Collared

The ride across the desert was tortuous. For the first hour, it was merely uncomfortable. Then it became painful. By the third hour, when they finally stopped at a shaded streambank to water their horses, Alia was in agony. The horse was rubbing her raw, and her back felt hot and seared. A full day of this? She'd be bloody on one side, blistered on the other.

She also very much had to pee. She was afraid if she just relieved her bladder while strapped across the horse, neither the horse nor its rider would like it, but she didn't see how she could hold it forever.

Around her, he heard groans from the other girls, who had to be suffering at least as much as her.

The small, scarred veteran dismounted and checked on Alia. "How's the ride?" he asked.

She looked at him. Sweat matted her hair to her face.

"Mercy," she pleaded. Her lips were already cracking. "I beg you, master. Use me any way you wish, I'll pleasure you eagerly. But show mercy."

He chuckled, and untied the bonds around her wrists and ankles, and helped her off the horse. He held up a waterskin, and let her drink, but pulled it away before she could drink her fill.

"Drink too much, you'll just get sick," he said.

"Yes, master," she said.

"Go relieve yourself," he said, pointing at a dry depression next to the creek.

Alia joined the other captives, where they all had to squat in full view of their captors. She was surprised that she was still able to feel humiliation at this, but she did. Still, she relieved herself, and saw that it appeared everyone was still with them except the fat girl who'd been made to walk behind her horse. She wondered if she'd been dragged to death somewhere back in the desert, but she didn't see her rider either. Plump Fia's wrists were still tied in front of her, but Lisha had been allowed to walk around without ropes. Her entire body was now red.

Yala was stumbling. Her rider had not been kind enough to untie her arms when he let her off his horse, so her arms were still bound behind her back. Her inner thighs were raw and blistered. All of them had sunburns spreading across their skin.

"They're going to kill us," Yala said to Alia.

Alia wondered if they would all survive the trip, but tried to smile. "We're property. We must have some value."

When she returned to her rider, she saw most of the Horn were resting in the shade, sitting or standing, and several already had the girls on their knees. Apparently while the ride had been tortuous and exhausting for the captives, it had not been so exhausting for the Horn.

Her rider was seated on a rock, peeling fruit with a knife. Alia walked over to him and sank to her knees.

"Ready to put that mouth to use again?" he asked.

She couldn't take her eyes off the fruit, but said, "Yes, master."

He chewed a piece of the fruit, then held out another piece to her. She received it in her mouth, without lifting her hands from her sides. She allowed him to slide his fingers between her lips, though they were dirty and rough, and licked them along with the fruit.

"Good girl," he said. "What's your name?"

"Alia," she said.

He shook his head. "You don't have a name no more. That'll be your first lesson. I give you that one for free. Also, I'm not your master. A master owns you. We just delivering you. You call me sir."

"Yes, sir," she said.

He looked her up and down. "You are a nice piece of ass. Lucky master get you."

She looked down. "Will they... will they ransom us?"

"Maybe. Not soldiers' concern. But you get broken in and used first. You Imperials care about being virgins. What good's a virgin mouth, virgin ass?"

He undid his pants and pulled out his member, which was still huge, but more flaccid than before. "You know what to do with this now."

"Yes, sir," she said. She walked on her knees over to him, and took it in her hand.

"No hands," he said. "Just use mouth this time."

"Yes, sir," she said. She bent over and took as much of the soft, floppy thing into her mouth as she could. It was sweaty now, and there was a pungent urine taste as well, which almost made her gag. He became hard quickly, and soon filled her mouth, but it was more difficult than last time. She wanted more water, and her lips were dry. He didn't grab her head, but simply sat there with his legs apart, letting her suck him. She heard sounds like those back at the riverbank, of other girls being used with varying degrees of satisfaction, and wondered how many of these stops for water and sucking off their captors they would make. It was strange how being a naked slave -- lower than a slave -- with a man's thing in her mouth was no longer such a very terrible thing. She was actually happy to do this for as long as it delayed going back onto the horse.

"Use tongue," he said, as he reached full hardness and she struggled once more to take all of him in her mouth. She obeyed, stroking him with her tongue and licking his head, despite the sweaty odor.

