<div class="floatright"><em>Lady Tialyn Luxora</em><br/>(http://i.imgur.com/e2ZRc4f.jpg)<br/><br/><br/><em>Tialyn's beatings</em><br/>(http://i.imgur.com/O6ZGZst.jpg)<br/><br/>  <br/><em>Chained to the wall</em><br/>(http://i.imgur.com/8uHbeN5.jpg)<br/><br/> <br/><em>Reunion with Liandra</em><br/>(http://i.imgur.com/ztL6b8C.jpg) <br/><br/><br/><em>The question</em><br/>(http://i.imgur.com/3G6wvfS.jpg)<br/><br/></div><br/><br/><strong>“It should have been an easy assignment.”</strong><br/><br/>Lady Tialyn Luxora, half elven noble woman and paladin of the light’s blade, thought to herself again.  Thought it out loud or muttered softly to herself as her finger traced the metal collar about her neck.  Even she was having trouble telling if she was speaking outloud to herself or just thinking these thoughts.  It didn’t matter, not here, alone, in the darkness.  She pulled her hand away from the collar about her throat and let it drift across the bare stone walls of the tiny cell that had become her world.  Her mouth began moving in the familiar patterns of prayers to the goddess, prayers that were routine, anything to fill the void, anything to focus on.  But her devotions to her goddess were so route that even they could not hold back the memories as they marched through her mind.<br/><br/><br/>--- Weeks earlier in the kingdom of Allian ---<br/><br/><br/><strong>“Crusader Ba’weil said this would be an easy assignment.”</strong>the ruby haired knight to Tialyn’s left muttered following it up with a confident chuckle..<br/><br/>Lady Luxora glanced left and nodded at the young woman.  Liandra Cooper was no noble woman, but had proven herself bold and noble of heart at least over her time as a knight in training in the order of light’s blade.  This was to be her last assignment, with Lady Luxora as the witnessing paladin, before she would be allowed to don the vestments of the order and finalize her holy training.  She would return from this relatively simple assignment and make her vows to the goddess.  Lady Luxora doubted that she’d have to do much other than observe the red headed woman’s actions and report back when they returned to the temple.<br/><br/>The buxom half elf turned back and gazed through her spyglass again at the bandit camp below them.  Four bandits were visible at the moment, and the intelligence gathering they’d done in previous days had let them know there were two more somewhere.  Likely sleeping despite the fact that it was nearly noon.  Still hung over from the night before if Tialyn had to guess.  Certainly the four that moved about their small camp were doing so without much purpose or energy, as if they too were tired.  The mission was simple, the half a dozen bandits had been terrorizing nearby roads and villages.  Knight in training Liandra was to approach them and arrest them under order of law.  Lethal force had been approved if they resisted, though there was a note that the local magistrate would prefer they brought in alive for trial if they surrendered.<br/><br/>A slight rustle in the nearby bushes was the only word of warning that their local scout had returned, and Lady Luxora turned her head to see the wiry man slipping along the ridge towards them.  He hunkered down next to them and nodded at the senior paladin before reporting to Liandra, who was technically in charge of this mission.<strong> “I could hear the sounds of snoring from one of the tents, but I’d guess there’s at least one more.  They don’t seem to be expecting anything though.  One of them passed not ten feet from me when he went to piss.  Passed by me even closer on his way back and never saw me.  I’m not that good at hiding that if he’d been sharp eyed he wouldn’t have seen me.  I’m guessing drunk or hung over.”</strong><br/><br/>The scout, Timmin by name, confirmed Lady Luxora’s guess with that report, and she looked to Tialyn, the decision hers to make.  The redhead pondered for a moment before addressing Timmin,<strong>“We don’t expect much problem, but if you’d like to see this through and join us, I’ll see that you get a bonus above your hired pay.  It never hurts to have a third set of eyes.” </strong>The wiry scout simply nodded and shifted the bow about his back.  Then the redhead turned to Lady Luxora and said,<strong> “Ma’am I think we should approach from the east, the deadfall will cover the sounds of our passage and armor until we are almost upon them.  We walk into their camp with blades drawn and give them a chance to surrender first.”</strong><br/><br/>Lady Luxora smiled slightly, it was a sound plan.  It was her job to keep Tialyn safe, but the knight in training had come up with the exact plan she herself would have suggested.  It should work out perfectly.  She had to remember that keeping the trainee safe was her highest order, not only in regards to this operation but her oath as a paladin as well.  But with that in mind, she thought that a handful of hungover bandits would prove no challenge.<br/><br/><br/>---  Recently, in an unknown cell  ---<br/><br/><br/>Lady Luxora, Tialyn, snorted at that memory.  Her prayers were interrupted.  