Everything within me refuses to write down what they did next to me, but I also wish that someone will once find out the truth.
The woman who obviously was the brothel keeper now placed herself between me and Polina and looked down on us as we were trying to keep a little remnant of dignity whilst we were naked, bound and gagged at her feet. She raised her skirt a bit and now, we could see that she was barefoot and that she had heavy golden rings at her toes. The woman gently caressed Polina`s cheek with her big toe and my maid endured that without daring to move, panting heavily through her gag. When she tried to do the same to me, I turned my head away. Now, she laughed heartily.
„Well, it seems that you will have to learn a lesson or two before I will allow you to have contact with my customers! Alexej has told me that you are either mad or a charlatan, pretending to be our beloved new Tsarina!“
Now, I looked up to her, trying to see a glimpse of mockery in her expression. But she was either the best actress I`ve ever seen – and I had spend almost two decades at the Russian court! - or she really believed what she was saying. So, A. had told her that I was just a crazy fool that accidentally looked like Katharina. My heart sank. Had I been in the custody of some conspirators who knew who I was, maybe I could have persuaded them to help me in getting back to my rightful place. But now, this woman was perhaps even thinking that she was helping to strengthen the position of the new Tsarina by keeping a crazy pretendent out of sight.
Later, I had to find out that A. had prepared his perfidious plan even better. Immediately after his men had taken Vera from my dungeon, he had brought her to this brothel, but not as a genuine whore, but as an assistant to the keeper. He had told her that she would not be punished for her own criminal past and that he would soon complete his original plan of getting me back in my position. Then, he would need her to help taking care of the then useless lookalike.
His soldiers had believed from the very beginning that I was just a woman that looked like their Empress and even Polina had been introduced that she should just treat me like I was who I pretended to be since I was mad and potentially dangerous. So, there were only five people left – except me, of course! - who knew the truth. My two original chamber maids who had been involved in the plot. Later, I was told that A. had ordered to send them to Siberia – married to officers in Irkutsk and facing a quite convenient life, but some thousand miles between them and the truth. The other three were A., G. and my lookalike. So, even if I had managed to escape, nobody would have believed me.
This, however, I was told much later and now, I was just fearing what this terrible person had in store for me.
„Anyway, if you play your cards right, you may become the Empress of some of our customers soon. This is not a harbour brothel where you have to choose wether to die from Syph or Tuberculosis. This is the best house in St. Petersburg. By the way, if you are allowed to speak, you may call me Miss Stella. And your name`s Sophie, as Alexej told me.“
I could not help moaning through my gag. Sophie was my original first name, until I had changed it to Katharina when I had become an Orthodox. A. had called me by that name in our intimate hours and so, this was a last cruelty towards me.
„Well, Sophie, you will be glad to hear that my girls are not forced to do their work by beating. This is so uncivilized!“
Drawing by hugues66
I squirmed in my bonds as I felt a pain at my bottom. As on keyword, Vera had slapped my butt with her riding crop. It had not been really hard, but it was a heavy humiliation and I tried to get against her. However, being helplessly hogtied, this only made the two women laugh.
„If you behave, you will be treated well. And since you have to learn quite a bit about how to behave, your lessons will start right now!“
I tried to steel myself for what would happen next, but instead, they grabbed the frightened Polina by her arms. She mewed through her gag, but could not help getting carried to the middle of the room. They freed her arms, but only to cuff them in front of her. These handcuffs were attached to a long chain dangling from the ceiling and they pulled until Polina had to stand with her arms raised. Now, the two women freed her legs and buckled her ankles to the ends of a two feet spreader bar. I felt pity for my poor maid who now could do nothing to cover herself, not even keep her thighs closed. She mewed with alarm as Stella – at least in my writing, I will never call her Miss! - brought a strange leather device. It looked like a leather panel the size of a hand and in the centre of it, there was a leather plug. On it`s ends, leather straps were dangling. My vague idea what it was proved to be true when they removed the cloth tied between Polina`s lips. Before she could spit out her gag, Vera forced the plug between her lips and then, she and Stella tied the panel in place. Polina bucked and squealed and I could see her eyes widen, but she was forced to accept both the cloth and the plug in her mouth before the straps were fastened tightly. The panel was secured by two straps that met at the back of her neck and two more that went from the panel`s top to her forehead where they connected before they went over her head and to her nape. A last strap went under her chin, preventing her from moving her jaw down and forcing her to chew harder on her gag.
