This volume is the fourth part of a 7 volume compendium,
which in total, contains 8 Caged & Transported books and 9 Sheik Husni
books. The Saga contains a total of 480,000 words and describes events in
Japan, Mexico and Dubai. This is the second edition of the 17 books, but the
first time they have been edited into one long epic story.
From Tokyo and Folito Island, to Salim's Pony-girl
stables in Dubai, the story ebbs and flows, as one character after another
becomes caught up in the dramatic story. This is a unique chance to read about
their Pony-girl and Puppy-girl world.
The
7 volumes contain the following books.
Volume
1 contains the first three Caged & Transported books.
Volume
2 contains the fourth, fifth and sixth C&T books.
Volume
3 contains the seventh and eighth C&T books,
Plus,
the first Sheik Husni book.
Volume
4 contains the second and third Husni books.
Volume
5 contains the fourth and fifth Husni books.
Volume
6 contains the sixth and seventh Husni books.
Volume
7 (The Finale) contains the eighth and Ninth books.
1.
Zabya - Backbreaking work
The black mangroves of Northern Oman were one of the most
beautiful parts of the vast and desolate country. Seeing the trees and thick
vegetation growing in the salty waters of the coastline, in such high
temperatures, was a huge attraction for holidaymakers in and around the city of
Muscat. Many tourists and Arabs visited the hotels and beaches but hardly
venture beyond the properties where they were staying.
However, the beautiful surroundings were completely lost
on 19-year-old Zabya and the rest of the slaves that worked on Sheik Bin Hali's
coastal estate. For a whole year, Zabya had been owned by the elderly Arab,
whose agents had purchased her in an auction in Al Awabi. Life on his estate
was no better or worse than the previous period of her life, where she had
slaved away, carrying goods and supplies over rocky terrain in the Jebel Shams
Mountains of North-eastern Oman.
The gritty teenager had fallen foul of her master when
she had tried to escape on several occasions. He had grown tired of her
constant bad behaviour and eventually put her up for auction to get rid of her.
Both before and after being sold, she had had the benefit of living an outdoor
life, but the punishments and abuse continued with her new owners, so, in her
own mind, nothing had changed.
Zabya hadn't had an education and until she arrived at
the palace, she was unaware of what went on in the outside world. She lived in
her own sterile bubble, where she was forced to work from dusk to dawn, every
day of the week. The men that lived and worked in the palace treated her like
dirt during the day and like a whore at night. The downtrodden teenager didn't
know what it was like to walk around without restraints or without being
tethered to other thralls when she was working.
She knew her name of course and was aware that she was
labelled a trouble maker, by both her old and new owners. This manifested
itself in even worst treatment, which prompted a certain amount of resentment
from the other thralls when they too received additional punishments, because
of her behaviour.
The resolute teenager had made one friend though, a
20-year-old English girl named Lucy. The poor girl had been snatched from her
family's yacht two years earlier and enslaved by Somalian Pirates. After a year
with her savage captors, Lucy was grateful to have been sold to Sheik Bin Hali,
where she became one of his most diligent workers.
The English girl was the only thrall in the Bin Hali
household to befriend her. Although the slaves were forbidden to talk to each
other, Lucy slowly taught her the English language. All the slaves she had ever
known wanted to learn English, because it was an asset they could use if they
ever escaped from their masters.
One day she hoped, she'd escape from the Arab world and
go somewhere like England and get away from the abuse and punishment that she'd
suffered all her life.
Thwatt! "Muuuuumph!" she
moaned, when the housekeeper's stick landed diagonally across her bobbing butt
cheeks.
"Get a move on, you lazy little bitch," the big woman
growled, nudging her thigh with her foot.
Zabya swore under her breath, gingerly edged backward a
foot and increased the speed of her scrubbing to avoid another nasty blow. The
angry youngster was crawling on her hands and knees along the main palace
corridor and was only half way finished.
Because of her history, the Slavemaster kept her
permanently in a knotted culit - a rope device attached to her ankles - that
held her feet apart by more than 12 inches. A metal bar with an eye in the
centre stiffened the restraint which was wrapped in reinforced rope that also
circled her ankles. A series of tight knots around the bar were then sealed
with a small padlock.
A 12 inch wooden dildo was screwed into the eye in the
centre of the culit and short lengths of rope clipped to the ends of the culit.
