Chapter 6

I met Melissa and Dorothy as they exited the passage where they were hiding. There were tears in both of their eyes as they hugged each other for moral support. Dorothy was shaking her head in disbelief. “I’m sorry; I never knew she was like that. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to execute me, too,” Dorothy apologized to me.

“You have nothing to apologize for except your own actions. That’s why I’m giving the women who weren’t involved and their children an option besides execution. I don’t agree with executing the whole family for one person’s misdeeds. I’ve been assured by Melissa that you and your brother had nothing to do with the rebellion. If I could, I would pardon you. However, the King didn’t offer that option. The best alternative I can offer is a life as my slave, a choice that I assure you sounds worse than it will actually be.”

“Thank you, Milord,” she replied, curtsying daintily.

I helped her up. “That won’t be necessary except in public. I intend to treat each of you as if you were a wife. In private you should simply call me Mike,” I explained.

“Your ideas are definitely ... unusual,” she said, carefully picking her words. “My father took advantage of every opportunity to force the women of the Manor to have sex with him. Most punishments for the men included time locked in the dungeon with their wife forced to stay with my father the entire time their husband was jailed. The sentence was usually long enough that the woman was often pregnant before she and her husband were released. Probably a quarter of the children in Gradelton are half-brothers or sisters of mine,” she sighed.

Dorothy spent quite a while huddled with Melissa and her brother Henry after we freed him from his cell. Like Dorothy, he was the last one in the cell after everyone else had been retrieved by their mother. He, also, worried that it didn’t bode well for him. Like Dorothy, he didn’t believe at first that his mother was capable of doing what she stood accused of. He was willing to believe anything about his father, but it took both Melissa and Dorothy to convince him of his mother’s involvement.

While Melissa, Dorothy, and Henry talked quietly and ate lunch in one of the many rooms in the Manor House, Margaret and Gemma bookended me on the sofa-like stuffed leather seat in my study, and Abby occupied my lap while they fed me lunch with their fingers. I got to hold the baby, at least until he woke up hungry and tried to nurse from me. While my lovelies fed John and me our lunches, the mothers with daughters who had reached womanhood or sons who were twelve and older brought them before me so each one could personally accept or reject my offer.

All forty-two young women accepted their position as my slaves knowing fully what it entailed. The young men were likewise obliged had I been so inclined and were grateful to find out that I wasn’t. Instead, their servitude would consist strictly of manual labor. I would leave it to Goodwin to decide if he wanted or needed an assistant, and to make the choice himself if he did. While I would need to bring in extra food to feed all the new people, the extra hands would definitely help with the work planned for this fall and winter.

Trying to help minimize the girls’ fears, my three lovelies hugged and kissed each girl as she came forward and accepted her new situation. They promised to make me behave myself, a comment that made more than one mother chuckle, and all the girls blush.

I was surprised to find Dorothy freshly bathed and beautifully groomed when I went back for them. In fact, rather than appearing apprehensive, she looked eager. I figured out why on the way down to the dungeon. With Dorothy and Henry lagging slightly behind us, Melissa leaned in and whispered. “I know I have no right to ask this, but it would mean a lot to me if you went slowly with her today. I think she’ll respond favorably if you do.”

As she spoke, I detected the scent of a woman’s sex on her breath. “You have my word that I will be patient and gentle with her, as well as with every woman. If she wants, you are free to join us. You two are obviously very close,” I added. She looked at me warily, worried that I might know their little secret. “Don’t worry; I don’t have a problem with the two of you being so close. My wife, Gemma, and Abby are just as close. The two of you are free to enjoy each other’s company as often as you wish.”

Amanda looked nervous when the four of us entered but recovered quickly and played her part as a seductress. She looked better after being allowed to clean up, at least until Dorothy slapped her silly. “You selfish cow,” she spat vehemently, spinning, and storming out of the study.

Even Henry backhanded her. “As far as Dorothy and I are concerned, you are already dead,” he growled, following his sister.

