THE QUEEN`S SLAVE WOMAN
Book One
THE PUNISHING OF JENDRI
By
SUSANNA VALENT
A Renaissance E Books publication
ISBN 1-58873-232-0
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2003 Susanna Valent
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
For information email:
publisher@renebooks.com
A Sizzler/Sappho Edition
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PROLOGUE
On a tiny planet circling the star called Upsilon Andromedae, in the Terran year 1412...
* * *
"Riki, you slut!"
Inwardly, Jendri groaned. It was the Queen, none other, and using that hated name again.
The former general had no choice. She rose from scrubbing the floor of the private throne
room and went at once to kneel at the booted feet of her new owner.
"Lick."
That was all the Queen had to do to receive oral pleasure from her new slave. To be sure
she had other slaves, and a harem as well, but more often than not, she enjoyed tormenting
her new toy with her insatiable sex drive. She planted a scuffed and dirty boot on each of
Jendri`s shoulders and crowed with laughter, settling herself for yet another deeply
satisfying orgasm.
Jendri shuddered and obeyed, trying as always, to think of other things. Her memories
drifted back to the awful turning point.
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CHAPTER 1
It was early morning in the command tent, field headquarters of General Jendrickar
Verrian, General of the Obdurian Armies. Orderlies scurried about, supplying the senior
staff with steaming mugs of their favorite steeped stimulant. Colonels and majors of both
genders milled about the map tables, trying to decide how best to deploy their troops.
They had been fighting the Asperians for days, probing for any weakness in their lines
that would allow the Obdurians to employ a classic pincer movement to cut off the leading
edge of the army from their capital and supply lines. Once this was done, the Obdurians
hoped to impress upon the Asperians the improvements a republic would bring to their
society. As everyone in nations far and wide knew, the Asperians were ruled by a cruel and
capricious queen. A republic was, in the opinion of the Obdurian government, more stable
and more likely to accept overtures to increased trade. All they had to do was get the
queen off the throne, put in a temporary military government, and in a few months, help
the Asperians to elect their own officials. Trade negotiations would follow soon after.
The Asperians, grateful to be rid of their anachronistic monarchy, would surely offer the
best terms to the country who had freed them from bondage.
And who better to head this temporary martial government than the General of the Armies,
Jendrickar Verrian herself? There was a stirring at one end of the tent. Two
foot-soldiers, armed with polished lances, pulled the flaps aside, and in strode the
heroic officer. Her metal-studded leather armor made her already broad shoulders look even
wider. Scarred insignia along her right upper arm proclaimed her the victor of several
battles. The senior officers quickly drew themselves to attention, careful not to drop or
spill their heavy pewter tankards of hot brew. Yet another orderly presented the general
with a silver tankard and withdrew.
"Ladies, gentlemen, let`s get right to it." General Verrian began. As usual,
there was no time for pleasantries. Quickly, she outlined her latest strategy, flicking
her eyes from the map to her senior leaders as she spoke, making each one feel included,
searching for signs of reluctance. There were none. She nodded, satisfied. This campaign
would end as every other had, with a victory, medals for herself and many others, and
plentiful offers of intimacy, as if she didn`t already have more lovers than she could
accommodate. She brushed the thought aside.
"To arms!" she ordered, bringing her fist down on the table. Immediately
buglers sounded the call and aides brought war-horses forward. Jendri mounted, her hair
standing on end beneath her helmet as the catapults lumbered past. Today would bring the
end of this little war for certain.
* * *
She couldn`t believe their misfortune. Apparently Asperian troop strength had been
greatly underestimated, or her staff had been fed misinformation by their spies. No time
for that now. Verrian spurred her war-horse toward her ragged, outnumbered soldiers,
desperately fighting a troop of fearsome and well-armed opponents. She halted and threw
herself off, laying into the nearest Asperians with her sword. She fought ferociously as
they struggled against all odds to save themselves.
Just as it seemed they might win, and thereby escape, and as Verrian prepared to drive
her sword into an adversary on the ground, a net ensnared her, rendering her helpless.
The woman on the ground leaped up and was on the point of driving her own weapon into
Verrian when a harsh voice halted her. "Stop, Fracta! Queen K`Endarra will wish her
unharmed." Eyes flashing sullenly, the Asperian lowered her sword and stepped back,
glowering at the speaker, who wore captain`s insignia.
The general struggled uselessly against the net. "Let me go!" she snapped.
"At once!" Both Asperians laughed.