Then, while one assistant guided the mahogany phallus into her quim, another
lad clipped the short ropes to a 'D' ring on the back of her posture collar.
She had to remain in the all-fours position with her toes
pushing against the sides of her ass. The dildo nudged the roof of her womb as
she crawled and scrubbed the floor. If she tried to rest by sitting back on her
heels the rigid shaft pushed against her extremity and caused her considerable
pain.
The ropes were tight, keeping her knees bent and her
heels tight against the outside of her ass cheeks; consequently, the
housekeeper or Slavemaster had a large area of ass to strike at will.
Plus, her anus was accessible to the sadistic male
servants who frequently took the opportunity to spear her when the housekeeper
was busy elsewhere. It was doubly uncomfortable, because the ropes continually
pulled on her collar, forcing her to keep her head high. Whenever she needed to
dip her head to glance at the floor, she drew the phallus deeper and caused
herself even more pain.
However, Zabya had discovered that she could build up a
rhythm and use the device for her own pleasurable ends, while scrubbing back
and forth on the ceramic tiles. She had actually enjoyed the first 20 minutes
of the day, as she experienced a series of multiple orgasms, but the novelty
soon wore off.
The problem was, that the dildo became saturated and
slippery and impossible to control in her greedy orifice. Try as she might, Zabya
soon found that she couldn't keep the damn thing still. It was worst when she
had to shuffle backward, because she completely lost control of the rigid cock,
and being on the edge, a few nudges were enough to send her into oblivion.
She wasn't a house slave, so cleaning the floors was an
infrequent event, as was her presence in the palace. When she arrived a year
earlier, the young Omani was detailed to the gardening section of the household
staff and had spent all her waking hours tending the magnificent gardens and
the huge private beach. The outdoor work suited her physical attributes and she
had enjoyed most of the heavier jobs she was forced to do.
However, it had also given her the chance to try and
escape. None of the other girls were interested, so when she finally managed to
evade the attention of the guards, she took her opportunity and scaled the
wall, wearing nothing but her short smock and a shock collar.
The desperate teenager ran and ran for all she was worth
toward the west. The neck restraint was her undoing though. She thought that if
she got far enough away, the controls wouldn't work, but didn't realize the
device had a satellite navigation system in it.
The guards tracked her down in the mangroves after just 4
hours of freedom and hauled her back to the palace, where she was beaten in
front of the staff and then locked in a cell for the previous three days. That
morning she was released and without an explanation, put into the punishment
culits and told to clean the ceramic tile corridors of the main building.
Thwatt! "Muuuuumph!" Zabya
moaned, when yet another flash of pain tore down the centre of her posterior.
Her position meant that the skin across the upper slopes
of her ass was taut and an easy target, as was the deep valley as far as her
puckered anus. The housekeeper aimed for that most sensitive spot and made
several direct hits, sending shock waves through her sweating body.
"Get a move on whore. I want this finished before the
agent comes to collect you." The housekeeper scowled.
Despite her lack of an education, Zabya understood the
implication of an agent coming to collect her. It meant that she was moving on.
If she hadn't been gagged, she'd have asked the housekeeper where she was
going, but instead she dipped her head and continued scrubbing the floor.
The belligerent woman walked away to berate another slave
who was working six feet further down the corridor.
Zabya was slowly backing down the passageway with her
bucket of soapy water and scrubbing brush, while the second thrall was moving
back toward her, polishing the damp floor tiles. With each movement back, droplets
of cunt cream dripped onto the tiles, which needed to be cleaned up as they
appeared between their knees.
Her fellow slave escaped a blow from the housekeeper, when
the miserable woman walked past her and disappeared into the kitchen. Zabya
paused to study her unfortunate companion's bobbing buttocks.
The dark-skinned thrall was spared a dildo, but had a knotted
culit fastened between her ankles, while her lower legs strapped to her thighs,
thus spreading them wider than her butt cheeks. Zabya had a perfect view of the
girl's prominent cunt. Her glaring red labium lips were divided by a heavy line
of clitoral meat.
She had noticed the housekeeper, on several occasions,
swing her tawse low to wrap the fingers of the weapon round the curving bulge
of her vulva. It was hardly a comfort, but Zabya found herself feeling grateful
that her own quim was occupied with the culit's
dildo. The woman was forced to lash her strokes across her cheeks.
