Harold Saves Her Husband Pt. 03

Lady Sadhna? Oh shit! We thought she was against Lord Mohan's plots, not supporting it, or even directing it. The Archers would be entering Lord Mohan's zenana shortly, and Lady Sadhna will be there to greet them. Would they escape that trap? I hoped they wouldn't prove as incompetent as I had been.

Two small women took the handles of the cart. An old sari was draped over my body and lightly knotted to the sides of the cart. I could still see the torches through the sari, but no details of where I was being taken. I heard the other women start sweeping again, probably hoping to catch more of us.

I fumed against my own stupidity. Here I was, a helpless bundle, gagged and bound and wheeled away to an unknown fate by two tiny women I could have easily carried on each shoulder. If my wits had been about me I could have possibly fought off the whole dozen of the fake servant women, or at least have made my capture more difficult. But I had been defeated and captured because I had underestimated women, and assumed that servant women were beneath my notice.

I heard the cart's wheels rumble as we passed out under the archway. I tried to keep some idea of where we were going, but once out of the courtyard it was too dark for me to see anything through the sari over my eyes. I tested my bonds. They were too effective. I could wriggle my fingers, curl my toes, and that was all.

Some minutes later, after crossing some cobblestones, we seemed to be in another building that was unlit, or so dimly lit that the light didn't reach my eyes. Finally we passed through about four consecutive doors. I heard the hinges creak as they were opened and shut behind us. The last one was firmly locked once we were through.

I heard a tinder box being used and then light came through. Several wall torches had been lit. The sari was untied at my head and pulled down from my face. I looked around as far as my eyes could turn. My head was held firmly in place.

This was a low-ceilinged, mean chamber, probably part of the domestic quarters. There was no decoration on the ceiling and the upper parts of the walls, all I could see.

Two women, not the ones who had been pulling the cart, but taller women dressed in finer clothing, appeared in my line of sight.

"Comfortable, Prince Harold?" One said. "We will unload you shortly. We regret that Lady Sadhna cannot receive you at present. She is entertaining some of your Englishwomen for the next few hours. However we have devised some entertainment for you, or is it for us? Anyway, you cannot object, can you?..."

Effectively gagged as I was, no, I couldn't.

The four women removed the sari and unfastened the bonds holding me on the cart. It was a struggle for them, but they carried me a short distance and put me on a large mattress on the floor. It was soft, and much more comfortable than the bare wood of the cart.

"Now, Prince Harold, we are going to ensure you are properly dressed for your audience with Lady Sadhna. These strips of old sari are unbecoming for such a distinguished visitor. Our seamstress will take some measurements to make certain that your attire is correctly fitted..."

One of the small women produced some lengths of string. She measured around my waist, about a foot further up my chest, around my wrists, elbows and ankles. She went to a heavy wooden chest and reached inside it. The taller woman who had been talking to me moved into my line of vision before I could see what was being taken out of the chest.

"Your countrymen produce some useful tools," she said. "These, for example."

She held up a pair of pliers.

"These were made in Birmingham. The wire they are used on comes from Manchester. The chains? I don't know. From somewhere in England. But the main items are made by our local craftsmen."

They untied and totally stripped me carefully. They gave me no opportunity to escape from my bonds as they gradually replaced the cloth strips with leather cuffs attached to a larger version of the leather corsets described by Jane. At the time, of course, I didn't know that the kidnapped ladies had been forced to wear them. The wire lacing at the back was tightened with the Birmingham pliers. The corset had attached leather cuffs put around my wrists and elbows, holding my arms to my sides. Those cuffs were also locked by the pliers. Finally they put leather cuffs on my ankles. There was a very short chain between them. If I could stand I might be able to shuffle a few inches at a time. I could move my hands two or three inches from my sides. I was still firmly gagged.

I was embarrassed that their wandering hands had caused me to have an erection. Although their hold had been firm, their hands were soft, and their silken clothing had been brushing against me.

"There's one last English product, Prince Harold."

She held up a large padlock. She looked at it.

"Messrs Chubb," she read out. "Messrs Chubb will stop you roaming too far."

She uncoiled the chain from the back of the leather corset and took it to a heavy metal hasp embedded in the wall. The padlock linked the chain to the hasp. She locked it, took the key, threaded it on a piece of the string that had been used to measure me for my shackles, lifted the loop over her head and pointedly dropped the key into her cleavage.

