Chapter four

„Mph!“

It was all Zenobia could say to comment the current situation. Had she been able to speak, she might have said something like

„When will I ever learn to plan escape attempts more thoroughly?“

When she and Diane had been brought to the mansion of Quan Lee, the silk trader who had bought them, they were brought to a place in the court where he ordered to unwrap them. To their embarrassment, there were several members of the household, men and women, around to watch them in their nudity. Quan stepped in front of them and said in broken English:

„You are mine! Behave and you treated well. Behave not, punished!“

though he lacked grammatical skills, the meaning of his words, emphasized by the look in his eyes, was clear. So, both Diane and Zenobia nodded. Quan nodded also and ordered two men to free them from their ties and gags. A women offered them two folded pieces of the finest silk. They turned out to be sleeveless, knee-length tunics, girded with a thin golden chain. They sure were worth a fortune, but they were not meant to conceal much. When Zenobia looked at Diane, she could clearly see the dark shadows of her aureoles through the silk and whenever light was shining at her front, one could see a glimpse of her trieangle of pubic hair, too. Zenobia looked down at herself and found that she was in the same state of near-nakedness.

„If too naked, take these“, Quan laughed and offered to them the two pairs of knickers that had gagged them. Blushing, both refused. These knickers had been worn by another woman before they had been crammed into their mouths and they were still wet with saliva. Quan seemed to be finished with spending time with his newest acquisition already and ordered a female servant to take care of Diane and Zenobia. They followed her into the house and through a row of corridors and soon, they both found out that the flimsy tunics were obviously no mandatory dress code, for everyone else, even the pretty women, were dressed decently.

They were brought to a big sleeping room, dominated by a huge bed with silk sheets. The servant pointed at a tray on a little desk and explained them in a pantomime that they were allowed to eat and drink. Then, she left them alone and locked the door.

Thirsty from being gagged for such a long time, they drank the offered tea. Then, Zenobia looked out of the window. They were in the third floor, but the window was wide and open and they could look at a garden enclosed by a wall.

„If we could climb down there and make it to the wall, we could get over it and run away“, Zenobia pondered.

„Yes, nearly naked and without money in a strange city, hundreds of miles from the next outpost of civilisation“, Diane meant.

Zenobia pointed at the bed.

„So, you prefer staying here and serving our new Master? I am sure that there is a reason why we are in this room.“

„I haven`t said that I am not interested in running away. But you have to admit our chances are quite bad.“

Zenobia looked around, then, she sneaked for the closed door and listened carefully. After a few moments, she nodded and went for the bed where she took off the bedsheet and began tearing it into long strips.

„If they get us, we will lose more than just our innocence“, Diane meant, but she helped Zenobia to knot a makeshift rope and to fix it to the window frame. They looked into the garden, but could not see anyone. So, they threw the rope out of the window and quickly climbed down the few yards.

„That bad idea!“

They spun around and saw Quan who was standing on a terrasse that was directly under the sleeping room. They hadn`t been able to see it from above. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and beside him stood two men armed with guns.

„First mistake. Little punishment.“

It turned out that one part of the „little punishment“ was quite a relief: instead of having to share Quan`s bed, they were forced to do minor work like serving, cleaning the floors and helping in the kitchen. They hardly ever saw the silk trader and the other servants treated them quite friendly. However, this was not the only part of their punishment.

First, the tunics had been taken from them, leaving them stark naked again. It seemed that Quan had threatened his male servants not to touch them, but an occasional grope did not leave any traces, nor did the many lewd views they had to endure.

Then, there was the cangue. The boards locked around their necks were a bit different from those they had already been forced to wear. They were square and made of a solid, but rather light kind of wood, meaning that they weighted not more than some ten lbs. So, they didn`t hurt their shoulders, but of course, they were more than inconvenient. They could not reach for their heads, meaning that they had to feed each other or find a friendly fellow servant who helped them to eat or drink. The size of the cangues meant that they had to be careful when they had to get through narrow doors and more than once, they got stuck.

They could only sleep in a position with their upper bodies leaning towards the bed and with the boards resting on their chests. Each morning and evening, they were freed from the boards for five minutes to use the toilet, but in the meantime, this was a major problem, too.