She hadn’t been paying them any attention, simply repeating them at route anyways.  She realized she had no idea where she’d been in her prayers.  Sighing she muttered to herself,<strong>“should have been no challenge.  Should have been an easy assignment.”</strong><br/><br/>At least that time she knew that she’d spoken aloud, the mild whisper of her statement echoing back from the close bare stone walls.  The heat in the cell was uncomfortable, stifling and stale air, but not unbearable.  She wiped the back of her hand against her forehead before moving to catch a rivulet of sweat as it trickled down her collarbone between her naked breasts.  She let out a slight gasp as the electric current of sensation shot through her body.  Her hand had barely brushed against her nipple but it had felt so good.  No, wrong!  So wrong!  She was a paladin, not some common whore.  The collar about her neck was enchanted, she knew that.  It seemed to magnify the things she felt, which was terrible when she was being tortured, but almost worse when she was alone and the desires of carnal thoughts washed through her mind.  She’d discovered quite shamefully that the enhanced pleasure could make her orgasm simply by squeezing her thighs together rhythmically.<br/><br/>It wasn’t like there was anyone here to watch her.  She spent hour after hour alone, unattended, in the dark.  No one ever even came to feed her.  Another ‘gift’ from the collar about her neck, it seemed she had no need at all for food or drink, and when she did sleep it felt like it was not for very long.  She no longer had any idea how long she’d been in this cell, been in the dark, cut off from the light.  The only dim glow of light came from the crack at the bottom of the door, from a flickering torch in the hallway beyond.  Tialyn had begun measuring time not in days or weeks, but in how often she was dragged from her cell, beaten, tortured, abused, molested, degraded.  Even when the torture stopped, there was an additional twist of the proverbial knife.   The raven haired priestess, in a similar slave collar, would come and take her naked and bloody body and heal her wounds with a magical touch that would heal her body but leave the pain.  Thus healed and magically cleaned, she would be returned to her cell to tremble and cry, her body wracked with pain that the collar amplified.   But all of that she could handle. She was a trained paladin of the light’s blade, torture she could handle.<br/><br/>What was worse was these long periods alone.  She’d lewdly given into base urges and touched herself a handful of times, brought herself to shameful orgasm.  But nothing had come from it, no beatings, no acknowledgement when she was next hauled out of her cell for further beatings or torture.  Only her own emotions and self judgement.  Only her own self judgement.<br/><br/>How long had she been here?  How long had this collar kept her alive, needing little sleep,  no food, water, or toilet?  If they tortured her once a day, it had been at least two weeks, but she couldn’t be sure.  She tried to ignore the tingles in her body and remember where she’d left off in her prayers.<br/><br/><br/>---  Some time later  ---<br/><br/><br/>Tialyn had been awake when she heard the footsteps.  How disheartening was it that she almost began to look forward to the torture sessions, if only so that she would be in the light for a time?  She knew there was no fighting back against the guards, naked, unarmed, and weak from so long without practice or exercise, she was resigned to her fate.  If only they said what they wished of her, asked her questions, demanded of her.  But it was beatings, then healings by the raven haired priestess, and occasionally molestation by the guards or jailor, then back into the darkness.<br/><br/>This time was different however.  Instead of being led to the room where she was usually tortured, she was led up, up stairs.  For the first time in how long she saw the sky as she passed by a small window.  The night sky was dark, but seemed so bright to her eyes.  She admitted a feeling of shock in that she’d had no idea it had been night time, and for the millionth time she wondered how long she’d been kept in the cell.<br/><br/>Up the stairs to what could only be described as a palace, but unlike one she’d ever seen before.  The air here, even at night, was warm and dry, and felt very nice on her naked body.   She thought briefly about the fact that it had been weeks, maybe months, since she’d been allowed a stitch of clothing.  Briefly she thought about the people she passed that saw her naked form.  But for the first time in ages a glimmer of hope shone in her breast.  This was different, there might be a chance for her escape, or at least for an escape from the darkness of her cell.<br/><br/>She was led to a palatial bedroom and chained to a wall, her arms bound above her head, her ankles shackled to a ring in the floor.  In front of her a table with various objects.  Most of which she recognized, some implements of torture, some of a lewd sexual nature, and the others she felt a fear in her chest over.  What those unknown objects could be for she did not know, but next to the ones she did, she could hazard a guess.