The Island

The Island by Wild Rose

For disclaimers see part I

Part VII: A Mistress In Any Other Name, pt. II

When Kathryn's second-in-command and Chris entered the kitchen, they were greeted by a barrage of questions. Cookie took a big ladle and banged it against a big bulbous copper pot to give Cassandra a chance to speak.

"Supervisor Jolene is still asleep and probably will for some time. Ka…"

"No surprise there. We removed two empty bottles when we cleaned the room this morning." Hannah piped up, but a stern look from Cookie let her add. "I'm sorry, Cass. I should not have interrupted."

The young woman was naked this morning with her buttocks a nice shade of red. Chris now knew that she would have to go without clothes until who ever was her mistress showed up and forgave her transgressions.

"It's all right, Hannah. This situation has us all on edge. Kathryn will stay with her. She wants us to keep things as normal as possible, except for Project G."

"Project Genesis," Chris burst out. "I should have thought of it earlier."

"What do you know of Project Genesis, Chris?" Cassandra's voice had a menacing undertone.

"Nothing but the name. That Rehabilitated mentioned it."

"Elder Ika?"

"Yes. She told my Mistress to send a report on Project Genesis should the head of Supervisors stay longer than 24 hours. And she arrived here 21 hours and 58 minutes ago."

"Cassandra, why don't you go and file a report, eyes only to the Council of Elders. I have some breakfast brought over."

"But, Cookie, Kat wouldn't want us to call the cavalry." Cassandra cautioned.

"Sometimes Kathryn is too proud and stubborn for her own good. It isn't defamatory to accept help freely offered. Go now!"

"Yes, Madam."

Chris stayed behind and was stirring her cereals without eating them.

"Eat, Chris. You'll need your strength."

The blonde looked up in Cookie's gentle brown eyes and forced herself to answer. "I'm not hungry, Madam."

"Kathy will be all right."

"She doesn't like to be called Kathy," the green-eyed woman whispered.

"No, she doesn't – but how do you know?"

"It's what `she' calls her. The colour of her eyes changes whenever she hears it."

"You're very perceptive, Chris. And now eat, that's an order. Your Mistress knows how to deal with our guest."

"You're an elder, a Rehabilitated, right? So, why don't you live with the others in town?"

"Perceptive and curious. Let's make a deal. I'll tell you while you eat." The young woman nodded and put a spoonful in her mouth. "I was sent here more than forty years ago and spent the better part of my time here as a Supervisor. When my time was up, they told me that I had killed a lot of men in the outside world. It's not important why I did it but I saw no reason to return to a world that made me do it. In my time here I learned that I'm not a naturally violent person; I would not have acted this way without being convinced that I had a very good reason. No, Chris, I don't want to excuse what I did, killing is wrong and I'm glad that I had the chance to pay for my crimes.

"As I said, I had a hard time to cope with the discipline and obedience part of life here – and sometimes I still do. I can see its wisdom and all in all, the concept has done more good than harm but I also see its abuse. Anyway, I decided not to return to the outside world; I no longer had anything in common with it. I could have become like the other Rehabilitated but I also was tired of my responsibilities and what I had learned about my past had me shell shocked. I was tired of making decisions the whole time, so, I retired. I lived with a few others in a coastal village, sitting around, bathing bait, and generally being bored out of my mind. About two years ago, Kathryn found me and asked me to help her with Safe Heaven. That's how I ended up here."

Chris had finished her bowl of cereal and Cookie escorted her back to Kathryn's quarters.

~*~

"Mistress, may I please remove the instrument of discipline?" The blonde asked after her maintenance spanking.

"Yes, Chris."

The young woman rose to her feet and put the paddle back in the closet. She then took a cane from its hook, returned to her mistress, and presented it to her.

"Please, Mistress, punish me for speaking without permission. I spoke ninety-one words while I was in the kitchen, with …."

"Slow down, Chris. What did you have to say that needed ninety words?"

"I told Cassandra and Cookie what the Rehabilitated had said about the head of Supervisors and Project Gemini and then I talked with elder Cookie, Mistress." She answered with her eyes cast to the ground.

