by Van ©2015
		Chapter 7

After they finished their wine, Lynda led her three slaves from the garden to her bedroom.  Alicia was sandwiched between Kimberly and Gabby, making it impossible for her to make a break for the front door and escape into the night, naked, with a steel collar locked around her neck.  Not that she really wanted to escape, of course, but a part of her mind was glad the "temptation" had been removed.

Upon entering the bedroom, Lynda indicated the master (meaning Mistress) bath with a sweeping gesture.  "Get yourselves ready for bed," she ordered.

Alicia watched as Kimberly and Gabby scampered into the bathroom.  Well, Kimberly scampered, Alicia decided.  Gabby simply hurried.  In either case, it was a joy to watch their strong, tan, naked bodies.  Alicia turned to find Lynda regarding her with an affectionate smile.  After all that had happened, Alicia was surprised to find a blush warming her cheeks.  She casually strolled to Lynda and planted a kiss on her Mistress' lips, then turned and made a show of scampering into the bath, swinging her hips and mincing her steps.  She heard Mistress chuckle behind her.

Lynda's bath was luxury personified, with a separate shower alcove and a huge soaking tub that was easily big enough for two.  It didn't take long for the three slaves to finish their evening toilette.  Upon emerging from the bath they found Mistress Lynda waiting by the bed, and resting on the neat bedspread was an array of steel cuffs, screw-links, two small wrenches, and a long length of chain.

Lynda addressed Alicia.  "I assume you watched the younger of my two blond slaves secure the elder in cuffs last night?"

Gabby was slightly offended.  "Who are you calling elder?" she demanded, realized her gaffe, and quickly added a contrite "Mistress?"

Alicia and Kimberly exchanged an amused but mildly scandalized smile.

"Yes, Mistress," Alicia acknowledged, answering the cuff question.  The hardware on the bed was identical to the cuffs she'd watched Kimberly lock on Gabby back in the studio.

"Good," Lynda nodded.  "A mistress should be observant."  She turned to Gabby.  "And as for you, I assume you know where I keep the tools required to keep tipsy slaves from running their mouths and getting themselves into trouble?"

Gabby frowned.  "I'm not tip—"  She noted Lynda's change of expression.  "Yes, Mistress," she muttered, dropping her gaze to the carpet.

"Any time this evening would be fine," Lynda said evenly.

"Yes, Mistress," Gabby sighed, then spun on her heels and hurried into the walk-in closet.

Lynda smiled at Alicia.  "Lock Slave Kimberly's wrists in cuffs," she ordered.

"Yes, Mistress."  Alicia led Kimberly to the bed—keenly aware of the role reversal—then selected a cuff, closed it around Kim's left wrist, and used the Allen wrench to drive its long, thin screw home, locking the cuff as effectively as a padlock or a pounded rivet.  All the while, the blush continued coloring Alicia's rather prominent and attractive cheeks and Kimberly continued her cute-as-a-button, dimpled smile.

Lynda also smiled as she watched Alicia secure Kim's right wrist in a second cuff.

Gabby emerged from the walk-in closet with a ball-gag strapped in her mouth, under her long, blond hair.  The gag's two-inch sphere was white, the strap black, and she'd buckled it tight enough to make her cheeks bulge.  She padded next to her mistress and joined her in watching Alicia secure Kimberly in stainless steel.

"Behind her back," Lynda ordered.

"Yes, Mistress," Alicia whispered, loud enough to be heard.  Kimberly turned her back to her "handler," Alicia selected a screw-link from the bed, replaced the Allen wrench with the small standard wrench, and secured the rings on Kimberly's cuffs together.

Lynda extended her hand, Gabby took it, and together they watched as Alicia completed binding Kimberly.  Lynda kissed Gabby's left cheek, then gently pushed her towards the bed.  "You next task, Alicia," she purred.  "Behind her back, the same as Slave Kimberly."

"Yes, Mistress," Alicia replied, selected a cuff—locked eyes with Gabby, briefly—then set to work.

Meanwhile, Kimberly had taken Gabby's place at Lynda's side.  Lynda rested an arm across the bound slave's shoulders, kissed her lips, then they watched Alicia carry out her orders.

This being the second set of cuffs Alicia had screwed in place, this time her fingers were more nimble.  In short order, Gabby's wrists were locked in wide, heavy steel and joined behind her back.

The chain, two cuffs and the required hardware remained.  Alicia glanced at the steel restraints, then at Lynda.