To my horror and dismay, I saw that the straps had been secured with little padlocks. Attached to these were little bells and now, whenever Polina shook her head, I could hear a jingle in addition to her now quite stifled moaning.
Lying on my belly naked and gagged, I could do nothing to help her and now, the two awful women turned their attention to me. Stella once again smiled, but the look in her eyes made the deepest Siberia seem warm in comparison.
„As soon as she has learned to breathe steadily through her nose, she will learn that there are worse things to cope with – as you will soon find out, Sophie!“
Despite my struggles, Vera forced me on my knees and brought my upper body in an upright position. I did my best to answer Stella`s look with all the bravery I had left. Now, Vera trapped my arms by slinging hers around me and tightened her grip. Stella bent forward and began to work on the cloth cleaving my lips. I turned my head as her silk skirts touched my nose and her strong perfume reached my senses.
Stella removed the cloth and grabbed my blonde curls, forcing me to look at her whilst I worked the gag from my mouth with my tongue. I intented to spit at her, but I just had to cough and pant once my mouth was free. Now, Stella let my hair go and stepped back. Then, to my great disgust, she lifted her dress and reached under it with both her hands.
Moments later, her pink knickers landed on the floor. Stella stepped out of them, grabbed them with her toes and waved them in front of my face. I could smell that these had been worn for quite some time. I closed my eyes in revulsion and then, I told her:
„I am your rightful Empress Katharina and I demand-“
It`s horrible to say for me, even now, but these two women proved to be stronger than me. Of course, they were two and I was hogtied and forced to the ground, but I am still ashamed that this Stella finally managed to stuff her worn knicker into my mouth. I fought as hard as I could, but Vera, who now secured my arms with her legs, kept my hair grabbed with one hand and pinched my nose shut with the other. Stella had put one hand on my right breast and squeezed my nipple, forcing me to accept some more of the dreadful mouthfilling whenever I had to gasp with pain. Finally, all of the damp silk had disappeared behind my teeth, bulging my cheeks and tickling the back of my throat. It was the second time that I had been gagged in such a humiliating way and it still was a horrific experience.
Now, Vera rose, forcing me to raise my upper body by pulling on my hair whilst I desperately tried to work on the silk mass stuffing my mouth with my blocked tongue. Then, Stella took my scalp whilst now Vera reached under her skirts and removed her own black knickers. These were made of some flimsy, transparent silk and now, Stella said to me:
„In France, there is a legend about a man who was kept in the Bastille and who was a twin of the king. He always had to wear an iron mask. So, feel glad that yours is made of smooth silk!“
Again, they worked together. The gag was forced all the little way I had managed to get it out of my mouth back and then, they pulled the knickers over my head. A. had done this humiliation to me, too, but to make things worse, Vera whispered into my ears:
„Since I heard that you would arrive, six weeks ago, I haven`t changed them, just as a gift for you. I hope you don`t mind I even wore them when I – eh – found some pleasures by myself.“
She carefully placed the crotch part over my nose and then, a panel gag similar to that of Polina was tied over my mouth. They forced the plug into my already fully stuffed throat, almost choking me, and tightened the straps keeping the gag in place and immobilizing my jaw. The gag was also secured with padlocks.
I fumed and squirmed on the floor, completely ignoring any sense of dignity. I just wanted to get this terrible things off my face! The gag was tasting vile and almost blocking my breathing and all the little air I could get was poisoned with the fragrance of Vera`s knickers that clinged to my face. I could only see the silhouettes of my captors through the silk hood, but they just waited till exhaustion forced me to calm down.
