Chapter 14: The “Sisters”

Silvitya was startled awake by the sound of the door’s bolt sliding, just a few hours after she managed to fall asleep. The door opened and three naked young women presented themselves. Silvitya had not seen them before, but like the women from the previous evening, their hair was not braided. The newcomer stood up, but didn’t know what else to do. The women did not react or reprimand her. Each had endured a first night in the castle and had experienced what Silvitya was experiencing.

The leader of the group introduced herself as Magdala. She invited Silvitya to accompany her to morning tea, during which she would explain the newcomer’s duties and what she could expect from her new life in the Grand Duke’s castle. She handed Silvitya a set of velvet slippers, which she would have to wear whenever walking through the hallways of the castle. With that, the four naked young women silently walked to the end of the hallway and entered a small dining room. As she followed the others, she noticed that one of the women had lines of fading welts from switch-marks crossing her bottom, thighs, and shoulders. Silvitya guessed the girl must have been severely punished about a week before. She also noticed the punished concubine had a completely miserable expression on her face and never spoke. She communicated with nods and hand gestures, leading Silvitya to wonder if she was mute.

The room had large curtained windows and fancy furniture that Danka later learned had been imported from a foreign country called France. An elderly castle servant had just finished setting up a small table with cups of tea and strange-looking bread-rolls called croissants. As soon as the women were seated, Magdala explained what was going on.

“In case you haven’t guessed, we’re Royal concubines. In this castle His Majesty keeps 10 women for his pleasure. Sometimes it’s one more or one less than that, but most of the time there are 10 sisters here. That’s how we usually address each other: ‘Sister’. You can call me ‘Sister Magdala’, or just ‘Sister’, that choice is yours. My understanding is that your name is Sister Silvitya?”

“Yes, Sister Magdala.”

“Very well, Sister Silvitya. As I said, our Paths in Life are to serve the Grand Duke. It is really the duty of every citizen of the Duchy to serve the Grand Duke, but the Creator has called upon us to serve His Majesty in a special way. We are not soldiers, or advisors, or scribes, or Clergy, but we are just as important for His Majesty as anyone else in this castle.”

Silvitya interjected: “The way the senior women treated me yesterday, that didn’t make me feel very special.”

“They treated all of us in a similar manner when we came here. There’s a reason why they’re so strict with any Sister called upon to be a Royal concubine. Remember, our Path in Life is to serve. That doesn’t just mean presenting our bodies for His Majesty’s satisfaction when asked. It means conducting ourselves with dignity and humility at all times, to make ourselves pleasing in the eyes of the entire Royal House.”

“Then, I have another question. If it’s about dignity and humility, what about our hair? Why can’t we braid our hair?”

“Those are the wishes of the Grand Duke. He has the power to demand to see what is forbidden for most men. He loves to pass his hands through our hair, to bury his fingers in what is prohibited for anyone else. He does it because he can.”

The group finished their tea and croissants. As soon as Magdala stood up, the others immediately joined her. “Come along. Let us relieve ourselves and then we will bathe.”

The toilet-room was the nicest privy Danka had ever seen. There were marble seats built to conceal the chamber-pots and an attendant was responsible for collecting and emptying them. It was the first time Silvitya did not take care of disposing of her own waste. She followed the others into a large communal tub filled with cool water. As she entered, again she noticed the faded bruises on the mute woman’s backside. Magdala noticed where the newcomer was looking. She exchanged glances with the punished concubine, who gave a sad nod granting her permission to explain:

“His Majesty always has a preferred girl, the one he likes better than any of the others. He makes that choice; we have no say in the matter. Right now I am the Royal favorite. As the favorite, I am the spokeswoman for the concubines and have privileges that no other sister can enjoy at the moment. For example, I can walk unescorted in the Royal garden. If I lose my status as His Majesty’s favorite, I will lose the extra privileges, such as access to the outdoor grounds. That’s what happened to Sister Desislava. She used to be the Grand Duke’s favorite, but on a whim His Majesty took that status away and gave it to me. Sister Desislava had been watching a rose bush that His Majesty planted last year, because it has blooms that are yellow and red on the same flower, and she wanted to see them. After she lost the right to go into the garden, she thought she’d sneak out one last time. She figured the gardeners wouldn’t realize she wasn’t supposed to be there. Even if they did, they wouldn’t have said anything. Sadly, one of the castle matrons was out there and saw her. Even more sadly, Sister Desislava lied about her status, so she received a criminal’s switching and had to spend an afternoon on the pillory. We were forced to watch.”