"Let's see if you can put cuffs on yourself," Mistress purred.

Gabby, bound and ball-gagged, joined Lynda and her fellow bound slave.  Together, they watched as Alicia closed a cuff around her left wrist, inserted a screw in the edge of the cuff, and used the Allen wrench to drive it home.  Her right wrist was next.  Then, she dropped the Allen wrench and picked up the standard wrench and the remaining screw-link.  Locking her cuffs behind her back would be awkward, but was probably doable.

"That will do for now, Alicia," Lynda said, then took a step towards the bed, turned, and smiled at Gabby and Kimberly.  "Kneel."

Gabby and Kimberly dropped to their knees and lowered their eyes to the floor.

Lynda gestured towards Alicia.  "Come."

Alicia dropped the screw-link and wrench and padded to Lynda.  Mistress pulled her into a tight embrace, which Alicia returned.  And then, they kissed.  It was a long, deep, wet kiss, and continued for some time.  Alicia could tell her fellow slaves were watching, surreptitiously, which was at once embarrassing, guilt-inducing, and arousing.

Finally, Lynda broke the kiss and used her fingers to comb and straighten Alicia's hair.  Alicia maintained the embrace, very much aware that her breasts and tummy were squeezed against Lynda's, their flesh separated only by the thin, silky fabric of Mistress' gown.

"Being a mistress means being in charge," Lynda said quietly, then nodded towards the kneeling, bound blondes.  "It can mean making hard choices and being cruel.  Are you still sure you're a mistress?"

"Yes," Alicia replied immediately.

Lynda gestured towards Gabby and Kimberly.  "Well then, Mistress Alicia, choose.  One will spend the evening with us.  The other will spend the night alone.  Choose."

Alicia gazed at Gabby and Kimberly.  Lynda's words were true, of course.  Being a mistress did mean being in charge.  Alicia knew she wasn't totally in charge, Lynda was testing her, but she had to choose, and with imperfect information.  What exactly did Lynda have in her devious mind?  Alicia almost opened her mouth to ask, but realized the uncertainty was part of the test.  She studied the two naked, helpless blondes for several seconds.  Given the uncertainty and her love for both of her fellow slaves, it was a hard choice.

"Kimberly," Alicia said, finally.

"Kimberly what?" Lynda chuckled quietly.

"Kimberly spends the night alone," Alicia clarified.  It was something of an imaginary coin toss, but not really.  Both blondes were beautiful, but she'd known Gabby longer (and biblically) and somebody had to be the one.  And truth be told, there was a tiny element of revenge.  Maybe I'll get a chance to make it up to Kim, Alicia thought (and hoped).

"With me," Lynda said, then strolled to Kimberly, touched her shoulder, and the blond slave gracefully climbed to her feet.  Lynda looked back at Alicia.  "I said, with me."

"Oh."  Alicia's blush returned as she hurried after Lynda and Kimberly.  She passed Gabby, who remained behind kneeling on the carpet, and followed Kim and Lynda into the walk-in closet.

Lynda did something and a panel opened in the far wall of the closet.  Like with the secret entrance down in the secret subterranean dungeons, Alicia couldn't see what she'd done.  The door was roughly four feet square and something like six inches thick, with a row of widely spaced round openings in the edge that were probably holes to receive bolts.  Beyond was a four-by-four cavity.

Without being told, Kimberly stepped forward and eased herself into the cubical space, tucking her legs under her and turning her face to the open door.

"Go kiss her goodnight," Lynda whispered in Alicia's ear.

Alicia sighed, then stepped forward and kissed Kimberly on the lips.  "I'm sorry, Kim," she whispered.

"It's okay, Ally," Kimberly whispered back, smiling her usual dimpled smile.  "This won't be my first night in Mistress Lynda's box."

"Don't worry, it's ventilated," Lynda announced.  "Ventilated, and soundproof."

"It's true," Kimberly nodded, still smiling.

This was good to know, but didn't make Alicia feel any less like a rat.

"Close it," Lynda ordered.

Alicia sighed, leaned close and kissed Kimberly, again, then closed the box.  She heard the solid click as the bolts engaged.

"Come," Lynda ordered, then turned towards the closet entrance—and there was a flash of movement.

Gabby had been quick, but not quick enough.  Lynda had caught sight of the blond, ball-gagged and bound slave stealing an elicit peek around the doorjamb.  Mistress turned back and it was obvious that Alicia had also caught sight of the naughty slave.  She beckoned Alicia to her side and whispered in her ear.  "There are times a mistress might chose to ignore minor indiscretions.  It wouldn't do to train that delightful trickster element out of Slave Gabby's personality.  Don't you agree?"

