Golden Guard

[Harry]

Chapter 1
ROBERTA
Roberta had wanted to become a Golden Guard from as far back as she could remember. Her parents had given her up to be trained at the age of twelve when it had already become obvious that the blonde girl had great potential.

At eighteen she had first been fully enrolled into the elite unit that guarded the King with their naked bodies, their skill as archers and their prowess with the sword. She had served for one year as one of the reserves, spending much time on patrol in the troubled hills to the North and earning high praise for hardihood, skill and courage. She had been wounded twice and bore her scars proudly. At nineteen she was a fully trained member of the Inner Golden Guard, skilled in sword fighting and a deadly archer. Like all other members of the Golden Guard, she was tall, strong and, apart from her sword belt, bow and quiver, totally naked.

Roberta had worn no clothes now for seven years and would never wear them again as long as she was one of the King's Protectresses. If she lived long enough, she would retire at thirty-five. But few indeed of the Golden Guard lived that long, and hardly any of the elite Inner Guard that Roberta had now joined. It was a rarity for one of this group to see her twenty-fifth birthday. These were dangerous times and a Golden Guard would far sooner die than see harm come to her beloved King. Many did perish, throwing themselves upon the swords of those who attacked the royal progress around the troubled kingdom. But no attack upon the monarch had ever succeeded in harming his person - not in all the thirty years of the Golden Guard's existence.

When Roberta had been put forward by her proud parents, she had been one of twelve from her village and the only one to succeed. She had not seen or heard from her family since leaving them and she never would. The Guards were all the family she had or needed these days.

Each day the one hundred members of the Inner Guard were inspected at first light. The Commander would walk down the three rows of tall and sturdy women and inspect them closely. Each sword belt must be immaculately polished and the brasswork shining. The buckle must exactly be one inch above the navel and precisely vertical above it. Even the merest fraction out and the defaulting Guard would be punished at dusk. The bow must be slung over the right shoulder and at an angle of forty five degrees to the line of the body, passing exactly halfway between the breasts. The slightest error would be punished. The quiver must also be worn with total correctness, the top coming one inch over the left shoulder. All items must be spotlessly clean, as must the naked bodies of the Guards themselves. A speck of dirt on any bare foot would mean big trouble for the careless girl in question. Hair was worn long and straight, and must be spotless and perfectly brushed.

Roberta had endured one hundred inspections by this time and had never been found to be at fault. This was lucky, for all faults were punished and there was only one way to punish a defaulting Guard for any offence, no matter how trivial. The whip! Each evening, except when in action, the day's defaulters were lined up and flogged one by one. A dirty sword would get twelve lashes, a dirty belt, ten, a wrongly worn bow, quiver or belt thirty. Dirty feet were punished with ten lashes and untidy hair by twenty. To be picked up on all these would not get one hundred and twelve lashes! For such gross inattention to detail, the penalty was doubled. But this had never been known to happen. The girls were far too proud of their tradition ever to fail on so many points - even the sloppiest of them - such as Bertha!

Last night, Roberta's closest friend - and lover - Bertha had been whipped for having her bow at the wrong angle. Roberta had listened to and watched the heavy whip fall thirty times on that strong back. It was hardly a novel experience for Bertha! A thirty year old veteran had given Bertha her lashes. This woman was incredibly strong and had arms the thickness of Bertha's thighs - and Bertha was a strong woman, like all the Guards. Bertha had cried out near the end of her whipping and received all thirty again for cowardice. Bertha stood next to Roberta this morning, her back was raw and she was in agony as the bow and quiver rested on her torn flesh. But Bertha stood straight and motionless as the merciless and all seeing eyes of the Commandant bored into her. Roberta knew that any fault found today would be punished. Even if Bertha were whipped every day for a month she would never find mercy here! But Bertha had been very careful not to err again!

Roberta stood as the Commandant eyed her up and down. As ever, her heart was racing and her stomach contracted with fear. As yet, she had never been whipped but she knew that sometime, maybe soon, she was going to go through what she had seen happen to so many others many times before!

The time for her first whipping was obviously not today! Once again the Commandant passed down the line. Roberta allowed herself a congratulatory sigh of relief! Then the Commandant stopped behind her.

"Your sword belt is twisted, Guard Roberta! I am surprised at you! Report for punishment at dusk. You will be our sole entertainment today! The turn out is very good this morning."

"So they finally got you for something, Bobby," said Bertha as the two reported for duty. They were to be on guard outside the Royal apartments.

"I can't think how I was so careless, Bertha! I go over every little thing a dozen times before morning parade. But she was right enough! My belt was twisted and now I'm going to get thirty, just like you did last night! At least I won't be just about the only one with a smooth back after today! Let's face it! It had to happen some time! I suppose it won't be that bad. I mean to say, I've been badly wounded before now!"

"It's not the same, Bobby. In the heat of battle it's one thing. Tied up and helpless it's another! You'll see! And feel! How you will feel!"

Being on guard meant standing utterly motionless for eight hours with one hour long break, followed by six more hours of standing like a statue. Then Roberta reported to the camp prison for punishment. Her heart was pounding with excitement and fear. She had always known this moment would come and was pleased in a sense that she was finally about to be initiated!

"Remove your equipment, Guard Roberta! I suppose you know what I am about to say?"

Roberta slipped off her sword and belt and the quiver and bow. She laid them on the table in front of the Commandant and stood at attention and totally naked. She replied to the Commandant's question.

"I am to be well whipped, Madam Commandant!"

"Yes. You wore your sword belt incorrectly on parade. I was very disappointed in you! I expect nothing but perfection from you, Guardswoman Roberta! And I will have perfection in future! Do you understand?"

"Yes, Madam Commandant!"

"And you were seen to move today when on Palace Guard." Roberta had expected this. Someone would have noticed. Someone always did!

"What have you to say to that?" asked the Commandant.

"I did move, Madam Commandant! I flinched like a baby after being stung by a wasp and I am deeply ashamed!"

"In a few minutes, you will be stung by more than a mere wasp! Very badly stung indeed!"

"Yes, Madam Commandant!"

Roberta felt totally wretched. She had disgraced herself twice in one day. She swore to herself that if she survived the impending marathon whipping she would never again let the Golden Guards down in such a woeful fashion. Flinching from a wasp sting! How utterly, but utterly, pathetic! And she had been badly wounded twice and kept fighting until loss of blood made her faint! She'd be shedding more blood soon and deservedly so! She was nineteen now - not a nine year old!

"I award one hundred lashes for your lapse on duty and a further seventy for the belt. I know thirty is the normal tariff for the belt but you should know better, Guard Roberta. I expect so much more from you than from the others and I will make your punishments far more severe than theirs when you fall so badly by the wayside. Put up your hair so that your bare back may escape not an iota of the pain that it so richly deserves! Then report to Senior Guardswoman Felicity!"

Senior Guardswoman Felicity was the strongest of the Golden Guard. She was a giant of a woman and stronger even than the Amazon who had made Bertha cry out the day before. Roberta was to be punished with all the severity the Guards could bring to bear upon her, so deep was her disgrace. A hundred and seventy! That was something of a record for a first offence! In fact it was a record for any punishment since Roberta had been a member of the Guards. Only three Guards had ever been punished so severely and one of those had died under the lash, long before her punishment was complete.

Walking behind the massive Felicity, Roberta reflected that she was maybe half an inch taller than the woman who was about to more than half kill her. And she had easily as much muscle as her Punisher. If she lived long enough then she herself would one day be wielding a whip on future generations of raw recruits. But Roberta knew she had much to learn before she rose high enough to be giving rather than receiving lashes!

"Can I trust you not to move?" asked Punisher Felicity "I mean - do I have to secure you or will you take your lashes bravely?"

"I-I'll try to be brave, Madam Punisher!" Roberta would sooner die than not be brave!

"Good girl! My! But you're a strong one! I've never seen you this close before, Golden Guard Roberta! We must have a test of strength - you and I - when you have recovered! Don't worry! You will walk away from this flogging with your head high and proud. And I will not humiliate you by securing you!"

Roberta stepped to the whipping post, raised both arms as high as they would go and placed her feet wide apart. She nodded and said "yes" in a clear and confident voice when asked if she were ready.

"ONE" Called out the Commandant.

The whip hissed through the air and the watching Guards saw that smooth and powerful back being flayed for the first time. Roberta almost bit her tongue to stop herself crying. Bertha had been so right! This was nothing like being wounded in battle! This was sheer hellish agony made even worse by the knowledge that she was abysmally disgraced and justly condemned. And she had one hundred and sixty nine more lashes to take before she could lower her arms and walk away.

"TWO"

If Roberta had found the first lash hellish, then this second one was double hell! She pressed her hands against the post and gripped hard to stop herself lowering them and trying to escape this torment. She had promised to be brave and brave she must be!

"THREE"

Could it really only be three? Did she really have virtually all of her ordeal still ahead of her? She would never make it! But still her arms were raised and her hands clutched the post. Still her feet were apart and still she moved not a muscle as the whip came down a fourth, fifth six, seventh and eighth time on that already bloody back.

Bertha, who had received sixty the previous night stood with all the other woman as the Golden Guard's most highly decorated heroine was punished. Bertha had helped Roberta put her belt on that morning. Bertha had made sure it was twisted! But Bertha had not reckoned on that wasp! As the Commandant's voice signalled the thirtieth lash and the flesh of her dearest friend was torn into yet again, she felt the tears pricking her eyes and she swallowed hard. It was unheard of for a Golden Guard to show emotion as she watched a sister Guard being punished. At this rate she would be getting another whipping tomorrow. She forced herself to look straight ahead.

"FIFTY"

By this time Roberta was convinced that she had been very wrong not to have her arms secured. The effort of will required to keep them above her head was becoming far more than she could have ever imagined.

"What if she moves?" whispered Bertha to Rosemary who stood next to her.

"They tie her up and finish the one hundred and seventy and then give her them all over again. She's going to move soon! Poor kid!"

"ONE HUNDRED"

The one hundredth lash descended on to the soggy back. Roberta had never been whipped before and she was suffering far more than a more hardened Golden Guard would have been. But she had kept her position and not moved once. The watching women all admired her. This was courage of the highest order!

"SECURE THE PRISONER!" shouted the Commandant.

So Roberta's arms were to be tied and she was to receive the rest of her lashes unable to move even if she had wished to. Why had they been so merciful to her? She could scarcely believe her good fortune. But she knew what she must do!

"Permission for the prisoner to speak under punishment, Madam Commandant!" Roberta called out.

"What is it, Guardswoman?"

"I can take the rest of my lashes without moving, Madam Commandant!"

"Very well! Order to secure is withdrawn!"

"ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY"

The final lash fell, as heavily laid on as the first. Not once had Felicity eased up on the errant Golden Guard. Roberta was ordered to return to her barracks. She would receive no treatment for her horribly injured back and would be on duty again next morning, expected to do a full day's Palace Guard duty. And if she moved again, it would be one hundred more lashes on a torn back.

"I am so sorry, Roberta!" sobbed Bertha. "I was so angry at you for always being Miss Goody Two Shoes that I twisted your belt. I thought you'd only get thirty, Roberta. I had no idea a wasp would sting you!"

"Forget it, Bertha. I ought to have dressed myself! If they had known you had helped me I dread to think what would have happened! You did well to get me whipped! It was high time for me to feel the lash on my back. And I'd have got it for the wasp in any case! As you see, I'm fine! In a week I'll have healed. You spoke the truth about the pain, mind you! It was like nothing I've ever experienced or imagined before! But I'm still here, although I think I'll sleep on my stomach for a few nights."

And Roberta lay face down on the cold stone slab which was all any of the Inner Guard slept on for their entire service, no matter how high they might rise. Even the Commandant slept thus!

PAULA
Paula had lived in the same village for nineteen years and now she had come to the capital city to live with her aunt and uncle for a short time. She was due to become a servant at the Royal Palace. But first she was to see the sights of the big town and take a trip to the coast. It would be the first time Paula had seen the sea. She was immensely excited! All Paula's family had been servants at one time or another. Her father had recently retired as a head footman and her mother had been a cook. Paula was to be a chamber maid.

Her Uncle drove the wagon and Paula and her Aunt sat and admired the view as the sea came in sight. It was blue in the Spring sunshine and the Winter cold was already tinged with a bit of warmth. Although Paula still wore her winter clothes and was glad of them.

"I feel so sorry for the King's Golden Guards in this weather!" said Paula. "How can they stand being bare in this cold, I wonder?"

"They have been bare since childhood, Paula! By the time they enter the King's service they are well used to it!"

"I bet they still feel cold! Poor girls! So awfully young and likely to die at any time! They say that eight out of fifteen were killed in the last attempt on the King! They are so brave, and to think they are all women like me!"

"Even as a servant, you will be safe, Paula! The Guards protect all in the Palace - not only the King. Although it is their prime duty to shield His Majesty!"

They moved into the seaside cottage where her uncle had been born and Paula slept. In the morning they all walked up to the top of the hill overlooking the village.

"What is that out there?" asked Paula, pointing at an island several miles out to sea. It rose straight out of the sea and was surrounded by rocks. A castle like building dominated the highest point.

"It is the place they take bad women. Several miles further out, where it can only be seen on really clear days, is a bigger fortress where they imprison male criminals. No one taken to those two islands ever comes back. They are for the very worst offenders."

Paula looked fascinated at the distant and grim island prison.

"Do people not sometimes escape?"

"Never. It is surrounded by rocks and can only be approached through one gap which is guarded night and day by the best archers in the King's Army. A boat goes once a month to take provisions and carry new prisoners over there. The currents are far too strong even for the best swimmers. Once a woman is sent there she never comes back."

Paula shivered. Suddenly it seemed less mild and more wintry and she was glad of her warm furs. She couldn't bear to think of all those poor women trapped in that ghastly place, probably in some horrible dungeon, for the rest of their lives, while she was free to breathe the fresh air, just a few miles away from such misery. She was curious, though, to know more of how the prisoners spent their time.

On the way back to the cottage Paula pointed to the road. In the distance was a cloud of dust as though many travellers were approaching.

"What is that, Uncle?"

"It's the King's carriage, Paula. We shall see him pass soon. And you will see the Golden Guard, surrounding him and keeping him safe from harm."

Soon the carriage was in sight. It was pulled by a team of six white horses and Paula had never seen such fine beasts. In front, running to keep ahead of the horses, were three naked women. Six more of the golden haired Amazons ran on each side of the carriage and three ran behind. All were tall and fair haired. All wore swords and had bows across their shoulders. Paula had never seen so beautiful a sight as these tall and powerfully built women, none older than twenty-four and all long of limb and barefoot, running easily and perfectly in step over the stony highway. As the procession drew level, Paula felt herself watched by eighteen pairs of cold, blue eyes as the vigilant Guards kept her under constant scrutiny until they were past, still running mile after mile over a surface which must be incredibly punishing for those bare feet.

"What amazing and beautiful women they all are," said Paula, "and so tall and strong! But could they really fight off an attack of bandits?"

"No robbers or assassins have broken through their ranks yet, Paula! They are brave as lions and can fight like tigers. Few men have the strength to bend those mighty bows and fewer can do such damage with the sword! No King need fear when he is protected by the Golden Guard."

"And they are always in danger, Uncle. Always liable to be called upon to give their lives. Is it worth it, just for the honour of being part of the Golden Guard?"

"Many women plead to be allowed to join, Paula. Every year they turn away many volunteers. There will never be a shortage of brave girls who will gladly die for their King and who prefer death in battle to dishonour."

"It makes me feel very small!" said Paula regretfully. She was dark haired in any case, and would never be able to join. And she was small and dainty where those wonderful tireless women had all been big boned and strong.

"The tallest and strongest of them seemed to have a very sore back. In fact a few of them did. Maybe they have already been in battle!"

"They are whipped for the slightest offence, Paula. When I worked at the Palace, I heard one or more of them being flogged every night in the yard. I saw quite a few punishments in my time. And never did one of them cry out. Maybe the odd squeal or grunt, but I never heard one scream, even though they must have been suffering the pains of Hell!"

"How horrible to punish such brave women! Women who may be dead soon, fighting to save their King's life."

"That's how it is, Paula. In the villages where they recruit them they all know what to expect. They are not afraid of pain, Paula. They are afraid of nothing and nobody."

ROBERTA
Roberta saw the trio standing by the roadside. A middle aged man and woman and a small and delicate girl. She had quickly satisfied herself that these three meant no harm and had been amused at the obvious adoration on the girl's face as she saw the eighteen splendid women run by. That girl would be dreaming of the Golden Guard tonight! It was three days since her first whipping and she still felt the effects. The escort had been keeping up with the horses for twelve miles now and there were still three more miles before they reached the hunting lodge where the King was to spend a few days.

Roberta would be glad when she could rest. Her torn feet throbbed and every step was almost unendurably painful as her sword belt, bow and quiver rubbed against her raw and bleeding back. The others were having no easier a time of it than Roberta, for the pace was punishing in the extreme. At the lodge would be a relief detail of twelve women who would partially replace Roberta's detachment. Roberta was not to be one of the replaced women, though. She was to stay with the King and return in three days time. She and six others were to accompany His Majesty wherever he went. If any of them did anything to earn their sovereign's disfavour, then woe betide that most wretched girl! A whipping to end all whippings would be her reward!

At last the lodge was in sight. Roberta had been here once before, a few months ago when there had been snow inches deep and she had possessed no feeling in her frozen bare feet when she arrived. There were times when the rigid no-clothes rule for the Golden Guard horrified many and the loss of one woman's toes from frostbite on that occasion had made even Roberta wonder if the rule might be impairing the Guard's fighting effectiveness. But the other seventeen members of that detachment had been unscathed, although thawing out had been agony for them all!

The King's grandfather had set up the Guard. He had loved tall, strong, golden haired (and naked) women and desired to be surrounded and protected by them. Such had been the success of that first guard that the tradition had survived both his and his son's deaths. The Golden Guard was a fixture these days.

All new entrants were told the story of how only three of that original hundred strong Guard had survived the first year, as a wave of attempts on the King's life had taken place. And at the end all plotters were either dead or on a distant island prison safely out of harm's way. And now Roberta was a fiercely proud part of this great tradition. She knew how slim her chances were of seeing another birthday. Later in the year the King was to tour the most troubled parts of the realm, taking all one hundred of the Inner Guard and three hundred of the reserve with him. Roberta was to be near His Majesty at all times and so in constant danger. She knew she would almost certainly not return alive, but so long as the King was safe, she was happy to die protecting him.

Nothing happened during the King's few days' hunting, except that Roberta had little chance to get her feet healed up before the return trip to the Palace. But her back was coming on nicely the whole time. She was near His Majesty all day and every day, keeping up with him and keeping at a safe distance so as not to spoil his sport. Two times she warned him to duck below a rock as she investigated a suspicious sign. But each time it was a false alarm.

"I beg Your Majesty's pardon for spoiling your sport," she said as the party prepared to return.

"Not at all, my dear! Your eyes are so much sharper that any of my other Guards! I want you near me at all times in future! Choose one other whom you trust and together one or other of you will be awake and close to me at all times. I leave it to you to make the choice. How is it that you have been flogged so horribly?"

"I moved on duty after being stung by a wasp and earlier that same day my sword belt was incorrectly put on. I was awarded one hundred and seventy lashes and they were given to me by the strongest of the Guards!"

"How could that be? You are the strongest Guard! I know them all well and none is stronger than you!"

"It was Senior Guardswoman Felicity who whipped me."

"Then she is always to whip you in future - if it becomes necessary! I hope it will not."

"I hope not, Your Majesty, but if I ever fail you, my back will have richly earned its flogging!"

"It will indeed! Report to my Chamberlain the morning after we return and bring your chosen one with you!"

All the long weary way back to the Palace Roberta had eyes and ears only for the road, the rocks along the way which might hide attackers and the passers by, all of whom she scrutinised with those piercing blue eyes - eyes that never missed a thing! What an honour had befallen her! And she had a choice to make. The choice must wait until the return. Roberta knew any inattention on the way back could be fatal.

In the morning, just before the Parade, she drew Bertha aside.

"I am to be the King's special guard, Bertha. He has told me to pick one other and together we will be his closest protectors. I cannot choose you! You know why! It would be unfair to you. So this is goodbye, Bertha. I sleep outside the Royal chamber every night from now onwards. I shall miss you!"

She kissed Bertha a fond farewell, for the two would never be together again. They would be on duty together, but when on duty no Golden Guard had ears or eyes for anything except her solemn and sacred task. Their mouths would never again meet and dissolve into the warmest and tenderest of kisses! No more would tongue meet tongue and no more would bodies writhe and clitorises be licked and sucked! Roberta decided that she would still be true to Bertha, though. If she could not have the one she loved, she would have nobody!

Roberta decided on Anna. Anna was a year older than she and had not been punished for months, being impeccable at all times. Anna would be the one to share the task of being closer to the King than any other Golden Guard.

But first there was the Morning Inspection. It was to be Roberta's last. In future there would be a separate inspection for her and Anna - and a far more rigorous one! Roberta knew she was about to be whipped again! Her feet had become caked with filth on the journey to the hunting lodge, during the three days scrambling after the King and on the journey back. She had spent all night scrubbing them until they were raw, and still there were signs of dirt!

The Commandant stopped and looked down at Roberta's bare feet.

"Dirty feet! We won't wait until evening to punish you! One hundred lashes! Find Senior Guardswoman Felicity!"

Even among the hardened women of the Golden Guard there was visible shock at this savage award. Ten lashes were the award for a dirty foot, twenty for both feet being dirty. Roberta was always to receive double punishments, but this still should have meant her getting no more than forty or fifty! Roberta too felt surprise, but she did not question the Commandant's right to make the award and stepped forward to be led to the whipping post.

Roberta received thirty lashes on a back which had only partly healed after the hundred and seventy of just over a week ago. Then the flogging stopped.

"Step down, Guardswoman Roberta," said the Commandant. "Report to the Chamberlain and take Anna with you! His Majesty has ordered your punishment to cease!"

Roberta stepped down from the whipping post and she and Anna reported to the Chamberlain. Soon they were being ushered into the Royal parlour.

"I thank your Majesty for stopping my punishment," said Roberta. "But I am strong enough to complete receiving it and still do my duty. I shall lose face with my sister guards unless I am allowed to receive the seventy remaining lashes. If your Majesty will forgive me!"

"Very well! Return and receive the rest. You comrade will be my closest guard for the next twelve hours. Rest after your punishment and be back in twelve hours! And wash those dirty feet! They will become clean if you persist with them!"

Only about twenty of Roberta's comrades saw her receive the seventy remaining lashes. Felicity tore into the still unhealed back and made the blood run down in rivulets so that a red pool had formed at her errant feet long before the punishment - a punishment that Roberta had demanded she receive in full - was over. Then she walked back to the Palace and her new and very Spartan accommodation, where she spent all day getting every last trace of grime from her feet.

The King looked at her freshly torn back when she reported for duty.

"Guardswoman Felicity did well! I hope she will not be needed again to punish you. Stand behind that partition, my dear! And stay alert! I trust nobody, except my faithful Golden Guards!"

Roberta stood for seven hours while the King received a succession of visitors. She had never before realised what a boring job the poor man had! But she kept alert and wakeful, her hand on her sword and ready to draw it at any time should any visitor appear about to threaten her royal master's life.

Finally she was dismissed duty for the day. For four hours she was trained on the square, being tested in swordsmanship and unarmed fighting. Then eight hours sleep, still lying on her front because of a back which seemed always to be sore these days! Her last waking thought was a fear that the whip would always be falling on her, never allowing her tortured and abused flesh time to heal again.

ROWENA
Rowena arrived in the capital a few days after Paula's visit to the seaside and at the same time that Roberta, bravest and best of the Golden Guard, was getting her second massive flogging in just over a week. If she had known about Roberta's misfortunes she would have been delighted. That young Amazon's eagle eye had been the cause of two recent attempts on the King's life having to be aborted and the Republican Revolutionary Army was not happy about it!

Furthermore, the same brave girl had killed seven of Rowena's comrades a year ago when still a mere reserve. Of all the Golden Guard, Roberta was already the most feared and the most hated among the King's enemies. Rowena had something very special lined up for Roberta!

In a week, Rowena was due to begin working as a junior parlour maid in the Queen's Household. It was when the King came to spend an evening with his wife at the end of a long day that she was to let seven well-armed confederates in through an unlocked passageway. Seven should be few enough to get in undetected and easily enough to overpower the only two Golden Guards in the actual living quarters. By the time help had arrived the King and Queen would be dead and a revolution well under way!

But Rowena still had a week to wait before the Great Assembly when new servants were enrolled. And the Golden Guard would be in evidence at the Great Assembly!

Chapter 2
ROBERTA: IN DEEP TROUBLE - YET AGAIN!
"TWENTY FIVE"

OH HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

The all too familiar lash came curling and whistling down again and another neat red line appeared as if by magic, joining the twenty four that had gone before, cutting transversely across the punishment hardened Roberta's leathery back. This one went from her right shoulder blade to her left buttock - and very pretty it looked too to the artistic Felicity, who took great pride in the decorative work she did on Roberta! Such a broad back to draw lots of lovely red lines on! There were to be many more crimson lines drawn on Roberta this evening before she would be free to leave, and she knew it! There was strength and skill in the arm that wielded that whip! Punishment hardened Roberta cursed again! What a way to spend a pleasant balmy summer evening! She could think of plenty better! Such as the way she had spent yesterday evening, for instance, even though that few minutes of heaven that had got her where she was tonight! Worth it, though!

The King's best guard simply couldn't keep her stupid self out of trouble these days, no matter how hard she tried - not that she ever tried particularly hard! Roberta was absolutely incorrigible lately! Last night she had not been trying at all to avoid trouble - and here she was!

Despite the familiarity of this experience, Roberta could hardly claim not to notice the pain any more. She noticed it alright and, on the whole, she hated it; but she could handle it just fine! No problems! She had discovered this ability to take pain during that first awful flogging back in the winter. That had taken away all fear of this particular form of retribution! Tonight she kept still and quiet as always. She might as well be sculpted in marble were it not for the straight red lines that kept appearing with every swish - and the blood that was seeping out of some of them. Strong armed Felicity continued efficiently to punish her, flaying her for the latest in a string of serious disciplinary offences. But, despite her outward calm, Roberta's foul mouthed inner reaction to each lash was such as would turn the air blue if she were to give verbal utterance to what was passing through her mind!

Nothing that had happened in the past three months had made her regret her good fortune in being chosen as one of two Guards in constant attendance on the King. Not even her regular, awesome and always well-merited floggings could make her regret her new and favoured status! Even so, she was giving Senior Guardswoman Felicity a lot of work since the King had appointed her to be Roberta's sole Punisher. The well behaved Anna got her occasional and far fewer lashes from a much less muscular lady. Roberta was a very big and incredibly strong girl and the King felt she should be chastised by someone as near her own prodigious size and strength as could be found!

Felicity and she had had that promised trial of strength a week ago, before the entire Inner Golden Guard, as soon as Roberta had completely healed after the last whipping. Roberta had won easily. Felicity had crumpled. Now she was having her revenge for that humiliation!

"TWENTY SIX"

OUCH! FUCK! FUCK!! FUCK!!!

This was Roberta's fourth punishment since she had started her new job, not counting the transitional one hundred lashes of her second flogging. This time it was a pretty trivial lashing for her, but it would be very, very major for anyone else! Roberta had been pleasantly surprised when told how few stripes she was getting tonight! She'd really thought she would be breaking her own record after what she'd judged to be easily her worst offence to date! Why were they going so easy on her? Not that she was complaining. This stinging taste of leather was quite painful enough to be going on with, thank you very much!

Her first ever appearance at this whipping post had been for a marathon lashing and Roberta had carried on that way ever since! No small change - no piffling little tens and twenties for her! Roberta was into the big time! She'd never yet got less than a hundred and usually a great deal more! Despite the fact that she was back at the familiar post again, Roberta had a good, not to say splendid, record of service behind her. In her three months she had several successes to her credit.

She had spotted one of the King's visitors as being one of a group of scoundrels she had tangled with in her first year. His fellows had perished at the point of Roberta's sword, but he had escaped, fleeing from the wounded but still deadly golden haired warrior like the miserable coward he was. She had spotted the dagger concealed under his cloak, stepped out from behind the screen and disarmed him before he could harm her master. This rogue was now in his second month on the men's island prison, from whence he would not be returning - ever! The King had warmly congratulated Roberta.

"TWENTY SEVEN"

FUCK YOU FELICITY! YOU FUCKING COW!

Some other would-be assassins had been spotted by the vigilant Roberta. Two had been visitors ostensibly presenting petitions from their villages. But Roberta had been to both villages several times and knew these villains had nothing to do with either place. The others had worried Roberta a lot, but her warning to the Commandant had not been followed up.

"TWENTY EIGHT"

FUCK YOU, YOU CUNT! YOU FUCKING ARSEHOLE!

Roberta was watched like a hawk these days. Her sister Guard had fared better than she. Anna had received just two floggings, one of ten and one of twelve. Roberta quite envied her! But she was pretty well used to pain these days. Which was just as well because a lot of it seemed to be coming her way!

"TWENTY NINE"

SHIT, SHIT, FUCKING SHIT!

It had been a week after her second flogging that she had been awarded one hundred more lashes for sloppy turnout. Her quiver had been the cause of her downfall on that occasion. Roberta had been allowed to look at herself in a mirror and been forced to admit that it stuck up a smidgeon more than the regulation inch. On the standard Morning Inspection she would have got away with it. But not now she was a Guard in the Royal Presence for the whole day!

"THIRTY"

OW!!! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU FOR THAT ONE! FUCKING FELICITY!
That one had got her down the entire length of her spine. Fucking wicked bitch!

The night when she had fallen asleep with a fear that her back would never heal came back into her memory. It had been a very prescient fear! Very prescient indeed!

"THIRTY ONE"

HELL'S FUCKING BELLS!
Roberta sometimes felt that she could count on the fingers of one hand the days her back had not been sore. Her second punishment as a Palace Guard had been two hundred for yawning on duty. Felicity had been told to give that flogging everything she had and had been allowed to rest after every ten in order to recover her edge! And that had been richly deserved. The King didn't yawn at his visitors and he was every bit as bored as she! He was a clever man - even cleverer than the super intelligent Roberta.

"THIRTY TWO"

SHIT AND FUCKING ARSEHOLES!

How much more of this agony had she to endure tonight? She knew, of course. But it was best not to think about it. It did no good to remember the precise amount of pain that was still to come! She knew the routine by this time. Just take each lash as it came, hang on in there and mouth ever more unladylike obscenities under her breath! This approach had got her through plenty worse floggings than this! Her third visit to the whipping post had been to receive another two hundred for untidy hair and a pubic bush which bore clear signs of something sticky and almost certainly nasty adhering to it. And other things!

Roberta had badly missed her glossal probing of Bertha's magnificently hirsute and juicily cavernous vagina. By way of comforting herself the sex-starved Golden Guard had indulged in one bit of masturbation too many. The juice was still oozing on the Morning Parade! Roberta had a lot of love to offer, and it was clearly visible. Major disgrace! She could hardly complain of being treated unjustly on that occasion! Caught bang to rights, as the saying goes!

And now she had been apprehended in flagrante: very passionately kissing the sweet new parlour maid. More than just kissing, actually. A whole lovely delightful lot more! She'd explored, groped, fingered and slobbered over every delicious inch of that piece of pure, sweet honey before being caught! No! She was a very bad girl these days and this was the result. The very painful result. It had been worth it, though! Had it ever been worth it! That Paula was a darling! A juicy little darling! Yes!!

Roberta was one heck of a hard bitch these days! Hard as fucking nails, she would tell herself! Every day she worked on her body, building up muscle. She was a deadly fighter who had taken on and slaughtered seven enemies at once on one famous occasion. And now she had learned to take a whipping that would kill some of her comrades and still do her job. And still have her fun and games on the side with Paula - and any other pretty girl she wanted! Life was pretty damned good these days, even though her back was being sliced up yet again!

It was always the job that came first, though. She never forgot she was a Golden Guard, even if she were a very wild one nowadays!

PAULA
Paula was well used to her new life by this time. She rose every day at dawn and swept the King's chamber. A neat and nimble worker, she had the room looking spotless and shining long before His Majesty came into the chamber to receive the unending succession of visitors with all their myriad petitions.

She was resting now that it was late evening. It had been a long day, as ever, and she would soon be thinking of going to bed. It might be resting time for Paula but it was punishment time for errant Golden Guards. She listened to the meaty sound of hard leather falling upon Roberta's not so hard flesh. She still hated that sound, preceded as ever by the stern voice of the Commandant. As long as she lived she would hate that dreadful noise, and the thought of the horrible pain it was causing to a fine and wonderful woman. For all the Golden Guards were wonderful women and this particular one was the finest of them all. It came drifting through the window. Why didn't she shut it and banish that awful noise from her room?

"THIRTY THREE" - CRACK!

How cruel, and how utterly stupid, to punish the bravest of the brave in this way! Where was the sense, the justice, in such savagery?

"THIRTY FOUR" - CRACK

The poor girl, Roberta, had been exhausted after accompanying the King on a trip to his hunting lodge. With Anna unable to make the journey because of a high fever and delirium, Roberta had been on her feet for three days, commanding an escort of thirty other Golden Guards. And the danger to the King had been real enough. She had killed three enemies with expertly aimed arrows and tracked another through the rugged terrain and killed him with her bare hands! But she had discarded her sword, arrows and quiver in order to track him more silently. One of the others had reported her for not wearing her proper uniform! What utter idiocy! At least that charge had been thrown out and the idiot who had made it been given ten lashes! Not that Roberta ever received so few! Roberta, who was better than all the others put together!

"THIRTY FIVE" - CRACK

How many more lashes was the poor woman to get before she could stagger away to lick her wounds and prepare for another day of loyally serving her beloved King?

"THIRTY SIX" - CRACK

Roberta had been on duty only hours after returning from the hunting trip and been given her latest award. Poor brave Roberta! And it was her, Paula's, fault! No one was punishing her for being in love with Roberta. But Roberta was being whipped until the blood ran for loving her. It was all so terribly unfair! Anna had been covering for Roberta when she and Paula had made love for the first time. Maybe it would be the last time. The two would be watched closely from now on!

ROWENA
Rowena had also been working at the Palace for three months. She had listened gleefully to Roberta being punished for what she considered to be one trifling and insignificant offence after another. What idiots they were to treat the King's most faithful and efficient servant in this way. But she rejoiced to hear Roberta being flayed! It did Rowena a power of good and she cheered inwardly every time she heard that piece of blonde shit getting its hide shredded yet again! She hated the woman who had killed her two brothers.

And now her schemes were getting under way at last. Three of her comrades were with her in the Palace Yard. They heard the daily punishment as it proceeded its painful way.

"THIRTY SEVEN"

"How many more is the bitch due to get today?" asked Rowena's cousin. He had lost a brother to that ghastly woman. Hearing her get it was music to his ears. As far as he was concerned, the flogging couldn't go on for too long!

"THIRTY EIGHT!"

"No idea! My contact in the Guard seems afraid to be seen talking to me right now. Getting edgy these days - because of Roberta who is supposed to have eyes in the back of her head! But on past performance I doubt her ordeal is over yet awhile! They seem to have an obsession about flogging her big time! What idiots! What total dickheads! The only one of that bunch of blonde dykes we really fear, and they torture the cow like that, never letting her heal before the next time! If only the fools knew they were doing our work for us! But you have me to thank for that! Me and my special friend who set the ball rolling!"

"THIRTY NINE"

" I suppose you aren't about to let on as to who that is?" asked the oldest of her visitors, a man of about fifty.

"FORTY"

"It's best not to let too many into a secret. The only true secret is one that only one person is privy to!"

"FORTY ONE!"

"I'll say this for that fucking bitch. She's pretty damned hard! If only we had a few like her," said the youngest of Rowena's co conspirators. "She can sure take a mighty licking! And she's still dangerous, even when half dead after what they do to her!"

"FORTY TWO"

"But her brain is as thick as her filthy rotten skin!" scoffed Rowena. She badly underestimated Roberta here! "This is getting boring. On past form it could go on for ages. They're beginning to slow the pace down so that Felicity doesn't get tired and let the cow off too easily. Let's go inside!"

ROBERTA
"FORTY THREE"

(We will take Roberta's continuing litany of obscenities as read from now on! She did tend to repeat herself somewhat! And I think I have made my point - that her mind is like a sewer! It would seem that she is not being purified by pain!)

Roberta was still concerned about what she had seen at the Great Assembly. On that occasion her back had been almost healed but it made no difference to Roberta how much pain she still suffered. Her eyes missed nothing. Two of the relatives who had come to watch a family member being received into the Royal Service had reminded her of someone. She had hastened to the Commandant's side.

"Madam Commandant! I recognise two rebels. See! Over there by the pillar!"

