- Chapter 5 -

There were questions aplenty, but no time for answers.

***Raven, what happened to you...?***

"Why am I all sweaty? And why was I kissing Ashyra...?"

"You don't remember...?"

A single whip-crack silenced them all. "I will have order", snapped Skylla, her words as sharp as the sound of the whip. "I will have obedience!"

***Here comes trouble...***, said Ashyra's mind-voice, nervously.

Like a military drill-instructor, the First Dancer barked her orders. "You", she commanded, pointing at Raven, "get that suit off. You" - she pointed next at Chal'Shi - "wipe yourself down."

Skylla's gaze fell upon Ashyra's discarded shirt. "Use that..."

Ashyra stepped forward to object, but one look at Skylla's whip and baleful expression stopped her. It had been fun to bait the First Dancer, with all her airs of superiority now that she represented The Phantasia, but Skylla took her duties deadly seriously, and would tolerate no insubordination from those under her temporary authority.

"As for you...", purred the snake-skin clad dancer, "...no, this just will not do..."

Skylla cast a loop of her whip out to one side, then around, slapping against the backs of Ashyra's knees. The girl's joints buckled, and she flopped to the stage. Skylla stepped back, smiling wickedly.

"Chal'Shi, Raven", she said sternly. "Take Ashyra by the ankles, lift her up as high as you can - and shake her out of her boots."

"Look, if you want me to take them off...", Ashyra began.

The whip flashed out, cracking so close to the girl's cheek that it sliced through a few loose strands of hair. "Silence!", snarled Skylla, her angry gaze on Ashyra, then shifting to the other dancers. "Well? What are you two waiting for?"

Without a sound, Raven and Chal'Shi went to carry out their orders. Ashyra was lightly built - a characteristic of her race - and it proved surprisingly easy for the two dancers to hoist their companion up, clear of the ground. Even before then, Raven could feel Ashyra's foot move inside the boot - the black one - and she hoped that the skin-tight fit of her friend's favourite footwear would not work against them, and prolong the girl's ordeal.

"Try harder, Chal'Shi", ordered Skylla, seeing the other dancer struggle to keep Ashyra off the floor, "or Sshraada will have to take over, and I'm sure she won't be as gentle."

Once Skylla was satisfied, Raven and Chal'Shi started to shake Ashyra up and down. Two or three shakes were enough for the girl to slip free of the boot Raven held, and the glistening leather of its shaft slapped against Raven's cheek and breasts. The sensation of warm glossy leather against her skin made Raven shudder with excitement, but she refused to enjoy the feeling, especially when her friend had had to suffer for it.

Ashyra fell to the floor again, now that she had only Chal'Shi to support her, bumping one shoulder solidly against the polished wood. Chal'Shi pulled on the white boot in her hand, to spare the elfin dancer further indignity, and that boot jerked free as well, almost flying out of the girl's still sweat-dampened hands.

Hair spilling all around her, the now completely naked Ashyra tried to compose herself. It was not easy, with Skylla sneering in triumph at the girl's degradation, and the loss of her boots went some way to denting her confidence. Skylla, however, was far from finished...

"Throw them over there", demanded Skylla, gesturing with loose coils of whip over to a shadowy corner, over beyond the far side of the stage.

Chal'Shi started to walk over to that spot, but the whip snaked out across her path. "From here", the First Dancer insisted.

Reluctantly, Chal'Shi complied with the demand, holding the shiny white boot by the leg, near the top,and swinging it twice under arm before letting go. The boot flew into the dark, and clattered against something hard, out of sight.

Raven glanced at Ashyra. The Phantasia's newest recruit did not want to add to her companion's tribulations, and would have gladly taken her place, but Ashyra would not have allowed it. ***Do as she says, baby***, the elf-girl said solemnly with her mind. ***Broken heels and scuffs are easier to fix than whip-cuts on live skin.***

Raven only swung the black boot once, and it fell short of Skylla's mark, the shaft flopping onto the stage as the foot, with its stiffened sole, struck the steps. The top of the boot slid down a step, but it went no further, staying just within eye-sight.

"Now...slave", purred Skylla. "Come here, and worship my boots. Lick them clean, and polish them with your hair, or my whip will take a few bites out of you!"

Raven felt what she could only describe as a shrug from Ashyra, and the girl started to get up. A crack of the whip drove her back onto all fours, however, and Skylla had the elfin dancer crawl across the stage like an animal.

The black-tressed dancer felt only hatred for Skylla, but she kept it all in. It hurt her to contain such feelings, knowing she could not absorb and "digest" them, as she had done back at Freeport. Her emotions were something she could not escape, no matter how gifted she might be.

She tried to look away as Ashyra knelt before the First Dancer, and began running her tongue up and down the glistening snake-skin of Skylla's thigh-high boots, but when she tried to avoid that scene, she only caught sight of something else - the sight of Yasil creeping through the half-shadows to collect Ashyra's boots, and carry them back to her seat.