Alicia smiled in agreement.  "She makes me laugh."

Still smiling, Lynda led the way from the closet.  Alicia took a final gaze at the closed, locked, and now almost invisible square door at the far end of the closet, then turned her attention to Lynda and Gabby.

"On the floor, slave," Lynda ordered, and Gabby complied, sliding off her knees and sprawling on her side on the soft carpet.  Lynda strolled to the bed and picked up the steel chain still coiled on the bedspread.  It was five or six feet in length.  At one end was a simple steel ring, but at the other was an unusual padlock.  Its base was attached to the chain's terminal and the entire mechanism more resembled an extension of the chain more than an attachment.

Lynda knelt at the foot of her bed, there was a click, then she dragged the chain towards Gabby.  The terminal ring was now affixed somewhere under the bed frame, and—click—the padlock was now locked to the ring on the front of Gabby's collar.  Lynda smiled at Alicia.  "I said she'd spend the night with us, in the bedroom.  I never said she'd sleep on the bed."

Alicia stared at Gabby.  Ball-gagged, wrists cuffed behind her back, collared, and now chained to Mistress Lynda's bed frame, Gabby stared back.  Alicia shifted her gaze to the walk-in closet.  Is the closet part of the bedroom? she wondered, like the floor?  She decided the closet might be a part of the whole, but "Mistress Lynda's Box," as Kimberly had called it, definitely qualified as elsewhere.  When Alicia returned her attention to Gabby she realized a part of her was enjoying the cruelty with which Mistress was treating the adorable, gorgeous, helpless slave.  This might have made Alicia feel ashamed, if she didn't so strongly suspect that Gabby was also enjoying her mean, horrible fate.

"Help me with this gown," Lynda ordered, then turned her back to Alicia.

Alicia hurried forward and unclasped and unzipped Lynda's gown, then helped her step free of the silky garment.  Lynda draped the gown over Alicia's arms, then peeled down the wine-colored panties, steadied herself with her left hand on Alicia's shoulder, stepped free of the panties, then crumpled them into a ball and stuffed them in Alica's surprised but unresisting mouth.  "Drape the gown over the dressing stand in the closet," she purred.  "The panties go in the hamper."

Her eyes still wide—and doing her best not to visibly shiver in sympathy with the thrill quivering between her legs—Alicia padded to the closet, draped the gown over the top of the dressing stand, then pulled the wadded panties from her mouth and deposited them in the laundry hamper.  Alone in the closet, she let the frisson of arousal shiver up her spine, took a lingering gaze at the nearly invisible door of Kimberly's cramped, lightless prison, then returned to the bedroom.

Gloriously nude, Lynda was standing over Gabby.  Something white and silky was in her hands.  "Come say goodnight," she said to Alicia.

Alicia padded over, knelt beside Gabby, and kissed first her slightly sweaty forehead, and then her ball-gagged mouth.  "Goodnight, Gabby," Alicia whispered.  Her left hand reached between Gabby's thighs and slowly, gently stroked her fellow slave's labia.  Alicia grinned into Gabby's gagged, grimacing face.  "You're wet," she noted in a whisper.

"Well, if she wasn't before," Lynda chuckled, "she certainly is now."   She handed the silk object to Alicia.

It was a full hood of white, slightly elastic fabric, possibly spandex, with what amounted to a sleep-mask of the same material stitched to the side at the appropriate location.  Its collar closed by means of a broad Velcro tab.  Alicia knew what was expected of her.  She slipped the hood over Gabby's head, made sure the sleep mask was over her eyes and the hood's tiny mesh breathing panel over her nostrils, then closed the Velcro collar.

Gabby was now nude, blindfolded and hooded, chained by her collar to Mistress' bed, her wrists cuffed behind her back, and helpless.  And if she was wet between the legs and in need of relief, she wasn't exactly in a position to do anything about it.

Lynda extended her right hand and helped Alicia to her feet, then led her towards the bed.  Without a word, she spun Alicia around and gathered her cuffed wrists behind her back.

Alicia heard a quiet click, tugged on her wrists, and realized the cuffs were now padlocked together.

Meanwhile, Lynda had retrieved the two wrenches from the bed and placed them in the drawer of the nightstand, pulled back the covers, then climbed onto the mattress and slid between the sheets.  Still not speaking, she beckoned with her open arms.