But the Commandant had ordered her back to her post. Roberta wished she were Commandant at times! She could see how the Guard was falling down on the job. If only she could smarten herself up and stop getting these floggings! She had successfully avoided being at fault for fifteen months and now, after that first offence she was getting into worse trouble all the time. It was all her own doing, though and she simply had to dig herself out of this and make a great effort to be all that she wanted to be and knew she could be.

"FORTY FOUR"

Roberta had long missed her darling Bertha. They hardly saw each other these days. Bertha was still punished frequently, although never as severely as Roberta was being right now. Bertha got about twenty lashes a month and would never improve. Poor Bertha! At least Roberta was rising in the King's service. She might be punished severely for the slightest fault, but she was a trusted and valued Guard these days even she was still whipped with painful frequency!

"FORTY FIVE"

That Great Assembly still worried her! Roberta knew in her bones that some new and potent danger was associated with that ceremony. If only she could avoid being punished so often! Her mind needed to be clear and her ever present pain was no aid to thought!

"FORTY SIX"

At least tonight's flogging was no two-hundred affair. It had been all but impossible to perform her duties to the high standards she set herself when in such crippling agony as she had been on those two occasions and for days after. She was glad she was getting a lesser punishment, not only for herself but because she wanted to be fully alert in the coming weeks. She knew something was brewing and nobody would listen to her. Even the King dismissed her fears as stemming from an over zealous imagination.

PAULA
The new maid tried to sleep, but it was no use.

"FORTY SEVEN"

That woman, Felicity, was tireless! It was inhuman the way her arm rose and fell in answer to the Commandant's remorseless counting. It was no use! She had to watch! The window was open these days now that the weather was so sultry. Paula saw the ranks of tall, fair haired and naked women lined up to watch the evening punishments. Roberta was the third and last defaulter tonight. Bertha had received ten for a dirty foot and Rosemary had been given twelve. Roberta should be so lucky! Why did they pick on her? She wasn't that bad - except for last night! And she was brave, cool-headed and capable. Her lapses were trivial when set beside her achievements and her total loyalty. Paula sensed something gravely amiss. She wondered what Roberta was thinking - if she could think under Felicity's ferocious onslaught.

"FORTY EIGHT"

Roberta certainly knew how to take her punishment! She hadn't moved a muscle so far! All the other defaulters twitched and jerked around, but not her Roberta!

"FORTY NINE"

Yes! Her Roberta! For she had fallen hopelessly in love with the tallest of the Golden Guards on that crisp day in late winter. And Roberta had confided to her that she had been strangely affected at the time by the look in Paula's eyes as she ran past, her feet hurting and her back still on fire from her first ever flogging. And last night they had taken advantage of a ten minute break in Roberta's duties to make love. And the Commandant had burst in on them and ordered Paula out of the room. She wondered how many lashes Roberta had been awarded. No one seemed to know. She had heard that Roberta had immediately apologised for her lapse and supposed she would avoid Paula in future.

"FIFTY"

Maybe that was the last lash?

"FIFTY ONE"

Damn! That meant at least ten more. All Roberta's awards were in multiples of ten. She knew that much. Despite herself she was finding this scene quite fascinating! The whole Inner Guard was out there to see Roberta - her Roberta - pay her dues for stepping out of line. And they were a wonderful sight. And stoic bloody-backed Roberta was the bravest of them all. Everyone said that of her first female lover. She was afraid of nothing.

Paula watched with increasing admiration as Roberta received twenty more lashes on that strong back. With a shock she realised that she was becoming very sexually aroused! She wondered if Roberta was also getting off on her flogging. Could that be why she courted trouble so recklessly? Maybe she liked it! Paula felt an orgasm coming on, her hand went to her cunt and worked at it feverishly. The young maid was lost for many seconds of sheer ecstasy.

ROWENA
Rowena had seen off her three confederates and was coming back into the Palace yard. She wondered if that bitch Roberta were still getting it. She certainly hoped so! As she stepped into the yard she heard a lash crack out loud and clear as it landed on Roberta's naked back.

"EIGHTY"

Good, thought the malicious traitress. They will give her at least a hundred. Almost certainly more for fucking another woman, and in the King's own apartments. How disgusting! One of those brutal and predatory butch Guards corrupting a sweet young maid. She'd flog the cow to death if she had her way! She listened to the eightieth lash, expecting the entertainment to continue for a while yet.

"PUNISHMENT COMPLETE"

Rowena almost spat with rage! Only eighty? What the fuck was happening? She saw Felicity apply salt to the raw back. Roberta smiled and shook hands with the sweating Senior Guardswoman, who had just whipped her. She replaced her sword belt, etc., saluted the Commandant and marched smartly away to resume her duties. She had to hand it to that bitch! She was one tough cow!

She went to her bed in a foul mood. It would have rounded off her day very nicely to have seen Roberta get two hundred plus. Eighty wouldn't be nearly enough to slow that Amazon down. She'd hardly have noticed so few! No wonder she had smiled at the end!

Because of a crackdown by the Army and the cursed vigilance of that bitch Roberta the plans had been put back yet again and Rowena had many more weeks as a maid in the Queen's apartments. What a bitch the Queen was! Nag, nag, nag! She understood why the King liked to have a pair of naked young blondes about the place all day, even if they were a pair of inveterate dykes, one of whom had a back that looked like raw meat most of the time! But she could see that the Queen was less happy at Anna and Roberta seeing more of the King than she did. And he got to see everything of them - the dirty old man! After the Revolution women's bodies would never again be exploited like this. No more Golden Guard in tomorrow's bright new world!

[Harry]

THE KING
It was His Majesty who had very firmly ordered Roberta to receive only a quarter of the lashes the Commandant had wanted for the persistently re-offending young Inner Guard. He saw little, if anything, wrong with what Roberta had done this time. He laughed whenever he thought about it! Paula was a dainty and sweet little girl who worshipped the blonde muscle goddess and Roberta seemed to return her affection with something more and better than pure lust. He knew that pretty well all of the Golden Guard were far keener on their own sex than on men. Roberta was a healthy young woman - and how! - and she needed an outlet for her lust and passion.

He had decided that Paula must be assigned to Roberta on an official basis. It might help his favourite Guard get herself on an even keel and stop getting all these massive punishments. He doubted, sadly, that the high spirited and rather wayward Roberta would stay unflogged for long. Once that madam had discovered that she could withstand her whippings she had no more fear of them and would be satisfied to earn herself plenty more in pursuit of her pleasures. But the floggings might be reduced to something more acceptable. He had seen for himself how hard even she found it to cope when suffering from the after-effects of a two-hundred lash punishment. And the three-hundred and fifty the Commandant had wished to give for her dalliance with Paula would most likely have killed her - certainly put her out of action for weeks. Even Roberta had limits to her endurance.

He wondered whether the Commandant was jealous! According to rumour, she was a notoriously predatory dyke with an appetite to (almost) rival Roberta's! Perhaps she had been seeking Paula with a view to seducing her when she found to her extreme annoyance that the much younger and much stronger Roberta had got there first! Roberta had a magnificent physique and her many scars, both those acquired in battle and those received at the whipping post were quite a turn on for many impressionable young things - like Paula, for instance! And the Commandant had enjoyed a fairly easy rise to the top, being wounded only once and slightly at that. And Madam Commandant was sagging these days! Her tits and belly grew flabbier by the week! And as for her thighs! They wobbled where Roberta's rippled! In five years she would retire and that day could not come soon enough for the King!

If he could replace the Commandant today he would - with Roberta! Roberta would lead by example, always at the point of maximum danger in a battle. She would inspire the rest in the way the present incumbent never could. And she'd not dish out too many heavy floggings. She'd be fair and tolerant as far as minor offences were concerned, whilst showing no mercy to Guardswomen who really fell down on the job. There'd be less spit and polish under Roberta, but a lot more sharpness in battle. And with the responsibility she would stop fooling around. Command would be the making of her.

But his grandfather, in setting up the founding charter of the Golden Guard, had given much power to the Commandant of the day. It was not easy to replace her. Even the King could not always do as he wished. And in five years time the brave and reckless Roberta would almost certainly have long since fallen in battle.

So he called the still bleeding Roberta and the still sleepless Paula into his private office. He asked Paula to be seated. Roberta, who had been hoping for a few hours of rest, was ordered to remain standing to attention and to keep perfectly still if she knew what was good for her. She obeyed!

"How would you two like to see more of each other? Without having to sneak away for a quick bit of illicit love when you think no one is looking - which, alas for Roberta, they were last night! I am willing to sanction your sleeping together. You will have to sleep on cold stone, Paula, and with no covering for your body either in winter or summer. What do you say?"

"I love Roberta, Your Majesty. I would be proud to share the same hardships as she."

"Very well. I also expect you to assist my best Guard in maintaining her equipment and being always immaculately turned out. Keep her smart and up to the mark and she will be flogged less often - if at all. I hate to hear her being punished as much as she has been lately and I am sure you do. You are both free to go. Enjoy your first night together!"

Paula got to her feet. Roberta saluted smartly, did an about turn, and marched out of the room. Once outside they embraced, hardly able to credit their good fortune. Roberta felt only happiness and all the pain from her wounds had gone. Paula left her clothes in her own room. Soon they were in Roberta's small and bare cell. Paula lay on her back and the much larger Golden Guard lay on top of her. The stone floor was cold to her skin but the soft bulk of her muscular lover soon warmed her.

An hour before dawn Paula woke up and went to fill a bucket with water. She was still naked and wondered whether she was to stay this way all the time. She washed the now waking Roberta, making sure she was spotless for the morning inspection when she and Anna were given an appraisal far more probing than the rest of the Golden Guard. She dressed her in her few bits of equipment and saw that not one item was the slightest bit out of place. Then she kissed the long scar on the statuesque Roberta's massive right thigh. The wound went from just above her knee to her buttock.

"How did you get that wound, my darling?"

"I'll tell you the full story tonight. And now you'd best go and see about getting dressed. Unless you want to be naked like me all the time? Come to think of it you may have to be!"

"I would love to be as bare as you all day! But will the King allow it?"

"I think the question you should be asking is 'will the King allow me not to be nude!' You are attached to the Golden Guard now, as my assistant, Paula! No more clothes for you is my guess!"

And so it proved. Paula's small but comfortable room was locked and she was told that she would share Roberta's quarters from now on and be for ever naked like her new Mistress. She was assured that she would never be flogged upon her back - only caned on her dainty little buttocks in extreme cases of misconduct. This came as a relief!

Paula might thrill with pride and sensual delight as she witnessed Roberta's courage whilst being punished. It had excited her last night to think that her lover was going through all that on her account. But she knew the same experience would kill her.

That night, before they fell asleep, Roberta told Paula of the fight in which she had received the wound to her thigh. Paula was thrilled and snuggled as close as she could, biting in her excitement on Roberta's hard nipple until sharply told to stop!

"It was in the mountain territory about two hundred miles away, Paula. I had been sent out with three others to check on reports of rebel activity. We were ambushed and two of us were killed in the first seconds. The remaining two of us cut down three of the bastards and then Ellen, my surviving comrade, was also killed. That left me against seven others. I was in a good position, Paula, with my back shielded by the rocks. Only two of them could get at me at once and I gradually cut them down one by one until finally I was standing there surrounded by dead bodies, three of them my dear comrades. But I had been hurt and when I limped into our camp hours later I fainted."

"I still can't believe you love me, Roberta! A super heroine like you! I just can't believe my luck in having the bravest ever Golden Guard as my Mistress and lover. I'll always be true to you, Roberta!"

"And I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have found you, Paula. If I last until I retire, we'll spend the rest of our days living together. But that's highly unlikely. I may not even live the year out! I've been pretty lucky to last this long."

"You all take so many risks, Roberta!"

"It's our job. None of us care for our own lives, Paula. We are here to preserve the King and we know how dangerous that can be. But we will never allow harm to come to him. Not if it means all of us dying!"

In her room, the spiteful, Left Wing Republican Rowena was planning just such a universally fatal outcome. All the Guards dead and a very dead King - and his bitch of a wife!

ROBERTA AND PAULA
Roberta escaped all further punishment for seven long and very happy weeks. She accompanied the King on a trip to the troubled Northern Province and was involved in several minor scuffles, being wounded again in her shoulder. The King had given her command of all fifty Guards who accompanied him.

As he had correctly forecast, Roberta led by example and from the front. She would make sure she was always where the fighting was thickest and hardest. If only he could find a way of placing her in full command of the entire Golden Guard. But the Commandant was immovable.

Paula had pleaded to be allowed to go with her beloved Mistress and her request had finally been granted. She proved to be invaluable as a general help to all the Guards, cooking, cleaning and repairing damaged equipment. And at night, when Roberta was free, she was enfolded by those massively strong arms. Although she was so strong, Roberta was incredibly gentle when she embraced Paula. It thrilled the little girl to think that the hands that caressed her so gently had squeezed the life out of so many of the King's enemies!

"Why do they let me treat your wound, Roberta?" she asked her one evening as she was applying a herbal salve to her Mistress's shoulder. "Yet when you were whipped you were denied treatment?"

"This is a wound of honour, Paula. But when I am whipped it is another matter! Part of the punishment is that those wounds get absolutely no treatment at all - apart from the salt they rub in! It's so good to be honourably wounded for a change after so many wounds of dishonour! I'll never go out of my way to be whipped again, Paula. You're looking at a reformed character!"

"So you did like it, Roberta! At least you sort of liked it. I wondered! I sort of liked it, too - seeing you being punished. Made me go all wet! Sick - eh?"

"Maybe, Paula! But my spell as a chronic defaulter is over! And, as you say, it might have hurt like hell but in a way it was fun while it lasted!"

By the time the tour was over, no Guards had been killed. Only Roberta had been wounded and thirty rebels were slain. Rowena cursed the fair Roberta and she cursed this little naked maid who had so providentially come to Roberta's rescue, giving her the emotional stability she needed to rise to the very top.

Something must be done to get that cow out of the way - permanently!

Chapter 3
PAULA: ALONE AND VOLUNTARILY CHILLY!
Paula shivered in the November cold. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but winter seemed to have started early this year! Much earlier than last year. But, of course, last year she had been wearing her warm winter coat. She was standing, breathless, at the top of the hill which overlooked her Uncle's house below and the grim and forbidding shape of Hell's Island Prison for Women, just visible through the dank mists, in the distance. She shivered from more than just the premature winter cold as she stared at that grim piece of rock. And the tears in her eyes were caused by more than just the keen wind.

Her revered and beloved Roberta was over there! She had been on that bleak island since late July, serving a sentence of imprisonment with regular mandatory whippings and ultra hard labour for the remainder of her natural life. If she lived to be eighty, she would still be receiving the same harsh treatment that she was getting at this very minute! Poor unjustly imprisoned Roberta! Paula would give anything to be by her side and sharing her undeserved misfortunes!

Paula still considered herself to be Roberta's servant and thus an auxiliary of the Golden Guard. For this reason she was still naked - hence her extreme discomfort in the cold weather. The King, who had no reason to suspect Paula of any wrongdoing and who still liked her, had given her permission to remain unclothed if she so wished.

"If it makes the poor girl happy, after losing her friend and lover in such a terrible way, then what harm can it do," he had said.

Then the King had sent her to her Uncle's to recover from the distress of seeing Roberta's formal degradation and huge flogging, which as an auxiliary member of the Guard, she had been obliged to watch, lined up with all the other members of the Golden Guard as Roberta had been brought up from the dungeon, already more dead than alive after being tortured for many hours. They had brought Paula especially back from her uncle's, where she had been at the time, to be made to watch.

As a disgraced Golden Guard, Roberta had been hung upside down, after having her head shaved. She had then been whipped by four other Guards, all aiming at her back from different angles and each giving her a hundred lashes. It was a ghastly ordeal even for Roberta, the toughest of the tough. They had cut her to the bone a hundred times long before they had finished with her and a half-demented Roberta had screamed for mercy long before the end. But she had been so weak by that time that no one had heard - not that it would have made any difference if they could.

That ordeal had left her unconscious and hovering between life and death for six days. But, to everyone's surprise, she had recovered strongly thereafter and she had finally been considered fit enough to start her sentence after ten more days. The Commandant had thought that the horrible punishment would surely have killed her, and such had been her intention and fervent hope. But Roberta was strong and had survived - just. Her continuing survival still gave the Commandant sleepless nights, even if she were safely marooned for all time on a barren rock surrounded by swirling tides and fierce currents.

Despite her amazing recovery she was no longer the old Roberta, but a broken and chastened wreck, convinced by her tormentors that she must in some way be guilty even if she had no idea how or why.

Paula was already at her Uncle's house, still sobbing dementedly for hours at a time, when Roberta had been sent off to start her life sentence. She had thus not been there to see her friend escorted out of the Palace, shuffling in clanking chains, naked still, but with her golden hair no more than a stubble after it had been ritually shaved off. After leaving the Palace and the city behind her, Roberta still had ahead of her the ordeal of walking the entire twenty miles to the port from which she was to be embarked. This ordeal was made infinitely worse by the fact that as a parting gesture from the Golden Guard, Roberta had been badly whipped on the soles of her feet,

Paula had seen her, loaded with chains and hobbling painfully, pass by her Uncle's cottage, escorted by a troop of her former colleagues, a bowed, fallen and tragically shrunken figure compared to the imperious Golden Guard who had run past this very spot a few short months ago.

She had wept to see this once proud figure, surrounded by contemptuous former comrades, being pushed, prodded and struck on all parts of her bruised body as a way of encouraging her to keep moving, stumbling and staggering the last few painful yards to the port. But she made it all the way, which nobody had thought she would.

Paula had heard from friends who worked at the port how Roberta had collapsed as she reached the boat and been unceremoniously thrown into the hold with the cargo. She did not blame the escort for their cruelty. The people who had put her through this were not the escorting Guards, who honestly thought her a traitor, but those who had so foully blackened her reputation and robbed her of her good name, and with it all she held most precious. For Roberta prized honour above all.

Paula refused to believe Roberta to be guilty. She had made it plain to everyone that she still stood by her Mistress, but her words had been dismissed as mere blind loyalty. No one else had ever had the slightest doubt, even though it had chiefly been the dying words of that treacherous maid Rowena that had condemned her to any more than a severe flogging. Roberta would most certainly have got the flogging in any case for the cardinal sin of losing her weapons.

Rowena had let seven fellow conspirators into the Queen's apartments. Anna had given the alarm and frantically ordered the King and Queen into a corner where she could the better protect them. In a fierce struggle she had killed four of the intruders. The King, insisting on fighting side by side with Anna, had killed two. The remaining one had fled and was still at large. Rowena had thrown a knife, taken from the corpse of one of the assailants, at the King. But Anna moving with incredible speed had thrown herself in front of him and taken the knife in her belly. The mortally wounded Anna had fatally injured the evil Rowena before dying herself.

When Roberta had been found, she was asleep and her sword, bow and arrows were not with her. Allowing herself to be disarmed was serious enough, of course. That alone would have got her dismissed in disgrace after an upside down flogging. But Rowena, in almost her dying breath, had named Roberta as the Golden Guard who had helped her smuggle her co-conspirators into the Royal Apartments. Paula had been away at the time, having been given leave for a few days to visit her Uncle, who had been unwell.

It was clear that someone in the Golden Guard must have been in league with Rowena. All the signs pointed to Roberta. Even the King, who loved her dearly by this time, had been constrained to agree that she must be punished by perpetual imprisonment of the harshest kind.

During her brutal interrogation and torture immediately after the incident, Roberta had seemed evasive and confused. She had been beaten savagely over her whole body and especially so about the groin area, scorched with hot irons and stretched on the rack until her joints cracked. When they had tired of this, they had secured her hands behind her and hung her from her feet, attached to a mechanism that slowly lowered and as slowly raised her, head first, into a tank of freezing cold water. Her head would be underwater for many long seconds, running into minutes until she was raised, gasping and spluttering, just in time to stop her drowning. She scarcely had time to draw breath before the mechanism sent her back down into the bath again. This went on for hours. The Head Torturer was very proud of this piece of equipment, which had only recently been installed. Roberta's interrogation was his first opportunity to play with his latest toy!

Through all these horrors - and more - she had scarcely seemed to know or care what was happening to her. After twelve hours they had given up on her and had then handed what was left of the poor girl, after their grisly work, over to the Commandant of the Golden Guard to sentence and punish. Both punishment and sentence were foregone conclusions.

Nobody had believed her when she said that she had gone to her quarters with her sword, bow and quiver by her side. The whole excuse that she had mysteriously been robbed was seen as nonsense. She had clearly handed her weapons to be used by one of the conspirators and gone to her room and slept through what she hoped would be her royal master's murder. But Anna had been too good for them - as had the King, who had helped save himself and his wife from certain death.

But Roberta had chosen Anna to be her fellow Personal Guard. Paula, who was going over the entire horrible episode for the millionth time. She found this the strongest objection to the charges against her. Roberta had considered that quiet and devoted girl to have been the most fitted of all the Golden Guard to be her companion. And Anna had been almost superhuman that night, more than justifying the trust Roberta had placed in her! Her family had been richly rewarded and would never be in want as long as they and their descendants lived! If Roberta were a traitor, she would hardly have chosen as her colleague such a skilled fighter, such an epic heroine, as Anna. Because Roberta was a superb judge of her comrades' abilities.

And the idea that Roberta would have handed her prized weapons to anyone else was nonsense. Paula had seen a thousand times, just how highly her Mistress prized them. And they had never been found. Paula had a pretty good idea where to look for them. She had been thinking these events every second of every day for the past five months.

She ran, barefooted and naked, down the hill and back up again three times. For whatever reason, Paula wanted to be ready for anything she might need to do in order to help the toiling and disgraced Roberta. She might not be able to match her friend in terms of size and strength but she wanted to be as fit as the tallest and bravest of the Golden Guard.

Because she was utterly determined that Roberta would not rot on that island for ever. By some means, that innocent girl, still only twenty years old, must be rescued! The very idea was too awful to contemplate that she should not be! She might be home sooner than anyone thought possible! And Paula intended to be the one who got her back from the dead, her honour vindicated and every last one of her enemies punished a hundred times more horribly than Roberta had been.

Another consideration was that all this violent exercise helped warm her up! Roberta and her comrades' bodies had all been well hardened by years of exposure to all weathers, but Paula had enjoyed a normal sheltered upbringing and her first winter without clothes promised to be a very testing time for her. But she was determined to stick it out. Her nudity was her one remaining link with her beloved Roberta.

About to go into her Uncle's house, she saw the same sight as in late February, half an age ago. The King's carriage, with its escort of naked blonde beauties was coming her way. It must be that His Majesty was on his way to the hunting lodge.

Paula was surprised. Rebel activity was at one of its periodic high points just lately and that Lodge was terribly hard to protect. There were a hundred places a sniper might use for cover. It had taken Roberta all her best efforts to stop the King being attacked the last time he had been there. Without his best Guard he was taking a very serious risk!

The carriage drew nearer and nearer. Once again she saw the magnificent team of horses and the eighteen running Guards, all of whom she knew and liked by this time. They were all her friends except for two.

She hated that despicable and incompetent Bertha. And she didn't trust the Commandant. Paula had never understood the respect Roberta had had for that woman. She understood that the King wanted her out and Roberta put in her place.

This would be the first glimpse Paula had had of His Majesty since she had seen him looking from a window at Roberta's degradation and near fatal flogging. The look on his face on that day had almost made Paula forgive him for what he was allowing to be done. He had been weeping and had turned away, unable to look at what they were doing to Roberta.

To Paula's surprise the carriage slowed down as it neared her house. Finally it stopped and the King climbed down, helped out by two Guards, Rosemary and Charlotte. Paula guessed that these were His Majesty's replacements for Roberta and poor dead, heroic Anna. Not a bad choice! Next to the original pair, they were the ones Paula would have chosen.

"Paula! I came especially to see you! May we come in to your Uncle's house?” Paula knelt before him.

"Your Majesty is welcome. Our house is honoured by your presence, Sir!"

"Get up, please, my dear! We're old friends, you and I! No need to kneel! Get those pretty knees off those sharp stones at once! Let's go inside!"

The King, Rosemary, Charlotte and Paula went inside.

PAULA: BACK AT WORK (AND ON THE JOB)
An hour later Paula was on her way back to the Palace. She’d asked to be allowed to run beside the carriage and surprised everyone by keeping up with the other Golden Guards all the way back!

The King had reinstated her as an active assistant to the Guard. She was told once again that she need not fear ever being flogged on her back. But there was always the remote possibility of the very occasional caning.

"But you are so good, Paula and so capable, that you need have no fears about that sweet bottom ever being made red," said the King.

"Except when you pinch it, Your Majesty," she didn't say!

But she guessed, rightly, that he would not be able to keep his hands off those sweet rounded buttocks for long! She only hoped she'd be able to fend off Bertha and the Commandant, both of whom were becoming more predatory and insatiable by the day!

It was all in a good cause, though. Now that she was back in the Palace and the Golden Guard's quarters, she could try to work out exactly what had happened and just precisely how Roberta had been framed.

It proved easy enough to rebuff the Commandant, who had long lusted after her, and had come to be beside herself with desire once petite Paula's exciting buttocks had become bare for all to see. She had gnashed her teeth in a horrible paroxysm of blind and primitive rage night after night when the King had sanctioned her affair with Roberta.

"What a shame that you and I cannot be lovers, Madam Commandant," said Paula the first time that the Chief Golden Guard's hot and clammy hand had stroked her flawless posterior's delectable hemispheres! "But we are too much apart in rank and it would ruin your career if anything ever came out about us!"

The Commandant had taken to heart this far from subtle hint that Paula would make sure any impropriety got to reach the King's ears. So from that day on her lust had turned to hate. Despite the King's solemn assurance to the contrary, Paula was up before the Commandant on a succession of petty charges and her sweet little buttocks were blistered and made extremely red many times, thanks to the Commandant being on her back day in and day out.

But Paula, like Roberta before her, pretty soon found that the pain was not only bearable, but actually almost pleasant. A special caning frame was erected especially for Paula and a few other auxiliaries recruited by other Guards anxious for pretty assistants and lovers. She was bent almost double with her bottom high in the air and ready to receive the swishy cane. She came to love the sound of it whooshing down upon her! Many were the delightful orgasms Paula experienced as the cane swished through the air and landed with a satisfying cracking sound on her bare arse!

Three months into her resumed service, Paula noticed, with some regret, that her punishments were getting fewer and lesser. After four months they ceased altogether. The King had finally tired of the Commandant's sexual sadism and ordered her to leave the little girl alone - or else! Paula knew His Majesty meant well and was grateful up to a point - but she still wished that he would mind his own business and get on with running the country, as if that wasn't enough for him to be doing in these difficult times!

And if Paula were to find someone else to spank her, the King would start asking questions again. By this time he had become very possessive where Paula and her adorable bum cheeks were concerned, following their sweetly undulating progress about the Palace and its environs with increasing appreciative ness. He made it very plain that he wanted to see no marks whatsoever on this particular posterior - unless they were of his making! So her bottom, whilst crying out for more lovely swishing, pain-filled cuts of a lustily wielded and painfully flexible stick, was forced to cry out in vain! Poor pain-denied bottom!

Bertha was less easy to fend off - a whole lot less easy. Finally Paula decided to swallow her pride (and much else besides) and allow herself to be taken by the ravenous and sexually insatiable Golden Guard one night in late January, with the wind howling and the snow falling outside. Paula thought of Roberta, possibly outside in that awful weather, and told herself that all this was only being done in order to help her to recover her liberty and her honour. She dutifully forced her head between those mighty thighs and plunged her tongue deep into Bertha's vagina. As she did so, she reminded herself that she was only doing it for her friend and Mistress's liberty.

As she tasted the succulent juices of Bertha's incredibly hairy and phenomenally large cunt for the first time she was forced to admit that Roberta had had a point when she had once described the experience as a gourmet's delight to be ranked right up there among the very best!

There was at least one thing this useless piece of shit was good at! She certainly knew how to give a girl a good time! Soon she was enthusiastically throwing herself into this surprisingly enjoyable aspect of her role of double agent, becoming yet another Golden Guard's toy.

Despite the increasingly strenuous and guiltily pleasurable activities in which she and Bertha participated, she kept her eyes and ears open at all times. She began to see and hear a lot!

Notwithstanding Bertha's astounding proficiency as a lover, Paula came increasingly to despise her failings as a human being. And she was ever more amazed at each succeeding demonstration of her incompetence. Bertha still found herself on the whipping platform with great regularity, but she never got more that ten or twelve lashes at a time these days. Roberta would have collected many times that for the things that useless arsehole Bertha was always being pulled up for. How had she ever been allowed to enrol in the first place? And why, oh why, had she not been kicked out on her ear months ago?

[Harry]

ROBERTA: WORKING EXTREMELY HARD
The fort at the island's summit was where the Royal officials in charge of the prison lived. None of the prisoners ever got to visit those luxurious apartments. Roberta soon discovered that the prisoners lived at night in a prison building on the seaward side of the Island. There was a yard in the middle of this prison building, overlooked by row after row of tiny barred windows. Roberta was not put in a cell, but chained to an iron ring in the yard. Her still naked body was never to know shelter from the elements.

The prisoners spent their days in a series of quarries, breaking chunks of rock away from the hillside and reducing them to rubble. A lot of the work was dangerous and all of it was arduous. Roberta had all of the most dangerous jobs, as well as the most arduous.

At the same time that Paula was looking across from her own vantage point on the mainland, a still physically formidable but mentally cowed Roberta brought the heavy hammer down on the rock again. Splinters flew off in all directions. A crack appeared and she knew her efforts were being rewarded. Once again she lifted the twenty-pound metal-headed wooden hammer and brought it back down hard on the boulder, which split neatly in two. This was the twentieth rock she had demolished in this four hour shift and there were at least thirty more lined up for her attention. She was dripping with sweat, despite the freezing temperature.

She resisted the temptation to pause and wipe the sweat off her face - that would get her a free whipping! After her appalling near fatal experiences she had got more than a little tired of being whipped, even though she had once almost enjoyed it - and she was due to be given one in a day or two in any case. Once more, for the hundredth time, she sent the hammer crashing into the rock. When it was reduced to manageable fragments, her fellow prisoners would have the task of gathering up the stones and taking them to the harbour, where they were used for adding to the fortifications.

Roberta was an ace with the hammer! She went on and on for hours - four hours at a time - raising it high above her head, her arms as high as they would go and her muscles standing out like ropes, and bringing it down hard on the rock. Now that it was November and the days were shorter, she worked here in the quarry for just under ten hours each day and it would be even less than that soon, before her days of toil lengthened again with the new year. Back in late July when she had first been put to work after a miraculous recovery from atrocious torture and a near fatal whipping, she had worked fifteen hours each day, amazing the overseers by her tireless capacity for hard and back-breaking work.

She wanted to do well at her work, as this might make up for some of the wrong she had done. She was a traitor - so they said. And she had certainly lost her sword and bow, which was a bad enough offence in all conscience! She had disgraced herself - just when she had thought she had turned the corner and become a responsible Golden Guard and future Commandant. (The King had dropped more than just the odd hint concerning his hopes for her future!)

The exact details of what had happened were still hazy in her mind - a mind still reeling from the knowledge that she must end her days sweating in this barren hell on earth. There were other women who had been here for many years now and were still being brutally worked both hard and long, even though they were old and bent with extreme age. In this place you worked until you dropped. And she had seen a few old crones keel over and die in the last few months. But they, like her, were the King's enemies and deserved no better.

But she loved her King! She had been brought up to serve him to the death if need be. Year after year, day in and day out, it had been dinned into her that her life was hers only to devote to protecting the King and that she must be glad at any time to sacrifice it for him. All her training for eight years had been to make her a Golden Guard. How could she have sunk so low? She lifted the heavy hammer again and started on another large boulder. Soon that was reduced to tiny fragments. She was getting good at this! In twenty years she would be even better, but after that she would most likely tail off!

When she had actually met her Sovereign Lord the King she had come to know him as a man and not as some idealised focus of loyalty. And she had liked him straight away. The more she had seen of him as a flesh and blood human being, the more utterly devoted to him she had become. Roberta knew that her regard was returned by her royal master and that, but for him, her whippings would have been far more horrific even than those she had endured. And finally, in an effort to help her avoid further pain and straighten her out, he had given her Paula to live with and love. But she had still let him down and, thanks to her negligence, Anna, that finest and noblest of young women, was dead. She wished she could join Anna!

However much Roberta might despair and however much she might desire to die, there was something inside her that told her she might still have something to offer her King. Despite being here for all her days there might, even in this desolation, it might be an opportunity for her to redeem herself. So she slaved away all day and every day, setting herself and achieving more and more awesome targets.

When it became too dark to work outside she would be taken back, loaded with chains, to the prison yard. There, with flaming torches lighting the grim rectangle, she would be placed chained to a treadmill and made to work it for five hours until finally allowed to sleep, still chained, for seven hours. At dawn she would be fed and watered and made to work on the mill until light. Then back in chains to the quarry.

At the quarry her manacles would be removed and she would be handed whatever implement was to be hers for the day. Whatever it was, it would be heavy and she would wield it as though it were no lighter than the proverbial feather. She would work hard for four hours and get a two minute break to eat and drink. Then four more hours hard work. It was cold now, but Roberta still sweated all day. At night she was too dog tired to notice the cold!

If she had thought of escape, not that there was anywhere to escape to, the day period was her only chance. But there were never less than five guards, all armed with bows and all watching her closely every second. And her taskmaster stood close to her, his whip always ready to punish any real or imagined slackness. There had never been any real, but plenty of imagined slackness. For the taskmaster had a vivid imagination! Some days she collected as many as thirty slashes across her strong shoulders. For a girl who had shrugged off hundreds of lashes, laid on far better than this man could even begin to lay them on, this was no more than a fleabite!

Once every three months she was flogged in front of all the other prisoners. This was something that had been decreed at the time she was sentenced, still confused and bewildered by the sudden horror of all that was going on around her. She was to receive fifty lashes, plus any awards that had been incurred as a result of offences against prison rules since her last flogging. So far she had received flogging number one and no extra lashes had been added. Because she was a woman her lashes were given to her by a woman prisoner. This lady would be full of hate for Roberta (for reasons that will become clear later) but had no skill and no strength. The woman hardly managed to break her tough skin, even when nearing the end of the punishment.

Her next public flogging was due for the day after next and she welcomed the break from the deadly monotony! The procedure was different these days. No longer was Roberta trusted to remain still without being secured. Each foot was tied to a rail, parallel to the ground and her arms tied to a cross beam at the top of the whipping frame so that the victim was spread eagled. She was suspended from the ground until the ordeal was over. But she didn't suffer such grievous pain as she had when a proud Golden Guard. Poor Roberta would give a great deal to return to her former proud status - mammoth whippings and all.

Soon the light began to fail. Her legs were manacled and her hands chained behind her back. Slowly and awkwardly she shuffled the mile back to the yard where she was to spend the night. A few jeers and hoots of derision came from the cell windows as the other woman, free from work until daybreak, saw the despised Roberta, still naked, chained to the treadmill to begin her long hours of hard labour. She slept like a log when they finally fed her and left her for a few precious and all too brief hours sleep. Sadly she reflected that she could take maybe forty more years of this before succumbing. Roberta had been built to last!

The next day passed much as usual and then it was time for the flogging! When she woke up on this day, there was almost a sort of joy in her heart. It was as if she were back in the Golden Guards and preparing to pay the penalty for yet another of her idiotic escapades by being flayed once more by Senior Guardswoman Felicity. Then she remembered where she was - and why- and gloom and shame returned.

As she had expected, there were no lashes to add to her fifty. The broken-spirited Roberta was a very good girl these days. The other women were herded into the yard, gratefully released from their duties to see a disgraced enemy of the King being given part of her continuing punishment. The female they chose this time was better than the one who had seen to her three months ago - but not a lot! Even the most bitter of Roberta's enemies conceded that she was a very brave young woman as her back was criss-crossed with red marks and she kept totally still. They had all been punished this way themselves often enough and not one could have taken fifty lashes without moving and crying out towards the end.

If only they had known how much worse she had endured earlier in the year, and would willingly endure again if she had the chance to go back!

She prayed for the chance to be given the task of whipping a defaulter herself one day. She'd show them how it ought to be done! And she despised them as much as they all hated her. Then it was over, too soon for all concerned, including Roberta, and all went back to work.

November gave way to December and December to January. January saw the first serious snowfall and the quarry was closed, not out of consideration for the naked Roberta and the other prisoners, but because the prison staff disliked the discomfort. Roberta operated her treadmill all day and surprised everybody except herself by still being alive each frosty morning.

February was a rainy month and also the time for her third fifty lash flogging. She hardly felt a thing. Roberta's long hair, now that it had grown back again, was perpetually soaked. At least it was clean when it rained! In the height of summer when it hardly rained for months on end, her hair was indescribably dirty what with all the dust.

