by Van © 2024
		Chapter 2

The North Tower of Amberdale Castle had two distinct staircases running its entire height (and into the ground).  The "Front Staircase" was comfortably wide with periodic landings and was intended for use by the family and their guests.  The other was a cramped spiral staircase for the use of staff, and heavy wooden doors at every floor led to the castle's labyrinth of staff corridors.  Dim but adequate lighting was provided by antiquated electric fixtures crafted to resemble medieval sconces or wall-mounted torch-holders.  Without a doubt the overall ambiance was very Medieval/Gothic and decidedly creepy... although if it was up to Cat she'd replace all the old style flickering incandescent bulbs with flickering LEDs.  They were more realistic.  She made a mental note to make the suggestion to Pru's older sister... who would probably add it to her no doubt incredibly long list of superfluous castle renovations awaiting funding from the gift shop profits.

Pru's stylish heels clicked on the timeworn steps as they descended.  Cat's bare feet, however, were silent as she padded in Pru's wake at the end of her rope leash.  They passed door after door, which meant floor after floor, and Pru was showing no sign of stopping.  Cat shivered in dread (or maybe perverse delight).  It was all very spooky, frightening, and ominous.  She was naked, tied up, and gagged!  How could it not be spooky, frightening, and ominous?

"The staff corridors were our favorite playground when we were children," Pru explained.  "We'd scamper around the castle 'like rats in the walls,' as the grownups put it.  They couldn't keep us out, no matter how hard they tried.  It was so much fun."

The staircase finally bottomed out and Pru continued "dragging" her prisoner along what was now a series of branching horizontal passageways.  They made turn after turn and passed door after door, as well as staircase after staircase, all of which led upwards.  The "decor" remained the same: walls, ceilings, and floors of gray, crudely dressed stone and more of the electrified sconces.  The spookiness index remained hovering between 8 and 9½.

All the doors were made from hefty wooden timbers with straps, hinges, and bolts of black iron.  There was no signage, painted or carved, to provide so much as a hint as to the purpose or contents of the various chambers or to serve as navigational aids for negotiating the labyrinth.  Cat was already lost, and very much hoped that Pru knew where she was going.  She'd hate for them both to be lost.  That would be too spooky—spookiness index 11!

Finally, Pru paused at one of the doors (seemingly chosen at random).  Apparently they'd arrived at their destination.  Cat watched as Pru drew back the bolt of the massive door—Thunk!—swung it open—Creeeee!—led her into the space beyond, then swung it closed behind them.  Creeeee—thud.

Cat found herself in a generously sized, rectangular stone chamber with a high ceiling.  The door they'd just used was set in the center of one of the long walls.  Against the shorter end-walls to Cat's left and right stood sturdy but simply built wooden cabinets with iron hardware, all in keeping with the medieval setting.  Twelve or more vertical iron chains dangled from the ceiling all around the room and all terminated in iron rings hovering about six feet off the floor.  The centerpiece of the chamber, however, was a long, narrow table of massive timbers about nine feet by two feet and waist height.

The naked, bound, and gagged prisoner stared at the table for several seconds (while Pru smiled and watched)... and eventually realized she was probably looking at some form of rack... meaning a medieval torture rack!  Thick, horizontal wooden timbers were mounted at the top and bottom ends, each with a pair of openings about two feet apart.  Obviously, they were stocks or pillories, designed to confine wrists and ankles, respectively.  A vertical wooden wheel about three feet across was mounted midway on the far side of the rack, strongly hinting at adjustability.  Turn the wheel and the stock/pillory timbers would travel down narrow slots in both ends of the tabletop, pulling them further apart!  At least that was how Cat assumed the thing worked.  She couldn't actually see whatever mechanism was involved as it was under the rack's bed, but it had to be there.  It wouldn't be much of a rack if it wasn't adjustable and thereby allowed the torturer to stretch her victim, now would it?

Speaking of torturers, Pru was still smiling in a markedly sinister manner and still had a firm grip on the end of Cat's leash.

