The Island Pt. 03

Business was brisk and they had a good gathering around all their stalls.

Through the noise of negotiations about price, a chanting was suddenly heard.

From one side of the square a procession lead by a group of monks walked in and the crowd spread to give them way.

In the middle a fat bishop walked surrounded by monks swinging incense pots that emitted strong perfumed clouds.

They stopped in front of the islander's stalls and suddenly all was quiet.

A few villagers sneaked off discretely.

"You Pagans. How dare you come here with your ill-gotten goods?" The Bishop's voice boomed.

Petrus stepped forward: "We are honest trading people. Doing no harm and we are here to sell what the sea has washed up on our shores!"

"You are pagans, thieves and murderers. You should not be allowed here. Beware The Lord's revenge will soon be upon you!"

Petrus shrugged: "You live in luxury and dress in silk. All paid for by people working hard to get the daily bread. Who are you to judge anyone. As far as I have heard, your Lord was a poor carpenter. Not a fat pig wrapped in expensive clothing and living a wealthy and protected life. Take your book, your incense and your empty threats and be gone from here. Leave peaceful people to trade!"

The Bishop's red, round face turned purple: "Not only are you pagans, insulting the true religion. Rumour has it also that you harbour more than one witch among your company. The day of reckoning is drawing near. Beware!"

All through this encounter there was a person standing next to the Bishop. Another fat, bald and silk-dressed man, who had fixed his gaze at Marina. She did not like the way he looked at her. Like he was undressing her with the eyes, and the way he smiled as he looked her up and down.

Eventually she managed to look away and crept back between two men in the crowd.

It seems like the exchange had come to a draw, so the Bishop turned and led his chanting crowd out of the square and towards the village church.

Trade was soon as brisk as before.

--

Two weeks later, the Bishop had his revenge.

One early morning a large ship, a 'Kogge' cast anchor at the island.

It was a warship with a raised platform in each end and a square sail on one mast in the middle.

A longboat made several trips to the sandy beach on the island.

The islanders had no weapons, but the landing party had twenty warriors that was put ashore first. Rough, mercenaries with steel armour plates, helmets, swords, and spears.

They immediately set to work rounding up the islanders, and it did not take long for them to have all 24 tied up and sitting in a row by the oak tree.

The last to come ashore were the Bishops and their company of priests and monks.

The soldiers started tearing the huts and tents down and piling everything into a large heap beside the tied islanders.

They also erected a beautifully decorated tent, in front of which the Bishop and his nearest followers were seated.

Petrus was the first to speak up. He had a big lump on his forehead and blood running down from several cuts. He had not been easy to tie up.

"What is you errand you leech? Let us go. We have no argument with anyone!"

"Gag them. This is not a time for discussions. We don't want these devils to infect the fresh air with their curses and false talk."

So, it was done. The soldiers went from one to the other. Stuffed rages in their mouths and wound tight ropes round their heads to prevent them from spitting out the rags.

The Bishop and his followers sat quietly waiting. A monk went from one to the other and poured wine from a golden carafe into real glass cups.

Then he spoke again: "We have come to free the earth of people like you: Witches, sorceress, infidels. The Lord will look favourably at our quest."

He lifted his hand and waved at the fat Bishop next to him. Marina recognized him as the one looking at her in the marketplace.

"This is the Chief Inquisitor. He will now do his holy duty!"

The man rose and gave Marina a long look. She shivered.

"Normally we would offer people like you the chance to redeem and save yourselves, but I have decided that in this case it is useless. Therefore, we will dispose of you, and hope that your time in purgatory will not be forever."

He pointed at the first man in the row and said to the soldiers next to him: "Start with the men. Start with him."

They pulled him on his feet and dragged him along as his ankles were tied together.

Under the oak tree they threw a rope over a branch, slipped the noose over his head, and tightened it round his neck. A couple of soldiers pulled the other end of the rope and his legs left the ground.

They tied the end of the rope around the tree.

He twitched and turned. His face turned blue and his legs moved in spasms. It took a few minutes before he hung absolutely still.

They were already pulling the next man to the tree and continued till all the men were hanging like morbid decorations on each their rope.

