Misadventures of a Thief

Geoffrey’s mission

Geoffrey, merchant and  member of the town council of Norwick, was sitting behind the desk in his office on the first floor of his town house. In his hand, he held a letter that he had just received and read. He folded the sheet of paper and put it in a drawer of his desk, before he called for his secretary Wilfred, who was working in the next room. "Wilfred!"A few moments later, his bald headed servant stuck his head through the door. "With what can I help you, Sir." "Can you fetch Felina for me, please. If she is in the house, that is. I need to speak with her." Geoffrey said and shooed the servant back out the office door with a hand gesture.

Geoffrey got up from his chair and walked to the window that looked over the small walled garden of his townhouse. Beyond the stonewall of the garden were the streets of Norwick. While he looked out of the window, Geoffrey thought back to the first time he had met Felina. She had been a half-starved teenage girl living on the streets, when he had caught her sneaking into his kitchen to steal some food. Instead of handing her over to the next guard patrol, he offered her to work for him in exchange for some food and a safe place to sleep. Ever since then Felina had been working for him as his personal spy. The girl had been very good at it, stealing documents from other merchants or planting false evidence in the house of his political rivals. Geoffrey had paid for her education and training, while Felina grew up in his service.

When she had developed into a beautiful young woman, Geoffrey had hoped to get even some different services from her. But when he had tried to seduce her one night, she had made it quite clear that she was not interested in him. He had not tried it a second time, but since then a doubt of her loyalty to him had started growing in the back of his head. And in the years in his service Felina had learned a lot about how he conducted his businesses and she knew some of his darkest secrets. And if they were revealed, he could lose everything. He had tried to test Felina's commitment to him by sending her on more and more dangerous missions and she had always completed them to his satisfaction or even exceeded his expectations. But still the humiliation of rejection had fueled his doubts and anger about Felina. Why had she not slept with him, after all he had done for her. Geoffrey was used to people doing what he told them to and her refusal to share his bed had been a big surprise to him. Even now after all this time, he still was not sure why she had refused him and that made her an unacceptable risk. And now it was time to get rid of her. Even if that meant that he would lose her invaluable skills. But there were a lot of other people, who could be trained in her place. Nobody was truly irreplaceable.

A knock on his office door interrupted Geoffrey's thoughts. He turned around, put on a smile on his face and called out. "Come in!"

---

  Even though it was early afternoon Felina had just woken up. She had been on a mission the whole night and had only come home at dawn. For the last five years or so, her home was a tiny room cramped in the attic of Geoffrey’s vast house. It was small, hot in summer and cold in winter, but it was incommensurably better than all the filthy places she had lived in since she had come to town, after the violent death of her parents.

  With nothing planned for the afternoon, she decided to exercise her fencing, as her master at arms had told her. She wanted to make the best of his courses so that Mr. Geoffrey would not have wasted his money on him. She suspended a small piece of wood from a string attached to a ceiling raft and unsheathed her short sword. The exercise was to launch and hit the target repeatedly, despite its wide and mad trajectory. In the past days she had become quite proficient at this and could not wait to show her new skills.

  She had just gone through a few launches when there was a loud knocking on her door, which opened almost immediately. She screeched furiously and threw herself on her bed to wrap herself in the sheet. Her room, being just under the roof, was too warm and she had been exercising stark naked.

 She glared at Wilfred. The fat and bald servant was grinning at her. Of course, he had had all the time to see her athletic, lithe body before she could cover herself. She was furious.

  “Mr Geoffrey wants to talk to you as soon as possible. I wouldn’t make him wait too long if I were you,” he snarled.

  “Tell him I’ll be there in an instant. Now, get out of here, you vicious bastard!”

  As soon as the servant was gone, she put on her smallclothes, her unbleached shirt and her brown dress. She was about to put her sandals on but Wilfred knocked at her door again.

  “Hurry up! Mr Geoffrey hates to wait!”

  Lacing her sandals around her calves would take too long. She stood up and glanced at her reflection in the piece of broken mirror she had wedged against a raft on the wall. Her long red curls were a tangle and she was covered with perspiration. She quickly wiped her face with her sheet, grabbed her sword, her belt and its sheath and stormed out of her room, bumping into Wilfred who had his face pressed against her door as he tried to peer through the space between it and the frame.

  She sheathed her sword and buckled her belt around her waist. As she danced down the stairs, she hastily passed her fingers through her shaggy long curls, trying to organise the entangled mess. Thick carpets welcomed her bare feet as she reached the first floor and hurried towards Mr Geoffrey’s office. She counted to three to recover some of her breath before knocking on the door, louder than she intended.

“Come in” she heard, and she pushed the door.

  She walked to his table and curtsied.

  “Here I am, Mr Geoffrey. Please excuse my looks, but after last night's mission, I had to get some sleep during the day and….”

  She was a bit confused. She liked Mr Geoffrey almost like a father but he had been working her harder and harder lately and she wondered why he needed her services again, so soon after her last mission.

---

Geoffrey was again sitting behind his desk, when the barefoot Felina entered his office. He furrowed his brows, when he took in her overall state, her hair tangled up and a bit out of breath. He nodded, when she curtsied and he cut off her explanation with a choppy hand motion. "That was excellent work last night, my dear. Finding out who Councilman Aldrich's mistress is, that will give me enough leverage to have him vote in my favour in the future." Geoffrey gave Felina a genuine smile. He paused for a moment and took his time to study the pretty woman standing in front off him. He let his gaze wander from her face lower to her chest, but then his eyes shifted to the side and focused on the door behind Felina's back. Wilfred had returned to the anteroom and was now leering through the door at Felina's backside. The old fucker was getting a better view then himself, Geoffrey thought. "You probably have guessed, that I did not call for you to just congratulate you." Geoffrey looked back at Felina's face. "But first, would you mind closing the door? So that we have some privacy."

After the door had been closed and Felina was standing again in front of his desk, Geoffrey came directly to the point. "How much do you know about the guild of thieves?" He asked her. Then he added a bit late, while gesturing to the hard wooden chair that was in front of his desk. "Please, take a seat."

---

  Felina blushed as she so her benefactor’s eyes looked her up and down. She had not had the time to lace the front of her dress properly and was showing too much of her firm, apple-sized breasts for her comfort. She did not like when he eyed her that way. It did not fit the image she had of him. Alas, since her silhouette had grown into full womanship, she found that all men tended to be more attracted to her chest and butt than to her face. Usually, she flattened her breasts with a piece of cloth wrapped around her chest but she had not had the time to do it now.

  Wilfred was behind her, leering at her rear, as usual, and she hurried to close the door. As she padded to the door, she guessed it was now Geoffrey who might be looking at her firm, muscular buttocks as they moved under her thin dress, but she chose to ignore that thought and keep her vision of the merchant pure.

  She sat on the hard wooden chair, a bit surprised by the question.

  “I don’t know much, Mr Geoffrey. Not much that most people do. They are thieves of course but there are rumours that they do worse things than that. Smuggling, kidnapping, even murder. But that’s just rumours. If you ask me, I think they are planting those rumours to inspire dread so that they are left alone. If you want to know more, I could point you at a woman who I’m almost sure belongs to the guild. She would know more about them.”

---

"Hmm, yes, the guild's members are all criminals of some sort." Geoffrey said. He had a hard time to keep his eyes on Felina's face. Her dress showed a rather untypical large amount of cleavage. He cleared his throat, before he continued. "Most of them are thieves and pickpockets. They are certainly also involved in some smuggling and the guild is also running some protection money schemes on small businesses in town" Geoffrey also knew, that some of the other rumours about kidnapping, brothels and even murder were true, but that was information, which he did not want to share with his spy. He was silently wondering, if the woman Felina had mentioned, was a prostitute working in a guild brothel. "I am asking about the guild, because I have a very important mission for you." Geoffrey cleared his throat, before he continued. "I want you to become a member of the guild."

He paused for a moment to let that sink in, then he began to feed Felina the lie, he had prepared for her. And as all good lies, it was based on a grain of truth, so he started with the true parts. "You know, that I have political ambition beyond a seat in the town council. I am hoping to be elected mayor at one point, but to achieve that I need to do something big that improves the live of the people living in our city. The guard has been unable to combat the rising crime on the streets, which is mostly do to the rising influence of the guild. When I now could stop the guild from expanding more or even disband completely, that would put me on the map as the next mayor." Geoffrey grinned at Felina. "But that I can only achieve with your help, you would be my eyes and ears inside the guild. After you joined the guild, you can find out who its leaders are and give me their names and could have them arrested." He paused again trying to judge, if Felina believed his plan. It was true, that he wanted to become mayor one day, but that plan would not involve Felina. It was also true, that he wanted her to join the guild. But he expected that his spy would fail miserably and ended up in a brothel at the docks on her back, servicing sailors and dock workers around the clock. At this thought, Geoffrey felt his cock harden in his pants and he had to shift around on his leather padded chair to find a comfortable position. He might even go and visited her in the brothel at one point.

Geoffrey discovered that his gazed had again wandered down to the laces of Felina's dress. He rubbed his face with his hand to chase the lewd thoughts to the back of his mind. "You said that you know someone who is a member of the guild. Could he help you become a member of the guild?"

---

  Felina could not avoid gasping at the notion of joining the Guild. It would probably mean she would have to leave Geoffrey’s home. Yet, she felt proud that her mentor trusted her enough for such a difficult and important mission. She knew him well, or so she thought. His methods were not always totally loyal but she knew he was not doing it out of selfish interest. He only thought about the good of the city and its citizens. His rivals were much worse. If she could help him become Mayor, and to destroy the Guild in the process, everything would get better. Sure, she would have to live away from him for a couple of months… but the noble goal was worth it.

  “I… this is… quite unexpected…” she stammered. “I feel very honoured. Are you sure I have the skill to succeed? I’m so afraid to disappoint you. But of course, I’ll do my best. I’m just sad that it will mean that I must leave you for some time. Do you have any idea how long it will take before I may come back to your direct service?”

  She listened to his explanations, beaming with pride at how clever he was and how noble his intentions were. How could she hesitate when it was obvious he was ready to risk his own fortune to rid the city of the Guild?

  “I know a girl. I’ve used her several times to get leads and information. I’m pretty sure she is part of the Guild because she has not always been totally prudent about it. I think she is an informant for them, but maybe she has a higher position in the Guild. I might try to talk to her and see how I can join them. She knows I have the skills to be a thief, so that would probably help.”

  Her agile mind was already planning and plotting how she would proceed. Surely, there would be some tests but she was confident she could easily pass them.

  “Just a question. How shall we communicate once I’ve been accepted in the Guild?”

---

"I am not gonna lie, this will be your most difficult task yet. But you have never disappointed me before." Well, except, when I asked you to share my bed, Geoffrey thought. "Yes, this will unfortunately mean that you have to move out for a while. We can't have the guild find out that you are associated with me." Geoffrey looked at his young protegee, who seemed to believe everything he had told her so far. "When you can return depends entirely on you. The faster you get me the names of leaders of the guild, the sooner you will be able to return." More softly he added. "It saddens me too, that I have to send you away. You will be missed by myself and the staff." His wife would probably be happy that Felina was out of the house for good. She had not approved of him bringing a young woman into the household. His wife had been jealous ever since and justifiably so.

Geoffrey had already anticipated Felina's question and had an answer ready. "That's a very good question, my dear Felina. As long as you are part of the guild, we should not be seen together."  He gestured to the window." In the alley, that passes behind the house, there is a lose stone on the right side of the back entrance to the kitchen. You can leave small notes there for me. Wilfred or I will check it regularly and if necessary I will leave instructions there too. But I don't think, that won't be the case in the first few days, while you try to become a member. We can start using the dead drop, once you are part of the guild. Before it's best, if we avoid any contact."

"If you have no more questions, then there is only one thing left." Geoffrey opened a drawer and placed a small purse containing a few silver coins on the table in front of Felina. "It's not much, but it should be enough for you to buy a few warm meals and a safe place to sleep." Then Geoffrey got up and walked around his desk to give Felina rather untypically a hug. He wanted to at least once get the chance to feel her body against his, even if it was only through clothes. "Stay safe, my dear." He let go of Felina and opened the door to his office to let her out.

---

  Felina hugged the merchant too. She felt sad to leave him and she felt so safe in his arms. It reminded her of how her father held her when she was a child, in the forest. Except that now she had all these feminine curves and she could feel that hard bulge against her belly. She tried to ignore it while her own breasts pressed into her chest. Her breasts were bare under her shirt so that her nipples poked against the linen.

  At last they parted, both with regret but for different reasons. She accepted the purse with gratitude.

  “Thank you so much for this, and for all you have done for me in the past years. I’m glad I know have a chance to pay back a little of my debt. I’ll succeed, I promise you. Soon I’ll be back with more names and information than you ever hoped.”

  She swallowed a sob and headed for the door, looking at him at the last moment, over her shoulder, with a sad smile.

  “You’ll be proud of me.”

  She hurried back to her room to collect her few belongings. She combed her hair, sponged herself with some soapy water, wrapped her chest band tightly to flatten her breasts and put her clothes back on. Now she took the time to lace her leather sandals on her feet.

  She had cut a discrete slit on the left of her ample skirt, near the hip, which allowed her to grab her short sword in case of need, while the weapon remained hidden underneath. Women carrying weapons got into trouble, in towns. She had also sewn some cordons into her skirt that allowed her to quickly pull it up from ankle-length to mid-thigh length when she needed to climb or run. Everything else, she put in a pouch attached to her belt, or in a larger bag she would carry on her shoulder.

At the tavern

  She let out a deep sigh as she left her room, before exiting the house through the usual service door, in the back street. From there, she walked straight to the tavern where Jane, her friend, worked as a maid. She had known her when she lived in the street. They had often shared a barn or a basement for the night, and the food they had stolen. Their lives had taken different directions at some point and Felina had only found her again lately, in one of her missions. Jane had been careless, or trustful, enough to suggest she had ties with the Guild. She would be her first step in this new mission.

  Felina entered the dark, smoky room and looked around until her eyes were used to the dim light enough to recognize her friend. She went to her, they hugged each other, exchanged a few words before Felina asked her if they could have a short discussion in a private place.

---

There were a few people in the dimly lit main room of the inn. Not surprising, since it was still afternoon. Most guests would arrive later, when they were thirsty and hungry after a long day of labour. There was a man standing behind the counter cleaning out some mugs with a rag, which had a couple of large dirty stains on it. There was also Felina's friend, Jane, cleaning the wooden tables. There were a few other people in the room, who turned towards the door as Felina entered. There were two women sitting on a bench at the far wall and chatting with each other. Their attire, hairstyle and heavy use of makeup clearly identified them as a pair of hookers. They continued their conversation, when they saw that with Felina had not entered a new potential customer. The other few people in the room were all male, sitting alone eating a late lunch or an early dinner or drinking from their mugs. Their eyes followed Felina, as she crossed the room to greet Jane.

"Hey, Felina." Jane smiled when she saw her. She returned the hug. Jane was wearing a simple dress that once may have been green. The dress left a lot of neckline exposed and only reached to Jane's knees. After Felina asked her to talk in private, Jane looked to the innkeeper behind the counter. "Tom, I have to talk to Felina for a few minutes. I'll be back shortly." Jane did not wait for an answer. She grabbed Felina's hand and pulled her to a doorway next to the counter. The innkeeper, Tom, looked up from the mug, he was cleaning, when Jane passed by and grumbled. "Don't take too long. I want you to clean all the tables before the evening guests arrive." He spat in the mug and used the dirty rag to rub the spit around.

Behind the door was a short corridor with a stair leading up to the first floor. On the right was the door to the kitchen, in which a cook was peeling potatoes. Jane pulled Felina past the kitchen door and the stairs to a second door, which lead to a small storage room. The room was cramped with chests and barrels. It was dark and stuffy inside, because there was only a single small window high up on the wall. Jane looked curiously at Felina. "What is it that we could not talk about in the main room?"

---

  Felina followed her friend into the storage room. She did not like that room very much because there was no easy escape route. She glanced at the high, small window. She might squeeze herself through it but it would be slow and she would have to abandon her bag behind. Yet, they were alone here and she could talk without fearing to be heard by unwanted ears. She reasoned herself that there was no reason to fear an ambush as her mission was just beginning. She had to control her instincts.

  She closed the door behind them and answered to Jane.

  “Remember the other day when you mentioned the Guild? I got the impression that you knew a little bit about them. Please don’t tell anybody, I know I can trust you… but I would like to join them. Do you know anybody I could talk with about that? Or tell them what I want? As you know, I was already a pretty good burglar by the time we knew each other… I have improved my skills tenfold since then.”