And speaking of victims, Cat alternated staring at the rack with gazing at Pru's wickedly smiling face.  Cat was not at all sure how she should handle the situation.  She tugged on her bound wrists, nervously, mostly for something to do.  The inescapable wrist bondage (with belly-rope) was severely limiting her options; however, if Pru did intend to lay her out and stretch her on the insidious device before them (in all its ominous glory), she'd have to get her up onto the thing and get her wrists and ankles secured in the appropriate openings.

"I know what you're thinking," Pru chuckled.  "Rest assured, I'm not going to let you escape."

Escape had been on Cat's mind, but she realized that with her wrists crossed and bound against the small of her back she would have significant difficulty opening the door and pattering away down the corridor before getting apprehended... which was an iffy proposition to begin with as she had no idea exactly where they were on the castle's floor plan and to where she should be trying to flee.

Meanwhile, Pru had passed the end of Cat's leash through one of a series of iron rings running down the side of the rack and tied a quick knot, thus tethering her in place.  Cat belatedly realized the rack was also an excellent bondage table.  Pru then strolled to one of the wooden cabinets.

Cat watched as her lover/captor/wouldbe-torturer opened the cabinet door—Creeeee!—revealing dozens of neat coils of thin rope hanging from rows of pegs on the left; and on the right various whips, crops, floggers, and canes, all hanging from similar pegs and suitable for flagellation and/or discipline.  Pru selected a riding crop, closed the cabinet—Creeeee!—then strolled back to the rack.

"You aren't going to give me any trouble, are you?" Pru purred.  Her smile was exceptionally wicked (and beautiful).

It wasn't really a question, of course.  It wouldn't be a game if there wasn't some degree of cooperation between the players, and after all, they were here to play.  Cat heaved a tragic sigh through her panties-cleave-gag... tugged on her wrist-bonds again for added melodrama... then nodded submissively.

"Good," Pru chuckled.  "I'd hate to have to give you a rosy red butt.  It would be cute, but we'd have to come up with a reasonable explanation for why you'd be squirming in your chair at breakfast."

Cat stared daggers at her captor.  "Mrrrf!" she muttered.  (Very funny.)  She tugged on her wrist-bonds, yet again.  Pru was being a cruel, gloating bully.  It was infuriating (and kinda hot).

Pru lightly slapped the top surface of the rack with the crop—Tap-tap!—then gently placed its trapezoidal tip on Cat's left nipple (which for some reason was fully erect).

"Why don't you hop on up and get comfortable?" Pru suggested (ordered).

Cat stared daggers at her Evil Kidnapper.  (It was expected.)

Pru heaved a sigh.  "Don't make me wake up the maids and order them to help me expedite matters.  That would be grossly inconsiderate... a real abuse of guest privileges."

Cat rolled her eyes.  She had a point.  Therefore, without further drama, she did as she'd been told and somehow managed to gracefully hop up and plant her pink (but not rosy-red) butt on the smooth wood of the rack.  She then squirmed into the proper position and lay on her back (and bound arms).

"Good girl," Pru chuckled as she lifted the top half of the stock/pillory arrangement at the foot of the rack.

Cat rolled her eyes again, dutifully placed her ankles in the lower halves of the openings in the thick, heavy timber.

Pru lowered the top timber... and Cat's ankles were trapped.  The openings were well-rounded and fit her anatomy to perfection, which she conceded was probably a good thing.  A poor fit or sharp edges would be... unpleasant.  There was a metallic noise as Pru secured some sort a of latch or bolt or other means of securing the stocks.  Click-thunk!

Cat kicked and squirmed, twisting her feet, wiggling her toes, and confirming her helplessness... or half helplessness... although between the rack and the ropes she actually was totally helpless.

Next, Pru strolled to the head of the rack, lifted open the wrist-stocks, then strolled back to the center, on the side opposite the adjustment wheel, leaned close, and began untying the square-knot in Cat's belly-rope.  She paused to lift the riding crop, smile, and give it a teasing wave.  "No trouble, darling, or I'll whip your boobies."

Cat's response was to stare more daggers... then flinch when Pru gave her left nipple a gentle, teasing tap... followed by her right nipple.

"Well?" Pru purred.  Her gloating smile was truly infuriating.

Cat had no choice but to roll her big blue eyes and give a begrudging nod.

"Sit up," Pru ordered as, the crop dangling by its retaining loop from her right wrist, she grabbed Cat's shoulders and helped her to do so.  She then untied her naked prisoner's wrist-bonds.

