36 Part 02

The first part of this story: '36' took a long time to finish. It was a piece I had lying around for ages. It started out as an ambitious project to do a graphic novel, but after a very long period of experimenting and trying, I found out that it was far beyond my poor abilities in 3D graphics. Took it up and put it down as a 'written' piece over a number of years. Until I finally pulled myself together and finished part one.

Not intending to continue the story at all.

However, I have gotten so many requests and so much positive feedback, that I have tried my hand in 'the difficult number two', which is what you'll find here.

I hope I have been successful in continuing '36's story, and although I again have left my usual comfort zone, where I use people and places I know well as 'models' for my writing, I hope the result is somewhat realistic and believable.

It has been quite a challenge for me....

Hope you like it -- and as always: Please comment and criticize!

36 -- Part two

by o_girl ©

Chapter twenty-three

Surprise...

In and out of consciousness, she sensed being released and lifted down on the ground. A sting of pain went through her body, when she was put on a stretcher and the rough canvas made close contact with her raw back and buttocks.

It was like lying on broken glass, and every little movement send flashes of pain through her body.

The familiar odor of a blacksmith's workshop stung in her nose, but then she was out again while the smith removed the iron cuffs.

She did come around again and moaned as they carried her across the yard. Her back once again rubbing against the stretcher.

Then she fell into another dreamless haze.

She was feverish. Had wild dreams. Good and bad. Was back on the mountain with her family, was with the blacksmith -- and worse: Was in the slave line with the nasty hunters.

Sometimes she moaned, sometimes she cried out loud and her hands and legs made wild movements in the air.

Her friends from the cellar: Eve, Isabella and Maria took turns sitting by her. Wiping her hot, wet forehead with damp, cold cloths, treating her wounds, trying to get small portions of soup into her on the few moments, when she was partly awake.

The fever continued for several days, but one morning she sensed the sun shining through the curtains and light up her closed eyes. For a moment she thought she was back in the blacksmith's house, then the pain reminded her of where she was and what had happened.

Was she in The Brothel? Did not seem so. All was quiet.

Slowly and carefully, she opened one eye just a tiny bit -- and saw Maria!

"Oh. You are awake!"

She felt a damp cloth moving gently over her forehead and face.

Trying to speak she found that her throat was totally parched. The tongue swollen and much too big for her mouth. After a few tries, she managed to whisper. "Where am I?"

Maria leaned over her and put her ear close to her mouth: "What are you saying?".

She tried again, but her lips, mouth and throat did not respond to her brain.

Maria moved even closer and she did her outmost to speak. Finally being understood.

"You are in the big house. In one of the upper rooms. You have been out for most of a week."

She looked at Maria as the words slowly reached her brain, and tried to smile as she understood.

"Thank you." She whispered with her parched mouth.

Maria slowly moved an arm round her head, which made her moan again. Then put a cup to her lips.

"Here try drinking a little of this."

She managed a few small sips with as much run down her cheeks as inside her mouth.

Then she coughed as the lukewarm bullion ran down inside her.

She moaned in pain once more, when Maria put her head back on the pillow. Very, very slowly and very, very carefully.

The fluid gave her a little more voice back: "Why am I not in The Brothel?"

Maria smiled: "Because you do not deserve to be there -- but here. Sir Daewon and his daughter came by and saw you hanging there. He immediately went to Sir Robert and raised hell. I think the whole house and most of the town heard him.

Apparently you have powerful friends in the strangest places -- and we are many that are happy you have!"

She looked bewildered: "I have no idea, who he is...?"

"Well..lie back and rest. I'll go tell the good news that you are awake."

Exhausted she closed her eyes again and went back into the haze.

Her last thought being: 'I am safe'...

She woke as her three friends came in. Carrying a large enameled bathtub between them.

"Hello sleeping beauty! Time to freshen up!"

She looked from one to the other and spoke with her still weak voice: "I really need a bath, but I am afraid I am too weak right now."

After they had dumped the tub in the middle of the room, Maria came over and stroked the hair away from her forehead: "Well, you will have a bath, but in a while. First you need to sit up and look bright. You are having visitors in a moment."

