Untying the Camel

* * * * *

With a dogged effort, Kanikay tried to conceal her agitation--and, in her desperation, she prayed for assistance. 'Please, mighty Allah, take this sinful weakness from me. Or at least, conceal it from the enemy whose power I'm in.'

But the Eternal Creator must have turned a deaf ear to her pleas. For as Nurbek swaggered slowly around the naked maiden, like some cattle-hawker in the bazaar, he clearly grasped the nature of her discomfort, and did everything he could to aggravate it.

Showing a bald-faced insolence he'd never have dreamed of a month earlier, the emir slid his hand along her hip and cupped one generous, elastic buttock--fingers curving frighteningly close to her private parts. She tried to flinch away, but the man's goons gripped her biceps like iron. Then Nurbek gave her flesh a hard, presumptuous squeeze, and his voice pealed mockingly in her ear. "I believe this heifer will give us some fine entertainment! Just look at the tender meat on those haunches!"

The mob ate it up, greeting his provocations with a buzz of wicked, salacious chatter. Strutting around to her front side, Nurbek cocked a conspiratorial eye at the men for a moment--feigning roguish camaraderie, egging them on, drawing them further in to his squalid designs--before turning back to Kanikay. "And, how about these teats of hers, eh?!" He lifted up one luscious, pendulous teardrop, then let it fall with a bounce. "Once Ermek starts breeding her, those udders will raise up strapping boys!"

Leaning closer, the villain caught her nipple, rolling it firmly between thumb and index finger. He leered at how the electric jolt of it made her breath catch and her eyes blink glassily--and when he spoke, his greasy tones were pitched low, only for her: "A word of advice for you though, tramp, before my son has his way with you. Bastard boys have their uses; but make sure you don't give Ermek too many girls. It won't go well for you if you do."

After a weighty pause, Nurbek released her. Then, taking a step back, he gazed pointedly at her crotch and addressed the crowd again. "Oh ho--and look at the wench's pussy! Do you see what I see?" He glanced around theatrically. "One would think the dead khan's bitch is in heat! This slut is actually enjoying herself!"

The tribesmen answered with a thunderous chorus of raunchy laughter, and for the first time, Kanikay's head ducked perceptibly with the weight of her dishonor. She wished she could refute the emir's cruel words, but there was too much truth in them for that. She may not have been enjoying this experience, exactly. Yet, she didn't need to peer down to know that the vulgar impulses of her soul were written plainly in the space between her legs. Her blood was pumping hot through the delicate folds of her clean-shaved pussy--swelling up her labia and urging them apart; engorging her clitoris so that it poked out unabashedly... Faced with the picture of it in her mind, Kanikay wished she could shrivel up and die.

To punctuate the point, Nurbek reached out and probed his index finger into her slit. She tried to wriggle away, but the goons made it impossible to escape him. And the ecstatic thrill that ripped through her body when he touched her made it hard to even want to.

The emir raised the digit high to show how it glistened in the sun, and barked a triumphant laugh. "Ha, she can't deny it! The whore's cunt is drenched!" The cascade of verbal abuse raining down on Kanikay reached new heights, and her chin drooped to her chest in disgrace.

* * * * *

"But, my friends, enough of these pleasantries," Nurbek called out with showman's flair. "It's time we put these harlots to the test. Let us proceed with the entertainment!"

As if on cue, Gulsana lowered herself meekly to hands and knees upon the packed dirt floor of the arena. Cautiously, the guards released Kanikay's arms, and gestured that she should do the same. But she wasn't about to do anything that might further the despot's schemes. Instead, drawing in a shuddering breath and reminding herself that she was royalty, the princess rallied her pride as best she could and stood unmoving.

"Again you defy me?" Nurbek chided. "This is not a game women play standing up." He waited a moment longer; and then, impatient, sent her reeling with a vicious shove in the small of the back. Kanikay managed to break her fall amidst a choking cloud of dust--thus saving her tender breasts and taut abdomen from a nasty scrape along the ground. However, this still left her right where the usurper wanted her: wallowing on all fours at his feet, sand gritting between her teeth, utterly at his mercy.

With wary eyes, Kanikay peered up through her tangled locks. A handful of Nurbek's henchmen were now beating a path through the spectators, dragging a camel obstinately along behind them by means of a pair of lead-ropes. The beast was frowsy and ornery looking, and didn't seem much happier to be there than the princess herself.

