Lands of the Lotus 5: A Thousand Stings

I woke early that morning, still on my side, my head pointed at that wonderful little yoshi. The sun had just crept over the sea to the east. I stretched out my arms and began to yawn, but stopped myself before I made any noise. I gingerly stepped over yoshi and quietly made my way to the dressing room.

I chose a simple tight silk blue and yellow blouse and black pants for the day. A quick brush through my hair and I was off. It was chilly in the keep that day. It always seemed chilly in there. It was much nicer outside in my garden. I sat in front of my beautiful lotus and set myself in the position named after it.

I did this every time I entered or left the keep, just as the priestesses did before me. Through the lotus I swear I could see myself, and become more powerful for it.

I smiled as a familiar presence approached. I can’t say if my magic deserved the credit or my nose. Her scent was very unique, a mixture of apples and lemon.

“Welcome back to Kingae Vela, Mistress Xiang. It is a pleasure to smell your sweet fragrance again.”

She walked over to my side and offered a deep bow. “No, High Mistress Anasi, the pleasure is all mine. I bring with me a thousand soldiers from the south to do the Empress’ will. May I sit with you?”

“Of course. It’s been too long, friend. How is life in the Imperial Palace?”

“Dull and eventless, I’m afraid. Your cousin sends her regards. She speaks of you often, Anasi.”

“The Empress and I were very close when we were children. Our mothers rarely had time for us, and we entertained ourselves.”

“Have you heard that she bears an heiress?”

I hadn’t. “No! For how long?”

“Three months now. The father, if you can call him that, was the barbarian price Chiasa fought five years ago. The fight was fair, she said, and she respected the man’s spirit. She deemed him worthy, and soon the empire will have a successor.”

I laughed a little under my breath at the thought of my little cousin bearing a child. “She was such a little tomboy when we were children. I still remember the day we knocked over the bee hive. We were playing around the trees down by the river, and she was pitching stones at me, which I would hit with a stick. It was a stupid little game we would play. I smacked one stone high into the branches of a tree. It hit a hive of bees which swarmed out in angry cloud. They were hive was not far from my cousin, and they were on top of her before I even realized what was happening.

“At first I panicked a bit. I really did not know what to do, and I was horrified at the thought that they might come after me. But I loved her dearly. I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards the river. The swarm was singing at the both of us at this point, and each thrust made me feel helpless. The only thing I could think of was to drag Kaora into the water. It worked, fortunately, and we were soon spared anymore pain.”

“She never told me that story!”

I turned from my meditation to look at her. “Would you?”

We both began to laugh at the same time as we thought about the Empress sharing a tale like that.

“There are serious matters to take care of, though,” she said. “A thousand more warriors, and thousands more slaves, introduces a population problem, Anasi. What would you have me do?”

“Put the slaves to work. Begin chopping down the forest to the north. I want you to make the palisade bigger. In fact, I would go so far as to say that we should wall the city with it as well.”

“That will take a long time.”

“Slaves are not in short supply. Their lives have been quite easy lately, actually. Grooming, feeding, and servicing the soldiers does not make for a difficult life.”

“Very well. We should have dinner tonight. Will you be busy?”

“No, not at all, Xiang. Come at sunset. The chef will be serving boar.”

“Do you often have such elegant dinners at Kingae Vela?”

“Only when a mistress brings a thousand warriors,” I replied with a smile.

I stood up and bowed, and she did the same. Xiang walked with a slow grace as her dress flowed in the cool morning breeze. My cousin’s pregnancy took me quite by surprise. I had to think of a suitable gift

----------------------yoshi------------------

I trained often the following week. Kiyatora and I would practice the moves for two hours a day, and would spar for a round afterwards. Anasi was sure to be present for every match, and decided to offer me a little incentive. It was shock at first, but I adapted to the feeling of the wooden plug she inserted into my rear after I lost. It would stay in there until I won a match. That thing stayed in me for almost a week before I put the Kaichi on the floor. She popped it back in the very next day when I made a sloppy parry.

