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I left the Mall with an
enormous sense of relief. For me, Katya, it was extraordinary. Maybe more
extraordinary than any other marathon I have run. We just walked away, Daphne
holding on to me, her head on my shoulder as we edged through the crowd of
runners, both of us oblivious to anything except the relief of finishing and
the turn our relationship had taken.
We reached Daphne’s
home and both went for a shower. There
is nothing like warm water washing away the residue of several hours’ intense
physical effort. To feel the grittiness of dried salty washed from your skin,
leaving it clean and smooth, almost makes the effort of running worthwhile. I
finished my shower and wrapped myself in a towel and went looking for Daphne.
She was sitting on a
stool in her bathroom, drying herself off, rubbing the towel over her spiky
short hair. I knelt down in front of her. As I looked up I caught her look of
confusion and concern and realised the cause. “Don’t worry Daphne, I want to
look at your feet, not kiss them.”
The look of relief was
instant. “Oh, good, yes, why?” Daphne stuttered.
“Blisters. Toenail
bruising. If we don’t check and there are any problems you can end up with very
sore feet.” I took each foot in turn, checking it thoroughly. “They’re fine,
Daphne,” I said. She looked pleased. “And now we have to talk.”
I sat down beside her.
Daphne nodded. “I know,” she said.
“Daphne,” I began, I
guessed she knew what I was about to say. “I cannot be your slave. I think we
have seen that. I will not be involved in forced enslavement with you. I saw
too much of what that means at home in Russia. People who were in the Gulag, in
the camps. I can’t be part of anything that feels like that. I don’t want to
live looking over my shoulder for the immigration people, either. Actually,
neither do you, you are a guest in this country, too.”
Daphne responded
quickly, almost too quickly, the words tumbling out. “Yes, Katya, I understand.
You’re right. Of course you’re right but….”. Daphne had looked glum. “But
Katya, what about us. You’ve changed me, I’ve spent the last months doing
everything you say. It almost seemed like I was your slave.”
“And how did that feel,
Daphne?”
She blushed,
embarrassed. “Good,” she said. “I know it’s silly but it felt good. Just to
feel I could let myself do anything you said; whatever you wanted.”
“But that didn’t need
chains or ropes or gags or any of Connie’s prepping, did it? You did it because
you wanted to, didn’t you?”
Daphne nodded.
I interrupted her.
“However, I know what I want for us. There are things I have thought about in
my own life. I know I want my life to include Branca and Daphne from here on
out. I love the idea of you as my slave, Daphne.“ Her face lit up with child-like
delight. “But it must be because it is what you want. Long term, consensual
enslavement. Not brainwashed, not a robot, not on automatic pilot, like Branca,
but because you give your active consent and keep on giving it. That’s the only
way that it can work for me. And I think that will be good for you too, Daphne.
I only want what’s right for you.”
I can see that Daphne
is watching me closely. Listening to every word. I see her mouthing the words
to herself; ‘long-term-consensual-enslavement.’
“You’re not going to
leave me.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.
“No, Daphne,” I said. “Even
if you don’t want to go through with this, I won’t leave you. I’ll always be
your friend. I respect what you did. To train as you did. To run as you did. To
get to where you are from where you were. That was an achievement. But if you
want more, then I can give you more. But it has to be as I say.”
“Long term, consensual
enslavement?”
I nodded.
“I give myself to you
and go on giving myself to you?”
I nodded again.
“That’s not an easy
thing to do.”
“No, but neither was
running a marathon. And of course you didn’t,” Daphne looked puzzled for a
moment, “any more than any of us do. You ran one mile, and then you ran another
mile and then another mile. You just kept on running miles. That’s what this
will be too.”
She kept on looking at
me. Taking in what I had set. Turning it over in her mind. I went on. “Here’s
what we do. You run your business and I run the gym and my training business.
You call me Katya and I call you Daphne. But here, everywhere, all the time, I
am your Mistress and you are my slave. Understand?”