A few minutes later Zabya the sound of a man's voice
coming from the kitchen, which she hoped signalled that the agent had arrived.
Sure enough, a few minutes later the housekeeper appeared with an Arab dressed
in a white thawb and a red and white checked keffiyeh headdress.
"Is that the thrall?" the bearded Arab asked, pointing
down the hall toward her.
"Yes," she said, nudging the house slave over to the side
of the passageway with her foot. "Whore, get your ass in here!" she commanded,
pointing at her feet.
This was it. The man had come to take her to another
Sheik, or a slave market. The youngster was relieved, because a new owner meant
a change of scenery and new opportunities to escape.
Salim carefully negotiated the mobile staircase, followed
by Masumi and Ejaz, his body guard. As soon as his sandals touched the ground,
he set off across the 100 yards or so of shimmering hot tarmac. They were
making a beeline for the first of two Mercedes Mini buses, which were waiting
to whisk them away to meet his friend, Sheik Abdul Jahid.
The Sheik's Bombardier Global 8000 had just touched down
at Al Ain International Airport having originally been scheduled to fly him to
Dubai. The plane had only just taken off from Bangkok, when his old friend
contacted him via satellite link for a business chat.
During the conversation Abdul mentioned that a
clandestine slave auction was about to take place just across the border in
Oman. The location was close to the garden oasis town of Al Ain, which was in
the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Salim was interested, so after a short discussion, Abdul
agreed to take him, provided he arrived in good time.
It was too tempting a treat to miss, so Salim immediately
ordered Arthur, his pilot, to divert to the modern airport at Al Ain, where he
was told that a couple of cars would be waiting for him. It was midday
Wednesday, and the auction was happening later that day, so he knew that they
didn't have much time to organise themselves. The day was stiflingly hot, with
the temperatures in the high 30s, which of course was exactly the kind of
weather Salim was comfortable with.
"Salim, wait up!" Masumi called, lagging behind him.
The blonde-haired youngster caught up and clutched his
arm tightly.
"It's so hot Salim! The air is so dry!" she gasped,
trying to slow him down.
They had spent a day in Bangkok, where the temperatures
were in the mid 30's, but the humidity had been high, enabling her to cope. Having
arrived in the UAE, the weather was hot and dry, conditions Salim had warned her
to prepare for.
The billionaire's Bombardier 8000 was kitted out with not
only leather seating for 14, but also a small bedroom at the back, where he
would normally play with his concubines. However, Salim had spent the entire flight
from Bangkok with Masumi, lying with her on the bed.
He tried to explain why she couldn't go with him to his
friend's Palace in Al Ain. He hadn't missed the opportunity to shaft the naked
girl while they adopted various different positions on the bed. However, he
wasn't sure if she fully appreciated the situation, especially as her mind had
been occupied with the relentless fucking.
Masumi had a lot to learn about the Male dominated
society in the Arab world and needed to accept that the slave auctions, with
very few exceptions, were only attended by male buyers. He wanted to send her
to a hotel with the concubines, just for the night, while he attended the
event, but she was having none of it.
Salim was desperate to get her to Dubai, where he could begin
her training in earnest, so didn't want any distractions before he got home. The
youngster was having a strange effect on him, which manifested itself in
peculiar ways. He had only known her a couple of days, but he found himself
hating the idea of not having her by his side. He had made her his chosen
woman, but he had always been able to separate himself from his previous
choices.
He pointed out that if she went with him to his friend's
palace, etiquette dictated that she'd have to stay with his concubines. Even
though he tried to put her off with stories of harsh treatment, the idea
immediately piqued her interest. They discussed the auction, whereupon he
reiterated that the only girls attending it would be the thralls being bought
and sold and would therefore not be able to go.
Masumi tried every angle she could to persuade Salim to
take her to the slave auction. She even suggested that she pose as a thrall and
that he could purchase her from his friend, who would be pretending to sell
her.
Salim immediately dismissed the idea as fanciful and
ridiculous, and quickly changed the subject. She had a romantic perception of
being a slave girl, but the reality. Salim knew, was that the thralls were
treated very harshly indeed.
