Beyond the tattoos other changes
had been made to Miri’s body, the most obvious of which were metal studs
through her n*****s, similar to Ruta’s, and large hoops were forced through her
earlobes. She had a heavy ring through her septum, emerging from both her
nostrils and hanging against her upper lip. Lianna couldn’t help glancing
between the other woman’s legs, but didn’t see any jewelry dangling there,
unlike Ruta. She did, however, sport a rather large ring through her belly
button; the gold ring caught Lianna’s attention. But then she noticed that
Miri’s belly was bulging ever so slightly. Her first instinct was to suppose
that the redhead was fat because of her position of status with Dorrkar, and
then the more obvious reason dawned on her. Miri was pregnant.
“But they had me last night.”
Miri snorted and shook her head. “So
they f****d you. So what? You don’t look like a proper centaur’s wife yet. It’s
my job to fix that.” She flicked her eyes over to Ruta. “I’m taking her to
Dirna. Get my tools ready for when I return.”
Ruta shivered and nodded.
“Who is Dirna?” Lianna asked as
Miri grabbed her elbow and propelled her out of the tent.
“She’s the woman who is going to
place your rings.”
As it turned out Dirna was an older
woman whose long black hair had a few streaks of gray in it. Her body was
completely covered in tattoos. As far as Lianna could tell, none of the images
were body paint. Various bits of metal jewelry adorned her flesh here and
there, but what struck Lianna the most were the n****e rings the centaur’s wife
wore. They were easily the thickness of a man’s finger ring. They weren’t
merely decorative; they were dragging her n*****s and breasts downward from
their weight.
Lianna took all of this in when
Miri ushered her into the tent occupied by Dirna. The tent was slightly smaller
than the one occupied by Dorrkar if that was any true measure of status in the
centaur herd.
“New one for you, Dirna,” Miri
barked out the moment they pushed through the tent flap. Dirna was sitting in
front of a brazier where leaves and small bits of vegetation were slowly
roasting, a thick, lazy smoke rising up from the slow-burning flame. “Time to
get her ready.”
Dirna looked up at the pair, not
surprised, but bored. Her eyelids barely opened enough for her to actually see
them. After taking a few breaths of the smoke-laden air Lianna realized the
woman was intoxicated by the sweet haze. Her head slowly started to spin but it
wasn’t in the same euphoric manner she felt when Proval f****d her.
“What does she need?” Dirna managed
to slur out at them.
“Everything, but you can start with
her t**s. See how much she can take and then send her back to me when you’re
done.”
When Miri started to turn on her
heel and leave, Lianna grabbed her by the arm, restraining her. The redhead
glared and her but Lianna ignored the possible consequences of such rudeness.
“You’re not going to leave me here with her, are you?” Lianna wasn’t sure what
scared her more, being alone with the mind-addled woman or facing what Dirna
was supposed to do to her.
“Of course I am,” Miri grunted,
shaking Lianna’s hand loose. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I…I’ll leave. There’s no guard
here.”
Miri burst out laughing. “No, there
isn’t, but you’re a stupid girl if you think we need guards to keep you here.
How long did you march with Proval to get to our camp? Do you think you could
make it that far by alone on your tender feet?” Her lip curled up into a sneer.
“Do you think you could outrun a centaur for more than fifty feet? Do try. The
consequences you suffer will be worse than what the old crone will do to you
today.”
At the old crone comment, Dirna
grunted but gave no other reaction beyond the simple noise.
“What…what is she going to do?”
Lianna asked, changing tactics in an attempt to get out of what already seemed
fait accompli.
“She’s going to put rings through your
nipples. Don’t be f*****g stupid.” She shook her own heavy breasts at Lianna,
indicating the studs through her n*****s.
Lianna gasped at what she was going
to have to suffer, she bit her lip to keep from crying but her distress was
patently obvious to Miri, who softened slightly when she saw tears forming in
the corners of Lianna’s eyes.
“Don’t worry,” she said softly
after stepping close to Lianna. “It only hurts for a moment. Much less than
this.” Abruptly she slapped Lianna across the face. The slap stung and Lianna
realized it was the second time Miri had slapped her in as many days. The sting
was enough to push Lianna over the edge. The tears started sliding down her
cheeks and her torso shook with sobs. “Don’t be a f*****g baby,” she said,
disgusted. Miri shifted her gaze to Dirna. “Put both n****e rings in. And the
septum. A little bit of suffering will be good for her.”
She left Dirna alone with Lianna
who was still on the ground. At that moment it struck her for some reason that
the rug she was sprawled on was soft and intricately woven in a red and gold
repeating block pattern.
It was Dirna who spoke first after
Miri left. “It’s easiest if you kneel. If you think you won’t be able to endure
the pain I can tie you to the tent pole first.”
Lianna looked up and saw that Dirna
had unwrapped a roll of cloth that held a series of sharp implements along with
bits of metal jewelry. Her fate was already sealed in stone. She screwed up her
courage and said, “No. I can take it. I don’t want to give that b***h the
pleasure of knowing I was afraid. I can do it.”
