White Slaves Ch. 1

Xena could hardly believe her luck when she saw the pond. She had been traveling for four days through the foothills, trying to reach the Camroot River. Now she had found one of its tributaries. Best of all, the stream widened into a stone basin that was sheltered by two large shade trees. The warrior princess set her pack down on a low boulder and trotted to the inviting pool of cool, clear water. She knelt down eagerly and dipped her hands into the water, unable to remember a time when it felt or tasted so good as she drank it down.

When her thirst was slaked, she filled her waterskin and looked around. A grin crept to her face as she spotted a coney running back into the reeds. Later, she stretched out on the bank of the grotto as the sweet smell of the cooking meat wafted into the air. Xena went over her travel plans for tomorrow as she started her meal.

The merchant's guild in Willow River had paid her in gold to escort an emissary back from Dunwich, a city-state on the Berlandic coast. The merchants were opening trade negotiations for the first time since Dunwich had declared war with a rival nation across the Blood Sea. Talks had been stalled when the last two diplomats had failed to reach Willow River.

Xena had doffed her weapons harness, although she kept them within arm's reach. She toyed with the buckles of her armor as she stared longingly at the pool. It had been a week since she had left the inns of the valley, and the grime from the trail felt detestable. This was a very nice place to stop and relax, but she knew that any other traveler, human or not, would reach the same conclusion. She assuaged her doubts by placing a blade by the water's edge as she undid the final clasp, then plunged into the water.

She came up gasping, her nipples painfully erect from the pool's chill embrace. She submerged again and dove to the deeper part of the basin, skimming above the glittering sand on the bottom. She swam to the shallow end and reclined on the gentle slope that jutted out over a twin pool downstream. Refreshed and fully content, she sighed lazily and stretched her lithe form out to bask in the summer sun.

Xena was right about the pond's attraction to weary, thirsty eyes. She probably wasn't aware of how her naked, sensuous body added to the appeal. The scout, a man younger than Xena by better than five years, carefully eased the branches back into place as he circled closer to the edge of the water. Apparently, the strange beauty was so intent on pool that she forgot to check his side of stream when she arrived. He had been getting ready to move on to the next outpost along the border when he caught the scent of a cooking fire, followed by the splashing of a bather. Mindful of an ambush, he had made his way back to the stream.

He had gasped aloud when he saw the flash of skin and swirl of long hair beneath the surface of the pool. He ducked back into the woods, recalling stories of wood nymphs, maidens of the forest who would cause blindness in mortal men who were so brash as to gaze upon their flawless, naked bodies. But he had seen a pack and leather boots by the fire, and recalled that all the eternally young beauties in the stories were robed in gossamer gowns and fine jewelry. Curiosity had gotten the better of him as he ventured a peek.

The girl broke the surface of the water like a graceful dolphin, her head thrown back and dark hair streaming down her spine. He gasped again, this time with subdued admiration as she rose fully out of the water. The woman's face was the beauty of the sea under a full moon. Her eyes were the same soft blue as the open sky above. Her skin was nut brown from her journeys, just as his was. He noticed with astonishment that she bore several scars over her body, and the flex of powerful muscles and the feline grace of her movements betrayed her as a warrior. But still, even though her hands were not soft, he could see that her touch was as she brushed her hair back, and her full, firm breasts and long, tapered legs would have made Princess Esmerelda herself furious with bitter envy.

The thought of the princess snapped him away from the girl's tantalizing image. He had no clue what this strange -- and very exciting -- woman was doing here. She could be the escort dispatched from Willow River, or she could be the one behind the sinister disappearances that had been plaguing Dunwich. With that grim thought, he drew his sword and strode toward the pool.

The maiden was gone.

He whirled around in a panic. She was nowhere on the opposite bank. He approached he pool, scanning the bottom as he made his way downstream. The other pond! He ran to the edge of the small waterfall and peered into the reeds lining the bank.

He felt a powerful wrench and found himself tumbling over the edge. He caught a glimpse of the girl, standing in the hollow of the falls, just before he splashed into the pond. His momentum drove him straight to the bottom, but before he could gain his balance he was hauled clear of the water, and gazed into blue eyes that were slitted with anger.