Sister Magdala exchanged another glance with Desislava and continued: “Sister Desislava’s story has some important lessons for you. First, you might think that something as trivial as checking on a rose bush is a ridiculous thing to risk punishment over. For us, it isn’t. You will discover that your perspective on things changes after you’ve spent weeks and months in confinement. Another thing to remember is that most of the castle commoners wouldn’t do anything against us, but that’s not true for the castle matrons. Their youth and beauty has passed, and every time the see us they are jealous. So, it is best to avoid them.”

There was a pause while the four women rubbed soap on each other’s backs. Sister Magdala handed Silvitya a bar of soap. The newcomer hesitated because, apart from practicing medicine, she had never touched another woman. Sharp glances from her companions warned her to comply. Communal bathing was an important part of the concubines’ daily routine and a way they established trust and intimacy with each other. After Silvitya had soaped the backs of the others, Magdala continued:

“You must remember, even though we are favored by His Majesty, our punishments are severe for any transgression. Sister Desislava did nothing more than tell a simple lie in a moment of panic, but she will suffer for it as long as she remains in the castle. His Majesty dictated that, because she proved herself untrustworthy, she is prohibited from ever speaking again. She had to take an oath to never use her voice while in his service. If anyone hears any sound from her throat, she will be tied to the execution stake and receive five arrows to the chest. Let that be a lesson for you. Do you understand me, Sister Silvitya?”

“Yes, Sister.”

“Another thing to remember is we try to take care of each other. We are a household, the ten of us. We call each other ‘Sister’ for a reason. You will never speak poorly of another Sister to His Majesty or to any of the matrons. Never think you have anything to gain by betraying one of us, because the Grand Duke understands that if you can betray one of us, you can just as easily betray him. The matrons will test your loyalty. And when one of us falls, the rest of us gather around her. An example is Sister Desislava. Because she is prohibited from using her voice, I have decided that at no time, and for no reason, is she ever to be left alone. One of us will always accompany her and speak on her behalf.”

After finishing their bath, Magdala, Desislava, and Silvitya put on their velvet slippers and stood on a balcony that overlooked the interior of the castle. For a few minutes they watched the daily routine of the Royal staff working in the courtyard below. They were interrupted by one of the concubines Silvitya had seen the previous night:

“Sister Magdala! The service bell just rang five times!”

“Thank you, Sister. Stay here with Sister Desislava. I’ll fetch the others. Sister Silvitya, you’re coming with me. Better for you to learn your duties sooner than later.”

The two concubines went back inside and entered a parlor, where six naked young women wearing velvet slippers were waiting. From the group, Magdala selected three companions and dismissed the rest. As the five women shuffled towards the Royal chamber, the favored girl explained that the Grand Duke had rung the bell five times because he wanted five concubines. The group ran up to a castle matron dressed in a white gown and carrying a leather switch. With a smug expression she used the switch to point towards the throne room.

The throne room had remained unchanged since 1531, the year King Vladik the Defender was killed, which meant that every item in there was at least 220 years old. The single exception was a large tapestry mounted behind the throne, portraying a crow sitting inside a cage with a white dove sitting on top. The gaudy colors of the new tapestry looked out of place among the drab medieval decor of the rest of the chamber. The Grand Duke was seated on the throne. The only other people present were four Royal Guards. Silvitya recognized one of the men as Protector Alexandrekt Bulashckt, the guard who had brought her to the castle the previous day.

