Istanza

They call them Istanza. The word is derived from a long-forgotten language, a language whose origins are lost in the depths of time. None are left who speak the language in its entirety, but there are a select few who understand the handful of words that are still used.

* * *

1: Finding Silra

Leeann watched the ceremony with a keen awareness of her own growing arousal. Her nipples ached deliciously behind her leather halter, and her chest buzzed with lusty heat. Between her legs there was a nervous energy that was almost too much to bear.

There were ten of them this time, on their knees at the foot of the Altar Steps, hands bound behind their backs with bonding chord. The pale light from the single narrow window high above the Grand Altar cast them with little more than shadows; they were indistinct, white curves in the blackness. All of them new, all of them uninitiated, all of them quaking with fear and staring at the smooth stone surface at their knees. All except one.

She watched, rapt. She knew what they were feeling. She knew how cold the stone floor felt against their knees and the tops of their feet; she knew how their ankles ached at supporting their weight for so long, how their beautiful smooth buttocks had gone completely numb, how their thighs complained in cramping agony. She knew how tiny flecks of dust and grit on the smooth stone stabbed and pierced the sensitive skin of their knees. She knew how they would later sit hunched in their cold cell, rubbing their aching muscles and their sore knees in a vain attempt to numb the pain and drive some heat into their bodies.

They were Koda: they were the bound.

She knew how they felt, because she had once been Koda, just like them. She had been there, lost and terrified, awaiting her fate.

They could have come from anywhere. It was a big universe outside Krakus, and there were any number of ways in which the slave traders who served the Sect of Bane could find its Koda. They could have been orphans taken into the slave trade and sold to the Sect after they reached adulthood. They could have been victims of an accident on a spacecraft or station, picked up by an opportunistic traveller and traded like any other luxury. They could even have been artificially gestated for the sex industry and sold to the highest bidder, which just happened on this occasion to be the Koda-purchasers of the cruellest sect in the known galaxy.

From where Leeann was standing, twenty paces from the end of the line, they appeared very much alike. The gloom and the distance hid their faces, but their bodies were near-identical. Smooth backs, slender lithe arms, hair covering their shoulders in lank rivulets. Breasts and thighs were indistinct because of their positions, but that did not matter. Leeann would get to know each of their bodies intimately over the coming weeks.

She shifted subtly on her feet, already boiling inside with excitement. She was Istanza; she was control, and she was responsible for training the new Koda. The Sect of Bane employed her because of her talents and her penchants: she liked to cause pain, and she was good at it. To punish the Koda was her role within the Sect, and it was also her payment, as well as a handsome sum paid monthly into an off-world bank account.

The initiation was almost over. The Koda visibly shook as the shadowed figure at the altar read through the last of the sacred texts. Their backs heaved as their panicked breaths pulsed in and out of their lungs. Their toes were curled, clenched, like their numb fingers. They were afraid – all except one.

She was the eighth in the row, from where Leeann stood. Her hair, although naturally brown, looked almost black in the waning light, and it hung like mistletoe around her neck. Her shoulders stood through her curled locks, but they were not hunched like the other Koda – they were square, strong and proud. Her breaths were slow and controlled, and her fingers, though pale and obviously numb, were relaxed and unclenched. Her toes moved rhythmically as her feet crunched and expanded with each heartbeat, an old and little-known trick to keep blood flowing and prevent numb legs.

A loud slam reverberated around the room, making each of the Koda flinch. Leeann looked up at the altar, saw the single curtain sway as the shadowed priest passed through it into the antechamber beyond. The sacred book was closed, its closing having caused the slam that had awoken the Koda from their fear, marking the end of the initiation ceremony as far as the priests were concerned.

As far as Leeann was concerned, it was just beginning. At last her long wait was over. She had all night to fill, and ten Koda to train.

She walked slowly across the smooth stone, letting the hard heels of her knee-high boots knock loudly on the ancient floor, dragging out the seconds despite the hurried demands of her body. The echoes sounded glorious as they reverberated around the hall; she stood before the Koda, at the foot of the Altar Steps, and waited, leather-gloved arms folded, for the circling booms to die away completely.