Cat glared at her captor (lover) above her gag and rubbed her wrists (even thought they really didn't need it).

"Well?" Pru said sweetly.  "What are you waiting for?"

Still fuming with naked and gagged resentment and Righteous Anger, Cat lay back down on the rack, lifted her arms, and gingerly placed her wrists in the half-openings of the lower half of the upper stocks.  She continued glaring at her kidnapper (lover) as Pru lowered the top half of the stocks into place and secured its latch.  Click-thunk!

The deed was done!  Cat was secured on the rack!

"Perfect!" Pru gloated with an infuriatingly saucy smile.  "You look so beautiful like that, darling.  Exquisitely helpless and vulnerable."

Cat tugged, twisted, and squirmed, testing her new predicament/confinement.  The upper stocks fit her wrists with the same anatomical precision with which the lower stocks trapped her ankles.  The timbers didn't even rattle or shift... at all... no matter how hard she pulled.  Cat was stuck!  It was horrible (in a naughty and thrilling sort of way).

Still smiling (of course), Pru coiled Cat's former wrist and leash ropes... then tossed the bundles to the floor next to the chamber door.  She then placed her right palm on Cat's tummy... and began tracing a slow, gentle orbit around a point midway between her captive's bellybutton and the upper margin of her neatly trimmed pubic bush.

Cat closed her eyes and shivered with abject horror (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).  This was a new kind of helplessness.  An abundance of expertly applied rope was one thing, but this was being powerless and vulnerable in the embrace of a genuine torture device in a genuine torture chamber in a genuine castle!

Suddenly, everything (and nothing) changed!

The door swung open—Creeeee!—and Hannah and Brie strolled across the threshold and into the Rack Chamber!

Lady Paulina's Estate and Tours Managers were smiling in a decidedly sinister manner.  They paused while Brie picked up the two bundles of thin hemp rope from the floor... then approached the rack, their high heels clicking ominously on the stone floor.  Both were in the same stylish business attire they'd worn since Cat and Pru had arrived at the castle.  That is, despite the late hour, they hadn't changed into their pajamas, nighties, or whatever they usually wore to bed.

Hannah's smile faded and she slowly shook her head.  "Prudence," she sighed, "I am sooo disappointed.  Lady Paulina will be as well."

"I'm disappointed too," Brie added, although her smile was unchanged.

"Like I care," Pru huffed, glaring at Brie.

Brie shifted her gloating smile to Hannah.  "There, you see?  I told you she'd be unrepentant."

Pru continued glaring at the Tours Manager.  "You," she specified, "I don't care about 'disappointing' you."  She turned to her sister.  "C'mon Sis.  Her Nibs will understand.  I'm just showing Cat the rack.  It's no big deal."

"You're being a very ill-mannered and inconsiderate guest," Hannah countered.

Pru shrugged.  "It's no big deal," she reiterated (whined).

"As Her Ladyship's senior staff member in residence," Hannah intoned, "I'm making it a big deal,"  Then... she pounced, meaning they pounced.

"Hey!" Pru objected.  "Hannah!  Brie!  No!  Stop!  Hands off!"

Cat lifted her gagged head and strained her neck and tried to follow the action from her supine position on the rack, but Hannah and Brie had quickly dragged Pru down to the floor and most of what was happening was now out of her field of vision.

"Nooooo!"  (That was Pru, of course.)

What Cat could see were transitory glimpses of flailing limbs and the occasional groping hand, but that was all.  It was very frustrating.  She didn't actually want to help Pru escape the consequences of her (meaning their) egregious breach of etiquette, of course, but she definitely wanted to watch!  It was grossly unfair!

Pru: "Don't rip the blouse!  Don't rip the blouse!"

Hannah: "Then stop struggling!"

Brie: "She's not wearing any knickers."

Hannah: "Here, use mine."

Pru: "Noooo—Mrrrpfh!"

Brie:  "Hold her mouth while I remove mine too."

Pru:  "Mrrrf!"

Hannah: "Two panties?"

Brie: "Too much is never enough."

Pru: "Nrfmrrrmrfff!"

