Life and Times of a Priestess Ch. 03 Pt. 05-06

Chapter 3: New Life In Dalos (Part 5: Rough Treatment)

Before the discussion could conclude their peace was rudely shattered again. Another group of Prancirian soldiers banged on the door and opened it, guns and swords at the ready. Like the last group, some had been drinking Temple wine. They were loud and excited. One or two swords appeared to have fresh blood on them and all the Priestesses felt threatened as the newcomers broke in. These soldiers had either been fighting resistance or had been misbehaving more violently than the last group.

When the soldiers found no resistance, but were faced by many attractive women, some of whom appeared not to be fully clothed, they began to think in the same terms as the earlier group. They shouted outside to their comrades. Soon the room was full of the soldiers, many more than the earlier group. This time the men far outnumbered the Priestesses. Roughly they caught hold of the Priestesses and held them at swordpoint while they tore at their own tunics. Two or three soldiers would hold the Priestess down while another would take his penis out, and otherwise clothed, like most of the earlier group, would take their turn on the unresisting Priestesses.

Danella was roughly grabbed by four soldiers and hauled onto a bed on the other side of the room, where they tore her tunic, not even allowing her to save her clothes by undressing. One was upon her quickly while the others held her still and touched her up. The first seemed quicker than before, but as she was repeatedly taken by the men in turn, and others who followed, it seemed to take longer, but she began to lose track of time. She was becoming very sore and the continual invasion of her body began to be painful. While ceremonies could be abusive sometimes, they stopped after some time, but as time passed it seemed that she was servicing the whole Prancirian army, and she knew that there must be many more of them.

She began to think that this was not good for her body. After this rough treatment she would be unable to have comfortable sexual communion again for a long time, and she began to worry about the diseases she might catch from this unhygienic contact.

In the Empire sexual health was an important priority because it was such a central part of the way of life. Drugs and healing treatments to protect the body from pregnancy and disease were well known and used. She doubted the Prancirians would have brought such supplies and knowledge with them. Still, the Priestesses had much knowledge about these matters. It was a part of their function in society. They would try to use their knowledge to protect or heal themselves.

Danella was very tired now. Lack of food sapped her strength and she began to lack the energy to resist or give to her abusers in any way. For what seemed like hours she lay on her back as soldier after soldier climbed upon her and expended himself, oblivious to her growing distress. To begin with the rape had been like a pleasant return to her duties as a Priestess, a familiar act. She had begun to trust her captors. Now the word was out around the city that there were Priestesses here and more and more soldiers arrived to take their turn. The fact that she and the others were growing exhausted and in pain from the relentless attack seemed not to concern the desperate men who used them. This had become a true 'rape', uncomfortable and increasingly dangerous to the Priestesses who would begin to slide into unconsciousness if their human needs were not considered.

Danella lay still as the men used her, unable to move. She no longer helped the men who could not maintain their erections. She hardly noticed the difference when a different man climbed upon her, except occasionally to ask for help and for food in a language which few of the Prancirians could understand. Down below she knew she must be bleeding. Her vagina was sore and numb at the same time. Was this to be her fate, to slowly starve into unconsciousness while the whole Prancirian army used her?

She still did not believe that they meant to harm her, but she began to suspect that the priestesses were after all to be used and left for dead by a foreign army who cared not for human need. Perhaps it was merely a torture which would end when they were satiated. How could they find her attractive now when she was so weak and her private parts were turned to blood, and she had the mess of tens, perhaps more, she could not count, of Men, inside and upon her. She wanted to crawl away and sleep, but she knew she needed food. If she allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness she feared she might never wake again.

A voice was shouting in Prancirian again! Danella began to focus her mind again to this new development. What was he saying? Did he have authority? If so what order was he giving? Was it to her benefit or not? She still cared. Perhaps she was not so close to unconsciousness after all.