Hefting heavy wooden mallets, the retainers drove a couple stakes into the earth, just a little way off from where the naked women waited uneasily. Then, hammering complete, they began securing the camel's twin ropes to the two pickets. Again and again, the men looped the cords--using big, ostentatious motions to create cumbersome, impractical knots, directly at ground-level. They made a show of equity about it; but Kanikay soon realized that the snarl near her was shaping up to be much more intricate than Gulsana's. Clearly Nurbek had briefed his men to tilt the match against her.

Kanikay was damned if she'd let him get away with it, though. "What deceit is Nurbek playing at?" she rasped out above the hum of the crowd, craning her neck to catch the eyes of the warriors who towered over her. "He's stacked the game in favor of that tolengut drudge! He must think you're idiots!"

Her words sent a murmur of discontent rippling through the throng. These nomads may have chosen Nurbek as their leader, for now. But theirs was a wayward culture, where men were governed by their own code of honor and personal inclinations, not lickspittle obedience. They owed this upstart emir nothing. So, even if they were happy to see Kanikay maneuvered into this sordid entertainment, even if they were willing to turn a blind eye to Nurbek's boorish treatment of her--still, they expected a fair competition. It offended their sense of sportsmanship to think the affair was rigged.

Nurbek wasn't deaf to their mood, and he reacted quickly to defuse the situation. Striding over, he gave the lackey tying Gulsana's rope a sweeping blow from the back of his hand, knocking the man senseless. "Son of a dog! A child could tie a better knot than that!" Then he pointed at another of his hapless minions. "You! Redo this binding to match the other! The contest will be fair!"

Grimly, the khan's daughter lowered her head and allowed herself a thin-lipped smile. It was a small victory. But a victory nonetheless.

* * * * *

Yes, Kanikay may have been groveling in the mire, but her spirit remained unbroken. Her breast swelled with a steely determination to win the upcoming bout. And now, with the time for it drawing near, she glanced slyly across to take the measure of her opponent.

If the princess had been hoping to stroke her self-confidence, however, she was in for a rude shock. Because what she discovered was that even from Gulsana's prostrate position, the other woman had already fixed her with a fierce, candid stare of her own.

Up to this point, the serving-maid had seemed flat and lifeless, all spark extinguished. But as the two women crouched there on the pitch, regarding each other with a calculated show of confidence, Kanikay was forced to modify her assessment. The tolengut had a stern set to her jaw, a plucky glint to her eye, that signaled defiance. Perhaps that subservient manner of hers had merely been an act. At any rate, it seemed clear that she wasn't about to roll over and accept defeat at the hands (or teeth) of her betters.

Still, Kanikay didn't doubt herself. She'd had a lifetime of experience with the sort of bindings used on livestock. Any nomad-girl would know her way around a rope, of course; but the chores given to a domestic like Gulsana surely left her less-prepared for such an unusual task. Moreover, Kanikay had watched the strings being intertwined with the perception of a hawk. She knew just what she needed to do to reverse the process. Her knot would be undone before this dimwit had figured out the first twist.

And then there was no more time for strategizing or rationalizing. With a resounding clap of the hands, Nurbek issued his command: "You know the rules. She who lifts a finger from the ground forfeits. She who unbinds the camel first earns the prize. Now: begin!!"

With gawky urgency, Kanikay crawled across the stony field toward her knot. The ear-shattering jeers and heckles of the mob surged until they seemed to exert a physical pressure on her bare back, and her face reddened at the thought of what she had become. A noblewoman who had never stooped to anyone--now reduced to the state of a beetle, scuttling around at the whim of this emir.

Reaching the picket-post and lowering her lips to its grimy hemp strands, she did her best to shut everything out. To dismiss the sounds and sights of this degraded carnival, and focus only on the tangled lump of rope before her. But that was easier said than done. The onset of the match had done nothing to sever the twisted, prurient thread of eros that ran through the proceeding. On the contrary, she felt its tendrils encircling her more tightly than ever.

