Golden Goddess and Bloody Times/Of Bondlings and Blesh

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2008-02-12T18:32:00.000Z

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Of Bondlings and Blesh
a novel

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Golden Goddess and Bloody Times
A work on religion and spiritual autobiography

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Of Bondlings and Blesh Epilogue

2008-02-12T18:14:00.000Z

Epilogue

In the archives of the University of Pain are twelve notebooks inscribed in small by perfectly legible letters. There is reason to believe that they are more than eight hundred years old. Each is marked:

From the Blood Victoria
Of Bondlings and Blesh
Being the memoirs of Tuerqui
Transcribed by P F Jeffery

In spite of diligent efforts, my staff and I have been unable to discover the identity of P F Jeffery. But without the work of this unknown scribe, it is fair to say that the present text could not have been compiled. It would be unjust not to retain her name on the title page.

For the present text, we have, as far as possible, returned to the original manuscripts – unfortunately, not only they are incomplete, but extremely confusing. Tuerqui’s handwriting is so poor that many words would have entirely defeated us but for the P F Jeffery transcripts. In only seventeen places have we seen any reason to change the early transcriber’s readings. Three of these involve adding a paragraph omitted from the transcripts, five involve changing words or phrases, the remainder are corrections to the punctuation. Almost a tenth of Tuerqui’s manuscript seems to be missing, and we have relied entirely on the P F Jeffery notebooks to supply the lost portions. What is more, the manuscripts are not preserved in the correct sequence of pages, and are mixed with several other texts.

The papers believed to be in Tuerqui’s hand were amongst the manuscripts to be bound in royal blue leather about two hundred and fifty years after they were written. There are 127 such volumes, with Tuerqui’s handwriting scattered almost throughout. The neat exterior of the books belies the chaos inside. The confusion is compounded by the fact that each volume is made up of sheets of the same size paper. Tuerqui wrote on sheets of several different sizes, possibly with an eye to economy – this leads to adjacent pages being widely scattered. At one point, four consecutive pages are in volumes 114, 23, 119 and 6.

Only about a fifth of the pages in Tuerqui’s handwriting belong to her memoirs. Other works include some folk tales, travel sketches and what appears to be a novel, as well as many sheets of paper that stand alone.

At several points, the manuscripts include variant texts, but we considered only one of these sufficiently significant to be mentioned in the footnotes.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to the senate and staff of the University of Pain, without whose cooperation and help this text would never have been assembled. In particular, I would like to thank Susanna Birch, the present Vice Chancellor, and Millicent Price, the chief librarian. The archive assistants who worked with me on the project – Alison Kent, Louise Grey, Catherine Spencer and Melanie Griffin – deserve much of the credit. Such errors as have crept in are entirely my responsibility.

Also my responsibility are the idiosyncrasies of the notes. The empire has changed a great deal since Tuerqui’s time, and some points do need clarification for the modern reader. It is often difficult to judge what notes may be useful or necessary, and I am aware of having been inconsistent as to what requires comment and what may be passed in silence. Two chapters seemed to me too beautiful to be marred by my explanations.

Little is known of Tuerqui’s immediate family beyond what is recorded in her memoirs. After the fourth battle of Lundin, Jenna Javelin made an effort to destroy all records of the former ruler – and was largely successful. Tuerqui’s father is known to history as Usurper II, his name unknown. His father (now known as Usurper I) was the bastard son of Leofrith and Madame Villiers, a courtesan. Both Usurpers claimed the title of Chieftain of the Blood Victoria, and were de facto rulers of Lundin. The only reason we know that Usurper II had a son is that Tuerqui sometimes refers to my brother. It is likely, although not certain, that both Usurper II and his son were enslaved after the fourth battle of Lundin. The same fate is likely to have befallen Phoebe and Mary, whose names are known only from Tuerqui’s memoirs.

Tuerqui’s mother was evidently a daughter of one of the Earls of the East Wood. Nothing is known of her, not even her name, apart from what is stated or implied by her daughter.

Until the 7th regnal year of Berenice I, the empire recognised Jenna Javelin as the legitimate Chieftain of the Blood Victoria. After the fourth battle of Lundin, she was appointed as Lady Protectress of Lundin. In her seventh year, Berenice I determined to break the power of traditional hereditary titles. Accordingly, the title of Chieftain passed to the empress herself. Jenna was moved to the post of Lady Protectress of Brister, a city with no traditional links with the Blood Victoria. She held the post of Lady Protectress of Brister for eighteen years, until her death – the result of a fall from a horse.

Turning to some specifics of Tuerqui’s memoirs, the Laughing Phallus never re-opened. All brothels in Surrey proper were banned in the first regnal year of Berenice I – although they were not closed throughout the empire until Year 2 of the reign of Berenice III. The restrictions Berenice I placed on brothels seem to have been prompted by three considerations. In the first place, she certainly saw such action as an easy way to please the more radical ladies of Surrey. Also, she viewed whorehouses as places where men might meet to complain at their increasingly debased legal, social and economic position – and possibly to plot treason. Perhaps most importantly, she was concerned that the houses might serve as focuses for slave discontent. Whores from three brothels (at East Born, Redding and Ail’s Bury) had revolted during the civil war, and become savage freebooters. In Berenice’s first regnal year, Feral Fuquibelle, the leader of the East Born whores, was given command of an independent company called The Whoredom Volunteers, often known as the Arbies, because of their RBS marks. This unit included whores from all three revolts, and elsewhere – some from the Laughing Phallus. The Arbies were deployed only against Surrey’s more disliked enemies. The former whores had a grim reputation as the empire’s most savage and ruthless troops.

Madame Scurf was probably the same person as Molly Scoff who ran a bar and eatery in Leatherhead during the early years of the empire.

Lord Higate, whose plotting was instrumental in Tuerqui’s enslavement, achieved the title of Duke of Warrick, but received little benefit from doing so. In the sixth regnal year of Berenice I, King Trevor of the Meadowlands succumbed to pressure from Surrey and conferred the title upon Lord Higate. Unsurprisingly, the previous duke refused to surrender either his lands or his armies – and Berenice declined to place any real pressure upon him to do so. It seems that Berenice was deliberately fomenting civil war in the Meadowlands, so that the kingdom would be easier to conquer. If so, her plan was successful. The old Duke of Warrick supported Albert, a pretender to the throne, while the Duke of Lester (with Lord Higate as his lieutenant) supported King Trevor. When she judged the kingdom sufficiently weakened, Berenice invaded, along with her East Anglar allies. At that point, Lord Higate vanishes from history – it is unclear whether he was killed, enslaved or retired into obscurity.

At least two other significant figures from Tuerqui’s memoirs were involved in the Meadowlands war – Modesty Clay and Bob Bosset. Having distinguished herself (with the rank of major) during the fourth battle of Lundin, Modesty Clay was promoted to colonel and given command of the Lundin Imperial Light Cavalry Regiment. In the final battle of the Meadowlands war, Modesty’s troops fought Bob Bosset’s at Burbingham. General Bosset was probably killed, although it is possible that he escaped and lived quietly thereafter. The future General Misty West was a young captain serving in Modesty’s regiment. This passage from her memoirs may be of interest:

Sergeant Crosby brought me the captured wife and children of an enemy general. Thinking that they might have important information, I took the prisoners to Colonel Clay. It much surprised me when the Colonel addressed the general’s lady as Fluff, clearly delighted to see her. I asked whether Colonel Clay knew the lady. She replied: I designed her wedding dress. On the Colonel’s orders, the lady and her children were allowed their liberty and given as luxurious accommodation as we could provide.

That was during Litnight of the twelfth regnal year of Berenice I. We are fortunate to have a mention of Fluff dated to a little more than three years later. My illustrious predecessor, Naomi Trenchcliff, acquired for the University of Pain archives some frontier guards’ logbooks containing mentions of Isobel Ironhand. One of these has an entry dated to Glarehaze 24th in the 15th regnal year of Berenice I. It records a large party entering Wales:

Departing the Empire
Party of 16 – 8 persons and 8 slaves
20 ponies, including pack animals
Lady Isobel (Ironhand) together with 2 young daughters & 8 slaves
Lady Fluff together with 4 children
Declared to be carrying no prohibited items, declaration accepted without search.

Clearly, Fluff joined Lady Isobel on at least one of her journeys. Some persons have speculated that General Bosset survived the battle of Burbingham, escaped into Wales and that Fluff was on her way to join him. Whilst this is possible, there is no evidence that it was so. We are on much firmer ground if we speculate that Tuerqui and Tuerquelle were amongst the eight slaves. In Year 12, a more thorough frontier guard had recorded the names of eight slaves travelling with Lady Isobel:

Gusibelle, Hartlisse, Honeyminge, Passibelle, Spanqumi, Switi, Tuerquelle, Tuerqui

We may note that they were arranged in alphabetic order by the tidy-minded guard. Of course, the eight who accompanied Lady Isobel and Fluff three years later may not have been exactly the same group.

Fluff, seemingly, had no slaves at that time. Her former slaves Queuti and Norti were probably restored to personage. Shortly after the fourth battle of Lundin, Cunaughtie’s walking stick and umbrella emporium opened on High Whole Bun. Early mentions of the shop agree that it was run by twin girls. It is not too far fetched to see, in the title of the business, the names of Queuti and Norti, especially as their father was in the same trade. The shop, amongst the oldest established businesses in Lundin, still flourishes.

Tipsi remained with the Imperial Spa until it was time to enter an honourable retirement towards the end of the reign of Berenice I. The frontier guards’ logbooks contain four mentions of her as travelling with Lady Isobel during the reign of Berenice II and two under Berenice III.

Modesty Clay, having retired from the army in the twenty-third regnal year of Bernice I, also joined several of these expeditions.

Adopting alliterating names in imitation of Surrey electors, Diqui Drainsetter and Barguin Bathlayer, went on to a distinguished career in drainage and water supply. After the fourth battle of Lundin, they designed a new water and sewage system for the city. Although their pipes have long since been replaced, their work remains the basis for today’s water mains and sewers. Invariably, Diqui Drainsetter took the lead, and deserves most of the credit for their achievements. Tuerqui’s memoirs seem to show Barguin as the more relaxed of the pair.

Lisa-Louise went on to become a prominent pioneer photographer, specialising in portraits. Many of her pictures survive, including some of Lady Isobel and her concubines. These images must include Tuerqui, but her face has not been identified with certainty. Some years ago, Kimberly Price advanced convincing arguments to identify all of the slaves in the pictures. These identifications were generally accepted until, two years ago, Louise Grey magnified one of the images to discover the letters Pa on what was supposed to be Tuerqui’s right thigh – making this, fairly certainly, a photograph of Passibelle.

Jane Armstrong, who never dropped her father’s surname, went on to become a distinguished gynozoa scientist, famous for having pioneered numerous improvements in technique. Her fertilisation methodology proved vital in making gynozoic reproduction widely available from the 11th regnal year of Berenice I.

The gynozoa daughters, whom Tuerqui and Lady Isobel were carrying at the end of the memoirs, were destined to become two of the more notable ladies of their age. The older sister, Amelia of Pain, must have been the child carried by Tuerqui. Her works are, of course, treasured amongst the classics of our literature. Amelia quotes extensively from Tuerqui’s memoirs in Both of My Mothers (the title of which must have had more impact in the early days of gynozoa).

Felicity of Pain, the younger sister and foremost philosopher of her age, also quoted from Tuerqui’s memoirs – in Freedom, Personage and Slavery. Catherine Spencer has drawn to my attention some notes Felicity made during the preparation of this book. They include page references, making it clear that she worked from the P F Jeffery transcript rather than her mother’s handwriting.

On the death of Lady Isobel, ownership of Tuerquelle passed to Amelia. Like her mothers, Amelia travelled widely, and Tuerquelle died in Wales. After more than eight centuries, Tuerquelle’s memorial stone is no longer legible. Fortunately, the inscription was included amongst those collected by Nicola White, an archivist of the University of Pain during the reign of Berenice V. The epitaph read:

Tuerquelle, ever faithful. Returned to the land of her fathers. Laid in peace Year 4 Berenice IV by her adoring mistress, Amelia of Pain – proud half sister.

Lady Isobel continued to hold the title of Chancellor of The University of Pain until her death. (Thereafter, it passed to Empress Berenice III, whose successors have held it ever since.) The administration of the University had been transferred to the vice chancellor and administrative secretary several years before the accession of Berenice I. The chancellor was, and remains, a figurehead with little responsibility for running the University.

After Year 8 in the reign of Berenice I, Lady Isobel’s governesship of the Slavery Protection Board became increasingly inactive. Thereafter, she travelled widely, accompanied by her daughters, occasionally by other persons, and always with a retinue of slaves. For this, we have three forms of evidence. The frontier guards’ logbooks, preserved in the University of Pain archives, record her repeatedly leaving and re-entering the empire. We have, too, Tuerqui’s travel sketches, describing many of the places they visited. In addition, Isobel being a prominent lady, numerous memoirs record meetings with her, in widely scattered locations.

The weathered stone on the hilltop above the University of Pain, now known as Founder’s Rock, is the pyramidal tomb of Lady Isobel and sixteen slaves. It is no longer easy to see that the rock was once inscribed, but Nicola White preserved the words that were cut into its surface. All of those buried under Founder’s Rock lived into old age – these are amongst the death dates recorded:

Hartlisse: Thunderhead 12th Year 19 Berenice II.
Gusibelle: Chillflurry 9th Year 22 Berenice II.
Passibelle: Swellbelly 17th Year 1 Berenice III
Honeyminge: Thunderhead 23rd Year 6 Berenice III.

Lady Isobel survived longest – her epitaph read:

Here lies Lady Isobel, formerly named Ironhand, honoured founder of the University of Pain. Taken to the goddess 14th Iceflake of Year 9 under the majesty of Berenice III, Empress of Surrey.

Tuerqui’s epitaph was:

Here also Tuerqui, most faithful slave who ever breathed. Beloved concubine, adored mother of Amelia and Felicity of Pain. Taken to the goddess 8th Mistream of Year 6 under the majesty of Berenice III, Empress of Surrey.

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 50

2008-02-08T20:27:00.000Z

Chapter 50

Fat honey bees buzzed, a robin trilled, the air perfumed by honeysuckle and roses – the gardens returning to flower. Tufts of grass emerged from the gaps between paving stones – soft and hard textures under my feet. Towering cloudbanks dominated the sky to the west, suggesting rain for later in the day. A zephyr, and warmth from the early sun, caressed my skin – another good morning to be harnessed rather than clothed.

Hartlisse was working hard, donkey stoning the steps, my responsibility to supervise. Her bottom, thrust up in my direction, bore only two fresh weals from my cane. During her first couple of weeks as my bond locker, she’d received a great deal more. Now, not only did she give less cause for complaint, but my anger was spent.

“You’re not making too bad a job of that, Hartlisse,” I said.

“Thank you, bond mistress.”

“You can call me Tuerqui, if you like.”

“Thank you, Tuerqui.”

“Hartlisse – why’re you working so hard?”

“Truthfully, Tuerqui?”

“Of course, truthfully. An advantage of slavery is that it liberates you from lies. A wise person once said to me that a slave lying to her mistress would be a treason against her submission. A mistress to lying to her slave would be beneath her dignity.”

“Whatever. The reason I’m working hard is that, if I don’t, you’ll hit me. Why else?”

“How about loving our mistress and valuing your slavery?”

“Yeah, right. As if! Well – I’d better not say what I think of Isobel Ironhand.”

“Hartlisse, I promise you this – I’ll never punish you for speaking the truth. Did you meet our mistress while you were in personage? I suppose you didn’t much like her.”

“Of course we met! We were both empers. In the top ninety of Surrey politics.”

“Oh, yes, Hartlisse, I was forgetting. Truthfully, what did you think of Lady Isobel?”

“I hated the bitch! She’s so far up Bernice’s arse!”

“Hartlisse, last week I wouldn’t have told you this, because I still hated you then – but it’s not in my nature to keep that up for ever. You’re just making yourself miserable. The only way you’ll ever find happiness is if you can love your mistress and value your slavery.”

“Like I’m ever going to value my slavery. I was a great lady!”

“And a right mess you made of it, too. You caused me so much misery – and plenty of other slaves, too. Then you fell out with Berenice and got mixed up with Nadine. Looks to me like you were a slave all along, and went crazy without the authority of a mistress.”

“Yeah, Tuerqui. What would you know of being a great lady?”

“I was a princess – the daughter of the usurper of the Blood Victoria. But it feels now as though I was a slave all along. And, although you weren’t a slave from birth, it’s hard to see how you won’t be one till you die. If you can’t, at least, accept slavery your life’s going to be miserable – but it doesn’t have to be.”

“Thanks, Tuerqui, I know you’re trying to help. And I’m sorry.”

“Sorry, Hartlisse, sorry for what? Your negativity?”

“Yes, I am. But that wasn’t what I meant. I was thinking of the misery I’ve caused you. And, somehow, you seem to’ve forgiven me.”

Switi emerged from the house before I had time to respond to this, leaving me wondering whether I’d really forgiven Hartlisse. No revenge, in all my life, had left me feeling better for more than a brief period. Admittedly, as a child, that was largely owing to the way in which action against Judith invariably misfired, sooner or later. The question remained as to whether no longer desiring vengeance amounted to forgiveness.

“Mistress wants you in her study,” said Switi. “If you like, I’ll keep an eye on your bond locker while you’re gone.”

“Yeah, do that, Switi, but don’t be too hard on her.”

“How can I be too hard on her? She’s every slave’s enemy.”

“She was every slave’s enemy. Now she’s one of us. It’s about time she started to accept her slavery. Work her hard, but be nice.”

Glancing back as I entered the building, Switi was staring after me, while Hartlisse continued to donkey stone with undiminished effort. Tuerquelle, taking a bunny cloth to the balustrade, smiled in my direction – I ruffled her hair in passing. Veronica Melchet appearing round a bend in the staircase, I paused to allow her to pass, and curtsied. A few moments later, I knocked upon Lady Isobel’s study door.

“Enter!” she said, and then, as I obeyed, “Ah Tuerqui! Now that it comes to it, I’m not sure where to begin.”

“Mistress, I don’t suppose it helps – but, I wasn’t sure where to start my memoirs.”

“And, if I remember rightly, you eventually settled on your earliest memory. No – that doesn’t help. I’ll start with the coronation. You remember Empress Berenice giving me several documents?”

“How could I forget, mistress? I was your fan bearer! In any case, one of them was the deed to Hartlisse.”

“Another was a licence have gynozoa produced from my substance and another woman of my choice. This is a precious opportunity that may not come my way again. Do you understand that, Tuerqui?”

“Yes, mistress… At least, I know that gynozoa is a way to produce babies from the essences of two women. But there’s something I don’t understand about what you just said, mistress.”

“Yes, Tuerqui?”

“The University is where they’ve done to the gynozoa research, mistress. And you’re the Chancellor of the University. Is it an opportunity that may not come your way again? Mistress, do you really need a licence?”

“Yes, Tuerqui, I most certainly do. There was the idea of making gynozoa available to any woman who wanted it. The radicals wanted all the men in Surrey-held territory to be trimmed so that they couldn’t have children. Then, all babies would have been from gynozoa, and all would have been girls.”

“Mistress, that doesn’t seem a bad thing to me. I’ve liked a few men – but, by and large…”

“I take your point, Tuerqui. But when Nadine wanted a gynozoa daughter, Berenice wasn’t prepared to allow such a thing, except for a heavy political price. That led to Nadine’s troops attacking the University.”

“Yes, mistress, that’s why the regiment was camped here.”

“Exactly, Tuerqui. After that, Nadine sided with the radicals, and Berenice wanted gynozoa restricted. That’s why I need a licence. And if I mess up the opportunity, I may not get the chance again.”

“And if you had gynozoa produced without permission, mistress?”

“Berenice would not be amused. It would be abuse of my position at the University. Enslavement for sure.”

“Of course, she might not find out, mistress.”

“A leaf may fall in Surrey without her knowing – but not much escapes her imperial majesty. You remember that she knew where the pollygoggers were?”

“Yes, I remember, mistress. So this might be your only chance to have a child – apart from doing that horrible thing with a man?”

“Precisely, Tuerqui. So I need to be careful about my choice of co-mother. Who is she to be?”

“I don’t know, mistress,” I answered, perplexed – she looked as though expecting an answer from me. “A great lady, I suppose.”

“Well, I thought about the ladies of my acquaintance – and there are many. But you’re the one I love best. You’re the natural choice, my love.”

“Mistress, you can’t mean… But they said that I couldn’t have another baby.”

“People say a good many things, Tuerqui. Some of them are true, but more than half are wrong. Maybe you can have a baby, maybe you can’t. We need to find out.”

“Oh mistress! If only… But what would persons say, mistress?”

“Never mind that. There’s nothing in the world you’d like better than another baby. I can see it in your eyes. I’m right, aren’t I?

“Yes, mistress. There’s nothing in the world I’d like better than your baby.”

“And there’s no one in the world I’d rather have my baby. The next question is whether it’s possible. Eliza Downtree is the one to answer that.”

The gentle vet had given me a general health check soon after my return to the University – she had found nothing worrying, and there had been no cause for a further examination. That afternoon, she commenced a series of intrusive and uncomfortable gynaecological probes, although not as painful as some previous ones conducted by both vets and physicians. My thinking that this was a step towards having my mistress’ baby simultaneously helped and hindered. The thought gave me determination, but the worry that I might no longer be able to bear a child left me very tense.

“Tuerqui,” Miss Downtree said during my second examination, “this would be a lot easier if you could relax.”

“I’m sorry, miss, but this is my baby – or not.”

“I know it’s hard, Tuerqui, and I’m trying to be as gentle as possible.”

My third examination, and most of them thereafter, was conducted in a surgery in the vet’s compound – a whitewashed building set in a quiet garden. It took me several minutes to recognise the slave working as Eliza Downtree’s assistant. Only after noticing her RBS mark did I identify her as Giggli – my friend from Berenice’s whip-making tent and the Laughing Phallus. She looked much older, but was obviously well, and receiving good care.

“Giggli!” I said. “How are you? It’s been so long.”

“As you see, Tuerqui. And my mistress is wonderful. How about you?”

“I’m great, Giggli, apart from my fertility.”

There were about twelve of these sessions, spaced over three weeks – Eliza Downtree was, clearly, not arriving at an ill-considered prognosis. The vet was unwilling to reveal her conclusions to me, but naturally I attempted to gauge them from her manner. Sometimes it appeared that she was taking a pessimistic view, at others she seemed cheerful, while the fact of her making so many examinations presumably implied that my case was neither hopeless nor easily resolved. When, finally, I was summoned to Lady Isobel’s study, and found Miss Downtree with my mistress, some sort of resolution had clearly arrived.

“Ah, Tuerqui, my love,” Lady Isobel said. “Miss Downtree’s just given me her prognosis. She thinks that you could carry another child, but… Well – maybe she’d better tell you.”

“Tuerqui,” the vet began, “someone’s made quite a mess of you – possibly when Tuerquelle was born. I recognised the problem quite quickly – mostly, I’ve been making sure that nothing else was amiss. Now, I’m sure there isn’t a second trouble – and I can repair the damage. Unfortunately, it’ll mean surgery.”

“Surgery, miss?”

“Yes, surgery, an operation. I need to cut you open to reach your fallopian tubes. Of course, I’d give you cordials to grant oblivion. It would hurt afterwards, though, and there is the possibility of your dying under the knife.”

“If you survive,” my mistress added, “you’ll be too weak to work for a while – or do anything very much. As your owner, I could order you to have the operation, but several things hold me back. For a start, I’m afraid of losing you.”

“I’ll still be yours in the World to Come, mistress.”

“I suppose so. But my daughter must be conceived in love, there will be no coercion at any point. Miss Downtree tells me, too, that your chances of survival depend on your will to live. What do you say, Tuerqui?”

“Mistress, you honour me as no slave was ever honoured before. Nothing would give me greater joy than to carry your child. If I may be allowed the surgery, I’ll take the chances gladly.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to think it over, Tuerqui? Miss Downtree will cut as gently as anyone could – but there’ll be pain, and you may not pull through.”

“No, mistress, I don’t need to think. I’ll willingly endure any pain or weakness, and put my faith in the goddess against death. She’s delivered me from danger and personage – if she wants to take me now, so be it, but I don’t think she will. In any case, as I said, I’ll still be yours in the World to Come.”

“Tuerqui, you put all my doubts to shame. The only other thing to consider is the legal position of our child. Do you know why Tuerquelle is a slave, for all of her father being a high born ally of Surrey?”

“I think, mistress, that slavery or personage is inherited from the mother. Since I’m a slave, so is Tuerquelle.”

“That’s right, according to the laws of Surrey, everything, property as well as slavery or personage, descends through the female line. But a gynozoa child has two female parents. Berenice’s decree says that the mother – for purposes of inheritance – is the woman granted the gynozoa licence. Which ever of us carries the child, I will legally be counted as the mother.”

“Then our daughter will be a person, mistress?”

“That’s right, Tuerqui. How do you feel about it?”

“My only worry is how Tuerquelle would feel about having a person as a half sister.”

“Then you must ask her, Tuerqui.”

“Eventually, I suppose, our baby would own Tuerquelle.”

“I suppose so, Tuerqui. Tuerquelle is my personal property, and would pass to our daughter when I die. If it comes to that, so would you, if you outlive me. How would you feel about being your daughter’s property?”

“Who better to own me, mistress, if you should die before me? Of course, she would need to accept that I’ll be your property in the World to Come, not hers.”

“These are important questions, Tuerqui. Are you sure you wouldn’t like a bit longer to think about them?”

“No, mistress. If Tuerquelle is happy, I’ll have no doubts.”

“In that case,” said Miss Downtree, “Tuerquelle willing, I’ll take you into my care tomorrow and operate the day after.”

Rarely, in the course of human affairs, has so much rested on the reactions of a seven year old slave child. There was a challenge in explaining matters so that Tuerquelle could understand, whilst remaining reasonably accurate. Paradoxically, I was aided by her knowing little of ordinary, two sex, reproduction. The idea of two women producing a child didn’t seem to strike her as unusual.

“Mummy,” she said, “you’re the best slave in all the world, and Lady Isobel is the best person. How could I be owned by a better person than your daughter?”

“All the same, my love, something’s worrying you, isn’t it?”

“Mummy it’s just that… Well – you wouldn’t love me less for having a baby person?”

“Of course I wouldn’t, my treasure!” I exclaimed, clutching her tightly, eyes filling with tears that were neither sorrow nor joy.

When night came, aware that this was likely to be my last time for several weeks, Passibelle, Honeyminge, Gusibelle and I all shared Lady Isobel’s bed. Group sex involving a person and four slaves requires a great deal of care, if no one is to feel neglected – to be candid, it usually seems more trouble than it’s worth. On this occasion, I was glad to have the complexities of four other people’s feelings with which to contend, as a way of taking my mind from the forthcoming operation. Fivesomes rarely work very well for all of those involved, but I believe that session was the exception – each of us needed distraction from troubling thoughts.

After breakfast, I spent some time with Tuerquelle, who seemed to have no clear conception of the dangers involved in surgery. Briefly, I wondered whether she should be told, but could see no purpose in distressing her. Rather, I trusted to the goddess to deliver me or, failing that, to extend her protection to my daughter. Parting from the child, I handed care of Hartlisse to Honeyminge, thus settling my affairs.

“Honeyminge,” I said, “correct her when she needs it, but don’t be too harsh. Whatever she may once have been, Hartlisse is now a slave like us.”

“Don’t worry, Tuerqui,” said Honeyminge, “you can count on me.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “I appreciate it.”

“Thank you, Tuerqui,” said Hartlisse. “You’ve been so kind recently. I really hope your operation is a success.”

“Thank you, Hartlisse. I do my best. Accept your slavery, and try to be happy. Honeyminge is lovely.”

Smiling over my shoulder at my friend and my bond locker, I passed through the front door, and down the steps. Thence my way took me through gardens in full flower, and past Fiona who, as always, sang wordlessly to the plants. A green painted door in a red brick wall, on which clematis ran riot, took me into the quiet of the vet’s compound. Elisa Downtree sat on the step of the whitewashed surgery – the venue for my more intrusive gynaecological examinations.

“Tuerqui,” she said, “welcome! Your operation isn’t till tomorrow, but I need you here until then. I have to monitor your heart and bodily functions, calm you and make sure you don’t eat.”

“I can’t eat, miss?”

“No, Tuerqui, I’m afraid not. Being sick on the operating table could kill you. But I’ll give you a relaxing cordial… Giggli!”

“Yes, mistress,” said my old friend, appearing at the doorway.

“Fetch Tuerqui a two gill measure of the number twelve relaxing cordial, please, Giggli. Then, perhaps you could sit with her, out here in the garden. She needs to be calm for tomorrow.”

“Yes, mistress. Of course, mistress.”

With only occasional orders from the vet, I was placed in Giggli’s care for the remainder of that day. She took my pulse and my temperature repeatedly, listened to my chest, and plied me with doses of the relaxing cordial. In between these duties, she sat with me in the garden and we talked of our lives, hopes and fears. After perhaps the first half hour, I slipped into a dream-like state, still able to talk and enjoy my friend’s company, but feeling cocooned from the world, almost numb.

During the afternoon, in a moment of clarity, I realised that I’d been talking nonsense for quite some time. Oddly, I felt detached from the realisation, as though observing the ramblings of another slave. Then darkness fell after what seemed a matter of minutes, but was probably several hours. Eventually, Giggli gave me a measure of a different, much sweeter, cordial and I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Awakening to bright morning sunlight, Giggli was handing me the medicine glass again – this time, it tasted bitter. Fully immersed in dream, now, nothing around me had the air of reality. When the next dose of cordial arrived – it could have been seconds or weeks later – my mouth seemed too swollen to receive it. Making a supreme effort, I gulped the liquid down – after that, oblivion took me.

Then I awoke, seemingly seconds later, without any definite sensations. My first thought was that Eliza Downtree had changed her mind, and not performed the operation. Lying on my back, I wondered what was happening until, levering myself up, my belly came into view. A large piece of blood-soaked gauze, taped into position, told me that the vet had cut me open.

Not long afterwards, the pain began – as though someone had danced upon my stomach, whilst my arms had been ripped from my shoulders and inexpertly replaced. Trying to move, supposing that nothing could hurt more, I discovered myself to be mistaken. After that, I lay still until I heard a door open and close. Shifting my head in curiosity, attempting to ignore how much that hurt, I saw Eliza Downtree standing over me, Giggli a pace behind.

“Don’t move, Tuerqui,” she told me unnecessarily. “I’m pretty sure I’ve fixed your trouble, but you’ll have to take it very easy for the next three weeks, at least. You’re a good slave, I know, and you’ll want to return to your duties as soon as you feel a bit better, but you mustn’t – is that understood? And how’re you feeling?”

“Hurts,” I croaked, answering her second question first, painfully and with difficulty. “Unnerstan’.”

“Good girl… Now, don’t try to talk any more. Giggli will give you something to send you back to sleep. When you wake, you should feel a little bit better.”

Giggli pressed something hard to my lips, I gulped with difficulty and my mouth was filled with an acrid taste. It felt as though more of the cordial dribbled round the corners of my mouth than went down my throat but, however little I swallowed, sleep soon closed my eyes. Awakening, I did feel a little better, although not much. It occurred to me to wonder how much time had passed, but speaking even a few words was so painful that I didn’t consider asking.

“You’ve got to eat,” Giggli said, proffering a bowl and spoon.

“Cah,” I replied, “hur…”

“I know it’ll hurt. Maybe you can’t eat, maybe you can – but you can certainly try. You’ve got to build up your strength.”

It hurt a great deal to lever myself up into a convenient posture for eating, but I accomplished the task. Extending a hand to take the bowl, I would have dropped it, had Giggli let go – as it was, only a little was slopped. There was insufficient strength in my hand to support an ordinary size portion of food, but I was able to grip the spoon. Bringing the utensil to my mouth, much of its contents dribbled down my chin, but a little passed my lips.

“Swi,” I said “goo swi…”

“It’s good, but it’s not swill, it’s a special broth, just for you. Prescription food. Eat as much as you can, Tuerqui.”

After I’d eaten as much as possible, Giggli remained with me, talking. Able to follow her remarks only intermittently, I was nevertheless comforted by the flow of sound. Eventually, I must have drifted off to sleep again – something that might have escaped my notice had my bedside company remained constant. Giggli seemed to vanish suddenly, to be replaced by Tuerquelle and my mistress.

“Mih,” I said, “Tuer…”

“Don’t try to talk,” Lady Isobel said, “we’ve just come to see how you are.”

“Get well soon, mummy,” Tuerquelle added.

Remaining in the vet’s surgery for another week and a half, it was soon clear that I was on the mend. Eliza Downtree examined me morning and evening, her touch always gentle. Lady Isobel found the time to visit me repeatedly, and was kind enough to allow Tuerquelle and my friends to come every day. My daughter seemed to have the idea that I was already pregnant – something it seemed better to neither confirm nor deny.

Lisa-Louise, Jane, Diqui and Barguin all appeared at my bedside – and even Tipsi came, taking a break from her duties at the Imperial Spa. Jane, who was working on gynozoa science, told me a great deal of how I could carry Lady Isobel’s baby, but unfortunately most of it was beyond my comprehension. Lisa-Louise’s studies were taking her into an entirely different field – to do with the properties of light and chemicals, and how they could be combined to make images in an art, lost since the Old Time, called photography. While grateful to be told about such things, I wasn’t sorry that my other visitors restricted themselves to topics that were easy to understand.

The first couple of days having passed, I spent quite a lot of time out of bed, pleased to be able to sit in a chair whilst chatting to visitors. Four or five days after the operation, I was permitted to leave the building, to enjoy the soft breeze on my skin in the quiet garden. Much of my time thereafter was spent on a bench under the leafy canopy of a horse chestnut tree. It was while seated there that I had a surprise visit from Hartlisse.

“Hartlisse!” I exclaimed, as she appeared through the green door in the red brick wall.

“Hello, Tuerqui. You sound really pleased to see me. I thought maybe you wouldn’t.”

“Why ever not, Hartlisse?”

“Because I treated you so… well… heartlessly. Separated you from Tuerquelle, sent you to market, where you were bought by a whoremonger. You’ve plenty of reason to hate me, Tuerqui.”

“Yes, I have, now that you mention it. And, when our mistress put you in my charge, I did hate you. But now that’s passed. In the service of a common mistress, we can be friends, I’m sure.”

“Would you like to be my friend, Tuerqui?”

“I’d like it very much, Hartlisse,” I said, twitching the hair back from her eyes, and realising that it was true.

“You’re lovely, Tuerqui. And, to tell the truth, for the first time in my life, I really need friends. I’m sorry about everything, really I am.”

“Well, it’s worked out well in the end. I think maybe you should try to make your peace with Giggli while you’re here, though. She was also your victim.”

“Yes, Tuerqui, I’ll try. I was a very bad person, but I’m trying to be a good slave.”

“You didn’t think it was possible, but I reckon you may be starting to value your slavery.”

“Tuerqui – it’s strange. I really think I am. Like I said, I was a dreadful person. Now I have a whole new chance at life.”

“I’m so glad to hear you say that, Hartlisse. You’re doing good – and I think we’re friends now. Really!”

“I hope so, Tuerqui.”

For most of my waking hours, I had Giggli’s company – our friendship blossoming afresh. We talked, amongst other things, of how we’d once been lovers although, for many reasons, neither of us now wished to lie with the other. Her time in the Laughing Phallus seemed to have deeply scarred Giggli’s attitude to sex, which left me wondering why it hadn’t had the same effect on me. For my own part, I was in too much pain to consider love making – and, in any case, felt entirely satisfied with my mistress and her concubines.

Back in University House, after ten or eleven days, I expected to return to work, but was disappointed. Another three weeks of enforced idleness passed before I was permitted even the lightest duties. Each afternoon, during that time, I wandered back to the surgery, to chat with Giggli as she went about her work. One of my pleasures, when not in my former lover’s company, was to see Hartlisse, now so well settled as a slave, working hard and making friends.

“You know, Tuerqui,” my mistress remarked, “as a pioneer of modern slave training, I shouldn’t say this… But Hartlisse seems to vindicate the old bond locker methods.”

“Mistress, I think it’s just that being enslaved helped her see what a bad person she’d been. Now, she’s taking her second chance at life. It’s rather lovely, mistress.”

“Yes, it is, Tuerqui. And you had a big part in her transformation.”

When finally permitted to do so, there was a great joy for me in returning to work, whatever my restrictions. Tuerquelle was very supportive, giving me a new measure of respect for my daughter – not even my mistress’ child could take her place in my affections. My friends – the concubines and household slaves alike – vied with one another to help me in my tasks, something that usually involved them in hard work. When someone donkey stoned the front steps, I was assigned to follow with a bunny cloth.

Three or four days after my return to work, a clearly important lady arrived, in a carriage drawn by high-stepping matched slaves. The coach, together with the harnesses and fittings of the team who drew it, was claret and gold. The girls at the shafts and the lady herself were curiously similar – tall, beautiful, with cascades of flame red hair tumbling down their backs. Hartlisse opened the door for her, while Tuerquelle and I hovered in the background, applying polish to wooden panels.

“Slave,” the visitor said, “tell your mistress that Lady Melanie of the Rock is here.”

“Yes, your ladyship,” Hartlisse replied, turning to obey.

“Wait, girl! You seem familiar. Before you go to your mistress, turn and face me.”

“Yes, your ladyship.”

“Good goddess! You are! You’re Henrietta Heartless! To think that we used to be lovers – before you took up with Nadine and her treasonous cabal.”

“Yes, your ladyship. That is, I was Henrietta Heartless. Now, I’m just Hartlisse, redeemed through slavery.”

“Redeemed through slavery? Yes you are – I see it in your eyes. Well, if anyone knows how to train a slave, it should be your mistress. Off you go, girl, and announce my arrival.”

Naturally, I wondered about Lady Melanie of the Rock, and what her business was with Lady Isobel – questions that were to be answered the following day. Working in the laundry yard, Hartlisse had her hands in the tub, washing clothes, Tuerquelle passed the clean things through the mangle, while I hung them to dry. When the door from the house opened, I assumed that we were being joined by a fourth slave – persons were seldom seen in that place. To my surprise, the newcomer was Jane.

“Tuerqui,” she said, “I’ve come to take you to the gynozoa sciences department.”

“I don’t suppose you want me as a student. It must be time to take my substance to make a baby.”

“We don’t usually put it quite like that – but, yes. Come on!”

She led me back into the house, out via the University door, through the botanical sciences garden and into the study and research building. As Lady Isobel’s personal property, I’d never previously had any business in this place – the corridors severely functional, immaculately clean, but with no surfaces that needed polishing. Ascending a staircase, Jane brought me into a spacious, well-lit room, smelling of disinfectant. It was occupied by six women – my mistress, four I recognised as members of the academic staff, and Lady Melanie of the Rock, the last incongruous in a clinical white coat.

“Tuerqui,” my mistress said, “these persons are members of the gynozoa sciences department – apart from Lady Melanie of the Rock, who is Her Imperial Majesty’s Inspector General for Gynozoic Reproduction.”

“Are you sure you want a common slave as a co-mother?” Lady Melanie asked.

“Slave, Tuerqui certainly is,” my mistress replied, “common she is not. She’s special – and she’s my choice.”

Lady Isobel and I lay on hard couches, in an undignified posture, our feet raised in stirrups. My position didn’t allow me to see much of what happened, but either someone’s hand or a probe of some sort was inserted deep inside me. The process would have been uncomfortable at the best of times but – after my operation – it hurt a great deal. Biting my lip, I tried not to show my pain, and the business was done soon enough.

The following day, Jane brought us four gynozoa cultures, a slightly cloudy liquid combining Lady Isobel’s essence with mine. Each was in a tiny bottle swaddled in thick quilted material designed to prevent the precious substance from growing too hot or too cool. After that, it was a matter of counting the days from my period, to determine when I would be most fertile. Finally, my mistress squirted the contents of the first bottle deep inside me whilst I convulsed in orgasm – not only was this likely to increase my receptivity, but we needed our daughter to be conceived in love.

“I’m sorry, mistress,” I said between sobs, when the pregnancy test proved negative. “You should have used a proper fertile slave. I’ve ruined your chances of a daughter. I’m not fit for blesh stew!”

“Nonsense, Tuerqui, don’t be so silly. You were lucky to click first time with Tuerquelle. That’s why we have four cultures. Dry your eyes, and that’s an order – we’ll try again next month.”

When, the following month, a second attempt failed, Eliza Downtree thought that I might be too tense to conceive. Accordingly, she prescribed a cordial that relieved my heartache. It also made my days merge into one another, leaving me half in the land of dreams. In spite of not being properly present in the world, I didn’t neglect my prayers, aware of how sorely we needed the goddess’ bounty.

The night Lady Isobel squirted the precious fluid for a third time, I seemed – curiously – to have emerged from my month-long dream. My mistress worked well, leaving me thinking no greater extremity of pleasure possible, then the culture came, wet inside me. Instantly, I knew that I was pregnant, although it’s impossible to say how. At that moment I wept in joy, but, when a pregnancy test confirmed what I already knew, my reaction was merely a satisfied smile.

Knowing that I was going to have another baby, I contemplated my still flat belly in wonder and pride. Somewhere inside me, my second daughter was growing slowly. Soon enough, I began to swell like a ripening fruit. Awe struck, Lady Isobel ran her hands over my belly.

“Is she really in there?” she asked.

“She really is,” I replied.

