Flickering candles cast weird and terrifying shadows over the walls and ceiling. Excruciating pain filtered into her brain. At first, she couldn't make out where it was coming from but as the mist of insensibility cleared, she became aware that her clitoris was raw and her sex on fire.

Still naked, she was sitting on rough bare floorboards so hard that they made her bottom numb, but not numb enough to stop hurt travelling up her backbone. She was propped up against a wall with her head hanging. Her knees were drawn upwards, tucked beneath her breasts and held open by means of rope tightly wound around each knee, the ends of which were fixed to iron rings set in the floor. Slowly, she raised her head. While she'd been unconscious, someone had fitted wide red leather cuffs, each with a ring attached, around her wrists and a similar set replaced the metal manacles around her ankles. Each hand was joined to the corresponding ankle.

As her eyes became accustomed to the warm amber glow generated by the myriad candles, she saw that her ankles were also held open. Chains had been fitted to the ankle cuffs and secured to special bolts, about three feet apart, set in the floor.

She leaned forwards to try to see herself better. She caught the glint of gold between her legs, and became agonisingly aware of what was causing the pain. The effect of her discovery was immediate; her stomach heaved and she couldn't stop retching. Feeling utterly wretched, she wept inconsolably. Degraded, abused and in pain, she prayed for the sweet ignorance that came with oblivion.

It was a considerable time later that she forced herself to confront the sight of the two alien gold rings piercing the pink, fleshy outer lips of her quim. To her horror each ring had a short chain attached which in turn was sadistically bolted to the floor, making her run the risk of ripping her own flesh if she moved even an inch. Her sex was held open, blatantly exposing that once secret part of her and due to strategically placed candles, her tortured pussy would be the first thing seen by anyone entering by the heavy oak door opposite.

Her howls turned to whimpers as her agony increased, along with mounting panic. Who'd done such a terrible thing? And more to the point, if they could perform something so barbaric while she was unconscious, what more were they capable of? Time passed slowly as the agony spread from her pussy throughout her being, invading even the most inaccessible corner of her mind until terror finally dulled her senses.

***

It was the morning of her third day of captivity. Still secured in the same manner she'd seen no one except Shula, who extinguished or lit the candles at the appropriate times. She also brought her food and water, which she held to Kendel's lips but which Kendel refused. Without a word, Shula had cleaned her up and brushed her hair. Kendel's mind had been full of questions that she'd dared not utter. Besides, one needed no answer; Shula would use the whip hanging from her belt at the slightest provocation.

For the first time, a welcome open fire blazed in the cast iron grate. Yet even as it warmed Kendel's blood, it did little to lift her spirits. The large room was furnished only with a cupboard, a small table and a stool. She swung her eyes to the left... it was then that her stomach began to rumble alarmingly. The last thing she'd eaten had been the toast Jez had bought her. She was so hungry. But the unappetising food that Shula had offered her had been far from tempting. Besides, what was the point of eating in this dreadful place? She licked her cracked lips. She was so thirsty that it felt as if her throat had closed up.

With a gaze that mirrored her desolation, once again she took in the surroundings of her prison.

She flicked her eyes towards the high ceiling, which was fitted with all kinds of pulleys and bolts. No paintings graced the pale green walls. Instead, many hooks, chains and all kinds of other extraordinary devices hung from the picture rail that extended around the room. The single window had been bricked up, and the entire wall was taken up with row upon row of neatly stacked whips, crops and canes of various sizes and brutality.

She shifted her attention towards the door at the sound of a key turning in the lock, and wasn't at all sure how she felt when the heavy door creaked open to admit Shula with a breakfast tray. Once again, questions buzzed round in her head, but she decided silence was probably the best option and kept her pain-laden eyes lowered to the floor as Shula settled down beside her. And this time she allowed the elder woman to feed her as if she were a child.

At first the porridge-like concoction stuck in her throat but hunger finally conquered disgust, until she came to think of each spoonful as a means of staying alive in that hell-hole. When the bowl of evil-tasting sludge had been emptied, Shula tempted her with a glass of unsweetened juice, and she drank thirstily as Shula held it to her lips.

Bolstered by Shula's apparent tenderness, Kendel found her courage and risked an appeal to the older woman's conscience.

"Please Shula, let me go." It was all she could do to stop her features from crumpling with anguish as she lowered her eyes to the offending rings puncturing her pinkened flesh. "At least unfasten the chains! I can't stand the pain."

"No one cares if you can stand the pain or not." Shula's voice was spine-chillingly devoid of emotion. "All that matters to the Masters is that you undergo it."

Kendel snagged her teeth on her lower lip in a failed attempt to bite back the tears, glistening like diamonds on her sweeping eyelashes.

"Please!" Sobs mingled with her soft tones. "I'll die if...."

"No you won't, they'd never allow it. They need you fit and healthy if they're ever to sell you." An unguarded expression of pity flickered over Shula's face as she smoothed Kendel's hair in an effort to console the girl. "Don't you understand anything?"

