Chapter 89

The enclave was reconvened in the great hall. As this was a continuation of the previous enclave, Karen was allowed straight in. Her carers had to be with her all the time though.

Annette's sister slaves, those who used to belong to Tadeusz, were openly hostile to her now. They'd had time to get to know Umber, and, while they were a little surprised at the position I'd created for Julia – which Umber now held – they were glad to have someone, not the favourite, or a body slave, to go to for advice or assistance. And at least two of them were grateful that Umber handled minor disciplinary matters.

While most of my new batch were settling in, we still had Annette to deal with. And today was the day to do that. And nobody was in the mood for humour today, not even the irrepressible Sasha.

Two of Paula's girls brought Annette into the hall. Melissa was in her proper place just behind me.

Marianne joined the trio and they walked into the centre of the circle of slaves to a table which Marianne had requested.

Marianne's briefcase, notes and pens & pencils were already laid out. This looked like it was going to be a long day.

Suddenly Annette darted forward, using a chair for lift she ran onto the table, snatching up a pen and then threw herself at me.

Three bodies intercepted her mid-flight. She was dead before she landed, her neck broken, her rib cage smashed and the lethal shards of broken rib driven into her heart, her back broken in two places.

We all gasped at the sudden and dramatic end to Annette's life. Melissa, Nina and Menolly surrounded the girl they'd just slaughtered, their faces expressionless.

This was a tableau I'd never forget.

The first person to move was Marianne. She didn't seem shocked, or even surprised.

"Baron, your order to me was to do the best for Annette that I possibly could." She looked down at Annette's body. "I'm afraid that this was the best I could do."

There was a murmur around the hall as we all digested that.

"Baron, Annette had struck Umber, and she had done it publicly. She had abused her position as body slave for personal gain; she had stolen from three of the girls in the seraglio." And now Marianne hung her head in her own personal shame. "And she struck a free woman."

There was no reaction to this statement. It wasn't news; everyone had been talking about seeing Marianne with the slap mark. The most asked question was, 'how long would Annette suffer before she was allowed to die.'

"We both knew that she would be put to death. Annette came to realise the things she'd done wrong. That at least, I could help her with. She was, quite rightly, frightened of what would be done to her. Every slave has heard stories..."

Now the circles of slaves were nodding, they were sympathetic to Marianne.

"This was the best death I could get for her, Master." Now she broke down crying, sinking to her knees in her shame at being unable to help someone who used to be a friend, who used to be her sister slave.

"Get Prof in here," I ordered. I didn't have to raise my voice, it was so quiet.

A girl ran out of the hall, returning only seconds later with Prof behind her.

"Prof, your friend needs help."

He nodded, and went to comfort his distraught love. He must have known what was going to happen and how Marianne felt about it. Prof, a tall, but slightly-built person, lifted his love with ease and carried her out of the hall.

Now there was something else that had to be done. Something I should have done as soon as these girls arrived.

I stood. "Karolina, come here."

Karolina came and stood in front of me. I smiled at her, a smile that she returned with one that seemed to light the whole room.

"Turn around, my special girl." Karolina turned and faced the circles of slaves. "This girl is my favourite. Her thoughts are my thoughts. If you cross this girl I won't ever hear about it because she will kill you herself."

The quiet audience became even more still. This, they knew was serious, deadly serious.

"Julia, Umber, come here," I ordered.

They too came and faced me, standing to one side of Karolina. They returned my smile and I started to feel as if this whole mess could actually be resolved.

"Turn around, my precious girls, let them see you." They both turned and faced their sister slaves.

"These girls are the heads of all of my slaves." All of the girls looked at Umber and Julia, some smiled, some seemed worried, a couple, frightened.

"Until now they have been limited for the punishments that they could give. No longer. They can give any punishment that I give. Their only duty is to let me know that they have dispensed such punishments."

I watched as all of the kneeling slaves digested this latest proclamation.

"Em, precious girl, come here." Em rose and came over to stand on the other side of Karolina.

"This is Em, our doctor. Everyone will obey her when it comes to medical matters, EVERYONE! Do I make myself clear?"

As one the kneeling slaves said, "Yes Master." The three in front of me turned and they too spoke as one. "Yes, our Master."