“You are the only one of the women found to have known about and been involved in the attack and the plot to overthrow the King. I hereby sentence you to death. I intend, however, to torment your mind and body mercilessly for a very long time before your execution. There will be many days when you will wish that I had simply hanged you,” I warned before Melissa and I followed the others.

Dorothy had made her way back to my wives who were comforting her when we found her. Margaret motioned me over and I nervously added my arms to the ones supporting Dorothy. I was surprised when Dorothy turned and hugged me back fiercely, crying herself out in my arms before finally collapsing. I carried her to the bedroom and laid her down to rest, but she continued to hold on to me until finally falling asleep sometime later. Several of the women looked at me oddly when I finally came back. “She’s sleeping. It’s been a rough day for her,” I told Margaret.

I was surprised that night to find Melissa and Dorothy both timidly gracing my bed. Margaret seemed to be directing things. Mindful that my top priority was keeping Margaret happy, I let her. I noticed Dorothy and Melissa’s surprise when Abby lay back and Gemma straddled her so both women could pleasure the other. Margaret tasked herself with making sure I was “up” for my part, not that she really needed to do anything. The women knew that watching them make love to each other got me hard. When Margaret guided my saliva-slickened cock into Gemma’s eager pussy, Melissa moaned in anticipation and pushed Dorothy down, then straddled her the same way Gemma was straddling Abby. Looking over at them, I saw Dorothy’s lust-filled eyes watching me fuck Gemma while her tongue delved deeply into Melissa’s sex, her proficiency bespeaking lots of previous experience.

The visual stimulation of two new naked females in my bed and watching them make love to each other quickly had me excited. Watching them while fucking Gemma and feeling Abby’s tongue licking my balls and my cock as I thrust in and out of Gemma, I came quickly, crying out and burying my cock deep inside Gemma as I filled her with cum. Margaret sucked me clean, making sure I didn’t get soft. With everything going on, I was sure I was going to be hard semi-permanently as I thought of how many other women would soon be sharing my bed. I looked up just in time to see a big clump of my cum slide out of Gemma onto Abby’s tongue. The devilish look in Abby’s eyes told me it was going to be a long night.

Satisfied that I was cleaned up for the next woman, Margaret used my erection like a handle and guided me behind Melissa. Feeling me moving behind her, Melissa looked eagerly over her shoulder at me. The girl goo covering her mouth and cheek combined with the lust in her eyes made my cock lurch. My intention was to proceed slowly, asking if she was agreeable with this but I could see from her look that she was more than ready.

Dorothy’s eyes were huge as she watched the tip of my cock slide between Melissa’s labia. I couldn’t see her face after that, but heard her gasp when my cock sank almost effortlessly into Melissa’s welcoming sex, eliciting a throaty moan of approval from Melissa. I started slowly, gradually increasing the pace when Melissa eagerly thrust back against me. Melissa cried out twice as she orgasmed while I fucked her. As I was nearing my own climax, I felt Dorothy’s tongue tentatively licking the underside of my cock and I exploded into Melissa, driving as deep into her as humanly possible to release my seed. When I came, it triggered Melissa’s third orgasm and she finally collapsed, right on top of Dorothy.

I scrambled to get off and helped roll Melissa off Dorothy. Dorothy was fine but her eyes were captivated by my cum-coated cock. When she finally looked up at me, her eyes were almost pleading with me to take her right then. I looked to Margaret who saw the look, too, and nodded for me to go ahead.

When I moved between Dorothy’s legs, she suddenly became nervous, and I realized that she was probably still a virgin. Using the skills Margaret had taught me, and Gemma and Abby had honed, I lowered my mouth to her sex and picked up where Melissa had left off. Dorothy was surprised, but quickly gave herself over to the sensations I was creating. After her third orgasm, she was practically incoherent, and I moved up and guided my cock to her virgin sex. When she didn’t react, I quickly took her virginity, hoping to spare her that pain at least.

When she finally became coherent again, Dorothy looked up at me, stunned. “I feel so full,” she sighed. Melissa lay beside her and whispered to her. A moment later Dorothy began thrusting her hips up to meet my downward strokes. I leaned down and chewed gently on her nipples, and gently nipped at the sensitive skin of her breasts. Dorothy exploded in a climax, having yet another climax a little later as we climaxed together. Afterwards she held me on top of her, my weight pressing her into the bed.