"Suck like Imperial whore," he said. "You have many, many men in pretty whore mouth. You still don't like this, but you learn." He put his hand on the back of her head and pushed her down against him, forcing her onto his erect shaft until it filled her throat.

There seemed less of his spunk when it came, yet she gagged and had difficulty swallowing it. He held her head down until she'd finished, and then let her raise her head and look at him.

"Did this Imperial whore please you, sir?" she asked.

"Not bad," he said. "But masters will expect more."

She fought the impulse to ask about these masters who would demand even more from her.

He seemed to be inspecting her torso and thighs, where the horse blanket had been rubbing against her. "Not so bad," he said.

Tears welled in Alia's eyes, but then she heard a crack and a shriek, and involuntarily, turned her head to see that Fia, the redhead taken by the commander of the Horn troop, had been strapped to the back of the commander's horse again with her very round ass in the air, and the commander was showing it to his men. Fia's bottom was reddened by the sun, but as Alia watched, the commander smacked her ass hard with the flat of his hand, and she let out another yelp, while the commander and his men laughed. One of the other men walked to the other side of the horse and delivered a sharp slap from the other side, and Fia began blubbering.

"She needs to toughen up," said Alia's captor. "You all be whipped much harder than that."

Alia felt her face turning pale despite the sun. Her rider stood and dragged her back to the horse, where he ungently lifted her onto its back and tied her hands and feet again. Alia was much more conscious now of her ass on display to her rider as well as all the other passing men. She saw Lisha had been tied to the back of her horse much the same way Alia had, and their eyes met for a moment. Lisha's face was red and her eyes were redder. She was taking this even harder than Alia, and looked as if she'd been crying until she'd run out of tears.

The small, bony girl stumbled as she was dragged by her rider back to her horse. She had jizz on her face, which he had not bothered, or allowed, her to wipe off, and when he tied her upside down to the back of his horse again, she closed her eyes and almost looked as if she had fallen asleep as he retied her wrists and ankles in that tortuous pose that bent her backwards across the horse's rump.

Yala was once more astride her horse, legs spread, arms still bound behind her. Her head lolled as her rider got on the horse in front of her, as if she were having trouble staying conscious.

They didn't die in that ride across the desert, but by the time they reached the town of Hasadan, Alia thought she might like to. Every muscle in her body ached, her entire front was sore, and her back felt as cooked by the sun as a slab of meat turned over a spit. She was barely aware they had entered a town at first, until she heard noises, and then voices speaking in harsh, guttural Horn. She raised her bleary eyes to see the horses were now plodding through dirt streets between elegant buildings made of baked clay and decorated with stone and clay tiles. This surprised Alia; she'd always understood the Horn to be a savage people, yet the architecture was much more sophisticated than she expected. She saw Horn women wearing robes and shawls, many with pierced noses and little chains dangling from them. These women stared at the Imperial captives with undisguised contempt. The Horn men, who mostly seemed not unlike the townsmen and farmers back in Neu Vania, watched the girls go by with smirks and jeers.

The entire lot of them were brought to a tall wooden palisade and unceremoniously dumped off their horses into the dirt. Alia groaned as she fell to the ground, and heard thumps and anguished moans and squeals as the other girls were untied and dropped to the ground next to her.

The Horn rider who'd used her so callously, and yet in his way had been relatively kind, did not even say good-bye before riding away. The commander gave Fia a final slap on the bottom which sent her stumbling forward to fall on her face. Fia's back was red and blistered, as was everyone else's. Alia could feel her own back aching, and knew the pain would be much worse tomorrow.

The thin, small girl who'd ridden the entire way on her back could hardly move. Her body, from her knees to her face, was a bright red patch of blistered skin.

There was a water trough and a bucket in the center of this little fenced corral. Alia saw Horn men gathering around the palisade and jeering at the Imperial captives inside. She realized they'd have to squat to relieve themselves, out in the open with all these men and women watching. She wondered if there was any end to their humiliation.

Lisha and some of the other girls crawled on their hands and knees to the water trough and bobbed their heads in the water. Yala had collapsed to her knees where she'd fallen. She was no longer tied up, but she appeared unable to move further. Her head lolled listlessly forward.