Both girls were gagged with thick strips of silk. Each had a huge knot tied in it`s centre that had been shoved between their teeth before it was knotted off in their necks. It wassn`t nearly as stifling as the gags they had endured before, and above all, it wasn`t another woman`s used underwear, but the gags prevented them from intelligible speech and they emphasized their helplessness. These gags only came off at meal times and when they had once freed each other during the night, they had been forced to do their housework with cuffed feet for an entire day.
After some ten days, it seemed that Quan thought that they had „learned their lesson“. He ordered to free them and they were sent to a room where a bath was prepared and two women were waiting for them. Since they had not been able to wash themselves during their punishment, both enjoyed the bath and sighed with joy when the servants brushed their bodies and assisted them in washing and combing their hair. When they were told to lie on two benches and the two women began to massage oil into their skin, Zenobia thought of being defiant, but decided against it. The look on the servant`s face told her that she would be punished if she would not leave the bath perfectly clean and smelling like a rose. So, she even allowed the woman to shave her legs and armpits and to oil her boobs, too. Diane also showed no resistance against being prepared for their next visit in Quan`s sleeping room.

To their surprise, they were giving the tunics back.

„Obviously, Fatty wants to have something to unwrap“, Diane said with a sarcastic smile and Zenobia giggled involuntarily.

Inside the bedroom, Quan was waiting for them, wearing only a bathrobe. He smiled and approached the two girls.

Suddenly, Diane smiled, too. She put her hands on Quan`s shoulders and looked him deep in the eyes. Then, she raised her knee, aiming for his groins.

To Diane`s surprise, he didn`t squirm from pain. Instead, he smiled and firmly grabbed her arms. Diane now felt that he had anticipated her attack and trapped her knee between his thighs, just a few inches before she could inflict damage.

„Old trick bad idea“, he said. Then, with a louder voice, he yelled for the guards.

Zenobia jumped on the windowsill. It were some four yards to the ground but if she landed on the soft grass, she could perhaps stay unharmed. However, just before trying she could see some armed men standing in the garden, looking at her. Meanwhile, more men had entered the room. One was holding Diane`s arms now, but two more were approaching the window. Seeing no way to escape, Zenobia handed herself over to the guards. Quan still smiled and said something in Chinese. Then, he turned to the squirming girls and said:

„Second mistake. Big punishment.“

***

„Big punishment ready!“

„Mph?“

Both women questioningly looked up to him. They had actually thought hat their current plight already was their punishment. But obviously, Quan had planned to increase the humiliation and the pain even more.

Both Diane and Zenobia were once again stark naked. Then, the guards had folded their arms behind their backs until their forearms were parallel. Their left wrists were tied to their right elbows and vice versa, then, more rope was wrapped around their forearms and tied off with considerable strength. It was less inconvenient than having the elbows tied together, but it prevented them to work on the knots with both hands.

Then, it turned out that Quan had obviously not thrown away their gagging knickers. He pinched Diane`s nose shut and firmly stuffed the silk mass into her mouth, ignoring her moans and grunts. When he couldn`t get the balled up cloth any further, one of the men tied a black cloth over the gag and knotted it in her neck. Over this, he tied another scarf, covering her lower face from nose to chin. Then, the guard went for a bucket.

„They must have expected that we would try something and that´they would have to punish us!“, Zenobia thought.

The guard took a broad strip of wet leather and placed it over the gag. It was wide enough that it went over her chin and when he pulled on the ends, it forced Diane to close her jaws a bit. Then, he knotted it off. Diane twitched when a drop from the wet material dropped on her chest and she looked with a mixture of fear and confusion. But Zenobia knew that once the leather had dried, the pressure on her mouth would be almost unbearable.

When Quan approached her with a black piece of silk, the scent reminded her of Andrea and she had to blink away a tear. But getting her mouth stuffed with the huge mass of silk distracted her from her grief. Soon, she was gagged the same way as Diane was.

„Mph!“, she uttered.

„Mph!“, was the answer from her companion.

Now, Quan took two leather thongs from the bucket, each some two yards in length. Each had some knots tied into it and a noose on one end. He put these nooses around the necks of the girls, letting the ends dangle between their boobs. Zenobia could see that the way the noose was tied it could not tighten by pulling, but she had a terrible suspicion. A suspicion that came true when Quan reached between her legs and took the end of the thong to thread it between her back and her bound forearms. She prepared for the expected pain between her legs, but it didn`t happen. Quan took care that the knotted rope went directly over her pubic mound before tying it off. It was an attack on modesty, but the thong was only snug, but niot tight, let alone painful. The, It came to her that it was made of leather. Wet leather that would dry when the hours passed...

Diane was treated the same way before both girls were forced to sit down. This made their crotch ropes press more against their most intimate areas, but it still wasn`t painful – yet. They pressed Zenobia`s right lower leg against Diane`s left and tied them together with rope before they did the same to their other lower legs. Now, both girls had to face each other and could not close their legs anymore. Zenobia could see some blame awareness in Diane`s eyes, but if Quan had approached her, she would have reacted the same way.