"While it might be interesting for you to try to retrieve the key, Prince Harold, I don't think we have allowed you enough free movement to make such an attempt feasible."

She laughed at me.

"There is no need for your so-far enforced silence to continue and we want you to have the use of your tongue." She continued. "It would be pointless to shout for help. We are in the disused cellars of a redundant wing of the palace, the wing carefully described by Hasit as the place of imprisonment of the kidnapped women. But they were never here. Anyone who might try to investigate around this wing will be intercepted by more servant women in larger groups than caught you. We had thought you, and or George might try to look in, so we provided enough women to overwhelm one or two fit men. They still could if there is any attempt to rescue you."

She gestured to one of the smaller women who moved to my head and carefully untied the scarf holding my gag in place before pulling the sodden cloth out of my mouth. The other small woman held a cup of water to my lips. I had to sip carefully, swill the water around, and swallow some before I was able to speak.

"Thank you," I said to the woman still holding the cup. She smiled at me.

"Who are you?" I asked the taller lady.

"Me? Or us?"

"All four of you." I replied.

"Perhaps introductions are in order. I am Hamsa, one of Lord Mohan's sisters." Hamsa pointed to the other taller woman. "She is Tamira, one of my cousins. The lady with the cup is Deepal, one of my handmaidens. The lady who removed your gag is Banni, Tamira's handmaiden. As well as being our handmaidens, Deepal and Banni are our friends."

"I wish I could say I was pleased to make your acquaintance," I responded. "I might have been, in different circumstances."

"But that," Said Tamira, pointing at my erection, "suggests that you are pleased to meet us despite your protestations."

I might have made a retort but my mouth was stopped by a kiss from Deepal. My lips responded despite myself. Deepal's lips were sweet.

"Deepal!" Hamsa spoke loudly. "Wait!"

Deepal seemed reluctant to stop kissing me.

"Deepal," Hamsa continued, "remember, we want something from Harold first, and Banni starts."

Deepal moved aside.

"Banni wants you to kiss her," Tamira said.

Banni lifted her sari and petticoat and stood astride me.

"There!" Tamira said firmly.

Banni lowered her yoni until it was an inch from my face. Her petticoat and sari dropped around me as my lips met hers. What could I do? Protest? Bite? Be forced? Lie back and think of England? Or enjoy the pleasant taste of a young woman's yoni?

Of course I chose to enjoy Banni, and to work towards making the encounter enjoyable for her too.

She began to moan and groan above me and her movements became more insistent. She was close to an orgasm when my erection was suddenly engulfed in a warm wet place. I held back, trying to concentrate on pleasing Banni as Deepal pounded hard on my hips. I could tell it was Deepal. Hamsa or Tamira would have been a much heavier load.

Soon Deepal was expressing her enjoyment as loudly as Banni. It was difficult to restrain my own excitement. If I hadn't practiced holding back with Lisa, Serena and Pushpa, I would have been lost in Banni and Deepal's ecstasy. My long experience of satisfying demanding women before allowing my own release was enough. The two of them shuddered almost simultaneously. I still held on. There were two as yet unsatisfied women.

Banni uncovered my head. She and Deepal climbed off me.

"Well, Prince Harold," Tamira said, wonderingly, "I knew you were favoured of the Goddess, and there were rumours of your prowess, but I have never known anyone resist those two, particularly together. But the night is young..."

Tamira straddled me to ease my erection inside her. I looked up to see Hamsa's yoni descending towards my face.

Soon I was back in action. Tamira and Hamsa had a slower rhythm than their handmaidens but it was just as effective at arousing me and them. The two of them were groaning loudly as they went through several orgasms. Finally they were done and I was covered in sweat, but still defiantly erect.

But Banni claimed it. Within less than a minute of her frantic squirming I had ejaculated inside her. A smile spread across her face as she recognised her achievement.

"Prince Harold," Banni said, still straddling me, "you have proved why the Goddess favours you, but even you have a limit."

"Of course I have," I replied. "I enjoy sex too, and I have been delighted to be introduced to you four. I just wish we were on the same side..."

"I might wish that too, Prince Harold," Hamsa said, "but as Lady Sadhna's daughter and niece we have to support her aspirations for my brother."