Alia walked to the trough and cupped her hands, drinking her fill. Then she filled her hands with water and carefully walked to Yala and knelt in front of her. She put her hands to Yala's lips and said, "Yala."

Yala opened her eyes. They seemed unable to focus, and at first she didn't see Alia.

"Drink," Alia said.

Yala's lips moved, and Alia tilted her hands, spilled some water on them. Yala opened her mouth, and Alia poured the cupped water as carefully as she could into Yala's mouth. The lowborn girl gulped and coughed, and Alia went back to the trough to fetch more water.

Eventually Yala was able to speak again. "Thank you," she said from a cracked throat.

Alia sat next to Yala and looked around. Contrary to her prediction, it appeared none of them had died, absent perhaps the fat girl, who still had not been seen again. The tiny girl who was sunburnt the worst of them might be near death, and Alia was concerned about her. Another girl had managed to pour some water on her lips as well, but she was barely breathing.

Their corral appeared to be in the middle of the town, and at least there was a tarp over it to give them shade, but Alia could not see any "masters" aside from the leering, jeering Horn men and women. Her stomach rumbled. She was weak and exhausted. The Horn would have to feed them eventually if they weren't meant to starve to death, but Alia wondered if being left to sleep on the ground overnight was the next step in their humiliation.

She became aware that some of the men were calling to the girls inside the fence. Then she saw what they were holding in their hands. Some of the men had pieces of fruit, others were holding out bits of dried meat. Alia's stomach rumbled noisily enough for all the other girls to hear it, and she could hear theirs making similar noises. Almost all of them were now staring at the food being proffered to them.

Fia was the first to get to her feet, much to the amusement of the spectators. She stumbled towards the palisade, walking awkwardly with her bruised, blistered buttocks causing pain with each step. "Thank you," she said piteously, holding out her hand for an offered piece of fruit, but the Horn man quickly snatched it away and laughed.

Fia stood there, with tears rolling down her face, dazed and confused. Then the man reached down with his other hand and pulled down his trousers. He pulled an erect penis out and thrust it through the bars. What he said in Horn was unintelligible, but Alia and the other girls could all get the gist.

Fia stared at the penis in horror, and shook her head. She stepped back, fell onto her bottom, and cried in pain and outrage. This only produced more laughter and jeering from the Horn men, who continued holding out food to the dazed prisoners.

The Horn commander had told them they were lower than slaves, not even prostitutes. Now Alia understood. Even a prostitute deserved better than to suck a man's thing through the bars of an animal pen for a piece of fruit. Yet this was what they were being offered.

As the sun descended, the night didn't become much cooler, but they all became much hungrier. Men continued to linger by the palisade holding out their meager bribes, and from the joking and jingle of coins, she suspected they were even betting on who would succumb to temptation first. It was obvious many of the girls were considering it, though even Fia -- the lowborn girl whose mouth had known a man's thing even before the Horn commander used it -- was so far refusing to lower herself so. It was as if they were all fighting for this last bit of dignity they could hold onto.

Yala had collapsed to the ground, where she mumbled to herself. The skinny girl who'd been so abused was motionless, and the girls on either side of her occasionally stroked her hair or shook her, clearly concerned.

Alia got to her feet, and approached the palisade. All the other captives became quiet, while the men on the other side of the wooden poles whistled appreciatively. Even chafed, reddened, and sunburnt, Alia's figure was striking. Her breasts were clearly the largest and shapeliest of all the captives, and she could still maintain a semblance of her noble bearing, in her naked captivity.

She walked to the nearest man, and reached for the piece of fruit he was holding out. He pulled it back, and then did as the other man had, unfastening his trousers and lowering them to expose his swollen member. He held it out through the bars.

Horn men whistled and cheered as Alia lowered herself to her knees in front of the man. She looked up at him, and asked, "Do you speak Imperial, sir?"

He spoke to her in Horn, holding out his penis and gesturing with the fruit.

"You're a vile disgusting pig," she said. "I hope someday a pig bites off your thing."

She grasped the bars, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth.

He tasted foul, even worse than the Horn horseman she'd sucked twice. His thing was dirty and greasy, and she could only suck, trying to keep from touching it with her tongue, while trying not to gag.

