The hot afternoon sun began to bake the courtyard, and the women were growing both physically and mentally exhausted with their lesson. Even the men had soaked through their uniforms with sweat, and though they did not let on that they were frustrated with what little progress the harem had made, Cinder, between her attempts at jabbing her soldier and breaking free of his grasp, could sense their growing impatience.
Mistress Tula, Mistress Krin, and Mistress Lana also looked less than pleased as they sat in a shadowy part of the courtyard, watching them all with scrutiny. Why the three sisters weren’t expected to train, Cinder didn't know. But she hated the way the women watched her.
"I cannot do any more of this today," Elbi said, and she stepped away from her trainer immediately. "I don’t feel well."
"All right, ladies. That’s enough for today," Nico gave in.
The women let out a collective breath and began to walk their glistening bodies and damp heads of hair out of the courtyard. All of them were bedraggled. They were also emotionally spent.
Cinder hung back. She watched Elbi stretch her aching back, and believed she could see her crying. The soldiers were now on the far side of the courtyard, standing in the shade of an old date palm and chatting to each other. Cinder walked over to Elbi and touched the small of her back.
"Elbi, are you sick? What's wrong?" she asked, her brow furrowed in genuine concern.
Elbi cast her eyes down to her feet and shook her head with a mixture of agony and anger.
"I'm not sick. I'm just tired of waking up and preparing for war, then having nightmares about war, then waking up and starting the whole cycle again." Her hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, but she still exuded a beauty that made Cinder jealous. "I overhear the soldiers talking and what they say is terrifying."
Cinder's heart stopped. "What… what do they say?"
Elbi opened her mouth to tell her and then shook her head. She began to whip around and walk away, but Cinder deftly snatched her wrist and pulled her back.
The soldiers had noticed the exchange all at once and looked curiously over at the two women. Nico pardoned himself and walked over to them. "Is there a problem, ladies?" he asked.
Somewhat ashamed, Cinder felt her cheeks brighten and she let go of Elbi's wrist. Though she was embarrassed, she knew that Elbi would open up to her eventually. She would get her alone, and she would find out what was really in store for them.
"Let me handle this," Mistress Tula said as she came up from behind. "It’s my job to oversee the harem's behavior and well-being. If Elbi is ill, I shall attend to her."
Elbi quickly shook her head. "I'm not ill. I just—"
"You had the training stopped because you declared you were ill." Mistress Tula grabbed Elbi's arm and started to pull her toward the main building. "Come with me." She paused and looked over her shoulder. "Cinder, I think you should come as well. I want to make sure you have not caught anything from your friend."
She followed Mistress Tula—albeit reluctantly—to the main building. This wasn't going to end well; Cinder knew that much.
As they entered the living quarters, Mistress Tula ordered, "Remove your silks, find a corner and kneel in it. I’ll return in a moment."
The women gave each other a knowing look. Both quickly removed their clothing, as ordered, and kneeled in separate corners, as close together as possible so they could still converse.
"Where do you think she went?" Cinder whispered, feeling the cooler air of the room against her naked skin.
"I don't know. But I don't have a good feeling about this."
The door opened and Cinder could hear Mistress Tula dragging something into the room. It sounded heavy and bulky by the way the woman was huffing and puffing. Cinder wanted to turn around, but didn't dare. She had been on too many receiving ends of Mistress Tula's wrath. So instead, she pressed her nose closer to the dusty corner. She hoped Mistress Tula would appreciate her compliant, good girl behavior.
Goosebumps covered her skin as a chill worked up Cinder's spine. Part of it was the temperature of the barren room, and the other part was in anticipation of what was to come.
"Elbi, come over here and lie on the table. Put your feet in the stirrups. Cinder, you can come over and watch while you wait your turn."
As they turned from their corner, Cinder saw that Mistress Tula had brought in an exam table and a tray of tools.
"Do not look so surprised. The prince was planning on turning Casen into a secondary harem until the war with Jaden hit. So there are some necessary harem training tools here. I believe an exam should have been performed on every harem girl upon entering Casen, but for now we will start with Elbi."
Elbi quickly did as she was asked. The harem girl training in her was still very clear.
Cinder went and stood next to the table as directed by Mistress Tula's hand gesture.
Mistress Tula gloved up and spread Elbi’s legs even more. "Scoot your bottom to the edge."
Elbi did as she asked, glanced at Cinder and then closed her eyes. Her face was bright red, and she grimaced as the first implement went inside her. Cinder didn't want to look at the metal tools going into Elbi’s vagina. They scared her, and since she was probably next, she really didn't want to know what was going to go inside her own body. Some things were better not known.
After a few moments, Mistress Tula broke the silence. "You are not a virgin anymore! And I know everyone the prince has ever been with sexually, and neither of you are on that list!"
Elbi sat up instantly, looking stunned at the accusation.
"You are no harem girl! You’ll be cast off from here!" Mistress Tula stood up, with fury burning in her eyes. She looked over at Cinder. "Are you still a virgin?" The anger made the woman look crazy.
Cinder nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Mistress Tula." Panic sank in, and she had no choice but to lie. She was too scared to admit the truth. Cinder wasn't sure what all this meant that Elbi wasn’t a virgin… had she also had sex with Donte?
Intense jealousy took over.
No. Not with Donte. He was hers! Hers.
But was he?
She looked at Elbi, who still sat with her mouth open and eyes wide.
"Elbi, stand up and lean over the bed this instant!"