Kendel shook her head. "I thought I did. But I didn't think it would be like this. I thought..." Too ashamed to admit her naivety or the wanton turn her thoughts had taken, or even the hopes she'd had when she started out, a spiral chill of dread rose in the pit of her stomach and her words trailed away to nothing. She hung her head and looked down at herself, wretched in her naked captivity. Yet even to her eyes, there was something pleasing about the way rope and chains dissected her pale flesh.

Blinking away all traces of compassion, Shula's tone became businesslike as she put her own disturbingly accurate thoughts into words.

"After a taste of the rough stuff on the outside, perhaps the odd bondage or punishment session with your boyfriend, you thought that by coming here you'd have the perfect excuse for indulging in as much kinky sex as you wanted. You thought it would be playtime every day; that after lessons in deportment a little bit of pain would be the icing on the cake. But what you didn't anticipate was the cruelty. When you gave your consent to bow to the will of others, you believed the maltreatment you'd already suffered was just a test, an initiation. How could you know that the college was run by an out and out sadist? Or that the Principal enjoyed inflicting pain and slaking his lust by hurting desirable young women, or having someone hurt them in his stead."

"No!" That wasn't what Kendel had wanted at all, she didn't want to be left to the mercy of these sadistic people. She'd had her adventure and now it was time to go home.

Shula watched as the full horror of the situation dawned on the curvy youngster. Then she linked her finger through the ring at the back of Kendel's collar, and jerking Kendel's head upright hooked it to a short chain fixed to the wall.

"Test it," she ordered snappily, and watched guiltlessly as Kendel moved her head up and down, right and left, to discover exactly how much or how little movement was allowed her. Shula gathered up the dirty dishes and leaving Kendel still cruelly bound and chained to the floor by her labia, she left the young girl alone once more.

***

After an early morning ride, Drew returned Black Demon to the stables, where one of the young stable girls stood in the snow while he dismounted. He patted the stallion affectionately, then without even a cursory glance at the eager-eyed girl, dressed in her winter uniform, he issued his orders concerning the horse.

As he headed off across the yard, he glanced over his shoulder to see her lead the great beast into the warmth of the stable. As usual, he admired the uniform. Impractical as it was ineffectual against the weather, it was nevertheless pleasing to the eye. Made of black PVC, it was a long sleeved high cut body. It laced up the open sides to give tempting glimpses of flesh. The crotch also had a lace fastening, as did the opening from neck to waist. Beneath it she wore the black collar and cuffs of an advanced student, and the cuffs at her ankles were visible through the clear plastic black boots, the heels ridiculously high when one considered the girl's duties. He was rather partial to tumble in the hay and under any other circumstances he would have taken the girl there and then, but at that moment he had other things on his mind.

Hot and sweaty, Drew hurried to his room, where a naked girl waited to help him shower. As soon as he entered the room, she fell to her knees before him and in the required manner, licked the mud from his riding boots. Then she helped him undress and entered the shower with him, where she lathered him thoroughly.

As he stood beneath the jet of water, paying scant attention to the girl who soaped his cock with expert fingers and brought it immediately to attention, he was put in mind of the new girl. Ah yes, Kendel. It was today that she was to be presented to his Father. That would be interesting, he thought with a smile as the girl fell to her knees and licked the soap from his shaft. He'd known from the beginning that Kendel was under the mistaken impression that he, Drew Harvey, was the college Principal, a misapprehension he'd been reluctant to put right. Delightedly, he imagined her embarrassment when she discovered the truth, that it was Denholm Harvey, his Father, who was Principal.

Again, Drew smiled. He did so love to see a girl burn with shame. And he'd already discovered that Kendel burned most prettily.

Once the girl had dried him thoroughly, he dismissed her, sending her back to her normal duties. He dressed hurriedly. If he were quick, he'd just have time to look in on the gym class before going along to the music room.

***

Kendel was glad of the company when after what seemed an age, Shula returned. Taking up a kneeling position beside her, the Governess filled her in on what lay ahead, though afterwards Kendel was to wonder whether it was kindness or the elder woman's own twisted nature which made her spell out the terrible details.

"In a little while, you'll be presented to the Principal and his deputy. They'll tell you it's your calling, a vocational duty no less, to be trained in the arts of giving pleasure. The sooner you accept that it's nothing less than an obligation on your part, the better. Once you've been fully trained, you'll either be given a permanent position here at the college, or you'll graduate and leave equipped to fulfil all and any sexual demands placed upon you by some future master. That's master in the sense that you'll be the slave and he the owner."

Shula told her that she would be wise to think of the Masters there at the college in the same way, for although in reality they were the tutors and the girls the students, the relationship was in effect the same; masters and slaves. As tutors, they had nothing to do with education in the accepted sense. Their sole duties were to instruct the students to become proficient in the ways of all things sexual. The curriculum was tough, with obedience and submission coming high on the list of priorities.

Kendel should make no mistake, the place existed only for the purpose of inflicting pain and extracting as much sexual gratification as possible along the way.

"You may even come to enjoy it."

Shula gave a little laugh, not of derision exactly, neither was it mirth.