The Bishop smiled and took a sip of his wine.

Tears ran down Marina's eyes as she saw her father hanging dead among the rest.

The nasty Bishop rose again: "Now. There's only one end for witches like you: The fire, but we don't burn virgins. That is bad luck."

He pointed to Marina and the two other young girls: "Take those and follow me."

Soldiers lifted them and dragged them into the undergrowth. They laughed as the girls tried to kick and wriggle as much as the tight ropes and gags allowed them.

They threw Marina down on the ground. Then took the two other girls and pulled them to a large, fallen tree.

They dumped them face down across the tree and all gathered around the first girl.

Two untied her legs, one grabbed her hair and held her down, a third drew his knife and cut her clothes to shreds. Dropping the knife, he took a firm hold of her hips and hammered into her. She screamed under the gag and tried in vain to wriggle and avoid the violation.

When he was done he pulled out and sat on the ground.

The rest of them went to the other girl. She was fighting and wriggling even more than the first one. Knowing what was to come. So, after having cut her clothes they used a bullwhip on her naked buttocks and legs till she stopped reacting and seemed more or less unconscious.

Her skin bruised, swollen, and striped.

She lay limb as the soldier's stiff member drilled deep into her and he came with a loud grunt.

The Bishop had watched in silence. Now he walked over to her and turned her body over with his foot: "This one I want myself. She is full of the devil so she needs special treatment. Hand me the whip!"

The soldiers grabbed her and lifted her up. She did her best to resists, but quickly ended up like her friends: Strung out across the tree on her stomach.

She tried screaming under her gag as she heard the ripping sound of her clothes being cut and then felt the first stroke of the whip.

It made her head explode in a red haze.

Even though the Bishop did not have the strength of the soldiers, he still swung a powerful blow to her buttocks and he kept on till she had almost lost consciousness.

He grabbed her waist, pushed himself into her and rather quickly unloaded his sperm deep inside her.

It took a while for him to recover and she could hear his hissing breath as it settled to a more normal rate.

They were hauled back to the oak tree.

The other soldiers had now brought some ladders from the boats.

All the other women all were tied to the top of each ladder and laid out in a circle.

Half unconscious she was also placed on her back on the top of a ladder. She moaned under the gag as her whipped back and buttocks met the rungs of the ladder.

Her ankles and knees were fastened to the side posts and lots of rope was used to keep her tightly bound to the rungs. Her upper arms knotted to the side posts and her wrists crossed on her chest.

The gag was soaked with her tears and saliva but was still effective in only allowing small throat sounds coming out.

One of the other girls apparently had chewed and loosened the gag so much that a few faint screams came out. They fixed that by winding a leather belt around her head and the gag and buckling it tight.

As the sun was setting the soldiers lit the pile of debris from their huts and tents, and soon a huge bonfire was blazing and giving the scene a strange look.

The wind had increased and the sky darkened the last couple of hours so the fire burned quickly and strongly.

A priest and the Bishop went around and mumbled over each of the ladder bound women and sprinkled them with something from a shiny brass container.

Then the soldiers lifted the end of the first ladder up and swung it slowly in over and down on the fire. Landing the bound woman face first in the flames.

One by one the ladders were lifted and tilted into the flames.

Marina was last. She managed to feel the heat as her hair and clothes burned off before she landed in the actual fire, but it was a merciful and quick end.

The Bishops, priests and soldiers waited till there was just the embers and a few end rungs of a ladder here and there sticking out of the ashes.

Then they packed the tent, tables, chairs, and other equipment and made for their boats in the darkness.

The last thing they did was to order the soldiers to go to the small hill on the South-West side of the island and destroy the strange stone with pagan inscriptions they had found there. No one knew what it was, but the Bishop declared it being some kind of witchcraft praising the wrong teachings of the islanders.

The soldiers walked with their torches casting strange shadows around them.

They shivered as a night owl hooted.

At the mound they tried to chop at the stone it with their pikes and swords, but it resisted all their efforts. All they managed was to scratch and chip a little here and there.