Then, I pulled myself together, remembering who I was. I had agreed in marrying Peter and suffered the hardships of a bad marriage, just to once become the leader of Russia. And now, all this should end up naked, bound and gagged in a brothel, humiliated by two whores? I knew that I was in no position to represent any dignity or strength, but I swore to myself that I would not bend to these two women!
However, I have to admit that they were quite imaginative. When I had calmed down a bit, Vera cut the rope connecting my ankles to my wrists and made me stand. They forced me to hop over to Polina. I could not see the expression in her face, but I could see that she was staring at me and shook her head slightly, making the bells on her gag jingle. Taking a leather collar, Stella tied it around Polina`s neck. Then, I got a similar one. The two collars were connected by a chain about half a yard in length. Then, they freed my hands and feet, but only to tie them with some chains and cuffs. Unlike Polina, my legs were not leashed to a spreader bar, but my ankles were cuffed with shackles connected by a short chain. These were connected to my handcuffs by another chain that allowed me not to raise my hands above my navel. The fact that Polina had to stand with her legs apart meant that her forehead was at the same level as my throat and when I tried to raise my hands, I involuntarily touched her breasts, causing her to twitch back and to mew with alarm.
I tried to stay as motionless as possible and to give my captors at least not the fun of seeing me squirm and flail. Polina mmphed through her gag and tried to communicate with me, but I tried to calm her down by just giving her a good example. I could not say anything to her and I could not even look into her eyes, since my face was covered with Vera`s knickers, whose fragrance I was forced to smell on every breath I took. Also, I had to fight the urge to swallow, for I knew that my saliva had been in contact with Stella`s underwear stuffing my mouth. Shuddering, I forced myself not to think about that, for I feared I would faint.
However, our captors had not in mind to just let us go. Vera brought an iron bucket and placed it between Polina`s legs. Then, she handed me a washcloth and a bar of soap.
„Your former maid is sweaty and needs a wash, Sophie.“
It was too much. I threw the soap and washcloth to the floor and tried to make an angry step towards Vera. Polina mewed when this pulled on our collars and Vera just laughed. Then, she took her riding crop and was about to hit me when Stella stopped her.
„Vera, dear, I think I can persuade our lovely Sophie to do her work.“
She almost purred that sentence and I could feel that she was loosening the chain from Polina`s collar. Then, she used the chain as a leash and forced me to follow her. My cuffed ankles only allowed me to toddle after her, but I had no other chance than to follow her out of the room, followed by a desperate moan from Polina. Stella walked up the stairs and I had to hop. This was far from being decent or dignified, but when I slipped, she just gave the leash a hard pull until I had risen again.
After two floors, we had reached a large hall where several servants were working. Obviously, they were preparing the room for a big party. I blushed when I noticed all these serfs around, seeing me naked and in that humiliating position. At least, the knickers covering my head prevented me from getting recognized by anyone. I also tried to break free, but obviously, the servants were loyal to Stella and showed no mercy towards me.
She handed me to two tall men and whispered something into their ears. They took my arms and led me to the middle of the room. There, I could see something that looked like a big „X“. my blurred vision did not allow me to see details, but soon, I understood. My feet were freed and tied to the lower ends of the X, followed by my knees, forcing me to stand with my legs open. Then, my arms were also loosened and stretched over my head before they were tied to the upper holms of the cross. I had once seen pictures of St Andreas the martyr. Of course, the holy man had not been allowed to stand on his feet and they had hammered nails through his hands and feet. But at least, he had not been presented stark naked to the public.
Stella took the chain dangling from my collar, threw it over the edge of the cross and tied it off. Now, I could still breathe, but no longer move my head more than a few inches. I had to remain there, open to the world, and to wait for what would be the next humiliation.