Cat tugged on her wrists, squirmed her hips, and tried to kick her feet.  The rack ignored her efforts with wooden contempt.  Pru was being stripped, gagged, and (she assumed) tied up by a blue-eyed beauty and her lover's very own big sister, and Cat couldn't see any of it!  She couldn't watch!  It was tragic!

The flailing and scuffling sounds continued for an additional minute—"Mrrrrrf!"—or two.

Finally, Brie and the Reilly sisters climbed to their feet and back into Cat's view (from the upper thighs up).

Both Hannah and Brie's hair and clothing were semi-disheveled and their faces flushed.  They straightened their blouses and skirts and combed their fingers through their long tresses.

As for Pru, her stylishly unruly pageboy mop was always tousled to some degree, but at the moment was even more so, and it was not a style statement.  Her clothes, on the other hand, were neither disheveled nor in disarray.  They were missing.  Pru was naked, as naked as Cat herself at the moment.  Also, her mouth was now packed to capacity with a large wad of silky fabric!  Cat assumed Hannah and Brie had made good on their scheme to use their panties to keep their discourteous prisoner quiet.  In any case, Pru was unable to expel the stuffing thanks to multiple horizontal strands of hemp rope serving as a tight cleave-gag!

"Mrrrmpfh!" Pru complained.

Cat couldn't agree more, but didn't bother adding her gagged voice to the situational critique.

Pru's hands were behind her back, and as the naked captive squirmed and twisted, Cat was able to visually confirm that her wrists were crossed and bound behind her back with the other coil of thin rope.  This was the first time Cat was seeing her lover naked, bound, and gagged by someone other than herself.  It sent a quivering thrill through her lady bits and up her spine.

The very long free end of Pru's wrist bonds trailed down to the floor and a similar length of the gag-rope dangled from the nape of her neck.  Brie clutched both ropes in her right hand as convenient albeit loose tethers.  Cat assumed the smiling brunette was worried about Pru scampering away and escaping... even though that was a patently absurd possibility.

Cat was so busy watching Pru be naked, bound, and gagged that she didn't notice when Hannah strolled closer to the rack (and therefore closer to her), reached down, and placed her right palm on her lower tummy—meaning Cat's lower tummy—on exactly the same spot Pru had chosen to place her palm on Cat's lower tummy... before she was pounced upon by her big sister and childhood friend, forcibly stripped, bound, and gagged! 

Dear God did she notice!

Cat flinched in startled response, barely stifled a gagged moan, and instantly shifted her alarmed gaze from Pru's naked, bound, and gagged form to Hannah's wickedly smiling face.

"Don't think you're going to escape Lady Paulina's wrath by pretending this is all Pru's fault," Hannah purred.  "You allowed my sister to place you in this predicament.  Don't even try and deny it. You are fully complicit in this egregious breach of guest etiquette."

Cat blinked in distress.  Lady Paulina has wrath? she wondered.  What kind of wrath?  How much wrath?  Is it seriously wrathful wrath?

Meanwhile, Brie had threaded the end of Pru's wrist-rope through one of the many overhead iron rings dangling from the chains attached to the ceiling and pulled out the slack.  She then doubled her grip... and hauled on the rope again... and again... each time pulling Pru's crossed and bound wrists higher and higher—"Mrrrpfh!"—until they were higher than her gagged head and bare shoulders and she was bent forward at the waist in a full strappado!  To be fair, it was a somewhat stringent strappado, not an extreme strappado, but it was definitely a strappado!

Cat stared at Poor Pru in horror, then shifted her gaze to Hannah.  "Mrrrrrf!" she pleaded.

Hannah's quirky smile never wavered as she raised an eyebrow.  "Don't tell me you two have never played this particular game before."

"Mrrrrrf!" Cat reiterated.

Hannah smile faded to a grin.  "Surprising."  She turned to Brie.  "Replace her gag, would you please?  We don't want to bruise the corners of Little Sister's mouth.  What if she gets a call from London summoning her to an emergency modeling job?"