"And now you will probably tell me that you couldn't help yourself and needed to protect me, right?"

"No, Mistress, when I mentioned it, I knew what I was doing; l knew I would disappoint you, Mistress. Please punish me. I won't be able to take it all at once: ninety-one words, and if I counted right more than 400 letters."

"You can talk with Cookie any time you like, so, you will not get punished for what you said to her. She is not only a good cook but also a very good listener; and I only punish for single letters when one of my charges chooses to curse. You didn't curse, right, Chris?"

"No, Mistress."

"Then how many words are left when you only count what you said to Cassandra?"

The blonde cocked her head, closed her eyes, and silently replayed her conversation with Kathryn's second-in-command.

"Forty-nine, Mistress." She finally answered, once again offering the cane to the taller woman. "Please punish me for my short comings and give me the chance to mend my ways, Mistress."

"You really don't make it easy for me, Chris. – Put the cane back and fetch the paddle with the holes. Part of the initiation period is to build up some stamina, that's why the maintenance spankings get harder over the weeks; and believe me, it takes some getting used to, to take this many strokes with a cane. At the end of the initiation you certainly will be able to take it but now, even this paddle will be hard on you. I would have chosen another one hadn't you been warmed up by the maintenance spanking."

For the fraction of a heartbeat she considered protesting but then she remembered the taller woman's ordeal at the hand of Supervisor Jolene and simply said. "Yes, Mistress, thank you, Mistress."

When the blonde once again bent over the chair's back she only minutes ago had vacated, she saw that the head of Supervisors was still deeply asleep, as her loud snoring also proved.

"I don't want you to count, just focus on holding your position and try to keep your breathing even. Are you ready, Chris?"

"Yes, Mistress, please don't be lenient with me."

"Leniency is recommended during the first couple of weeks of initiation, Chris. Prepare for the first stroke. It will not be as hard as it could be but it will be enough to make you think hard before trying something like this again."

Twack. The blonde suddenly was grateful for her mistress' leniency and the support the chair offered. This particular paddle felt almost as bad as the single tail whip and she needed all her willpower to hold her position.

With the second stroke she cried out, not loud but enough to make Kathryn close the door to her bedroom. She didn't want the Supervisor to wake up and ruin everything with her probably scathing remarks.

This was Chris' first serious punishment. From experience the dark haired beauty knew that it was an immensely important part of the relationship of a mistress with her charge. It would be too much to say that it determined the kind of relationship they would eventually develop but the coming minutes would at least set the direction of where they'd be going. It would decide if Chris would continue to trust her or be weary of her authority; it would teach her the difference between discipline and abuse, and it would teach Kathryn how her charge really reacted to pain.

The blonde felt her mistress' hand at the small of her back and then she heard her voice, deep and soothing.

"Calm down, Chris. Try to breathe through the pain. I know you can do it, you can take it. Breathe for me, in, out, slowly, out, in, out. Yes, that's it. In, out. Keep it up. Out, in, out. That's good, you're doing fine."

The paddle hit her right cheek in sync with her breath leaving her lungs and when the pain spread she greedily sucked in the much needed air. Surprisingly she was able to keep the breathing rhythm even.

In – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack– in – out – in – out – twack– in – out – in – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack – in.

Chris who had been determined to at least mentally count the strokes already had completely lost track. It hurt so much and she wanted nothing more than to just run away. The rhythm of the strokes, however, held her mesmerised. It was a part of her, and yet, it didn't come from within.

Fleetingly she asked herself: `Was the beating following the rhythm of her breathing or was it rather the rhythm of the strokes allowing her to breathe? Was it important?'

Twack – in – out – in – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack – in – out – in – out – twack– in – out.

Kathryn saw and felt the change in her blonde charge, the moment she gave herself over to the punishment instead of trying to fight it, instead of trying to hold her own as she herself did every time, trying to control the pain. She had seen and experienced enough to know that such a degree of acceptation, that such an abandon was something very, very rare.

It was a character trait that given the chance she would cherish and possibly deepen in her charge. Seeing her before her, so open and vulnerable, she was doubly happy that she had interfered on her behalf and taken her from Supervisor Jolene.