Xena cursed herself for being three different kinds of fool as she pinned the young soldier down against the rocks. She cocked her arm back, ready to deliver a killing strike. Before she could follow through, she noticed that the fight had gone out of him.

"Mistress! I am a ranger of the Dunwich militia!"

She gathered two handfuls of the youth's tunic and pushed him flat. She straddled his legs and kept his gaze locked with the menacing fire that danced in her eyes.

"The castello advised us that an escort would be arriving from Willow River."

Xena's guard relaxed, though she wasn't satisfied with the youth's intentions. The boy visibly wilted with relief and from the exertion of the brief but violent encounter. Xena noticed that the scout was several years younger than she was. And even though he was as covered with the road as she might have been, he was still very handsome. It seemed strange to her that he was still flushed and short of breath, then she realized with a start that she didn't have stitch of clothing on. She also noticed something long and firm pressing between her spread legs. She didn't have to look down to know it was his cock straining against his trousers, which was all that kept him from sliding into her. His cock throbbed hotly, as if it had a mind of its own and had figured as much.

Xena climbed off of him with a furious shove. Not out of embarrassment, since she was no stranger to men, and not out of modesty, since he must have been watching her for some time and there was nothing left to hide. It was because feeling him there -- so hard, so eager, and, as she surmised with a stolen glance at his powerful physique, so capable of giving her a sound, almost brutal, and very satisfying fuck -- had awakened a hunger in her that gripped at her insides and started a wet, tingling heat in her own loins.

"Where are the others?" Xena realized that she hadn't introduced herself or asked the troop for his name, but she was still trying to stop the butterflies in her stomach.

"I came alone."

"A single troop patrolling outside Dunwich's borders during a time of war? They told me to expect a party of ten, and report to the commander."

"I'm ... I'm not supposed to be here, mistress."

Xena looked at him with puzzlement

"I am traveling to Calimport. I was assigned to the northern unit when I received news that Princess Esmerelda and her entourage had been captured while sailing south to the Sea Princes. I 'm supposed to report to the keep at Dunwich tomorrow."

"Why Calimport? There's no detachment there anymore. It's been an open city for the past three years."

"Yeah, exactly. I was going there to charter a vessel. A mercenary vessel."

"This princess means that much to you?"

"I'm a member of the house guard. I should have been there."

"But why mercenaries? Even with the war, Dunwich could dispatch ships to the rescue."

"They want to wait for a ransom demand. But I have a feeling that they've been captured by slavers. They aren't too big on ransoms, not when they can find a more worthwhile use for captives, if you know what I mean."

Xena did, and hated knowing.

"It's not only for her. My cousin Justin was Princess Esmerelda's personal guard. He had a crush on her and would have done anything to be at her side." The ranger shut his eyes when he thought of what price may have finally been exacted on his enamored kinsman.

"It should have been me out there on the sea. Justin was in love. Esmerelda wanted him, too. But both of them knew that it could never be. Her father reminded them of that, and so did Justin's commanding officer.They found a way around it, though. Since he had distinguished himself as her tutor, he earned a rank in the house guard. Since I had accomplished so much overseas for the war effort, I could choose my own duties. I chose the northern defense protectorate, naming Justin as my replacement. Now they could spend time together away from the city -- and her father. I was along on one of their missions to the Minros Archipelago. I don't think they got a wink of sleep, even though they never left the sleeping quarters."

He smiled slyly at her and she crossed her arms, trying to hide her swollen nipples. She had drifted into a daydream at the mention of Minros. She had heard all kinds of stories of the tropical paradise with lush greenery and beaches that had sand as white as sugar. Her mercenary officers, during a drunken feast after pillaging a rich town, swapped fantasies of banquet halls with endless fountains of wine and ale, steaming platters of food, and hundreds of small, half-naked, brown-skinned girls who had only grown faint wisps of pubic hair and would do any sexual act for the price of asking.

There was a new swordsman who had joined her army back then. He had stolen a few glances at her before he had launched into his particular fantasy of the Golden Islands. His comrades roared at his dream of having two women pour fruit juice over him and giving him a tongue bath. The laughter cut short when he described one of the women. He rattled off all of Xena's obvious charms in language that was lewd and plain.

To everyone's surprise, especially Xena's, whose first reaction normally would have been to make a cut with her sword that would render his fantasy pointless (no pun intended), she returned a smile that was equally lewd and simply said, "Dream on."