Only when I shriveled and slipped out of her did she release me, suddenly giggling at the feeling of my cum dribbling out of her. Abby fixed that, diving between her legs to lick up my cum. When she finished, she moved up and kissed a surprised Dorothy. She was even more surprised when Abby shared some of it with her. “Thank you for making my first time so wonderful,” she said to me emotionally.

“I hope that every time will be as wonderful,” I answered.

Seeing Dorothy and Melissa laughing and joking with my wives when they entered the dining room for breakfast definitely caught the attention of the other new slaves. Seeing both of them turn giddily to me for a quick kiss as I held their chairs for them to be seated dropped no small number of jaws, jaws that began whispering almost as soon as everyone was seated. I’m certain that every woman at the table had at least a general idea of what had happened the previous night even before breakfast was finished.

As promised, I announced during Sunday services that our Bishop would be the new Archbishop of York and Lancaster effective immediately. Once I sat down, he introduced his replacement, and then stunned everyone with his next pronouncement.

“With so many new widows having no prospect of remarrying anytime soon, I feel that it is the Church’s obligation to see to their welfare in every way possible, including allowing them to become second wives to men of good moral character, provided that the first wife, the Bishop, and the Duke agree. The church allows nobles to have more than one wife, so it isn’t actually against our religion; it’s more a matter of maintaining stability in the home and the difficulty of balancing the needs of two wives.”

“In addition, clergy will be encouraged to take a spouse. The bible doesn’t exclude clergy when it says, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply.’” Then, he explained my offer to allow the personal slaves to marry but reminded everyone they would still be required to fulfill their obligation to me. Fortunately, everyone knew what obligation he meant so he didn’t have to elaborate. My public praise for his concern about his parishioners and his bold new stance was immediate and pronounced. He actually blushed. I wondered privately if he’d actually decided it was a good idea or had just put together something that sounded like a good argument. After church, he confided privately that, while trying to justify the new policy, he actually decided it was a good one and now supported it wholeheartedly.

Who’d’ve thunk?

Right after church Kent came over to me, obviously nervous about something. “I’m glad I didn’t tease you when you asked to court Margaret since the shoe seems to be on the other foot now. I’d like to ask your permission to take your mother as a second wife,” he said solemnly. His wife was by his side, beaming and blushing at the same time.

“I think it’s an excellent choice for everyone,” I answered as I shook his hand. I was surprised later to learn the new Bishop had suggested having their ceremony that evening so we were right back in church after dinner while Kent and my mother were married. The ceremony was surprisingly short, barely long enough to perform the marriage and to include the multitude of obligatory prayers. It set the precedent for all future second marriages.

I was surprised even more tonight than last night when I found senior Baroness Grace Neale, and junior Baroness Henna Neale, in my bed, especially since Grace had originally chosen execution. She explained how wonderful both Melissa and Dorothy said last night was and chuckled, telling me I may find Dorothy in my bed a lot more often than once a month. Worrying about what would eventually happen left Grace nearly unable to sleep last night and she decided she might as well find out now and hope it was nearly as good as Dorothy and Melissa said.

I spent lots of time making sure Grace was ready, kissing nearly every square inch of her body, and eating her to two climaxes. Only then did I roll on my back with her on top of me. She was stunned that I would let her control the sex but eventually steeled herself, and slowly lowered herself onto me.

“Oh, my,” she gasped once I was fully sheathed inside her. The confusion on her face let me know she had no idea what to do at this point, so I began gently thrusting up into her, holding her hips and guiding her back and forth the way my wives did in this position.