Her reaction told Kathryn so much about the trust the blonde already harboured for her. She shivered at the thought of what that cruel woman would have undoubtedly done to the young woman; she would have tried to break her or killed her while trying.

Sara, Chris' initially chosen instructor, was a decent enough person but due to her traumatic experiences with her own mistress and immediate superior, the head of Supervisors, she was completely unable to defy the older woman in any shape or form. She had been broken long ago. Whatever Supervisor Jolene wanted she would get – and by now, Sara even had herself convinced that she wanted and needed what her mistress made her do and suffer.

No, Kathryn thought, it was better this way and worth every bit of pain the other woman was likely to put her through before she once again tired of her.

While all these thoughts flashed through her mind, Kathryn's arm remained steady, keeping the rhythm, her strokes never varying in speed or strength. She had learned from the best disciplinarian the Island had, even though the woman too often indulged her own sadistic cravings instead of looking out for the best of her charges.

The colour of Chris' buttocks had changed from the light red after the maintenance spanking to a dark red, to dark wine red, to a deep crimson. Forty-three, forty-four. The skin was still so sensitive that the younger woman wouldn't be able to take much more before needing medical attention. There was no danger to break the skin but there would be a lot of bruising.

Forty-eight, forty-nine. It was done.

Kathryn put the paddle back but the blonde didn't move an inch. It had not yet reached her awareness that the spanking had stopped. She gave her another two minutes to compose herself and then gently put her hand back on the small of Chris' back, waiting for her touch to be registered.

"Mistress?" Chris' voice was soft, barely audible as if coming from far away.

"It's over, Chris. Try to stand up, please."

The blonde slowly pressed herself to a standing position and with tears freely trailing down her cheeks came to her knees in front of her Mistress. Her whole body was trembling but she searched and found her Mistress' blue gaze and knew that she had been forgiven.

So, when she heard the ritual words – "justice has been satisfied and your debt is paid in full" – she instinctively snuggled closer to the other woman, pressing her blond head against a flat, muscled stomach, just beneath two very firm breasts. Kathryn instinctively pulled her even closer.

"You are forgiven, Chris. I'm proud of you. You were very brave." She whispered.

"What a heart-warming, disgustingly sappy picture, and what an enticing shade of red."

The voice of Supervisor Jolene made Chris almost jump but her mistress held her close, ignoring the other woman's leery gaze.

"Stand up, Chris. It's time to put your restraints back on."

The blonde looked up, without losing contact with the warm skin in front of her and said quietly,

"Thank you for disciplining me, Mistress."

"You're welcome, Chris, just make it so that I don't have to do it regularly, all right?"

"I'll try, Mistress." She was rewarded with a short but tender kiss first on the top of her head and then on her forehead.

Chris came to her feet and docilely followed her Mistress to the closet. She put her hands behind her back and they quickly were bound as they had been the day before; the circulation was ensured and yet there was no way to even move one muscle of her hands. The red ball gag was inserted in her mouth and secured, and only then did Kathryn acknowledge her own mistress.

"I'm at your command, Mistress."

"Go and fetch me some breakfast. Coffee and toast, and a big glass of tomato juice with a kick – and hurry, my head is killing me."

"Would you also like some painkillers, Mistress? I can have them brought up with your breakfast tray."

"No painkillers. Who knows what else you would put in those pills, no. And I don't want you to order breakfast, I want you to go and fetch it from the kitchen. Be back when I finish my shower."

~*~

A short knock on the double door let Elder Ika look up from her paperwork. The right door opened, pushed by one of the lower ranking supervisors, and Ani crawled in with a sheaf of paper held in her mouth. It had taken her lover much longer than anticipated to get the report she had sent her to fetch, and the feeling of uneasiness that she felt since the day before once again intensified.

"Come to my side of the desk, Ani." The woman looked up, surprised at being called by her name. These last thirty-six hours her Mistress had called her `pet' and `pup' and `doggy' but never her name.

She circled around the big desk and put the plastic covered bundle of papers right in front of her mistress' feet. "Thank you, Ani. At kneeling attention, please!"