Never, in all my life, had I known such bliss. The ill-effects of pregnancy came soon enough, of course – back ache, sickness, there’s no need for a complete list. No symptom could dent my delight – carrying my mistress’ daughter is the most wonderful thing in the world. My friends look enviously in my direction, but there’s nothing malicious in that.

“Tuerqui, I envy you,” my mistress said, echoing the feelings of the others. “You carry the best gift in the world.”

“Mistress, it’s perfectly true… But there’s always the fourth gynozoa culture.”

“Yes, Tuerqui, I’ve been thinking about that. I’m torn – I’ll be beyond consolation if I don’t conceive. On the other hand, I won’t conceive unless we try it. Tuerqui – I put myself in your hands – what do you think?”

After only a moment’s thought, I responded: “Mistress – give yourself to me, as I gave myself to you, and I’ll do my best to fill your belly with love.”

There doesn’t seem much to add. My mistress gave herself to me and, at the height of our passion, I squirted the culture deep within. Now we are both carrying our babies – the fruit of what seems to me a perfect love. We are mistress and slave, we are lovers, but – beyond that – there is between us the deepest bond two women could share.

A moment ago, sitting at this desk, pen upon the paper, I felt my new daughter stir inside me. On the other side of the room, Tuerquelle, Passibelle and Hartlisse, flicking feather dusters at picture frames and ornaments, harmonise with a wordless melody. Beyond the half open window, rain has left glistening droplets on nasturtium leaves, now sunshine breaks through the clouds. Perched on a fork handle, a cock blackbird calls – four high pitched squeaks, before a burst of glorious song.

For the Epilogue
click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2008/02/of-bondlings-and-blesh-epilogue.html

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 49

2008-02-01T16:27:00.000Z

Chapter 49

A blackbird sang, there was a smell of newly turned earth – the gardens had begun their return to peacetime. Soft mud, churned by the departing regiment, squeezed between my toes and sank beneath my heels. Perhaps fifty warrior girls in gleaming cuirasses and buff shirts adjusted their saddle packs before mounting. Sunshine, and a breeze, played gently upon my skin – there was luxury in being harnessed rather than clothed.

“Well,” said Modesty, “this is goodbye. I’ll miss you all – Lisa-Louise, Diqui, Barguin, Tipsi, Jane – and maybe Tuerqui most of all.”

“Thank you, Modesty,” I said. “I’ll miss you, too. It’s been a privilege… I thought that some of the others would be riding with you – Jane, maybe.”

“Not me,” said Jane. “Modesty’s good with a sword. It was only luck that saw me through the fight with Sir Garrafad’s men. But I kind of expected Lisa-Louise to join the army – she was our captain.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m not riding with Modesty,” said Lisa-Louise. “I didn’t think about it at the time, but sending a young girl to what was more than likely her death… Well, you survived, Jane, so that isn’t on my conscience. But war’s not for me.”

“Maybe it ought to bother me more than it does,” said Modesty.

“Someone has to defend Surrey – make it safe for the girls left behind. I admire you for doing it, Modesty, and – in a way – wish I had it in me to do it. And I’m sorry it’s come to time for goodbye.”

“It had to come to that sooner or later, but I’m sorry too.”

“I’m sure we’ll meet again,” said Lisa-Louise. “Follow your star, sister. It was a pleasure to ride and fight with you.”

Modesty, magnificent in buff uniform, shining armour and boots, was the first of us to leave the University. She had accepted an ensign’s commission in the regiment, and was joining the last batch of soldiers to depart. Colonel Slaying, favourably impressed by our despatch of Sir Garrafad and the remainder of his men, had offered a commission to any of us who desired it. That, presumably, didn’t apply to me – although I hadn’t asked, of course – and only Modesty had accepted the offer.

“Jane,” said Diqui, “I don’t think it was just luck that saw you through the fight with Sir Garrafad’s men.”

“What, then, the goddess?”

“Tuerqui would say that – and maybe she’d be right. But I was thinking that you have the best night vision of anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah, well, you can probably thank my dad for that – locking me in the cellar. A girl can get used to it.”

Diqui had considered a military career, but having enough of following orders during her time in slavery, had said that she would, with Barguin’s assistance, help restore the University gardens. Jane had been persuaded to join Lisa-Louise in taking up one of the newly-founded Empress Berenice Scholarships[1] to study sciences at the University. Once it was built, Tipsi was to take charge of an establishment to offer beauty and relaxation treatments to the great ladies of Surrey[2]. All five of them, together with my mistress and me, had assembled to bid farewell to Ensign Clay.

There was no need for anyone to hold her horse’s head as, with practiced ease, she swung herself into the saddle. Modesty walked her mount slowly, while we followed on foot. Reaching her new comrades, she turned to us and saluted smartly. Lady Isobel took her gauntleted left hand, and kissed it.

“Thank you, my lady,” Modesty said, smiling. “You do me honour.”

“Modesty,” I said, “I just wanted to say… but there are no words for it.”

“There are words, Tuerqui, but they’re not enough.”

We watched the soldiers ride away, dwindling to a dust cloud far down the road. Finally, by common consent, each of us turned our aching eyes from the highway to the University grounds, where work to restore the gardens’ beauty had already started. Since Diqui and Barguin were to work on the project, my mistress led us to where the first plantings began. There, a familiar figure – now harnessed as a slave, and singing softly to herself – knelt to ease the roots of bedding plants into the soil.

“Mistress,” I said, “may I ask a question?”

“Of course you may, Tuerqui.”

“Mistress – that girl – she’s Fiona, the daughter of Sam the carter. She was a person, guilty of nothing worse than dreaminess. Now she’s enslaved. Why is that, mistress?”

“It’s sad, Tuerqui – her mind has gone completely – mostly, I guess, because of the horrible things that were done to her… And the things she saw – especially, I think, what they did to her mother. There was no option but to place her in protective slavery[3]. She can’t relate to persons, slaves or animals – but seems to have an unusual rapport with plants.”

“So she’s doing something to heal the wounds of war,” Lisa-Louise said. “That’s good.”

“And she seems happy enough,” said Tipsi.

“As far as anyone can tell, she is,” Lady Isobel said, “…Now, Diqui and Barguin have you had any specific thoughts about what you’d like to do out here?”

“Yes,” said Diqui, “I’d like to restore the fountains. You OK with that, Barguin?”

“Yeah, sure – why not?”

That night, I dreamed – but not of my mistress, or of the companions who had ridden with me. Instead, Our Lady of the Lamp, skirt slit almost to the waist, took me by my left hand. After a few steps, Tuerquelle emerged from a swirling bank of mist to take me by the right. Hand in hand, the three of us strode along a dimly seen road until a fourth figure appeared ahead – someone whose features were, at first, shrouded by fog.

With sudden realisation, and sick panic, I recognised the newcomer as my poor murdered mother. Struggling towards waking, I all but emerged from the world of dream. Then, soothed by the gentle touch of the goddess and my daughter, I allowed them to turn me so that I could look upon my mother’s face. She was transfigured with astonishing beauty – even her slave harness gleamed as though formed of precious stones.

We kissed the chaste but passionate kiss of mother and daughter, something we had too rarely done in life. Separating at last, we lifted Tuerquelle between us in silent communion between three generations of slavery. Facing, now, the terrible deed of my personage, I found it understood and forgiven. In presenting my mother with Tuerquelle, she was touched by the sublime perfection of the child’s submission – something we were denied for ourselves, but which fulfilled us both.

The vision had been of threes – in which my mother had assumed the goddess’ place – and I awoke to a third triad. My mistress lay to my left, Passibelle to my right, their hands clasped upon my belly. Reaching out, I stirred the sleepers, and the three of us made love lazily – assured of one another’s affections, there was neither urgency nor effort. It was not clear to me at what point our half-waking caresses passed into those of dream.

The following day, pleased to be assigned to some hard work, I was donkey stoning the front steps, while Tuerquelle followed with a bunny cloth. Nearby, Fiona was smoothing soil over the roots of shrubs, singing wordlessly as she did so. Beyond, restoration started on one of the fountains – a magnificent of fantasy of winged lions who had once spewed their jets from snarling jaws[4]. The ornamental covering had been lifted from some of the pipes and, whilst Barguin smiled and held the wrench, Diqui was obviously fascinated by the complex plumbing.

“Mummy,” Tuerquelle said after a longer than usual silence, “I had a dream last night.”

“Yes, my love?”

“You were there – and Our Lady of the Lamp, mummy. There was another slave, too – a lovely one in a shining harness.”

“Sweetheart, she was my mummy.”

“I thought so, mummy. Was it just a dream?”

“It probably was a dream, my love – but not just a dream.”

“Mummy, could you tell me a story about your mummy?”

“Yes, of course I could, my sweet. Once, my mummy took me on a picnic in the forest. Nanny Spencer was there, too…”

“Who was Nanny Spencer, mummy?”

“She was a kind lady who looked after me when I was little. Nanny Spencer told me lots of the stories I’ve told you, darling. Like the slave who would be good and the cat who flew to the north… It was sad that my mummy didn’t look after me more than she did – I wish, now, that she’d told me the stories…”

It was thus that I started to tell Tuerquelle something of my childhood, so different from hers. Nor was my daughter the only one to whom I was telling my story. Lady Isobel frequently asked for snatches of it, especially late at night, after we had done with making love, and lay quietly in one another’s arms. Sometimes she laughed, at other times she cried.

“So there I was, mistress,” I told her one night, “stood like a naughty child, made to watch my fiancé shafting the governess.”

“Do you think, Tuerqui, that Surrenity was in her – or was that horrible man what she really wanted?”

“It’s hard to say, mistress. Life is often complicated. Miss Miles certainly enjoyed whacking girls – and there was something sexual in that. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that she also enjoyed having him inside her.”

“Tuerqui, this is priceless. You’ve lived an extraordinary life. And you can write well enough. Your pillow book’s my favourite – and not just because it’s you.”

“Thank you, mistress. I enjoy writing. It can be almost like carrying another baby.”

“Then, starting tomorrow, you must set it all down. Write your memoirs for posterity – and for my delight.”

“It’s not all a delight, though, is it mistress?”

“There can be delight through tears – and not just with the whip.”

“In that case, it would be a pleasure, mistress. I think I can recall the twelve laws of composition. Would you like it in quadriform prose[5], mistress?”

“Quadriform is well suited to descriptions, but speeches need to be a bit more free.”

“Mistress, I’m not much of a prose stylist – would you please correct my efforts with your whip?”

“If you’d like me to, my love. I don’t think it’s really necessary, but you could call it stinging literary criticism.”

“I’d like it very much, mistress, but of course it’s up to you. I’m your property, and wouldn’t wish it to be otherwise. Do you have any commands – about what I should write, mistress?”

“Thinking about it, Tuerqui, there’s one thing that I don’t wish you to tell me – not now, not ever.”

“What’s that, mistress?”

“Whether you and Lisa-Louise were lovers. I don’t wish to know – and I don’t want you to write it in your book.”

“Then I won’t write it, mistress.”

“Good – perhaps I’d be jealous if I knew. I believe that Louise-Louise and I are the only persons you’ve ever truly accepted as your mistresses. Others have owned you, but there’s been part of you they couldn’t reach. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, mistress. And, mistress, I think that it’s true.”

“But – to speak the truth that’s sacred between mistress and slave – jealousy is not my main reason. Perhaps it’s not a reason at all – I’m not sure.”

“Mistress?”

“In my quiet moments, Tuerqui, I sometimes like to finger myself. And, when I do, perhaps the best fantasy is of you and Lisa-Louise together – as mistress and concubine. It would ruin it if I knew that you two had never made love – or, perhaps worse, if it was different from the ways I imagine.”

The next day, I started work on these memoirs – that was Litnight 12th of Year One under the Majesty of Berenice, Empress of Surrey. More than twelve months have passed since then, bringing us into Berenice’s second regnal year. We have, through Lady Isobel’s bounty, marked my twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth birthdays. Tomorrow will be Thunderhead 26th, the day on which we celebrate Tuerquelle’s birth – she’ll be eight years old.

While I’ve been writing, Modesty has been campaigning – helping to place all of Essex under Berenice’s just rule. She has, I am told, conducted herself with courage and honour. Accordingly, my former companion has been decorated for gallantry and risen to the rank of captain. Her current command is an independent company[6] of light cavalry.

Occasionally, I see Lisa-Louise and Jane – both of them excelling as University students, wise in sciences that will always be a mystery to me. Twice, so far, I have accompanied Lady Isobel to the Imperial Spa, where a smiling Tipsi dispenses beauty and relaxation treatments to great ladies – it’s a joy to see her so content. Having restored the fountains, Diqui saw that similar principles could be used for domestic plumbing – my mistress calls her a professor of hydraulic sciences. Always followed by Barguin, she has supervised the installation of pipes ensuring that the slaves of this house no longer have to lug heavy water pots.

Naturally, I’ve continued with a domestic slave’s normal duties whilst recording my life – nor could I wish it otherwise. My work is an affirmation of my treasured slavery – a token of being my mistress’ property. The naturalness of being owned leads me to wonder whether I was, as an infant, exchanged for a slave child – there is more to tales of the fell folk than some persons suppose. Considering my mother, happily harnessed in the World to Come, perhaps she was a victim of fairy mischief, rather than me.

My mistress, who has kept her promise to correct my errors, deserves what praise there may be for this book. Were it permissible to think such a thing, I might sometimes have considered that she whipped me less than my prose deserved. My half-formed thought, here, is clearly wrong – as it would be a great wickedness for a slave to disagree with her mistress, and I hope that I’m never guilty of such a thing. Clearly, if I ever doubt her judgment, it’s because I’m an ignorant bondling who knows no better.

Deeply fulfilling as my life at the University of Pain is, most of it would make a wearisome narration. It would be vain to attempt the history of every time I’ve donkey stoned the step. More interesting, perhaps, are the many times I’ve taken a tumble in my mistress’ bed. These are set out in sufficient detail in my pillow book, and do not belong in this place.

Two great happenings stand out from the others, as well as a few smaller ones – my choice of which to narrate first is made not only because it is the earlier, but owing to the respect due to our empress[7]. It began, for me, when I helped to pack Lady Isobel’s clothes, sandwiching beautiful dresses between layers of tissue paper. The task saddened me – previous experience suggested that she would leave me at home. Nothing had been said of where she was going, but the choice of formal gowns suggested a state occasion, rather than Tipsi’s Imperial Spa.

“Whatever’s the matter, Tuerqui?” my mistress asked, surprising me, leaving me no time to compose my features more cheerfully. “Why the long face?”

“I’m sorry, mistress. I didn’t mean to look miserable, but I’ll miss you while you’re away. What’s a slave without her mistress? In any case, mistress, it reminds me of when you left, and the pollygoggers came…”

“But you’re coming with me!” She sounded astonished, evidently believing that I’d already been told. “You and Tuerquelle both!”

“Are you taking us to a slave show, mistress? We’re not pedigree slaves, mistress. We haven’t even learnt show ring techniques. I’d hate to disgrace you.”

“The show we’re going to is a bit more highfaluting than Kilder’s[8],” she said, laughing. Then, more seriously: “I don’t think either of you would disgrace me – I trained you myself, and you’re as lovely as any pedigree slaves. I’ve chosen you because I need the best. This is no tuppenny ha’penny slave show – it’s Berenice’s coronation!”

“Berenice’s coronation, mistress?”

“Yes – Berenice’s coronation – you as fan bearer, Tuerquelle taking my train.”

Of course, I knew that Berenice was now empress of Surrey and, if I’d thought about it, would have realised there must be a coronation. It was natural for my mistress to be invited – she was Chancellor of the University of Pain, Governess of the Slavery Protection Board and had been amongst the final empers of the democracy. For all of that, it seemed astonishing that Tuerquelle and I were to serve as her retinue. Not only did I consider myself unworthy of the occasion, but there seemed a pressing reason why we should not be included.

“Mistress…?” I began hesitantly, a fearful thought forming more clearly.

“Yes, Tuerqui?”

“Isn’t it the custom, mistress, to exchange gifts on these state occasions? When you received your electorate, that was why I couldn’t come with you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, my love. If there was any chance of either of you being given away, you’d most certainly stay here. Gifts will be exchanged, of course, to mark our loyalty, and the empress’ favour. But they’ll be confined to small, easily handled items – mostly documents representing the title to lands or privileges.”

“Oh, I see, mistress.”

“You still sound uncertain, Tuerqui. I don’t think you get the picture. It’s going to be a huge occasion, involving every great lady of Surrey – and our allies as well. Exchanging slaves or other livestock would be chaos.”

“If I might ask, mistress, what will you give?”

“The deeds to some land, a part share in the Imperial Spa and a few gemstones. Berenice will present documents of worth – titles, honours, rights, grants of land, also deeds against fugitives.”

“Deeds against fugitives, mistress?”

“Yes – against the time when they’re arrested and enslaved. Receiving the deed to Nadine Next would be the greatest honour, although unlikely ever to be enacted. Deeds to Nadine’s followers would convey less honour, but might produce actual slaves.”

When I told Tuerquelle, she seemed to think me the inevitable choice for fan bearer. Her own selection, to carry Lady Isobel’s train, was clearly more of a surprise. It is unlikely that she had any clear idea of how glittering an occasion the coronation was likely to be. If it came to that, my ideas on the matter were extremely vague.

Lady Isobel, Tuerquelle and I travelled to the coronation field in the beautiful carriage drawn by high stepping platinum blondes. This was the first time I’d seen more than one or two of the haughty draught slaves since the departure of my mistress to receive her electorate, about nine months before. Hitherto uncertain as to whether the team had survived the troubled times, I was much pleased to see them intact – and as proud and lovely as ever. Our baggage followed in a cart drawn by slaves more sturdy than beautiful, although they were matched, and clearly not selected on the basis of being cheaply available.

We arrived in the late afternoon, as the sun’s rays caught the splendid scene almost horizontally. There were hundreds of tents, all but the largest of them brightly coloured – no two alike. Over each floated a banner picked out with metallic threads, gleaming like sunbeams upon ruffled water. Dwarfing all others was Berenice’s great black tent, but even that shone as the light caught its satin panels and sombre embroideries.

On a flattened hilltop stood a curious structure, the function of which I couldn’t yet imagine. It was a huge framework without canvas or silken covering, an enormous horizontal hoop supported upon a dozen or more lofty pillars. The construction seemed to be filled with a spider’s web. Subsequently, I discovered that this was formed of stout cords, although – from a distance – they seemed gossamer threads.

A team of stalwart slaves, presumably supplied by Berenice, unpacked Lady Isobel’s tent from the baggage cart. Sooner than seemed possible, its royal blue walls formed part of the coronation city. Taking my eyes from the blue and silver banner atop our temporary home, I saw that the gang were already erecting another not far away. The new arrival was striped cherry red and golden yellow.

After Tuerquelle and I helped to unload the smaller baggage, both the cart and carriage returned to the University. There was no room, upon the coronation field, to house draught slaves – not even the loveliest of them – nor was there space to store vehicles. Another week remained before the coronation itself, and the great ladies continued to arrive for several more days. Before the last of them had pitched camp, a round of masques and balls had commenced, any one of which should have been the sensation of its season.

Our mistress seemed to me the finest of all the ladies – her costumes the epitome of the dress maker’s art, a riot of gorgeous colours, every tuck and pleat perfect, the stitches the tiniest I’d ever seen. Tuerquelle and I attended her, strapped into harnesses of peach coloured leather, our brows adorned with tall plumes. With unexpected ease, I came to see myself as worthy of the splendid setting, slipping naturally into the hauteur befitting Lady Isobel’s slave, the looking glass repeatedly assuring me of my loveliness. Tuerquelle, too, assumed an habitual expression of lofty distain – although sometimes her youthful grin broke through like a shaft of sunlight piercing an imposing cloud bank.

If all of my mistress’ costumes were exquisite, the finest was saved for the coronation itself – the colour her own royal blue, the cut severe, understatement its secret force. The decoration was of real silver wire, her jewellery also silver – finely wrought, set with sapphires and lapis lazuli. Although unostentatious, by the standard of her ball gowns, the effect left me open mouthed. As I paused – doubtful as to my worthiness of being owned by such a lady – she smiled, seemingly amused, speaking to me kindly, gently.

“Come on, Tuerqui, my love. There’s no time to gawp. It’s not just me –you and Tuerquelle must be worthy of the day.”

On Lady Isobel’s instructions, I opened six boxes that had remained sealed all week. The first of them held two harnesses, more splendid than any I’d seen before – one in adult size, the other for a child. The leather, dyed to match our mistress’ dress, was supple but very strong, and must have been cut from a noble skin. The locks, bells, rings, tiny goddess figures, and other fittings were all of real silver, inlaid with more sapphires and lapis lazuli.

The second box held our bracelets and anklets, matching perfectly the harness metalwork and Lady Isobel’s jewellery. The third and fourth contained our headdresses. The silver fillets were set with yet more lapis lazuli and crowned with royal blue plumes. Never before had I seen the like of those feathers.

“They’re plucked from a mythical bird called an oz-dredge,” our mistress told us.

“An oz-dredge, mistress?” Tuerquelle asked, her eyes already growing round with wonder.

“Yes – an oz-dredge, sweetheart. It lives beyond the edge of the world, nests in the golden fruit trees of the sun, and will eat only sapphires.”

“Won’t they even eat lapis lazuli, mistress?”

“No, darling, that would give them dreadful tummy ache.”

The final two boxes held the fan I was to bear during the ceremony – the head of more oz-dredge plumes, set in silver. The handle, made in sections that joined without discernable seam, was of a lustrous black wood called ebony. There were several carvings of the precious material in the treasure of Osrick, preserved in the Palace Victoria. The largest carving was scarcely a tenth of the size of the smallest fan handle section.

“Is it wood, mummy?” Tuerquelle whispered.

“Yes, my love. It’s called ebony and comes from a tree that grows only in the garden of night, beyond the edge of the world. The tree’s formed of the very substance of night. Since night is harder to catch than day, the wood costs more than gold.”

At the coronation, Lady Isobel was accorded the honour of a place in the second row – allowing me an excellent view of the proceedings. Silently, we stood on the flattened hilltop, in front of the great ring mounted upon pillars. Standing close to the structure, now, I could see that it was larger than I’d supposed. The columns were perhaps sixty feet high, supporting a ring-shaped platform on which a large number of women stood.

Staring at the figures above our heads, I saw that they wore diaphanous robes that fluttered in the morning breeze. Many were masked and, after but a moment’s consideration, it was clear that they represented the goddesses of Surrey. By chance – or the bounty of the goddess – she who represented Our Lady of the Lamp was clearly visible from our vantage point. Her skirt slit almost to the waist, as the wind took it, I was almost certain that she was without underwear.

Each priestess held a silken cord of a colour appropriate to her goddess – Our Lady of the Lamp’s was scarlet. The threads met at the centre of the ring, where they supported a gleaming black figure of a double headed eagle – Berenice’s symbol. It occurred to me to wonder whether this mythical bird was the same thing as an oz-dredge. Perhaps twenty feet beneath its claws, raised on a dais in the centre of the circle – was Berenice’s black throne –sited between racks, the purpose of which I couldn’t yet guess.

Berenice entered the circle – preceded by two dozen warrior girls – the soldiers naked but for vambraces, greaves, helmets, and sword belts – diagonals across the curve of their breasts. For three or four heartbeats, the empress stood, wrapped in a cloak of cloth of gold, before casting the garment aside. Now, she was dressed much as on the first time I’d seen her, a little less than eight years before. Dark hair loose, cascading down her back, everything she wore was of glossy black – a tight-fitting garment that left her arms and legs bare, thigh boots and gloves that extended to the upper arm.

The soldiers formed themselves, a dozen on either side of the throne, while Berenice mounted the dais to seat herself. Singing a hymn to the glory of the empress, the priestesses – acting on behalf of the goddesses of Surrey – lowered the double headed eagle. Reaching up, Berenice snatched the crown from its talons and placed it on her head. A great, all but deafening, cheer burst from every throat assembled – from that of the empress herself to those of slaves such as Tuerquelle and me.

One by one, the assembled ladies presented themselves at the throne. The first twelve were attended by four slaves apiece, then came twenty-four attended by three, Lady Isobel was the third of the forty-eight worthies with two attendants. As each lady reached the empress, she presented and received gifts – conveyed to and from the racks by Berenice’s slaves, who darted like summertime swifts. Words, too, were exchanged – although I was unable to hear any of the conversation until our turn came.

Approaching the throne, at last, the almost naked soldiers were simultaneously intimidating and bewitching. To my surprise, I found that my gaze could meet Berenice’s, so assured was I in my slavery. The smile with which the empress greeted my mistress told me, more than words could have done, that they had been lovers. Slaves took several legal documents and small casket of jewels from Lady Isobel’s hands, and gave to her six or eight sheets of paper, each bearing the same large seal of black wax.

The crown, I saw, was a plain golden band, an inch and a half wide. Its only decoration formed by a single glossy black stone in line with Berenice’s nose. Rulers of lesser lands bedeck themselves with ostentation. The empress of Surrey is above their gewgaws.

“Isobel,” the empress said, “and every bit as lovely as the last time I tumbled you.”

“Thank you, your majesty. You are more beautiful than ever.”

“Of course I am – I’m empress, now. I see from her brand that your fan bearer is the famous Tuerqui. She used to be my property, I believe, and I drank her milk. I like the pride with which she looks me in the eye – a great lady’s slave should be proud.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” I said.

“Tuerqui – you’re the first attendant slave to have spoken to me. Aren’t you afraid?”

“No, your majesty. I expected to be terrified, but see compassion in your eyes, as well as severity. I also see love for my mistress.”

“That was well said, slave – I admire your bravery, as well as your pride. There was a song about you that my soldiers sung in the war. A good song – filled with yearning for lost love – is worth a thousand troops. From your grief, Isobel, sprung strength for my warriors – each fighting for her own love – that’s the way it works.”

“If my tears aided your victory, majesty,” Lady Isobel said, “I’m glad to have shed them.”

“Prettily spoken, my sweet. Would it surprise you that I know where the pollygoggers are – the ones who snatched away your slave?”

“Nothing about you surprises me, your majesty. Perhaps not a leaf falls from a tree in your realm without your knowing.”

“That may be an exaggeration, but an empress needs to keep a grip on her realm. The pollygoggers are living in my western lands, unaware that I know their secrets. What to do with them was a problem. They deserved punishment and yet – for inspiring that song – I felt that I owed them some reward.”

“With your subtlety, majesty, I’m sure you resolved every difficulty.”

“I did, indeed – by ensuring that the pollygoggers’ ladies were given important posts. The women have wealth and power, while their men folk struggle to make a few coppers by their own efforts. Their domestic lives will not easy.”

“A punishment wrapped in the reward, majesty. You are, as always, a marvel.”

“Yes, I am, Isobel. But I’ve spoken with you longer than any other lady. We must move on before you’re in danger of a jealous hand toppling your head.”

Turning from the throne, I found myself simultaneously frightened by Berenice, and liking her. Particularly, I was struck by the contrast between her way and my father’s of punishing the pollygoggers. His was blunt – handing down sentences of enslavement – hers was subtle – subjecting them to the scorn of successful girlfriends. In this, I felt, lay the heart of her being an empress whose conquests would multiply – while he would know only disappointment and defeat.

“What do you think of our empress, Tuerqui?” Lady Isobel asked on the way home.

“She is terrible and she is wonderful mistress. I was wrong not to be afraid when I met her eye. I can see why young women lay down their lives for her, and I can see how she will demand that they do it.”

“You’re right, Tuerqui. I wouldn’t care to be her enemy – or a subject of whom she demands too much. At the same time, some of these boons she has given me… You’ll love this one!”

“What is it, mistress, if I may ask?”

“You may ask, by all means, Tuerqui. But I’ll keep it as a surprise until I’m able to collect on it.”

In the event, I would love more than one of Berenice’s boons – but I think my mistress was referring to that on which she collected three weeks later. Passibelle, and several others, knew about it before I did – giving me knowing looks they wouldn’t explain. On the point of subjecting Honeyminge to a tickling she’d have been unable to withstand, I relented when Switi summoned me to our mistress’ study. Lady Isobel held a cane, long and very supple – it was no torment instrument, but would obviously hurt a great deal.

“Tuerqui,” she said, “this is for you.”

“Yes, mistress. Thank you, mistress. Where would like me to bend, mistress?”

“Silly, Tuerqui! Do I sound cross?”

“No, mistress, you don’t. But if you’re not going to hit me, mistress…?”

“Tuerqui, I’m giving you a bond locker.”

“But, mistress, if I may say so, you pioneered modern slave training – doing away with the old nonsense of bond locker and bond mistress.”

“You may say so, Tuerqui – and it’s perfectly true. But, once in a while, the old fashioned ways are best. Take the cane and follow me.”

We descended the main staircase, through the back hall and out into the carriage yard, the gravel sharp under my feet. Crossing the open space, my mistress conducted me into a shed where Passibelle and Honeyminge held a woman – filth-encrusted and clothed in the rags of what had once been a fine gown. Standing at a bench, a sober suited lady had ready a branding iron, with loose letter slugs, and what must have been a slave registry book. Tuerquelle and a dozen of my friends leaned against the walls or squatted on the floor.

“A fugitive,” my mistress explained. “At the coronation, her majesty gave me the title to the wretch. Now she’s captured and, my love, she will be your responsibility.”

“But who is she, mistress?”

“Don’t you recognise her, Tuerqui?”

At first sight, the bedraggled creature had been unfamiliar, but – on closer inspection – she aroused a fugitive memory I couldn’t quite catch. Resentment came more quickly than recognition, allowing my first pleasurable anticipation of wielding the cane. Reaching forward, I brushed the unspeakable rats’ nest of tangles from her face. At last I could put a name to the captive.

“Henrietta Heartless!” I said.

“Such was her name in personage, my love. What she will be called from now onwards is up to you.”

“Mistress, I can think of no name more demeaning than the one she gave herself – let her be Hartlisse.”

“How would you like that spelt, Tuerqui?” the sober suited official asked, already selecting letter slugs for my bond locker’s brand.

The shed smelt of musty straw and pungent carriage grease. Struggling unavailingly in my friends’ grip, the new bondling gave voice to an inarticulate cry, more that of a beast than a person or slave. Fondling the cane, I enjoyed its well sanded smoothness, and marvelled at how easily it flexed. The brazier, ready for the branding, left the shed uncomfortably hot – the first dribble of sweat rolled down my left arm.

[1] The Empress Berenice Scholarships, designed to promote the empire as a centre of learning, were set up within days of Nadine’s defeat. Those awarded to Lisa-Louise and Jane were probably the very first of them. Endowments in the will of Berenice I ensured that the scholarships have continued until the present day. The annotator, in her early days, was a beneficiary of this excellent scheme.

[2] This, of course, was to be the Imperial Spa. It opened soon after this date in temporary buildings, and soon became an important meeting place for the great ladies of Surrey. The current spa buildings date to the reign of Berenice V.

[3] The institution of protective slavery had been codified under the Statute of Slavery Protection. Under its provisions, persons under protective slavery orders could not be branded, although they were usually tattooed. They were immune from slaughter as blesh, and could be assigned only to a limited number of types of work – specifically excluding any sexual use. Gardening or horticulture were the usual occupations of those enslaved under these provisions. Less often they were assigned light industrial work.

[4] The winged lions were cast in metal. This is not the same as the fountain currently in the University gardens with winged lions carved from stone.

[5] Quadriform prose – a prose style employing paragraphs each composed of four sentences – reflecting the encapsulation of each point in four distinct parts. In formal quadriform prose, each sentence is assigned one of four each of positions, modes, voices and inflections. This gave quadriform prose, theoretically, 256 possible types of sentence. In the most technically correct versions of the prose style only 64 for these were permissible, although another 27 are found in the looser forms of quadriform prose.

The most rigid quadriform rules were observed in the prose epics of the sixth century YD. The best known of these, perhaps, is Julie of Chipstead’s Dark Lady at the Gates of Dawn. It is fair to say that such works are now more admired than read. Quite apart from Tuerqui’s quadriform prose not extending to dialogue, some of her sentences do not conform even to the 91 forms permitted in the loosest version of the style. She evidently made at least intermittent efforts to conform to the rules, but sometimes seems to have considered it sufficient to have four sentences (of any kind) to a paragraph. Julie of Chipstead would certainly not have regarded a large proportion of Tuerqui’s paragraphs as truly quadriform. As far as the modern reader is concerned, this probably enhances Tuerqui’s readability.

[6] Independent company – a group of soldiers working independently of larger formations, in particular independent of the regimental structure. Officers viewed as prospective candidates for promotion to higher rank were placed in charge of independent companies. Such a command tested the officer’s ability to make independent decisions.

[7] This is an extension of the idea of listing people in order of importance (see Chapter 46, note 6). In some narratives of this era, the episodes were placed in a sequence determined by the importance of those involved in them. These can be difficult to follow, and Tuerqui’s chronological sequence is better suited to comprehensibility.

[8] Kilder’s – the premier Surrey slave show of this era. Through most of the last two centuries of the democracy, it had been an annual event. The YD 730 show was cancelled owing to the uncertain political climate. Thereafter, the next show was not held until Berenice’s second regnal year.

For Chapter 50
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Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 48

2008-01-25T18:07:00.000Z

Chapter 48

At our feet, the once polished floor was rough and splintered, stained with dark splashes that were probably blood. The room smelt of an astringent cleaning fluid, the kind that would have been suitable for a public toilet. My eye traced the limits of what had been large windows, but fresh brickwork left only narrow archery slits that bathed the room in shadow. Music sounded faintly from outside, almost certainly soldiers practicing the dance of death.

This was the University gatehouse[1], formerly a pleasant place in which welcome visitors were received. While I hadn’t expected the reception due to a long lost beloved, the suspicion and surliness of the guards came as an unpleasant surprise. After a few gruff questions, they had tied our hands tightly behind our backs, and thrust us without ceremony into the building. One of the sentries had gone to fetch a superior officer while her comrades, standing only a few feet from us, trained crossbows in our direction.

“Look,” said Lisa-Louise, “is this really necessary? We’re friends. We came to warn you of danger. Honestly!”

“Shut up,” was the reply. “Or do you want a shaft in yer eye socket?”

The question being clearly rhetorical, none of us answered, and an uneasy silence descended – apart from two sounds. One was the continuing music from outside, now growing a little louder. The other was the corporal tapping her foot – probably betokening impatience. It seemed to take the officer a long time to arrive.

“Prisoners, eh?” a lieutenant[2] barked on entering the gatehouse. “What are they? Tub-luggers?”

“Yes, ma’am!” the corporal replied. “That’s the way it seems to me.”

“We are not tub-luggers!” Lisa-Louise protested. “What we are is a bit complicated, but we’ve come here to warn you.”

“Warning, eh? Warn us of what, young lady?”

“There’s a force from Lundin on its way – probably in Dorking by now – aiming to harm persons in the University.”

“A force from Lundin, eh? And just how big is this force?”

“They started off at about sixty strong, but we’ve killed a few…”

“Less than sixty, eh?” The lieutenant snorted with laughter. “We’ve seen off an entire regiment of Nadine’s crack troops. Pardon me if I don’t shit meself.”

“They’re more dangerous than you think…”

“Be quiet! I’ve heard enough from you. Why’s one of them wearing a mask, eh? Private West – remove it!”

There clearly being no point in advancing the usual lie about a sabre scar, I didn’t attempt to do so. Unless done calmly and gently, the mask was not easy to unlace, as I’d discovered after killing my mother. The soldier, relying on force rather than finesse, took some time to accomplish my unmasking – in the process pulling my hair and wrenching my neck. Still tapping her foot, the corporal’s signs of impatience were joined by the lieutenant drumming her fingers on the desk.

“Ah!” the officer said, as the mask finally lifted from my forehead. “An RBS mark, eh? She’s a whore, by rights. They really are tub-luggers.”

“I’m the personal property of Isobel Ironhand!” I protested.

“Oh yeah!” The lieutenant produced another snort of laughter. “I suppose you’re Tuerqui, her ladyship’s lost love, eh? As if!”

All of the guards laughed – seemingly unfeigned, if malicious, merriment – rather than a polite or respectful response to the officer’s joke. It occurred to me later than this implied that they’d all heard of me – they weren’t reacting to an obscure remark concerning an unknown slave. At the time, I was too weary to puzzle this out, but felt affronted by their reaction. After a minute or two, the giggling subsided, and relative quiet returned.

“As a matter of fact, I am,” I said.

“And I’m Lady Isobel’s cousin,” Tipsi added.

“You know, ma’am,” the corporal said, “she does look a bit like her ladyship.”

“Yes, Corporal Ellis, she does. I think we’d better take a look at the supposed Tuerqui’s brand. Private West – remove her padded breeches. And be a bit more gentle than you were with her mask – we don’t want to offend her ladyship, do we, eh?”

“No ma’am! Yes, ma’am! Straight away, ma’am!”

She unfastened my breeches very gently, and had I not felt so wretched after too little sleep, her touch would probably have been sexually arousing. Leaving aside her austere military expression, and entirely functional uniform, Private West was an attractive young woman. As it was, not only I was too weary to enjoy having a girl undress me, but still felt as though about to be physically sick. That was, in itself, alarming – the soldier was armed, and few people react well to someone vomiting upon them.

“Tuerqui, right enough, ma’am,” she said, sliding the breeches down my thighs.

“It’s a genuine brand,” the officer said, running her finger over the mark, “and not a recent one. Well, girls, I think we’d better untie these ladies.”

The lieutenant herself unknotted the cord at my wrists, while the corporal unfastened Tipsi’s and Private West Lisa-Louise’s. Presumably, this betokened our perceived order of importance – the beloved Tuerqui, followed by her ladyship’s cousin and then she who had spoken on behalf of the others. Afterwards, I thought it might have been interesting to observe the remainder of the sequence – but, at the time, was more interested in massaging the points at which the rope had constricted my circulation. When I did think, it was to shift out of the others’ way, in expectation of vomiting – sooner rather than later.

“You know about Tuerqui?” Lisa-Louise asked, clearly puzzled.

“Everyone knows about Tuerqui, ma’am,” the lieutenant replied – now according Lisa-Louise the respect due to a superior. “Isobel Ironhand’s lost love, snatched away by pollygoggers. Why, there’s even a song about her.”

Private West began:
The Ironhand lady weeps tonight
Fair Tuerqui is out of sight…[3]

“That will do, private,” the officer said gently.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Private Spurrin, summon the ostlers. Ensure that these ladies’ horses are tended, unharnessed and properly stabled. I’ll conduct the ladies themselves to her ladyship.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Before you lead away my horse,” said Lisa-Louise, “there’s something I’d like from the saddlebags.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Private Spurrin replied.

“If it’s a change of clothing, ma’am,” the officer said, “or some other practical necessity, I’m sure her ladyship would oblige.”

“No,” said Lisa-Louise, “it’s something I need to return to Isobel Ironhand.”

“In that case, ma’am, Private Spurrin will ensure that you have it.”

The lieutenant conducted us through the military camp, Lisa-Louise now carrying a cloth bag slung over her shoulder. Tired though I was, the contrast between this encampment and Sir Garrafad’s, south of Teddy’s Town, made an impression upon me. Each tent’s snowy whiteness was a model of perfection – if any warrior girl was less than immaculate, she escaped my attention. A powerful cleaning fluid was the only unpleasant smell – it was clear that the latrines had been properly dug, and filled in as necessary.

“You keep a smart camp,” Modesty observed.

“Thank you, ma’am. We like to think our regiment is the best.”

As we stepped, the music I’d heard faintly, whilst in the gatehouse, grew louder. In a large clear space immediately in front of University House, perhaps fifty young women were practicing with Surrey infantry swords. Looking at them with some interest, I saw that the training we’d received from Bob Bosset was very little different from these soldiers’ dancing steps and flickering arms. Without thinking, I reached for my blade – instinctively seeking to join the group – but I’d left my weapons strapped to my horse.

When the lieutenant knocked, the door was opened by Fluzi, a slave I recognised, although we had not been close friends. Peering over her shoulder, I could see a child polishing the balustrade of the main staircase. Feeling sure that she was Tuerquelle, I was consumed by an irrepressible urge to run to my daughter and take her in my arms. Glancing back at the door, a few minutes later, Fluzi was staring at me open mouthed, the officer looked concerned, the others were laughing.

“Mummy?” Tuerquelle said.

“Yes, darling, it’s me. I’m back.”

“Whatever is this commotion?” it was Veronica Melchet, emerging from her office.

“Sorry, ma’am.” The lieutenant, saluted. “It’s just that Tuerqui has returned.”

“Well – Tuerqui may have acquired a celebrity status, but I believe that she’s still a slave. There is seemly conduct for a slave, and there is the reverse of that[4]. However, Tuerqui is the personal property of Isobel Ironhand. Fluzi – inform her ladyship that her pollygogged slave has returned.”

“Yes, your ladyship,” Fluzi replied, curtsying.

Hurrying to complete the errand, Fluzi was gone. Lifting Tuerquelle, I continued to hold her tight, she wrapped her arms about my shoulders. Veronica Melchet peered in turn at Lisa-Louise, Modesty, then Jane – her facial expression conveying a low estimation of each woman’s appearance. When her gaze reached Tipsi, she did a double take.

“Good gracious,” she said, “you look extraordinarily like…”

“I’m her cousin. Was her cousin Abigail, but I’m Tipsi now. Lundin slavers grabbed both of us on the same raid.”

The rapid footfalls of a person running sounded from above[5]. Looking upwards, I saw my mistress – care worn but still lovely – clattering down the stairs. Gently placing Tuerquelle on the floor, I rushed to meet Lady Isobel. We met on the first landing and embraced, hugging one another for what seemed a long time before we kissed.