She tried to look but the men still held her down, despite never having given any resistance. An argument was going on. Some of the men were angry about what the first man had said. She judged the first man might just have been criticising the maltreatment of the women. She did not know. It was only an intuition. Maybe he was telling them to stop and return to their soldiering duties. Perhaps he had no particular concern for the women. It seemed he did not have sufficient authority to tell all of these men what to do.

As the argument subsided the man holding her left arm and stroking her face left her side. Quickly she saw a figure at the door before her vision was again obscured by the man currently poking himself inside her. She recognised a tall man wearing the uniform which denoted that he was some kind of officer. It was the tall man who had led the first band of rapists and enjoyed the body of the High Priestess. She had asked him for food, Danella was sure. He had spoken the language of the Empire when they had first banged on the door and demanded to enter.

Only minutes went by, another man replaced the one who had just placed his seed in her. The pain was growing but her light-headedness was worse. She felt so weak. Only food and sleep could restore her. In her previous life she had always had those, but over her new life she had no control at all. She was living under the control of men who behaved without care or conscience, who seemed to take no responsibility for the lives of their prisoners. She had the hope that the tall leader would find a way to stop the continual rape and at least allow the Priestesses to eat and sleep.

She did not have to wait long. There were cries of warning amongst the men as an officer of importance came through the door. Danella heard the door close behind him and he began to speak with magical authority. At first she could not see but she could tell by the speed with which the new man slipped himself out of her and began to adjust his clothing, that this man was important. The others who held her had let go and the noise of laughter and conversation which had been with her for hours ceased as all obeyed their leader. She strained to sit up and found she could not manage it, but she was able now to see the man as somebody moved again. It was the short man with the air of natural authority who had seemed disdainful of the rape before, when he had ordered the tall leader to take his men away and they had gone.

He spoke for a minute or so and discipline was restored to the men. They began to file out of the dorm, taking their guns and swords with them. The short commander stayed behind with the tall officer and a guard of six men who it seemed were to stay in the room to guard the Priestesses or to be their gaolers.

The tall officer began to speak to the Priestesses, raising his voice so they could all hear him, in the faltering language of the Empire. He it was, Danella remembered, who had spoken to them when his men originally arrived to order them to open the door in their own language, but he had not spoken after in their language, as the soldiers had been allowed to direct their own rape and control of the Priestesses. It was clear from the way he spoke that he had not learned their language well. His role in his army had probably hitherto been as a normal group officer of the line, not as an interpreter, she guessed. However he had probably picked the language up during the year of warfare and occupation, perhaps from interviewing captives, or dealings with the people of the Goddess under occupation.

He spoke first. "Ladies, you are under our control. You are soldiers, so you are prisoners. We like you. We protect you, we feed you." He halted, running out of the words to speak. The commander beside him spoke to him in Prancirian, to which he nodded and began again. "Clean yourselves, we bring food, you sleep. In return soldiers will visit you tomorrow."

So the rape would continue, but not for the moment. Danella knew her sore and bloodied vagina would not be healed by tomorrow, but she did not like to think that far ahead. It was a great relief that the abuse was to stop now. Minutes before she would not have believed the attacks would ever stop. It was enough to know that they would not die from this punishment, that their captors would protect them from the soldiers. They would be fed at least.

Ch.3: New Life In Dalos (Part 6: Protection)

Sreela, whom he had fucked, now looked less than beautiful. Her blonde hair was matted with sweat and semen. She looked dirty. She was sticky and bruised and blood had dribbled down between her legs. She spoke to the tall man. It was obvious by his expression that he had not at first recognised which one she was. Now he could see the results of the treatment which he himself had begun. He looked shocked by the realisation of what his own activity had led to.

She spoke weakly and at first he did not comprehend what she said. Moving closer he laid his hand on her shoulder in sympathy. "Please look after us. We are nearly dying from weakness and hunger."