Salim came across Masumi 4 days earlier on Folito Island,
which was just off the coast of southern Japan. He had gone there at the
invitation of Jirou Tanaka for their Pony-girl Gala, only to find, when he
arrived, that the director had been murdered by one of his lieutenants, Aiko
Yamada. It was an eventful trip and a productive one, for Masumi agreed to
accompany him to Dubai.
From the first moment he met the Japanese young woman he
decided he wanted to possess her good looks and beautiful body. The billionaire
finally persuaded her to leave Folito Island for a two week 'Holiday', to see
if she enjoyed the lifestyle and liked being one of his 'Chosen' women.
For the first time in his life, Salim had truly become
infatuated with a girl he wanted to possess. He knew that sooner or later he
was going to have to rein in her youthful enthusiasm and either train her
himself or put her in his purpose-built fitness centre in Dubai, but that would
come later after they arrived in Dubai.
All the girls he acquired, through one method or another,
and who he thought would make the grade, were taken and transformed into fit
and healthy individuals in his superbly equipped fitness centre. Most of the
girls he came across at the slave auctions or the Pony-girl meets needed a lot
of work on them before they were fit to enter his harem or be trained as
Pony-girls.
A group of his finest doctors, educators, and fitness
experts, all female of course, put the girls through a rigorous training
schedule to prepare them for a life of dedicated slavery. He likes the girls to
be 18 or 19, for they are just developing into athletes. However, Masumi was
already 21, so Salim realized he'd have to make an exception in her case if she
didn't respond to his own personal training.
Whenever he went to one of the many invitations he
received, or attended a Pony-girl meet, he usually travelled with a small
entourage of five people. His bodyguards, Ejaz and Yafir usually travelled with
him, along with two girls from his harem and his chosen woman. That privilege
would go to the fittest girl in my harem or a 'special' girl like Masumi.
"I warned you about the heat, Masumi," Salim chided the sweating
youngster. She had never been to Northern Africa before and was suffering.
She was dressed in a purple, ankle length abaya and
matching silk scarf, which covered her splendid strawberry blonde hair. The
shirtdress had intricate silk embroidery around the bodice, which should have
taken the eye away from Masumi's substantial breasts but failed miserably!
When he told her, she had to wear a full burqa to some
receptions, like his concubines, Masumi almost exploded. Salim was discovering
that his new acquisition had a strong character during the day and yet
displayed a gloriously submissive nature in bed.
After much arguing, he finally agreed to take her to meet
Sheik Abdul Jahid, instead of going to the hotel with his concubines and the
bodyguard, Yafir. He had never met a woman that he couldn't say no to, until he
met Masumi. Somehow, he was going to have to change that, he resolved.
Salim was within a yard of the silver Mercedes, when the
door slid open and his friend Abdul stepped out into the glare of the midday
sunshine.
"Salim!" he exclaimed. "How the devil are you?"
"Well, thank you," Salim replied. He stepped forward into
his friend's arms and returned his bear hug, while patting his back. "Abdul,
you rogue. I wasn't expecting you to collect me." He stood back to look at his old
acquaintance. "I do believe you've put a few pounds on since I last saw you,"
Salim joked.
"Goodness! Who is this Jewel accompanying you to our
humble town, Salim?"
He turned to see Masumi bursting with excitement to meet
his friend, but also remembering not to speak until she was spoken to. It was
rule number one for Salim's chosen women, to ensure they showed respect and
modesty in the company of men. It was going to be difficult for Masumi to
adjust, but she had taken his instruction on board, after he had lectured her
earlier, during the flight.
"Ah yes Abdul, this is Masumi who joined my staff a few
days ago and will be my companion for the foreseeable future."
"You disappoint me Salim!" his friend said, moving
forward to grasp Masumi's hand. "I thought you'd brought me a present!" he
laughed. "Masumi, pleased to meet you," he added graciously.
Masumi bowed her head deferentially, the way she'd been
taught, while allowing Abdul to gently shake her hand.
"Thank you, Sir," she replied.
Salim knew that the suggestion that Masumi was a present,
was more serious than he made it sound. When meeting to discuss the slave
market, it was rare for him to be accompanied by a woman, unless it was a
slave, or a concubine. Of course, if they were meeting to discuss business then
he would take a PA, or one of his chosen women, especially if it was a function
or an event.