Elbi quickly scrambled off the exam table and leaned over as directed. She stuck her bottom out—she was no novice to being punished. Mistress Tula walked over to a trunk against the wall and pulled out a leather belt. Cinder swallowed back her fear. She was about to watch her friend get whipped by a belt.
Mistress Tula wasted no time and offered no warm up. She rained lash after lash of the belt on a howling Elbi. She offered no mercy as the welts criss-crossed poor Elbi’s ass. Elbi rose on her toes and screamed out with every whip of the belt.
Cinder had never seen anyone punished so severely. Over and over, the belting continued. Cinder cried for her friend and struggled not to step in to save her. She stood helpless, not sure what to do. Not sure if she was next. Not sure of anything except that her friend was getting the punishment of a lifetime. Elbi screamed and pleaded, begging for mercy. But Mistress Tula continued. Just when Cinder was going to run screaming from the room for help, as foolish as that might have been, the beating ended.
"Both of you get on your arms and knees. Face down and asses high in the air. Now!" she screeched, when Cinder and Elbi hesitated.
The two women did as she asked, never glancing at each other for fear of what Mistress Tula would do. Cinder knew what this position meant. Something was going to happen anally. Any question of that was quickly remedied by Mistress Tula walking around them.
"You girls must be cleansed. Clearly it’s overdue." And with that, a nozzle for an enema was shoved into Cinder's tight hole. She couldn't help but cry out. Mostly due to the surprise, but also because it appeared no lubrication was used, and the entrance past her puckered skin wasn't very smooth. Elbi gasped a second later, as the same intrusion happened to her.
Mistress Tula started to pump the nozzle in and out of Cinder's dry anus. By the sounds of Elbi, it seemed as if Mistress Tula was doing the same to her with her other hand. She was relentlessly ass fucking both of them with the enema nozzles.
"You will take these enemas while I go find the prince and tell him of Elbi's deflowering." Mistress Tula punctuated each word of her sentence with a thrust of the dry nozzle. Each aggressive thrust rubbed Cinder's puckered hole raw. She gasped and wiggled, but she tried her best to take the invasion without complaint for fear that she, too, would get a belting.
Mistress Tula stood and turned on the enemas. It wasn't long before the cool fluid began to enter Cinder's channel. She hated enemas, but if this meant no more ass fucking by a plastic nozzle, then she was happy to receive it.
"I’ll be back. Neither one of you move, or a whipping will follow." Footsteps were all that could be heard until the closing of the door.
As the door closed, Cinder asked, "Elbi, are you all right?" Elbi was only inches from her, so she didn't have to speak very loudly.
Elbi lifted her tear-stained face and said, "Yes. I’ll be fine."
"I've never seen someone get punished so badly. Are you in pain?"
Elbi shook her head. "I'm fine. Please don't worry." She grimaced as no doubt the cramping in her lower belly began—as it did with Cinder.
Cinder moaned, suddenly wanting to evacuate her bowels. She breathed through it and tried to continue talking. "You aren't a virgin?" She couldn't help but worry whether Elbi would indeed be cast out. She also didn’t want to picture Elbi being with Donte intimately.
Having his baby.
Being… his.
Did he claim Elbi as his just as he did with Cinder?
Did he say that to all the women of the harem?
"No, I'm not. My virginity and my body belong to one of the head guards of the palace. He’s one of Prince Donte’s commanders now." She smiled and huffed. "I don’t even care anymore. I love him. So if I get cast out for love, then so be it."
Cinder released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
Thank God. Thank fucking God. Elbi did not lose her virginity to Donte.
"Well, why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you stop her from whipping you?" Cinder couldn't believe what she was hearing. Elbi was in love, and prepared to face whatever consequences were in store.
"I was shocked. I wasn't prepared to tell anyone. And I wasn't sure if the commander wanted the information to be shared. He’s so busy with the war preparations that I don’t believe he has told Prince Donte yet. Maybe he has. I just don’t know, so I remained quiet."
The fluid seemed to stop flowing from the nozzle in her ass, but that meant it was all inside her now. The cramping grew worse, and Cinder needed to release the pressure soon. She rocked from side to side and moaned. She couldn't focus on Elbi anymore. Just when she thought she couldn't take it any longer, Cinder reached under her body and began rubbing her lower abdomen. The position was awkward, since she was still on all fours, but she had to something.
"Just take deep breaths," Elbi soothed. The massage seemed to help—but not enough.
"Ahhh I can't! I can't hold it any longer." Cinder panicked. She knew that if she released her enema, a belt lashing would follow. And she knew she was not nearly as strong as Elbi in taking severe correction. Clenching her bottom only made the nozzle of the enema feel more intense. But if she didn't, she feared what would happen.
Cinder removed her hand quickly when the door suddenly opened. Mistress Tula came storming in and placed two buckets in front of both of them. "Evacuate your bowels in the buckets. Two guards are on the other side of the door to take you both back to your quarters." She walked away and back to the door. "Training to be a soldier or not, there are rules of the harem. Remember that." The door slammed closed behind her.
Cinder didn't waste any time, nor did Elbi. They both sat on their buckets and allowed the explosive release. Even though Cinder was doing this in front of her friend, the humiliation was excruciating. She tried not to look at Elbi, even though their buckets were almost touching.
As they both exited the room in shame, neither said a word to each other. Cinder had no choice but to head to Donte's quarters and hope this incident would just disappear.