The clock in the tower at the castle struck six. As the last stroke faded away into the warm evening air Lady Athelnia appeared from within, strutting purposefully towards where her groom held the reins of her magnificent pale grey stallion. She had tied her long auburn hair into a tight knot on the back of her head, something that lent her a rather more stern appearance than her usual style and foretold of her intention to be riding purposefully rather than merely for leisure. She carried a riding crop in her right hand with a longer braided bullwhip coiled and tucked into her wide leather belt alongside a leather scabbard that held a dagger, it’s protruding jewelled handle glinting in the sunlight.
But what really set my heart racing was her hunting outfit. Crafted from the finest black leather it fitted her slim, firm body to perfection. Highlighting every gentle curve of her feminine shape with lacings at the sides of the thighs to ensure a skin tight fit below the waist, whilst above similar lacings to the bodice confined her small, neat breasts to provide a noticeable cleavage. Laced knee high riding boots and black leather gloves completed the ensemble in a manner that made me want her in a way that a slave can never have his mistress, something that the metal cage confining my manhood reminded me of the instant the rush of blood attempted to act upon this raging desire.
Before mounting her horse she walked around the patiently waiting animal, checking both the leather saddlebags. She was making sure that the equipment that she anticipated she would be needing after my capture had been successfully completed was in order. She oozed the confidence that she possessed in her ability to win the contest, checking that the ropes and shackles that she envisaged using to restrain me after I had been hunted down were present for her triumphant return to the castle, her quarry humiliated and defeated. It was an outcome that I had already mentally accepted, this first hunt having been mentally written off as one in which I would find out the lie of the surrounding lands with a view to perhaps an attempt at a more serious escape bid in some future hunt.
Lady Athelnia settled herself into the saddle and guided her mount across to stand before me. I looked up at her as she towered over me. A look of inscrutable superiority masked any excitement that she might have been feeling about the coming events. Her pale complexion complemented the neatly tied auburn hair, finely arched eyebrows lending just a hint of cruelty to the emerald green eyes that now bore down upon me, reducing my status to that of a creature that existed purely for her entertainment to be used and discarded exactly as she might choose.
” I shall explain the rules of the hunt to you. You will follow them to the letter, do you understand?”
Her voice was cold and emotionless, quite unlike how she had been in our earlier conversations. I realised that this was part of the process, that she was in effect getting into the role of huntress. I acknowledged that I understood and she explained how the hunt would proceed.
” When we hear the clock in the tower strike three times to signify the three quarter hour then the gate will be opened and you will be released. You then have until the clock strikes the hour to make your escape before I begin my pursuit. You may run in whichever direction you choose and you may hide wherever you decide offers you the best concealment, just in the way a child might play hide and seek. But I warn you that I am a well trained and experienced tracker so do not imagine that it will be an easy task for you. Sunset will occur exactly three hours after your release, that is your target. I expect you to give me a good hunt. If it is too easy and you are captured quickly then my displeasure at that will mean that your punishment will be harsher, and I shall take my enjoyment that way instead. That thought should remain in your head throughout as it should serve to encourage you to put up a good performance. Now you should move across to the gate for your release.”
Taking my cue I made my way across to the gate. The chains rattled as it rose to allow me to exit the castle courtyard. Once outside I again took in the wide sweeping vista of the cliffs, beach and seashore spread out beneath me, the expanse of golden sand studded with tufts of marram grass leading down to the foreshore where the tide was receding quickly now leaving the many moored fishing boats high and dry on the beach. Quickly I weighed up the options that were open to me. Hiding within the deep foliage immediately outside the castle was a possibility that I considered but I dismissed it as rather too obvious and being captured without any kind of hunt would undoubtedly upset my mistress and bring a much harsher punishment than if I managed to avoid capture for a good part of the time allotted for the hunt,
The next possibility that entered my head were the timber pillars and the moored fishing boats. Both of these offered good opportunities to secrete myself safely out of her sight. The problem that quickly became clear was that in the crossing of the firm sand I would inevitably leave footprints that would lead an experienced tracker such as Lady Athelnia directly to my hiding place. Bearing this in mind I decided against that strategy also. It was then that I spotted the small wooded area high on the promontory of the bay to the left. It was difficult to judge the distance and therefore to tell whether I could reach it within the time that I had. But the possibilities that it offered for concealment meant that it was worth a try. The next problem was how to get there. Wending my way through the marram grass would be a slow process compared to a sprint along the shoreline but the latter route would leave clear, easy to track footprints. Nevertheless it would be pointless if I was apprehended before I reached the cover of the trees that I could see tantalisingly atop the beetling cliffs of the promontory in the distance.
I made my way quickly down the steep track onto the beach. The tide had turned about three hours previously and nearest fishing boats were now just clear of the water. I made the shoreline quickly and began running along the hard sand across the bay. I decided to run until I heard the castle clock strike the hour before seeking the cover of the marram grass until I could make the wooded area where it was my intention to hide. When the sound of the click striking the hour drifted across the bay I quickly cut back into the dunes, panting heavily and almost exhausted I settled down in the dunes to recover my breath before continuing.
