a few yards behind her and whoever was on it beckoned Jethro over. Jethro hobbled out of view, and she could hear muted conversation between the man at arms and the horseman. She thought she heard the clink of coins. Was someone giving Jethro money?
"I don't think I can leave my post; I'll get into trouble!" came Jethro's voice.
