Chapter 5

It was a cold rainy morning when I was woken by a scruffy guard. Knowing everything in my enslaved life was pretty much laid out for me, I wasn’t interested in paying much attention to what he was talking about. The torment by the Master had gone on for over a week, and I wasn’t keen to think about what games would be waiting for me today, or his volatile attitude.

All I just wanted to do was survive. Where was Jacques, and when would I finally be free from my cage?

“Hurry up. The Master is waiting,” the guard muttered impatiently, throwing the dress they expected me to wear on the ground. I took a quick glimpse, barely making out a purple silk-like dress with bows on one side, in the dimly-lit room. Had I been the Piper I was before, it would have been beautiful to me. But all these material things didn’t matter to me anymore. I was as used and broken as they made me to be.

I slipped out of my rags and pulled the purple dress over my naked torso, fastening the dress at the sides. The guard was probably watching me getting dressed, but I didn’t care. A sex slave with a body filled with bruises and marks of different shapes and sizes wasn’t something one would find impressive. He fastened the chains on my hands and legs, and roughly dragged me out of the cell.

As he walked me out of the prison, I passed a few cells where prisoners stuck their hands out of the bars of their cells. I felt a sudden eeriness come over me, but continued walking as fast as I could, fearing the whip he had bound to his waist. I had been walking for over ten minutes when the guard stopped.

We weren’t heading to the Master’s chambers today. Instead, the guard had paused outside a large hall. The door of the hall was closed, bearing an orchid-like symbol inscribed on it. My instinct told me that guards weren’t allowed in the halls. The fact they sent me, the Master’s sex slave all dressed up told me something was going on in that hall. I stood there trembling for about a minute, before a man suddenly came from the room.

From experience, I knew not to stare at him but to hang my head and look down on the ground like a criminal. It was my first time leaving my cell to a place that was not the Master’s room nor Milanda’s room.

“Face the wall and not a single word,” he ordered. Doing as he ordered, with my hands chained behind my back, I was at his mercy. He lifted up the bottom of my dress and ran his fingers freely over my body, as if searching me for any hidden weapons. But he didn’t stop at that. He touched and poked me where I didn’t like, including my privates.

Then he promptly withdrew his hand after he ensured I was not hiding any ammunition inside any parts of me.

“Get inside. Now.” He opened one of the doors and pushed me through the gap.

A cold blast chilled me to the bone. I sensed eyes on me but I walked aimlessly, unsure what I was supposed to do. I came to the end of the room, and some laughing voices caused me to hold my head up. Up high on a throne-like chair, Lenard Lee sat, flanked by Milanda and another woman. All three of them were laughing happily, disregarding my presence.

I was dumbstruck by the scene before my eyes. Since the Master was accompanied by the women, what was his purpose in demanding my presence?

My doubts were answered upon hearing a familiar voice call out to me nearby.

“Piper!”

I looked up to recognise Jacques. He hadn’t changed much from the time I last saw him. His face filled with concern as he gathered me into a hug. His fingers stroked my unruly hair, comforting me in my darkness.

So, it was all over now? Had my dreams been answered?

He released me gently, staring tenderly into my eyes. “Piper, I’m so sorry. I took so long, did they ill-treat you?”

I said nothing. I didn’t want to hurt him with the truth. That I had been rped and treated like an animal during my imprisonment.

His eyes fell on my chains. “What have they done to you?”

“I am fine.” I faked a smile. Fortunately the cuts on my face had subsided, with the help of a little bit of Princess’ magic. “I’m just too happy to see you, Jacques.”

“From now on, nobody will ever hurt you,” he said in the most soothing voice I had ever heard. Whatever I felt earlier on, it was melting away, absorbed by the warmth of Jacques’ embrace. He was here for me, and that was all that mattered.

The Master clapped his hands. Some guards arrived. My body tremored, fearing they were here to punish me further. But the soft click of a key in my chains followed by the removal of my iron shackles contributed some confidence that Jacques had achieved what he promised the Master. If that was so, then I was free to go. But would the Master let me go?

“Don’t worry, Piper,” Jacques cajoled me. “It’s all over now.” He repeated the words to me a few times, but I wasn’t assured, until I heard Jacques speak.

His voice was clear and confident, exhibiting through the silence of the hall.

“I’ll be leaving with my girl now.”

I was relieved when the Master allowed Jacques to take me away, although I could feel his intense gaze on me, as if telling me it was all not over yet. I looked away, focusing on Jacques and his charming face. It had to be over. I was liberated now.

But something about the look on Milanda’s face told me it was not over. Milanda had wanted me to serve the Master with my body, and so had Princess. For me to have left, without them achieving what they wanted, made me sense that it would not be so easy on me. I had served Lenard Lee for a week, which was barely enough for both of her.

Despite that, Jacques was ushering me out of the hall. His hand never left mine. I was exhausted from the extremity of my tribulation. I didn’t want him to worry further. His voice calmed me, as it had throughout my entire ordeal at the Orchid Hall.

“Piper, let’s start life all over again. Let time change everything. I know you suffered. But as long as I live, I, Jacques Jones, will never allow anything like this to happen to you.”

I wept in his embrace as I lost myself in the multitude of emotions conquering my thoughts.

Why, Jacques, have you only come now, while I was there suffering, afraid you would never come?

But I do not say anything, and instead close my eyes to sleep on his shoulder as the van departed this place, one that held memories of my darkest days.

It was all over, or was it not?***