Gemma saw what was happening and quickly got behind Grace, taking over guiding her movements. Grace’s eyes bugged out and she gasped in surprise when Gemma started her hips doing a figure eight. At that point, Gemma let her hands drift up to Grace’s breasts and softly began to caress them; Grace came several moments later. The look of surprise on her face would have started me laughing under different circumstances. I wished her husband had survived his capture so I could make him suffer for the way his wives had been treated. She was surprised when I didn’t continue and cum inside her. “I think you did exceptionally well tonight, and I’d rather let you remember this fondly and look forward even more to our next time together. Besides, there are a few other women waiting for me,” I explained.

I noticed that she paired up with Gemma for more action while I attended Henna. Having intently watched Grace and me she understood what to expect and became an eager participant, not letting me stop before I filled her with cum. She held me on top of her sighing contentedly until I finally slipped out of her. She and Abby held a whispered conversation before Abby went down on her. Margaret guided me to Gemma who was above Grace in a “69.” I got the feeling they wanted to let Grace watch while Gemma and I coupled. I was concerned when Gemma kept encouraging me to go harder but I complied. They told me later they wanted Grace to see that I had to be encouraged to fuck them so hard. Feeling Grace’s tongue hesitantly tickling my balls and the underside of my cock while I fucked Gemma stunned me, but not nearly as much as it excited me, and I came deep inside Gemma.

While Grace’s tongue delved deep inside Gemma to find the cum I had just spewed there, Margaret cleaned me with her mouth, coaxed me back to life, and directed me to Abby. After Abby, I again fell asleep to the whispers, quiet giggles, and occasional gasps of passion from the women around me.

Seeing both Grace and Henna with me and happy in the morning left the rest of the women even more stunned today than they had been yesterday, especially the way Grace was hanging on me. Dorothy and Melissa also came to me for a kiss.

When I told the women at breakfast that I would let them have some fun with Amanda Rolt today there were five who wanted to help. I was surprised that Dorothy wanted to help. Later, I had Amanda restrained in my study. Surprisingly, she meekly allowed it. Only when she saw both Baronesses Fineman and both Baronesses Markham arrive did she panic. Seeing Dorothy there stunned her the most.

I stayed and watched as the women tortured her singly and as a group. They started with crops, floggers, and canes. I warned them that I didn’t want her scarred or injured. She was exceedingly beautiful, and I planned to enjoy her body, as well as letting my men enjoy it. Watching them whip, pinch, and torture her breasts gave me a hard-on. When I asked to borrow her for a brief time, Dorothy seductively offered herself, insisting that I fuck her where her mother could watch while the other four women continued torturing her. After we came together, Dorothy didn’t bother getting dressed again and had me leave my pants off, too.

The women asked me to reposition the chains holding Amanda, so I did. She ended up face up, with her torso nearly horizontal, head slightly lower than her butt, and with her legs spread wide and raised. I was surprised when they started whipping her pussy. One of them got out two dried twigs the thickness of my finger that had been split lengthwise. One end of each had been wrapped back together tightly with heavy thread. They women opened on the other end and clamped it around one of Amanda’s nipples. She screamed when they pinched the opened end shut and tied it tightly closed.

Even though it hadn’t been long since I came in Dorothy, I was getting hard again. Seeing my obvious excitement, the senior Baroness Fineman suggested that I use Amanda this time. They spent a little while getting her ready for me, which consisted of tenderizing her outer and inner labia, as well as her clit, until they were bruised purple. She howled in pain with every thrust I made and even more when I massaged her clit. All five women looked very satisfied when I came inside her. The senior Baroness Fineman even knelt and sucked me clean afterwards.

“We have all heard how you have treated the women so far and most of us are even looking forward to our turn, especially the younger girls who are still virgins,” she cooed in my ear when she finished sucking me clean.

“You don’t have to wait, just find me during the day,” I whispered back suggestively.

I watched as they used sticks the thickness of my arm on Amanda. Rather than hit her with them, they held both ends and used their own weight to press the sticks into the muscles of her back, and the front and back of her arms and legs, causing deep bruising. Then they did the same to the inside and outside of her legs. Using a thin rope, they made a tight noose close to her body around each breast. Not long after, the breasts were turning purple.

