The Baronessa's Charge Ch. 6

Antalya heard the opening of the door to her bedchamber while she was still half asleep. She stirred but she could not make out a figure with the crepuscular glow barely illuminating the darkened room. She strained her eyes, blinking them over again and only recognized the figure when she was spoken to.

"The baronessa wants you to come with me now," said Miss Kim.

Antalya began to sit up in bed but she was tossed back immediately. She had forgotten that the previous night after escorting her to her room, and undoing the laces of her corset, Miss Kim had then tied Antalya's lead to a metal ring mounted to the head of the bed. Antalya readjusted the collar to fit back where it was snug but comfortable. Miss Kim undid the knot and gently gave a few tugs to pull the sleeper out of her slumber and on her feet. She then ordered Antalya to strip the bedclothes and to gather them up. She then promptly led her out of the bedchamber.

Antalya's feet still felt sore from the previous day's long walk, but she didn't let any discomfort show on her face. The cool terrazzo actually helped some to soothe the roughened balls of her feet. With the laundry bundle piled up under chin and darkness of the corridor falling around her, she was forced to rely on the sound of Miss Kim's heels and the steady tension on her lead to guide her way. They walked past the main doorway to the walled garden where she caught a glimpse of the sun peeking over the horizon. Miss Kim pulled her further into an unexplored wing of the villa. Walking along without being able to see ahead of her, she was finally pulled into a side room where her eyes took a moment to adjust to the bright candlelight. She saw a low, broad central basin around which Palfrea and Hippolyta were already down on their knees, sweating and scrubbing on washboards. Miss Kim pulled her up to the basin and unclasped her lead. She then took the laundry from her arms and dropped it in the water to soak.

"Lift you arms." Antalya did as she was told and Miss Kim lifted her nightgown over her head and tossed it to into the water. Miss Kim handed her a washboard and a lump of soap. Antalya needed no further instruction. She leaned over the basin, copying the actions of the other two, and began working. She gathered up her wet nightgown and started to scrub up and down with her right hand, wedging the board against her chest to steady it. The water was quite chilly and flowed freely from an open tap and drained over and out a pipe in the center, so that even as they added suds and filth to the water it was diluted and drained away. Her knees became wet quickly as she sloshed the clothing in the moving water and worked the cloth over the ridged metal sheet. When she had thoroughly scrubbed her nightgown, she rinsed it and wrung it between her hands into a long sinewy strand. She then placed it in a wicker basket, which Miss Kim had set next to her. Scrubbing her bedclothes, she settled into a rhythm that accorded with the other two washerwomen. The steady common motion they all shared lulled her into thoughts she had long ignored.

Since her earliest teen years, her mother had always assigned the laundry to her. It was the cause of frequent tension. She hated the routine of having to sort and stack the clothes in various piles. They had a washer and dryer in the basement of her family's home, but she despised spending time down there every Saturday and the need to walk up and down the stairs would irritate her even more. Now on her wet knees, she wondered why she would get so angry. She always felt that her friends were able to do whatever they wanted on the weekends whereas she had to stay around the house, chained to her domestic duty. When she arrived at university, she was flush with freedom. But she quickly realized that freedom had its price. Her laundry would not just do itself simply because she was living in a dormitory. She learned that she was one of the few students who used the provided laundry rooms instead of bringing her dirty clothes home every weekend, not just because she didn't want to visit home so often, but because she was one of the few there who knew anything washing clothes.

Her knees started to feel sore so she shifted her weight, lifting one leg up and settling some pressure on her left foot. Hippolyta started to hum something, which echoed slightly off the concrete walls of the washroom. Palfrea began singing softly to the tune. She wished she knew what they were singing so that she might join in. She plunged the pillowcase under the water to give it a final rinse, and then she twisted it and placed it in her basket. While she started on the bedsheets, Hippolyta and Palfrea stood up and each taking an end, they slowly twisted a sheet between them. They carried on singing as the water was squeezed out, splashed on the floor and slowly meandered to the drain cover. They then carried out the same procedure with several other sheets, thoroughly wetting the floor and filling their baskets.