Finally, the leading officer made them topple it face down, so the inscription was not visible. It also took a lot of effort and a few pike shafts broke before the stone finally toppled over slowly and came to rest on the inscription side.

Walking away, one of the soldiers looked back and in the nearest tree he could see the outline of some Ravens that sat quietly watching them. He shivered and knew it was a bad omen. They had not seen Ravens anywhere else on the island, but here there was a large flock. Not squawking as Ravens normally do. Just sitting quietly on the branches in the light of the rising moon and watching them walk away.

They pulled the anchors and set the sails. The Bishop gave them a short blessing and had an extra ration of Rum distributed. They praised each other for the good deed they had done that day.

When the 'Kogge' moved out from under the wind shelter of the island the side caught the full force of the now strong and increasing wind.

The captain barked out orders and the sailors jumped all around. Taking down sails and reducing others to avoid the sideways movement of the ship.

The further they moved out from the island, the stronger the wind and sideways movement became.

The captain tried to aim for the village on the mainland, but the ship seemed to move more sideways than forward.

About 200 metres from the island they hit an underground reef that made a long gash in the bottom of the ship. Water started to pour in and the ship began almost at once to tilt to one side. Goods and people slid across the deck and below. This making the ship tilt even more.

They managed to get the two small boats into the water. The smallest one washed against into the side of the ship almost at once and smashed in the heavy seas.

The two Bishops were the first ones in the last boat, and they tried with the oars to keep everyone off. Pushing and beating everyone that tried to come down into the boat and striking people already in the water trying to climb aboard.

The did not notice at first that their weight and their attempts to have the boat to themselves had made the boat rock and water to pour in.

It was too late when they found out and soon they were in the raging waves with the rest. Not for long though.

The last thing one of the soldiers saw as the masts of the 'Kogge' disappeared in the sea was a black Raven sitting at the absolute top of the mast. It was like it was looking straight at him as he sank deeper and deeper into the water.

A week later the most elegant silk material was seen for sale in the weekly market. When prospective customers asked where it came from, the seller replied that it had washed ashore a few days ago.

Chapter Twenty-Five - Present Day - Bryn's Room

by o_girl © 2024

In the basement of their new house, they had plenty of storage rooms for food and gear and a generator room. Sunny had her laboratory where all the finds went for pre-examination before being packed and shipped off for further tests.

When things came back they were carefully unpacked here, and skeletons went to Sunny's little graveyard. Other stuff went to a small hut with a turf roof they had had erected next to the memorial plot. They wanted to establish a small island museum eventually, but right now it was just stacked with crates and boxes.

Bryn also had her own room in the basement. A place she always kept locked, and where she claimed she was working on a hobby room. She was very secretive about it and told Sunny, she would find out 'in due time'.

One afternoon Bryn had been going in and out of the room with tools and materials. On one of those trips she had had her hands full and had not closed the door.

That coincided with Sunny, Aino and Essi leaving the laboratory for a coffee break.

On the way they all glanced quickly into the room before going upstairs.

Sitting outside on a bench with their coffee, Aino whispered: "Was that a stockade I just saw?"

Sunny smiled: "Yes. Bryn Is making a private hobby room and we were not supposed to see that."

"We'd better keep quiet about it, I suppose?" Essi replied.

They agreed and continued discussing the latest finds from the Viking grave.

After dinner that evening, Bryn took a good sip of her Chablis and cleared her throat: "I'm sorry gang, that I left the door open to my little room downstairs today, and suppose I owe you an explanation, now that I am pretty sure you all had a good peep in there." She looked from one to the other. Only Sunny did not blush.

"The thing is, I am building a BDSM room. My dream is to host courses in BDSM - and to answer the question you might be afraid to ask: "Sunny and I are quite normal. We just have a different sex-life."

Now Sunny also blushed.

"So, any questions?" Bryn said and looked round. A short silence followed.

Finally, Aino spoke: "Your private life is your private life, but excuse me for being curious?"

Bryn smiled at her: "Of course. Do ask away. We will try answering as best and honest as we can!"

"Weelllll," Aino continued. "We know you are a couple, but how does that work out for you?"