Ignoring the guards, the five concubines immediately positioned themselves in front of their master. The current favorite knelt upright in front, while the others knelt in a row, assuming the more submissive posture with their hands extended out front, their foreheads touching the floor, and their knees spread with their backs arched to expose themselves as much as possible. The Grand Duke gave his guards time to look over the young women before dismissing them. Because she was the new girl, she knew the guards were most interested in seeing her. As she felt the cool air blowing against her exposed vulva and sphincter, she could feel four sets of eyes carefully studying her crotch. She remembered that she still had seven welts crossing her backside, a detail that added to her embarrassment.

After the guards left, the Grand Duke called Magdala to his throne while the other women waited. She knelt next to him and placed her hands on one of his thighs. She smiled and looked up at him while he absent-mindedly ran his fingers through her hair.

“Your Majesty. Your humble serving girl wishes to know if the day has been pleasant for you so far.”

“Yes, my favorite minx. Very much so. I see that you’ve brought the new girl. You’ve instructed her, I trust?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Like all of your humble serving girls, our newest sister is looking forward to making Your Majesty’s life pleasant and fulfilling your wishes.”

“Then you will go to my chamber and wait for me there. To be honest, the morning has been stressful for me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. To hear is to obey.”

Magdala kissed the Master’s hand and quickly stood up. With a faint whistle she ordered her companions to stand up and follow her to the Grand Duke’s bedroom. She knew him well enough to know what he wanted. She pulled down the covers and ordered Silvitya and another girl to get on their elbows and knees, with their feet hanging over the edge of the mattress. She ordered the other two women to kneel on the floor, facing the bed. She kicked off her slippers and assumed her place on the bed, kneeling between her two companions. As they waited, with their bottoms in the air and their vulvas exposed, Magdala gave Silvitya’s hand a quick squeeze to try to comfort her.

The Grand Duke entered the room and stood facing the three women on the bed. The women on the floor stood up to undress their sovereign. They removed his clothes item by item and massaged his chest and thighs to arouse him. Not that he really needed to be aroused: by the time they took down his inner trousers, the Duke already had a huge erection. He entered Magdala first, pushing into her as roughly as he could. Magdala moaned and gasped as though she was having an orgasm, but Silvitya could tell she was faking it. As soon as he climaxed, the Duke pulled out and ordered his favorite girl to kneel on the floor. He ran his fingers over Silvitya’s welts and fondled her exposed vulva while Magdala licked and sucked him to get another erection. As soon as he was hard, he grabbed Silvitya’s thighs and pushed into her. Magdala massaged and caressed his bottom and thighs as he climaxed inside his newest acquisition. He pulled out of Silvitya, but Magdala did not stop licking him and massaging his thighs. Within a few minutes her efforts were rewarded with another erection. He climaxed into the third concubine while Silvitya watched out of the corner of her eye from her kneeling position.

As soon as he finished, the Grand Duke dismissed all of the concubines except Magdala, who would have to stay behind to help him bathe and dress to meet with his ministers.

After getting cleaned up from their latest round of sex with their Master, the concubines gathered for their main meal of the day. They had their own dining room and normally ate around 3:00 pm, which was the hour the Grand Duke was least likely to want their services. If any of the women was absent, the others waited until she showed up.

The table was set with fine imported china and a bewildering array of silverware. Silvitya looked dumbly at all the fancy objects in front of her. Unfortunately, her learning so far had not included anything about table etiquette. The meal started badly when she slouched in her seat as the others sat upright. Then she picked up her bowl of soup with both hands and drank from it. Instead of cutting her dinner roll, she tore it open and poured the remains of her soup into the hole, then bit off half. When soup dribbled down her chest, the other concubines had stopped eating and stared at the newcomer. Magdala stood up.

“Sister Silvitya, you need to leave this table. Get out of this room, now. Go to the kitchen and eat in there.”

Silvitya looked up, her mouth still filled with an oversized chunk of bread. She noticed the hostile and bewildered stares of her companions.

“I mean it. Leave this table immediately. I don’t know where you think you are, but I can tell you, we are not an encampment of ditch-diggers.”

Silvitya sadly stood up. Magdala pointed at the door.

“You can return when you learn to eat without dishonoring yourself. Ask the kitchen staff to enlighten you.”