"Whatever," Brie shrugged, then tied off the end of the strappado rope, strolled to one of the cabinets, and returned with what Cat assumed was a replacement gag,  It was brown leather with leather thong stitching and a brass buckle.  Unfortunately, Brie's body blocked Cat's view so she couldn't follow the details of the transfer—"Mrrrmpfh!—but finally the evilly smiling brunette stepped to the side.  Pru's former multi-strand rope cleave-gag was now a loose coil in Brie's hand, and in its place, enforcing the silky panties stuffing still packed in Pru's mouth, was a muzzle gag.  Its front panel pressed firmly against Pru's mouth from just under her nose to just above her cleft chin and a narrow secondary strap passed under said chin, further anchoring the gag.  As usual, it was buckled at the nape of Pru's neck under her tousled mop of auburn hair (with blond highlights).

Pru tossed her head and tried to dislodge her new fashion accessory—"Nrrrm!"—and failed miserably.

While this was happening, Brie had knelt and used the former gag-rope to... do something.  Once again the action was out of Cat's field of vision.  She assumed Brie was taking a few turns around Pru's ankles and tying a quick knot.  Anyway, if Cat's supposition was correct, kicking was no longer an option for the strappado-bound Pru.

With respect to Pru's new gag, Cat was impressed.  Not only was the muzzle, panel, or whatever category it fell into fully functional, but stylistically it fit the medieval ambiance to perfection.  Full points for "authenticity."  Also, she was pretty sure Pru's protests had diminished by at least a few decibels.

"Mrrrpfh!"

Yes, Cat was sure of it.  The muzzle was a highly effective panel-gag.

'Well," Hannah said, continuing her slow, circular massage of Cat's stretched tummy.  "I think I've had enough fun being a disciplinarian for one evening.  How 'bout you?"

Cat assumed the question was for Brie.  Everyone else in the Rack Chamber was effectively gagged.

"I'll be retiring presently," Brie answered, "but I'm sure you agree it's not a good idea to leave your baby sister en strappado 'til morning."

"That's very kind of you," Hannah stated.

Brie smiled into Pru's brown eyes.  "Who said anything about kindness?" she purred.  It was chilling.

Her hand still on Cat's tummy, Hannah leaned close and planted a kiss on the rack-bound captive's right nipple... followed by her left nipple... followed by her forehead.  "Goodnight, Catherine," she purred.  "Welcome to Amberdale Castle."  Then, going by way of her little sister so she could deliver a loud slap on her buttocks—Smack!—she made her exit.

"Mrrrmf!" Pru complained as her big sister opened the door—Creee!—crossed the threshold, and closed the door behind her.  Creeeee—thud!

"Well then," Brie purred, "let's get on with it.  But first..."  She strolled to the rack, took hold of the adjustment wheel on Cat's right, and turned it a few degrees counterclockwise.  Somewhere under the bed a ratchet and pawl mechanism clicked three times.  C-click... C-click... C-click.

The mechanism had caused Cat's wrists and ankles to move further apart by about an inch and a half... maybe two!  Cat had considered herself stretched before, but now she was really stretched.  She wasn't in actual pain (not yet), but her stretched condition was definitely more stretched!

Meanwhile, Brie had released the wheel, strolled to the other side of the rack, and placed her palm on Cat's taut tummy—making her the third person that evening to take the exact same liberty!

"Nice," the blue-eyed beauty sighed, then turned and strolled to Pru.  She grabbed a handful of Pru's hair, pulled her head up and back, and smiled into her gagged and grimacing face.  "We understand each other, don't we?" Brie inquired.  "Not to stretch the point... but if you give me any trouble, your girlfriend with the big tits and pretty gag-face will pay the price."

That's rude, Cat thought.  My tits aren't big.  Bigger than Pru's, but not that big.  It they were 'big' I wouldn't be able to work the runway.  Designers don't like big tits.

"Well? Brie demanded.

Pru nodded her gagged head as best she could, then forced a pathetic and subservient "Mrrrf" through her gag.

"Good."  Brie released Pru's hair, strolled to the cabinet with the hanging rope bundles and flagellation implements... and began pulling down coils of thin hemp rope.

Cat had no choice but to admit that Brie had fearsome rigging skills.

Also, the question of whether or not Pru was willing to cooperate with her captor was quite obviously moot.  The grinning blue-eyed beauty took every required precaution.  During the entire change-of-bondage process Pru was never sufficiently unencumbered by rope to either free herself or significantly hinder Brie's efforts.