The three of them lifted her up and pushed pillows under her back. One took the duvet and shook it a few times, another opened the window and a third wiped her face with a damp, lemon-smelling cloth.

A brush through her hair finished the quick toilette.

During all this, she tried to clench her teeth as hard as she could. Even though her body felt like she had fallen out of a 3^rd floor window. A few moans escaped her.

They had almost finished, when the door swung wide open and slammed against the wall.

"You're awake, You're awake!"

Her eyes widened as she recognized the little girl with the broken arm from the mountain. The girl flew across the floor and threw herself on the bed. Her small arms around her neck.

She tried to suppress another outcry of pain.

Behind her was the daughter's father -- and Sir Robert.

Sir Robert was quite pale, but the girl's father was all smiles: "Good we happened to come by when we did. Just sorry we were not here earlier. Glad to see that you seem to be in one piece."

The girl had released her grip and climbed up on the bed beside her.

She did not know what to say, so she looked at the girl. "Let me see your arm?"

The girl pulled up the sleeve of her loose, embroidered silk blouse: "See it is almost as it was!"

She managed to get an arm free of the covers, held the girl's arm and turned it a little back and forth. It had a few bumps and scars and was not absolutely straight. It also seemed slightly shorter than the other arm -- at a quick glance.

The alternative then had been to amputate it and the girl might not have survived it, and if she had, she would have been a permanently disfigured invalid. She smiled at her: "Yes. It looks good. I'm so happy to see how well it came out."

She moved the arm up and down. Checking that it had full mobility.

The rich man coughed discretely: "I told Sir Robert that you would never cause anybody any harm, so the accusations against you were obvious false. I also told him of our previous encounter."

Then he chuckled.

Sir Robert got even paler. "Yes. Sir Daewon certainly made his point -- beyond any doubt! I am sorry we did you wrong. For what my regrets might mean to you at this point. I hope you will recover completely -- and in time forgive us all for this grave mistake?"

She looked from one to the other. Getting a warm flow through her body. She suddenly felt much better: "Thank you, Sir Robert. I am sure I will. Just need a little time. Then I will be back on my post."

He smiled and bowed his head in a slight nod: "Take all the time you need, and when you have recovered, we need to have a talk!"

The question she did not dare ask, was answered in Sir Robert's next sentence, which was said in a completely neutral tone of voice: "Mistress Sophia has admitted that she did you wrong. She could hardly deny it. So, she was whipped and has now been sent to The Brothel."

She felt the colour leave her face: "Oh! I would not wish for anyone to go through a whipping like that. Could you not have found it in you to be merciful to her, Sir?"

"No. She has been lying! Falsely accusing someone in my household and I have had a serious talk with your three friends, so I know what has been going on in the cellars under her supervision. I do not wish to see her ever again."

She realized it was too late anyway and somewhere deep inside her, she was glad that she would not see Mistress Sophia again -- but felt sorry for her fate.

The way Sir Robert looked and spoke made her shut up. There was nothing more to discuss.

"Now we will leave again and the girls will tend to you. I hope for a speedy recovery and as I said: We will talk." Sir Daewon grabbed her free hand and kissed it, then they both left.

The little girl kissed her cheek, jumped off the bed and followed them out. Jumping up and down as small girls do.

In the meantime, her friends had been discretely coming and going. Carrying buckets of hot water that they had poured in the tub. Now it was almost full and had bubbles rising from the surface.

"Come on. You need to clean up!" Isabella said.

She lifted herself up on her arms, turned and slowly swung her legs out over the side of the bed. Then sat and felt the room spin around like she was going to faint: "I'm sorry, but I can't stand up."

Two seconds later Isabella and Eve had grabbed her upper arms, lifted her upright and supported her as she walked with diminutive steps across the floor.

They lifted her legs up one at a time and managed to get her into the bath. Slowly she was lowered into the warm water.

The three of them washed her -- all over. The sun shone brightly in the room and one could see the dust dance in the rays. She closed her eyes and relaxed. Being quite slack and having her arms, legs and body moved and gently washed with soft sponges. It felt good. Really good. Her beat up, striped and welted body began to work again.

