Seraglio of the Gods - Segment 09

Chapter 41

I settled myself more comfortably between Vulcan’s legs before begging him, “Please don’t stop there. What happened after that?’

Vulcan laughed at my impatience, but gave in. “Because Iris’s abduction occurred at night, nobody knew the identity of the man on horseback. For that reason, Baptiste was able to walk among the villages, sure in the knowledge he had gotten away with seducing the young maiden. However, his sadistic urge to have a sexual slave grew stronger as the days of forced celibacy went by. There weren’t any other females as beautiful as Iris had been, but her younger cousin Celeste came close. It didn’t matter to him the child was only 14 years old at the time.”

I shuddered at the thought of what Baptiste was about to do. “Please tell me he didn’t…”

“Hush, woman, let me finish.” Vulcan squeezed his arms tighter around my waist to get me to be quiet. “A week after the discovery of Iris’s body, Baptiste no longer could resist the craving for a young body struggling under him. Just after midnight, he crawled through an open window into Celeste’s bedroom. There she slept, ready and waiting for him, or so he thought. In his fevered haste to take her to his home in the forest, he became careless. He failed to see her faithful dog near the bed, sound asleep. When he stepped on the dog as he reached for the young girl, the dog woke up and started howling.

“The noise woke Celeste’s father and two older brothers, and they raced into the little girl’s room. There they saw Baptiste with Celeste slung over his shoulder trying to fight off the attacking dog. The young child was screaming in terror, almost loud enough to drown out the frenzied howls of her dog. One of the brothers grabbed Celeste while her other two relatives angrily beat Baptiste to the floor. When the three men finished with Baptiste, they dragged him outside. Neighbors were coming out of their homes, alerted by Celeste’s screams.

I dared to ask a couple questions, even as I felt Vulcan’s arms tighten even more around me. “Was the man still alive? What happened to him?”

“You really are an impatient puss, aren’t you?” I could tell Vulcan wasn’t annoyed and sat quietly waiting for him to go on with the story. “Yes, he was still alive, but just barely. Surrounded by the villagers he had terrorized over the years, Baptiste groveled on the ground and begged for them to spare his life. When the beating by Celeste’s family continued, he admitted to abducting her cousin Iris and keeping her as a sex slave with the use of the chain. Baptiste managed to pull the golden chain from a pocket and offer it to any man in the village who wanted it if they would just spare his life.

I sadly shook my head, trying to deny what the evil man was doing. Which villager would accept the chain, and how would he treat the woman in his life by owning it?

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Chapter 42

Vulcan went on, probably realizing how sad the story was making me. “Before any other male in the village could accept Baptiste’s evil offer, the devastated father of the slain young girl grabbed the chain from his hands. ‘This will kill no more children,’ he cried and fought his way out of the crowd.”

I gave a small sigh of relief. However, the memory of the chain around my own waist had me wondering why it still existed. Before I could ask, Vulcan reached over to where the chain was on a bed pillow. He picked it up and draped it carefully over my thighs. “The father watched from a distance as the crowd of men parted to let their wives and daughters get closer to the terrified Baptiste. The seducer knew he was about to die at the hands of these females, angry women determined to avenge the death of young Iris.”

Vulcan leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. “Like most men and a few gods, Baptiste knew there was nothing more vicious than women where children were involved. He died that dark night, not quickly but slowly and by inches. Each female, ranging from a girl just turned 13 to an elderly grandmother of 68, pulled out a knife and proceeded to hack out a small portion of his body. They started with his ears and continued down ever so slowly. Next, they sliced off flesh from his shoulders. Blood from there mingling with that dripping down from where his ears used to be. At this point, one woman sent her husband for a large bucket to collect the blood.”

I shuddered at the image of Baptiste on the ground, screaming from the pain. Vulcan hugged me closer to his body before telling me what happened after that. “His clothes had been pulled off, and he felt the knives digging out hunks of his naked chest. The wife took the bucket from her husband, and the older women tipped Baptiste over onto his side. This let the blood from his sliced chest pour into the container. The knives, rapidly becoming dull from their macabre use, cut into the rest of his body, his back, thighs, and lower legs.” Vulcan lowered his voice almost to a whisper, before he told me what the women did next.