Every detail of the debauched spectacle added fuel to the brushfire kindling in her loins. In order to come at the stake from the proper angle, she was forced to lower her torso, spread her knees, and tilt her rump up--and Kanikay couldn't help but acknowledge the compromising position this left her in. With her thighs open and pussy lips cracked wide, she knew it gave a fair fraction of the crowd an unimpeded sightline right down her virgin canal. To make matters worse, this posture also left her delicate areolae scraping and jostling against the grit of the field below her. The raw sensations made an exquisite torture, and her vagina responded with a fresh gush of fluid.

Looming up behind her, Nurbek had a front-row seat to her debasement; and in that booming bass of his, he made sure she knew it. "Did you ever think to witness the dead khan's darling, parading her asshole for all to see?! And those dangling udders of hers--splendid, are they not? But look how greedily her clit thrusts forth, and her entrance gapes apart! The cow's just itching to have a cock rammed up that cunt of hers, don't you agree?!" With hoots of hungry laughter, the assembly registered its accord.

* * * * *

Kanikay may have been buffeted by gales of illicit lust and stinging shame, but she refused to be diverted from her task. Instead, like a rabid dog, she snarled and gnawed and tore at the cords securing that cursed dromedary--eyes feverish, fangs bared.

She'd calculated that six loops would need to be undone to gain her victory. They were tightly wound and cleverly jumbled, though, and proved agonizingly reluctant to budge. Undaunted, the maiden persisted--drooling freely, spittle flying--and gradually, the fibers became softened and lubricated with her saliva. An eternity seemed to pass as she went on wrestling with that first coil. But finally, at length, her nimble incisors nipped and tugged it loose, and her heart leapt for joy.

With that milestone passed, her pace began to increase. The second loop came more quickly, and the third was easier still. Halfway through now, and feeling triumphant, she snatched a peek at Gulsana. The servant-lass was striving hard, but hobbled by poor dentation and an unimaginative mind. As a result, she remained stuck on the second twist, amid mounting frustration. Kanikay breathed a sigh of relief. With such a lead in hand, her success seemed assured.

Alas, Nurbek understood that his hold on the khan's daughter was slipping away, and he already had a contingency plan for it. "As I recall," he proclaimed in icy tones, "when this game was played of old, a man could earn renown by flicking his prick against the wench's bare backside. And even moreso if he got it lodged inside her! What say we give Ermek the chance to show what he is made of!"

These wicked words broke Kanikay's rhythm--causing her body to tense up, and a bead of cold sweat to trickle across her brow. How could any elder of the tribe dare to think such vile thoughts, let alone speak them aloud? Yet, they drew a ragged chorus of cheers from the horde--confirming that on balance, the scoundrels were more aroused by the indecencies Nurbek promised, than offended by them.

With heavy tread, a pair of sturdy leather boots planted themselves before the woman's downcast eyes. Glancing up uncertainly, she found herself fixed by Ermek's piercing grey stare. He was one of the stalwarts of the nation, a graceful, powerful, accomplished young man who had never known the bitter taste of defeat. She loathed to admit it, but a mere month ago she would have given anything for her father and Nurbek to unite the two of them in marriage. Now, cringing helpless amidst the ruined tatters of her honor and good name, it was all she could do to spit feebly in the dust where he stood.

The lad's lip twisted slightly at this mark of her disrespect. And though she tried to tear herself away from his gaze, tried to return to her labors, she remained trapped there, spellbound. The moment stretched out endlessly--their eyes locked, man glowering down imperiously, woman trying to project a fearlessness she did not feel. Then, without warning or ceremony, Ermek released the drawstring of his baggy linen trousers, allowing them to fall.

Kanikay caught her breath in dismay. With her refined upbringing, she'd never seen a penis before, either flaccid or erect. Well, no human penis, anyway. Her only frame of reference was the leaping, champing stallions her father used to breed the mares each spring. And it was disturbing how near the genitals dangling before her came to attaining that lofty mark. Could all the menfolk around her be concealing such great staves of wood in their pants? She would never have dreamed it!

Of course, in her innocence, she had no experience to draw on. But truthfully, Ermek's phallus was exceptional--and the sight of that stone-hard lance now prompted the crowd to a rousing salute, blending wonder and disbelief in equal measure. Time had no meaning as the thing's inky-black eye stared her down. The organ was an earthy umber color, retracted foreskin giving its majestic, ramrod-straight shaft a rumpled appearance. But what struck Kanikay most about Ermek's cock, even more than its gargantuan size, was how much life was in it--how its knobby veins pulsed with the blood of a champion; how its big, brimming ballsac swayed hypnotically; how its fleshy head twitched with wolflike anticipation...

