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{\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1503;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20  She drops humbly to her knees, her deep blue eyes downcast and raven hair cascades over her shoulders. "Master, please" She gasps between sobs, her voice thick with so many tears shed, "forgive me" she whispers hoping that her words would not upset him farther. She keeps her eyes upon the ground as any slave should however it was a test of her will not to look up and see what emotions lay upon her masters face. She hears not a sound, has not a warning, but the pain of his slap is instant and intense, yet she does nothing. She just stays as she was before, too scare and confused to do otherwise.\par
"My beautiful little one, you have angered me once too often, and I will no longer abide your disobedience. This time is the last and for your crimes against me you shall pay"\par
The familiar sound of the thick leather whip cuts through the air, leaving her no time to brace against its stinging bites. Soon she was crying in earnest, this being by far the worst whipping he has administered. Something hard catches her in the side, almost straight in the ribs. She was hunched down before this point, back arched over her thighs and her hands wrapped up in the masses of her hair, trying to protect the more tender parts of her small body. His kicks brought her sitting upright and gasping for breath as he had nearly winded her. Crack, Thwack, Crack Thwack, crack...that was all her world narrowed down to, just the sound of his whip sizzling through the air and the meaty sound as it struck her now bare back, her shirt lay in tattered rags.\par
Darkness threatened to consume her, and though she knew it would bring her peace, she fought it with all her might; she knew not when she might awake next if she allowed it to swallow her now. Still, peace...\par
\par
The world came alive slowly, she was confused, when had she slept and why did she feel so wretched now? The light streaming in from somewhere would make her guess that it was midday, perhaps just before lunch. Lunch? Panic came to her in a sudden wash, Just before lunch?!? She should have been up hours ago to serve master breakfast. " he's going to be furious with me" she thought. Lunch, I have to be there to serve him lunch and try to gain his forgiveness. As she tried to gain her feet, pain seared through her, nearly causing her to vomit. Being still half-asleep and very confused at this point she attempted to stand once more, this time instead of getting to her feet and falling she mearly got to her knees before she was too pain-filled to try any more, yet the pain did her some good and even more bad. She remembered. Last night and her fall from master\rquote s grace, his anger, his whip slicing through the air and her skin. The blinding pain made sense, but what didn\rquote t was why she had been left to lie abed so long. A sound from the outside world drew nearer to her, and she wondered if it would be Him to come and get her, and a grinding in the door told her that even if she had been able to stand, she would not have been able to leave.\par
A man that she had never seen before that day entered the room she was in, dressed in ragged leather pants and a stained once white shirt, a short dagger was strapped to his thick leather belt and a longish looking whip hung beside it. "Ahhh darlin, tis good to see yas awake, we all been a wonderin what yas eyes be lookin like" he told her as he strode closer to her. "commere lil one, I've gotta chain yas legs, yas soon to be moved to the trainin centah" In strong, rough hands he carried two manacles connected with about three feet of chain and another six feet connected to the other one. He none to gently grabbed her left ankle and snapped the manacle closed, sliding a paddle lock through the holes, and the seized the right one to repeat the process. It felt to her that they weighted a million pounds and would chafe so on her tender skin. He walked behind her and slid the final paddle lock he held through the end of the longest bit of chain and into a loop sent into the concrete floor. "thare yas go darlin, safe ahn soun" he said with a laugh as he walked out leaving the door open wide.\par
She still knew not where she was, but then again there were many building and rooms in her master\rquote s possession that she knew nothing of. Slaves and freemen alike passed her little prison, though she knew he was a rich man, she still didn\rquote t think that there were that many people on masters lands. She had just slipped into a light doze when a loud noise woke her. "Milady so sorry to be wakin yas" a mans voice said cruelly, opening her eyes and looking towards the speaker she discovered this was quite a different from the first man indeed. For one thing he was a great deal uglier then the first and lots scruffier. When he came nearer to her, the end of the chain in his hands, the smell of stale beer and too many days without a bath came off of him in horrible waves of stench.\par
"came on yas, tis time to move on out" and without waiting for her to gain her feet or really time to do anything but gasp in pain and try to obey she staggered forward and then in a terrifying moment of dizziness sank down to her knees. Though the world slowed its spinning she still felt ill and wished he wouldn\rquote t continue to pull on her chains as though it was her will not to stand. " a \lquote right dove, fine dhen" she felt his strong hands around her waist lifting her into the air and the smell or perhaps stench of him became stronger as her nose all but rested in his dirty clothing. Closing her eyes tightly she did all that she could in such a predicament, held still.\par