He had once given his friend a slave girl at one of the
Pony events they had attended together. Abdul had returned the favour sometime
later. They had known each other since their university days. They were both 36
and had inherited great wealth from their oil rich fathers. Their wealth could
be measured in the trillions of dollars and from the moment they left
university to join their fathers in their respective companies, they had been
competing against each other ever since.
They were similar in many ways, having the same business
and leisure interests, like acquiring lucrative companies, owning beautiful
women and racing the finest Pony-girls in the world. Both men were 6'0" tall,
athletically built and had a full head of dark hair.
However, facially they were very different. Abdul had
brown eyes and was light skinned, while Salim had blue eyes and was dark
skinned. Salim looked at his friend's broad mature grin and thought that he had
aged quickly during the 14 years since they left university.
His friend was dressed in a fawn linen casual jacket and
white slacks, while Salim wore an ankle length white thawb. Abdul had put on
weight over the years, while he had remained slim and more youthful looking, he
thought.
Salim took hold of Masumi's hand and guided her up the
step into the mini-bus. He and Ejaz followed and after Abdul climbed in, he
slid the door shut, cutting off the oven heat and allowing the air-conditioning
to try and recover its lost ground.
Masumi slipped into the far back seat and Salim followed,
to sit beside her in the centre seat, while Abdul settled himself beside his
friend on the other side of the bus.
"This is much better," Masumi whispered in Salim's ear.
The mini bus had three tiers of grey leather seating, the
centre one being a single seat facing the sliding door. Ejaz parked himself
there, in front of Masumi, while two more bodyguards occupied the front pair of
seats behind the driver. Abdul gave a signal and the black windowed vehicle
smoothly pulled away to begin its journey to his palatial residence.
Zabya put the brush down and began crawling toward the
figures who stood watching her rather slow progress, impatiently. The twenty
feet of ceramic tiles seemed like a mile, for the fat dildo within her sopping
quim, nudged back and forth in time with her movement.
"Get a move on! We haven't got all day." Growled the woman
as Zabya passed her on the way through to the kitchen.
"Right, let's see what we've got here," The tall Arab
said, while reaching down behind her and taking hold of the culit that was roughly
level with her cunt. "Grab her shoulders, Elsa."
Together they lifted Zabya bodily and laid her face down
on the table, so her knees hung over the back edge of the wooden surface. Her
firm breasts cushioned her body, but the thick, combination shock-posture
collar she wore round her neck, meant she couldn't lower and rest her head.
As soon as her torso had settled on the flat surface, she
felt the ropes being released from her collar. Her ankles fell back, thus
withdrawing the wooden cock from her creamy orifice.
"Ahhhhhh!" she sighed with
relief and relaxed while the housekeeper set about unlocking the padlock and
removing the culit from between her ankles.
"You'll have to keep an eye on this one. She's a runner
and a real troublemaker," the woman informed the agent. "Where are you taking
the little bitch, Faris?"
"Her Master is putting her in tonight's auction at Al
Buraimi. Sheik Bin Hali is attending it himself to find a replacement and maybe
an additional thrall for the household."
"Good, I've been complaining for several weeks that we
need a more reliable pair of hands," exclaimed the housekeeper.
The obstreperous woman marched across the kitchen and
dumped the restraint, minus the dildo in the agent's bag. She then collected
another culit from one of her own containers and returned to the table. Zabya
hated having her arms bound with a culit, for the restraint effectively
imprisoned her and reduced the chance of escaping to almost nil.
The man pulled her arms onto her back, then slid the loops
of the culit over her hands, up her arms, to where he tightened them just above
her elbows. The loops were tight enough to grip her limbs, but slack enough to
allow the blood to flow to her arms and hands. The knotted culit was short and
drew her elbows together painfully, to within three inches of each other.
The restraint brought back dreadful memories, when a year
earlier she had had to wear one for a week, before finally being sold to her
new owners. During that week she suffered the worse abuse she had ever
experienced, while in the hands of a group of men who had been tasked to take
her to the auction.
"Could you fetch the paperwork Elsa, while I give her the
once over," Faris asked the housekeeper.
"She's a filthy little whore, Faris. I wouldn't risk
sticking your cock in her sandpit."
"Elsa, if I don't drill these little bitches, I can't
fill in their labels. It's a thankless task, but somebody has to grade their
holes."
"I'm guessing she won't score very high from the look of her
scrawny ass; and take care you don't catch anything!" The burly woman scoffed.
