Redbeargrl's Cave

I live in a world you may not understand...
            ~~Violet Song jat Shariff





My downfall was swift and violent. Justice was meted out with dispatch and efficiency and my sentence was absolute; nobody on earth could change it but my Lord himself.  This seemed unlikely as it was from His mouth that I heard those words as I stood in the Hall of Judgement naked and chained.  Within the space of five minutes my world irrevocably changed. I had been next in line to be chief Hetaera of my Lord’s harem, and now I was assigned to five years in a brothel that served members of my Lord’s Death Squads exclusively.  The only other option presented to me was public execution by flaying. I should have chosen flaying. The sadistic bastards that my Lord uses for those troops don’t always necessarily just want sex.

Worse than being flayed alive, or worse than being relegated to the status of common whore, was being banished from Court and never having the possibility of seeing my beloved Lord again.  Never again would I hear His sweet voice or take pleasure in His company; nor would I ever again enjoy the status I once had.  I am told that I had a name then, but that, along with my position, was stripped from me on that fateful afternoon.  In fairness, I must admit it was my own fault.  I, thinking that I was my Lord’s favorite and above reproach, asked an impertinent question.  I innocently asked my Lord, the light of my life, who this lad with the bright green eyes was that was tortured every Wednesday at noon in the Great Square.  I should have known better.  If my Lord wished for me to know his name, He would have told me.

It was the dreams you see.  For the past several years I’ve been plagued with these odd dreams, bits of which I seem to remember upon waking. It’s never been much really, just glimpses of people and places that I’ve never seen before; a brief image of a girl with ginger hair, a house that couldn’t possibly stand on it’s own, a fairy tale castle and the briefest flash of the face of a young boy with green eyes. In retrospect I should have told my Lord of these visions and request that He banish them from my mind or at least, ask permission to go to one of the Healers to inquire if something was wrong with me.  My pride, my damnable pride prevented me, and now I am paying the price.

If I had been born a Lord or Lady, it would have been much different I’m sure as then I could have used magic to ascertain the root of these dreams, but being a Lowborn, magic is something I cannot do.  Occasionally, during the weekly executions held in the Great Square, a person of low birth who has been caught attempting magic or in possession of a magical artifact will meet his or her fate in spectacular fashion.  These people are obviously delusional and a danger to us all.  Everybody knows that only the Highborn can perform magic! 

Oh, the executions!  I’ll never be able to stand behind my Lord and see those glorious spectacles again either. They never failed to impress upon all of us what absolute power My Lord held in his hands and with such mercy he handed out justice. 

Not all of the executions were so spectacular of course, some were quite dull and ordinary, mostly held for a Lowborn convicted of one of the lesser Capital Crimes.  But the best were always saved for a captured terrorist; one of the outlaws who defies the rule of our Lord. You could never get a seat at the executions for these people as all seats were held for the Highborn and their Households.  It was only because of my position that my Lord allowed me to actually be present for several of these.  The torture would go on for hours before either the executioner, or my Lord himself, would finally put an end to their pitiful cries.  As far as I know, only the boy with green eyes has been as religiously tortured for our entertainment.  It is said that my Lord has an entire staff of Healers who tend to his wounds lest he not be available for the Wednesday show.  I wonder if any of them have failed our Lord as I have done?

So that is why I now sit in this tiny room, a common whore, whose only duty is to lick, suck or fuck whatever or whomever I am told to.  I am known only as Number 5042, fifty for short, and my only blessing is that we have a very good Healer on the staff here.  As I’ve said, not all of our clients are interested in sex.  Some, like the Highborn Lady who had me yesterday, derive pleasure only from inflicting pain.  I endure it because it is my duty to do so. My punishment for offending my Lord.  But nothing they can do to me in this place is worse than being banished from His divine light. That’s probably the reason He let me keep those memories; He knew that my separation from Him would be the cruelest cut of all.

At least I have the day off today.  The Healer has granted me an extra day to recover from the ordeals of last night as my left arm was badly damaged.  The Healer said I lost a good deal of blood as well, but I’ve proven to have excellent recuperative powers before this, so I’ll just hope that that will be the case this time as well and that the cuts heal as fast as my arm seems to be.  Now somebody is calling my number.

“Fifty!  Where the fuck are you girl?”

“I’m in my room...where else would I be?”  Gina, the Madam of this house, bursts in to my room puffing like she’s just run a hundred yards.  Her eyes are as wide as saucers as if she’s just seen a ghost.

