17. Phoebe

17

PHOEBE

P hoebe moaned and cried and apologized over and over and over.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she gasped as the stinging blows continued to rain down on her bare behind.

But Sirex didn't stop until he'd counted to ten and she had said she was sorry after each blow. By the time he was finished, Phoebe's ass felt like it was on fire!

At the same time, though, her pussy was wet. Not just wet— drenched . Almost as much as it had been when he'd been petting her nipples and clit as he mapped her for the harness. What was wrong with her? It wasn't that she liked the pain—was it because her stern mentor was forcing her to submit? Or maybe that he was punishing her in such a public place with everyone watching her shame?

Phoebe didn't know. She only knew that when the last blow finally fell, she burst into tears and felt incredibly horny at the same time. What was going on with her?

"All right now. Have you learned your lesson?" Sirex set her back on her feet, pulling her forward to stand between his spread legs. He was so tall that they were still nearly eye-to-eye, even with him sitting and her standing.

"Y-yes," Phoebe sobbed. She was trying not to cry but the whole experience had been overwhelming. And she was so confused about what she was feeling—a complex mixture of lust, embarrassment, and anger as well as the desire to just curl up in his lap and be comforted.

"Yes, what?" he asked sternly.

"Yes, Sir." She swiped at her eyes and took a trembling breath.

"And are you ever going to speak so disrespectfully to a male again?" he demanded.

"N-no, Sir," she whispered, shaking her head.

"Good. Then come here." He drew her into his arms and hugged her briefly. "Be a good girl," he murmured in her ear. " Don't make me spank you again."

"I…I'll t-try to be good."

Phoebe still wasn't quite sure why she'd shouted at the huge, ugly Trollox in the first place. Yes, she was outraged by the way women were treated here, but she was smart enough not to say anything. Somehow, though, when Thruck had been talking about how women just couldn't "keep their fingers out of their honeypots" and therefore had to be restrained, her anger had bubbled over and she hadn't been able to help blurting out what she was thinking.

She wondered if it had anything at all to do with the faint, sweet smell that seemed to permeate the air here? Was there some kind of drug circulating in the air currents of the palace?

"Good," Sirex said, interrupting her thoughts. "Now come on—let's see if they'll let us stay."

He pushed her gently away and then rose and took the leash attached to the harness to lead her back to Lord Thruck and Undersecretary Y'sfer.

"As you see, I have punished her," he said, nodding at Phoebe, who was still sniffling quietly. "I don't tolerate backtalk from my females. Now tell me about these non-con bracelets. Can you guarantee me they won't hurt my woman in any way?"

"A most entertaining punishment," Lord Thruck remarked and Phoebe couldn't help noticing that his piggy yellow eyes were gleaming with satisfaction. "Y'sfer, call a female up so we can show our new friend Sirex how the non-cons work."

"At once, my Lord!" Y'sfer pointed to a female who was kneeling on the floor near them. "You—Be'ti'ta? Come here!"

"Yes, my Lord?" The girl had pale blue skin and darker blue hair that complemented her natural coloring. She also had blue eyes which widened as she got up quickly to obey Y'sfer's command.

"Good. Now, then—stand right here where this gentleman can see you," Y'sfer instructed her.

The girl stood in front of Sirex, where Y'sfer pointed, her blue eyes wide with apprehension. She had on nothing but two thick silver manacles and an elaborate three-point silver harness much like the one Phoebe had on, only her nipples were pierced with two silver hoops. The chain for the leash of the harness ran through the two loops, which hung down to dangle near her belly button.

"Now Be'ti'ta—touch yourself," Y'sfer commanded.

"My Lord? I'm afraid I don't understand," she protested.

The Undersecretary rolled his eyes at Sirex as if to say, " Women ."

"Very well, I'll be explicit—touch your breasts," he told her. "Play with your nipples."

Her face went a paler shade of blue.

"But, my Lord?—"

"Just do it! Or I shall I have you flogged for half an hour?" he demanded, glaring at her.

