"When Svetlana began childbirth, she suffered many times the pain and terror of most other mothers. The midwife told Svetlana to be as quiet as she could be and diverted the guards in various ways from what Mariya and Svetlana were doing in Svetlana's small room. Although the delivery took 11 hours, the foolish men who were guarding Svetlana did not recognize that Svetlana had gone into labor until after the child was born and the midwife had stolen the child and disappeared in the mountains. Never send a man to do a job that has to be done by a perceptive creature.
"After they discovered what had happened, the guards were not eager to tell Orsinov. It is not known exactly why Svetlana was not killed. Why was Dostoyevsky spared after plotting against the Czar? Most likely the guards thought it best not to do anything that might call attention to their failure.
"As it was, in the coming weeks, the guards and Svetlana were fortunate. The coup against Gorbachev was launched and failed, the Soviet Union broke up and Orsinov, his henchmen and the Bolrian Security Police were far too busy working to stay in power as a brutal Russian clique out in the steppes to worry about what had happened to one of Orsinov's ex-mistresses living in isolation in the suburbs. Also, it is said that Svetlana's mother had managed to prevail on Svetlana's older brother to keep her from being killed now that he could do so without costing himself much. Orsinov may have forgot about Svetlana or thought she was dead.
"Svetlana was sent to a nicer place than Dostoyevsky after being spared. Pyotr decided he had to get her far away from the capital where she might be remembered to the detriment of Svetlana, and much more importantly, to himself. He had a summer home down by the sea, to which he sent Svetlana where she could read, walk on the beach and begin the process of recovering from her ordeal. The midwife found her by the sea and assured her that her daughter was healthy and being raised by a good peasant family.
"Svetlana began to make some friends in the villages near the resort. She even allowed herself to dally with some of the local men. The strong appetites with which she was born slowly recovered. She could not continue her studies in Moscow but she worked on learning languages the best she could and read a great deal. She read of Theodora and Wu Tian who become empresses after being concubines and, of course, of Katherine Alexeyevna who patiently waited until she could take power from her useless husband.
II.
"The daughter that Orsinov's second wife had left in Bolry grew into puberty. Orsinov began to take some interest in her. For a while she appeared with her father in public. It amused him to travel with her. It appeared to observers that she approved of how her father controlled Bolry with an iron fist. Irina became a frequent visitor to the headquarters of the Bolrian Security Police, where she saw some things that she should not have seen. She became well known to a lot of the BSP officers. As Irina's breasts developed and hips broadened, the security police and important officials looked at her with even more interest. She had experiences with several of the younger stronger agents of the BSP that I will not discuss.
"The idea that Irina approved of murder and torture was entirely untrue. When Irina was 16 during a tour in the country, she saw a village that had been destroyed by the Bolrian army. She suggested to her father privately in a stupid adolescent way that maybe he should retire if staying in power required such acts. He told her to shut her pretty mouth.
When she was 17, Irina learned from a BSP agent more of what went on at the BSP HQ and unwisely told the agent that she was appalled. The agent said that if Irina wanted to go to a good school move up in Bolry, she had better keep such views to herself. Irina foolishly laughed and said that she was sure she would go to Moscow to study languages, international relations and public policy.
Irina turned 18 and she had made plans to go to Moscow. Her father looked at her differently and told her that she was now a woman and would be expected to represent Bolry and respect the government at all times. Irina did not like where her father's eyes were focused but said she understood.
"A few days later, on what was to be a farewell tour in the country with her father before she was to go to Moscow, Irina saw a pretty young peasant woman about her age being taken off to the BSP HQ. She heard her father give orders to BSP men that after they learned whatever they could, they could do what they wanted with the peasant woman before disposing of her. Irina, acting like a passionate girl rather than a scheming wise old Cossack, whispered to her father that the young woman looked innocent and why could they not just let her go. Orsinov became angry and told her that she was right, the peasant wench probably did not know any more about the rebels than a thousand other peasants in the area but it would amuse the BSP to learn that and use her body. "If you are so concerned about this little country bitch, maybe you should take her place."
"Irina, still young and naive, again failed to keep her heart from saying what her brain should have suppressed, and whispered to her father, 'Maybe if the world were just, I would be in her place.' Orsinov smirked and chose to interpret Irina's remark as accepting his brutal offer. He told the young peasant woman that he had decided to spare her although his daughter wanted her for a toy. After ordering the young woman released, he turned to Irina and merely said, 'Done.'
"Orsinov wanted to punish and exploit Irina but did not want to kill her. He could not even send her to the Bolrian Security Police as a prisoner without too many people knowing that his own daughter had turned against him. He ordered his three most trusted men, Dimitry, Tsaplin and Andre Utzin, to take Irina out for a ride, take her to 'the shed' and show her what happens to 'stupid women who think they are still girls free to question what must be done.' 'Leave no visible marks,' Orsinov said, 'I will be out later for the final ceremonies.'
"Irina was driven out to what had been a truck repair station, stripped naked and chained face down on part of a hydraulic lift on which trucks had been driven before being raised for repairs. It was raised so that her torso was on the lift, her feet barely touched the floor. She was chained with her genitals and buttocks fully exposed. She was blindfolded, whipped with fan belts and given careful electric charges from various equipment batteries. The BSP did not have the fancy toys it has now, but it had learned to make do with the equipment available. Irina was in great pain, horrified and soon beside herself in anguish when the men began to rape her anally.
"After being left for a time on the lift to reflect on her pain and degradation, she heard her father's voice as the men returned. She was flipped onto her back, and charges were now applied to her nipples for a short while. The belts were used to whip her front. She was left again and it grew dark. After a period that seemed very long, the men returned and she was raped vaginally. She could not see and did not know if her father was one of the rapists. She knew she had been raped five times while on her back.
"Something happened during the second set of rapes that had more importance than it should have had. Irina had an orgasm noticeable to all present.
"It is not rare for a woman having an orgasm during rape. When it happened in this case the man who was raping her had penetrated her a long time and had deliberately stimulated her. But Irina knew little at the time. She was an 18-year-old whose female relatives were in Moscow and who had learned about sex from members of the BSP. She never received any counseling. Although the pleasure was momentary, Irina came to believe that she was perverted and had feelings of guilt and self-loathing to add to her feelings of horror and violation.
"Also, when rumors of what had happened in the shed spread, it was said by brutal, ignorant men, that, along with being a vicious sadist, Irina was such a 'whorish slut' that she could enjoy sex while chained to a hydraulic lift and raped blindfolded. When these rumors got back to Irina, she was further mortified.
"Irina had endured her torture and rapes expecting she might well be killed. She did not know that Orsinov had ordered his men not to kill her and had heard his order to kill the peasant woman who she thought she had replaced as a victim. As she laid on the lift a puddle of semen, sweat, fear and pain, she heard her father say, 'Now finish the job,' and heard a door close and a car drive off. As she heard men come closer to her she started begging that they not kill her. 'I am barely 18, you've taken everything from me, please take no more.'