Life and Times of a Priestess: Ch.3: New Life In Dalos (Part 5: Rough Treatment)

Chapter 3 : New Life In Dalos (Part 5 : Rough Treatment)

    Before the discussion could conclude their peace was rudely shattered again.  Another group of Prancirian soldiers banged on the door and opened it, guns and swords at the ready.  Like the last group, some had been drinking Temple wine.  They were loud and excited.  One or two swords appeared to have fresh blood on them and all the Priestesses felt threatened as the newcomers broke in.  These soldiers had either been fighting resistance or had been misbehaving more violently than the last group.

     When the soldiers found no resistance, but were faced by many attractive women, some of whom appeared not to be fully clothed, they began to think in the same terms as the earlier group.  They shouted outside to their comrades.  Soon the room was full of the soldiers, many more than the earlier group.  This time the men far outnumbered the Priestesses.  Roughly they caught hold of the Priestesses and held them at swordpoint while they tore at their own tunics.  Two or three soldiers would hold the Priestess down while another would take his penis out, and otherwise clothed, like most of the earlier group, would take their turn on the unresisting Priestesses.

     Danella was roughly grabbed by four soldiers and hauled onto a bed on the other side of the room, where they tore her tunic, not even allowing her to save her clothes by undressing.  One was upon her quickly while the others held her still and touched her up.  The first seemed quicker than before, but as she was repeatedly taken by the men in turn, and others who followed, it seemed to take longer, but she began to lose track of time.  She was becoming very sore and the continual invasion of her body began to be painful.  While ceremonies could be abusive sometimes, they stopped after some time, but as time passed it seemed that she was servicing the whole Prancirian army, and she knew that there must be many more of them.

    She began to think that this was not good for her body.  After this rough treatment she would be unable to have comfortable sexual communion again for a long time, and she began to worry about the diseases she might catch from this unhygienic contact. 

     In the Empire sexual health was an important priority because it was such a central part of the way of life.  Drugs and healing treatments to protect the body from pregnancy and disease were well known and used.  She doubted the Prancirians would have brought such supplies and knowledge with them.  Still, the Priestesses had much knowledge about these matters.  It was a part of their function in society.  They would try to use their knowledge to protect or heal themselves.

    Danella was very tired now.  Lack of food sapped her strength and she began to lack the energy to resist or give to her abusers in any way.  For what seemed like hours she lay on her back as soldier after soldier climbed upon her and expended himself, oblivious to her growing distress.  To begin with the rape had been like a pleasant return to her duties as a Priestess, a familiar act.  She had begun to trust her captors.  Now the word was out around the city that there were Priestesses here and more and more soldiers arrived to take their turn.  The fact that she and the others were growing exhausted and in pain from the relentless attack seemed not to concern the desperate men who used them.  This had become a true 'rape', uncomfortable and increasingly dangerous to the Priestesses who would begin to slide into unconsciousness if their human needs were not considered. 

     Danella lay still as the men used her, unable to move.  She no longer helped the men who could not maintain their erections.  She hardly noticed the difference when a different man climbed upon her, except occasionally to ask for help and for food in a language which few of the Prancirians could understand.  Down below she knew she must be bleeding.  Her vagina was sore and numb at the same time.  Was this to be her fate, to slowly starve into unconsciousness while the whole Prancirian army used her? 

     She still did not believe that they meant to harm her, but she began to suspect that the priestesses were after all to be used and left for dead by a foreign army who cared not for human need.  Perhaps it was merely a torture which would end when they were satiated.  How could they find her attractive now when she was so weak and her private parts were turned to blood, and she had the mess of tens, perhaps more, she could not count, of Men, inside and upon her.  She wanted to crawl away and sleep, but she knew she needed food.  If she allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness she feared she might never wake again.

    A voice was shouting in Prancirian again!  Danella began to focus her mind again to this new development.  What was he saying?  Did he have authority?  If so what order was he giving?  Was it to her benefit or not?  She still cared.  Perhaps she was not so close to unconsciousness after all.

    She tried to look but the men still held her down, despite never having given any resistance.  An argument was going on.  Some of the men were angry about what the first man had said.  She judged the first man might just have been criticising the maltreatment of the women.  She did not know.  It was only an intuition.  Maybe he was telling them to stop and return to their soldiering duties.  Perhaps he had no particular concern for the women.  It seemed he did not have sufficient authority to tell all of these men what to do. 

     As the argument subsided the man holding her left arm and stroking her face left her side.  Quickly she saw a figure at the door before her vision was again obscured by the man currently poking himself inside her.  She recognised a tall man wearing the uniform which denoted that he was some kind of officer.  It was the tall man who had led the first band of rapists and enjoyed the body of the High Priestess.  She had asked him for food, Danella was sure.  He had spoken the language of the Empire when they had first banged on the door and demanded to enter.

    Only minutes went by, another man replaced the one who had just placed his seed in her.  The pain was growing but her light-headedness was worse.  She felt so weak.  Only food and sleep could restore her.  In her previous life she had always had those, but over her new life she had no control at all.  She was living under the control of men who behaved without care or conscience, who seemed to take no responsibility for the lives of their prisoners.  She had the hope that the tall leader would find a way to stop the continual rape and at least allow the Priestesses to eat and sleep.

    She did not have to wait long.  There were cries of warning amongst the men as an officer of importance came through the door.  Danella heard the door close behind him and he began to speak with magical authority.  At first she could not see but she could tell by the speed with which the new man slipped himself out of her and began to adjust his clothing, that this man was important.  The others who held her had let go and the noise of laughter and conversation which had been with her for hours ceased as all obeyed their leader.  She strained to sit up and  found she could not manage it, but she was able now to see the man as somebody moved again.  It was the short man with the air of natural authority who had seemed disdainful of the rape before, when he had ordered the tall leader to take his men away and they had gone.

    He spoke for a minute or so and discipline was restored to the men.  They began to file out of the dorm, taking their guns and swords with them.  The short commander stayed behind with  the tall officer and a guard of six men who it seemed were to stay in the room to guard the Priestesses or to be their gaolers. 

     The tall officer began to speak to the Priestesses, raising his voice so they could all hear him, in the faltering language of the Empire.  He it was, Danella remembered, who had spoken to them when his men originally arrived to order them to open the door in their own language, but he had not spoken after in their language, as the soldiers had been allowed to direct their own rape and control of the Priestesses.  It was clear from the way he spoke that he had not learned their language well.  His role in his army had probably hitherto been as a normal group officer of the line, not as an interpreter, she guessed.  However he had probably picked the language up during the year of warfare and occupation, perhaps from interviewing captives, or dealings with the people of the Goddess under occupation.

     He spoke first.  "Ladies, you are under our control.  You are soldiers, so you are prisoners.  We like you.  We protect you, we feed you."  He halted, running out of the words to speak.  The commander beside him spoke to him in Prancirian, to which he nodded and began again.  "Clean yourselves, we bring food, you sleep.  In return soldiers will visit you tomorrow."

    So the rape would continue, but not for the moment.  Danella knew her sore and bloodied vagina would not be healed by tomorrow, but she did not like to think that far ahead.  It was a great relief that the abuse was to stop now.  Minutes before she would not have believed the attacks would ever stop.  It was enough to know that they would not die from this punishment, that their captors would protect them from the soldiers.  They would be fed at least.