3.1 ~ Nadia Kateb: One.

 

The driver had parked close to the racecourse at Talar's request. The muscular fitness instructor had just helped me down the steps of the mini-bus and together we stood staring at the most amazing sight. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Fuck, doesn't that look awesome?" Talar mused.

Spread out in front of us, in a slight dip in the landscape, was a brand-new racecourse. The four wide lanes were clearly marked for Pony-girl racing. The compacted earth was reddish in colour and contrasted starkly with the lush green of the surrounding grass. The centre was also grass, but two circular helicopter landing areas had been concreted, ready for the arrival of the aircraft.

"Master, it is amazing!"

The sight of the racecourse was impressive but the long grandstand, which was the length of the finishing straight, was even more amazing. To think that someone would shell out millions of dollars to construct such a building, so people could sit and watch Pony-girl racing, blew me away. For the first time, I was getting an insight into how much the sport meant to men like Prince Emidi and Sheik Husni.

Those men were obviously bored billionaires who needed a hobby to keep their minds occupied. Never mind how many lives were ruined in the process; like my own. Of course, I felt bitter toward them for framing and then enslaving me, so they could indulge in their sport, but a part of me was drawn to the challenge the Prince was setting me.

Talar unbuckled my wrist cuffs, then hunkered down and unlocked the ankle cuffs. He lifted his eyes to my mons and labia which were just visible because the tunic was cinched in my waist by the chain belt. The man could be brutal at times, but we were going to have to work together if we wanted to mould a Pony-girl team in the short space of time before the Premier League began.

The moment his eyes rested on my sex, I opened my stance to let him have a glimpse of my lips and the gold barbell adornment pierced though both plump lips. My submissive move was what his expression demanded and probably a signal that he was ready to shaft me for the second time that day.

He stood up, turned and pointed at a large modern shed, which had just been built. "Those are the new stables."

Our guide, who was the head of security. had climbed on the bus when we entered the estate. He stepped forward and joined us. His name was Ali Yousuf and he was armed with a machine gun slung over his shoulder. There were more armed guards on the entrance gate showing that the Prince took security seriously.

"Mr. Kashif is waiting for you in the main office, Sir." He was addressing Talar, but his eyes kept flicking toward me.

I subconsciously tugged the tunic material from beneath the chain belt, then set off beside the long striding ex-soldier once he had picked up my hobbling chain from the ground.

"Is everything complete, Ali?" Talar asked.

"Yes, but the official handing over ceremony is tomorrow at midday."

It was about noon when we entered the stables through one of two open, roller shutter doorways. The other one was closed enabling me to appreciate the dark blue paintwork, a colour I was going to have to get used to. The interior was a simple design with a line of stalls on the right, offices at the far end, multiple rigs in the centre and on the left, a line of tack benches, before four more stalls at the far end.

We walked along beside the stalls, there were ten in a line, and approached the offices. I could see through the window, Mr. Kashif talking to a thrall dressed in a pink gauze crop top and pantaloon set. Her back was to us, but I guessed she was the thrall that the Prince brought with him to the disused warehouse.

Kashif, who was sitting at the middle desk of three, signalled to us to enter. The men ushered me in first, so I came face to face with the beautiful thrall who had just turned toward us. The security chief hurried away after closing the door.

"Talar, what do you think of the facilities?" Kashif asked after leaning back in his swivel chair.

The ex-soldier walked over to the long window and stared out into the stables. "Sir, this is beyond my wildest dreams. I don't know what I was expecting, but not this."

I stood in the middle of the room feeling uncomfortable while the thrall studied my appearance. She turned to Kashif. "Sir, is this the thrall you were telling me about?" she asked in a disparaging tone.

Talar came over and unlocked the chain belt. Being completely free of restraints gave my confidence a massive lift.

"Of course, Rukan. Nadia might look a little rough around the edges but she's our squad leader. Give her a tour of the facilities, then you can sort out a couple of hours palace training. The vans will soon be arriving with the fillies and drivers, so we should have the animals sorted out by the time she returns. We'll have a team meeting while we eat and then get the fillies on the track for an evening training session. Oh, don't forget to track down the assistant trainers. I want Nadia to understand what failure looks like."

"Yes, Sir." She nodded her head toward the door. "Let's go, Nadia."

I followed the youngster out into the stables. We turned right and walked along the front of the office, past the entrance to a passageway before arriving at the door of another office. The blinds were down so I couldn't see the interior.

"I'll show you my office when I take you through to the palace."

"What's your job, Rukan?"