From my position in the dunes I could see the grey horse galloping onto the sands. To my dismay I saw that it turned in my direction rather than the opposite one. Lady Athelnia appeared to have picked up my footprints in the sand immediately. Now I had to make a decision, I either stayed where I was and hoped that I could hide out in the dunes or make a break for the wooded area, certainly exposing my position and taking the chance that I could cover the distance in less time than it took my mistress to cover the much longer one to overhaul me before I reached the copse. With barely a moment’s thought I came to a decision. Getting to my feet I sprinted towards the long slope that led up towards the trees. My muscles ached and my breath came in great desperate pants now as I approached the first outcrop. I threw myself to the ground, unsure as to how close my pursuer was and how clear a view she had of my position.
I lay breathless for a time listening for the sound of the approaching horse and rider. As the seconds passed I realised that she had probably been further away than I had thought and as such had probably not seen the exact place that I had chosen to hide myself. I pressed myself closer to the ground, trying to make myself part of the very soil. I grabbed a few handfuls of fern leaves and tried to cover my body with their copious and luxuriant green foliage in an attempt to camouflage myself. I lay absolutely still as I listened to the sound of the horse approaching. Next came the sound of her long whip that she had taken from her belt and was using to beat the fern leaves as she rode through. The sound grew and then diminished as she passed by some distance away. I breathed again.
A few minutes went by that seemed like an age. Then the sound returned. She was making a second pass. This time she was closer, the regular sound as her whip cut through the undergrowth grew louder and then diminished. I realised that if I stayed where I was hidden then it was only a matter of time before one of her passes came close enough to reveal my hiding place. I decided that when she was almost at the end of her sweep that would be the time to make my move. Waiting until the sound was at it’s most faint I sprinted towards the area that she had first swept and dived for some cover. The foliage wasn’t as dense here and I was unable to effectively cover my body in the same manner. I heard her beginning the third sweep, the sound of her whip loud within the relative silence of the wood, every stroke making me wince as I thought of what the result would be on my naked flesh, something that I guessed that I might find out when I was finally and inevitably captured.
That outcome was closer than I realised. At the end of the next sweep Lady Athelnia dismounted and tied her horse to a tree trunk. From my present position I was unable to see clearly. I supposed that she was probably just taking a break. The minutes ticked by. We were now too far away from the castle to hear the chimes of the clock. I guessed that at least an hour must have passed since the hunt had started. Lying still in the silence of the wood I relaxed a bit. It was a relaxation that would have serious consequences. The first I knew of the denouement of the hunt was the cracking of a twig behind me. Virtually instantly I felt a weight on my back as a boot pressed me into the ground and the sharp point of a blade touched the case of my neck.
” Arms behind you!”
I realised that the game was up and did as I was ordered. Lady Athelnia dropped down, straddling my body with her thighs, so close now that the aroma of her leather filled my nostrils. I felt rope being wound around my wrists and cinched tight as she bound me securely.
” A passable first effort I suppose but you were quite easy to track.”
She pulled me to my feet and led me to her horse. Taking fetters and manacles from her saddle bag I was quickly chained and secured for the journey back to the castle. She rode at a good walking pace and I struggled to keep up carrying the weight and restriction of my shackles. My mistress sat high and proud in the saddle, the lowering evening sun reflecting from her spurs and black leather boots in the stirrups as I followed, my leather collar attached to her saddle by a leash.
Arriving back at the castle I was not surprised when Lady Athelnia dismounted her horse, unhitched me from her saddle and led me down the staircase to the old torture chamber. Once inside within the cold stone walls of the old dungeon I was released from my shackles and led over to the heavy timber cross that was mounted on the wall. She untied my wrists and the wide leather straps soon restrained all four of my limbs, a fifth strap encircled my waist and secured me tightly to the cross facing the wall, my back and buttocks exposed and vulnerable to whatever punishment that Lady Athelnia decided to inflict upon me.Her boots clicked on the stone floor with every step as she now crossed to the wall rack to choose the implement she would use on me.
” This is a lovely whip, I must admit it’s my favourite.”
She stood beside me holding a heavy singletail of deep, brown leather. She flexed it between her gloved hands, stroking the shaft lovingly.
” You put up a decent performance tonight. Therefore your sentence will be thirty strokes, I had intended to give you fifty, but you have earned a reduction of twenty.”
Lady Athelnia folded the tail into a circle and placed it before my face.
” You will kiss the whip to show your respect.”
I placed my lips against the cool leather and did as she commanded.
She moved to a position behind me. I flinched as she tested the whip with a few strokes through the air. A short, tense silence followed. Suddenly the sound came again, followed quickly by an intense pain across my buttocks that made me cry out aloud. The pain was far worse than I had imagined and was quickly followed by further strokes. My body thrashed wildly as I pulled desperately against my restraints but to no avail, the leather straps that bound me so closely to the cross were substantial, heavy leather and sturdy iron buckles. My screams seemed only to increase her enthusiasm for the punishment as she used the lash expertly. Time and again the lash fell across the same area. The pain rose to a point where I no longer thought coherently, I lost count of the strokes and then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. As the intensity of the pain began to recede a feeling of serenity took over as the endorphins did their job. I was unstrapped from the cross and slumped to the floor where I lay for a while, recovering my composure as best I c