“Tuerqui,” she said at last, “how on earth did you manage to make it back here?”

“It wasn’t easy, mistress, but I had a lot of help. You should thank my warriors. They’re down in the hall.”

“Warriors, Tuerqui?” She looked down at the cluster of figures waiting just inside the doorway. “Hey! Isn’t that…?”

“Your cousin Abigail, mistress. She deserves an especially big reward. She’s really sweet, but put aside her girliness to take up the sword for me – and for Tuerquelle.”

“Abby! Come here! Oh wow!”

Then everybody – other than the lieutenant, Fluzi and Veronica Melchet – seemed to be trying to hug everyone else. All of us were attempting to speak, while nobody bothered to listen, but it didn’t matter. The things that needed to be expressed most urgently didn’t require words. Eventually, a semblance of order descended upon us, and Lisa-Louise opened her cloth bag to present Lady Isobel with my beautiful royal blue and silver harness.

“Oh thank you!” my mistress said. “Not only my slave returned, but her harness, too. You know you could have sold the sapphires?”

“That would’ve been stealing – and a desecration.”

“A desecration of a beautiful harness?”

“And of your mistress-slave relationship. Are you going to re-harness her now? Personage doesn’t much become the girl, she needs to be owned.”

“No, I’m too excited, and she looks too tired, to do that today. In any case, her re-harnessing must be an occasion. Let her remain in personage for tonight, and tomorrow we’ll have her formal investiture into slavery.”

“Thank you, mistress, I am tired.”

“And dirty, too. I think that a bath should be at the top of your priorities.”

It wasn’t long before all seven of us were soaking in a huge tub[6] of hot perfumed water while a bevy of attentive slaves lathered us. The bath was my first since my wedding morning, nineteen days before – it lifted from me not only the dirt, but also much of my weariness and the sick feeling in my stomach. Passibelle, flannelling my back, leaned forward to nibble at my ear. On the far side of the tub, Modesty and Honeyminge had their tongues in each other’s mouths.

By the time we were towelled dry, the stitch slaves had prepared for each of us a floor length, loose-fitting, satin dress – their colours forming a rainbow. Lisa-Louise’s frock was red, Barguin’s orange, Jane’s yellow, Tipsi’s green, mine blue, Diqui’s indigo and Modesty’s violet. When we sat for dinner, my mistress wore a similar dress in white. Seemingly without thought, we seated ourselves in rainbow sequence with Lady Isobel at one end of the table, Lisa-Louise to her right, Modesty to her left – Tipsi occupying the far end with Jane on her left and me on her right.

There were several roast ducks, served with plum sauce, peas and new season potatoes. Amongst the serving slaves was Tuerquelle, clearly not only delighted by my return, but also extremely proud of her supposedly valuable mother. There were several bottles of wine – parsnip, I think. The dessert was of the previous autumn’s fruits preserved in strong spirits.

“I think,” said Lisa-Louise, “that Sir Garrafad and his men present you with a real danger. You – Isobel Ironhand – and Tuerquelle – are their main targets.”

“As you can see, I have heavy protection. A whole regiment of Berenice’s best troops. All the same, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll see that your weapons are returned. There can’t be any harm in doing that, can there?”

“Thanks, I think having weapons would make me feel a bit easier, however many and no matter how good the soldiers are. How come the army’s here, anyway?”

“The answer to that is gynozoa. Does that mean anything to you?”

“Yes – we did get some news in Lundin. It’s a new way of making babies – from the essences of two women. Berenice had a gynozoa daughter, didn’t she?”

“She did indeed, and there you have it. Nadine wanted a gynozoa daughter, too, and sent a regiment[7] to kidnap the scientists. This is where the research was done – so this is where they came[8].”

“And, I suppose, Berenice sent one of her regiments, and they defeated Nadine’s girls?”

“Exactly. And the soldiers are still here, protecting me, Tuerquelle, the University staff, my serving slaves, my concubines…”

“Am I to rejoin your concubines, mistress?” I asked. “It’d be an honour and a pleasure, of course – but the truth is that I’m a bit tired tonight, and think I might be unworthy of so great a lady.”

“Tomorrow, Tuerqui. Believe me, you’ll need a good night’s sleep before I take you between the sheets. Not that I don’t appreciate having you back – and Abby too, of course.”

“Thanks for calling me Abby,” Tipsi said. “But, thinking about it Izzy,” – it was the first time I’d heard my mistress’ name so contracted – “I might stick with Tipsi.”

“How come, Abby, I mean Tipsi?”

“When my friend Fluff was restored to personage, she said she’d keep her slave name because it was as Fluff that we’d all come to love her. It seems to me that Tipsi has shown herself capable of things Abby could hardly have dreamed. I’ll be glad to get back to a girly life, but I’m proud of what Tipsi’s done, and never want to lose touch with that. Does that make sense?”

“Tipsi, it makes a lot of sense,” Diqui said. “I’m going to stick with my slave name, too. I was reckoning to become Ingrid again, but everything you said goes for me. In any case, Diqui sums me up pretty well.”

“What about me?” said Barguin. “I’m sure I really was a bargain for anyone who bought me, but… Oh, shit – I can’t break ranks with my comrades – I’m not going back to being Linda.”

“You don’t have to keep your slave name, if you don’t want to,” said Tipsi. “I was speaking just for me.”

“Nah! The more I think about it, the more it seems a good joke. I like being Barguin.”

It was Spanqumi who, shortly after the meal, escorted me to the blue bedroom, where I was to spend the night. Almost sufficiently tired to doze in my chair – and a little drunk – without my fellow slave’s aid, I probably wouldn’t have found the right door. Slipping out of the blue satin dress, I changed into the confection of chiffon that had been left on the pillow. With a sense of luxury, I inserted myself between clean sheets scented with lavender, and sank deep into a feather mattress.

Against my expectations, I failed to slip instantly into a dreamless oblivion, lying awake instead, thinking of the last few months, and about being my mistress’ concubine in this bed. Drifting close to sleep at last, I felt the pressure of a hand upon the bed and smelt a girl’s perfume. After life in camp, my reaction was automatic – to spring to my feet and reach into the pillow, where my sword should have been. In place of the reassuringly firm hilt of my blade, I encountered only softness.

“I’m sorry Tuerqui.” It was Passibelle’s voice. “I didn’t mean to make you jump.”

“Passibelle! It’s you?”

“Of course it’s me, Tuerqui. Did you think I wouldn’t come?”

“I’m sorry, Passibelle, but I’m so tired. I won’t do you justice tonight.”

“Don’t be silly, Tuerqui. As if that matters! But I’d like to touch you in the night. Have you beside me.”

She slipped into the bed, we kissed, touched one another gently, then sleep took me at last. Briefly emerging from a formless dream in the middle of night, I kissed Passibelle’s hair, she stirred but didn’t wake. For some time I lay enjoying her warmth next to me, noticing for the first time that she wore concubine’s draperies. Then it was bright daylight, and she was bringing me a breakfast tray – rosehip tea, sausages, eggs and thickly buttered crusty bread.

When I saw Lady Isobel, perhaps an hour later, she announced that my re-investiture as a slave was to be a formal ceremony, to be conducted that afternoon. As a consequence, I was still in my blue satin dress when, around mid-morning, the colonel herself – commander of the entire regiment[9] – reported the defeat of Sir Garrafad’s force. Before she would hear the details, my mistress sent for Lisa-Louise, Modesty, Tipsi, Diqui, Barguin and Jane. The officer wore a buff coloured shirt and breeches with gleaming cuirass and black thigh boots, Isobel Ironhand was in her white satin dress, the rest of us in our rainbow frocks.

“Their plan seems to’ve been clever enough in its way,” the colonel said. “Not that it had any chance of succeeding. They’d taken thirty or forty prisoners and stolen a load of thin metal foil – victory decorations…”

“We saw the foil decorations yesterday,” Lisa-Louise said. “But, if Sir Garrafad wanted to celebrate his victory, it was a bit premature.”

“No ma’am, they wanted the foil to create fake armour for the prisoners.”

“Good goddess!” Lady Isobel said. “Why ever should they want to do that?”

“Well, ma’am, you know the narrow valley, where the mill is, just to the south?”

“Yes, of course I know it.”

“They were ramming sharpened stakes into the ground a bit of a way up the valley. The idea seems to have been for us to chase the prisoners up that way – thinking, with the foil cuirasses, that they were armoured infantry. Then their troops would enter the valley behind us and – with the prisoners skipping out of the way – have our heavy cavalry trapped up against the stakes.”

“But, in that case, couldn’t our cavalry have just turned and fought?”

“Maybe, ma’am, but with a tight press of us in a narrow valley, that would have been easier said than done.”

“But they never got to spring their trap?” Modesty asked.

“No, ma’am – we caught them this morning, as you might say, with their panties down. We have no less than forty-three of them enslaved. Maybe half a dozen dead, not many. It’s always a pity to waste slave muscle.”

“If we killed, say, four of them over the last couple of days, that would make ten dead in all,” Lisa-Louise said. “Ten and forty-three is fifty-three – and there were about sixty. I think a few could have escaped. Was a general killed or enslaved?”

“I think so, ma’am. One of the slaves was wearing sky blue breeches with a red and yellow stripe. According to the manual, that’s an enemy general’s uniform.”

“True. Trouble is Sir Garrafad was wearing white breeches.”

“Well, ma’am, a general may change breeches, even one from Lundin.”

“All the same, I’d feel easier if I could check. Is there any chance of me taking a look at the enslaved men?”

“Sorry ma’am, but that would easier said than done. You see, our regiment hasn’t had much in the way of prizes[10] this war, and the girls are anxious to see at least a few pennies of reward. We’re hanging on to the horses for a good price – but the slaves are already on their way to Red Hill market[11].”

Perhaps an hour later, Jane and I – contrasting in yellow and blue dresses – were passing through the hallway. Switi had, evidently, opened the door to a lieutenant accompanying Fiona – Sam the carter’s daughter – looking more than usually vacant. While much was obviously the matter with the girl, I was pleased to see that she’d survived the attack on her parents’ home. Veronica Melchet had been summoned and was involved in conversation with the officer.

“Well, I’ve no idea who she is, or what we can do with her,” Miss Melchet was saying.

“If I may butt in, ma’am,” Jane said respectfully, “I know who she is.”

“Indeed, young lady, are who is she?”

“She’s a carter’s daughter from the other side of Dorking. The Lundin soldiers attacked her home yesterday. They dragged her into the house – and what they did in there can’t have been pleasant.”

“Her name is Fiona,” I added.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Miss Melchet said. “Thank you, Tuerqui – and you, young lady…”

“Jane.”

“Thank you, Jane. Now, Fiona, do you understand what I’m saying?”

“The stone,” Fiona replied, “when you hold it up to the light you get dappled purple on the white sheet… where you turn it over… But the clear one is best… It doesn’t look much, but it makes rainbows, all over everywhere…”

“I think she’s talking about the knick knacks she used to play with, while she was supposed to be cleaning her mother’s bedroom,” I said. “Her mother used to scold her about that.”

“Fiona –” Miss Melchet tried again, “is that what you’re talking about?”

“It only really works when the sun’s shining…The moon wouldn’t do…”

“It’s no use,” Miss Melchet concluded. “We can’t let the poor creature wander the hills and valleys in this state. Switi – can you try to find a place for her in the University slaves’ quarters? I’ll have a word with Lady Isobel.”

My re-inauguration as a slave was held that afternoon in the Great Hall, profusely decorated with flowers, as though for a wedding. The ceremony, too, reminded me of a marriage. The large space was almost full, a company that included – as well as my friends – officers from the regiment camped outside, members of the University staff and a large company of slaves. Lady Isobel in her white gown, and I in blue, stood before a priestess in pink, and a sober suited civil official.

“We are gathered here,” the priestess began, “to mark the re-entry of Tuerqui into slavery. She was taken by cruel pollygoggers, who thrust her into personage. It is the express wish of Isobel Ironhand that she should now be re-enslaved by her own consent. I am here to represent every goddess who is in Surrey, so that Tuerqui’s soul may be placed into the possession of her mistress.”

“And I am here,” said the official, “on behalf of Berenice, Empress of Surrey, to register that Tuerqui’s body is placed in the possession of her mistress. Do you, Isobel Ironhand, take Tuerqui as your personal property under the laws of Surrey?”

“I do,” said my mistress.

“And do you, Isobel Ironhand,” said the priestess, “take the soul of Tuerqui as a gift from the goddesses to be yours here and in the world to come?”

“I do,” she repeated.

“Do you, Tuerqui, formerly Margaret of the Blood Victoria and daughter of the Usurper,” the official said, “renounce all claim to personage? Do you consent to be the personal property of Isobel Ironhand? To obey her in all things? To be owned in absolute and in perpetuity?”

“I do,” I said with considerable satisfaction.

“Do you, Tuerqui, formerly Margaret of the Blood Victoria and daughter of the Usurper,” the priestess said, “standing in the presence of a representative of every goddess who is in Surrey, renounce personage utterly? Do you consent that your soul be the personal property of Isobel Ironhand? To obey her in all things, to serve her upon the earth and in the world to come? To be owned in absolute and for all eternity?”

“I do,” I said solemnly.

“Then, on behalf of every goddess who is in Surrey, I pronounce you, Tuerqui, to be the personal property of Isobel Ironhand – in soul as well as body. May you serve her well upon the earth and in the world to come.”

“Isobel Ironhand, will you sign the bond of enslavement now?” asked the official. “Tuerqui will sign afterwards.”

She ushered us to a table on which lay an impressive-looking legal document carrying a large black wax seal in addition to a couple of smaller dark red ones. There was also a pot of ink and a pen with which my mistress signed her name. Uncertain as to whether I should sign as a person or a slave, I wrote Tuerqui formerly Margaret of the Blood Victoria. Afterwards, the official and then the priestess signed.

“Tuerqui,” the official said, “you are now the personal property of Isobel Ironhand. It remains for you to remove the clothing of personage and accept your mistress’ harness. My lady, you should command her.”

“As your owner, Tuerqui,” my mistress said, “I command you to remove that dress and stand naked before the assembled company, having left personage for ever more.”

Lowering first the left shoulder strap, then the right, I allowed the satin to slide from me. Stepping from the dress, I stood clothed only in a pair of lacy briefs. After a moment’s pause I slid the underwear down my legs and kicked it from me with a little flourish. To applause from the assembled company, I kneeled before my owner.

“Mistress,” I asked, “will you harness me?”

“Tuerqui, I will,” she replied.

Lisa-Louise stepped forward bearing a white cushion on which lay the harness of royal blue leather and silver, set with real sapphires. Lady Isobel snapped the collar lock shut at the nape of my neck. Then, guiding me to my feet, she closed locks at my upper arms, breast piece, belt and thighs. Raising each hand, and then my feet, my mistress placed me in bracelets and anklets.

“Mistress,” I said, “may I speak?”

“Of course you may, Tuerqui.”

“Thank you, mistress. I just wanted to say thank you for the lovely ceremony. You didn’t have to do it. Never has a slave been so honoured, mistress.”

“You’re right, Tuerqui, if you mean that I didn’t need the ceremony to establish a legal claim to own you, but that’s not the point. You and your friends made a dangerous journey. In a legal sense, none of you had to do that. Never has a mistress been so honoured, Tuerqui.”

“I needed to return, mistress, in all sorts of ways. And all of my friends needed to come with me for their own reasons. Mistress, this is like a wedding, only much better.”

“And, just like a wedding, there’s a reception – which is where we should be, my slave.”

“Yes, mistress.”

There was a buffet table laden with tasty salads, crusty bread and butter, exquisite patties, and cold roasts. A second board carried three forms of beer, six or eight types of wine and stacks of glasses from which to sip. Slaves and persons alike were welcome to take their fill of both food and drink. Remembering the night of the pollygoggers’ raid, I drank moderately – but most of those present became at least a little inebriated.

If the ceremony and the reception had been like a marriage, the wedding night was to follow. There is, in my pillow book, a full account of our union – adding much in this place would be both inappropriate and unnecessary. What passed between my mistress and me was filled with passion and deeply satisfying. Never before had I felt myself so utterly possessed.

Thereafter, I returned with gratitude to my former life, as a slave in the University, and as Lady Isobel’s concubine. After two nights with my mistress, I spent the third with Passibelle. We made gentle and joyful love before drifting off to sleep in one another’s arms. Long before dawn someone called me, quietly but urgently.

“Tuerqui! Tuerqui!”

The voice was Jane’s – the tone that of a sentry raising the alarm. After life on the trail, sleeping with a sword in the bundle on which I rested my head, the response remained automatic. As on the night of my return, reaching where I expected my blade to be, my fingers encountered only the soft pillows provided for my mistress’ concubines. Passibelle stirred in the bed from which I had just arisen.

“Wha’ is it?” she murmured. “Wha’ matter?”

“Quickly, Tuerqui!” Jane hissed. “Take your weapons.”

She handed me two heavy objects – one a scabbarded sword, the other a morning star pack – each on a long belt. Already, I was trotting at her heels, slinging a belt over each shoulder as we ran. Our footfalls made scarcely a sound – we were both barefoot. The faint light of the moon, glimmering through the windows, was sufficient to guide us down a staircase and along a passage.

Turning a corner, a group of people were silhouetted, swords drawn. Whipping my blade from its scabbard, I might have struck, but a sense of wrongness held my arm. Perhaps it was a faint perfume that assured me these were friends. After a few heavy heartbeats, someone whispered – Lisa-Louise’s voice.

“We’re all here. Good. They’re in the hallway downstairs. Let’s go.”

A few steps brought us to the head of a staircase – below a group of people were moving furtively, but not silently. Fumbling with the fastening, I withdrew the morning star from its pouch, taking its weight in my left hand. Already, we were creeping down the steps. A board creaked – a sign that, in troubled times, the University was not as well maintained as it had been.

“What the dashed blazes was that?” – it was Sir Garrafad’s voice.

“Death!” was Lisa-Louise’s reply.

Someone lunged at me with a sword – without thought, I ducked under its deadly arc and was swinging upwards with the morning star. It was the first, and only, time I used the weapon in combat. There being no time to think, my actions could only arise from a deep primitive level of being. Reflecting on the matter later, it seemed to me that a savage self selected for him a messy death – recognising my opponent as a man bent upon the destruction of my daughter and beloved mistress.

What followed must have happened very quickly, but time was curiously stretched, and I had an illusion of unnatural slowness. My morning star connected with the man’s face with the sound of cracking bones, spraying me with moisture I didn’t yet recognise as blood. Slicing with the sword, I half severed his wrist, and my opponent’s blade clattered to the floor. He fell, while I continued to slash and pound.

“You can stop now,” Modesty’s voice said after what seemed a long time. “He’s dead. He’s been dead for a while.”

There were loud footfalls, people running, and lamps – the light revealing three distinct groups of persons and slaves. The newcomers – Lady Isobel, Passibelle and others – were clean, armed with lanterns, stair rods and other household objects, their faces masks of horror. We – Lisa-Louise, Modesty, Tipsi, Diqui, Barguin, Jane and I – were blood spattered, armed with weapons of war, and looked remarkably calm. Eight male warriors were also bloody, but lay motionless, covered in terrible wounds.

“Whatever is going on?” my mistress asked.

“It’s over, now,” Lisa-Louise said. “The last of the Lundin troops. They broke in using ropes and grappling hooks. We killed them.”

“I killed two,” said Modesty, “the rest of us one each.”

“I’m pretty sure,” Lisa-Louise added, “that you and Tuerquelle were the targets. Their orders were to re-enslave you and kill the child. But it’s hard to see how they’d have got you, chained, out of Surrey. My guess is that they’d have murdered both of you – but it’s only a guess.”

“I owe every one of you a debt I could never repay.”

“I think I speak for us all when I say that there’s no need for thanks. Back at the Palace Victoria, we agreed that we’d save Tuerquelle. Our mission is accomplished. That’s all.”

My mouth was filled with the stale taste that occupies the interval between awakening and cleaning my teeth. Footfalls sounded, latecomers – slaves and members of the University staff – emerging to investigate what had befallen. The hallway stank of recently butchered meat, and more – the dying men had evacuated their bowels. Glancing down, I saw that not only were the concubine’s draperies ruined – glued to my skin with gore – but blood had soaked into the royal blue leather of my beautiful harness.

[1] This was not the current building – but an older and larger one, originally built as a place in which to demonstrate and practice slave training techniques. It became a gatehouse as the University thrived, and new buildings were constructed.

[2] Tuerqui had, evidently, become adept at recognising rank badges. Possibly, Bob Bosset had included recognition classes in her arms training.

[3] This song was a lilting ballad, very popular and widely sung during the civil war.

[4] It is worth recalling, here, that The University of Pain had been founded purely as an institution to train slave trainers. By this time, it had grown into the foremost educational and research institution in Surrey – achieving excellence in a wide variety of disciplines. Veronica Melchet, however, was amongst the original staff – and must have been especially mindful of matters to do with the training and conduct of slaves.

[5] Presumably recognisable as the footfalls of a person, rather than a slave, because she wore boots or shoes.

[6] During the final years of the Surrey democracy, communal bathing became increasingly popular. Large baths were widely used for political, military or professional conferences – as well as for sexual activity. The great bath in University House was designed to accommodate a dozen people.

[7] The regiment was Berenice’s Own Buff Shirt Guards who were, of course, to achieve a proud record during Surrey’s wars of conquest. The Buffs remain amongst the world’s finest military units.

[8] Berenice Blackheart offered to allow Nadine Next a gynozoa child, provided Sylvia Sneak’s former place on the triumvirate was given to her daughter (the future Berenice II) with Gina Gestate acting as regent. As this would have placed Surrey effectively in Berenice’s control, Nadine instead planned to kidnap the gynozoa scientists from the University of Pain. The Battle of the University took place on Drizzlemoon 9th, and is generally considered the opening engagement of the civil war. The Buffs took many prisoners and held them awaiting enslavement. However, when foreign troops started to move against Surrey, Berenice offered the captives places in newly-formed regiments that were to form the backbone of the armies that defended Teddy’s Town and took the Green Ford.

[9] Colonel Stephanie Slaying – a fine strategist and fearless soldier. Without regard for personal safety, she invariably rode at the head of her heavy cavalry charges. Her subsequent military career was to prove brilliant.

[10] Prizes – the officers and women of victorious units were given much of the booty (including most the captured slaves) as prizes, which then served to boost their income. With their prisoners from the Battle of the University re-deployed as troops, rather than enslaved, they had been left without much booty.

[11] The slaves were, evidently, sold untrained at the first Red Hill sale after the conclusion of the civil war. This seems odd given that the University of Pain had been founded upon training slave trainers. The untrained slaves cannot have returned much money. Perhaps the calculation was that the slaves would have fetched even less after a glut of captives (from Teddy’s Town and other battles) was placed on the market.

For Chapter 49 click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2008/02/of-bondlings-and-blesh-chapter-49.html

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 47

2008-01-19T13:55:00.000Z

Chapter 47

Approaching the camp, we were bothered by buzzing flies, while my horse’s feet sunk deep into the mud. Ahead of us, a large number of tents had been erected, several fires were burning, and soldiers scurried like ants. To judge from the smell, the latrines had not been covered as quickly as they should. To our right, men were singing – the tune seemed to be that of Sweet Maid Be Mine, but the lyrics concerned sexual activities most of which, I would have thought, were simply impossible.

This was Sir Garrafad’s camp, the finding of which had not proved difficult. It lay only two or three miles beyond the river – its approach a swathe of destruction and recently churned mire. Behind us, battle raged at Teddy’s Town. There were minor engagements closer to hand, but such arrows as landed in our vicinity had lost their force – my feeling was that we had passed beyond bowshot of the Surrey archers only just in time.

“Who goes there?” a mud-spattered sentry challenged.

“Irregular troops from the Palace Victoria,” Lisa-Louise replied.

“It’s spymaster Addal’s niece,” said a second guard, sounding thoroughly depressed. “I’ll go and fetch the captain.”

The captain was a young man with blood stained breeches, a sooty cuirass and a dirty face – a cigarette dangled from his lower lip. He was on foot, whilst we – still on horseback – towered above the officer, tempting me to nudge my horse into kicking him. Glancing at us with scant curiosity, it was unclear whether he had so much as noticed my mask. Removing the cigarette from his mouth, he coughed and spat before speaking.

“I’ve neither the time nor the patience to deal them,” he said to the guard. “Take them to Colonel Standish – he’s got bugger all to do.”

“Yuss, sir!” the sentry replied. Then, to us: “If you ladies would care to dismount, I’ll take you to where you needs to go.”

Obediently, we clambered from our saddles and, leading the horses, followed him. Now that my boots – rather than my mount’s hooves – were sinking into the mud, my distaste for the camp increased. As we passed, men peered at us from the flaps of their tents – their ragged and unshaven disorder very different from the smart troops who had departed from the Palace Victoria. Reaching a tent larger and less filthy than the others, we waited outside while the guard entered.

After perhaps ten minutes, a man with a grey moustache emerged from the tent. In contrast to the surrounding squalor, his uniform was smart – with gold braid at the wrists and a shining cuirass. Unlike the other men, he smelled as though he had washed that day. The colonel, for such he obviously was, glared at us as he might so many spatters of mud upon a parade uniform.

“Irregulars!” he snorted. “Damn disgrace, if you ask me. Corporal! Take the blighters to Sir Garrafad – see what he wants to do with ’em.”

The sentry who had served as our guide sauntered in the direction of the perimeter, while a slightly smarter man escorted us deeper into the camp. He led us to the largest of the tents, and the only one to have remained white. There, ostlers took charge of our horses, while we were ushered inside, to a place of gleaming wooden furniture, where our boots muddied an incongruous rug. Sir Garrafad no longer looked immaculate – his hair was a little tousled and mustachios unwaxed – but his dark blue tunic, white breeches[1] and black riding boots showed signs of neither dirt nor wear.

“What’s this?” he roared. “Surrey prisoners? Have they been tortured?”

“We are irregular troops from Lundin,” Lisa-Louise replied. “You and I have met before. I’m Wilfred Addal’s niece.”

“So you are. Torture inappropriate, I suppose. Pity. Dashed pity.”

“We’ve come,” she continued, ignoring the general’s remarks, “to offer our services.”

“Offer your services? Dashed impertinence! Girls in arms? Damned disgrace – that blighter Bosset wants horsewhipping for coming up with the idea.”

“Leaving Sergeant General Bosset aside, sir, perhaps you might find us useful as scouts.”

“I have my own scouts, miss, no need for more. And why’s one of you wearing a mask? Damnable bad show in a general’s presence.”

“Sir, it’s the slash of a sabre,” I lied. “You might not care to see my face.”

“Not so pretty now, eh? Don’t suppose the boys will want to kiss you any more. Serve you damn well right. Maybe you’ll have go native and consort with your own sex.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I was joking, you damnable harridan.”

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.”

“What would you like us to do, sir?” Lisa-Louise asked.

“The only places for girls around the battlefield are to bind wounds and whore themselves. How do you see yourselves fitting in with that?”

“We are not whores, sir. My uncle would turn in his grave at the very suggestion. Do not forget, sir, that he gave his life in defence of Lundin.”

“Do what you damn well like – as long as you don’t bother me or my men. Don’t get in our way, girly, there’s men’s work to do, here.”

“We’ll try not to get in your way, sir. And I hope that your men will loose no arrows in our direction, should we chance to be in range.”

“Damnable nuisance. But I’ll give instructions that no one should shoot at you… Corporal – escort them from the camp!”

The interview at an end, we took our horses from the ostlers and led the beasts back to the perimeter. At the flaps of their tents, filthy and dishevelled men puffed on pipes, swigged from bottles of strong spirits and played games of chance. One soldier, I noticed, was defecating in the mud immediately outside his tent, spattering the canvas with his filth – his action, ignored by the other troops, went some way to account for the stink. It was a relief to climb back into the saddle, as we left the camp.

“Well,” said Diqui, “we didn’t achieve much there.”

“We’ve achieved enough,” said Lisa-Louise. “Now, I hope, we can follow them without anyone shooting at us. Leastways, not until we shoot at them.”

“Useful to be allowed the first volley,” Modesty agreed.

During the next two weeks, there was little chance of following the army – it wasn’t going anywhere. Whenever Sir Garrafad’s men made a move to advance, Surrey warrior girls blocked their progress. Each skirmish resulted in the deaths of between half a dozen and twenty Lundin guardsmen – and both sides returning to their positions. The area occupied by the troops loyal to my father and his allies remained constant – but the same was not true of their opponents.

“The Surrey girls are tightening their grip on the Lundin army, aren’t they?” I asked Modesty, after witnessing eight or nine more corpses dragged back into the camp.

“They certainly are, Tuerqui. The Lundin guards are more or less surrounded. I’d say there’s only a day or two left before the last chance for even a few of them to break out.”

“Sir Garrafad must know that, Modesty, we see his scouts patrolling every day. But there’s no sign of them trying to strike the tents and move out. It’s as though they don’t want to escape the trap.”

“More likely,” said Lisa-Louise, “he realises that his army can’t win. The best he can hope for, I think, is a small force slipping out by night and passing unnoticed through the Surrey lines. Sacrificing his main force so that a few of them can head south.”

“We need to keep a look out for that. If any of the soldiers escape, they’ll be out for Tuerquelle’s blood.”

“That, Tuerqui, is what we’ve been doing for the last fortnight. The force will have to head south, that’s why we’re on this side of the camp. It hasn’t passed yet – don’t worry.”

“It can’t be much longer, mistress. The Surrey girls are definitely reinforcing to the south.”

“Yes – keep a sharp eye out when you’re on sentry go. It’ll probably have to be tonight or tomorrow.”

Diqui, Barguin and Jane had raided Sir Garrafad’s camp, including an unauthorised visit to the officers’ cooking tent. Consequently, that night, we had cold roast fowl, served with elderflower wine, while there were carrots and apples for our horses. They had also returned with march ration biscuits, beast flake and additional quarrels for our crossbows – my impression was that Lisa-Louise expected us to require these within the next day or two. The prospect of moving on simultaneously pleased and alarmed me – I was tired of staying put, but fearful of what might befall.

Modesty and I took the uneventful second watch that night, observing no sign of activity at the camp perimeter. Afterwards, my bedroll was more than usually welcome – the wine with our evening meal had left me a little thick headed. When Jane shook me awake, I didn’t need to be told what was happening. Rolling my blankets, I glanced down towards Sir Garrafad’s army where a group of mounted men – too many to be a scouting party – headed south, moving almost silently.

Following them was not an easy ride, and for most of the remainder of the night we were dismounted, leading our horses. The soldiers ahead climbed the steep side of a valley by the most direct and precipitous route. Having crested the ridge, they took the most difficult way downwards. Clearly the force was taking a path that didn’t seem worth guarding, so that they could slip through a gap in the Surrey warrior girls’ defences.

With first light we strained our eyes to catch any detail of the force we had followed. The company comprised about sixty men, all of them mounted. Their armour seemed to have been deliberately dulled – perhaps with soot. At the head of the column rode an officer whose dull coloured coat flapped open, occasionally, to reveal startlingly white breeches[2].

“Who do you reckon that is,” Diqui asked of no one in particular, “in the white pantaloons?”

“Sir Garrafad,” Lisa-Louise replied, “without a doubt. And that means that we’re following the right company.”

An hour or so later, we entered open farmland in which green unripe wheat sprouted from the rich dark earth. The soldiers ahead paused to loot from the first large farmhouse – no one made a move to oppose them. They left with an ox, a few chickens, eggs, cheese, bread and other provisions. The plundering was repeated several times during the morning.

Only one farmer protested – a guardsman silenced him with a single sword stroke. Soldiers dragged from the house a girl – probably his daughter, and a woman – his wife, I assumed. Unbuttoning their breeches, the troops embarked upon a gang rape, Lisa-Louise motioned for us to dismount, and we took cover behind a tall hedge.

“Time for a bit of target practice,” she said.

She unloosed a quarrel that took one of the rapists just below his back plate, lodging – I thought – in the base of his spine. Several other shots produced bright red splashes, although I was uncertain as to whether mine found its mark. Sir Garrafad bawled at this men – I recognised his voice – telling them to damned well remount and get shifting. It seemed to me that he was panicking – they could have been upon us before we’d had time to reload.

We waited until Sir Garrafad and his men had breasted the hill before we emerged from cover. Outside the farmhouse the only remaining soldier was the one shot at the base of his spine – the farm woman and girl were kicking him. Evidently unable to move, he was not only alive but conscious, sobbing and asking for his mother. He screamed when Lisa-Louise retrieved the quarrel, making no attempt at gentleness.

“Thanks, lady,” said the farm woman. “D’ you want yer prisoner?”

“We’ve no use for him,” Lisa-Louise replied. “He’s got no more than any rapist deserves and – so far – a bit less. Do what you want with him, ladies, although I think he’s too badly injured to make a useful slave.”

“Just give the bastard a nasty death,” said Jane.

By the time we crossed the ridge, Sir Garrafad and his troops were camped on the next hilltop – fires lit, presumably to cook lunch. We paused to eat the remainder of the fresh food plundered the previous day, aware that our next meal was likely to be of march ration biscuits. Having been on our way since the middle of the previous night, without the leisure to take breakfast, we were all very hungry. Our horses received oats – superior fodder to beast flake, but less conveniently carried.

Continuing to follow when the troops ahead moved on, we came during the afternoon to a recent battlefield[3] – marked by a flock of crows and, even at perhaps two miles distance, a stench of death. Here, Sir Garrafad’s men had paused. My first thought was that they were looting weapons and soldiers’ personal possessions. Approaching a little closer, I realised, vomit rising in my throat, that they were sexually defiling the corpses.

“Do you see what they’re doing?” I asked.

“Yes,” Lisa-Louise replied, “it’s horrible. But, while I’ll risk a volley for the sake of living women, it’s not worth it for the dead.”

“Mortalia take them, all the same,” I said.

“Mortalia?” asked Tipsi.

“An Essex goddess – she protects the living from the dead, and the dead from the living.”

“Then I’m sure Mortalia will take them – and good luck to her.”

Once Sir Garrafad’s men were done, and had moved on, we approached the battlefield, where flies proved the most numerous living things. The corpses – the debris of young lives cut short – aroused in me pity mingled with nausea. Since all of the dead were girls, this was clearly a civil war conflict and, with Nadine’s dragon standard trampled into the mud, Berenice’s soldiers must have won. Knowing that Lady Isobel supported the victor gave me a crumb of comfort – but didn’t much help.

In the late afternoon, we passed a village I recognised – it was one of the more outlying places to which Sam sometimes delivered. Sir Garrafad’s men could easily have reached Sam’s house during the evening, had they continued riding. After that, it wasn’t very far to Dorking and the Laughing Phallus – beyond lay the University of Pain. To my relief, the Lundin troops ahead of us made camp early – their doing so gave us a little more time.

We camped on a partially wooded hill, a place that afforded a good view of the soldiers we were following. Lisa-Louise had the idea that there would be no harm in our lighting a fire, there being half a dozen of them burning in the country ahead of us. With some water from a nearby stream, Tipsi made an approximation to porridge from march ration biscuits. The result was, in most regards, less palatable than eating the food dry – but there was a measure of comfort in having something warm.

“You seem worried, Tuerqui,” Lisa-Louise said.

“Yes, mistress, I am. From where they’re camped, Sir Garrafad’s men could easily reach Sam the carter’s place before noon tomorrow. Depending on how long the slaughter takes them, they could be in Dorking for Madame Scurf during the afternoon. The University of Pain would be reachable by nightfall.”

“So this is it, Tuerqui?”

“I’m pretty sure that it is, mistress.”

“I’ll take the first watch with you. That way, you should have unbroken sleep for the most of the night.”

“The goddess willing, mistress.”

It seemed that the goddess might be willing – my watch with Lisa-Louise passed without, it seemed, real cause for alarm. A couple of times, we thought to hear something at the perimeter – but could find nothing to account for the noise. After Modesty and Tipsi relieved us, I settled into my bedroll, with my sword tucked into the bundle that served as a pillow. Although expecting to toss and turn, I fell asleep remarkably quickly.

Aroused by clattering, neighing and human cries, I was instantly on my feet with my blade in my hand. Silhouetted in the firelight were two figures with drawn swords, at their feet dark shapes that didn’t move. Approaching, it was clear that Tipsi and Modesty had survived the incident, while a couple of men had not. The two corpses were clothed in workman’s breeches and leather jerkins – not the uniforms of soldiers.

“There were three of them!” Modesty said. “The third got away on a horse, and leading two more.”

“Right!” said Lisa-Louise. “Modesty, Tipsi and Jane will stay to guard the camp. The rest of you on horseback. Now!”

Impelled by urgency, we saddled our horses faster than on any previous occasion. A crescent moon, perhaps three days before half, cast sufficient illumination to see the outlines of the stolen beasts. The robber, riding bareback and leading two animals, was making slower progress than we were. Even so, he remained ahead of us on reaching the comparative security of his camp.

“Dismount and lead your horses,” said Lisa-Louise. “It looks like we’ll have to fight.”

“Why not fight from horseback?” Diqui asked.

“We’re not cavalry girls[4]. In any case, if any horses are killed – or badly hurt – we might just as well have let the thief keep his loot.”

Three men from the thief’s party didn’t wait for us to approach, but rushed in our direction. A burly man with a great bushy beard hurled himself towards me, swinging a four foot blade as though it were a toy. Ducking beneath the arc of his sword, I thrust upwards with my own – the metal juddered on bone, then sank deep into my opponent’s chest. As he fell backwards, the hilt of my weapon was wrenched from my hand.

Cautiously, I stepped forward to retrieve the sword, still embedded deep in his chest. There was a suggestion of movement at the corner of my eye. In a single movement, I spun round and withdrew my dagger from its sheath. Someone was lunging at me with a knife – my response was automatic.

My dagger had already done its deadly work when I realised that my second opponent was female, and harnessed as a slave. A moment later, I recognised her face in the pale moonlight. Beyond tears, I gazed down at the dying woman. She lay, staring up at me, blood pumping from the wound, a dark stain spreading into the shadows.

“Do you recognise me?” I asked.

“I know you,” she confirmed. “You’re my enemy. You killed the only man I ever loved, and now you’ve killed me.”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t realise…”

“Don’t worry. Now that Bobby’s dead, I’m as well pleased to join him. I’ll be glad to serve my master in the World to Come.”

She hadn’t recognised me – of course she hadn’t – the upper half of my face was hidden by a leather mask. How could she grant me the forgiveness I needed, if she didn’t know who I was? Hands at the nape of my neck, I struggled with the mask – it refused to budge, I bit my lip until the blood flowed. As the recalcitrant object finally came away, the dying slave regarded me with widening eyes.

“The gods save us,” she murmured.

“Please,” I implored.

With her last strength, she reached toward me. Falling to my knees, I embraced her. She was dying. There was now no remedy for that.

“I didn’t know,” I said. “I wouldn’t… We needed the horses to save my daughter – and now I’ve…”

“Don’t worry…” she repeated. “I hope I’d have done as much for you… Old generations die to make way for new… Goodbye, sweetheart…”

She convulsed and was still. When I placed a kiss on her forehead, her body was tenantless. Tears coursed down my cheeks. A gentle hand stroked my shoulder.

“A friend from your slavery, Tuerqui?” it was Lisa-Louise’s voice.

“No,” I replied. “My mother.”

Lisa-Louise stood back as I composed the body, as well as possible, before rising to my feet. Picking up my dagger, I stepped to the corpse of my mother’s lover – and, placing a foot on his chest, eased my sword from the wound. Wiping my eyes, I counted the people still standing – there were four of us. There were seven in our party – no – three were still at the camp – none of us had been killed.

“I’m sorry, Tuerqui,” Lisa-Louise said. “If we’d known…”

“If we’d known,” I replied, “we’d probably be three horses down. Then maybe Tuerquelle would be murdered. Like my mother said, old generations die to make way for the new. All the same…”

“It’s not easy, is it?”

“No,” I said, weeping again, “it isn’t. Maybe it’d be easier if we’d been closer. She had me brought up by a nanny. And now we’ll never…”

“No you won’t. We’ll turn their cooking blaze into a pyre – and then be on our way. Tomorrow or the next day we’ll have to save your daughter.”

Diqui and Barguin helped us to drag fallen timber from the woods, and stack it on the fire. Once the blaze properly sprang to life, we lifted the bodies of my mother and her lover – handling them respectfully – to place them on top. There had not been time to assume my cuirass, so my goddess on her chain was easy to extract. Having done so, I prayed for the souls of those we had killed, and for Tuerquelle’s safety.

Mounting, I turned only once to look back at the pyre. The return to our camp seemed shorter than the outward journey – although I’d have expected the opposite. Modesty, Tipsi and Jane were clearly relieved to see all four of us return – and with a full set of horses – but I wasn’t in the mood to talk. Returning to my bedroll, I struggled fitfully for what seemed a long time before sleep took me.

In the morning, Sir Garrafad’s men were clearly in no hurry to strike camp. At first, their delay pleased me, but – as the morning wore on – I became increasingly impatient. It was almost lunchtime when they finally saddled their horses. We followed, narrowing the gap between us and them during the early afternoon.

The countryside was increasingly familiar, lanes that I’d repeatedly worked as a draught slave. Finally, the stable in which I’d been housed came into view. Smoke curling from Sam and Sarah’s chimney showed that their house was still inhabited. Looking beyond, I saw the cart breasting the ridge on the other side of the valley, lumbering in our direction.