“Clean yourself up you little slut.  I’ve just been told to expect a visitor.  A very important visitor!” she huffs while rolling her eyes wildly.  I’d be really impressed if I hadn’t seen her use that gesture before, usually during a conversation about money.  I think she’d fuck a dragon for a Knut.

“I thought I had the day off,” I said holding up my bandaged arm.  “I can’t perform well enough with only one good wing you know.”

The slap laid me out on the floor.  “Whore!” she screamed at me.  “You forget your position now whore!  You may have been all high and mighty a few years ago but now you’re no better than the rest of the sluts in this dump!  So get up off the floor, wash your face and pussy and then get your arse downstairs to the parlor in five minutes!”

I was really glad that I caught her on a good day.  Damn my mouth!  When will I ever learn to keep it shut and not say what I’m thinking?  Anyway, I made it downstairs in four minutes.  That earned me the promise of another beating for not following orders to the letter.  Some days you just can’t win.

When I got to the parlor I had expected to see the others girls in the house there as well but it was just Gina and me.  She fussed over my hair for a minute but that’s all she could do.  Whores aren’t allowed to wear clothes unless a client wishes us to do so.  I stood there naked, wearing only the slim red chain with my number tag around my neck that denoted my status, and held the position that had been beaten into me on the first day I arrived.  Feet together, one knee a little forward of the other, hands at your side and eyes downcast.  It had been explained to me that this position was supposed to make us look demure.  In actuality, it made us look servile and gave me a crook in my neck, but it was better than getting another beating.  What really irked me about standing like that is that I could never see the face of a client until after I was bargained for.  Today though, that position may have saved my life.

The parlor was silent except for the ticking of the clock on the mantle when a loud “POP” was heard and standing right in front of me was a pair of dragon skin boots.  I knew those boots!  And only one person in the world is allowed to wear dragon skin!  I fell to my knees in a flash.

“My Lord!” I cried.  Tears of joy filled my eyes as I quickly lowered my head until my forehead was just touching the precious leather.  I wanted to kiss those boots, to lick them and to worship the person wearing them.  Instead, He took a small step backwards as if to remind me of my place.  I felt a stab in my heart as I realized His message; I wasn’t even fit to lick His boots any more.  I was lower than the dirt He trod upon.

“Ah!  I see that you have learned some humility little one!  You have done well Madam Gina!”

“My Lord Voldemort! You do me the greatest honor!” she said from the floor next to me. Normally, Gina would have gone on for another ten minutes, but not now and not for Him. When Lord Voldemort spoke to you, you kept your words brief and concise, anything verbose might result in you’re being Sunday’s entertainment in the Great Square.  Believe me on this.  I know what I’m talking about here.

“You may leave us Madam!” He said sharply and Gina scurried backwards out of the room, still on her knees.  I heard the door close behind me.

“Stand!”

I stood.  I still kept my eyes downcast though, even as much as I wanted to bathe in the radiance of His gaze, I knew better.  If He wanted me to look at Him, He would tell me so.  His boots moved from my field of view and moved behind me.  I felt his gloved hand running lightly down from my shoulder to the bandage on my left arm, his touch left a trail of fire on my bare skin.

“You have been hurt.”

It was a statement, not a question, so no reply was required. I felt His wand tip touch my arm for the briefest of moments and the pain in my arm vanished.  Another flick and the bandages vanished as well.  His hand moved back up my arm and down my back.  I bit my lip to stifle a moan as He ran His palm down over my arse and then further down cupping my sex from behind.  I think I did moan a little then.

“You have been well?”

“Yes, my Lord.”  It was everything I could do to not grind myself into his touch.

“You have been here how long now?” A lifetime my Lord!  “Two years, nine months and fifteen days my Lord.”  Please, please don’t stop caressing me!

“Ah...I see you’ve not lost your knack for numbers.  You were always quick at that.”

Statement! Don’t speak!

His hand left me and his boots came back into my view.  “Do you have any idea why I sentenced you to five years in this place little one.  Not six or ten, but five only?”

“No, my Lord.”  Shut your mouth and don’t say anything else whore!

“I’ll tell you then.  Because five is the average life expectancy of a girl in this house. So as I see it, you are already past the mid point.  You are on the downhill side of your life little one. However, I did not come here to discuss your life expectancy, but rather to make you a proposition.  Answer my next question carefully child.  Your future depends on it!  Perhaps...even your return to Court?”