Now, one of the guards brought a long bamboo stick and shoved it under Diane`s left armpit before he tied it to her upper arm. Then he bent Zenobia`s upper body back until he could get the other end under her right upper arm. When he had tied it off, the two captives could not bent forward to work on each other`s ropes or gags. Then, the men let them alone.

After a short, but violent struggle, both Zenobia and Diane had to accept that they could not loosen a single knot. In enforced silence, they waited for the end of their punishment. Zenobia hoped that it would not last for ten days this time until they were set free.

„He can`t kill us, he has spent a fortune for us“, she tried to consolate herself when their position changed from inconvenient over very inconvenient to painful and only the sweat on her nude bodies prevented the leather crotch ropes from drying too fast. Their gags, however, had already become intolerably tight and would not come off without the help of a knife.

But now, it seemed that Quan had planned some more for them. Their legs were freed and they were led to the court.

„Mph?“

It was a seesaw. A giant seesaw, consisting of a debarked trunk that rested on a stable trestle. The trunk was some six yards long and some two feet in diameter.

A man brought one end of the seesaw to the ground and another forced Zenobia to sit astride the trunk. Then, they lifted her from the ground and brought her ankles together. The trunk was so thick that she had to press her legs against it`s smooth surface when her ankles had been crossed and tied under it.

Diane was tied to the other end, but before they tied her feet, they adjusted her, ensuring that they were balanced out and the seesaw was perfectly horizontal. Then, a man brought two strange looking devices. They looked like daggers with blades on both ends. The man went to Zenobia and rammed one of these strange weapons into the trunk, some foot in front of her. With horror, Zenobia could see that the free blade was now pointing at her belly, the tip just an inch away from her belly button.

„Don`t struggle too much“, Quan said after the man had placed the other dagger in front of Diane. Both women soon realized the perfidy of that. If they leaned forward, they would stab themselves. But if one of them leaned back, the seesaw would follow the laws of physics and go down on that side, endangering the other. Their only chance was to stay absolutely still. Since the seesaw was that big, it didn`t react to slight shifting, but as the time passed, both girls found it increasingly difficult to maintain their position.

After an hour, the sun rose and was shining on them. At the same time, the household came to life and Diane and Zenobia could see several servants watching them. They heard a few encouraging words, but others laughed at their predicament. However, the humiliation wasn`t their worst problem. Though it was late Dezember, the climate in Dali was quite warm and so, the sun slowly dried the leather thongs tied between their legs. It was a slow process, but millimetre for millimetre, the leather tightened and the knotted ropes tried to find a way between the poor girls`s legs. Both mewed with pain, but it seemed that the many bystanders  either no compassion or were afraid of punishment.

Later that morning, when Zenobia was seriously thinking if throwing herself on the dagger would not be the more lenient alternative, a huge sedan chair, carried by four strong men, was carried inside the court. When it had been lowered to the ground, three Chinese Ladies stepped out. They were all dressed in fine silk dresses and carried umbrellas to protect their skin from the sun. All three were still very young and they were laughing and gossiping, but one could see that the one wearing a red dress was superior to those wearing blue.

The three girls strolled over to the seesaw and Zenobia could see that they seemed to be a bit surprised, but not upset or horrified by seeing the two women being tortured. It seemed as if they were watching animals in a zoo or admiring a strange modern sculpture.


Drawing by hugues66

They stepped beside Diane and one of them put her hand on the trunk. It began to move down on Diane`s side and Zenobia had to arch back her upper body to not get stabbed by the dagger.

„Mph! Mph!“, she moaned with fear.

Another one of the girls said something to the first and laughing, they adjusted the trunk till the seesaw was balanced out again. The one who had nearly killed Zenobia looked at her and smiled.

„Ooops!“

Ooops! Oops was something one could say if he dropped his icecream or stepped on one`s toe! It was definitely inappropriate if one was in the presence of two naked, bound and gagged women of which one had just nearly been stabbed by sheer clumsiness! Zenobia mmphed through her tight gag and stared daggers at the three women.

Now, the girl`s smile froze and she seemed to think about something. Then, she said something to the others, who obviously were her maids, and they went over to the house. Zenobia, who had only understood that they wanted to „ask uncle Quan“ about something, looked at Diane. She had of course understood what the three Chinese women had been talking about, but she could of course not tell her, gagged as she was. However, Zenobia could see a glance of hope in the eyes of her friend.

