12
There was palpable tension in the compound for the rest of that day. Their matrons seemed uncomfortable even being around any of them. It did nothing to alleviate their growing fears.
Even the guards the girls casually encountered seemed unusually quiet. Something was afoot. They all sensed it.
Mistress made an appearance shortly before the evening meal. Joia immediately sensed an undertone of menace to her demeanor. She was not the only one.
Every girl in the room felt jittery at her presence. For some reason Clemencia seemed even more dangerous than ever.
Joia wondered if this might be the calm before the storm. Despite her anxiety, she forced herself to step forward in a conscious act of intervention. She had a terrible feeling it would do no good. But if all else failed, she was determined to sacrifice herself in an effort to spare the rest.
“Mistress, has Master returned?” Joia acted fully submissive while trying to calm the wild beating of her heart.
“It would do you no good in any event if he had,” Clemencia scowled. “I believe there is treachery in this room.”
Joia instantly knew Mistress had brought nothing but accusation with her. She heard the girls behind her gasp in alarm. “Of what do you speak?” Joia asked innocently.
This time she allowed a hint of challenge in her tone despite the panic that wanted to totally envelop her. “There is no treachery here, Mistress. There is only a room full of humble servants wishing to please Master upon his return.”
“Oh there is treachery all right. It is good my spies are everywhere. The plot will be uncovered by morning. Then the guilty will be swiftly punished.”
“I know of no plot,” Joia replied calmly, feeling her breath catch in her throat as her fear intensified. “I am willing to speak to Master when he returns in order to clear up any misunderstanding.”
“LIES!” Mistress bellowed. “There is no misunderstanding. I will see to it the originator of this plot loses her head.”
She glared coldly at Joia, her expression indicating who the guilty culprit was. Then she scanned the rest of the frightened faces. “Any who wish to live would do well to turn the guilty one over to me by morning. If not, you will all suffer the same fate I have planned for her.”
Joia swallowed hard, her heart racing. She knew in an instant the words were meant for her. It was obvious Clemencia considered her to be the guilty one.
She felt the eyes of her companions upon her backside. Joia fidgeted nervously despite her attempt at portraying calmness.
She could feel the stirrings within her once more. It was difficult to halt their advance. She now suspected she would soon find herself lying flat on her back looking up at the blade.
The thought terrified her. It also filled her with a disturbing excitement she still could not fathom. Why did the image of the blade affect her thus?
At that moment she could only think about being strong for her companions. She was not about to risk any of the others. Mistress had obviously concocted this fabricated plot in the hopes of disposing her, one whom Master favored.
There was no other choice. She was about to step forward and confess to the falsehood. That’s when Marsona suddenly appeared next to her.
She grabbed her arm, restraining her as though she sensed her friend’s impending action. Then she looked Clemencia right in the eye. “You are misinformed, Mistress. There is no plot. I’m sure I would have heard of it if there was.”
Clemencia glowered at her as Joia looked at her friend with dismay. It filled her heart with gladness to see Marsona trying to intercede on her behalf. But she was not about to risk losing her.
Joia tried to pull away from her. She was willing to accept responsibility – and thus Mistress’ wrath – squarely upon her own shoulders. But Marsona held on fast and would not let go.
“Joia and I will look into this, Mistress,” she continued calmly. “We see all and know all. I can assure you there is no plot. But should we discover one, we will most definitely present the conspirator to Master.”
Clemencia became angry. “You should not have interfered, Marsona. Since Master is not here, it is MY duty to punish the guilty one! Perhaps a night with no meal and an empty belly will change your attitude by morning.”
She glared at them all. “No one will eat tonight!” Then she angrily stormed out of the room.
After her departure, the girls immediately began chittering fearfully. Their voices merged as they voiced a common fear… “What shall we do?” “What if she intends to make us all face the blade?” “How can we appease her?”
Joia raised a hand, trying to show a calm exterior as her insides churned with worry. “Silence.” The voices were stilled as everyone awaited her words.
Joia bowed her head low as she fought against the tears that wanted to flow. “It is I she is angry with. I will admit to the deed. I must. This way it will not fall upon any of you.”
Marsona quickly spoke out against this. “Joia, you will do no such thing! Confessing to a fabricated plot will not save any of us. Did you not see it in her eyes? She intends to slaughter us all!”
“Are you sure?” voiced a worried girl. “Can’t some of us be spared?”
Marsona was adamant. “Don’t you understand? She cannot allow any of us to live lest her part in this fabrication get back to Master. She has already decided in her heart. There is nothing left but to maintain our honor before Master.”
One of them cried out, “What good is honor if we are dead?” There were a few murmurs of agreement as some heads nodded.
“Please!” Joia begged, her eyes filling with tears. “I witnessed Ysabella’s death today… and it was horrible!”
