A Princess and her Mistress I

                                                    A Princess and her Mistress I

On the far horizon, just beyond the monolithic rock gates that protected the Joros island chain from outsiders, a mighty storm was in the middle of its death throes. Lightning still cracks from the dark grey sky as it struck at the peaks of the gate. At the gates, rain was pelting down in fat globules that hit the dark, churning waves of the sea. The sea was rough enough to make even a seasoned, hardy sailor go pale in the face trying to navigate it.

By the time the mighty waves kicked up by the thunderstorm reached the white sand beach of Joros, their energy was all but spent. They still crashed onto the shore with force but now were better carriers of the wreckage and debris that their big brothers had smashed off of any ship unlucky enough to be caught in that fury by the gate. Pieces of wood that had once been part of the hull of merchant and military vessels washed up on the beaches of the islands, along with cargo that had not been claimed by the sea. Several corpses were also washed ashore, where they were quickly set up by carrion eaters and opportunists.

Remarkably, among the dead sailors, waterlogged crates of cargo and random sections of ship, a single survivor was thrown onto the sand and washed ashore by a strong wave.

Soaked to the bones, covered in sand and her heavy clothing, the young woman dragged herself up the beach with exhausted muscles until she was out of reach of the waves. She collapsed onto her back and looked into the dark sky as small droplets of rain landed on her face. Her purple and gold-trimmed tunic was torn in places and soaked with saltwater. It clung to her slim body as she breathed heavily and lay limply on the sand.

The dark storm clouds above flowed by as they were drawn towards the storm, fuelling it for a few more hours. At some point, she could not entirely be sure when, the young woman let her exhaustion overcome her and she passed out.
She awoke several hours later by her own estimate. The storm clouds had cleared and some blue sky could now be seen. Rays of warm sun landed on her face and burned her eyes as she groggily returned to the waking world. Her blonde hair was a horrifically tangled mess of matted hair filled with sand. Her tunic, still damp and filthy, scratched her soft, pale skin as she tried to get to her feet. Her body was still sore and weak but she managed to crawl into the shade of a palm tree before stopping to rest.

With some energy now returned to her and having had a moment to consider her situation, the young woman felt only one thing: anger.
How DARE the captain be so stupid! If he was still alive when she found him she’d have him executed for his incompetence. The fool had almost killed her: the daughter of a Derekarkus councilman! Though she was not a princess in the true sense of the word, she had been referred to as one her entire life. She was a Princess of Derekarkus and anywhere else in the world, that title was one of massive weight and power. The personal wealth of her family was enough to rival entire cities. If she wished it, she could buy an army to hack and slash this island into pulp and burn the remains into ash. She amused herself with these thoughts for a while, until the painful reminder that she was alone, lost and completely soaked reared its ugly face.

She took a fistful of sand and threw it at the ocean, shrieking with frustration. Her clothes were scratching her and her mouth tasted of salt. Sand was everywhere. It was in her clothes, in her hair, in every pocket and unmentionable crevice in her body. She kicked up the wet sand and impotently punched the dirt as she shrieked out her frustration and annoyance to the world. A few birds sitting on a nearby tree branch watched her little tantrum until she hurled a small clump of moist sand at them.

In a huff, the young woman decided she couldn’t sit around here all day and wait for her idiot bodyguard to show up; she would have to go and find one of the underlings who could get her some damn food. She chose to walk along the beach, guessing she’d have more luck finding one of the sailors washed up. She was also barefoot, having lost her shoes to sea, and the idea of wandering through a thorn infested jungle did not appeal to her. She was used to the marble floors of the palace; her feet were soft and delicate.

On the beach she found nothing useful. She stomped along, leaving a long trail of deep footprints behind her. The sun was drying her clothes as she walked and she had managed to brush off most of the sand that clung to her skin but much of it was still in her hair and under her clothes, scratching her constantly. In her head, she churned over the terrible vengeance she was going unleash on everyone who put her here. Hunger, thirst and itchy sand under her clothes soon dulled her anger. As she dragged her feet through the sand of the beach, she began to mumble aloud of the rewards she would offer the first person who helped her.