“Yes Katya. I
understand.” Daphne looked back at me with a steady gaze.
“But do you want it?”
“Yes Katya, I do want
it.” Daphne nodded her head emphatically. She was grinning widely. I felt her
trying to stop giggling. “Oh, Katya, I feel like I have champagne bubbling up
inside me.” I look at her. I know what she’s feeling. It’s a mixture of happiness,
fulfilment, fear and a reckless desire to drive with the brakes off.
Completely. “You know I should be calling for a cooling off period, like
they do when you buy pensions or insurance. But I can’t. I am falling over
myself to say Yes, Yes, Yes, before you change your mind.”
“Absolutely sure?”
“I’m absolutely sure,
Katya, even if I don’t really know what I am getting myself into.”
I smiled. After all her
experiences that sounded strange. “Daphne,” I said, ”you of all people must
know what you are getting yourself into. Are you still sure? Do you still want
to go ahead?”
“Yes,” she said firmly.
“I mean I’m not sure. It’s different, isn’t it, like this? But I still want to
go ahead. I know that. Every bit as much as I knew that I had to run the
marathon.”
I was touched by her
trust in me, touched by her courage. I leant forward and kissed her on the
forehead. She reached out and clutched my legs. I could see she was almost
overcome with emotion, weak and tired after the race. She started to shake, I
stroked her head anxious to calm her but there was one more thing that had to
be settled. “Now Daphne,” I said quietly,”what are we going to do about
Branca?”
“Can’t Branca just stay?”
“Sure. If she wants
to.”
“If she wants to?”
“That’s the deal,
Daphne, no slaves unless they consent, remember? You don’t need to buy
companionship these days. You can stand on your own feet now. You don’t need props like bought, programmed,
captive slaves, do you?”
“No, Katya, I guess
not. No, I know I don’t. Gee, I
absolutely don’t. But I’ll miss her, if she goes. I mean it wasn’t just the
housework. She’s good to have around and there was the work she was doing.”
“What work?” I’d seen
Branca busy with some papers for Daphne but I’d never asked her what they were
about. It hadn’t seemed like it was my business.
“Well, I have this
investment in Brazil and I needed someone to translate some technical
engineering papers, so Larry’s people found Branca and brought her to me.”
“Via Connie?”
“Huh? Oh, sure, via
Connie.”
“And before?”
“Well, Branca was
studying engineering at Imperial College. That’s …. “
“Yes, I know about
Imperial College. Well, Daphne: there is something more to resolve here. If she’s bright enough to be studying at
Imperial she should not spend her life cleaning house and entertaining you.”
“Huh?”
“You are going to get
Branca re-instated at college after the summer.”
“But I don’t want her
to go. Any more than I want you to go.”
“Well she might want to
stay but the least you can do is to give her back her life and then offer her a
job and somewhere to live. Agreed? Well, actually, those are my instructions,
slave. So that’s what is going to happen. Because I say so. Get used to it!”
Daphne smiled up at me
with relief, I guess feeling that another weight had fallen from her. Suddenly
I realised that during our conversation she had slid down from her seat. Now
she was on the floor, kneeling. She looked at me with that same determined
expression I had seen at the start of the marathon. “Yes, Mistress,” she said.
“Absolutely.” Then, “Mistress?”
“Yes, slave?” I said.
“What happens now?”
That was a pretty big
question. And I’d only thought about the answer to the first part of it. I
stoked the back of Daphne’s neck. “Some coaches say you should take one day’s
rest for every mile you have run. I guess that means you’ve earned a month off
athletics training. Then, when you have fully recovered, we will start you
running again with a view to some half marathons later in the year and I think
your physique could use some further work in the weights gym. Would you like
that Daphne?” She nodded. I knew she would. Running marathons is a drug. Even
while you’re aching from the last one you’re longing for the next. “
In the short term,
Branca and I are going on holiday. We
deserve it. Somewhere warm, I think. We both deserve it and you can afford to
pay for it. A little present from you perhaps as an apology, maybe?”