"Now, all of my original slaves will stand." The front row of slaves stood. I smiled at them, they returned my smile. All had, at one time or another, spent time on my lap being comforted for one reason or another. All had given me the comfort of their bodies at one time or another.

"Come here, dear girls," I gestured to an imaginary line in front of me, Julia, Umber, Karolina and Em. "Kneel there, girls," I ordered. They did so quickly and quietly.

"All of these girls wear a gold collar. These are my special girls. If a slave is wearing a gold collar, then she is above you. I don't care if you are a body slave or not, if she is a body slave or not. If she has a gold collar, then she is of higher status than you. If you already have a gold collar, then you already know where you are in my family."

"If you don't wear a gold collar yet, then work towards it. Prove to me that you've integrated into our family and you too will have a gold collar. And that collar will show everyone who you belong to and just what your status is. The girls who wear my gold collars are the highest status girls in the world."

I could see that they were hanging on to my every word, and not just because I was their master and they were my slaves. I'd fired an enthusiasm in them; I'd lit a fire that they never even thought existed. I fired their pride.

"By now you will have realised that my family is different from any other family. I do not have a harem, I have my family. WE look after each other. Because we do that, we are stronger than any other owner and his or her harem. WE help each other, WE protect each other, and WE take care of each other. And WE have the strongest family in the world."

I paused, watching them. They seemed to be enthralled.

"If any of you has a passion or skill which she believes she is good at, then let us," I gestured to Umber and Karolina, "know. Who knows, you might become the next Karen and take the fashion world by storm. WE help each other develop our skills."

Now I'd said enough.

"Go back to your beds now. Today is a no-work day for everyone." I paused, they'd obviously never been given a day off before. "Go," I waved towards the doors. The girls stood and slowly left, most taking time to look back at me three or four times. My older girls stood tall and walked to the doors without hesitation.

I looked down at Annette's body lying in the middle of the hall. With a sigh, I got up and went to her. I brushed her hair away from her face. She looked ... peaceful, now. Perhaps this was for the best. I knew that I'd have had no choice but to give her to Cher after her behaviour. To do anything else would have torn us all apart. But, perhaps, there was something I could have done. Perhaps there'd been some way I could have helped her. I was close to tears over the futility of Annette's death.

"My Master, this is a medical matter now," said Em, compassionately. Em and all of my body slaves, new and old, stood behind me. "Melissa, Menolly, your Master and Mistress need to go to our Master's office now. Marianne is waiting. Our Master will not rest until he has tried to solve all of her problems too."

A little clumsily, I stood. Sasha took my hand and we were guided out of the hall, and led to my office.

During the walk, I berated myself for my weakness. I should have been able to...

"DON'T! Man of mine. If you hadn't reacted and felt the way you did, you wouldn't be the man I love. Now you have Marianne to help. You can help her, I'm certain of it."

I stood for a moment to gather my thoughts and compose myself. Soon enough I looked at my Love, she stood beside me facing forward. She was ignoring what I felt was my 'weakness'.

I held out my hand, "My Lady?"

Sasha looked at me and smiled. She placed her hand in mine and, together, we walked the final few yards to my office.

Prof and Marianne waited for us inside.

As soon as she saw me, Marianne fell to her knees. She held her hands forward and a leather collar lay across her palms.

"Please..." She started, but I placed my finger on her lips.

"Don't you want a life with Prof? I know he's English and an awful dresser, but his heart is good. He's a good man."

Marianne looked at Prof and I could see the longing in her eyes.

"But Master, you only freed me so I would speak for Annette."

"No, I freed you so that you could. There was no time limit on my freeing you, and you could have refused to speak for..."

"MASTER!" Marianne exclaimed in horror, "But if I hadn't done my best..." She broke down in tears.

I nodded to Prof and the chair beside him. Prof helped me get Marianne into the chair and he held her while she sobbed.

"She was going to be tortured; there was nothing else that you could do." Marianne gasped.

"No, there wasn't," I admitted to Marianne, and, more importantly, to myself.

"We came to the realisation that she was going to die. She admitted it at last." Marianne stared ahead, lost in her memories.