A slave-drawn goods wagon is not a fast vehicle – the vanguard of Sir Garrafad’s force reached Sam’s house while the cart was barely half way down from the ridge. Roger was the first to die – he seemed to have been sleeping behind a mass of sacks and bales, presumably awaiting transhipment. Two soldiers hoisted him to his feet, while a third guardsman cut a lengthwise incision from throat to belly. The Lundin troops cheered as the Surrey boy screamed.

We urged our horses into a half ruined barn, then took cover behind a low wall. As Roger’s butcher turned to face his comrades, Modesty loosed a quarrel. The wretch tumbled forward, blood spurting from his eye socket. Several soldiers fired crossbows, but clearly without any idea of our position – one caught a cart slave in the chest, I think that she died instantly.

Sarah emerged from her front door, whip in hand. The enraged woman landed several good blows before soldiers disarmed her. Her action reminded me of a hen blackbird I’d once seen, vainly attempting to defend her brood from a marauding cat. She could have flown, but stayed and perished.

The cart had continued its progress erratically, with the dead slave dragged by the traces, tripping her shaft mates – Sam now reined them in, and applied the brake. Standing on the box for a moment, he surveyed the scene. Obviously disinclined to adopt Sarah’s blackbird tactics, he leapt to the road, putting the cart between the soldiers and him. Without heeding the obvious pain, he wriggled through a hawthorn hedge that would have stopped anyone short of desperation.

While Sam began to sprint across the field on the far side of the hedge, his wife was held by three burly soldiers. A fourth tore at her garments before unfastening his breeches. Several of us fired from behind our wall. One of the soldiers holding Sarah received a quarrel in the head, the would be rapist had blood gushing from his thigh.

Jittery archers, taking cover now, shot at random – this time no one was hurt. The two uninjured soldiers thrust Sarah back into her house, where they must have raped and probably killed her. A few minutes later, Fiona – paler and thinner than ever – emerged with a shrill cry. No one followed the girl from the building – presumably those inside were preoccupied with her mother.

Half a dozen soldiers had urged their horses up the road toward the cart, where slaves were unhitching themselves from the shafts. Wheeling abruptly left, the cavalrymen cleared the hedge without breaking pace. Sam turned towards them as they bore down upon him, like hunters upon a beast. The troopers raised their sabres, ready to strike.

In the yard, soldiers had seized Fiona. One tumbled with blood gushing – a quarrel from Tipsi that time, I’m almost certain. Our fire could not prevent them from bundling the girl back into the house, where she was surely raped repeatedly. The only aspect of affairs to please me was that most of the cart slaves seemed to be making good their escape.

The riders upon him, Sam fell to his knees where, with hands clasped behind his head, he bent over, forehead pressed to the earth. There was a suggestion of the foetal in his posture, as though he wished Mother Earth to take him to her womb. After a few sabre slashes, three of the soldiers dismounted, two of them lifting the struggling carter in a macabre travesty of birth. Lisa-Louise, having reloaded, fired again – a soldier fell, but his companions remained.

“There’s nothing we can do here,” Lisa-Louise said. “We should do better for Madame Scurf – and must do much better for Tuerquelle. Tuerqui, you know this country – where will they go next?”

“Dorking, for Madame Scurf. They need to turn left just beyond the ridge. It’s not very far.”

“Can we get there ahead of them?”

“Yes, as long as they don’t move on too quickly. If we cut across the fields, we can reach a lane that brings us out a mile or two down the road from Dorking.”

“OK, girls,” Lisa-Louise said. “Saddle up behind the barn, follow Tuerqui, and try to keep out of sight.”

Within twenty minutes we could see the more easterly houses of Dorking – my memory of the area having proved accurate. Even at first glance, there was obviously something wrong with the town. A blur of smoke, and acrid burning smell, was the product of neither hearths nor stoves. Approaching closer, several of the buildings had obviously been gutted.

Turning into a side street, I saw that the Laughing Phallus had suffered badly. It was the mere shell of a building, bricks encrusted with soot. The brothel sign had been removed from its pole and lay across the street, back broken, like a gigantic half-open penknife. The painted grin leered idiotically in our direction.

The main street had been deserted, but someone sat on the brothel doorstep. It took me a minute or two to recognise her as Madame Scurf. She was unkempt and filthy, eyes red from smoke, grief or both. Her gaze remained fixed upon the broken sign as we approached.

“What happened?” Lisa-Louise asked.

“Tub-luggers[5],” she replied without looking up, “murdering, looting and burning. They’ve taken all me girls and boys, burnt the house, and wrecked me lovely sign. They meant to take it with ’em, but dropped it. Not that it matters – me business an’ me life are over.”

“Your life really will be over, if you stay here. Almost sixty Lundin troops are at Sam the carter’s place – or were a short while back. You’re next on their vengeance list. If they find you, it’ll be nasty.”

“Vengeance from Lundin troops?” she asked, looking up for the first time. “What do they want with me? I ain’t never been to Lundin. Not even close.”

“It’s the man who rules Lundin. You had his daughter as a whore – then sold her to Sam. They’re aiming to restore his honour, as they see it. If you’d seen what they did to Sam’s son, you’d be running.”

“Roger? They got Roger? Bastards! He were an idle body, but there weren’t no ’arm in ’im.”

“Well – I’ve warned you, and that’s as much as I can do. The rest is your business. We have to be heading on.”

Madame Surf rose to her feet. She showed no sign of running, but did walk slowly from her brothel, through a narrow gap between the buildings towards a green field at the end of the alley. We reined in our horses and were soon on the main road – heading for the University of Pain. Dorking soon vanished as we rounded a bend, but the pall of smoke was still visible when I glanced back perhaps twenty minutes later.

The next small town was in marked contrast to the desolation at Dorking. The streets were full of people – singing, drinking, laughing. Buildings were decorated with images formed of thin metal foil – depicting the sun, moon, stars and warriors. As we made our way slowly through the crowded streets, the local constable – armed with a sword and poleaxe – approached us.

“Who are you?” she asked. “Tub-luggers?”

“If we’re tub-luggers where’s our loot?” Lisa-Louise asked. “We’re scouts – keeping an eye on Lundin troops.”

“Lundin troops? This far south? I never heard of such a thing. And why’s one you wearing a mask?”

“Sabre slash across my face,” I repeated the usual lie.

“Sir Garrafad and almost sixty Lundin soldiers are approaching Dorking – and then will be heading this way,” said Lisa-Louise. “You’d better get the people to take cover. They’ll be here before dark.”

“That’ll be a problem. The townsfolk are celebrating. Of course they’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?”

“Haven’t you heard? The Victory? Where have you been? Hiding down a treacle well?”

“We’ve been trailing Sir Garrafad, all the way from Teddy’s Town. Victory?”

“Berenice has won the war. Nadine fled yesterday. This afternoon, Field Marshal Marilyn Mailfist surrendered her army at Leatherhead[6].”

“We’ve won the war!”

“Yes, sister, we’ve won the war!

The constable did not attempt to detain us – perhaps she still suspected us of villainy, but was in no position to arrest a band of seven well armed women. We urged our horses slowly through the crowd, to emerge once more upon the open road. Glancing back again, the smoke from Dorking was no more than a vague smudge. Looking ahead, the sun shone on prosperous-looking farms, seemingly untouched by war.

“With the civil war over,” Modesty said, “there’s no way that Sir Garrafad can get back to Lundin[7] – unless it’s as a slave after Berenice conquers the city.”

“That seems about right to me,” Lisa-Louise agreed. “But it may make him even more dangerous. If he has no hope, who knows what desperate things he might do?”

“Worse than this afternoon?”

“Maybe.”

A bend in the road suddenly brought us within sight of the University of Pain. Tears rose in my eyes – perhaps joy on finally coming home, possibly concern for my loved ones, more likely both of those combined. Straining my eyes for changes since I’d been away, the buildings seemed a little neglected – here and there a tile was missing from the roof, the windows less bright than they should be. The gardens had not been returned to their peacetime beauty, quite the reverse – a military force, seemingly several hundred strong, was camped where once there had been fountains, lawns and flower beds.

A taste of blood filled my mouth, giving me the idea that I was about to vomit. To our left, a skylark burst into song as it ascended into the sun bright sky. A great weariness descended upon me – it seemed an age since I’d had a proper night’s sleep. In a field to our right, a foal gambolled with the exuberance of life’s first flush of delight.

[1] The standard uniform for generals, amongst Surrey’s enemies of this period, included sky blue breeches with a red and yellow stripe (see Chapter 33, note 1). It seems that Sir Garrafad had reverted to an older tradition by which generals were distinguished on the battlefield by their white breeches. They showed their courage by making themselves especially conspicuous.

[2] Sir Garrafad was, evidently, still wearing his white breeches (see note 1) – but, prudently, making them less conspicuous with a dull coloured coat.

[3] This must have the Battle of Wilson’s Meadow. On Cornsprout 21st, Nadine’s 6th Company of Foot, en route to reinforce her main army, was overtaken by Berenice’s 4th Cavalry Regiment at Wilson’s Meadow – and slaughtered. The precise location of Wilson’s Meadow is unknown, but it would have been on (or close to) Tuerqui’s route. Two locations in that general area – Blood Meadow and Slaughter Farm – have been suggested as the battlefield.

[4] Lisa-Louise is distinguishing between mounted infantry and cavalry. The latter rode into battle on horses, but fought on foot – the latter fought from horseback. A civilian might have loosely used the word cavalry for both.

[5] Tub-luggers – freebooting marauders taking advantage of the disorder associated with war. Some were army deserters, others foreign adventurers or common criminals. A few were escaped slaves.

[6] These details are correct. On Cornsprout 23rd, Nadine Next’s army broke at the Battle of West Cott. Nadine fled to the south coast, where she took ship. She was to settle in Llandudno, north Wales. On Cornsprout 24th, Field Marshal Marilyn Mailfist entered Leatherhead and formally surrendered her army. The civil war was over, and Berenice I undisputed empress of Surrey.

[7] With the civil war over, there was no hope of breaking through the Surrey lines for any part of the army Sir Garrafad had commanded. Colonel Standish resisted for another week before surrendering the bulk of the army, still camped a few miles south of Teddy’s Town, on Cornsprout 30th. Under the terms of the surrender, the officers were to be allowed to return to Lundin, but their soldiers were to be enslaved. Enraged by this agreement, some of the soldiers mutinied and killed more than thirty of the officers. Colonel Standish barely escaped with his life, but did return to Lundin. The Surrey commanders allowed at least some of the mutineers to escape, as people likely to harm their enemies’ interests. The more compliant troops, and a few of their officers, were enslaved.

For Chapter 48 click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2008/01/of-bondlings-and-blesh-chapter-48.html

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 1

2008-01-11T16:35:00.000Z

Of Bondlings and Blesh

P F Jeffery

Being the memoirs of Tuerqui

Edited with reference to the original manuscripts and annotated by Jennifer Petrie, senior archivist at the University of Pain

Chapter 1

A zephyr rustled in the leaves on overhanging branches, the air was filled with the songs of birds, the names of which I didn’t yet know. Having recently tripped over what was probably a tree root, my skinned knees still stung. My mother’s musky perfume mingled with the lavender Nanny Spencer always wore. The clear water of a brook teemed with tiny fishes – I poked a stick at them, and instantly they were gone.

Glancing up, I saw a creature in the shadow of the trees – man-like, but exceptionally hairy and uglier than any person or slave has a right to be. My brother started to scream. The beast thing, to which I couldn’t yet put a name, tumbled – falling face-down on the grass. Steeling myself to approach, I saw that the shaggy thing had an arrow in its side and bright red blood was spreading over the green surface on which it lay.

That is, I think, my earliest coherent memory. It must have been summer, but whether that of my first, second or third birthday, I cannot say. The place must have been the forest that covers much of southern Essex – for I was raised there, in the Belle House, my mother’s ancestral home. Possibly I had been born in Lundin, for my father – claiming the title of Chieftain of the Blood Victoria – ruled that city, but no early recollections of the place remain with me.

The first three letters of the alphabet to come my way were M-o-r. Essex folk would understand that immediately, but others will need some explanation. It is the sign of Mortalia[1], with the little, ring and middle fingers pointing downwards to form the M – while the index finger is crossed with the thumb to produce the o-r. Nanny Spencer taught me to form the sign one night when I was frightened – my age was almost certainly three.

It must have been Swellbelly or Mistream, for there shone the huge bright full moon only to be seen at that time of year. My room was filled with shifting shadows, it seemed the claws of some huge and frightful beast. Nanny Spencer answered my cries with a lamp in her hand. With the light, the threatening forms grew pale, ceased to be scary.

“Why Margaret,” she said, “whatever is it?”

“There were claws, nanny. But now they’ve faded.”

“Claws, child? You must have been dreaming. Or do you mean the shadows from the trees? There’s a wind tonight, and a good bright moon.”

“Just the shadows, nanny. But I thought…”

“Well, Margaret, if ever you think it might be spooks, you can protect yourself easily enough. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Just point these three fingers downwards like so, to form an M, and curve this over the thumb for her o-r. The goddess will hold the dead from vexing the living, never fear.”

The day we saw the slave branded, I tried to use my limited knowledge of letters. Nanny Spencer and I had taken a trap into one of the nearby small towns, it may have been the West Cliff, to buy some ribbons for my hair. We came upon a man – naked and bound – on a podium outside what must have been the court house. They placed something in his mouth before applying the hot iron to his thigh – his anguished expression and the smell of burning flesh remain as vivid memories.

“What are they doing to that man, nanny?” I asked.

“They’re branding him. It marks his passage from personage to slavery.”

This was my first intimation that persons could become slaves. Since all of the male slaves in the Belle House were trimmed, had I possessed any knowledge of reproduction, it would have been obvious that they couldn’t breed. But knowing about such matters lay several years in the future. It had probably not occurred to me that persons belonged to the same species as slaves.

“Can a person really become a slave, nanny?”

“Yes, my sweet, it can happen. That man was very bad. He took things that didn’t belong to him.”

“But, nanny, sometimes I’m naughty. Might they make me a slave?”

“Tush, child, of course not. You’re a princess – you have personage in absolute[2]. No one’s going to make you into blesh[3] patties, my darling.”

“What’s the mark on the new slave’s thigh, nanny?” I asked, feeling reassured and rubbing the tears from my eyes.

“They’re letters, forming his new name, Margaret.”

Knowing the three letters M-o-r, I looked for them in the brand. It seemed to me that the M had been applied upside-down. It wouldn’t be long before I realised that his slave name actually began with W, although its other letters are long since forgotten. Looking through an ABC book, I used to giggle over my mistake.

A is for Adder, its bite is pure Acid
B is for Bondling[4], made out of Blesh

the book began. Later, it included:

M is for Mud, that makes a child Mucky
and
W is for Worm, a thread that Wiggles

Subsequently, my education passed from Nanny Spencer’s kind methods to those of Miss Lace, the governess. There was a schoolroom in the east wing of the Belle House, a bleak place – smelling of chalk dust and metallic ink – in which the formidable lady conducted her lessons. She spanked us very often and, for what she considered more serious breaches of discipline, also had a cane and a strap. When I first joined the class, there were seven other girls, probably ranging in age from six or eight to their mid teens – all of them related to me on my mother’s side.

On first encountering her, Miss Lace seemed very old to me. Later, I was to realise that she was, in reality, young – perhaps not much more than twenty – and pretty. Aged perhaps ten or eleven, I formed a crush on her and started to misbehave deliberately so that she would put me over her knee, pull down my knickers, and spank me. Sometimes, by miscalculation, I was too naughty – then she wielded the cane or strap, treatment which always had me in tears.

When I was twelve, a new girl joined our classes – someone I’d never seen before. She was about my age, but placed in a schoolroom uniform several sizes too large, seemed younger. Her hair was close cropped, the first time I’d met a girl who didn’t wear it long. My first thought was that she might be a boy, thrust – perhaps as a punishment – into his sister’s clothes.

“Girls,” said Miss Lace brightly, “this is Jenna. I’m sure you’ll make her feel at home. She is a relation of Margaret’s father. Her daddy came here as an emissary, but has renounced the wickedness of Surrey[5].”

Judith, a ten year old cousin[6], made Jenna feel at home by deliberately spilling some ink, and then successfully blaming the new girl. Miss Lace then extended, as her welcome, the newcomer’s first spanking in our classes – adding that, if Jenna ever did such a thing again, she would most certainly be caned. The expressions on the faces of several of my cousins showed that they were considering how that might most easily be arranged. Feeling sorry for the stranger, I was the only one to speak to her at break.

“Hello,” I said, “I’m Margaret. Are you really a girl?”

“Of course I’m a girl. What a stupid question.”

“It’s just that you’ve got short hair – like a boy.”

“I’m from Surrey – and I wish I was there now. In Surrey, a lot of girls wear it short. Down there, boys often have long hair, if it comes to that.”

“It must be an upside-down place.”

“Hoi!” Judith interrupted. “Don’t talk to her! If you do, I’ll see you get the strap this afternoon. She’s from Surrey.”

Judith concluded her remarks with a pretence of being physically sick. Whether I would have continued to talk to Jenna that break is something I’ll never know – a moment later, Miss Lace rang the bell for lessons to recommence. Thereafter, I spoke to the new girl only when I thought that no one was watching. Sometimes, inevitably, I miscalculated and was on the receiving end of my classmates’ spite.

Jenna attended Miss Lace’s classes for a year or eighteen months, but was never accepted by the other girls – even when her hair started to grow and was dressed in a more feminine style. As far as it was possible for me to tell, only the governess and I ever spoke to the girl from Surrey. The others ensured that she was the most frequently chastised pupil – bringing genuine misdeeds to light and fabricating others. Surprised how easily the teacher was fooled into punishing Jenna for matters in which she was blameless – it became increasingly difficult to sustain my childhood crush.

One day, Jenna told me: “My father’s gone. Surrey agents grabbed him.”

“What do think they’ll do with him?”

“Nothing pleasant, that’s for sure[7].”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Jenna.”

“Why? He was a traitor. It serves him right.”

Looking into the girl’s eyes, I could see no trace of compassion for her father. Before there was time to say more, Judith appeared with cousin Anna – the latter a prig whom I heartily detested. My attempt to pretend that I hadn’t been talking to Jenna was unconvincing. The glances the pair cast my way left little doubt that I would suffer for my indiscretion.

Then came the day on which Miss Lace announced: “Jenna won’t be with us this morning. It seems that she’s run away.”

In view of the other girls’ beastliness, I wasn’t much surprised. Discreditably, my first concern was not for Jenna on the run, and facing who knew what dangers and privations, but for myself. It occurred to me that with their enemy gone, my classmates would seek someone else as a butt for their cruelty – and that I was the most likely candidate for the role. In this I was not mistaken – and, over the next few months, received the cane or the strap on account of many offences for which someone else was responsible.

When I saw Jenna return to the Belle House my first thought was that, now, my persecution might cease. Pity for the runaway’s condition was an afterthought. She was filthy and wild haired, covered in red marks – some of them bramble scratches, others welts left by a whip. The girl was bound hand and foot, dumped without trace of gentleness from the back of a mule.

“Surrey bitch!” one man snarled.

“Ah,” said his companion. “I think she’ll pay for the trouble she’s given us. His Majesty’ll ’ave ’er packed off to either Roach Keep or the Grim Tower, you’ll see.”

They locked her in a cellar until, three days later, a group of mounted men came to collect her. They brought with them, in chains, a black girl – the first I could recall having ever seen. Persons and slaves alike, in the Belle House and surrounding district, were pale skinned. Fascinated by the newcomer, I failed to see Jenna depart.

“You seem to like her,” my mother said – referring to the dark girl.

“Yes, mummy, I do.”

“She’s a gift from your father. His very boldest agents, venturing deep into Surrey held territory[8], captured her – saving the poor creature, no doubt, from a life of wickedness. Have you heard of the wickedness of Surrey, child?”

“I’ve heard people mention it, mummy, and know that Surrey folk do very bad things.”

“Well – I hope that you never discover more than that. I’m sure that Jenna was more than touched by the wickedness. Perhaps your father will save her.”

“What will happen to Jenna, mummy?”

“Your father’s had her taken to his palace in Lundin. There, I suppose, he’ll hold her in the Grim Tower. It won’t be pleasant, but is sure to do her good… Now about the girl your father’s sent us – would you like her, sweetheart?”

“Ooh mummy! May I have her? Really?”

“Of course you may, darling. She hasn’t yet been marked, so you may choose a name. What would you like to call her?

“Inky!” I replied, without a moment’s thought.

Mother made me watch while Inqui was branded – her name spelt differently from my intention. Seeing a girl subjected to such pain, I cried – and vowed never to be unkind to my slave. The first time I whipped Inqui was after she had added constipation cure to a pot of tea served to important guests. When the bottle was traced to the culprit, several days later, my mother borrowed the schoolroom strap – Miss Lace’s most formidable weapon – to deal with me.

“I blame you for this, Margaret, because you haven’t disciplined your slave properly,” she said after the first dozen strokes. “I’m not done with you, not by a long chalk – and am going to see to it that you won’t sit easily for a fortnight. Afterwards, you’ll give Inqui the whipping she deserves. If you don’t, I’ll give the slave to your cousin Judith.”

“Yes, mummy.”

“Before your second dozen, Margaret, let me remind you that slave ownership is a responsibility. A slave is not just for Solstice. Now brace yourself – these are going to hurt.”

Thereafter, I continued to chastise Inqui, at least to the minimum acceptable standard. Judith contrived a number of pretexts for the slave to be removed from my care, but each of them failed in that objective, if sometimes only just. On two or three further occasions, my mother strapped me for failing to prevent things for which Judith was to blame. When an attempt at revenge misfired – and mother found that I was the one responsible for contaminating her perfume with sewage – a day of reckoning had arrived.

“Margaret – you are an unspeakably wicked child! Not only did you commit this vile act, but tried to blame poor cousin Judith. I hope that she will forgive you for the strapping she received in error. Since it is clear that neither Miss Lace nor I can stem your crimes, both you and your troublesome slave are to go to Lundin, where perhaps your father will be able to exert some control.”

The dispatch of Inqui and me from the woods and streams we loved, to the rat-infested filth of Lundin, felt like a severe punishment. It was not, we soon discovered, a rival to the fate that had been meted out to Jenna. When we arrived in the city, she had recently been released from the Grim Tower of the Palace Victoria. Her emaciated frame and the marks left by torture instruments showed that she had not been kindly treated.

Over the next few years, Jenna and I became close companions. Her injuries healed, her body filled out, she was given more spacious apartments and Beddibelle, her own body slave. By the end of my teens, Jenna and I were allowed out of the palace grounds together, and on my twentieth birthday we finally ventured beyond the city walls. It was Glarehaze 8th in the 127th year of the Sixth Condominium of Lundin, or Year 724 of the Democracy by the Surrey reckoning.

My normally penny-pinching father, with a rare generous impulse, had presented me with two ponies as a birthday present. For some time, Jenna and I rode aimlessly through the city streets. After perhaps an hour, we found ourselves unexpectedly – at least as far as I was concerned – at the south west gate. When I made to turn about, my cousin placed a hand on my pony’s bridle.

“Why don’t we take a little trot outside the city walls?” she said. “Take a look at the West Minester marshes, perhaps.”

“I don’t think we should. In any case, I doubt if the guards will let you pass.”

“Who knows until we try it?”

Without another word, she urged her pony toward the gate, and I followed, full of apprehension. To my surprise, the guards saluted and let us pass without question. We were heading towards a fog bank, a formless mass that struck me as filled with potential danger. Everything I’d heard of the West Minester marshes made me reluctant to visit them – the reputedly haunted site of the fiercest fighting during the Third Battle of Lundin.

“You’re not thinking of going down there?” I asked.

“Why not? You’re not afraid of the ghosts are you?”

“No,” I lied, “of course not.”

We tethered the ponies to a stunted thorn bush, the largest piece of vegetation in the area, then Jenna was leading me towards the river. I was frightened by the fog which, I’d heard, never lifted from the reed beds. I was frightened by the marsh – perhaps a false step might drown us in deep filth. Most of all, I was frightened by the ghosts.

“The Third Battle of Lundin was bloody hundreds of years ago,” Jenna remarked. If the ghosts haven’t got over it by now, they need to get a life… Or get a death!”

Jenna giggled. Scowling, I wished that the topic of ghosts had been allowed to rest. This seemed to be the just the sort of talk to enrage the uneasy dead. I tried to form the sign of Mortalia without Jenna noticing.

Either Jenna didn’t notice my fingers, or she preferred not to risk offending the goddess with more flippancy. The reeds were taller now, above the level of my eyes. Jenna glanced to either side of the path. A faint breeze clattered the stalks.

There was a dim shape perhaps half a dozen yards ahead, and only a step or two left of the path – my first thought was of a ghost or perhaps a large animal. Then realisation dawned that the movement I’d detected was no more than shifting fog and slowly swaying reeds, the object was nothing more dangerous than a big rock. Approaching it more closely, the outline emerged with some clarity. The top seemed too flat to be natural, perhaps a stone bench or part of a building – its lower parts were more knobbly and streaked with mud.

“Lions have power – I like them,” Jenna said

“Lions? What have they got to do with anything? Mythical beasts who live beyond the edge of the world? Aren’t they the things that eat the sky kine when the cowgirls of the storm nod off?”

“The stone… it’s upside down…”

Looking more carefully, I saw that it was a statue – or had formerly been one. And it was of a lion – which I recognised from the carvings of fabulous beasts in the great hall of the Palace Victoria. The flat top had originally been the base of the figure. Below were its inverted legs and flanks, the back and muzzle were half buried in the mud.

“I think the statue used to be on the Surrey shore,” Jenna said. “Unless it was tossed more than once. During the Third Battle of Lundin, Cathcart – over the water – and Osrick – on this side – had huge catapults built. Their men tore down palaces from the Old Time and tossed the stones at one another.”

“In that…”

The words were cut short as my cousin leapt upon me. In another moment, I was face down in the muck on the far side of the statue, with Jenna on top, my mouth full of mud. Too dazed to wonder what was happening, I was impressed by Jenna’s display of strength, sending me flying for so many yards. When I tried to clear my mouth of filth, Jenna clamped her hand over my lips.

Then I heard it. The sounds were flattened by the fog, but there was a definite scrunching noise from the direction of the water. It was followed by a splashing, and muffled voices. Moments later, a sharper sound echoed, as boots crunched upon the stones and slopped in the ooze of the path we had occupied a couple of minutes earlier.

The fog closed upon the sounds – the footfalls deadened, faded and were gone. Jenna relaxed her grip and I tried to scrape the mud from my tongue and the roof of my mouth. As I did so, the gritty texture and acrid taste grew stronger, almost overwhelming. Twisting, I spattered Jenna’s blouse with vomit.

“Sssshhhhhhhhhhhh!” Jenna hissed. “They’re not far away. We can’t hear them, but…”

It surprised me that Jenna objected to the noise of my being sick, rather than to the second hand lunch that dripped from her person. For the first time, I thought about who might have passed on the other side of the statue. Were they on legitimate business, they would have landed at a pier, not in these marshes. There had been no sound of cargo landed, so they weren’t smugglers.

“Jenna!” I whispered. “They’re Surrey raiders! We should get down to the water and sink their boat…”

“Nice idea. If you were a Surrey raider, and came back to find your boat holed, maybe you’d surrender to a couple of unarmed girls. Or maybe you’d slit their throats before they could raise the alarm.”

Given a little time to think, the realities of our situation clarified themselves with unnerving rapidity. Should the Surrey raiders find us, we were in a fix. If their boat were unsound, they’d surely kill us – as Jenna had pointed out. If their craft were still afloat, our personage in absolute would count for nothing – and we we’d be carried off as slaves.

We remained quiet, Jenna tense, me trembling, for what seemed a very long time – possibly half an hour, perhaps a little less. Then we heard the raiders again, now returning to the river, and moving less quietly. The protests of the freshly enslaved sounded unnaturally loud, as did the blows with which the raiders sought to quiet them. There was also a whinnying.

Suddenly filled with rage, I made to spring forward and would have given us away had not Jenna held me back. Fury giving way to sorrow, I sobbed in her arms. My birthday present, the two beautiful ponies, had been my joy. Now, they were on their way to Surrey.

A voice sounded alarmingly close to us – that of a woman, to my surprise: “What’s that? Sounded like a girl. Y’ can’t take too much profit…”

Another female voice responded: “Leave it – prob’ly jus’ a marsh bird. Any case, we’ve already got a boat load wi’ two ponies an’ a clutch o’ pass’ble slaves.”

“Pass’ble? Blesh stew on the ‘oof, if y’ ask me.”

“Maybe a tad stringy, but a nice tasty stew is as…”

The voices grew more muffled, and I was unable to make out the end of the sentence. A few minutes later, there was a commotion by the river – splashing, neighing, human voices and whip lashes. Then the scrunch of a boat pushed from the bank and the splashing of oars. After that – silence.

Jenna expelled a long sigh. “Well – I aim to go to Surrey some day, but I’d rather arrange a passage with Lord…” then, hastily correcting herself “…without chains.”

At the time, I thought little of Jenna’s slip. It was common knowledge that my father’s Surrey foes considered Jenna’s descent – from Princess Claudette – the legitimate line for the Chieftaincy of the Blood Victoria. That she should fantasise of flight to Surrey was to be expected – at least out of earshot of my father and his court. Later, in a very different life, I often wondered what she meant by arrange a passage with Lord…

Just then, both Jenna and I had much more pressing concerns than a dynastic dispute. Our clothes were wet, thickly caked with mud and decidedly uncomfortable. Jenna plucked a reed and started to use its stiff stalk to scrape a little of the filth from her riding breeches. It seemed as good an expedient as any, so I followed her example.

“This would be a lot easier if we undressed,” Jenna said, after a couple of minutes’ work had yielded disappointing results.

“Undress? Out in the open? We can’t… can we?”

“I don’t see why not. Who’d see us in the fog? The Surrey raiders passed only a yard away, and did they see us?”

“You’re right,” I replied, already starting to unbutton my blouse.

Without further remark, we stripped down to our underwear, laid the discarded clothes on the upturned base of the statue, and set to work. Now the mud fell away in large clods. Most of the muck had been removed, but my thoughts were still entirely with the task in hand, when Jenna touched my bottom. Straightening with a little shriek, I looked at her in surprise.

“What…?”

“We’re best part finished, there’s time for a little fun. We are supposed to be celebrating your birthday.”

In another moment, she was holding me tightly. We were kissing and, to my surprise, I enjoyed her tongue pressed against mine – even with traces of mud and vomit still in my mouth. Starting to respond, we seemed to melt into one another. I’m not sure which of us first progressed to the fondling, and intimate touching within our underwear – perhaps it was me.

“What a passion flower you are,” Jenna said at last. “Who would have guessed it of silly little Cousin Margaret?”

“Is it really as good as that?” I asked, choosing to ignore the silly little.

“It can be… if the girl’s hot enough… and what got you so hot and bothered? I thought it started with the idea of being enslaved. How about a game of mistress and slave, my little bondling[9]?”

“No, I don’t think…”

“Good! ...A slave’s not supposed to think.”

As she spoke, Jenna raised her right hand and brought it down upon my bottom, slapping very hard. Gasping, I looked at her in puzzlement. To my surprise, although it stung, there was pleasure mixed with the pain. Without thinking, I bent over and received several more slaps – each as hard as the first – my thoughts now turning to the childhood crush on Miss Lace.

“Well,” said Jenna, almost as though she could read my thoughts. “Bending over, like you did for Miss Lace’s cane. I always suspected that you liked her to spank you. We’ll have a nice game of Miss Lace and naughty little Margaret… before we try a spot of slavery.”

My cousin climbed up on to the former base of the statue. Pushing aside our clothes, she took a seat on the flat surface. With seemingly little effort, Jenna composed her face into a savage frown and patted her thighs. Her expression was unexpectedly intimidating – leaving me feeling as though I were truly my child self, in trouble yet again.

“You have lured your poor cousin Jenna into extremely rude activities,” she said in a good approximation to Miss Lace’s voice. “You are filled with the wickedness of Surrey. I should be failing in my duty were I not to spank you. Over my knee miss, if you please.”

With some difficulty I scaled the stone lion – proving myself a less skilled climber than my cousin. Having done so, I settled myself, bottom upwards, on Jenna’s lap. She landed half a dozen painful slaps on the backs of my thighs before roughly yanking my briefs downward. My bottom bared, Jenna paused before spanking it.

“Young lady, you deserve a severe chastisement – and I intend to deliver it, as well as I am able. What do you have to say?”

“Thank you, miss.”

“You may thank me afterwards – but what do you say now?”

“Oh – sorry, miss… Please spank me – hard.”

“That’s better. It seems to me that you haven’t been spanked recently. You are in urgent need of re-acquaintance with the schoolroom strap, but this must suffice for now.”

Jenna proceeded to deliver a spanking of which Miss Lace would have been proud. My bottom was soon smarting, yet I felt pleasure as well. With a sense of release, the confused strands of my childhood feelings were unknotted. The governess had been scarcely ten years older than me – and I was increasingly easy with the crush I’d harboured.

“I think that will do for now,” Jenna said at last, pulling my briefs back up over my sore bottom. “Down you get.”

After slipping from her knee and landing a little clumsily, but softly, in the mud, I curtsied as I would have done to Miss Lace and said “Thank you miss… thank you for spanking me.”

“A pleasure,” Jenna replied in her normal voice, and with obvious sincerity. “We’ve still time for a little slave play – slip off your bra and knickers, there’s a good girl.”

Although doubtful as to whether I was in the space for more rough games, after the girl and governess role play, disobedience was not in me. Unhooking the bra straps from my shoulders, I unfastened the clasp at my back, and laid the garment atop the stone. That done, I slipped my briefs down my thighs and stepped out of them, placing that garment also upon the rock. A smile creased my lips, I stood straight and proud – enjoying Jenna’s gaze upon my nakedness.

Jenna paused on her lion base perch for several minutes – taking in, it seemed, every detail of me – body and soul. Then she slipped to the ground rather more gracefully than I had done. With her feet in the mud, she started to gather the greener and more flexible reeds, selecting them with evident care. Gazing lustfully upon her athletic form, only a little less exposed than my body, I noticed the remaining marks from the rough treatment she had received in the Grim Tower.

“Oh – I like the way you stand stiff and proud,” she said, when her bundle of reeds was complete. “A slave should be proud – proud of her mistress’ greatness, and proud of her own servitude. Now, let’s see how good a harness I can improvise.”

She started to weave the soft young stalks about my body until they formed – as well as I could tell – a creditable likeness to a leather slave harness. Concentrating on the work, she hummed softly, something I recognised as The Fighting Girls of Surrey – a song I had previously heard only once or twice, and which was, tune and lyrics alike, expressly forbidden by my father. Ordinarily, I would have hushed her in shocked tones. Now, starting to feel almost as though I were Jenna’s slave, I felt proud of her defiance – as a slave should be proud of her mistress’ greatness.

“I think that will do,” she said to herself at last. Then, to me: “Kneel, slave.”

Bowing my head in submission, I bent my knees and knelt in the mire at my mistress’ feet. Jenna ran her fingers softly and slowly through my hair. She tickled the nape of my neck, as one might that of a pet animal. Cupping my chin, she lifted my head so that I looked into her eyes.

“Your submission pleases me,” she said. “You will make a lovely slave.”

“Thank you, mistress,” I replied, without thinking.

My expectation was for this game of mistress and slave to be at least as rough as Jenna’s impersonation of Miss Lace. As she guided me to my feet, some kind of beating seemed sure to follow. Instead, Jenna gently fondled my breasts and kissed me on the lips. Feeling that a slave should wait for instructions, I restrained an urge to reciprocate, and kept my hands open at my thighs.

And so – with Jenna always taking the lead, as a mistress should – we proceeded to make gentle and beautiful love. It may be that this love making coloured my understanding – for the rest of my life – as to what the relationship of mistress and slave was, or at least should be. There have been many times when it has seemed a silly and romantic notion, but I have never been able to shake it off entirely. The bond between mistress and slave should, and can, run very deep – and, at bottom, it is based upon love.

“I think we should dress and go,” Jenna said at last, kissing me gently. “This fog is a bit chilly, even in Glarehaze.”

As she said it, I realised for the first time that I was cold, but – even so – was aware of a reluctance to dress and return to the palace. Certainly, I would have argued that we should stay a little longer, had not a deep submissiveness been upon me, permeating my very being. As it was, I bowed my head and stood silent as Jenna reached for her clothes. Then, I started to pick the remains of the reed harness from my body, surprised that so little of it remained.

We dressed in silence. The damp and still muddy garments left me colder than before. For all of that, I couldn’t walk naked through the streets of Lundin, so the thing had to be done. Resuming my blouse, I found that it – as well as Jenna’s – bore traces of my vomit.

“Ugh!” I said at last. “Wet, mud and puke. Why do we have to dress?”

“I know,” Jenna laughed, “I like you better with less clothes.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for the compliment?”

“Thank you for everything.”

We returned to the path, squelching on the gritty mud inside our boots. My legs ached, and the way through the reed beds seemed long. At last we emerged – simultaneously – from the fog and on to firmer ground. In the distance I could see the outlying hovels and, beyond them, the walls of Lundin.

A curlew sounded its mournful double note –almost as though it were expressing a low opinion of what Jenna and I had been doing. There still remained in my mouth the mingled taste of vomit and marsh mud. My bottom felt warm, and tingled after the spanking, a thoroughly enjoyable sensation. The only signs of the two ponies were the hoof prints leading from the city gate, and toward the river – the stunted thorn bush bore no trace of their former presence.

[1] Mortalia – a goddess, specific to Essex, concerned with the borders between the realms of the living and the dead. Her business is not only to protect the living from the ghosts of the dead, but to protect the graves of the dead from the living. She plagues grave robbers with phantoms and nightmares while they live – and ensures for them an unpleasant afterlife.

[2] Personage In Absolute – a legal term enshrined in the Code of Osrick. The Code dates to Year 3 of the 4th Condominium of Lundin (YD 374, by the Surrey reckoning). At this time, 350 years later, the Code was, in a more or less modified form, still in use amongst the enemies of Surrey.

The Code granted personage (the state of being a person, rather than a slave) either in ordinary or in absolute. Personage in absolute involved being unquestionably a person – and entirely immune to slavery. Holding personage in ordinary, people had the status of persons, but this might be revoked – should they be convicted of a felony, declared bankrupt or taken in an act of war.

This was linked with the biological view of slavery (common amongst Surrey’s enemies) – as opposed to the more modern Surrey concept of slavery as a legal state. Under the biological view, slaves and persons were discrete sub-species of humanity. The commission of a felony demonstrated that the perpetrator was a slave – rather than a person. A sentence of enslavement was, then, regarded as placing offenders in their proper station, rather than (as such) a punishment. Members of the felon’s family could also be enslaved as their kinship to a slave cast doubts upon their personage.

Such was the theory, but the practice was often different, even at the start. Osrick wrote in a letter to James, the 12th Earl of the East Wood:

In my heart, Personage In Absolute resides solely in warriors, their kin and in our houses of quality. Alas, my head says that we must also present it to the grocers, usurers and note changers on whom we depend. They have the souls of slaves, I am sickened – and it flies in the face of all nature, but it must be done.

[3] Blesh: the flesh of adult slaves, served as food – as opposed to pecker, the flesh of young slaves. At this stage of her life, her flesh would certainly have been pecker.

[4] Bondling: a slave born as a person and enslaved as an adult, as opposed one born into slavery or enslaved as a child. In the literature of the time, the word is frequently placed in the mouths of those born into slavery. It seems to have been used half contemptuously and half affectionately. The word bondlings used for those born into slavery – catter – seems to have carried quite different implications, and was evidently almost always used with venom.

In fact – as the word was used by slaves rather than persons – it is extremely unlikely that the ABC book would have used this it. More likely, the word was Badling. Badlings, as opposed to fairlings, were bondlings whose conduct as persons gave rise to doubts as to their trustworthiness in slavery.

[5] Jenna’s father is generally referred to as Wallace Wormbreath, although his actual name was almost certainly Wallace of West Ack Town. He was sent to Lundin to negotiate a truce between Surrey and her enemies. Instead, he defected – seeking, and being granted, political asylum. His treason was compounded by his having taken Jenna with him – without his wife’s knowledge or consent.

[6] Judith, a daughter of the Earl of the East Wood, is known to have been amongst those enslaved at the fall of the Belle House. She was given the name Lashmi, and was purchased by Jenna Javelin, who may well have sought revenge for childhood injuries.

[7] Wallace Wormbreath (see note 5) was seized whilst riding to the west of Lundin, probably having returned to his family estate at West Ack Town. He was taken back to Surrey, where he was tried for treason and enslaved under the name Worm. His life as a slave was, evidently, made exceptionally hard.

[8] She came from Brick’s Town, which was the furthest Lundin slavers penetrated into Surrey territory. Only two such deep penetration raids were conducted with partial success – and the costs of mounting them far exceeded the value of slaves and other booty seized.

[9] Bondling – see note 4. The word was evidently used exclusively by slaves and, in the literature of the period, this is the only instance of the word being placed in the mouth of a person. . Probably the remark is misremembered – these memoirs contain many conversations in direct speech, written years after the event. It is improbable that she was always able to recall the precise wording.

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Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 46

2008-01-08T16:48:00.000Z

Chapter 46

Shortly after emerging from the forest into an area of pasture, filled with bright sunshine, I slipped the cloak from my shoulders. The taste of the beef and ale still lingered in my mouth – growing less pleasant the longer it persisted. Sheep bells mingled with the double note of a curlew – sounding almost as though it were saying all right, all right. Dashing Daniel, at the head of the column, reined in his horse by a cottage where a middle aged woman was donkey stoning the front step.