“Oh.” Daphne looked
sheepish and then apologetic. “Yes that’s only fair, I guess.” She paused for a
moment and looked concerned. “But what about me?”
“Well, I said you were
having a month off athletics training. But there is some other training I want
you to do, some very special training of your own. While we are away.”
“Special training,
Mistress?” She was getting into the swing of things quite well, I thought.
“Yes Daphne, you see,
Branca and I have learned a lot from Connie. I don’t want you conditioned like
we were but I do want you to learn the discipline and obedience skills she can
give you. It just would not be fair for you to miss out! Would it?” Daphne
looked a little doubtful. “It’s not easy being a slave. You’ll have a lot to
learn and Connie is an excellent teacher Can I rely on you to fix that with
Larry?”
And Daphne just said (a
bit weakly but she still managed to say it), “OK Mistress. I’ll go do it now.”
I listened while she
spoke to Larry. I could only hear her side of it but I could tell he was
confused.
“Larry, I need another
favour.” ….. “No, everything is fine, Larry, everything is better than fine.
But I need a favour. I have a slave that needs to be trained. Not prepped, you
understand, not conditioned, just trained. Basics of obedience and discipline,
the usual stuff.” …… “ Well, I thought it would be OK. I guessed you’d be happy
to take on paid training commissions.” ……”Who’s it for? No, not for Katya.”
Daphne laughed. “It’s for me, Larry.”
….. “Larry, are you still there. Oh. Right. Look, I know it’s strange.
That’s why I said it was a favour. I promised Katya I would go through what she
did, what Branca did. No not the prep stuff, just the obedience and discipline
training.” ….. “You can? Great. You’re an angel. Get back to me on when you can
take me. Mmm, soon as. Thanks.”
Daphne left for her
Training a couple of days later. I will admit to teasing her a bit over the
training but I thought she’d like it anyway. Just before Larry’s people were
due to arrive I had her report in front of Branca and me in the living room.
She looked a little distressed when she saw Branca curled up at my feet but she
choked back any concerns and stood waiting for me to speak.
“Are you ready Daphne?”
She nodded. “Yes,
Mistress, if this is what you want me to do.”
“It is, Daphne. Now let
Branca cuff and gag you ready for collection.”
Daphne face gave an
expression of alarm. “Shouldn’t you do that Mistress?” she said.
“It is my wish that
Branca should do it,” I replied. And that should be good enough for you.”
Daphne looked bashful.
“Of course,” she said. “Of course.” She held out her arms in front of her,
wrists together. Branca got to her feet holding the handcuffs and shook her
head, indicating with her finger that Daphne should turn around. Soon the cuffs
were locked in place, the ball gag pushed into her mouth and strapped tight. A
ring at the door announced the arrival of Larry’s people and one of their
transport crates. Daphne was calm as Branca helped the two men fasten her
securely inside it. Moments later they, and she, were gone.
It felt strange.
Suddenly Daphne wasn’t there and I was wondering if she was all right. I knew
she would be, intellectually, of course. Larry’s people were careful, I knew
that but even so I worried. Branca tried to reassure me. That helped but even
so I was already looking forward to the time when we could all be together
again.
It was a couple of days
later; the morning before Branca and I were to leave for our break. I phoned
the contact number that Daphne had left for me.
“Ms Mbazu’s office,” a
coolly efficient voice says, “can I ask who is calling?”
“Katya Izotova,” I
reply. The line goes silent for a second.
“Yes, Ms Izotova. One
moment, please.”
And then Connie is on
the line. Her voice is deep, soft, gentle and reassuring. Just as I remember.