"Stand." She commanded. She watched as they tried to obey, their numb legs unsteady or un-responding as they attempted to lift themselves from the smooth floor with their hands still bound behind their backs. One would fail, she knew – there was always one whose legs were less steady than the rest, and after several hours kneeling motionless on the floor they would be completely numb, and she would topple and fall to the floor when she tried to stand. Leeann stared at their frightened faces, one by one, wondering which it would be that earned a special first night for her imbalance. Would it be the one on the end, with the short black hair? Or the thin-faced girl, with the doe eyes? She could barely still her heartbeat as she waited for her first victim to earn her punishment, barely resist her body's cravings. As she watched one Koda's legs gave out and she toppled backwards, sprawled helpless on the floor. Leeann smiled deeply.

She took two paces forward, until she stood astride the fallen Koda, looking down at her panic-stricken face between her leather-clad knees. She lowered herself slowly onto one knee, felt the delicious slipperiness of her own arousal inside her tight leather shorts. Her knee pressed into the Koda's arm and pushed it into the stone; up-close Leeann could see the tears welling behind her wide eyes, hear the unsteady sobs behind her terrified breaths. She took hold of her greasy blonde hair in both hands and pulled the Koda's head towards hers until the face twisted and screamed.

"First one to fall earns a special reward." She said softly, all the while increasing the pressure on the Koda's arm. She let go of the girl's hair and stood quickly as her eyes clenched in pain. She glanced at her hand with mock disdain, wiped it against her leg. "Your hair is filthy, Koda." She snapped. "Why is your hair filthy?"

The girl looked up at her from the floor, lips trembling and eyes wide, but said nothing.

"Answer me, Koda!"

Again, she gave no reply.

"You will be cleaned, but first you will be punished." She grabbed the girl's tied hands and spun her onto her belly, pushing her face into the dusty floor. "Buttocks in the air!" She barked.

The Koda obeyed, drawing herself onto her knees and presenting her pale buttocks to the altar and the surrounding Koda like an offering. Leeann smiled again, withdrew her short cane from its holster on her left arm, held it aloft for all to see, then brought it down swiftly.

It cracked like a gunshot, the following yelp competing in the echoes that ran around the hall. She gave another strike, and another. Yelps followed each like answering calls, drawing at her heartstrings and winding up the breaking-point tension between her legs even tighter still. One more strike might just be enough – the sound of leather on flesh, the sudden scream, it could be enough to send her over the edge... But no, not yet. Plenty of time for that later.

"Stand!" She shouted again, grabbing the Koda's hands and pulling her forcefully upright. "Follow. Quickly."

She marched them out of the great hall and into the network of narrow corridors that led to Leeann's own dungeon. Neon lamps guttered on the walls and the smell of burnt tin and damp stone was heady in the air like musk. The Koda would spend their first night in a communal cell, before being assigned individual cells the following day; it was part of the ritual, and an important part of their training. This night they would witness the punishment of Leeann's chosen victim, and play a part in her own gratification. This night would be fun.

She stopped at the entrance to the cell, a wide cylinder lit by a ring of lamps suspended from the domed brick ceiling on an iron wheel. Ropes hung from the ceiling too, as did numerous shackles from the walls. The floor had a single drain in the middle and was sloped so that any fluids would run into it after passing over the rough flagstones.

"Koda; follow." Leeann commanded, standing in the centre of the cell. "You will stand against the wall facing me, and you will watch."

The Koda obeyed, faces downturned and eyes peering terrified from under brows that glistened with cold sweat. Leeann grabbed the blonde Koda who had fallen at the altar, dragged her brutally to the centre of the room, where she deftly fastened a hanging rope around her wrists, which were still bound behind her back. A hand-crank on the wall hoisted the rope upwards until the girl was bent forwards, her shoulders almost at breaking point and her feet arched to relieve the pain. She tottered, whimpered and sobbed as Leeann once again withdrew her cane from its holster and gave three sharp strikes against her buttocks, accurately covering the three growing welts that had formed from her earlier punishment in the great hall.

Only then did Leeann step away from the hanging girl and let her gaze wander slowly around the room.