I sighed.

"What is wrong with Queen Serena ruling the country, with King Vishaladeva at her side?" I asked. "I would have thought as ambitious women you would have sympathetic to the changes she wants to make."

"I might not agree with making Lord Sanji a puppet king." Tamira said. "He is nothing but a penis with a man attached. All his limited brains are down there. But my aunt wants her son, and his sons to be the real rulers. There are enough frightened men to support him."

"Men frightened of women," I retorted, wincing as Banni climbed off. "They should welcome proud women standing beside them, not try to shut them up in zenanas as if they were dangerous animals."

"That will take generations to change," Hamsa said. "We have to live with the reality of now, and now means women exert influence indirectly, as Lady Sadhna does, and will do. If we accepted women as rulers, then I might be the heir to Lord Mohan, with my husband as consort. But that would never happen. Our people wouldn't accept me."

"Would Lord Mohan be a better puppet than Sanji?" I asked. "He is supposed to be the plotter. I'm beginning to think he's not. He's another puppet with his strings pulled by his mother, isn't he? A puppet, just as you four are -- doing her dirty work."

"Sanji would be better than Lord Mohan," Banni blurted. The others were horrified by that statement.

"Why?" I asked. "Why would sex-driven Sanji be better?"

"I suppose there is no harm in telling you," Tamira said. "Cousin Mohan, Hamsa's step-brother..."

I raised my eyes at the 'step-brother'. Hamsa nodded.

"...is unpleasant." Tamira concluded.

"More than unpleasant," Banni said. "cruel, demanding, vicious."

"That's enough!" Hamsa said. "We may not like him, but he is our Lord."

"If Queen Serena wins, he won't be. What then? Who might replace him if he is removed?"

"Removed?" Hamsa asked. "What do you mean, removed?"

"What is the local penalty for treason?"

I had said the unmentionable word. Hamsa's face paled.

"Treason? We are trying to get King Vishaladeva to rule alone, not commit treason."

"And in trying, you imprison him?"

"He's at your encampment, with Queen Serena. How can he be imprisoned?"

"King Vishaladeva is NOT at the encampment. He is held somewhere in this palace, by Lord Mohan, or perhaps by Lady Sadhna, and has been for many days."

"But we saw him, beside Queen Serena..." Tamira started to say.

"That wasn't King Vishaladeva," I interrupted. "That was Ranjit, pretending to be the King. Lord Mohan and Lady Sadhna must have known that he wasn't the King. Are you saying that you didn't know the King had been kidnapped?"

The four of them looked at each other. Their astonishment seemed genuine.

"And he's probably wearing one of these," I added, rattling the chains at my wrists. "That alone could deserve the death penalty."

I was nearly as surprised as they were that they didn't know about the King's kidnapping. No wonder we had been unsuccessful in finding out where he was held if the knowledge of the King's kidnapping was so secret.

"How do we know you are telling the truth about the King?" Tamira said. "You could be lying."

"I'm not. You have my word as an English gentleman. King Vishaladeva was kidnapped when he visited Lord Mohan. The only reason I am here, and the Company troops are here in force, is because the King has been imprisoned. Very few of us know. Most think Ranjit is the King. But you didn't know? What did you know?"

"We knew that some of the noblewomen had been brought here and imprisoned with Lord Sanji's women in what was supposed to be his zenana," Hamsa said. "We were told that they were hostages to try to persuade Queen Serena to let the King rule alone, as anyone we captured tonight would be."

"We didn't expect to capture you," Tamira added, "but thought you would be even more valuable as a hostage than the noblewomen. You are so important to Queen Serena..."

"...and to the Company. Don't forget them. Their troops are close and could use the heavy artillery to reduce this palace to a heap of rubble if they have to."

"But they wouldn't!" Hamsa protested. "Not while we hold the noblewomen, you, and if we believe you, the King. They can't run the risk of killing all those."

"Perhaps. If all you had captured was me -- the Colonel might decide that I was expendable and he could order a bombardment anyway. But he can't risk killing King Vishaladeva. If the King was rescued? The guns might start firing within minutes."

Hamsa and Tamira moved away from me and conducted a fierce argument in whispers. Banni and Deepal sat down beside me.

