A woman stood in the centre of the room, her hands clasped together and tears rolling softly down her face as she waited, her bare feet shuffling nervously on the cold tile floor. In front of her, two palace guards eyed her appreciatively, the elder of the pair already imagining what she would look like naked and picturing how her buttocks would redden under the lash and anticipating the noises she would make as the oiled leather connected with her flesh. This was the best part of his job. Others went out into the towns and countryside to source these women, but it was his role to prepare the females for their visit to the bedchamber; his job to make sure that those chosen understood the price of disobedience before they even set eyes on the man himself. He'd been doing this now for years and could read the women like the back of his hand. This one seemed a beaut; attractive, middle-aged - probably with a couple of kids at home - but shy, scared and way out of her depth. She'd give in easily, but they'd give her the whole treatment just to be sure. And because the man upstairs would want to see that deep shade of red covering her backside when he instructed her to bend over and present herself to him...
It was time to get things moving. "What's your name?" the senior of the guards demanded, watching as the startled woman's eyes widened as she seemed to pay attention to him for the first time.
"Tanja," she whispered, choking back her tears. _I shouldn't be here_, she thought, _this can't be happening._
"And do you know why you're here, Tanja?" he asked as he stepped toward her, gently running his index finger across her cheek. "Do you know what we want from you?"
She knew, of course she knew. The stories of women getting picked up from their homes, shops or simply as they walked down the street were legendary. Seemingly everyone knew someone that knew someone that it had happened to, but it wasn't supposed to happen to you. In a city with a population of nearly three million people sat in a country of nearly ten times that, the possibility that it would touch you personally was simply too remote to consider. But yet her she was; alone with these men in an anonymous, sterile room somewhere underground, about to be subjected to god knows what. "No," she whimpered, starring at her feet, not able to admit the truth out loud.
The guard grinned and cupped her chin, raising her face and forcing her to make eye contact. "Because you've been selected," he smirked. Letting go of her chin he moved his hand to her lower back. "You're going to make him a very happy boy." His hand slid lower, his fingers walking themselves down her spine until his palm rested on her buttocks, leaving her in no doubt as to his meaning. "Any woman would love to have this opportunity. You should be grateful."
As the man's hand squeezed her ass possessively, Tanja let out a sob, all hope that she'd be brought here for another reason dashed. She was here to whore, to give her body to a man she'd never met, and she was being given no choice, no say. The tears were really flowing now, and images of her husband flashed before her as she realised that she would be forced to lay with another man for the first time in her life and before she did so she wouldn't even get the chance to explain to her husband, explain that she didn't want this, tell him that she wouldn't...
"Remove your clothes." The harsh command cut through her thoughts like a knife, paralysing her completely. The guard had moved across the room to perch on the end of a desk next to his colleague, "Strip," he continued, "or my friend here," he nodded to the younger man, "will remove them for you. There's a chair by the door, fold everything and place them there."
Her first thought was to flee, but she knew that she wouldn't even make it to the door before they caught her, and she was scared to death of what they might do to her if she did. She also knew in her heart that pleading with them would be futile. She could see in their eyes that they would not release her, that they were enjoying her torment even. Fighting back further tears, she gave in and slowly, reluctantly, reached for the top button on her blouse and pushed it through the hole, exposing a tiny bit of herself to their gaze. Breathing hard, she moved her fingers down her chest, nervously unbuttoning herself one by one until the garment hung lose and she had to grasp the ends to keep it from flapping open widely. Looking up at her captors again and seeing no sympathy, she steeled herself and shrugged it off her shoulders completely to reveal the cheap, functional black bra she wore underneath. Folding it neatly and resting it on the chair as instructed, Tanja hesitated again before reaching behind her and slowly lowering the zip on the back of her skirt.
The two guards looked on as the woman hesitantly eased the fabric of her skirt down past her hips and then simply let the material slide down her legs until it pooled at her feet. Timidly stepping out of it, she scooped down to pick it and methodically folded it several times, trying to delay the inevitable with that little act of normalcy, until finally placing in on top of her blouse. She turned back toward them and made a small, timid gesture with her hands to indicate that she'd done what they'd asked while trying to cover herself from their gaze. Clad in only her underwear, Tanja squirmed nervously as both men drank in the view before them, their eyes roaming continually over her firm body, full breasts and narrow waist, before returning to admire the apex of her thighs, envisioning the acts that she would be performing later than evening.
"And the rest," the superior told her harshly. "Take it all off. You won't be needing them for a while."
Tanja gasped, realising now that she would have to get completely naked for these men, but reached back and undid the clasp at the back of her bra as instructed. She paused, briefly hugging the cups to her breasts before pulling the them free of her body and baring her breasts. Cringing with shame as she felt the cool air on her bare chest, she dropped the bra on the chair. Delaying momentarily, she drew in a breath, braced herself, and then hooked her fingers into the waistband of her panties and drew them down and off her legs. Hands shaking, she placed them on top of the rest of her clothing and faced her captors once more, her right arm across her chest protectively, the left hiding her womanhood from their view.
Lifting himself off the desk, the elder captor strode toward the frightened woman and gently gripped her left wrist before slowing drawing it away from her sex. Addressing his partner: "Second drawer down you'll find the wrist restraints. Bring me a couple, please."