She was carried in this rather undignified position for quite a few minutes, but still they did not pass outside for the sun grew nether darker nor brighter just as the air became no fresher. She heard the sound of a gate, she presumed, squeak upon its hinges and then she was dropped upon dry and prickly straw. She felt a tugging upon her chains and then the rattling as they were dropped, and then finally footsteps away from her and the same squeaking from tired used hinges. His voice came as a shock to her for she had thought he was quite gone "Ahhh dove twill be me great joy ter be trainin yas, ahn me greatest sorrow ter be sellin yas" then he left her to her alone with her now very confused thoughts.\par
"Train?" she asked aloud, eyes still closed. Why she was already trained, master had done so as he saw fit when he saved her. No I shan't need training. And sell? No for master owns me, he would never give me up would he. I know that I have angered him in the past but he needs me and I will make up for the last time. She turned to lie upon her back and found it to be quite a painful prospect and decided against it. Lying still she listened to the going-ons around her. The familiar tramp of bare slave\rquote s feet, the smack of the whip against toughened skins. Gruff commands given by the free folk. It was all the same as it had been for as far back as she could remember, but yet she knew it was not the same. She was startled by the gate opening and someone nearly stumbled over her in their attempt to flee from the freeman with the whip. She heard it arc through the air and hit home, bringing a whimper from the victim. Chains scraped against the dry ground below the thin covering of straw and the click of a paddle lock could be heard over the whimpering. The gate opened and closed again and they were alone. Gathering her courage she opened her eyes to look upon the new comer. He was about her age nineteen or so, and of a strong but lean build, his sandy coloured hair had been left to grow and looked uncared for, his sky blue eyes hidden almost from sight. "Who are you" she asked in a quiet voice, slaves were seldom allowed to speak to one another. "No better yet, where are we? What part of masters lands are we upon?" she asked quickly before he could answer the first.\par
He looked around before he answered "I\rquote m Eliahd, and we are in the holding pen for the slaves that need be trained. You and I have no master but all the men who walk by us that be free. Soon once we are sold, we shall have true masters but not now" He opened his mouth as to say more but then closed it again looking away. When he looked back there were tears streaming down her face and the force of her sobs wracked her small body. \ldblquote What\rquote s wrong? You ok?" he asked in a concerned sort of way. Refusing to answer she lay down a cried for sometime and then became still, her breathing deep and free.\par
Though she did not awaken for those who came in the room slowly filled, with perhaps ten or twenty men and women about her age, that is to say, young but not too young. Most were plain looking creatures, nothing of great beauty or outstanding musculature, but there were a few nicer looking specimens. She slept deep into the night waking when the pale weak sunlight of the preday hours streamed through the wooden walls, it was the chill that woke her, for the straw bedding offered little warmth or protection from the chill. She rose to her knees and looked around her, bodies everywhere, men and women with very little clothing amongst them, all but the most clothed of the slaves cuddled together to share body heat, much like a pile of puppies she mused. She made herself rise carefully to her feet and limp over to that pile of warmth and finding a place where she could fit herself she settled down hoping that no one would take offense to such bold actions, one does have to be warm after all. She next awoke when the pile of heat around her shifted and a few whispers were passed around. She looked up to see a slavesmen entering the ring and gathering up several of the chains after freeing their ends from the locks in the flooring, pulling on the chains he held he thinned the crowd a bit leading his chosen ones out a door, the next slavesmen in a line of about four repeated the process and then next after him until only she herself, Eliahd, and one other remained. The final slavesmen gathered up their chains and led them through the same door that all the others had already passed. They made first a right turn onto a large hallway which they followed for a short while were they turned right followed by a quick left and were then led through a pair of large and heavy looking doors. The room she was in was large, bigger then the Masters Grand sitting room, filled with rough long tables and equally long rough benches. There were a pair of chains at regular intervals on the benches and she was led to one such pair. She was then poked and prodded and yelled at until she came to be kneeling upon the bench where the first of the chains were locked snugly just below her knees and the other pair were fastened just as tight slightly above her ankles, her hands were then bound behind her back and secured to the first pair of chains so that she were tied to her own knees. Food was put in front of her along with a dish of water, she was quite confused as to how she was expected to eat, and then the slave next to her began to hurriedly lap at his food, using nothing but teeth and tongue to eat. Mimicking his behavior she found that I was possible to eat though very messy indeed.\par
She had not yet finished her meal when she felt hands in her long dirty and tangled hair "Slave its time that ye be done now" he growled as he pulled the chains off from her. "Its ye exercise time".\par
