Chapter 9

Sparkle's arrival was good and bad. Bad, because it interrupted Max's story. Good, in that it gave me some time to try to better understand what was happening. Something was wrong. There was no doubt a fortune was involved. The fact that so little effort was being expended to find Sally and Sheila was not only suspicious, but downright immoral. Unless, Max and Maria were playing some elaborate and expensive game.

We followed Sparkle until we got to another large group. A man and two women rose. Both were very attractive, but that was quite common in this environment. Sparkle introduced Viscount Albert De Moray, his wife Claudette and their daughter Daphne. The Viscount bowed and extended his hand, the women went to their knees. Mr. Smith, we are most pleased to finally meet you. Our summer home is near yours, in fact we might say we are neighbors. We, however, do not own an entire mountain and so much land that one may think yours is another country. I envy you. My family has lived in our chateau for 250 years. We knew the Baron, but rarely saw him recently. We tried several times to visit, but were told, in no uncertain terns, that, perhaps that was not a good idea. Since I speak Russian, I also understood any overt attempts to proceed would be met with extreme prejudice.

When I heard about the club, I think we were your first members. As I mentioned, the Baron and I not only knew each other, but we shared many of the same interests. Daphne, like Max to him, was more family than a slave. We both did what we did to protect them from others. In my case, even a father's rights are not as great or as inviolate as that of a Master to his slave. No one would ignore such a bond, if they did, it would bring down the wrath and fury of every Master and Mistress within 500 km.

Enough though, please accept our invitation, as friend, to visit. We will not keep you this evening. My father was with the Baron during the last days. He also knew Max's family, for that, I leave you to draw your own conclusions. Suffice it to say, any help you should need is yours to command. He clicked his heels, raised an arm up in salute and smiled. Max looked at me, smiled and knelt down too. She took his hand and kissed it. "Thank you Uncle" she said. Maria followed, then Sparkle, and I knew that such a public display had been quite rare.

When we moved on, Maria spoke. "Now you will be accepted as not only a Master, but you will find there are those here with wealth and power who will do everything they can to aide and protect us. I, assume by the look on your face that you have questions? Max has shared only a small portion of the story with you. More, not all will follow. But first we have many people to meet. Some new, some old friends and some whom all of us will treat as the enemy."

Just a note: There is minimal content about what may take place in a BDSM environment. SOL has many authors that will provide you content and a set of dialogues. In general, most BDSM arrangements are by consent, the levels range from mild to fetish. Those that involve children or are not by adult consent are vile and should never be considered. The few portions of this story that deal with clubs follow a show type model and was part of the description of the club in Spain.

Hint: The clubs are one of the few public, semi-public places that the rich and powerful may visit. Private social clubs, Casinos and Resorts are others. The setting of Middle Europe is used, France, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey and the Russias are the locations which most of the story will focus on, although Odessa is real and worldwide. Much of the things mentioned have appeared in public and military records. The story is fiction.