"You are in no position to make demands, Verrian," Fracta, her would-be
executioner sneered. "You are our prisoner. Queen K`Endarra will be quite pleased
with this trophy." She gave a malicious laugh at Verrian`s furious snarl. "Oh,
yes. The commanding general of the Obdurian army. The Queen will reward us handsomely
indeed!"
The captain dismounted and picked Verrian up as easily as a sack of flour and put her
over her shoulder, striding toward the fallen leader`s horse, who reared threateningly as
they approached. "Calm this animal," the officer said tersely, or I will have
her destroyed."
No! Spare her! Verrian thought. She uttered a sharp command and the horse quieted,
standing obediently still.
The Asperian captain threw Verrian facedown over the saddle and trussed her up tightly as
a festival fowl. Then she led the charger to her own mount. She and her underlings spurred
their horses and galloped away from a battlefield littered with Obduria`s dead.
Arriving at the castle of the powerful Queen K`Endarra Golgathex, the Asperian soldiers
took Verrian from the horse and carried her in. She struggled furiously but could do
nothing except cause the stronger Asperians to stagger, cursing. Tall and strong for a
light-boned northerner, the General was still no match for these muscular southern-folk.
They brought her into a bright, airy room whose walls and floor were tiled in pink marble.
When they untied Verrian she sprang up, fists and feet flying. The largest Asperian seized
her in a paralyzing armlock, looking to her superior for orders.
"Listen to me, Verrian," the captain said harshly. "We brought one of your
soldiers back, too. If you do not stop fighting us, we will torture her while you
watch." Verrian went still, breathing hard. Her heart sank. She knew only too well
that these brutal Asperians made no idle threats. She nodded tersely and the soldier let
her go. "Remove your clothing," the captain ordered. Verrian swallowed and began
unbuckling her leather and metal armor. She fumbled at it, unused to doing it herself.
Before, an orderly had always served her needs.
When she stood naked, Fracta beckoned her through a doorway. The general and the others
followed her into a small room where a sunken bath was filled with steaming water and
fragrant oils. The captain undressed and gestured for Verrian to enter the bath, and when
she stepped into the heated water, the officer followed. She picked up a sponge and
proceeded to bathe the general thoroughly.
Verrian gritted her teeth, resolutely silent while the woman scrubbed every inch of her
body. As Fracta pouted, Verrian gave thanks it was the captain doing the scrubbing, and
not the corporal. She was secretly glad to have the grime of the battlefield washed off,
but her mind darted in all directions, seeking escape. She had counted every stair, turn
and passage on her way in, and thus she would find her way out.
When they were dry, the captain led her back to the main room and bound Verrian`s hands
behind her back with a gold silk rope. "We go to the Queen now," she said,
taking the general`s arm. "She will have no compunction about punishing you if you
fight her," the woman warned. Verrian had never seen Asperia`s powerful queen, but
had heard of her beauty. However, this was of no interest to her under the circumstances.
Beauty enough was to be had at home.
"You will not allow me to be clothed?" she demanded. "I am a commanding
officer! Our treaties dictate certain accommodation–"
"Spare us!" The captain grinned humorlessly. "K`Endarra has no use for
treaties. The Queen wants her prisoners brought before her naked and bound," she
said. Verrian glowered, but said nothing. It would give her the greatest pleasure to kill
this woman, all of them, in fact, and she vowed not to leave Asperia until she had done
so.
They entered a sumptuously appointed room, hung in scarlet and gold, throughout which
priceless paintings, sculptures, and art objects were scattered haphazardly. At the far
end a figure lounged indolently on a massive golden throne covered with scarlet and gold
pillows. Verrian stared at the bronzed woman who wore a brief garment of black shot
through with gold. Her beautiful face with its high cheekbones, fathomless dark eyes, full
sensuous lips and elegantly ridged brow instantly captivated Verrian despite herself,
forcing her to fight down the treacherous feelings of desire flooding her body. This was
not one of the General`s usual soft, frail Obdurian paramours. Verrian kept her face hard,
her eyes blank as she was led to the Queen. She was pushed to her knees at the foot of the
throne and it took all her will not to spring up.
The two powerful women surveyed each other in silence. Then K`Endarra stood with fluid
grace, her slender figure belying the coiled-steel muscles beneath her silken skin.
Verrian met her gaze steadily. The Queen frowned as she studied her naked prisoner.
"Leave us," she ordered her soldiers, who immediately withdrew. K`Endarra
descended the steps and walked around Verrian, noting her thick, auburn hair, cut short
for battle, the creamy skin normally hidden by uniforms and armor, the well-developed
muscles, for a non-Asperian, anyway, and the deep-set, flashing emerald eyes. Verrian held
herself with proud defiance as she endured the scrutiny. "I never expected to have
General Jendrickar Verrian as my prisoner." The Queen`s tone was thoughtful rather
than gloating. Verrian said nothing. "I should have liked to meet you in battle
myself," Golgathex went on, "but since I do not presently have an heir, I do not
risk combat."