"She had lost control, she'd been made a body slave. She never even knew anyone who'd been made a body slave. She didn't know how to behave. She lost control." Marianne was racked with sobs again.

"Then we went through it step by step. One bit at a time. Everything that she'd done. She looked at me and said 'I'm going to be put to death, aren't I?' I told her that I couldn't see any way that she could live."

Marianne buried her face into Prof's chest. He held her for a long time. Sasha placed her arm on my shoulder, supporting me too.

"We talked about how she ... how she would be ... how she'd die."

"She told me, 'I can't take pain, ' and she didn't want to disgrace her sister slaves any more than she already had." Marianne paused. Sasha gave her a drink, it smelled like coffee.

"I'd seen your bodyguards and I knew they were good." She laughed, "Ha, I've never seen any better. But I lied to her. She trusted me and I lied to her." Marianne looked up at Prof, "I told her that she could walk free if she killed him. All she had to do was kill the Baron and she'd be free."

She took a sip of her drink.

"I planned it all. The table I demanded, the chair, the pens and pencils. How she would be released from her restraints outside and walk into the hall unencumbered. How she would run and use the chair and table to make a jump to ... to..."

I put my hand on her arm; she looked at me, eyes clouded with tears.

"She didn't stand a chance. I knew that. I told her she'd be free, but she didn't stand a chance at all." She looked at me, then Prof, "I killed her. How could you want me now? After I killed her?"

"Why did you tell Annette to try and kill the Baron?" Prof asked, his voice gentle, love evident in his tone and demeanour.

"So she'd be killed quickly and not suffer. I didn't want her to suffer," Marianne said quietly.

"And what had the Baron asked you to do?" Prof asked.

Marianne looked at him confused. "Master told me to help her, to do the best I could for her."

"Don't you think that you did that? Do you think that the Baron is angry at you for not letting him put Annette to torture?" He kissed her cheek, "Don't you think that the Baron is trying to find some way to convince you that you have done what he asked?"

Prof stroked her face lovingly, "I think that the Baron is trying to help you because you helped him so much this afternoon."

Marianne looked at him in confusion, "But he's my Master, I'd do anything he asked."

"No, my dearest, he gave you your freedom. Paul is an honourable man. He said you were free, you are free. Whether you spoke for Annette or not, you are free," Prof told her.

"But ... but I..."

"You did just what the Baron wanted, what my friend Paul wanted. You showed Annette the best way to finish this situation. You showed her how to die without pain. You helped both Annette and the Baron finish this tragedy."

Marianne nodded to him. "I'm ready now," she said.

Picking up the collar she had dropped earlier, she knelt in front of me. "My Master, please collar your slave."

Before I could say a word, before I could do a thing; a set of bolt cutters were thrust forward and they cut Marianne's collar in two.

Not daring to look left or right, I leant forward, "Marianne, you are free, now and forever. Take this man away and let him teach you how to live as a free woman. Come back to me in a month or two, I have a job for you. I want you to be an advocate for my slaves."

Prof nudged his astonished lover, "Say 'Yes Baron'," he whispered.

"Yes Baron," said Marianne.

I smiled at the two of them, "Prof, Marianne, go now. Prof, I'll see you sometime tomorrow."

Prof stood, Marianne stood beside him taking strength from his presence. "See you tomorrow, Boss."

They left hand-in-hand.

I looked round. Chiefy stood with the bolt cutters resting on her shoulders, Sasha with a satisfied smile.

"Let's go to bed," I said.

"Whoopie!" yelled Sasha, "Chiefy, dump those ... things," Sasha waved vaguely towards the bolt cutters, "and let's get naked."

There was a loud thump as the cutters hit the floor, just a little before my jaw. Chiefy beat Sasha in stripping, and she was all woman."

I woke early again. I used to wake this early almost every day, but not recently. The problem with Annette had taken a lot out of me, but what else could I have done?

True, some other owners would have just used her for entertainment, like the Count. He'd have made a spectacle of her death. But I wasn't like that. I'd been trying to show the Count by my example that he'd have a much better life if he looked after his slaves, treated them with respect and dignity. Perhaps then he wouldn't need armed guards when he slept with them.