---

Jane hesitated to answer Felina's question, looking at the closed door behind her friend's back, then in a low voice she said."Look I don't know much, I'm not even sure, if they are actually members of the guild. But a few weeks ago, a group of guests asked me if I was willing to help them with something." She stopped and looked at Felina's eyes. "You have to sweat that you won't tell anyone." Jane waited for Felina to make her promise, before she continued her story. "All they wanted was for me to lure a wealthy citizen into an empty street in return, they promised me an equal share of the booty. I was sceptical at first, but they gave me one gold coin in advance. That is more than I earn in one week. So, of course, I did what they asked. It was rather simple, men are so easy to manipulate. Promise them a good time, show a bit of skin and they follow a woman into the darkest alleyways." She grinned at Felina, while she gave her a knowing look and pressed arms together to thrust her tits out. "The group was waiting in an alley, where they robbed the guy." For the last part of the story Jane did not meet Felina's gaze, and she had suddenly become very interested with the sleeve of her dress. "Anyway, from how organised they were and that they actually shared the money equally, I suspect that they are part of a gang with some kind of codex, presumably the guild."

"You want to join them, why?" Jane asked, before she answered Felina's last questions. "I don't know how to contact them, but one of the group still comes here regularly. If you stay for the evening, I could point you towards him, if he shows up. He is easy to recognize, he has a scar on his left cheek and a X-shaped brand on his right hand. It is the cross shaped brand of a sentenced thief."

---

  As she discussed with Jane, Felina began to understand why her friend had followed a different path than her. It was increasingly obvious that she was not too reluctant to use her feminine charms to make money. She was not exactly a prostitute… but still. Felina tried not to be judgemental. Life was difficult for a lone girl, she knew it very well. She had been lucky to find Mr Geoffrey to protect her. Still, using her body was something that was way beyond her and would never consider.

  What counted was that Jane had indeed some information. Whether it was accurate or not… the redhead would have to find out on her own but at least it gave her a lead to start.

  “So far I have operated on my own. But things are getting more difficult. The guards are more numerous now, more active. I need the protection the Guild could offer to me, and I can bring them my skills for picking pockets and mechanisms, for climbing into houses unseen and unheard. Don’t be afraid, I’ll keep your secrets, as you will keep mine. We have always helped each other.”

---

The two women left the tiny storage room and returned to the main room. No new guests had arrived in the meantime. Felina decided to wait for the alleged member of the guild and Jane brought her a bowl of soup from the kitchen and a mug filled with a bitter tasting ale. "That's on me." Jane said, as she placed the bowl and the mug on the table in front of Felina. Jane continued to clean down the other tables in the room.

Slowly the tavern started to fill with people, almost exclusively men, who had finished their work. Jane was busy taking orders and carrying steaming bowls from the kitchen to the tables. More than once a guest groped at her ass or tits, and Jane slapped the offending hands playfully away. More than once a man or a small group of men tried to join Felina on her table in the corner. Also one of the prostitutes had vanished with a man through the door next to the counter.

 The inn was already pretty full, when Jane passed by Felina's table and nodded towards two men that had just entered the inn. "The one on the left is the guy with the scar." Jane said in passing. And indeed, when the man turned to look for a free seat, the scar on his cheek was clearly visible. The duo sat down on a table on the other side of the room from Felina.

---

Back to the main room, Felina chose a table from which she had a good view of the entrance. As she passed by the kitchen, she noticed the larger window there, as well as the door opening on a back street to evacuate the trash. they would make practical escape routes in case of need. She thanked her friend for the soup and the ale and slowly consumed them as she inspected all the customers who entered the tavern. She used her long curly red hair as a curtain to hide her eyes. She seemed to be lost in the contemplation of her bowl but she was actually peering through her hair, noticing and remembering everything she saw.

  Now and then, newcomers tried to invite themselves to her table, or even dared to touch her butt as they passed behind her. She was quick to glare at them in a way that clearly showed that she was not that kind of woman. Those who touched her got a painful slap and a curse that was not ladylike at all. She hated how men always supposed that a lone girl needed a man for company. She had tried to wear men's clothes but her hips were too wide and her waist too narrow and those clothes made things even worse. At least a long dress hid her legs and with a flattened chest, she looked less enticing.

  A couple of hours later, she immediately noticed the man with the scar on his cheek. His identity was soon confirmed by Jane. Now, things were getting more dangerous. How would she approach that man? She studied him for some time, always hiding herself behind her hair. Finally, she decided that the direct approach was the best.

  She stood up, grabbing her bag in one hand and walked towards the man. On the way, she ordered herself another glass of ale. She dropped her bag by an empty chair at the table of the thief and, while sitting down, she innocently asked, “Is that seat free?”

  The man and his friend looked at her with surprise. She did not give them the time to speak though.

  “Hello sir, my name is Felina. I’ve noticed that brand on your hand…” she pointed at the cross charred into the back of the man’s hand. “I have so far avoided getting one myself… maybe that tells something about my skills? I thought you might help me find some employment?”

---

The two men were surprised and frowned,when a stranger dropped a bag on a chair on their table. Their frowns turned into big smiles, when they saw that the bag belonged to a pretty, red haired, young woman. It took a moment for the man with the brand to register what she had said. But then his scowl returned on his face and he pushed the sleeve of his shirt over the back of his marked hand. "What do you want?" He asked harshly.

Before Felina could answer, the other man spoke, who was still checking out Felina's feminine curves. And from what he said, it was pretty clear, he had misunderstood Felina's questions. "Well, you are rather pretty and you also look clean. Maybe you could show us a bit, what you have to offer." The man grinned at Felina's chest. "How much does it cost to have a good time with you? Do you have a room here?"  He changed seats, so that he was now within arms reach of Felina and he was about to put his hand on her leg.

---

  Felina blushed, then frowned at the two men’s misunderstanding. Seeing the thief’s hand reaching for her thigh, she moved with the speed of a cat and grabbed his wrist, stopping it.

  “Excuse me Sir if I was not clear enough. I’m not vending my charms… I’m offering you my skill for special operations of the kind you got that brand on your hand for. Being stealthy, agile, smart and quick-fingered. Must I really give you more details?”

  She shifted her seat a little backwards so as to have more freedom of movement if the situation got more serious.

---

The man looked dumbfounded at his caught wrist, while the man with the thief's brand chuckled. The other man yanked his wrist free from Felina's grip, he glared angrily at Felina, while he moved back to his original sear, he hissed. "You will regret that at some point, bitch."

 "Calm down, Shawn." The thief tried to cool down the situation. "You have to excuse my friend. But usually women in this kind of localities are only selling their bodies." He pointed towards the hooker, who was sitting on the lap of a customer and was shamelessly dry humping him in the middle of the room. "But it's clear that you have also other things to offer. But what makes you think, that I am still in this kind of business?" He asked with a roguish smile. He seemed to be rather amused by the whole situation.

---

  Felina let out a discrete sigh as the tension relaxed a bit. She ignored the man called Shawn and grinned at the thief, who seemed to be the one with authority.

  “Well, some of us women are more talented in other areas. Being flat-chested and frigid, I had to train different talents than common whores. As for this business, I suppose that this brand on your hand must have forced you to change your plans somewhat. But I was hoping you would still have contacts, or advice, or missions? So far I have worked as a free-lance but I feel that to progress in that career I should learn from the true experts, and maybe contribute to a team? Surely, a wiseman like you could use a fresh, agile, eager young talent as me? Maybe you would like to put me to a test?”

---

"I can train you in the talents of a common whore." Shawn said, which earned him an irritated look from the thief.

The thief was not affected by Felina's flattering, the only effect was that he grew more suspicious of the young woman on the opposite side of the table. "If you are as talented as you claim, why are you so eager to work for me and my gang? If I had a gang." He quickly added. He did not want to admit to anything in front of a stranger. "I assume there are plenty of other groups that would be happy to have you. How can I be certain that you are not working for the city guards?"

He looked around the dark room to see if he could post any guards, but the other guests did not pay them any unnatural attention. He saw a few men looking at Felina's backside, but that was nothing unusual.  "Hmm, a test of some sorts. How motivated are you to work for me? Are you willing to suck Shawn's cock for it?" Shawn grinned broadly, when he heard that. "You have a rather quick tongue, it seems." The thief added, while he studied Felina's reaction. To Shawn's disappointment the thief asked Felina. "Do you have any special talents that you could demonstrate in this room? Like pick-pocketing..." 

---

  Felina glared at Shawn who seemed to be obsessed with having her as a whore. She looked at him with spite and ignored him, without even answering him. Instead, she turned all her attention to the branded thief, noticing how he was, justifiably, suspicious.

  “I understand your defiance, and I wouldn’t work for you if you were not smart enough to believe a total stranger on your first meeting. I did not contact any other group because I do not know any. If you have anyone to suggest, I’ll be happy to contact them. The few I have seen were rather clumsy, which is why I spotted them. You look more clever and I have a good feeling about you.”

  Felina smiled as she saw the thief reflecting about how to put her to the test. That meant she had succeeded in attracting her curiosity. However, his first proposal came as a total disappointment. She was shocked and showed it.

  “You disappoint me. I thought your brain was bigger than your dick. If that is the only kind of test you can think of…”

  She was about to stand up when he stopped her, saying he was joking. The expression on Shawn’s face was almost comical.

  “Yes, I know how to pick pockets. Point me to anyone and I’ll bring you back his purse.”

  With that, she turned to Shawn, a beaming snarl on her face. She reached for his crotch and squeezed hard his obvious erection through his pants. “Sorry, Mr Shawn, but my hands are more skilled at picking pockets than at giving hand-jobs.

---

The thief looked around the room to find a suitable target for Felina. His eyes landed of a group of sailors, who were sitting around a large table. There was also a man with finer clothes on the table. Most likely either the captain and/or the owner of the sailor's ship. He stealthy pointed out the group and the man to Felina. "Over there, the man with the blue jacket. Bring me his purse!"

Shawn's grin turned into a grimace, when Felina squeezed his dick harder, than what was pleasurable. He yelped, turning a few heads from the neighbouring table, and was about to get on his feet to teach this girl a lesson. He was stopped by the hand of his laughing friend on his arm. "That's own fault, sit back down." Red faced Shawn sat back down, shooting angry glares at the people in the room.

If Felina looked back over her shoulder, when she headed to her target. She would see, that the thief whispered something into Shawn's ear. A mischievous grin appeared on Shawn's face, while he listened and leered at Felina's ass. Shawn emptied his mug in a long pull and then headed for the door, leaving the thief alone at the table.

---

  Felina observed the sailor table for a moment, trying to get a quick assessment of each man’s role and psychology. The Captain was the centre of the attention and as such was the most difficult target. He was also probably smarter than his men. On the other hand, his purse would be fuller too, making him more profitable. Her fertile mind quickly came up with a plan and she stood up, her attention now entirely focused on her task. As such, she missed what happened at the table behind her.

  She did not go straight to the sailors but made a circuitous route in the room to make it look as though she came from the stairs that led to the rooms on the first floor. From the corner of her eyes, she checked that the sailors did not look at her. Thankfully, they seemed too occupied with laughing and boasting and drinking. In her left hand, she prepared her knife, a very short blade that she could hide in palm but that was as sharp as a razor.

  She approached from behind the Captain, observing his clothes and belt to guess where he put his purse. She noticed a pouch attached to his wide belt, next to his marine sword. She went to the table, standing next to her target, on his left side, where the pouch was located, but she did not talk to him. Instead, she took her shiest expression, even managing to work up a fake blush.

  “Excuse me sirs…” she said in a meek voice.

  Her voice was too low to attract attention but her silhouette spoke for her. The table turned silent as she finally dare to lift her eyes and look at the man that was sitting to the Captain’s right. He was one of the youngest of the table and also the most handsome. He did not seem surprised by her reaction and flashed her a wide, bright smile.

  “Mister Sailor, I’m sorry to disturb you, but my friend would like to talk to you. She is waiting for you at the top of the staircase…”

  She looked back down at her feet, blushing even more. Actually though, her eyes were once again hidden behind her hair and she scanned all the men around the table as they cheered their companion’s good fortune. She was ready to seize the first opportunity to cut the Captain’s purse from his belt. As she was pressing her thigh against his side, he would hardly feel any other touch.

---

The sailors looked at her, some had trouble focusing their eyes, as they were already pretty drunk. "Well, then I should not leave your friend waiting for long." The handsome sailor smiled at her. And under the cheers of the other man on the table, he got up and headed to the doorway.

The captain felt her press against his side and he looked up at her. "Why don't you keep us some company, until our friends are finished?" He put his arm around Felina's hip and tried pull her into his lap.

"Hey captain, do you want to share her with as too." A sailor from the other side called. "Do you give discounts, if we take you two at the same time? Maybe even three at once." Another sailor asked, getting some cheers from the others.

Form the other side of the room, the thief was observing Felina's actions.

---

  Everything worked as planned… Almost… When all eyes were focused on the lucky sailor standing up, Felina swiftly cut the purse from the Captain’s belt and in an instant it disappeared in the folds of her dress, through the slit. There she dropped it into a pocket that was sewn next to her knees.

  At that moment, she felt the Captain strong arm circle her waist and try to pull her to his lap. She braced with all her strength with her feet and even tried to push herself free on his shoulder. She slapped his arm and protested.

  “Hey, let me go! I’m not a whore! I was just conveying my friend’s message.”

  Again, she tried to extirpate herself, using her suppleness to snake out of his hold before he could get her on his thighs.

---

The sailors laughed, when Felina extracted herself from the captain's grip. "Captain, it looks like she doesn't like you." "Maybe, she likes stronger man." A bulky sailor flexed his arms, getting a though laughs from his friends.

"Come, sit in my lap." The sailor sitting on the left side of the captain said. He patted his knee and tried to grope Felina's butt, but his hand grabbed only empty air, as she had already moved away. While she moved away from the table, the disappointed sailors called after her. "Come back."

Back at their table, the thief looked at her. "You drew a bit more attention than I would have expected. Do you have his purse?" After Felina handed him the purse, the thief looked into it."Not bad, but we better leave, before they notices, that you stole his money." The thief placed a silver coin on the table and got up from the table. 

---

  Felina came back to the thief’s table, surprised not to see Shawn, but trying no to beam too visibly with her success.

  She discreetly pushed her hand into her dress and pulled out her treasure. The Captain’s purse was rather fat as she put it into the thief’s hand.

  “This one should be promising… the other one, not that much.”

  With a mischievous grin, she put another purse, skinnier and made out of cheap leather, into the thief’s hand. However, your friend, Shawn, will probably be glad to recover it, the next time you see him.”

  She had to bite her cheek so as not to laugh openly.

  “And yes, I suggest we leave this place before that sailor comes back after having searched the entire first floor. I’ll be waiting for you outside.”

  Shouldering her bag, she swiftly moved among the tables toward the door, while her companion paid his beverage.

---

The thief chuckled, when he was handed the second purse. "I did not see that coming. It's probably better, if I give it back to him." He grinned at Felina, while she was standing next his table. "You can indeed be useful for us. See you outside."

Outside the street was dark, the sun had set a while ago. The moon and torches were the only light sources. There were still a few people out on the streets, going or coming from one of the many taverns, that exist in this neighborhood close to the harbor. The pedestrians completely ignored Felina standing next to the entrance of the tavern. A minute later, she was joined by a broadly grinning thief. "I just crossed path with a rather angry looking handsome sailor. Come this way." The thief started to walk to the right.

At the corner of the street, there was Shawn waiting for them. He nodded at the thief. He barely managed to catch the purse, the thief threw at him. He looked at it puzzled, then he looked down at his belt and realized, that he was holding his own purse. "How did you ..." He started to asked the other man, then his eyes locked onto Felina. "You fucking Bitch! You stole my purse. There is better nothing missing." He opened the purse to check its contents. "Thank you for paying for our drinks." The thief said with a chuckle. Still fuming Shawn put the purse back on his belt.

The trio walked through the dark streets of the town. The thief was guiding them away from the more populated streets near the harbor toward the poorer outskirts of the city. When they entered a empty street, the thief slowed down. On the other end of the street two dark figures appeared walked towards them, also behind them two figures had entered the street and were closing in on them.