March came and went and her day lengthened. The treadmill began to give way to the quarry. The winter frosts had opened up many cracks on the quarry face and Roberta was sent up the dangerously unstable cliff face to hammer away at the surface, sending huge boulders crashing down to the quarry floor. Her wish to be swept away in a landslide was not granted. It seemed that she had some sort of charmed life.

Except that Roberta would have called herself cursed. Doomed to live like this for maybe another fifty years, becoming bent and withered like so many of the older women. And, frail and withered or not, she'd still get her quarterly whippings!

May came and with it flogging number four, which was given by the strongest of the women and stung a lot more than the first three. As ever there were cheers as she was secured to the frame and fresh cheers every time the whip struck her. When this woman started drawing blood from Roberta's broad back, and in appreciable quantities after the thirtieth lash, the result was near hysteria! The flogger took a bow at the end and walked off to tumultuous applause.

May, a dry and hot month, finally gave way to June which was hotter still. Roberta was toiling for eighteen hours a day in the pitiless heat.

At night she was allowed to sleep in a hut near the quarry. Since there was nowhere to run, Roberta was allowed to sleep unchained and unsupervised. She was so docile these days that one of the guards, Raymond, had dubbed her "The Gentle Giant".

Other prisoners, if they were near enough, would throw stones at her, often hitting her and making her bleed, but she carried on working as though nothing had happened. Those who had known the fearsome warrior of a year ago would scarcely be able to recognise her in this cowed and obedient prisoner. They might have noticed, though, that her body was as incredible as ever! She was still a muscle goddess!

Then one day as she had finally finished her work and was eating her disgusting meal, she saw a familiar small figure being led towards her in the fading light. Like her, the newcomer was nude. Unlike her she was small and dark haired. And she was not chained! And the guard escorting her seemed to be treating her with some respect and consideration, pointing out the best way to avoid tripping up over the rough ground.

It was Paula! Her darling Paula.

Chapter 4
"What are you doing in this dreadful place, Paula?"

Roberta could hardly believe it was her darling Paula who had just loomed up out of the gloom., She had a vague memory of having last seen her when she was watching her being flogged to death - or so the subsequently disappointed Commandant had hoped - almost exactly one year ago.

"I have been sent here by the King for a few weeks. I did him a favour and asked that I be allowed to see you. I shall be staying in one of the apartments in the Castle mostly, although I can come and see you as long as I don't make love to you. He will increase your whippings as a kind of payment for seeing me. My company will perhaps make things easier for you, so you must pay by having your conditions made worse in other ways. He is only doing this for me, Roberta - not for you. He still considers you to be a traitor. Do you agree to having seventy lashes in future, once every month instead of fifty every three months? This will be for keeps, Roberta - not just for a month or two, but for the rest of your life. It's for you to decide."

"I don't care how many extra lashes I get. It's just so wonderful to see you. How long will you be here for?"

"A few weeks. No longer. His Majesty likes to see me around the place these days - especially now the poor Queen is so ill."

"You seem to have done pretty well for yourself, darling! I am glad for you! And a few more lashes are neither here nor there. I don't enjoy my whippings like I used to in the good old days, but I still have no fear of pain."

"Good. You may leave us alone for a while, Raymond! We have a lot to talk about after a year apart. You know how we women are!"

As soon as they were alone, tears started flowing down Roberta's face and she started shaking and sobbing.

SLAP! SLAP!! SLAP!!

Paula amazed the prisoner by slapping her hard on the face many times. The sobs ceased.

"That's better! I was so ashamed of you! Crying like a baby! Really Roberta! What ever became of the bravest and best of the Golden Guard?"

"That nice guard, Raymond was telling me how quiet you are these days. He knows of your brave exploits, Roberta and can hardly believe someone like you can be so broken spirited. Why are you still like this? It's been a year, Roberta! You've had plenty of time to get over all that!"

"A year! It might seem a long time for you Paula, but for me it's just the start of a very long road. I may live this life that is no life for forty or even fifty more years. I, who was born and trained to fight hard and to die young and gloriously in battle! You have no idea what it is to rot here and know yourself to be a traitor like me - full of shame and self hate!"

"Traitor - rubbish. You are no traitor, Roberta! I have spent the last six months and more, a considerable part of it with my face stuck not entirely unwillingly up Bertha's large and exceedingly juicy cunt, proving it to my complete satisfaction. You were drugged, Roberta. Something was put into your evening meal. I know who supplied the potion and I know who put it into your drink that night. And you must go back to the Palace and unmask her! Then go and get your glorious death - if that's what you really want! Speaking for myself I'd opt for the glory without the death!"

"And how do you propose that I do that? Are you going to put me in your trunk and take me back on the boat with you in a few weeks? I hardly think they will take too kindly to that! These people weren't born fucking yesterday, Paula!"

"No. You must swim back to the mainland. It's not that far. You can easily see the land from here. You CAN swim, I hope?"

"Very well indeed. We were trained to excel in all forms of physical activity. I was the best of my intake at everything - especially swimming. But that stretch of sea is impossible even for the strongest swimmer. You should know. Your family come from the coast opposite. How many corpses have been washed up of idiots who thought they could make it? Dozens. And how many succeeded. Fucking nobody!"

"Not impossible for you, my dear! Remember this. Don't fight the current. Use it to carry you away from the island and try gradually to edge yourself towards land. I estimate that you will come ashore twenty miles northwest of my Uncle's cottage. You'll be tired and need a day to rest up.

"There is a cape that juts out like two fingers. On the shore to the east of it is a simple fisherman's hut, full of nets and other gear. It's been deserted for years. I have left clothes and food for you there. You are big for a woman so I have left men's clothes. I know it will pain you to cover that noble and hardy body but it is for the King and his safety. For he is still in danger, Roberta and you must save him. You are his Chief Protectress still!"

"I am under observation all the time, Paula. I may not be watched too closely at night these days because after eighteen hours work I only wish to sleep and am fit for nothing else. I can hardly keep my eyes open as it is, even with the pleasure of being with you again so unexpectedly. As soon as it is light they will be here to rouse me and put me to work. I work very hard!"

"I know how hard you work, Roberta! I have been watching you all day. It must be pretty grim for you in this heat! I felt tired and very thirsty just watching!"

"I can take it, Paula. A Golden Guard is trained to endure infinitely worse hardship than this!"

"I'm sure! One thing I noticed. The other women seem to really hate you. Why is this"?

"They are all rebels, Paula. As a Golden Guard, even a disgraced one, they would be bound to hate me. At first some of them were willing to be friendly. But as soon as I made clear to them my total remorse at what I had done and my continuing love for the King, they turned against me to a woman!"

"Well, next time one of them throws a stone at you, throw one back. And as for remorse! Remorse for what! You did nothing wrong, Roberta. Don't take that shit from then any more! Even if they punish you, you mustn't let them treat you like that without fighting back!

"I am serious, Roberta! You are totally innocent of all the charges they made. That evil bitch Rowena lied about you when she made that dying accusation. You've simply got to start believing in yourself again. And you start as of now!"

"I lost my weapons, Paula. There can be no doubt about that!"

"Because your food and drink had been poisoned, Roberta. You are a very light sleeper. I, who slept so happily by your side for those wonderful weeks know just how light! Nobody could have disarmed you if you had not been deeply drugged. What do you remember of that night?

"Very little, Paula. I was due to join Anna on duty in the Queen's apartment. We were to overlap for four hours and I was to escort the King and Queen to their bedchamber and be on duty outside all night. I had my supper.

"Next thing I recall was that I was being dragged down to the cellars by a half dozen of the Guard and given over to the Chief Torturer. Charming man! Good to his wife and family and kind to animals! He wasn't kind to me, though!

"I was tortured for a long time. But all appeared to be happening such a long way away. Even when they were dipping me into the cold water and nearly drowning me it seemed like it was someone else they were doing it to."

"When did you start to feel more connected to reality, Roberta?"

"When they hung me upside down and started whipping me. I knew I was in the deepest possible disgrace to be punished like that. I felt total despair at that moment. Then I remember nothing until I was conscious again and told I was to be imprisoned here for the rest of my life."

"And all these months you have continued to believe yourself guilty? When you must have known all along that you did no wrong? Well, you had better start believing differently from now on! I haven't come to this arsehole of the universe for the sake of my health, Roberta!"

"Please leave me for now, Paula. I need to sleep. Tomorrow is the longest day of the year. I shall be nearly nineteen hours at work and I need rest. And I need to think. My mind is in quite a state after what you have said. Are you sure about what all this? You're not just trying to make me feel better. You have proof?"

"I have enough proof to satisfy me. And you must produce the proof that will satisfy the King and everyone else. Good night my darling!"

Paula went up to her quarters, guided by Raymond, who tried his best to ignore the fact that this guest, here by permission of the King himself, was very naked and very pretty. He kept his hands off that luscious flesh but only after a massive exercise of self restraint. He only got to look at one other naked woman these days and that was Roberta, who did not attract him as powerfully as Paula did.

Paula was small and flawless in every way, but Roberta had been wounded several times. There was an ugly scar on her right thigh and one across her stomach, both souvenirs of deadly fighting as a Golden Guard. Her back was a ghastly mess after all the floggings she had been given during the past eighteen months. And there were the burn scars on her chest where the torturers had branded her so horribly painfully a year ago. She might be strong and have a wonderful physique, but she was hardly a beauty these days, although her face was still lovely as well as her golden hair which once more reached almost to her waist.

He was tremendously impressed by Roberta, though. Her strength was more than just physical. He knew of her incredible record in her first year as a Reserve Guard and that she had been marked for a high position, eventually succeeding the Commandant. Then she had started to go completely off the rails, being awarded several incredible floggings before seemingly abandoning her wild behaviour for a time and then betraying her King and her colleague Anna, who had been left to die, fighting against seven intruders that she, Roberta, had let into the Queen's apartments by some kind of arrangement with a maid called Rowena.

He still found Roberta's treachery hard to fathom out and was more than half inclined to wonder if a mistake had not been made. He kept these doubts to himself.

Paula sensed that Raymond might be sympathetic to Roberta. It might be useful to get to know him a little better. And his uniform was very tight fitting about the groin area. She saw that Raymond was very well endowed there. Here might be an opportunity both to broaden her experience and see if he might be willing to help get Roberta off the island. She guessed he would be unable to do much, but it was worth trying.

"Feel like a chat before going to your room, Raymond? I kept you waiting while I caught up with Roberta's sad story this last year. Maybe I can make up for that!"

The pair talked for hours until Raymond finally went to his own rather bare room, leaving Paula to snatch a few hours sleep.

One of the things Raymond had said was that Roberta was to be whipped the day after tomorrow. If her friend took her advice and retaliated next time a stone was tossed in the general direction of her head, this would mean extra lashes. Raymond said twenty extra.

"Ninety lovely lashes!" moaned Paula as she writhed on her bed, feverishly massaging her cunt. "I can hardly wait!"

ROBERTA
Her mind seethed with all manner of thoughts. Was Paula being serious? She remembered eating a meal brought up from the kitchens by one of the servants on that horrible night. Had Paula not been visiting her uncle, she would have fetched the meal. Who had brought it to her? It was just far too long ago to remember. And the turmoil she had been plunged into only a few hours later had caused all the events of that day to be confused inextricably in her mind.

But she was Roberta! She was the cleverest of all the Golden Guard. Must concentrate. But she was too tired to think. If she got tired during the day, they would punish her. So Roberta put all thoughts out of her mind and slept.

PAULA
"Do you wish to speak with Roberta again today?" asked Raymond in the morning.

He and Paula were sitting in the dining hall, being waited on by a couple of the more privileged prisoners.

"I think I'd like to see around the island first. We mustn't interfere with the work the convicts do!"

Later on she was escorted around the island. It was certainly a grim place! There seemed to be hardly a blade of grass or a green shoot anywhere in the entire area. It was just a bare rock rising up out of the sea. In the fierce summer heat the ground under her bare feet was scorching hot. Paula could not think of a more desolate place to work for even a few months, let alone live in servitude for the rest of one's life.

Raymond showed her the well from which the water supply was raised. He told her that the winch was operated at night in the very early hours, by a team of three prisoners, who then transported the water tanks to the cellars in time for the coming day. Apparently this nocturnal duty was one that prisoners greatly desired to be on, being extremely light in comparison to the work in the quarry, which was back-breaking and the very worst place to be sent. Roberta had been in the quarry since Day One and would never work anywhere else even if she lived to be a hundred.

It was quickly apparent to the observant Paula that nobody could possibly hope to get to the port and board a boat without being seen and stopped. The tiny jetty was only accessible through a narrow gap in the rocks and was covered by several dozen soldiers, all of whom looked to be extremely vigilant. Raymond told her they were instructed to shoot to kill if any prisoner tried to reach the port.

"Has anyone ever tried," asked Paula.

"Yes. People get pretty desperate after a year or two here! They'll try anything to get away! Even the staff members are glad to be finished with their tours of duty! I'm going home in five months and believe me, it can't be soon enough!"

"Do you have a girl on the mainland, Raymond?"

He looked for the hundredth time at that trim body. He did have a girl on the mainland, but she was nothing like Paula. She was over thirty and somewhat obese.

"Yes. I am married, Paula."

"I am single, Raymond. As an auxiliary to the Golden Guard, I only have the bodies of other women to comfort me. Sometimes I regret this. Like now, for instance."

Paula giggled and moved closer to her escort. She looked down at his tunic and smiles inwardly. He was obviously one very frustrated young man!

[Harry]

"Let's go and see Roberta working, shall we? I think she might be slacking today. Just a feeling. We can't have the most evil of the King's enemies getting it easy!"

Raymond once more assisted Paula over the rough ground, putting his arm around that exciting naked body at one stage. His had felt the touch of her breast, firm and warm against it. More excitement!

"Golly, Raymond! Something's growing down there," tittered Paula. Paula was getting slightly excited herself. But her excitement was caused by the prospect of seeing Roberta sweating as she did a job most men would find killing. She was determined to get her Mistress out of here, but watching her slaving away and getting whipped would be sexually very stimulating.

She stood, with Raymond keeping his arm around her and watched Roberta raising and lowering the heavy pick axe. Apparently she kept up this rhythm for four hours at a time. Paula knew Roberta would be aware of her watching and also aware that Raymond was busily groping her! She would have good reason to dislike Raymond after today!

Other convicts were shovelling the rubble away and still others putting into barrows to be wheeled away to the harbour, where much of it was merely thrown into the sea. The chief aim of all this hot, dusty work was to keep the women busy. Then one of the women threw a rock at Roberta, hitting her on her side and drawing blood. Paula froze. Would her friend retaliate?

She did. Roberta calmly picked up a large stone and threw it at her tormentor. It struck the woman on the head and she dropped to the ground, stunned.

"Did you see that, Raymond?" asked Paula. "I though you said Roberta was a gentle and repentant prisoner? She didn't look too gentle to me! I suppose you will tell the Prison Commander?"

"No, Paula. The other women have been asking for something like that. Serve the bitch right!"

"I wish to speak with her again, Raymond. I wish you to be with us. Keep silent but mark well what is said."

Roberta came to the end of her four hour shift and Raymond called her aside.

"Paula wishes to speak with you. I am to hear all that is said."

Paula spoke.

"When did your troubles start Roberta? When were you first whipped?"

"Not long before you first saw me, Paula. I put on my sword belt wrongly and later in the day I flinched on duty when stung by a wasp."

"A wasp," sneered Paula. "In February? Who ever heard of wasps being about so soon in the year? Did you not wonder at the time?"

"I know what a wasp sting feels like, Paula! Once when being trained I had to pick up a wasp's nest and carry it out of the camp and throw into a lake. I had many chances to learn what it was to be stung on that day. I was in agony for days afterwards!"

"That is as may be," said Paula. "Where on your body, were you stung - if stung you were?"

"On the back. Just between the shoulder blades."

"And you were standing on one side of the Great Door. You would have been facing your fellow Guard. Who was your fellow Guard on that day?"

"It was Bertha."

"I knew it," shouted Paula triumphantly. "She got you into trouble earlier. And she saw someone use maybe a blow pipe to fire a dart at your back. She wanted you whipped, Roberta. It was she and one other who got you into such trouble on that day. But they picked the wrong girl! Because you thrived on pain and won the King's favour. Even so, they thought to use your position to discredit you. And you helped them by being such a fool as to keep getting into trouble time and time again. But you are no traitor, Roberta. Are you listening to all this, Raymond?"

Raymond nodded. He had never really believed Roberta to be guilty. He knew the area she came from. It was probably the most loyal region in the Kingdom. He had always been amazed that anyone from such a fervently loyal part of the country should be a traitor.

"When they whipped you," continued Paula, "the mark on your back would have been whipped away, along with much of your skin. And you never had a chance to examine the mark because you were obliged to report for punishment as soon as you came off duty. I know what the poison was that they used to make you think you had been stung. A mere trace was all it took to hurt like being set on fire! Any more than a trace and you would have died."

"I don't know what to say!" Roberta gasped. "But Bertha was so upset about the trouble she had got me into. She was terribly upset. You should have seen her tears."

"Maybe she was - at the time. Perhaps she was not in all that deep at the time. Bertha is weak, Roberta. She would be an ideal person to work on and encourage to betray. My guess is that someone knew something to her discredit and was blackmailing her. And I know who it was. The person who fired the dart at you. I know the sorceress who sold her the poison and also the poison they used to drug your meal. And I know where you can find your sword and other equipment."

"She won't find them on this island, Paula," said Raymond. "And there's no way she gets to leave. I'm inclined to believe you both, but I have a job and it's to keep Roberta here. You must be the one to restore your friend's good name, Paula. Go back to the Palace and convince the King. Until then, Roberta stays where she is being very, very busy! Will you stay to see the whipping tomorrow, Paula? I imagine it may be less painful for you if you left before."

"I shall stay for another day. The King wishes me to make sure her life is as hard as it can be. Who will whip her in the morning?"

"The whipping will be in the evening, Paula. And Ethelberta will be the one to wields the whip. She did very well last time. It was very bloody. I'm sure you'd sooner not see."

"You know neither of us that well, Raymond. I love to watch a good whipping, even if it is of my dearest friend!"

ROBERTA, PAULA, ETHELBERTA AND A WHIP
Paula was up early next morning. She had been more than a little concerned at the looks Raymond had been giving her and decided to wear some clothes for a change. There was no compulsion in her nudity these days and she had recently been given a very beautiful gown to wear by her most fervent admirer. She wore a pair of shoes with turned up toes and a necklace made of some of the finest jewels the gold and emerald mines had ever yielded up from their dark and dangerous depths.

Roberta was also up early, but she always was - or else! This morning she was told that her whipping was scheduled for ten o'clock and that she must work on the treadmill for five hours until it was time for Ethelberta to whip her.

Ethelberta was up early. As a fanatic opponent of the King she couldn't wait to get stuck into Roberta again! Like the late Rowena - a distant cousin - she had lost a brother to the Golden Guard and was full of hate for Roberta. Ethelberta had been practising ever since the last time she had given the hated Golden Guard fifty lashes, finally getting through that thick hide after thirty lashes and making the blood run down her thereafter until a puddle formed beneath her suspended feet. This time she was due to give the bitch seventy!

All the other women, some seventy in number, were also up early. Like Ethelberta they were rabid enemies of the State in general and the King in particular. They couldn't wait to see Roberta punished again.

Raymond was also an early riser. He had not had a good night's sleep. In the morning the lovely Paula was due to leave, cutting short a stay that had originally been scheduled to last another twenty days. And he was to supervise Roberta's routine flogging. He hated the idea of punishing an innocent woman. Despite what he had said to Roberta and Paula the day before, he was convinced that Roberta was no traitor, but the victim of a terrible injustice. And Paula, despite her professed love for Roberta, was looking forward to seeing her whipped!

Raymond was a normal sort of person and found Paula's obvious depravity appalling, especially in one so young and lovely to look at. He had also noticed that Roberta had seemed far from anxious about her coming ordeal - far from it! Roberta's eyes had positively sparkled when Paula had announced that she wanted a ringside seat!

Roberta gave a slight start of surprise as Paul, looking quite a great lady, came and sat a few feet away from her. As they secured her to the frame, she saw Paula slip out of her gown and kick her shoes away. She heard her explain herself to Raymond.

"I don't want Roberta's blood over this nice new dress," she explained to Raymond, in a voice loud enough for the unfortunate soon to be flogged Roberta to hear clearly. Roberta allowed herself a smile as she waited for the seven foot long leather thong to fall on her for the first of seventy times.

Then Ethelberta was escorted into the courtyard. There was a great cheer for her from the assembled prisoners who couldn't wait to see Roberta suffer once again.

Ethelberta took the whip from the guard and swished it a few times. Paula wiped her brow. It was getting no cooler! She looked at Ethelberta. That strong young woman was sweating already and she hadn't started yet! By the time she had delivered seventy lashes onto Roberta's waiting back, she would be in almost as bad a state as her victim - worse, most likely!

"ONE" shouted the head guard.

WHOOSH! Went the whip through the air, hissing angrily on its busy way to that gloriously inviting expanse of bare skin!

CRACK! Went the whip as it landed, leaving a red line that cut into Roberta across her shoulders. The former Golden Guard did not move a muscle. As ever she showed no sign of the anger and pain she must be feeling at the continued injustices she was being subjected to.

"TWO"

Once again Roberta showed no sign that she had felt a thing. The second lash got her across the small of the back. Paula guessed that Ethelberta's aim was none too good.

"THREE"

Just as I thought, said Paula to herself. The woman was raising her arm and slashing away with no notion of directing her blows in any sort of methodical pattern. That third lash had almost missed its target, nicking Roberta's shoulder and coming down mainly on the frame to which she was tied. Paula yawned noisily!

"THIRTY SEVEN"

Blood was beginning to seep from a few of Ethelberta's better directed cuts. But Paula still had no flecks of red on her skin. And the sun was very strong by now. Poor Ethelberta was visibly wilting, and she was only just over half way through!

FIFTY FOUR"

Paula was getting a few spots of blood on her by now. Her vulva was throbbing away like mad and she was going seriously wet. She hoped that Roberta appreciated just how grateful she was to her for providing this superb entertainment! The brave girl was still immovable as the whip began to seriously cut her up. And to think she still had to do the better part of a full day's work when this was over. Sadly, Paula would be sailing back to the mainland soon and would not see the poor young woman toiling in the merciless heat, thirsty and tired with a sore back.

And then Ethelberta fainted. SHIT!

PAULA: DEPARTING
"Well, Raymond! Thanks for showing me around and generally looking after me. Maybe we'll meet again sometime over in civilisation."

"I hope so Paula. I'm glad you enjoyed this morning's entertainment!" There was sarcasm in Raymond's vice as he spoke these last words!

"It was pretty good. Especially after that silly girl fainted and they put a fresh woman on to her. She really did some damage! I bet Roberta will be sore for weeks after that. Then she'll be having to think about the next one! Poor girl. But she's strong. I bet she does as much work as ever today!"

Raymond waved goodbye to the departing Paula and watched until the boat was almost out of sight. Paula was wearing her gown again, after having washed the flecks of blood from her naked body when the whipping of Roberta was over. She looked so sweet and demure. But this delightful girl had just watched her best friend being whipped and obviously hugely enjoyed it. And Roberta had looked to be enjoying the experience herself.

Roberta was back at work as her friend was being escorted to the boat and she continued to sweat and toil until nightfall. This night, though, she did not fall asleep. She took the packet Paula had left in the hut and crept towards the well. After throwing the contents into the deep well she made for the cliff edge and jumped thirty feet into the sea.

At five-thirty in the morning they came to wake her up and found the hut empty. A search was organised and no trace was found of her anywhere on the island. But no one had reached the port. All three boats currently tied up on the jetty were searched and Roberta was not on any of them.

Then at about six o'clock prisoners and guards alike began to feel tired. By six-thirty everyone on the island was fast asleep. Not until late in the afternoon did people start to wake up. By this time Roberta was dragging herself ashore, more or less at the spot that Paula had calculated. She found the fisherman's hut and collapsed on the earthen floor.

When she woke up Paula was standing looking down at her.

"At last. You've been asleep for a whole day and two nights! We've things to do, Roberta!"

"What are you doing here, Paula? You didn't say anything about being here waiting for me! Won't you be missed at the Palace?"

"They will know by this time that I helped you, Roberta. We are both fugitives now! When will you be strong enough to make a move? We have no time to lose. We must be at the Palace by nightfall if possible!"

"I suppose we don't even have time to make love," asked Roberta who had her arm around Paula by now.

"There's always time for that, my angel!"

Chapter 5
Roberta: Hanging Around
It was all right for Paula! Of course Roberta still loved the little girl. It was just that she was somewhat jealous of her right now. Here poor old Roberta was, in yet another fine old mess, and Paula was OK - as per usual! These days it always seemed to be alright for Paula! There was lucky old Paula sitting in a nice warm cave being befriended by the bandit leader while she languished in the bitter freezing cold. How did that girl do it? Why was it always she, Roberta, who seemed to draw the short straw? Not that Roberta wasn't capable of enduring hardship, pain and danger. She was more than capable of enduring her present discomfort and a lot more besides, and for as long as necessary. Roberta was as tough as ever - tougher, even. But it would just be so nice to have a rest from these things once in a while!

Roberta had been hanging upside down for ten days now, with her hands tied behind her and about thirty feet up in the air, lowered once a day to be fed and watered. She hoped and prayed that the rope which held her was strong and would not break! In all that long period of suspension she had not seen Paula more than half a dozen times. The little girl always smiled up at her when she did pass underneath. She would give Paula credit for that much. Her friend had not forgotten her - quite.

According to the withered old crone who sat in the innermost recesses of the cave, mouthing unintelligible imprecations and throwing disgusting looking stuff into a foully smelling cauldron, in two days time it would be the New Moon. The New Moon was apparently something pretty special to this venerable old woman and its advent might or might not see the end of Roberta's present predicament.

For some reason quite beyond Roberta's comprehension, the bandits showed great respect to the old hag, but Roberta wouldn't give her the time of day! Roberta was a dyed in the wool rationalist and disliked superstition. The only power our heroine believed in was the power of the sword and of her own wonderful body.

Speaking of that wonderful body, at least Roberta wasn't wearing those degrading and uncomfortable clothes any longer! Dressing had been a terrible experience for her after all her years of proud nudity. Once more she was bare arse naked just like a true Golden Guard should be! This almost made up for her present parlous situation up in the trees among the birds!

Perhaps the phrase "thirty feet up in the air" is misleading. Roberta was certainly thirty feet off the ground, swaying somewhat in the chill breeze. But the height above sea level was more like five thousand feet. Even the hardy Roberta felt the chill these days! Not that she couldn't take it, of course! Roberta could take anything!

Directly under her was what looked like a primitive fireplace but was actually an altar. On the day of the full moon a sacrifice was to be made. The said sacrifice was going to involve a great deal more pain for the much abused Roberta. Paula had explained in great detail what the crazy old sorceress had decreed.

What they were going to do to her was not that bad. Some people might be dreading it and pissing themselves with fear, but not Roberta! What was in store for her was just a routine bit of torture - the kind of thing she'd gone through plenty of times already! What got to her was the waiting and hanging around! Roberta was Action Woman personified and this enforced idleness was really beginning to piss her off!

The couple's plan to make for the Palace and a confrontation with those who had framed Roberta, and whose treachery still posed a threat to the King, had come adrift very quickly. Roberta's hard won liberty had lasted less than two days.

Roberta had been far more badly affected by her severe whipping followed by that seemingly interminable swim ashore than either girl realised. They had not gone more than a couple of miles before Roberta had fainted from loss of blood and total exhaustion.

Paula had dragged her off the main highway and managed to fashion a sort of shelter for the two of them before she herself had fallen asleep. When the two awoke they had been prisoners. Twenty fearsome looking ruffians were surrounding them and Roberta was quickly overcome, although not before giving a few of them some bruises they would sport for days to come.

Soon enough, though, even the warrior woman Roberta had been knocked unconscious and trussed to a pole to which she was tied hand and foot. Paula had been allowed to walk with them. They had no fear that such a tiny girl would get far if she ran for it.

After three days marching through the increasingly deserted countryside the party of brigands had paused to rest. It had been then, when they had released the trussed Roberta that they had discovered that she was not the lusty youth they had taken her for, but a woman.

"How does a woman get to be so strong?" the leader had asked. "It took six of us to knock you out!"

"I am one of the King's Golden Guard," replied Roberta. "I am unjustly accused of betraying the King whom I vowed to serve. I was on my way to clear my name when your people surprised us."

"You must be the famous Roberta," said the leader. He sounded greatly impressed and asked if he might have the privilege of looking at her bare back. He knew what he saw there would tell him that she was indeed the famous fugitive.

"Please take these clothes off me, altogether. I am so terribly ashamed to be dressed. I deserve a long and hard whipping for abandoning my nudity - no matter for what reason. I will get one in any case whether I clear my name or not!"

So Roberta was completely stripped, making her very happy, and the robber chief examined her back, running his finger along some of the more prominent scars.

"You are indeed the much whipped Roberta for whom the King's men were looking. There is not a back in all the Golden Guard to be compared to yours! I am proud to have seen it and touched it! But you are a wanted woman these days and although we are bandits here and with a price on our heads, but we are not scurvy rebels. We should hand you over to the Law. But first we must consult Philippa."

Roberta gave a solemn promise not to try to escape and was allowed to walk with the bandits. They accepted her offer to assist with the equipment, carrying on her strong back an enormous pack which seemed not to cause her the slightest distress. Mile after mile she strode, barefoot and naked, until the men had to ask her to slow down!

Paula revealed that she was an auxiliary Golden Guard and was permitted to remove her clothes. She felt more than slightly nervous as she felt twenty pairs of eyes boring into her miniaturised perfection. The buttocks that had so charmed the King were working their sensual magic on the twenty hardened rogues! But the chief told his men to keep their hands off her.

One of the brigands, though, a tall and powerfully built scoundrel, seemed disinclined to obey his leader. On the night before they were due to move on to their remote mountain lair, the dastardly ruffian burst in upon the petrified Paula and would have had his evil way with her, were it not that Roberta heard a scream and dashed into Paula's tent. The massively strong Roberta stood between his aroused manhood and the sweet innocent object of his base and lewdly primitive desires.

"Keep your distance, you bastard! And my friend will not surrender her virginity for such a one as you! Call that pitiful thing a dick?! Put it away you pathetic arsehole before I die laughing! Ye gods! My clit's almost as big as that!"

Before the situation could develop further the leader, a man called Rodolfo, came into the tent and ordered the would-be rapist Bernard back to his quarters. But the situation remained ugly. Roberta, her eyes blazing with a horrible fury, swore that no roughly lascivious hands should touch her Paula unless it was over her dead body!

"That's not a bad suggestion, Golden Guard Roberta," laughed the jovial Rodolfo. "If we hand you over to his Majesty in return for a free pardon, you'll soon enough be dead meat in any case. No more banishment to Hell Island for an escapee! It's the chop for you next time! After a long session in the Torture Chamber with my good cousin the Chief Torturer! You'll be begging to die long before the end! So we'll be extremely kind to you and give you a quick exit! That's the sort of decent chap I am! All heart!

"This is how it's going to be, my brave girl! In the morning you fight Bernard to the death and if you lose then Paula is his! Take her back to her tent, men!"

"I am happy to die fighting for Paula's honour. The dawn cannot come soon enough! That swine will never see another!"

"Gung-ho bitch, your friend," said an admiring Rodolfo to Paula as Roberta was led away to await her coming ordeal by battle.

"She's a Golden Guard, Rodolfo! All her life she's been trained to fight and fight hard. Point her in the direction of the enemy and the said enemy's history! Call off the fight! Call it off unless you can spare Bernard and won't really miss having him around! Roberta will eat him for breakfast! Roberta doesn't take prisoners, Rodolfo!"

"She fights with no weapons save her bare hands, Paula! No flashy swordsmanship tomorrow. No well aimed arrow. Just her bare hands! Something tells me she won't like that too much!"

"She'll still win! No one alive - neither man nor woman - can defeat Roberta!"

"We shall see soon enough, Paula. Try and get some sleep. You won't be disturbed again!"

Paula tried to get back to sleep, but excitement at the coming fight kept making her wake up. She couldn't wait to see her darling Roberta in action!

The two antagonists were led out to fight each other at dawn. All the bandits gathered in a circle to watch. A rudimentary ring was already in place, having been prepared overnight while the two fighters were resting and preparing themselves. Roberta was naked as usual and greatly impressive with it! There was a gasp of awed admiration as she stepped into the arena. But Bernard wore clothes, including heavy boots. Rodolfo, in order to be fair to both contestants, ordered Bernard to take off his footwear. He stripped off his shirt at the same time and displayed his massive hairy chest.

Bernard looked angrier than Paula could remember any person ever looking before. If any man was totally pissed off and ready to kick arse, it was Bernard on this crisp cold morning! Roberta had better be in good form today! She looked at her face, but as usual saw nothing other than the customary impassive and beautiful mask. The eyes were hard, though. Every bit as cold and hard as the eyes that had appraised her more than a year ago when the two had first seen each other by the roadside.

Paula wondered for a few heart stopping moments whether her confidence in Roberta might not have been somewhat disastrously misplaced, as the fight got under way! To start with, Bernard, clearly angered at Roberta's disdainful appraisal of his prized and nobly proportioned penis, opened the proceedings by sending Roberta flying with a prodigious blow of his mighty fist to her mouth. Blood seemed to be everywhere and Roberta looked stunned for a second. But only a second!

Paula need not have worried. It took Roberta a while, and she was to receive a stupendous amount of punishment over the next twenty minutes, but she came right back from that opening setback by blasting Bernard with a mighty kick to his chest. Roberta's arms pushed her body off the ground and her leg came up like a giant spring right into her opponent's body. He never saw it coming until too late. It was a magnificently delivered blow that audibly broke a couple of ribs. Bernard grunted in pain and Roberta, upright in a flash, stared at him for a split second with those cold blue eyes. There was death in that stare!

In retrospect, Paula could see that it was downhill all the way for Bernard after that. He fought like a tiger, using every dirty trick in the book, kicking and kneeing Roberta's crotch, stomach and breasts many times in a vain effort to slow her down. Roberta was, as ever, completely impervious to pain and gradually overcame Bernard, absorbing all his blows and contemptuously shrugging them off as if they had been delivered by a baby rather than a grown and powerfully built man.

There was something terrifying about Roberta that morning as she tamed her hapless opponent. She gave a demonstration to them all of what a magnificent and highly trained animal she was as Bernard was worn down and softened up for the kill.

Finally Bernard had no more to offer and stood bleeding and defeated, ashamed to have been defeated by a woman and with no more will to fight. Roberta launched herself at her antagonist, put her hands around his throat and squeezed the life out of him.

There was a round of applause for the brave Golden Guard, who wiped the blood off her mouth and put her pack on her back, preparatory to moving out for the last stage of the journey to the mountain hide out.

"I see what you meant last night, Paula!" said the Leader as they walked the final few miles. "Roberta is invincible! There can be no one who can prevail against her. What a magnificent, brave and beautiful woman! I desire her, Paula. I worship that girl! But if Philippa deems her to be a traitor we shall have no choice but to hand her over to His Majesty for torture and execution. It will break my heart but I will do it!"

"Roberta will never belong to any man, Rodolfo! All the Golden Guards are the same. They can be aroused to passion only by the sweet and firm young bodies of other women. I too am that way. Roberta and I are lovers - or were before she was arrested a year ago."

"You are a lucky girl, Paula! With Roberta to protect you, you need fear no one. But we will take her from you and hand her to His Majesty's tender mercies if we judge her to be guilty. All will be revealed in time. Truth will prevail and justice will be served. Philippa will see to that!"

Roberta and Paula were taken to see Philippa as soon as the brigand band arrived. Roberta was not impressed! This old lady stank like a pile of rotting fish! What a stench. She almost threw up! Paula, too, looked a bit pale about the gills.

"We must wait until the new moon before we know your innocence or guilt," wheezed the old hag. "Take her away and hang her by her feet from the Altar Tree high enough to keep the birds company. Feed her daily but do not release her bonds until the day of trial."

It was a relief to be out in the fresh air again after being so close to that horrible unwashed hag! The disgusting old woman stank out the entire cave. What were Rodolfo and Company doing by allowing her to be in such a dirty state?

After ten days, though, Roberta's relief was a thing of the past. She had been skilfully enough tied so as not to impede her circulation, which was pretty smart of these rough brigands considering that the circulation of the blood had not yet been discovered!

But she was bored and she was cold. And she was worried about Paula. The thought of any of that bunch of ruffians laying a hand on her virginal purity enraged her. Roberta wanted that virginal purity for herself and she was a very possessive woman! She struggled again to free herself, but it was hopeless.

Paula had come out one morning, as Roberta was being lowered for feeding, and explained to her tethered friend the nature of the test to which Philippa was to subject her. There was excitement in her voice as she told the hanging Roberta about her impending fate!

