Chapter 5: Borough or Burrow?

Henry was heading to Southwark. It was the first time in a very long time that he had been to this part of London. He was on his way to the appointment that Julia and Jane had arranged for him with Raven Courten and she hadn’t changed her place of business from the one that he was already familiar with.

In his dark suit, white shirt and tie, he looked like so many other businessmen in this part of London would once have done. These days though, dark suit, white shirt and tie was more likely to be the dress of a businesswoman and he felt rather conspicuous. He was carrying a briefcase. Once it would have held important papers; these days it rarely held anything more interesting than his lunch but he carried it just the same. Today though, it was carrying something that he guessed none of the other pedestrians had; the leather rabbit face mask that he had always worn for his sessions with Mistress Raven. Jane hadn’t suggested that he bring it but somehow, to Henry, it seemed the right thing to do.

He knew where he was going but even so, he paid close attention to the streets. It wasn’t uncommon for a street to be re-designated “Women Only” or “Males Only If Accompanied” overnight and he didn’t want to attract the attention of a patrolling Male Control Force officer. They seemed to appear by magic as soon as the slightest transgression was committed! A group of five women were coming towards him. He stepped back to let them pass. They took no notice of him.

Not far from Borough Market, Henry found the familiar door. Raven’s dungeon was in the basement of a Victorian office block. The building was served by an old-fashioned metal cage lift. On previous visits, Henry had felt that sliding the metal barred doors shut to allow him to descend was a fitting precursor of what was so often experienced below. This time the clank of the closing doors reminded Henry of the sound of the padlocks closing on heavy iron fetters.

The lift stopped and he got out. Turning to the right he saw the blank door that led to Raven’s rooms. He rang the bell on the door. A buzz from the lock indicated he could enter and he found himself in the reception area that he had so often entered with a dry mouth and racing pulse in the past. Jane was sitting behind the desk, looking out from behind a computer screen, neat and business-like in appearance apart from the vivid orange streak in her dark hair. “Bunny,” she said with a smile. “How nice to see you again.” She gestured towards a glass panelled door. “If you could go through, Mistress is expecting you.”

Raven Courten’s room – a parlour, I suppose you might call it, Henry thought – was comfortably furnished; a place where she could both work and relax. She was lounging on a couch in a black silk dressing gown, a pile of papers beside her on the floor, a fine porcelain tea cup balanced on the arm of the couch. From somewhere in the room, Henry couldn’t tell where, the recorded sound of a live performance from some avant-garde jazz pianist tried to compete with the hum of the building’s air-conditioning.

As on every one of their previous encounters, Henry said nothing but instead waited for Raven to acknowledge his presence. He wasn’t sure what of the protocol. This wasn’t a professional appointment with a dominatrix but, given who he was meeting, it didn’t feel like a normal business meeting either.

“Well, Henry it is nice to see you again. I hope there wasn’t any embarrassment at work.”

“Err, no. No.”

“You seem uncomfortable.”

“It is a little strange.”

“You can kneel. If you like. If you think it would help.”

That was so typical of Raven, Henry thought. She so rarely told you what to do. Your submission was your own affair, almost independent of anything she did. “What do you think you should do, Bunny?” was one the things she was most likely to say.

“Thank you. Yes.” Henry dropped to his knees and at once felt more at ease.

“Is your mask in there?” Raven, perceptive as ever, extended one talon-like, purple-varnished, fingernail towards Henry’s briefcase.

Henry bit his lip and nodded.

“I thought it might be. You can put it on, if you want.”