When they had finished with their laundry, they both came and kneeled down on both sides of her with their washboards and started washing the same sheet that Antalya was concentrating on. They worked in unison, moving over the whole cloth with efficient movements. They plunged their hands underwater for the final rinse and whisked the sheet vigorously. Anatlya pulled one end out and Hippolyta, the other. Antalya repeated the technique she had seen them do. Twisting to the right the cloth hanging between them, Hippolyta did the same and they steadily twisted out the water onto the slick floor. Just after they brought the ends together and dropped the last of the bedding in the basket, Miss Kim stepped forward, candlestand in hand, and clipped the lead back to Antalya's collar. She then conducted her out of the laundry room, carrying a basket held tight to her chest, with Palfrea and Hippolyta following close behind with their baskets piled high.

Miss Kim led them through a brief corridor to a wooden door locked firm with a slide bolt. She shifted the creaky iron bar out of the socket and led the party outdoors. Antalya looked out to an area that was surrounded and filled by evergreen hedges. The sun was just then peeking over the rooftops of the outbuildings and casting long shadows over this private yard. The still morning air chilled their wet skin. She hurried with Miss Kim, while Palfrea and Hippolyta worked together, to spread the wet laundry over the clipped shrubs to catch the sun's rays. So fast did they begin working that Miss Kim didn't bother to unclip Antalya's lead and it dangled loosely between her breasts as they opened the sheets, snapped them tight in the air, and gently draped them over the sweet smelling shrubbery. Soon the yard appeared more white than green. Miss Kim and she helped the other two empty their baskets and after they were empty, the four women formed a queue and marched back into the villa. Antalya looked at the skin of the naked pair and saw the chill bumps along their legs, their nipples stand firm, and their arms held tightly to their sides.

Miss Kim led the way down the same corridor and past the laundry room. The lead chain bounced against her chest and rattled on the D-rings as she followed Miss Kim guiding their path with the candle held ahead of her.

Miss Kim turned a corner and they all entered a large expanse of the hallway. On her right was a pine-paneled door. There were several side tables against the walls. The ceiling appeared covered by aged frescoes only sections of which did she perceive as Miss Kim walked around the room with the only source of light. Against the far wall was a bank of showerheads and in the corner was a large sink with several white buckets. Hippolyta and Palfrea walked up under the showers and adjusted the water spray. Miss Kim set down the candle and turned to Antalya to detach her collar. Now completely naked, Antalya was directed to share the shower with the other women. Antalya stepped forward and Hippolyta moved aside to share Palfrea's shower. She detected a coarse grate underfoot. She leaned forward to place her palms against the wall and let the water saturate her hair and run over her shoulders and down her aching legs. From the corner of her eye she saw Miss Kim busy filling the white buckets with sudsy water. Antalya returned her focus to the soothing warmth that was loosening her joints and bringing a flush to her skin.

Miss Kim lifted the bucket and walked behind and approached Hippolyta, who readily bent low and steadied herself against the wall. Antalya furtively glanced back, turning her head under her arm in the dim lighting to see them. Palfrea attached a tube to the bottom of the bucket and then kneeled down behind Hippolyta. Antalya strained to make out what was happening. It appeared to her that Palfrea was inserting the tube into Hippolyta. Miss Kim lifted up the bucket and Palfrea stood next to Hippolyta to help her hold her balance, wrapping her arm around her waist. After a few moments Hippolyta let out a moan and she released the fluid that she had held in her bowels. Antalya could only catch in glimpses what they were doing. She watched as Palfrea then assumed Hippolyta's position after which Hippolyta kneeled behind her and inserted the hose. Miss Kim then rehoisted the bucket and the process repeated itself. All this time Antalya had quietly remained poised with her hands held up against the wall with her head resting on the backs of her palms. She was watching the two women wash their legs, when she noticed a tap on her thigh.