Xena never admitted to anyone that she would share that dream.

She wanted to question this ranger further, but could tell his desire had shifted from her to the other half of the rabbit on the spit.

"You're welcome to share my meal," she said. He was reaching for the meat even before she finished. "But bathe first. I'm not in the mood to share it with someone who smells like a mule. Don't feel insulted. That pool's the first one I've seen in miles. The water feels great."

He started towards the privacy of the reeds.

"Stay where I can see you."

The young man glanced at her warily.

"I know what a naked boy looks like," she said, totally aloof. "And I want you where I can be sure you won't sneak up on me in the bushes again."

The ranger flushed with embarrassment, then set his jaw calmly as he stripped.

Xena allowed a smirk as he turned away, the hot fingers of her gaze lingering on his ass. Rank did have its privileges.

"What's your name, ranger?" she called out.

"Milan. And yours?"

"Xena."

Milan's eyes widened with recognition, then he flushed as he felt his heart quicken and his penis swell when he realized who had been pressed naked against him.

Xena wanted to laugh, but something touched her about how he kept his gaze even with hers, even though so many emotions were running through his body and mind. One thing for sure, this guy could keep his cool.

"Have something to eat, Milan. We have to get moving."

The ship with the bright yellow sails docked smoothly, barely making a sound as it came against the pier where the sheik stood. The sheik was a man in white robes piped with golden thread. A single, huge diamond rested in a silver pendant that adorned his turban. The passenger of the schooner was a an obese middle aged man clad in a dark caftan. His own turban was as plane as his other garb, but on his hip rode an ornately jeweled dagger.

"Greetings, Tahir Arrani , Master of the Bandar Guild of Assassins."

"Well met, Hafez Makhi, Lord of Corsairs," the aging hit man returned the elaborate bow.

"You're just in time, dear friend. Raiding has gone well this season."

Makhi's pirates roamed the waters of the Blood Sea. Pickings had been slim, with more merchants turning to Dunwich's navy and the marines of the Sea Princes' fleet for protection as the war dragged into its second year. That was until Makhi's bold plan unfolded. They stood atop his solution to their problem now. The dock was not on firm land, but perched on the edge of a giant carapace. The cunning pirate had captured one of the zaraten, a race of gigantic seagoing creatures that were the size of an island and roamed the warm waters to the south. Makhi had established a fortress on the back of the mammoth turtle and docked his pirate fleet in the hollows of its shell. Arrani was one of the few people who ever knew the whereabouts of the floating citadel. Even if anyone could find it, they would have to sail through barrages from the catapults and ballistae that ringed the stronghold and the face the five hundred buccaneers that manned them. Makhi planned to take Calimport, the city guarding the mouth of the Camroot River, then sail his raiders up the river and deep into the mainland.

"So, I hope it is good news, you bring my friend."

Arrani smiled grandly. "Yes. The guild will pay you with new weapons. The blockades are much easier to run these days. And the khans to the east have a weakness for your fair-haired wenches that lets me set my prices ridiculously high."

Tahir Arrani was the sheik's link to the slave markets of Bandar. Makhi had been raiding the coastline not only for treasure and provisions to sell to mercenaries of the Blood Sea War, but had been earning huge sums with the sale of captured youths. The harems and brothels of the shady port cities were never full enough to please their greedy proprietors.

"Come, let us dine and celebrate good business."

They went back to his palace. The marble floors and columns were a welcome replica of the guild house where the two had started. There was a banquet of fresh fruits, meats, and warm bread spread out before them. As they were seated, Makhi nodded to his eunuch guard, who ushered in the latest spoils of the raid on the coastal cities.

Seven women, with hair like spun gold and alabaster skin, stood in a line before the two. They were completely nude, as was the custom for the host to display his wives and concubines for his guests. In Makhi's case though, it was his sales pitch to his best customer. Arrani was transfixed by the voluptuous young slaves, who were drugged with the resin of a bitter herb that robbed them of their will and replaced it with animal passion. They wore the collars of apprentice slave girls, with their hair pulled back by silk barrettes so that the buyer could examine their faces closely for blemishes or signs of misuse. Makhi's personal concubines had prepared each one, oiling and milking their skins, shaving and perfuming their womanly charms for the act of love.