“Katya! How’s things? I have been really missing you! We had such fun. Why
don’t you and Branca just come round – before you go? To see me again? It would
be great to see you again. You know how much I’d like to see you again. How
much you’d like to see me again. Just come as you are. Just come ….now.”
My head feels lighter,
as though I’m being lifted up, as though…
My hand goes up to my ear lobe and I pinch it very hard. Ouch that hurt!
That’s better. My head clears. “Connie,”
I say, “lovely to speak to you. Nice try if I may say. You do not like to let
your girls go, do you?”
The soft voice laughs
quietly, “No, nor the boys either.”
I keep squeezing my
ear. The pain keeps me focused, keeps me in my right mind. “Anyway, Connnie;
Branca and I have been thinking about Daphne.”
“She’s very well. She’s
made a good start. Of course it’s not easy for her. It’s a big change but she
is learning. She does seem keen to learn.”
”That’s good but there
is something I would like – I would like her to come home one or two
souvenirs.”
“To remember her time
here? I don’t think she’ll forget!” I could here the laugh in Connie’s voice.
“What did you have in mind?”
“The first is she has a
tendency to get a little dry skin on her scalp. It’s very difficult to
moisturise her scalp properly. I expect you’ll be keeping her hooded for some
of the time,” Connie gave an affirmatory hmmm, “and that will only make it
worse. So the first thing is to give her a shaven head for the duration.”
“That’s fine Katya. A
good idea. It really suits her. I was thinking about
keeping her completely shaven anyway. What else?”
“Well in training
Daphne rather enjoyed the extra ear piercings she got as rewards for hard work.
There was no time to give her something special after her Marathon efforts and
so..”
Branca leant across me
and called into the phone, “so we thought she could have her tongue and nipples
done.”
“Ah, Branca!” Connie
said. “Nice to hear from you too. Isn’t that something you could do with as
well? But of course we can let Daphne have that and we’ll be happy to do it for
you too, Branca. For old times sake!”
“One last thing,” I
said.
“Last thing, Katya?
That’s a shame. I thought you were both coming round to see me. I thought that
was supposed to be the last thing.” Connie’s soft voice was a persuasive as
ever.
“Thank you Connie, but,
no. Just look after Daphne. Maybe we’ll see you some time but not too soon.
You’ll forgive us if we think that it not be safe for us for a while.”
Connie gave a resigned
sigh.
“One last thing. I told
you there has been a revolution. Well, this Mistress likes her slaves to be
marked. Please have Daphne tattooed. Make sure she knows all this is because
I’ve asked for it. I want a large Tsarist Eagle outlined in black on her right
shoulder. Make sure its placed to be seen whenever she wears an evening dress.
It should be quite large, about as big as her shoulder blade. I want another
just above her left ankle. The same Tsarist Eagle again but this time black as
though stencilled on a red background – so she can show it off during the day!
I will send the art work across. Can you do that?”
”Of course, Katya. You
know, I’m thinking you really have changed since you were here.”
“I have not changed as
much as you might think Connie but I have just found a second vocation!” I knew
that whatever else happened I would always want Daphne in my life – just as
long as that was where she wanted to be.
It’s Steve back again.
So, it all turned out
rather differently than how Daphne thought when she started. And now she’s got
this seriously strange thing going on at home. And if I think it’s strange,
then you can be sure it is.
I called Daphne the
night after the marathon to see how she had got on. I knew she was running and
all and I knew she’d had some troubles with her trainer. Her house slave
answered the phone but when I asked to speak to Daphne she said. “Hold on, I’ll
see if she can come to the phone.” I had a vision of her stretched out
exhausted, I guess, but, instead she sounded really up.
“Steve,” she beamed.
“Hi! Thanks for calling. It was great. I finished. It was wonderful and Katya
was wonderful and – oh - everything’s terrific.”
I got to hear of how
terrific a bit later when I met Katya. She’s quite a forceful, young lady.