“We’re poor folk,” she said, looking up, “there’s nothink for you, ’ere. Honest there ain’t!”

“We’re not robbers, madam, if that’s what you think,” Daniel replied. “Don’t worry.”

“What then? Constables? We ain’t done nothink. Honest we ain’t!”

“Does Jim Harrison live here, madam?”

“What if he does? He ain’t done nothink, neither.”

“I’d like to speak to him, if I may.”

“Jim!” she called. “There’s a gennelman ’ere as want t’ talk with yer.”

“Don’t y’ know I’m busy?” came an irritated male voice from within the cottage. “Tell ’im t’ come back, if it’s important.”

“There’s ten of ’em – all armed, an’ they’ve got Jane Armstrong, too.”

There was an inarticulate cry – a female voice, perhaps in her twenties – then a mutter of conversation in which I could identify no words. A minute or two later a middle aged man emerged from the darkness within the cottage, fastening his breeches as he came. But for the younger woman’s voice, I would have supposed that he’d been on the privy. As it was, my gaze took in his bulging crotch – something from which I would normally have averted my eyes.

“Jim Harrison?” Daniel asked.

“What if I am? I ain’t done nothing.”

“George Armstrong gave me this list of names and addresses,” Daniel said, proffering the sheet of paper.

“Wha’ for did he do that?” Jim Harrison asked taking the list, and peering at it.

“He wanted us to make sure that you and the others met a nasty fate.”

“An’ you want me to pay you more than he’s offering? I ain’t got much.”

“No – I just wanted to warn you. Maybe you and the others on the list should mount a nasty surprise for George Armstrong before he finds someone willing to do his dirty work.”

“You ain’t going to do nothing?”

“Not I. Not any of us. As far as we ’re concerned, giving you the list is the end of the matter.”

“Well – thank you, mister. It ain’t often as someone does right for no pay. I see you’ve got ’is daughter.”

“Let’s say we’ve rescued her. A good day to you.”

“Oh – before we go,” said Lisa-Louise, “do you know Juliet Cooper?”

“Yes, I know ’er. What of it?”

“George Armstrong wanted an especially nasty end for both you and her.”

“She’s a medicine woman,” Jim replied with a chuckle. “When George asked ’er for something for ’is piles, she gave ’im extra ’ot rheumatism cream.”

Laughing, Daniel urged his horse into motion, and the rest of us followed. Looking back, I saw the middle aged man and woman, joined by a half-dressed younger female, conversing at the cottage door and giving us occasional puzzled glances. A few minutes later, a bend in the road hid the building and its occupants from our view. We were moving at no great speed so that Jane, on foot, would have no trouble in keeping up with us.

“A good job, well done,” said Dashing Daniel. “I think we’ve now finished with George Armstrong.”

“You’ve got my dad into plenty of trouble, there, Captain,” Jane said. “Serves the old bugger right, though, after all he’s done to me.”

“I doubt if it’s the worst of his trouble, Jane. And that’s because I’m not a captain.”

“What are you then? And what is the worst of my dad’s trouble?”

“My name is Dashing Daniel, formerly a pollygogger and now – as you might say – a gentleman of the road. And the worst of his trouble will probably come when he tries to present the receipt I signed for him. It’s unlikely that the tax gathers will accept my signature. More likely, he’ll be facing tax evasion charges.”

“What then, Mister Daniel?”

“I believe that enslavement is the usual penalty.”

She laughed loudly, before saying: “I hope they whip him good – better stripes than he ever gave me. It’d be lovely to see the branding – and chopping off his willie.”

“You don’t seem to like your father very much, Jane. Not that he struck me as a likable man, but sometimes family connections…”

“I’m not sure there is a family connection, Mister Daniel. Me mum’s gone, and I reckon she’s the only one who knows who me dad is. Might even be Jim Harrison. He’s old, but he’s a randy bugger.”

“Your mother’s gone? Dead?”

“Nah! She run away from him. Took me with her, but he managed to grab me back. Have you really rescued me?”

“Yes, Jane,” said Lisa-Louise, “we’ve rescued you. We couldn’t bear to leave you with him. I think you might be useful, too.”

“Ah – now you’re talking, lady. Useful? How come useful?”

“Half a dozen of us are going into Surrey, it’s likely to be dangerous – and a girl with your spirit would make a handy addition to our party. But maybe we shouldn’t be leading you into danger. If I was a good person, my first thought would have been reuniting you with your mother.”

“That would be easier said than done – I don’t know where she went. She’ll not be easy to track, neither. If George Armstrong found her, she’d like as not be dead… When you say danger, do you mean there’ll be fighting?”

“Yes – fighting, killing. Not really your business. We shouldn’t involve you.”

“Whatever. I’m with you, now, anyways. And I’d certainly be glad to get some of my own back on the world. Count me in.”

On a sudden thought, I took the breeches from my saddle pack and handed them to Jane saying: “Here, put these on.”

“What for, misses?”

“Because I thought you might like to ride for a bit. Easier to ride in breeches.”

“Are you sure misses?”

“Call me Tuerqui, Jane. And, yes, I’m sure. I’ll walk for a bit.”

“You can have my pony in a while,” said Lisa-Louise. “We should take turns. Maybe, when the opportunity arises, Captain Grace could commandeer an extra horse.”

“Why not? I’ll see what I can do,” said Daniel.

For two or three hours, we took it in turns to walk – mostly through farmland, the green wheat that gave Cornsprout its name, interspersed with occasional woods. In my estimation, there was a poor chance of commandeering an extra horse – the last such beasts we’d seen, other than our own, had been in the morning, ridden by the Barking Volunteers. Then, unexpectedly, we encountered man heading in the opposite direction who was leading three sturdy horses. As he approached closer, I saw that he was wounded, bandages oozing blood, and each horse had a body slung across the saddle.

“Ho there!” Daniel called, brandishing the warrant yet again. “What’s this?”

“If it pleases you, Captain, officers killed in the battle at the Green Ford[1] – on their way back to Lundin.”

“Green Ford?”

“Yes, haven’t you heard? Since yesterday, we’ve been trying to hold Surrey warrior girls back at the Green Ford. I think they’re trying to re-take Teddy’s Town from the north.”

“We’re in need of an extra horse, trooper. Two of the bodies will have to be lashed to one horse.”

“Is that an order, Captain?”

“Of course it’s a fucking order.” Then, to Carp Eye: “Sergeant Smith – you and a girl shift one of the bodies. Get on with it man! And keep the officer’s weapons, equipment and blankets attached to the saddle – we’ll need them.”

“Yes, sir,” Carp Eye responded without enthusiasm.

Daniel added, presumably as an afterthought: “We can’t expect the wounded soldier to do the work, can we, sergeant?”

Heather, who was dismounted at this point, helped her lover shift an officer’s corpse from the smallest of the horses to the largest. The beast given the double burden bucked in protest, but smart work with ropes soon had the extra body secure. While they worked, Daniel took the wounded soldier to one side and elicited details of the battle at Green Ford. Carp Eye took advantage of the injured man’s distraction, I noticed, to transfer anything that looked useful to the animal he was taking.

Evidently having learnt as much as he thought necessary, the supposed Captain Grace scrawled something illegible on a scrap of paper, which the veteran of the battle seemed to accept as an adequate receipt. The soldier saluted smartly, wincing as the action brought fresh blood to his bandages, then led the two remaining horses down the road on which we had come. Jane dismounted from Heather’s horse and clambered into the saddle of the newly acquired beast. A few minutes later we were on our way once more, descending into a wooded valley.

“Well, I hope that Captain Grace isn’t planning to order Sergeant Smith around very often,” said Carp Eye. “I suppose you did it so we could nick anything worth having.”

“There was that – but I needed to talk to the injured soldier, too. We’re planning to head west, Carp Eye – you me and the two girls – and it looks as though a line of attack crosses our path. We need to figure where we can get through.”

“And where can we get through?”

“If the army at Green Ford can hold the Surrey girls off until mid morning tomorrow, we can follow this road to Win’s Oar, Maiden’s Head, and beyond. If not, we’ll have to make a diversion. I say that we camp tonight near the crossroads where this highway to the west meets the road from Green Ford to Teddy’s Town. Then, in the morning, we’ll see.”

“So the soldier didn’t have any useful information?”

“No, not really.”

“Couldn’t we stay at an inn?” asked Alicia. “There seem to be enough of them on this road.”

“And get our throats cut while we sleep – by the likes of George Armstrong?” Daniel replied.

“My dad never murdered a bigger group than three or four travellers,” Jane said, perhaps in her father’s defence.

“Yeah, well,” Daniel said, “maybe other innkeepers are more enterprising.”

We made camp at least an hour before sunset, on a wooded hilltop overlooking a crossroads. The ways to the east, along which we had come, and to the west were quiet. By contrast, there was a lot of north-south traffic which, after a period of uncertainty, I recognised as members of my father’s guard and some of their allies. The progress of the troops showed no great hurry and I concluded that neither the Green Ford nor Teddy’s Town had fallen.

“They’re obviously not Surrey troops,” said Lisa-Louise.

“Yes,” I replied, “I recognise the uniforms.”

“That’s not what I meant. Surrey troops would have secured this wood – it’s good cover and commands the crossroads. A company of archers, positioned here, would control all four routes. It’s things like that decide battles – and that’s a reason your father’s guards are going to lose, Tuerqui.”

Our situation was clearly more perilous than it had been the previous night – mid way, as we were, between two active battlefields. In the circumstances, we decided to have four watches each comprising three of us, with Lisa-Louise volunteering herself for both the first and final sentry duty. As before, I was placed second – this time keeping guard with Modesty, acting as commander, as well as Alicia. By the time we relieved Lisa-Louise, Heather and Jane, it had become downright cold – all the more so as no fire had been lit, lest we betray our presence by its light or smoke.

Somewhat encumbered by the blanket over my shoulders, I was patrolling the perimeter, crossbow at the ready. Suddenly a hand was clamped roughly over my mouth, as a strong arm seized me from behind. My attempts to struggle proved useless as I felt my arms tugged behind my back and a cord knotted about my wrists. Something large and round was thrust between my jaws as the hand relaxed just long enough to permit this, then a strip of coarse fabric was tied tightly to seal my lips.

“Last sentry secured,” a young woman’s voice whispered.

“Good,” replied a slightly older woman, “now we take out the sleepers.”

“Should be a piece of piss,” a third female voice said. “There are only eight of them.”

“Don’t get too cocky – that’s when things start to go wrong,” it was the second, slightly older, voice again.

With my hands tied behind my back, there was no way for me to use a weapon, but my feet had not been secured, and I thought that it might be possible to arouse the sleepers. Attempting to break into a trot, I fell – with my arms wrenched backwards – at only my second pace. Groping at the space behind me, I realised that a loop of rope ran from the cord about my wrists and circled a tree. Forming another idea for raising the alarm, I drummed my boots on the ground, but the sound so produced was unimpressive.

Unless either Modesty or Alicia could devise a better plan than me, we were all – I realised – at the mercy of unknown female assailants. The fact of their being women meant that they were almost certainly Surrey troops. Perhaps, were our gags to be removed, we could convince them that we were their compatriots – although the inclusion of Daniel and Carp Eye in our party would make this less convincing. There was also, I suddenly recalled, Captain Grace’s warrant – and, just as that thought occurred to me, the soldiers must have discovered the document.

“Hey, what’s this?” a woman’s voice called.

Straining my eyes in the direction of the speaker, I saw a faint glimmer of light, probably a dark lantern. About the lamp, two or three shadows jostled in the darkness. My main concern, at that point, was trying to glimpse their uniforms, if any. If I could identify them as either Berenice’s girls or Nadine’s, that would be helpful if and when my gag was removed.

“It’s a warrant,” another voice replied. “Palace Victoria stuff. What do we do with prisoners of war, Captain? Leave them tied up here for enslavement when time permits – or just have done with it and slit their throats?[2]”

“Let me see,” said the slightly older voice. “Captain Grace! I know that name.”

“Someone we need to question, Captain?”

“No – the name of a dead man. Our agents are using it as a cover.”

“So these are our spies, Captain?”

“Maybe. It’s just like the secret service to keep us in the dark. If it wasn’t for Lizzie – my ex – taking the role of one of Captain Grace’s deputies, I might have given the order to kill this lot.”

“Is one of these Lizzie?”

“Doesn’t look like it, but I dare say the late Captain Grace has a lot of deputies. Still, they’ve had a lucky break. Maybe one of them has a guardian goddess. Best ungag him as had the warrant in his pouch.”

There was more activity in the dim light of the lantern – presumably the removal of Dashing Daniel’s gag. After the conversation between the officer and one of her soldiers, I was less concerned to glimpse their uniforms. Having liaised, on Lord Higate’s behalf, with women posing as Captain Grace’s deputies, I felt pretty sure that they were Berenice’s women. My chief fear, now, was that the former pollygogger would declare himself to be in the pay of Nadine Next.

“What do you think you’re doing?” came Daniel’s voice, doing a fairly good outraged Captain Grace. “Do you know who I am? Untie me at once, madam!”

“Just a question or two, first. Is this warrant yours?”

“Of course it is!”

“And you business with it?”

“The business of Surrey. You could rip my tongue out and I wouldn’t say more. It’s secret.”

“Just one thing more. Are you for Berenice or Nadine?”

“Berenice!”

There was a dreadful pause, which must have been much shorter than it seemed, before the captain said: “Untie them! Untie them all!”

Busy fingers loosened my gag and removed the hard object from my mouth – I never discovered what it was – before freeing my wrists. Later, I was to wonder at my mouth being freed first, perhaps the soldier was concerned that my breathing might be obstructed. At the time, I was too relieved and delighted to think about it. Captain Grace’s warrant had just afforded us its last, and most vital, service.

“Sorry about this,” my liberator said. “It’s not often I tie up a girl and she doesn’t like it. We weren’t to know you were on our side.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied, “you only did what you had to do. And I was a crap sentry, wasn’t I?

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, girl. You’d have been plenty good enough for the infantry. It takes a better than a good sentry to deal with a cast unit[3]… Why are you wearing that mask?”

“Let’s just say that I’d rather not be recognised. More important – Berenice would rather I wasn’t.”

“That’s a pity. I’d hate to offend Berenice, but I like the look of your lips, and would appreciate seeing all of you. Perhaps it’s for the best. Duty calls – no time even for a quick snog.”

“No there isn’t,” said another voice, close behind. “Forward observation duty, Commando Jones.”

“Yes, serge. At once serge… But it is a pity.”

The moon had now risen, and was casting a little light through breaks in the foliage. Counting figures moving through the faint illumination, and subtracting our party, my conclusion was that the force to have surprised us was about twelve or sixteen strong[4]. My role as sentry now redundant, and with no one settling for sleep, I wondered what I should be doing. Modesty approached me – as well as I could tell in the near darkness, she was smiling rather sheepishly.

“A fine guard commander I made,” she said.

“One of them told me they’re a cast unit. Surrey’s finest. Come that, the finest troops anywhere. We didn’t stand a chance, Modesty.”

“Thanks, Tuerqui. All the same…”

“Enough said, let’s just go and join the others, Modesty. And if anyone wants to complain, you’ll have my support.”

“Mine, too,” said Alicia, stepping from deep shadow. “I think we did all right. These girls are better than good.”

Casting about around my feet, I located my crossbow and blanket. Checking, I discovered that my sword and dagger were still in their sheaths. All items present, we stepped through the trees to where the sleepers had lain. One of the Surrey commandos stepped with us, a woman in her late twenties or early thirties – the captain, I realised before she spoke.

“Which one of you women is in charge?” the captain asked.

“I am,” said Lisa-Louise, without hesitation.

“I know that you won’t have got much sleep, but you really should be moving on in the next hour or so. Now that this wood is secured, there’ll be a company of archers coming up here. Before dawn the road below us is going to be a dangerous place to be. At least, I assume you’re planning to be on the road tomorrow.”

“Yes, without revealing any secrets, a few of us should be heading west, while of the rest go south – to Teddy’s Town, in the first instance.”

“You know that Teddy’s Town is still held by the enemy?”

“Thanks for the warning, but we can pass ourselves off as irregular troops.”

“Yeah, we were warned about Lundin’s girl irregulars. That’s what we took you for – until we found Captain Grace’s warrant.”

“I expect our having a couple of men with us confirmed the idea that we weren’t from Surrey.”

“Exactly – no boys in our army – and rightly so, of course… The secret service is a law unto itself… Anyway, you should be moving on very soon. Round about dawn, it’ll be raining arrows in Teddy’s Town.”

“Thanks for that. If the army and the secret service spoke to each other, we might’ve known already. As it is…”

“Yeah, as it is… Thank the goddess, our enemies are even worse when it comes to talking to one another. You’d better hope that them at Teddy’s Town know about the irregular girls.”

Before this conversation had reached its end, our party were saddling horses, stowing blankets and other equipment. It was clear that we had only a brief window of opportunity before our way would be blocked by crossbow fire. Mounting, we were soon on the rough track that led down to the road. The bright moonlight showed, advancing from the west, what must be the company of archers who were to occupy the hilltop.

“Well,” said Lisa-Louise to Dashing Daniel, “I’m afraid we must part at the crossroads.”

“Yeah, that’s for certain. If me and Carp-Eye were to stay with you, I’m sure that Tuerqui’s mistress would give us a real warm welcome.”

“I’m not sure of the penalty for pollygoggery[5], but I don’t think you could expect much mercy.”

“That goes whoever wins the war – neither Nadine nor Berenice has a reputation for softness.”

“Yeah, that reminds me – I’ve been wondering. When the captain asked which side we were on, how come you answered Berenice with so little hesitation? Did you recognise her uniform or something?”

“No – it was the way she phrased the question. Berenice or Nadine? Surrey folk put the important person’s name first[6]. Perhaps a guttersnipe might not do that, but an army captain always would.”

“That was a piece of good thinking, Daniel. You’ve got brains.”

“Well, it’s been good riding with you and your girls, Lisa-Louise. Pity we couldn’t have stayed together for a bit longer. I’ll miss you all.”

“Good riding with you, too, Daniel – and Carp Eye, Alicia and Heather. You’re a good bunch. I really hope you find your home in the west.”

“And I hope you can save Tuerqui’s daughter and, well, everything you want to do. It was fun, though, yesterday – playing at being Captain Grace… Do you want the warrant back?”

“No – you keep it. I don’t think that any of us could pass for Captain Grace, anyway. Well – I did pass for him once, but it was winter and I was bundled up. Had scarves over my face, and everything.”

“That sounds like it was fun, too. But not many things could beat yesterday – seeing that bugger, George Armstrong, gets a bit of what he deserves.” Daniel chuckled at the recollection.

“Talking of the Armstrong family – Jane needs to decide who she’s joining – and fast... Jane!”

“Yes,” said Jane, urging her horse into a trot to catch up with the head of our column.

“Jane –” said Lisa-Louise, “we’re about to split up. Daniel, Carp Eye, Alicia and Heather and heading west – looking for a home. The rest of us are going into Surrey. You have to choose which is for you – and choose in the next few minutes.”

“Surrey,” she said without a moment’s hesitation. “I had a home, and I didn’t much like it. It seems good to go where the girls on the hilltop came from, in any case. Ain’t no man going to knock them about.”

“That’s for sure,” I agreed, rubbing my wrists where they had been bound.

At the foot of the hill, we met the company of Surrey archers. Only the officer rode – the others marched with crossbows slung over their shoulders. Strapped to each soldier was an impressive array of weapons and other equipment – large backpacks, sheathed blades, quivers full of quarrels. As we approached, the commander drew her sword – the moonlight sufficient to show it to be sister to the one scabbarded at my hip.

“Stand easy,” she challenged. “Who goes there?”

“Agents of Her Majesty, Berenice Blackheart, on secret and urgent business” Lisa-Louise replied. “Which unit are you – you and your girls?”

“The Seventeenth Dorking and District Company[7]… Why’s one of your girls masked?”

“Secret business,” I said, “best not even to think about it. You’re from Dorking – I know the town, and I know Madame Scurf, who keeps a brothel there. There’s a carter just a little way up the road from the town. He’s called Sam, his wife is Sarah and…”

“That’s enough identification,” said the captain of archers. “You’re from Surrey right enough. Be on your way quickly, before we start raining death upon the road.”

The archers of the Seventeenth Dorking and District Company shifted from the middle of the road to allow us to pass on the left. At the crossroads, only a couple of minutes later, we made hurried farewells. Daniel, Carp Eye, Alicia and Heather took the road directly before of us, we turned left on to the road for Teddy’s Town. Glancing backwards, the moonlight allowed us to see our erstwhile companions for perhaps another quarter of an hour before they were swallowed by the darkness.

When we reached Teddy’s Town, after a couple of hours’ ride, the approach of dawn was beginning to lighten the sky. From the cover of a tree trunk stockade, jittery guards levelled their bows in our direction. We reined our horses to a halt, following Lisa-Louise’s lead when she raised her hands in an unwarlike gesture. It proved sufficient to prevent the unloosing of arrows.

“Who goes there?” a gruff voice called. “Identify yourselves.”

“Lundin irregular troops,” said Lisa-Louise. “If any of you know the Palace Victoria, shine a light in our direction. I’m spymaster Addal’s niece.”

“That she is,” a man said, as a mirror reflected light into our faces. “And another of them’s Mrs Clay as used to take charge of the Palace Victoria stitch slaves. Why’s one of you wearing a mask?”

“A sabre across the face,” said Lisa-Louise. “She’s not as pretty as she used to be.”

“Bad business, that. Waste of totty. Girls shouldn’t go to war.”

“What’s your business?” another man challenged.

“We’ve been harassing Surrey troops to the west,” Lisa-Louise lied. “Now we need to cross the river to create a diversion for Sir Garrafad.”

“Pass, then. You’d better hurry about it. I doubt that we can hold Teddy’s Town for longer than a few more hours[8].”

“Things going badly, then?”

“Things’ve gone badly from the start. When we first attacked, there were whole batteries of murder machines[9] to greet us. It was like someone had told them we were coming. Anyway – get along, now, girls – no time to chat.”

A few minutes later we were at the lock, although at first I didn’t recognise it as such. Where the water should have been, was the shadow of a raised step – then the road continued across the line of the river. All about were defensive positions formed of tree trunks – it looked as though a sizable tract of forest had been felled. By the road, a hut leaned against one of the wooden walls – at its door a couple of sentries, puffing on pipes, leaned on their halberds.

“Who goes there?” one of them challenged, failing to sound as though he much cared.

“Irregulars – on our way to help Sir Garrafad,” Lisa-Louise replied.

“Isn’t one of you wearing a mask?”

“Sabre cut,” I said. “You wouldn’t want to kiss me now.”

“Nasty!”

“Pass, irregulars,” said his companion, in a more official tone.

“Have you infilled the lock?” Modesty asked.

“Nah – it’s just a bridge of tree trunks and mud. You’d best ’urry. Won’t be long, now, afore this day’s shootin’ starts.”

The structure, constructed just as the sentry had said, wobbled alarmingly under our horse’s hooves. The animals neighed in protest, obviously distrusting the surface, and required some encouragement before they would cross. It wasn’t hard to see the beasts’ point of view, I half expected the tree trunks to roll apart, dropping us into the water. Reaching the Surrey bank without mishap came as a considerable relief.

“Tuerqui,” said Modesty, “I’m not impressed by the engineering skills of your father’s army.”

“Don’t blame me. It’s Bob Bosset’s fault – he should have trained them better.”

“Don’t blame Bob,” Tipsi said, “it’s the fault of your penny-pinching dad.”

“You know, Tuerqui,” said Diqui, “I’m beginning to think that mask of yours is more trouble than it’s worth. I make it four times we’ve been asked about it tonight.”

“Maybe you’d rather explain my RBS mark,” I replied.

“Stop picking on Tuerqui,” said Jane. “We’re all tired, but we’ve got to stick together.”

“That’s true,” said Lisa-Louise. “Sorry, Tuerqui.”

“I’m sorry too,” said Tipsi.

“And me,” Diqui said. “Sorry, girl.”

“Me, too,” added Modesty. “I only really meant it for a joke. Though it really was a crap bridge.”

“Thank you for your support, Jane,” I said. “And thanks to every one of you. Thank you all for coming with me. Now that it’s becoming real, I’m sorry to bring you into this business – I owe each of you more than I could ever repay.”

“I think I speak for us all, Tuerqui,” said Lisa-Louise, “when I say that it’s a privilege to ride with you – even into this stink.”

As we advanced, the smell grew worse – compounded, I thought, of blood, shit, piss and rotting flesh. The dimly-seen ruined walls of what had once been houses lined the road on either hand, as though we rode through a mouthful of broken teeth. A discordant mass of competing songbirds heralded the morning, about to dawn. My jaws stretched in a yawn, the weariness of an all but sleepless night descending upon me.

[1] The Battle of the Green Ford. On Cornsprout 4th, Lundin troops attempting to secure the northern approach to Teddy’s Town were engaged at the Green Ford by troops loyal to Berenice Blackheart. Fighting continued through the 5th, until a Surrey victory was secured shortly after dawn on the 6th.

[2] Wherever practical, it was the usual policy of all armies at this time to enslave prisoners of war. However, commando units often found that they had neither the time nor resources to do this – and frequently killed their prisoners instead.

[3] Cast unit – commando and special troops unit. These were elite forces, and certainly the best soldiers of any nation at this time.

[4] A cast unit was usually 16 strong – 2 sections of 6 commandos (making 12 in all), each commanded by a corporal (bringing the number up to 14), plus a sergeant and a captain.

[5] The penalty of pollygoggery was, of course, enslavement. Lisa-Louise must have known this, but probably meant that she didn’t know how unpleasant the authorities would make the enslavement.

[6] The truth of this is demonstrated throughout Surrey literature of this period. There was a regular practice, whenever persons and/or slaves were listed, of arranging the names in order of importance starting with the most important. Although Tuerqui’s memoirs were written in Surrey, her origins were in Essex and Lundin – and it is not clear whether she tried to follow this rule. If she did so, the order in which names are listed is sometimes interesting.

[7] The Dorking area supported Berenice Blackheart consistently through these troubled times. The Seventeenth Dorking and District Company established a proud record not only in the civil war period, but during Berenice’s subsequent wars of conquest, and later under Berenice II and her successors.

[8] Teddy’s Town fell before noon that day, cutting off Sir Garrafad’s retreat. Essentially, although Sir Garrafad’s army continued operations in Surrey, it was now surrounded, would receive no reinforcements, and communications between the army and Lundin were increasingly difficult.

[9] Murder machines – large multiple crossbows, generally mounted on wheeled carriages. Usually, they discharged either 100 or 144 quarrels. The front was a square plank structure with arrow holes evenly spaced. The largest examples of this period had 20 x 20 arrow holes and fired 400 quarrels. Usually, each murder machine was operated by six soldiers commanded by a bombardier. A battery comprised, more often than not, six machines commanded by a captain and two sergeants. They were most useful in the first hour of battle and any that survived at Teddy’s Town would have been withdrawn long before this. It is not known how many were deployed in this battle, but the phrase whole batteries suggests at least twelve.

For Chapter 47 click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2008/01/of-bondlings-and-blesh-chapter-47.html

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 45

2008-01-04T14:52:00.000Z

Chapter 45

The six of us rode in single file, our horses’ hooves spraying drops from the woodland brook. Shafts of afternoon sunlight slanted through gaps in the foliage. All about us, the forest was filled with the sound of birds – the harsh cry of a crow, the melody of a wood lark, a splash of wings from beyond a bend in the stream. The smell reached me before I saw the grey smudge of smoke drifting from our right.

We reined our horses in as Lisa-Louise, riding at the front of the column, raised her hand to signal a halt. Lightly, she vaulted from the saddle, glancing at the mossy stones on which she landed with a doubtful frown. Her idea had been to avoid the banks of the stream so as to make our trail harder to follow, now her feet had made marks. Shaking her head, she strode to where I, and Diqui behind me, brought up the rear.

“Smoke,” she hissed, “over to the right. No sign of tree felling – so it’s not a woodman’s cottage.”

“A camp fire?” I asked.

“More to the point, it may be the fire of someone dangerous. I want you – Tuerqui, and Diqui – to dismount and take a look. Don’t worry – we’ll be there to back you up if necessary.”

Muttering underneath her breath, Diqui rolled from her saddle, careful to avoid the worst of the mud. My impression was that she was more concerned by the prospect of muddying her boots than leaving marks for the trackers who might already be on our trail. Following her example, I landed on a slippery rock, almost lost my footing, but gained the bank without actual mishap. Glancing back, I saw Lisa-Louise raise her eyebrows and shake her head again.

Hands on our sword hilts, Diqui and I sidled between bushes and stepped over brambles. Although we tried to be as quiet as possible, twigs snapped under our feet with what seemed loud retorts. To me, it felt impossible that whoever had lit the fire could have failed to hear us. Then we stepped into a clearing scattered with bedding and other signs of recent occupation – but no inhabitants.

“You two,” said a girl’s voice from behind, “hands off your sword hilts and put them in the air. Turn round – slowly – so we can see you.”

Doing as bidden, I turned to see two women in breeches and leather jerkins levelling crossbows in our direction. They were immediately familiar but, not having seen either of them in six months, it took me several minutes to put names to the faces. When recognition dawned, I restrained myself from calling the two girls Piqusi and Curvi. Very likely, they would not respond well to their slave names – and they probably had back up in form of Dashing Daniel and Carp Eye.

“You, with the mask – take it off!” said Piqusi. “You know, Heather, I can’t place the other one, but she looks kind of familiar.”

“Yes, she does,” said Heather, the former Curvi. What do you reckon, Alicia? Someone from the Palace Victoria?”

As they spoke, I unlaced my leather mask more slowly than was necessary. It was all too likely that they would recognise me very quickly – and there was no way of knowing how they might react. Were they happy with Carp Eye and Dashing Daniel, it was just possible that I would be fondly embraced as one instrumental in uniting them with the pollygoggers. Regrettably, it seemed more likely that they would remember me as a cruel mistress who had used them as whores.

My fears were confirmed by the tone of voice in which Alicia, the former Piqusi, said “I know that face!” as the mask fell away.

“Me, too,” said Heather. “And the other girl was a Palace Victoria slave. It’s taken them a while, but it looks like they’ve tracked us down.”

“No, Heather, it can’t be that. They’d never send his lordship’s daughter after us – and probably not a slave, either.”

“Well – what then?”

“Why don’t we ask them?”

“We’re escaping from Lundin,” Diqui said. “You shouldn’t need to ask why a slave would want to escape. And life for a princess in the Palace Victoria – as far as I can see – is no better than the life of a slave, and may be a bit worse.”

“Are you two on your own?” Alicia asked.

“No, they’re not,” said Lisa-Louise as she and Barguin stepped from the trees on the far side of the clearing – crossbows levelled at Alicia and Heather’s backs. “Put down your weapons, stick your hands in the air, and turn round very slowly. You know the drill, girls.”

Heather and Alicia obeyed with a lack of hesitation that bespoke an assurance of back up. It occurred to me that, if they were expecting no one but Carp eye and Dashing Daniel, we should be all right. Had their gang recruited extra members, we were probably in trouble. The next two moves in the game were played with a sense of inevitability – first the pollygoggers appeared, then Modesty and Tipsi.

Lisa-Louise had clearly been thinking along similar lines to me when, finally, she asked irritably: “Is that it? Or do we have another round of stick ’em ups?”

“I’m afraid that’s it,” said Carp Eye glumly, “it looks like you’ve won.”

“If we’re sensible,” Lisa-Louise said, “we’ll all win. I hope I speak for us all when I say that I don’t want any of us hurt.”

“In that case,” Dashing Daniel said, “maybe you could ask your friends not to point their crossbows at us.”

“Fair enough – Modesty and Tipsi, we’ve made our point. I think you can relax.”

“I don’t trust them,” said Alicia. “There’s his lordship’s daughter, Mrs Clay the stitch room overseer, and snoop-master Addal’s niece.”

“Things have changed over the last six months, Piqusi,” said Modesty.

“Alicia.”

“Alicia, then. Lisa-Louise’s uncle Wilfred was murdered, and now we’re all on the run.”

“And,” said Lisa-Louise, “we ought to be running – or, at least, our horses should. Don’t ask why, but – back on the road – I put a crossbow quarrel into Lord Up Minester’s shoulder. Men will soon be on our trail, if they’re not already. Blood soaked clothing we left on the road will lead them to think that Tuerqui – his lordship’s daughter – has been killed, and probably prepared for the pot.”

“His lordship will be very cross with you,” said Dashing Daniel.

“His men will be cross with whoever they find,” said Lisa-Louise, “you or us, it won’t matter which.”

“The reason we won the stick ’em up game,” I said, “that there are six of us and only four of you. If we travelled together, there would be ten of us.”

“And we should be travelling already,” said Tipsi, “not standing around talking. I, for one, would rather come out of this alive.”

“All right,” said Dashing Daniel, nodding. “Whatever our differences, we forget about them for the next few days. We’ll travel together – and we’ll go now.”

Lisa-Louise and Dashing Daniel sealed the agreement by spitting on their palms and shaking hands. Modesty and Carp Eye followed their example, as did Alicia and Diqui. Heather indicated her agreement by pouring a can of water over the camp fire. Within five minutes, a column of ten mounted people was splashing its way along the brook.

We followed the stream until it vanished into a hole, then continued uphill to camp on the summit. By that time, darkness was falling. After a little discussion, Lisa-Louise, Carp Eye and Dashing Daniel agreed that we should keep watch in pairs, each of them comprising a member from both parties. That left two from our group not required for sentry duty – we drew straws, Barguin and Tipsi winning a theoretically unbroken night’s sleep.

The second watch fell to me and Alicia. The ground was stony and formed perhaps the lumpiest bed I’d ever occupied, but my blankets were warm. When Modesty – who had kept the first guard with Carp Eye – shook me, I was surprised to have slept. Rubbing my eyes and yawning, I arose to join my co-sentry – we nodded at one another before lapsing into an uneasy silence

“Look, Alicia,” I said at last, “I’m sorry for how I treated you at the Palace Victoria.”

“In what way?”

“I used you as a whore – after my brothel experience, I should have known better.”

“That’s true. All the same, it seems to have worked out OK. Daniel and Carp Eye are all right. Life with them is better than slavery in the Palace Victoria, anyway.”

“It’s none too warm,” I said, wrapping a blanket about my shoulders. “I hope you weren’t camping out through the winter.”

“No – the four of us slept warm and dry enough. We managed to hire ourselves out as slayers of nazemen. A lot of south Essex was overrun by the creatures a couple of years ago, and they’ve been a menace ever since. Villagers paid us well enough for the dangerous job.”

“You took your part in the slaughter?”

“We all did. You need a group of hunters, if you’re going after nazemen. They’re too tricksy to face alone. Almost human, I sometimes thought.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right – and they’re vicious as well as tricksy. Did it all get too much for you? I mean, you’ve obviously moved on now.”

“We cleared the area of nazemen, more or less. None of us fancied heading north, where the creatures are in larger bands and more organised. To the east was Surrey controlled country. Ruth Ruthless[1], the governess, wasn’t likely to welcome the likes of us.”

“So you headed west – and out of nazeman country altogether. Or I hope we’re out of it.”

“Yeah, west seemed the only way to go. We’ve got a bit of money – and a few portable bits and pieces from the houses nazemen had occupied. Don’t suppose I should be telling you that, but…”

“No need to worry about us. We’re not robbers – and won’t be, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“And if it is necessary?”

“We’ll do what we need to do.”

“But, for now, there’s no need?”

“That’s about it, Alicia.”

“Thank you for calling me, Alicia – not Piqusi. I appreciate that. Would you like to be called Margaret?”

“Tuerqui feels easier.”

“Right you are, Tuerqui. You know, tonight, when we went on watch together, I didn’t like you at all – but you’re not so bad.”

“Thank you. You’re not so bad either.”

“You heading anywhere in particular, Tuerqui?”

“Yes – the whole thing is complicated, but I aim to go back to the University of Pain. My daughter is there – and my mistress – friends, too – it’s home.”

“It must be good to have a home to go to. Perhaps we’ll find one. Just now, all we’re doing is heading west – going from instead of to. But maybe we can set ourselves up in business somewhere, settle down, have babies, you know…”

“But no babies yet?”

“No – this is no life for little children. We’ve been taking a cordial[2] that means no babies – screws up our periods, too, but there’s not really a choice.”

“I think the madam gave me, and the other whores, the same stuff in the brothel – or much the same.”

“Which brings us back to using slaves as whores.”

“I was sorry about that almost at once. Not that being sorry makes it any better. And I was really glad when you managed to flee Lundin.”

“I’ve often wondered about our escape from Lundin. It didn’t seem quite real. People helped us, then – talking it over afterwards – we realised that none of us knew them.”

“I think that Lisa-Louise sold some of my mother’s jewels – and paid people to help you.”

“Perhaps we should thank her.”

“No need for that, I’m sure. She and I did all four of you wrong, then she did a bit of right. If the right and wrong cancel each other out, I’m glad. I reckon that’s the most Lisa-Louise would ask – and I’ve no hope of coming out of it on the side of virtue, myself.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Tuerqui. It all came out pretty well.”

Our watch passed without significant incident – once we thought we heard something or someone moving in the darkness – but, when we investigated, there was no sign of anyone or any creature. Long before Dashing and Daniel and Lisa-Louise relieved us, the last of the uneasiness between Alicia and me had evaporated. Returning to my blankets, I fell asleep almost at once, in spite of the stony ground. It seemed only moments later that I jerked awake to the sound of raised voices and running feet.

“Tuerqui!” it was Tipsi’s voice. “I think something’s attacking us!”

Looking in the direction of the camp fire, I saw a confusing mass of dancing shadows. My reaction was to grab my sword and crossbow, but not the cuirass, before going to investigate. Approaching the fire, the shadows resolved themselves into figures I was able to name. Joining my companions, my gaze fell on a fallen shape which, after a minute or two, I was able to identify as a nazeman, throat skewered by a quarrel.

“Just a stray nazeman,” said Lisa-Louise. “Attracted to our fire, I expect. Dashing Daniel shot it.”

It took me some while to get back to sleep, but the remainder of the night passed uneventfully. In the morning, I felt sluggish, but – with a sense of urgency – ate a hurried breakfast of march ration biscuits[3]. The horses, received a form of beast flake[4] – which looked uncomfortably similar to our food. Perhaps an hour later we reached the edge of the forest and, dismounting, peered through the foliage at a well drained road and a huddle of cottages.

“We passed this way a couple of days ago,” Lisa-Louise said. “The place is called the Grown Man. The road leads to the marshes we need to cross – maybe half an hour distant.”

“In the meantime,” said Dashing Daniel, “if we leave the forest, we’re going to be seen. It’ll make life easy for anyone who’s trying to track us.”

A shabbily dressed woman was working the kitchen garden before one of the cottages. From our right hand side, a dozen or so horsemen were approaching – I didn’t recognise their uniforms, but they resembled those of my father’s troops. The lead rider wore rank distinctions similar to the green and yellow ones signifying a lieutenant of the Palace Victoria guard[5]. He reigned in his horse and spoke to the cottager, who ceased work to lean on her hoe.

“I think it’s time for this,” said Lisa-Louise.

Rummaging in her saddle bags, she withdrew an ornate dagger I recognised as having once belonged to Captain Grace. Making no move to unsheathe the knife, she twisted the elaborate pommel. It came away in her hand and I thought, for a moment, that it was broken. Then she withdrew a rolled up sheet of paper from the evidently hollow handle – clearly a legal document bearing what I recognised as my father’s personal seal, and Lord Higate’s.

“What is it?” Carp Eye asked.

“A warrant drawn up under the Edict for the Suppression of Terrorism. It charges one Captain Grace to take all necessary steps for the apprehension of Wilfred Addal’s killer or killers.”

“Where did she get that?” Tipsi whispered to Modesty.

“We only found it after she’d disposed of his passport and other effects. Otherwise Lisa-Louise would probably have sold it. Looks like it’s a good job she didn’t.”

“I think that Dashing Daniel is the one who looks nearest to the way Captain Grace did in life.” Lisa-Louise said more loudly, during this whispered conversation. “You up for a bit of bluff and bluster, Danny boy?”

“To be sure I am,” said Dashing Daniel. “In fact, I think I could enjoy it.”

“Right,” said Lisa-Louise, “you’re Captain Grace of the Palace Victoria guard – and we’re your sworn deputies. You left Lundin on Chillflurry the fourth on the trail of Wilfred Addal’s murderers. Yesterday, the killers attacked some travellers on the Rom Ford Road – killed two and took the corpses for food – then doubled back You get the picture?”

“Yes, I see. Let’s go.”

As we emerged from the forest, leading our horses, the guards on the road levelled at us their crossbows. Fortunately, their fingers didn’t tremble sufficiently to loose a quarrel in our direction. With an effort of will, I resisted reaching for my weapons. Dashing Daniel stepped with a very good approximation to an officer’s swagger, brandishing the warrant as he did so.

“Captain Grace of the guard,” he said, “pursuing the killers of Spymaster Addal.”

“Of course, Captain,” said the officer. “I’m Lieutenant Grey of the Barking Volunteers. We have met – just possibly you may recall.”

“Why, yes – I recognise you, now. It must have been…”

“Four years ago, more or less, Captain. Garrisoning the Great East Road, not that it did much good.”

“A sad outcome.”

“Indeed. I should have known you at once. You’ve changed, of course, haven’t we all?”

“You look older yourself, Lieutenant. These have been troubling years.”

“Yes, they have. I remember being struck by the similarity of our names – Grey and Grace.”

