A Gilded Cage Ch. 02

Camera's flashed all around her and she could hear the shouts of questions. Journalists? She was kneeling on thick carpet, being lead from the car towards an imposing colonnaded building. With a jolt she realised she was naked, naked in front of all these people. She had gotten so used to not having clothes that she had almost forgotten. Humiliation and dread washed over her. She was crawling like a dog at the heels of the man who had destroyed everything she had known, and now the images would be on the front pages of the newspapers.

She must have stopped because she felt a tug on her leash. He hissed down at her "Move, slave, I told you I'd beat you in public if I had to. Next time, think better before being stupid and attempting escape, but for now behave, or I shall take you everywhere I go like this."

She moved. Keeping her eyes fixed to the carpet, trying to block out the rest of the world, as she was lead up broad steps, across a grand atrium, and through into a hall full of music, chat, and laughter. He seemed to want to ensure everybody could see his new acquisition as he made his way to a table right at the back, greeting friends and colleagues as he passed. He took a seat and tied her leash securely to the back of his chair, gesturing for her to kneel in front of him. He had placed her such that she could be seen by almost everyone in the room. She ignored them all.

She heard little of his conversations, paying them as little attention as she could manage. Before long he was joined by two women. If their shoes and the hems of their evening gowns were anything to go by then they must be exceptionally elegant. She dared not look up to check.

People moved and bustled around her and she began to hear the clink of china. She suddenly realised that she hadn't eaten in some time, at least not since she had arrived. She was starving. She wished now even more that she had behaved at breakfast.

It wasn't long, however, before she felt a hand gently lifting her chin. With his other hand he held a forkful of food in front of her nose. She moved to take it from him, but he pulled it back.

"No, pet, not with your hands, open up." She was repulsed, but weary and hungry she consented to be fed.

"Oh Charles!" The nearest woman exclaimed, her voice light and girlish. "Oh Charles what a pretty creature you have. I barely noticed her there, but really, what a beauty. May I feed her?"

"Yes, I suppose, my dear, if it pleases you to."

The woman knelt beside Aneira and brushed her hair from her face. She saw the marks on shoulders and ribs. "Charles you brute I hope these weren't anything to do with you. She's such a sweet little thing. I'm sure she'd respond better if you were a little softer on her. Now what this girl needs is..."

"What that girl needs is a thorough flogging. Don't let her looks fool you Claire, her behaviour is something shocking." The woman looked a little mollified, but continued cooing over Aneira, playing with her hair and feeding her from her plate.

"Charles is it true that you took her in front of half your officers? That's what is being said in town." Aneira guessed that this was the second of the women speaking.

"Rogers tells me that every soldier within ten miles of the capital swears he was there." He chuckled and leaned back in his chair.

"That really is barbaric Charles. Poor thing must have been terrified." The woman fussing over Aneira seemed not to approve.

"Terrified eh? I'm not that bad looking. And anyway, she seemed to get into it" - he shot her a sneering look. "Claire you mean well I'm sure. I really shouldn't expect a city socialite to understand the ways of war and soldiery." He turned away from them, and began talking to the second woman in a low voice. She heard little of what they said but her tinkling giggle, which didn't seem quite sincere.

The first woman soon got bored of her and was asked to dance by one of the gentlemen at the neighbouring table. Aneira was left quite alone but she didn't mind at all. She allowed him to stroke her hair and tolerated his resting her head back onto his thigh. After a while he stood to dance with the woman, leaving her in the care of Rogers. He was deep in conversation with a pretty girl who might have been her age, but was alert enough that she didn't think there was any chance of escape.

He returned after perhaps half an hour, and began untying her leash. She could hear Rogers saying his goodbyes to his young friend. She was being lead back across the hall, but this time the polished leather boots of Rogers and the general were joined by the delicate blue heels of the woman. They walked so close together she thought that the general must have had his arm around her waist. They did not leave the same way as they had arrived - the back door she guessed.

The car was waiting for them. Rogers lifted her in and she was followed by the woman and the general. She was about to move over into more space but he held her tight, holding her close to his legs as Rogers climbed in the other side and they were off.

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She saw a hand with heavy rings slide up his leg and felt his thigh tensing against her neck. She did not want to be here. She heard the woman shift in her seat and heard them whispering and giggling. His hand appeared in her hair, caressing down towards her cheek and neck. She wanted him to stop. She closed her eyes and attempted to block it all out.

The journey lasted an age and when at last they arrived back she barely noticed anything as she was lead through the halls. Rogers was gone, the woman wasn't. Why on Earth was he keeping her with him? They were in the large room with the fireplace from the first night. It was better lit now and she could see far more of it, though she dared not lift her head. Every wall was covered in bookshelves. There were soft chairs in quiet corners, and a few arranged around the mantelpiece. In the warm light, the room was beautiful. He fixed her leash to a bolt, concealed just to the right of the fire. She leant on the cool marble, barely affected by the proximate flames, and hoped they would leave her here and go to bed.

But she had no such luck; they seemed to have no intention of leaving. They were entwined in a large armchair, the one in which he had been sat when she first woke up. He stood to pour them both drinks, passing close to her but without looking at her. The woman sat on the hearthrug and stretched in front of the fire. She heard the clink of glass on marble; he was standing over her, looking at the woman.

"That rug has had a very good few days. Two fine creatures have graced it with their presence, but you, my dear, are wearing far too many clothes." He trailed his fingers across Aneira's shoulders as he walked over to the woman, dropping to his knees on the far side of her. He shot a look at Aneira, knowing she could see everything. It served little purpose but to humiliate her further. That and he couldn't risk her out of his presence for long.

He ran a hand all over the woman before him, pausing at each breast, appreciative of the exquisite body, and enjoying how she responded to his touch with little moans. She was taller than his little slave, longer limbs, broader hips, larger breasts. She was considered a great beauty by many and though he appreciated her charms she wasn't exactly to his taste. Still, he had always enjoyed having her in his bed. He reached behind her neck and unclasped the deep blue evening dress, pulling it away from her breasts and stomach. With a hand on her chest he leant in to kiss her, pulling her towards him.

Aneira wanted to look away, but found herself both fascinated and disgusted. She watched him lay kisses all along that long, elegant neck, and was surprised to see him kissing a nipple with as much passion as he had shown her mouth. A hand was working down the taught tanned stomach, down underneath the folds of evening dress he had yet to remove. His hand had clearly found what it was searching for, as the woman gasped and bucked her hips towards him.

As he moved a hand to slide the dress the rest of the way off there was a sharp and urgent rap of knuckles on the door.

"No, go away, I'm busy, whatever it is it can wait until morning."

"Sir, I'm afraid it can't." The butler from last night she guessed, but it was difficult to tell with his voice so muffled. "Sir there has been a break in. Major Rogers and his men have caught them all, but sir you are needed at once."

"Yes, I'll come, one minute." He turned to the woman with a sigh. "This may take me some time, I'm afraid we shall have to call it a night. I'll have a car pick you up immediately and take you back into the city."