Abigail

Punishment

A soft thud and crunching sound was heard as the body of the young man was thrown by the guard, and hit the soft, mushy, damp floor of the well, which was a natural vertical cave in the ground with a water fountain that during peak of the dry season was dried up that the ancestor of the manor decided to dig a new well and turn the fountain towards the new well, making the cave was no longer use for water supply, but be use for place of punishment

He lies still for a moment…. Guilt still pierces his heart, knowing his action causes trouble for those girls….

Especially Ameena, the girl he had feelings for….

Flashes of memories of where they were together, memories of when they spent their time, giggling on the sand of the beautiful beach when suddenly a group of marauders came attacking their peaceful village….

****

It was a miracle of itself, she was untouched by the slavers, as they were forced to enter the cramped belly of the rotten ship….

But now, she has made her fate worsen….

Barracks…

His heart was torn to pieces, her screams still echoed in his heart…. Feeling guilty that he was the one who sealed her fate….

And the younger girl….

****

He was still lying face down, sobbing silently, when he heard another thud next to him….

And there he saw the boy….

“You!”

****

The young man jumped and attacked Dorian, who, to his surprise, managed to roll over to avoid his attack…

They both faced each other…. The young man's eyes frowned a little when he saw Dorian’s body filled with lash marks, and signs of punches on his body and face….

But that curiosity went off in an instant as his rage shot up….

“You bastard!” shouted the young man as he torpedoed Dorian who, to his surprise, dodged his attack, caught him and punched his face…

“You asshole!” Dorian shouted as he delivered his punch to the young man…

Stunned a moment by the punch, the young man, filled with anger, kicked the shin of Dorian, making the boy fall on his knees before he kicked him on his chest, throwing the boy to the wall of the cave…

“Aggghhh…” He shouts as his back hits the protruding natural stone in the cave…

He grunted and looked at the young man with anger, before he jumped and attacked the young man….

The sound of punches, kicks, grunts and screams filled the well as they both fought with all their heart….

Blood runs from their mouth, nose, split lip, and cuts on their temples….

Panting, exhausted, previous sweats and trails of blood drench their bodies…. They both once again faced each other.

They both threw their last punch, missing each other and they both fell to the ground, facing the sky….

Their breaths were labored….

“I’m going to kill you…” Said the young man with a hoarse voice…

“No…. I’m going to kill you…” Said Dorian in kind….

And they both tried to catch their breath as they lay still on the damp mushy surface of the cave…

****

A soft thud between the two lying bodies made both men look at the source of the sound and see half a loaf of dry bread and a small waterskin was lying between them…

They were looking at each other, and once again they brawled to get the food and water to feed their hungry bellies and crackling lips from thirst as they were abandoned for about one day inside the cave…

Dorian looked at the bread that was taken by the young man, scooting at the opposite side of the well, and he could see the young man eyeing the waterskin in his possession….

He knew that he would have a dry mouth, and it was hard to swallow the bread….

Sighing, he then took a gulp of the water, then tossed the waterskin towards the young man, who then took a gulp and started munching the bread…

The young man was looking towards Dorian’s Adam’s apple, which moved up and down as he swallowed to eat the bread….

Still looking at the man with anger, the young man then ripped the bread and tossed it towards Dorian, who took it and took a large bite of it and started to munch it down….

****

“Why are you here…?” Asked the young man, after they both filled their bellies and relieved the thirst in their throats….

They both sat opposite each other inside the well, trying to avoid the direct sunlight throughout the place….

“You are why…” Said Dorian, which made the young man stunned a little….

“I gave my father my word that I could make him meet our standard…. And you disappoint…. He pays quite a sum for you all….”

The anger rises again in the heart of the man…

“I am no slave!” he shouts, “I am a free man….”

Dorian gave an equal stern gaze at the young man and said, “And yet you are bound, shackled, and sold at the market…. No… You are a slave… You have your chance to die like a free man… You were taken from your hometown…. Why don’t you fight till the last breath of your life…? Why did you choose to live…?”

The young man is about to dash and hit Dorian but manages to keep himself, and then an awkward silence fills the well for quite sometimes…

“Ameena…. They captured her, and threatened me with her life….” He said,

“And you doomed her….” Said Dorian, cutting down the young man’s words, whose face suddenly was saddened with the sharp pain of guilt, and the echoing screams that still filled his head….

“Can’t you save her…?” the young man begged Dorian, who looked at him with pity….

“I can’t….”

The young man rushed towards Dorian, clasping his shoulder, pinning him to the wall of the cave….

“Safe her, please… I beg you…. I’ll be your good slave… I give you my word…. Please… save her….”

“I am sorry…. I can’t… You should have thought about your action before you did what you did….”

“Yes… Yes… I’m sorry…. I’m sorry…. Please… Please… She will suffer…. She could die….! Please….!” The young man begged….

Dorian sighed and shook his head…

“You bastard! You don’t even want to try….! You are just like your father…! Merciless….! I’m going up there and killed your father….!” The young man stood up abruptly in anger, then tried to climb the wall of the well which was slippery, and he dropped for every try he made….

“Your father’s a monster! He was evil….! I am going to kill him!” the young man tried again to climb up the well, which failed miserably….

“Go ahead and try to defeat a platoon of government issued soldiers, and around twenty highly trained fighters of this house, ready to give their lives to protect their masters…. And with your condition, either you’ll die trying, or you’ll be thrown here once again to meet your fate…. Either way, you’ll end up being one of these…” Said Dorian, raising a skull out from the damp floor of the well that made the young man taken aback, realizing that he was standing on a grave of dead slaves….

