Chapter 15

Nobody paid her any attention. Alexa hovered uncertainly in the château's front lobby but she was given no work to do. Other slaves and even the guards simply ignored her and carried on with their preparations for the evening's events. When she tried to peep inside the great hall, she was firmly shooed away. Alexa had managed to see they were assembling some kind of stage and several large, strange items of furniture or equipment were wheeled in past while she sat hunched on the bottom of the wide staircase. Although Alexa wasn't frightened, she did feel excited ... and frustrated that there was nothing for her to do. Véronique had made sure she was thoroughly cleaned - both outside AND in - and her hair had been brushed until it shone. Then even Véronique had sent her away because she was 'too busy'. "Go and play, ma pétite s?ur-ésclave!" But there was nothing to do and Alexa was BORED!

Eventually, she found her way down to the kitchens. It was a hive of frenzied activity with the máitre-chéf complaining to anyone who would listen (which appeared to be nobody) that there was too little notice, insufficient supplies, and not enough staff ... but he was walking around with a broad smile on his mustached face. He spotted her standing by the door. Alexa expected to be chased away but he beckoned her closer. 'VOUS! Aidez l'esclave Dominique maintenant - ALLEZ VÎTE!"

Before she could explain, máitre-chéf Lescoix dragged her by her arm over to an incredibly beautiful girl who was clumsily struggling to decorate a platter with a piping set. The poor girl was obviously doing the best she could but she had little co-ordination and was quietly crying in frustration. Alexa knew immediately that this slave, Dominique, must have had some kind of learning difficulty or brain damage.

Alexa recognized the signs because she herself had been placed in Special Needs Education after she was taken into care as a small child. There had been nothing wrong with her abilities but she had been so withdrawn and traumatized by years of sickening abuse, she could barely speak or even play at first with the other disabled children.

Very gently, Alexa took Dominique's trembling hands and helped her steady the nozzle. Dominique was soon laughing with joy as they created tiny waves of puréed potato together along the edge of the platter. She helped the girl with other chores around the kitchen too, while the beaming máitre-chéf watched them with increasing approval. Dominique kept on staring at Alexa and touching her. Whenever Alexa smiled back, the blonde's face lit up with innocent delight.

Marek watched their hands and feet twisting in agony for several minutes then nodded to Pierre. Both men took position behind the punishment chairs and began to pull the garrote levers down. Marek leaned forward and whispered into Chloë's ear while she gurgled and strained against the unyielding straps. "Don't get any ideas into your little head about blaming Alexa - you're being punished for interfering with a master's personal property and for being disrespectful." He slackened the lever a little to allow the slave a chance to gasp in some air but immediately re-applied the pressure around her throat. ''You two girls have been annoying me for some time with your insolent attitudes and the way you mistreat the kitchen slaves." He allowed Chloë to draw another breath then squeezed the garrote tight again. ''We can keep this going for hours, bitch. I could easily set the garrote to automatic and it will monitor your life signs to make sure you won't lose consciousness or die too quickly. Would you like that, slave-bitch? WOULD YOU?''

Chloë managed a faint gurgle and twisted her head slightly before a more powerful voltage burned inside her mouth, breasts, and cunt. Madeline also went rigid with the extreme pain. "Are you going to be good girls from now on?" Marek walked over to the control panel. "Because if you put ONE step out of line again, you'll be back in these chairs again being publicly tortured until we get bored keeping you alive!" He rotated two dials together. Chloë and Madeline screamed in sheer terror as they bucked and thrashed wildly against their unyielding restraints. "Feel that heat inside your cunts and asses? Those probes are on the LOWEST settings. Just imagine what its like when they get REALLY hot!" He turned off the console and began to remove the needle electrode from Chloë's right nipple. ''Pierre, could you get these two bitches cleaned up then bring them down to the store room?" He yanked the sobbing girls' heads up by their hair. "I'm going to give you sorry cunts a last chance to redeem yourselves and prove it's worth sparing your miserable asses. Depending how you behave, I will decide which of you lives and which of you dies. But if you fuck up, you'll BOTH be executed tonight - DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

''O-oui, M-marek s-sieur!" Both girls nodded in desperation then crawled unsteadily behind Pierre towards the showers.