Silvitya ate alone in the kitchen, with the serving staff instructing her about the proper use of forks and knives. She had to learn how to sit properly, how organize and use silverware, and even how to properly chew her food. She was very clumsy with the utensils at the beginning, finding them difficult to hold onto and manipulate. She became horribly frustrated, but she knew that she had to persevere if she was to be accepted by her peers. She also realized the strange skill of eating etiquette was an important part of upper-class living. If she could master the use of dining utensils, that knowledge would set her apart from her upbringing as a peasant.

After spending her second afternoon in the kitchen struggling in frustration with those horrid utensils, Silvitya returned to her sleeping chamber to pick up her salt and toothbrush. A very unpleasant surprise was waiting for her: an envelope sitting on her nightstand. She wondered who on Earth would write her in the castle, or who would even know where she was. Her hands shook when she noticed the wax seal was imprinted with a university seal. She opened the letter. Sure enough, it was in Dean Fitoreckt’s handwriting. She read:

When you departed on your journey to the capitol, I had one of my assistants follow, in case there was any hope of extracting you from whatever dilemma you were destined to get yourself into. That was hubris on my part, because I now understand that it was not my Path in Life to rescue you. The Ancients placed you in the one location where I cannot come to your assistance without placing the university at risk.

Your Mistress and I both advised you that hubris, thwarting the will of the Ancients, and the pursuit of vulgar worldly desires would lead you to grief. You can never claim we didn’t try to warn you. Now your Path in Life has changed and you will suffer the consequences of your decisions.

We will move forward with our Paths in Life, both you and I, but from this point our Paths must diverge. You understand that you are dis-enrolled from your studies and no longer have a home to return to in Sebernekt Ris. That is not to say the Ancients will not call upon you to serve. I firmly believe they will, but the manner in which you serve will be different from what your Mistress and I envisioned. Be patient and continue learning. Perhaps you will find yourself in a position to temper and influence the actions and decisions of our nation’s leader. How many of us can make such a claim?

Although I will never see you again, I wish you the best. I expect and hope that your new Path in Life will permit you to draw upon the knowledge you acquired with us to serve the people of Danubia.

P.S. If you check under your bed, you will see that I sent jars of birth-control paste and some of the tea-mixture your Mistress bequeathed to you. I provided these items out of respect for the memory I have of her, not because I think you deserve them.

The letter was a hard blow to Silvitya’s hopes but, in a way, receiving it was a relief. She was indeed starting over. There was nothing to connect her to the past two years of her life with the Cult of the Ancients and the university. Her world now consisted of pleasing the Grand Duke and getting along with her “sisters”.

Silvitya’s first test of loyalty took place when she stepped out of her room to use the privy. Upon exiting the concubines’ sleeping chambers, Danka was confronted by two angry-looking castle matrons carrying switches.

“What did Magdala tell you about Desislava?”

“Sister Desislava, Mistress?”

“Yes. His Majesty demands to know what Magdala said about her.”

“I, I mean, you need to talk to Sister Magdala, Mistress.”

“Right now I’m not talking to her. I’m talking to you. In the name of His Majesty, you will answer.”

“Mistress, I don’t speak on behalf of the sisters. I can’t tell you anything about Sister Desislava. You need to talk to Sister Magdala. She is our spokeswoman, not me.”

“I’m just asking you if Magdala said anything about her. Judging by your answer, she did. Now, in the name of His Majesty, you will tell us what she said.”

Silvitya’s heart pounded. However, she realized what was happening. The castle matrons had assumed, because her accent was lower-class, that she was an uneducated simpleton and thus easily intimidated. Her vocabulary should have given them a clue their initial impression was erroneous, but they were paying so much attention to her accent that they had ignored her educated words and correct grammar.

“Mistress, you really must first speak to Sister Magdala. I can’t say anything to you. I can’t speak on behalf of anyone except myself.”

“Then you’re coming with us. We’ll show you what happens to ‘sisters’ who are disobedient.”