“And you are still going to lose your girl….”

“Ameena… Oh, Ameena… What have I done…?” The young man said, sobbing as he punched the wall of the well, before facing Dorian…

“Why didn’t your father just kill me instead...? Huh?! Why did he punish Ameena as well??” He said angrily….

“Punishment for Ameena….? No… No, my friend…. It was punishment for you!” Dorian pointed his finger towards the young man, who was stunned at the notion….

Punishment for me…?

“I don’t know how she will end up after three days, but if she manages to be back at the manor, you will live seeing her for the rest of your life… Seeing how she will look at you with all the mixed feelings she has to endure…. That is your punishment…. My suggestion to you is that you had best forget about her…. I’ve seen female slaves punished at the barracks…. No one will stay the same after three days…. Some don’t even survive….”

“Your father is a monster…” The young man hissed…

“No, he just has his reputation to uphold…” Dorian said….

“A man of his stature has many things to protect, including his name…. And the news that a newly purchased slave is making trouble and getting away with it, what will people say about him?” Dorian said…

“I am no…”

“What…? Really….? Still….? Tell me how you are a free man….” Dorian cut the young man short…

The young man grunts as he slumps back to the mushy floor of the well…. Raising yet another skull that protruded from under the moss that covered the floor….

“And now, I will soon follow this fellow….” He said with sadness in his voice…

“Not necessarily…” Said Dorian, which made the young man look at him….

“Tell me, what should I call you….? Dorian said that makes the young man question his intention by asking his name…

“Aaron…. My name is Aaron….”

“Look, Aaron….” Dorian said…. “They still dropped us food…. It means, eventually, they will lower a rope for us to climb…. You can decide then, you can stay and die, go up and be an obedient house slave….”

Aaron frowns…. He still cannot accept the notion of being a slave….

Dorian looked at him for a moment and then said….

“There is one more choice that might fall to you…”

The young man looked at the younger man curiously….

“You still don’t have your freedom, of course, but you can have a better position than them….”

The young man scoots over, getting closer towards Dorian….

“Become our fighter….” He said flatly, explaining nothing else to the man….

Aaron slumps back to the wall of the well….

Yes, he will not be a common slave, but he will be a fighting c**k for the master's amusement….

He skips the bread and water dropped later on, he just sits, knees-up, hand stretched over his knees, his head down….

It was morning when a thick hemp rope was lowered to the well….

Dorian looked helplessly towards the young man, he shook his head in defeat as he jumped and reached the rope before pulling himself up….

****

“Pull the rope...” Said the soldier waiting at the side of the well to his comrades who were just about to pull the rope when they looked at the tension on the rope…

Dorian smiled as he saw Aaron’s hand grab the lip of the well, who reluctantly grabbed Dorian’s hand and then pulled him out of the well.

“Get moving!” Said the guard, pushing them towards the manor….

As they approached, Aaron looked up at the balcony where Jacob stood up, no expression on his face, ignoring the anger shown on the face of the young man set to him, and met the surprised, nervous young sister who was taken to his chamber….

She was looking fresh, lovely, in her transparent laced dress that hid nothing of the beauty of her youthful body….

Aaron could see her nervousness, since he could see that she was actually happy in her condition….

****

Both of them were then ushered along the side of the corridor, to the training field where he could see the fighters eyeing at him. Some were mocking him, some spit on the ground, some smirked, and some just ignored him completely and continued with their training.

As they walked towards the archway of the entrance of the wing of the manor, Aaron saw the older sister who looked at him furiously and spit at his face….

Laughter erupts on the training field as the fighters mocked him….

At the archway, Dorian was stopped and ushered towards the manor, as Aaron was pushed away to go through the corridor of the wing of the manor.

His eyes wandered, hoping to see Ameena, the girl he loved, but she was nowhere to be seen….

This is the fourth day… He thought…. She should have been freed….

He was lazily walking to the ward meant for the fighter….

You had best to forget her… She will not be the same… She will be your punishment….

And there she was….

Ameena… The girl he loved….

Trying to suppress her moan as she was pinned down in the secluded corner of the house… Her legs were wrapped around the hips of one of the soldiers that guarded the house, whose hips rhythmically thrusting the girl, gasping and moaning in heavy desire shown on her face….

“Oh…. Ugghhhh… Harder…. Pound me faster…” She whispered with heavy lust in her voice, with her neck arched to the side as the guard biting her neck….

Aaron feels rage building in him at looking at a completely different girl than the one he used to know…

The girls who were shy, giggled as they ran along the beaches, lovely, passionate, radiated with love….

But the girl he saw was different…. She looks hunger with lust….

“Hey….! Guard, asshole….!” Shout the soldier, ushering him to the wards that made Ameena open her eyes and her gaze met Aaron's….

“Quick one, Lieutenant…. She begs for it…” as the guard set his sight on his comrades, smirking, continuing to pound the lustful girl….

Aaron could see her expression was mixed, between surprise seeing him, anger, which, used to his surprise, she turned to fiery lust, then kissed the guard pounding her, kissing him with lust and provoking him…

“Harder….. God, you are so big …. So hard…. Yes…. Yes…. Pound me harder…. I’m coming”, She blabbers, provoking both the soldier and Aaron, who wanted to bash the guard enjoying the girl’s body…

“Move….!” Barks the lieutenant, pushing Aaron away towards the ward with the image of the girl he loves turned into a lustful woman….

She will be your punishment….

The notion stabs him right to his heart….