nodded. “I don’t understand, but I know your advice is sound,” she told Tania. “What is it these men like that is so strange?”
“Pain and degradation,” came the answer. “Your first-night rights would be sold to men who would rape you instead of enjoying your sweetness and innocence. These men like inflicting punishment on women. They whip them with all manner of cruel instruments. They beat them with their hands and make them beg for mercy before using them in vile ways you should never hear from my lips. Show no emotion, Lara, lest you fall prey to one of these Pleasure Houses.”
“But surely Gaius Prospero would not permit me to be sold to such people?” Lara cried. “He seems a kind man.”
Tania laughed bitterly. “Child, remember, Gaius Prospero cares only for profit. If one of these creatures should offer him the highest price for you he will take it, and you will be lost. Remember what I have told you. Come now, I must place you.” She led Lara to where a large round golden tray was placed upon a small table. “You are to sit upon this. On your side, on one hip.” And when Lara had placed herself according to instructions, Tania brushed the tangles from her long hair, spreading it out. Then she placed a crown of small white flowers upon the girl’s head. Next she decorated the tray with the same white flowers and, standing back, surveyed her handiwork and nodded, pleased. “Are you afraid of being enclosed?” she asked Lara.
“I do not know,” Lara replied.
“Well, it will only be for a few moments,” Tania remarked. Then she clapped her hands, and two ebony-black men slaves stepped forward.
They were muscular and their beautifully formed bodies were oiled. They were completely naked, and their male organs had been painted with gold paint to display them. They seemed very large to Lara, but then she had never seen a male organ except her baby brother’s. About the necks of the men were twisted gold torques.
“You are to be carried to the dining room,” Tania explained, and then she lifted a large gold dome which she placed over Lara and her tray. “Take her to the master!”
Lara felt the tray lifted up. She struggled a moment to maintain her balance, but once she found it she had no more difficulty. The two men hurried with a measured step from the north wing of the house through the halls, and finally they stood outside the dining room where Gaius Prospero was entertaining his special guests. Lara heard the doors to the room open wide, and then she heard the voice of her master saying, “Ahh, here is our dessert, my friends. A most special treat, I assure you,” and he chuckled richly at his own humor.
“If it’s as good as the rest of the meal,” Lara heard a man’s voice say, “we will surely have no complaints,” and laughter erupted about the room.
“Oh, I think you will find this a most special and rich dish. One such as you have never had before,” Gaius Prospero said. Then he nodded to his majordomo who quickly lifted the lid to reveal Lara.
The guests gasped as one, surprised and delighted. Laughter rippled around the dining room.
Where the instinct came from she never knew, but she looked coyly at the guests about the table, her head moving slowly to take them all in. The impression she gave was of utter elegance and pride.
“Now, my friends, I will give each of you the opportunity to inspect this truly rare and, you will agree, unique piece of merchandise. She is a virgin. Every orifice is intact, untouched by man or woman. She is ready to be trained as the most perfect of Pleasure Women, but before that her first-night rights will bring her owner a fortune. Who among your clientele will not lust after this exquisite beauty?” He stood before Lara on her tray, and offering her his hand helped her down from the table, and up onto a small dais of polished wood. “Look at this skin. Silken to the touch.” His hand swept down Lara’s graceful back.
She was startled, but she remembered Tania’s warnings, remaining still and without expression. No matter what happened she would show no emotion.
“When did you last see breasts like these? A bit small, perhaps, but perfect in every way, and she is young. They will grow with loving handling,” he chuckled. “And have you ever seen hair like this?” His fat hand ruffled through Lara’s hair and it cascaded about her like a waterfall of golden gilt. “I have never had a finer piece of merchandise to offer you, and I will expect your bids to echo my expectations by this time tomorrow night.”
“Is it true she is faerie?” one of the men asked.
“Her mother was faerie, none will deny it. You know her father, Sir John Swiftsword,” Gaius Prospero said. “A fine lineage.”
The guests now arose from the table, and came forward to get a closer look at Lara.
“Open your mouth,” one woman said.
Lara complied.
“She has all her teeth, and there is no rot. The breath is sweet,” the woman remarked. “Her eyes are beautiful. They are green but the lashes are dark. A most striking contrast.”
Lara felt a hand fondling her bottom. She swallowed as discreetly as she might, but the expression on her face remained impassive.
“The skin is soft, and firm,” the fondler noted. He ran his hand down Lara’s calf. “Very nice, Gaius. She isn’t mushy like many, but rather nicely tight.”
“My lord, this is the best slave I have ever had for sale,” the Master of the Merchants said proudly.
“I would see her more important attributes,” another man said.
“Yes,” agreed a woman. “Draw your nether lips apart so we may inspect your treasures, girl, if they may be called that. We’ll know soon enough.”
Lara reached down, and opened herself to the prying eyes. The woman put out her hand touching a small plump nub of flesh that had been revealed. Almost immediately a tiny pearl of liquid appeared. A man reached out, and wiped the bead of moisture onto his large finger, putting it in his mouth.
“Ahhh,” the guests breathed.
“She is perfect, as I have said,” Gaius Prospero murmured.
“Yes,” the man agreed, “and sweet as honey.” He took a strand of her hair between his fingers rubbing it as did several of the others.
Gaius Prospero then helped Lara down from the little dais. “Go now,” he told her. “You will find Tania outside the door waiting to escort you back to the north wing.”
Lara ran quickly to the door, and was gone.
The guests sat back down again at the table.
“It’s no wonder you have remained the head of the Merchants Guild for so long,” one of the men said to Gaius Prospero. “So that is how John Swiftsword managed to get the wherewithal to finally enter the tournament. Could you not have just lent him the monies, and taken a usurious share of his profits for the next ten years, Gaius?”
“I could have,” the merchant replied, “but I would have had to wait for my profit if I did that, wouldn’t I?”
There was laughter about the table at his remark.
“Believe it or not, I did not seek the girl out. Her stepmother brought her to