<br/><br/>She was chained to the wall before the guards went and took up positions at the doors, standing impassively.  She knew that to speak was to earn a severe beating, so she waited, and watched.  Finally after a time a woman entered, nude as Tialyn was, and with a collar about her throat.  Tialyn’s breath caught in her throat.<strong> “Liandra,”</strong>she gasped out loud as she saw the redheaded woman look in her direction.<br/><br/>Liandra rushed to where Tialyn was bound and clutched her, her eyes moist.  Tialyn couldn’t help but feel the magical enhancment of the collar, amplifying the feeling of the knight in training’s soft skin against hers and sending tingles through her body.<strong> “Lady Luxora,”</strong>the redhead gasped.<strong> “Can it really be you?  I haven’t seen you since we were taken months ago!”</strong><br/><br/>Months.  Tialyn knew that it had been a long time in the darkness, but months?  Months since the trap had been sprung, the mage had answered the call for surrender in the bandit camp and ensorcled the paladin and her trainee?<strong> “Yes,”</strong>Tialyn croaked through a chest that felt too tight,<strong> “I had… no idea…. Liandra where…”</strong><br/><br/>The redhead interrupted her and put a finger to her lips.<strong> “You must not call me that.  I am Liandra no longer.  Master has been kind enough to give me a name and I am to be called Ruby and nothing else now.  Maybe,” </strong>she looked hopefully into Tialyn’s eyes and smiled,<strong> “maybe master will give you a new name too!”</strong><br/><br/>Tialyn felt slightly sickened.  Liandra, Ruby, seemed to be pleased about being a slave?  Suddenly the redhead dropped to her knees as the door opened and a wizened and old man entered.  The redhead threw herself to the floor, prostrating herself fully as the old man approached.  With a wave of his hand, the chains binding Tialyn’s hands snapped opened and a force pressed her to her knees.<br/><br/>The old man strode up to her and snapped a chain about her collar before tugging it upwards, forcing her to look past his old wrinkled body, his semi turgid cock and up into his eyes.  When he spoke the voice was one that sounded somewhat like leaves blowing across a cobblestone courtyard, but there was power in his voice.  This was no weak old man, but someone who had power despite his form.<strong> “Well it’s about time we met slave,” </strong>he said as he yanked her chain so that she was forced to look up at him.<strong>  “I spent quite a bit of money to acquire a paladin from the northlands.  I hope you’ll make it worth the cost.”</strong><br/><br/>Any reply the paladin might have had was cut silent as she found herself unable to speak, the collar about her throat clenching tightly as she tried to draw breath.<strong> “Ah ah ah, I like my slaves to remain silent until I address them.  Isn’t that right Ruby?”</strong><br/><br/>He looked down at the redhead who was now kneeling looking at him with what could only be considered love and devotion.<strong> “Yes master,” </strong>she said nodding her head.<br/><br/>He smiled at her the way a child would smile at a pet dog and asked,<strong> “Do you think this honey haired slave will serve me well?”</strong><br/><br/>Ruby, for Tialyn could not think of the simpering slave as Liandra any longer, nodded her head with a broad smile,<strong> “Yes master, give her a chance, she is loyal and understands duty.  She will make you proud if you give her a chance.”</strong><br/><br/>The master tugged on the chain again and looked down at Tialyn with a smile as his cock thickened slightly right near her face,<strong> “Tell me slave.  Your last holy order, the last vow you took included one to protect…” </strong>he gestured in the direction of Ruby,<strong>“did it not?  So if I tell you that if you serve me, and do so well, I may grant freedom to yourself and your fellow northerner.  If you do not, everything you have suffered over the last three months will be childs play compared to what I visit upon her.  Torture, rape, and pain the likes of which her little mind can not possibly imagine, all while you are chained to a wall and forced to watch.”</strong><br/><br/>He chuckled and looked at Ruby who looked concerned but had not moved from her pose.  The master spoke again,<strong>“but I know your order are honorable, and if you agree to serve me, I have need of someone with the skills you once had.  I can make your time in Dahlwias more comfortable then it has been in past months.  What say you?”</strong><br/><br/>Tialyn felt the constriction about her neck ease, and knew that it was a sign that she would be allowed to speak.  Dahlwias, she knew of the nation, it was far to the south of her homeland on the edges of the great desert, and the time that had passed, months not weeks, meant that she and Liandra were probably considered dead by her order.  Did she have a choice?  To return to the dark cell, only taken from it to watch someone she had sworn to protect be tortured?  What sort of service did this man want?  She knew he awaited a response.<br/><br/><br/>