The thought of being returned to my Lord’s favor caused tears to flow from my eyes.  I swallowed my desire and said nothing.

“Ah, tears!  I’d almost forgotten how charming your tears are little one.  Very well.  Here then is my offer.  You may well live out your time here with a little luck, and after you are done here I may or may not return you to Court.  However, if you agree to a proposition I have, I guarantee an immediate return to Court and to your previous status, providing you survive of course.  And, I will be honest with you child, your chances of survival are minimal at best.  Would this interest you?”

“Of course my Lord!” Are you fucking kidding me?  I’d strangle my own parents to be able to return to Court and be by Your side again!  Well, I would if I knew who they were.

The boots started pacing as he spoke.  “It has come to my attention, as all things do in their course, that the rebels plan to attack this house to, in their words, “liberate the oppressed.”  Charming turn of phrase isn’t it?”

The tone of His voice told me to keep my mouth shut.  If nothing else, I’ve learned when my Lord is working Himself up to one of His rages.

“And now for your part. You will let yourself be “liberated” by this scum.  You will go with them willingly and act as though being taken from here is the greatest gift in the world. You will act as though they are your friends. Do you understand me so far?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Look at me little one.”

My body started to shake uncontrollably as I raised my eyes.  There, in front of me, was His beautiful face; the thin bloodless lips the slitted eyes, the exquisite pallor that I love and have missed for so long.  I almost fainted from the pure emotion and longing to be transfixed by His gaze once again.  He flicked his wand and a montage of faces swam before my eyes.  Young faces and old, men and women, blonds, brunettes and a few with ginger hair. 

“These faces,” He said with disdain, “are the faces of the leaders of the rebellion against me!  But these two!  Ah yes, these two are the worst, the most dangerous of all.  Your task, little one, is to kill this one!” he said pointing to one face slightly separated from the rest.  It was the face of a young woman, but it meant nothing to me.  I had never seen her before, I was sure of it. “Do you understand this task?”

“I do my Lord!”  Hell, I’d kill them all and their children in their cribs if it meant I could go back to Court to stand by my Lord’s side once again.

“I thought you might,” He said, His voice calming down.  He put his hand out and took my trembling chin.  With another flick of his wand the faces and their names were burned into my memory. “Do this for me child, and I will make your life heaven on earth.  Fail me...and you will die.  Either by their hand or my own!”

“I will not fail you my Lord!”

“It would be wise,” He hissed, “if you remember those words!”  He released my chin and the pain from the loss of His touch burned my soul.

“Go now!” He commanded.  “The attack will be tonight so prepare yourself!”

I bowed and backed away until I felt the foot of the stairs at my heel.  I turned and ran up the stairs but just as I reached the landing I felt a sharp stab in my foot.  I paused to look and saw a long sliver of wood from the stair tread protruding from the ball of my left foot.  I sat on the worn carpet to remove the splinter but before I could finish I heard words being exchanged in the parlor.  A woman’s voice was talking to my Lord and the blood froze in my veins when I recognized it.  It was the Lady Bellatrix, the one who had done so much damage to me the night before. Splinter or not, I should have leapt up and returned to my room. I should not have stayed and listened to a conversation between Highborn; but I was so desperate just to hear my Lord’s voice again that I threw caution to the wind and hid there, listening.

“My Lord,” said Bellatrix.

“Ah!  The Lady Bellatrix!  Come all of this way to tell me yet again about the folly of this plan did you?”

“My Lord!  I would not presume to try and tell you anything.  You know me better than that.”

“You are a willful and spiteful woman Bella, and you always were.  If you have something to say to me then say it and be done with it.”

“I merely wanted to ask my Lord just how hard do you want my Death Squad troopers to fight tonight to repel this little attack you’ve arranged?”

“Hard enough to prove to the rebels that they are doing their best Bella.  I don’t care a whit how many die as long as the rebels take her in the end.  It is imperative that she be taken!  I would be most...displeased with anyone who interfered with my plans.”

“Very well my Lord.  I will use this opportunity to try some of the newer recruits. My more seasoned troops will be kept in their barracks tonight.  And, my Lord is sure the attack will come tonight?”