“Of course – but what brings you on this road?”

“Messages from the signal towers, Captain. Bad business on the Rom Ford Road yesterday. The daughter of His Majesty, Chieftain of the Clan Victoria, killed – Lord Up Minester skewered by an arrow in the shoulder.”

“Lieutenant – it seems that we’re chasing the same villains. Yesterday, our quarry attacked some travellers on the Rom Ford Road, then doubled back. They took the corpses of two women – to eat, I suppose.”

“That’ll be the princess and her slave.”

“You were talking to the cottager – did she see anything?”

“Eight armed riders passed by about half an hour ago – heading for Lay Town Zone, and probably the road across the marshes.”

“I think that’s them!” Then – to us: “Deputies! Mount up! We’re taking the road across the Lee Valley.”

“Can we help?” asked Lieutenant Grey. “It would be an honour to ride with you and your deputies, Captain.”

“It’d best be another time, I’m afraid, Lieutenant. We may be on a false trail. I’d be much obliged if you could search the woods, in case the villains are still in there.”

A quarter of an hour’s ride brought us into a smart and prosperous-looking village that must have been Lay Town Zone. The local constable, a fat man, leaned on his halberd and puffed on a pipe. Dashing Daniel brandished the warrant in his direction, at which the officer nodded affably. Just beyond his sentry box was an elaborate shrine decorated with obviously old mosaics, many of the colours still bright.

“They show scenes in the life of Alfred the hatch cook, a local demigod,” Barguin told me. “There was something about his slaying a psycho during a rain shower, but I forget the details.”

“How on earth do you know that?” I asked.

“I was born in Hammer Town, just on the other side of the marshes. When I was little, my dad brought me through this way, selling fencing twine, lamp oil and cabbages.”

A few minutes later, we left the village behind, our last sight of it the constable touching his helmet – possibly intended as a form of salute. Dense forest soon crowded upon the road on either hand, it looked to me an ideal place for an ambush. Whatever my fears, we passed through the woodland without incident, before reaching open scrubland – a prelude to the marshes. The trees receding into the distance, Lisa-Louise turned in the saddle, a satisfied smile creasing her face.

“You know,” I heard her say to Daniel, “that was smart work back there.”

“How do you mean?”

“Sending Lieutenant Grey and his men into the forest. They’ll soon confuse our hoof and footprints beyond recognition. There may be skilled trackers coming through. If anything can obliterate our trail, it’ll be those clodhopping Barking Volunteers.”

“Yeah, I have my moments. Barking Volunteers? Barking mad, more like!”

Our horses made slow progress across the marshes, their hooves sinking into several inches of mud at every step. We were bothered by flies at which the horses swished their tails and we slapped – sometimes too late, I emerged with several bites. At the most boggy point, just before the river, the ooze seemed to be almost a foot deep – but, being very soft, evidently didn’t give the horses too much trouble. Then we splashed through a shallow river and, beyond, mounted a better maintained road.

“East of the river,” Barguin explained, “they don’t much care – but on this side the constables raise a special tax to maintain the road. My father used to complain about it.”

Whether because of this tax or not, Hammer Town looked a great deal less prosperous than Lay Town Zone. Passing through her native village, Barguin looked about carefully – I wasn’t sure whether she was hoping to see friends, or anxious to avoid enemies, or perhaps both. Such villagers as we saw averted their eyes, presumably not wishing to offend a well armed party. A constable, who had been swaggering down the street, shouldered his halberd and saluted smartly when Daniel presented the warrant.

Barguin identified the next village as Doll’s Town, after which her fund of local knowledge ran dry. During the morning, we passed several more settlements – between them, by turns, our way was through woodland and pasture interspersed with occasional cultivated fields. The sun was around its zenith, and breakfast seemed a distant event, when Lisa-Louise and Daniel called a lunch break at a wayside inn. An attentive ostler immediately set to work upon our tired, hungry and mud-spattered horses.

“Why Captain Grace!” the landlord said in response to the warrant. “I’d hardly have recognised you! Now, of course, I see who you are. How long is it?”

“Years, I think,” Daniel replied, clearly disconcerted by this welcome. “Mister… err…”

“Mister? Old friends shouldn’t stand on ceremony, Captain. I’m George – George Armstrong. You can’t have forgotten…”

“Of course I haven’t forgotten, George. It’s just that, for a moment… Well, it must be years…”

“Maybe a couple of years, Captain. And they seem to have gone hard with you. Sit yourself down, and your deputies, too. There’s some travellers as would have to make shift with a mess of stew, but I have a joint of roast beef for old friends, and special guests.”

“Thank you, George. You’re the best.”

“You know, thinking about it Captain, I reckon as you’ve come at an opportune time. As you’ll remember, I was always liberal in supplying you with girls. Back when you were stationed just up the road.”

“Much appreciated, George. Always much appreciated.”

“Think nothing of it, Captain – glad to oblige such a fine officer. But, I was thinking, the things you like to do with the hussies goes pretty hard with ’em. Quietens ’em down but good, if you takes me drift.”

“I don’t think that I ever went too far…”

“No – no, of course not, Captain. It’s just that I was wondering if you could take me daughter in hand. Well – me misses said she was me daughter. I’m having me doubts.”

“I’m sorry, George, it would be a pleasure – a real pleasure – but I just don’t have time. After lunch, we need to be on our way. Villains don’t catch themselves, more’s the pity.”

“Maybe you could take her with you, do the things you enjoy for a few days – or a few weeks, if you like – and then bring the strumpet back with all the sauce knocked out of her. I’ll tell you what it’s about. A couple of days back a good customer got a bit frisky with the slut. But did she take it in good part?”

“I assume she didn’t.”

“No – she didn’t! Would you believe it? The little spitfire slapped the customer’s face. I gave her a sound thrashing, of course, and locked her in the cellar, but it hasn’t done much good – in fact, the last time I was down there, the bitch tried to scratch me.”

“And you such a good father, too, George. Shocking!”

“I don’t think we should leave her here, Captain Grace,” Lisa-Louise said. “We have some responsibilities, after all.”

“We are guardians of law and order, of course. And I like my fun,” Daniel said. “But do my deputies think we should take her with us? A show of hands, now – all those in favour?”

My hand shot up at once – I didn’t know what we could do with the girl, but leaving her in the custody of George Armstrong seemed too monstrous to be contemplated. Aware that she would present us with problems, my expectation was that only two or three of us would wish to rescue her. In that, I miscalculated for everyone except Carp Eye and Daniel signified assent – even the usually hard-headed Lisa-Louise, Modesty and Diqui. After hesitating for a minute or two, even the pollygoggers agreed, and it was unanimous.

“In that case, George,” Daniel said, “let’s have a look at the girl.”

A few minutes later the landlord reappeared with a young girl, grasping her shoulder with one hand and her hair with the other. She could have been no older than fourteen, was pale and thin, clothed in a flimsy white dress, her feet bare, hands tied with stout cord. Although George Armstrong’s grip must have been painful, she didn’t flinch, instead her eyes flashed defiance. It occurred to me that someone with such spirit might be useful on the dangerous way ahead of us.

“Sit her down, George,” Daniel said. “We’ll let her know how she stands.”

Lisa-Louise, seated on a bench, shifted up to make room for our new companion. Without trace of gentleness, the landlord thrust his charge into the vacant space. The girl, evidently poised for escape, glowered at each of us in turn. As George Armstrong smiled at her malevolently, his gaze shifted, with obvious meaning, to a stout whip hanging by the door.

“Let me see,” he said, “it’ll be ten platters of roast beef, crusty bread, garden veg, and as many mugs of strong ale. Or am I wrong?”

“Make it eleven,” said Dashing Daniel.

“For the little spitfire, too? I think you’ll regret it.”

“For her, too. We’ve hard miles to cover. She’ll need boots and a cloak, as well. That’s if you want her to survive.”

“Of course I want her to survive!” The landlord sounded shocked at the implication that he might wish otherwise. “What kind of father do you take me for? Besides, if I wanted her dead, I could have done the job easily enough myself – I just want her tamed.”

“Of course. Your concern does you credit, George. But food and drink for her, the same as for us. Boots and cloak, too.”

“I suppose you’ll be paying by tax deduction.[6]”

“Tell you what George, if we’re all pleased with the food and drink, I’ll sign an invoice for two dozen deputies – no one’s to know. You’ll be quids in. And if you’ve an enemy or two you want sorted…”

“Say no more, Captain, you’re a real gentleman. As a matter of fact, there are two or three as have done me bad turns.”

“Just scribble down their names and addresses, George. It may be a few weeks till we have time to attend to them, of course. Just now, we’re on urgent business for His Majesty.”

“No hurry. But if you could make it nasty, Captain…”

“You know me, George. Nasty will be no problem at all.”

It scarcely seemed possible, but George Armstrong’s face creased into an even more hideous mask of malevolence. Wiping his hands on his apron and chuckling under his breath, he scuttled off to a back room, presumably the kitchen. The girl made as if to leap for the door, but Lisa-Louise restrained her with what was evidently a firm but gentle grip. Modesty raised a finger to her lips and winked.

“Listen,” said Lisa-Louise, “we’re going to get you a good dinner – and then get you out of here. None of us are going to hurt you. We’ll explain later. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she said, shooting us a puzzled, but still suspicious, look.

“Good girl. What’s your name?”

“Jane.”

“Well Jane, I’m Lisa-Louise, these others are,” she pointed at the individuals as she spoke, “Daniel, Carp Eye, Modesty – well, the others will wait till later. I’ll untie your hands, Jane. Just take it easy.”

“Thank you.”

“And, if you’re thinking of making a bolt for it, that’s your business – but you’ll be well advised to wait for your lunch – and your boots and cloak.”

When Jane nodded to signify her agreement with this self-evident piece of wisdom, Lisa-Louise unknotted the cord that bound her wrists. As the rope lifted clear, angry red lines were revealed – it had been tied very tightly. Fumbling in a belt pouch, Modesty produced a small jar of salve, which she handed to the girl. Still looking suspicious, the youngster started to rub the cream into the injured area.

Two girls brought us our ale and food, noticeably avoiding Jane’s eye as they did so. The food and drink were of acceptable quality – I’d had better, and far worse. Jane ate and drank as though she had been starved for a week – which, for all I knew, she had been. As we were finishing, the landlord reappeared with a docket for the meal and care of the horses, which Daniel signed with a flourish that bore no resemblance to Captain Grace’s signature.

“Thank you Captain,” said the landlord. “On reflection, I made it out for thirty deputies and added lodging for the night, too. I trust that’s in order.”

“For you, George, it’s fine,” Daniel replied with convincing heartiness.

“And here’s a list of rascals who are due a nasty surprise. If you could make it extra nasty, I’d be obliged. Especially Jim Harrison – and that witch Juliet Cooper, too. She… well, you don’t want to know what she did.”

“Slow deaths all round?”

“Very slow would be nice, Captain.”

As he unfolded a sheet of paper, bearing half a dozen names and addresses, Daniel continued: “Don’t worry about them, George, my boy. I won’t have time for a week or two – but it will be a pleasure to give them a bit of what they deserve. Now – the girl’s boots and cloak, if you’d be so good, we must be going.”

A few minutes later, still avoiding Jane’s eye, one of the serving girls brought a woollen cloak and a pair of sturdy boots – and the youngster put them on. We rose from our seats and strode out on to the forecourt, with the arrogance to be expected from Captain Grace and his deputies. Jane, head held high, stepped with a pride that matched ours – George Armstrong, hovering by the door, was unable to meet her gaze. The ostler presented our horses, now fed, watered, refreshed, and we took to the road.

Within five minutes, our party, now eleven strong, entered the shade of the forest – feeling chilled, I unfastened my tightly rolled cloak from the saddle. The taste of the beef and ale lingered in my mouth – less pleasant now than they had seemed in the tavern. From the woodland about us birds made their varied noises – the screech of a jay, the chatter of a wood warbler, the clicking and chirping of a nuthatch. Stray sunbeams danced upon the road wherever a break in the foliage allowed them to emerge.

[1] Around this time, Ruth Ruthless did much to increase the grip of Surrey on southern Essex. Her expansionist policies brought her into increasing conflict with Surrey’s former allies, the nazemen. Subsequently, she held high office in several parts of Berenice’s expanding empire.

[2] Such cordials were widely used at this time. They contained hormones associated with pregnancy, and prevented women from conceiving.

[3] March ration biscuits – a dried food which, while not especially appetising, was nutritious, light weight and easy to carry. Armies on the march were often supplied with march ration biscuits. Travellers in lonely places also found them useful.

[4] Beast flake – see Chapter 19, note 5. In practice there may have been little difference between the horses’ beast flake and the people’s march ration biscuits.

[5] During the three or four years prior to this date, an attempt had been made to harmonise rank distinctions of field officers in the armies of Surrey’s enemies. Hence green and yellow patches signified a lieutenant in the Palace Victoria Guard, the Barking Volunteers and numerous other forces.

[6] Paying by tax deduction – amongst the enemies of Surrey at this time it was common practice for persons on official business to sign dockets for goods and services received. The dockets could then be presented to the tax gatherers in lieu of tax payments. Paying by tax deduction – as here – gave rise to many corrupt practices and, for that reason, was never adopted in Surrey.

For Chapter 46 click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2008/01/of-bondlings-and-blesh-chapter-46.html

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 44

2008-01-03T15:36:00.000Z

Chapter 44

Blackened documents smoked in the grate – I wasn’t sure whether the smouldering fire was intended to heat the room, or purely a means for disposing of waste paper. True to the month name, Drizzlemoon moisture dibbled down a window that afforded a view of little but grey sky. At my toes, so many papers were scattered over the floor, it was difficult to avoid stepping on them. Running my fingers over the doorframe, gritty paint flakes worked their way under my fingernails.

“Well?” said my father irritably, looking up from the messages he was opening with a dagger. “What is it, daughter? Can’t you see that I’m busy?”

“I’m sorry,” I began, “if this is a bad time, but…”

“Fah!” he spat the syllable with sudden violence. “Wicked! Unnatural!”

“I’m sorry, if I’ve offended you, somehow, father.”

“Not you, girl, though I don’t doubt that you’ve indulged in some unnatural practices. It’s this despatch. Berenice Blackheart’s had a daughter.”

“I can’t imagine Berenice as a mother.”

“I never said that Berenice was a mother. But I did say that it was unnatural. I’d shield the eyes and ears of a real lady from such a thing. But as a whore, and a daughter of a whore, I don’t suppose there’s any harm in you knowing.”

“Father! How can you say such a thing about mother?”

“It’s no more than the truth. My grandmother really did work as a whore. Madame Villiers, they called her, when she had her own brothel. As a girl, she’d lain with Leofrith for the sake of a few coins.[1]”

“I don’t see what that has to do with mother.”

“Hear me out, girl – Grandmother Villiers told me that only accidents of birth divide whores from great ladies. She said that her whoredom was less than that of many a fine lady. At the time, I didn’t know what she meant. Later, your mother showed me.”

“You said there was no harm in me knowing the contents of the despatch.”

“No, I don’t expect there is. Read the filthy thing, if you must.”

Taking the document from his hand, I read that the most powerful person in Surrey had not been pregnant but – as nearly as a woman could – fathered a child. Savants had produced a combination of the essences of two women, a substance called gynozoa – something which, I knew, had been the subject of research at the University of Pain. Now, it had passed from the realm theory to become an actual child – the daughter of Berenice and the aptly named Gina Gestate[2]. The baby had been brought to term in Gina’s belly.

The despatch covered some matters I was unable to follow about XX and XY. This led to a conclusion that was easy enough to understand, that any child conceived through gynozoa would be a girl[3]. The writer envisaged that the development might eventually lead to the disappearance of the human male. This was represented as an undesirable outcome but, in spite of my liking Bob Bosset and a few other men, made me think speed the day.

“Anyway,” my father said, as I handed the paper back to him, “I think I said that I was busy. Do you have any actual business with me, Margaret?”

“Yes, father. Your armies will soon invade Surrey.”

“You seem privy to what some would regard as a military secret – but what of it?”

“I thought that, if you are going to war, cementing an East Anglar alliance might be urgent.”

“Your marriage to Lord Up Minester?”

“Yes, father.”

“That’s a very good point, Margaret. Thank you. In view of all my urgent business, I’d overlooked the matter, but I shouldn’t have done. It would be well to send a message to Lord Up Minester today, proposing a date for the union.”

“Briday is traditional for weddings – and, unless I’m much mistaken, Lord Up Minester and his family will be sticklers for tradition.”

“His family will quite certainly be so, Margaret. East Anglar is a most old fashioned place. It’s Ruday today. Three days will obviously be insufficient for the marriage negotiations – so it can’t be this coming Briday.”

“Besides, father, I think this Briday is the thirteenth. Many view it as a day of ill-omen. It seems unlikely that East Anglar folk would regard it as a suitable day for a wedding.”

“A good point, Margaret. Briday week is the twentieth, a good enough day – but I think that Lord Up Minester’s family may require more notice than that. It would be well for the future alliance if the Viscount of Lower Stoft could be present in person.”

“I was thinking much the same myself, father.”

“Briday fortnight is the twenty-seventh – the day we intend to deploy our main infantry force. I’m sure to be too busy for your wedding – and it would look ill if I weren’t present.”

“Yes, father, you will most certainly need to be there if Lord Up Minester’s family are not to feel slighted. So how about three weeks from Briday?”

“Let me see,” he said, consulting a calendar. “That would be Cornsprout 4th. More or less a perfect day. The month is associated with fertility, whilst four represents stability.”

Leaving the old man’s office, the wedding day was fixed – in so far as anything in this world ever is, before it actually happens. Back in my rooms, Lisa-Louise expressed herself as better pleased than I’d expected – perhaps she had thought that my Surrenity might hold me back from following her instructions. For once she agreed with my father – the fourth would be a more or less perfect day. Her reasons for thinking this were not based on the date as such, but upon practicalities around my re-entry into Surrey.

Two days later, came Drizzlemoon 12th, the Great Feast of Our Lady of the Lamp. A year earlier, she had returned me to Tuerquelle and Lady Isobel, and now another return to my daughter, and to my beloved mistress, was imminent. In the circumstances, earnest prayers were in order and, naturally, I did not neglect them. It was also an occasion for rejoicing – accordingly, I invited everyone from the Solstice celebration to join me for dinner – plus the twins, Norti and Queuti.

That made fourteen at table – I’d never seen my dining room so full. By what means I never discovered, Lisa-Louise, Diqui and Barguin, between them, managed to lay their hands on three ducks, two smoked chickens and a small goose. In a feat even more impressive, Tipsi mistress-minded their transformation into an excellent meal, in spite of the cramped confines of my kitchen. The wine was marked as having come from Eric Marsh’s cellar – having certainly left that place with neither his knowledge nor consent.

Rising to my feet after dinner, I said: “It has been delight to have every one of you here for what is, to me, the most important feast of the year. Raise your glasses please to Our Lady of the Lamp.”

Everyone rose, drained their glasses and cheered. Sergeant General Bosset proposed a toast for the safety of all of us who were about to venture into Surrey. Lisa-Louise responded with good wishes for Fluff and Bob’s baby. The mother-to-be – who had restricted herself to non-alcoholic drinks – was the only one of us not to be at least a little drunk.

“Most of you will already know about it,” I said, rising to my feet again. “But I would like the few, who haven’t heard, to be aware that we are about to fake my death.”

“Are you sure it’s wise to talk about this?” Modesty asked.

“I’m not sure that it’s wise, but I think that everyone here has earned a right to know. I’d hate for Fluff or the twins to grieve for me when I’m perfectly well. And I think that we can trust the entire company. But, please, no word of this should pass beyond those who are here this evening.”

“Yes, tell them, Tuerqui,” said Lisa-Louise, “they all have a right to know.”

“On Cornsprout 4th – three weeks tomorrow – I am to marry Lord Up Minester. Once we are wed, he and I will depart for his castle, but – if our plans go smoothly – my husband will return within a few hours. He’ll say that we were ambushed and I was killed. In reality, I’ll have joined the warrior girls and be on my way to Surrey.”

At that stage, I think, it was envisaged that Tipsi would be leaving with the others on the twenty-fifth. As a final change to our plans, Lisa-Louise and Modesty agreed that she would remain with me in the palace until I was married – and leave the city after the wedding as my personal slave. That way, I’d have some assistance should last minute changes of plan prove necessary. It was clear to me that, were the feast day dinner an indication of her organisational skills, this was an excellent idea.

The palace had become a hive of activity. Once, I saw Lord Bustain, scratching the crack between his buttocks as he made his way along the passage that led to my father’s office. No doubt, he was selling horses, ponies and mules for use in the invasion. He smiled vaguely in my direction, but had probably not recognised me.

Contrary to my expectations, the invasion plans progressed smoothly, and punctually. On the twenty-fifth, Fluff, Bob and the twins joined Tipsi and me to wave goodbye to Lisa-Louise, Modesty, Diqui and Barguin. Mounted on shaggy but sturdy ponies, they rode apart from the later intake of warrior girls. Well-armed, with the protection of padded leather and light steel cuirasses, the four of them made an impressive sight – I was glad that they were on my side.

Tipsi and I watched as a battalion of my father’s finest foot soldiers departed for Teddy’s Town the following day. A few hours later, the first of the wounded men returned, disfigured by bloody gashes. In the late afternoon, the corpse of an officer was returned on a horse. Listening for any scrap of information, we gathered that, although the troops suffered heavy losses, they had secured the lock before night fell.

The bodies of two of the irregulars also returned to the palace that day, slung over their ponies’ saddles. This piece of news having spread quickly, a large crowd gathered in the stableyard. Jostling to see the faces of the slain girls, I was much relieved to find that neither of them were my friends. Tipsi squeezed my hand, tears in her eyes – our concerns had surely been identical.

We watched again as a much larger body of infantry departed on the twenty-seventh. The return traffic of the injured and dead mounted. After seeing a man dragged home on a litter – missing both legs and coughing his life blood – I preferred not to look at the spectacle. There was little doubt that we would see enough grisly sights in the weeks to come without gawping at the war’s early casualties.

Left to my own devices, I would probably not have watched the departure of the main force. My father, however, insisted that I join him – and some other persons of importance – on a balcony. Saluting in our direction, a great body of soldiers passed below, most of them on horseback. Helmets and breast plates gleamed in the morning sunshine, bright banners shifting in the breeze.

Most magnificent of all, Sir Garrafad of the Mount rode at head of the column. A mass of blue, yellow and scarlet plumes sprouted from his helmet as flowers from a pot. The general’s mustachios were heavily waxed, protruding from his upper lip like a pair of stilettos. His breastplate was adorned with an image of an eagle – his personal symbol – worked in what was almost certainly real gold.

In contrast to the immaculate troops below, a sooty-faced officer joined us on the balcony, his cuirass dented and without its shine. When he saluted, I saw that one sleeve of his tunic was ripped to reveal darkly caked dried blood. There could be no doubt that he was newly returned from the battle. Evidently not wishing the newcomer to be seen from below, my father drew him away from the parapet.

“Well, Major Gilbert?” my father asked.

“We’ve secured the wretches, your highness,” the major replied. “Cowardice in the face of the enemy is, of course, punishable by death – but what manner of execution would you prefer?”

“If I may be allowed to intervene,” said Cornelius Lock, “this war is proving very expensive. That villain Bustain, for one, has made a fortune from your poor purse. Quoting the figures would make me physically sick. Could we not recoup a few pennies by enslaving any cowards?”

“Mr Lock has a good point,” my father said. “Enslave them – but have their entire regiments witness the branding and castration. That should help stiffen the men’s resolve.”

“Cowardice,” said the gaunt man who worked as Mr Lock’s chief assistant, “is the mark of a genetic slave. Natural justice demands that the cowards’ entire families should be enslaved.”

“A point well made, and well taken,” my father said. “And it could do no harm if the troops understood that their entire families will pay the price for any cowardice.”

“Yes,” the major agreed, seemingly with some discomfort, “I would have hoped, by now, to have prisoners of war and other booty to defray the expenses. But, so far, not a single prisoner – and the plunder is hardly worth the expense of shipping back to Lundin.”

“Please don’t bother us with any more rusty iron,” Cornelius Lock remarked sourly, “If things do not improve, we may have to look at courts martial for some of the officers. We can’t expect an actual profit in the first few days of war – but there are limits.”

“Not you, of course, major,” my father said a little too hastily, “but when things go badly someone has to take responsibility.”

It was now less than a week until my marriage and, as soon as the army had departed, the household was busy with wedding preparations. The palace temple, usually a dusty place owing to my father’s lack of religion, was thoroughly cleaned and garlanded with spring flowers. Stitch slaves, now working without Modesty, sewed me a magnificent gown – white with gold thread. At least twenty members of Lord Up Minester’s family arrived including, to my surprise, the famous Viscount of Lower Stoft.

“This wedding is costing a preposterous sum,” I heard Cornelius Lock complain to my father. “That at a time when the war has best part emptied the treasury, and has yet to return any significant plunder.”

“I know,” my father replied. “But think of it as an investment. A judicious alliance with the East Anglar nobles should help to ensure victory. In defeat, there can be no profit from making war.”

“True – and yet the gold thread for her dress…”

“We don’t want the Viscount to sense that there is any financial difficulty. That could spell disaster.”

Possibly, the Viscount failed to sense any financial difficulty – but he certainly sensed matters to my father’s disadvantage. Several times each day, messengers fetched him despatches – some, at least, from the war zone. It took no great detective to tell, from his facial expressions, that little of what he read was to his liking. My father tried to put a brave face on matters, but he, too, was clearly worried by the tide of battle.

“Another set back for Sir Garrafad,” I heard the Viscount say to my father. “He’s scarcely three miles beyond Teddy’s Town and has secured no advantage at all against Pauline Poleaxe’s troops[4]. I begin to wonder at the advisability of a union between our houses.”

“A temporary set back,” my father replied, “no more than that. He’s certain to break out within the week. The gods are on our side, and the Surrey wretches are at each other’s throats.”

“You may have miscalculated there. I don’t know much about the gods – it seems to me that neither of us are truly religious men. As to the Surrey generals, some are preoccupying themselves with Surrey’s external enemies, rather than the civil war. According to my sources, Lorelei Leveller is still actively engaged on conquest in the west, and may soon take Brister itself.[5]”

“But the civil war is sure to take its toll. You’ll see.”

“Perhaps so – but I sense that too many Surrey generals are hedging their bets. If they defeat your troops, or those of Westland, they will receive the gratitude of either Berenice or Nadine – whichever wins. If I were in their place, it’s the strategy I’d try to adopt. Wouldn’t you?”

“Possibly I would. But they are women – creatures, by nature, devoid of logic. And they can’t keep it up for too long. They’re sure to be dragged in – and then, if not before, we will triumph.”

“You’d better hope that it’s so. There enough lords in East Anglar who favour an alliance with Surrey, whatever we think of those women’s wickedness.”

“Ah! There you have it! Those women’s wickedness – someone has to make a stand against it. Did you hear of Berenice’s daughter?”

“Yes – and I take your point. On the other hand, we can’t blind ourselves to the way the world is going.”

“Indeed, we can’t blind ourselves to the way the world is going – that is my entire point. If we don’t stick together, our sons will have no future. Worse – there will be no sons, only daughters of dreadfulness.”

Whatever the viscount’s doubts, the wedding preparations continued. The ballroom, having grown dusty since the New Year masque, was now readied for use. Slaves prepared the floor with beeswax and linseed oil before buffing it with bunny cloths. It looked very well done but, applying bare toes to the surface, I could detect deficiencies in the work – the shortcomings would not have done for the University of Pain.

On Olday evening – aware that we would have little time for them the following day – Tipsi and I made our farewells to Fluff, Bob and the twins. All of us made an attempt at gaiety, trying not to show how sad we were to part. Sarah and her musicians stopped by for a little while – to say goodbye and play a few final tunes. On the way back to my rooms afterwards, both Tipsi and I had tears in our eyes.

Finally, Briday dawned with a cloudless sky. After breakfast, Tipsi – assisted by half a dozen slaves – dressed me in the bridal gown. A headdress in the form of a spray of satin flowers was positioned to hide my RBS mark. When they held a looking glass for my inspection, a lump formed in my throat – never before, surely, had I looked so lovely.

My father arrived to escort me to the temple. He possessed an air of magnificence in a dark red velvet robe with a heavy gold chain of office about his neck. Golden slippers with curled up toes were just visible beneath his hem. For once, he was smiling.

“Margaret,” he said, “you do me credit. Time, now, to join with your husband-to-be in the temple.”

“Thank you, father. I’m ready.”

He stepped ahead of me through the narrower passages and stair cases, but – when we came to the broad temple steps – father took his place to my left. Linking his arm with mine, we stepped into the great chapel, where perhaps two hundred guests vied for space with a wild profusion of flowers. As we entered, musicians struck up the wedding march.

Peering at the assembled company, I saw that Bob Bosset, Fluff and the twins had been allocated a notably less prestigious place than Lord Higate or the Honourable Eric Marsh. No doubt this had to do with the Sergeant General’s humble origins. The most exulted positions, closest to the shrine, were occupied by the viscount on the groom’s side, and my brother on the bride’s. Phoebe and Mary, in lacy dresses, sat behind a pillar several rows behind.

Directly in front of the shrine stood Lord Up Minester in a royal blue uniform lavishly decorated with gold braid and buttons. His high stiff collar looked as though it were choking him. He wore a sword on his left hip, which seemed to me of doubtful propriety in a sacred precinct. Under his left arm he carried an elaborate military cap crowned with a mass of crimson plumes – it reminded me of a fancy chicken.

There was a priest – a fat man in a scarlet robe – and a priestess – a scrawny woman in white. They joined hands to invoke a lengthy catalogue of gods and goddesses, most of whose names were entirely unfamiliar to me. During this recital, I could feel the assembled company growing restive, my father tapped a golden slipper impatiently. Perhaps the clerics grew aware of the hostile current, for they stopped abruptly – part way through, I thought, the polysyllabic name of an obscure deity.

“We are gathered here,” said the priest, “to join this man and this woman in marriage. It is a holy rite recalling the way in which maleness and femaleness were conjoined at the first time – to create the universe. The act of divine creation continues thus to this day. Only through the most frightful blasphemy will such union ever be disrupted.”

Glancing at my father, I saw his impatient expression at the start of this speech. His face clearly registered we all know why we’re here – just get on with it! As the priest continued into what was clearly an attack on the gynozoic reproduction developed in Surrey, the old man smiled grimly and nodded in agreement. He was not a religious man, but he liked this train of thought.

“As at the beginning, so to the end,” said the priestess.

“Who gives this woman, Princess Margaret of the Blood Victoria, into marriage?” asked the priest.

“I do,” said my father.

“And by what right do you give her?”

“By the right of parenthood. I am her father. I am Chieftain in absolute of the Blood Victoria, given governance of Lundin under the glory of the Sixth Condominium, blessed by the gods.”

“Do you, then, assign all rights concerning her to Victor, twelfth Lord of Up Minester in the Kingdom of Essex, that he may take her and use her in absolute as his own?”

“I do.”

“And may the woman, Princess Margaret of the Blood Victoria, speak to give her own consent to this union?”

“She may.”

“Do you, Princess Margaret of the Blood Victoria, daughter of the Chieftain in absolute who is given governance of Lundin under the glory of the Sixth Condominium, blessed by the gods, give your consent to this marriage?” The priestess was speaking, now. “That he may take you and use you in absolute as his own?”

“I do,” I said, trying not to choke on the words.

“Do you Victor, twelfth Lord of Up Minester in the Kingdom of Essex,” said the priest, “take as your wife Princess Margaret of the Blood Victoria, daughter of the Chieftain in absolute who is given governance of Lundin under the glory of the Sixth Condominium, blessed by the gods? Do you take her to use in absolute as your own? Do you take her as the potentiality of the first god took the potentiality of the first goddess – and as male has ever since taken female throughout the unbroken line of creation?”

“I do.”

“Have you the ring with which to bind your wife in matrimony?”

“I have,” said Lord Up Minester, slipping a gold band on to my finger.

“Then I, as priest representing every god, join you as husband and wife.”

“And I, as priestess representing every goddess, join you as wife and husband.”

Two slaves carried a bulky and obviously heavy wooden stand – placing it just to the left of the priest and priestess. Clipped to its upper surface was the marriage contract – a sheet of thick legal paper marked with elaborate calligraphy and embellished with half a dozen wax seals. A third slave placed a pen and a pot of ink next to the document. My father was the first to sign, followed by Lord Up Minester, finally I was permitted to add my signature.

To a cheer from the crowd, Lord Up Minester picked me up, seemingly as easily as he might a kitten, and carried me from the temple. For the first time, it occurred to me that my husband was physically very strong. Were we, by some mischance, to pass into married life, it would have been difficult for me resist any of his demands. He did not put me down until we had crossed the threshold of the ballroom, where the reception was to be held.

The next two or three hours were occupied with eating, drinking and dancing. Aware of how I’d arranged for the day to develop, I ate a substantial meal – but drank a great deal less than the intended impression. On my way out of Lundin, it would be wise to have a reasonably clear head. To my relief, my husband became quite inebriated – although not to the extent that he’d be unable to ride.

“Darling,” he said as it approached the time for us to leave, “a most frightful bore. It looks as if we won’t be able to go to my castle this evening.”

“Why ever not, my sweetheart?”

“Damnably embarrassing, actually, my dear. But, if you’ll save my pardon for using the word, my guard company has gone down with the squitters.”

“What does that matter, my love? I’m sure we can manage very well without them.”

“Damnably risky, I’m afraid, sugar heart. The road’s not at all safe.”

“Oh sweetheart! Don’t say that! Your castle is east of Lundin, isn’t it?”

“Yes, darling, it is – but I don’t see…”

“Well, my sweet, with the war having started, any wicked people, capable of doing us harm, will be to the west of Lundin.”

“I suppose they will, my honey pot, but all the same…”

“And you’re so strong, dearest, you picked me up like a piece of thistledown. Besides, I’m sure you could use your sword to see off any ruffians who dared molest us. More likely, they would run in terror from your sheer manliness, fouling their breeches as they went.”

“Do you really think so, my pet lamb?”

“I really do, my darling. I’m sure there’s no one manlier in all the land. Besides, it’s dreadfully bad luck to spend the wedding night in the bride’s home.”

“Yes, my love, that’s true. Wedding night spent under the bride’s own roof – she’ll wear the breeches, making him a poof[6].”

“Well, dearest, we certainly don’t want that! I’ll go and change quickly – can’t ride in my wedding gown. You go to the stableyard and have three horses saddled – for you, me and my body slave – a lady needs someone to attend her. Hurry now, sweetness!”

Without making formal farewells to anyone, I slipped from the ballroom – it suited my purposes if others thought that I’d merely gone to the toilet. In my living room, Tipsi helped me from the beautiful bridal gown. My regret over losing the dress came as a surprise – I’d expected to feel little attachment to it. Under a light weight skirt, I assumed a pair of breeches to make for easy dismounting – both Tipsi and I wrapped ourselves in white cloaks.

“Lord Up Minester’s guard went down with the shits,” I said. “That was lucky.”

“I may have given them a little help,” Tipsi replied, “with some of Doctor Grimes’ constipation cure in their punch.”

Down in the stableyard, Lord Up Minester was waiting with the horses. The absurd chicken hat was now perched on his head – it was difficult not to laugh. He clambered into the saddle with some difficulty – having, as I was already aware, consumed a great deal of alcohol – my hope was that he wouldn’t be too drunk to appreciate our performance. Tipsi and I mounted more adroitly.

It gave me some pleasure to see that Tipsi and I had been allocated smaller horses that Lord Up Minester. No doubt, his tall mount indicated an elevated status – a lord, as opposed to a woman and – lower yet – her slave. My concern was not for the privileges of rank, but for the practicalities of my return to Surrey. The shorter beasts were clearly a great deal sturdier than the one my husband rode, better suited to the long and difficult way ahead of us.

At the palace gate, my husband, rolling a little in the saddle, waved at the guards a passport made out to Lord Up Minester and party. In return, four halberdiers saluted smartly. We trotted down Bloom’s Berry Street and then left on to High Whole Bun, named – perhaps – for the bakery on the corner. A few persons and slaves, out on business, giggled as we passed – probably amused by the chicken hat.

We passed from the fashionable district about the palace into the region of rat-infested hovels that extends to the east. At last, after what seemed a rather long trot, we reached the Old Gate. Here, the guards examined the passport more carefully than had their stableyard colleagues. They saluted, but in a more perfunctory manner than the palace halberdiers.

From the Old Gate our way took us along the White Chapel Road. If there was an actual white chapel, it must have been hidden amongst the trees – for a dense forest now stretched away on either hand. From three or four places, wisps of smoke rose from the woods – either camp fires or cottages set well back from the highway. Perhaps an hour east of the city, a startled stag bolted across the increasingly muddy track.

Evidently taking the animal in flight as a sign of danger, Lord Up Minester loosened his sword in its scabbard. Possibly ten minutes afterwards, a flock of birds flapped noisily into the sky. My husband now drew his blade half way from its sheath. In spite of the ominous signs, we rode on for at least another half hour without mishap.

Then, suddenly, there was a gush of blood from my husband’s shoulder – the shaft of a crossbow quarrel protruding by three or four inches. At this, our signal, Tipsi and I thumped ourselves hard on the chest. The waxed paper cartons of blood – purchased from a blesh butcher that morning, by an orphan Bob had bribed on our behalf – burst impressively, reddening our white cloaks. As I rolled from the saddle, my right foot caught in the stirrup, and the road scraped my back for a couple of dozen yards before the beast came to a halt.

Feeling not a little dazed, I glanced back the way we had come. Tipsi was lying on her back by the roadside, blood oozing from her cloak. Lord Up Minister, by lucky chance, had remained in his saddle. He glanced wildly about – perceiving what he doubtless took for our lifeless corpses – before reigning hard, wheeling about, and galloping in the direction of the city.

Then someone released my foot from the stirrup with more haste than gentleness – peering upwards, I saw Modesty looking down at me. Wincing, for my tumble – followed by the dragging – had scraped away my skin in several places, I rose to my feet a little unsteadily. Realising that there was no time to be lost, I stripped rapidly, shivering – for, in the shadow of the trees, the afternoon was chilly. Removing the string that held the burst blood carton about my neck, and putting the breeches to one side, I wiped off as much blood as possible, using my discarded clothes as so many rags.

“Come on,” said Lisa-Louise, “there’s a stream twenty yards into the wood. You can wash there. We’ve made a fire, too. Hurry!”

After slinging the breeches over the saddle, I took the blood carton with its gore-soaked string in my left hand, and the horse’s reigns in my right. Tipsi, having done likewise, was already following Modesty into the forest. Shivering anew on entering the leafy gloom – perhaps the chill, possibly ancestral dread – I stepped behind my former slave whilst Lisa-Louise, cradling a crossbow, brought up the rear. Soon, the road was out of sight – and, with it, the scattered blood-soaked garments, the confusion of hoof and footprints in the mud, that bore mute, and it was to be hoped misleading, testimony to what had befallen.

“You’re careful to preserve your breeches,” said Lisa-Louise. “Since you’ll soon be changing into padded leather, I doubt that you’ll have much need of them.”

“I wore them to make the tumble from my horse a little easier, though you might not have guessed it. If I’d left the breeches on the road, someone would have wondered. I’m not saying that they’d have come to the correct conclusion, but…”

“No point in taking the chance. Very sensible, Tuerqui.”

After a short walk, we came to a clearing. By the promised stream, four sturdy ponies were hitched to a stunted oak. Diqui and Barguin tended a fire on to which Tipsi had just thrown her blood carton with its holding string. When I followed her example, the flames died down, but the waxed paper was soon sufficiently charred for Modesty, wielding a stick, to smash it into tiny fragments.

“Barguin has some towels,” said Lisa-Louise. “Try to wash and dress quickly, you two. There’ll be guards on our trail in maybe an hour – or two, at most. We should try to put as much distance as possible between us and them before sunset.”

The woodland brook was intensely cold but, forcing myself to splash in it, almost all of the remaining blood was carried downstream. From the forest about us sounded the noise of birds – the hakka-chakka of a magpie, the song of a blackbird, the thudding of a woodpecker. Annoyingly, there was a residue of gore under the unaccustomed wedding ring – a piece of jewellery which I tried in vain to tug from my slightly swollen finger. Lisa-Louise and Diqui were arranging on the bank our armour and swords, ready for the perilous miles before us.

[1] Leofrith was the last undisputed Chieftain of the Blood Victoria. His wife, Elisabeth, bore him several daughters, but no son. His only son was born to Madame Villiers, a courtesan. Jenna was descended from Matilda, Elisabeth’s eldest daughter, recognised by Surrey as the legitimate Chieftain. Tuerqui was descended from Madame Villiers’ son, recognised as legitimate Chieftain by Surrey’s enemies. The name of Madame Villiers’ son is not preserved – nor are those of any of his descendants other than Tuerqui, Phoebe and Mary.

[2] Berenice’s daughter, the future Empress Berenice II, was born on Drizzlemoon 3rd of that year. It seems that she was probably the first gynozoa child to be carried to term. Gina Gestate was created an elector – and then an emper – shortly after falling pregnant. At only thirteen years, she may have been the youngest emper in the history of the Surrey democracy.

[3] As an entirely female being, a gynozoa child inevitably has XX chromosomes. The male, by contrast, had XY chromosomes, missing one arm of the structure. It had been observed, as far back as the Old Time, that a male was an incomplete female.