"On the day of the New Moon, Roberta, you are to be lowered to a couple of feet from the ground and whipped. I have seen the whip they will use and it is a good one, well worthy of you! Your blood will be collected in a ceremonial bowl and used by Philippa to see if you are innocent or not. It won't be a very big bowl, Roberta, and as soon as it is full to the brim they will stop whipping you and raise you up again. Philippa will sleep on her thoughts overnight and pronounce sentence in the morning. It shouldn't hurt too much, darling - not like that last terrible flogging on the Hell Island"

Roberta had been less than impressed by all this mumbo jumbo. Whatever happened to psychological interrogation? Where was the science in all this?

"Do you seriously believe this old bag is genuine, Paula? Come on Paula - please! Any fool can see she's just a crazy old woman who badly needs a bath! What does she intend doing with my blood after I've shed it so painfully? Drink it?"

"She will recite ancient and powerful spells over it. She will cast it on the Sacred Flame and read the messages in the smoke. And you are wrong to mock her, Roberta! Very wrong! I hope they really hurt you when they whip you. It will serve you right. It is a very wicked thing to mock the wisdom of people such as Philippa! I am horrified at you, Roberta! Horrified and sick! After your wicked words I'll enjoy watching every second of your whipping and I pray it will teach you to mend your ways!"

Paula had not spoken to her since that conversation and, although she smiled at her when passing underneath, Roberta knew that her friend would watch her next whipping with more than the usual satisfaction that these occasions gave her. Paula was a devout believer and she had clearly been shocked by Roberta's mocking words.

During the time they had spent together after her escape and before her collapse and capture, Paula had told of several meetings she had had with sundry sorceresses in the year they had been apart. If only a fraction of what the little girl had told her was true, then Roberta had indeed been very foolish to talk so disrespectfully about the old lady! And Philippa, by the exercise of her psychic powers, would surely know every unkind word that Roberta had uttered concerning her. And whatever other qualities the old hag might possess, she certainly looked to be capable of great vindictiveness!

Roberta prayed that the bitch was indeed a fake! But she prayed in vain! Philippa was the best! Sorceresses didn't come any more genuine! And Philippa had it in for Roberta! Did she ever have it in for her!

"Are you sure there is no more kind and painless way of collecting the blood you need from Roberta?" Paula was asking Philippa the night before the New Moon.

"She mocked me, Paula. That great muscle-bound, bone-headed female thug mocked me and she must pay! I shall see she is punished for that! But have no fear! If she is as innocent of treachery as she claims, I shall see that she is set free and enabled to pursue her enemies, who are also His Majesty's foes!"

"Roberta is not stupid, Philippa! She may have had her eyes closed to the truths that you and I both know, but she is not stupid. But you are right about her disbelief being a great sin. Her hide must indeed be cut into ribbons with the whip - again and again and again!"

"She has been a foolish and wayward young woman, Paula. Talk of her stupidity has even reached these remote hills. If she had not been so wild and not incurred so many whippings she would not have been such an obvious suspect after the attempt on the King's life. She has only herself to blame for much of her misfortunes!"

"You talk as if you already knew her to be guiltless! And yet you insist on shedding her blood!"

"I feel her to be a true and loyal servant of the King. You are closer to her and you know. But I must put her to the test, Paula. Her blood must be painfully shed and due process observed. And I won't be mocked - not even by the bravest and best of the Golden Guard! She will bitterly regret the things she said."

"She was wrong to say what she did, Philippa. But she will not regret her words. No matter what pain she suffers she is a wilful woman. It is her weakness and at the same time her strength. But I shall rejoice to see her punished."

"Whether you rejoice or not is immaterial, Paula. For Roberta will be horribly punished in the morning!"

"Good! Serve her right! Will you tell me my fortune, please Philippa? Before tomorrow?"

"I know your fortune and your future, Paula. It is one of happiness and great wealth. I also know Roberta's fortune. Hers is one of great danger and much terrible pain, but she will be doing what she loves to do and doing it well. Hers will also be a happy life, in her own way!"

"I will sleep now, Philippa."

Paula walked to her own quarters. Terrified to offend the old seer, she fought down her own innermost feeling of revulsion at the increasingly unwashed, verminous and noisome condition of the old woman. Roberta had more than just a point!

"The New Moon is here, Roberta," spoke Rodolfo as he superintended her lowering on the great day. "You are to be put to the test today. Depending on the outcome this morning, the evening of the next day will either see you on your way in chains to the Palace or being tended for your terrible wounds."

"I suppose it's useless asking you to take my word of honour - my sacred oath as a Golden Guard?"

"Quite useless, Roberta! Bernard had some friends among us and they have been looking forward to your whipping, I really can't disappoint them. A leader has responsibilities to entertain his men. You may be a leader yourself one day and will find these things out!"

"I didn't hear anyone cheering for him when we fought. And you all applauded my victory!"

"Save your breath and your strength, Roberta. You will need both - your breath to scream and your strength to stay alive under the relentless terror of the lash!"

"Bollocks! I can take a good, long and hard whipping - harder than any you weaklings can give me! You've seen my back! Do your worst! You won't make me scream and you won't kill me. And Philippa needs a bath, the dirty old cow!"

"You are brave, Roberta! Brave and foolish. Before the day is done you will be a wiser woman after your suffering. Clean her down, men! Make her sweet smelling and soft of skin for her torment!"

Once more Roberta's head was shaved completely smooth. It was explained that the blood might run into her hair if she were not once again denuded of her golden locks. She was thoroughly washed and a sweet smelling cream was rubbed thoroughly into her back. She felt the toughened skin melt and soften under its magical influence. With sick dread she knew that when her back was kissed by the fiery hot touch of the lash, her skin would be as soft and sensitive as that of a new born babe! But she had survived her first whipping with a soft skin and she would survive this!

Roberta hung suspended with her head several feet off the ground for several hours and then a group of brigands came out of the cave. They carried a wooden frame which they positioned above the Altar. Roberta's feet were untied, but only briefly. She was soon tied up again, this time with her powerful legs spread wide apart above her and her feet secured to opposite ends of a horizontal bar. Her thick, brawny arms were temporarily left hanging so that they almost touched the ground. They tied her hands to a bar at the base of the frame and her body was taut as a bowstring and she was spread-eagled in a vertical position. She told herself that it would all be over soon and prayed that her name might be cleared, no matter how agonising the means of doing it might be.

Then the witch came out carrying a bowl which she placed directly underneath her newly shaved head. The blood would drip into this receptacle which a very apprehensive Roberta observed to be quite large! She was about to shed much blood if that were to be full to the brim! The next move on the part of the old crone made Roberta's flesh creep!

Philippa stuck her bony finger into Roberta's juicy cunt. Then she sucked at the succulent fluid and smacked her lips greedily. She repeated this process twice and finally rubbed her finger around the rim of the sacrificial bowl.

"We would be happy with menstrual blood, Roberta! And we would need only a drop or two of that potent fluid to see into your heart and soul! It grieves me that you've already had this month's period!"

"Yeah! I bet you're all eaten up inside, you old bag! Why don't we get on with it? These creeps are getting horny waiting around to see me whipped. I can see how they get their kicks! Let's give them something great to jerk off about shall we, the sad bastards! FUCKING WANKERS!!"

"You do yourself no favours Roberta. But I suppose you must be pretty bloody stupid to be a member of the Golden Guard! Only sick masochist bitches who are tired of living would be in that outfit in the first place!"

"How dare you insult a fine body of women! We protect the King. We will die for him. Long Live the King!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! We've heard it all before Roberta! Why don't you grow up?"

"Fuck off you smelly old bag!"

"Sticks and stones, Roberta! Sticks and stones! And now for your sticks and stones. Leather sticks and leather stones. The finest hide our country can produce! And all to shred the newly softened skin of naughty Roberta who should learn to watch her dirty mouth!"

"Yeah! And you should wash your dirty body!"

"Very funny, Roberta. Quite a wit on the quiet, aren't we!"

Having failed to get the better of the exchange, the witch moved away from the victim. Roberta's nostrils ceased to wrinkle in disgust as a breath of clean air entered her lungs for the first time in minutes!

Rodolfo took the witch aside.

"I hate to raise this with you, Philippa! But Roberta has a point. You have been letting yourself go a bit these last two years or so. We can arrange privacy for you, if you like to have a bath. No one will see you. I promise you! And whatever you do, Roberta will be well whipped for her insolence! Very well whipped. We'll teach that young madam a very painful lesson in good manners today!"

Philippa grunted sourly. To be honest with herself she did realise that her personal hygiene was not of a particularly high standard these days. She recalled her days as a young apprentice witch, many years ago and how she had retched at the stink of her first Mistress Witch. Maybe she might take a shower later on.

Paula was brought out of the cave to watch. She looked astounded when she saw Roberta's smooth back.

"It's a miracle! She doesn't look like my Roberta at all! Could you let me have some of that ointment? It would be marvellous for my wrinkles! Not that I've many - just a few around the eyes where I smile because I'm such a happy girl! Don't give her any though. The sooner her back is back to its former scarred condition the better for her pride!"

"She won't have long to wait now," joked Rodolfo.

"Can I touch her back, please Rodolfo? Just once before it gets shredded?"

"Be my guest, Paula. I'm sure Roberta will thrill to your gentle touch!"

Roberta certainly did feel Paula's tiny warm hand caress her back. It was years since she could remember having that much feeling in that area of her body. Even before her first whipping she had been hardened by years of nakedness in all weathers. She was certainly going to feel the coming lashes! She looked down at the bowl. It looked depressingly large!

"Be brave, Roberta! Make me feel proud of you as they whip your hide to ribbons! And learn from this and try not to be rude to prophetesses in future! Let today's punishment be a lesson to you, my darling! I meant what I said the other day and I still hope this hurts worse than anything you've ever felt before!"

"Thanks Paula. Just what a girl needs! A loyal friend. I won't cry, Paula. But it's not to make you proud of me! It's to stop me being ashamed. And she DOES need a bath! I don't care how great a sorceress she is. Soap and water are plentiful enough. Admit it! She stinks!"

Paula withdrew and Rodolfo gave the whip to Antonio who, now that Bernard was dead, was the strongest of the band.

Roberta Is Whipped - Again
The others might not have noticed but Paula saw Roberta move under the first lash! That had really hurt her! The leather was cutting into her like a hot knife through butter. Blood had started to trickle out of the long vertical stripe even as the second landed. A trickle was already making its way down her back as the sixth lash struck at her. By the twelfth cruel blow, blood was dripping into the bowl. By the thirtieth lash the bowl was half full and the flow was increasing by the second.

The bowl was full after seventy lashes and Rodolfo ordered the whipping to stop. Roberta was put back on the original rope and hoisted back up into the air. She was told that she would learn her fate in the morning. Philippa took the full bowl into the cave, muttering mysteriously in her chanting voice as she did so.

Roberta might have managed to avoid crying out, but Paula had seen her move many, many times as the sacrificial flogging had proceeded. Philippa had been right when she had promised Roberta would have a day to remember! The Golden Guard had been writhing long before she was done with.

Paula, needless to say, had disgraced herself again! Her squirming and groaning had shocked even the hardened brigands who had all come to think of her as such a sweet and refined person! Many of the bandits had, as Roberta had mockingly predicted, been stuffing cloth into their breeches in a vain effort to keep the stains from their pumping semen showing through the material.

As the assembly moved back into the cave, leaving Roberta to suffer further torments as she hung and bled, a cry rang out from her defiant lips. "WANKERS! YOU TOO PAULA! YOU JUST CAN'T KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM YOUR CUNT, CAN YOU, YOU FUCKING SLUT!"

Blood continued to drip onto the ground for some minutes, gradually getting less and less until it finally stopped. Paula came out of the cave several times, and each time she looked up and saw that Roberta was conscious and with a look of satisfaction on her face. She had come through once more! But she might think twice before scoffing again at those with psychic powers!

Next day the brigands gathered at the altar and Roberta was lowered. Not a word was said as they awaited the arrival of the sage Philippa and her verdict. Finally the aged crone tottered out of the cave.

"Roberta is an innocent and wronged woman. She has always been a loyal servant of the King. We should send her back to the Palace to restore her good name!"

Roberta was untied and resumed a right way up posture for the first time in two weeks. She staggered a little at first as she readjusted to her regained freedom. Paula came and stood by her, ready to support her if necessary. But Roberta was a tough woman and indicated curtly that she needed no help. And she was still a bit sore with Paula!

"I see - and smell - that you took my advice about the bath, Philippa. It took a whipping for me to convince you, but it was worth it! Come on Paula! We have a long way to go and much to do!"

But everyone could see that Roberta was going nowhere just yet. Her back was too badly torn after the previous day's sacrifice and she had lost too much blood. Paula had little difficulty persuading her friend to delay her departure for at least a week.

"And your hair will be growing back a bit then. I'm not saying you don't still look great, but I prefer you hairy to bald."

Rodolfo offered to send some of his men to escort the couple part of the way and to tell the King of Philippa's findings. Roberta declined the proffered escort, angrily saying that she needed no protection and could look after herself once she was fit and well again. After what she had done to Bernard and in view of the mighty effort it had taken them to subdue her and beat her senseless in the first place, despite her weakened condition at the time, Rodolfo took her point.

"You must be armed for your trip - both of you. Yes, Paula! You are a Golden Guard now! Take your pick of our armoury, the pair of you!"

So Roberta buckled on a sword belt and chose the best sword the brigands had to offer. As she slung the bow and quiver over her shoulder she felt her old self once again. Soon she would expose the true traitor and be restored!

Paula also armed herself. She contented herself with a bow and arrows and a small knife instead of a sword. She guessed she would be little use in hand to hand combat.

As soon as Roberta was well enough, and with her hair already a couple of inches long, they set out.

[Harry]

Chapter 6
Paula Clothed And Roberta Still Naked
It was dawn on a crisp and very frosty winter's day. Paula was warmly dressed to protect her from the icy cold. The pair had earned plenty of money as a result of Roberta's strength and will to work hard. Roberta was still naked, of course. They had spent the night under the stars with the hardy Golden Guard sleeping apart from her assistant, disdaining to take any advantage of the warmth of her body. Even after all this time Paula still marvelled at Roberta's phenomenal powers of endurance.

Six months had passed since the sojourn in the bandit's cave and nearly seven since Roberta had managed to defy the swirling currents and swim ashore from Hell Island. And the pair seemed to be no nearer achieving their aim of restoring Roberta's repuation than ever.They kept getting distracted by one adventure after another and the one thing all these incidents seemed to have in common was that Roberta got punished for her obstinate refual to wear clothes. "I'm totally pissed off with this discomfort, Roberta and you don't look too happy yourself with all that gooseflesh! And we're never going to get back to the Palace and save your reputation at this rate. Come on, Roberta!" Paula wanted to cover the remaining few miles to the Palace and get all these adventures over and done with. The King remained in danger and all Roberta could do was get the two of them into one scrape after another! Although it was mainly - entirely - Roberta who suffered from all these diversions. Paula just got to watch in comfort as her friend faced danger and physical pain.

"I'm sure we won't be long now, Paula! I've got a good feeling about today! No more silly sideshows from now on! At least, I hope not. It's getting to be rather boring!"

Paula nodded her agreement.

"That elderly mystic Philippa, six months ago, told me my future was one of great wealth and happiness, Roberta. Not much sign of that yet!"

"What did she say about mine?" Roberta wasn't really interested. She still doubted Philippa's powers in spite of her having been given such a very painful lesson in good manners.

"Lots of danger and a great deal of pain. She got that much right! You've had your share of both lately! How's the back feeling after your latest whipping? It looks just like it did when we first started living together - when the King gave me to you!"

"Fine, Paula! Now that my skin is getting hardened again I don't feel it so much these days. That ritual whipping they gave me at the cave was terrible, though. I don't mind admitting that it was touch and go whether I screamed out that day! That preparation they rubbed into my skin made sure I felt pain such as I've never experienced before! I shall remember that old bitch for as long as I live. And don't look at me like that, Paula!"

Paula always looked shocked at Roberta's scoffing disbelief. In spite of being horribly punished for it the girl still persisted in her wicked sceptical ways!

Roberta resumed, "That was the worst, though. After a few days my skin was getting harder and the six floggings I've been given since that terrible ordeal have been much easier to bear!"

"Is it only six whippings you've had since then? It seems so much more somehow. Over time one flogging seems to merge into another. But you should know, I suppose! You do ask for it, Roberta. You must realise that! But, having said that, I feel the way you got the first ones after we left the bandits behind was the most utterly unfair of them all. You hadn't a lot of choice, though. Not that time. You couldn't possibly have left those poor people to their fate."

It was late in the day and the girls decided to rest for the night. In the morning they would complete the journey and Roberta would hopefully win back her good name. Either that or go back to Hell Island and be flogged to death in front of all the other convicts as an example of what happens to escapers. And they would make no mistake this time. By the time they'd finished with her, she'd be dead right enough!

As she sat and went over the events of the last six months, Roberta relived her adventures since having her innocence established - rather painfully to say the least - by the seer Philippa, after that lady had made her mystic incantations chanted in a reedy elderly voice over a goodly measure of Roberta's painfully shed blood.

Adventure the First
Roberta and Paula left the bandit lair with all the brigands waving them farewell and wishing them Godspeed. Even the still vindictive Philippa hobbled out, taking time out from the preparation of whatever disgusting potion she was brewing up, to wish Roberta a successful defence of her good name. How sincere this particular benediction was, neither girl could be quite sure!

By midday they had covered twelve miles across not terribly easy terrain and Paula's feet were giving her trouble. Roberta had no trouble stepping on thorns and razor sharp rocks, but Paula would never have such hard feet as her Mistress. Roberta made her lie down and put both feet in the air. Then she licked the torn soles, gently sucked out the bits of grit and generally soothed the pain out. After a few minutes of this treatment Paula agreed that she might be able to carry on for a mile or two longer, but it soon became obvious that the pair must rest for the night, even though several hours of daylight were still to come.

Paula soon fell asleep and Roberta left her and went to look around. She was still more than a trifle upset with her so-called assistant after the way she had exulted in her torture. The relationship between the two seemed to be tilting away from Roberta and towards Paula as the dominant one. Paula might still be nude but Roberta could see that she would sooner or later revert to being clothed.

Roberta was about to go back and lie next to her friend when she saw three women coming up the hill. They were pushing a heavy wagon, full of fruit and vegetables. Below them was a series of fields and trees and above was the hilltop village where they lived. All three women looked exhausted. Roberta decided to lend a helping hand.

"Can I help with that, ladies?" she asked, as they came up to her. "You seem to be having trouble."

"You also seem to be having trouble! What are you doing walking around without clothes? Have you been robbed?" asked one of them, a woman of about forty and taller than her two companions who looked some years younger.

"I am always naked. My body must never be covered. It is a life I have chosen." Roberta hesitated to announce herself as a Golden Guard. Her name had been pretty well known even before her disgrace, imprisonment for life and escape. She saw again the folly of not wearing clothes. If she had any sense she would disguise herself again and avoid this kind of embarrassment. But Roberta lacked sense these days and in any case she had made up her mind once and for all. Her body would never again be adorned by anything but the weapons and equipment of a Golden Guard.

"You could get into deep trouble in these parts by showing yourself so brazenly! Immodesty in women is always severely punished in our village. But you look very strong and we desperately need to bring supplies up to the barns quickly. We have so little time to gather our winter produce.

“All the crops left in the fields by sunset are to be given to the Lord Gerald. Our men are all away in the Lord Gerald's service and working in the gold mines. Goodness knows when they will be back. Not in tome to harvest the crops - that's for sure. We will starve if we can't get more up to the barns than this. We are desperate and we gladly accept your help, shameless naked harlot though you may be! Beggars can't be choosers."

Roberta suppressed her anger. How dare this insolent peasant woman refer thus to one of the King's elite Golden Guard! But she could not stand by and see a whole community suffer deprivation when she was in a position to help. Roberta was kind-hearted girl. She seized the shafts of the wagon and began pushing it uphill towards the hamlet. As she moved away she turned and spoke to the women.

"Go and help the rest of you pick more fruit and dig more vegetables. I'll get twelve wagon loads up the hill by nightfall. Never mind how full the cart is! I am incredibly strong and can lift three wagons like this off the ground at once!"

This was a bit of an exaggeration, of course, but Roberta knew her promise to deliver twelve loads to the barns was not. The women, released from the need to transport their produce, worked hard to denude the orchards of fruit and dig up and harvest every vegetable and every blade of wheat. By nightfall there was little, if anything, left for "Lord" Gerald and his band of bloodsuckers to steal from the hardworking villagers.

Roberta knew all about "Lord" Gerald, who was no lord at all but merely a gangster and a thief who would one day be destroyed, just as soon as the festering rebellion in other parts of the country could be eliminated. She had itched to be sent to deal with this evil man when in her first year's service, but the war against the rebels had been too fierce at the time. And she would not be able to deal with him now.

With only herself and Paula and a few womenfolk, Roberta knew she had no chance on her own of doing anything about the so-called lord the time being. But she could work until the sweat poured off her body and every muscle cried out in pain in order to deprive him of the fruits of other people's toil.

As soon as the work was done, Roberta found Paula and roused her and they both went into the village to brave the curious appraisal of the inhabitants. The villagers stared at the couple in open mouthed amazement. It was obvious that nothing like this had ever happened here before. There was a mixture of curiosity and shocked disapproval.

The children all came excitedly to see the two strangers, but pretty soon they were hurried indoors to shield their tender young eyes from the sight of those four bare breasts and two exposed pussies (especially Roberta's cunt which was very visible, despite her immensity of blonde pubic hair). Paula was offered something to wear and she looked about to decline, but accepted after Roberta explained to her that nudity was particularly disapproved of around here and it would be safer for her to be covered.

It would be safer for both to be covered, but Roberta had given her word and would never break it. But Paula was a different case and her Mistress knew she would be in plenty of trouble of her own before long. Having Paula dressed would mean she had only herself to worry about.

The couple were given the use of one of the unoccupied houses for the duration of their stay in the village. The women advised Roberta not to stay too long. It would be hard on her if the men returned and saw her like that.

Paula put on the clothes the villagers had found for her and looked at her friend anxiously. Roberta was looking more nude than ever these days - if that were possible!

"What about you, Roberta? What will they do to you? Not that they could do much. You are too strong and they all look exhausted anyway."

"These women will not harm me. They are all too grateful, but when the men return it will be a different matter. Maybe we should leave in the morning or as soon as those feet of yours have healed."

But Paula's feet had not recovered sufficiently in the morning. Roberta's healing tongue had not caused those cuts and blisters to disappear. The little girl would need several days of rest.

The grateful villagers willingly provided her with shoes and other clothing. Roberta was once again offered much finery to cover her own nudity but she refused with as much grace and gratitude as she could muster. There was obvious disapproval and Paula hoped she would be fit to travel before the men returned. Although Roberta was a very strong young woman, even she would be helpless against a score of armed men.

Three days after Roberta had helped so successfully with the harvest, Paula felt able to continue. But, as Roberta had feared and almost known, it was too late! As the pair made their way out of the village they saw a bunch of tired and dishevelled men coming up the hillside towards them. Surprise soon turned to anger as the men realised the naked Roberta, whose very presence constituted an affront to decency, had recently been in their village.

They forcibly stopped the two girls from going further. Roberta offered no resistance and told Paula not to do anything. She saw clearly that she had mortally offended them. It was clear that, from these people's point of view, Roberta had been corrupting the morals of their children and women folk by being in their village. Roberta could see a very fearful retribution written in those angry faces! Her recently healed back started itching as if in anticipation of more pain to come! But she would not resist, as this would most likely be useless and might harm the husband of one of the women.

One of the women, Frederica, ran out of the village and shouted at the men to allow the couple to pass.

"They have helped us avoid starving. Without the nude giantess we would have gathered less than half what we needed. She worked herself into the ground to help us. I know she is wrong to be naked but we owe her everything!"

Marcello, the leader, was not impressed and Paula was obliged to watch her Roberta, firmly held so that even she saw the uselessness of resisting, being dragged away to the council hall. It was there, explained Frederica to an anxious Paula that the Golden Guard was shortly to be tried for immorality. Since the offence was nudity and the evidence would be standing before her accusers in plain view, Paula was pessimistic about the verdict.

"What will they do to her," she asked Frederica.

"Our laws are harsh towards shameless women. One who refuses to cover any of her body will be treated with no mercy. You should have left days ago. I'll try to do what I can. The men listen to me and I'll tell them how well your friend has served us. I am sure they will spare her the worst that they could do to her. But it won't be pretty to watch, I'm afraid. A thing like your friend's immodesty can never be allowed to go unpunished."

"Can I come and see the trial, Frederica?" asked Paula. She had a shrewd idea what they would do to Roberta after they had found her guilty of being naked. It was not exactly a difficult case to prove. Paula had seen the children, especially the growing boys, staring admiringly at her Amazonian friend and her succulent genitalia and guessed that they were seeing things that ones so young ought not to be exposed to. The idea that children should grow up with a total familiarity with the body had not so far penetrated into this unenlightened spot.

"Only members of the village can be present, apart from the accused."

Frederica promised to tell Paula what the court's findings and sentence were as soon as she knew herself.

An hour later Frederica came to tell Paula what Roberta's fate was to be.

"Your friend has been found guilty. I think our words of support may have had some effect. But it will still be unpleasant for her. She will be whipped out of the village in the morning. This is a very bad experience, Paula. I hope your friend is strong and brave, because she will need to be. So much more than whipping will be involved! The lashes she will be given will sap her strength with every cut, but she will need all that strength and need it for a very long time. If she weakens they will show no mercy.

“Until then she will be tied down on the ground in the village square. You are not allowed to speak to her until you are both out of our parish. I am sorry. Her help to us deserves more gratitude. But our men are miserable cowards. They work for the Lord Gerald, that thief, and have no stomach for a fight. Roberta has shamed them by rescuing us all from starvation. They should have been working in the fields instead of the mines and they know it.

“Perhaps it will not be too bad for her. She seems to be able to withstand pain and torture. From her appearance, I should think that tomorrow's whipping will not be her first!"

"It will certainly not be her first. She's received hundreds - thousands - of lashes in her time. And I fear it will not be her last. Can I really not speak to her until after her beating is over?"

"You would suffer the same fate as your friend if you even get close to her. My advice is to stay indoors until we come to escort you to your whipped and exhausted friend in the morning. She is going to spend a very uncomfortable night and at dawn the men folk will whip her from the village. I think they suspect your friend to be a Golden Guard - possibly the traitor Roberta whom the King's soldiers are looking for. They won't hand her over, in view of the help she gave us. But since she refuses to cover herself she must be made an example of. If she had at least agreed to hide her pubis beneath a small loin cloth they would have sent her on her way with thanks. She is a foolish girl to insist on total nakedness. I guess she must be a renegade Golden Guard who is too proud to cover herself."

"She is indeed the same Roberta that the King is hunting," replied Paula, "but she is no traitor. We are on out way to the Palace to unmask the real traitor and foil a continuing plot against the King. At first, after her escape from Hell Island, she did wear clothes to disguise herself, but she hated it so much that she has renounced all bodily coverings for ever. It was a sacred oath, Frederica. Nothing will change her mind now."

After the trial and inevitable verdict of Guilty and sentence to expulsion from the village by whipping, Roberta was led out of the council chamber and told to lie on her back in the middle of the square. There she was tied to wooden stakes driven into the ground, her mighty arms and legs outstretched. She knew that she could pull these puny bits of wood out of the ground at any time, but lay still all night and made no effort to avoid her flogging in the morning. If she tried to escape she would be running and she had never run away in her life, except for the time she escaped from Hell Island.

And if she tried getting away she might leave Paula in their hands. So she stayed where she was and tried to sleep, despite the discomfort. This was not the first night Roberta had spent knowing that she face punishment in the morning and it wouldn't be the last. In the journey back to the Palace there would be more incidents like this. She faced disapproval, beatings and even imprisonment in the coming weeks and months but although she could avoid it all by compromising with the world, she had made up her mind.

Despite her dread of being whipped yet again, just as her wounds had healed from the last time Roberta fell asleep and woke when shaken by the rough hands of the village elders.

"For the last time, Roberta, will you agree to cover at least your womanhood? If you do we will not whip you and will reward you for the work you did for our womenfolk. We are not monsters! We do not wish to hurt you."

"Then don't hurt me! Let me leave with my friend."

"You are afraid of the pain?"

"Of course not! What an insult! I am afraid of nothing you can do to me!"

Roberta was untied and taken to the cart that she had pushed up and down the hill so many times. They tied her hands to the shafts and told her to push it up the hill and down the other side to where the boundary stone was situated.

"The faster you push it, the fewer lashes you will receive. Don't look so relieved! The cart will be loaded before we start to flog you!"

Three women were told to climb into the cart. Two lines of men formed, lining the route the wagon was to follow. All these men were armed with whips. As soon as the signal was given Roberta pushed at the wagon and it started moving. It had not moved an inch before the first two lashes fell! The two men who had given her the first cuts moved to the end of the line and waited for Roberta to reach them before lashing her back again.

The ground Roberta had to pass over was rough and stony. Every so often the cart would come up against an obstacle and Roberta, the sweat pouring off her muscular body in streams before she had gone twenty yards, would have to heave more than once to get the contraption, together with its load of women, moving again. Whenever she was forced to stop for even a few seconds, she would get several cuts from the pair of men level with her before she could move on and be whipped in turn by the next two. Long before she reached the crest, her arms and shoulders were aching from the effort and the muscles in her arms stood out like ropes.

By the time she had reached the top of the hill she must have received lashes from fifty men on one side and fifty on the other. One hundred lashes so far and still she was keeping the wagon moving. The men were looking tired and the women in the wagon were looking the other way, ashamed of the shameful way their saviour was being treated.

The boundary stone was half way down the hill, a distance of several hundred yards and Roberta found herself having to pull hard to stop the wagon getting out of control and sending the unfortunate women flying downhill possibly being badly injured - or worse. Far from moving more quickly, she had to move terribly slowly. She knew enough about elementary mechanics to realise that if the wagon picked up too much speed, even her great strength could not stop it getting out of control.

"Go faster Roberta. They will kill you if they whip you much more!" shouted one of the women, tears streaming down her face.

"Either all three of you jump out or shut up!" shouted Roberta. "I'm not risking your lives to save my hide a bit of a tickling from these weak arseholes!!"

At this insult, the force of the lashes, which had been lessening, increased and Roberta felt blood trickling down her bottom and thighs as the leather cut into her. But she kept the wagon firmly under control and the boundary stone was reached without injury to the three women.

She was freed from the wagon and told that Paula would be along to join her shortly. In a few minutes the little girl appeared, looking at one and the same time anxious for her Mistress and annoyed to have missed all the fun!

"How was it, Roberta? Was it right up there among the really great whippings of all time? Or just a minor affair? Judging from the back I'd say it was a pretty tame affair this time!"

"It started to hurt quite a bit after a while, but they had to keep on the move like me and as often as not they mistimed their lashes. It wasn't too bad. Now let's get on our way! I wish the women well. They are a fine set of people and carry more than their share of the burden. But the men deserve to be exploited by that rat Gerald. Spineless bastards! Although they did offer to let me off the whipping if I agreed to cover my pussy. One should be fair, I suppose!"

Paula handed Roberta her sword and belt and bow and quiver. She gave no sign of the pain she must be in as she put them on.

They had hardly gone two yards when a commotion came from the village.

"It must be Gerald and his men come to steal some of the food we helped gather," said Roberta. "I won't stand for that!"

"You helped gather, Roberta! I was asleep when you doing all that hard work!"

"We must go and help them Paula! Those men will let them take away as much as they like. I can at least try to help. Maybe I can shame them into making a stand at last!"

Despite Paula's reluctance to see Roberta risk getting more punishment she obeyed and soon the pair were back at the village. The men, all looking somewhat sheepish were lined up on one side of the square and the women being forced to load a large wagon the produce they needed for the coming winter. Roberta took an arrow and fitted it to her bow. One of the robbers dropped like a stone as the arrow hit him. Before any of the others could react, two more had fallen. Roberta covered the distance between herself and the remaining four at lightning speed. She dropped one with a quick thrust of her sword and then stood facing the remaining three, none of whom looked all that keen to face this Amazon's wrath any further.

"Drop your weapons if you wish to live, you scum!" Ordered Roberta. They obeyed.

"Remove your clothing - all of it, shoes as well! The men of this village need armour and weapons and you can provide them! Strip those dead filth of theirs. At once unless you wish join them!"

Soon three naked robbers were making their way back to their chief to tell him of this defiance on the part of a usually peaceful village and of the terrible woman who had routed them. It would take them a week, naked and footsore, to reach the Lord Gerald. By then Roberta hoped to have trained the men to fight back.

She was right about shaming them into being real men at long last. But she was not right about obtaining their gratitude. Resentment at being shown how to defend themselves and their women and children by a woman, however splendid a woman she might be, was deep inside all these trainee warriors.

And the children had ample opportunity to see every delicious inch of Roberta's very feminine body during the days that followed. She was everywhere at once - or so it seemed. She organised the women to erect fortifications and she drilled the men. It was a very intensive course, but Roberta was a good teacher.

By the time Gerald had sent a force of thirty brigands to subdue the village, Roberta had drilled the inhabitants, male and female into an effective force. She had shown them how to make the place almost impregnable and how to fight with the sword and use a bow. The attack, when it finally came, was driven off with twelve lying dead, most slain by Roberta but some by the villagers. Only one of the villagers lost his life.

Before leaving them, hopefully for the last time, Roberta addressed the victorious villagers.

"Gerald will not be back again. And if he is, you will deal with him as you did today. Now it really is time for me to leave you - this time finally."

But Roberta was not to leave so easily. The men now had their chance to express their resentment and outrage. Against all the pleas from the angry women, the same process was repeated. Once again she was dragged to the council chamber. Once again she was condemned and tied down overnight. And, in the morning following a victory she had made possible, she was whipped out of town a second time. This time five women were made to get into the wagon and when Roberta finally made it to the boundary stone, she was close to collapse.

"Would you help those ungrateful people again, Roberta?" asked a horrified Paula. She had been allowed to watch this time and had enjoyed it up to a point. Roberta's hardihood and capacity to soak up punishment always turned her on! But the ingratitude of it all made her weep.

"If necessary," said Roberta after giving the matter some thought. "But it won't be necessary. Gerald will leave them alone in future. He won't risk losing any more men and there are plenty of easier pickings for him. I only hope I don't fall into his clutches, though. He's bound to realise who I am and be looking for me. I'll be food for the vultures soon enough if I do!"

"That's true. He'd have you flogged to death, or killed by some other form of slow torture. I think a detour might be advisable, Roberta. The direct route to the palace is right through the middle of his territory. I gathered that much from our stay with those bloody ingrates."

"Don't blame them too harshly, Paula. They have their rules and I have mine. I was a guest in their village and I broke their rules twice. I am happy enough to have been punished twice and there was a rest between the two floggings."

"You're a lot more forgiving that I would be. They owe you so much, Roberta. I think their rule is a stupid one."

"I didn't see you too anxious to join me, Paula! You were happy enough to wear the nice clothes they gave you!"

"Well, I'll take them off now!"

"No you won't. You stay dressed, Paula. It's best that at least one of us keeps out of trouble! And, let’s face it, it seems to be the rule that I get all the stick and you keep yourself out of it. You really do know how to avoid pain!"

Paula did not disagree. In any case, it was getting cooler these last few days. Roberta was more than welcome to brave the coming icy cold of winter alone. Paula recalled the last winter, when she had determinedly stayed nude through the coldest weather. Never again! She guessed her Mistress might well wish to use her for night time heating when the winter really set in!

Not that Roberta needed any kind of heating in the winter. She could happily sleep out in the open with a hard frost on the ground beneath her. What a marvellous set of women the Golden Guard were! And to think that these hardy girls all died young. Paula guessed that Roberta, if she were not killed in battle, would be able to live until she was a hundred! But she would be killed fighting for her King and would thus die a happy woman.

"I haven't always avoided pain, Roberta. After you had been sent to Hell Island I was still an auxiliary Golden Guard and the Commandant had me punished loads and loads of times until the King put his foot down and stopped it."

"You mean you were whipped?" There was fury in Roberta's voice. Her darling Paula being flogged. How hateful!

"Not whipped, Roberta. Just caned on my sweet little arse! I quite liked it as a matter of fact. And the bruises faded away in a week or so."

"You liked it? That's not so bad, then. I can understand you liking it, Paula. It brings back some happy memories of my own! But the Commandant shouldn't have ordered it. I'm glad His Majesty stopped it. Do you ever miss being caned?"

"A bit. In fact I miss it a lot. It's like a drug. But I don't need to tell you that! You enjoy your whippings don't you?"

"In a way, Paula. But I think caning is more fun. When we were being trained from the age of twelve to eighteen, we were punished with the stick. We'd examine each others’ caned backsides at night and I was the envy of all the others on one occasion when I got thirty all in one go! No one had ever got that many before. Happy days! We'd be bent double over a rail and our hands tied to our ankles. Then the swishing would start! Woe betide a girl who cried! She'd get double for that!"