Looking around her Danella realised that although they all looked weak and short of food it was not true to say that any of them were close to death. As long as they were fed and allowed to sleep they would be well. Some of them might require ointments to the damaged skin down below, indeed all of them might benefit from the ointments they had all learned to use in the past. There were some in the dorm, but probably not sufficient for all of their needs. Maybe more supplies could be found in the rest of the city. They would all need to wash before ill health began to develop.

"Yes, we look after you," he replied to her. Now that he had accepted the changes the afternoon's abuse had wrought upon her Danella detected that he seemed inclined to be particularly kind to Sreela. "Is your water working?" he asked her. There were taps in the kitchen and a water bath which could be filled with heated water. In recent weeks the besieging army had attempted to cut the water supplies which flowed into the city. These were from various sources and not all of them had been cut. Some underground streams were still being tapped. They had periodically put poisons and their own sewage into the river and other sources, so the besieged city had had to rely only on clean sources. Some had become ill when water had not been tested before consumption. The Priestesses' dorm had remained connected to the safe source of water but had been cut except for short periods each day. They had been unwashed for days before, but now it became necessary.

Food was brought - soldiers' rations - tins of meat and beans, which Danella had never seen before. It was stored this way to preserve it, and prevent the contamination and drying which it would suffer if it was left to the open air. With these tins an army could march hundreds of miles into enemy territory and take their own supplies, not having to worry about finding food in the conquered territories. They knew that these tins would preserve the food inside until they were opened. A simple invention, although it required factories to produce the tins and can them. It was a sign of the superiority of the Vanmarians in matters of production and science which had enabled them to conquer large swathes of the Empire. General Polad had hinted at this technical superiority during her meetings with him. They ate well, for the first time in weeks, a meal of plenty to soothe the hardship and fear they had just endured.

Some of the Priestesses had stumbled over to the water bath and the kitchen taps to clean themselves, but the water was cut off. perhaps in the final bombardment water pipes had been cut, or the city commanders had cut the supply to preserve it and no one had yet reopened it. The other alternative would be for the Priestesses to go to the public baths, although they doubted they would any more be in operation than their own water supply. Another alternative would be to go to the river and bathe. Sreela and some of the others explained this to the tall officer who had been left in charge of them by the commander, who had left them now. He agreed to the idea. They would take the Priestesses down to the river, those of them who felt strong enough to go after they had eaten.

They were ready now to make the journey to the river. The tall officer brought in more soldiers to escort them, probably some of the men who had already enjoyed the Priestesses earlier in the day. Danella did not recognise them in particular. It was evening now, but being summer there was light still in the sky.

Thirty two Priestesses, wearing again their Priestesses' robes over their tunics to cover their dirty and raw bodies, left the dorm surrounded by some eighteen guards, made their way down the road past scenes of destruction and pain, the tall officer at the front. Three of their number remained behind, so weakened by their ordeal that they were now asleep. It had been thought better to allow them to sleep while they could. They would be able to bathe in the morning.

The streets were deserted by the ordinary citizens. They must all be in hiding from the conquerors, thought Danella. This was the first time she had thought about the other inhabitants of the city since she had last been outside the dorm and witnessed the rough humour of the Prancirian cavalry and their effect on the citizens, who could only run away or indoors. Some buildings were smashed and shattered or fire damaged by the bombardment, but many which were whole had their doorways battered in. This concerned some of the Priestesses, who talked amongst themselves now they had begun to recover.

Danella found she was next to High Priestess Sreela. They had always got on well and after the recent experiences of war there was a growing bond between them.

"That looks like forced entry," Danella said.

"Yes. It would have happened to our door if we hadn't opened it. I think they would search all the buildings. Roger says that was why he and his men were called away before," Sreela looked meaningfully at Danella. It was as if the continuous rape which had occurred after were too terrible to mention. Events which human beings wish to forget are soon ignored by those involved in them, as if they do not wish to tarnish their own lives any more with bad memories.

