Chapter 7: Sapphire and the Pasha

I endure being propositioned by a middle-aged man while I wait for Helene to join me. The man has difficulty in accepting ‘no’ for an answer. Fortunately, I’m rescued from my predicament by the arrival of a well dressed woman escorted by two burly warriors. One look at the warriors and the man quickly loses interest in me.

“Where’s Helene, Sapphire?” asks the woman.

I can only assume that this woman is my anonymous benefactor who has paid my ransom. Nobody else would know my name, nor why I am standing near Effendi Saleem’s warehouse.

“Effendi Saleem said that Helene would be joining me shortly,” I reply. “Who are you?”

“To you, I am Mistress Mercy,” replies the woman, making it clear that my release from captivity has come at a price.

“Thank you for freeing me, Mistress Mercy,” I say politely, testing whether I have actually been set free.

“Your freedom has still to be earned. You and Helene will show your gratitude by entertaining some guests for me. Complete that task successfully and then we can discuss your freedom. But be warned, I’m not a charitable person. Fail in your task and you will find yourselves in the flower market.”

I suspected that there was a catch to the whole deal. But I’m puzzled by the reference to the flower market.

“The flower market is what the locals call the slave market,” says one of the guards, helping to clear up my confusion.

The Island of Vices has a marginally better reputation than Puskin, but only because its ruler is more-or-less sane, unlike the Vizier of Puskin. Sadaqa is the main port on the island, although there are numerous fishing villages dotted around the coast. It was one of those small fishing villages that allowed One-eyed Jack to land his captives without paying the customary fees to the Pasha of Vices. Most of those villages are havens for smugglers and pirates. If Helene and I are ever going to return home, then we need to enlist the help of a smuggler willing to give us passage on the promise of money at our destination. A regular merchant ship’s captain would never accept such a flimsy deal, but a smuggler down on his luck might be tempted.

Helene arrives a few minutes later and Mistress Mercy takes the pair of us to a nearby market. There she buys some decent clothing for us from one of the market traders. She also purchases a few pieces of fresh fruit for us to eat from another stall. Although she doesn’t say, and neither of us dare ask, I suspect this generosity has only added to the debt we owe Mistress Mercy.

The two warriors accompanying Mistress Mercy are never far from Helene’s and my shoulders. I suspect any attempt by either of us to leave their company would be brought to an abrupt halt. Without money, and with only our freshly bought clothing to wear, we wouldn’t get far even if we could give our watchers the slip. Our new clothing protects our modesty but the unusually bright colours mean we will stand out in any crowd.

Having finished in the market, Mistress Mercy escorts us along a maze of ever narrowing streets. Before long we are walking single file along a quiet alley so narrow that I can touch the buildings on both sides if stretch out my arms. The hard packed ground suggests that this alley is much more heavily used than a passage this size would normally be travelled. Near the end of the alley is a well-worn door. I presume this is the back door to an establishment that must have its main entrance on the street on the other side of the building. Above the door is a circular red sign depicting a coiled length of black chain framing a yellow letter ‘H’. I can’t help but notice that the three colours of the sign match those of Helene’s and my new clothes.

We are taken inside the building and escorted into the basement, down a flight of stone steps. The basement is huge and largely open plan apart from the massive cylindrical stone pillars that support the building above. It takes my eyes a few moments to adjust to the gloom that the plentiful lanterns can’t fully dispel. We’re guided around the part of the basement floor that has been cut away to create a two metre deep pit about ten metres across.

There must be about twenty people scattered around the room, some of whom are naked and shackled to the stone pillars. However, the expressions on their faces suggest that their imprisonment isn’t involuntary. Indeed, the two male captives nearby have glistening erect cocks that I’d be more than happy to mount if I was that sort of woman.

“Welcome to Hell,” chortles Mistress Mercy. “Wait here. Cerberus will get you settled, and brief you on your duties. Complete the tasks you are given, and I will talk with you again. Pray that I don’t have occasion to talk with you before then.”

Feeling suitably intimidated, Helene and I wait patiently. Mistress Mercy and her two warriors turn to leave. As she passes one of the naked chained men she gives his huge oiled cock a tweak followed by a kick in his balls.

“Thank you, Mistress Mercy,” whimpers the wounded man as he makes a pathetic effort to protect his balls from further punishment. Fortunately for him, Mistress Mercy has already lost interest in him.

I look at Helene and begin to wonder whether we would have been better off if we had been taken to Puskin with the remainder of Captain Jack’s unfortunate captives. The area behind us contains a large cage, large enough to hold three or four prisoners. Whatever this place is, Hell seems to be an apt name for it.

“Which one of you is Sapphire?” asks a scruffy middle-aged man in a well-worn black leather jacket and trousers. The matching belt around his waist hold several sets of keys, undoubtedly to the numerous locks around this basement dungeon.

“I am,” I reply nervously.

“Hmm. I suppose you will do,” says the man. “You’re not as tall as I would have preferred, but I guess I can make adjustments. And you must be Helene.”

“Yes, sir,” replies Helene.

“Unbutton your shirt. Let me see your tits.”

Helene baulks at the order, but a stern look from the man breaks Helene’s brief moment of defiance. She unbuttons her shirt and gives the man a good look at her treasures. He clearly likes what he sees.

“Good. They’ll do nicely. You are to call me Cerberus. It’s not my name, of course, but my role here in Hell. Everyone who enters Hell must firstly satisfy me. Now, the pair of you follow me.”

The Cerberus of legend is a three-headed dog guarding the entrance to the underworld. This Cerberus has a fearsome presence about him that makes up for the missing two heads. We follow him further into this gloomy underworld. We soon reach the far wall where there is a narrow set of stairs spiralling around one of the stone pillars leading up to the floor above. On Cerberus’s command, we climb the stairs.