“It will Bella.  I was very careful to let the rebel spy in the Court overhear my conversation with your husband.  I made sure he heard the identity of our young lady up there.  I even used her real name!  Once the rebels realize that she is here, I’m sure that they will waste no time in trying to rescue her.”

“They will be cautious my Lord.  They will search her for weapons and to see if her mind has been altered.”

“Let them!  There isn’t a person alive who is capable of breaking one of my spells Bella!  Who knows, she may actually get lucky and be able to fulfill her mission. But, just to be on the safe side, when I implanted her with the names and faces of the rebels, I also put a Tracking Spell on her.  Alive or dead, she won’t be hard to find!”

“My Lord,” simpered the Lady Bellatrix, “thinks of everything!”

“Yes, don’t I!” said my Lord dryly. “They will undoubtedly move her from place to place to throw us off the scent Bella, so be sure your troops are ready to go at a moments notice.”

“As you wish my Lord.  And your little pet my Lord?  She still has no idea of her true identity?”

“SILENCE!” roared Lord Voldemort.  “Even in a place this base, especially in a place like this, the walls have ears Bella!”

That was all I needed to hear.  I could swear that when my Lord said that he was looking in my direction.  I wasted no time in scampering back to my little room making no more noise than a flea across a cat’s back.

I sat on my bed and pondered what I had heard.  After a few moments though I gave up the effort.  I didn’t understand half of what they had been saying, and as hard as I thought about it, I had no idea of what a Tracking Spell was. Those were the concerns of the Highborn, not a common Lowborn whore. My only concern was trying to figure out just how I was supposed to kill somebody.  That subject had never been taught to me when I was being tutored in the arts of my new position. I must have dozed off while thinking about the problem because when the ruckus started I was fast asleep.

I awoke with a start at the sound of the first blast.  Brilliant lights in many colors flashed through the cracks in the thin door that gave me some semblance of privacy.  I had grave doubts though that it would afford me any security at all so I slipped to the floor at the foot of my bed and waited for my fate.  It didn’t take long.  My fate smashed through my door in the form of a young man with wild eyes and a shock of unkempt blond hair.

“Here!” he screamed.  “I’ve found her!”

I screamed.  Not because he was a man, I was used to that by now, but because of what he held in his hand.  A wand!  Only the Highborn carry those and if this young lad was a rebel, whom everybody knows are Lowborn, then something was drastically amiss with my education.  I didn’t have much time to question anything as soon the room was swarming with people and all of them were looking at me!

A young woman whom I did not recognize held out her hand to me.  “You are to come with us!  Now!”  I reckoned that I acted out of instinct, for when a whore is given a command she obeys it without question.  Somebody threw a cloak over my shoulders and then somebody yelled for me to hold on to their arm.  I did so and the next thing I knew I felt as though my guts were being squeezed out of my arse.  As I tried to get my balance I found myself standing in a forest clearing.  Now I was really scared!  This was Highborn magic!

The person whose arm I was holding released me and another took his place.  A young woman with pale eyes and long blond hair.  She looked at me as if she knew me and smiled.  “Only a few more and then we’ll be safe,” she said as if this was all a great joke.  I wanted to throttle her on the spot.  Maybe I should have, as her face is one of the many that my Lord burned into my memory.  “Hang on!” she sang and the world squeezed in around me yet again.

I think I started to throw up by the fifth or sixth squeezing.  The same girl wiped my mouth with the sleeve of her own robe and whispered to me that this would be the last time.  I held on to her in fear of my very life and then we were in the middle of a large rocky meadow.  The moon was low on the horizon and I could smell salt on the air.  As I fought to stay on my feet I looked around and in the light of the false dawn, realized that we were all standing in the center of a great stone circle. Even as weather and time worn as they were, the stones were massive; pointing to the sky like the enormous bony fingers of a skeleton.  The blond girl pulled on my arm exhorting all of us to hurry.

“She’s undoubtedly being tracked!” she cried. “Hurry everyone!  We have only seconds to get her inside!”

I wanted to ask just where “inside” was, but it was made clear to me as we ran head long towards a low barrow just outside of the stones.  She pushed us all inside through the tiny opening and told us all to keep moving.  The passage was long and narrow and very low and I had to stoop in places to avoid the stone ceiling.  What really bothered me was that the path was going down.  Was this place that reeked of ancient earth and stone to be my grave?  I had no recourse but to follow as she led us down into the bowels of the earth itself. I whispered a silent prayer to my Lord for my safe passage.