So Sreela had learned the tall officer's name. Despite that he had abandoned them to what he had initiated, Danella sensed that Sreela must see him as a saviour. Indeed Danella did not hold the first group of rapists responsible for everything which happened later. They were only soldiers. From what she had heard from General Polad, and her own reading, they were not given much opportunity for sexual behaviour in their own continent so it was unsurprising that they should take the opportunity to take sex in time of war from conquered peoples. Men of the Empire would hardly have behaved the same way towards women of Vanmar because they knew there was no shortage of willing partners and of ceremonies to participate in at home in the Empire. Roger's group had behaved with some restraint, but the later groups of soldiers had seemed unsupervised and unconcerned for their victims' well-being.

"So they have been searching every house and building?" she asked. Sreela nodded.

"Where are all the people?"

"Inside," Sreela answered.

They came to a house occupied by soldiers. Some of them sat on the doorstep drinking temple wine. Inside there was noise and the sounds of laughter and conversation. They had just passed when they heard a scream. A woman screamed. It was not play. All of them felt the return of fear.

"Roger," Sreela called. "What is happening there?" She felt confident enough to ask him. He was only just in front. "I do not know," he replied. "It is not my responsibility." It was not his duty to control every soldier in this conquered city.

"Can you find out? She may be harmed. You have the authority." Sreela asked him bravely.

"I cannot take responsibility for everything which goes on in this city. We are fighting a war, you know that."

"Please. You are a good man, I can see that," she asked.

"Alright, I will look, Sreela," he surrendered. "But I am not an important officer. You saw that before, before I brought the commander. I cannot solve everyone's problems."

He stopped the company and went to the door of the house. Three of his men followed in support. Sreela smiled at Danella. "We seem to have some influence here!"

"He likes you," said Danella, "And he hopes to have sex with you and others of us again. We are important to him. He wants to look after us."

"I think you are right, but we had best be careful that we don't ask too much of him."

The woman inside had screamed again, and maybe more than one. Roger spoke to the soldiers on the step and they let him through. He disappeared into the building. Roger became angry, they could hear him shouting inside. Other voices raised and became angry. Soon he emerged. The screams had stopped. He spoke to some of his own soldiers and then directed the column forward.

"What was happening in there?" Sreela asked him.

Roger looked as if he did not wish to answer and she feared he would be angry with her, but in a short while, when he had thought of the words, he spoke. "It is better not to know. I have warned them and I think they will not continue."

"What were they doing?" she persisted. "It sounded worse than what happened to us."

"No more questions, please, Sreela," he said. "They will probably be more careful. I warned them if they continue I will bring the General."

"Was that the General who you brought to us?"

"Yes."

"What is his name?"

"General Ravelleon."

"Is he the general in command of this city?" Sreela asked.

"He is one of them. There are three. He is not the only leader. He is my general."

"He is a good man. You have both saved us from terrible torture," she thanked him again.

"He is a good general. He does not approve of soldiers behaving without discipline," Roger said.

"But he knows he cannot stop it," ventured Sreela.

"Correct. But he will intervene to restore a certain level of discipline."

"Do your soldiers always behave this way when they conquer?" Danella introduced herself into the conversation. This Roger could be persuaded to talk. They might find out useful things from him. Danella thought he may care more for them if they developed a friendship with him.

"Behave which way?" he asked as if he could not understand the language he spoke. He seemed to understand everything Sreela said, but Danella sensed he was merely reluctant to admit that he had behaved wrongly.

"We do not understand why you wish to conquer our lands and cities in the first place," she retorted. "What harm have we done you? Thousands are killed in the warfare, for no reason that we can see. I will not say more. When you conquer our city your soldiers act as if they know no control. I saw your cavalry chasing our women and our soldiers as if they were wild animals in the street. Then you came into our dormitory and took your pleasure from us without asking our permission. I suppose we did not expect you to ask our permission when we are defeated, but you might have treated the defeated with more respect. We are Priestesses, trained to a life of communal service, and accepting of our duties. We would not have complained if you had asked."