Looking even more surprised, the woman knelt, put her hands behind her back, and spread her legs, her eyes straight ahead.

"Look at me, Ani. I know this punishment is hard on you, harder than I anticipated it would be. It was necessary but I should have kept it in the privacy of our quarters." The silver haired woman said. "There was no need to humiliate you to this extent; that's why we will stop it now. I think you learned you lesson. Please, stand up and return to your normal duties."

The other one didn't move a muscle; then she swallowed hard and begged,

"Please, Mistress, let me see it through. You know that I always was comfortable with not wearing any clothes but yesterday and today, I never before felt this naked, this exposed. Everyone here is trying to act like it was something totally normal but I never felt so humiliated in my life. I will never again call someone a bitch, of that I am sure."

"As I said, you learned you lesson. That's enough."

"Yes, I did but I wouldn't have, hadn't it been for the public dimension of the punishment. Having to crawl on all fours in front of people who usually treat me with respect was very hard. If it had been only you I still would have found solace in the knowledge of your love for me. Yes, it's hard, very hard, but it was the right punishment." Finding the unflinching eyes of her mistress she continued. "If I can't convince you to let me see it through, please at least punish me for my transgressions, for the three times I didn't stay in character."

"Refresh my memory, would you?"

The kneeling woman was well aware that her lover knew exactly what she was talking about but it was also a part of their usual punishment ritual to make her confess her transgressions and let her propose a suitable punishment.

"I wanted to share the bed with my Mistress but dogs are not allowed to sleep in the bedroom. I used my hand to open the door when we left the apartment yesterday and I at first refused to relieve myself in the garden. Ten strokes with the cane for each transgression should make up for my thoughtlessness, Mistress."

"I think five are enough; and five more for arguing with me in the first place. Go and fetch the cane with the ivory handle."

Before Ani could return to the desk, the smaller woman had found her way to the couch, patiently waiting at the side. When she wanted to kneel down, Ika said,

"No, baby, let's get this over with. Bend over the back. I want you to count; thank me after every stroke with a three or divisible by three, thank me and ask for more; two extra strokes for every time you forget."

"Yes, Mistress."

Elder Ika began at mid-thigh and worked her way upwards. "Five." The next one landed on the tender area where the thighs meet the torso. "Six, thank you, Mistress. May I please have another one?" The tall woman said after a moan of pain.

Her buttocks still were a bit tender from the caning two days ago. Her last beating had been months ago, so this second punishment was very hard to take. She tried to centre herself by taking deep even breaths but that also was very hard because the strokes didn't follow a discernible rhythm.

"Twelve, thank you, Mistress. May I please have another one?"

The next one hit exactly the same spot and deepened the vertical line just under her tailbone.

"Thirteen, thank you, Mistress. May I please have another one?"

Decades of training let her hold her position, though all her instincts screamed at her to try and protect herself from the hard strokes.

"Nineteen, twenty."

Tender lips kissed her burning arse cheeks. "Come and lie down beside me, baby, you deserve a break."

"Please wait, Mistress." Ani stood and then knelt in front of the silver haired woman. "Thank you for disciplining me, Mistress."

"You are welcome, my love. Justice is satisfied and your debt is paid in full. Now come, stretch out on the couch, and put your head in my lap." The tall woman did as she was told. "Yes, that's it. I'm sorry I had to hurt you, my love."

"I didn't give you a choice, Ika-baby. I acted like a spoiled brat with this newbie. I had to be punished; I broke the language code. Sometimes, I take myself much too serious. Could you please put me in my place more often, Mistress?"

She said and tried to get closer to the other woman who was gently stroking her back and burning behind. Ani knew that tonight her mistress would put some soothing salve on the twenty clearly visible welts and then they would make love and she could finally show Ika how much she loved her.

"What exactly do you have in mind, Ani?"

"When we… when I started this Repentant thing you whipped me once a month."

"Yes, at your own request. I didn't like doing it and I certainly won't start it again."

"Yes, at my own request but it kept me in line for almost two years. Please think about it, Mistress."

"The whip is totally out of question, Ani. Don't mention it again." The voice of her mistress now had lost its earlier tenderness; that definitively had been an order.