---

  Felina could not suppress a chuckle at the face Shawn made when he recovered his purse. It had been so easy to cut it while she had squeezed his crotch. Obviously, she had not made herself a friend but what counted was that she had convinced the main thief of her skill. She walked along them, down narrower and filthier streets, in a quarter of the town she had always tried to avoid. It was not really surprising her that the Guild had chosen such a place for its operations.

  Along the way, she tried to discuss, to know where they were heading. She also tried to excuse herself to Shawn, saying it had all been with the good intention of proving herself and not to steal his money.

  At some point, her instincts warned her that something was amiss. She saw a shadowy silhouette ahead and heard some noise behind them.

  “We are surrounded!” she whispered to her companions. “Do you know these men?”

  Her hand reached into her dress and seized the handle of her sword, ready to draw it out.

---

The thief evaded her questions by answering. "You will see soon enough." And Shawn replied to her apology with a grunt, but giving her smile form the thief other side, while they walked.

The thief stopped in the middle of the street, looking at the newcomers approaching. "Don't worry." He put a calming hand on Felina's arm. Shawn moved around the thief and was know standing behind Felina. Half facing the two people approaching them from behind. Shawn had placed his hand under his cloak, presumably going for some kind of weapon.

---

  Something was amiss, for sure. She could not see well in the darkness but they were facing at least four opponents. Three to four, that was not too bad of a ratio.

  She unsheathed her sword, the blade sliding noiselessly out of its well oiled sheath. She took a guard position, ready to fight.

---

The thief's hand stayed on Felina's arm, when she pulled her sword. Behind her, Shawn pulled his hand from under his cloak, but it was not a dagger or any other weapon that he held in his hand, but a small hemp bag.

The thief's hand clamped down Felina's sword arm at the same moment as Shawn pulled the bag over Felina's head. The other figures began to rush in, to help their friends to subdue Felina, who had miscalculated badly. It was not three against four, but one against six. The thief hissed at her. "Stop struggling or we will have to hurt you. Let go of your sword!"

---

  Everything happened so fast. As Felina pulled her sword out, she felt a strong hand on her wrist, she turned her head to look what happened but her vision was cut by a bag pulled over her head. She shook her head, tried to kick, to free her arm. More hands grabbed her, strong fingers dug painfully into her muscles. She felt a rope tightened around her neck. The bad was full of dust and smelled of rotten cabbages. She heard footsteps rushing at her from all directions.

  “Traitors!!! Bastards!” She cursed, still trying to break free. If she could just use her sword…

  She tried to fight the panic that was filling her heart. How could have she been so stupid? How could she have trusted them?

  She heard their threat but she was definitely not going to surrender without a fight. Feeling something moving next to her foot, she stomped it hard with her heel, several times. She heard a muffled hiss of pain and the hold on her right arm faltered. She twisted her wrist, trying to pry it out of the sweaty fists that held it.

---

"Ah, fuck." The thief screamed, as Felina stomped on his foot. His hold on her arm faltered and he was close to loosing his grip. "Quick, help me with her arm."

Shawn pulled the rope even tighter around her neck. He kicked her in the back of her left knee. One of the other men reached her for her left arm. With her right hand still holding her sword, it was difficult for the other to help with being cut. One tried to grab her right hand, but he only managed to get the tip of her shirt.

---

  The rope around her neck tightened, cutting most of her air, which already had to come through the dirty hemp bag. At the same time, she felt a painful kick behind one leg that made her crash to her knees on the muddy pavement. Her left arm her been grabbed and was being twisted painfully up her back. Thankfully, her right arm was still free, and it was the dangerous one. Blindly, she slashed her sword back and forth. On her first movement, she heard a crack as her right sleeve was torn from her arm. She continued though, hearing curses and grunts of pain as she cut randomly.

  There was someone behind her though and he was pinning her legs down, her shin grinding painfully against the cobblestones. Where he was, she could not reach him with her sword and he was pulling on the bag rope with all his strength. Her head began to turn, she let out a hoarse moan, her tongue jutted out and tasted the rotten vegetable taste of the bag. Her left arm was being painfully twisted, paralyzed by pain and useless.

  After a last slash, she dropped her sword to reach for her neck and try to loosen the rope that was strangling her.

---

Felina's wild lashes rewarded her with curses and a scream of pain, when she cut someone's arm. The man staggered back holding his bleeding arm. "Be careful with her sword." The thief called out, when he had to jump back to avoid getting slashed in his leg, he had lost his grip on her arm. There was now a long cut in his cloak.

When she reached for the rope around her neck, her right arm was twisted behind her back by strong a hands, before she could reach it. Her upper body was pushed forward. The pressure around her neck loosened only marginally, as Shawn let go of the rope, so she could be pressed on the pavement.

When she crashed on the ground, she luckily did not land on her sword. The thief had picked it up and was now holding it against her neck. He was briefing hard. "I said. Stop struggling!" Felina was held down by four men. Two were painfully twisting her arms on her back. Shawn and another held down her legs.

---

  Felina was pinned hard against the muddy, cold cobblestones. Her arms were painfully twisted up her back, on the verge of dislocation. The weight of at least four men rested on her torso and legs, immobilising her almost totally. She could hardly breathe. Inside the stinking bag, her face was red and puffy, her throat hurt, she was totally blind. Yet, she continued to squirm for some time until she had totally exhausted her resources. With the blood pumping in her ears, she had not heard the threat.

  At last she was defeated, too tired to struggle, outpowered and in agony. She felt the mud soaking through the front of her shirt and dress, causing her nipples to harden and goosebumps rising all over her skin. She was barely conscious as she was now fighting to breathe, to pull a trickle of air through her constricted windpipe. Everything else was a blur.

---

Felina got a knee in her side, when she did not stop struggling. The four men holding her down were too much and her struggling ceased. Someone used another piece of rope to tie her hands behind her back, while the hands holding her down started to explore her body. A pair of hands kneaded her buttocks, while a different hand probed her left breast. When her hands were tied, they let go over her legs and she was pulled up by her arms.

When Felina had trouble getting her feet under her. Someone loosed the rope around her neck, so that she could breathe more freely. But the bag stayed over her head. "Why did you have to make it so difficult for yourself?" The muffled voice of the thief came through the bag. "Take her belt off!" He ordered someone and Felina felt a pair of hands on her waist opening her belt with her pouch. "Time to go." The grip around her upper arms tightened and she was guided to walk blindfolded in the centre of the group.

Interrogation

Felina did not see where the thieves were taking her.  They left the street, where they had ambushed her, through a small alleyway that was running between the houses. They followed a couple of small alleys. They had to take many turns, while they followed the back passages. After a few minutes they step through a small gate at the back of a building. There was now the faint echo of steps, as they crossed the room and stopped for the moment. There was the creaking of a heavy door being opened. "There is a stairway ahead." One of her escorts warned the bound woman. They helped her down a steep stairway that led to the basement level. At the foot of the stairway they walked only for a couple of steps, before they stopped again. Behind her, the heavy trap door was closed with a loud bang, that echoed in the cellar.

---

  Felina felt her wrists pressed against each other and rope wrapped and cinched around them. She tried to resist, to twist her arms but she was way too weak. Soon, the rope was tightly digging into her bones, immobilising her arms. She was still fighting for her breath when hands began to grope her body, from ankles to neck, with particular attention for her butt and breasts. She tried to protest but had not enough air to do so.

  At last she was pulled up and the rope around her neck was loosened a bit. She could breathe a little more freely but the air still had to force its way to her lungs, leaving her light headed and in anguish. She vaguely felt her belt being removed from her waist, followed by more exploring hands.

  “The slut was right, she’s flat as a plank,” whispered a voice that had to be Shawns as hands groped her chest again.

  “Her butt is round enough though,” said another, followed by a strong slap on her rear.

  “Shhht! Don’t touch her… yet,” ordered a third voice, which might have been the branded thief’s.

  They grabbed her by the armpits and forced her to walk, half carrying her, half letting her walk. She was too groggy yet to try and memorise the way they followed. There were too many turns anyway and she suspected some were totally gratuitous, except for the purpose of disorienting her even more. Her eyes, filled with dust, burned, her lungs and throat burned too, from lack of fresh air, and her wrists ached from being sawed by the rope. At last they finally entered somewhere, helped her down a kind of ladder and she was thrown on her knees on some moist, packed-earth floor. Heavy steps made the steep stairs creak behind her back and a heavy trap door crashed above her head, followed by the sound of a bolt being drawn.

  At last she was alone, or so it seemed. All was quiet, except for her pounding heart. The lack of echo indicated that she was in a rather small room. It was cold and damp, the floor felt like packed earth under her knees. It had to be some kind of underground cellar. Most probably windowless. She turned her head left and right, trying to perceive some light through the bag, but there was none.

  As her heart and panting calmed down, she tried to think about her situation. Something appeared clearly now: they wanted her alive. That was probably good news. Their intentions were not clear but might not be as evil as she had first imagined in her panic. Whatever, she had to escape, reclaim control over her life.

  After testing her binding a little she came up with a solution. She squeezed her round butt through her arms, curled her legs up, passed her feet between her wrists and, voilà, her arms were now bound in front of her body. From there, her fingers had no problem to release the rope around her neck, and then to pull the bag off her face.

  She could now breathe normally and was no longer forced to inhale that mouldy dust and rotten cabbage stench. Except that it still floated, wafting from her entangled nest of red hair. Alas, she did not see much. There was no window and the only light came from the seams around the trap door in the ceiling, and even that light was dim and flickering.

  Before exploring her prison, she had to free her hands though. This she quickly managed by using her teeth and lips to undo her wrist bondage.

---

In the little light that passed through the gap between beams overhead, Felina could see that she was in some kind of storage cellar. There were a few mouldy wheat bags leaning against the stone walls and there were many wooden chests and barrels sitting on the compacted earth ground. The beams creaked as somebody walked by, just above Felina's head.

Chair legs scraped against the wood floor and then there was a yelp. "Fuck. Watch, what you are doing!"

"Hold still, I have to clean your wound. It's not deep, but you don't want it to get infected."

"I will hurt her for this." That was again the first voice, belonging to the man that Felina had managed to cut with her sword. "What will we do with her anyway, boss?"

The thief replied. "I don't know yet. First, I want to find out who she is. And who, she thinks, we are. She came to Shawn and me in the tavern, offering her skills to us. And no, she is clearly not a whore. They don't walk around with swords. Give me her belt and bag, maybe there is something interesting in there." There were again some steps, followed by a moment of silence.

"Interesting." A new voice said. "She seems to be some kind of thief, that is quite a good set of lock picks."

"Time to ask our guest some questions. Get her back up here!" The thief said and there was now the sound of two men walking to the trapdoor.

The gang was in a small abandoned warehouse. There was a large door going to the street. At the moment it was locked with a heavy beam. There was also the rear entrance that the gang had used and it was also locked. There were a couple of closed and barred windows. In the middle of the room was a table with Felina's belt, bag and sword on top. The thief and the injured man were sitting around the table. There was a stairway leading up to the first floor with Shawn sitting on the steps.

---

  Felina used the dim light to explore the cellar, looking for something that she could use as a weapon. Alas, she could not find anything useful. Everything was too heavy. She had hoped to find a bottle, or some stick… but there was nothing. It was time to try and escape as she was.

  She climbed the stairs and ran her fingers along the seam of the trapdoor. There! She found the bolt that was holding it locked from the other side. Using the tip of her fingers, which barely passed through the seam, she gently pushed the bolt back. It was so easy… she grinned at the thought of the faces they would make when they would come back to see their prisoner was gone. There… the bolt was pushed all the way, she started to lift the trapdoor when she heard voices and footsteps approached. She whispered a curse and let the trap back in place, silently.

  From the bottom of the stairs, she listened to the movements and discussion above her. Progressively she relaxed. She liked what she heard. Her mission has not failed yet, after all. She had impressed them already, and she would do it again.

  Hastily, she put the bag back on her head and retied it around her neck, this time using a knot she could undo in a swift move in case of need. Then she coiled the rope around her wrists behind her back, holding one of the strands in her hand so that, here too, she could free herself in one second. Then she sat down on a wheat bag to wait for their come back.

  A moment later she heard some clamours.

  “I had told you to draw the bolt!”

  “But… I did it, boss!”

  There was a slapping sound.

  “Stop lying, you can’t be trusted except for bursting doors and raping lazy whores!”

  The trapdoor opened with a squeal and Felina felt some light falling on her head bag.

  “Welcome back, gentlemen,” she said calmly. “I was waiting for your return.”

---

One of the men laughed at Felina's comment. "You didn't have another choice, girl." The two men climbed down the ladder. "Get up, the boss wants to have a little chat with you." They grabbed her under the arms to help her up the steep ladder, while her bound arms were securely bound on her back. At least that's what they were thinking, they did not bother to check the ropes. A third man was standing on the top of the ladder to help her up too. One man used the chance to grope her ass, while he pushed her up the ladder.

The boss, the thief with the scar on his face and the brand on his hand, was sitting at the table, watching Felina getting hauled out of the basement.

---

Climbing the stairs blind and bound was scarier now that she had seen the steep steps. She resisted the urge to free her hands to brace herself. She allowed herself to be manhandled until she was safely on the floor again. She tried to see through the hem of the bag but she could hardly make anything out.

She had not yet decided what to do. If the situation did not go well, she would try a last ditch attempt at escaping, using surprise to run away. But if, as she hoped, it went well, she would just suddenly free herself in front of them to demonstrate another of her talents.

---

When Felina was out of the basement, the thief got up from his chair. He moved the chair a few steps away from the table. He placed it facing the table and the rear door. "Set her down here!" He said to the men holding Felina's arms. They walked her over and placed her in the chair. Her tied wrists were placed behind the backrest, but they did not tie her to the chair. "Take off the bag. I want to see her face when I talk to her." The boss ordered, when Felina was sitting on the chair. One man removed the bag, then stepped back a step to stand behind her a bit to the side.

The thief was leaning against the table, in his hand he held her sword. "Who are you really, Felina?" He asked. "Is that even your real name? And why were you so eager to work for me? And don't tell me that you could not find someone else with a brand on the back of his hand. I think you approached me specifically. But why?"

---

Felina blinked in the light, trying to focus her eyes while quickly scanning the room to see where everyone was and find the best escape routes. She did not like much of what she saw. The way they had placed her arms behind the chair with someone standing behind her reduced her chances to take them by surprise to almost zero. There was no easy way out either.

She looked a mess, her face was puffy and dusty, her red curls, always somewhat untidy, were now a real mess. The front of her dress and shirt was maculated with mud and still wet. In the torch light, her chest wrap could be guessed under the moist linen.

“Felina is my real name. I was born in a village, next to a forest. My father was a hunter, like half the other villagers. That kind of name was current there. He gave me that sword just before he died, killed by orcs. I was not looking specifically for you. I was looking for someone who could put me in contact with the Guild or some other organisation and well, you were the first to enter the tavern today, with a thief brand on his hand. It could have been someone else.”

She did not want to embarrass Jane and made sure she could not be connected to her. Hopefully, her explanations would suffice them.

---

The thief listened to her story, while he studied her sword, looking more closely at the hilt. Before he placed it back on the table, with her other belongings. Then he stepped closer to her and smiled. "So, you are looking for the guild? You wanna join them, eh? I have to admit that you have some skills. Getting the purse in the tavern was impressive and given the tools in your back, you are also decent at picking locks."

Without warning he backhanded her. "But you are a bad liar." He pointed to the table. "That sword has been manufactured here in the city. The symbol of the smith is engraved in the hilt. And why would a hunter have a sword from the city." He nodded towards the other men. "Bring her over to the table and let's see if we can find out the whole truth."

---

Felina smiled as everything seemed to go well at first.

“Oh, and I have other skills as AAAAAHHH!!!”

Her head rang from the sudden, violent slap. Her skull still echoed from the blow, made even more brutal as it was totally unexpected. Before she had the time to recover, her arms were seized and she was lifted from her chair. Fear clenched her heart. Was it time to free her arms?

“Wait! I’m not a liar! I don’t know how he got this sword! He probably bought it from a town merchant! You have to believe me!”

Mentally, she was preparing to let go of the rope and try to lunge for her sword, if he did not believe her. What she would do though, alone against six… was another matter.

---

"Well, I don't believe you. Your story about the sword might be true, but I feel that you are lying. Last chance to tell me the truth." He looked at the injured man, who now had a bandage on his arm. "Clear her stuff from the table. So we can tie her on the table. Shawn, bring more rope!" He turned back to Felina, who was held by two of his men. Also, the other men were closing in again, after her struggle in the street, they were expected her to put up some fight, when tied her down on the table. Shawn was grinning broadly, when he approached her with several ropes in his hands. "Time for some payback, bitch!"