It didn't take him long to do that thing the Horn horsemen had called "jizzing." He reached through the palisade to grab the back of her head when he was about to reach his "last breath," spoke crudely in Horn, and then his thighs bucked against the palisade, and his thing squirted foulness into her mouth. Alia waited until he was finished, then got to her feet, with her mouth still full of spunk, and held out her hand. She half-expected him to withhold the "payment," as yet another cruel trick, but he handed it to her with a grin.

She turned her head, spat out the gobs of white goo, and walked over to the water trough. Horn men booed at her, as she rinsed her mouth out. The other girls' eyes were all on her. She was very aware that as the most highborn among them, she'd been the first to willingly degrade herself.

With her remaining strength, she pulled the fruit apart into two juicy halves. All the girls staring at her licked their lips. She walked to the bony, half-dead girl and knelt next to her and placed a piece of fruit on her lips. The girl moaned. Her eyes fluttered, her lips opened, and then she was able to taste the fruit, and Alia gently pushed it into her mouth. Her jaws worked weakly.

The girls next to the small one stared at Alia wordlessly. Alia then went to Yala and spoke her name. Yala opened her eyes, and Alia held the fruit to her mouth.

Yala seemed in shock. "Is this a dream?" she asked.

"No," Alia said. "Eat." It was taking all her self-control not to stuff the fruit into her mouth herself. Yala opened her mouth and took the fruit.

Two more girls went to the edge of the corral and the waiting men. Then three, then four, and then half the girls were there, kneeling to suck dirty penises for bits of fruit and dried meat. They were all lower than whores, and she was the lowest of them all.

When she went back, this time for food for herself, the Horn men yelled even more loudly. Another man held what looked like an old, hard roll out to her. She reached for it, expecting him to once more offer his penis first. Instead, he reached through the bars and grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward, hard enough to slam her up against the enclosure. While she was still stunned, another man grabbed her other arm and pulled it through. These two men pulled her forward by the arms until she was pressed up against the palisade. The gap between the wooden shafts driven into the ground was such that one pressed against her chest and she had to turn her face aside, while her breasts were pushed through gaps on either side of it.

"Let go of me! Please!" she cried out. All the other girls were watching her now, but no one came to her aid. She feared the Horn men on the other side of the palisade might do anything to her -- try to yank her arms out of her shoulders, perhaps, or cut them off. Instead, she felt hands on her chest, groping and squeezing her roughly. She looked at a growing crowd of Horn men -- and boys -- crowding over to her side of the palisade, and while some of them took turns holding her arms, the others grabbed, pinched, and squeezed her breasts. She cried out in pain and begged them to stop, but this only encouraged them. Her nipples were twisted and pulled, and fingers dug into her so hard that she screamed. Some of them put their mouths on her, and she felt teeth in addition to grasping, poking fingers.

Though this abuse went on for quite a while, until Alia was whimpering in pain, it was evident that they were taking care not to injure her. No one's teeth broke her skin. No one squeezed or yanked on her breasts hard enough to tear her skin. A couple of men slapped them, and laughed at Alia's screams.

The other girls on their knees at the edge of the enclosure withdrew quickly when the men had finished using their mouths. No one else was yanked through the bars and abused like Alia, and at least they all seemed to be given their promised treats.

Alia thought they would hold her like this all night when Yala walked up to the bars, staring at the men outside. With her face pressed against a wooden bar, Alia saw the other girl through a haze of pain, and then Yala stepped all the way up to the enclosure, and thrust her own breasts through the bars.

The Horn on the other side were actually speechless for a moment. Yala put her arms through the bars, and brought her hands to her breasts and stroked her own nipples, until they stood erect. Alia's own nipples had long since grown soft and sore under their brutal treatment.

The Horn laughed, and Yala met Alia's eyes as they grabbed her and began squeezing and sucking her small but firm breasts. They tortured her much as they had tortured Alia, but with their attentions divided, eventually they let go of their breasts. Alia and Yala continued looking at each other and not at their tormenters as they were forced to their knees, with their arms still held through the bars. Then a pair of hands grabbed Alia's head and forced her to look forward again, where she was presented with an erect member pointed directly at her face. She didn't bother looking up at the owner, simply took it in her mouth and began sucking it. She heard Yala making a muffled sound around the member that had been thrust into her mouth as well.