"Yes, Mistress. I will obey."

"We will not go back to harsh discipline or maintenance spankings but from now on I will keep your behaviour under closer examination. I let you get away with too many small things before you went and outright insulted Kathryn's newbie. I think you know what I'm talking about."

"Yes, Mistress Ika, I do. I was arrogant and uppity, more than once, and I used your workload to get away with it. I'm sorry, my love. I shouldn't have made your life more exacting as it already is."

"You are forgiven, baby. There's only one other thing: From now on, I want you to wear clothes while we are at work."

"But why? Is my butt really so wrinkled that I have to hide it?"

A clear, youthful laugh wafted over Ani's head. "No, I love your body just like it is. These last two days have also been hard for me, baby. Over the years I got used to everyone seeing your assets but I never liked it. You are mine; your body is mine, only mine. I don't want anyone else to see it. Today and yesterday, it bothered me that everyone was staring at you without admitting to it."

"Why didn't you ever tell me, my love?" The taller woman had changed position and now cradled her white haired lover gently in her arms.

"I… I didn't want you to know how insecure your Mistress sometimes can be." She answered almost in a whisper.

"I love you, Mistress. I did from the first moment on and I always will. You don't always have to be tough and sure of yourself to be what you are. You never will stop to be my Mistress, not because of the laws but because of what you are to me. In my heart and my soul you are my Mistress. If you ever should doubt yourself, don't doubt my heart."

They sat together for long minutes, holding each other, and kissing away the tears that were flowing freely on both sides. The emotional atmosphere was interrupted by a sound similar to a door chime, announcing an urgent message to the Council of Elders, eyes only.

~*~

One hour twenty-six minutes, and the woman still was eating. She had ordered her Mistress to take up position to her right, at standing attention, with her legs spread a bit wider than her shoulders and her hands clasped behind her head. Nipple clamps had been screwed tight, and every once in a while Supervisor Jolene tucked at the long chain connecting them. And there was nothing Chris could do but to stand close by and watch.

The blonde felt her backside throb with every breath she took and radiating heat – and in way she was thankful for the distraction. The silence in the room was getting to her. The head of Supervisors had yet to speak a single word; instead she was sitting there, swallowing slice after slice of toast and alternately guzzling down coffee and tomato juice with vodka.

For the nth time Chris tried to get a grip on what had happened to her during her earlier punishment. It was hard enough to accept her dreams, her highly arousing dreams during which she willingly serviced her dark haired Mistress and was aroused from being beaten, from being punished.

Yesterday she had rationalised them as her way to cope with her new life and this whole initiation thing. She just didn't see herself as submissive. She even had speculated that something had been done to her when they had blocked her memories, something that made her accept another person's dominance willingly. However, witnessing the interaction between her Mistress and the head of Supervisor's let her reject such an assumption. Kathryn wasn't submissive; she radiated energy and authority even when being beaten.

Her dreams were one thing but she couldn't deny the facts, the facts her punishment had brought home without the shadow of a doubt. By synchronising the paddle strokes with her breathing and ordering her not to count, her Mistress had freed her to concentrate on the pain, on her punishment. The room around her had disappeared. All her attention had been focused on the pain slowly spreading through her. Though her Mistress never had varied the force of her blows, the pain had been building gradually.

In her dreams, the blonde now thought, she would have been aroused but that's not what she had been feeling earlier. She felt relief and gratefulness. She was sure that she could feel her Mistress' concern and care with every stroke of the paddle. Kathryn had been considerate enough not to use the cane on her. She now knew that she never would have been able to take it.

Thinking back on her feelings she now learned that the moment her Mistress had taken the time to teach her how to breathe through the pain, had also been the moment when to her the punishment had stopped being about guilt and forgiveness. She still found it hard to understand rationally but the beating with the paddle in her heart was a gift from her Mistress. That was when her silent tears had started to fall and she had lost herself in the pain. She had been so grateful to her tall Mistress.

She remembered kneeling before her and looking into her deep blue eyes. The ritual words of forgiveness had barely reached her ears, when she instinctively searched for more contact; her audacity instantly rewarded by her Mistress' comforting hand on her head.