Deepal whispered to me:

"What will happen to us? Banni and I? We don't want to be pulled apart by elephants or thrown to the sacred crocodiles. Nor do our colleagues who helped to capture you. We were just doing what our mistresses told us to do."

"We enjoyed you," Banni added. "We don't want you hurt. We don't want to be killed for helping a plot we knew little about."

"I don't know what will happen," I replied. "Hamsa and Tamira should be even more worried than you are. You were following their orders. They have been lied to. If they had known that the King had been kidnapped, would they have been in the conspiracy?"

"No!" Deepal whispered fiercely. "They like King Vishaladeva, and Serena. The King is a good man and treats everyone he meets equally -- even servant women like us that others ignore. We would be happy with him as King but who is King doesn't really matter to us. We would still be servants, and have to obey orders."

"Hamsa and my mistress Tamira are obeying orders too," Banni said. "Lady Sadhna's orders. But now they are unhappy that they have been lied to."

Hamsa and Tamira ended their whispered conversation and came back. Deepal and Banni kissed me before standing up.

"While we might accept that you are telling the truth, and might agree with some of what you say," Hamsa said carefully, "we have a duty at present, and that duty obliges us to take you to meet Lady Sadhna. She will expect you to be gagged silent. You will be, but not as cruelly as you were before. Just don't abuse our mercy by trying to speak. If you are not gagged effectively, please pretend that you are. Promise? Or we will stuff your mouth so full you could suffocate."

"I'll promise, Hamsa," I said. "That will be more comfortable for me."

"While you are with Lady Sadhna," Tamira said, "we will try to confirm your statement that the King is imprisoned in the palace. If we do? We'll have to think where our loyalties lie. That won't be easy. Meanwhile, you are still our prisoner."

Deepal didn't put any cloth in my mouth at all. She wound the long scarf over my lower face, tight enough to stay in place, but not cutting into me as it had done before.

They loaded me back on the hand cart. Hamsa unlocked the chain from the wall and locked it to one of the side rails of the cart. If I could climb off and hobble away, I would have been dragging the cart with me. A different sari, of thicker opaque material, was tied over the whole of me. It didn't restrain me but I was effectively concealed and in darkness.

Deepal and Banni wheeled me away. I could hear Hamsa and Tamira walking beside me. One or other of them opened and closed the doors as we passed. From time to time a hand gently stroked me through my covering.

Eventually we reached some stairs. I heard whispers before the whole cart was lifted and carried up the stairs. We went through several more doors before we came to a stop and I was uncovered. The padlock was opened. Hamsa and Tamira helped me to stand up. Deepal and Banni pushed the cart out of the room and returned.

The four of them pushed and half carried me to sit me in a heavy chair facing an empty gaddi. The long chain was passed several times around me and though parts of the chair. The padlock was locked to the loops of chain at my waist. I might have been able to start to stand but not upright. The chain was too short for that. One by one the four women kissed me on the forehead. One of Banni's tears dropped on my cheek.

They left me alone in the empty room. I tried struggling. It was useless. I was pinioned too securely. My gag might be ineffective but I had promised to pretend that I was unable to speak. I'd keep that promise.

I heard the door open behind me. Lady Sadhna sat on the gaddi facing me, flanked by two noblewomen I didn't know. I nodded my head to greet them, the only movement my bonds permitted. I was acutely conscious that I was naked except for the leather corset. Deepal and Banni, who had followed the three women, stood either side of my chair. Banni was carrying the sari that had concealed me on the hand cart.

Lady Sadhna made a gesture. Banni covered my lower body with the folded sari.

"Well, Prince," Lady Sadhna's voice seem to sneer at the word 'prince', "Harold, we had not expected you to be snared in Hasit's trap. He is a clever lad, isn't he? Small for his age which can be useful. He is twelve years old but if necessary he can pretend to be much younger."

One of the women picked up a wine bottle from beside the gaddi. She poured a small amount into a glass. Lady Sadhna took the glass, sniffed at it as if it was obnoxious, and gave it back. The glass and bottle were replaced beside the gaddi.

"That wine is drugged. The Englishwomen who came this evening have drunk it, and they are my prisoners. Soon you might be drinking some. But not yet. You are another useful piece for bargaining with that upstart Serena. She will want you back, and those of her noblewomen who are enjoying our hospitality, restrained just like you. I will want a high price for you. What do you think I should ask?"