"This is your future, Koda." She said slowly. "I am Istanza. I am your future. If you do not obey the orders of the Sect of Bane, you shall come to this room, where you will suffer the fate of this thing that you see hanging before you now." She narrowed her eyes and smiled. "I for one hope that you do not learn to obey, for every minute of your punishment is a minute of my reward."

All eyes were on her, or her victim. All were wide and terrified, all were twitching to nervous breaths. All except one pair, which were wide not with fear but wonder, her breaths not fast and twitching but fast and heavy, her lungs heaving, her chest flushed, her legs squeezed tightly together as she arched her back against the wall. It was the same Koda that had shown no fear in the great hall.

Leeann slapped her cane into the palm of her hand and walked slowly across the cell towards the Koda, her curiosity piqued. The girl stared sidelong at her, still breathing with fast sighs. She let her gloved hand touch the Koda's chest, where it was red and flushed, around to the nipple of her left breast, which stood proud and firm. She tweaked it gently, watched as the Koda's eyes narrowed, then again, harder, smiled as the Koda gave a shocked squeal.

"Do you enjoy this, Koda?" She whispered into the girl's ear.

To her surprise, the Koda smiled. "Yes." She mouthed in reply. She squealed again, a long drawn-out cry of pain, as Leeann squeezed her nipple as hard as she could between her thumb and forefinger and held it until her hand began to cramp.

"Good." She whispered.

She turned away from the Koda before a girlish smile spread across her face; she had not before known a Koda to enjoy watching punishments, or being punished. Perhaps she had chosen the wrong victim, but then, no... If the Koda wanted to be punished, then it would be punishment further to let her watch from the sidelines and not take part.

Sobs attracted her attention, and she turned back to the girl hanging in the centre of the room. "Of course." She said. "How could I leave my little pet hanging? Eh, pet?"

She gave another swift strike to the girl's buttocks, then several more in quick succession to the backs of her thighs. She yelped at first, but as the strikes continued so her voice lowered and she began to cry.

It was almost more than Leeann could take.

Her left hand deftly unfastened the top button of her leather shorts, and she wiggled her hips until they fell to the floor. A heady scent of her own contained arousal filled the room, and she sighed with the delicious chill of the cool air on her heated, moistened flesh. She gave a quick glance around the room, drawn for some reason to the heavy-breathing Koda, but quickly looked away, found the one who looked most disgusted; a suitable candidate for the next punishment.

"You." She said, pointing her short cane at a raven-haired girl with a thin, drawn face so pale that it was almost see-through. "On your knees."

The girl obeyed reluctantly, crouching awkwardly down with her hands still behind her back.

"Come here. In front of me."

Again the Koda obeyed, shuffling along the stone floor until she stopped directly before Leeann. She let her left hand stroke the Koda's scalp delicately for a moment. "You know what to do." She said, taking the back of the girl's head firmly in her left hand and preparing to thrust.

"No..." The girl began, but the rest of her words were muffled as Leeann thrust her wet crotch into her face.

Leeann gave a deep sigh as she felt the girl's mouth squash into her buzzing sex, but it was cut short by the girl's lack of response. She pulled her face away, listened to a few hastily snatched breaths, then thrust into her again, but still she was as frigid as a block of wood.

"Use your tongue, Koda." She shouted, her arms almost quaking with frustration. She gave the Koda another rapid thrust into her crotch, but she only spluttered for breath. "Useless." She said, throwing the Koda to the floor. "Who can do better?"

Again her gaze swept the room, and had barely fallen on the proud, smiling girl before she dropped wordlessly to her knees and extended her tongue.

"Yes. You know what to do, don't you?" She said.

The girl said nothing, but her actions said all that need be said. Her face moved in slowly without force, her tongue homed in right where Leeann wanted it. Her lips surrounded her pulsing clit, sucked upon it, tapped it gently and quickly with her tongue.

Leeann's cane fell to the floor as she fell forwards, grabbed the girl's head with both hands and caressed it firmly. Her knees turned to jelly, and after so long waiting she felt the sexual energy in her chest rise like magma in a volcano. Sighs turned quickly to breathy pants as the tapping against her clit increased in pace, and within heartbeats she was on the edge of an epic orgasm.