[4] The distinguished general, Pauline Poleaxe, was involved in several conflicts with Surrey’s external enemies at this time. As well as the action against troops from Lundin, she completed the conquest of Sussex and Ampsher – both kingdoms in which there had remained pockets of resistance. She subsequently played a prominent part in Berenice’s conquests, including the Fourth Battle of Lundin.

[5] Having defeated the Westland army at the Battle of Malm’s Bury on Drizzlemoon 14th-16th, Lorelei Leveller began her march on Brister on Drizzlemoon 24th. She invested the city on Cornsprout 8th. After a siege, followed by street fighting, resistance in Brister ceased on Litnight 14th, and the Kingdom of Westland ceased to be. Lorelei Leveller went on to hold a number of high offices under Berenice I, including that of Governess of the Meadowlands.

[6] Poof often signified a man who enjoyed lying with members of his own sex. Here it is probably used with a wider meaning – a weak or unmanly man.

For Chapter 45 click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2008/01/of-bondlings-and-blesh-chapter-45.html

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 43

2007-12-14T18:46:00.000Z

Chapter 43

The great log fire crackled in the grate – while, true to the month name, a Windrush blast rattled the window. At my toes, the rug looked so costly that I refrained from stepping on it. Running my fingers over the framework of a cabinet of curiosities, the gleaming polished wood betrayed not even the ghost of roughness. Peering into its shadowy depths, my eye was caught by a small figure of a fish – blue, white and yellow, perhaps three inches long.

“I’ve never seen anything like that little fish,” I said. “What’s it made of?”

“Coloured glass,” Lord Higate replied.

“It doesn’t look like any glass I’ve seen before.”

“I don’t suppose it does. It’s so old that they considered it ancient even in the Old Time… Does that satisfy your curiosity, Princess Margaret?”

“Yes, of course. I don’t suppose you requested my presence for me to view your curiosities.”

“Indeed not, although I enjoy having the things admired. If you will bear with me, my boring business was to ask you to deliver this letter. It’s for Lady Blanchet[1] at number twelve Bed Foot Square. If you could go straight away, I’d be much obliged”

“Of course, Lord Higate. It would be my pleasure. Bed Foot Square is only just across the road from the Stableyard Gate.”

“Lady Blanchet may wish to respond in some way. I would regard it as a favour if you’d stay with her until you’re dismissed.”

“Doing you a favour, Lord Higate, is my pleasure. I’m on my way. A good evening to you.”

Taking the stableyard staircase reminded me of Captain Grace’s final hour in the world. Feeling uneasy to be alone in this place, I hurried out into the windy evening. The guard at the gate nodded as I presented my passport, and made a hurried note in his logbook. Bed Foot Square, with its fashionable, expensive houses was – as I’d said – on the other side of the road.

Knocking at the door of number twelve, I was admitted by a beautiful slave with the name Propitti branded on her thigh. When I showed her the letter in Lord Higate’s hand, and bearing his seal, she admitted me without question. Following her, I found myself in a room of lovely, but under-stated, furniture – the walls hung with a few exquisite pictures. An elegantly dressed, handsome, woman in her forties rose to greet me.

“My dear!” she said. “You have something for me?”

“You must be Lady Blanchet. I have a letter from Lord Higate.”

She took the letter, and broke the seal. Unfolding the paper, then reading the contents, her lips curved into a smile of doubtful meaning. Shuffling nervously, I waited for her to write a response or dismiss me. Making no move to do either thing, she rang a small silver hand bell – it tinkled with a musical note.

“You must be Princess Margaret. Won’t you stay for some tea?”

“Yes, I am she. Lord Higate said there might be a response to the letter, and asked me to wait until you dismissed me.”

“Did he, indeed? How kind of him. I think I may say that there will be a response. You will take tea?”

“Yes, thank you, Lady Blanchet.”

“Good!” Then to the uniformed housemaid in personage, who had answered the bell: “Ah, there you are, Miles! Tea for two – camomile, I think – and cakes.”

“Yes, ma’am” said the maid, before departing.

Lady Blanchet spoke of matters concerning Lundin society, which were quite beyond my knowledge, pausing as the maid returned. With a little curtsey, the woman in black dress and white apron laid the tea tray on a small table close to her mistress’ right hand. Curtseying a second time, the servant turned as if to leave. Then she saw me, and her face screwed up – I thought she was about to weep, but was mistaken.

“It’s you! It’s you – you bitch!” the maid snarled.

Startled, I looked at her properly. The woman in the frilly cap, little black dress and white apron was Miss Miles. Astonished, I stared at her, until suddenly aware of my mouth opening and closing silently – like a fish. Obviously shocked, Lady Blanchet took a few minutes to find her voice.

“Miles!” she called, after what seemed a long pause. “I am shocked, deeply shocked, that a servant should be so rude to a guest in my house. What do you think I should do about your gross misconduct?”

“Spank me again, ma’am?” Miss Miles answered.

Lady Blanchet’s words were curiously familiar[2]: “Well – since you have your heart set on being spanked – it would be a shame to disappoint you. I will start, then, with a thorough spanking. However, my feeling is that my hand, however hard it may be, can’t provide the complete answer. So – once your buttocks are thoroughly warm – it will be right to continue with the strap.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t just stand there, yes ma’aming me, you saucy little madam,” Lady Blanchet said, transferring herself to a chair lacking arms that might serve as an impediment to the spanking. “Place yourself over my knee this instant!”

Miss Miles hurried to do as she had been bidden. Lady Blanchet raised the maid’s skirt and petticoats, then paused with her hand resting on a pair of tautly stretched briefs. The purpose at this point, no doubt, was to increase the former governess’ discomfort by making her wait. Then, raising her hand, she brought it down again very hard, and very loudly.

“A few across your briefs, then we’ll have them down for a damn good spanking. And don’t forget you’ve the strap to look forward. What do you say?”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“I should think so. What do you think, Princess Margaret?”

“Yes, certainly,” I replied. “You should give her a sound thrashing – and she should be grateful for it.”

“Indeed she should,” Lady Blanchet continued, talking as she spanked. “Had I not taken her into service, what would have become of her?”

“Nothing good, I should think.”

“Nothing good. She might have become a scavenger on the rubbish tips. Apart from that – it would have been living by crime or accumulating debt. Either course would have seen her in slavery.”

“And rightly so, Lady Blanchet.”

“Quite. They would have stripped and chained you, Miles, you ungrateful wretch – and branded you there.” She tapped the maid on her stocking top. “And that hurts a lot more than a spanking or the strap – doesn’t it, Princess Tuerqui?”

“Yes, it does,” I said weakly, disconcerted to be so addressed.

“Miles used to be a governess, but was dismissed for Surrenity. She hoped to stay with an aunt. But someone had told the old lady that her niece had tried to arrange her murder. Approached a guard captain for the purpose, if you please.”

“Who could have told the aunt such a thing?”

“Who indeed? So Miles had to stay in a hotel with no income. Enslavement for debt must have seemed inevitable until I was kind enough to offer her a place here. I always take an interest in girls dismissed for Surrenity.”

“Very kind of you, Lady Blanchet.”

“Yes, very kind. In spite of her reputation for Surrenity, she has yet to give me much pleasure in that regard, but I suppose she’ll learn. She hasn’t made a very good servant, either, but I’m correcting her errors. We strive to improve.”

“I see that you are correcting her errors, Lady Blanchet. You’ve brought quite a blush to her cheeks.”

“Blushing with shame seems most appropriate, doesn’t it, Princess Margaret?”

Eventually, Lady Blanchet sent Miss Miles to fetch the strap – since she had to explain where it was kept, I judged this to be the ex-governess’ first strapping in this house. When a rueful figure in black dress and white apron returned with the strip of split leather, I saw that it looked as formidable at the schoolroom equivalent. The maid curtsied and asked to be punished. Bent over a stoutly-made desk, she received a thrashing that produced sympathetic twinges in my bottom.

“My dear guest,” Lady Blanchet said eventually, “since you are really the offended party, “perhaps you would care to complete the punishment?”

Her ladyship proffered me the strap, and, rising to my feet, I accepted it. If this was to be my revenge on the former governess, it would be more premeditated, less hot blooded, than killing my fiancé had been. Stepping close, I saw that Miss Miles was already sobbing uncontrollably. My words were a deliberate echo of the things she and Captain Grace had said to me.

“Stop blubbing, you great baby,” I said. “Another half dozen might do it – or make it eight for good measure – continuing with this excellent strap, of course. As we’re approaching the end, I’ll make them good and smart. Brace yourself, girl, these are going to hurt.”

In the event, I gave her a full dozen, each delivered with considerable force. With some satisfaction, I heard Miss Miles yell as each stroke found its mark. Lady Blanchet’s eyes gleamed, and her face creased once more into that unreadable smile. The former governess’ bottom was one large bruise.

“Have you done with her, Lady Margaret?” my hostess asked, as I finished my work.

“I think so, Lady Blanchet.”

“In that case, Miles, you will pull up your briefs and stand under the picture of the pretty lady suckling a baby until you are dismissed.” Then, to me: “My dear, have you read Lord Higate’s letter?”

“No, your ladyship, he didn’t show it to me.”

“Then perhaps you’d better read it now.”

Taking the paper, I saw that it was short, only three sentences: Here, in return for your services, is the item about which we spoke. I hope that it will give you a lot of pleasure. Should it malfunction, let me know, I think I will be able to fix it.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “Lord Higate gave me nothing to bring, apart from the letter. Truly!”

“If you really mean that, you have no idea of what he intended. Can you be so innocent? Or are you joshing?”

“No, Lady Blanchet, I really don’t know what item he can have meant.”

“Silly girl. You are the item. It’s no secret that I like girls. Someone was kind enough to call me the most degenerate woman in Lundin.”

“And Lord Higate wishes me to lie with you?”

“More to the point, young lady, I wish it. You are the most intriguing girl in Lundin – princess and slave, whore and warrior. Tonight, at last, you are mine. Come, join me on the couch.”

Obediently, and without further comment, I sat next to her. She ran her fingers over my breasts before untying the laces of my bodice. By chance, I was wearing delicious lingerie of satin, net, ribbon and lace – or was it chance? Perhaps Lord Higate had directed Tipsi as to which things to lay out for me that morning.

“How I love unwrapping a present,” Lady Blanchet said as my sexiest bra was revealed. “You have lovely boobies, young lady. And a highly spankable bum.”

“You intend to spank me?”

“I thought that, when I had you down to your undies, we might indulge in a little erotic spanking. Miles has quite put me in the mood for it – sweet slaps after sour. Naturally, that would be only the first course of tonight’s feast. I hope you’re not expecting to sleep before morning.”

Whether or not Lady Blanchet was the most degenerate woman in Lundin, she was certainly very inventive, and extremely demanding. When I limped through the Stableyard Gate the following morning, the guard winked at me. In my rooms, only Tipsi was out of bed. She had clearly been worried.

“Are you are all right, mistress?” she asked. “When you didn’t come home last night I thought maybe…”

“I’m well enough, thank you, Tipsi. I’ve been on a… err…demanding mission for Lord Higate. Short of sleep, physically drained, but I’ll get by. A bit of extra honey in my porridge wouldn’t come amiss.”

“Of course, mistress. Lord Higate has never required you overnight before, mistress. I hope…”

“He sent me to Lady Blanchet – and it was she who required me overnight.”

“Lady Blanchet, mistress? In that case, I’ll also put extra honey in your rosehip tea.”

Two days later, on Windrush 14th, my father raised the question of my marriage anew. He was of the opinion that we had waited sufficiently long for Captain Grace’s return. It was exactly ten weeks since my friends and I had killed my fiancé. The wonder was that the old man had been so patient.

“We can’t wait indefinitely for Captain Grace,” he said. “In any case, the match seems to me rather a waste. With war on its way, we need to cement our alliances as efficaciously as possible. Baron Leopold of Fleet has the great advantage that his father is the Marquis of Ipswidge...”

“Surely, father, you can’t mean for me to marry Baron Leopold? Don’t you recall him coming to the New Year masque in a lady’s dress? I’m not sure how to put it delicately, but…”

“Yes, I take your but, Margaret. I’ve been in touch with the lad’s father and have been reassured that the baron has had all of that silly nonsense thrashed out of him. More importantly, the Marquis is perhaps the most influential noble in East Anglar. His support is worth several divisions, I think – the troops could be crucial.”

“I see, father. Your mind is made up?”

“Yes, it is.”

By now, I was fully aware that there was not the least use in argument. The only practical course was to discredit Baron Leopold and, after my experiences in the Laughing Phallus, I had a shrewd idea of how that might be accomplished. Recalling his size with what I hoped to be reasonable accuracy, it remained to approach Modesty to set her stitch slaves to work. She laughed, but provided exactly what I’d had in mind.

The Baron arrived a week later, mud-spattered after a perilous journey that had included some notoriously bad roads. On Windrush 22nd, the day after his arrival, he and I were left alone together – so that we could become better acquainted. Cautiously at first, I regaled him with reminiscences from my whoredom. It came as no surprise when he proved especially receptive to the stories of men who enjoyed wearing feminine garments and being thrashed.

“…Fred the schoolgirl was really squirming,” I said, approaching the end of an anecdote “– but loving every stroke of the cane.”

“Ooh, I say,” he giggled. “Do you think we could do that – when we’re married?”

“Why wait till then?” I replied. “I’ve a schoolroom uniform that should fit you, and a cane oughtn’t to be too hard to find. In any case, I certainly have the right equipment for a hand spanking.”

Taking the Baron to my living room, I asked Barguin and Diqui to dress him in some of the things Modesty had prepared. They were copies of my schoolroom uniform, from days with Miss Miles, scaled up to a larger size. My calculation had been that, although far too big for me, they would gain plausibility by proving a tight fit on my suitor. After anxious moments, and some strained seams, it became clear that he could be squeezed into the garments.

“I’ll just see if I can find a cane,” I said.

“No need for that. I’m sure we can manage with your hand.”

“Nonsense, little Leopella! A naughty child, like you, needs the cane, if not the strap. Don’t worry – I won’t be long.”

Before he could reply, I was through the door and hurrying upstairs. At the entrance to my father’s office, I drew a deep breath before knocking. Taking a monosyllable as an invitation to enter, I found the old man in conference with Cornelius Lock. They both looked annoyed by my intrusion.

“Father!” I began. “Quick! I think Baron Leopold’s gone mad. Fetch a whip!”

Evidently alarmed, both men took lengths of plaited leather from hooks by the door, and followed me. Baron Leopold smiled expectantly when I returned to my living room – but only for a moment. His face grew pale as my father and the tax gatherer followed me across the threshold. By contrast, the old man flushed a fiery red, although Cornelius Lock showed no sign of changing colour.

Then both avenging men were upon the schoolgirl baron, whips flailing furiously. The three of them charged about my room like nazemen in the pit[3], knocking over furniture, bursting cushions and smashing several delicate objects. Having acquired a good eye for whipping styles, I judged that the beating looked more impressive than it felt. For all of that, Baron Leopold squealed loudly – a note piercing as a pig at slaughter.

Fortunately, my would-be suitor gained the door before my living room was entirely wrecked, and was gone with my father and the tax gatherer hard on his heels, still plying their whips. Lisa-Louise, Modesty, Tipsi, Barguin and Diqui emerged from the safety of a back room, and we strolled to a balcony with a view of the ceremonial parade ground. Moments later, Baron Leopold emerged from the building, now pursued by three flailing whips – a captain of the guard having joined the chase. The youth sprinted for the gate, flashing his serviceable knickers at every stride.

Two halberdiers barred his progress at the gate, a dozen more cut off his retreat in either direction. Inevitably, he was soon seized. To my surprise, Miss Sweetman emerged from the palace, clasping the all too familiar schoolroom strap. Two guardsmen fetched a trestle, and forcibly bent the baron over it.

Why the governess had been summoned, I didn’t know, unless it had to do with the baron wearing what seemed to be one of her schoolroom uniforms. It being Olday, she should have been relaxing for the weekend. With her characteristically sour expression, I was unable to judge whether she objected to having her leisure time interrupted. Whether or not she disliked being fetched for the purpose, Miss Sweetman plied the strap with considerable force, and her victim was soon yelping loudly enough for us on the balcony to hear.

Idlers familiar from the Comday drill sessions had appeared. It hadn’t taken long for news of the entertainment to spread. Perhaps, I thought, an influential spectator had sent for Miss Sweetman. Thinking it over, this seemed a more plausible explanation for the governess’ arrival than the fact of the pseudo-schoolroom uniform.

After the first half dozen strokes, Miss Sweetman pulled down his knickers – but did so with some caution so as to avoid exposing the baron’s genital organs. Thereafter she administered the most thoroughgoing strapping I’d ever witnessed – considerably heavier than any I had received. When finally permitted to rise, he was weeping freely, his shoulders heaving. Three guardsmen and a captain led him back into the palace – the show was over, and the idlers dispersed.

“I’m afraid that your marriage to Baron Leopold isn’t going to happen,” my father said to me two days later. “The signal towers have been relaying messages between me and his father. That nancy boy is to be escorted back to Ipswidge. The marquis was pleased to hear about the strapping Miss Sweetman gave his son, and is minded to put him under a suitably strict governess.”

“Father,” I said with a sudden generous impulse, “Miss Miles would be ideally suited to the post. If she’s touched with Surrenity, it could make no difference to her dealings with a young man.”

“That is well observed – and a good idea. Do you know what happened to Miss Miles?”

“As a matter of fact I do, father. I’m not sure whether you’re aware that I’ve undertaken some minor duties to help Lord Higate and Captain Grace?”

“Yes, I was pleased to hear about that. In fact, it raised you considerably in my estimation, Margaret. But how do your duties relate to Miss Miles?”

“Twelve days ago, Lord Higate asked me to deliver a letter to Lady Blanchet at number twelve Bed Foot Square…”

“Her? The lair of the most degenerate woman in Lundin is no place for my daughter.”

“Oh, father! I was only delivering an urgent message. We can’t be squeamish when it comes to the security of Lundin. There is too much dangerous work afoot.”

“You’re right. I was talking like an old woman – and you reply like a soldier. I’m proud of you, Margaret. But what of Miss Miles?”

“Lady Blanchet is employing her as a housemaid in personage.”

“Then she will most certainly accompany Baron Leopold back to Ipswidge[4]. Miss Miles will provide him with the moral grounding he sorely needs. And it will place the governess beyond the reach of Lady Blanchet’s Surrenity – which will also aid the morality of the world. If the Marquis is pleased, the business will have served a political and military purpose, too.”

“Does that mean, father, that you’ll have secured your East Anglar alliance without my needing to marry?”

“That, I’m afraid, would be saying too much. There’s still no news of Captain Grace’s return. At a pinch, he might have represented a more or less adequate East Anglar alliance – his brother is Lord in Ordinary of the Wood Bridge, a minor but influential noble. All things considered, it looks as though Lord Up Minester will be the best match for you.”

“But isn’t Up Minester in Essex, father – a few miles east of Lundin? It isn’t in East Anglar.”

“Well, I see that Miss Miles, or Miss Lace, managed to thrash a modicum of geography into you. You’re perfectly correct. But Lord Up Minester’s uncle is the Viscount of Lower Stoft. So he could represent the East Anglar connection I need.”

“If you say so, father.”

Reviewing what I had learned of Lord Up Minester at the New Year masque, there seemed little to my obvious advantage. The best to occur to me was that his slow wittedness would probably allow me to postpone the marriage for at least a couple of months. Even if Lisa-Louise couldn’t devise a plan as quickly as the one for disposing of Captain Grace, she would have plenty of time to think of something. In the event, she had an idea very quickly – and her response surprised me.

“Then you must marry him,” she said. “a few days after the irregular troops leave for Surrey. It’ll take care of everything.”

When Lisa-Louise explained her plan after arms training that day, Modesty, Diqui, Barguin and even Bob suggested further refinements. After our discussion, the only possible problem that remained unsolved was the chance of my being obliged to marry Lord Up Minester before the irregulars departed for Surrey. That eventuality was made less likely when Mrs Clay suggested that Captain Grace might send a message suggesting that he would soon return. Sergeant General Bosset was clearly relieved that the scheme would not expose the fact of his having trained me.

A few days later, on Ruday, Windrush 27th, Lord Up Minester arrived to woo me. Slightly to my surprise, Lord Higate cooperated with a message from Captain Grace on the 29th, proposing the return of my fiancé in a fortnight’s time. Presumably, a delay in my marriage suited the traitor’s purposes. My suitor reacted with an incomprehensible speech about playing the game and departed – for which my father called him a ninny to his face.

Ten days later, on Drizzlemoon 8th, news arrived sufficient to distract father from the question of my marriage. The old man spent the afternoon in conference with his four generals, and also Cornelius Lock. As a consequence, Bob Bosset was missing from our arms training session that day. Obviously, there had been a major development, but I had no clue as to its nature until Lord Higate summoned me during the evening.

“I have an urgent message,” he began, without the usual polite preliminaries, “for Jane Jackson at the sign of the scarlet stripe. Afterwards, I’d be obliged if you could take another letter to Lady Blanchet.”

“Of course, your lordship,” I replied. “But I wonder whether I might trouble you for an answer to a question?”

“If you need to do so – ask. Don’t beat about the bush. There isn’t time. I think I said that Jane Jackson’s message is urgent.”

“Yes, of course. It’s that there was obviously important news today…”

“And you want to know what it is? Well – an answer to that won’t delay us much. Sylvia Sneak, one of the ruling Surrey triumvirate, is dead[5]. Now – go.”

The sign from which the Scarlet Stripe took its name depicted a girl tied to a whipping post, a single red weal across her back. When I asked for Jane Jackson, the landlord showed me into a room occupied by one of the villains with whom Sam the carter did business – a woman with a scar across one cheek and a patch over her left eye. She read the letter, then scribbled a response. Taking the sealed message, I summoned the courage to speak to her.

“Please, your ladyship. Is your message urgent?”

“Do I look like someone who scribbles for fun? Of course, it’s fucking urgent. Why d’you ask? Out with it, girl!”

“It’s just that Lord Higate also gave me a letter for Lady Blanchet. I wondered whether I should deliver your message before going to Bed Foot Square.”

“Do you think it’ll take you long to deliver a letter to Lady Blanchet?”

“I think she might want me to stay until dawn”

She roared with laughter, which developed into a choking fit. Tipping a mug of what was obviously strong liquor down her throat, the choking subsided into hiccoughs. After dabbing at her right eye with a red handkerchief, spotted with white, she stared at me for several minutes. My feeling was that she was taking stock of me, as one might a prize cow.

“Well,” she said at last, “you look a tasty morsel. I’d hate to keep Lady Blanchet waiting for such a sweet dessert. If you’ve business as urgent as that, my letter will wait till morning. Off you go – wiggle that tush to somewhere it’ll really be appreciated.”

At number twelve Bed Foot Square, there was no sign of Miss Miles, and a new housemaid in personage served us camomile tea and cakes. My immediate impression was that the governess’ replacement was more receptive to her mistress’ advances than the predecessor had been. Not only that, but the girl wiggled her bottom at me in what I took to be a meaningful way. Noticing this, Lady Blanchet slapped the maid’s buttocks – but not maliciously – she was not even, I judged, slightly annoyed.

“She’s new,” I said.

“Yes, Carrie’s new. Someone offered Miles a position as a governess in Ipswidge, and she’s gone. Just as I getting her licked into shape – it was a real nuisance.”

A contrast between Lady Blanchet’s relationship with Miss Miles and the new maid was immediately apparent from the names by which she called them. The formality of her dealings with the governess was implied in the use of the surname. Carrie was already called by her first name – more appropriate, amongst minor nobility, for a friend than a servant. After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to allow the matter to pass without comment.

“Still, Carrie seems willing enough,” I said

“She’s a little poppet – as I expect you’ll find out later.”

“I suppose you’ll want me to stay the night. Lord Higate’s letter just says the usual?”

“I don’t expect you’ll be leaving before dawn. But as well as presenting you for my delectation,” Lady Blanchet said, as though making small talk, “Lord Higate tells me that Sylvia Sneak is dead.”

“Yes, I suppose it means that Berenice Blackheart and Nadine Next are ruling Surrey between them.”

“I very much doubt it, Tuerqui. It would be nearer the truth to say that no one is ruling Surrey. Only Sylvia, as an intermediary, delayed war between the other two. Now, Mistress Fury[6] is unloosed.”

A return to civil war in Surrey[7] would pose threats to Tuerquelle, Lady Isobel and all of my friends from the University of Pain. For perhaps five minutes, concern for those I’d left behind prevented me from realising that the news would also present me with additional dangers. Not only might Berenice’s and Nadine’s armies imperil me – but also freebooters and foreign troops, including my father’s. Some of the more baleful aspects of my return started to occur to me with a fresh sense of reality.

Sexually engaged with first Lady Blanchet, and later Carrie as well, I tried to place my forebodings to one side. For the most part, I seemed to succeed well enough – only occasionally receiving an enquiring look as my thoughts were clearly elsewhere. The new maid was a lovely girl, and an enthusiastic lover – my chief regret of the night was not being completely present for her. For all of that, as I staggered through the Stableyard Gate at dawn, my feeling was that I’d given satisfaction.

“Jane Jackson said that her letter would wait till morning,” I explained to Lord Higate. “She said it would be a pity to keep Lady Blanchet waiting for such a sweet dessert.”

“Did she, indeed? However sweet a dessert, you look like a girl who’s had a heavy night.”

“That I have.”

“But pleasant, I hope?”

“Yes, pleasant, as well as heavy, Lord Higate.”

“Good. I believe that Miss Miles has gone on to higher things. Does the new maid fit in?”

“She fitted us both perfectly.”

At arms training that afternoon, Bob Bosset had an announcement: “Listen up, girls! Civil war is breaking out in Surrey, and the invasion plans have been made. Our troops are to be despatched on four consecutive days, starting in sixteen days’ time – on the twenty-fifth.”

“How firm is that schedule?” Lisa-Louise asked. “In my experience, there are usually delays.”

“Things can go wrong, there’s no denying that. But the invasion schedule looks workable. So, you should all be prepared to leave on Drizzlemoon 25th.”

“We’re going on the first day of the invasion?” asked a blonde girl called Caroline.

“Yes, you irregulars depart on the first day. Your aim will be to create as much disruption as possible ahead of the main invasion. The following day, the Chieftain’s Own Guard Battalion will set out. Their objective will be to capture Teddy’s Town lock.”

“Should we concentrate our disruption around Teddy’s Town, then?” asked a dark haired girl with a snub nose – I think her name was Florence.

“No – I think it would be better if you could create havoc a little further afield, so as to draw the Surrey guards away from the lock.”

“What happens on the third and fourth days?” Modesty asked.

“On the third day, the twenty-seventh that is, the infantry will depart with the aim of holding the lock. The idea is that the main army can cross the river at that point on the twenty-eighth.”

The training shed stank of the filth mortlings had evacuated in their terror – and of their blood, shed so that young women could acquire military skills. After a minute or two of silence, as we absorbed the idea that we were about to fight – and some of us would surely die – a girl dropped her sword with a loud clatter. Extending my left boot, I scraped the toe cap in a patch of sawdust, dark red with gore. The blade in my right hand felt heavier than usual.

[1] Lady Blanchet was clearly working on behalf of Surrey at this time, although it is not clear what services she performed. After the Fourth Battle of Lundin, she was appointed governess of the city. In this role, she worked hard to promote the town as a centre of commerce and entertainment, while dealing mercilessly with anyone suspected of supporting Tuerqui’s father’s regime. Later, she held a series of other important posts, retiring late in the reign of Berenice I and dying during the first year of Berenice II’s reign.

[2] In fact, this is exactly the same as a speech Miss Miles is said to have made to Phoebe and Mary in Chapter 40. It is hard to believe that Lady Blanchet used exactly the same words. It is also hard to believe that Tuerqui was able to recall exactly what people had said when setting it down much later.

[3] Like nazemen in the pit – a reference to nazeman baiting.

[4] Miss Miles did accompany Baron Leopold back to Ipswidge. The following year, the Marquis of Ipswidge died, and Leopold succeeded to the title. Shortly thereafter, he married Miss Miles. The pair had a long marriage, and seemingly a happy one. They had eight children. As Marquis, Leopold was instrumental in steering East Anglar away from alliance with Essex and Lundin, and towards one with Surrey. The result was the partition of Essex between Surrey and East Anglar, and subsequently East Anglar joining Surrey’s invasion of the Meadowlands. Eventually, of course, Berenice I added East Anglar to her conquests – but, when she did so, the Marquis and his wife were appointed to positions of power in the former kingdom of Ampsher.

[5] Sylvia Sneak died on Drizzlemoon 6th. Both Berenice Blackheart and Nadine Next accused the other of being responsible for her murder. However, it has never been entirely clear whether either was truly responsible or, indeed, whether Sylvia was murdered at all. The precise cause of her death is obscure – and both Berenice and Nadine seem to have had reason to wish to keep Sylvia alive for at least a little longer.

[6] Mistress Fury – a personification of the goddess of war specific to Surrey. If Lady Blanchet is correctly quoted, she was already steeped in the beliefs of Surrey, rather than Lundin.

[7] This was Drizzlemoon 8th, and Surrey was already in a state of civil war.

For Chapter 44 click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2008/01/of-bondlings-and-blesh-chapter-44.html

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 42

2007-12-11T14:35:00.000Z

Chapter 42

The snow continued to lend the gloomy schoolroom an unaccustomed brightness. After two days without lessons, the metallic smell of ink was not very marked, but that of chalk dust was more persistent. Sunshine beyond the window, while allowing birds to sing from a blue sky, had done nothing to initiate a thaw. My bottom smarted less than it had before the weekend, but was not yet sufficiently recovered to sit comfortably on a wooden seat, polished by uneasy generations of strapped children.

“Margaret,” Miss Miles said rather diffidently, “Have you seen Captain Grace over the weekend?”

“Don’t you know, miss? He left Lundin on Valday afternoon.”

“Left Lundin?”

“Yes, miss. He’d found out who had really killed Mr Addal, miss, and set off in pursuit. Did no one tell you, miss?”

“No, Margaret, they didn’t.”

“He said goodbye to me, miss. But, then, miss, that’s as you’d expect. After all, we are engaged, miss.”

“Yes, of course, so you are.”

She sounded both disappointed and disconcerted. It occurred to me that I might be able to use Miss Miles’ feelings for Captain Grace as a weapon against her. As the morning progressed, I felt that my exploration of this possibility was probably the reason for her administering no punishments at all. Mary and Phoebe, with no idea as to what had happened on Comday evening, were clearly puzzled – but cautiously pleased to escape retribution.

After a schoolroom lunch a good deal less appetising than the stew I’d received as a prisoner, I hurried back to my rooms. To my surprise and delight, Lisa-Louise was toasting herself in front of the fire. A hat, cloak and two woollen scarves lay in a heap near her feet, with a scabbarded sword tossed carelessly on top. Tipsi was fetching her a steaming cup – rosehip tea, to judge from the smell.

“Mistress!” I shrieked, rushing to embrace her.

“Easy, Tuerqui,” she replied. “Give me time to thaw out, I’ve only just got back.”

“But mistress,” I asked, backing off a little, “how did it go?”

“Yes,” said Tipsi, placing the cup in Lisa-Louise’s hand, “please tell us.”

“Amazingly little trouble,” Lisa-Louise began, “I think the passport system actually made it easier. They believe they have entry and exit – to the palace and the city – sewn up, and they are so wrong. Mind, it might have been difficult to use Captain Graceless’ passport had the weather not been so foul. As it was, with a scarf wrapped round my face, hunched against the wind and then on horseback, no one showed a flicker of doubt.”

“But how did you get back into the city – and the palace?” Diqui asked. “Are there counterfoils for passports you haven’t handed in?”

“No – that’s a really good part of it. I paid for my passage back into Lundin on a provisions boat – cabbages and horse feed – that sort of thing – no coal barge for me. At the wharf, I represented myself to the guard as the bargee’s daughter, off to shop in town. They wrote me a passport with the description teenage girl – and the purpose as shopping.”

“But how ever did you give it back to them – to be matched against the counterfoil?” Barguin asked.

“Now we come to the good joke – I didn’t. Instead, I walked straight here and handed my passport to the palace guard. The halberdier said that, really, I wasn’t supposed to be out – but he’d say nothing about it this time. Didn’t want to get one of his comrades into trouble, I suppose.”

“Let me get this right,” I said, “you were issued a passport by the wharf guard and handed it in at the palace gates? So, when they check it against the counterfoil, it’ll look like you entered the city then left? Can the system really be that stupid?”

“It really can, Tuerqui – and it is.”

“And did everything else go smoothly, mistress?”

“Yes, it did. Leaving here, I rode to the Great West Gate where I presented the Captain’s passport and was waved through. From there, I went to Teddy’s Town to cross the river at the lock. At Ham, I represented myself as a licensed Surrey freebooter[1], and no one was inclined to question it. My story was confirmed by the fact that I had a Lundin-branded cavalry horse plus an officer’s helmet and cloak – items of booty, I said.”

“And your sword was a Surrey one, mistress.”

“Yeah, that helped my story, too. So, I stopped at the village inn while I sold the horse, cloak and helmet. Also, while I was there, bought a girl’s cloak, and satchel to carry my money, breeches and other things back to Lundin. The saddle bag was sold with the horse and its fittings.”

“What about the Captain’s passport, mistress?”

“I was about to toss it on the inn fire, but changed my mind. Sold it instead. It seemed to me that it would be no bad thing if Captain Grace re-entered the city at some point. Make it seem as if he was still alive.”

“Could anyone get away with using his passport, mistress? I know you did, of course, but that was on a night of foul weather, and…”

“I don’t know, Tuerqui. Of course, I gave the purchaser a description of the bastard – but who knows? If they catch a criminal or Surrey agent using the passport, they’ll think that the late unlamented Captain Graceless was killed after leaving the city. No problem for us, whether the impostor gets away with it or not.”

“I suppose not, mistress.”

“After a couple of nights at the inn, I strapped the sword under my skirt. With plenty of money in my satchel, I took a trap to Teddy’s Town, and paid for my passage on the provisions boat. The bargee probably thought I was a Surrey agent – but that was someone else’s problem – except that it made the fare a bit expensive.”

Reflecting on the matter, I felt sure that it would have been wiser to burn Captain Grace’s passport, but didn’t say so. None of the scenarios I imagined seemed desirable. At best, I thought, a rogue would be caught trying to enter the city on my fiancé’s passport – and it would be assumed that its real owner had been killed somewhere outside Lundin. At worst, the document might be traced back to Lisa-Louise.

Over the next few days, Miss Miles was very subdued – and not only did I receive no thrashing, but hardly even a cross word. In spite of sunshine, Comday drill was conducted indoors – and the washing water provided afterwards was quite warm. The governess asked me repeatedly about my last conversation with Captain Grace, seeming to crave the smallest detail. Having soon exhausted plausible commonplaces, I started on the wild invention of romantic lies.

Increasingly, I worried about what would be done with Captain Grace’s passport. Finally, the sequel to Lisa-Louise’s actions came to my attention three nights after her return, on Ruday evening. A beautiful slave came to my rooms, asking me to accompany her to see Lord Higate. It seemed best to comply while it was phrased as a polite request, rather than wait for armed guardsmen.

The slave led me to what was certainly the most richly furnished private apartment I’d seen in my father’s palace. Old tapestries covered the walls. Antique books and curios were arranged on shelves. Heavily padded chairs and a settee were pushed close to a roaring fire.

“Ah, Lady Margaret,” Lord Higate greeted me with a smile I distrusted immediately. “Thank you for coming so promptly.”

“Not at all, your lordship. I’m sure that if you really want my company, you have the means to secure it.”

“Please don’t say that, your ladyship. I wished only to speak of pleasant matters.”

“I’ll be surprised, Lord Higate, if you’ve summoned me to engage in small talk.”

“No – not small talk. I just wanted to mention your fiancé’s visit this afternoon.”

“Fiancé’s visit? You mean Captain Grace?”

“Of course, Captain Grace – I don’t suppose that you can be engaged to anyone else.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Of course not. Take a look at this logbook.”

He led me to an antique table of dark wood gleaming with centuries of polish, its feet carved into the likeness of an eagle’s talons. On the glossy surface lay the logbook kept, according to the spidery script at the top of the page, by the stableyard gate detachment of the guard. His fingers tapped rapidly, indicating two entries – they showed Captain Grace entering the palace at quarter to four that afternoon, and leaving two hours later. Glancing sharply into Lord Higate’s eyes, I was surprised to see them reflecting no obvious malice.

“I spent some time with him,” the general continued. “He assured me of your total innocence – but seizing the real killer is giving him some difficulty. In fact, he has appointed some deputies, and wished me to issue passports for them. He expressed a desire to call on you, to express his undying love – and even if it makes me a romantic fool, I really hope that he did.”

My interpretation of this was that a Surrey agent had visited my host that afternoon, using Captain Grace’s passport – and had requested, or demanded, documents for several other enemies of my father. Lord Higate must be aware that Captain Grace was dead – and presumably had a shrewd idea I was involved in his killing. It seemed likely that he was asking me to act as a kind of alibi. By confirming that I’d seen my fiancé, I would be setting a seal of approval upon his lie.

“I don’t believe that you’re a fool of any kind, Lord Higate,” I said. “Have you reported the matter to my father?”

“Not yet. I wondered whether we might happen by his rooms at much the same time – each with our good news of your fiancé. It would give me a lot of pleasure – and might further put to rest the baseless allegations Captain Grace now deeply regrets having made.”

“Of course,” I said, “it would be my pleasure.”

“I’m pleased you see it that way, Lady Margaret. You know, things have been going rather well for me. I do believe that I’m now the second most powerful man in Lundin. It seems to me that our interests could coincide more than you believe – you’ll see.”

Accompanying the traitor to my parent’s apartments, Lord Higate asked me to wait ten minutes before joining him and my father. Waiting in the passage, I wished that he’d made it a little longer. As it was, I had insufficient time to return to my rooms and ask for Lisa-Louise’s advice. Eyeing an hour glass visible at the head of a staircase, I decided it would be foolish to disregard the instructions of one who truly was the second most powerful man in Lundin.

When the time was up, my father – exceptionally – looked pleased to see me. Lord Higate smiled, a seeming expression of innocuous pleasure. What lay behind his placid features was unclear – but I regarded it with deep suspicion. In spite of my misapprehensions, he appeared to have been saying something to my advantage.

My father’s living room was in marked contrast to Lord Higate’s. The walls were of bare stone except where nails had been driven in to support what were obviously papers of practical import. More documents, some tattered books and a few mousetraps were scattered over the floor. Two threadbare chairs were pushed close to a miserable fire smoking in a small grate.

“Ah, Margaret,” my father said. “Lord Higate was just telling me of your fiancé’s visit. I gather that Captain Grace had time to call on you before he had to depart.”

“Yes, father. It was quite wonderful. Captain Grace said a lot of lovely things. He apologised that he hadn’t brought me a present – but I said that his words, and the sight of his handsome face, were all the gifts I needed.”

“Yes,” agreed Lord Higate, “he seemed very much in love with you, Lady Margaret. He’s concerned for your welfare – which reminds me…” Then, to my father: “Majesty, he has decided that Miss Miles is not a proper governess for your daughter.”

“Indeed – and why ever not?”

“He suspects that she may be touched with the wickedness of Surrey[2]. It’s all very well in charge the little girls – but surely not one of your daughter’s age.”

“By Mitchal and Toppa[3], now that I think on it, she seemed to enjoy thrashing my daughter a great deal more than was proper. Well – Margaret must be placed under a more wholesome influence – and immediately, at that.”

“Captain Grace was of the opinion that Lady Bosset would be ideal. It’s true that she’s a former bankrupt – but finance is, at best, an unsuitable field for females.”

“Quite true, Lord Higate. If you agree with Captain Grace’s opinion, I will certainly place Margaret under Lady Bosset from tomorrow morning.”

“It seems to me, Majesty, that Lady Bosset would be an excellent guide and protectress for your daughter.”

“Then so be it. Margaret, tomorrow morning you will take yourself to General Bosset’s quarters instead of the schoolroom. You have a new governess. Please don’t protest, my mind is made up.”

“Very well, father. It will be as you say.”

On my return, Modesty had joined Lisa-Louise, Tipsi, Barguin and Diqui in my living room. Sheathed swords were piled on a table. To judge from the concerned expressions on my friends’ faces, nobody had taken lightly my summons to Lord Higate’s apartments. The weapons readily to hand showed that they were prepared to make a fight of it, if necessary.

“I must say,” said Lisa-Louise, “you look unexpectedly cheerful.”

“Yeah, I feel unexpectedly cheerful – especially as I think I’m now Lord Higate’s creature.”

“What was it all about?” Modesty asked.

“Someone has come to the palace using my late fiancé’s passport. Lord Higate said it was Captain Grace himself, and that they’d met. I’m pretty sure that he knows the bastard is dead, and that I had a hand in the killing. But nobody listening to our conversation would have guessed that anything was amiss.”

“I suppose the person using the passport was an agent of Surrey,” said Diqui.

“Has to be,” Barguin agreed.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure that he – or she – was in the pay of Surrey,” I said. “If you could pass as Captain Grace, Lisa-Louise, so could another woman. Lord Higate said that my fiancé had appointed some deputies and wanted passports for them. It seems that a whole nest of Surrey agents now have transit documents.”

“This is a very dangerous game,” Lisa-Louise observed. “What did Lord Higate want you to do for him?”

“So far, just to confirm to my father that I’d seen Captain Grace this evening. I suppose he wanted a kind of alibi – someone to confirm that the person he’d entertained wasn’t a Surrey spy.”

“And you did it?” Lisa-Louise asked.