Her father was rich: he could pay her saviour more gold than they had ever seen before, if they just gave her some clean, fresh water.
Another hour passed with no sign of survivors or civilisation and the princess was starting to get desperate. She sobbed quietly to herself as she trudged along the beach. A crab pinched her foot, giving her a quick burst of energy that sent her running off the beach for a moment, pushing through flowering bushes and jumping over a fallen tree. She found a clearing in the jungle that made her pause. Completely hidden from the beach by a band of palm trees and thick bushes, a section of the jungle was completely missing. In its place was a wide area of bare rock, dark as night and as smooth as the palace floors.

The woman stepped on it, warming her feet on the hot rock. There were several deep pools that had formed where craters had been carved out of the rock. Each pool was polished smooth over the countless years and filled with crystal clear water that shimmered in the late-morning sun. The woman dipped her foot in the water and swirled the water around. The water was almost as warm as the baths she had back home. Forgetting her troubles for just a moment, the young woman quickly stripped off her clothes and jumped into the pool. It was deep enough that her head only just cleared the water if she stood on tip-toes.

Plunging her head under the water, she ran her fingers through her hair to clear away the sand and untangle the knots that had been driving her crazy since she pulled herself out of the sea. She shook her head from side to side, letting the sand fall out of her hair and drift to the bottom of the pool. She rubbed her naked body down, wiping away all the sand and dirt. She ran her hand between her legs, cleaning out the small tuft of platinum blonde hair. She took a deep breath and plunged under the water again, letting herself float under the water. Her troubles at the moment melted away into the water. She knew she was still in deep trouble if she couldn’t find someone to rescue her, but at least didn’t have sand in her hair any more.

She kicked off from the bottom of the pool and pulled herself out of the pool. Her naked, alabaster skin shone in the bright light. Small, pink nipples sat on the tips of her small, pale breasts. She splashed water on her chest and cleaned away any grime that was left. Then she looked up and saw them…

Standing just a few metres away from here were two tall, tanned and muscular women wielding tall spears. Wearing white silk fabric held together by gold straps, the warrior women were watching her. The taller of the two held her spear tightly in her hand, pointing the long bronze spearhead at the princes. The shorter warrior was standing on one leg and using her spear to lean on. She was wearing an unsettling, amused smirk.

The princess’s heart skipped a beat and she fell backwards out of the pool, slipping on the wet rock as she tried to stand up. She grabbed her damp tunic and covered herself with it as she lay on the warm rock, staring at the new arrivals. The hot rocks warmed her wet buttocks as she lay there, too scared to move as the two women watched her. With her tunic draped across her, the princess was partly covered but was naked and unarmed. She was on her own and completely defenceless if the two warriors decided to attack her.

‘Stop looking at me!’ the princess shouted.

The shorter woman said something to the taller woman and laughed. The taller woman hadn’t taken her eyes off the princess but replied to her companion. The shorter woman let out a sinister laugh and began to approach. The princess scrambled to her feet, scratching herself on the rock in her hurry. She held her tunic in front of her, covering her torso while she shouted at the approaching warrior. Though this warrior was shorter than the other, she was still well over a foot taller than the princess and full of muscle that twitched under her copper skin. Her black hair was shaved on the sides and tied into a ponytail held together by a bundle of colourful feathers and leather straps.

‘Stay back!’ the princess shouted. She was backing away into the jungle but the warrior was fast approaching.

The warrior swung her spear at the princess, knocking her down with the blunt end. The princess hit the rock hard, splayed out on the ground with her pink womanhood on display. She quickly closed her legs and tried to cover herself up with the tunic but another swing of the spear caught the fabric and sent it flying into a bush. The princess did her best to cover her chest and mound with her hands as she shouted more threats at her attacker.

‘I am a princess of Derekarkus! If you touch me again I will have you flayed alive! Do you understand?!’ she shouted. She could see the taller woman was now approaching too.