Roberta looked into her friend's brown eyes with her blue ones. An idea was forming!

"Would you like me to spank you, Paula? On your bare bottom? I'd only do it lovingly and I'd stop as soon as you asked me to."

"I'd much sooner be caned, Roberta. And we'd agree a number of strokes beforehand. I want you to give me them all, really hard, as hard as you possibly can, and ignore any pleas to stop. But we don't have a cane."

"We'll keep a lookout as we go on our way. As soon as we find something suitable, I'll give you your first caning! Look! We're coming to a village. We will go and buy one together! You can choose the one you prefer. You still have some money from the women we helped. We'll buy food and a nice swishy stick for your darling little behind!"

If only Roberta had known that she was walking straight into her next spot of bother she might have avoided that particular hamlet and postponed Paula's craved for caning for a few more days. But Roberta was not endowed with prophetic gifts and strode blithely on, an expectant and an already sexually excited Paula by her side.

Philippa, sitting crouched in her gloomy cave, gazing into her crystal, laughed evilly as she saw the unbelieving Roberta approach fresh trouble, fresh danger, and above all, more pain! She was going to enjoy this show and hoped there would be no atmospheric interference to mar the transmission!

Chapter 7
Adventure The Second
The fugitive Golden Guard had several adventures after leaving the Bandits' Cave where Philippa had divined her innocence by a mystic appraisal of her warm and freshly shed blood. This is the second.

Roberta And Paula
"I wonder how these people will react to your nudity, Roberta?" asked Paula. "I hope you don't collect another whipping just yet! A really satisfactory and aesthetically pleasing lashing needs to be done on a nice fresh back in my opinion! I know you don't get to watch, but I do and you should always try to think of others, darling! And, thanks mainly to you I've seen quite enough to have a right to form a judgment in such matters!

“You need at the very least, a couple of weeks to recover before the next one. Your scars are still fresh and weeping from the last. So let's hope they at least allow you time to heal before they punish you. Of course, you might be lucky this time! Doubt it, though! I think the store is over there!"

Paula and Roberta were in a small village looking for a nice swishy stick for Paula's backside. They needed one in order that Roberta might subject her to a fun caning. The couple were also hoping to purchase food for the continuing journey. Roberta decided that they must stay here for a while.

"I'll see if they have any work for me, Paula. From the look of the place, there seems a lot to be done around here and a pair of strong arms and shoulders will be useful. We'll buy your nice stick and ask to be introduced to the head man!"

Roberta was told the mayor was also the owner of the store. This dignitary, full of self-importance, came out and looked angrily at Roberta. It was clear that if the Golden Guard hoped for a greater degree of tolerance for her nakedness than in the last village, she was in for a disappointment.

"What have we here? A shameless strumpet who thinks her great strength allows her to behave as she pleases! I see you have been whipped recently, my good woman. They gave you quite a going over. I can guess why. I suggest you complete your purchases and move on. We won't add to those wounds today - not while they are so fresh. We are not that cruel."

"Do you have work for me, Sir?" said Roberta in a placatory voice. "My friend and I are short of money and we have a very long journey ahead of us."

"I'm not so sure about your little friend but we certainly have plenty of hard work for you. You are obviously very strong and can start at once if you wish. But please! I beg you to put some clothes on! We are respectable folk around here. There is a very strong Ladies League for Truth and Decency around here and elections are due. I daren't let something as blatant as this pass. I must make an example of you."

"I have my reasons for refusing to wear clothes," said Roberta firmly, but politely. " I understand your feelings and those of the worthy citizenry and you may punish me as you see fit and I will accept whatever you decide and not resist. I am happy to pay the penalty for being naked, whatever it might be. But I will always be naked. My body is as a blazing beacon of truth never to be hid from people's eyes."

Paula blinked at this last remark! She had never seen it like that before! Roberta continued.

"What is the work I am to do? There are still a few hours of daylight! All I ask is that my friend be given shelter and rewarded when we finally leave. I will sleep wherever you wish as long as she is given food and comfortable lodgings."

Roberta was shown to a grove of trees. It consisted of about thirty in all. Some were big and with trunks that two or three people could stand around with arms outstretched. Others were hardly more than saplings.

"We want all these trees felled and the roots taken out. We intend to cultivate this area. The timber must be cut up into suitable lengths for our craftsmen to use. You have three weeks to complete this task. We have axes, saws and shovels. Digging out the roots will be the hardest part. If you complete the job on time your friend will be given twelve gold pieces, enough with care to last her for several months. Because you are a naked whore, you will receive nothing and you must promise that she will keep it all. We will regard you as her property. If she wishes to feed you on it, that is her affair, but the money is all hers and you are merely her slave as far as we are concerned. You must give your solemn word to us."

Roberta nodded her agreement. Paula looked after these financial things, such as they were, in any case. Roberta was a warrior, not a coin counter.

"What if I take longer than three weeks?"

"In that unhappy event, your friend here will get nothing. Not only that but you will be publicly branded as a whore. You will be branded with hot irons on each buttock and on your back. Do you agree or do you wish to go on your way?"

"I agree. The land will be cleared inside three weeks."

"Get to work! I see from the scars on your chest and stomach that you have already been branded! Or was that the Chief Torturer's work? Golden Guard Roberta!"

"If you know who I am, then you must also know that I was tortured last year. Tortured unjustly, I might add! Please believe me when I say that I am innocent of any wrongdoing, save that of having been wild and undisciplined for a while for which I was well punished many times. I am a loyal servant of the King and always will be!"

"You may be innocent but you have no right to be naked now that you are disgraced and suspended from the Golden Guard. I understand that you wish to stay unclothed but, if you persist, you must be punished for it. We will not attempt to force you to wear clothes, but we will enforce a severe chastisement before you are allowed o leave. I will make only one concession. Complete the work on time and your branding will be reduced to a whipping."

He looked at the two girls' purchases. His eyes lighted on the swishy stick.

"Why have you bought this cane?"

"My friend likes to be caned on her bottom. It is for me to use on her, but only when she asks me to do it. I love her desperately and would never hurt her badly."

"We do not allow these carnal relations between women. If Paula wishes to avoid great punishment, she will keep away from you until you have finished your duties here. You will work as long as it is light and I have decided that you should spend the nights in a cellar, chained to the wall."

"But Paula will be treated well? That's all I ask. Do what you like to me. How will my whipping be delivered? I see that I am not going to escape that, even if I am not to be branded with hot irons."

The Mayor looked at Roberta's raw and weeping wounds. He guessed that she had received them at the neighbouring town, whose recent difficulties with Lord Gerald he was aware of, as well as Roberta's assistance. Like Paula he thought their ingratitude somewhat of a disgrace. Not that he intended to deal any more gently with this defiant whore himself!

"I see that you have very recently been given about two hundred lashes, although mostly they were not laid on all that well. It was a very incompetent piece of work as I am sure you realise. We will tie you to the side of a barn and give you one hundred and fifty, well laid on so that you howl for mercy long before we have done with you."

Roberta reflected that the wretched mayor would be disappointed when she took her lashes in silence. But you can't please everyone! The mayor then promised that Paula would have comfortable lodgings. Roberta made to go and start work but the mayor told her to stop. He was full of bad news for our heroine this afternoon.

"I think you will have to wear something while you are with us. Two metal bands around your ankles and a long chain to link them together and stop you running away before your work is done. We don't want our strong slave absconding before we decide to free her! Let us go to the blacksmith's."

This was a new one for Roberta! Even during her trial and imprisonment she had not been treated like this. Her leg irons as a prisoner had been the sort that could be locked and unlocked. But these would be permanent, at least until they were cut away by the blacksmith. A strange excitement came over her as she realised that she was on the verge of a totally new experience in degradation and bondage!

Paula heard the sounds of hammering coming from the smithy and, like her Mistress, she was excited at the prospect of seeing a permanently shackled Roberta! Finally her friend was led out, with iron bands around both ankles and a chain linking them.

Her chain was long enough for Roberta to walk fairly easily, but her stride was less that its usual length and the heavy chain rattled and clanked as she made her way to the grove.

The first tree came crashing to the ground after a mere twenty minutes. Roberta was totally untrained as a woodsman but she was strong and a quick learner. She found herself hampered to some extent by not being able to get her feet far enough apart to get the best rhythm. And the iron hurt her legs. The metal had still been pretty hot when the blacksmith had not ungently fixed the shackles, making her fear for her legs being crushed as he hammered the rivets into place. Her legs would most likely bear the scars forever. Roberta did not mind this. She collected scars and took great pride in the large number that she could sport on all parts of her body.

Roberta had not started on the trees until two hours before nightfall and she managed to fell a third of them, mostly the smaller ones, leaving the big ones for the next few days. The thought of the hard work that lay ahead did not frighten her. She was strong enough to complete this task with days to spare!

The cell they locked her in was deep below the prison building and stank from a mixture of the damp and the rotting corpses of dead rats and other filth. Her chain was fixed to the wall and she was left crouching on the floor with her supper, which made her feel sick to look at and smell, let alone eat. But she forced herself. She would need to keep her strength up if she were to get through the coming twenty-one days!

They fed her in the morning after a poor night's sleep and led her to the grove. From time to time during the long hot and dusty day she would drink from the large jug of water they had given her. On the Hell Island she had been used to go for five hours at a time without drinking and this ready availability of liquid sustenance was a great blessing. She found herself working three times as hard as when she had been a convict labourer.

Roberta spent most of this first full day cutting up the trees she had felled yesterday into the kind of dimensions that would make them, good for firewood. It was the larger trees that would provide the building material. By the time they came to take back to her cell she had achieved all she had set herself to do. Roberta was well pleased at her progress. This was the first really hard work since her escape and it felt pretty good. Her body ached all over and she slept like a log that night.

Paula
"I'd like to look at my slave working, if that is alright with you, Mr Mayor," said Paula as she welcomed the Head of the Community into her comfortable cottage, lent to her for the duration. "I know she is rented out to you, but it pleases me to see her working hard and earning her keep - and my fortune!"

"We are well pleased with her work so far, Paula. In five days she has felled all the trees. The smaller ones have all been cut into logs for firewood and she is stripping the bark off the larger ones and sawing them into sections for the carpenters to work on in due course after they have been seasoned. In years to come the village will have several fine buildings as a result of your generosity and your slave's hard work... And you may go and inspect your property. But we would ask that you not keep her long from her work."

"Of course I will not hold up the work for more than a few minutes. I merely wish to see that you are maintaining my property in good condition. She may be strong but she needs feeding well. In that sense at least sense, she is as human as you and I!"

Paula didn't know what to think or feel of this new situation where her adored Mistress was being regarded as her Slave. On the whole she disliked the arrangement and felt bitterly for the wounded pride of the bravest of the brave. But there was an element of excitement at the idea!

Roberta was sawing the trunk of one of the larger trees into lengthwise sections. She was covered in sweat and dust. It was clear to Paula's eyes and, more distastefully, her nose that Roberta had not bathed for six days. She guessed that this unwashed state of affairs was destined to continue for over two weeks until the couple could continue their journey. Yuck!

"Making good progress, darling?" she asked.

Roberta started at the sound of that beloved voice which she had missed terribly these last few days. She continued sawing.

"I think I'm ahead of schedule, Paula. From tomorrow I will be digging out the roots. That will make the previous five days seem like a picnic, The hardest work is all ahead of me! I won't let you down, Paula! You'll get your ten gold pieces!"

"Our gold pieces, darling!"

"Yours, Mistress Paula! I made a promise to the worthy Mayor!"

"I don't want to be your mistress. I was happier in the old days when you were the King's trusted Guard and I was your plaything. I wish those times were back."

"They are gone for ever, Paula. You will never be my toy again and I don't wish it. You know yourself that you grow as a person all the time. It is thanks to you that I am here and not still slaving away on Hell Island."

Paula looked at her friend's toiling back and smoothly working muscles as she reduced the tree trunks to workable timber.

"It doesn't seem much of an improvement. You are still hard at work - work that is so far beneath you. And you still get unjustly flogged for no more than wearing the uniform of a Golden Guard. I don't seem to have been too much help so far!"

"Yes, you have, Paula. This is a million times better than that desolate piece of rock. I have the fresh air and the greenery of the countryside to enjoy and my muscles need this exercise. I am happy enough, Paula. During the day at least!"

"Is it terrible where you are chained up at night, Roberta? Tell me how it is. I command you!"

"It stinks. I am given foul tasting muck to eat. For the first few days my stomach revolted and I suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting. But my insides are used to it now. I hate having to sleep covered in my own filth, though and to be unwashed and foul smelling all the time. But I'm a Slave now."

"I will ask the Mayor to improve your conditions. I doubt that he will agree, the bastard! But I will do what I can. Keep up the good work, darling! The sooner you are finished the sooner we can get away from here - from this hateful place."

As Paula had feared, her request that Roberta be given a more sanitary place to spend the night was refused.

"A Slave should sleep in her own shit, Paula. Let her learn her place! It will be good for her in the long run to forget her proud past. She is the lowest of the low these days, Paula. And now to pleasanter matters. My wife and I would be glad if you would join us for dinner tonight. We are having a few friends around and they are all anxious to meet you and hear about life at Court."

"I was only a humble maid and later an auxiliary Golden Guard. I was hardly in the King's inner circle. And I am on the run as well as Roberta. You could hand us both in and get a rich reward. But Roberta is innocent. The seer, Philippa, established her innocence. She examined her blood after it had been ritually shed and said it is the blood of a wild and wilful woman who is also loyal and true to her King!"

"I respect Philippa, Paula. And I admire you. So I shall not give you over to the King's men when they next visit these parts. Now forget your slave! Leave her to rot in the cells! Come to our house and have a good time. I have asked a couple of really nice young men whom I am sure you will like."

Paula very much doubted that she would like either of the two young men. Most of the men she had seen around here sucked! And there was only one man she would ever look at. And he was married and unattainable. No man in this village would be able to give her the riches and happiness promised by Philippa all those weeks ago. Paula was keen on getting to enjoy this good life and knew she would before too long.

But she did have a good time that evening! The wine flowed freely and the food was excellent. The two young men were a bit of a bore, but nice enough. They both escorted her home afterwards and invited her for a ride in the country followed by a picnic. It sounded a pleasant change from walking everywhere and she accepted, especially when assured there would be another girl as well as herself on the outing. It had been years since she had last rode a horse.

She fell asleep easily that night, unlike Roberta far below ground who was in as much squalor as ever. Clearly Paula's request had not been heeded. She hated this time chained to a cell wall and prayed every night for morning to come quickly. She loved her work in the wood, gruelling though it might be, but hated the stinking confinement at night. And she longed to be clean again.

The excursion to the country proved to be something of a disaster. It all went pleasantly enough to start with. The four young people left at an hour or so after dawn, and Paula heard the sound of sawing coming from the direction of the grove.

James, the boy who seemed more interested in her, mentioned Roberta as they rode past the now felled grove.

"Your slave is certainly a remarkable individual. We all admire her strength and her beauty, but she will be whipped for her nakedness when she has finished clearing that ground. Why do you insist on keeping her like that, Paula?"

"She is an animal, James. Animals don't wear clothes. And her whippings are nothing to her. Animals don't feel pain! You mustn't feel sorry for her."

"I don't," replied James, "slaves are only meant for work and pain. But she is very exciting to watch at work. I've never seen a body like that before. Can she fight? I heard a rumour that she had been a Golden Guard before being sold into slavery."

"I don't know what she was before I bought her," lied Paula, "but she can fight and fight well. I guess she might have been a soldier once before she became an animal and my property."

The four young people reached the field where they were to have their picnic. James and Paula had ridden separate horses and the other couple had ridden in a small cart drawn by one horse. The cart contained the food and wine for the outdoor meal as well as two increasingly amorous young people.

Frieda and William soon disappeared together behind a bush. Soon the sounds of giggling could be heard.

"Let's go and spy on them," said Paula with a mischievous smile. She could feel James getting more and more anxious to do to Paula what William was doing to Frieda. No matter what she was not being screwed by this silly boy! She had a dagger concealed beneath her dress and would use it if needed.

James agreed and the two stole quietly towards the shrubbery behind which Frieda was being shagged by William. Paula looked curiously at the writhing pair. It was the first time she had seen a naked man and she wished to miss nothing. Because of the movement of the two naked bodies she wasn't able to make out as much as she would like of what was going on. It all looked very messy, that was for sure, but both seemed to be happy enough. There was a look in Frieda's eyes that spoke of great ecstasy. Maybe she might allow James to do the same to her, despite her reservations of a few seconds ago! It would be nice to feel the same pleasure so obviously being experienced by the moaning Frieda. Then the rain started!

Paula and James ran to the two horses and a still nude couple emerged from behind the hedge, clutching their clothing and running for their lives towards the horse and cart. Paula's father had once told her that one way to cool the ardour of copulating dogs was to throw water over them. The same principle seemed to apply to the human species. But she doubted a few drops of rain would stop her and Roberta finishing what they had started! These three were wimps!

By the time they had returned to the village all four were drenched. The rain that had started falling so suddenly showed no signs of stopping. Far from easing up the downpour intensified. At least Roberta's stinking hide would get cleaned by this, thought a shivering Paula as she dried herself off in the comfort of her nice warm little cottage and watched the rain beat against the windows streaming down the glass and making it almost impossible to see across the road. Soon flashes of lightning appeared and thunder followed within seconds. The noise was deafening and the flashes of lightning hurt her eyes.

Then the rain turned to hail and its rattling against the house was even more dramatic than the rain had been. Paula saw the large stones dancing on the ground, bouncing inches into the air with the impact These stones would no doubt be bouncing off Roberta and stinging every inch of her tough young body. Sooner Roberta than her, she heartlessly thought! At least her hair was growing well by now and her head would be shielded.

Roberta
Roberta kept on working all through the downpour. She had been out in worse than this before now. As a trainee at the age of fourteen she and her fellows had been sent on a three-week route march across the wildest part of the country, with no shelter in all that time. And the weather had been diabolical every single day. The hail did sting, as Paula had thought back in the village in the warmth and comfort of her pleasant lodgings, but Roberta ignored it and kept digging at the massive tree roots. She had never before realised that so much of a tree lay underground!

She had good cause to be grateful for the rain. With the ground softened by this providential downpour, her task became much easier and she was pulling, hacking and digging one root after another out of the ground, cutting into them and accumulating a pile of them for disposal later.

The weather stayed cold and wet for four days and at the end of that time Roberta had completed her task. She wondered what she would be given to do next. It was quite a nasty shock when the Mayor ordered her to be brought before him and told her that her future for the remaining twelve days before her servitude was over and she was returned to Paula's charge.

"We have no more work suitable for you, Slave Roberta. So you will go down to the cellar and stay there until we bring you up for your whipping and hand you back to your Mistress. Take the Slave away."

It would be a gross understatement to say that Roberta was disappointed at this! She had been bracing herself for her one hundred and fifty lashes, after which she had hoped to be on her way at last. Now she was to be kept locked in that appalling little room with no respite either by day or by night from the horrors of confinement. Shit!

They dragged her, struggling, protesting and cursing back to the cellar. It took seven of them to get her down into the cell and chain her up. She was told she could go without food for a day and be fed only on bread and water for the rest of her confinement. As the heavy metal door clanged to she almost wept.

[Harry]

Paula
Two days after Roberta had been locked up the weather improved. The four young people decided on another expedition to the same field. As before, James and Roberta rode separately, racing each other from time to time while the other pair came in the cart with the food and wine.

Although it was October by this rime the sun was warm. Warm enough for clothes to be shed for greater comfort - and greater ease of access for William and James to the girls' sweet young bodies. Once again Frieda disappeared with William. This time Paula did not suggest they follow and spy on them. She was far more interested in doing than watching!

She was not a slut, was Paula. Merely possessed of a healthy curiosity! Being a modest little thing, she allowed James to undress her. Judging by his less than deft removal of piece after exciting piece of clothing, her was hardly an expert. If Paula had known that she was the first girl that James had ever got this close to - or anything like - she would have been less eager to be deflowered.

But Paula's honour, purity and unspoilt sweetness were to be preserved on this occasion. She swore as James drew back, his penis poised to enter her craving tunnel of love.

"Quick, Paul! Get dressed and hurry! I'll be flayed alive if they catch me. I might even join your Slave in the cellars!"

Shocked at the sudden change of mood from masterful masculinity to scared young boy, Paula obeyed. She looked in the same direction that James had aimed his fearful glance. A group of riders was approaching. One of them was a big man. A very big man. About the same size as the imprisoned and chained Roberta in fact. James looked puny by comparison and James was hardly frail and undersized himself!

Paula, having replaced her clothes with a great deal more speed than James had managed in removing them, ran over to the other two. William was about to penetrate Frieda for the third time. He was behind her and she was crouching as he took her. Interesting! But this was no time to hang around.

"People coming. You'll both be caught if you aren't quick and get dressed pronto! You're lucky! James and I were doing it right out in the open. Both of us bare ass naked and him with a real hard on! He beats you by a good inch, William! I just hope we weren't spotted. Apparently he'd get a real hiding if they knew!"

Whether or not the riders had seen the alfresco quasi copulation, Paula was never to know. But nothing was ever said for the rest of her stay in the village.

"Who is that big man, darling James?" asked Paula as they rode side by side back home. Both were very disappointed not to have known each other!

"He's Rodrigo, Paula my sweet! We have a rivalry between ourselves and the nearest village. Every year they send a champion to fight one of our best young men. He always wins. He's been their champion for two years. Last year he killed our best man. The poor guy never stood a chance. Rodrigo is unbeatable but honour requires that we put up a man to fight him. I am among the strongest, Paula. I may have to be the one this year. But he is far bigger and he knows how to fight. We are just ordinary people. If only we had a champion to match him!

"Is it a fight to the death my love?"

Paula was a bit disappointed to be losing James so soon after getting to know him and before he had been given a chance to fuck her. The fight would be fun to watch, though, and there were plenty of young studs to replace this one!

"Not to the death, Paula. But the injuries can be terrible. Broken limbs, cracked ribs. I'll be unconscious, bleeding and crippled by the time he's done with me, but most likely I'll live. I'm a bit scared, frankly. Mind you - they may choose one of the others."

"Maybe they won't choose any of you. My slave is a wonderful fighter. I don't say she would win against Rodrigo, but he'd get a run for his money! And it would be a chance for Roberta to get a bit of fresh air!"

As soon as they were back in the village Paula sought out the Mayor.

"If you like, Mr Mayor, my slave can be the challenger this year. She is a good fighter. Although she has only been fed bread and water these past two and a half days she will still be strong."

"There are two days of feasting, Paula, before the contest. We will feed your slave up in that time. There are some rocks we need carrying out of the village. She can carry them and that will restore her muscles to fighting trim. I must warn you that Rodrigo is a dangerous fighter. He may hurt her badly, even though she is as big as he. And if she loses, her whipping will be doubled."

Roberta
Slave Roberta sipped at the filthy water and nibbled the stale crust of bread. This meagre supply of food and drink had been thrust under the door a couple of hours ago and would be all she got until the next day. On her first day here she had consumed all her bread and water quickly - and regretted it. It was better to force herself to eat and drink a little at a time to keep the pangs of hunger to a minimum.

It had been foolish of her to resist being put here for the rest of her servitude. Horrible though her normal food had been, it was a whole lot better than this near starvation diet!

It seemed to the chained Roberta that there had never been a time when she had had a full belly! Rumblings kept disturbing the still quiet of the tiny, stinking cell. At least she wouldn't be shitting much in the next nine days!

When she got to be whipped, she would be weaker than she had ever been before when being punished. Maybe they would let her eat and drink first. And then again, maybe they wouldn't! Knowing that cruel bastard of a mayor, more likely they wouldn't!

As she was occupied with these rather gloomy reflections the door opened. She had not expected to see the light of day, even subterranean day, for well over a week. She blinked for some seconds before getting accustomed to the light after so long in near total darkness.

"The Mayor wishes to see you. Come along."

She reasoned that anything that got her out of this Stygian horror had just got to be an improvement! Her chain was unlocked from the ring on the wall and she was taken, clanking and rattling to the Mayor's office. To her surprise, Paula was standing with the Chief Citizen!

"Are we going, Mistress?" she asked Paula.

"No, Slave. We have more hard and dangerous work for you! Mr Mayor! Please let my Slave and me be alone for a few minutes."

The Mayor left and Paula put her hand on Roberta's strong arm.

"Would you fight a strong man for the honour of the village, Roberta? If you don't, James will be put up against him and maybe killed. He's a sweet boy, Roberta! I'd hate to see him killed or badly hurt! We sort of made love earlier today. Not quite, though - thanks be to heaven! You will fight Rodrigo, won't you?"

"If my Mistress commands it, then I have no choice, as her slave, obedient in all things even to the death!"

"You won't die. You'll whip his ass, Roberta. It's in the bag!"

"If it's the Rodrigo I'm thinking about, Paula, it's anything but in the bag! He was one of our trainers when I first joined the Golden Guard as a child. As a seventeen year old, just about to graduate, I was obliged to fight him! We all had to fight him and a very bruising business it was - for us, not him!"

Paula looked crestfallen and Roberta went on.

"We were considered to have graduated when we could last five minutes before getting knocked out! Some of the girls never made it and went back to their homes and families in disgrace. It took me five attempts! When I succeeded at long last, those were the longest and most painful five minutes of my life!"

"You only lasted five minutes?" This really sounded bad! Paula had been selling her slave as a sure fire winner!

"More like eight, actually. I did better than anyone else and he congratulated me, fifteen minutes later, after I had come round!"

"But that was years ago, Roberta! You've grown since then and your muscles are wonderful. You were seventeen than and almost twenty-one now. That year on the island did wonders for you and the work on the wood has only made you better than ever. The mayor has arranged good feeding for you and plenty of exercise for you to get your body in trim. You have two days. You won't let me and James down, will you?"

"Do you love this James, darling Mistress Paula?"

"Don't be silly! He's dirt poor like all these arseholes around here. And I'm due to be rich and happy! But I feel a bit of sentimental concern for him. You can do it, Roberta! Be positive! And your whipping is doubled if you lose. I should have thought that was quite an incentive!"

"You argue a powerful case, Paula! In two days we shall see whether your confidence in me is justified."

Chapter 8
Adventure the Second: Conclusion
Roberta
Roberta was put back into the cellar after working for the rest of the day. Now that the blacksmith had removed her chain she was free to move about. Not that there was far in any direction to move in this tiny room! The rings around her ankles were still there. It would take a file to remove them and there was insufficient time, so the smith had said. She guessed the chain would be re-attached after the fight.

She had readily agreed to fight Rodrigo. As part of her preparation she had spent the afternoon carrying heavy rocks out of the village to a clearing in the woods about a mile away. At first she had been accompanied to make sure she didn't slack or pause. It soon became clear, though, that Roberta didn't slack. There was no such word in her vocabulary. This wonderful strenuous activity after over two days being kept chained all day and night in that loathsome cellar was such a relief that every sinew in her body sung with joy as it was exercised to its limit once again.

The more she thought about the coming fight the more she felt she might be in with a chance this time. No swords would be involved and that was very bad news. Roberta's skill with the steel blade was legend. Rodrigo was a master of unarmed combat. That was what this man had been used for in the training. He had made sure than a Golden Guard would be a deadly foe even without her weapons.

His brawny arms could crush most men's ribs in seconds once he got a bear hug hold on. His fists were like rock and they moved like lightning, propelled by his muscular arms and shoulders. It had been a left hook that had sent her crashing bloodily into dreamland the last time she had fought him and lasted for all of eight minutes - to her own surprise.

If she had had any sense she would have let him knock her out after having survived the necessary five minutes, but stupid Roberta, with all the self-confident arrogance of a seventeen year old Leading Cadet, had actually thought she might win! Rodrigo had warmly congratulated her after she had finally woken up with a headache that had lasted for days.

"You are the best trainee I have ever fought against, Roberta! Look at this eye of mine! None of you have ever done that to me before! Have a cup or two of wine with me, my brave girl!"

As a rule, this was totally forbidden to all trainees. It was hardly encouraged even for mature members of the Golden Guard to taste wine. Roberta, even now, had little taste for strong drink. Clear, fresh and cool water was all she needed. But she had willingly accepted Rodrigo's offer and later staggered tipsily to bed.

She'd been well caned later, of course, after Rodrigo had left. That had been her last caning before she had graduated, and the last punishment of any kind for well over a year - until she had started her slide into disgrace and ruin.

She munched on the food and drank the water in her cell as she looked forward to her contest. The stuff they had given her tonight was as foul as ever, but at least there was plenty of it! She wondered how they fed their pigs! She doubted it was any worse than that they fed to her! But, then, she was just a Slave these days and no better than a pig.

Up above in the hall, the feast was taking place. Poor Slave Roberta was so far beneath the ground that she would have heard nothing. It was three flights of stairs down to where they kept her. Rodrigo was in a jovial mood as he downed one flagon of wine after another. Paula sat with James at the back and he had his arm around her. They kissed frequently and James was getting more and more daring as his hand crept under her dress and felt her erect and very hard nipple.

Paula was hoping that all this was not going to lead to her losing her virginity. If James, getting more desperate and audacious by the second, had anything to do with it, she would have lost it already! Soon enough one clammy hand found its way up her long skirt and into her crevice. She allowed him to explore and fondle her vaginal lips and move a little way inwards then she slapped his face hard. The crack of that little hand hitting that manly cheek resounded around the hall and fifty shocked glances were directed at the furiously blushing boy.

Paula was not bothered again and James left, accompanied by two members of the council. She guessed Roberta might not be the only one to get whipped around here in the near future. Serve the dirty little sod right, she thought. Then she felt sorry for him and crept out of the crowded hall, pleading that she needed some fresh air.

Sure enough, James was tied facing the barn wall with no shirt on. His broad and manly back had received three lashes before Paula could get across to him.

"Please don't hurt him! It's partly my fault! I led him on a bit. I feel terrible about seeing him whipped. Let him go. He's learnt his lesson!"

The two angry men ignored Paula and continued whipping James, taking it in turn to flog him. Paula, who had seen Roberta lashed many times and enjoyed watching it, was sickened to see James treated like this. She stood and watched with increasing anger as James got twenty lashes and then she had had enough. She placed herself between the whimpering boy and the two men and they were forced to stop. Then she untied him and helped him put on his shirt. His back didn't look too bad and she took him home and dressed his cuts, which were deep and long. Paula's professional eye saw clearly that the pair had done a good job on the lad! She hoped they would be used on Roberta in a few days' time! Only the very best was good enough for her former Mistress and present Slave!

"Don't try anything with me again, James," she warned him. "You're a nice boy and all that, but you are not for me! Now run along home and rest. In the morning you'll be fine!"

She gave him a quick kiss and pushed him out of the house. After this little drama she returned to the festivities, which were really getting under way by now. Rodrigo asked her to dance with him and he proved to be a wonderful dancer, despite his great bulk and all the wine he had consumed.

"I hear that you own the Slave who I am to fight, Paula. And that the Slave is a woman. No woman has ever defeated me! Poor cow! I hope she came cheap, because you will not find her much use to you after I have finished with her!"

"I hope you are wrong, Rodrigo! She cost me every last penny! But we shall see how it goes - after another day of feasting. I like the feasting around here! It's great stuff!"

"Indeed, Paula. They know how to throw a great party! Did you manage to rescue that amorous and rather inexpert young fool from having his back too badly hurt?

"So you saw it all tonight! You seemed too anxious to finish of the red wine to notice things like that! I see you are a hawk-eyed man as well as a fearsome warrior! Yes! I let him get about twenty or so and pleaded with them to let him off the rest. Mind you, I am due to leave in a few days time. After I have gone they may resume his painful lesson in good manners!"

"You need a real man to take away your innocence, Paula! And you're looking right at him as we speak!"

"No false modesty with you, is there Roddy," laughed Paula, who had possibly - just possibly - consumed a smidgeon more wine than was good for her!

They continued to dance for a few more delightful minutes and then Rodrigo led her to a bench by the wall and the couple watched the proceedings. Happily for Paula's much prized purity, Rodrigo was a gentleman as well as a lethal fighter. But his interest in the little girl was pretty obvious and she warmed to him - in a way.

"You'd like to fuck the arse of me, wouldn't you, darling?" she whispered.

"Sure thing, sweetheart! Be a nice way to end the day!"

"I'll tell you what, darling, beat my slave and you can have me. It's as simple as that! Now, will you please take me home? I'm tired and more than a little drunk! With more feasting ahead on the morrow, I think I need my beauty sleep."

Rodrigo left her at her front door but not before giving Paula just about the most exciting goodnight kiss that she could ever recall. Not that she had experienced too many. Hers had been a sheltered life until she met Roberta after which she had lost all interest in men. Or almost all interest. There was one - but that was just a pipe dream!

Rodrigo did things with his tongue that made the little girl's pulses pound and her head reel. She broke free and shut the door behind her. Wow!

As she fell asleep she thought that whatever the outcome of the Great Fight, she, Paula, would be the winner! While it would be wonderful, as ever, to see Roberta triumph, her defeat would mean Paula being deflowered by Rodrigo! And that would be something like going to Heaven early!

In the morning she awoke rather late with a headache and a feeling of nausea, a condition she suffered in common with most of the villagers. By this time, of course, Roberta, her fighting slave, had been hard at work for hours! She saw her carrying a great rock, the weight of a man, across the square and out of the village. Those muscles looked awesome! She wondered if Rodrigo had seen her!

But Rodrigo was still asleep. He had more than a little overdone it last night and would not stir until late afternoon, when he would rouse himself and resume the feasting - and dancing with that bewitching little Paula! He was aware of a big woman carrying rocks about the place and guessed that he would have the pleasure of breaking her back across his knee next day, but did not recognise in that Superwoman, the Golden Guard Trainee who had given such a hard time four years ago. Roberta's hair was still short. Short enough for her to pass as a man were it not for her firm and jutting breasts and her wide juicy cunt peeping brazenly from out of her golden bush!

Roberta certainly recognised Rodrigo and she was not impressed. The man was overconfident and riding for a fall. She guessed from his late arrival on the scene and bleary-eyed appearance when he did surface, that he had feasted well last night. That was no way to prepare for a fight, especially a fight with Roberta! Far from regretting her isolation, Roberta was glad of it now. It was far better for her to languish under ground by night rather than to ruin her chances by over indulgence above it.

He was not going to be a pushover, even in his unfit condition. In fact Roberta knew that she might quite easily be beaten by him. The odds were probably slightly in his favour. He was still a fine figure of a man, wearing only his breeches in the warm afternoon sun. But there was more than a trace of fat on that once trim belly. She guessed he might be slower off the mark than four years ago. And she was as fast and deadly as ever! And she'd need to be! Would she ever need to be!

As she rested in her evil smelling cell, she imagined Rodrigo carousing up above and making her chances against him more favourable by the minute!

Meanwhile, Paula was resting from the non-stop and ever more energetic dancing. She had certainly wined and dined well this last couple of days and had a whale of a time! James had not turned up tonight and it was just as well. It would only upset him to see how friendly she was getting with Rodrigo, who had pretty well monopolised her this evening! James was just a boy, but Rodrigo was a man with a capital M!

She guessed that this professional fighter had a girl in every village and town he visited and had left a trail of broken hearts and squawking fatherless brats in his wake. But Paula had no intention of being one of them! Before she had left the bandit's cave, carrying no more than a pack on her naked back and her weapons, she had been given some of the ointment they had used to soften and resensitise Roberta's hardened leathery skin and a magic potion to use if and when she decided to sleep with a man. Philippa had assured her that this powder would mean that no embarrassing surprises would materialise in nine months' time if she did allow Rodrigo into her bed and her body!

Rodrigo went on drinking and dancing with an ever more willing Paula until well after midnight. He escorted her home once again.

"How can you behave like this, Rodrigo, when you have a hard fight ahead tomorrow! Roberta may lose against you, but it won't be easy! Go home and sleep it off!"

"Roberta? Golden Guard Roberta? Is that the giantess I saw working like a slave? How has it come to this? I had her marked out as a future Commandant! How came she to be a Slave and your property?"

"You hadn't heard? You must be just about the only person I've met that hadn't heard about all her troubles."

"I have been on a long journey this last few months. And I left the King's service two years ago. This town is the first place I've been to since returning. Tell me all about Roberta."

Paula led him into her cottage and the pair talked for almost an hour before Rodrigo went back to his room in the local inn.

Rodrigo was impressed by Paula's belief in her Mistress/Slave, but, like Roberta, he did not believe in Philippa's mystic powers. She was no more than a barmy old crone with half her marbles missing - as well as all her teeth! Roberta was guilty as hell and in the morning he would save the executioner a job! He'd kill his opponent!

He slept well enough, but as he drifted off into sleep he recalled the black eye that the defiant young trainee had given him four years ago as she gamely went down under his battering fists, fighting every inch of the way. It might not be as easy tomorrow as it had been last year against that useless peasant boy!