"The baronessa would like you to be cleansed also."

Antalya turned and looked at the bucket she was holding. Slowly shaking her head, she responded, "I don't think I could, Miss Kim." Miss Kim gave her a stern look, but then walked away and dumped the bucket in the sink. Antalya instantly recognized the error of her hesitation. She was not sent this far to deny an opportunity to test the limits of her body. Her heart sank when she thought about how she had just disappointed her Master and by extension herself. She wanted to turn to Miss Kim to beg her to flush out her system and to fill her bowels until she could take no more inside. But she stood under the water, immobile and unable to act.

Miss Kim walked across the room and dragged open the pine-paneled door. It scratched loudly against the concrete floor. Lifting her head, Antalya noticed that it glowed dimly through the door. Hippolyta and Palfrea trotted in calmly. Antalya swallowed hard on the lump in her throat and walked in behind the others. She immediately encountered the moist heat wafting over her body. Past the door there was a second solid glass door. She pushed it open, stepped over a high threshold and walked into a cloud.

Antalya scanned the room. Through the thick steam, she saw Palfrea and Hippolyta, seated, leaning on opposite sides of a marble basin, which was mounted to the wall with a bronze spigot above it. In fact, the whole room was made of a gray and white streaked marble. Above her was a segmented oculus casting a dull brilliance over the setting from the oblique morning light. There was a built-in bench running around the perimeter with another basin mounted on the wall. There in the center, directly below the oculus, was a large marble slab knee high, the length and width of a small cot. Antalya perched at a distance from the other two and leaned up next to the basin. She closed her eyes and breathed in the heat, letting it loosen and soothe her tired body and confused mind. She realized that she must have dozed off because when she blinked, she looked up and noticed that the room was much brighter.

She sat upright when she saw the baronessa stepping through the glass doorway. It was the first time Antalya had seen the baronessa with her hair loose and falling lightly on her back. The other women sat up straight and bowed to her, a gesture, which the baronessa returned with a noble smile. She carried in a basket and set it down before she moved over to sit next to Antalya. At first she felt nervous with the baronessa so close to her, but she was relieved when the baronessa leaned back and closed her eyes. Antalya followed her lead and let the steam do its work. She felt sweat rise out of her pores and form rivulets under her arms and run between her legs. She had only ever been in a sauna once before. She and a few friends had gone to a ski resort during a college spring break. After a day on the slopes, they all decided to try out the sauna that was located near the weight room and pool area. She later learned from her Master that she was using a dry sauna. While she sat there, she sweat, but the dry air burned her throat and hurt her nose. The sauna interior smelled like charred cedar and creosote. After she related to her Master about her sauna experience, He explained that He wanted them to experience a real steambath together like He had used while living in South Korea. They researched what was available in the area but the search proved fruitless and the idea became less and less relevant.

The baronessa turned the tap and began filling the basin between them. A stainless steel bowl rested at the bottom. The baronessa filled the bowl from the tap, bent forward, held her breath, and poured the water over her head and down her back. She repeated this several times. She then handed the bowl to Antalya and stood up. The baronessa stepped forward and lay down across the marble slab, her long hair draping over the edge.

Antalya dipped the bowl into the basin as it slowly filled and lifted it above her head. She dumped it over her head and the frigid water nearly shocked the breath from lungs. As she recovered, she noticed Palfrea and Hippolyta dousing themselves but without any of the discomfort that she was feeling. She watched as they stood and shared rinsing their entire bodies. Antalya dipped a second time and poured the chilly water over her sweaty skin. Knowing what to expect eased the shock to her system. She repeatedly rinsed the sweat from her body as she watched Palfrea and Hippolyta encircle the baronessa. They opened the basket that the baronessa had brought in and found luffa sponges. They started buffing to exfoliate her skin, working on both sides. Antalya stood up and walked over to see their work just as the baronessa rolled over face up. Palfrea then placed her luffa sponge in Antalya's hand and motioned her to proceed.

