“Spanked is a mild word. This discipline is far more harsh. The harlot being punished will be tied hand and foot across the correction bench, rendered helpless and immobile. The number of strokes will be announced and then drumbeats will keep the count.”
“Have you been punished that way?”
“All harlots have. It is part of our initiation into the Lyceum. And later…” Her voice died off.
“What happens later?”
“If a man comes to the Lyceum to be pleasured and is dissatisfied with our obedience to him, he can report us to the general. The next night, we are punished by the high priest in the public square then given back to that man. When a harlot remains stubborn or unwilling, this happens over and over, night after night, until her master declares that he is now pleased.”
Dianna shuddered again.
“Why do you not leave?”
This time she looked up at AJ, appearing startled by the question. “Where would we go? We cannot leave. Our place in this world was proclaimed by the high priest on the day we arrived. When we become too old to please our masters as harlots, we are anointed as Sacred Sisters, training the new harlots in the Lyceum and living a life of leisure while they tend to our needs.”
AJ didn’t miss the fact that the woman never referred to herself as “I.” It was as though she no longer existed as a singular entity, only as part of the group consciousness known as harlot. AJ could only wonder what psychological torments Dianna had been subjected to that would have buried all traces of self so deeply.
“And what of the women I saw in the marketplace?”
“They are seraphs, tending to the sacred fire pit in the center of every home. A seraph has but one master. She dwells in his house under his protection, at his pleasure, and bears his offspring. If she displeases him, she is disciplined only by her master, in private, as is fitting for her status. In exchange she must do his bidding forever, with no time of leisure as her final reward.”
“How is it determined whether you become a seraph or a harlot?”
She glanced up from under her lashes, and AJ saw the first spark of life in her eyes. “Unlike the harlot, a potential seraph does not respond eagerly to the ministrations of the high priest. A master can rest assured that his seraph has never enjoyed physical gratification from any other male. She comes to him pure and innocent and will know only whatever pleasure he chooses to give her.”
“So seraphs are virgins and harlots are women who have some sexual experience?”
Dianna looked confused. “Those words are unfamiliar.”
The young woman struggled to explain. “Occasionally men who have a seraph will come to the Lyceum for pleasure. And sometimes masters who have no seraph to warm their bed at night are allowed to dwell with a harlot. But if that harlot is in need of discipline, it is performed in public, before all the men. And when a man wants to bear offspring, he can do so only with a seraph chosen for him by the general. If he has a harlot dwelling with him when he takes a seraph, the harlot will be sent back to the Lyceum. From then on, he may only see the harlot there, for a few hours at a time. And only at night.”
AJ listened, horrified. Apparently this society still practiced arcane customs, with males having complete ownership of females. Like a feudal lord, General Tok held the ultimate power, bestowing the gift of a virginal bride on whomever he deemed worthy of the honor. Here, chaste seraphs bore a man’s children, while harlots filled his crude sexual needs. Silently, she vowed she wouldn’t leave Petra until she found a way to liberate its females, despite her directive to gather intelligence and immediately report back about the general’s illegal trade in rare elements.
Dianna fell silent, as though fearful that she’d said too much. Try as she might, AJ couldn’t get her to utter another word, except for softly murmured instructions as she prepared AJ for the ritual to come.
She told AJ to stand up and remove her dusty, torn robe. AJ complied. After what she’d been through, nudity had become the least of her concerns. The young woman washed AJ from head to toe with a cloth dipped in water from the bowl. From time to time, Dianna knocked at the door and handed the bowl and pitcher out to be rinsed and refilled by one of the guards.
No part of her body went untouched. AJ was embarrassed when her nipples puckered as the woman gently stroked the cloth over them. She finally protested when Dianna got on her knees and tried to spread AJ’s legs apart, so she could swipe the soft cloth between her thighs.
“Please,” Dianna whispered, terrified. “You must allow it. If this harlot does not do her duty properly, she will be punished along with you tonight.”
Cringing, AJ spread her legs. Dianna reached down and pushed her feet wider apart. Then she dipped the sponge into a bowl of fresh water and cleansed AJ’s most private parts, running the wet cloth along the folds of her vaginal opening, paying special attention to the clitoral hood.
When she bade AJ lean forward and grasp the edge of the table so she could wash the area around her anus, AJ forced herself to comply. By that time, she was trembling, physically aroused by the indecent liberties being taken with her private parts.
She gasped once, as the young woman’s fingers brushed against her tight rear opening, still tender from the vigorous intrusion of the high priest’s large finger. Her eyes widened when Dianna’s hand slid between her legs, deliberately teasing her core of pleasure into a hard nub.
“Do this. Later. Right before they lead you away. What is to come will be easier to bear,” Dianna whispered. “Empty your mind and set your body free. Find the pleasure beyond the pain. This harlot risks stern discipline for sharing the secret. But it will help you endure the punishment to come on this night.”
The door flew open. One of Tok’s soldiers took in the scene. AJ naked, bent over the table. Dianna kneeling behind her.
“Enough!” he barked. “You know such behavior between harlots is forbidden except under the orders of your teachers or a master...and then only with them observing.”
The soldier stepped into the room, shut the door, and leaned against it. “I am required to report your crime to the high priest…unless, for some reason, my mind becomes occupied with other things and I forget.” He reached down, stroking the prominent bulge in his tunic.
Dianna immediately crawled toward him, eyes downcast. She raised his tunic, and AJ saw that he too was naked under the garment. Dianna reached for his phallus, already stiff. Cupping his testes in one hand, she wrapped the other around his girth, stroking up and down. The soldier let out a groan and grabbed her head with both hands. Obediently, the harlot opened her mouth and took in his erect penis.
She continued moving her hand up and down, following it with her mouth, each time sliding farther down the shaft.