“The crowd of men involuntarily stepped back away from the mutilated man when Iris’s mother took aim at Baptiste’s genitals. She first rubbed her knife in the blood-crusted dirt surrounding the shrieking murderer. Never taking her eyes off his face and with a smile as innocent as that of any Vestal Virgin, she grabbed his genitals. Holding them firmly in one hand, she began sawing them off with the filthy and dull knife. She took her time, pausing now and then to inspect her progress. She leaned her head first to one side and then the other, checking that she was getting the complete scrotal sac. By now, Baptiste was beyond screaming with his blood rapidly pouring out of the many wounds and turning the dirt into mud.”

I turned slightly in Vulcan’s arms to see his face. He was holding me tightly, but I realized his mind was far away in a village long since gone, reliving the facts of his story. “When the mother finally removed Baptiste’s testes and penis, she tossed them into the bucket to sink below the collected blood. Standing up and still holding the instrument of her revenge, she and the others silently watched as the lifeblood of the man on the ground flowed out, leaving him just a carcass ready for the village pigs to gnaw on.”

The thought of Baptiste becoming food for the pigs somehow seemed a fitting end, but I still was curious about the fate of the chain. Vulcan soon satisfied this curiosity, and I wasn’t sure if I was horrified or relieved.

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Chapter 43

“Are you sure you want me to continue with this?” Vulcan quietly asked this when he saw me pushing the chain off my thighs. It rested on the bed near us, a repugnant reminder of its original purpose.

“Vulcan, you removed my chain. Why?” I whispered this, not daring to look at him.

Vulcan didn’t answer that, but carefully picked up the chain. He turned it over and over as if looking for a way to tell me what happened to the chain after Baptiste’s death. With a big sigh, he made up his mind and continued. “Iris’s father left the angry villagers and brought the chain back to the forge. He threw it angrily at my feet and pleaded for me to destroy it. ‘Because of you, my sweet child is dead, and I can never forgive you or any of the gods. Destroy this vile item before more young girls like my Iris are defiled.’ I swore I would, and he returned to his village, trusting I would honor my word to him.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I planned to, but my father had heard the commotion and demanded I give him the chain.” Vulcan smiled without a trace of humor at this memory. “When Jupiter demands, everyone obeys, whether they are god or mortal.”

“So, the chain of submission you created still exists.” I watched Vulcan carefully place the chain back onto the bed. “In fact, from what I’ve seen, you even made more of them, didn’t you?” I pushed myself away from between his legs and got out of bed before he could stop me. “I hate you for doing that to us. Do you have such contempt for women you consign us to a life of slavery?”

“Melody, you don’t understand.” Vulcan actually sounded as if he was begging me to listen, but my fury at a male I adored and trusted was too strong. I ran out of the room and outside into the yard. I never even noticed where I was until I climbed the stairs and ran sobbing into the women’s quarters.

Only when I heard shocked cries from the other women did I see that Vulcan had chased after me. He slowly limped into the room, a place he and every other male were strictly forbidden to enter, except with Jupiter.

I silently watched as he came toward me. The women were so surprised by this intrusion into their restricted area they forgot to bow and hide from him. Step by step, Vulcan passed by the women until he stood in front of me.

“Melody,” he said, loudly enough the women nearby also heard him. “You didn’t let me tell you everything about the various chains. Now, sit down and be quiet until I finish.” Suddenly realizing we weren’t alone, he asked the other women to also be quiet and join us.

“Vulcan,” whispered Brianna, the shy concubine of Oghma, “you’re not supposed to be here.”

Vulcan motioned her to sit on the cushions next to me. “I know, child, but I think it’s time you females know why you’re here and what will happen to you when or if your master removes your chain.” He glanced at Brianna’s naked hips, and then smiled when he saw her hand.

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Chapter 44

Vulcan’s gentle manner with Brianna overcame the women’s fear of being so close to a god who was not their master. I watched as, one after another, they came to sit on the floor around us. All except Izzy seemed comfortable with Vulcan’s presence. She left the room, muttering, but I quickly forgot all about her.

