“The wench is much taken by her need,” came Lialt’s voice from where he sat. “Have you no intentions of seeing to her, brother?”
Ceralt’s hands left my body to grasp my arms, and I was lifted from his legs as he withdrew them, and thrown to my back upon the hard, cold wood of the floor. I thought surely he would use me then, yet only his hand came to hold me as I was by the hair. My eyes opened to see Ceralt and Lialt to either side of me, Ceralt again sitting cross-legged with no apparent movement imminent. I struggled against the restraint of my hair in his grip attempting to reach him, yet his head shook slowly back and forth.
“She shall be seen to when the desire is mine,” said he to Lialt, his light eyes resting upon me. “Too long have her own desires been catered to, and it has done her little good. She must learn she now belongs to men.”
“I feel she learns only of your ways, Ceralt,” said Lialt as the hatred coursed through me again. So broad and sure was the male Ceralt, and so uncaring of the pain he gave me. A growl rose in my throat as I continued to struggle against being held flat upon the floor, and the sudden presence of Lialt’s hand upon my thigh startled me.
“She has learned naught of the proper manner before other men,” continued Lialt, his light eyes, so much like Ceralt’s, filled with a strangeness I could not define. I moved to brush his hand from my thigh, yet his grip tightened. “You see?” he demanded of Ceralt. “She thinks no more of other men than she did when first we found her. In what way do you expect to alter this foolishness?”
“There is but one way to shatter false pride,” replied Ceralt, his gaze and tone having hardened. “As you are guest within my halyar, Lialt, I offer you the use of my woman.”
Lialt’s broad face took on a look of satisfaction, yet I could not credit what I had heard. That Ceralt had once shared me with Telion was well remembered by me, yet Telion, though male, was a warrior, and even Telion’s use had been denied by Ceralt after a time. To be offered to one such as Lialt was a great insult, as though I were no more than a sthuvad among warriors. Lialt would have been accepted by many Midanna warriors, yet I, having known him, wished no part of him. Ceralt’s hand left my hair, and with anger I sought to free myself from Lialt’s fingers, yet Lialt’s other hand gripped my arm, and I was drawn to the furs he sat upon.
“It is ever a pleasure to have a desirable wench in one’s arms,” murmured Lialt, my struggles meaningless against his strength. “You seemed much in the grip of a great need, Jalav. Have you no desire for me?”
I had desire for none save Ceralt, and would have pronounced the matter so had Lialt not touched me just then. My body, so long denied, leaped to his touch, and I cried out in misery as I was held to his broad, leather-covered chest. Again and again did Lialt cause me to cry out, and my shame was so great that I knew naught of his having thrown his breech aside till my legs were thrust apart and he entered me. The sudden presence of his manhood forced a scream from my throat, a scream of denial that I might be used so by one who was not Ceralt. Even as my body delighted in his presence, even as it gave him slave-due, I fought the humiliation of his grinning, jarring use, yet to no avail. He thrust again and again deeply within me, his hands on my arms so that I might not move from him, and slowly, surely, my struggles became less till I could no longer deny what he gave me. Again I cried out, this time with a sob, and I sought to seize him and draw him closer, yet he would have none of it. My use had been given to him, not his use to me, and much did I writhe beneath him, helpless in his arms, helpless before his might, helpless in the demands of his manhood. Much pleasure did he take from my body in the time of his use, and when he found release from his own needs, he held me to him so that I might shiver with the delight of it against his chest. He had not withdrawn from me, and I savored his presence as one would savor the presence of dry ground after nearly drowning. His leather carried much of the smell of him, and I breathed deeply of the leather to sustain the pleasure he had given me.
“Never have I had a wench so eager to serve,” he murmured with a chuckle, his lips to my forehead. “Had I had any doubts as to your womanhood, I have them no longer.”
My cheek to his leather, I closed my eyes in shame, yet what he had said could not be denied. I had not wished to serve him, had not wished to give him pleasure, and yet he had caused me to do both. The male whom I had scorned had put me beneath him and had caused me to writhe as he desired, leaving me naught of dignity to which I might cling. His manhood stirred within me, chasing all thoughts of the fur beneath my bare back, the leather against my breasts, the silvered belt high against my middle. There was suddenly no awareness of the male save his presence within me, and to my helpless shame, my hips moved against him, acknowledging my desire to be used by him again. I knew not what had brought me to such degradation, yet its existence could not be denied. Hopelessness welled within me even as my heat began to rise, and I knew not what I might do to free myself from the slavery of my needs.
“You were correct in likening her to a lanthay mane,” Lialt laughed to Ceralt, his hand to my bottom. “Again she offers eager service to a rider, and the softness of her is most compelling. However,” and his hand left my bottom to raise my chin till I might look him in the eye, “it is considered ill-mannered to fail to return a woman in the same state in which she was given you. I feel that your need has now been returned to you, little varaina, therefore I shall also return you to Ceralt. Should you please him sufficiently, he will see to you.”
He left me then and rose to retrieve his breech, and I turned quickly in the furs to bury my face in them. What had I done which was so terrible in Mida’s eyes that she had abandoned me in such a place? Bound to one male, given to another, enslaved to the manhood of both, finding no relief even in the shame brought upon me, forced to writhe in perpetual need? Nearly had I begged Lialt not to leave me without first using me, and he had smiled at the anguish upon my face and in my eyes. Ceralt had watched my use with no expression, yet his body had been stretched relaxed upon his furs as though he had no more than small interest in what was done to me. That males had no honor and no feeling for others, I already knew, yet somehow I had come to believe Ceralt different. Now he seemed no more than other males and gladly would I have left him, yet I remained bound to him more tightly than the ropes of Nolthis had bound me in his chamber. This time there was no escape for Jalav, no escape, no hope, no honor and no dignity. I shuddered in the warmth of the furs, and sought to still the desire which continued to mount within me.
Lialt and Ceralt spoke warmly a moment or two, and then Lialt donned his body furs and left the dwelling. I heard the door close as a prelude to deep silence, and though my face remained well within the lenga fur, I knew Ceralt gazed upon me. Long did he gaze upon me in silence, and then, at last, his voice came.
“See to cleaning and replacing the platters, woman,” said he, his tone empty of all save a slight weariness. “It is time I sought my furs in sleep, for there is much to be done with the new light.”