Arrani looked to his host for approval, who smiled and nodded his assent. He held his platter up for the slave boy. Instead of placing his dish there, he spit his unswallowed mouthful of food into the teen's hand and staggered to the girl in the middle of the display. He reached out with a greasy, trembling hand and hefted one of her large breasts. The areolas of her tits were huge and shell pink. He reached between her strong thighs with the other hand, running a ringed finger between the cleft of her plump labia. He only became aware of Makhi's voice when the eunuch guard pressed a scimitar under his chin.

"I said," Makhi intoned with renewed patience, now that he had the assassin's attention once more, "that that one is for final sale only. She is the daughter of a noble, so her hands and feet are not toughened from labor."

"I'll buy her right now!" the trembling guild master said as he reached for his pouch.

"Afraid not, old friend," Makhi said benevolently. "The padishah has made an offer already."

"I'll offer double whatever he did."

"The weapons shipment?"

Arrani balked at the thought. He had bought entire barges full of slave women for half that price. But his eyes rested on the maiden, who had slid down to the furs that were conveniently placed in the center of the audience hall. Her eyes were almond shaped, like the elves of the Freehold woodlands, her lips full and parted moistly as she wrapped her arms round his knees. He had no chance to resist.

"Done."

Makhi cackled delightedly and beckoned to three of the women for himself.

Princess Esmerelda was only faintly aware of the man's hands on her breasts as he sucked each one of her nipples. As if in betrayal to her own body, they hardened underneath the bearded mouth. She seemed to view her own rape as if she were watching it from her bedroom window in Dunwich Keep. The voice that whispered into the old man's ear, telling how good his lips felt, was that of a waterfront whore trying to please a wealthy customer. The tongue that trailed down the side of his neck, tasting his salty sweat and the heat of his desire, belonged to a woman who had been deprived of a man's pleasure for long years. She watched the fat, hairy man press his engorged penis against her smooth thigh, the heat of it was urgent and barely containing his seed. The strange woman captured his head between her hands, began to suck on his outstretched tongue like it was a ripe plum, tasting the flavor of the morsel he had just eaten.

Arrani rolled his eyes with lust as the harem girl softly kneaded his scrotum and blew a sweet puff of breath into his open mouth. She swung her long, powerful legs over him and swallowed his drooling cock. He licked at the glistening, quivering folds of her pussy, mouthing the tender insides of her thighs and slipping the tip of his tongue experimentally into the pink pucker of her ass. Esmerelda moaned and stroked his cock firmly as he snaked his tongue farther in. She crawled forward on all fours, her legs spread wide as she looked over her shoulder at him.

The master assassin stroked his cock with anticipation as he stared at the dripping pussy. He glanced up at the other girls, who were rubbing their crotches as they watched their companion work on their guest. He motioned to one, a youngster who had just crossed into womanhood, to kneel in front of him. She knelt and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking at Esmerelda and licking her lips with longing. Arrani commanded Esmerelda to play with herself, then pulled the teenager's head to his waiting shaft.

Esmerelda leaned against a pillowed couch, the fingers of both her hands plunged into her pussy and anus as she watched the girl fellate the leering man. A drop of saliva drooled out the side of his mouth as he huffed with the girl's exquisite rhythm, and the young harem wench stretched her tongue out to catch it before she returned to her oral labors.

Arrani pulled her head away and motioned for her to lay with her head between Esmerelda's knees. He put a hand around Esmerelda's waist, his belly pressed against her smooth back. The slave girl stroked his cock as she flicked her tongue across Esmerelda's clit. She gave Arrani's cock an appreciative suck before she guided it into Esmerelda's wet vagina.

Arrani let out a hooting groan as he sank his cock into her. Esmerelda looked into his eyes, ran her tongue across her teeth with unrepentant lust as she wriggled her hips and met his thrusts. The old man couldn't keep the pace long, and after a dozen thrusts he bucked twice as he sprayed his semen inside of her. As he pulled out, the slave girl licked the seed from Esmerelda's shaven pussy lips. Eager to feel the master's thrusts for herself, she wiped the spent juices from inside Esmerelda's pussy and smeared it between the cheeks of her own ass, slipping two fingers inside her rectum, then knelt prostrate before her master.