* * * * *

Abruptly, the lad shifted from view. Kanikay's trance was broken; and--gulping down the bile on her tongue--she made a panicky effort to assess the damage.

It was obvious at once that Nurbek's gambit had paid dividends. While she'd been back on her heels, reeling at Ermek's providential endowment, Gulsana had surged ahead. The menial had already untangled the second and third loops, and was working on the fourth. Kanikay had fallen behind!

Frantically, she put her mouth to the stake once more. But almost immediately, she was thrown off her game again. This time, it was the sensation of movement behind her that did it--a disturbance of the air and brush against her calves, that signaled Ermek had crouched in the space between her legs. Poised there, to take whatever he wanted.

For a long, sick moment, Kanikay's soul quailed. With her head down and rear-end tipped high in the air like that, she knew her undefended womanhood was spread wide before the man. Simply inviting him to slake his lust in her. What should she do? Try to wriggle her hips away? Rise up and resist? Flee? By such means, she might preserve her chastity, for the moment. But what then? The game would be lost, and soon enough she'd be made into Ermek's whore anyway. Perhaps shared with Nurbek himself, for all she knew. She'd bear their illegitimate spawn, for as long as they wanted her, and then when her beauty faded, be sold on to who knows what gap-toothed buzzard of a man...

In the midst of all these frenzied thoughts, there came a dull, ponderous thwack on her coccyx. The bawdy whoops of the spectators confirmed her suspicions--the emir's son had 'counted coup,' slapping his meat heavily against the naked skin of her ass. A second time he knocked, thwack. And a third, thwack. It was as if to say: 'I aim to plunder your female treasures, but not by means of guile. No, I announce my intentions plainly. So: you've been warned--brace for attack!'

Knowing time had run out, Kanikay made her choice: she would not allow herself to be distracted again. Her entire future depended on winning this strange contest. If she tried to fend off Ermek's abuses, she would forfeit her only chance at freedom. So--with a stubborn, insistent resolve--she bent all her energy back toward the rope, biting and heaving at it madly with her teeth once more. That was the only thing within her control. As to everything else, she would just have to let it happen.

Well, what was going to happen to her next was no great secret, and it didn't take long to unfold. The woman's pelvis gave an involuntary twitch, and her vulva tingled anxiously, as, for the first time in her life, she felt a man's reproductive organ trespassing her sacred spaces. Firmly, possessively, he stroked his penis up and down her gash. Her clitoris jumped hungrily at the velvet touch of it, and a fresh rush of juices welled out and dribbled down the inside of her thighs.

Kanikay's golden face was a hot, beet red, her almond eyes tortured, her breathing hard and ragged. Still, mulishly, she went on wrangling with her knot; and at last the fourth loop came free! It was a triumph--but a short-lived one. Because at the very same moment, she felt the springy tip of Ermek's glans probe gingerly between her inner labia, and set up against her vaginal ring.

Oh Allah forgive her, this was really happening! In her worst nightmares, Kanikay could not have imagined a more embarrassing, more public, more demeaning way to lose her virginity. When had slave or captive or tolengut ever been brought so low?

Yet, even a princess cannot be assured of how life will treat her. The ways of the Almighty are mysterious--perhaps He wished to put Kanikay's soul to the test. But whatever the reason, it was His decree that just thus she would be deflowered. Gripping her haunches tight, Ermek gave a low, bestial grunt, and pressed forward to enter her. And then the woman grimaced as a quick, dull twinge of pain told the sorry tale. Her hymen was breached: maiden virtue forever lost.

* * * * *

Ringing out above the euphoric taunts of the onlookers, Nurbek's voice had the boastful tone of a proud father. "Many here, I'm sure, have taken a maid's innocence. A fine thrill indeed. But how many besides Ermek can say they've shamed a khan's daughter this way, eh? Pierced her royal maidenhead? Turned the lass into a whore? Now that is something truly special!"

Waves of mortification flowed through Kanikay's form, threatening to sap the strength from her muscles. Yet--squeezing her eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge what had just been stolen from her--she set those feelings aside, and continued tearing and slavering at the cords.