Mind you, I’m not sure
that they have all got the whole picture. Take Katya and Branca’s prepping for
example. I mean it not like you can just uninstall it, you can’t take that
conditioning away. It’s laying there in each of them. Sure Katya seemed to
break free of it but there will be something remaining. And Branca? Well, of
course the conditioning doesn’t function if it isn’t used, so as long as she’s
not reminded of her control phrase she’s as free as any of us. I guess Daphne
is a consensual slave in more ways than one. If she ever gave the word
Freddie’s team would have those two back in the centre for a top-up from Connie
faster than you could say “Do Your Best”.
Freddie of course,
doesn’t like unexpected outcomes. I was speaking to him when I was in London
recently. He wanted to re-prep Katya and Branca and tell Daphne that it was to
do with quality assurance of his services, but I said, “Look Freddie: If Daphne
asks, that’s one thing but you are in business and in business you have to
accept the unexpected. You have been paid over the odds and you have a
satisfied client. In fact your client’s client is satisfied. What more do you
want!” Freddie had looked sceptical but I guess he’s agreed with me so far. Anyway,
I think Freddie would be well advised to leave Katya alone. It wouldn’t
surprise me if she turned out to be “well connected” and the very last thing
Freddie needs to be chased all over the country by a bunch of Speznatz on
Katya’s account! He’s had enough trouble with Russians lately. And as Larry
pointed out, customers are usually right. But I’m also thinking that this new
project Larry is working on for Freddie means that he’s probably interested in
how the whole long term consensual slave thing shapes up.
I’m not worried about any
of that though. I’m just glad things turned out right for Daphne.
Anyway, instead of
spending his money in prep costs, Freddie threw a dinner party in London last
week, and I met up with Katya and Daphne. Daphne looked stunning; glowing
almost. She had on this strapless evening dress and the most astonishing eagle
tattooed on her back right across her right shoulder blade. Katya obviously
loved the way it looked, I caught her stroking the eagle’s neck a couple of
times. And Daphne dotes on her. She hardly took her eyes off her all evening.
So Daphne, the bashful,
shy girl had gone. She’d set out to look for someone to help her through a
marathon. While what she’s found with Katya mightn’t be what she planned for,
that’s what she’s got. I guess you have to be careful with the wording when you
wish. Or maybe not. It looks like things have turned out all right for all of
them.
<<<<The End>>>
We thought some of you might want to follow some of the other adventures of our characters or find out a bit more about the background to The Greenwich Tales, so here’s where to look.
We have got together a set of references for you and grouped them into Literary, Location, Educational, Practical and Whimsical.
Please note neither Freddie nor Phil have any connection with the firms and web sites mentioned. (Except Freddie’s Yahoo Group, of course)
Enjoy!
You can read about the adventures of Larry, Harry, Rick and Steve in Freddie’s tale “Market Forces”. You can find this Freddie’s Yahoo Group, together with some of his other work:
http://www.yahoo.com/groups/freddies_tales.
The format for The Greenwich Tales was based (very) loosely on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It’s available on line at: www.librarius.com/cantales.htm or for those who like their books on paper in paperback as a Penguin Classic.
There are references in The Greenwich Tales to one of our favourite films: The Ipcress File, a Len Deighton thriller set in 1960’s London, starring Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman and Sue Lloyd. It’s available as a DVD from: www.amazon.com. It’s a great book too.
We thought Larry’s lunch date with Daphne might have taken place at somewhere very like The Southwark Rose Hotel - www.southwarkrosehotel.co.uk. (But not the same place, of course.) No waitresses were accosted in the production of this story.
The Green Stuff Restaurant was a complete invention of Freddie’s but we are sure you could find something like it without too much trouble! And the location is a lot like the Dorchester or the Grosvenor House Hotel.
There really is a pub near Island Gardens DLR Station, where Katya catches sight of Harry. Phil knows this for a fact because he has run past it in three London Marathons. He didn’t remember the name but it is The Lord Nelson (any sufficient amount of Googling is indistinguishable from real knowledge.)