Dirna laughed softly, her voice
gravely. “She already knows you’re afraid. The only thing you can do now is
show her you’re tougher than she thinks.” Dirna held up a thick golden ring,
not as thick as her own, but enough to give Lianna pause. “Want to prove how
tough you are?”
A nod answered Dirna’s question in
the affirmative. Lianna was seated on a low stool in front of the old woman
while she prepared her tools and Lianna’s n*****s. It was a simple procedure,
or so Dirna said. She had a sharp, thin awl-like tool, the ring and a two thick
pieces of leather. She offered one to Lianna. “To bite on while I pierce you.”
At first Lianna shook her head,
wanting to do it without any aid, but then Dirna insisted. “This is your first
time. You’ll need it. I won’t say a word to Miri.”
After accepting the leather and
placing it between her teeth, Dirna lined up the awl and the leather on
opposite sides of Lianna’s right n****e. “I’ll do it on the count of three. Are
you ready?”
“Yes,” she said around the leather.
There was grit and determination in Lianna’s voice, even if she didn’t fully
feel that boldness.
“Count with me.”
“One,” they said together and
abruptly Dirna shoved the awl through Lianna’s n****e. She let out a muffled
shriek that was mostly obscured by the leather gag.
“A little lie to make it easier,”
Dirna said as her nimble fingers worked quickly. The pain repeatedly stabbed
Lianna’s n****e as the gold ring was fitted through the newly made hole and crimped
into place. Every motion she made, even breathing, hurt, but she refused to
cry.
“Quickly now,” Dirna said, “let’s
do the other little girl.
She lined up the awl and leather on
Lianna’s left n****e. “Again on three. One…”
Lianna jerked away. Dirna had been
expecting the reaction. She hadn’t even attempted to push the awl through.
“For real this time,” Dirna said.
“Again on three. Understand?”
“Yes,” Lianna mumbled around the
leather.
This time Dirna reached two before
she used the awl. Lianna didn’t shriek this time.
“Easier the second time, isn’t it?
“A little,” Lianna admitted.
“Ready for your nose now?”
“No.”
“We’re going to do it anyway,”
Dirna said with steel in her voice. “You don’t want to go back to Dorrkar’s
tent with just your n*****s done, do you?
Lianna said nothing and looked down
at the rings that were now through her n*****s. She had seen plenty of women
and men who wore earrings as a sign of wealth and status, but this was
different. This was ownership even if the centaurs didn’t say that. The gold
contrasted with her skin, both in color and firmness. The metal was so much
harder than her flesh. She saw tiny spots of blood forming around where the
gold penetrated her body and she couldn’t think.
“No. I don’t want that.”
Whatever the intent of Lianna’s
words were ignored by Dirna. She started preparing Lianna for the next step.
The blonde didn’t resist. The pain from her n*****s wasn’t intense, but it was
strong enough that she was distracted from everything else.
Dirna moved Lianna over to the
tent’s center pole, sat her down, and placed the back of her head against the
pole and repeated the piercing procedure by pushing the awl through one nostril
and out the other, making a small hole in Lianna’s septum.
She barely felt the pain.
A few minutes later Dirna was
leading Lianna back to Dorrkar’s tent. On the short walk Lianna kept touching
her n****e rings with her fingers. She couldn’t help but stick out her tongue
to feel the warm metal of the golden ring that went through her nose and laid
against her philtrum. She was dizzy from the experience.
“Here she is,” Dirna grunted as she
delivered Lianna back to Miri’s control.
“Problems?” the redhead asked.
“Nah. She was good. I just put in
the three. I don’t feel like wasting my time if she’s not going to last.” Her
report given, the older woman walked away.
Miri grabbed Lianna’s chin and
moved her head back and forth, inspecting the ring through her nose before
nodding once in approval. After quickly tweaking Lianna’s n****e rings causing
her to gasp in pain, Miri ordered the blonde to a position on the rug in her
corner of the tent.
“Tattoos now?” Lianna asked, her
voice low and flat, resigned to her fate.
“Of course not,” Miri snapped. “We
have to make sure you’ll last, like Dirna said. I’m just going to put paint on
you today. I do it several times in several different patterns to find out
what’s right for your body. Lay down.”
Lianna nodded and obeyed. Somehow
having her flesh pierced and painted was more dehumanizing and humiliating than
being turned into the duke’s slave and made to f**k a centaur. At least she
enjoyed being f****d by Proval. Getting pierced was just painful. The painting
shouldn’t hurt, she knew, but the eventual tattooing was going to be agonizing
as well.
Miri went all over her body with
different colors and patterns, taking her time. It was obvious the woman
enjoyed doing this. It wasn’t merely her duty, it was her calling. By the time
Miri was done with her, Lianna didn’t recognize her own body. The designs and
symbols that Miri had spent several hours drawing on Lianna body made her look
foreign and not her true self. Even when she was done Miri shook her head and
said, “No. It’s wrong. Wash it off later and we’ll try again tomorrow.”
“As you wish,” Lianna mumbled as she
started to get up off the rug. The paint make her skin contract and it crackled
as she began moving.
“No! Wait. I forgot a very
important step. Maybe this will help me. Lay face down, put your left cheek on
the ground.”