---

That was it. Last chance. Felina had no time to think it through. She acted on pure instinct. Letting go of the rope, she let it unravel itself from her wrists and, with her arms suddenly free, she suddenly jerked and twisted her arms out of the unexpecting hands that were pushing her towards the table. She leaped forward, grabbed her sword and stood up on the table, panting slightly.

She was surrounded but she had the advantage of the position. Her head constantly turned in all directions, pointing her sword at whomever seemed about to move forward. There were only two obvious exits, the doors. Both were too far for her comfort. She considered kicking or cutting a lantern, but there were several of them in different directions. The ceiling was out of reach.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. The situation was hopeless, except for a miracle. Perhaps her tenacity would impress them? Or they would decide taking her was not worth the danger?

For a moment they did not dare to approach, taken aback by her sudden freedom and speed of reaction. She seized the opportunity to reach behind her dress and pull on the cordon that lifted the hem of her dress until it reached the middle of her thighs. It gave them quite the sight of her long, toned legs, in particular as she towered above them, but it would also let her move with much more freedom.

---

The men, holding her, were surprised by her sudden move. They could not hold her, when she shed off the ropes. "Damn, you idiots." Their leader cursed.

The men were standing around the table, keeping their distance. The injured man stood back a bit. With his injured arm he was no help and he was also not to keen to get cut again. The thief had grabbed a stool and held it in front of him like some kind of shield. Having only a short sword limited  Felina's reach, and maybe if her sword caught between the legs, he could twist it form her hand. Also two other men had picked chairs, thinking that they matched her sword better than their daggers or knives. Shawn was still holding a rope and was now tying a sling at one end.

"Felina, give up!" The thief called. "If you surrender, I promise that we will let you go, after we all had some fun with you."

But he got a snarl in return. "Okay boys, we got a wild one. We move in at the same time, she does not have eyes on her back." The thief moved in holding up the chair in front to block the sword. Felina swung the sword from side to side trying to keep them back. When she turned her back to Shawn for a moment to slash at the man to her right. He threw the sling over her head, but before he could pull in close, she used her free hand to lift it off her head. But that distracted her enough that she got hit by a chair in her right leg. With an angry yell, she kicked the chair away, causing the man holding it to stagger back.

"We almost had her." The boss encouraged his man. The sixth man had also picked up a rope and had now a sling too. There was another failed attempt and Felina almost cut down the thief with a swing. But when the sling landed the third time around her head, she was not fast enough. She did manage to lift the sling over her head, but it closed around her wrist instead. With her hand trapped, she lost her balance, when a chair leg came between her legs. Felina fell on top of her table. She held on to her sword and managed to keep her attackers at arm's length. But the second man with the rope grabbed her foot and got the sling around her ankle. Felina kicked her legs madly and she hit the chin of the man with her heel. He screamed and fell back, holding his face.

But then a chair leg landed on her sword hand and her finger went numb. She lost the grip on her sword. Without a weapon Felina was nearly defenceless against the four men. Already two limbs were tied with rope. Someone grabbed the end of the rope that was looped around her ankle. Her arm and wrist were pulled in opposite directions, stretching her out on the table. Felina kept struggling and landed some blows on the man that tried to get a hold on her free arm. A heavy fist punched her in the stomach, driving the air out of her lungs.

When she finally got some air back into her burning lungs, her wrists and ankles had rope looped around them. She was lying with her back against the table. The edge of the table dug into the crook of her elbows and the back of her knees, as the ropes were tied to the base of the four table legs. The six men were standing around the table and looking down on her. Their scowls promised nothing good. The boss was holding a small knife in his hand and was grinning. "Let's see what you are hiding from us."

---

Felina’s last hope shattered when she saw the thieves organise themselves and take chairs to fight her. If they had attacked haphazardly, she would have had a chance to wound them one by one, but against synchronised attacks from different directions, her chances were slim.

She was offered a chance to surrender, but with lewd consequences she could not accept. Since she had seen her mother raped to death by an orc, any kind of sexual contact revolted her. She preferred to die than to submit to these men.

“I’m not a whore and I'd rather die than let you touch me!” she claimed. Somehow, this only made them more eager to catch her.

She took a defensive stance and focused on parrying and dodging attacks, only launching riposts when she could do so without risk. The table was small so that she could be reached from every side. She kept spinning in random directions to prevent them from anticipating her movements, deflecting the chair attacks with her sword, left arm or feet. Alas, some of them could rest while the others pushed their attacks while she had to be constantly on the alert. Sooner or later, she would tire. This was a hopeless fight. The worst was that they were not using deadly weapons. She had little chance to be killed in the fight and her survival instinct prevented her from suiciding. It was obvious they wanted her alive, for whatever horrible purpose.

She was too fast for them, at least at the beginning, but still they managed to hit her legs with their chairs, adding pain to fatigue. She had constantly to be on the lookout for their treacherous attempt at lassoing her. She was quite a sight as she fought on that table. It looked like a deadly dance, with her turning, crouching, jumping while her straw-like red curls swung around her face. Whenever she spun fast, her short skirt flew up, giving them glances at her buttocks and upper thighs. She was perspiring and her skin glistened in the lantern like.

It was obvious that she was growing tired. She panted, she sweated, and her movements were getting slower and less precise. Her hair now stuck to her face, her shirt to her chest and arms. At some point, she was not rapid enough and her left wrist got caught in a sling. That was the beginning of the end. Her arm was yanked hard as she braced on her legs to avoid getting thrown from the table. She was fast and agile but not that strong and could not resist the pull with only one arm. She tried to cut the rope with her sword but that was the moment a chair crashed into the back of her legs. They were swiped from under her and she crashed on her back on the table. Moments later, her right ankle was bound too. She thrashed like a panther, swinging her sword, kicking furiously. Her dress was trussed all the way up her thighs, showing her small cloth that clung to her crotch.

Pain exploded in her right hand as a stool hit it. She dropped her sword, which clanged on the floor, out of reach. Her hair was yanked hard, banging her skull against the edge of the table and then her head was pulled down off the table, preventing her from seeing what was happening around her. Yet she kept kicking and punching with her two free limbs, until a powerful punch hit her solar plexus. Her strong abs absorbed some of the impact and she almost succeeded in curling herself up, yanking the ropes from her attackers’ hands. A second punch drove through her defence though, crushing her bowels and winding her. A stream of bile exploded out of her mouth. Her arm and leg were pulled taut once again and her head yanked down by her hair. She felt more ropes attached to her free limbs… and that was it.

When the pain throbbing in her belly dissipated, she found herself helplessly bound to the table. Her body formed a letter H shape, with her thighs forced almost in a split, perpendicular to her torso. Her arms too were bound to the side. Her forearms and lower legs were off the table, stretched down and bound to the tables legs. The ropes dug hard into her joints so that blue veins protruded on her hands and feet. Her head was dangling off the table too but was not restrained. The wooden edges pressed painfully against the crook of her legs and arms, and against her neck.

She lifted her head to look at herself, an expression of pain and despair painted on her face. She kept her head up a few seconds and then let it dangle back, her red mane almost reaching the floor. She fought the tears that burned her eyes. Visions of her poor mother being raped from both ends by two huge, stinking, pitiless orcs flashed in her mind. She pulled again on the ropes, only to confirm there was no way out.

As the chief approached her with a short knife, no doubt to cut her clothes away, she lifted her head again and looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Come on! You don’t need to do that! Haven’t I proved my worth? I pickpocketed that captain, I escaped from your bindings, I fought hard one against six. Don’t rape me! If you do, I swear I’ll have no rest until I have killed all those who have done it, even if that means I must die in the process. Don’t ruin a fruitful association out of mere lust!”

---Shawn backhanded her. "Shut up, bitch! You're only getting what you deserve."

"Wow, calm down man. What did she do to you?" One of the others asked him. Shawn balled his fist and glared angrily at Felina on the table, but he did not want to answer the question of his comrade.

"She stole his purse, while she squeezed his cock." The thief said, causing some grins and chuckles all around. Shawn turned red and lifted his fist to punch Felina.

"Stop!" The thief called. Shawn hesitated and looked at the boss. "I have a few more question for her. But afterwards you can be the first to have her."

Shawn opened his fist and grinned. He knelt down and grabbed Felina's hair to lift her head, so that she was forced to look at the thief with the knife. Shawn's mouth was close to her ear and his whispered. "Oh, I know, you like a big,fat cock in your pussy. I will make you scream my name while I fuck you." He licked her ear. "Now, please, answer his questions, so we can have some fun."

The thief placed the small knife under the laces of Felina's dress. He began to cut the laces, while he recounted what he knew about her so far. "You're Felina." Snap. The first lace was cut. "You are the daughter of a Hunter, killed by an orc." Snap, Snap. Two more laces were cut. "You have some interesting skills." Snap. He cut another lace. Felina's dress was now cut open above her chest. "You approached us at the tavern asking for a job." He lifted Felina's shirt and cut down from the neck line, exposing her chest band. "You also mentioned the guild." He pulled down the chest band, exposing her tits. The grins of the men around the table grew even wider. He pulled down the ruined dress and shirt more to expose her tits fully.

He looked into Felina's eyes. "You have nice tits. It would be a shame, if someone would cut them up." He used the flat of the knife to pat her breast, while he spoke. "Now, tell me. What did you want from us at the tavern." He placed the tip of the knife against the base of her right nipple.

---

Felina grimaced, her head held up by her hair so that her scalp wanted to separate from her skull. Her head still rang from the slap. She could not even choose where she wanted to look and was forced to contemplate her helpless, spread body. Her groyne ached where her thighs were spread so unnaturally.

Shawn’s face approached her ear and she wrinkled her nose as his foul breath wafted at her. She tried to turn her face away but he had a strong hold on her scalp. He even licked her ear and she grimaced in disgust. Looking at him from the corner of her eyes she hissed, “mark my words, I won’t repeat them. Rape me and you’ll die, choking on your own cock.” Again she heard muffled giggles from the other thieves.

Felina was then forced to look at how the thief boss progressively cut her dress and shirt, encouraged by the lewd comments of his minions. She gasped and grimaced as more of her flesh was progressively revealed. When he pulled her chest band down, her firm, apple-sized breasts bounced out, relieved from the stern embrace. She had darker areolae that were currently all crumpled. Her nipples were rather big and fully erect. She blushed at the exposure. She suddenly felt even more vulnerable. There were whistles and lewd comments from the spectators. She was now looking much more feminine and she could read in their eyes that the respect they had had for her was being replaced by something more basic.

Even the boss could not resist feeling her young chest, groping her right breast with his free hand, kneading the firm flesh with his long, strong fingers, making the orb mushroom upwards. She gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes, wishing she could die on the spot.

The touch of cold steel against her squeezed boob flesh made her open her eyes. The flat of the sharp blade was pressed against her wrinkled areola, the cutting edge almost against her nipple, which had grown even harder and taller. She shuddered and clenched her eyes again as he coldly repeated the question he had already asked.

She knew what he wanted to know. It would be easy to talk about Jane, messing with the life of one of her only friends. But that would not be enough. He would know more, he would like to know about Mr Geoffrey, the man who had pulled her out of the gutter and given her a goal in life as well as a roof upon her head. She could not resolve herself to betray any of them. Anyway, if she spoke, they would just rape her and probably sell her body to some pimp. She only hoped she could resist the pain and destruction of her body without bringing along those she loved.

Grimacing, she spoke in a clenched throat. “I don’t understand what you want. I’ve already told you. I wanted to meet a real thief, one belonging to a network, so that I can join them and progress. You looked the part and tried my luck with you. It could have been someone else. Please, you have to believe me. Or if you don’t want to believe me, challenge me so that I can prove myself.”

---

The thief considered her words. She stuck with her story even now. But somehow she must have known that he was working in a gang. And why did she approach him at the tavern? The tavern. Hadn't they used the maid from the tavern to lure someone in a trap, a few weeks ago. What was her name again? Jill, no, Jane. He smiled and lifted the knife a few centimetres off Felina's breast. Then grabbed the other teat and flicked the nipple with the tip of the knife. "What can you tell me about Jane?" He asked, studying her reaction.

---

Felina let out a short sigh of relief as the knife left her skin. She opened her eyes to see what happened, only to have her other breast grabbed and threatened. More sweat poured out of her aching body.

"What can you tell me about Jane?" he asked, his cold eyes staring at her face.

She winced at the name of her friend but immediately recovered her control. Yet she could not be sure the thief had failed to notice it. Her reaction could mean many things anyway. Her mind churned at full speed to find a plausible explanation.

“Jane? My friend? How do you even know her?” she said, a puzzled expression on her face. She could see a victorious grin forming on the thief’s face.

“She… she was raped to death by the orcs who raided my village… You can’t have known her?” she continued, invoking the memory of her mother to paint an expression of utter sadness on her face.

---

When he mentioned Jane, he saw Felina's reaction, but also at the same time Shawn had pulled on her hair. So, it could have also been just because of the pain in her scalp. Then she told a sad story about a friend that was also killed by orcs. He let her speak. "I am sorry to hear that. But if you do not tell us the truth, then we might also rape you to death" He then continued the interrogation by scratching her left areola with the knife's tip. He did not use enough force to cut her skin, yet. "What about the barmaid at the tavern? She is also named Jane. I saw her wave at you, when you left, so she clearly know you." The last statement was not true, he hadn't seen her wave at Felina, but if she knew her, she might believe him. "Should we get her and ask her? Shawn would also like to have some time alone with her."

---

Felina grimaced as her nipple got scratched. A tiny bead of blood appeared, making her heart pound harder. She was fighting hard against panic, occasionally fighting her restraints while her scalp was continuously hurting. She clenched her eyes to hide her emotions while she tried to force her brains to function.

“Oh, that maid? I did not know her name was Jane. She served me a glass of ale earlier and we exchanged a few words. I suppose that’s why she waved at me, although I was too focused on escaping to notice her.”

The thief squeezed her poor breast harder, making its flesh bulge in between his fingers. She gasped in pain.

“What did you talk about?” he asked, pursuing his train of thoughts.

“Aoooow… you are hurting me!” she protested, grimacing.

Her head was brutally yanked up by her hair, stretching her neck and lifting the skin of her face in a comical way.

“Talk, slut!” Shawn barked, keeping the tension on her scalp.

Felina was panting hard now, her chest heaving up and down while her skin was covered in sweat.

“I… aoooow!!! I asked her if there were branded thieves coming to the tavern. Oooooh!!!! She told me she thought she had seen a few but could not remember any.”

---

The thief let go of her breast, only to give it a hard slap, before he straightened up. "Okay, I believe you now. Let go of her hair, Shawn." He cleaned the bloody tip of the knife on Felina's dress.

One of the others spoke up. "I told you, we should have kill the girl, like the guy she help us kill. Who knows, how many other people she did tell about us."

"We will go back for her later. A few hours will not matter now." He looked down on Felina, then at Shawn. "You can have her now. Don't damage her too much, we still want to sell her to some brothel." Then the boss step back to make space for his underlings.

Shawn grinned and pinched and twisted Felina's nipple. "Oh, we will have some fun, bitch. Right boys?" He asked the others, who nodded, cheered and moved in closer. Shawn was now standing at the foot of the table between Felina's spread legs. Her dress had slid above her hips, when her legs were spread and tied to the table. He grabbed the seam of her small cloth and lifted it up, and her hips with it. "You won't be needed for this." He yanked at the fabric until it gave, leaving Felina's crotch fully exposed for everyone.

The other men groped her breast harshly, pinching, pulling and one even bit her. One man pushed the bulge in his pants against her face.

---

Felina’s head dropped and hung from the table as she let out a deep sigh. Her chest heaved, red finger prints marking her pale breasts. Her blood froze as she heard their threatening comment about Jane.

“She did not betray any of you, really. I would be sad to get her into trouble. She only answered my questions rather vaguely. Please do not AAOOOWWW!!!”

“Shut up bitch!” Shawn barked, punctuating his order with a forceful slap that snapped her head to the side.

She shook her head, trying to refocus her eyes, and heard the boss give her to Shawn and talk about sending her to a brothel. Her heart missed a beat. All those efforts for that?

“Boss! Please, not the brothel! I can be more useful to you. I have other talents. Please, try me. I’ll work for you for free for one week just to prove my worth!”

Another pair of slaps shook her dangling head, silencing her. Then she felt Shawn’s fingers on her nipples, pinching and pulling hard. She moaned in agony and tried to shake her chest free, to no avail. She was securely anchored to the table top by her own arms and legs, leaving her no freedom of movement.