Our tale reaches its climax on the course of the London Marathon and we have described the route used in the London Marathon 2007.
Have you been inspired by Daphne’s example to run a marathon?
Well, you should be. It is quite simply wonderful and everyone should take part at least once! (So says Phil as he’s the one who knows when it comes to this stuff! What Freddie says is hey, if you can write a Booker prize winner without going to Canada why can’t he write about marathon running?) But running marathons takes time and planning – as well as quite a bit of hard work. Here are some books and sites which will help you on your way:
and a few helpful websites: -
www.burnthefat.com : this requires a small subscription but it’s excellent: very down to earth, no gimmicks and full of good advice. If you need to loose weight, definitely go here.
www.jeffgalloway.com : a great exponent of the run/walk method in marathon running. He also provides on-line coaching)
www.waddleon.com : the site of John “The Penguin” Bingham. Phil used one of his programmes - “The Penguin Get You Round Plan” - to train for his first marathon!
www.runnersworld.co.uk : the sister site for the magazine, although you have to subscribe to the magazine to have the full benefit.
www.london-marathon.co.uk : tells you what you need to know about the London Marathon and much more, including a map of the route at : -
http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/site/images/course_map.pdf
The BBC have a virtual
tour of the London Marathon route. (We’re not sure how long this will be up
after the Marathon finishes this year) Click the ”Red Start” to see the route
as Katya and Daphne did:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/sport/marathon/marathon_virtual_tour_feature.shtml
You will find plenty of advice on practicalities in the books and at the websites we have mentioned. However, if you have set your heart of running, do not be afraid to join a running club and a gym to help with your training. There will be plenty of other people just like you starting out and the camaraderie and fellowship you will have is invaluable.
Thinking about clothes to wear, get some proper running kit, just like Daphne did. It’s so much more comfortable that just wearing an old cotton T shirt and any old pair of shorts. Going to a specialist running shop is best: the people who will look after you will know what they are talking about. You should be able to find one near you from the adverts inside Runners World, and THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL when it comes to buying running shoes.
Meanwhile, here are some interesting websites:
www.viga.co.uk : athletic clothing
www.ronhill.co.uk : athletic clothing
www.profeet.co.uk : a Rolls Royce of a place to buy running shoes, in Phil’s opinion
If you are into gadgets, you will not go far wrong by investing in a heart rate monitor and perhaps a GPS to tell you how far you have gone.
Check out;
www.polar.fi : the market leader for heart rate monitors and their UK distributor (www.heartratemonitor.co.uk) with a really good FAQ on the whole subject.
www.garmin.com
: makers of a GPS which records distance run – when it can see the satellites –
which is most of the time unless you live in the jungle, or perhaps right in
the centre of the city. Follow the links to Garmin Forerunner 205
and Garmin Forerunner
305. A recent test of the Garmin 305 showed it performed accurately even
when used under cover in a pine forest!
We spent a while thinking about which chastity belt and slave collar Daphne might have bought for Branca. (I spend a lot of time thinking about things like that, says Freddie.) Neither Freddie or Phil has any personal experience as a basis for advice, but these are the ones that appealed to us:
www.tollyboy.com : chastity belts. Daphne chose the FGA/200 with drop down waistband for Branca.
www.axsmar.com : slave collars etc. We thought Daphne would have bought Branca the Talena collar in titanium! Does Katya buy one for Daphne? You decide!
Reading about slaves and slavers in erotic fiction is one thing but the reality is very different. 2007 is the bicentenary of Britain's abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade but some of the practices by today’s real slave traders are every bit as horrific as anything that was done then. If you wish to support the work of the Anti-Slavery Society, visit them at www.antislavery.org
© 2007 Freddie Clegg & Phil
Lane
All characters fictitious.
Download PDF copies of other Freddie
Clegg stories at :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freddies_tales/
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