Roberta woke early and they came for her at dawn. She asked to be given time in the morning to train further for the contest which was to be held in mid afternoon. She carried the remainder of the rocks out to the clearing in the woods. Goodness knows what the purpose of all this was. Perhaps they intended building some kind of temple there. They had enough material to erect quite an edifice!

Three hours before the fight she was taken back down to her cell to await her entrance to the arena. As the seconds ticked away she became calmer and calmer. She had never been afraid of a fight, not even when she was in great danger. Whatever happened she would acquit herself well today! She slept for three hours and was roused ten minutes before the deathly struggle was due to begin.

Paula
Paula woke early as well. She must be getting used to all this drinking and eating! Her head was clear this morning and she went out to take a morning stroll around the village. Roberta was already busy, she was pleased to see. The two exchanged a glance but nothing was said. Paula had taken to heart the warning that sexual relations between women were banned around here. But the original purpose of their coming to this town was still very fresh in Paula's mind. As soon as they were away from the place Roberta would give her sweet little arse the caning of its life!

On second thought, though, decided Paula, perhaps they had better wait for a few days after the fight to give Roberta's strong right arm time to recover from all the hard work it would be doing against Rodrigo. If Rodrigo won, then Roberta would no doubt go back to the cellar, in chains once more, to serve the rest of her time. If she were still alive, of course - that was doubtful!

Paula had sensed Rodrigo's disbelief after she had told him Roberta's side of the story. All Paula's talk of sorcery and potions and poisoned food had clearly not convinced a man who was every bit as sceptical as Roberta. She began to regret offering up Roberta as the challenger. All she would get in exchange for losing her friend would be a night of passion with a man who would swiftly dump her as soon as he had slaked his lust on her body. Although she would enjoy being made love to by Rodrigo, she would still miss Roberta.

Then the time finally arrived. The square began to fill up with villagers, both from this town and the rival community. Many were still bleary eyed after two days of feasting and wining. A few private fights had broken out over the last two days and a number of young men sported various types of facial bruises.

James was there. It was the first time Paula had seen him since she had caused his whipping to be curtailed. That had been a mistake. She ought to have let them do whatever they had to do. The stupid boy would get the rest of his stripes sooner or later. Paula had learnt that much! The Ladies' League for Truth and Decency had been outraged at his groping the diminutive guest. The Mayor's re election depended on James being made much more of an example of than the recent twenty-three lashes. If one hundred and fifty were appropriate for Roberta then James should receive nothing less...

Stupid boy! He had said in the field that he was risking a hiding by seducing a guest. But his ardour had got the better of his discretion. His flagrant behaviour at the dance had been an open invitation to the moralists to make an example of him. At least he didn't have to fight Rodrigo. He should count his blessings! She put him out of her mind and concentrated on enjoying the fight. She loved seeing blood shed, especially when it was that of her brave and hardy Slave!

[Harry]

The Fight
Roberta was brought up from the cells and Rodrigo came swaggering over from the inn, surrounded by a group of men from the rival village, all sure that their champion was set to defeat yet another challenger, leaving her bloody corpse for Paula to mourn over - after she had made love to Rodrigo.

People were clearly impatient and anxious to see the carnage begin after two days of anticipation. For a variety of reasons Paula was also keen to get the whole business over with, and in one way or another, get on with the rest of her life.

Roberta was already stripped for the fight, of course. That was one thing about her very exiguous uniform! No frequent changes of costume! Her sword, belt, bow and quiver had been taken from her before her imprisonment in the cellar, and she would not need them today in any case. This was a fight where bare body was to be pitted against bare body.

In honour of the occasion, she had been bathed beforehand by a couple of the village girls, both of whom had thrilled to touch this Amazon. They had wished her success and apologised for the way she had been treated. "It's awful the way they work you to death during the day and lock you in that dungeon at night. You show them, Roberta!"

She still had the metal bands on her ankles and each band had a ring on the inside of her leg to take the chain. Because of this obvious advantage to the Slave, Rodrigo was allowed to continue wearing lightweight boots. He had stripped before coming from the inn, wearing only a loincloth and looking every inch the champion. Except, alas, that there were rather more inches around his waist than last year!

Comparing the two fighters, the villagers began to hope against hope that this year they might have something to celebrate. She was recognisably a woman by her breasts, feminine posterior, lovely features and generously proportioned vagina, but there the resemblance ended! In every other way she was a mountain of lithe footed muscularity. There seemed to be no department in which she didn't either equal or outgun Rodrigo. And she carried not an ounce of surplus weight, which Rodrigo undoubtedly did!

The Mayor made the announcement. "The annual contest this year again features Rodrigo, who killed our brave Antonio last year after a pretty brave show by our lad (cheers from the home village). Rodrigo, that mighty man of valour (cheers from the away supporters) is to fight the Slave of our honoured guest Paula. This mighty Slave is the former Golden Guard Roberta, disgraced and deservedly enslaved but still a fearsome warrior. (Some cheers from the home supporters, who were glumly sure that they were going to be hammered by the opposition yet again, though at least it was only a Slave who would be killed this time and not some local mother's beloved boy.)

"Let battle commence, after the fighters have shaken hands."

"Looking a bit worse the wear this morning, aren't we Rodrigo?" sneered Roberta as she held her opponents hand in a fierce grip that was clearly hurting him. "You should know that's no way to prepare for a contest to the death!"

"You'll be the one to die, traitor Roberta! Take a last look at the world! You'll soon be leaving it."

"We'll see soon enough! I'm ready to fight but I doubt that you are!"

The two fighters, one a woman and the other a man, stepped apart and waited for the command to start. It was soon given and Rodrigo started off aggressively by aiming a kick at Roberta's stomach. The Slave stepped aside and took the blow on her side, most of the force being lost. It hurt all the same and she could see that Rodrigo had lost none of his power since their last encounter.

Roberta made no attempt to counter. She evaded Rodrigo's next kick and the next. Then Rodrigo's aim seemed to improve and Roberta grunted in pain as he landed a hit on her solar plexus. That should have finished her but she seemed unaffected by it and answered with a swift blow of her bare but still manacled foot into his face and drew blood. First blood, thought Roberta triumphantly.

After shaking him with that kick from a woman who should have been rolling on the ground in agony, Roberta danced away and kept Rodrigo on the move. This need for footwork was not to his liking and Roberta could hear his breathing become heavy and laboured. Too much booze and good food were having their effect already!

The kick to her stomach had hurt her and hurt her badly. Even as she countered and kept on the move, the agony from that direct hit to her nerve centre was slow to fade. But Roberta was used to pain. For six years she had been trained never to surrender to physical pain and since becoming a full member of the Golden Guard she had endured agonies both in the field of combat and at the whipping frame. Roberta had felt pain in her time such as Rodrigo could not even dream of. And she thrived on it!

Some awareness of this almost unnatural hardihood was beginning to percolate into his brain. If he did finally win it would only be after a terrible struggle, which might leave him crippled. He tried to summon up enough energy to repeat his blow to Roberta's belly, but once again she seemed to be feeling nothing and her counter was a punch to his face that broke his nose. Nobody had ever done that to him before! Certainly not a woman. He punched her face and had the satisfaction of seeing her bleed a little - but only a little and he was covered with blood as his nose gushed forth a red stream that soon covered his chest and began to drip onto the ground.

Roberta was not so stupid as to think the battle all but won. Sheer male pride would give Rodrigo a second wind and a new lease of life. He would not take defeat, at the hands of a young woman, lying down. That was for sure! Roberta aimed another kick and this time he was too quick for her - more like the Rodrigo of old.

Roberta retained her balance but was momentarily off guard and Rodrigo came at her and soon had her in one of his famous bear hugs. Roberta made no attempt to escape but countered by wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him as hard as he was squeezing her. Those nearest to the action could hear two tortured bodies creak and crack under the colossal strain.

Her cold blue eyes gazed calmly into his brown eyes and her calm features faced his agonised countenance. Fear was in that bearded face as Rodrigo tried in vain to secure a submission from a woman who seemingly was made, not of flesh and blood, but steel.

After five minutes in which neither fighter's grip seemed about to loosen it was Rodrigo who muttered, "Break?"

Roberta smiled and nodded. The pair simultaneously disengaged and stepped apart. Then began a phase of the contest that had spectators gasping with sheer stupefied amazement that two people could do such things to each other and still remain, not only standing, but trading blows as powerfully as at the start.

Roberta aimed a punch at Rodrigo and let him return it without stepping aside or backwards. Both faces quickly began to show the effects of this uninhibited slugfest! Roberta was soon bleeding as badly as Roberto but she showed no sign of tiring of this very painful endurance test. Once again it was Rodrigo who muttered. "Call it a draw, Roberta? We're getting nowhere!"

"No draw. Today you die," replied Roberta as she aimed a mighty kick at his throat, almost taking his head off. A neck less thick than that of the brawny Rodrigo would certainly have been broken, but he only staggered back, choking a little but still ready to carry on the fight. It was a contest he now had no hope or expectation of winning. That exchange had drained him utterly and Roberta, bloody though she might be, was as strong and as fresh as when they had first faced up to each other.

This time it was Roberta who got her opponent in a bear hug and it was Rodrigo's ribs that snapped and cracked as she put on the hold with deadly force. Those days felling trees and carrying rocks and, above all, that year on the Hell Island, had given Roberta a body that was more than the equal of any man - even Rodrigo. If he had abstained from strong drink and prepared himself properly he might, with his years of experience and great skill, have prevailed. But the overweight boozer that he had now become was no match for the superbly fit Roberta.

He fainted after five minutes of increasing agony and Roberta picked him up and broke his back over her knee, just as he had imagined doing to her the previous night! Making sure that he was indeed dead as mutton, she stood and raised two bloody hands in a gesture of triumph. Rodrigo would kill no more untrained peasant boys as a way of boosting his reputation and lining his pockets. Today he had fought a true warrior and lost.

Paula was the first to congratulate her victorious Slave, putting her arms around Roberta's neck and kissing that bloody face many times. Rodrigo would undoubtedly have given her a great time in bed, but on the whole she preferred him the way he was right now! And, as the owner of the Slave who had rid the village of the recurring nightmare of seeing Rodrigo kill or maim the best of their young manhood, she could have her pick of a dozen good men tonight!

Paula was followed by the village maidens who had bathed her body before the fight. They too put their arms around Roberta's sweaty body and kissed her many times, vowing never to wipe the heroine's blood off their faces! Then the young men crowded around and slapped her heartily on the shoulders, thanking her for redeeming the honour of the village. Then the Ladies' League for Truth and Decency made their dour appearance. And there were a lot of them and they all had votes!

The almost universal wish of the youthful element to fete the victor was overruled by the more numerous seniors. It was pointed out that, as the one who had donated her Slave to be the challenger, it was Paula who deserved the town's gratitude. Roberta was soon back at the blacksmith's, having a fresh chain, a much shorter one this time, attached. Within half an hour of her win she was back chained in the cellar and told she would not be coming out for ten days.

Paula
"Ten days?" asked Paula later. "Surely it's less than that? She had twelve days to serve after she finished clearing the trees early. You had her underground for two and a half days and then two days training and then today. She should only serve seven days at most. And after what she's just done I'd have thought you'd have let her off even them and allowed us to be on our way. I'm really disappointed!"

"Don't fret, Paula! We have three more days of feasting at which you are the guest of honour. And your Slave has earned you thirty-five gold pieces. She will not feel pain in that cellar and we will feed her well so that when she takes her lashes she will be fit and strong enough to be punished. Forget about her, Paula! Come and enjoy yourself! You've earned it," said the Mayor.

So once again, while Roberta was fed on stale bread and foul water, Paula lived it up for three wild and roaring days of celebration. By the time it was over she had been shagged so many times by so many lusty young men that she wondered fearfully if Philippa's magic powder would be proof against such a sticky tide of semen as had flowed and been pumped into her in that time.

On the third night, seven men had taken it in turn to fuck her time and time again until they all collapsed from exhaustion. Paula, though, was fresh as a daisy and ready for more! She left them sleeping and went looking for more lovely men. Her search was soon successful.

Her last few days in the village were spent under something of a cloud. The Ladies' League had been shocked to think of their husbands queuing up to make love to the delicious little girl in preference to the charms of their unappealing spouses.

By the time Roberta was brought up from the cellar, taken to the blacksmiths to have her only body covering removed and tied to the side of the barn, Paula was more than ready to shake the dust of the place off her feet.

James sidled up to her after Roberta had received fifty lashes. Still a hundred to go and Paula was getting bored already! When you've seen one whipping you've seen the lot, was her feeling at that painful moment for Roberta! At least the bandits had hung her upside down and the guys at the last dump that they had visited had tied her to a cart to flog her out of town. But these pitiful arseholes had no imagination whatsoever. Paula yawned. They were doing a pretty good job on Roberta, though. Paula granted them that much!

"They want to do that to me when you've gone, Paula," said James, a little nervously. Blood was flowing in goodly measure already. How did Roberta take it so calmly? She wasn't moving at all.

"I know! Let it be a lesson in self-control, James, darling! See how brave my Slave is being under the twin lashes of your town's strongest floggers? Promise me you'll be just as brave tomorrow - or whenever!"

"I promise. It was worth it, Paula. Kissing you was worth a thousand lashes."

Paula smiled inwardly. If all the men who had shagged her last night were to be lined up for a whipping, the carnage would take weeks to complete. And the two floggers would be under the lash themselves, since they had been among the most enthusiastic gang bangers last night! Their semen formed a goodly share of the fluid that was still trickling deliciously down Paula's thighs as they whipped her slave!

"ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY!

The whip landed for the last time - for now!

"Slave Roberta's punishment is complete. Return her with our most grateful thanks to her owner," said the mayor.

The members of the Ladies' League for Truth and Decency applauded loud and long. They liked nothing better than to see a harlot punished. In a world without whores they would be denied the chance to see such miscreants flogged, but this thought did not cross their limited minds on that, or any other, day.

Roberta was escorted to Paula, who stood ready to mount her horse, which was a gift from the grateful villagers.

"Kneel before your Mistress, slave," said the Mayor.

Roberta knelt humbly at Paula's feet. Paula used Roberta's back to mount the horse.

"Up, Slave! Let us be on our way."

When she was almost out of sight of the village, with Roberta walking strongly beside her steed, Paula looked round. James was being secured to the barn wall. She prayed that the poor boy might have the strength to be as brave as her former Slave - who was once again her adored Mistress!

As soon as they were quite out of sight Paula stopped the horse and dismounted.

"Would you like to ride, darling Mistress Roberta? You must be very weak after what they did to you."

"Thank you, Paula. I think I will. It's been a tiring time!"

[Harry]

Chapter 9
The Story So Far
Immediately after her escape from Hell Island, a feat none had previously thought possible, Roberta and her loyal follower Paula had been captured by bandits. At the bandit lair, Roberta had been ritually flogged at the behest of the female sage, Philippa, in order to collect enough of her blood for the wise old woman to use in order to divine Roberta's guilt or innocence by mystic means. This oracle had pronounced the wronged Roberta an innocent woman. The pair then left the robbers' hideout and started out on the long journey back to the Royal Palace and a confrontation with the real villains, who continued to menace the King's life and the security of the realm.

On the way Roberta was involved in a number of adventures. Her first two had brought her a total of three severe floggings, despite the great services she had performed in ridding two communities of deadly enemies, the so-called Lord Gerald and the brutal mercenary fighter Rodrigo.

Roberta's continuing nudity, an asset when a member of the King's Golden Guard, was a painful liability out in the world of ordinary folk, increasingly terrorised by a rabidly puritanical group called the Ladies' League for Truth and Decency.

Adventure Number Three
"Twenty-five"

Swish, CRACK!

"No more, Roberta. Please!"

"Twenty-six"

Swish - Crack!

"I'll never step out of line again, Mistress Roberta, my love! Honestly!"

"Twenty-seven"

Swish - crack!

Paula held her peace thereafter - for several reasons. For one thing, she was going to get as many strokes as Roberta wanted to give her; laid on with all of the enraged fighter's prodigious strength and that was that! What was the point of crying out and disgracing herself further? Roberta was, rightly, somewhat pissed off with her these days. And, let's face it she thought, it wasn't that bad! Now that her bottom was so much raw meat she was quite getting into it, and in a big way!

"Fifty!"

Swish - crack"

"LOVELY!! LOVELY!!! More, more! Give me more!”

"Sorry, you fucking pervert! I'm too tired for any more today!"

A week had passed since Roberta had left the last village, in possession both of a stick to beat Paula and yet another extremely sore back. When, bit by bit, she had got Paula to tell her all that had happened to her while her Mistress was either working her butt off or being immured in a stinking dungeon, Roberta had blown her top and in a big way!

The caning she had just administered was the third so far and the longest. It would not be the last. Roberta's anger was as incandescent as ever! As soon as Paula's arse had healed she would get another. It was not so much the little girl's living it up while her Mistress was going through yet more pain and grief that had so enraged her. It was more than that!

Roberta was perfectly happy to collect all the pain and let Paula live in comfort. It was the way she had surrendered her body to so many men on the nights after the fight that had truly disgusted Roberta. The thought that she had been locked up down below while the little tramp had been betraying her like that made her truly livid.

She mounted Paula's horse and spurred it into a trot, Paula, her arse still throbbing painfully and her soles sorer and sorer on the rough stony ground, ran barefoot and naked beside her. The little assistant was barred clothing for another week. Those nice fine garments that Paula had acquired recently with money Roberta had earned by the sweat of her body were stowed away in a saddlebag and there they would stay until the miscreant had spent a few frosty nights under the stars. And it was getting nice and chilly at nights.

It was the cold rather than the caning that really got to Paula. As indicated above, the stick gave her more pleasure than pain after the first few strokes. It was the cold at night and Roberta's continuing anger and denial of her body to her that caused the real pain. Men had been great fun for those few wild nights, but Roberta was better than all the men in the world and she hungered for her already. She hungered for a return of her affection and for the feel of her warm and strong body against hers.

And then, the very next day, Paula woke up in the morning to find herself covered in furs and her clothes laid out for her to wear. Roberta might have a furious temper, but her rages, so terrifying while they lasted, didn't usually last that long. As far as the former Golden Guard was concerned, all was forgotten and forgiven. They breakfasted; eating fish that Roberta had caught and cooked while Paula still slept, and resumed their journey, Paula astride her horse and wearing all her finest clothes and naked Slave Roberta walking swiftly beside her.

"Will my Mistress forgive her Slave for caning her and stripping her?" asked Roberta at midday when they had stopped to water and feed the horse, as well as themselves. Roberta had killed a deer and they had dined well.

"You are the Mistress, Roberta. You are the glorious woman I have worshipped for so long ever since I saw you running with the King's carriage. Those fools at the village might have forced me to call you my slave, but we both know better than that!"

"I think, for the purposes of the journey, with you clothed and riding a horse and me naked and on foot, it makes sense if others think of me as the slave, Paula! That way my nudity might not get me into quite so much trouble! And this pretence will be easier to make convincing if we live the situation every second of the day. So, I repeat my question. Will my Mistress forgive her slave for her gross insolence in caning and stripping her?"

"If my Slave will promise to cane her Mistress from time to time, then I forgive her for stripping me. The caning was wonderful after the first few strokes. As far as that is concerned, there is nothing to forgive!"

They finished their meal and Paula ordered Roberta to kneel so that she might mount her horse more easily. It was a very long way up for such a tiny girl and Roberta's strong young back was a great help, especially as the intelligent Slave rose with Paula on her back and elevated her to the saddle! It was a lot easier for Roberta this time than it had been before when Paula had stood on her raw and bleeding back after her last whipping.

"I see a small settlement ahead, Slave!" said Paula anxiously. She was higher up than Roberta, who was running by her side as she kept the horse trotting. The exercise was good for Roberta's legs and the Slave was enjoying the chance to stretch herself. Paula had been keeping her doing this cracking pace for two hours now and sweat was pouring off her, despite the frosty weather.

"What does my Mistress propose we do? Make a detour?"

Roberta knew what would make most sense. Keep well away from towns, especially towns where the Ladies' League for Truth and Decency was strong! Roberta wanted no more floggings just yet. Unlike Paula, whose backside was already craving for more lovely swishy strokes, she was quite happy to postpone her next whipping indefinitely - forever, even! There was more to life than a succession of severe whippings - or ought to be!

"What would the Slave do - if she weren't a Slave?" Paula sounded uncertain. Authority was all very well, but not when important and rather tricky decisions were to be made!

"The Slave has no idea. The Slave does not have ideas above her station. The Slave is a good and humble Slave!"

Paula cursed under her breath. There was no need to play this game quite so much by the book! Roberta would know what to do. She did know, but was letting Paula decide. The mistress thought the matter over for a few minutes and then decided a little tentatively.

Paula recollected those days in that cosy little cottage with the Mayor making sure she lacked for nothing. It would be nice to stay in a comfortable inn, especially now that the frost seemed to be a permanent feature of life on the open road!

"We go to the town and hope there is a nice warm inn with plenty of food and wine to warm me after all this cold. I'm fucking perished! It's OK for you, Slave. You're not human! If you were human you'd be blue, not a healthy pink! And let's give this horse his head! Come on, Slave! Move that lazy butt! What do you think I feed you for?"

This time it was Roberta who cursed Paula for playing the game of Slave and Mistress a little too much for real! After two hours of jogging, she was more ready for a rest than a hectic sprint! But she kept up the increased pace until the outskirts of the small community were reached.

Two elderly people, a man and his aged wife, came out of the first cottage. They stared at the utterly naked Roberta, wearing not even her weapons any longer - these were in Paula's safekeeping nowadays. The woman saw the red marks around Roberta's ankles where her flesh had been seared by hot metal not very long since. This was a former prisoner, whose shackles had but lately been struck off her felon's body! Could it be the fearsome warrior who had slain the mighty Rodrigo? There had been mixed reports about Roberta, but the balance was unfavourable.

"Is there a good and comfortable hostelry in your town?" asked Paula, looking very imperious on her fine horse, despite her diminutive size. The villagers in the last port of call had fitted her out superbly.

"We have two inns, Mistress. One is for low types and very rowdy and disreputable. The other is a little further past the first and is well fitted for a great lady like yourself!"

"A great lady! Did you hear that, Slave," giggled Paula as she spurred her horse to complete the rest of the journey.

Roberta smiled. Paula looked so pleased with herself to be thus addressed and she could see why the old couple had been impressed. Paula looked like a queen these days! It was fortunate, though, that the couple had not been able to see her still bruised and liberally striped arse!

Because of the continuing discomfort in her rear quarters, Paula was glad to be helped down by her Slave. Leaving Roberta to hold the reins, she went into the inn. The owner was waiting for her, rubbing his hands and smiling subserviently. He knew who Paula was and who her companion was, also. This lady had much to spend and he was grateful she was going to spend it here - for times were hard lately!

He showed her to the finest room and she looked around appreciatively. Very nice indeed! This would do her very satisfactorily for a few days.

Having had her belongings taken up to the room, she made sure that the fine horse was stabled. Roberta was taken to the blacksmith's to have a fresh manacle fitted - to one leg only. - and with a very short chain. Then she was secured to the iron rail that enclosed the public fountain. Because of the waterlogged nature of the ground in this low-lying area the cellars were flooded and unsuitable. So Roberta got to stay above ground and in the fresh air. (And in the freezing cold.).

Happily for the Slave, the Ladies League for Truth and Decency were not strong in this particular town. The place was dominated by red blooded men who appreciated the sight of a pretty woman and were fascinated by Roberta. Drooling with unsatisfied desire, they lined up to examine her - at a safe distance, for she looked pretty angry to be ogled and they knew her reputation!

Long after Paula had dropped off into a nice deep slumber, cosseting her body between freshly laundered and lavender scented sheets in a lovely warm room with the affectionately purring hotel cat for company, the men hung around and admired the tethered Slave, gloriously naked and out in the continuing cold.

They all averred that none had laid eyes on such a cunt before - not in all their born days. They all agreed that it was a veritable joy to behold. Oh! To be the one to insert his eager member into that passage of delight! Oh, to be the lucky man to taste the sweet juices that oozed from out of that sweet cave of love! Tough luck, guys! No man ever had, or ever would! Finally they drifted off to their homes and their less than pulchritudinous wives. At last, Roberta was able to snatch a few hours sleep herself.

It was exciting to be shackled again! She was beginning to like this game. Before she drifted off into a shallow and chilly sleep, she shook her leg and heard the chain clink and rattle. This was fun! Paula and she must go on playing this game!

Paula woke up an hour after sunrise. The darling cat was still sleeping and she slipped carefully out of bed in order not to wake her.

Looking out of the window she saw that Roberta was awake and being appraised by a couple of men, both of them on their way to work in the fields. Roberta looked oddly happy. Could it be that she liked sleeping buck naked in the freezing cold? Obviously she did. But Paula preferred her nice warm bed and the company of the darling adorable pussycat.

The cat had started to move. Now that the warmth from Paula's body was no longer coming up through the bedclothes she was aware that it was time get on with things. Out there were birds to be caught and killed, mice to be played with and put to a grisly death, milk to be drunk, fish to be eaten and - above all - shit to be expelled from her lithe and furry body onto some proud gardener's lovingly tended borders. Another day! She stole gracefully downstairs and was allowed to exit the building. After some thought she decided on shitting in the Mayor's garden this morning. She'd never liked the bastard and when he angrily threw things at her, he always missed! That creep was fucking pathetic!

Paula ate eggs, bacon, freshly baked rolls and a whole bunch of grapes for breakfast. Afterwards she drank several cups of incredibly aromatic coffee. She had always wondered, heretofore, why coffee always seemed to smell so much better than it tasted. This incredible brew tasted a hundred times better than it smelled! And it smelled pretty good!

She looked up and saw a very important-looking man crossing the room. If it were not for the tethered but still formidable Roberta's jealously, she would have fancied him! The man stood over her and coughed with extreme delicacy and politeness. He looked a real toff! And to think that she had once been a mere maid and now she was being deferred to by men like him!

"Are you the owner of the Slave in the square, madam?"

"I am. I was told that she could be left there overnight, so long as she was securely shackled."

"Indeed, Madam! No problem! But we wondered if she might be the same mighty warrior who recently killed that over the hill drunken bum Rodrigo?"

"My Slave is the very same woman. No one, male or female, can fail to be defeated by my obedient and loyal Slave. So watch out!"

"Just as you say, Madam!"

Paula continued to eat her delicious breakfast. The sweet cat, having crapped over the Mayor's prize tulips and dug them up in a ritual burial ceremony, wrapped her sinuous body around her sweet ankles.

"Hi, sweetheart! Have a good shit?" She asked solicitously.

"Meow!"

Roberta was hungry! And with hunger came anger. While that selfish bitch Paula was taking her time over breakfast, she was fucking starving out here in the square.

"Come on, you cow," she muttered viciously.

Roberta contented herself with a loving contemplation of all the details of Paula's next caning. It was going to be the most protracted and brutal yet. She'd show the little minx! But even this supremely satisfactory sadistic fantasy was not sufficient to stave off the hunger pangs for long.

When food was finally brought over for her it was so horrible that she almost puked. The only thing that relieved the monotony that long cold day was being allowed to go the toilet.

Paula had been at the hotel for just over a day and it was morning again. The sweet little pussycat had performed her morning toilet and wreaked great havoc upon the Mayor's prized garden. The angrily aimed boot had missed by a mile - as always! Pussy was very happy today! Now that she had cleansed her body of impurities, it was time to check out that very nice guest who had so kindly allowed her to sleep on her bed the last couple of nights.

Paula saw Pussy and cried out in sheer joy. "Darling sweetie-pie! How are we this lovely morning? Let's go and see Slave Roberta! Come on, darling!"

Paula picked up the purring cat and wandered over to the square where Roberta was shackled.

"Good morning, Mistress! What a sweet little cat! Before I was selected to join the Golden Guard, I was given a gorgeous little kitten. It would have grown up to look just like that angelic darling. Where did my Mistress find her?"

"It is the hotel cat, Slave Roberta. Are you well this morning?"

"I thank my Mistress for her concern. I am very well, except for the men folk of this place who crowd around at night to inspect my cunt!”

"You can't blame them Slave Roberta. It is a pretty exceptional cunt! I often masturbate about it myself! I hope you are a good girl and spread your legs for them to get a good look!"

"Of course, Mistress! Are we moving on today, Mistress Paula?"

Roberta wasn't too optimistic! She saw a certain kind of look in Paula's eye. She was going to be here a day or two yet.

"No! I like it here! And poor pussy would be so sad if I left her. Wouldn't you, sweetheart?"

"Meow!"

"So your poor old Slave gets to stay here, I suppose! Have a nice few days, Mistress!"

"Thank you, Roberta! I intend to! Pussy and I are going to have a ball!"

"Mistress!"

Paula was just going back to the hotel, fondling the pussy.

"What is it now, Slave?"

"Can't you find some work for me? That money isn't going to last for ever. Not the way you spend it!"

"Mind your own lowly business, Slave! And don't be so fucking rude! It's all taken care of - or will be!"

Paula went back to her room, depositing the cat on her bed where she immediately fell fast asleep (the cat - that is).

She counted her remaining money. There was absolutely loads and loads of it! Silly stingy Roberta with her careful peasant upbringing! This would last for six months at the rate they were spending it! After all, Roberta hardly spent any and she was so good with her bow and arrow that they ate for free most of the time. But the Slave did have a point. It was NEVER possible to have too much money! And the mighty Slave would start going to seed if left where she was. Hard and backbreaking work must be found for her.

Before she had time to think any further on the subject there was a knock on her door. She shouted to whomever it was to come in.

It was the hotelkeeper and two others. The cat looked up briefly, recognised her beloved owner, and went back to sleep. He came in with the two others and stood respectfully until Paula asked them to be seated.

"I hope you are enjoying your stay with us, Madam."

"Very much. Your cat is such a darling!"

"She's called Suzie. She's very popular around here, except with the mayor!"

"Anyway, I don't suppose you came to pass the time of day! What can I do for you?"

The taller of the two gentlemen spoke first. "It's about your strong Slave. We would like to hire her for maybe as long as a week or two. We are not the richest people, Madam, but could afford twenty gold pieces for two weeks' hire."

"What exactly do you want her to do? She can fight and she can lift and carry. At the last place we stayed at she cleared an entire grove of trees inside two weeks. Then she fought and killed Rodrigo. She was wonderful that day!"

The taller man explained what Roberta was to do. "My daughter has been kidnapped by robbers who have taken her to their camp in the woods. I cannot afford the ransom they have demanded. There isn't that much money in the whole town! We think there a dozen of them and we know where they are camped. Your Slave is a former Golden Guard. We could see that without being told, but her fame has spread far and wide these last weeks. I can promise you our eternal gratitude as well as the money, which is very little, but all we can afford. Will you help us?"

Paula frowned and then replied. "I'll be frank with you, gentlemen. Roberta is not really a slave. In fact she is my Mistress. When she was in the Golden Guard I was an auxiliary and her special helper. It just seemed to the two of us that it would be prudent for her to act the part of Slave in the hope that her perpetual nakedness might not be punished so badly.

[Harry]

“Wherever we go she gets horribly flogged for her nudity which is a badge of honour for her as a Golden Guard. I'll have to ask her if she will do it. I hardly think her answer is in doubt. Your daughter will be saved and she will save her. And I can't imagine it taking her as long as two weeks. What's more, I am sure she would flay me alive if I accepted a penny from you!"

The group went over to the square. As Paula had guessed, Roberta readily agreed to help to the fullest extent of her powers. Her manacles were removed and she and Paula conferred.

"I want to come as well, darling! Unless you think I'd only be in the way!"

"You stay here and keep furry little Suzie company. I'll take two of the men with me. Any more would be too many. Goodbye, darling Paula! It won't be long!"

A couple of hours later, the little group were looking down at the bandit encampment. Roberta recognised the leader. His name was Alfonso and she had clashed with him once in her first year. Most of his gang had been killed or captured but he had escaped after a brief duel with a hard-pressed Roberta who had been unable to stop him getting away. She had needed to be in six places at once that day - luckily for Alfonso!

"Is that her," asked Roberta of the young girl's father. "The fair haired girl tied to the stake?"

"Yes. That is my Ethelberta. Poor child! She looks so frightened!"

"They appear not to have harmed her. You say it was the day before yesterday, a few hours before we arrived?"

The distraught father nodded. "There are too many of them to make a frontal attack. Those aren't ordinary bandits, but trained fighters. I know the type! I will go and challenge their leader to fight me for her. Don't worry! I recognise him and know he won't turn down a fight! Not him! Go home, both of you! I'll bring your daughter to you in the morning! I think I may have to be their guest overnight if I know anything about Alfonso's hospitality! Get along home. I'll get you daughter back!"

The father and his friend left, wondering just how wise it had been to enlist the help of this naked woman who seemed to know the bandits and who was known to be a fugitive. But something about Roberta spoke of honesty and straight dealing.

Making sure that the two men had indeed gone home, Roberta strode into the robber camp.

"Well, Alfonso! It's been a while since we last met! Taken to kidnapping poor young women, have we. Nice! I don't think! I have a suggestion for you!"

"Hello, Roberta. You look more wonderful than ever, despite the many scars you have collected since we last had the pleasure! I am terribly sorry to hear about you troubles. We have no quarrel with you. Have some wine with us and leave. Unless, of course, you care to throw in you lot with us. You'd be very welcome and be my deputy!"

"No. I want Ethelberta to come with me. Will you release her for old time's sake?"

"You are joking, Roberta! Who is to make us? You are armed and deadly, but so are we. How will you make me let her go?"

"I'll fight you for her. Or are you reduced to being a miserable coward as well as a kidnapper? Once I respected you, rebel though you were, but now you make me ill just looking at you! Fight me and if I win, she goes free!"

"I accept. You know me well enough! Never turn down the chance of a good, hard fight! And you always give people that - good old Roberta! But I choose the weapons – right?"

"Right!"

Alfonso went over to a group of his men, all with their weapons trained on Roberta and ready to pierce her naked body with a dozen arrows if their leader gave the order. They all laughed heartily and Alfonso came over to Roberta.

"I hear that your back has tasted deeply of the lash these last years since we met on the field of battle! You will be tasting the whip's far from gentle kisses today! We fight with whips, Roberta! Still keen or will you go with my blessing and leave the ransom negotiations to us and the villagers?"

"Of course I accept. Let's get on with it! Will you strip to make it a fair contest?"

"No. I'm not as stupid as I look, my fine friend! You chose to be naked, Roberta, not I!"

Roberta was handed a whip, the lash of which was twelve feet in length and Alfonso was given one of equal size. She removed her sword belt and bow. Roberta stood before her foe, unarmed except for the whip. It felt good to be wielding one for a change! As a Golden Guard she had rarely been on whip duty, but frequently on the receiving end!

Alfonso wore breeches and a leather coat, which it would take Roberta many good hard and well-delivered cuts to penetrate. She, as ever, wore nothing but her skin! And she was unhappily aware that the said skin was about to be cut to ribbons. She wasn't looking forward to the next few minutes! But the sight of the terrified girl, hardly more than a child, was enough to make her refuse to even think about backing out. The men backed away, none of them anxious to be sliced with the biting flying leather thongs when the fight was under way!

Alfonso struck first and Roberta ducked, feeling the breeze as the wickedly tapering thong missed her by less than an inch. Roberta struck back and saw a tear appear in the jacket. A good start!

She was less successful at evading the next effort from Alfonso and her muscular upper arm, midway between elbow and shoulder, bled from a slight nick as the whip flashed at her, too quick for her to avoid completely. Gritting her teeth in anticipation of more pain to come she moved in close and aimed three hard blows at the robber's shoulders. She got the whip to land on the same spot each time and got through the material with the third. Roberta had the satisfaction of seeing him bleed and hearing him cry out in pain. But she was bleeding herself after three minor cuts and one very, very major one.

Next time she aimed for his face and missed! He aimed for hers and missed. From then on both fighters concentrated on the body, which provided a bigger target and one easy to hit, as both fighters began to find out! For a painfully long time the stood toe to toe and exchanging more than twenty hard blows. For minutes nothing was heard save the cruel swishing and hissing of the whips and the sound of leather on clothing and leather on flesh. Roberta was cut open all over her exposed body but she reduced his coat to bloody shreds and he began to cry out in pain as she pressed home her attack, seemingly oblivious of the pain she must be suffering. Roberta, as ever, made not a sound. After five minutes of this Alfonso stepped back and raised his hands in a gesture of defeat.

"Take her, Roberta. My God, you are a tough one! Stronger than any man I have ever met and not made from flesh and blood but the finest steel! Will you stay overnight with us? Your wounds need dressing. I have really cut you up! Why you aren't lying in a pool of blood I can't imagine! You aren't human!"

Roberta shook her head. "Thanks for the kind offer, but I must get the child home. If you had seen how desperate her father was to see her again, you'd not keep her from him a minute longer than necessary. Try to find a more honourable way to earn you and your band a living, Alfonso! You'll all feel the cleaner for it, even if you are poorer!"

