Chapter 5: The Slave Under The Bed

As Julia left, Coral turned to Effie and said, "What did she mean about the furniture?"

Effie laughed, pointed to the other side of the room and said, "Hadn't you seen the lamp?"

"What do you... ? Oh, good heavens!" Coral yelped as she realised what Effie was talking about. There was a standard lamp in the far corner of the room behind the couch, carefully positioned to give a good light for anyone sat there reading. What Coral hadn't noticed and what Effie had was that the lamp was kept aloft on the head of a leather encased male slave.

The two girls went over to the lamp and peered under the shade. "How does he do it? He's standing so still!" Coral said, looking at the helpless man, his gaze cut off by the leather hood that covered his head and face. The slave knew better than to react to any of the guests as the two girls stared at way the bulb holder was fixed to the top of his head with the lampshade coming down almost to his shoulders.

"Look, he's fixed to some sort of post," Coral pointed to the broad collar and chin brace that held his head erect. At the back of his neck the collar was connected to a steel rod that ran down the back of the slave's leather suit and into a fixture on the floor. Other straps built in to the suit fastened him to the post as well. He couldn't move much if he wanted to. "And that lamp's hot. He must be really sweating."

He certainly was. The sweat was running down the slave's face inside his hood. He comforted himself with the knowledge that it wasn't one of the worse assignments that he could have as part of the hotel fixtures. Plus, he knew that if he managed to do a good job for a year or two, there was a chance that he would get an easier job in one of the other sponsored staff roles. All he had to do was to keep his mind on keeping still and not thinking about the heat.

It was a similar task for the occupant of the Princess Suite's closet where another leather suited, hooded and silenced slave was acting as a support for the hanging rail. He was a bit of a shock for Effie when she opened the closet to see where she would put her clothes.

"Oh!" she squealed. "Coral look at this!"

"Fantastic!" Coral responded. "This is terrific."

A knock at the door announced the arrival of their luggage. A uniformed bell-hop appeared, struggling under the weight of the girls' cases. He piled the cases neatly beside the closet and then stood waiting silently. The girls remembered from the leaflet that it wasn't necessary to acknowledge the staff in any way. They simply ignored him until finally, deciding that they would do their own unpacking, they waved him away without a word.

"Let's get unpacked," Effie said, with a giggle. "Otherwise our friend in the closet will be feeling that he's serving no real purpose."

Over the next few minutes the girls unloaded the contents of their cases into the closet and the rail-slave was soon struggling with the weight of the garments. Of course, he was strapped against the wall of the closet so there was no question of his dropping them, but it was an effort even so and, once Coral had slid the closet door shut plunging him back into darkness, he didn't even have the chance of the girls taking pity on him.

"How many more do you think there are?" Effie asked and the two girls set off to find just how many helpless males had been pressed into use as part of the fittings of the Princess Suite.

"Why on earth do they put up with it?"

"Come on! What was it they said on the New Opportunity workshop last month? New Order has managed to provide them with a way to express their real selves. They've been trapped in a role that they shouldn't have been for thousands of years, since the demise of the great matriarchal societies of the early bronze age. Now they are able to be what they truly are."

"Here's another one! In the bedroom."

The third of the pieces of furniture was the dressing table stool. This time the straps of the man's leather suit kept him bent double, on his knees with his head pressed to the floor. A red velvet cloth was draped over him. Effie wasted no time in trying the seat out. Although she was only slightly built, the man grunted under her weight but the noise was muffled by the red rubber ball that filled his mouth.