„Phew, these Russians have a sense for brutality! And I thought that we had suffered from those agents in the school“, Sally gasped and when Dorothea, who had shuddered, too when she had imagined Katharina`s ordeal, embraced her, she cuddled into her arms. Neither Dorothea nor Sally was faint of heart, but reading about how this poor woman was treated made them feel uneasy. However, after a while Sally looked at the clock and said:
„It`s still an hour or so before we can dare looking for our neighbor`s room. Please, continue. Let`s see what`s next.“
Dorothea could see a strange glance in Sally`s eyes and she was sure that hers showed the same: a mixture of disgust and fascination. She reached for the diary and read:
For what seemed ages, the servants continued to prepare the room, completely ignoring my writhing and faint moaning. Then, a group of musicians entered and started to rehearse. A terrible suspicion grew up in my mind and indeed, Stella, now dressed in another dress – also quite daring, as far as I could see, approached and stepped close to me.
„Sophie, I am quite sure that since you are a woman of experience, I don`t have to explain to you what kind of pleasures my customers are here for. However, this is not one of these houses where the whip is used against the girls. My girls have learned to do what I say without getting punished. And since you haven`t learned yet, you just have to stand and watch!“
Then, she stepped away and clapped her hands. The big doors were opened, the music began to play and soon, the room filled with elegant dressed people.
I had always known that I was a strong woman, but this night told me that I had resources of which I hadn`t even known. Around me, dozens of people were celebrating the enthronement of the new Tsarina – my enthronement! - and I had to watch them, stark naked, tied to a cross and unable to scream for help. First, I was too embarrassed to even think clearly. I felt that I blushed violently and I thrashed in my unyielding bonds. Then, I screamed my lungs out whenever someone came closer. Not even I could hear my frantic cries over the sounds of the guests.
It was a ridiculous choice! A part of me wished that the ground would open and swallow me, whilst another part desperately wished that someone would recognize me and put an end to this ordeal! Even with my hooded eyes, I could identify several members of the court. Of course, people like G. and A. were celebrating in the palace, but there were at least two of my ministers and several of the secretaries who were dancing with their wives close to me, cheering to the health of their beloved Empress and celebrating the beginning of a new era.
I don`t know what was the most frustrating and horrifying: the fact that people who pretended to love and adore me where so close yet I could not alert them, or the fact that obviously nobody was the least bewildered by the fact that a naked, bound and gagged woman was standing in the middle of the room. Nobody took more interest in me than in a statue – first. Later, however, when the guests had become more drunk and had lost some of their manners, suddenly two men stepped on the little podium on which I was standing. I mewed with alarm as one of them whom I recognized as the secretary of the minister of foreign affairs raised something I first thought it was a club. It was, however, a bottle of champagne. First, he and the other one – a young diplomate from Poland who one year ago literally had kissed my feet – put their arms around me and cheered to the health of the new Tsarina. My desperate attempts to show them who I was were halted when I felt the secretary`s hand on my breast. Soon, the other one followed and so, these two men began to fondle me. I screamed through my gag and squirmed as much as my stringent bonds allowed, but this only seemed to accelerate them. However, after a while, a woman approached, telling them in a friendly, but steady tone that they should stop. They first completely ignored her, but she insisted. She did not become loud and I could see that she even did not hinder them from embracing and caressing her. So, this was rather one of Stella`s whores than one of the female guests.
She whispered something into the men`s ears and obviously, it was something that was more promising than molesting me, since they really took their hands off me. I was about to let out a sigh of relief, but then, one of the men said something to her about one last toast to Katharina. The woman took the champagne bottle from their hands and then, to my great horror and humiliation, they leaned against me, placing their open mouths at my breasts. The girl poured the champagne over my chest and the two licked it from my boobs, kissing them in the progress. At this moment, I cursed my inner strength for not allowing me to faint and to escape this hell on earth.
When they had finished their drink, they stumbled towards an adjacent room and the girl gently padded my shoulder.
„Head up, Sophie, the party`s over soon.“
It were the first friendly words since my abduction and I could not help crying when she left. Indeed, after another endless hour more and more guests left the building and finally, Stella came to me, followed by Vera and the woman who had saved me.