“Vulcan,” I asked when the women around us were finally quiet. “Is the original chain of submission destroyed or not? Where did the ones you males force us to wear come from? What happens when a god removes one of them?”

Vulcan smiled at my impatient questions and looked around at the women near us. “The original chain is in Jupiter’s possession. When he chooses a woman from earth for a god or demigod, he gives the chain to one of his satyrs. After the satyr completes the lessons of obedience, he places the chain around the submissive female’s body. Only Jupiter can remove it, and he is the one who brings all the unconscious women to this room.”

“So, the chain stays on at that time?” Brianna was hesitant in asking this, but I could see many of the women wanted to know this, too.

Vulcan nodded. “Just before the woman wakes up, he removes it and replaces that chain with one I made for the chosen male.” Seeing I was about to interrupt, he quickly added, “Yes, Melody, Jupiter had me make more chains. He enjoyed immense pleasure in the way Baptiste was able to have his perverted way with the young woman.”

Vulcan realized the other women had never heard about Baptiste and Iris and quickly repeated the story he’d just told me. Ignoring their horrified cries, he then tried to once again answer my questions. “It’s true I made the rest of the chains, but I insisted on certain rules before I would. Against his will and furious that I was defying him in any way, Jupiter gave in.”

The pleased look on Vulcan’s face confused me. How can he be happy when he’s the one making us slaves? He’s no better than Ares who at least doesn’t hide his cruelty. As if Vulcan could read my angry thoughts, he pulled me onto the cushion where he was sitting. With his arm tight around my waist, I was unable to move away from him.

“Sit still, woman, if you want to hear the rest.” The return of Izzy interrupted Vulcan’s annoyed command. The women around us scattered in terror when they saw Jupiter coming in behind the old servant. He looked furious, but Vulcan didn’t move or get up from the cushion to greet him. Vulcan also kept his arm around me so I couldn’t escape with the other women.

“Hello, father,” Vulcan said, not a trace of fear in his voice, “I was expecting you.”

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Chapter 45

“How dare you be here without my permission?” Jupiter’s angry voice filled the large room, but Vulcan continued to sit on the cushions, seemingly unaffected by his father’s fury.

When he let go of me and stood to face the older god, I tried to make myself as small as possible. I knew even though Vulcan was powerful, he would be no match for the infuriated Jupiter, the supreme ruler of both mortal and lesser gods. “I dare,” I heard my master say quietly, “because there is something you and Hera want from me. I’m here to bring Melody back to the safety of my home first.”

Vulcan turned and gently helped me to my feet to stand with him. Without warning, Jupiter lashed out with his foot and slammed it into Vulcan’s lame leg. My master fell to the ground and struggled to stand.

“You dare to put the welfare of your slave before Hera’s wishes?” Jupiter’s thundering voice rattled the empty dishes left on the tables after the women’s recent meal. “I see her chain is gone, so I demand her for myself. After I decapitate your slut, you will give in to what Hera wants of you.” Jupiter next knocked him unconscious with yet another violent blow, this time to Vulcan’s head. I suddenly saw a long sword in Jupiter’s right hand. He placed the sword against my neck in preparation for cutting off my head, a satisfied smile on his face.

The cold metal started slicing into my tender flesh, and I cried out in pain. Hot, wet blood started down my neck to drip onto my exposed breast. When the razor-sharp sword dug deeper to make my blood flow out faster, I crumbled to the floor, weeping uncontrollably in terror.

“Stand up, slave,” roared Jupiter, using his free hand to drag me back to my feet. “My wife demands her son return to Venus, and you’re in the way.” He flung the sword away from him, and I watched it disappear into thin air. He ignored my pleas for mercy. “I’ve changed my mind. First I’ll enjoy your luscious body, and then have you watch Vulcan give in to Hera in order to save your life…for a short time at least.”

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To be continued in next segment.

Seraglio of the Gods - Segment 10  (XGC) Chapters 46 through 50 #1319166 by J. A. Buxton