Raven prayed that Ashyra would not have to go through more degradation to get her beloved boots back from that fearsome female, about whose abilities the empath could only speculate wildly. The thought of her friend in the company of that one, under her control and subject to whatever unwholesome whims entertained the Prince's companion, brought on a cold shiver that made Raven tremble uncontrollably.

Skylla continued to have her fun at Ashyra's expense until the pleasure she derived from the girl's debasement started to wane, and she sent her fellow dancers back to their quarters. The First Dancer remained in the company of the Prince and his companion for several hours, returning to her chambers when the others were asleep - or so she had expected.

Ashyra was still awake, and curled in a sumptuous arm-chair when Skylla let herself in to the girl's room. "I got these back for you", announced the First Dancer arrogantly, tossing the girl's boots onto the rug at the centre of the room. "Yasil was rather unwilling to part with her new playthings - but I managed to convince her."

The elfin dancer climbed down off her chair, and retrieved her boots. The shiny surface was smeared and dull, and Ashyra handled the boots warily as she picked up the scent of someone else's sweat, and more. "Looks like you took your time, milady", she snorted in disgust.

"My pleasure", smirked Skylla, and the head dancer left Ashyra to the task of restoring the shine of her favourite footwear.

Ashyra was not alone for long, however, for Raven came through the door connecting their rooms a couple of minutes later. "Oh, you got them back", she said, yawning.

"But at what price?", wondered Ashyra. "Skylla's not done yet. I'll be paying for her 'kindness' for a long time, if she gets the chance."

"Then maybe it's time The Phantasia had a new First Dancer", suggested Raven.

Ashyra, boots across her lap, slumped back in her chair. "Go back to bed, sweetheart. You're still dreaming."

"We should both go to bed", advised her friend.

"That a proposition?", asked Ashyra playfully.

Raven appeared shocked. "That's not what I meant!", she exclaimed.

Ashyra allowed a giggle to bubble to the surface. "Sorry, but I kinda needed to laugh. You can be a little too serious at times; too serious to come up with such a wild idea as..."

"...replacing Skylla?", finished off Raven. "Ashyra, I was being completely serious."

"What, and you think you're up to the task?"

"I don't know", admitted Raven. "Not yet, that's for certain. Maybe never. Someone ought to give it serious thought, though."

"If you're going to try, you're going to have to get really good", said Ashyra, shrugging. "You may end up having to do things you'd rather not do to get to the top. Perhaps that's why Skylla's such a bitch."

Raven smiled, but it was a weak effort. "I hope I never find out."

"Let's just get this trip over and done with first", Ashyra said wearily. "After all, we have a Prince to entertain, and that's a tough enough job in itself."

Raven found herself wanting to change the subject, and quickly. Skylla was not all bad - she served her fellow dancers well as their representative at The Phantasia - but in order to subject her to humiliation of equal magnitude to what Ashyra had endured, one would have to take the title of First Dancer from her.

Without a word, Raven hurried away to the bath-chamber adjoining Ashyra's room, then returned with two small bowls of water and a couple of cloths. She handed a bowl and a cloth to her friend, and took one of the girl's soiled boots - the black one, out of which she had shaken Ashyra. They then sat on the rug together, and set about banishing the stains and unwelcome smells.

Raven also felt it would be good to steer any conversation away from the matter of Skylla, whilst adding to her patchwork knowledge of her adopted home-world and its surrounding region. "So", she began, "just what are these Shr'Ganti, then?"

"Giants with horns, and scaly foreheads", Ashyra replied, using one wet corner of her cloth to wipe away the mess and another dry corner to remove the moisture and restore the shine. "They're predators in every sense of the word. People like us're prey - for food, and for sex."

"And the latter, I would imagine, is where Yasil came from?"

"Exactly", said the elf-girl sourly. "Girls get pregnant from time to time, but few of the babies survive. Usually, the mother dies giving birth, and the baby dies shortly after. Yasil's mom was either lucky or unlucky, depending on how you look at it."

"And these children - they have psychic powers?"

A gleam that had been absent for most of the night returned to Ashyra's large, alomond-shaped eyes. "Ah, you noticed."

Raven nodded. "Not only did she do something to Chal'Shi..."

"Suggestion", said Ashyra confidently. "A power they use for hunting - usually."

"...but she knew when I was trying to read her emotions. She objected quite strongly, and made sure I knew it."

"Which is why you ended up on your rear, yes?", enquired the elfin dancer. Again, Raven nodded.

"Let's just hope that's all she does to you", sighed Ashyra, "and that bringing herself off with my boots is all she does to me..."

On that uneasy note, the girls agreed not to trouble themselves about the events of the day any more. Other days lay ahead, and whether those were better or worse than today was beyond their control.

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