"Yes, my Lord." The girl raised her hands to her mostly bare breasts, a winching expression of anticipated pain on her face.

Soon enough, Phoebe saw the reason for her expression—the moment her fingers made contact with her breasts, sparks flew between her fingertips and her nipples and a zap! could be heard.

With a little cry, the girl named Be'ti'ta pulled her hands away.

The display reminded Phoebe of what happened when a bug flew into one of those electric bug zappers and got fried. It was completely inhumane but Thruck and Y'sfer seemed to think it was a good joke because both of them burst into laughter—which in the case of the huge Trollox was a high, irritating tittering which immediately got on Phoebe's nerves.

She felt a burst of indignation—she wanted to tell the bastard off for making that poor girl hurt herself! But before she could say a word, Sirex turned and gave her a stern look and a short, sharp shake of his head.

Phoebe swallowed her rage and clenched her hands into fists. What was wrong with her? She'd been just about to blurt out her feelings yet again, even though her ass was still stinging from his punishment. She had to keep a better reign on her emotions.

But the display wasn't over yet.

"Very good, Be'ti'ta—now touch your pussy," Y'sfer demanded.

"But, my Lord…" Her big blue eyes were pleading for mercy, but it was clear she wasn't going to get any.

"Do it now!" The Undersecretary demanded.

Biting her lip, Be'ti'ta reached for the soft mound of dark blue curls nestled between her thighs. This time her fingertips didn't even get within an inch of her pussy before a series of bright, electric sparks jumped between them.

"Ow!" she gasped, yanking her hands away.

"There—you see?" Thruck said, turning to Sirex. "The non-con bracelets simply keep a female from touching her pleasure zones—which should be only for the male who owns her to touch."

"What about the rest of her body?" Sirex demanded. "And what about taking a bath or a shower? I don't wish to electrocute my female—she's extremely valuable to me!"

"Oh, she can touch other places—just not erogenous zones. Be'ti'ta, touch your hair," Y'sfer told the hapless blue girl, who was still standing there.

"Yes, my Lord." She reached up with one hand and touched her long, straight blue hair, running her fingers through it.

This time there were no electrical shocks or sparks, Phoebe noted.

"See?" Y'sfer said to Sirex. "And as for bathing, the non-cons are quite safe in the water, as long as your female doesn't attempt to touch her naughty zones while she's wet. I recommend you bathe those areas yourself. But of course, that's only if you're staying overnight with us, which I rather doubt."

"Well…" Sirex seemed to be considering his options but Phoebe knew there weren't any. It was either put on the non-con bracelets or get kicked out of the palace and give up on the mission.

I'll be damned if I give up now! she thought angrily. She'd already endured the humiliation of a public spanking—a few hours of wearing the stupid bracelets wouldn't make any difference.

Sirex seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"Very well, give me the bracelets," he growled at last. Y'sfer handed him the box and he removed one of the thick golden manacles and turned to Phoebe.

Silently, she held out her wrists to him. There was no point in fighting about it—this was going to happen. It was the only way they could complete their mission.

"Ah, I see she's better behaved now," Y'sfer remarked as Sirex fastened first one and then the second manacle around Phoebe's wrists.

"Yes, she is." Lord Thruck sounded less than pleased about it. Phoebe wondered why and then she remembered the greedy look in his yellow eyes as he had watched Sirex spanking her. Maybe he liked watching women get punished.

"There," Sirex said, as he finished putting the second manacle around her wrist and snapping it in place. "Now, is there some kind of key I can use if I want to take them off her?"

"We are afraid not. We hold the key to all the non-cons ourself," Lord Thruck said, with a self-satisfied smirk. "You may use the key to free your female when you leave the palace. If you wish to—many of our guests decide to keep their female in the bracelets indefinitely," he added. "It makes them so much more tractable."

"Yes, I'm sure it does," Sirex growled. "Very well. Now may I have an audience with the Emperor?"

"We never got to finish examining your female," Thruck said, frowning with his sane head. (The other one, with three eyes, looked completely crazy to Phoebe.) "Strip her and bring her forward again."