My attendant, toku, was doing a better job at demonstrating his craft than the warrior was. I didn’t think much of the art of massage, and that infuriated him to no end. After a few days I did begin to see the science involved. He would cheerily explain the positions of muscles and various pressure points, as well as how best to work them. Anasi would inspect my progress every other night, and she was pleased.

Something weird came by the fortress about one week after my training began. Anasi was performing a surprise inspection on the warriors of the Chained Spider. They were an elite unit of about a hundred under the command of Mistress Misaka, but they were known for their discipline problems. She was dressed in a yellow blouse and dress. That didn’t seem like the right color for her.

“Could you tell me what this is, Kaichi Yousheng?” Anasi held up her gloved finger, which had a dark streak on it.

Yousheng, a grizzly old man in his mid-40’s, was a little shaken. Misaka was a very competent commander, but her men were allowed a great deal of leeway in matters of discipline. “High Mistress, the servants are suppo…”

“No! You are responsible for tending to your own barracks! The servants are not here to coddle you!” A snap from her arm was all I saw as she punched the warrior right in the face. It was a graceful punch, but still… I was impressed at how fluidly Yousheng rolled with the hit that came out of nowhere, though. He quickly dropped to his knees.

“Please, High Mistress, I beg your forgiveness! I swear by the Mother that it will not happen again,” he said before his lips brushed her shoes in submission.

“No. No forgiveness.” Terror had suddenly gripped this man. He was trembling. “You are no longer Kaichi of this unit. I shall instruct Misaka to find a suitable replacement. You two,” and she pointed at two of the warriors at attention. “You will take Yousheng here to the infirmary. His pole will be removed.” They took the poor man away quickly, probably grateful that it was not them. “If any of you think I was being too harsh, take a look around. The blinds are askew. He allows you to leave sandals in the middle of the floor instead of under your beds. I will inspect this room again, and soon, so make sure it is spotless for the next sergeant’s sake.”

A tug on my leash told me it was time to go. We walked quietly past other units’ barracks until we reached the stables. Anasi gave the horses a long inspection. She admired the creatures. A eunuch was punished for allowing one to be undernourished. He was sent to the mines, from what I’ve heard.

While making sure that the horses were well taken care of, a commotion erupted from the area of the main gate. I wish I were paying attention, because Anasi didn’t bother with a tug; she just walked away. I was given an admonishing look for the slip-up. She didn’t run, but walked briskly through the compound. The servants were responsible for keeping the grounds spotless, and they did a phenomenal job. Not a scrap of trash could be seen on the ground, and all of the plants in the area were trimmed twice a week. Some even chose to be artistic and would shape hedges in the forms of mythical animals. The keep itself was surrounded by a hedge that had been shaped in the form of a dragon, which coiled itself around the structure, presumably guarding it from spirits that sought revenge for the Father.

Three warriors were at the gate, one of whom had fallen off of his mount. They were scouts, and not heavily armored. I knew that those parties were always comprised of twelve men. The survivors had all been wounded.

“What happened?” Anasi demanded. “Who assaulted you?”

“They were bandits, I think,” said the senior soldier as he slunk off his gelding. “Ten of them, wearing light green cloaks, except for one in gray. He was like a scorpion. They lost four of their own, but made sure to pick up the fallen as they retreated west.”

“That doesn’t sound like bandits to me,” I whispered.

“Of course they were bandits. Who else would be foolish enough to confront our men? Fetch me Kaichi Junren of the Soaring Sparrow company. I want them to comb the area for these men.”

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She was angry that night. She spoke not a word as I bathed her. She ordered that the torches be extinguished, so we sat there in the moonlight as I pushed myself to rub the pressure from her body. I chose lavender for her bath, and she breathed in deeply most of the time. Her eyes stayed open the whole time, just staring at the moon as if she wished to fly there herself and get away from all of this. She let out a long sigh before speaking after half an hour.