The girl was released and Roberta took her by the hand and led her home to her grateful father. The citizens crowded round to congratulate her on her bravery. Then Roberta, who had lost a frightening amount of blood and was already deathly pale, fainted.

She woke up next day to find herself in bed and covered with sheets. Her body was covered in bandages and she struggled to free herself from then. She was a Golden Guard! She must remove this covering at once. Then she fainted again.

Paula heard the commotion and came into the room where her friend lay. She saw Roberta's distress and gave a crisp instruction to the physician tending her. "Take off her bandages. She will go berserk if you don't. Every second she wears those dressings is a disgrace to her. The air on her skin will heal her soon enough! She has suffered worse than those wounds in her time and never had bandages for them!"

Roberta was unwrapped and her dreadful wounds left to the air to heal them. She lay naked on the bed and fell into a deep sleep from which she did not awake for forty-eight hours.

The heroine amazed everyone except Paula by the speed of her recovery. As the little girl had predicted, Roberta angrily refused all offers of money, but the insistence of the grateful father finally wore down her resistance. They were the guests of the townsfolk for three weeks and by the time they were ready to leave, her wounds had all healed. But the scars on her belly, breasts, thighs, arms and shoulders would never disappear.

"Funny, isn't it, darling," said Paula as she accompanied her friend on the way out of the town, after bidding Suzie a very tearful farewell. She had come to adore that cat!

"What is funny?"

"The first place we come to where they accept your nudity and you still get whipped!"

"I'm not laughing, Paula! And I think it's time for your next caning!"

Chapter 10
Philippa stooped over her crystal ball. It had been a rattling good show last night! She had gone contentedly to bed after watching the unbeliever Roberta fight the bandit Alfonso and nearly die, her naked body sliced up time and time again before she forced the coward to give in, even though he wasn't hurt nearly as badly as she. She was without doubt a great fighter - quite the very best. Whatever weapons she used, sword, arrow, her own body or the whip, she always prevailed. But she wished the woman would become a believer. If Roberta did she might be inclined to help her and maybe save her from a bit of grief along the way.

Rodolfo came to back of the cave and greeted the elderly seer. "How goes, it Philippa? What progress are the brave Roberta and her faithful Paula making? They should have been back at the palace weeks ago. Even on foot they should be back by this time!"

"She keeps being distracted, Rodolfo! And the newly formed and exceedingly active Ladies' League for Truth and Decency make her life a misery wherever she goes, egging on the Councillors and Mayors to work her half to death and then put her on display and whip the hide off her. She, the proud woman, refuses to dress in decent apparel and is whipped from pillar to post! The burning fiery leather kisses fall thick and fast upon that strong back and her torment has not finished yet!"

A reedy and malevolent cackle issued from her withered frame.

"How many times have they thus assaulted the person of one of the King's trustiest servants?" Rodolfo sounded angry. He was angry. Extremely angry - totally pissed off. He had thought Roberta's painful exoneration should have been the end of her troubles with the whip, not the start.

"She has been flogged three times since leaving us behind. And if you take her recent duel with our colleague Alfonso into account - four. One community flayed her twice, despite the help she gave them out of the goodness of her heart. Quite a victim of injustice is our good Roberta! HE HE HEE HE HEEE!"

She started wheezing helplessly and looked close to collapse.

"Well, I don't like it! She needs our help. I'll ride in the direction she took and ensure she meets no more such disgraceful indignities. I'll teach those confounded Decency and Truth Ladies a lesson they'll never forget! Flog a few of them and see how they like it! I'll go and pick out a dozen good riders and we shall be with her inside a week! Then she shall have an escort back to the Palace and suffer no more."

It took the cunning Philippa a couple of fainting fits and a threat to bewitch the entire bandit company to dissuade the chivalrous Rodolfo. With sadness in his heart he contented himself with saying a few prayers for the heroic Golden Guard and her travails in a world where the dreaded Ladies League was going from strength to strength, their spies lying in wait to track Roberta's progress and have her hauled before the magistrates at whatever place she stayed.

He guessed, correctly, that the ostensibly respectable League was in alliance with the rebels. Their supposed Puritanism was merely an excuse to shred the long-suffering Roberta's back time and time again. In time they hoped to get the entire Golden Guard either disbanded or fully clothed, either of which eventuality would be a disaster. He cursed these dreadful people. And if he couldn't go to Roberta's aid himself he would send a couple of his best men to see what they could do to help.

He gave them their instructions late that night and they stole silently out of the camp while Philippa still slept. But one had to be up very early in the day to get the better of Philippa! Philippa might be asleep, but her watchful Black Cat was wide-awake and taking notes!

As soon as she awoke in the morning, Tiddles (her Black Cat) leapt onto her bed and warned her of Rodolfo's continuing concern for Roberta. She cackled again. Fond of evil cackling, was Philippa!

Interlude
"Twenty Five"

WHOOOOOSH!! CRACK!!!

The latest impact of Roberta' swishy and well used cane, as it came thundering down on to Paula's red, sore arse echoed crisply in the frosty air through the verdant woodland grove.

"Thank you, Slave!"

Twenty-Six!"

SWISH!! CRACK!!

"Thank you Slave! That will be all for now!"

"Twenty-Seven!"

SWISH CRACK!

"Ouch! Are you deaf!"

"Twenty-Eight!"

Whoooosh CRACK!

"Fucking stop it this minute, Slave! "

"Twenty-Nine!"

Etc. etc,

"Fifty-five"

CRACK!

"That's all for tonight, Mistress! But I think I'll leave the Mistress tied up for the night. Sleep well, Mistress Paula!"

Roberta threw a blanket over the naked and red bottomed Paula, who rubbed her wounded posterior for a few seconds before falling asleep. Even before the caning had gotten out of hand, she had not been feeling too great for some reason.

Then Roberta opened the saddlebags and went through Paula's possessions. She paid particular attention to the couple's store of money. There was quite a tidy sum here! Roberta's hard work had certainly gone some way to fulfilling Philippa's prophecy of wealth and happiness. But this store of gold pieces, sizeable though it was, could hardly be called a fortune. And Paula, despite the way she always got to sleep in comfort when they stopped off at various towns along the way, was hardly that happy. She guessed that Philippa's forecast referred to a time after the journey was over. Not that she believed all that hocus-pocus in any case!

Roberta was satisfied that they had enough here to last for almost a year at the rate it was being spent. The grateful father, for whose daughter's sake Roberta had almost died in a suicidally unequal struggle, had given them a lot - far more than he could afford - and she had tried in vain to refuse his offer.

There was no need for Roberta to offer her powerful body in exchange for more money. Nothing seemed to be in the way of getting on with the journey and restoring her good name.

But, as the attentive reader will have gathered, Roberta still had three more good, solid whippings to endure before we get to where we came in at the beginning of chapter six. (She didn't count the fight with Alfonso, and nor should we). And who can say what further troubles are still in store for her, even then?

In the morning Roberta went to get the pair some breakfast. It was two days since they had left the grateful father. This gentleman and his friends had made both girls very welcome for three very pleasant weeks. Roberta, when she had recovered sufficiently from her wounds, had asked to sleep outside at night and the understanding townsfolk had agreed, allocating a fenced off section of the village square, providing her with privacy as well as fresh and freezing air.

Paula had become rather too well used to comfort, though. Getting back to normal was not exactly a welcome experience. Roberta had just caned the little girl, partly because Paula liked it and partly because she was beginning to resent her airs and graces. Damn it all, she was only a jumped up parlour maid with a bottom His Majesty liked pinching!

Having got a nice breakfast of fried fish, Roberta went to waken her. She was horrified to see that Paula was shivering and seemed not to recognise her Mistress/Slave. When she felt her forehead, Roberta realised that she was burning up with fever. The girl needed to be taken somewhere warm - and quickly.

It took Roberta, cursing herself for mistreating her beloved so cruelly the night before, only seconds to get Paula on the horse. She had to hold her to stop her falling off and she never loosed her grip until they were in the town they had been hoping to bypass but now needed to visit urgently.

"Will you give my friend a room? And she needs a physician and nursing through her fever. We can afford to pay you well," she asked the innkeeper.

The host's wife helped Roberta put Paula, now in a raving delirium, to bed.

"Why are you naked? Are you her slave? Or have you been attacked and stripped by robbers? You have been wounded many times. You must be the notorious Roberta who fled the King's wrath and this is Paula his favourite whom he seeks with forgiveness in his heart."

"You seem to have got the general drift of things. I was accused of treachery but was guilty of no more than stupidity. I hope to clear my name. I did not know Paula was in the clear. If I had I would have sent her back. The rigours of life on the road are clearly too much for her. Look after her well. I will be back to see how she is in seven days. One way or another, her fever will be over by then!"

"It's best you leave the town if you won't wear clothes. You could be in for a whipping, a week in the stocks or both. Return to your camp and wait there for a messenger to bring news of your Paula." The man's voice was kindly and full of concern, making what followed later that day even more of a shock.

Roberta went back to where the pair had spent the night, after first leaving enough money to pay for Paula's accommodation and care. She also left all of her friend's clothing and other possessions. On her way back to the clearing she cursed again. It might have been the same whether she had caned Paula or not. But she bitterly regretted the violence to her little companion's person.

"I won't touch her again!" she vowed as she led the horse away. For some reason she didn't want to mount her friend's steed. Her place, both as a Slave and as a warrior, was on foot. The Golden Guard had never been mounted and, on those long powerful tireless legs, could cover many miles in a single day, keeping up their relentless running for hour after hour - as Paula had so admiringly seen on that day that their eyes had first crossed. How she missed the Guard, the camaraderie, the hard work and harder discipline! A soon as Paula was well again she would press on and allow no more distractions to impede her progress.

Hardly had she settled herself back into the encampment and prepared for a long stay than twenty men came crashing through the undergrowth, armed with sticks and swords. Without any warning, Roberta was clubbed to the ground and beaten unconscious. She tried to fight back but it was quite hopeless against so many.

When she came round she was tied face up to Paula's horse, her body painfully arched backwards and her hands and feet tied together under the animal. In this very painful position she was taken back to the town. It would seem that the Ladies' League had struck again!

But it was not the puritanical women who were responsible for Roberta's arrest. It was Paula, as Roberta soon found when she was taken to a cellar and strapped to a table, her hands and feet secured to each of the four corners. In a niche was a brazier and a pair of bellows. In the coals, being heated white hot, were two irons. Roberta had been through this before, as her belly and chest still bore witness!

One of her captors removed one of the white-hot irons and held it before her face. She felt the heat even though it was a foot away from her. The man touched her chest, exactly where it had been seared more than a year ago in the torture chamber at the Palace. She smelt her flesh being scorched and saw the blue smoke rise from her body. The pain was worse than a thousand floggings! Three more times she had the iron held against her writhing body and the iron was put back to be re-heated. The second iron was taken out of the flame. After five applications of that, Roberta fainted.

On recovering consciousness she found herself in a body shaped cage, scarcely large enough to hold her, and suspended from the ceiling. Her stomach and thorax hurt from the many terrible burns and she felt weak and sick. Not a single word had been said to her by the silent and masked torturers, but she knew why she was being tormented. And she knew they had hardly started on her! And she knew that, as a disobedient Slave who had physically assaulted her Mistress, she deserved it!

The physician had examined Paula carefully and seen the marks on her bottom. These were clearly the result of a vicious and wickedly unmerciful caning. The plight of this sweet little girl angered all who saw it. Had they known that the caning was consensual, all might have been well. But Paula started talking and shouting, "Stop, Slave! Beat me no more. Stop it, Slave!!"

Immediately a posse was despatched to seize the wicked and disobedient Slave and make her pay a hundred times over for what she had done to her Mistress, obviously a great lady.

Paula woke up. She was in a strange room and in a strange if comfortable bed.

"Suzie," she said. But this was not that room. This was a larger and more airy and light chamber than the cosy room at the inn where the cat had been so affectionate. A woman sat in a chair, asleep.

She woke at the sound of Paula's voice. "I'm not called Suzie, Paula. We have nobody called that here. You look better suddenly. My word, but we have been so worried about you. I'll call the physician."

An elderly man soon hurried in and looked at the patient. He felt her forehead and smiled. "We are well on the mend this morning! You have had a terrible time, Paula. Terrible!"

"Where is Roberta? Can I see her, please. My darling Roberta!"

A worried look passed over the kindly physician's face. "Your darling Roberta? Surely you cannot mean that cruel woman and rebellious slave who beat you so badly?"

"How dare you call her cruel! There is nothing cruel about her. She is the best and kindest of friends! And she's not a slave! That's just a silly game we play! As for the caning - that's my idea. Call me weird, but I like it! Now, where is she? What have you done with her?"

The doctor hurried out. Half an hour later, a pale and hardly recognisable Roberta was brought into the room. Two men were holding her, without whose aid she would have collapsed. Her upper body was covered with horrible burns and she seemed not to have eaten for days. Paula screamed at the sight of her and leapt out of bed, running across the chamber and embracing her darling companion.

"What have they done to you, my sweet. What have they done?"

"No, Paula! I will not cane you."

"Just a few gentle ones? Pleeeeease?"

"NO!"

It was ten days after Roberta's release from the torture chamber and as usual she had made a miraculously rapid recovery, but the memory of all the nasty things they had done to her was very fresh in her mind. In view of the trouble it had recently got her into, the very idea of caning that delightful backside again brought her out into a cold sweat!

Even after she had detailed all the things they had done to her, Paula still wanted to be chastised. Selfish girl!

For all of seven days Paula had been ill and raving and for that same seven days they had kept Roberta in that dreadful room, giving her no respite from pain, day or night. Last time she had been tortured she had hardly known what was happening because of her drugged condition, but this time her mind and perceptions had been razor sharp and crystal clear. It had not been fun!

After the burning with white-hot irons she had fainted. On waking she had been in a coffin-shaped cage and hung from the ceiling. A deep bath had been placed directly under her and heated until it was scarcely bearable to be immersed in it. Needless to say, Roberta had been lowered into the nearly boiling water, gradually feeling the scalding hot liquid cover her entire body. Countless repetitions of this treatment had taken up most of the remainder of her first day.

Next day they had subjected her to the near drowning experience from which the King's Chief Torturer had derived so much simple pleasure over a year ago. The Village Tormentor, a master of his craft, had been interested to see how long Roberta could spend with her head under water and live to tell the tale. He had a theory that people could be got used to longer and longer immersions over a period of time. Roberta had been his far from willing guinea pig in this interesting experiment. After her release he had told her, his eyes shining with mad enthusiasm, that she had been able to last over a minute longer at the end of his programme of experiments than the beginning.

Roberta was convinced that her thumbs were far flatter than she remembered them before the thumbscrew experience, although Paula assured her that she could see no difference in shape.

"You let your imagination run away with you, darling," she had said. "You should get out more."

Roberta had got to know the rack extremely well during hat long and painful week. "I'm inches taller, Paula. Inches! And it still hurts all over."

"You look the same height to me, Roberta. Your posture is better, though. You'd been inclined to slouch recently. In the Guard they'd have pulled you up for it. You really do make the most of all your troubles, don't you? I never met such a one for complaining!"

And now the silly girl wouldn't cane her any more. Just because of a few days pain! There were times when Paula almost lost all patience with her!

As a gesture of goodwill the council had refunded all of Paula's living costs and medical expenses, giving her a handsome purse full of gold pieces into the bargain. Roberta had been fed on wholesome food and allowed to sleep in the Chief Tormentor's garden while Paula continued her recovery. Surprisingly, in view of the pain he had caused her, Roberta got on very well with this cruel gentleman and they shook hands warmly when the couple departed.

"You are the first of my customers who never cried out, Roberta. What a wonderful girl you are! A pleasure doing business with you! Some of my clients make a terrible fuss with their shrieking and groaning. It can be very upsetting to one so sensitive as I!"

"I always try to show consideration to other people!" replied Roberta with perhaps a tinge of sarcasm in her voice.

She promised to give his regards to the Chief Torturer at the Palace when she next met him.

"Does my illness and your torture count as an adventure, Roberta," asked a slightly sulky Paula when it became clear that she would get no more lovely caning from her "Slave".

“No! In view of the fact that I wasn't whipped, we must think of it as more of an interlude than an adventure!”

"I do hope we have a real adventure soon, Roberta. One where you get a really imaginative whipping and I'll get to stay in some nice hostelry and maybe meet another cat. And you don't mind a bit of hard work at the same time, do you? Just so long as you're out in the fresh air!"

"Quite, Paula! It's the confinements I can't take! Might I remind you, by the way, that in our second port of call I spent days and days on end in a filthy stinking cellar in near pitch darkness! It isn't all fresh air for me when we have our adventures. Being chained up in that noisome hole was even worse than being tortured. At least the Village Tormentor kept his Chamber of Horrors sparklingly clean! Very house proud! I think maybe he was gay."

"Like us, you mean?" giggled Paula, sticking her finger, first into Roberta's cunt and then into her mouth.

Roberta frowned at this. "We're different!... aren't we?" she asked.

The Fourth Adventure
The Area Convenor of the Ladies' League for Truth and Decency stood in her back yard in the charming hill town of Rockwell Green. She had her eyes fixed firmly upon the heavens, not only because of her high-minded and otherworldly righteousness of soul, but because she was expecting a message from the said heavens, to be delivered by a pigeon. Soon the winged messenger came swooping down and settled in its box.

With trembling and eager hands, Sister Amelia removed the message from the bird's leg. It read simply.

"The whore Roberta and her companion Paula are heading your direction STOP They hope to bypass your village, in the same way as they have avoided the last five on their way STOP Vital you intercept STOP Philippa MESSAGE ENDS."

Sister Amelia hurried to the house of her assistant and fellow bigot, the Mayor's nagging wife, Clarissa. "Our chance is coming, Clarissa! Whore Roberta, whose juicy cunt drives men wild with filthy desire, including our husbands, is coming this way. We must inveigle her into the village."

"Exactly how are we supposed to do that, Amelia? Roberta is a big girl and she knows how to use that sword. And the men are no help. The first sight of that naked whore, with her big tits and succulent cunt, and they are putty in her hands. Let her pass and thank our lucky stars she gave us a miss!"

"No, Clarissa! Where is your sense of moral purpose? Where is the zeal you once possessed? Shame on you! Some of the men will do as we tell them. My husband for one. I'd like to see that wimp even think about disobeying me! That'll be the day! Round up the entire Chapter and five men with axes. We'll be having Whore Roberta as our unwilling guest tonight. Are the stocks ready?"

"No, Amelia. They are still away being serviced!"

"Curses! Foiled again! Never mind, we'll think of something just as good - or bad - for her. But no burying her underground in a cellar this time! She must be confined in such a way that all can see the utter powerlessness of her and her reactionary degenerate kind before the mighty forces our movement has unleashed! Come, sister! We have not a second to lose!"

"Did you hear something, Roberta? A sort of crashing sound?"

"Yes. It came from up ahead. We'll soon enough find out what it was. Hand me my sword belt and the rest of my gear. Best be prepared. Put on your dagger, Paula! If there is any trouble we'll fight our way out. No more diversions from now on!"

"That's what I like to hear, Roberta! A bit of action! I can't wait!"

Coming round the next bend in the winding road that led through the forest the couple soon saw what the noise had been. Three trees had been felled and lay right across the narrow road, blocking their path.

"What insolence," exploded Roberta, "blocking the King's Highway! Never mind! We'll soon get this mess cleared. Two of the trees are small and light enough for me to move and the horse will see to the other. Get out the rope, Paula! Then I'll ride into the town and seek out those responsible!"

"Are you mad, Roberta? Can't you see that's just what they want? They've blocked the road to make us go through the town, where they've got something painful planned for you!"

"I am the King's servant, Paula! I must do what I can to bring those responsible to justice. I have no choice."

"A King who would have you put to death if he could catch you! Remember that, Roberta!"

"Not if the proofs of my innocence are still in the Palace as you claim."

"If the Ladies League get their hands on you, it's going to be bad this time - really bad. You won't be coming out of that town for ages. You know the score, Roberta! Six weeks hard labour with a whipping halfway through and another at the end. You don't need any more lashes, Roberta, and what's more you can't spare the time. We need to finish this journey and expose the true villains. You know that! Let's just be on our way once we've cleaned up this mess!"

But Roberta was adamant and so, three hours late, the inhabitants of Rockwell Green were amazed to see a tall, naked woman with blonde hair, already beginning to be long again, galloping into the town. Across the saddle was the form of Sister Amelia. Amelia was screaming to be freed at once.

After the trees had been cleared, Roberta had spotted Amelia, who had not gone back to the town as had the others through secret forest paths. She had been too keen to admire the consternation on Roberta's face as she realised that she must go through the town. She had tried to run away when spotted but Roberta was too quick for her and soon grabbed the fleeing bigot, tying her up and taking her back to the town to demand her imprisonment for vandalism.

Roberta, looking furious, asked for the Mayor. The chief citizen came hurrying out of his house. He was no lover of the Ladies League for Truth and Decency, having one of them for a wife. At the sight of Roberta with her magnificent, if somewhat scarred, young body he was all smiles and anxiety to please.

It seemed that the Ladies' League had over-reached themselves this time, and Amelia looked to be headed for the cells, when it all went wrong.

There was a commotion from the end of the street and a disconcerted Roberta saw Paula being escorted into the town by a bevy of women. The silly girl had disobeyed Roberta and her curiosity had got the better of her. She had approached too close and been captured.

"If you want your friend to be released you'll free out leader," shouted one of the women.

"Are you going to allow my friend to be treated like that? She has done no wrong, unlike me. Make those women let her go, put this woman in prison for malicious damage and I'll surrender myself to you for being naked while suspended from the Golden Guard."

The Mayor nodded. Roberta released the squawking Amelia into the clutches of the Town Constable and Paula was freed. Then came more drama!

From the other end of the town could be heard the sound of many riders. Soon Alfonso and a dozen well-armed ruffians came up the party. He leered at Roberta. "We meet again, my dear. I see you still bear the marks I gave you!"

"What brings you here, Alfonso?" Roberta guessed it was nothing good!

"I thought about your advice to find a new means of earning a living. And I and my men agreed with you. So now we have joined the noble struggle for Truth and Decency. This town is ours now! Mine, actually! Welcome to my town, Roberta!"

Had there been warning of Alfonso's approach, Roberta might have organised a resistance as she had in an earlier adventure, but there was no chance in the present circumstances. She dismounted and handed the reins to Paula, who led the animal away to be stabled. She was sorry for Roberta. But she HAD warned the silly headstrong girl!

After Roberta had made the now familiar visit to the blacksmiths and been fitted with another fetching pair of leg irons she was brought before Alfonso, the new Acting Mayor, and Sister Amelia to be told her fate. "It seems that previous experiences have failed to convince you of the error of your ways, Roberta. You are a Golden Guard no longer and your nudity is an affront to decency. In time all the Golden Guard will be punished for their shameless mode of dress. Now is the time to make an example of you. I hope that in the coming weeks you will reflect upon your moral failings and resolve to lead a new and better life in future."

"Get to the point, you bastard," snarled Roberta. When she was reinstated she'd pursue and destroy this swine if it took her the rest of her life!

"The sentence of the new Council is that you serve six weeks hard labour and receive three floggings, the first tomorrow morning, the second after three weeks and the third to send you on your way, knowing that the same treatment awaits you in every community you pass by or through. Do you have anything to say?"

"Let my friend alone and do what you will to me. Harm a hair of her head and I will kill you one day; and one day a lot sooner than you think!"

"Empty threats from an empty vessel. Put the whore on display for the night. All citizens are to assemble in the morning at first light to witness the justice of the Ladies' League!"

"What's for lunch today, innkeeper?" asked Paula, who was feeling very hungry. Cold weather always did this for her and she had been forced, like all the other townsfolk, to watch Roberta being flogged several hours earlier. Paula hated to go out without a full breakfast inside her!

"Roast beef, followed by steamed chocolate pudding, cheese and biscuits. We have a selection of fine wines."

"Yummy! Can't wait!"

"I am relieved that madam has an appetite. In view of what happened to your friend I thought you might be off your food," replied the friendly innkeeper.

This good man had watched disgustedly as Roberta had been savagely whipped by three of Alfonso's men, each taking it in turn to give the poor girl her lashes. At present the victim was raising buckets of water from the well, walking in circles as she pushed the rotating mechanism, her wounds still bleeding. Later on she would be harnessed to a cart and made to transport supplies to all the houses in the town, there being no running water in this distant time. It would be long past nightfall before she was chained up for the night and allowed a few hours of rest.

"If that stupid girl had listened to me we'd be miles away from here by now. I have lost patience with her. We have a very important mission to fulfil and she keeps getting involved in sorting out the cares of the world. We'd cleared the road. Why couldn't she leave it at that? Don't worry about her! She's amazingly tough, you know! She'll sail through the next six weeks!"

"She did try to help us, madam. And it makes us ashamed that we can do nothing to stop her mistreatment. I doubt she will be here for six weeks. Long before then we will have moved against these horrible women and their bandit accomplices!"

"Those men will kill you all! They are really desperate criminals! Roberta has told me all about them. She'd be the last person to want you to court certain death for yourselves and a fate worse than death for your women and children. She'd sooner go through ten times what she's going through today than see that happen!"

"You may be right. But it shames me all the same to think about it. I heard that Roberta trained the people of one town to fight back against marauders. Could she not do the same here?"

"If she were free, she could. But they guard her too well. Leave her to serve out her time. It may sound callous of me, but it's the only way."

Three days later, Paula had a walk around the town. People were keeping themselves indoors as much as possible. Alfonso's men looked to be everywhere, lounging around and keeping their eyes open. She wondered just how much they were being paid for all this.

Roberta was looking much less distressed by now. She always recovered well after her frequent punishments. Today she was shovelling dirt from the street into a cart. Later she would be pushing the same cart to the tip a mile outside the town. Her next day on water duty was tomorrow. Today it was less the hard work that made Paula's heart bleed, so much as the degrading nature of what she was being forced to do. She could bear to watch no more and knew it would make it worse for Roberta to see her friend observing her brought so low.

Paula decided to walk a few miles into the woods where this particular adventure had started. She heard a whistle coming from a group of bushes and her name being called. A man stepped out and she recognised him. It was one of Rodolfo's band! What was he doing here?

"We were sent to watch over Roberta. Philippa was against Rodolfo sending any more than us two. In fact she was angry that even we should have been sent. It took us far longer to reach this place than it should because of that old witch, casting her spells and leading us a merry dance. Roberta has made a bad enemy there! I fear there is little we can do for her this time. I shall go back to Rodolfo and implore him to send sufficient men to save Roberta from as much of her ordeal as is possible."

Paula shook her head. "It's pointless. I see it all now. Philippa has willed all these misfortunes for my Mistress! She is fated to endure whatever the old woman decrees. We can do nothing for her. Go back to Rodolfo and leave events to take their ordained course."

The two men did as Paula said. But Philippa had been having second thoughts. What right did she have to punish that brave girl further for her failure to believe? Poor Roberta had suffered enough. She decided to raise to more objections to helping her. As soon as the two men returned and told Rodolfo what was happening he despatched enough men to defeat Alfonso and rescue Roberta.

This party arrived in Rockwell Green twenty four hours after Roberta had received her third and final whipping at the end of a very gruelling six weeks. Alfonso had made sure she was worked harder during that time, than even at the terrible Hell Island Prison. He had a score to settle after being bested in combat!

So she and Paula were on their way again. After chasing Alfonso and his band away and seeing that Amelia and Co. had been put in prison for conspiring against one of the King's Golden Guard, the band set out in pursuit of Roberta and Paula, determined to escort them in safety back to their appointment with destiny at the Palace.

[Harry]

Chapter 11
Roberta finished going over in her mind the painful experiences that she had undergone since leaving Philippa and Rodolfo at the bandit's cave. It had certainly been a very unpleasant few months one way and another. She looked down at her body and saw the horrible scars the Town Tormentor's white hot irons had given her, just as the equally unpleasant burns from her first spell under torture had begin to fade. And she felt her still tender back and all the ridges and furrows there where she had been flogged without mercy so many times, the last such occasion being only a couple of days ago. It wasn't much of a life, really!

The closer she was to the Palace, the greater the danger of capture. Word must have reached the King's men by now of her approach. Several times the two of them had hidden while parties of soldiers had ridden past. It was easier to hide now that both girls were on foot. The horse had been left behind at the last town. The noble beast was now the property of Amelia and the Ladies' League for Truth and Decency.

How she hated Amelia! And how she loathed the contemptible Alfonso! Those two had better watch out once she was restored to favour! If she ever was restored to favour, of course! That was hardly guaranteed!

Then she tensed as she heard about a dozen riders approaching. As usual the phenomenally sharp eared Roberta heard these sounds long before Paula did.

"Hide, Paula! I Another search party - I think," she warned her friend.

The couple quickly hid themselves behind some bushes. But Paula saw who the riders were and nudged her companion in the ribs. (Or where she judged Roberta's ribs to be under all those ridges of muscle.)

"It's Rodolfo, darling! These are friends!"

Paula had told Roberta about her meeting in the woods with two of Rodolfo's men. She had encountered them while the naked girl was still hard at work and sore from the latest flogging. It had pleased Roberta to think that the bandit leader still thought about her. She didn't believe that Philippa had been following every detail of her sufferings with the aid of a magic crystal. It was odd that the old woman could keep so well informed, though. But carrier pigeons seemed a more likely explanation.

Roberta's continuing scepticism continued to imperil her chances of regaining her lost reputation. But the silly girl would persist in her course of wilful disbelief! Would nothing convince her?

The girls came out and greeted the riders. Rodolfo dismounted and embraced Roberta. It seemed to Paula that the lusty bandit leader took a little longer over this salutation than mere social politeness might dictate! She could hardly blame him, though. Roberta was more magnificent to look at by the day! The pair did make a handsome couple, being both tall, fair haired and strong.

Roberta must have thought somewhat along these lines herself, for she made absolutely no effort to disengage herself from Rodolfo's embrace. On the contrary she was visibly responding and pulling him closer to her naked body with those very powerful arms. Finally she kissed him with extreme passion on the mouth and Paula sighed to herself. She could see just where this was going!

She wandered off to find the two men she had met in the woods more than six weeks ago.

"Hi, you guys," she said. "Thanks for coming to Roberta's rescue - a couple of days too late! But I knew it was no use interfering. I think she and your boss like each other!"

As Paula spoke, an obviously willing Roberta was being led away behind a conveniently large bush - the one behind which the two girls had just sheltered. She smiled at the two bandits.

"I suppose you boys get a bit sex-starved with the life you lead! Always out rampaging about the country. Fancy taking out your suppressed desires on me, while your leader fucks the arse off my lover? I can take twenty different cocks from twenty strong and rough men in a night and still be craving for more! My stamina has been described as phenomenal! How's about it, guys?"

Paula was amazed to see the fear on both men's faces. They shook their heads in refusal of her offer. It would seem that there was more to the arrival of Rodolfo's men than merely a wish to preserve Roberta's flesh from further torment.

"You are not for the likes of us, Lady Paula. We can only assume that you were joking! Any man laying a finger on you would be risking his life. We are here to protect you, not to make love to you!"

"Lady Paula? Who told you I was a Lady! I'm just a parlour maid, really. Once I was Roberta's plaything, then I became the King's toy (though he never laid a finger on me, apart from pinching my sweet little bottom - such a gentleman).

"It is the King who has made you a Lady!" replied the taller of the two men. "He still seeks the traitor Roberta to have her flogged, tortured and branded before being permanently shackled and returned to Hell Island, but you are still high in his favour. When Rodolfo has finished his pleasure with Roberta, he will escort you to the Palace and a future as a Great Lady."

"And what about Roberta? Rodolfo's not taking her back to go through all that unpleasantness, I hope!"

"We will not return your friend to captivity, Paula, but in future Roberta will be on her own. Rodolfo has told the King's men of Roberta's innocence, but he was not believed. You must come with us and Roberta will walk the land alone, naked and friendless, to survive as best she can."

Paula was excited to think of the prosperous future that seemed to lie ahead of her, while at the same time sad to have to leave Roberta. But she hadn't seen all that much of her Mistress these last few months. They would have some exciting times together on the road and then they would inevitably be involved in some escapade which usually seemed to involve Roberta being flogged, put in prison and given hard labour of some kind or other. While all this boring nonsense was going on, Paula would have to kick her heels for a few weeks, admittedly in reasonably comfortable conditions. But before the pair went their separate ways, she must have a long conversation with her former Mistress and lover. There were things Roberta needed to know.

Because her back was still very sore, Roberta lay on top as she and Rodolfo made love. Despite her being a Golden Guard and a lover of her own sex, she was not a virgin, having been enjoyed by several men in her time. If Rodolfo had hoped that his noble cock was to be the first to penetrate the muscle goddess's remarkable cunt, he was disappointed.

The couple lay together for some minutes after a very hurried and almost brutal love making. Rodolfo had a very large member and it had more than satisfied even the well endowed Roberta. Roberta spoke first, a little breathlessly. That had been good!

"Great fuck! Thanks a million! I take it that was the sugar on the pill, Rodolfo? First the good news and then the bad?"

"Was I good, Roberta? I'd value a commendation from you more than from all my many other rapturously satisfied lovers put together. It goes without saying that you were utterly terrific! What a crying shame that you prefer making love to women! And - yes. I do have a bit of bad news for you. Smart girl to cotton on!"

"You were among the three men who gave me most satisfaction, Rodolfo. Now can we get to the point?"

"Considering you have known so few men in a sexual sense, Roberta, that is hardly an outstanding compliment! But I fear I shall have to be satisfied with that faint praise! Since we last met, I have been in negotiation with the Royal government. I am sure you will rejoice to hear that I and my men have been pardoned for our former crimes and are now His Majesty's loyal subjects."

"I am happy for you. It pleases me to think that you are loyal like me. For I too am loyal to the King. Despite his seeking me to have me horribly punished, I still live only to serve him."

"But he doesn't seem to realise this! To him you are a traitor. We have told him of your ordeal by whipping and how Philippa pronounced so favourably on the purity of your copiously shed blood. It may be that his mind will change in time, but he tends not to believe in seers like Philippa. He is a very modern man and has been infected by all manner of dangerous modern ideas."

Rodolfo paused here to make love to Roberta again. For the rest of his days he would boast of his double entry into that most sweet and succulent of cunts. When he had finished, to the entire satisfaction of both, he continued.

"The King misses Paula very badly. He wants her back at court and has made her a Lady. The Queen is very sick of late and her days are thought to be numbered. Paula may well be Queen before the year is out. So we will escort your little friend and helper to the King's presence and you will be left to survive on your own as well as you can. Perhaps you should put clothes on, Roberta, and flee the country in disguise."

"That would be the coward's way out, Rodolfo. I am not a coward. One day I will be restored. I would sooner die the most horrible of deaths in my own country than live in wealth and comfort in another. You believe in my innocence. Why are you casting me to the wolves like this?"

"I'm looking after Number One, Roberta. You wouldn't understand, having been brought up on a diet of total selflessness and loyalty to the King. Good luck, Roberta. Although I shall not lift a finger to help, I wish you well. Paula has some words to have with you before I escort her to the Palace."

The King and Paula
"It's so nice to see you again, Paula. Now that my wife is ill and dying, I am very lonely. She doesn't know me these days. It breaks my heart to see the poor lady the way she is. But your sweet bottom has lifted my spirits a little already! It looks a little red. Have you been caned lately?"

"No, your Majesty! Worse luck! My Mistress, the traitor Roberta, used to cane me, but stopped doing so more than a month ago. There was a misunderstanding in a place called Rockwell Green and they tortured her horribly for seven days until I was able to straighten things out. Poor thing!"

"Let us not talk of Roberta! If you know what is good for you, my sweet little bubble bottomed Paula, you will forget all about Roberta."

Paula obediently forgot her friend's existence from that moment onwards. It was her plain duty to her Sovereign as well as the way to continue enjoying a wealthy lifestyle, which she already liked far too much to put in jeopardy!

There was one drawback, however, to this new life of wealth and high social status. The King insisted on the Lady Paula being naked at all times. He kept the Palace well heated, which was just as well considering the severity of the winter this year. But the place was inclined to be draughty and every now and again a stray blast of icy cold air would bring the King's naked favourite out in goose flesh. He would laugh jovially to see her shiver, but she failed to see the joke.

But she dined well, had plenty of excellent musicians to play the latest songs to her and life soon began to get pretty good. The Queen continued to sink into the grave, although with tiresome slowness. When she was Queen herself, Paula would nag her new husband into letting her wear the fine clothes all the other Ladies seemed to be covered with and she would personally choose a pretty parlour maid to be the King's nude toy, after which she would have the heating turned down to save money!