Alicia somewhat awkwardly climbed onto the bed, into Lynda's arms, and they kissed, again.  It was long, deep, and wet, also again.  There was a brief pause while Lynda picked up a small remote from the nightstand, used it to dim the bedroom lights to near-darkness, and the kiss resumed.  With Lynda's tongue sliding and dueling with her own, their lips smacking, their naked bodies pressed together and Lynda hugging her with her strong arms, Alicia was in heaven.

Maybe I am a slave, Alicia thought, but why can't I be Lynda's slave and Gabby's mistress?

The face sucking continued, and in the course of the night they made love many times before falling asleep.

Poor Gabby heard it all, gagged, hooded, and helpless on the soft carpet.

Alone in her cramped box, poor Kimberly heard nothing at all, of course, other then the beating of her own heart and the sigh of her own breathing.  She could only imagine what was happening in Mistress' bedroom.

Alicia woke to the sight of Lynda's smiling face.  Mistress was gently combing strands of Alicia's sleep-tousled hair from her face.

"Good morning," Lynda said.

Alicia returned the smile.  "Good morning." She tried stretching, but it was vetoed by the steel cuffs still locking her wrists together behind her back.  Her shoulders were not happy.

Lynda rolled over, opened the top drawer of the bedside table, and returned with a small key.  She then rolled Alicia onto her side and unlocked the padlock securing the wrist cuffs.

"Thank you, Mistress," Alicia sighed as she did a full-body stretch.  This felt very good, and while her shoulders still had a list of grievances, they definitely felt better.

Lynda resumed finger-combing Alicia's hair.  "Have you ever studied yoga?" she asked.

"No, Mistress," Alicia replied.

"That changes as soon as you get back to the city," Lynda suggested (ordered).  "Tell Gabby to bring you to whatever class she attends.  If your schedules are incompatible, find a class you can attend.  I expect my slaves to be resilient, both in mind and body."

Alicia's smile widened.  At least Lynda was admitting that she wasn't going to keep her as her slave at the spa forever.  Fun was fun, but some challenging cases were waiting for her back at the firm, and she loved the practice of law.  "Yes, Mistress."

Lynda leaned close and kissed Alicia's smiling lips.  "Go take a long shower and get ready to face the day, and you may use my toothbrush."

"Thank you, Mistress," Alicia chuckled, then indicated the steel cuffs still locked around her wrists and the collar still around her throat.  "What about all this hardware, Mistress?"

"That's the beauty of stainless steel," Lynda purred.  "Just be careful not to crack any of the tiles in my bathroom or there will be hell to pay."

"Yes, Mistress," Alicia laughed, climbed from between the sheets, and padded towards the Mistress-bath, stretching her arms and arching her back as she went.  The morning light was streaming through the open drapes of the bedroom window, and she was very much aware that her naked body was almost certainly the center of Lynda's attention.  A coy smile curled her lips as she walked.  She couldn't help herself, nor did she want to help herself.

Taking a long, hot shower was one order Alicia had absolutely no difficulty carrying out.  She soaped and scrubbed her body and shampooed her hair, and took her sweet time about it.  Finally, having no good excuse to continue letting the hot, pulsing water massage her body, she made sure the skin under her collar and cuffs was well-rinsed and turned off water.  She dried herself with a big, fluffy towel, dried her hair with a second, smaller tower, then wrapped the small towel around her head, turban-fashion.  She brushed her teeth, as Mistress had ordered, then used Mistress' hair dryer and brush set to finish preparing herself for the day.  Finally ready, she emerged from the bath— "Mrrrpfh" —and was immediately seized and hand-gagged by Kimberly and Gabby!

Kim and Gabby were both nude, like Alicia, but even more nude as their collars and wrist cuffs were missing.  Mistress Lynda was also nude—completely nude, of course—and sitting on the bed with her legs modestly crossed and her arms to either side.

"Nrrrpfh!"

The hand-gag was quickly replaced with what Alicia suspected was the ball-gag Gabby had worn all night.  She was then forced down to the carpet in the middle of the bedroom and her wrist-cuffs locked behind her back with a screw-link.

Alicia struggled, but it wasn't exactly an epic battle.  She struggled because it was expected, but she pulled her punches.  The smile on Lynda's beautiful face confirmed for Alicia that putting on a show had, indeed, been her best choice.