The voices died down. They all looked at Joia in shock and disbelief. Was this true??
She struggled to keep from sobbing. “I cannot bear any more. I cannot bear to watch any of you die. Before her head was taken, I promised Ysabella I would be strong for you all, and I shall. Allow me to carry this responsibility upon my shoulders alone. For your sakes!”
“Did you not HEAR?” Marsona protested vigorously. “Joia, the truck is gone! They have gone to fetch more of us! She intends to kill us all!”
“Are you sure?” one of them called out, the faint flicker of desperate hope in her voice.
“I know,” Joia said quietly, her head bowed as her eyes filled with tears.
All eyes were instantly upon her. “How do you know, Joia?” Marsona asked quietly, already suspecting the worst.
“When we were first brought to the compound I saw another truck. And I saw a woman lose her head.”
There were gasps followed by a heavy silence. Several of the girls held hands over their mouths in horror.
“I cannot get that image out of my mind,” Joia said quietly. “I fear the back of the truck I saw was filled with… more bodies. I fear…”
For a moment she did not want to utter the words. She lowered her head as tears threatened to spill over. Then she told them, “I fear Clemencia cannot allow any of us to live.”
There was a long silence. A voice asked in growing fear, “Then what shall we do? Should we leave the compound and flee into the night?”
“Mistress would be thrilled,” Joia responded sadly. “It would be the same as admitting our guilt.”
She looked up to face them all. “Let this fall upon my shoulders alone. I cannot bear the thought of losing any of you. I will sacrifice myself for you all.”
Marsona walked up to her and gently touched her shoulders. “I fear we are already condemned,” she said softly. “I do not wish to watch you die either.”
She turned to face the others. Then she earnestly told them, “If we speak anything, it must be before Master. Otherwise, Clemencia will twist our words and attempt to divide us. I believe she has already decided to take our heads.”
She took Joia’s hand in a show of solidarity. “As for me, I will wait and speak to Master. If that is denied me, I am ready to stand beside my dear sisters.”
Several had tears in their eyes. Joia felt a sob well up in her throat. She was unwilling to watch Marsona face the blade. But she knew she had spoken truth. What else could they do but hope for Master’s return, a hope that now seemed unlikely?
Marsona told her, “You have found favor with Master, Joia. Do not shame him by confessing to this falsehood. We all should allow it to remain nothing more than Clemencia’s lie.” Then she proudly held herself upright as she proclaimed, “I will not betray you.”
“I must think about this,” Joia said uncertainly. “I will go to my room.”
“Get some rest, my dear Joia,” Marsona told her tenderly. “Please… do not surrender to Clemencia. As for me, I will wait to speak until Master is before me.”
Joia nodded and then quietly left the room. But her emotions were in turmoil as to what she should do next.
Her stirrings had strengthened exponentially. It was as though she could already feel the blade hovering above her head. She shivered as she made her way to her room.
As she reclined upon her bedding, she gently touched herself as she panted heavily. It made her feel better. Besides, this might be the very last chance she would have to pleasure herself.
She allowed the perverse anticipation of lying in wait for the blade to overcome her. It finally went off inside her. The flush of warmth and pleasure gave her some solace.
As she laid there panting from the warm feelings, she considered what she would do if Clemencia did indeed choose to accuse her. Was there any hope for any of her sisters? Surely she had to grasp for it, did she not? Even if one of them were spared, it would be worth it, would it not? How could Mistress be so cruel and heartless as to do this to them all?
Joia considered the possibility Mistress might very well sentence the others to face the blade anyway, including her dear friend Marsona. Tears welled up in her eyes until she shook with quiet sobs.
She was still heartbroken over the loss of her beloved Ysabella. Now she feared for the impending deaths of her companions in the compound. The young woman fervently hoped for Master’s return by morning.
Eventually she cried herself to sleep…
2010; 2021 (written for Aravanna and Hitomi Mar 14 ’10; ed. May 9 ‘21 by riwa)
13
Joia was awakened in the early morning hours when she was roughly dragged to her feet by a couple of guards. All of the girls slept uncovered. Thus, it was embarrassing to be stood up between them in her nakedness.
In the light of the doorway she saw Clemencia looking grimly at her. “Bring her!” Mistress ordered them. “We have found the originator of the plot against Master. This one will be punished before she loses her head.”
Joia gasped in alarm. Almost immediately she felt those familiar stirrings down below. She did not want her feelings to show, but already her nipples were starting to harden.
She felt a wetness developing down below, adding to her humiliation. Still, she tried to put up a protest. “I am innocent!” she cried out as she was roughly escorted through several unfamiliar passageways.
Clemencia was not impressed. “They always protest their innocence.”
“Then allow me to speak with Master!”
