Chapter 6: Tessa. Saturday Week 3

When I chose to come to La Chatte Heureuse for six weeks as a member of the Slave caste, I truly had no idea what impact that decision would have on me. Two weeks into my stay and I’m now fully aware of what to expect while I’m here. I’ve endured several forms of bondage, had my tits and arse flogged and caned a few times, and generally made to submit to whims of five different mistresses, two of whom had me confined in a dungeon cell overnight. My experiences have been an eye-opener for me. Not simply because of the treatment I’ve endured, but my own reaction to what should be abhorrent to me. Far from being frightened and disgusted, I find that I not only tolerate what is being done to me, but that I actually enjoy it.

The yellow flower badge on my necklace certainly plays its part. The badge signifies that I’m classified as a ‘Buttercup’, one of four labels given to some slaves who have specific likes and dislikes in the way they are treated. Each mistress has her own ideas on how to treat a slave, and they tend to select slaves who have compatible preferences. I’m told that doing so improves the experience for both mistress and slave, although I’m far too new to this lifestyle to know otherwise.

Now, at the start of my third week, I’m mentally preparing myself for the largest single event of my stay. Raewyn and Nadia left on this morning’s boat, having completed their two week stay in the Ladies caste. I think they enjoyed their time here, but I can’t help feeling that I made the better choice.

The special event in the tower means moving from building E4 to one of the slave dormitories in the tower basement. Apparently there will be forty of us housed in two adjacent dormitories. I’ve already seen the slave accommodation in the tower, which is cramped and provides only the most basic of facilities. Most of the other slaves will be arriving in two batches later this afternoon. The fifteen mistresses attending the event are either already here, or will arrive later this morning. They get to stay in the luxury rooms on the upper levels of the tower.

The week long special event is a trial of a new idea. A new game is started at eight o’clock each morning and ends at eight o’clock at night, unless one side or the other wins the game in the meantime. In the unlikely event a game finishes before two o’clock in the afternoon, a shortened version of the game will be started after a short lunch break.

The object of the game is for those of us in the Slave caste to take simultaneous ‘control’ of six areas of the tower, while the mistresses do what they can to prevent us from doing so. Taking ‘control’ of an area is simply a matter of switching on a lamp. If all six lamps are lit at the same time, then we have won. It sounds simple, but I’m sure it won’t be.

As far as tactics go, locking us all in the dungeon won’t work for the mistresses. For the mistresses to win a game they must accumulate points earned from the labours of the slaves. There are twenty-four pre-defined tasks, some of which are basic duties like cleaning or tidying-up, while others are overtly sexual in nature. One of the referees will decide if a task is satisfactorily completed, and points can be awarded to the mistresses.

I estimate that for the mistresses to win they will need to have at least four groups of six slaves working on different tasks at the same time. At least eight of the predefined tasks will need to be completed in the first three hours for the mistresses to gain enough points for a quick victory. After that, time penalties eat into their score, requiring more and more tasks to be completed. Consequently the tactic of locking up all but a handful of easily controlled slaves will also fail to win the game for the mistresses. If all twenty four predefined tasks are completed without the mistresses achieving a winning score, then the game is declared a tie.

With only fifteen mistresses guarding the six target areas and overseeing forty slaves, there should be opportunities for us to escape from our guards and seize one of the areas. Physical assaults on members of the opposing side will result in penalty points being awarded at the discretion of one of the referees. The main problem for the slaves, of course, is coordinating our actions. Seizing one area while the others remain controlled by the mistresses will achieve nothing.

The mistresses can regain control of a seized area by simply switching off the lamp. If the slaves leave guards, then enough mistresses need to be gathered to order the slave-guards to surrender. The game requires a slave to obey a mistress’s orders unless she deliberately intends to disobey. If a slave disobeys a mistress’s order then she can be shackled, and taken to the dungeon. To avoid physical confrontations, a referee will determine whether there are sufficient mistresses present to impose a surrender. The referee will also verify that the slaves concerned have, in fact, disobeyed a legitimate order, and are not merely being rounded up on the whim of a mistress. Some orders will be considered invalid, such as ‘don’t escape’ or ‘don’t touch any of the lamps’. It will be interesting to see how mistresses can work around those limitations, and the referees interpretation of such rules.

Once imprisoned in the dungeon, a slave can choose to be confined to a cell, or subjected to punishment delivered by one of the mistresses. Only after a punishment is delivered can the slave return to the game. The punishment is either by a spanking with a slipper, or the slave buying full or partial remission of the punishment by donating points in favour of the mistresses. The dungeon is the only place where any form of punishment instrument can be used. One of the referees will observe the delivery of any punishment to ensure ‘fair play’, and record any points donated by a slave.

Other limitations will affect the game. For example, only twelve sets of shackles will be available, so less than a third of the Slave caste can be kept in shackles at any one time. While rope is also available, I know from experience that few mistresses know how to bind a slave in a way that she is both restrained, and able to perform any task that’s she’s set.

It’s late afternoon by the time everyone has arrived on the island, and allocated beds. I feel more enclosed in the tower dormitory than I did in building E4, as I now have other slaves sleeping both sides of me. Some of the slaves read the laminated notices on the wall by the door that detail meal arrangements and other housekeeping matters. I took the time to read them earlier, and I’ve already checked on the location of the kitchen, toilets and showers. Unlike in building E4, we aren’t going to be shackled to our bed at night, and we have free access to the bathroom and kitchen. However, the door giving access to the rest of the tower will be locked until the mistresses unlock the door at the start of the game in the morning. That means we will be under the control of the mistresses from the outset of each game.

“Right! Listen up, slaves,” booms one of the slaves in a tone that suggests she’s had some military training. “I’m Jessica. We need to organise ourselves and consider some tactics.”

Some of the slaves just look at Jessica as though she’s grown two heads. I begin to wonder why some of those here wanted to come to this event. However a handful of other slaves respond to Jessica’s words with a general murmur of agreement.

“Does anyone know the location of the target areas we need to capture?” continues Jessica.

“They’re shown on the map on the notice board in the corridor,” replies someone.

“That’s a doodle, not a map,” scoffs Jessica. “It’s not even clear about which level some of the areas are located.”

“I’ve seen two of the areas when I was in a work party last week,” I offer.

“And...?” prompts Jessica.

“Area One is near the statue at the base of the northern stairs, on the same level as the main entrance,” I continue. “The other one I’ve seen is Area Three, which is in the room fitted out like a Roman market, on the level above this one.”

Jessica compares my description to the ‘map’ she has retrieved from the notice board.

“This map shows the main entrance to be on level one,” says Jessica. “This level is labelled ‘B2’ ... Basement Two, I suppose. So that makes Area Three on Basement One. Anyone else have information about this tower. Has anyone attended a previous special event in here?”

Several slaves admit to attending previous events in the tower, but their knowledge is limited to the two basement levels. This level is for slave accommodation and the dungeon, while level Basement One houses three large rooms inside which most previous special events have been played out. It appears that this is the first time levels one and above have been used for more than administration and mistress accommodation during an event.