"Don't look so shocked! You won't be the first or the last to enjoy the pain, even to crave it."

But that was all in the future. What she should be concerned with was the present. The Masters, and especially the Principal and his deputy, were men who'd dedicated their lives to the domination of women. It was their right to abuse and humiliate every girl who came through the door. She'd learn not only to accept authority but also to desire it. And when they'd done with her it would be the only life she'd be fit for.

"Embrace it now, and things will be easier. But always remember that in the end, it all comes down to pleasure.... theirs, not yours."

 

Shula paused a moment, then ran her fingers through Kendel's fine hair, letting it fall between her fingers. Her skilled digits skimmed down Kendel's soft cheek. Once again, Kendel thought she caught a fleeting glimpse of tenderness hidden behind the stern exterior, and found herself responding to the warmth of the gentle caress. Trustingly she opened her heart, trying to blot out the terrible words that had gone before. She relaxed as Shula patted her head, capturing her chin between thumb and forefinger. Shula turned the young girl's face, still so innocent and childlike, to her own and her voice emerged as a hoarse whisper.

"Like you, I'm here to obey orders. And the Principal has ordered that this morning, before you're presented to him and as a way of absorbing you into college life, I'm to beat you."

Horrified, Kendel's "No!" was a piercing shriek. Betrayal and panic kicked in with a vengeance and she knew a moment of utter madness. Panic-stricken she forgot that she was horribly fettered, chained to the floor by her burning, raw labia. In a futile effort to escape she jerked backwards then let out a blood-curdling scream as white-hot agony sliced through her. Scalding tears gushed down her fear-whitened cheeks. The trembling of her terrified body made the assortment of chains jingle alarmingly.

Shula set about unclipping Kendel's wrists from her ankles. Using the side rings of the red collar, she clipped Kendel's wrists to either side of her neck. Next she unfastened the collar from the wall, before untying the cruel rope, which left deep red furrows around Kendel's knees. Then she detached the chains securing Kendel's ankles to the floor and lastly, uncoupled the fiendish chains that had kept her labia anchored to the floor.

With supporting hands beneath Kendel's elbows, Shula helped her to her feet.

"First," Shula extended the back of her hand towards the Kendel's ashen face, "kiss the hand that's about to beat you."

Quaking with terror, Kendel pressed her soft lips to Shula's hand. Snatching her hand away, Shula ordered brusquely, "Turn around and face the wall."

Unable to see through the blur of tears, Kendel had little choice but to obey. Trembling, she stood with her delicious breasts pressed flat against the wall, accidentally scraping her surprisingly hard nipples against the roughened surface. A smile touched her lips briefly as she realised she rather liked the sensation and a shiver made her insides twitch.

Shula raised her arm and pulled down a chain linked to a hook about half way up the wall, and clipped it to the front of Kendel's collar.

"Here," Shula extracted something from her pocket, "bite on this. It will make it easier to bear."

Kendel bit down on the wodge that Shula had stuck between her teeth. Hard and cylindrical, it was about six inches long with a girth big enough to hold her mouth open. Constructed especially for the purpose, it was made of compacted cloth and covered in fine hand-stitched black leather. The smell of it filled Kendel's nostrils and the taste made her retch. She bit down and screwed up her eyes.

Straining to listen, her heart quickened its loud thumping as she heard Shula unhook the whip from her belt; heard also the shuffling of feet as Shula took up a position beside her. Again she listened, this time for the telltale Swish! that foretold the pain to come as it sliced through the silence. With her heart pumping so wildly she feared it would burst, the young captive tensed.

Crack!

Pyrotechnics went off in her head as blinding agony blazed across her juicy buttocks. As the soft flesh wobbled under the blow, Shula laid down stripe upon terrible stripe, taking care to produce the criss-cross markings so beloved by the Principal and Masters.

As the tears bucketed down her face Kendel yowled into the leather bound wad with each ferocious, pulse-quickening strike. The sound of the Swish! Crack! was almost as horrendous as the strokes themselves, and though only ten in all, to the writhing girl it seemed many more as her screams were stifled as she sank her teeth deeper into the leather-covered cloth. When it was finally over, Shula took the wad from Kendel's mouth and with the back of her hand wiped away the exhausted girl's tears.

"One day, when they've done with you, you'll be sold to the highest bidder. You may end up in the hands of a stockbroker with a fine semi in the middle of the Green Belt, or the Third World squalor of a white slave trader, or a pimp's back-street bordello in the heart of a major British city. If you're lucky, you might end up pampered and perfumed in a Sultan's harem. But most likely, you'll be returned to the individual who sent you here."

David! The thought hadn't occurred to her before, but would David want her back, once she'd been fully trained? More to the point, would she want to go back to him?

"Whatever your fate," Shula said with chilling finality, "it was sealed when you gave your consent and signed the contract."

Kendel shook her head as wildly as her neck restraint would allow.

"What contract? I didn't sign any contract. I'm not that stupid! All I did was sign my name in...." Aghast, Kendel realised the truth, and the enormity of what she'd done hung heavy in her softly whispered, "in the red file."