Steel cuffs separated by a hobbling chain were locked around Alicia's ankles, and they were close-fitting but of the appropriate size.  That is, they weren't the close-fitting wrist-cuffs Gabby or Kimberly had been wearing or that Alicia was still wearing.  Obviously, after freeing her blond slaves, Lynda had fetched additional hardware or tasked one of the slaves to do so.

Next, Alicia was hauled to her feet and held in place with Kimberly grasping her right arm and Gabby her left.

Lynda stood, sauntered forward, lifted Alicia's chin, and smiled at her gagged and grimacing face.  "Help Slave Alicia empty her bowels, then bring her to the garden, the breakfast garden."

"Yes, Mistress," Kimberly and Gabby said in unison.  Obviously, they knew which venue was designated "the breakfast garden."

Alicia decided an addition show of defiance was called for.  "Mrrrrrf!" she complained as she tossed her head and jerked her chin from Lynda's gentle grip.

"Go," Lynda chuckled as she took a step back.

"M'mpfh!"

Kimberly and Gabby hustled Alicia from the bedroom, down the hall to the gym, and into the gym shower room.  Alicia knew what was coming—or strongly suspected—and she was not happy.  Her blond handlers bent her over the rolling towel-rack, which she now realized was better characterized as the enema-stand, secured her in place, and she received her second enema in as many days.  Kimberly did the deed while Gabby knelt on the hard tiles and gently combed Alicia's tousled hair with her fingers.

"There, there, Mistress," Gabby cooed.  "I know the water's cold, and there's a lot of it, and Kimberly is being a real bitch for making you hold it this long, but it will soon be over."

Kimberly giggled but said nothing.  She didn't even correct her fellow blonde's assertion that she was "a real bitch."

Gabby was entirely correct, of course.  Soon, it was over.  Kimberly and Gabby released her from the stand and helped her to the commode, she voided her bowels, and they used a cold, wet washcloth to clean her up.  "M'mmmf!"  Then, it was out the door, down the hall to a side door, and out to yet another side garden, and it was different from the dining venue.

The Breakfast Garden was surrounded by tall hedges, rather than vine-covered stone walls.  There were also flowerbeds, a patio of stone flags with small cafe table and two chairs, and a stretch of lawn.  Finally there was a water feature with a small waterfall.  Mistress Lynda was sitting at the table, dressed in a robe, and was enjoying a breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice, and coffee.  She dabbed her lips with a cloth napkin and smiled at her slaves.  "That was quick," she chuckled, then gestured to the patch of lawn between the table and the water feature.

Kimberly and Gabby dragged Alicia out onto the grass and forced her to her knees.  "Nrrr!"  Alicia beheld a small, deep stone bowl sunken into the turf below ground level, probably so it wouldn't be struck by the blades of a hypothetical lawnmower, and in its center was a steel pad-eye with about a foot of steel chain attached.  Kimberly lifted the end of the chain, Gabby forced Alicia's head closer to the ground, and there was a loud click.  The two blondes stood, stepped back, and watched Alicia tug on the chain.  She was well and truly stuck.  "M'mmmpfh!"  Kimberly and Gabby strolled back to the patio and stood beside their mistress.  Alicia could see all three of them smiling and quite obviously enjoying the sight of her kneeling, gagged, closely chained, struggling, and helpless self.

"Go get cleaned up and find some breakfast," Lynda told Kimberly and Gabby, "then come back and we'll prepare Mistress Alicia for her next trial.

"Yes Mistress," the blondes said in unison.  Kimberly bowed and made her exit.  Ever the wisenheimer, Gabby sketched a quick, naked curtsey, spun on her naked heels, and followed.  "Eeep!"  Lynda had used her napkin to deliver a stinging snap to Gabby's right butt-cheek as she departed.

Kneeling in the grass, naked, gagged, and helpless, Alicia watched Mistress Lynda return to enjoying her breakfast.

Alicia watched Lynda consume her breakfast with simmering resentment—and lust.  Yes, lust was definitely what she was feeling.  Lynda was incredible, a force of nature.  Alicia was glad she was her slave and—

Alicia blinked and tugged on her wrist cuffs in frustration.  I'm a mistress! she reminded herself.  Playing slave with Lynda was fun—And how!—but it was only play.  It was also educational, but Alicia was a mistress.  Tired of kneeling on the grass, she carefully rolled onto her right side.  Her foot long tether of gleaming steel links remained more-or-less taut the entire time.  Lynda ignored the change, her attention absorbed by the iPad she was reading as she ate.  Apparently, it was serving as her morning paper.