“Did you talk to Sister Magdala, Mistress? My understanding is that all of His Majesty’s orders are relayed through her, our spokeswoman. I’ll come with you, but not until Sister Magdala has passed that command. Please, Mistress, she’s right here, in her chamber.”

The matrons made no move towards Magdala’s chamber. Silvitya’s suspicions that she was being tested were confirmed. She noted the matrons no longer seemed so confident.

“Very well, you’re failure to obey a command will be passed to His Majesty. He will deal with you appropriately.”

With that, the matrons turned away. Silvitya immediately ran to Magdala’s sleeping chamber and woke her up. When she described the confrontation, the other woman replied:

“They won’t tell His Majesty anything. You did what you were supposed to do, and as you saw for yourself, they did not relay the order to me. There was nothing from His Majesty to relay. I guess they underestimated you. They’re normally not so direct.”

“They try this with everyone?”

“Yes, but they’re usually more subtle about it. It must have been your accent, making them think it would be easy to turn you into an informant against the rest of us.”

Silvitya thought about her accent. She had wanted to get rid of it the previous year, precisely because it gave such a bad impression among the educated when she first opened her mouth. However, in a place like the Grand Duke’s castle, having the combination of education and a peasant’s accent could be a huge asset. The Royal staff and advisors would tend to underestimate her, which would be extremely useful when she needed to gather information.

With his women the Grand Duke was cruel, dominating, and egotistical, but he never assumed he had nothing to learn from them. He was curious about their backgrounds and their lives prior to being taken into the castle. Each of the women under his control had a unique life story and could provide him with perspective about the Duchy’s society that he could not obtain through his advisors. As a group they were an important asset, not just for providing pleasure, but as a way to keep his view of his subjects grounded in reality. The concubines provided him with a good sampling of the population from the western half of the Duchy, a way he could obtain unfiltered information about the lives and attitudes of ordinary citizens.

When the girls entered his service, most were terrified and eager to please him, which was the way it should be. However, after the concubines became accustomed to their circumstances and understood how they needed to behave, the sovereign encouraged them to converse with him and talk about themselves. His ministers would have wondered why he was interested in listening to trivia about the girls’ families and daily routines. While it was true that the majority of the women had little of importance to tell him as individuals, the over-all picture of the Duchy’s society they provided was extremely valuable for setting realistic policies that actually addressed the needs of the public.

Unlike the castle matrons and most of his advisors, the Grand Duke never underestimated Silvitya. From the beginning he noticed the contrast between her accent and her vocabulary. He correctly assumed that his newest acquisition was born into poverty but had somehow managed to receive some education. He could tell right away she was intelligent and curious. Judging by the way she had been behaving in the plaza when he first noticed her, it seemed that she was unfamiliar with the protocol of the capitol, which meant she came from some other place and was visiting. He also had noticed the smallpox vaccination scar on the girl’s shoulder. He could tell the scar was relatively recent: she had been vaccinated as an adult within the last couple of years.

At the end of her first week in the castle, the Danubian sovereign ordered Silvitya to go to his bed-chamber alone. Magdala explained:

“He does this with all of us. He likes to hear about our lives. He’ll ask you things, and will expect you to answer honestly. Please don’t try lying to him, about anything. You’ve seen what happens to a Sister who was caught telling a lie, so don’t do it, even if you think if you’re telling him something that sounds bad. And, he’ll give you some really nice treats if you talk to him enough and tell him something interesting.”

Silvitya nervously accompanied a matron to the Royal bed-chamber. As usual, the older woman was carrying a leather switch, which she used to direct the concubine with taps to her hips and shoulders. Silvitya bitterly reflected that she was being trained and directed in the same manner as a horse, responding to taps of the switch instead of verbal commands.