"Prince Emidi has put me in charge of statistics. I have studied Pony-girl racing for two years and know every stat there is. The Prince thinks that the fountain of knowledge in my head will help him win the Champion's League. Come, follow me.

"That's great," I said enthusiastically after we stopped at the first stall in the line, "Do you think it will help?"

She opened the shoulder-height door and ushered me inside. "Ah, I detect a bold character. That's good, Nadia. I've heard that you're a daredevil and highly educated."

"Someone might be exaggerating."

"Modest as well, heh? I'm told that you were a prostitute and a thief. You stole a Ferrari no less. You like flaunting your body on the hood of cars and that you accosted a dignitary at the assimilation training camp. That's quite a catalogue of crimes. I'm not sure that you can be trusted."

She had stopped just inside the stall to confront me, but I had heard it all before. "Rukan, I am fully committed to leading the Prince's team to victory and I can assure you that I can be trusted."

She held my stare for a moment. "Mmmm, we'll see. I'm only twenty, so three years younger than you. However, Prince Emidi has given me probationary privileges which means I have equal status to Hamza, the head stable lad. We are grade three and you are grade two, the same as the other stable hands. Because they are male, you have to follow their orders, but they cannot punish you like Hamza and I can."

"I'm not head of much then," I responded.

"You will get more responsibility. I am only focusing on you and the stables for a few days until our Royal Master is happy with your work. An important thing for you to know is that our Master has targets and will not accept failure."

"Rukan, I will give one hundred and ten percent."

"Effort and ambition are good traits, but results are what matters. If we are not winning matches within five match days, that's ten weeks from the start of the season, you'll be history. That means a one-way trip in a small cage, to our Master's African rubber plantation in the DRC. If you think you've experienced slavery here in the UAE, wait until you're working on a chain gang in the sweltering rainforests of equatorial Africa."

Apart from being a beautiful thrall, Rukan had a unique skill that made her invaluable to Prince Emidi. She obviously had a high IQ and had a memory like a sponge that helped her to analyse the sport of Pony-girl racing. I suspected that the Prince originally targeted me because he though I also had a unique skill. Did he know about my adventurous nature and my dare-devil character? My love of driving fast cars and motorbikes? If that was the case, maybe I too was indispensable.

If I wasn't, I had to try and make it the case so that he would think twice about demoting or sending me away. There was bound to be tough moments ahead and some failures before the team had any success.

I didn't think that I was more attractive than Rukan, but I was slightly slimmer and probably lighter. The Prince's pick for squad leader had to be tough and practical and not necessarily a brainbox like Rukan. I too had a high IQ but the Prince was more interested in my other attributes, like my attractiveness.

I had an unusual countenance that was obviously a mix of heritages, whereas Rukan had strong Arabic features. I was English but my grandfather was a Saudi. My skin was honey coloured and if I applied the right makeup, I could blend in with my Emirati friends.

I accepted an invite to an illegal card game in which the Prince was a guest. I then stupidly agreed to change into a gossamer thin tunic and pantie set, then crawl in a race while the sheiks watched mine and the other girl's naked asses. It was a huge mistake and one that I would regret for the rest of my life.

Once in the trap and after being framed for crimes I didn't commit, I was rushed through the judicial system. After a brief trial, I was sentenced to 20 years and sent to Kiashakan, a notorious high security prison. The route from prison to the auction was an arduous one and I very nearly ended up living the life of a Puppy-girl in the kennels on the Husni estate.

Thankfully, Talar came to my rescue and added me to Prince Emidi's Pony-girl squad. My situation was marginally better than living life in a Puppy-girl suit, but I was still a thrall without any human rights. Being property, I was marked, tattooed and modified so that no one would be in any doubt that I belonged to Prince Emidi.

I bore my thrall registration numbers on my upper arm and the Prince's insignia - a dark blue eagle with red eyes - on the outside, at the top of my thighs. The doctor had also tattooed my name on my lower back in bold dark blue letters. My sex had been modified while I was at the Assimilation camp as they prepared me for living the life of a Puppy-girl.

Talar said that they did a better job there than normal, but I was devastated to lose my clitoral flesh. They also trimmed my minor lips and enlarged my major lips. On arrival at the temporary training centre, The Prince's doctor used a microwave technique to tighten my quim, then pierced my labia lips so that a bar could be fitted across them.

Apparently, the small screw-on gold balls at each end might be swapped for dark blue sapphires if I attended events. The same applied to the piercings through my navel, nose and ears. The possibility of dressing in beautiful clothes and mixing with wealthy people gave me a glimmer of hope in what could become a dreary existence if I wasn't careful...