Antalya started at the baronessa's feet and legs, working parallel with Hippolyta, scrubbing in small circles. They scrubbed away the old in order to expose the new, fresh skin hidden underneath, but which had always been there. The baronessa remained unresponsive, allowing her attendants to move her limbs freely as they inched along her tone body. They diligently buffed her thighs, ass, and the expanse of her back and shoulders, paying special attention to her underarms and the cleft of her buttocks. When they were certain they had left no surface unattended, the baronessa rose and allowed Palfrea to rinse her off thoroughly while Hippolyta washed down the marble slab. The baronessa spoke to Hippolyta and then looked directly into Antalya's eyes, "You shall be next. Lie down on the slab."

Unhesitatingly Antalya lay facedown. Only then did she become aware how hot the marble was. It radiated a deep heat that thoroughly penetrated her joints when she finally let it and began to relax as Palfrea and Hippolyta worked her over. She let her mind empty as she was lulled by the symmetrical attention paid to her extremities. The baronessa walked around the operation, speaking and directing. Antalya had no idea what she was saying. Then a strange sensation touched her buttocks, but she was too relaxed to let it distract her. A third set of hands was now on her body. Antalya kept her eyes pointed straight down but she was aware that it must be the baronessa's hands rubbing oil along the cleft of her buttocks. She refused to flinch even as she felt her ass being pried apart, keeping relaxed in spite of her apprehension. She then felt a finger violate her opening. She kept her breathing steady and left her muscles limp, determined to let the baronessa proceed unimpeded.

To make her ordeal more endurable, she imagined her Master violating her, with one, then two fingers. The fingers were separating her ring muscle and she imagined how happy He would be to watch her endure such an intrusion. As the baronessa rotated her fingers around the perimeter, she sensed newly found nerve endings tingle and spread subtle sensations throughout her body. She realized that she had little to fear. She was able to accommodate each successive finger wedged into her anus by concentrating on her body's response to the previous insertion. She could eventually feel the fourth finger wiggle inside of her. She didn't know how far the baronessa would stretch her insides, but she didn't care and her mind was without worry. She lay still, willing to tolerate any ordeal that the baronessa cared to impose.

Then almost to her disappointment, she felt the baronessa withdraw her digits from inside her, yet an intense feeling flowed into her. The baronessa walked around to the head of the marble slab. She spoke down to her in an unsympathetic tone, "You will learn better when you realize that your body is not your own. Refusing to submit to anything at the villa is the equivalency of theft."

Antalya remembered very little of the day after that. The sauna experience had left her feeling cleansed, yet deeply drained, both mentally and physically. She retained only the slightest memories about helping to buff down Hippolyta and Palfrea in their turn. They all went and gathered the laundry from the laundry park after enjoying a brief nap and a filling lunch together. As she went about her duties, she kept thinking about the notion that her body was not her own. Her own Master had spoken to her like this, but it took the baronessa's warning to make her consider the full ramifications.

That night in her bedchamber, the baronessa had Antalya kneel on the floor with her arms stretched out flat ahead of her. The baronessa straddled Antalya's torso, her high boots grazing Anatalya's ribcage, and rapidly whipped her softened buttocks with a cat-o-nine-tails until the baronessa's arms were exhausted. After which she ordered Antalya to stand in front of her. Antalya slowly rose. While she struggled to comprehend the notion that her body was a possession that she could give away, she was fighting to hold back the tears. When in a flash, she let go and it all became clear. Tears began to flow down her cheeks as she realized that she was no longer her own. Her breath started to catch in the back of her throat when she felt the baronessa's arms envelope her body. The tender act only released even more weeping. The baronessa urged her to lie down. She then tucked her into bed and gathering up her long skirt, she lay on top of the blankets, cradling her charge as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning when the morning light beckoned Antalya to open her eyes, she awoke alone, yet not lonely.