Alicia heaved a gagged sigh and a thrill shivered between her legs.  She was staring at her mistress-of-the-moment, and imagining that their roles were reversed, that she was the one sitting at the table, dressed in a robe and enjoying a nice breakfast, and Lynda was the one naked and in chains—No, naked and hogtied—No, naked and spreadeagled between four sunken stone bowls by chains locked to steel cuffs... basking in the morning sun... ball-gagged... sweat beading on her tan, strong, perfect body... especially her breasts... and with ants crawling on the firm, full globes like tiny mountaineers.

The prisoner on the lawn shivered in her bonds and decided not to think about ants.  Would a slave have such thoughts? Alicia reflected.  If I was truly Lynda's slave, would I be dreaming about tying her up?  No... I'm a mistress.  I'm definitely a mistress.

Lynda had cleared her plate and was sipping coffee and continuing to read the iPad.  After several more tranquil minutes, Kimberly and Gabby returned.  Kimberly was in her spa uniform of sneakers, shorts, and polo-shirt.  Gabby was in white sandals, yoga pants, and a sports bra, both in a very pretty salmon, pink, and lavender print.  Lynda set down the iPad and her coffee cup, stood and gestured towards Alicia, then strolled away.

The graceful wave of their mistress' hand was all the instructions the blond slaves required.  They released Alicia's tether and pulled her to her hobbled feet.  Then, following their mistress, they dragged her through the house to the basement.  Truth be told, it was more helped her to her feet and led her to the basement, as Alicia's resistance was both theatrical and superficial.  Given her steel bonds, ball-gag, and the total absence of would be rescuers, her struggles were also futile.

Anyway, they arrived at the basement, passed through the secret door behind the wardrobe, down the corridor to the T-junction, made a right turn this time, and entered a small chamber.  Its walls were lined with wooden cabinets and drawers, and in the center, under a bank of spotlights, was a table.  Kimberly patted the table's padded top, Gabby grabbed Alicia's waist, and helped her hop up and sit on the table.

Kimberly and Gabby fetched Allen wrenches from a drawer and spent the next couple of minutes removing all of Alicia's bonds except her ball-gag.  Lynda watched the process with what Alicia chose to characterize as a gloating smile on her beautiful face.  Once removed, the wrist and ankle cuffs and the collar were stowed in a cabinet.  Then, Gabby and Kimberly carried a pair of black leather mitts to the table and began fitting them to Alicia's hands.

The mitts had individual channels for Alicia's fingers and thumbs and closed around her wrists and halfway up her forearms by means of laces running through a double row of grommets.  A steel D-ring dangled from the tip of each mitt, and broad, thick cuffs closed around her wrists and were secured by heavy, double-tongued buckles.  Each cuff had an additional pair of D-rings, one on either side of the buckle.

Ankle-cuffs similar to the integrated wrist-cuffs of the mitts were next.  Then, Gabby held Alicia's arm and helped her hop off the table while Kimberly went to a cabinet and returned with a tinkling mass of straps and buckles.  The mass was a body harness, and the two blondes draped it over Alicia's head and began tightening and buckling its black leather straps.  Soon, straps yoked Alicia's shoulders, passed above and below her breasts, around her waist, and encircled her upper thighs.  More of the D-rings dangled from the harness, a lot more.

A foot-long chain was clipped to the ankle-cuffs to hobble Alicia's steps, the mitts pulled behind her back and clipped together, and they were off.  Lynda led the way from the "fitting chamber" and back down the corridor the way they'd come.  They passed the T-junction and continued down the left-hand corridor.

Alicia knew she was on her way to a "trial," and felt her nervousness building.  She was scared, or more correctly, apprehensive.  She knew she was safe, in that she knew Mistress Lynda would never do anything to cause her bodily harm.  Do something to her that was downright painful?  Of course.  The Bishop Stand hadn't been a walk in the park, but Mistress Lynda loved her, just as surely as she loved Kimberly and Gabby.  She knew the unknown trial was probably going to be something bad, but Alicia was determined to show her mistress and fellow slaves that she could take it... whatever "it" might be.  Intellectually, Alicia was very sure of herself.  As for the butterflies fluttering in her tummy, not so much.