„Phew, it`s a luck that there isn`t a coronation every week! You really can be glad that you could watch from here and did not have to participate in amusing the guests!“
„Oh wow, I will never get to a party in Russia“, Sally breathed when Dorothea ended the lecture for the time being. Then, Dorothea changed into a plain dress and put on her black coat. Sally took her jacket, too, and, talking ostendatively about visiting the theater when they passed room 136, they left the building.
A few minutes later, they reentered the hotel through the side entrance and sneaked back to their corridor. Whilst Dorothea kept guard, Sally listened at the door. Then, she began to work on the lock with a piece of wire and soon, the two girls were able to enter.
Room 136 looked exactly like their own – a typical hotel room, dominated by a double bed, and an adjacent bathroom. Now, they had to admit that they had no idea what they were actually looking for. They rummaged through the cupboard, but this only showed them that the Russian woman obviously preferred to wear men`s clothes from time to time. Dorothea wasn`t sure if she had expected to find a folder with „Secret plan to overthrow Stalin“ written on it in red letters, but there was literally nothing that was the least suspicious.
Then, Sally looked under the bed and detected a large box. Obviously, it was the suitcase the two men had carried when they had met in the corridor the day before. Sally was about to rise again, since stowing such a big piece of luggage under the bed wasn`t unusual, but then, her eyes registered an interesting detail.
„The box still is locked! But since they have checked in, one would expect that it is empty now, so they could have left it open.“
Dorothea pondered for a moment. It was of course possible that the woman had just hidden some money or jewelry she did not want to be seen by the room service. On the other hand, she and Sally were on the run and some money would be quite convenient. So, she asked her friend.
„Do you think you can open these locks?“
„Well, there`s only one way to find out!“
Together, the two girls pulled the suitcase from under the bed and indeed, Sally could remove the three locks after some minutes of trying. After a last look towards the door, the two girls opened the lid.
„Well, that`s definitely worth a look!“, Dorothea croaked when their eyes fell on the naked, bound and hooded woman lying inside. Sally just stared with widened eyes.
***
The same time, Nymphadora and her two colleagues had broken into the room of Dorothea and Sally. Their search had been a short one, since Dorothea had hidden the diary under her pillow. So, the three Russians had tried to find out something about the two women, but except for some clothes and things like toothbrushes or lipstick they hadn`t found anything that gave them a hint who they were. However, Nymphadora was suspicious, since obviously the blonde had lied to her about the book – and also it seemed that she had read it.
„Of course, it might be that she just took it as an interesting report of a long gone crime, but I am afraid that she has kept the book to make some profit“, she thought.
She just wanted to tell Wladimir and Fjodor that they would have to take a look at the two girls when they heard the key turn in the door.
***
It had taken Dorothea and Sally some minutes to free the woman from her bonds, blindfold and gag and since they both had some experience as nurses, they had also taken care of the distraught blonde. However, she had just sat there, trembling and sobbing and with her arms slung around her legs. There was no chance to talk to her, let alone getting her dressed and disappear. So, they had escorted her to the bathroom and put her on the toilet whilst Sally prepared a warm shower. Then, they had sat the still unresponsive girl into the bathtub and just let the water run over her sweat-covered body.
„Sally, in our room, there`s a small bottle of Whiskey. Please, get it. But be careful at the corridor!“
Sally had obeyed and Dorothea had kneeled beside the bathtub, constantly talking to the blonde girl in a soft tone. After a while, she indeed relaxed a bit and looked at Dorothea with fearful eyes.
„My friend will be here with something to drink every second. I wonder what`s taking her so long!“
She went over to the sleeping room. At that moment, the door opened. She wanted to scold Sally for being so slow, but then, she saw that the girl was not alone. One of the two Russians had grabbed her arm whilst the other was pressing a gun to her ribs. The woman pointed at Dorothea with her revolver. In the other hand, she was holding Katharina`s diary.