I wasn’t sure at first what was happening when the junior Baroness Fineman knelt between Amanda’s legs. She licked and finger-fucked Amanda, first with one and then with two fingers, something I’d watched the women do to each other before. Then she added a third finger, and finally a fourth. After greasing her hand and wrist with lard, she started again, finally hiding her thumb inside the cone formed by her fingers, and pressing harder as she fucked her hand into Amanda’s stretched cunt. I gasped when her entire hand finally slipped inside, and Amanda shrieked.

Watching them brutalize Amanda made me hard yet again. The senior Baroness Fineman offered herself to me and I accepted. Unlike the brutality of what was being done to Amanda, our sex was gentle. The fist and arm of junior Baroness Fineman were fucked as deeply as possible in and out of Amanda while we coupled. Amanda groaned and moved slightly, but that was all she was able to do, even though she was no longer tightly restrained. When I started thrusting harder just before coming, Amanda was given several final vicious thrusts, and the hand was pulled free as I came, pumping my cum into senior Baroness Fineman.

While we lay together and watched, the women continued whipping and bruising Amanda. They hadn’t shed even one drop of blood, but I wondered if Amanda would ever be the same. Finally, Dorothy came over and lay on the other side of me and asked, blushing hard, if I would allow them to do what I’d threatened earlier and bring one of the dogs in.

I had one of the guards outside the door bring the biggest male dog in our kennels. He grinned, obviously knowing what we were going to do. When he returned, he gave me the leash and I led the dog in. Amanda just whimpered, “No, please not that.” She didn’t even have the strength to put up any resistance as the women positioned her. Again, the senior Baroness Fineman took charge, stroking the dog’s cock until it came out of the sheath. She pulled him onto Amanda and guided his cock into her. I hate to admit it, but the sight made me hard again.

This time the senior Baroness Markham offered herself and I accepted. Watching the dog fuck Amanda excited me enough that I came faster than I thought I could. When he came, the women and I dressed and left. I suggested to the guards that they get several men to help put away the dog and get Amanda cleaned up. Later, I wondered how long they had watched and how many times they let the dog use her again before finally using her themselves and cleaning everything up.

The women told me that the Baronesses Neale had offered many of the suggestions, having suffered many of the indignities themselves, and having been forced to watch or participate in the others. Yet again, I was upset that Baron Neale got off so lightly. It was three days later before Amanda could move unassisted after her session, and then it was only to use the chamber pot, to eat, or to drink. That was the last time she was tortured. While she was used frequently by the guards and me for recreational sex, she changed after that day. All defiance or rebelliousness was gone. She was meek and compliant, simply disrobing and doing anything we told her to do and allowing us to do anything we wanted without complaint.

A month later, she actually apologized to me and asked to be allowed to apologize to Baronesses Fineman and Markham. When she did, everyone felt that her apology was genuine. After that, I was the only one to have sex with her, usually once or twice a month. The sex was slow and gentle since I really felt that she’d been punished enough and truly had a change of heart. I even got the feeling that she started looking forward to my visits, and she seemed happy when I was there with her, hugging me when we finished, reluctant for me to leave her alone again.

A couple of days after Amanda’s torture session, Daned arrived on horseback with two older men. The two men watched me like hawks as I approached and greeted Daned.

“Duke Miller, I would like to introduce my father Siawn and his brother, my Uncle Davis,” Daned said nervously. I could see what Daned meant about his relatives being none too fond of the English as both men looked at me as if I’d spit in my hand before we shook.

“I’m afraid they insisted on coming to see if what I told them about you was true before they would make a decision,” Daned explained.

“Feel free to look around and talk to anyone you care to. You are welcome to sleep in the Manor House as my guests, or I can arrange lodging for you in my old home if you prefer,” I told them. I could see Daned relax when he realized that I wasn’t upset.

“Daned tells us your archery skills are legendary and claims that he has never seen anyone as skilled with a bow,” Siawn growled.

“I’ve had people tell me so, but I am willing to let you test those skills,” I replied.

“How about right now?” he grunted. Jack scurried off to the Manor House and got my Welsh bow and a new silk bowstring.