“Master has not returned,” Mistress snorted. “I will take care of this treachery myself.”
“But I am INNOCENT!” Joia gasped, her heart thumping loudly in her chest.
“SILENCE, you wretched girl! Your sisters have already betrayed you!”
It was a cruel blow. Joia slumped in defeat as tears came to her eyes. At least now she would bear the dishonor alone. She fervently hoped this meant the others would not be harmed.
She ended up in a cold room with a dirt floor and wooden rafters. Attached to one of the beams was a metal pulley. A length of rope hung down from it.
Her wrists were secured to the rope. Then it was pulled up through the pulley until she was stretched upward, dangling just off the floor. Her naked body gently swayed back and forth as her feet fluttered for solid footing.
She recognized the executioner in his familiar black hood. He carried a whip in his hands. “Punish the wretch!” Clemencia ordered.
He hesitated only a moment before he obeyed. Then the lash sung out. Joia felt its application upon her exposed backside.
The pain was intense. She gritted her teeth, trying to bare it well. As far as she was concerned, this was her penance for the way her body responded so disgracefully at witnessing the girls losing their heads.
“This is for betraying Master!” Clemencia told her with a cruel smile. Then she addressed the executioner… “I want to hear screams.”
The whip sang out again and again, raining down harder blows upon her body. It was only when they began coming down upon her chest, leaving wicked red welts, that she finally opened her mouth and cried out in pain. Only now did she truly understand the agony Alviva must have suffered before she had been executed in front of them all.
“Enough,” Mistress finally declared. The blows mercifully stopped. Joia whimpered as her body swung back and forth.
Her arms remained stretched upward to the pulley above her by the coils of rope around her wrists. Several red welts upon her chest and backside alluded to the punishment she had just received. “Leave us,” Clemencia told the executioner. “Go and make preparations.” He left the room with a nod, leaving the two women alone.
Mistress walked up to Joia and grabbed her by her chin. “What say you now, little one?”
“I will… confess to… Master,” Joia panted, her eyes wet with tears.
She was still worried Clemencia might scoop up more of the girls in this falsehood. It would break her heart to be shamed in front of him. But she was willing to tell Master it was her and her alone if only he would spare the others.
“You are betrayed by your sisters, yet you will not confess?”
“Who was it that betrayed me?” Joia wasn’t sure why she asked. It seemed pointless, yet she desired to know who had pointed the accusing finger at her.
There was a curious hesitation before Clemencia responded. “What does it matter? You have been found guilty of treachery. You are about to lose your head, little one. So you may as well confess.”
“I will speak… to Master,” Joia repeated as she gasped for breath.
“Confess!”
“I will speak to Master.”
“You are a stubborn one,” Mistress scowled. “Perhaps I should use another form of persuasion.”
Clemencia looked at her carefully as though trying to determine a weakness. Joia trembled anxiously, her body throbbing with pain as she hung in place. What would be done to her next before she faced the blade?
Mistress smiled cruelly. “I believe there are more conspirators,” she said thoughtfully. “If you are involved, surely Marsona is involved as well. More than one head will roll this day, I can assure you.”
Joia looked at her in horror as her heart hammered in her chest. This was the moment of truth. Marsona might hate her for this. But in the end she simply could not bear the thought she might be responsible for her friend’s execution.
“It is I,” she said quietly, her head sagging in defeat. “There are no others.”
“It is just as I suspected,” Clemencia remarked with a smile of triumph. Then she grabbed her by the chin again.
“I shall take great pleasure in watching your head roll, little one.”
She grabbed the rope to the pulley. Then she lowered Joia back down. The poor thing felt tears in her eyes as her head hung in despair.
She hoped her friend Marsona would understand. There had simply been no other option left to her. She would rather die alone than allow any of her precious sisters to suffer a similar penalty.
Unlike Alviva who was escorted to her death as a free woman, her arms were bound behind her back in disgrace like that of a common criminal. Then Clemencia took her out of the room to the waiting guards. She was escorted shamefully throughout the compound toward her fate.
During her walk, Joia was forced to accept yet one more humiliation. As she was taken through the passageways, her thoughts turned to the blade that awaited her. She could not stop the strong stirrings of excitement and fear that began to envelop her.
She shivered uncomfortably as she imagined herself lying on the wooden slab. She could picture the sharpened blade hovering above her to sever her neck cleanly. The perverse thoughts made her nipples become quite hard.
To her great dismay she could feel herself starting to drip down below. This would be the greatest disgrace of all – to be seen in a state of excitement. There was nothing she could do but bear her shame, knowing she would soon be at rest as she slept the eternal sleep of the dead.
2010; 2021 (written for Aravanna and Hitomi Mar 14 ’10; ed. Jun 8 ‘21 by riwa)