Brie started by using a coil of rope to give Pru a collar with a non-compacting knot, then threaded it through another dangling iron ring and took out the slack.  Only then did she release the wrist-rope enforcing Pru's strappado and allow her to stand upright—but as she did so, Brie hauled down on the collar-rope, forcing Pru up onto her toes!  From her position on the rack Cat couldn't visually confirm that her lover was actually on tiptoe any more than she could before, but she considered it highly probable.  However, Pru never gave any sign of choking, so maybe not.  In any case (and as the Borg are so fond of saying), resistance was futile.  Brie wasn't messing around!

Now free to compose her bondage masterpiece without any effective resistance on Pru's part, hypothetical or real, Brie set to work.

When the dust settled about half an hour later... Pru was still standing upright and was bound by neatly cinched bands of rope at her ankles, mid lower legs, above and below her knees, her mid thighs, her waist (with a knotted vertical crotch-and buttocks-cleaving rope), above and below her breasts (and pinning her upper arms to her torso as well as yoking her shoulders).  The collar-rope had been removed, but in its place several taut, vertical strands tied to the nexus of ropes behind her back were enforcing her rigidly upright posture.  She wasn't going anywhere!  Also, while Pru's wrists were still crossed and bound behind her back, they were now in a near-reverse-prayer, raised and pinned against her spine just below her shoulder blades!  It was what Cat recognized as the so called "sadistic" or "mean" variant of the box-tie!

Her blue eyes flashing and a truly wicked grin curling her lips, Brie walked a slow circle around her victim (and childhood friend), obviously admiring her own handiwork.

On the rack, Cat was impressed.  It was as good an example of unnecessarily over-complicated yet artistically pleasing bondage as she had ever seen.  Brie really was very good... and Poor Prudence was very tied up—"Mrrrrrfff!—and not at all happy about it.

"Hmm... one more rope," Brie purred, then picked up a coil of thin hemp... smiled as she released the hitch retaining the bundle... then tied an elegant knot at the "Y"-junction of Pru's waist-and-crotch-rope, just under her bellybutton.  She then threaded the other end of the rope through a dangling ring several feet in front of Poor Prudence... smiled... pulled out the slack... then continued pulling until Pru had no choice but to awkwardly shuffle forward a few inches!  The naked prisoner also complained.

"Mrrrrrpfh!"

Definitely not happy, Cat decided.  It was... uh... horrible.  Was it wicked-hot as well?  Yes, but that didn't mean it couldn't also be horrible, right?

Brie tied off the rope and Pru's formerly vertical bundle of semi-suspension-strands were now canted forward a few degrees and the crotch-rope-to-ring rope was as taut as the proverbial fiddle-string!  If Pru hadn't been up on tiptoe before—she definitely had to be thinking about it now!

The sinister and beautiful Expert Rigger took another slow, appreciative orbit around Poor Prudence... ducking under the crotch-to-ring-rope but never taking her blue eyes off her prisoner's naked and rope-bound body.

Then, both captives watched as Brie turned and strolled to the chamber door, her heels tapping on the hard stone floor as always.

Brie opened the door—Creeeee!—stepped across the threshold, then paused and looked back.  "I have no idea what hour of the day Lady Paulina, Grace, and Lizzie will return from London," she announced.  "I can't imagine they won't enjoy a nice breakfast before starting out, of course, so... sometime in the early afternoon?"

"Nrrrm!" Cat and Pru simultaneously objected, squirming on the rack and in her ropes, respectively.

"As for when Her Ladyship will get around to dealing with your disobedience," Brie continued, "we'll just have to wait and see... won't we?"

With that (and, of course, still smiling her gorgeous/evil smile), Brie closed the door—Creeeee-thud!—abandoning Pru and Cat to their respective fates; then sliding the bolt.  Thunk!

Cat had no choice but to admit that Amberdale Castle and its inhabitants were living up to Pru's hype.  Stately castle, spooky dungeon with impressive furnishings, first-class rigging, and professional-grade gloating skills!  It was everything Pru said it would be, and then some... and they were just getting started!

That said (or thought)... Cat wasn't at all sure that she hadn't made a huge mistake by agreeing to tag along on this "vacation."