The shorter warrior stopped and shouted something back at her companion, who laughed at whatever the shorter woman had said. Now both warriors towered over the cowering, terrified princess, looking down at her with wicked smiles and malicious eyes.

‘You’re a princess?’ the taller woman said in Trade, the common, unifying language of all people on the continent.

The princess didn’t expect that and it took her a moment to respond. Under the glare of the tall woman and the unsettling grin of the short one, the princess found it hard to keep composed.

‘I am’ she replied, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

The tall woman said something to her shorter companion that made the short one grin widely and playfully bite at her. The short warrior offered the princess a hand, which the princess timidly accepted. The second the princess took hold of the warrior’s hand, she was violently jerked upright, spun around and found herself in an embrace she could not break. The short warrior held the princess from behind, holding her tightly in a headlock. The princess cried out and struggled against the lock but was no match for the warrior’s tight muscles. Her arms were pinned behind her back, exposing her chest and womanhood to the taller woman.

‘You’re not a princess here’ the taller woman said as she dropped her spear and produced a dagger from her belt.

The princess’s eyes grew wide as the dagger reflected the light menacingly. The taller woman stepped forward, playing with the blade of her dagger as her shorter companion laughed in the princess’s ear and licked her cheek.

Now, the princess was on the verge of tears. She was terrified and helpless; completely at the mercy of these two women who planned to do gods-know-what with her young body. She cried for mercy and let the first streaks of tears flow from her eyes as the taller woman began to touch her. The warrior’s fingers settled on the tight lipped slit between the princess’s legs and gently teased it.

‘She’s a virgin’ the tall woman said with a smile. 'Probably being saved for some fat merchant to enjoy'.

‘That won’t last long’ the short woman replied with an evil giggle. She bit the princess’s earlobe and tugged on it playfully with her teeth.

‘Please, no!’ the princess cried.

Tears were flowing freely down her face now. They dripped off her chin and onto her breast, but neither of her attackers seemed to care. The taller was pinching and touching her in places she did not want to be touched while the shorter was biting at her earlobes and cheek. The princess’s hands had gone pale, deprived of blood by the warrior’s powerful grip around her wrists.

Forcing the princess’s legs apart, the taller woman became more aggressive. She took a fistful of golden hair and yanked the princess’s head back. She bit into the soft skin of the young woman’s neck, her sharp teeth almost breaking the skin. The princess cried out to the sky, fresh tears streaking from her eyes. The two women were far more powerful than she was and every attempt to wriggle free was in vain. When she tried to kick away the taller of her attackers she was answered with a slap across the face that blinded her with pain. She tasted blood in her mouth as stars flashed across her vision.

When the blinding agony on her face faded enough for her to look through teary eyes, she was surprised to find the two women were distracted. They were both looking across the clearing with anger in their eyes. She followed their line of sight and saw three more women standing on the edge of the jungle. The princess’s eyes were blurry and the women were far off but she could spot the similar clothing, skin tone and weapons they carried. Was the salvation she had been crying for? She allowed herself a fraction of hope that her ordeal had come to an end but held up her guard that these women might be just as bad as the two who had attacked her.
One of the newcomers shouted something across the clearing in the language the princess could not understand. The taller of her attackers responded with an angry shout that the princess did not need to translate in order to understand. The three new arrivals were interrupting and very unwelcome.

The leader of the three lowered her spear and approached. Her two accomplices were at her flank with their own spears poised and ready to thrust. She shouted another warning.

The princess was rudely thrown to the floor, grazing the palms of her hands as she caught herself on the bare rock. The shorter attacker said something to her friend. She looked concerned and kept an eye on the approaching trio. The taller woman’s lip curled into a snarl. She muttered a few things under her breath as she picked up her own spear and backed away. The princess lay on the floor, watching her attackers melt slowly into the jungle. She crawled to her feet, preparing to dash into the jungle opposite where he near-rapists had vanished. She barely made it a metre before she taken by the arms and lifted off her feet. The muscular warrior who had led the trio stood in front of her, looking at her with curious eyes.