Verrian raised her eyes deliberately to the Queen`s. Her lips stretched in a dangerous
smile. "It was perhaps even less prudent to reveal this information to me," she
said, her words heavy with implied threat. Queen K`Endarra`s laughter was startling in the
silence of the throne room and Verrian flinched.
"You think to kill me?" K`Endarra asked. "I admire your audacity, General,
but it is merely hot air and bluster. Asperian Queens do not bear their own heirs. It is
merely custom that I refrain from battle until they are born, not a biological
necessity." Her face hardened into menacing lines. "But never mind that! When I
am through with you, you will be barely able to crush an ant beneath your heel, much less
kill me."
It was Verrian`s turn to laugh, and she felt a grim satisfaction at seeing the monarch`s
eyes narrow.
"You have a proud spirit," the ruler said. "It will give me a great deal
of pleasure to break it." She evinced no anger as Verrian laughed again, but turned
and stepped to one of the high narrow windows through which golden sunlight spilled,
pooling on the marble floor. She stared out for a few minutes, then turned decisively and
strode back to her captive. In one movement, Golgathex hooked a hand under Verrian`s
armpit and hauled her up.
Verrian struggled not to stagger as she was propelled rapidly across the room in the
Queen`s iron grip. K`Endarra took her to a wooden structure consisting of two posts
sporting shackles top and bottom. Verrian`s heart began to pound. Although Jendrickar
struggled mightily, Queen K`Endarra swiftly imprisoned her, spread-eagled and suspended.
She came to stand in front of the great general, glowering. Verrian met her gaze boldly,
her face betraying nothing. She willed herself not to perspire, determined to show no
emotion before this barbarian. K`Endarra turned and removed a dark object from a hook on
the frame. A whip.
Queen K`Endarra uncoiled it with a snap of her wrist. Verrian kept her face neutral.
K`Endarra`s eyes were hooded. She held the instrument casually, letting the promise of
hideous pain work on her prisoner`s mind.
The whip snaked out and circled one of Verrian`s breasts with a band of agony that ringed
the nipple with fiery red. By a superhuman feat of will, Jendrickar gave the Queen no
satisfaction. A half-smile, with just a hint of cruelty, flitted across K`Endarra`s face.
The next flick brought a thin line of blood from a welt across Verrian`s belly. It was
harder to remain stoic the second time, but she was determined. She knew on another level
it could cause Golgathex to inflict more punishment, but Jendrickar simply could not show
weakness in front of her captor, not as long as she was able to hold out.
K`Endarra painted an agonizing canvas of excruciating pain on Verrian`s body, alternating
with blows that merely stung and smarted and blows that drew blood or left dark ugly
bruises. Jendrickar`s resistance was amazing. Under other circumstances, K`Endarra would
have had this creature on the floor under her, screaming and writhing in ecstasy. But such
pleasure was denied both of them. The Queen had to destroy the General, turning her into
an object of derision and scorn, else the war was not entirely won.
Verrian hung in the restraints, panting, head down, fists clenched so tightly her
knuckles were bone-white. She could hear her blood dripping onto the marble floor. She had
still not uttered a sound, but she knew she was nearing the end of her endurance. Her body
was a mass of burning, throbbing agony. Golgathex had left very little untouched. From
beneath lowered lids, Jendrickar watched K`Endarra, who observed her again, the whip
dangling. Jendrickar raised her head and stared back. Their gazes locked for a long
moment, then Golgathex casually tossed the whip aside and sauntered off to relax on her
throne.
The Queen grinned at her captive, but the smile didn`t reach her eyes. "All right,
Jendrickar Verrian. You`ve proved your strength. You`ve won, for the moment. But there
will be many opportunities for further sport."
Jendrickar heard the grudging respect in her tone. It was a small enough victory, but she
would take it.
The queen shouted for her guards and two entered instantly, including the malevolent
Fracta. Golgathex gestured toward Jendri and the guards released her from the whipping
post. Jendri almost collapsed as they set her on the floor, but regained her balance.
Fracta sneered silently, and Jendri made a note of it. They bound her hands behind her
again and forced her to kneel before K`Endarra. With a jerk of her head, K`Endarra ordered
the guards to take Jendri away. She would certainly pay for the Queen`s growing
frustration. It was only a matter of time.
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