But did that make her a real submissive, someone who let herself be commanded by others?

She replayed the punishment on her mind's eye and tried to envision Supervisor Jolene in the place of her Mistress. It didn't work. She knew she would have fought the woman with every fibre of her being. She was wary of the woman's cruelty and the coldness of her eyes didn't inspire any trust.

So, was her submissiveness limited to Kat…, to her Mistress only?

~*~

She was jostled out of her musings by the scraping of a chair on the hardwood floor. The woman had pushed her chair back and turned it sideways to face Kathryn.

"On your knees, my pet. It's time to answer some questions. First of all, I want you to explain to me why you defied my orders and how the hell you go out of your restraints. You still should be bound to your bedposts, spread-eagled and well-fucked. And don't even think of lying to me. I'll know, I always know." She ordered with a cruel smile.

"Chris used the key you left on the nightstand to open the manacles, Mistress. I called for help after you slipped, banged your head, and lost consciousness. I'm sorry I had to act on my own accord but I had to make sure that you were not seriously hurt. I apologise, Mistress."

Chris held her breath. Her Mistress was taking an awfully high risk by offering this edited version of events without first finding out what the head of Supervisors remembered of the night.

"I made sure that you would be all right after a good night's sleep and we put you on the bed. Then I took the liberty to take off the harness and phallus you had been using on me, Mistress. Please punish me for disobeying your orders, Mistress."

"Oh, I certainly will, my pet. It's too bad that I overbalanced when swinging the strap. The split end would have hit your left nipple right on. This time I would have succeeded. I would have made you come."

"I don't think so, Mistress." Kathryn answered.

"Quiet!"

The woman shouted while harshly pulling the chain, hard enough to yank off one of the alligator clamps and draw blood.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, slut."

She accentuated her words by slapping the kneeling woman on her left cheek and backhanding her on her right.

"I saw you; you kept yourself from coming. I saw how you closed your eyes in concentration and turned your head away. So, Kathy, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I reacted to the pain, Mistress. I didn't want to cry out and alert the whole household."

"Don't tell me you acted out of concern for me. No one would have interfered, not even that sentimental elder you have as a cook. They all don't have any spine."

Kathryn's eyes were of a shining silver and she captured the gaze of the older woman.

"I didn't want them to see me like that. Once was enough but when you collapsed I didn't have a choice, Mistress."

A cold shiver was running down Chris' neck at the words of her Mistress. Her voice was so cold; the blonde fervently hoped that this tone of voice never would be directed her way. And then there was the fact that she just had willingly admitted to a weakness, a vulnerability the cruel Supervisor would surely try to exploit while at the same time reminding her of her own shortcomings.

Both women kept staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, an eternity of thirty-seven seconds. Then Kathryn broke the contact and looked to the ground, her whole body as taut as a bowstring ready to release an arrow.

Chris searched Supervisor Jolene's face for a sign of triumph or glee but didn't find any. She once again looked at the motionless, tension filled form of her Mistress and finally she understood what she really had meant when she had said. `The law gives you rights over my body and some of my actions. I never will object to that, Mistress.'

`Power over Kathryn's body' – strictly according to the letter of the law. That's all she ever would have. The head of Supervisors wanted more. She craved Kathryn's soul, her complete surrender, and she tried to get it by force but, Chris thought with pride, her Mistress was the stronger of the two.

Kathryn's strength and confidence came from within. She didn't need to prove it to herself or others by torturing or humiliating people. That's why everyone here at Safe Heaven was so loyal to her, and that's why it was so easy for Chris to submit to her Mistress, why it felt so natural.

Once again Supervisor Jolene interrupted her thoughts.

"Get up and go to your bed, lie on your front. I don't want to see your face. I will now punish you for your disobedience and for neglecting your duty towards your initiate. But first let me see to these lovely clamps. We can't risk one of them getting loose again, can't we?"

The needle like teeth of the Alligator clamps pierced Kathryn's tender skin and once again drew blood.

"Oh, and don't forget to put two pillows under your hips."

TO BE CONTINUED