1878 06-108 Wait. WTF are YOU doing down in here with me?!
1879 06-108 Et tu?! SURPRISE! Are you peeping in on my DREAMS?!
PREVIOUSLY: Chastity, bound, blindfolded, and earplugged, her world shrunk nearly to the things she could feel against her skin, had been teased and then—triggered, taken away with shocking abruptness and in outrageous totality. Esmeray, breathing carefully to stay calm, had been gently released and now was held, tenderly and respectfully, by Hong as she watched. NOW:
“You’re going to bring her back from the edge and take her to the mattress,” Kadidia commanded, her voice oddly strained. “Near the Queen.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Hong’s girls nodded and scrambled to obey, then paused as Kadidia continued, a sheen of sweat beginning to appear on her brow.
“You’re going to take the smaller of the two harnesses from the bag, truss her in it, and put her face-down on the mattress.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” they repeated, glancing momentarily, and with curiosity, at Hong as she gasped in recognition of something, then struggled to suppress a smile, all without saying a word.
“I want her involved,” Kadidia clarified, jabbing a finger toward Esmeray.
Hong curtsied and nodded. “Of course, Your Grace.”
“And throughout all of this,” she turned her attention back to the four jawari, “you will keep your sister close beside me, within an arm’s length. Treat her like a baby. Do not drop her or handle her roughly or do anything to hurt her, jar her, cause her pain—nothing that could cause a reflexive response from a conscious person. Also, do not talk to me or ask anything of me.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” They looked at one another, uncertainly and uneasily, recognizing that something quite unusual and perhaps… risky? Even dangerous?—was happening, but not understanding exactly what it was. Only that it had something to do with what appeared to them to be an unconscious girl, but who in fact was much further away than that.
“You two—help me into my harness. The larger one. I want to do as little of the work as possible so I can concentrate. Make it tight.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” the two qahramanat chorused, scrambling forward, then paused when Kadidia raised a hand.
“Make it tight. And make sure your girls make Chastity’s tight.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” they agreed, resuming their course.
The eight of them made for an odd parade, marching across the platform in some kind of complex rhythm intertwined with the jarring notes of the orchestra. They walked slowly, the qahramanat and the four jawari looking constantly and carefully at Kadidia, to match her steady, but somehow tenuous, progress so they could stay close by. Hong hovered with an eye on both Kadidia and her own jawari, as if to be ready to jump in and either protect Chastity from being jarred or dropped, or help Kadidia stay on course. Kadidia and Chas were both snug and a bit savage-looking in their harnesses. Esmeray followed slightly behind them, feeling oddly disgruntled and skeptical, not quite able to feel left behind and excluded, but equally unable to feel relieved at being on the periphery of whatever was happening, instead of an agent of action the way she had been. Or could have been—whatever. Either way, she was unhappy.
When they reached the mattress, Channah was just shifting Penny to the slicker stone beside it. As the girls settled Chas gently down on the mattress, a scarcely-dressed member of the coven—thin, wiry, dark-haired, with deep brown eyes and skin like a subtle but beautiful shade of autumn leaves—crouched beside her and gently touched Chastity’s skin.
Almost immediately, her eyes met Kadidia’s and they nodded in synch, one, two, three times before the newcomer became unnaturally still, hands remaining on Chas; while at the very same second, Kadidia came back to full presence with a slight sigh of relief.
Immediately, Kadidia went to help Channah and murmur in her ear, while Hong, considering, steered Esmeray to a point on the mattress less than eight feet from where Penny was sliding. The two of them held hands for stability in their high heels on the squishy mattress. It was firm and thin, as mattresses went, but still a challenge. As they moved slowly across it, Hong asked: “You were upset earlier when Chastity, and then my girls, got… excited near you. If I’m right about what’s to happen….”
“What is about to happen?”
Hong laughed. “It will be a lot easier to understand watching, than trying to explain; but basically, I think Kadidia is going to play with both girls—Penny and Chas,” Hong clarified unnecessarily. She then impulsively leaned over, put her hand to Esmeray’s ear, and whispered. Esmeray’s eyes widened and her cheeks turned slightly pink, surprised enough to forget all about Hong’s proximity, as Hong stepped back, giggling. “I think. Nobody consulted me, but that’s my best guess. IF it happens that way, it’s going to be sloppy and vigorous and messy.” She looked Esmeray carefully in the eyes. “If that happens near you—now that you know to expect it—will you be able to stay still? Or will that be too much?”
Esmeray considered before replying, reluctantly: “It’s not too much. I can do that. If necessary.”
Hong shrugged. “Her Grace asked me to involve you. Some participation by you would seem to be required. I was thinking… it will ruin your dress of course, because they’ve sprayed so much oil over Penny… but if you could sit—about—” Hong frowned, measuring off distances in her mind. “Here! Exactly here, facing that way, with your legs wide, perhaps we could set Penny between your legs with her head and shoulders on your lap. Then you won’t actually… be involved, involved… but you can encourage Penny and bond with her. She’ll be lost and needing support.”
“Really?” Esmeray considered, suppressing a shudder. “You think she… would trust me more? Be more submissive to me, if I…?”
“Yes,” Hong nodded decisively, leaving no room for doubt. “Both your girls. They’e having a rough day and they feel isolated and scared in this place. Even horny uppity little Chastity, no matter how much bravado she tries to show.”
Esmeray looked at Hong, startled. “Bravado?!” she asked incredulously. “You think—what she did—”
Hong nodded. “Oh, yes. I’ve seen it before. Sometimes a girl with a boy-clit can forget herself and try to act like she’s a male back in human society. They can be silly show-offs. And of course, you punish them and teach them better. But that’s what’s happening. They’re mad at themselves, and they take it out on the world. But my point is, feeling vulnerable and isolated, the way they must do today, you can imprint on them very heavily and positively with the smallest amounts of support. Kind talk. Encouraging talk. Even silly soothing baby talk. Anything showing your humanity will make a profound impression on them. If you can hold their hand, or pet their hair, or lay an arm across them—” and noticing a slight stiffening in Esmeray’s posture, laughed gently. “You’re hopeless. It’s nothing.” And she touched Esmeray softly, her expression going from challenging, to flat and dead illustrating how completely immaterial the touch was to her, to smirking amusement. “If you can, that will go even further. If you can’t,” she shrugged “it’s fine. There’s always tomorrow. Being a qahramanah is about training them for the long game, to serve our masters, and…” she whispered naughtily “to serve us. Now, Her Grace is an impressive woman.”
“She certainly is,” Esmeray had to agree.
“If you start to feel crowded or trapped, first try lying back on your elbows. This gives you a reason for not using your hands on them, because you need them yourself. And if that’s still not enough space, lie all the way back and look up at the sky, or at the castle, anything—take yourself physically out of the equation, maybe even listen to the sounds from below, or of the orchestra, without physically separating your legs and lap from them.”
“I understand,” Esmeray nodded, managing to keep most of the revulsion and amazement out of her voice. “They’re interesting ideas.”
“I’ll sit close—not too close!” she laughed “Behind you so I can coach you or you can ask questions. Would that be all right?”
After a pause to think, Esmeray nodded with more confidence.
Literature Section “06-108[X] Bracing for Impact”—more material available at TheRemainderman.com—Part 108 of Chapter Six, “Le Saccage de la Sale Bête Rouge” (“Rampage of the Dirty Red Beast”)—1338 words—Accompanying Images: 1874-1878—Published 2025-06-06—©2025 The Remainderman. This is a work of fiction, not a book of suggestions. It’s filled with fantasies, idiots, and criminals. Don’t believe them or imitate them.