She was surprised to see the Grand Duke completely naked when she entered his chamber. Normally he liked to be ritually undressed before indulging himself with his women. However, Silvitya had come up alone and he did not want to bother with having her undress him. He grabbed her, pushed her onto his bed and, with no foreplay whatsoever, vigorously thrust into her body. When he finished, he ordered the girl onto her knees and deliberately humiliated her in two ways. She had to lick his penis while it was still sticky from the first round of sex, which was disgusting for the concubine and meant to be. While she was working on trying to achieve a second erection, the sovereign ran his fingers through her hair. She cringed as she felt her scalp being violated by her master’s rough explorations. When the Grand Duke became hard again, he ordered her to get on her elbows and knees. He entered her from behind and thrust in his usual obsessive manner. However, Silvitya was hugely relieved that he had not entered her sphincter.

The routine changed when he was finished. Instead of ordering her out of the room, the Grand Duke told his servant to follow him into an adjoining chamber containing a sunken stone bath large enough to comfortably fit three people. As he settled into the water, he directed her attention to a washbasin with salt and a fresh toothbrush. After she cleaned her mouth she was to join him in the bath.

She knew that she had to push aside her anger and bitterness over having her body violated in so many ways. Like it or not, the country’s ruler was now her owner. Throughout her life she had been indoctrinated that the Grand Duke was the supreme worldly authority in the Duchy. Nothing in her background or her studies indicated that an average citizen, and much less a woman, had the right to object to a ruler’s orders. Like every other Danubian, she owed him absolute and unquestioning obedience.

The bath relaxed her slightly, even though she was sitting with a man she feared and hated. He touched her shoulder and ran his finger around the vaccination scar.

“I can see that you bear the Follower’s mark, the one that protects you from the pox.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Your humble serving girl bears the mark.”

“Excellent. I see it is recent. Where were you when the Followers marked you?”

Silvitya was terrified, but she decided to follow Magdala’s advice and tell the Grand Duke the truth. Already, through nothing more than looking at a scar, he had figured out a lot about her. If she lied about something as basic as her past and he caught her, the consequences would be too terrible to contemplate.

“Your humble servant was in Nagoronkti-Serifkti when she was marked, Your Majesty.”

“Then you must have been there when the Followers visited in the summer of last year. That scar is too new for you to have received from the previous visit three years ago.”

“That is correct, Your Majesty.”

“But your accent, it is not from the Nagoronkti-Serifkti region. You’re not from that area.”

“I ... your humble serving girl, is from...”

“You’re from the river valley. A laborer’s daughter, no doubt, judging by the way you pronounce your words. I find it interesting, a girl from the river valley receiving the Followers’ mark in Nagoronkti-Serifkti. So, you seem to be well-traveled, is that not so?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Your humble serving girl has traveled.”

The Grand Duke continued his probing comments and questions, gathering information that he needed to work out the details of Silvitya’s life. She was impressed and worried by her master’s talent of figuring things out about a person’s life through nothing more than casual comments. His memory was excellent and he was quick to catch any contradictions in what a person was telling him. Within a very short time, and without asking her directly, the Grand Duke had reconstructed her travels: starting in Rika Heckt-nemat (through her accent), Starivktaki Moskt (through vocabulary unique to the Old Believers of the Danubian Church and a couple of references to the seminary), Severckt nad Goradki (through some comments about the northern mountain region), and Sebernekt Ris (through her correct grammar and the fact she had attended the university). She later found out he did the same with all of his concubines, practicing his skill deducing details of a person’s life through clues instead of through relying on deliberately spoken words.

The Grand Duke was extremely pleased with the newest addition to his collection of girls. This one had seen many places and had experienced life from the perspective of several social groups. It was very likely he’d learn some interesting facts from her and obtain a unique view of his realm. The majority of his concubines were daughters of guild members. In a few cases, like Silvitya, they had been randomly chosen off the street, but most of them had been handed over as bribes by professional tradesmen who had run afoul of the Duchy’s laws, were hopelessly in debt, or had in some way offended the Grand Duke and needed to placate him. So, the girls’ backgrounds were similar: the daughters of middle-class tradesmen who had led irresponsible lives and needed to extricate themselves from legal trouble. Few of the concubines had an expansive view of the world. They had grown up in a single location and had known the same people throughout their lives. Their levels of education varied, but none had university-level training. Silvitya (if that was really her name) was different, more interesting, and potentially much more useful.