Not wanting to be dragged this time she somewhat hurriedly got to her feet, pain streaking through her in a short burst. She felt better then she had yesterday and the day before so she supposed she was healing. She was led by the man through the same door that she had came and back down the same hall ways, they made a right into the great hallway and walked quite some distance before the man paused at a door, removed a key from the inside pocket of his pants, unlocked the door they stood at and put the key away. She was nearly blinded when he threw open the door, bright noontime sunlight shone down upon them and into her eyes, squinting she could see several smallish buildings, though without any great detail. She could hear the sound of many feet walking somewhere near by, the sounds of wagon and carriage wheels all of both of which could use some greasing. The slavesmen led her into the closest of the buildings, it was shabby and no bigger then a small storage shed or perhaps a tannery. Five others stood in a double line, ankle chains secured to the ever present rings in the concrete floors, the slaves hands were left unbound which she found strange but other then that she had no clue what was going on. There was a gap in the rank, in the second row to be exact, and this is where she found herself being placed and chained to. From behind them two men talked briefly before one walked into the room, saying nothing he walked to a large cabinet in the far corner and began to remove from it what could be mistook for horse harness. And without saying a word he walked to the first pair, and ran his hands down strong legs, lifting the first males feet from the ground, examining them, then dusting them off and placing a pair of tall stiff boots that were fitted with horse shoes at the bottoms. These boots came to just below the knees and were tightened mercilessly upon the wearer where they were paddle locked on. She watched the process wearily as the man worked his way around the boy to put the second boot upon his feet. Next he reached down into the pile of twisted and somewhat tangled leather straps at his feet and pulled fourth what appeared to be a collar of some sort. She watched in growing horror as he fitted a leather strip about five inches thick firmly around the boys throat and secured it there without closing the paddle lock on it. Next he held up a metal piece with more leather coming from it and placed the metal in his mouth, straps coming from both corners and coming together to meet the collars lock at the back, there was a small strap that ran up the length of his nose and came to rest between his eyes where it branched off and ran behind his head were it met up with the rest. After all the leather straps were gathered and tightened they were looped through the lock which was closed with a dark Click. A leather harness was then applied, coming across his chest in several places with a strap running down the center, locking clasps on the back. The same was repeated on the next boy and the one stand next to her. Finally the time that she had dreaded most came, her turn. His hands were strong yet gentle as he lifted her feet, and he helped to support her weight as her feet were slid in, the straps were horribly tight about her ankles, the boots that seemed to weigh tons was only about twenty five pounds in actuality. The bit nearly choked her and tasted awful, and only grew worse as the straps were tightened home. The only part of the ordeal that wasn\rquote t painful and uncomfortable from the beginning was the harness which came the firmest about her waist.\par
Time passed, how much exactly she had no idea, perhaps five or ten minutes, when the man walked to the front of the group. "Listen little ones, you are horses when you are in these harnesses, these shoes, you possess no human speech, no human ideas, you are simply a pony, a creature to be used as your masters see fit. Act as though you are a horse and you shall be ok, act other wise and the punishment will be great" He left no time for thought or words, but pulled on the lead strap and guided them into the bright outside.\par
Outside stood a large heavy carriage with three long pieces of thick wood at the head, one in the center and one on either side, spaced about as far apart as need be for a large man to fit between them, strong snap hooks buried into the wood about every 4 feet on either side of the center bar and on the inside of both side bars. The man led the last pair back into the back most slot and snapped the hooks into rings on the harness they wore, their arms were cuffed to the bars at their sides but well away from the snaps that held the pair in place and finally a long thick leather strap was fed through a ring at either side of the bit. One man stood on either side of the bar and separate pairs of reins were fed through the bit rings. The pair she was a part of was backed in next, she watched as her partner was strapped and cuffed and finally she stood still as the process was repeated on her. The sun was hot overhead and she wanted dearly to move out from it. She saw the ends of the reins secured to the lead pairs bit rings and saw the slavesman leave.\par
The sharp sound of high heels and the slick rustling of silk and lace filled the air, in front of them a stern yet beautiful woman stood, stately such as a queen or princess might have looked. She ran fine silken gloves down the couture of each slave\rquote s body, making comments when she came to the only female in the team. After but moments she moved on, a delicate little switch in her hand, swishing back and fourth in the air. A masculine scream filled the air; he had had the nerve to become erect when her hands slid down his body, the punishment for such a crime proved painful. The girl watched as again and again the strap came down upon the unfortunates manhood, punishing it well for its crime. The next man she touched had the self control to prevent this from happening to him. After inspecting her entire team she walked back to the coach on the opposite side that she came, and they felt the coach shift and she mounted the driver\rquote s box. Her voice was soft and sweet, much like the tinkling of small silver bells, musical, "Oh slavesman, they need their heads higher, get stiffer collars on them at once, and do hurry the heat is unbearable"\par