Finally, they came to the door at the very end of the corridor.  It was larger than the others, but was the same gray-painted steel studded with bolts.  Lynda punched a code in its cypher-lock, and the door swung open on massive hinges.  Its inside surface was completely covered with closely-spaced rows and columns of foot-long cones of what appeared to be gray, medium-density foam.  Sound baffles, Alicia realized, like they use in recording studios to deaden unwanted noise.  The space beyond was square, about fifteen feet on a side, and its walls were covered with more of the same sound-absorbing foam cones.  Overhead, an array of track lighting supported numerous spotlights, and numerous items of medical or scientific technology were scattered about, the sort of monitors and diagnostic equipment on rolling stands one might expect to see in a hospital or laboratory.  Tiny glowing screens and LED lights, rows of dials and switches, dangling electrical cables, it was everything the modern Mad Scientist might require to do heaven-knows-what to a Helpless Damsel—like Alicia!

"Mrrrpfh?"  Even though she still had no idea what Lynda had in mind, Alicia was now most definitely scared.  She was also embarrassed she'd let her control lapse and was so obviously staring wide-eyed and panting through her flaring nostrils with her breasts heaving, but mainly she was scared.

And then, the gloating smile still curling her lips, Lynda took a step to the side and Alicia could see what was waiting in the center of the room—and now she was really scared!

The chamber's frightening centerpiece was a rectangular platform.  It was roughly waist high and had a padded top, and the padding was translucent, lit from below, and glowed with an amber light.  In addition, the platform had a heavy glass or plastic cover in the shape of a half-cylinder.  It was open, resting on a set of heavy-duty hinges.  All of this was unusual, but what tipped the balance into the realm of scary-ominous was the myriad of black nylon straps dangling from the platform's periphery.  Alicia was sure the platform probably had a clever name, but made the instant decision that whatever that name might be and whatever scenario was about to play out, she wanted nothing to do with it!

"Nrrrrr!"

Alicia struggled for all she was worth, but couldn't prevent Kimberly, Gabby, and Lynda from dragging her forward, lifting her into the air, and placing her on her back on the platform's padding.  Lynda and Gabby held her down while Kimberly began the process of strapping her in place.

In a depressingly short time, Mistress was able to take a step back and Gabby was able to join Kimberly in threading straps through the D-rings in Alicia's mitts, ankle-cuffs, and harness, pulling out the slack, and securing the ends through friction-buckles.  Lynda watched as her blond slaves stretched additional straps across Alicia's struggling but increasingly more helpless body.  Alicia continued mewling through her gag, but knew her complaints were falling on deaf and/or entertained ears and escape had been a lost cause from the beginning.  The padding was soft and disconcertingly bouncy, like a waterbed or a giant gel-pad.

Finally, Kimberly and Gabby stepped back to stood on either side of their mistress.  Alicia was on her back with her ankles a couple of feet apart, her arms at her sides, and could barely move.  Her body-harness was pinned to the platform's padding in a dozen places.  Her mitts and cuffs were similarly secure, and that included the mitts' fingertip D-rings.  Her gagged head and bare feet had the most "freedom," but tossing her head, flexing her tootsies, and wiggling her toes was getting her nowhere.  The padding under her strapped down body quivered and wiggled a little as she explored her condition, but she was totally helpless.

And then, Lynda made a gesture, signaling the end of the gloating break.  Kimberly and Gabby carried various accessories to the platform and began sliding, strapping, and clipping them in place.  Specifically:

(1)  Kimberly and Gabby slid a large steel ring over each of Alicia's breasts.  They were sized to impart that sensitizing bulge Alicia had been warned about and her boobs now a slightly pinkish hue and bulged in their circular steel prisons.  Straps attached to the rings were tightened and secured to the platform on both sides, and the "boob-bulge-bra" was firmly in place, as were Alicia's captured globes.

(2)  Kimberly manipulated Alicia's left nipple until it was erect—it didn't take much manipulation—then clipped an alligator clip around the nubbin of flesh.  "Mrrrf!"  The clip's jaws were serrated but its spring was weak.  The insidious thing wasn't going anywhere, but it didn't pinch like the Bishop Stand's clover clamps.  This was a good thing; however, the pair of metal disks Kimberly adhered to Alicia's boob on either side of the clip were ominous, and the insulated wires trailing from the clip and both disks were even more ominous.  Gabby leaned close and planted a kiss on Alicia's right nipple, then fit it with a second clip flanked by its own set of disks.