The only members of the Golden Guard that Paula saw these days were the two in constant attendance on the King. These were still Rosemary and Charlotte. Since the incident involving Anna's death and Roberta's disgrace there had been no more trouble. The passage through with the intruders had got into the apartments had been blocked up and guards doubled throughout the Palace complex. But not even a whisper of a fresh plot had been detected.

She would sometimes look out of the window overlooking the Palace Yard of an evening and see the daily disciplinary floggings being administered. Bertha was getting flogged a lot these days, after having been given an easy time for a while. But her lashes were few in number and usually delivered by the smallest of the Guard and never that well laid on. Any one flogging Roberta that lightly would have felt the lash on her own back for going easy!

All of this total lack of serious trouble only served to make the King and his advisers more convinced of Roberta's guilt than ever. But it was odd, thought His Majesty from time to time, that Roberta's activities while on the road with Paula, had been so commendable. Could it be that the woman had repented and was trying to make amends for the great wrong she had done? Or was that crazy old Philippa right about her?

Roberta
The hardy Golden Guard soon adjusted to life without Paula. Rodolfo had forced her to hand over her sword to him as a condition of his not surrendering her to the Royal police, but she had her bow, so hunting was no problem. She also had a very useful pair of hands and feet to keep any would be attackers at bay and send them packing with more than just a flea in their ear!

Six weeks passed and she was wondering if life as a lone huntress was quite such a bad thing! Without the luxury loving and delicate Paula, Roberta had no need to visit civilised settlements any longer, and her back remained unpunished for all this time. The scars from Alfonso's last frenzied whipping had begun to fade a little and she had almost forgotten what it was like to be tied up helplessly and tormented at the whipping post.

The winter was appalling this year and even Roberta was happy to seek out a cave in the mountains and spend much of her time looking out at the utter desolation below. She must venture out to slay the odd animal, but restricted her ventures to the minimum.

Paula had told her to hold her fire until the weather improved before making a move and so she waited patiently for the sign that would let her know it was time to bring her long disgrace and exile to an end. Roberta trusted Paula. And Paula had done one last favour for her former Mistress before her Royal master's instruction to forget her. But Paula had then obeyed that instruction. Roberta was history now!

Finally the spring made a belated appearance, the snows began to melt and the naked Golden Guard came out of hibernation.

She looked across the valley beneath her winter hideaway. The plume of blue smoke appeared over the isolated copse in the midst of the Clearwater Meadows.

It took Roberta five hours to reach the signal fire and she was exhausted when she finally arrived. The snow might be melting, but the ground was wet and muddy, every step being an effort as she sank into deep mire every inch of the way. It was a filthy, muddy and dishevelled Roberta who staggered into the clearing to meet the one who was to get her inside the Palace.

Not one, but three people were waiting for her. One was an old woman, squatting over a heated cauldron. Obviously another witch, like Philippa. The other two were young women and as naked as Roberta. These two girls pointed at an upright post in the centre of the clearing. It was clear that Roberta was expected to stand near this post, which was as tall as she and with a cross bar near the top. It bore a disturbing resemblance to a whipping post. What was it with these cursed witches?

The old woman looked up from her cauldron. Roberta doubted that she was preparing some nice nutritious broth! She tried not to think about just what horrible ingredients had gone towards this particular witches brew! It smelt like nothing she had ever smelled before - not even in high summer when downwind of the latrines!

"You may like to come over here, Golden Guard Roberta," said the elderly lady, apparently countermanding her youthful acolytes' order to go over to the whipping post. Seeing the relief in Roberta's face, she cackled horribly.

"Don't worry, my dear! You'll get your whipping soon enough!! Now come here! AT ONCE!!"

Roberta obeyed, a tingling between her shoulder blades in anticipation of yet another application of the whip. The old witch pointed at a glass ball which reposed on the ground, next to the cauldron.

"Look into the crystal, Roberta! Look and see what you shall see!"

"I see the King and I see Paula. She is naked and His Majesty is pinching her bottom! Now I see the Commandant and Bertha. They are in bed and Bertha is being fist fucked - horrible!"

"Horrible, my arse," growled the witch. "Don't tell me you haven't done the same in your time. Hypocrite!"

"Bertha and I did exactly that! It's not the act so much as the thought that the Commandant is having such relations with an ordinary Guard. That is why I am horrified. I'm not a hypocrite, Mother whatever your name is."

"I am Mother Felicity! Mother of the Golden Guard who whipped you so well and so often during the days of your foolishness and indiscipline!"

"How is Felicity? She was almost as strong as me, you know! A whipping from her really hurt! I hope she is well!"

"She is very well indeed, Roberta and one day soon you will meet her again, though not at the punishment post, you will be relieved to hear!"

"Why am I to be whipped today? And who is to whip me?"

"Questions, questions, Roberta! One day you will have that simple faith which accepts the wisdom of such as us without quibbling! Go over to the tent and inside you will find a selection of whips. Choose the two that you consider most suitable for my assistants to use on you and hand them to the two young lovelies!"

Mother Felicity cackled. Elderly witches did a lot of cackling. They were famous for it!

"They are lovely are they not, Roberta? Lovely and desirable! You desire them, don't you? And you shall have them, Roberta! You shall taste the lovely juices that ooze from each of those ripe cunts - like honey only sweeter by far! You shall enjoy them both soon enough. But first, it is necessary that you be whipped by them until they are too tired to raise their arms any more!"

"I suppose I am not allowed to whip them after they have whipped me?"

"If you wish. Why ever not! But you are a strong and experienced Amazon, the veteran of many battles. Your warrior's body is scarred from a hundred fights and many whippings. They are young and pure with ivory white and silky smooth skin. Their bodies are slight and willowy. Could you really wish to scarify such delicate beauty?"

Roberta looked at the young witches and her heart softened towards the pair, despite the fact that they were about to chastise her. She hung her head abjectly. It would indeed be a crime to mar such delicate beauty.

"You are so right, Mother Felicity! I could not raise a hand against them and would fight anyone who wished them harm!"

Both girls looked happy and smiled bewitchingly at the blonde giantess. Roberta looked at their pale faces with those black eyes and blacker hair. Her experienced eye ran down the length of those glorious bodies - those twin temples of sweet seduction! How she desired them! But first she must be whipped. Roberta went inside the tent and saw an array of whips. She chose the two with the thickest, heaviest and longest lashes, not knowing why she did so.

"You have chosen well, Roberta! For your last flogging you have picked the whips that will slice that hide to ribbons! I salute you, brave Roberta!"

Roberta handed them to the two young women, who were called Amy and Celestine. She was then tied to the post, so tightly that even with her enormous strength she could not move her arms an inch. Then the first lash landed, cutting her transversely across her whole back and drawing blood from a deep cut. The second followed a second later and the agony from both slashes was like the pains of Hell itself. Roberta had never known such pain as that inflicted by the witches' whips, wielded by those deceptively strong young enchantresses. For even Roberta, with her prodigious strength, could not have struck with such colossal force. She had never cried out before and knew that she must maintain her composure now, under the most horrible flogging of her life.

Seventy times each naked young witch laid her fearsome whip upon her torn back, methodically crisscrossing it in a horrible fashion. After seventy apiece they were as tireless as at the start. This demon possessed pair would never tire. They would rip every piece of flesh from her back and lay bare her ribs before they finished. Roberta kept silent and finally lost consciousness.

"How does Roberta feel?"

She opened her eyes and saw the old woman standing over her. The naked girls stood on either side of the old witch and all were smiling down at Roberta as she lay on a comfortable couch out in the open with the now empty whipping post a few yards away. She looked at the ground and saw it was covered with blood. Warrior blood. Her blood.

"I feel well. Better than I can ever remember feeling! But I should be dead! Your two delectable assistants must have killed me!"

"Get up, Roberta and come with us!"

Felicity led the wondering Roberta over to the tent and sent the two young witches inside. They came out, each bearing a large looking glass. One stood in front of Roberta and the other behind. She stared at her back in total astonishment. She fainted with shock at the sight of it. It bore not a mark! Her skin was as soft and silky as the day she first joined the Golden Guard as a twelve year old oblate!

When she woke up the two young witches were lying next to her, one on each side. For three hours Roberta tasted the charms and delights of first one body and then the other. Every word Mother Felicity had uttered concerning the sweetness of those magical beings was correct! Finally she fell into a deep sleep.

In the morning she woke up to find herself alone in the clearing. None of the three witches were around. The cauldron was gone, along with the tent and the whipping post. Not a drop of blood was to be seen at the spot where she had been flogged so painfully the day before. She felt her back and the scars from many whippings were still reassuringly there! But she felt no pain and was totally healed after that last hellish flogging - if it had really happened!

It must have happened. The memory was fresh in her mind and she felt her blood freeze as she called to mind the horror of the whole episode. How she had kept quiet under such torment she would never know. It had certainly required every ounce of her famous courage and self-control. Roberta was glad, however, that her back was still scarred. If she ever did rejoin the Golden Guard she would be very conspicuous without the marks of at least one flogging on her! The embarrassment would be shaming.

And the old witch, Mother Felicity, had said that the worst and latest punishment had also been her last. She hoped this was true! For a girl of just over twenty-one she had endured more pain in the last couple of years than most people get to experience in a lifetime. It was time to take things easy! She felt tired this morning, after making love to those incredibly sexy witches the night before; otherwise she might not have felt as she did about future punishments, which could hardly be ruled out in the harsh world of the Golden Guards, to which she devoutly wished to return.

Roberta looked around for her bow and arrow. It was time to shoot and cook some breakfast. But there was no sign of them. All she had was herself - her naked self and a vast expanse of deserted country.

Since there appeared to be nothing further to detain her around here she started walking the last few miles towards the Palace. Paula had told her, before leaving her a few months ago, that she should leave the witches' wood and make for the lake a mile from the Palace complex. There was a small island in the middle of this stretch of water and she was to swim out to it and wait until nightfall.

The three witches, one elderly and foul of visage and the others young and of surpassing, if dark, beauty, watched her leave the enchanted wood. The silly girl might think her troubles over, but they knew better! Amy and Celeste followed, disguised as birds of ill omen, and Felicity stayed behind. Roberta saw the hovering and swooping birds overhead and wished she had something to shoot them with. Amy and her friend sensed this and started diving on their victim and lover of the night before, pecking at her body and drawing blood from a dozen deep cuts. Roberta knew who they were and sank to her knees.

"My friends! I am sorry. Please forgive me! Whip me again if you wish. Do what you will if only I can share a bed with you both again soon!"

Both witches ceased their attacks and Roberta was able to continue, although her cuts still hurt from where the sharp beaks had torn deep into her flesh.

At the summit of a low hill Roberta caught a glimpse of the wide and deep lake, and the familiar shape of the King's Palace a short distance away from it. Paula had been insistent that she swim across to it and Roberta, by this time, was not about to go against the little girl's wishes. The experience with the three witches, what she saw in the crystal and the miraculous healing after such a horrible flogging all showed the former sceptic the error of her ways.

Because Roberta was a Believer at last! How sad that some people only come to belief the hard way! Paula had always been a believer and she was now a Lady. Roberta, the sceptic, had gone through one horror after another and her ordeal was not over yet. There is a moral here!

The spring might have arrived, but the lake was fed by streams coming straight from the surrounding mountains where the snow still lay heavy. Some pieces of ice still floated on the surface. It might be clear enough of ice for a swimmer to make her way to the island, but she would be frozen before she got half way there - except that Roberta was no ordinary woman.

She walked straight into the water until it was up to her waist and launched herself towards the island. Even one as toughened by nearly a decade of naked exposure to the coldest of cold weather could not suppress a gasp as the cold enveloped her strong body.

Roberta knew something about the coming swim! She must swim three times around the island, keeping well away from the shore before she set foot upon it. No one had ever told her this. Paula had merely said that she must swim out to the Island and wait. But fresh instructions were coming from somewhere all the time. There was no voice telling her what to do, but she knew all the same.

Thirty yards from the shore, Roberta turned to the right and began to swim anti-clockwise around the tiny wooded island. A large fish was between Roberta and her goal. The girl knew that the sea beast would not allow her to get any closer until her three circuits had been completed. Her fingers and toes started to hurt first. But gradually the cold crept further and further up her arms and legs and her chest was gripped by an agonising iciness.

The cold finally took over her whole body and even the hardy Roberta knew that life was ebbing out of her. She still had one circuit to complete. On one side of her a large fish blocked further progress to the island and on the other, a companion fish stopped her making back for the lake shore.

Finally, just as she was ready to die from the extreme cold and a tiredness that was more profound than anything she had ever experienced even in the fiercest and most prolonged of battles, she was free to swim the few yards to the island. She dragged herself onto the narrow beach with what strength still remaining and lay seemingly lifeless on the white sand.

Chapter 12
Naked and frozen Roberta lay semiconscious on the little island's white sandy beach after her swim in icy cold water. She lay there for nearly an hour, more dead than alive, until feeling slowly started to come back into her numbed body, beginning at the tips of her fingers and toes and hurting terribly, but showing her that she was still alive.

As soon as she was able, she got to her feet and walked towards the centre of the island. This spot was high enough for Roberta to see the Palace and into the courtyard. It was evening now and three defaulting Golden Guards were being led to the whipping post to receive whatever award their carelessness had earned them today. She felt a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes at this reminder of a life that she was still exiled from. Why was she not lined up with all the rest to watch a fellow Guard being whipped? Come to that, why was she not being whipped herself? Anything was better than being out in the cold as she was. Then a soft warm hand touched her thick and sinewy upper arm.

She looked round and saw Celestine standing just behind her. The young witch looked so utterly lovely that Roberta went down on her knees and kissed her pretty delicate feet. Celestine patted her head gently and told her to get up.

"It is I who should be kneeling, Roberta! Strong Roberta, brave Roberta and darling Roberta!"

"Where is Amy? Still swimming around the island to keep intruders away?" asked Roberta, about ten minutes later, as she briefly drew back her head from a long and utterly wonderful kiss. She had never imagined, until meeting these two witches, that mouths and tongues could be so soft and so warm or that their waters could be so intoxicatingly sweet to the taste.

"Yes! Now go on kissing me! Hold me tight, my darling and kiss and kiss and kiss me," said Celestine with a mixture of the imperious and the pleading. Roberta obeyed for a minute longer and then pushed the eager, open mouthed Celestine away with extreme gentleness but very firmly.

"Who are the three Golden Guards being punished tonight, my sweet Celestine? Upon what errant backs is the lash falling with such terrible force? It is too far away for me to see clearly."

"One is Bertha, your former lover and your betrayer, who was given twelve lashes - far less than the stupid cow deserves. The other two are new since you left. They are Rachel and Frances. Today is a great day for them! They are getting thirty apiece and it is their first punishment since joining. For three months they have not made a single mistake and now the inevitable has happened! They will neither of them find it easy to keep quiet today! For it is the strong armed and merciless Felicity who has been appointed to tear into their delicate flesh. You remember your first flogging at Felicity's hands, I'm sure! Good, isn't she?"

There was sisterly pride in Celestine's voice.

"I'll never forget my first whipping as long as I live! Instead of a dozen or two, I was given nearly two hundred and I almost died that night!"

The two eager, hungry mouths might not be joined in a kiss of love and passion, though they were close enough for each to feel the other's breath upon her face, but Celestine's slender arms had not relaxed their grip. The young witch might be slightly built but she was still far stronger than Roberta if she cared to exercise her witch's powers. Roberta knew that she would find it hard to escape her clutch even if she wished to - which she decidedly did NOT!

"Is Felicity due to be flogging Bertha tonight, Celestine my darling?"

"No, valiant Roberta - my heroine and my love! One of the smaller women is doing the honours on the bitch! And she has been ‘encouraged’ to go easy on her. Now let us sleep together, but only after several hours of the wildest and most abandoned love! Give yourself to me! Come, Roberta! Let us rest on the mound that tops this enchanted isle!"

When Roberta, after making love to Celestine, opened her eyes it was to see Amy standing over her and her still sleeping sister. Amy looked decidedly annoyed to have missed all the fun! She kicked Celestine hard in the ribs and the young witch woke up. She looked somewhat guilty to see her sister! Up until now the two had done pretty well everything together.

Amy's voice betrayed as much fury as the vicious kick she had just administered to her sister.

"While I swam round and round the island in that fucking icy lake, you had Roberta all to yourself," raged Amy. "You cow! You fucking sneaky selfish cow! You bitch! You know Roberta loves me more than you. I want the best for her and you only want to enslave the precious darling girl! Get up on your feet and fight me for her! Or are you a filthy little coward as well as a bitch?"

Roberta had never seen two women, and certainly not two lovely witches, so infatuated with her before, let alone so obsessed that they were willing to shed each others' blood and punch each others' noses for the privilege of possessing her! It was quite a morale booster, to say the least!

"Are you going to accept Amy's challenge?" whispered Roberta into Celestine's shell like ear. "Say you will! Make me proud of you, darling!"

"Yes. I'll fight the cow! Try stopping me, Roberta! I want you for my Slave. I want you forever and ever to love and to own. You want it too - admit it! Amy is my darling sister, but I will kill her to make you mine."

Roberta looked into her black eyes and had doubts. Was it right of her to stir her lover up in this way? Did she want to see this lovely face bruised and bleeding? No! The impending fight must not take place.

"Hang on! You are both too sweet to fight each other, my sweet and darling Celestine. Fighting does nothing for the appearance! Look at me and be warned! Believe it or not, I was quite pretty once! I would really hate it if either of you harmed a hair of each others' heads. Take another look at me, girls! I'm a big, big woman! There's plenty of me for both of you to enjoy! Dive in, the pair of you, and get some of me!"

Amy seemed to see the point of this and launched herself on the still recumbent Roberta in an extremely athletic leap, her legs straddling Roberta's head. Roberta stuck her tongue into the young witch's opened and fragrant pussy, savouring once again the flavour of those juices, seemingly a distillation of the Nectar of the Gods. Celestine worked energetically away at Roberta's other end, lapping and slurping at her generous vagina. There was a magic in the way Celestine's lips and tongue stimulated Roberta's secret places so that her whole body began to writhe in an ecstasy she had never experienced before. Amy, meanwhile, forced Roberta's head ever more firmly between her perfect witch's thighs with their smooth skin and amazing strength. The Golden Guard knew that, until both witches had entirely slaked their lusts upon her, she would not be free to move a muscle. Not that she was complaining - far from it! This sure beat breaking rocks on Hell Island!

It was two whole days before Roberta was allowed to rise from the grassy mound, on which she had originally gone to bed with just one of the two sweet and sex starved witches. By the time the orgy was over she had long since lost count of the times the two had switched ends, first it would be Amy sucking the juices out of Roberta's cunt, while Celestine held her head in a grip that even the strongest of the Golden Guard could not break, and then the position would be reversed with such unearthly speed that Roberta had no time to move before the other pair of thighs had her in an equally vice like grip and another tongue/lips combination was arousing her to yet more heights of ecstasy, causing yet more sweet essences to flow.

Finally the pair saw that Roberta, even with her strength and stamina, could not take much more of this. They would have been more than happy to carry on for days and days more, but realised that mere mortals have their limitations. So they left her to sleep it off for a couple of hours while they went to the lake to find a few nice tasty fishes for their breakfast. They were both ravenous after fucking Roberta non-stop for forty eight hours! When Roberta woke up she could get her own food!

As they ate they sat looking down at the exhausted girl. There certainly was a lot of her and it was all totally, but totally, delicious! They knelt on either side of the sleeping Amazon and bit hard on her rock like biceps. Roberta slept on. She was totally shagged out!

"It was silly to fight each other, Amy," said Celestine. "Mother would be annoyed if she knew of our quarrel!"

"Mother IS annoyed, you silly girls!

They looked up to see Mother Felicity standing a few yards away. Both young witches looked appropriately abashed.

"Sorry, Mummy!" they both said. And then they both looked back at Roberta and experienced a return of their rivalry. However willing the big girl might be to share her favours equally, each wanted this mighty hunk of womanhood for herself!

"How is our step-sister, Felicity?" asked Amy.

"Well. She knows what she needs to know. She can do Roberta's job for her of exposing the real traitor. If you wish, Roberta can be yours forever and not see the Palace again. What is your decision?"

"I want to take Roberta away to the quarries to be my hard working slave by day and my lover by night," said Celestine enthusiastically.

"I want her to go back to her old life. I could not bear for her to be unhappy. Even with one of us to share her bed, she would long for her life as a Golden Guard. Let her go home to the life she loves," said Amy.

"Can Roberta decide?" asked both beautiful young witches at once. So long as Roberta made the correct decision both were happy to leave it to her!

"No. You two must decide between you. I am waiting for you to make your minds up, girls!"

Roberta started to wake up. She was still a resilient girl and hadn't eaten for over two days. She was tired but hungry. What a shame her bow and arrows had been taken from her, but she would work something out.

And maybe Amy or Celestine would catch something for her - though she doubted it somehow. These two were happy to use her, but possibly not quite so willing to look after her.

She opened her eyes, saw all three witches standing above her, looked at the love bites on her arms and smiled. But there was tension in the air! Something seemed to be upsetting them. Amy and her sister looked straight into Roberta's eyes.

Celestine spoke first. "I wish to take you to work for me in the quarries that my Mother has given me as a coming of age present. You will be fed, but not paid a penny and be my property. You will toil in the heat of the desert sun for eighteen hours a day and be my lover at night. The ruthless Taskmistress will make you work even harder than you have worked in these last two years of punishment, flight and more punishment. You will be whipped for the slightest offence and never be given a day off for the next seventy years.

"But you will not age in that time, Roberta. You will look as young seventy years from now as you do today. Even after all those long and painful years during which your back will be horribly punished each and every day, my body at night will be as sweet to the taste and touch as it is now. And it will be yours! My silly sentimental sister wishes you to go back to your old life where you will most likely die a glorious death in battle within a year. We have to decide between us which future it is to be for you. It could well be that there'll be a bit of a punch-up between the two of us to settle this! Exciting, isn't it!"

"If I do not unmask the true traitor, my beloved King will still be in danger. I have a duty to His Majesty!" said Roberta.

"That's all taken care of, Roberta. Felicity, our mortal step-sister, has been told all that needs to be known. The true culprit will be unmasked and the King's life saved. So your task is done whatever we decide between us. And your reputation will be restored. Your family, whom you have not seen for so long, will be given a nice fat pension and lump sum. What do you wish for, my lovely one? Not that you have any say in all this!"

"Will I wear leg-irons in the quarries and be whipped until I bleed by one as strong as I?" asked Roberta.

"Yes. You will be loaded with heavy clanking chains except when I remove them at night. And the woman who punishes your inevitable laziness will be as strong as the two who whipped you the other night. Stronger!"

"That's OK, then! Make up your minds by whatever means you decide on. Either way, I'm perfectly happy! At least I'll have a steady job! And it's always good to have a sweet body to fuck at the end of a hard day's work!"

The three witches left Roberta to catch up on some much needed sleep. They retreated to confer.

Twenty minutes later Roberta was awake again and refreshed, ready to face whatever was in store, either a lifetime of Slavery by day and sweeter than sweet love by night or a return to the life she loved. Both had much to recommend them. She knew that her future was a whole lot rosier than when she had been stuck on that horrible Hell Island.

The three witches came out from behind the screen of bushes. Roberta looked at the two beauteous rivals for possession of her body. Determination and resolve were writ large upon those exquisite faces.

She saw that both young witches had oiled up their supple young bodies and were wearing strips of leather around their tiny delicate hands. They were going to settle this dispute with their fists! How primitive! How brutal! How bloody! How wonderful! Bring it on!

Even so, Roberta was more used to fighting that watching others fight and, at first, she found this spectator position hard to take. She was a warrior, not a watcher. And a fighter was what she would never be again if Celestine won! She let out a cheer.

"Come on Amy! Murder the bitch! Kill her, Amy! Kick her fuckin' ass!"

Mother Felicity scowled horribly. Who did this impudent fucking cow think she was? If only she hadn't promised the bitch that the recent flogging had been her last! She'd like nothing more, right now, than to see Roberta given a whipping to end all whippings! Then she remembered that if Celestine won the upcoming fight, Roberta would get lots more scrumptious, lovely lashings - seventy fucking lovely years of them! She started looking around for a form of words to get herself off the hook!

This was not too hard. She had once been a politician before deciding that sorcery was an even more corrupt occupation. Before that she had been a lawyer. There wasn't one dirty trick, not one incredible piece of malodorously dishonest mental gymnastics that she didn't know!

"When I said that your recent lashing was your last, Roberta, I meant the last this week. And that was last week! So if you don't shut that mouth, I'll flay you myself. Shut the fuck up, Roberta and let my two darling young lovelies punch away at each other! Sit back and enjoy it, Roberta! I intend to! Stupid pair of bitches, beating each others' brains out over a cow like you!"

"Sorry, Mother Felicity! I thought it sounded too good to be true about getting no more lashes!"

Roberta settled down to watch the fun. And there was plenty of fun to watch! High class fun! She was amazed that two such sweet girls should have acquired so many fighting skills in the course of their brief lives! Both of them had totally unmarked faces and flawless bodies and yet it was obvious from the outset that both knew how to fight.

Because of the skill each young sorceress possessed it was some time before either could land a fist on the other. It was Amy who struck the first real blow. It had a solid meaty sound to it and Celestine's ivory skinned face had a red spot all of a sudden. Celestine uttered a horrible curse and a branch fell off a tree, almost braining Amy. Amy swore back, even more diabolically, and a fissure opened up in the ground between Celestine's legs. Celestine jumped clear, her eyes blazing with hate. Why did fucking Amy always come up with the best tricks?

Roberta was enraged at all this rather unsporting behaviour! She wanted her body to be won by the victorious girl as the outcome of a fair and hard contest. This was not her idea of the correct way to fight for her! Especially as seventy years hard labour without parole might be involved!

"That's enough of that, you two! Fight fair. Let’s have a good clean fight from now on. No telekinesis, no gouging, no holding, no low blows and you break when I say "break". Fight on!"

She was standing between them now, towering over the two of them, and clearly in no mood to see any more flashy dirty tricks from either fighter. Mother Felicity held her peace.

Obeying referee Roberta's order, both naked oiled up witches put up their lethally wrapped fists and began circling around each other, looking for an opening. Both of them had a punch that could smash concrete and both were quick on their feet. Not many blows were likely to land, but those that did would hurt a lot and do great damage. Shamed by Roberta's stern admonition, and anxious to retain her respect, neither of the two lovelorn fighters stepped out of line again and Roberta had little to do, except marvel at the skill these two were displaying as they parried and lunged, dancing in and out and gradually making each other look a lot less pretty.

It took a long time for the two to hurt each other, but hurt each other they did and ribs began to crack, noses to crunch and stomachs to ache under the thrust of deadly blows from hardened fists. As the fight progressed, caution was abandoned and punches exchanged with no attempt to evade. A war of attrition had clearly been tacitly agreed on and two sweet faces were being pulped and two delicate bodies bruised.

But, as with the whipping of Roberta the other day, these two showed no sign of tiring or slowing up. The little island echoed to the sound of thuds, gasps and cracking of fist upon bone. It was all pretty horrible and Roberta knew she ought to be disgusted, rather than excited, at all this carnage. But was the damage that real or that permanent?

Roberta guessed that any injuries they did to each other would soon enough heal. Those black eyes and bloody noses would look totally unmarked next day. These two were not mortal fighters, but witches. Some of that damage looked pretty bad, though, and it was real blood they were shedding and real screams they were occasionally emitting as a particularly good shot landed!

Finally Mother Felicity had had enough. For one thing she was bored out of her skull, and for another she was getting tired of seeing her daughters rough each other up. So unladylike and unwitchlike! What a terrible example to be setting in front of a mortal.

"STOP!" she shouted. "Referee Roberta is to pronounce one of you the winner."

Bruised and bleeding but not breathless, the two stepped back and looked expectantly at the Referee. It was not an easy choice to make and Roberta took a minute or two to reprise the whole contest before announcing her verdict.

"You both fought well. There was an abundance of skill and courage on both sides! I congratulate you both on a truly magnificent display!" Both witches smiled painfully. It hurt both Celestine and Amy to move even one tiny facial muscle after all the hard punches they had dished out and taken. Roberta continued.

"But it looks like I go to your quarry, Celestine. You had a slight edge. Pity! I want to go back to the Palace, now it's all over! But I'm all yours to do with as you wish. I wouldn't try to escape even if I could! I mean to say, the nights are going to be fantastic, even if the days are going to be a bit of a pain in the arse!"

Amy looked none too disappointed at the verdict. She had expected it, having been aware that Celestine was gradually getting the upper hand. She smiled at Roberta through her bloodstained face and wished her good luck.

"You'll need it in those quarries, Roberta! Over the next seventy years your body will be worked and your back will be scourged as they have never been before! It makes my blood run cold to think of the working over you are going to get! But my sister will be true to her word. The days will be hell on earth, but the nights will be like Heaven and she'll always be there to welcome you to her bed. And I'll find a lover to replace you. I shall grieve over you for a while, but someone will come along. Maybe a man this time! Men aren't all bad. Not quite all!"

Amy and Felicity went away and Roberta was left with Celestine, who ordered her to place her hands behind her back before disappearing herself. Roberta stood like this for several hours, all alone on the grassy knoll, still covered with Amy and Celestine's blood. Finally Celestine returned with a rope and some shackles.

She bound Roberta's hands tightly together and placed irons on her ankles. Although Roberta was well used to this by now, she still felt a great thrill of excitement run through her. It would be seventy years before these leg irons came off! A five feet long chain was attached to the irons.

"Come to the boat, Slave! You will not have to swim back to the shore, but after the boat trip is over, there is a long walk for you to the quarries! I shall ride a fine horse, Slave!"

"When do we make love again, Celestine?" asked Roberta. She could hardly believe it when she heard Celestine's icy reply.

"Talk to me even one more time without permission and I will whip you once more. And you know how painful that is! This time I will not allow you to faint away! You will feel such pain as even you could not endure without crying out loud for a mercy that is not forthcoming. Believe me, Slave! Such pain exists and I can inflict it!"

Shocked at the severity in her lover/mistress's voice, Roberta obeyed. Once they had reached the shore and Roberta had carried Celestine through the shallow water, a horse was waiting. Roberta was ordered to kneel and Celestine placed her bare feet on her strong and whip-scarred back, vaulting nimbly into the saddle.

The young witch seemed utterly oblivious to the difficulty a chained Roberta might have in running beside the trotting horse, not deigning to look down once at the toiling Slave beside her.

They stopped that night at the clearing where the flogging had taken place. The whipping post was where it had been before, as was the tent. Roberta was chained to the post and Celestine went inside the tent. In the morning she was handed her bow and arrow and ordered to kill and cook Celestine's breakfast. She shot a rabbit and Celestine wolfed it down. For a delicate looking girl she could certainly eat as vigorously as she could fight!

The witch tossed the bones to Roberta to gnaw. This was clearly all the food she was getting for now! Roberta looked at her Mistress and saw that her face was as bruised as ever.

"It should have healed a bit by now, Mistress." she said.

"Are you deaf, Slave?" asked Celestine in a reptilian voice with a snake like smile.

"Not deaf, Mistress. Just forgetful. Please forgive me!"

"Forgiveness is a mortal concept. Forgiveness is for weaklings like you! I am no weakling! You know my strength, Slave. You have felt it on your back before and are about to feel it again. Get a whip out of the tent. The best and longest!"

Roberta did as she was told. She doubted Celestine's power to make her howl for mercy. But she knew she was in for a great deal of pain. Why had she not kept her big mouth shut? Because she had not really believed Celestine's promise, of course. She would know better in the future! She picked a good, strong whip with a twenty foot length of hide that tapered from the width of her forearm to a thin tip which would slice even her leathery back open with the first lash! She took it to the stone-faced Celestine, who secured her firmly and stood well back, raising the whip and bringing it whistling through the air.

"I did warn you, Slave!" Celestine hissed as the first lash fell.

A hideous shriek rent the air. "Please, Mistress! No more. It was just a silly mistake. I won't step out of line again."

Roberta had never pleaded for mercy before. But she had never felt such pain before.

The whip fell a second time and Roberta howled in agony. She pleaded again for mercy. Again Celestine ignored her and brought the whip down upon her bleeding back a third time, then a fourth and a fifth and a sixth and the horrible shrieks continued.

Celestine had spoken the truth about her ability to make even the stoic and brave Roberta rend the air with her frenzied pleas for mercy. And she had been right about the said mercy not materialising! Seventy times the lash fell upon Roberta and seventy times she shrieked in an extremity of agony such as she had never even imagined before, let alone experienced. In all the long years that lay ahead, a broken and totally chastened Slave never spoke out of turn again!

Whenever Celestine said "jump", Roberta's only answer would be, "How high, Mistress?"

By the time the two had reached Celestine's quarry, Roberta and she had both healed. Along the course of the long journey the young witch had many times more than made up for the horrors of that cruellest of punishments. But Roberta would never forget it. She knew who the boss was, alright!

At night they were equals and lovers, but by day Roberta was nothing. Less than nothing. A worm that her mistress might crush at any time.

The long whiplash curled spitefully through the air looking almost leisurely as it gracefully landed on the Slave's back. The Taskmistress was a fly fisher in her spare time, and it showed in her flawless technique! The lazy and rapidly tiring Roberta swung her pick with more vigour. She'd said it before and she would say it again (silently, of course. Speech was forbidden from dawn until dusk) There was nothing like the Taskmistress's leather whip on her back to re energise her!

She didn't want too many more cuts like that today, even if her skin was as hard as leather after sixty nine years, eleven months and thirty days of hard work and harder punishment. Today would see the end of her seventy years in the quarry and she wondered what lay ahead for her.

She would certainly not miss labouring in this arid and hellishly hot spot. It was not the hard work that got to her these days so much as the horrible deadly boredom. Roberta wanted some more constructive uses to put her enormous strength to.

Because that strength had increased vastly over seventy years! Roberta calculated that it had doubled about every decade or so. She wasn't a mathematician, but knew that she was pretty damned strong by now, and she had been hardly a weakling to start with! It was not so much that Roberta looked more muscular and powerfully built than ever, although she certainly did. Paula's jaw would hit the floor if she could see her now! What gave her the phenomenal strength she now possessed was the fact that each individual sinew had many times more power in it than ever.

Back at that road with the fallen trees, she would be able to lift all three at once and with only one hand! She was a power house on two feet and she craved for things to do with this power. Roberta wanted to launch herself on a world that needed strong champions to right wrongs and rescue the oppressed from evildoers.

There remained little stone still to be extracted from the quarry by now. What had been a fair-sized hill was now a low depression and Roberta was breaking up the last few blocks of marble, prior to the site being turned into a housing estate for low paid elderly peasants - or some such thing. (Though why anyone would wish to end their days in a rainless part of the world like this was hard for Roberta to fathom).

But she would miss her nights of love with the ever more succulent Celestine, whose youth had lasted as miraculously as had Roberta's. It wasn't that she was in love with the eternally youthful witch. She was too mortally afraid of her after that merciless whipping seventy years ago to feel love. But she did lust for her with more hunger than ever. Bodies like hers weren't exactly ten a penny! She might know every last crevice of Celestine's body and she may have explored all the fragrant nuances of flavour in those honey sweet juices, but each night was as exciting and wonderful as the first had been, seventy years ago when she had first come to Celestine's bed, hot, sweaty, bloody backed and dusty after that first terrible day of servitude.

Her lover had kissed away all the hurt in her body, restoring it so that it might receive more pain and do more hard work next day. Then she had bathed her, making her clean and sweet smelling. After these delightful preliminaries the Loving had begun! Those heavenly six hours had passed like six seconds.

The nights might have all passed with bewildering speed but the days had dragged. How they had dragged! It always seemed to be flaming hot around here. In seventy years not a drop of cool refreshing rain had fallen on the ever thirsty Roberta's burning nakedness. In all that time there had not been a single cloud in the sky. In all those years Roberta had known no shade from the sun's fearsome rays.

On her first day, the wicked Taskmistress had used her whip on her a dozen times before the all too brief midday meal and mug of water. The afternoon had been even worse and Roberta had been taken to Celestine's room more dead than alive. But the night had restored her vitality and next day she was ready for more hard work.

"Do you regret awarding the fight to me, darling Roberta?" she had asked on that first night, shortly after kissing her long and hard on the mouth.

"I did until tonight! Now I wouldn't be anywhere else!" she replied. "I'd work a thousand days like the one that has just ended for just an hour with you, my sweet!"

"That's really a very nice thing to say, Roberta. But you are a nice girl, aren't you? The nicest! I thought Amy had won, actually. She was just a bit sharper than I was - or so I thought!"

"It was desperately close, darling Celestine. If I had thought she had won, I would have said so. I really would have preferred to go back to my old life as a Golden Guard, doomed to die gloriously in battle before I was twenty five. And I still worry about things at the Palace."

"No need to worry, brave Roberta! All has been taken care of and the wicked conspirators have been put to death, after a suitable amount of truly ghastly, stomach churningly, horrible torture, of course!"

"And I never got to give that message to the Chief Torturer!"