This time it was Sirex removing her clothing. As he pulled away her top, Phoebe instinctively tried to cover her breasts with her hands—at once a powerful jolt of electricity shocked her.

"Ow!" she cried. It was like sticking all ten of her fingers in a light socket at once!

"Ah-ha—that is what you get for trying to hide your body from a male who wishes to look at you!" Thruck remarked in his high, whiny voice. There was a self-satisfied smirk on his face that Phoebe wanted to wipe away with her fist!

But she couldn't, of course. She couldn't do anything but stand there with her hands at her sides—very carefully not touching any of her "lady bits" as her Granny called them—and wait as Sirex removed her skirt as well.

"There—look! Now we know why she was trying to hide her tits," Undersecretary Y'sfer exclaimed, pointing at Phoebe's breasts. "Why, her nipples aren't even pierced!"

"What? How shocking!" Lord Thruck leaned down to get a better look and Phoebe was suddenly confronted with both of his heads—each as big and as a large watermelon—right in her face.

She had to fight to keep herself from flinching back from the Trollox's scrutiny. The breath of the crazy head was foul—it smelled like rotten meat and hot garbage—not surprising since all the teeth in its wide, drooling mouth were little brown stubs.

But having the non-crazy head so close to her was even worse somehow. There was a hungry light in the tiny yellow eyes—much too small for the enormous face—that made Phoebe's blood run cold.

He really does like seeing people get hurt—especially women. He hates women, she thought and knew it was true.

Sirex stepped closer, pulling her back against his side protectively.

"What does that have to do with me getting to see the Emperor?" he demanded.

"Why, we cannot have a female with unpierced nipples abusing the eyes of the Shining One!" Thruck remarked, straightening up at last to Phoebe's immense relief. "Besides, everyone knows nipple rings are the only proper way to control a female when she's wearing a harness!"

"I am not piercing my female's nipples—I don't care what you say!" Sirex growled. "I've punished her enough for one day."

"Well, then I suppose you'll have to leave the palace." Undersecretary Y'sfer shrugged his narrow shoulders. "We can't have unpierced nipples here!"

Phoebe's heart sank. Were they really going to fail their mission over this? Maybe she should go ahead and let them pierce her nipples—though the very thought of anything sharp going through such a sensitive area made her wince in horrors.

"She's once for dinner and twice for tea. Some for the lady and some for me!"

The new voice was low and rumbling—after a moment, Phoebe realized it was the crazy head of Lord Thruck that was talking.

"What's that? What did you say?" The sane head turned toward the mad one, frowning.

"She came to see and stay she must. The Emperor's gaze will see her lust," the second head said in that deep, grating voice. Then the third eye in the center of its forehead abruptly popped open, showing a vivid purple iris with a slitted pupil, like a cat's eye. "I see you, little girl," the crazy head's voice went high—almost as high as the normal head's voice. "You're going to stay but you might be sorry you did!"

The strange gaze made Phoebe shiver with apprehension—what was it talking about?

Before she could ask, the bright purple eye closed abruptly and the crazy head slumped forward, a thin line of drool running from the tip of one tusk to drip onto Lord Thruck's velvet breeches.

"My Lord, your second head speaks prophecy!" Undersecretary Y'sfer's eyes were wide. "But what does it mean?"

"It means nothing—it speaks nonsense!" Thruck protested, but Phoebe thought his sane head looked uneasy. "Nevertheless, they may stay," he went on, nodding at her and Sirex. "Y'sfer, get them a guest suite and be sure there's a place at the banquet table for them tonight." The sane head looked directly at Sirex. "You have until tomorrow to prove to me that you deserve an audience with the Shining One. Tomorrow morning we'll discuss this again. Now, go!"

The Trollox waved one ham-sized hand imperiously and his Undersecretary was quick to comply.

"Come! I'll show you to a room," he said quickly. Then he scurried out of the Grand Salon, leaving Sirex and Phoebe to follow.