"What the hell do you mean you can't find her?" Stephen fumed at the apologetic guard. "What do you think she is - a goddam BRIDE late for her WEDDING?" Matters were not helped when Imran made an unfortunate comment about it being the first Collaring he'd ever heard of where a master had been 'stood up at the brazier by his own slave'! "Dammit - where's Marek? Oh never mind - I'll find him myself!"

Master Imran winked at the shame-faced young guard. "A bad case of pre-collaring nerves," he muttered before retreating to the sanctuary of the masters' library.

"You... ? Marek took hold of Alexa's ear and hauled her out of the kitchen, '' ... have an uncanny knack for causing trouble even when you haven't done anything wrong.'' He paused to unlock her red posture collar and remove it. Alexa suddenly felt very naked and strangely isolated. He noted her reactions and how she nervously touched her bare neck with both hands. "Look - it isn't for long and then you can be a proper slave with a real collar, okay?"

Alexa didn't expect to hear kindness and she specially didn't expect to be spoken to almost as Marek's equal. It slowly dawned on her that she was now neither a novice nor a collared slave but somehow 'in between'. It would be over soon and she would again be treated as property with absolutely no rights ... unless she chose the black silken cord. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if Marek would let her leave the château and return to her old, lonely life in England if she asked him. The thought repelled her - ohh she desperately missed her young cousins, Nikki and Julie, and her dear aunt Faye too but there was no way she could even THINK of a life without her master. "Go and see Véronique down at the store room - she can help you choose something to wear for the ceremony."

"To, umm, wear? But..."

"Look, Alexa. It's a kind of tradition - no idea why. Just do it for me, okay? And please be as quick as you can - I don't think my father can stand waiting for much longer!"

Véronique was waiting for her at the door of a room filled with rack upon rack of all sorts of kinky outfits, fetish gear, and other strange accessories. "What are you going to wear for your master? There is not much times - what about a sexy leather thong? Or maybe zis sheer playsuit?"

Alexa was still a little confused. "Umm, can I just wear a dress or something simple?'' But Véronique would have none of it. Alexa stared helplessly down the rows of exotic garments in despair until she saw exactly the right outfit. Véronique frowned in dismay at Alexa's lack of imagination. "It will just haves to do. Now we MUST goes - you CAN'T be late!"

When they entered the great hall, Alexa began to feel very nervous. The room was far from silent. She walked past the sea of staring faces, ignoring the slaves' whispered comments on her chosen garment and knelt as she had been instructed earlier by master Imran. Véronique was kneeling just behind to her left. Alexa looked up at her future master. He was struggling to contain a broad grin and was evidently delighted by her attire - that had been the whole idea and it had worked!

Master Imran spoke slowly and clearly. "Alexa, do you understand why you are here?" She nodded, too afraid to speak. "You see before you two objects. You must choose only one. If you take the rope, you will be strangled immediately. If you select the collar, you must submit completely to master Stephen. He will be your absolute owner, controlling every aspect of your life and the manner of your death. You will be his personal property and you will cease to exist as an independent, free person. Alexa, do you understand?"

She tried not to shake too much. "Y-yes, m-master."

"Well then ... CHOOSE!"

Alexa's hands trembled as she reached for the rough, plain metal collar on the purple cushion. It looked crude and heavy compared to the collars worn by the other girls. But it didn't matter - she would love it as much as the finest of jewelry because it meant she would finally belong to her master. She would belong somewhere ... and to someone at last.

"Very good. Strip and prepare yourself to submit." Alexa stood and reached up to her neck then carefully opened the long zip at the front of her shiny, red catsuit. As she peeled the clingy fabric down he body, it revealed her only other adornment -a slim, gold chain that linked between her nipple rings then snaked down her belly to her pierced clit. Alexa shyly glanced at Master Stephen to see him grinning from ear to ear. When he gave her a knowing wink, she smiled and blushed with pleasure. "Now stand facing the witnesses while you are collared, slave." Alexa felt her master lift up her hair. She waited for the heavy steel band to be fastened around her neck.

Why was he taking so long? Had he changed his mind? A sudden crash startled her. She moaned in despair as the steel collar slid across the marble floor...