“The Empress will be here in a week. She wishes to inspect her army herself. I want everything to be perfect for her.” She turned and looked me in the eyes. “Why does it seem as if everything is about to unravel, yoshi? I’ve done a good job, haven’t I?”

I was stunned that she would confide in me like this. “Of course, An… Mistress Anasi. In my opinion, which I think is welcome here, you’re doing all that you can to keep this place together. Look at all the men who’ve joined your force in the past week. You have six thousand men here. Keeping order here would tax any commander.” She was quite clean by now, but I wasn’t about to stop without her order. She turned back to the moon.

“Little yoshi, I know you may think that I’m asking this to be a bit strange, but…” she turned back to me, “would you mind… would it bother you…”

“You know you could ask anything of me, Mistress.”

“I know, I know. I don’t care what any of the others think of me. Not Xiang, nor Yousheng, nor any of the other ingrates I’m responsible for. But… you’ve seen many sides of me. I don’t think I should ever have shown them all, but I have.” She seemed oddly pensive, now. Like a Mistress Philosopher. Very eerie.

“To the bedroom. Now. I will ask anything of you then. If you think differently of me, and I’ll know, then I’ll see you as the liar I suspect you to be. You are a man, after all.” I dried her off quickly, and she led me off to her bedroom, not even bothering to put on clothing. She grabbed me as we approached the bed and tossed me down. She yanked the wooden plug from my backside quickly. It was a blessing that the wood was supple, and didn’t splinter easily. Still, I think she was amused by the yelp that squeaked out of me.

I was facing the drawer, and my eyes went a little wide as I saw her pull out that damn black and silver phallus. It’s enchantment sealed the pole to her skin, and I knew that it would not allow me any pleasure whatsoever. However, I also knew that it would transmit pleasure to her. Lucky girl. I closed my eyes and heard the light patter that her feet made as she slowly walked around the bed. She took one of the pillows and stuffed it under my groin, lifting me off the bed a little. I knew it would come soon.

At this point I was grateful for the plug. My hole had been stretched a little, mercifully. The phallus would always glide in easily, I knew. It still didn’t make the act pleasurable. It was definitely bigger than my plug, and it stretched me in ways I hadn’t know for weeks.

She entered slowly, methodically, pressing gently on my entrance and then applying very little pressure as she let my anus suck it in. Once secure, she showed no mercy. There was a buildup, but it wasn’t gradual. Within a minute the phallus was slamming into me twice a second. BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! The bed shook violently. A portrait of the palace above the bed was swaying from side to side. Anasi grunted with every stroke like she wanted the phallus to come out of my throat. I dared a fleeting glance around my back and could swear I saw a tear gliding down her cheek, as a snarl lay imbedded in her face.

I knew what she expected. She was completely convinced that I would resent her for this deep down. That I would hate her for treating me like a whipping boy for all of the stress she was under recently. But I didn’t. This woman was the world to me. It did hurt. My ass felt like everburn had been poured right down the hole. But I still loved this woman. And I knew how to show her.

I hadn’t been screaming in pain. I made sure to avoid that from the start. But as her intensity grew, I began to moan, as if I was in pleasure. In a sense I was, because my mistress was in an animalistic ecstasy, and I felt that profoundly. Not only did I give her the moaning of a bitch in heat, but I started to beg for more.

“Give it to me, Mistress! Please, give me more! More!! Harder!!”

She was more than happy to oblige. After ten minutes that grunting erupted into an orgasmic scream that ended with a shove, almost sending me off the bed. The picture had been banged off of the wall and it fell with a dull thud behind the headboard. She was lying on top of me, and all of her grunting and screaming was gone, replaced by a gentle sobbing. I turned around slowly, and she held herself above me, those tears still in her eyes. One hand softly held my cheek, as her face came down to mine and gave me a deep kiss. I wouldn’t call it passionate. It was deeper than that. In that moment our hearts touched, and they would never truly separate again.