Davis examined the bow and rendered his verdict “Poor workmanship--probably English made,” he almost spat.

“Which is why I asked Daned to see if he could find Welsh bowyers who actually knew what they were doing,” I replied casually as I strung my bow, completely ignoring their dirty looks.

Once we got to the butts, Siawn took a charred stick and made a black mark the size of a fist on a target where the heart would be, then stepped back two feet and motioned to the mark. I shook my head and pointed farther away. Fifty yards farther, he stopped and looked at me. I motioned him farther away much more emphatically and caught Daned’s smirk out of the corner of my eye. I could tell Siawn was getting upset, thinking that I was stalling, so I agreed on a tree at about five hundred yards. It was actually a bit more difficult than it looked since I had to avoid an overhanging branch. I also chuckled inwardly when Siawn backed off more than the original two feet. I motioned him closer to the tree and saw his reticence, but he complied. After a quick check of the wind through the trees I nocked my arrow, aimed, and let it fly.

Davis gasped when the arrow hit the black mark dead center. The way Siawn’s mouth dropped open I’m sure he did, too. Daned just laughed. “Now, perhaps, you will believe me and stop telling me I’ve been around the English too long,” he taunted Davis.

“Milord, I apologize for my offensive words and attitude. I appear to have greatly underestimated your skill,” Davis said, bowing deeply.

“No offense was taken, and I understand your distrust. Hopefully, you will allow me to gain your trust and earn your respect for reasons beyond my archery prowess,” I answered.

“Considering that Daned’s description of your prowess with a bow was possibly even understated, I have no reason to doubt further the other things he told us about you. We would be proud to work for you. How many bowyers are you interested in?” Siawn asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not afraid to admit my ignorance about what is required to make an exceptional bow. I know I would like to be able to arm five thousand archers with Welsh bows as quickly as possible. I foresee a further demand after that when the advantage they give us is noticed and others want to obtain the bows, most notably King Edward.”

The two men looked silently at each other for a few moments before Siawn turned to back to me. “Would you have enough food for nineteen families?” he asked.

“If not, I will buy it,” I answered.

He and Davis shared another look for several moments. “We will return home and gather our extended family. There were nineteen families that agreed to come here if we were satisfied,” Siawn explained.

“There might be a few more families willing to join us,” Davis warned. I told them to bring everyone who wanted to come and gave them £250 to buy sturdy wagons and anything they needed to make the move. The men were stunned. I also instructed them to buy any foodstuffs they found at a reasonable price or ones they enjoyed that weren’t readily available here.

The day after they left, I began the executions of the men involved in the planned rebellion. Each of my advisors had recommended a public hanging at noon in the marketplace. Every day for a week, except Sunday, ten participants were hanged. They were also publicly flogged the afternoon before they were to be hanged. In the privacy of the cells, several of the women even got a chance to pay back abusive husbands the night before they were hanged, and no small number of the men walked awkwardly on the way to the gallows.

Claire arrived with her father that week. Even after Margaret, Gemma, and Abby spoke privately with her to explain the sudden addition of so many women to my bed, she still wanted to marry me. She asked if I would take her hunting so she could show me that she was now able to manage away from the Manor House. She, her father, and I spent most of the next day hunting and she bagged a rabbit with her crossbow. I took down a small boar and Baron Ryland got a small buck. I knew even before we left to hunt that she had changed when she came out in pants instead of a dress. She blushed when she caught me looking at her legs. She also squealed and gave me a very unladylike kiss before we returned when I agreed to marry her. Baron Ryland was almost as happy as his daughter was. She rode next to me as close as she could all the way back to the Manor and was disappointed that she had to return home the next day to prepare for our wedding in two weeks.

Two days before the executions of the first group were finished the rest of the prisoners from London arrived. I asked the female slaves if any would volunteer to act as spies in the dungeon the way Jeffrey’s wife had done for them. Every one of them held her in the highest regard since she was personally responsible for their continuing existence. For her bravery, I had let her remain a freewoman even though her husband had been publicly whipped, and became a serf. Six of the women volunteered. I’d been concerned that I might not get even one.