"Yes. We are definitely a couple," Bryn looked at Sunny and they smiled at each other. "We do have sex of course, but we also sometimes Roleplay and in that context I am the "Top" and Sunny is the "bottom". That means I am what is usually referred to as her "Miss" or "Mistress" and she's my "sub" or "submissive".

Sunny gave a short cough: "It basically means that I do what I am told and Bryn makes sure I am happy and content."

Essi took a deep breath and said: "It's very unspecific. I am not sure I know what you mean?"

Bryn took a deep breath: "Well. Only one way to find out. Let's go play in my little room downstairs. I am aware that you two are not a couple as such, but I have heard little feet moving between your rooms at night, so I suppose you would not mind to be intimate with each other? Correct me if I am wrong?"

Both Aino and Essi blushed and looked down at their empty plates.

Sunny and Bryn giggled: "It's a small island and difficult to keep any secrets here.

Ancient or present. Now, what do you think? There's absolutely no obligations or attachments included in my offer."

Aino and Essi gave each other a very long look. Finally, Aino spoke: "I think we would like to try it, but we need to know more?"

"I think the best thing is just to give it a try and I will explain as we go along. There are ways to stop everything at any state, but now I am getting ahead of myself. It would also be a good thing for me to practice if I am to do this on a regular basis with someone. Now. Tell me: Which of you would like to be the "Top" and which the "bottom".

A long silence fell on the company, then Essi looked up with a smile. "I think I will be the "bottom" - and Aino can be my "Top". Would that work?"

She gave Aino a long look and her smile broadened.

"Ahem. OK, I'm willing to try. What do we do now?"

"I suggest that Essi and Sunny go take a quick shower and then present themselves naked in my little room downstairs. Aino and I will go there now and do some necessary preparations. Is that ok?"

Everyone nodded. Bryn pushed her chair out and signalled to Aino to follow her

downstairs.

"This is it: My playroom. Welcome, Aino." Bryn swung an arm out after having turned on the lights. The whole room was lit up by lamps hidden between a panel going along the ceiling. It gave the place a warm and shadow less light.

In one end there was a floor-to-ceiling mirror and along the wall with the entry door, a large cabinet with a multitude of drawers and doors.

The room had a couple of different, solid steel cages, a set of pillars or posts on a low platform, a strange looking big chair made of wood with leather upholstery here and there and the stockade they had noticed on their peep inside before.

Bryn went to the cupboard and opened a few doors: "We will have to look the part just a little. I assume you don't want a full latex dress or anything that might intimidate Essi, so I will suggest this handy utility belt and a pair of these black boots for each of us. I think that will do for starters. Don't you?"

Aino nodded and as Bryn started to undress, she followed suit.

A minute later they were admiring themselves in the mirror.

I think we are ready. Just follow my lead and do ask as we go along if something is worrying you or seems strange, please!"

Aino nodded again and corrected the fit of the wide leather belt round her waist.

Bryn opened a few more doors in the cupboard and gave a short explanation of what was in there.

"I suggest we will be very careful, and not leave any marks on either of them. It is not about pain. The pain is just a tiny drop of spice to the whole thing, but essential. I will explain what I do, and let you have a go. Don't worry. I'll be watching more than closely and come to your aid as soon as I feel things are not quite comfortable and enjoyable. All right?"

Aino nodded again, just as a faint knock was heard on the door.

"Showtime. Take a deep breath. You are now the Miss in control. Don't forget that!"

Bryn giggled and opened the door.

"Hello you two. Are you ready for this?"

They stepped inside and looked round. "Yes, Miss", Sunny answered as Essi looked down on the floor.

"Come over here, please." Bryn pointed to the cupboard and opened some of the doors.

"First we have to rig you up. Stand still."

Bryn pulled a black leather collar with a red lining from the cupboard, swung it around Essi's neck and tightened the strap. Tested with a finger between the skin and the leather, then stepped back: "Beautiful. Don't you think, Aino. It really suits her."

Essi put her hand up and let a finger under the collar.

"Stand still, girl. Who told you could mess with your collar?"

Essi blushed: "No one."