***

After some 30 agonizing minutes, the three women came back, accompanied by Quan. The girl in red had her arm put on his and he looked so much the friendly uncle that it was almost ridiculous. They stepped beside the seesaw and the girl took her arm from Quan, stepped towards them and said in fluent English, with just a bit of an accent:

„My dear uncle has agreed to sell you two to me. It seems that he only has trouble with you, but maybe, I have use for you. That is, if you prove that you are not only Pretty. here`s the offer: get free within the next hour and I will take you with me. I am not sure if you will enjoy what i have in store for you, but I guess you would like a change.“

Zenobia grunted angrily! Getting free! There was no chance of getting free, the way they were bound and gagged, with nothing to cut-

The dagger! Only one inch from her belly, there was a sharp blade. Of course, she could not reach it with her hands, but if she would be very, very careful, she could perhaps saw through the thong that was running down from her neck and disappeared between her legs.

Slowly, very slowly, Zenobia bent forward until the tip of the dagger touched the thin rope. Then, she began shifting her upper body from the left to the right and backwards. She only moved a few millimetres and she had to pause from time to time from the straining position. More than once, she had to keep herself from moving faster and to risk a cut.

„Mph!“

Now, the thong was shredded. Zenobia leaned back and pulled with her bound arms. The pain between her legs became even more agonizing and she closed her eyes, sweating from the effort, but finally, the thong was ripped in two. The success made her upper body bob and for several seconds, she nearly was pierced by the dagger, but Diane, who had understood what she was doing, did her best to balance out the seesaw and finally, it came to a stillstand again.

„Mph!“, Zenobia moaned. For her plan, it was necessary that Diane got rid of her crotch rope, too. The blonde seemed to understand for she was already working on it by rubbing it against the tip of the dagger. It took what seemed to be ages, but finally, Diane was successful. Now, the difficult part began.

Zenobia arched back and spread her arms from her body as far as she could. Finally, she felt the edge of the trunk and could hook her bound arms over it.

„I hope Diane has been able to secure herself, too“, she thought. From her position, she could only see that Diane had arched her upper body back, too. If the blonde had not hooked her arms to the edge of the trunk, too, she would die. However, it waas their only chance.

Zenobia used her arms to push herself closer to the end of the trunk. It was only some five inches, but now, gravity helped and the end of the seesaw went down. The trunk`s surface was smooth and Zenobia was covered with sweat from the effort and so, she just slipped from the trunk and landed on her butt.

„Mph!“

She quickly wriggled aside when the trunk was coming down on her and she avoided being hit only by inches. Then, she looked around for Diane. To her great relief, she could see that her companion was sitting on the ground, too, and that there was no blood on her belly.

Grunting and moaning, they crawled towards each other. Quan and the three women watched fascinated. One of the maids was looking on a golden pocket watch. Zenobia accelerated her moves and began to pick on the knots that held Diane`s ankles.

„Mhhmm! Nnggg!“, she protested and wanted Zenobia to free her arms first.

„Mph!“, Zenobia answered and pointed at the seesaw with her head. Once their legs were free, they could stand up and try to use the daggers to work on their arms. Besides, the ankle tie consisted only of one rope secured with just four knots. They were bothersome to undo with only one hand, but finally, Diane`s legs were free. After some failed attempts, she managed to get on her legs and stepped over to the seesaw. Zenobia could see that she was trying to pull the dagger from the wood. Finally, mmphing half from surprise and half with triumph, she landed on the ground, holding the weapon in her right.

She went over to Zenobia and now, they could loosen the ropes rather quickly. When both women had freed their arms and legs and were just about to work on their tight gags, they could hear the sound of clasping hands.

„Time`s up, Ladies! However, you really impressed me and I will take you with me. Since you will have to be transported to my mansion, perhaps, it`s quite good that you are still gagged. For what I wanted to see, that little detail doesn`t matter.“

Both Zenobia and Diane looked at her, panting and in the latter case with a reddened face. However, her new owner didn`t seem to want to lose time. Quickly, both girls were tightly wrapped in blankets and two men loaded them over their shoulders. The girl in red kissed Quan`s cheek and then, she and her companions entered the sedan chair and left the court, followed by the two men carrying Diane and Zenobia who were too exhausted to struggle or moan much. Besides, it seemed that nobody in the streets would have helped them.

