Charlotte's wrists ached in the manacles that attached to the chain above her. She hung suspended from the ceiling of the bondage chamber and was forced to stretch up on the tips of her toes. If she lost her balance her weight would be taken by the metal cuffs that dug painfully into her flesh until she regained her precarious footing.

Her back ached and her buttocks and thighs were striped pink with the marks of the domina. The governess had continued to beat her, on and off, for most of the morning; apparently enacting this simple punishment while she thought up more elaborate ones.

When she was finally released, Charlotte fell to her knees, the chain cascading noisily around her. The governess had also freed Allura from her bondage and she stood submissively nearby, her eyes glazed.

"I have gained so much gratification from inflicting pain on this little virgin," the governess said as she removed Charlotte's bonds, "that I thought I would share the experience with you."

She laid Allura down on a wooden table and clamped her wrists and ankles at the corners. Then she addressed Charlotte.

"It's such a pity that your training was... interrupted. Allura has suffered much in your absence and yet her virginity remains intact. I think the time has come for that to change."

Fear clutched at Charlotte's heart. The girl on the table drew in a quick breath, shocked from her reverie. She had become numbed to all but the most terrible pain. But she still feared other violations.

"Tonight you will both face a severe ordeal. It is called the Offering and you two will make a delightful sacrament." The governess smiled; her teeth sharp, her eyes glinting darkly.

"At the front of the palace, outside the grounds, there is a small square where proclamations are made and punishments announced and enacted. In the centre of the square are several posts. To one of these you will be chained naked before sunset and there you will spend the night.

"You might not think that a night under the stars will be so bad but the people of Kharis know what it means when a slave is chained to one of the scorning posts. Any man may have his way with you; respected citizen or lowly serf, criminal or slave. And they will, in their hundreds.

"The more reputable will be first. Those who will wait for you to be brought out and have the means to pay off their rivals for the privilege of taking you before the rest. I should imagine you two will fetch quite a price when the word spreads that you served as pleasure slaves in the Sapphire Palace. Even if you are the lowliest of sluts.

"Whoever's first will hardly matter to you once the ordeal begins in earnest and the local townsfolk start to take you one after another. Passing tradesmen will fuck you without a thought. No one will think of you, only their own pleasure.

"Oh, you will be sore and suffering by the time the farmers start returning from the fields and forming queues to use you. They'll be hot and ready after a hard day's work and they'll be quick and rough, taking you two or three at a time.

"By the time they're done and are returning to their homes, the young men will be coming out to visit the taverns. Plenty of them will come to see you on the way to their drunken revels and they'll be cruel and hurt you for sport. It'll go on all night; unrelenting.

"And when those same young men are staggering home, they'll want you again and they'll be merciless in their inebriation. Those of them that can't get it up will blame you. Oh, you'll be beaten and kicked and drenched in piss.

"It'll seem to go on forever, until you find yourselves bruised and shivering in the darkest part of the night. That's the most dangerous time, when you'll be prey to drunkards and thieves, deviants and worse."

Allura cried with despair.

"See," said the governess, "the poor girl is afraid to loose her virginity in such a way. And, of course, her first time should be special..." she sneered, "...with someone she loves.

"You will help her, Charlotte, to give herself up to passion in a more fitting way. Here, this will help." From a rack on the wall where a mixture of curious implements hung, some for the infliction of pleasure, others for pain, the governess took a huge dildo with a leather harness.

"Strap this on," she said, "and use it as gently as you can. We wouldn't want her to suffer."

Charlotte was forced to wear the bulging false manhood, buckling it around her slender hips. Then she climbed on top of Allura on the sturdy table. She could feel the girl's tender flesh beneath her; soft and yielding but tense with fear.