The same man who had first outfitted them came out with thicker, taller collars and fitted them upon the slave\rquote s necks, stringing the leather straps through the loops on the new collars and locking them in place. This time rather then slow and caring his hand was heavy and quick on the slave\rquote s neck, finally he was done with his task and after bowing down to the woman in the coach he once again left the slaves to fend for themselves. Her voice sounded again, it was one that the slaves would soon grow to hate and fear, "well move on slaves, move on" without waiting a second she drew the whip across the lead pairs shoulders. She watched as those in front of her struggled to first escape the whip strokes and then to pull the carriage forward. Feeling sorry for them she too leaned into her harness and put what little strength and weight she had to the task ahead. Her partner and finally those behind her began to pull but not without the encouragement of the whip skillfully wielded by the lady. Inch by painfully slow inch they moved the heavy object and slowly it gained speed until they were all trotting to escape the insistent whip. She pulled harshly on the reins when she wanted them to turn and pulled more cruelly on them when she desired a stop, only to whip them twice as hard as before to get them moving again. It was really only about three hours of pulling her around but to them it seemed as days may have passed in her lovely painful hands. It was with great relief that they were pulled abruptly to a stop in front of a large concrete building and even more so when they felt the carriage move when she disembarked. The slave stood in the hot midday sun but this didn\rquote t stop them from shivering. It was more from exertion then from anything to do with being cold. Soon the same slavesman who had first harnessed them came out and unhooked the reins from the lead pair and soon had them coiled in the driver\rquote s seat of the carriage. Looking to her left she saw the fine lady being carried away on a litter carried by five or six fine muscular male slaves.\par
Hands were freed from the built-in cuffs and the harnesses were unstrapped from the poles, and they were then led inside the building. The coolness from inside the building was wonderful, almost overwhelming as they were led down a long row of what appeared to be horse stalls.\par
 The lead pair was tied to rings set into the wall while the rest were locked in stalls, the head stalls locked onto rings in the back wall. Looking around hers she noticed that cool water had been provided. It sat in a deep dish fastened to the wall with brackets making it impossible to lift it and drink as a normal human being would have done, lapping it up or perhaps slurping it up was the only choice given her. Luckily there was just enough slack in the ties to allow her to reach the water to get a drink. The water was warm and stale as if it hadn\rquote t been changed for quite sometime, however it was wonderful and she drank it gratefully. She stood still for an hour or more before she sat down and began to think over the events of the past few days.\par
She heard the opening and closing of stall doors near her and so was not surprised to find her door presently opened. The man entered and deftly unknotted the ropes tying her to the ring. She was led deeper into the building along with her partner. In front of them stood large wooden tubs filled with water, beside them stood a table with common bathing and grooming tools. Another younger slavesman came to take her partners lead rope and for quite a while that was the last she saw of him.\par
Her slavesman gently took off her harness and set it aside upon another table, which was soon joined by her boots and headstall. Her collar was taken off but replaced with a smaller more delicate looking version that sported two rings rather then the one that the previous one had. He led her into the water which was warm, not quite hot and very soothing, filled with sweet smelling herbs. He first tackled the daunting task of her hair, which in good clean condition fell in silken waves down to her ankles. Now however it was tangled, straw ridden and very dirty. She fell almost asleep with the gentleness of his work and soon her hair fell free again, though not clean. Next he used scented soap on her body cleaning her thoroughly. His hands were firm and rubbed the stiffness from her body, though she fought when his hands neared her breasts. \ldblquote Hush darling, I isn\rquote t interested in that, only in getting yas clean. I am yas groom, thas all I be carin for, so settle down now.\rdblquote  When she still fought him he took soft leather cuffs and bound her wrists together and then to the side of the tub. He took no notice of her cries as his hands worked lower, down her sides and down her stomach. He carefully cleaned the place between her legs and the legs themselves. Taking her masses of hair he worked shampoo through it till it was covered in a soapy lather, after rinsing it he applied conditioner and after a few moments to let it set he rinsed that out too.  He next unchained her hands from the tub and helped her to her feet, where he led her to a long wide table which he made her lay upon. He rubbed oil into her skin as well as a soothing balm into the bumps, scrapes and bruises that she had suffered from the rough care she had recived. The balm stung at first when it hit the marks from her old masters whips but once she got past the sting it felt wonderful. Finally a soft towel was rubbed over her lean body, drying her off and rubbing the oil in farther\par
}