(3)  Next, the blondes slid a lubricated phallus of black rubber between Alicia's labia and into her vagina!  "Mrrrrf?"  Needless to say, this was not appreciated by the recipient.  "M'mmpfh!"  It had a long, trailing cable and its business end was studded with copper and silver lumps, like the Bishop Stand's electrified and vibratory intruder.  Straps at the base secured it to the network of straps pinning Alicia to the platform padding and made sure the horrible thing was in to stay.

(4)  Next, pairs of copper disks with trailing wires were adhered to Alicia's upper-thighs on the right and left and on either side of her clitoris, for a total of six disks.

Kimberly and Gabby stepped back and Lynda stepped forward.  She smiled down at Alicia's supremely fit, healthy, beautiful, and helpless form, then turned Alicia's head and unbuckled and removed her ball-gag.  Gabby placed a glass of cold water in Lynda's left hand, Lynda lifted Alicia's head and carefully tipped the glass so she could drink.

Lynda handed the glass back to Gabby combed Alicia's hair from her pouting face.   "This trial is about time," Lynda purred, her eyes locked with Alicia's.  "Time, helplessness, and uncertainty.  It will test your resolve as much as your endurance for pain and unwanted pleasure.  Will you break?  Will you surrender to despair?  Will you finally admit that you're not a mistress?  Will you beg to become my slave?"  She combed Alicia's hair with her strong, tan fingers for several more seconds.  "Don't bother answering, darling.  The trial will continue, regardless."

Alicia found herself blinking back tears, but decided that she had to answer.  "I'm a mistress and always will be," she huffed.  "Do.  Your.  Worst."

Lynda's gentle grooming and gloating smile continued for a few more seconds, then she took a step back, the blond handler-slaves stepped forward, and together they fit Alicia with a new gag.  Actually, the monstrosity they inflicted on poor, innocent Alicia might be better described as a combination gasmask, headphones, collar, and gag.  It had a mouth-filling rubber plug, a breathing mask with a pair of flexible black hoses, a full face-plate of smoky glass, a wide, well-padded posture collar, and incorporated a pair of padded headphones.  Kimberly and Gabby tightened several straps, insuring the mask, collar, and headphones would remain in place and pinning Alicia's head as thoroughly as the rest of her body.

Miniscule wiggling and twitching of Alicia's strapped-down body and the thrashing of her cuffed, bare feet were now the only movements she found possible.  Suddenly, she froze in her bonds.  The half-cylindrical cover was closing—"Nrrrrrf!"—and then it was closed!

Alicia found that between the faceplate of the mask and the curved glass of the cover, all she could see was the glare of spotlights, vaguely human shapes, and her own reflection.  The underside of the cover was partially silvered, and while her reflection was relatively distinct and in focus, Lynda, Gabby, and Kimberly were blurry silhouettes.

Suddenly, Lynda's sexy, alto voice sounded in Alicia's headphones, "I've been refining the design of my sensory deprivation chamber for years."

A thrill of dread shivered through Alicia's helpless body.  Sensory deprivation chamber!  "Nrrr!"  Her gagged voice sounded loud in her own ears, but had the pathetic sound penetrate the glass overhead?  Probably not, she decided.

"The gel supporting your body is almost the precise density of the human body," Lynda's voice continued, "and a heat-pump with a rapidly cycling thermostat maintains the temperature at precisely ninety-eight point six degrees Fahrenheit.  And just for fun, the computer will administer periodic electrical and vibratory stimuli on a schedule carefully crafted to appear random and unpredictable.  I'm afraid some of the shocks will be somewhat painful, many of the low-level vibratory sessions will be extremely frustrating, and some sessions will involve both pleasure and pain; however, there will be orgasms.  You'll never know what will happen next, or when it will happen.  And it will all play out in complete darkness and total silence.  You'll find it quite disorienting and frightening, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it... but endure."

"Nrrrrr!"

Alicia's heart was pounding in her ears, and she could hear her breath whistling through the mask's breathing tubes.

"Nrrrrr!"

"Well then, Alicia," Lynda's voice said, "I'll see how you're doing in a few hours."

Hours?  Hours?  How many hours?  "Nrrrrrf!"

The light was fading.  Lynda, Kimberly, and Gabby's blurry, indistinct silhouettes were merging with the background as the spotlights dimmed, and the lights under the gel-bed were fading as well.  The image of her helpless, squirming body reflecting off the inside of the glass cover became less and less distinct, and then it was gone.  All was darkness.  If the LED lights on the equipment and monitors she'd noted earlier were still glowing, their feeble light wasn't penetrating the cover and faceplate and reaching her wide, desperate eyes.

"Mrrrrrpfh!"