She heard the shuffling of feet around her and felt a hand on her lower belly. She forced herself to lift her head to have a look. Her skull was so heavy, it was tiring her neck. She got a glance of Shawn holding her clothes and pulling before someone else grabbed her hair and yanked her head down. A heavy boot stepped on her hair, clamping it against the floor and paralysing her head. At the same time, she felt her small cloth be torn away, her last defence against rape. This was welcomed with another bout of lewd exclamations. Her thighs clenched and rippled as she vainly tried to close them. Her vulva was covered with a triangular cushion of red curls but the way her legs were split apart, her sex was gaping wide, displaying rosy, fat labia.

“Noooo! Please, noooo!!!!” she begged, before having a smelly, dirty bulging pants pressed against her stretched face. More hands reached for her boobs and mauled them, pinching and twisting her nipples. This was horrible! She wanted to die and yet she was totally unable to do anything.

---

Shawn grinned at the sight in front of him. He slapped Felina's mound several times. "Yes, move your hips for me, slut." He grabbed the red patch of pubic hair and pulled on it. "I never fucked a true red head, the whores usual only dye their hair on their head." That got him some laughter from the others, who played with Felina's breast, mauling, biting and sucking on them.

Shawn let go of her pubic hair. With his left hand pressed down her hips and the fingers of the right hand he slid over her pussy lips. "You are completely dry down here. Let's see, if we can change that." He tried to push his finger inside her, but he felt some resistance and stopped. "Holy fuck, she is really tight. Are you a virgin?" He laughed. "Then let be the first of many, who will fuck you." Shawn opened the laces at the front of his pants. He freed his erect cock. He step forward and aimed the tip of his shaft at Felina's opening. "Lift her head, I want her to see it, when I enter her." The man standing on her hair lifted his foot and pulled her head up.

"Open your eyes." Shawn slapped his cock against her pussy lips. "Twist her nipples, if she closes her eyes again."

Behind Shawn, there was the stairway to the second level. If Felina looked up, she would see a new person appear at the top of it.

Shawn spat on her sex. Then he pulled his hips back to thrust into her. "Here it...argh." Blooded sprayed over Felina, as a crossbow bolt hit Shawn in the back of his head, killing him instantly. He slumped forward landing on top of Felina. The other did not react until another bolt hit the man, who was holding her hair in the shoulder. Then chaos ensued as they turned to stairway, where cloaked figures came rushing down.

---

Felina desperately tried to move, to avoid the groping hands. Her muscles bulged in her bound limbs, she even pulled on her own hair in a vain attempt to move her head away from the stinking crotch that was lewdly grinding against her face. Among all those painful sensations, the worst were Shawn’s hands on her crotch as he yanked on her pubes and explored her virgin vagina.

Her sex was indeed very narrow and very dry. It had never moistened since her mother’s rape and seemed to have dried and withered. Even Shawn’s scrawny finger was painful as he pushed it in, the mere touch on her labia was disagreeable.

“STOOOP! NOOOO!!! I’LL KILL YOU!” she kept repeating.

On his order, her head was yanked back up by her hair so that she could spectate the first rape of her life. Two hands grabbed her nipples and pinched them hard whenever she blinked. This was worse than she had ever imagined. Shawn pulled out his erect cock. It looked small compared to the green monstrosities of the orcs but it was still too big for her tight pussy. She gasped in horror and disgust as the musky smell reached her nose. She could not turn her eyes away from her wide split crotch as he spat on her gaping slit and prepared to penetrate her.

And then the horror shifted as Shawn’s head almost exploded and he crumbled on her, puking blood all over her chest. Suddenly, her hair was relaxed and her head dropped. She forced her neck to pull her head up again and looked around at the chaos, trying to understand what was happening. Who were those cloaked men? Were they going to help her or was it just a change of guard?

Her survival instinct rushed back and she began to explore the ropes tying her wrists to the table legs, trying to find the knots. Whatever happened, she would have better chances if she could free herself during the battle.

---

The thief and his goons were taken completely by surprise by the sudden assault. They had not expected an attack in their hiding spot. And the fight was over before it even had begun. They were all cut down mercilessly.

One of the cloaked figures came over to the table, where Felina was laying on her back. He held a bloody dagger in one hand, with which he had killed two of the men. When he pulled back his cape, a face with a moustache was revealed. The man clearly liked what he saw. Despite all the blood the bound woman on the table was a sight to behold. He placed a hand on Felina's shoulder. The hand bore the brand of a convicted thief. "Calm down. I am going to cut you loose." He stared a bit longer at her exposed breasts, his finger moved towards them, before he got a hold of himself and knelt down to cut the ropes that held her wrists.

---

Felina fought frantically to free herself during the fight but it was so short-lived that she did not get the time to make much progress. When the cloaked man approached her, her arms were still tightly bound and she was as helpless as ever. She tensed as he touched her and for a moment she thought she was just going to be raped by another gang. But he squatted down and she felt him cut her loose.

Her arms were stiff from having been contorted and pressed into the table but she managed to sit up, rubbing her wrists where the ropes had left deep marks. As soon as her legs were released, she curled them up, spreading her dress to hide her crotch, even though she had been shamelessly exposed since the men’s arrival.

“Thank you for rescuing me from these ruffians,” she finally said. “May I ask you who you are and how you came here just in time?”

Meeting the Guild

The man with the moustache grinned, he threw his dagger in the air and caught it again one handed. "You can call me Vargas." He knelt down to clean the dagger on Shawn's pants. "Someone saw you getting dragged away by these men and alerted us. As it seems we arrive just in time to stop them."

There were three other cloaked figures, who had now also pulled their capes. All three were male and two looked like they might be brothers. They began to search the bodies. One of the brothers was going through Felina's stuff, which had been pushed to the floor during her fight.

"Now, I get to ask you some questions. What is your name? And why did you end up tied to this table about to be raped by this lowlives?" Vargas asked, while he openly stared at her chest, that was still partially exposed due to her ruined clothes.

---

Felina was surprised and could not make things fit in her mind. Why would those guys be concerned with her being kidnapped and raped? There was something strange there… but as far as she could tell, they did not mean any wrong to her.

Noticing how they were lurking at her naked breasts, she blushed. She removed her chest band and carefully rewrapped it, flattening them once more. Then she readjusted her dress. It was all muddy and bloody now, one sleeve was torn and she could no longer lace the front. All the buttons from her shirt had snapped so that it would not close correctly but there was nothing indecent thanks to her chest band.

As she readjusted her clothing, she answered their questions.

“My name is Felina. I approached the boss in a tavern.” She pointed at the body of the chief. She looked at the man suspiciously, trying to guess his intentions. He did not look like a guard, and he had the thief brand on his hand… so it was probably safe to allude to her shadier talents.

“I thought they belonged to a thief organisation and tried to convince them to hire me. I was stupid to trust them as they led me into an ambush. Six against one, I had no chance of escaping and that’s why I ended up here. I think they had wanted to rape me and sell me to a brothel from the beginning… which would be a waste of my real talents.”

Having finished with her clothes, she looked at her stuff, and in particular to her sword.

“May I recover my stuff? Also, I must thank you for your help… but I’m very puzzled. Why did you help me? What do you want from me? How did you know I was here?”

---

One of the men, who was looting the bodies of the killed criminals, looked up and asked, “what are your real talents? " Beside spreading your legs on a table." He laughed at his own joke and winked at Felina.

"Sure, get your stuff. You may also want to take one of the cloaks, that is not completely drenched in blood. Otherwise you might get picked up by the city guard. And from what I heard, they don't treat women any better than these guys." He gave the dead body of Shawn a kick. "Let's say that these criminals give our kind a bad reputation. Crime committed on an open street, murdering citizens in alleys just to rob a few gold coins, they had it coming." Vargas spat on  the floor. "Just take what they planned to do with you as an example. You're lucky that we were around to save you. You owe us one. Why did you want to work for such criminals?"

The brother, who had been going through Felina's stuff, had picked up her sword and was about to put it on his belt.   

---

Felina threw darts with her eyes at the man who found it funny how she had been trussed up on that table.

“Had you had arrived a little earlier, you’d have seen how I held those ruffians in respect, standing on this table, fighting against 6 of them. So, fencing is one of those talents. I’m also good at picking pockets, escaping, burglarizing, acting and climbing. I have other talents which are less useful in an urban environment.”

She jumped from the table, released the cordon that kept her dress up her legs and recovered her belt, its pouch and all its content. While she buckled it in place around her narrow waist, she said:

“I have been working alone for the past few years but the situation is evolving. There are more guards, more private security. I’ve decided it would be safer and more profitable to work inside an ‘organisation’. Frankly, I was hoping to get into contact with the Guild and I supposed that this guy was either part of it or would lead to someone who did.” She winked at Vargas. “Maybe I was not entirely wrong on this point?”

Turning to the man who held her sword, she reached her hand, “Excuse me Sir, but this sword is mine…”

---

"Well, I have heard, the Guild is always looking for fresh talent." Vargas answered, not confirming nor denying Felina's suspicion. "But the state we found you in, does not really speak for your skills. But outnumbered six to one, anyone would probably loose. I am willing to give you a chance, but you will have to prove yourself. Boys, pack up, we are leaving."

The man, who held Felina's sword, looked at her. "Ever heard of finders keepers? If you want it back, you have to get it." He grinning looking forward to playing with the girl, when she tried to recover her sword. "This is anyway more a big knife, than a real sword." He held out the sword to her hilt first, intending to pull it back, if she grabbed for it.

---

“What I forgot to tell you was that, moments before the fight started, I was tied with my hands behind a chair… I am quick as a cat and deadlier.”

Her eyes flashed when the man did not want to give her sword back immediately. When he offered it to her, she knew he was playing her a trick. She would have to outsmart him.

“Do you want proof this is my sword? See, its sheath is here, hidden under my dress”

She opened the slit of her left flank, showing the hidden scabbard, along with a piece of her thigh. As he looked down at her leg, she reached for her sword with the speed of lightning.

---

"That does not...Ahh! Hey, that's not fair." The man complained, when Felina snatched her sword from his hand and cut his hand lightly in the process. Vargas laughed. "You are fast and you seem to have a few tricks up your sleeve, or dress." The other were also laughing, even the one, who was holding his bleeding finger.

"Does anyone want to take something else? Otherwise we're leaving." Vargas walked to the back door and stopped, when he found that it was locked. "Has anyone seen a key?" The thieves started looking for a key, patting down the corpses.

---

Felina sheathed her sword under her dress, chose a cloak hanging from a wall and enveloped herself in it, hiding the mud and blood staining the front of her shirt. Then, seeing her new companion looking for a key, she simply pulled out her lockpicking tools and squatted in front of the door.

“Who needs a key when you have picks?” she asked rhetorically, glad to have another occasion to prove her skill but hoping she would not ridiculise herself in the process. The mechanism did not look too complex though.

She pushed her tools into the hold and closed her eyes, concentrating on her touch as she visualised in her mind the configuration of the key hole. She pushed and pulled and pulled the pick a few times and once she thought all the pins were in place, she tried to turn the wrench, hoping it would rotate freely.

---

With a creak, the door swung open. "Thank you. May I see your set picks." Vargas asked with genuine curiosity now. "Someone with good lock picking skills is always useful."

"Time to go." He stepped out in the small alleyway with the others close behind. He guided them back in the direction of the harbour.

After a few minutes Vargas stopped and looked around, if someone was watching them, before he took the stone steps that were leading down to a basement entrance of a seemingly random building. It was not so random, there was a small graffiti next to the door of a hand with a cross in it. He opened the door with a key and ushered the others in, before he closed the door and locked it again. The basement was dark and did not look much different, then the one Felina had been in for a short time. There were only two obvious exits, the door they just entered through and a trapdoor above their heads.

"Fuck." Someone had bumped into something. "Where is the damn candle?" There were more sounds of one of the men searching. Then there was a flicker of a flame from a candle. "Get me a torch." Whoosh. A torch was lighting up the room. Vargas turned to Felina. "Before we go any further, I have to ask you to give us your sword and we will have to blindfold you. Those are our rules."

---

Felina beamed as the door opened, resisting the temptation of making a flourish. As they walked along the streets toward the harbour, she showed her set of picks to Vargas. It had nothing special but she had trained herself to use it with efficiency.

She was surprised they let her see where they went without blindfolding her. Hopefully, that did not mean they intended to kill her. She had a good feeling about them though. Anyway, she took mental notes of all the turns and streets they took so that she could come back there when needed.

Of course, at some point, they required her to be blindfolded. At least, they asked her politely and even gave her the choice to refuse, in contrast with the ruffians she had dealt with earlier. She took a deep sigh, and looked straight into Vargas’ eyes. It was difficult to know what he was thinking but she did not detect any treachery. So, she gave her sword and let herself be blindfolded. Hopefully, this time she would find the true Guild of Thieves.

---

"Impressive collection you got there. Some finer tools are missing, but those you would only need for very special locks. These will deal fine with most locks as long as one uses them correctly." Vargas said, after he had inspected her picks. "Take good care of them." He handed them back.

"Ha, I get your sword after all." The man with the injured hand quipped as he took Felina's sword "I will take good care of it." His brother stepped behind Felina and placed a rolled up cloth over her eyes. He secured the blindfold with two knots on the back of her head. There was some grunting and the sound of something heavy being rolled to the side. "Alright, keep your head low. And follow me." Vargas took Felina's hand and pulled her towards a tunnel that had been reveal behind a large barrel. "Careful, the ground is uneven for a few metres."

 One man went ahead with a torch, then came Vargas with Felina on his side. The two brothers made up the rear with another torch. They pulled the barrel back in place from the other side, afterwards they hurried to catch up with the rest of the group. The initial tunnel that had been dug in the ground was not long, only a couple of metres and after a right turn in end into a corridor of the catacombs of the city. They made their way through the labyrinth that expanded under the city, making frequent turns.

The rats living in these tunnels scurried away, when the flickering light of the torches touched them.

---

Felina listened to every sound, trying to guess what produced them. Something heavy had been rolled, probably masking the entrance. Then she followed the lead, forced to trust Vargas as she could not see where she was putting her feet. After a few turns however, she had completely lost track of her orientation. She had no idea when there had been intersections, or even if the turns were real or just intended to lose her. They were underground, probably in the catacombs, which formed a maze under the town. Nobody dared to go there because you could easily get lost, have a tunnel crash on you… or be attacked by villains.

The sounds gave her no indications either because there were only the echoes of their steps and the squeaking of rats, which sent shivers up her spine. She suddenly realised that they could very well abandon her in this maze, without light, and she might never find the exit. It was too late now anyway. She had to trust them.

And thus she followed their lead.

“Do you belong to the Guild?” she asked after some time.

---

"There is no harm to admit that now." Vargas said. "Yes, we are members of the Guild. But don't be afraid. We are taking you to one of our hideouts. You said you're looking for a group to work with, right? As I said before, we are always looking for new talented members. And you already showed some impressive skills."

---

Felina’s heart beat faster and she smiled. The first part of her mission was a success. She now had to be accepted but she was sure it would be easy, given her skills.

“Oh, you won’t be disappointed. I’m quite skilled and eager to prove myself. It will be good to be part of an organisation as famous, or infamous, as the Guild.”

---

Vargas chuckled about the eagerness of his newest recruit. "You are not part of the Guild, yet. We will have some tests for you to find out, in which role you are the most useful to the Guild."

They turned to the left at the next intersection and the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. When they were in the middle, Vargas stopped. "Okay, stay here. We will be back shortly." He let go of Felina's hand and stepped away. There was the sound of people walking away quickly. Also the dim light of the torches, that had been coming through the blindfold, vanished.

With the light gone, the rats returned into the cavern.

---

Felina heard by the echo that they had reached a larger place. Suddenly there was a rush of footsteps while she was left behind. From around her nose, she could see the torch light was gone.

“Hey? Where are you? May I remove my blindfold?”

She waited, her head cocked as she listened. The footsteps were far now… and instead she heard the scrambling of little legs and the squeaking of the rats.

“Hello?” she asked again.

She reflected that they were probably gone or the rats would not have dared to come back. She removed her blindfold and looked around to understand what had happened.

---

Taking the blindfold off did not make a big difference. It was still very dark, it was even hard to see a hand, if placed directly in front of the eyes. A curious rat came close, sniffing on Felina's ankle. Soon followed by a second.