After they had washed her hair, they let her sit in the bath till the water became lukewarm.

Using the time to change her bedlinen.

Eva and Isabella got her out of the bath and as she stood on a clean towel, they supported her.

Maria carefully did the drying and dapped her wounds with an olive and aloe mixture.

It felt very, very good and she was glad that they held on to her. Otherwise she would have collapsed on the floor. Several times during the process, she felt the room begin to spin around again and thought that she was going to faint, but sheer determination kept her awake and on her feet.

They gently helped her back in the bed.

The bath and treatment had been such an ordeal for her, that she dozed the minute she hit the blankets. Not sensing that her friends emptied the tub, carried it out, and eventually came back with a tray of food: Light, white bread, cold water and cheese.

They woke her up once again, and even though she would rather sleep for a year, she still wanted to show her appreciation, so she managed to stay awake and to eat almost all of it.

As soon as they left, she dozed off again.

When she came around the next time, the shadows of the sun on the wall told her that it was late afternoon. She looked at the ceiling and tried to move each body part. Checking if everything worked as it should, and assessing the pain.

The door silently opened. Just enough for Maria to slip in.

She tip-toed across the floor. Dropped her cowl, lifted the duvet and climbed into bed beside her.

Maria carefully moved closer and snuggled against her body. It felt good to feel the warmth, closeness of another body, and sense the slight fragrance of another person so close..

Half asleep, she felt Maria's hands on her body. First a gentle caress: Fingertips exploring and testing the skin. Then she felt a soft kiss on her cheek.

In spite of still feeling like she had been run over by a cart her body reacted to the touch, and when Maria dived down under the sheet, she smiled.

Feeling hands pushing her legs apart and Maria coming to rest between them, she lifted her knees and let them fall out to each side.

At first Maria just let her fingertips slide around her opening. Tickling the skin and exploring.

Her heartbeat increased and she began to pant slightly.

A loud gasp escaped her as she suddenly felt the tip of Maria's tongue on her hood. Slowly and with extreme gentleness the tongue pushed the hood up, and then rested on the tip of her clit.

The fingers doing their own slow dance. Having fun with her outer and inner labia -- and beginning to slide in and out of her now wet opening.

After a while Maria had to put her arms round 36's legs and hold tight, as she had begun to move her hips in larger and larger circles. The grip ensured that Maria followed the movements and have her mouth and tongue closely connected to 36's clit and opening.

She 'rode' Maria till a soft, long and flowing orgasm took over her body. Like the dull waves after a storm on the beach.

Coming down, but still gasping and panting as Maria slowly crept up again. Keeping close skin contact all the way.

Maria wound her arms and legs around her and held her tight till she had almost fallen asleep again.

The last thing her dizzy brain registered was her own fragrance on Maria's face as they lay very close.

She must have been fast asleep, because she did not notice that Maria slipped out from under the duvet, put her cowl back on and silently. Like a ghost in the now pitch-dark night, disappeared out of the door.

She was smiling as she fell in to a deeper and deeper, dreamless sleep for the first time since she had been put in the room.

36 -- Part two

by o_girl ©

Chapter twenty-four

More surprises...

A few days later, she was able to get out of bed by herself and sit by the window for a few hours every afternoon.

Her room was almost at the top floor of the building and at the front, so she had a splendid view across the courtyard to the entrance. Beyond that the market -- and in the distance the harbour and sea.

The latter usually in a haze even when the sun was out. It still made her enjoy the feeling of space and the wide horizon, her place by the window offered her.

Most of the wounds from the whipping had closed and was now just crusty stripes all over her back and front. She had always had fast 'healing skin', so she hoped she would not have too many visible scars.

The daily baths and the olive and aloe ointment her friends administered on her body, helped a lot in speeding up the healing process.

They had stopped carrying the tub out and it was now permanently installed in front of the large open fireplace. It looked majestic on solid iron feet that imitated lions' paws, and it had a tap at the bottom, so the girls could easily run the water out and into buckets after she had had her daily bath.