***

„So, let`s start by introducing ourselves: my name is Yamei and as you can see from the fact that I have just bought you two, I am a person with some influence. These two beautiful girls here are Xiao and Lin, my maids.“

Still a bit perplexed, Zenobia and Diane introduced themselves. Once they had been brought to the mansion where Yamei obviously lived, the girl had ordered the men to get the two bound and gagged women to a room upstairs. Once they had gone. Yamei had taken a knife and said:

„Please, do not scream and shout or something silly. My ears are sharp and you don`t have to raise your voice. And if you try to attack us, you will find out that my maids are much more dangerous than they look. Did you get me?“

The two gagged women nodded and Yamei cut away the leather band that now had completely dried and pressed on Zenobia`s lower face, making her feel numb. Then, the Chinese unknotted the two scarves gagging her, but hesitated to touch her gag.

„Phew, you can touch that by yourself“, she said, cringing her nose and making Zenobia grunt with anger and embarrassment. However, she managed to wriggle herself from the blanket and could get the sodden knickers by herself, putting them on the floor. When Diane was ungagged, too, Yamei looked at the two sodden pieces of silk and, after recognizing them as what they were, meant:
„Your knickers! I have to admit that my uncle is quite imaginative!“

„Not as imaginative as you think“, Zenobia croaked, remembering her adventures during the last months.

Yamei raised an eyebrow, but then, she offered them some tea, fruits and some sweets whilst Xiao brought them two silk bathrobes that were a bit short, but very convenient to wear.

„Now that we can take your size, we can get clothes for you two. But not today. Now, I will have to talk to you and Lin and Xiao will have to go back to my uncle.“

She said something in Chinese and they all laughed, though both Lin and Xiao looked a bit wryly. Yamei recognized the questioning looks of Zenobia and Diane and explained:

„To get you from my uncle, I did not only have to use all my charms as his most beloved niece and to offer him some diamonds, I also had to promise him a night he wouldn`t forget. And since I am his niece, Lin and Xiao will have to do that part of your payment. So, you better be worth the price we had to pay.“

Both Zenobia and Diane were abashed, not only by the juicy detail of the arrangement, but also by the matter-of-factly way Yamei was talking about it. However, the two maids just seemed as if they had to go to the dentist: something inconvenient, but nothing to be really concerned about. When they had left them alone with Yamei, Zenobia asked:

„But, what is it you bought us for. Sure not just charity or your  opposition against slavery.“

Yamei laughed: „Sure not. I have been educated by an English governess, as you may guess from my knowledge of your language, and she told me about Christianity, but I am afraid that I did not really get the point about loving my enemies. Instead, I want my enemy to get out of my way. And therefore, I might need your help!“

Now, the pretty little girl did no longer look like the innocent teenager. Now, there was a dangerous glance in her eyes.

„A-and who i-is your enemy?“, Diane stammered.

„My twin sister. Mei.“

„Mei and Yamei“, Zenobia said in a low voice, but Yamei had understood her and smiled.

„Well, obviously our parents thought that since we looked exactly the same, our names didn`t need to differ much, too. By the way, the names mean ,pretty sister` and ,pretty little sister` in your language. However, in our characters, we are quite different.“

„Oh, has she broken your favourite doll when you both were seven years old?“, Diane asked with a scornful undertone. Obviously, she had regained some of her strength that had allowed her to survive in China for more than a year. Zenobia expected Yamei to become angry, but the Chinese just smiled, although she looked a bit sad now.

„if it would be just childish revenge, I wouldn`t need you. Mei has done worse and though I haven`t seen her for some time, I am sure she is planning even more evil things right now. Things that will not only make me suffer, but also the whole city, if not the complete Sultanate!“

Now, Diane and Zenobia exchanged a fearful look. Whatever Yamei was talking about, suddenly both thought that being in Quan`s hands had propably not been the worst of all possible plights.

„Mei has become the concubine of Sultan Du Wenxiu two years ago. Since his first wife is still alive and the palace is still standing, she hasn`t gained much power yet, but if she hasn`t changed her attitude completely, she will soon become more influencial and then, the Sultan may do something that will lead us to the abyss!“

Zenobia had the suspicion that Yamei was just jealous of her twin sister. Perhaps, „pretty little sister“ meant that she had been born minutes after Mei and so, it had been her and not Yamei who had become the Sultan`s concubine. However, what Yamei said next distracted her from such thoughts.

„I need someone inside the palace whom I can trust. A harem`s slave who really is one of my servants. But unfortunately, Mei knows Xiao and Lin and so, I needed someone else. Someone whom I could offer to the Sultan as a precious gift. A few weeks ago, I heard that three exotic women had been offered at the slave market. But when I came ther, I was too late. They had already been sold. One by the Sultan`s man, two by my uncle.“

Zenobia gasped: „You mean, Andrea`s in the Sultan`s palace now? Count me in, whatever you are planning!“

***