The room was round and had a diameter of about ten metres. There were four exits, if Felina decided to explore the room. The one behind her, she came in. One in front of her. And two on the right side of the room. If Felina's moved around, there was a good chance that she would step on a bone. Or Felina could simply wait and hope that Vargas returned. 

---

Felina turned her head in all directions, trying to see something through the darkness.It was pitch dark. There still were some stepping sounds but with the echoes they seemed to come from all directions.

“Vargas? Where have you gone?” she called. “EEEEEEEK!”

Something had touched her ankles, something cold and hairy. She jumped, her heart pounding. It was easy to imagine monsters in the night. Rats, spiders, worse maybe? Another rat touched her other foot. Why were they so bold? She stomped her feet, hoping to scare them.

She could not stay there. She decided to walk forward, reaching in front of her with her arms while exploring the floor with each advancing foot so as to not fall into a hole or kick into something. She heard rats scrambling around her. Suddenly her toes touched something. She squatted and touched it, it felt like a bone. She explored it with her fingers and her blood froze in her veins: by its size, it was a human bone!

She stood up. What was this place? Did they throw their victims here to be devoured half-alive by the rats? Was it what they had planned for her?

“VARGAS!!!! COME BACK!!!” she screamed to the top of her lungs.

She realised that the rats were surrounding her. How long before they dared to attack her? She fought the panic that was growing in her. Her heart pounded so hard she had the impression she could hear it. What was certain was that she had to get out of this place, and quick! If those rats were used to eat human flesh, there was no telling when they would start to attack her.

She continued to walk forward but faster now, her arms scanning the space in front of her. She kicked more bones, crushed some under her feet. She was no longer sure in which direction she was walking. Her head banged against something her hands had failed to detect, it rattled like a rusty chain, something heavy came back, bumping into her and she screamed again. Scared, she ran in the opposite direction.

She felt a change in the floor. It had been stone so far and suddenly it was wood planking that creaked and bent under her weight. Before she could react, the rotten planks broke and she fell through. She screamed again, certain to be falling to her death. In fact, she landed half a metre below in a heap of human bones and skulls. They crumbled under her weight as she sank on all fours, up to mid thighs and arms.

The place was infested with rats. Scared by her brutal arrival, they scrambled from everywhere, squeaking and crawling on her limbs, on her back, entangling themselves in her hair. Terrified, she screamed again and began to kick and swing her arms, trying to get rid of the rodents, which began to bite her in defence. She straightened herself, only to bang her head against the planks above her. She fell back, dazzled by the impact.

The rats scrambled over her. They had tasted her blood, they could smell it too, in particular what had been soaked in the front of her dress. As Felina hardly moved now, they began to explore her body, smelling her naked legs, rummaging under and into her dress, the boldest ones daring to bite her.

The pain woke her up. She squirmed in her pit. Her hands found something metallic. She realised it was a rusty shackle attached to a chain. Someone had been chained in that pit and abandoned to the rats! Her heart was on the verge of exploding now. She scrambled through the broken bones. Somehow, she had the presence of mind not to bang into the planking again. She touched the ceiling with one hand, followed it until she found the broken part she had fallen through. She was covered in rats now. A few were entangled in her messy hair and squeaked in terror as they fought teeth and claws to escape.

At last she stood up, realising how shallow the pit actually was. Rats tried to climb her naked legs. She hoisted herself out of the tomb, hyperventilating. At that point, most of the rats ran away, except those that were still netted in her hair or lost inside her dress. On all four, she crawled as fast as she could across the room, pushing bones and stones and broken pottery to the sides, until she almost crashed into a wall.

---

A light appeared in the darkness at one tunnel's end, leading into the room and voices and steps grew louder. Vargas was returning with other members of the guild. When he stepped into the room holding a torch, the rats scurried away as fast as possible, except for those who were trapped in Felina's hair or dress, they began to panic. One fat rat decided that it could find protection below Felina's dress. Vargas needed a second to spot cowering her near a wall. "Hey, I told you to wait in the centre of the room. It's dangerous to wander in the dark."

A rat managed to free itself from Felina's hair and ran away, taking a strand of hair with it.

"I see you already made a few new friends." The big man, who had come with Vargas, laughed. "You said you had a new recruit. Not a girl that is afraid of rats. But she is young and pretty. If we clean her up, she can earn us some good money working in a brothel. Come here, girlie! So I can see your face better."

---

Felina heard the rats run away before she saw the light as she was crawling about midway between the tunnel Vargas came from and another one. She fought her best to scare those that were trapped in her hair and dress and was caught somewhat by surprise by the returning men. On her knees, bracing against the wall, all dishevelled and sweaty, she was far from looking her best. She was ashamed to be seen in such a situation of weakness after her recent successes. But she hated the rats…

Looking around at the light of the torch, she saw a rusty lantern hanging from a chain that was still swinging. A bit further, the pit of death revealed to be a shallow tomb with the skeleton of a woman who still wore a cheap necklace, which she had taken for a chain. She was all confused, and now blinded by the torches.

She stood up, brushing the dust from her cloak and trying to tame the red straw nest on her head with her fingers.

“Well, I called you but you never answered. I thought you had abandoned me in the middle of the catacombs…” She chewed her lower lip, looking at her toes, one of which still wore the teeth mark of a rat.. “Well, I overreacted, I think… but I do hate rats.”

---

"I was only gone for a few minutes. And if you want to work for us, you have to trust us." Vargas said.

The big man stepped closer to get a better look at Felina. "So what kind of talents do you have, begin go looking? Vargas said, you're able to pick a simple lock, but also that he found you tied to a table about to be raped. I am interested to hear your story." Then he added, when he saw the blood of Shawn on her clothes. "What did you do to the rats that attacked you? They usually only bite humans in defence."

---

Felina felt quite insecure now, facing this new man who obviously was more important than Vargas. She had proved a lot today… but always to the wrong persons. And now, in front of the guy who might decide her fate, she looked like a panicking girl scared by darkness and rats. She looked around at the cloaked men, hoping to find some support. But what they mostly remembered was the half naked girl bound to a table that they had rescued from rape. Her shoulders dropped.

“Listen, just in the past hours, I have pickpocketed the captain of a ship in front of his crew, I have stolen the purse from a professional thief, I have bravely fought one against six on two occasions, I have escaped from bondage, …”

The big man listened to her, an impenetrable grin on his face. In fact his eyes observed her silhouette, her hips, her feet… she knew what he was thinking.

“I know I’ve panicked here… but it was because of the rats. Please don’t judge me on that. Challenge me and I’ll prove what I am capable of… and prostitution is really not part of my skills.”

---

"Prostitution does not require any skill. Mostly even the legs will be spread for you." The man chuckled. He held up a hand to stop any further comment from Felina. "I give you that. You have some courage to follow complete strangers into these tunnels. And also Vargas said some good things about you and I trust him. We will give you a challenge that will test some of the skills that you claim to possess, and if you succeed we can talk more about your future with the guild. If you fail, it is on us to decide your faith." 

---

Felina could have hugged the big man. She remained still though and only smiled with gratitude.

“That’s all I’m asking: let me prove myself. And if I fail, I’ll just go back to my previous activities.”

To her, going to a brothel was totally out of the question, but she did not need to let it be known at this moment. After all, he mission was to infiltrate the Guild, learn the name of its chiefs and the location of its quarters.

Escape challenge

"Alright." The big man turned to others standing around. "Bring me a lockable chest, some rope and shackles, a flint and a torch!" Two men hurried off to get the items. "When they return, we will tie you up here. And leave you alone. We will also leave the locked chest with a torch and flint inside. We will be at the end of this tunnel waiting for you." He gestured to the tunnel the men had left to get the items. "That should test some of your skills. Also you can already take off your cloak and hand me your belt with the pouch. We will put them in the chest too."

---

Felina ‘s face grew longer the further the big man explained her test. She would be tied, in this dark, rat-infested room and would have to pick the lock of a chest without having her tools. If the guy wanted to make sure she failed, he would not have acted otherwise.

“You mean… I’ll have to unlock this chest in the dark without tools?” she shuddered and looked around at the darkest corners of the room where countless tiny pairs of eyes reflected the light of the torches. “... with the rats? You can’t be serious?”

Alas, it was obvious he was as her belt was removed and packed in the chest while two men approached her with the restraints.

---

The man grinned. "You wanted to prove yourself and with this you will start convincing me that you can be useful to the Guild."

The man shackled her ankles and her hands in front of her. They then used a rope to pull her elbows together behind her back. The chain connecting the shackles was pressed into her stomach when he cinched the rope between her elbows. The metal cuffs of the shackles were digging deep into her wrist. They used a second rope to tie her legs just above the knees. Then they laid her on her stomach and used a third rope to connect the ankle chain with her hair, pulling her in a hogtie. While the men handled Felina, they used every chance to grope her.

"Let's see if you can escape from this. But don't take too long, the rats are hungry." The man said, before he waved for the other to leave Felina alone. "You know where to find us." The man said, when he was standing at the tunnel entrance. Then Felina once more was left in complete darkness, this time tied up.

The chest with the torch inside was standing a few metres away for the hogtied Felina. It was a heavy chest reinforced with iron bands. The guild had stolen it from a tax collector. The lock on it was also heavy and sturdy, but not too complicated to pick with the right tools.

---

As the men walked away, the light receding with them, Felina’s heart started to pound harder. There she was, lying on her belly with her shoulders strained by the cruel elbow bondage while her arms were kept totally immobilised against her waist. The chain of the shackles bit against her belly. She could not even get her hands to touch each other. Those guys really knew how to bind someone helpless. And that was only the beginning. Her legs were kept as immobile as her arms while her entire body was arched backward painfully, her neck bent to the limit and her scalp in fire from the painful pull. The guy who had tied her hair to her ankles had pulled with all his strength, until her chest was off the floor. Her torn shirt and unlaced dress had revealed her chest band. One of the men, under the pretext of verifying she was not hiding any tool, had pulled the band down, letting her firm breasts pop out, still marked by Shawn’s finger prints. The hogtie was so strict that her boobs did not even touch the ground. Her dress had been trussed up her thighs once again, so that she felt the cold stone against her legs. She could hardly move, and even breathing had to be shallow. The sturdy shackles were very tight and the tension made them dig painfully into her skin.

The light became dimmer and dimmer, until they passed a turn and she was back into total darkness. As Felina heard the rats scurrying again into their territory, Felina felt the panic submerge her again. She could not see them. Even with some light she could not have as her face was forced to stare at the ceiling. Yet, she could imagine them converging onto their prey, lying immobile and defenceless in the middle of the room. She moaned and had to grit her teeth to avoid screaming for help. The big guy was right. She had to overcome that absurd fear if she were to live in those rat-filled catacombs or she would be totally useless, just good at spreading her legs and sucking cocks. That vision spurred her into action. She had to escape. At least she had to try, or she would lose all her credibility.

Grunting and gasping, she explored her options, twisting her hips a bit, swinging her body. This only served to hurt her scalp and grind her belly against some broken bones. The pain and strain caused her to sweat, despite the relative chillness of the air. It soaked her clothes, beaded on her face, snaked down her limbs, burned her blind eyes.

Her resolve to escape shattered when she felt the first rats sniffing her helpless body. At first they were hesitant, brushing past her, furrowing into the front of her dress as it smelled fresh blood. As she could not move to scare them, they grew bolder, climbing on her back, up her shins to her feet, on her shoulders. She could not even shake her head to push them away. She had to suffer their whiskers brushing against her cheeks as they licked the sweat from her face. She let out a muffled scream of panic. What if they started to eat her eyes?

“Go away! Leave me alone!” she cried, as though they would obey.

In fact, they were not interested in her eyes, at least not yet. Smelling Shawn’s blood, they were frantic to find where it came from. They busied themselves around her chest, sniffing and clawing her dress and shirt. Finding nothing, they explored further. This time, Felina shrieked when she felt tiny claws brace against her breasts. Some blood had reached them, of course. She felt tiny, raspy tongues licking her pale, delicate skin, moist, whiskery snouts sniffing her areolae. This was worse than hell. Felina felt on the verge of doing a syncope. When one of them decided to bite her left nipple, she screamed to the top of her lungs. Desperately, she shook her chest, swinging her breasts and chasing the rats away.

In her panicked spasms, she lost her balance and fell on her side. She lay now on her flank, curled backward and as immobile as ever. Now however, her entire belly was offered to the curiosity of the rodents. Felina’s scream and movements had scared them but not for long. Soon they were back. She tried to shake her torso again but in that position she could no longer do it. She could only feel them scrambling against her breasts and belly, rummaging under her dress, directly against her skin. With their sharp teeth, they reduced her blood-stained shirt and dress to shreds. She even felt  some close to her grasping hands, licking her wrists. Probably, her skin was chafed by the shackles and they had found another source of blood.

New visions of horror invaded Felina’s mind as she imagined the rats devouring her alive, bite by bite, digging into her least wounds. Soon she would be just another skeleton in that room. From those nightmarish thoughts came the solution. They were attracted by blood. Couldn’t she use that to help herself? An improbable idea flashed in her mind.

She began to twist and move her arms as much as she could. This caused the tight ropes cinched around her elbows to grind into her flesh, causing more pain. It also chafed her skin and some blood began to ooze there, soaking into the rope. The rats, who had never seemed too interested with her back, began to rummage there too, until they found the source of the blood. They set to gnaw at her sleeves and at the ropes. As she felt them attacking her bondage, Felina’s opinion about the rats shifted. She no longer feared them, she no longer was paralyzed by this irrational panic. She kept twisting her elbows, despite the pain it caused her, to bring more blood to the rope until, at some point, she felt it creaking under her efforts. The tarts had gnawed it enough that, with a few efforts, she was able to tear it apart.

Immediately, her situation changed completely. She could now move her arms. She chased the rats from her chest, reached at her hair and undid the knot that tied it to her ankles. She could now sit up, or even stand up and shuffle her feet around, if needed. An immense joy invaded her. She had done it! She had overcome her fear and had freed herself, enough to attack the next problem: the chest.

Now that she could think clearly again, the solution appeared immediately. First, she crawled carefully in the direction of the chest, as she remembered it. It was not too hard to find it, given its size and that it was just a few feet away. She had looked at its keyhole while there was still light and had a good idea of the kind of mechanism it had. Still she needed some tools to pick it.

Having found the chest and realised it was too heavy to be moved easily, she gathered all the bones she found around it and started to crawl in the direction of the tomb in which she had fallen earlier. She used the bones to leave a trace that she could follow easily to come back to the chest.

At the tomb, she felt around for the rotten planks that had formed its lid. As expected, she found a few rusty nails that she had not too much difficulty pulling out of the mushy wood. With her new lock picks in hand, she followed the bone trail back to the chest.

The nails were rusty, twisted and rather thick… but the locking mechanism was rather crude too. The main risk was to block it if a nail broke inside. She worked extra carefully. The darkness was not a real problem as she usually closed her eyes when she picked a lock. And now, she no longer bothered about the rats. The poor tools and her caution meant that it took her longer than normal to pick the lock, but soon enough she was able to open the heavy lid.

Moments later, her torch shed a bright light on her surroundings, scaring the rats away once more. She recovered her belt and pouch and used her own thief tools to pick the mechanism of her shackles. As she stood up and looked at herself, she realised that her clothes were ruined. The rats had reduced their front to shreds. Even her chest band was useless. Her skin was visible in a large V that went from her navel to her shoulders. Thankfully, she found her cloak where she had removed it and she wrapped herself in it. It would be difficult to convince the guildsmen she was not a whore if she paraded in front of them half naked.

Finally, she followed the tunnel they had taken, carrying proudly the torch as a symbol of her success.

---

The tunnel went even deeper underground. After the first turn, the ground began sloping downwards until the next turn. Turning around the corner at the base of the ramp, Felina could see lights and shadows dancing on the wall opposite the next intersection. Also the echoes of laughing and the men talking came from the lighted tunnel.

At the intersection Felina could see that the lighted tunnel ended in a passageway with two torches next to it. The heavy door was standing wide open and behind it was a large room, which was so lavishly decorates, that it could have been part of a palace. Only there were no windows and the decoration and furnishing did not match at all. It seemed that no piece did match to any other. The members of the guild were sitting around a round table. Going with the mismatched theme of the room was that every thief was sitting on a different kind of chair and they were all drinking from different kinds of goblets.

---

Felina was proud of her success and of how she had suppressed her terror of the rats. Surely, the thieves must think she would fail. Maybe that was what they were laughing about. When she saw the lights in the distance, she decided to extinguish her torch and continue her progression in the dark so as not to be seen coming.

