The Tattooed Princess

Pleasure and Pain

Another six moons passed and the girls had adjusted to their new life well, being given certain new privileges in and around the palace as their language improved. Sharvur asked for them frequently to be present when he was not planning strategic operations with his generals. He allowed them to play with the animals where ever they wished and as they matured he asked their attendants to groom them constantly in the different fine clothes his servants had made for them.

On one particularly cold winter night with strong fires burning in the corners of his bed chamber, Sharvur had the girls summoned, much as he would on nights they watched his dancers. This night the dancers strangely did not appear and when Sharvur orderd the flute player to begin his melodies, he handed a tambourine to both Svetlana and Branka, now each seventeen years old. He told them to move out in front of his bed to dance, as they had observed his private dancers on so many nights. It was something they had practiced alone in their rooms for months but were never, until now, asked to perform. The girls dressed in their usual brief costumes for this nightly ritual were reluctant to step into the circle of candles, to be observed by the king for the first time.

At their hesitation Sharvur took out from under his pillow a small leather whip they had seen him use on his groomed horses. Zaria was alarmed at this gesture and begged the girls to oblige their king as best they could so as not to be punished. At first they stood together immobile in the center of the warm room as the flute melodies rose and fell. But as Sharvur struck his whip down hard on the pillow in front of Zaria, they began to tap their tambourines as best they could and writhe uncomfortably in the manner they had seen the previous dancers move. Those contortions were suggestive and alluring when done in the privacy of their rooms, but now there was a feeling of shame and and embarrassment as Sharvur's eyes perused them. As he struck his whip down harder and faster on the pillow the girls danced with greater zeal, not certain what would happen if they were to displease their king this night.

Suddenly Sharvur got off the bed and walked toward the two of them as they awkwardly danced. He grabbed Branka's arm and told her to stop. Svetlanka stopped too, out of fear. The flute player played on as the girls' drumming ceased abruptly. Sharvur escorted them roughly over to the wall. Zaria was off the bed quickly, standing now near them with her hands up to her mouth. She struggled to prevent a loud scream made in defense of her fellow captives. The king made each girl place her hands against the stone wall with her back to the room. Then he ordered Zaria back to the bed to sit and wait. This she did reluctantly, watching her two friends terrified, hands to the wall and their heads down in shame and fearful anticipation.

Sharvur began to rant at them for not trying to please him. For not dancing with the spirit he had expected. For not moving as they had been instucted to move. He insulted them harshly and called them "mules" and "ungraceful turtles." The girls were humiliated still with their backsides pushed out into the bedroom while Zaria was helpless to comfort them.

While the music became louder to drown out Sharvurs rage and insults, the king suddenly pulled each girl's skirt down to her ankles, exposing her bare flesh--back, ass and thighs. He then brought his whip closer to them and drug it menacingly over their soft skin to tease them with the prospect that they would feel it much differently if he were not happy with them in the future.

The girls begged him not to strike them and hysterically promised to put more feeling into their dancing. He then dropped his whip onto the wooden floor. He calmly ran both of his hands down each girls backside and paused them on her supple ass, squeezing it slightly while giving the ultimatum that the next time they needed punishing, he would use the whip as it was intended on ungraceful beasts.

He then slowly pulled up each girl's skirt himself and ordered them back onto the bed. He quietly motioned for Zaria to come forward into the candlelight. The two girls protested, but picking up his whip and pointing it at them again, they cowered back in silence, holding each other in fear for their friend. Zaria got off the mattress and walked towards Sharvur, not knowing what he would do. He ordered her to remove her silk dress while standing before him. She at first hesitated to comply but his frightfuil shouts convinced her he was not to be challenged this night.

She took off the finely embroidered dress and held it in her hands. He quickly pulled it away from her body and threw it on the floor. She wore a soft undergarment which he also ordered her to remove, leaving her standing completely naked in the amber light of the scented candles.

With a circular rotation of his whip he ordered her to turn around several times for his viewing, Both girls on the bed covered their eyes, both for Zaria's modesty and not knowing what fate was to come to he. In the next moment Sharvur threw her against the wall as he did the other two, her naked back side exposed into the room. He then wielded his whip once over his head and brought it downb with a sharp crack against her tender flesh. All three girls screamed at this Barbarous act but he commanded them to be silent least he would continue whipping their friend.

The girls complied. They were petrified and humiliated. A slightly detectible pink streak could now be seen marking Zarias tender white skin, and covered both of her ass cheeks where the leather fringes of the whip had made their mark. As Zaria held back her tears from the pain, Sharvur ordered her to dress herself and return to the bed with her fellow captives. As they sat in total fear of what he would do next, Sharvur ordered the old flute player to cease playing and leave them alone. Holding each other for support, the three girls could only hope this was the end of their worst night of captivity so far.

The Scythian king then strangely put his head into his hands. He explained to them in an unexpectedly soft voice that he was angry at the world that night. That it was not so much they who had displeased him, but the fact that his armies in the west had taken many casualties that day in a great battle. The losses had once again given him a rage he told them they would have to endure again and again in the future when fate played harshly upon his kingdom. The girls, in their own fear and despair could only cower still in hopes he would not take out his anger and revenge upon them any more.

Before he dismissed them for the evening, back to their rooms, Svetlana boldly asked why he treated Zaria so differently. And why she had to be punished so severely that night. As it was not even she who had badly danced for him.

The king reclined back onto his bed in exhaustion and despair.

"Zaria is not like the two of you!" he said forcefully and angrily. "She is a special gift to me. But someone who will feel great pain and pleasure in this kingdom. It is her strength which is destined to hold my kingdom together. This has been ordained. For it is her responsibility to be strong and enduring. She must withstand the sorrows we all must carry here. Resist all temptations!. Be better than the rest . .. and that includes me . . . your flawed and imperfect king."

The girls left Sharvurs'bed chamber that night in confusion and with silent tears.

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