„So, you lied to me about not knowing where my book is.“
She had spoken Russian, but Dorothea saw no point in pretending she hadn`t understood her. Besides, the box that had contained the blonde woman was still open and on the floor, there was a pile of the restraints used to her. Fjodor pushed Sally over to Dorothea whilst Wladimir closed the door. Then, a crash could be heard from the bathroom.
„Damned, what was that?“
Fjodor jumped to the bathroom door and looked. He could see that the window was open and he just saw a foot disappear from view. When he had reached the window, he could see Olga balancing on the small ledge, with just a towel loosely draped over her shoulder. He thought of following her, but then, he decided otherwise. Hiding his gun under his jacket, he ran for the door and jumped at the corridor. Wladimir looked questioningly, but Nymphadora seemed to have understood, since she didn`t take her attention from Dorothea and Sally for even a second.
***
Fjodor had guessed that Olga would not climb along the ledge for more than necessary, even with only a towel to cover her nakedness. He guessed that she would try to break into the next room with an open window and then try to hide or to alert someone.
So, he kicked open the door of room 138 and looked for the runaway. The sleeping room was dark and empty and it was obvious that this room wasn`t occupied at the moment. Fjodor checked the bathroom, too, but it also was empty and the window was definitely locked. So, he went to the next room.
Here, he could see that the room was inhabited and some light came through the ajar bathroom door. When he stepped in, a female voice yelled:
„What are you doing here? Get out, or I will call the police!“
A woman was lying in the bathtub. She had a towel pressed to her chest and lots of foam did the rest to cover her body, but she definitely seemed quite upset about being disturbed.
„I-I-I am searching f-for a criminal!“, Fjodor stammered, but the woman shouted:
„Well, as you can see, here`s only me! Get out immediately, or I will call the police!“
She had become quite vocally and so, Fjodor quickly left, continuing his search. The woman slipped out of the bathtub and without toweling herself or putting on her bathrobe, she went for the door and locked it twice. Then, she went back into the bathroom where the head of Olga could be seen through the foam. The girl was panting heavily and looked at her with eyes as big as saucers.
Lilija Smirnowa had just been preparing her bath when she had seen a shadow at the window that had turned out to be a naked woman that frantically knocked at the glass. Lilija had opened the window and the girl had burst in. Before any of them could say something, there had been a cracking sound from outside. Without thinking, Lilija had pointed to the half filled bathtub and the girl had slipped inside, hiding under the water surface. Lilija had thrown away her bathrobe and slid into the water, too, pressing down her unknown guest.
Though it had been an improvisation, they had obviously made the intruder believe that the person he was looking for was somewhere else. Lilija took a towel and dried her body provisionally. Then, she threw another towel to the still frightened woman.
She took it and draped it around her body, covering it from her breasts to the top of her thighs. Then, she began to speak:
„Th-thank you, I-I-I am-“
„Oh, you don`t have to be formal – Miss Olga Petrowna Romanowa!“
The adressed gasped and stared at Lilija. Now, she could see that the other woman – a tall blonde with long hair, blue eyes and a gorgeous figure – still was stark naked, but was holding a gun in her right. Lilija continued to speak and Olga was too perplexed to even wonder that the other woman obviously was a native Russian, too.
„Yes, I know who you are, Miss – or should I call you Grand Duchess? I am very glad to see you, since I have been looking for you for quite a while. However, I am afraid that you will not be too happy about choosing my room of all to try whatever you was doing out there, with nothing on but a wet towel.“
Olga still stared at Lilija, unable to move or to speak. She croaked something unintelligible. Then, her eyes twisted and she sank down into the bathtub, fainting. Lilija grabbed her shoulders, heaved her out and put her at the floor. The girl`s towel had opened and now, Lilija could see that Olga indeed had a small birthmark between her breasts. She had seen enough photos of that woman to be sure about her identity when she had entered her bathroom, but now, she could be absolutely sure about that.
„So, maybe the very last chapter of the history of the Romanow dynasty will be written in London“, she thought whilst she prepared tying Olga up.
***