She was looking forward to the day, when they would let her do it herself, or when she would be allowed out of the room and back to her old position in the cellar.

She was not used to being fuzzed about to such a degree.

One day as she was sitting as usual and enjoying he life of the town, the door opened behind her.

Thinking that is was just one of her friends, she did not bother to take her eyes off the life at the market.

"Are you not offering an old woman a chair?" A crispy, dry voice sounded behind her.

She jumped up and turned around quickly. It was Sir Robert's mother: The old Lady Hannah.

"Oh! I'm sorry Lady Hannah. I did not expect visitors!"

The old woman chuckled deep down in her chest. The wrinkles in her face all turned upwards in a big smile: "No problem. As I can still get around, I can also find a chair myself. I'm not that close to the grave yet!"

She pulled a chair up to the window and sat down. Grabbing both of 36's hands and looking into her eyes. The old woman's pitch-dark eyes seemed to look all the way into 36's soul.

"How good to see you -- and how good to see that you are recovering! My useless son is wandering around with a very guilty conscience. Serves him right!"

Again, the old woman laughed her dry laughter.

"I have forgiven him. If there ever was anything to forgive. I suppose I would have done the same, seeing the evidence that someone had been trying to poison one of my children."

"Hm. You might be right -- but he ought to have dug into the matter. Then the truth would have come out. It almost always does if one looks close enough. Anyway, I had my own plans for you!"

Lady Hannah tightened the grip on her hands. Not uncomfortable, but firmly, and she still kept their eyes locked.

36 blinked a few times, then spoke: "What do you mean, Lady Hannah?"

One bony hand let go and disappeared inside the voluminous dress, coming back out holding a roll of papers.

"See. Here's a contract to buy you free from The Brothel and here's a bill of transport, securing you a place on a ship to leave this place."

Saying this, The Lady had used the grip on her other hand to turn it and now placed the roll in her open palm.

She rolled out the documents. They showed that a considerable sum in gold had been paid to The Brothel for her freedom and a similar but not quite as large a sum, to a shipping company for her safe and free passage to wherever she wanted to go.

"This...this...is a lot of money? And for me?"

"Yes. I never believed the stories about you, and thought it a harsh fate to have you end up being fucked to death in that awful place!"

She startled. Lady Hannah had always used a very correct and polite language. Hearing her speak so directly, was something, she had never thought she would experience.

The old woman smiled again: "I might not have anything to say in The Council or other places where things are decided by clever men in this house, but I can work in other ways, and I do if I see fit. I'm too old to accept fate, especially bad fate. If I can do something about it!"

The whole thing was almost too much for her, and a small tear ran down each of her cheeks.

"I'm very, very grateful. Thank you, Lady Hannah."

She was holding the papers with the tip of her fingers. As if they would burn her.

Suddenly she realized that she had more friends in the house than she had ever imagined.

"The money is probably lost. I have yet to see those brothel owners give money back -- for anything. Besides it was a secret arrangement, so they will probably claim it never took place. They know that I do not want this to be known in a wider circle, if you get my meaning.

Lady Hannah winked with one eye, then continued: "It does not matter. The main thing is that you are safe and recovering."

She felt the warmth of the bony hand as she stroked her cheek: "I hope to see you back in full action here soon. I need some of your herbal mixtures and ointments to get this old carcass working just a little bit longer!"

"Of course, Lady Hannah. Always at your service!"

There was a short silence. She had put the rolls of paper in her lap.

Thoughts went through her mind in random criss-crossing patterns. Then she decided to speak: "May I ask a yet another favour of you, Lady Hannah?"

There was no surprise in the wrinkles, when she answered: "Of course, my child. Anything you like."

"..ahemmm....Since your money seems lost anyway, could I ask you to let mercy fall upon Mistress Sophia? As you said no one deserves to be fucked to death in that place?"

She had never seen Lady Hannah express any emotions. She was always quite 'neutral' no matter what happened. Many years of experience had probably taught her to keep a closed face and her thoughts to herself. Not displaying any emotions on the outside. Today, the smiles and looks she had received from the old Lady, had been more than she had ever seen her express.