No, not yet, it was too quick... It had only just begun – less than sixty seconds of rapid tongue-tapping from the girl between her legs and already she was crashing the gates of ecstasy. It was too much, it should not happen so fast, to orgasm so soon would be to show weakness in front of the Koda... No, she had to stop it, she had to resist, but it felt so good.

Her lips clenched together, her eyes slammed shut and her fingers tightened around the girl's soft hair. She tried to hold back, she tried to deny the rapid sensation of the girl's tongue on her clit combined with the hot pressure of her sucking lips, but it was too much. She fell over the precipice, her body spasming as she released her sexual tension and came over the girl's face.

Her breaths slowed, eventually. She opened her eyes and gazed through stars at the floor and the feet of the silent Koda, their stares averted. She felt one last lick and a delicate kiss from the girl between her legs, then she was disentangled. She stood unsteadily on weak knees and turned for the door. She stopped, turned back, picked up her cane, and brought it down on the chained Koda, again and again and again, until her arm ached and she had spent the last of her faint breaths.

Sobs filled the room, but she barely heard them. She opened the door, shut it behind her and locked it. She headed out of the labyrinth of corridors to her room, not caring to go back even when she remembered that she had left her leather shorts discarded on the cell floor.

No Koda had ever done that for her. Not so fast, not so expertly. Normally she needed to use her fingers alongside their useless tongues, or beat them until they screamed in order to get herself off, but that proud, brave Koda had managed the same using just her skilled lips and tongue, in less time than it took to get undressed.

She had been reduced to a quivering, orgasming wreck by a Koda, in front of Koda. She had shown weakness.

* * *

She could give it up any time. She could stop any time she wanted. That's what Leeann used to say to herself, before she'd tried to give it up.

She had tried to stop on two occasions. The first time the Sect had not accepted her request to leave. She had been Istanza for only two years, and within the enjoyment of her work had been sown the seeds of doubt. She wasn't sure where they had come from, but they were there, nagging at the back of her thoughts, tormenting her every time she tormented one of the Sect's Koda, haunting her erotic dreams every night, until her mind was set, and she asked the Sect for access to her funds and passage on the next public ship to leave the surface of Krakus.

They had refused. They had made every avenue difficult, until she came to realise that she was as trapped as the Koda she ritually tortured, as much a slave to the Sect as they were. She had reluctantly returned to her work, immersed herself in it, attacked it with renewed vigour; she took her frustrations and her doubts out on her charges, beating them to within inches of their lives.

The second time had been a year later. She had played her hand closer to her chest, bribed a palace worker into helping her leave. She had had him smuggle a computer into the palace so that she could check she had access to her funds; she had found a pilot to get her off the surface of Krakus on an unregistered ship, and she had finally taken off in the dead of night, several months later, when everything was ready.

The ship she travelled on had been a modified light freighter, its pilot a smuggler. She spent ten days aboard before they reached their destination, a vast and lawless space station in the middle of nowhere. She had hoped to buy passage to a peaceful system some distance from Krakus, forge herself a new identity and start a new life; it had been a good plan, and it would have worked, had she not failed in her resolve to let go of her addiction.

She found work on a ship leaving the station a week later. She didn't really need the money, but it paid well and came with a fresh identity as part of the deal. She lied about her past experience, and was employed as a crew manager, responsible for the four deck hands in her command. She allocated their chores, assigned their rations, listened to their grievances and kept them in line. All would have been well, were one of her charges not an attractive but stubborn young woman.

Almost immediately she felt herself slipping. The old habits came back, along with the old addictions. That girl's bunk room became a torture chamber, her daily ritual one of abuse and torment. Leeann had hated herself for what she did to that girl, and for hiding it from the rest of the crew for as long as she could, but she could not deny what she was. She was Istanza: it was in her very soul.

She had gone back to the Sect as soon as the captain had found out what she was doing. She was lucky not to have been jettisoned into space; only a substantial bribe had saved her life. The Sect welcomed her back with open arms, for she was an invaluable part of their team. She was Istanza.