Her words fell on deaf ears, for the agent's hands
descended on her defenceless butt cheeks, moments after the housekeeper
departed the room. Zabya suspected from her experiences, that there wasn't a
man alive who would pass up the opportunity to drive his cock into her
succulent quim, especially as the dildo had left it pouting and oozing with
cunt cream.
"Are you a filthy whore?" the tall Arab muttered, taking
a hand from her butt and lifting the hem of his thawb onto her back.
Zabya felt the tip of his cock tease her wet entrance,
before thrusting into her with some force. His girth stretched her, beyond her
normal elasticity, making her groan with a mixture of pain and pleasure. He was
fatter than the dildo but her quim was saturated, making his task easier.
"Yes, the real thing is a better isn't it whore!" he
exclaimed, beginning to piston fuck her juicy quim.
Then, without warning, he slid from one orifice and speared
her higher, tight pucker. His slowed while taking care not to damage the goods
and kneaded her buttocks, which provided some additional pleasure to his
somewhat speedy fuck. She had never climaxed while having her ass hole
pummelled, but she was approaching one when he suddenly started to jerk a
modest amount of jiz into her back passage.
He withdrew and then grabbed her slim hips, before
starting to roll her over.
"Mummmph," she complained, as
her body twisted over, so that she ended up laying on her arms, behind her
back.
The tight culit that pulled her arms and shoulders
painfully back, had the effect of stretching her firm, shapely breasts, which
were topped with large dark areolas and chunky nipples. The men who had used
her body over the years had always homed in on her nipples; and because of the
rough treatment, they had grown to an impressive size.
"Now these should push your price up a few Rial," he
said, squeezing her cherry pips and twisted them back and forth cruelly.
"Oooomph!" Zabya moaned, at the
sheer ferocity of the Arab's action.
His eyes roamed over her naked body, while his hand
fondled her half hand breasts. "These are a bit small," he muttered, before
releasing her tits and running his hands down her body to her belly.
The prominent hump of her vulva was covered in a week's
growth of stubble, which he smoothed with his thumbs, before dipping lower.
Zabya kept her thighs apart, stretching her cunt, enabling him to easily
explore her raw clitoral ridge.
He forced his thumbs into her cleft and parted her firm
lips, then prised her clit out with the nails of his thumbs. The moment the
agent pulled and painfully crushed her tender nub, Zabya closed her eyes to
avoid making a protest.
The bearded Arab soon tired of exploring her body. He
removed his hand and reached up to grab her chin, then began studying her face.
The housekeeper returned to the room and laid some sheets of paper on the
table, along with a black garment, which Zabya suspected was a burqa.
"This thrall is filthy Elsa, let me wash her face before
I put the burqa on her," he said twisting her head one way and then the other.
Zabya recognized surprise and interest in the Arab's dark
eyes, which was a common reaction when abusers finally looked at her face,
after using her holes.
"Are you going to behave yourself if I take the gag out,"
he asked.
She thought about it for a moment and then nodded. She
lifted her head off the table, while he reached round and released the gag. He
helped her to sit up, and then taking a wet cloth, which the housekeeper handed
over, brusquely washed the dirt and grime from her face. The cold, wet cloth
felt wonderful and when he had finished, he continued to study her features.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"Yes Master," she whispered, demurely.
"She's had her breakfast," the housekeeper growled.
"Give me a bowl of rice. The auction doesn't start for
another five hours," he informed her. "And I have to pick up three more thralls
before I deliver them."
The disgruntled woman went and fetched the rice,
whereupon Faris used his fingers to feed her. It was a bizarre act, Zabya
thought, in the midst of so much cruelty. As soon as she had finished, he gave
her a drink of water and then replaced the gag, before dropping the burqa over
her head. A ring on the posture collar was fed through a hole in the garment,
to which the housekeeper tied a rope.
Zabya followed the agent out of the palace, through the
servant's entrance, to a small van. He shepherded her into the back and tied her
rope to a bar, high on the side. She waited for him to slam the doors, then
tested to rope. It was too strong to break, but it was long enough for her to
lie down.
The young Omani teenager found a reasonably comfortable
position by curling up on the floor. Just before she drifted off to sleep,
Zabya wondered what her next owner would be like, and whether he would be as
cruel as those before him.