We walked and crawled for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes when we emerged into a huge well lit room.  Well, not a room, room.  It seemed to be a large cavern, a very large cavern that seemed oddly too large to have occurred naturally.  Candles by the hundreds floated in the air above our heads almost giving the impression of daylight.  The ceiling was so high above us that the illumination of even this number of candles could not break through the blackness.  The floor of the cavern seemed unnaturally smooth and worn as though a million generations of sandaled feet had made it that way over a great deal of time.  The blond girl stopped and turned to me hugging me to her breast.

“Welcome to Tir Nan Og my friend.  At least that’s what we call it.  It’s the only home we have left.”

Tir Nan Og!  The land of the faerie folk!  Now how the hell did I know that?  I didn’t have much time to ponder that question as she led me to a nearby fire and sat me down on a well smoothed natural stone seat.  “Get her some food,” she said over her shoulder.  It looks as though the bastards have been starving her.  And you,” she said with a smile to another young woman, “go tell her we found her!”  A few moments later somebody handed me a wooden bowl of delicious smelling stew and a silver spoon.  A vague recollection surfaced as I eyed the food warily.

“Isn’t eating the food of the fey supposed to condemn you to eternally staying in this place?” I asked.  Immediately I wondered just where in the name of my Lord did that memory come from.  I shrugged as she laughed.

“Would that be a bad thing?”

I threw caution to the wind as I spooned the stew into my mouth.  I didn’t remember eating last night or today and the stew was amazingly good.  After all, I’d been in worse places and been made to eat things that were much worse than this. 

“It’s just what we call this place.  The cavern is natural but we’ve made some alterations over the years.  Don’t worry, you’re safe here.”  She pointed to the wall nearest us and it was only then that I noticed how it sparkled in the candle light. “Lodestone,” she said.  “The whole place is thick with it.”

I guess I had a questioning look on my face because she laughed again. “It means that no magic can penetrate this place.  Not even Voldemort can find us in here!”

It took every once of strength to not lash out at her.  She dared speak the name of my Lord with loathing in her voice!  I decided that I would kill her second.  In the meantime I reckoned that I should play along and act as if she were a friend as my Lord had instructed.  I finished the stew and handed her the empty bowl.  “Thank you Luna.  My compliments to the chef!”  When she took the bowl from my hand I caught a quick look of doubt cross her face but it was just as quickly replaced with a smile.  I decided the best thing to do was press on.

“So how many of you are here?” I asked as innocently as I could. I scanned the cavern and there were many fires just like the one I sat in front of; too many to count actually.

“It varies,” she said.  “It all depends what operations she has us doing at any time.”

“She?” I asked.

A voice behind me almost made me jump.  “She’s coming now Luna.”

Luna stood so I did as well clutching the borrowed cloak around my naked body.  Everybody else seemed to be clothed so I didn’t want to set off any protocol alarms.  I looked in the direction that Luna was and then I saw a woman running towards us.  She was screaming something, a name perhaps, but I didn’t recognize it. My-knee it sounded like but as she got closer I made out Hermione.  Who was that?  I had never heard that name before and it certainly wasn’t one that my Lord had given me. 

I had to admit the woman was far more beautiful than the picture my Lord had pressed into my mind.  She was small and lithe with a smile that would dazzle the stars.  Her ginger hair was long and flowed behind her as she ran.  The candlelight glinted off of it giving it highlights in a dozen different shades of red and gold. 

“Hermione!” she screamed.  “At last we’ve found you!” 

I didn’t know what to say so I just smiled as best as I could.  I didn’t see Luna stepping back until it was almost too late.

“No!” screamed Luna as she drew a wend and pointed it at me.  “Stay back everyone.  She’s a Twitch!”

Suddenly I felt strong male arms grab me from behind but they were too slow.  I kicked one in the bollocks and tore at the eyes of the other as I grabbed at the knife at his belt.  Now all I had to do was very simple and laid out right before me.  To see my Lord again, all I had to do was kill this rebel, this Ginny Weasley, and I could be returned to my Lord’s favor!

I lashed out with the knife but the girl had stopped short at Luna’s call.  Something bright flashed from her wand and I felt myself flying backwards into the darkness.  As I lost consciousness I saw the face of a ginger haired goddess looking down upon me with only love and disappointment in her eyes.

“We’ll bring you back Mione my love.  I promise we’ll put you back together!”

To be continued...