As she approached the round table room, she became even more circumspect, in case they had posted sentinels. She chose a path that allowed her to stay in the shadow until the very end. She walked silently in her leather sandals. She enveloped herself in her cloak and pulled the hood over her head to hide her red hair.

Her plan was to jump into the room and to lower her hood with a flourish at the last moment to maximise the impression she made.

---

The thieves did not see Felina sneaking up to the door. They had heard her scream a while ago and all of them still assumed she was securely tied up and molested by the rats. There was also no sentinel or tripwire, there was no reason. The chance that someone found this room by wandering through the catacombs was very low.

Closer to the door Felina could see that there were a few doors leading away from this room. One door in an opposite corner showed steps of a spiral staircase leading up.

---

Only a few feet away from the door, Felina checked again that the front of her cloak was well buttoned. The thieves were busy drinking and laughing and were not paying attention to the door. She sneaked closer, as close as she dared, and then, she stood up, ran over the short distance that separated her from the table. She leaped in between two men and landed with a bang in the middle of the table, causing a few cups to spill their content. In one fluid movement, she lowered her hood, shook her tangled mane free and lifted her arms in a gesture of victory, brandishing the extinguished torch in her hand.

“Meet Felina, Princess of the Thieves!” she exclaimed.

Hazing

Felina's sudden appearance had an effect on the assembled thieves, but not the one she hoped for. Yes, they were stunned for a second or two,when someone jumped on their table. Several thieves spilled their cups. The big man spilled wine all over his cloak. And one thief even fell from his chair.

But Felina's moment of triumph was short- lived, as almost immediately someone yanked on her legs, trying to bring her to fall. Other hands started to grab for her. The thieves wanted to subdue the intruder and had acted on reflexively. They had not yet realised that it was Felina in their midst. Actually, she was lucky that no thief had used his weapon. Criminals tended to act first and maybe ask questions later.

---

Felina had not expected that kind of reaction. She saw the hands reaching for her leg and made half a step backward, only to be grabbed from behind. Her legs were yanked in opposite directions and she crashed on her butt on the table, dropping her torch.

“I’m Felina, idiot! I just escaped from ommmgrmmfff!!!!”

Her hair was grabbed and yanked so that she crashed backward, barely missing banging her head against the wood. Her arms were seized and pulled and as she tried to explain herself, a greasy hat was shoved into her mouth, muffling her words. As she twisted and pulled on her limbs, her cloak buttons snapped and fell apart, revealing her nearly naked chest.

---

Vargas was the first to recognize her. "Hey! Stop! That's Felina." But his shout got lost in the excitement of the others, when Felina's chest was bared and many hands groped for the tit and nipples. And a few hands also reached for her crotch or spread her legs. A pair of tits usually came with a pussy.

BAM! "STOP!" The big man had slammed his fist on the table. Everyone stopped, but left their hands where they were. The man looked angry and he levelled his eyes on Felina. "Have the rats eaten your brain? What were you thinking, sneaking up on us like this? Look at the mess you made!" There were all the spilled drinks, but there were also a few broken goblets, mugs and bottles on the ground, which had been pushed from the table during the struggle. "You will have to repay us for the damages. Do you understand?" He pulled the hat out of her mouth to let her speak. 

---

To her horror, Felina was reliving the humiliation she had gone through a few hours earlier, being groped and touched and squeezed from every direction, while she was unable to defend herself despite her frantic yanks and kicks. The lewd frenzy was such that it took some time to stop it. Even when the thieves finally listened to their boss, they kept her immobile, dishevelled and trussed up, her bare chest heaving fast as she panted.

“Well, I just proved that not only I could escape from your shackles but I could also sneak upon you. Not my fault if your men are idiots unable to recognize me, or even to listen to my words!” she riposted angrily, still trying to yank her spreadeagled limbs free.

---

The man chuckled at Felina's futile attempts to free her limbs. "I would be careful who you call idiots in your position." The fingers that were on her right nipple, suddenly pinched, pulled and twisted. That was followed by more groping and a few slaps on her body, until the man called again for order. "And now you listen to me. You will pay for everything. Starting with my cloak." He showed her the wine stain on his. "For that I will take your cloak." The men began to pull the cloak from Felina's body, while keeping a hold on her limbs.

---

Felina was furious, both against the thieves and against herself. Could her pride have ruined what she had conquered at the price of so much effort? What could he mean? She had no money and she was certain it had not been the first time a rix had caused a few goblets to break.

Yet, the thieves abused their position, mauling, pinching and slapping her chest to punish her. Worth, they stole her cloak, pulling it from under her, leaving her half naked and splayed on the table. Her dress was trussed up to her thighs, her torso was bare from her navel up. She felt wine soaking up her hair. Nobody could respect a helpless woman in such a position.

She frowned but, afraid of being mauled again, she gritted her teeth to suppress the words that came to her lips.

---

"What about my boots, I spilled beer all over them." The man holding her right ankle called. "Can I get her sandals?" The other man laughed at the absurd request. But the man in charge grinned and nodded. And thus Felina's sandals were stripped from her feet.

"Can I get her dress? I have spilled my shirt." Another man asked. The man looked at him. "You always spill your drinks, Baldwin. And what do you want with a dress, I have never seen you wear one." The thieves laughed and the man, who had spoken turned red and his hand on Felina's breast squeezed so hard that the knuckles started to turn white.

The big man continued. "But I think we can use the rest of your clothes to clean up the mess. They are anyway almost torn in rags and dirty. Take her remaining clothes off and tear them in pieces!" The man did not need to be told twice. They immediately started to pull on Felina's clothes.

---

The scene would have been comical if it was not so cruel. Despite her frantic struggles, Felina had her sandals unbuckled and unlaced from her feet, making her feel even more vulnerable. When the man requested her dress she went through a rainbow of emotions, switching from shock to relief and finally utter horror.

The boss had barely finished speaking that the thieves rushed on her, grasping her remaining clothes and tearing them apart, piece by piece. Her dress went first, quickly followed by her already ruined shirt. There was not much left of her chest band but it was nevertheless the object of ferocious rivalry between her molesters. Her small cloth had already been stolen during her previous assault. Seeing that she had nothing to cover the delicate triangle of red pubes that hid her Venus mound, the thieves were quick to call her a wanton slut, a fire-pussied harlot.

She was now stark naked, still yanked apart like a beached starfish by many hands. Her sweaty skin glistened in the golden light shed by the torches. She was a bit on the skinny side but she had muscle on her bones. In spite of that, her hips, buttocks and breasts were definitely those of a well-endowed woman.

All revolt had now left Felina. Naked, stared by so many lurking, lascivious eyes, she felt utterly vulnerable. She was trying her best to not to look too afraid but in truth she was scared by the unexpected turn of the situation.

---

The leader grinned at Felina's naked body. "Now, let go of her." He threw a piece of cloth at Felina, that used to be part of her shirt. "Start, cleaning the mess you made." There were several puddles of beer and wine on the table and on the floor.

"Afterwards, we can talk about the possibilities you have to pay us back."

---

“Take her belt off and bring me her pouch,” the big man ordered and soon the last piece of her belongings was taken from her.

Only then was she released. At last Felina felt the hands let go of her limbs and she immediately curled into a tight protective ball. A piece of her shirt landed on her face as she was ordered to clean the table top. This was too much. She had not come here to be their maid. Even less their naked maid. She had to reassert herself or her degradation would see no end.

Throwing the shred off her face, she straightened herself while keeping her thighs tightly pressed against her chest, even though they had all had an unobstructed view of her body moments before.

“Let’s try to stay rational. I did not come here to be your maid or your whore. I came here to join your organisation, and I proved I had the skills for it. I’ll pay you, but I’ll do it like a thief does.”

---

The big man was about to open the pouch, when Felina spoke up. "Well, if you want to join us, you have to start at the bottom. And that might mean cleaning the fucking tables. You may have some skill and that is at the moment the only reason why you aren't already in a brothel. How do you wanna pay us? You don't have any money. You have nothing at all." He looked at her. "You are not hiding anything, we have seen it all."

---

This time Felina was defeated. He was right. If she wanted to join their ranks, she had to follow their customs, which seemed to mean to start at the bottom. It might well be that aspiring guildsmen had to do the menial works of the organisation, including cleaning and washing and serving. She doubted they had to do it naked though… but she was not in a position to object. She could feel that any further revolt could just bring her directly to the brothel.

She swallowed her rage, clenched her fists and reached for the rag. She was then facing a dilemma: should she climb off the table to clean it from its side, as would normally be done, or stay on the table on all four? As she made a move for the edge of  the table, the men closed their ranks, shoulder to shoulder, to prevent her from leaving her current position. Her dilemma was a false one after all.

With a deep sigh, she uncurled herself and started brushing the table top with her ruined shirt. On all four, surrounded by grinning men, she had no way to hide her shame. All she could do was to let her hair fall around her face like a red curtain to avoid seeing the faces of her spectators. She moved swiftly from spill to spill, cleaning them with ample rotative movements. Her firm buttocks were in plain view from those behind her while those on her sides enjoyed the swinging of her breasts under her chest.

---

There were laughs and cheers from the men surrounding the table, when Felina started cleaning. They did not grope her, but helpful hands pointed out the next spill for her, often accompanied by comments like "Over here, bitch." One man poured a glass out on a part of the table, Felina had already cleaned. He grinned. "You have forgotten a spot." More laughter and other men followed his example on other parts of the table. The chief let his man repeat it a few times, before he told them to stop. Then he pointed to the floor. "You are not done yet."

While Felina cleaned up the wet spots, he looked through her pouch, first taking out her lock picks and then finding the purse with Geoffrey's money. He weighted it in his hand, before placing it in a pocket of his cloak.

---

Every laugh, every call planted a humiliating dart in Felina’s heart as she had to move several times back and forth on the table. She knew better than to protest. Complaining would probably bring more punishments. Thus she cleaned the table several times, until she was ordered to clean the floor.

She was given a new rag as she climbed down. The position was even more degrading now as she was crawling like a bitch at their feet. She was also easier to reach, and to do so with the table hiding their groping from the sight of their boss. Thus she crawled among their legs, cleaning the rough stone floor that did not seem to have been scrubbed so often, while they slapped her butt and pinched her breasts. She swallowed her tears, hoping this ordeal would soon be over so that she could start again with her tests.

---

Felina's ordeal got worse, when one man emptied the remainder of his beer mug on her back, when she was cleaning a spot at his feet. When she moved on to the next puddle, someone behind her kicked her ass and then stepped on her back, pushing her to the ground. "You could use your tongue to lick it up." A hand grabbed her hair and her head was pressed to the floor. "Lick it!"

Felina got several more drinks poured over her and was pushed to the ground a couple of times to lick the floor. She was finished, she was kneeling in front of the chief, who was grinning down on her. "You are almost done. But some wine got spilled on my boots too. They need to be cleaned. And don't dare to use that dirty rag on my shoes, use your tongue."

---

Humiliations grew worse as time passed. Soon she reeked of beer and wine like a drunkard, her hair smelling of alcohol. Again, they kept pouring more stuff on the floor to force her to clean it again. Suddenly, she was pushed down by a heavy boot pressing on her back. Taken by surprise, she could not brace against it and found herself pressed against the cold stone, her breasts in direct contact with a fresh pool of beer. Worse, her filthy hair was used as a handle to press her face into the spill and used like a mop.

Someone stole her rag and she was ordered to continue with her tongue. Nothing was more humiliating than to have to lick the floor in the middle of those raucous men. Was this really part of their custom? Was it a traditional kind of hazing? Or were they just abusing her because she was a female.

Yet she had to comply and so she licked the pools of beer and wine, mixed with dirt. Her face was now a total mess, smeared with wine, as well as her hair. She was not used to drinking so much alcohol either so that she began to feel a bit tipsy.

At last she found herself facing the boss, or rather his feet. Then came the worst of her orders: she had to lick the wine from his boots. She hesitated. That was the ultimate debasement. Moreover, his boots had more mud than wine on them. They smelled too. The idea of getting her face close to them was truly revolting.

Strong fingers suddenly gripped her hair, against her scalp, extracting a moan of pain from her. Then her face was pressed against the stinking boots.

“What are you waiting for, boot sucker?”

With a sob of humiliation, she stuck her dry tongue out and started to lick the dirt from the boot, running it into the leather folds, cringing as her delicate nose was now so close to that foot stench. In fact, the smell was much worse than the taste. Whenever she seemed about to stop, the boss ordered her to continue, so that she had to make sure her tongue had really cleaned every square inch of her boots, from tip to ankles. It was so parched that she doubted it was still effective but cleanliness had never been the main purpose of the operation. It was to force her down to her place in this society, as the lowest of the lowest.

---

"That's enough." The leader ordered her. "You earned some rest. I will show you where you can sleep. Tomorrow we will see how useful you can be." He walked to one of the rooms adjoining the common room.

 It was a storage room. There were barrels and crates stacked along the walls. The man walked to a wooden chest with iron reinforced edges. It was very similar to the chest, they had used to lock the torch away in the rat infested room. The man opened the heavy lid and a spider crawled out. He looked expectantly at Felina. "In you go!" A few of the others had followed them in the room, ready to put Felina with force into the chest, if she refused to climb in the chest on her own. The chest was barely large enough to fit her, if she curled up tightly.

---

It had been a long and hard day and Felina welcomed the news that she could at last take some rest and take the time to reflect upon her situation. She was surprised when she was led to a storage room and even more so when she was showed her bed. That chest seemed way too small to have her. This had to be a bad joke.

“But… You are joking? There is no way I can fit in that chest! It’s way too small… and I would quickly suffocate!”

She immediately saw that the boss was not joking at all. He snapped his fingers and strong hands grabbed her arms and lifted her off her feet.

“Alright! Alright! I’ll try to make it!” whined.

But the two brutes were too happy to be allowed to molest her and did not let her go.

---

"You won't suffocate. There are some small holes." The man explained to her.

"You had your chance. Put her in the chest!" The man replied to Felina's protests.

They put Felina feet first into the chest and pressed her down, until she was sitting in the chest, her feet against one end and her ass against the other, her knees slightly raised. She could not stretch her legs fully. They then pressed her chest forward, so that her head was almost touching her feet. They pulled her arms on her back and held them there, until the lid was almost closed. They had not been very careful and a large part of her hair was caught between the chest's rim and the lid. The leader locked the chest with a key, he pocketed. He rapped it on the lid and called. "Good night!"

---

The two brutes were too happy to be allowed to molest her and did not let her go. Felina was too tired and too tipsy to resist. The brutes were much stronger than her anyway, so that soon she found herself folded in two, with her face inches from her feet. They pulled her arms behind her and closed the lid, trapping her arms there. In fact, the lid was not completely closed yet. One the brutes had to sit on the chest to force it to close. This time, her face was completely pushed against her own feet, and she realised she too was smelling, or maybe it was only because she was not wearing shoes and was in direct contact with her skin.

The noise of the key turning and engaging the locking mechanism resounded sinisterly inside the cramped confines of the chest. Felina tried to turn her head away from her feet, only to realise that her hair had somehow been clamped by the lid and kept her rigorously immobile. She tried to pull but the pain in her scalp was too much. Nor could she move her arms to help her. She was kept totally immobile.

She tried to shift her position as the chest was pressing painfully against her hip bones but this was totally impossible. Her feet were not flat against the bottom but pressed at an angle with her heels against the floor and her toes against the side of the chest. They were too forced in an unnatural position that was quickly growing unbearable. Her back too began to ache, and her shoulders… Her flesh and bones pressed against all six of the wooden walls and each pressure points turned into a grinding torture.

Her squirms and suffering caused her to sweat profusely in the cramped space, adding to the smell of the air she had to breathe. There might have been a few holes but they were in the lid, far away from her face. Cramps built in her immobilised muscles, forming tension points that turned into knots of agony. She screamed, calling for help. The agony was just unbearable. She heard laughs coming from the round table room but nobody came. As she screamed louder, begging them to let her out, she finally heard footsteps approaching.

“Please! Please! Let me out! This is unbearable!”

They just kicked the chest, sending waves of pain through her skeleton.

“Shut up or we'll keep you in the entire day too!” she heard an unknown voice.

There were a few more kicks, harder than the first and then they left, closing the door behind them. She no longer could hear their voices, meaning they would not hear hers either.