“Of course. I’m not in a position to defy the second most powerful, and probably the most dangerous, man in Lundin. And Lord Higate rewarded me handsomely for my cooperation.”

“Reward, Tuerqui?”

“Yes – mistress – that’s probably why I’m so cheerful. Lord Higate persuaded father that Miss Miles is unfit to be my governess, and that I should be entrusted to Fluff instead.”

“That’s brilliant, Tuerqui – but I’m sure he’ll want more from you in return. And that’s worrying.”

“Yes, mistress, I’m sure he will – as I said, I seem to have become his creature. What worries me most is how expendable his creatures are. Lord Higate didn’t seem in least bothered by Captain Grace’s death – and even rewarded me, as one of his killers. In fact, he seems, for the first time, to give me some respect.”

“But, in spite of that respect, you’re just as expendable as Captain Grace?”

“I think so, mistress – in fact, I’m sure of it. Maybe it’ll be all right. I expected becoming a killer to bother me a lot more than it has. It’s hardly given me a qualm. If that’s all right…”

“Maybe whatever Lord Higate wants you to do will be all right?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“I don’t know about that, Tuerqui. But it’s true about killing. I expected that slaying another human being would be terrible. But, somehow, it was easy, and I haven’t been bothered about it since.”

“Yes,” said Tipsi. “I thought it would make me sick – turning my stomach inside out sick – and give me nightmares afterwards. Then, when it happened, it was perfectly all right – even mashing his face afterwards was OK.”

“It hasn’t troubled me, either,” said Barguin. “Maybe it helped that he really deserved to die.”

“I’m fine with it, too,” Diqui said. “That’s really what I expected – but, afterwards, it felt like I should have anticipated feeling bad – really awful, in fact.”

“It hasn’t disturbed me – as such,” Modesty added. “But I’ve been a little concerned that we’ve crossed a line. And we can’t step back.”

“Another innocence has gone,” said Lisa-Louise. “And now, as a consequence, sweet Tuerqui is the creature of Lord Higate – vile man. What is more, if the traitor wants it, we could all be his creatures. I’m beginning to think that I shouldn’t have involved Modesty, Barguin, Diqui – and Tipsi least of all.”

“I’m all right with it,” said Tipsi, “wouldn’t go back – even if I could. All the same, I’m very glad that we didn’t drag Fluff into this business.”

“I wonder,” said Lisa-Louise, “if that’s why Lord Higate wanted Fluff to be Tuerqui’s governess. To drag her into the morass?”

The following morning, that last thought marred my pleasure as I set off for my first morning in Fluff’s care. Matters were not helped by the fact that I couldn’t express my concern to my friend without involving her in dirty business. She still had several strands of innocence that I’d lost. An awareness of Lord Higate’s machinations would damage her in ways for which I shouldn’t and wouldn’t be willingly responsible.

To my surprise, Fluff didn’t come to the door when I knocked. Instead, I found myself looking into the dark eyes of a pretty slave – a girl of perhaps sixteen or seventeen summers, whom I hadn’t seen before. The name branded on her thigh was Norti, and I seemed to detect the eponymous gleam of mischief. She stood for a few moments, taking stock of me, before speaking.

“Yes, your ladyship. How may I help?” The way she pronounced the word ladyship suggested that she could see the slavery within me.

“I’m here to see Fluff,” I said, feeling disconcerted by the teenager. “I mean Lady Bosset.”

“Fluff!” called Norti, “We mean Lady Bosset! There’s a bit of skirt to see you.”

“Really, Norti,” said Fluff, padding towards us in carpet slippers shaped like rabbits, “you shouldn’t call a visitor a bit of skirt! Oh! It’s Tuerqui, I beg Norti’s pardon, you really are a bit of skirt!”

“Hello, Fluff,” I said, trying to hide my concern for the continuation of her innocence – an effort made easier by Norti’s presence, together with Fluff’s last remark and comic footwear.

“Hello, Tuerqui. Come on in, out of the cold. I did get a message, last night, about being your new governess. It sounded like a joke, but maybe it wasn’t, unless you’re playing truant, of course.”

“No – I’m not playing truant,” I said, stepping into the warmth. “Miss Miles’ strap provides a good argument against doing that. You really are my new governess.”

“What do I have to do, Tuerqui? I can read and write and add and subtract, well enough. But I’d be completely lost with long division. And I don’t know whether the Charter of Osrick gave the Barons more power, or took it away[4].”

“If we leave long division and the Charter of Osrick out of it altogether, Fluff, I’ll be well enough pleased. I thought maybe we could spend a bit of time together as friends. Apart from that, perhaps I could help you round the house.”

“We are friends, Tuerqui! And spending a bit more time with you will be lovely. But, unless I try roasting two geese again, I’m not going to need much help from you. Over the last three days, Queuti and Norti have been doing most of the work.”

“Queuti? I’ve met Norti – and she seems well enough named. Is Queuti cute?”

“They’re twin sisters, Tuerqui, and – apart from their brands – you can hardly tell them apart.”

“In that case, she is cute. When did they arrive? And where is Queuti?”

“Queuti’s in the kitchen making rose hip tea – and taking her time about it, too. That reminds me… Norti! Tell your sister to make another cup for Tuerqui.”

“I already did,” said a slave appearing from the direction of the kitchen, bearing a tray laden with four steaming cups.

“You must be Queuti,” I said. “Fluff – how did you come by the twins?”

“After the wedding, Bobbikins said that now I was Lady Fluff I should have a household slave. Truth to tell, I wasn’t too keen on the idea. But, this week, he insisted on taking me to the Sorday market. We couldn’t resist the double bundle of mischief and, although they were a bit more than we intended to pay, the idea of splitting them up was unbearable.”

“Not more than you could afford, I hope. Weren’t you once enslaved for bankruptcy?”

“My whole family was, Tuerqui. But don’t worry, your dad – even if he is an old skinflint – pays his generals well enough.”

“Is your father His Majesty, Tuerqui?” Queuti asked, wide eyed. “Really?”

“Yes,” I replied, “really. But we’ve all four of us been enslaved. Lets make ourselves comfy and we can swap our stories over a cup of tea.”

“Our dad used to have a shop on Ox Foot Street,” Queuti began, when we were settled. “He made, sold and repaired umbrellas and walking sticks. Well – maybe the repairs were only to the umbrellas.”

“Not John Sugar?” I asked.

“Yes – did you know him?”

“Not well, but I used to have one of his umbrellas. The handle was in the shape of a duck’s head.”

“He used to carve those himself.”

“I remember the man. He was always very pleasant and helpful. There were sometimes two little imps in the shop, as I recall. That must have been eight or nine years ago.”

“We were the imps. And dad was lovely except…”

“Except that he had a secret gambling habit,” Norti supplied. “And he financed it by cooking the books and not paying his taxes. Eventually, Cornelius Lock in person paid a visit – along with half a dozen of his inspectors. My dad hadn’t paid your dad, Tuerqui, not so much as a penny for several years.”

“I’m sorry, twins,” I said, “but that’s asking for trouble.”

“Trouble is what we all got, Tuerqui,” Queuti said. “Everything was confiscated – and the whole family enslaved. The judge told us that our status as bondlings was on two counts – not just to pay the back tax. The old bugger said that dad had clearly demonstrated genetic slavery, and that therefore his children must be slaves.”

“Your brands aren’t fresh, are they? When was that?”

“About four years ago,” Norti continued. “I got my name when I tied together a court official’s boot laces. He fell flat on his face when he tried to stand up – what a hoot! I admitted it was me so that my sister wouldn’t be whacked as well.”

“That was well done, Norti. And I don’t think you should have been whacked at all.”

“I bloody was, though – and how! But things got better when Mrs Tunnock, a kind old lady, bought me and my sister. She wanted her home livening up, and we did the trick.”

“I’ll bet you did!”

“Yeah! But poor old Mrs Tunnock died back in Dankfog. She bequeathed us to her daughter, Mrs Blackwood, and she’s nice, too. It should have been all right.”

“She liked us,” Queuti took up the story. “Trouble was Mr Blackwood liked us too much – or in the wrong way. He never quite got to the point of sticking his willie into us, but his wife found him making us do things she didn’t think we should. There was a big row, and then off to market.”

“And there they were,” said Fluff, “on the very day that Bobbikins made me go shopping for slaves. It seems a strange coincidence, but it was gambling that drove my dad into bankruptcy, and me into slavery. Well – that’s not the really odd part – it’s that daddy lost his money with a set of calendar bones carved by John Sugar – Norti and Queuti’s father.”

So began the first of many enjoyable mornings with Fluff and the twins. On my suggestion, Norti and Queuti were included in our dance sessions from the following Selday. At first, they were more enthusiastic than skilful – but Sarah was patient, and soon enough their steps fell in unison with the rest of us. We all loved the pair – it was impossible to do otherwise.

It wasn’t long before Lord Higate expressed a desire for some return on his favour. Whenever he asked me to do anything, it was always phrased as a polite request, but I wouldn’t have cared to discover what might happen had the invitation been refused. The tasks assigned to me involved meeting women at various places in Lundin, often taverns, where I would give or receive packages. To this end, I now carried a permanent passport, in spite of my father’s former opposition to such a thing.

Alarmingly, at least two of those with whom I met on Lord Higate’s behalf had familiar faces. They were amongst the villains with whom Sam the carter dealt on his secretive nocturnal missions. My first assumption had been that the packages represented traitorous business with the Triumvirate of Surrey. Soon, it seemed almost certain that at least some of the transactions involved base criminality rather than treason[5].

On Iceflake 12th, a Sorday, Fluff greeted me with: “Tuerqui! I’m pregnant!”

“Oh – congratulations, Fluff!” I said, clasping her tightly. Then, relaxing my grip: “how long have you known?”

“Well – I started to think I might be when I missed my period in Chillflurry. But it was only confirmed last night. The doctor’s made it official.”

“Not Grimes or Malvision, I hope.”

“On yer pony, Tuerqui! I wouldn’t trust either of them quacks! No – Bobbikins got me someone decent from the town.”

“Fluff’s up the duff! Fluff’s up the duff!” the twins chorused, executing an improvised dance loosely based on the choreography from our lessons.

We toasted the infant in her belly with a non-alcoholic elderflower drink stored from the previous spring. As Fluff said, she should avoid wine for the sake of the baby. Admiring her resolve, I reflected that the possibility of strong drink had not been available to me when I’d carried Tuerquelle. Thinking on that, I excused myself to pray in the privacy of the toilet for my daughter’s wellbeing – not wishing to taint Fluff’s delight with concern for my child.

At arms training, I found Bob Bosset as jubilant as a boy bequeathed a cake shop. He opened three bottles of best elderberry wine, and we each had at least one generous glass. The drink didn’t help with our practice – except that it demonstrated the inadvisability of handling weapons under the influence of alcohol. Fortunately no one hurt herself beyond a few tiny nicks.

Two days later, the Sergeant General had a fresh intake of females for training as irregulars. Almost forty girls arrived, learning to handle weapons through dance movements. There were several familiar faces, but at first I was unable to place them. The afternoon session was almost over when I finally recognised Minqusi, Fondlibelle and Pritti with whom I’d helped to tow Dashing Daniel’s and Carp-Eye’s boat.

“Where did you find the new girls?” I asked Bob afterwards.

“They arrested a head broker at the tail end of Chillflurry and convicted him on the first of this month. Going through his records, we managed to identify enough girls who weren’t pleased to be reunited with their families.”

“Yeah, I recognise a few of them. The head broker must have been Bill Esset.”

“That’s right. With war approaching, your daddy needs more tax money, Tuerqui, so Cornelius Lock is cracking down on evaders. Bill Esset had been paying pennies. Now he’s paid everything.”

“Enslaved and all property confiscated, I suppose.”

“Of course. What else could he expect? Stupid bugger – now he’s branded, his willie and balls lopped off… They catch them all in the end.”

My life had fallen into an enjoyable routine. Five mornings a week were spent in the company of Fluff and the twins. After lunch, which was never short of excellent in the Bosset household, the four of us went to our dance class. Thence, Lisa-Louise, Modesty, Tipsi, Diqui, Barguin and I – accompanied by Sarah and the musicians – migrated to arms training.

At beginning of the Comday dance session, on Iceflake 27th, Barguin had a piece of news about which I had mixed feelings: “Tuerqui – have you heard that your old governess has got the sack?”

“Miss Miles?”

“Of course, Miss Miles. Phoebe and Mary were leaping around the corridors at lunchtime. Apparently, Mr Groat came into the schoolroom after their drill session and gave the old battleaxe her marching orders.”

“Mary and Phoebe had better make the most of it,” Modesty said. “I saw Mr Groat just before coming here. He said that a new governess, Miss Sweetman, is arriving tomorrow. My guess is that she’ll be anything but sweet. They’re all much the same.”

“Shit!” I said. “Miss Sweetman had better not require my presence.”

“If she does,” said Fluff, “she’ll have to contend with me. I’m your governess now, Tuerqui – and, as far as I’m concerned, that’s the way it’s going to be until you leave town.”

“Thank you, Fluff. All the same, it’s worrying.”

The news had an unexpected sequel the following evening. At the conclusion of arms training, we returned to my living room. Tipsi had made rose hip tea, and was toasting bread on a roaring fire, when someone knocked at the door. Barguin admitted a sour-looking woman, who could be no one but Miss Sweetman.

“Princess Margaret,” my visitor said, “I am Phoebe and Mary’s new governess. I’m afraid that what I have to say to you isn’t very pleasant – but it must be said.”

“You want me back in the schoolroom?” I said, aghast at the prospect.

“Not in the least. I was afraid that you might have that idea, and have come to disabuse you of the notion. You may not care to hear it, but I must tell you that you will not, under any circumstances, be welcome in my lessons.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I am sure that you heard me very well. As I understand matters, you left the schoolroom after accusing poor Miss Miles of the shocking offence of Surrenity. Somehow those little wretches, Phoebe and Mary, found out and made false accusations against the good woman. You are the root cause of the dreadful business, and – under no circumstances – am I willing to accept you as a pupil.”

“Oh!”

“Is that all you have to say for yourself, young lady? Of course, I have given the two younger girls a well-earned strapping for their wicked lies. I do not doubt that it will be the first of many. But for you the punishment can be nothing less than permanent exclusion from the schoolroom.”

“In that case, Miss Sweetman, the only other thing I have to say for myself is good night and sweet dreams.”

My door thumped loudly in its frame as the new governess made her exit. The room she had quitted was filled with the mouth-watering smell of hot buttered toast. Shaking my head, I seated myself in a large well-stuffed settee where Modesty and Lisa-Louise were hugging one another, trembling with not quite silent laughter. In the darkness beyond the window, an owl hooted.

[1] Licensed freebooter – at this time, there were several distinct classes of persons authorised to take action against enemy nations. A licensed slaver, such as Captain Gentle, was authorised only to take slaves – and could have faced prosecution for other acts. An irregular soldier had a more wide-ranging remit, but was subject to military orders. A licensed freebooter had more freedom of action – neither confined to a specified range of hostile activities nor subject to orders from military commanders.

[2] Wickedness of Surrey – Surrenity, women pleasuring one another sexually. See Chapter 34, note 1 and Chapter 37, note 1.

[3] Mitchal and Toppa were the god and goddess of Coal Chest in North Essex. Mitchal, represented as a man with faced blackened by coal dust and wearing a tall gleaming hat, was the Lord of Coal. Toppa, represented as a showgirl, was the Lady of the Chest. Toppa remains the chief goddess of Coal Chest, although the worship of Mitchal has fallen into disuse.

[4] The Charter of Osrick granted to the barons wide-ranging powers, although it removed from them the power to take independent military action.

[5] Base criminality rather than treason – around this time, Berenice recruited a number of criminals, or former criminals, to act as her agents. Tuerqui’s assumptions were probably incorrect – although it is likely that the women were acting as agents of Berenice in particular, rather than of the Triumvirate as a whole.

For Chapter 43 click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2007/12/of-bondlings-and-blesh-chapter-43.html

Of Bondlings and Blesh Chapter 41

2007-12-04T16:00:00.000Z

Chapter 41

The snowy morning had invested the usually dingy schoolroom with an uneasy brightness. The metallic smell of the ink Miss Miles provided, mingled with chalk dust, made me feel slightly sick. Fresh snowflakes were plastered over the window, outside conditions must have been little short of blizzard. My bottom was far too sore to sit comfortably on the wooden seat, smoothed by squirming generations of soundly strapped children.

The governess had set us an arithmetic problem in which an army had captured a city. A given number of the inhabitants were sold into slavery for a specified sum. From the purchase price of a princess, we were to calculate how much more valuable she was than the average captive. It had seemed quite interesting until I realised, with a sinking heart, that the sum involved long division.

Certain that my answer was very wrong, I hoped that the governess would not vent her wrath upon my bottom. After the previous night in her living room, that part of my anatomy smarted more than enough already. Glancing her way, as she looked over my shoulder, I beheld a far from reassuring facial expression. My deliverance from immediate retribution came from an unexpected source – Captain Grace in full uniform entering the schoolroom, accompanied by two guardsmen whose halberds scraped the lintel as they passed through the doorway.

“Captain Grace!” Miss Miles said, clearly startled.

“Yes, Miss Miles, I’m sorry to disturb your lesson, but I need to question one of your pupils. It’s a serious matter, official business.”

“Let me guess – Margaret?”

“I regret so, Miss Miles.”

“Margaret – you must go with Captain Grace and his guards. I’ve tried to keep your wickedness in check, but now it seems that you’re being arrested. Perhaps I should have been more liberal with the strap.”

“Perhaps you should, Miss Miles,” said Captain Grace. “Of course, Princess Margaret may not be guilty, but it’s a bad affair. You’ll do your pupils no favours by being soft with them… Come on, girl!”

The last sentence was addressed to me. Rising from my desk, I followed my fiancé and the two guards from the room. In silence, we marched through passages and up staircases. Where there was sufficient room, the guardsmen positioned themselves to my left and right, with the Captain striding ahead. When the corridors narrowed, and on the stairs, one halberdier positioned himself behind me, while the other stepped in front.

Our destination must have been high in a tower – a windowless room, lit by flickering torches. Chains dangling from the walls suspended the open jaws of manacles. There was a well-stocked rack of whips, and several ominous devices I imagined to be torture machines. Captain Grace seated himself on a chair behind a table – the only civilised pieces of furniture in the chamber.

“Princess Margaret,” my fiancé began, “you have been brought here for questioning in connection with the murder of the spymaster, Mr Addal. You will not speak except in direct answer to my questions. I give you formal warning that you should utter nothing but the truth. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. I’m glad that you had the presence of mind to address me with respect. As you will see, I am equipped to inflict rather more pain than a schoolroom spanking…” Then, to one of the guards: “Corporal Kingsley?”

“Yes, sah!” responded the Halberdier.

“Be good enough to search the suspect, then place her in hand and ankle cuffs. Once that is done, you and Private Gibbings will mount guard outside the door. It may be that the prisoner will speak of dangerous secrets – things you should not hear. I’ll ring,” he indicated a bell rope, “at such time as you are required.”

“Yes, sah! D’ y’ want the prisoner ’s ’ands cuffed behind ’er back – or in front, sah?”

“Behind her back, I think, Corporal. She’s no more to be trusted than a viper.”

The corporal searched me with unnecessary thoroughness – it was hard to imagine where I might have concealed weapons in my schoolroom uniform. The areas he explored most thoroughly suggested a sexual motive. It seeming pointless to resist, I placed my hands behind my back and soon felt cold and heavy cuffs about my wrists. Crouching, he secured my ankles in like fashion – then, saluting smartly, the halberdiers left the room.

“Well, my sweetheart,” the Captain began, once we were alone. “What do you make of this? Do you think this is another game? Something I’ve devised to hurt and humiliate you?”

“Yes, sir. I do.”

“You are entirely wrong, young lady. This really is official business. In fact, I intend to hurt and humiliate you less than I would most suspects. Does that surprise you, girl?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ordinarily, someone in your position could expect torture. You see – I give torture its proper name. I’m not one to speak of putting the question. You understand that I’m fully empowered to subject you to the most exquisite of tortures?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And do you know why most people in your position could expect such treatment? Do you know what your position is?”

“I’m your prisoner, sir.”

“That you are – but you’re a lot more than that. Would you care to expand upon your statement?”

“No, sir. That is, I don’t know, sir.”

“Well, in that case, I’d better tell you. Currently, you are the chief suspect in my investigation into the murder of Wilfred Addal. The evidence against you is circumstantial, thus far, but it’s quite enough to hold – and torture if necessary – a princess who is little loved by her father. Could you guess the nature of the evidence?”

“No, sir. I really couldn’t, sir. You must know, sir, that…” I was close to tears, now.

“Quiet! I told you to speak only in direct answer to my questions. There is no need for you to tell me what I must or must not know. You really have no idea of the evidence against you?”

“No, sir.”

“That’s better. A short, simple, direct answer. Stick to answers like that, and we’ll get along very well. Would you like me to tell you what the evidence is?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very well – in the first place – you disappeared from the ballroom shortly before the killing. Thereafter, no reliable witness saw you again until at least twenty minutes after the corpse fell through the skylight. This might be almost enough to convict you – but there is more. Shall I continue?”

“Yes, sir.”

“As you may imagine, after the murder, Lord Higate – in person – made a close examination of Mr Addal’s recent papers. In them, we might have expected to find clues to the killer’s identity. His lordship found nothing to implicate you, but afterwards other officers noticed something very singular. Can you imagine what that might have been?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell me, then. Bear in mind that, although not formally charged with murder, you are my prisoner.”

“I think, sir, that the papers contained nothing about Lisa-Louise – or about me since my return to the palace.”

“Indeed. It would have been pleasant to be able to arrest Miss Lisa-Louise. Unfortunately she has an excellent alibi, as she was seen emerging from the changing room, unmasked, only a short while after the murder. But how do you know the papers were missing?”

“Sir – Mr Addal summoned Lisa-Louise and me to his office on New Year’s Eve. He said that he thought he might be killed that night, sir. Because of the love he bore Lisa-Louise’s mother, he’d burnt all the papers relating to her.”

“Relating to her? To Lisa-Louise, I suppose – not her mother? Be precise, girl. Bear in mind that this is a murder investigation.”

“Yes, sir, the papers relating to Lisa-Louise. She and I had spent so much time together – we’re good friends, sir – it had involved also burning the reports of my activities since returning to the palace.”

“So – you knew that someone might kill the spymaster?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But you did nothing to prevent it?”

“No, sir.”

“And why was that?”

“I felt, sir, that Mr Addal must have done everything possible, and consistent with his duty, to ensure his safety. I didn’t know what I could do, sir.”

“And did Mr Addal indicate to you or Miss Lisa-Louise who his murderer might be?”

“No, sir.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“No, sir.”

“Why not? It would seem a reasonable question.”

“It would be a dangerous question, sir. If the murderer thought that I knew his, or her, identity – my own life would be in danger. In any case, sir, I don’t think that I am a fit person to hold state secrets.”

“Those are reasonable answers. And I certainly agree with your last sentence. All the same – do you have any idea who might have killed the spymaster?”

“No, sir.” This was a definite lie, but any other answer would have assured my conviction for the crime.

“That is a pity, and leaves you as my chief suspect. Would you like to hear what the prosecution would allege, should you come to trial?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That, while you were in Surrey, you were trained as an agent of that wretched land – a spy, a saboteur, an assassin, it doesn’t matter which. Once trained, you were smuggled back into Lundin by agents pretending to be pollygoggers. Since then, you have been deeply involved in treason – and had to kill Mr Addal to prevent your arrest. It makes perfect sense, don’t you agree?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But, in spite of everything, I’d like to believe your innocence. You are, after all, my betrothed. The marriage would be an advantageous one, and I am loath to let it slip. Do you understand that is all you have working in your favour?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Against the advantageous match, I have to weigh other matters. If I were able to reveal a highly placed traitor and murderer, only a few days after the killing –and it’s currently less than three days – I’d be well on my way to promotion. Your life hangs in the balance, and something quite trivial might tip things one way or the other. Can you appreciate that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“The first trivial matter you must address is your friend Lisa-Louise. I have a fancy for her, and would like her to submit to my advances. She should be prepared for a little pain, a little humiliation, and I will wish to shag her brains out. Do you think that you could put that small matter to her?”

“Yes, sir. But I’m not sure that she’ll agree, sir.”

“Yes, sir would have sufficed. The next time you express an opinion, you’ll wish you hadn’t. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Of course, to save you from treason and murder charges, your friend might or might not submit to me, it depends on just how good a friend she is. Be that as it may, if you are charged, she will be charged as well – as your accomplice in treason. I think that may be persuasive. Will you tell her that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very well, I intend to hold you until tomorrow afternoon. It will be Valday, and you will be at liberty for the weekend. You should be grateful – holding you until the schoolroom breaks for the weekend will certainly save your tender little tush from further strapping. What do you have to say for that?”

“Thank you, sir.”

“When you speak to Lisa-Louise, bear in mind that the current passport regulations would make it very hard for her to escape justice. Anyway – twenty-eight hours in a cell will give you plenty of time to think.”

He tugged on the bell rope. Instantly, the halberdiers burst into the room. They paused at the threshold, irresolute, looking disappointed to find no reason to subject me to violence. Captain Grace smiled maliciously.

“I have decided to hold her on suspicion of treason and murder. Private – fetch her a prisoner’s uniform. Corporal – uncuff her hands and feet so that she can change uniforms – from the schoolroom to the cell.”

Not long afterwards, I found myself alone, locked in a cell, dressed in the uniform of one of my father’s female prisoners. It was a short sleeved blue-grey dress of flimsy but coarse fabric, tight at the waist, the hem several inches above my knee. No underwear had been permitted – Captain Grace had claimed that this was specified in the regulations, and perhaps he was right
[1]. The halberdiers had obviously enjoyed watching me strip – disappointed, perhaps, that my compliance had not given them occasion to assist me in the process.

My cell had a pile of straw in one corner, to act as a bed, and a bucket opposite, to serve as a toilet. The receptacle had not been well cleaned, and its stink filled my nostrils. Inhaling as well as exhaling through my mouth, to minimise the smell, my breath showed as a cloud of steam. The small barred window was unglazed and, beneath it, a little indoor snow drift had failed to melt.

Settling myself on the straw, and wrapping my arms about my torso for warmth, I shivered. After what seemed like a long time, I decided that the best thing to do about the cold was to go through some of Miss Miles’ drill exercises. If they could warm me, out in the snowy yard – I reasoned – they would do the same in this icy cell. Running on the spot and star jumps soon had me feeling a bit warmer – and, thinking more clearly now, I realised that practicing dance steps would have a similar effect, but without any unpleasant associations.

When a guard brought me some food, I was executing the new choreography as well as possible without music. He looked astonished and almost dropped the mess tin. My expectation had been for bread and water, if I was to be fed at all. It was therefore a delight to find the tin filled with a reasonably warm stew, better than some of the meals I’d known my father to eat.

Dancing not only kept me warm, but raised my spirits and left me tired. After darkness fell, I was sufficiently weary to sleep – albeit fitfully given the low temperature, scratchy bedding and absence of a blanket. The period from darkfall to dawn seemed longer than any night of my life, thus far. Outside, birds started to call long before I could detect any sign of light – welcome heralds of the sun.

The guard, who had given me the stew, collected my mess tin at what seemed several hours after sunrise. After a lengthy pause, he brought it back filled with unsweetened, but warm, porridge. The receptacle had clearly received only a perfunctory wash, if that – dark traces of my evening meal could be seen in the folds of the metal. Even so, I reflected, it was a good deal better than the swill Sam served his cart slaves.

The cell stank worse than it had the previous day – I’d been obliged to use the bucket and had been offered no opportunity to empty it. Careful to breathe through my mouth, I resumed my dance steps. Wondering whether it was wise to taint the choreography by association with my imprisonment, I returned to drill exercises. When the door opened to admit Captain Grace, I was performing energetic star jumps.

“Well, Margaret, much as I could enjoy watching your boobies bounce, I’ve come to release you – at least for the time being…” He sniffed deeply. “It stinks in here. Haven’t you emptied your shit bucket, you vile, dirty slut?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, you’d better do so, girl. Come!”

He stepped briskly along the passageway, and down a narrow flight of stairs. Holding the heavy bucket with both hands, I followed, trying hard not to slop any of its contents. We came to a bare stone room, a dark hole perhaps a foot wide in the centre of the floor. At a nod from my fiancé, I emptied my burden into the sluice.

“Well, Margaret, I have spoken to your father. Laying the evidence before him, he was convinced of your guilt. Then I advanced something in your favour. Can you imagine what that was?”

“No, sir.”

“Simply that, if you were his daughter, the legitimate Blood Victoria coursed through your veins – and you would, consequently, be incapable of treason. A nice argument, don’t you think?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I said that, were you a traitor, you couldn’t be his daughter. That would make him a cuckold, something I’d prefer not to believe. This being so – I said – I’d work on the assumption that someone had framed you – and try to work out who might have done so. Wasn’t that kind of me?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“Of course, you’re not off the hook yet. Nor is your friend, Miss Lisa-Louise. Tell her to meet me at two thirty – sharp – by the foot of the stableyard stairs. You can also tell her to be prepared to submit to me, accept me unconditionally as her master – is that fully understood?”

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.”

“Go then.”

“Please, sir?”

“Yes, girl?”

“Can I change out of this prison uniform, now, sir?”

“I think not. In fact, you may join Lisa-Louise at the foot of the stableyard stairs – and I’ll expect you still to be wearing that dress. Remember that the regulations prohibit underwear. In any case, after the thrashing Miss Miles gave you the night before last, it might be more comfortable with a cool breeze about you bum.”

While he watched, I walked slowly down the passage, not wishing him to see me react to his cruelty. Turning a corner, and thus placed beyond his gaze, I started to run. Half way to my room, realisation dawned that I was crying. Blinded by tears, my legs pumping, I tripped and fell.

Picking myself up, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I started to run again. My knees throbbed – dabbing at my eyes once more, and looking down, I saw that they were grazed and bleeding. It occurred to me that I had no idea as to the object over which I’d stumbled. Racing down a final staircase, almost falling again, at last I was at the door to my apartments.

Then I was sobbing in Lisa-Louise’s strong embrace. Tipsi was stroking my hair. Barguin and Diqui hovered in the background, seemingly with a sense that they should comfort me, but not sure how to do it. We seemed to remain thus for a long time.

“Tuerqui, my sweet,” Lisa-Louise said at last, “what did they do to you? Torture?”

“No, mistress, not that.”

“What then? Some guards brought back your schoolroom things yesterday afternoon. They said you were being held for Uncle Wilfred’s murder.”

“Yes, mistress, I was,” making an effort to stifle my tears, “and he’s got a pretty good case against me.”

“He, Tuerqui? Who’s got a good case against you?”

“Captain Grace, mistress.”

“But he can’t want to nail you for it, Tuerqui. There are too many advantages for him in being married to you.”

“Yes, mistress – but there are advantages for him, as well, in pinning it on me. Solving the case quickly could earn him promotion. And don’t forget, mistress, that he’s the killer – he needs to blame someone. And – mistress – if he charges me, he’s going to charge you, too, with treason, as my accomplice.”

“We’re going to have to kill him, aren’t we, Tuerqui?”

“Oh, mistress, I’m so glad you said that. We do need to kill him. He wants to hurt, humiliate and screw you, mistress. He said you and I were to meet him at the foot of the stableyard staircase at half past two.”

“If that’s what he wants, that’s what we’ll do. First, I need to speak with Bob. Diqui and Barguin – collect Mrs Clay and meet me at Fluff’s place. Tipsi, stay with Tuerqui until she goes to meet Captain Grace at half past two, then join the others in the Bosset quarters.”

Moments later, only Tipsi and I remained. She placed her arms about me, kissing gently, chastely, soothingly. Placing my lips on her, I opened my mouth and extended my tongue. Then we were on the floor, making savage love.

A little before half past two, I was at the foot of the stableyard staircase. Lisa-Louise was there first. It was reassuring that she seemed less nervous than me, even though it was probably no more than a display of bravado. Perhaps we were to kill for the first time, possibly we might be killed, alternatively we faced an afternoon of abuse from a man I hated.

Captain Grace arrived ten minutes late by the stableyard glass. Approaching, he smiled at us – malevolence in his eyes. Lisa-Louise smiled back – perhaps her most dangerous expression. My fiancé placed his right hand lightly on my bottom, his left on that of my temporary mistress.

“Good afternoon, sir,” said Lisa-Louise. “I trust, sir, that we’re not going to transact our business, here.”

“No, Miss Lisa-Louise, I don’t think that would be wise. I had in mind my apartments. They’re not far. Until recently, I was a cavalryman.”

“If you will pardon me for saying so, sir, I’m not sure that would be wise, either. You are in a delicate position, sir. Should suspects be seen entering or leaving your private rooms, sir, it would give ammunition to your enemies. Not that you have any, of course, sir.”

“You have a head on your shoulders, girl, I’ll admit that. Do you have a better place in mind?”

“That I do, sir. It’s not far, sir, and we won’t be disturbed.”

Lisa-Louise led us through a narrow passageway and across a broad concourse I couldn’t recall having seen before. The space was lined with equestrian statues and brightly lit from a glass ceiling[2]. At the foot of a short flight of steps, a door took us into a large echoing hall that smelt of blood and horse manure. The confidence of Captain Grace’s step betokened his familiarity with this place.

“An interesting choice, young lady,” he said with a smirk. “Cavalry training shed number two – the one in which we practice on mortlings[3]. I’m surprised that you know it.”

He returned his hands to our bottoms. Side stepping from his touch, Lisa-Louise suddenly had a sword in her hand – something she must have picked up just inside the doorway. Captain Grace reeled back, a bloody gash across the whiteness of his left cheek. In another moment, his blade was unsheathed – a longer and heavier weapon than hers.

“Bitch!” he hissed. “Fucking bitch! Well – I’ll learn you a lesson soon enough, you slut. And, if you survive, you’ll not forget it.”

“You won’t touch me again, you bastard,” she replied. “And you’re going to die.” Then – to me – “Tuerqui – your sword is just to the left of the door.”

“You’ll both suffer…”

“You killed my uncle, for which I hereby condemn you to be mortalled. Sentence to be executed this afternoon.”

Turning, I saw my blade – propped point down against the door jamb. When I wheeled back seconds later, sword in hand, Captain Grace had backed off a little – a second gash across his forehead. Behind me, I heard the door open, and footsteps. Lisa-Louise, staring steadfastly at her opponent, didn’t look – but I glanced over my shoulder to see four armed women – Modesty, Tipsi, Diqui and Barguin.

Modesty, moving with the fluidity of one born to dance, arced her sword toward my fiancé. For a moment, I thought she’d missed. Then a red line appeared at his right wrist – not a deep cut, but enough. His sword clattered to the floor.

“Back off from it,” said Lisa-Louise. “Or I’ll lop off the entire hand.”

“Cunt!” snarled Captain Grace, but he stepped away from his sword none the less.

“You have three choices,” said Lisa-Louise. “You can keep your clothes on and the six of us will kill you, very slowly, very painfully. You can strip naked and present yourself for a quick, merciful, beheading. Or, if you prefer, you can strip naked and take your sword again.”

“Cunt!” he repeated. “Fucking cunt! But, of those three, I’ll have my sword.”

He started to undress. When he was naked, Lisa-Louise, true to her word, permitted him to retrieve his sword. Then the six of us were dancing the dance of death, our feet booming the rhythm on the wooden floor – Captain Grace hopelessly out of step and failing to graze us, for all of his longer reach. My friends and I formed a near perfect killing machine, with each of us whirling through synchronised steps – it seemed unexpectedly easy.

Our opponent was a mass of gashes – it was impossible to say which of us inflicted which wound, even the major ones. Twirling, just beyond its trajectory, half of the wretch’s penis flew over my shoulder. Then his right hand, still gripping the sword, went flying in a bloody arc. A few minutes later, he collapsed, probably already dead.

“Mince his face,” said Lisa-Louise. “Mince it good! We can’t risk the blesh butcher recognising him.”

“Blesh butcher?” I asked.

“Yes, a blesh butcher calls to collect the carcasses of mortlings killed in military training[4]. That was the main reason I wanted him to undress. I didn’t fancy stripping cloth from the meat myself. In any case, we can’t have fragments of uniform in the wounds – that would be too suspicious[5].”

Each of us helping, the face was soon unrecognisable. Diqui and Barguin collected the body parts that had been severed entirely, and piled them on top of the carcass. Lisa-Louise picked up his cloak, folding it neatly under her arm. Modesty took possession of his boots and the remainder of the uniform.

“Diqui!” said Lisa-Louise, “You’re in harness. I want you to wipe the blood off yourself – there are plenty of cloths and a tap in the far corner – then go to the stableyard. Tell them Captain Grace needs his horse at once – they’re to have it harnessed and saddled.”

“Out in the bitter wind and snow?” Diqui asked. “Just in my harness?”

“There are a few horse blankets by the big cavalry doors[6]. Sling one over your shoulders – just look the part of a slave in a hurry, delivering a message.”

“Wait a minute,” said Modesty, fumbling with the corpse’s belt pouch. “There’s something in here you’ll need.”

“Great goddess!” Lisa-Louise replied, taking a sheet of neatly folded heavy paper. “I almost forgot – his passport! I wouldn’t get far without that… Tuerqui, you come with me – we need to change.”

Lisa-Louise picked up her sword, sheathed it in a scabbard, and hid it in the folds of the Captain’s cloak. Taking a cavalry helmet from the floor by the entrance, she added that to her bundle. Then she and I were hurrying back to my rooms where, following her directions, I washed before changing into a warm but pretty floral print dress. My temporary mistress slipped into breeches, buckled on the sword, and wrapped herself in my late fiancé’s cloak.

“Tuerqui,” she said, “I’m going to leave the palace – and the city – not as me, but as Captain Grace.”

“Mistress, does that mean you won’t be coming back? The passport system…”

“Don’t worry, Tuerqui, I’ll be back soon enough. I’ve figured a way round the passport nonsense.”

“Oh, the goddess be praised, mistress. I’d – we’d all be lost without you. But do you think you can really pass for Captain Grace?”

“Thank goodness it’s winter, Tuerqui. I can wrap a scarf about my face – with the helmet and the cloak, I don’t anyone will notice the difference. As long as I don’t have to speak, anyway. Probably can’t do his voice.”

“You’re not as tall as him, either, mistress.”

“If I walk hunched against the wind, it may not notice too much. Hope not, anyway. Once I’m on his horse, it should be easier.”

“I hope so, mistress.”

“Now, Tuerqui, you’re to go straight to your father, tell him you have a message from Captain Grace. Your fiancé is now certain that you’re innocent because he’s discovered the identity of the real murderer. The villain has left Lundin and the Captain’s hurried off in pursuit. You can make up the rest of the details – OK?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Go – Tuerqui. The sooner we do this, the better.”

Lisa-Louise gathered a long winter weight skirt, a change or two of underwear, and a few other things, and put them in a large saddlebag. Then we were gone – she towards the stableyard, me up to my father’s office. Thumping loudly on the door, I burst in upon my parent. Clearly startled, the old man turned from his desk to face me.

“Whatever is the meaning of this?” he said, quivering with outrage.

“Father, I’m sorry to intrude, but I have an urgent message from my fiancé.”

“Captain Grace?”

“Yes, of course Captain Grace, father – who else? I was with him just now. He apologised to me – for arresting me and putting me in prison. Said that not only does he now know that I’m innocent, but he’s identified the real murderer.”

“Has he, indeed? And why, pray tell, isn’t he reporting this himself?”

“Because the killer has fled Lundin, father – the Captain needed to set off in pursuit, he had to hurry if he wasn’t to lose the traitor. He said he might be gone a week or two – but that he looked forward to our marriage when he returned.”

“It makes sense, I suppose – but, all the same…”

“He told me to tell you something else, father – but I hesitate to use such a word… And it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, in any case.”

“Out with it, girl, as long as it really is the brave Captain’s word.”

“Father, he said to tell you… That is I’m sorry, father, but he wanted me to say he was now certain that you were no cuckold.”

“That clinches the matter. You couldn’t have made that up. Everything you’ve said is true, I know it.”

“Of course it is, father. How could you doubt my word? Doesn’t the legitimate Blood Victoria run through my veins?”

Glancing down, I noticed a little blood I’d failed to scrub from my fingernails. Dust motes were caught in a sudden bright beam from the sinking sun. Then the light faded behind a cloud bank, a gust of wind rattled the windows loudly, whirling restless snowflakes, flakes destined not to settle. A mouse scurried across the floor, a blur of movement, before vanishing into a dark crack in the skirting board.

[1] The chief purpose in depriving female prisoners of underwear seems to have been to make then feel more vulnerable to rape.

[2] Several other accounts of the Palace Victoria describe this space. It was designed chiefly to allow cavalry to be reviewed inside the building.

[3] This shed is also known from other accounts. Its purpose lay in training cavalrymen – by killing condemned prisoners (mortlings) in a confined space.

[4] Executed criminals (whether killed in military training or otherwise) were regarded as dead slaves – and thus their carcasses were suitable for food use, as blesh. The exception was when someone with personage in absolute was executed. On such occasions, the body was buried.

[5] Mortlings were usually naked when killed in military training. Occasionally, this was not so – but, had the condemned man served as a soldier, he would certainly not have been allowed to retain his uniform. Lisa-Louise seems to imply that the fibres of a military uniform had distinctive qualities.

[6] Cavalry doors – large doors through which a horse could pass.

For Chapter 42 click
http://bondlings.blogspot.com/2007/12/of-bondlings-and-blesh-chapter-42.html