The longest night of her life began. There was no way she could sleep in such a position. The pain kept growing worse. New torture point appeared all the time never to go away. She was sweating profusely so that she was drenched in it. The air was so thick she had to breathe very rapidly. Her bladder began to urge and she tried to resist as long as she could but at some point she had to release it. From that moment, she sat in a pool of urine that burned her skin and made the air stink even more.

She continued to call for help until her voice was too hoarse for that. She cried, she begged, she sobbed. Nobody came to her rescue. The time seemed so long she was sure they had left her for the day too. She was hungry and thirsty. To quench her thirst, she licked the sweat from her feet but it did not do much.

What if they had decided to let her die in that chest? Surely, more than 24 hours must have elapsed. She was way too weak to call now. Maybe they had just drunk so much they had forgotten her?

---

Felina had been only a couple of hours locked in the chest, when the thieves returned in the morning. "Ugh, it smells. She must have pissed herself."

"I don't want her to walk around here dirty." That was the voice of Vargas. "Take the chest outside!"

There was some muffled grunting outside of the chest, then it shifted and was lifted up. Then they slowly carried it and its cargo out of the storage room.

"Shi..." SLAM. One of the thieves had tripped over something, when he was walking backwards. He lost his hold of the chest and it crashed to the ground. "Watch out, you idiot! You almost dropped it on my foot." Cursing, the thieves picked up the chest to bring it to an adjoining room. They placed it on the ground. One man hooked a rope to a handle on the side  of the chest. The hook was attached to a rope that went to a pulley high above. The man yanked at the rope twice. The rope tightened as someone began to walk in the wheel of the crane. The chest was pulled up on one side, before it lifted completely off the ground. It began to swing and turn slowly, while it ascended the shaft.

At the top the chest was swung to the side as soon as it cleared the side of the shaft. It was dropped to the ground and unhooked from the crane. Two men pulled the chest out of the building in to a sunny and enclosed courtyard. The chest was unlocked and pushed on its side.

---

At last Felina heard voices again. By then she was bathing in her sweat and pee and wrecked by the cramps.

“Let me out, please!” she moaned in a hoarse voice.

They did not answer though, nor did they open her prison. Instead they started to carry her, tilting in all directions and even dropping her at some point. Inside, her stiff body grinded against the walls. The fall forced her face into her feet, pulling many strands of hair from her scalp.

She moaned and cried but that did not make them manhandle her chest any more cautiously. Then her universe swung by 90°, shifting her weight slightly, with her face once again crushed against her feet. The pee sloshed around her feet too so that the smell got even worse. The swinging and spinning made her nauseous.

When at last it stopped, she felt her chest getting hotter as it hung from the pulley in the plain sun. At last the chest was thrown on the ground again and opened. As the lid was lifted, Felina was so stiff she could not even straighten herself. She moved her arms with difficulty. She could not even turn her head.

The thieves had to overturn the chest and kick on its bottom to make her slide out of it. She landed on the courtyard, moaning and grunting, blinking as she was blinded by the sun. She could hardly move even though she was not bound. She was a nasty stinking mess, glistening in sweat and pee. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had dark bags under them from the exhaustion. She squirmed weakly, trying to unfold her aching naked body while looking where she was.

Thief job

The courtyard was surrounded on three sides by buildings, the fourth side was a stone wall with a big gateway opening on a busy street. In the centre of the courtyard was well and in front of a building that looked like a stable was open wagon with two horses harnessed at the front and at the back were several barrels.

"Good, that you're still here." Vargas said. "We have a job for you. Get on the back of the wagon, I'll explain it on the way." The thieves, who had hauled her out from the hideout, were standing around her leering at her naked body, but they would make space for her to go to the wagon.

---

Felina writhed on the cobblestones, trying to focus her blinded, burning eyes. With an immense effort of willpower, she managed to brace on her arm and sit up. Progressively, her eyes adjusted to daylight and she looked at her surroundings, wondering how she had been brought from the catacombs so fast.

She was deeply ashamed of being naked in plain light, and reeking of sweat and pee.

“A job for me?” she repeated haggardly. Exhausted and stiff, she did not feel able to do anything. “I’m not sure… Can’t I get some sleep first?”

He yanked her up by her hair and she managed to stagger on her bare feet, walking like a zombie.

“Get on the back of the wagon, I'll explain it on the way,” he ordered. She had no choice but to obey.

She forced herself to go to the wagon. Her legs seemed to be made of lead while her knees and hips sent spikes of pain whenever she flexed them too much. Reaching the wagon, she looked for something to climb in. There was no ladder, no step. It was a crude vehicle designed to transport straw or wood or whatnot.

She tried to use the large wheels to climb in. Normally, she would have leaped into it with no difficulty but now she felt like she was a 150-year-old crone. She looked at the thieves pleadingly but they looked back at her with disgusted expressions. None of them wanted to touch her filth.

“Come on, we don’t have so much time. Unless you want us to bring you to the Howling Painslut brothel and let you rest on the Spanish Donkey for the day?”

She sighed and tried again to get into the cart. The sun was warming her sore joints and that, along with the fear, helped her to reach the top of the wagon. She awkwardly swung her body over the edge and fell in a heap inside the wagon, panting heavily.

---

Vargas and two other men climbed in the wagon. They tried to keep as much distance as possible from the foul smelling women. While one man picked up the reins and began to steer the wagon out of the courtyard. Vargas threw an empty flour back at Felina. "You better cover yourself, we don't want to attract unnecessary attention."

The wagon rolled out on the streets and was rumpling over the uneven cobblestones of the city. Vargas told Felina what they wanted from her. "We are heading to the private house of a nobleman. Your job is easy. All you have to do is to crawl through a small tunnel into the house and steal a jewel necklace."

---

Felina looked at the old bag he had given her. Three rough holes had been cut in it. She pulled it over so that her head and arms passed through them. Whoever had cut the holes had been very generous, making a deep V down her front and long holes under her armpits. Standing, the hem reached the middle of her thighs, leaving most of her legs wantonly naked. The hemp was rough and dusty and it scratched her delicate skin. That caused her nipples to protrude and push against the front of the bag, making them almost visible through the loose canvas. Vargas threw her a piece of rope which tied around her waist in a makeshift belt. It was ugly, it was scratchy and it was lewd but it was much better than going around naked. With her tangled hair and her bad smell she really looked like a beggar now.

She sat down in a corner of the wagon and tried to relax, letting the sun warm her stiff joints as she listened to her mission. It sounded easy enough… but in her state of exhaustion, it might be a challenge. And there might be dangers Vargas has not revealed to her yet.

She asked many questions, trying to know more about the tunnel, its entrance and exit, if there might be traps, or dogs. Then about the house itself, its plan, who lived in it, where the necklace was stored and so on.

---

Vargas told her what she needed to know. The tunnel was actually a small pipe of the sewer system, large enough for somebody to barely fit through it. The target house was one of the few houses in the city that were directly connected to the sewer system. The plan was for them to park the wagon above the sewer entrance on the street closest to the house. Felina would have to crawl about ten to  fifteen metres through the tube to the house. Vargas did not expect that there would be any traps. Also the house should be almost emptied up to some maids and servants. The owner had left early this morning to go hunting and had taken the dogs and some servants with him. Vargas did not know the exact location of the necklace in the house, but it was probably somewhere in the private rooms on the second floor. Vargas handed Felina her set of lock picks.

---

Felina listened carefully, trying to visualise everything and memorise all the details. It sounded easy enough indeed and it was her chance to prove her skills. She only wished she was not so wasted by her sleepless night of agony. She attached her picks tools to her rope belt and used the remainder of the trip to stretch and massage her limbs, regaining some of her agility. It was a chance that she was young and recovered easily.

As they reached their destination, she tried to look at the mansion while they drove along its walled garden, noticing the position and size of the windows to try to imagine the plan. Finally they stopped along the street, next to the wall. Just under the wagon there was a hole in the side of the road that let rainwater drain to the sewer system. It was more a slit than a hole, and quite narrow at that.

The redhead climbed down with more grace than she had climbed in and crouched under the cart. She lied on her belly and crawled into the hole. Her head went first, then her shoulders. She grunted as her breasts got squeezed as they passed through and she wished she still had her chest band. Her waist followed easily but she had a moment of panic as her hips remained blocked. Her butt stuck out of the drain while she pushed on her feet and tried to pull her in with her arms. In her efforts, the bag had run up, leaving her firm buttocks naked. It took her some squeezing but at last her hips passed through and she almost fell head first into the stinking stream that ran down the main sewer tunnel.

She stood on a narrow wedge along the stream, her bare feet sloshing into the filthy water. Some light passed through the drain hole and she looked at her surroundings, trying to orient herself.

---

The main sewer tunnel was not high enough Felina to stay fully upright, she had to slightly bend her back.  The tunnel was running parallel to the street, this meant the house was to the right of Felina's current position. A in the twilight of the sewer, there was an about shoulder wide opening visible in the side of the tunnel at about knee height. This opening was the connection to the house.

The tube slightly sloped upwards towards the house. After about ten metres, there was an intersection. The possibility was either to go straight or turn to the right. If Felina followed the straight tunnel, she would have to crawl around two bends to realise that this tunnel was a dead-end, in the sense it got too narrow to crawl through. The tunnel to the right would begin to slope up steeper, until it was almost vertical and there would be light coming through a round hole in a wooden board.

---

The stench in the tunnel was almost as bad as her own. The water was greasy and she could feel things floating downstream hitting her ankles. She grimaced in disgust and was reluctant to kneel down in the muck. There was no other option though. She had to squeeze herself into that pipe.

Thankfully, the pipe was a bit bigger than the drain hole. She entered it and started crawling on her elbows and knees. She had to keep her body quite low which forced her in a position that was tiring. A stream of clean water ran at the bottom of the pipe, probably coming from a fountain. As she progressed, she could not prevent herself from splashing so that the front of her bag-dress was soon soaked, as was her hair. She had to stop frequently to rest her sore limbs. Her forearms and shins were soon all scratched as she had to crawl on them without any protection.

She soon reached an intersection. Felina had a good sense of orientation and it was obvious to her that the house was straight forward, so without much hesitation, she continued. Inwardly, she counted her “steps” to keep an idea of where she was. The tunnel was totally dark now and she had to progress by touch alone. The pipe got narrower and narrower. She had to lie down on her belly to progress by pushing on her toes and pulling on her palms. She was now totally drenched. There was still no light in sight, and the pipe got narrower again. Her shoulders and hips touched the walls now. She could hardly move her arms, which were stretched in front of her, and legs. She could not even lift her head completely without hitting the ceiling. It reminded her of her horrible night in that cramped chest. In a way, it had been a kind of preparation for her present challenge.

Her hands felt a new portion of pipe, again narrower. She inched forward until her elbows entered it. It was obvious now that her shoulders would never make it through. She explored the pipe with her hands further because it seemed there was a hole or a crack in the side of it. Suddenly there was a loud squeal and something bit and clawed her hands. A rat! No two rats! The sudden attack startled her and made her bang her head against the top of the tunnel. It appeared she had found a rat nest and the parents defended their brood with fury. In her position, Felina could not do anything to defend herself. She tried to grab or slap the rats but she could not see them while they could see her.

Remnants of her former phobia returned to her pounding heart. She tried to back up down the pipe but it was so narrow that it was almost impossible. All she could do was to push with her palms and elbows. The rats followed her, more furious than ever, attacking her forearms, covering her skin with bite and claw marks. That back crawl caused her bag-dress to crumple up her thighs and butt, only stopped by her rope belt. As the pipe grew larger, she could move faster and at last the rats abandoned.

She finally returned to the intersection. She was sure that the other pipe did not go towards the house but it was worth following it to see where it led. This time, the pipe kept its width but it became steeper and steeper, which made her progress more strenuous. At last she saw some pale light coming from above. She was now more climbing than crawling and she finally reached a round hole in a wooden panel. Could it be a latrine?

She wrinkled her nose in disgust but continued, prudently passing her head through the hole to look where she was and whether there was a way to move the panel out of the way.

---

Indeed Felina was pushing her head through the sitting board of a latrine. The seating board was hinged at the back wall.  The latrine was part of the servants quarters located in the one story high side wing of the house, which had not been visible for outside the walls. The latrine was in a small room. There was small basin with fresh water in this bath room. Its door led into the sleeping room of the house staff, which were empty at this time of the day. Beyond the bedroom was a corridor, that connected the servants quarters with the main house. The kitchen was also attached to hallway. In the kitchen were two female cooks making preparation for the next meal.

The outer people in the house at the moment were: A gardener and a stable hand, both outside at the moment. And three other maids, besides the two cooks. They were cleaning, washing and decorating in various parts of the house.

---

There was nobody in the small latrine room, and she discovered that the panel board was hinged on one side. She cautiously pushed it up and thankfully it did not creak. She came out of the latrine like the Truth out of the Well, except that she was clothed in a dirty hemp bag, she was drenched like a rat, filthy and stinking. Looking at herself, she almost puked into the latrine in disgust.

There was basin with fresh water and a small mirror above it. As she looked at her image, she almost scared herself. Her red bulging eyes, her filthy face, her tangled hair. She looked like a ghost. She could not resist to use the water in the basin to wash her face and hands.

Pressing her ear against the door, she held her breath and listened. No sound. She opened the door very slowly and entered a small room with several cheap beds. Probably the servant’s bedroom. The necklace would not be there. She had to find the main bedroom, or that of the daughters if there were any. From what she had seen from the outside, the most beautiful windows were on the upper floor. She padded towards the next door. Her bare feet made a wet noise and to her horror she realised she was leaving dirty, wet footprints on the stone floor. She grabbed one of the pillows, used it first to dry her feet, smearing it with dirt, then to clean her footprints. She put the pillow back in place, the dirty side downward so that nothing could be seen. The maid sleeping in that bed would have a nasty surprise, this evening.

Again, she prudently listened, then opened the door, which led to a corridor. Now she could hear kitchen noises and female voices from a room further down the hallway. She sneaked forward on her tiptoes and reached the kitchen door. A prudent glance told her the two cooks had their back to the entrance, so she sneaked beyond and was happy to find the main staircase. There were other rooms further ahead but she was sure the necklace would be found upstairs.

The staircase was wide and impressive, covered with rare wood planks. She hated stairs. They always creaked. Hopefully the cooks were doing too much noise with their tools and their tongues and might not hear noises coming from here. Still, it was better to be as silent as possible. In her experience, stairs were the noisiest in the middle of the steps, and on the innerside, where everyone used to walk to shorten their path up. So she deliberately took the outside even if it was the longest path. She also supported as much of her weight on the handrail. She could not prevent a few creaks but kept them to a minimum. She climbed the first run of steps, turned around and then the second which brought her to the upper floor.

She stopped short of reaching it though, when her head was just flush with the floor. There she looked around and listened, trying to guess where the master bedroom was, and whether she could detect any maid by the noises she made.

---

There were several doors on this level. Most of them were open and one could see inside. From one of the room came the sound of stuff being lifted and put back down. It was the maid, who was cleaning in the drawing room. There was also an office, a library a dining room, two other rooms and the master bedroom on this level. From her vantage point Felina could see a heavy bedpost.

The jewel necklace Felina was locking for was in the master bed room, looking in the large dressing table below the mirror. It had been a gift from the nobleman to his wife for her birthday.

---

Everything was so clean, so beautiful, so rich. Like the parts of Geoffrey’s mansion where she was rarely authorised to go. It contrasted heavily with her own look. She was conscious to be totally out of place, like a wart on a princess nose. If she was seen, she would immediately be identified as an intruder. Maybe she should have put on some maid clothes, if there were any in the servant dormitory? But they would have taken time to put on and would have been unwieldy and noisy. Besides, the maids probably all knew each other. No, it was better not stay totally unseen and unheard. She only hoped that her stench was not so strong it could be smelled from afar.

Having oriented herself, detected the threat and located her target, Felina sneaked up the last steps. Luckily, the master bedroom was on the opposite side of the house to where the maid could be heard working. So as not to make the planks creak under the carpet, she tiptoed as close to the walls as possible and slid herself into the bedroom. Facing the large bed, she immediately noticed the dressing table with the huge mirror. On it was a cabinet, the kind that noblewomen used to store their jewellery. Moreover, the table could not be seen from the landing or from the other side of the house. Luck was still with her.

The stinking redhead padded to the table, opened the biggest of the little drawers in the cabinet and there it was, a magnificent necklace. It could only be the one Vargas had described to her. She lifted it delicately so that it would not make any sound. Noticing a small velvet bag, she slid the necklace in it and attached it to her rope belt.

Mission accomplished! Almost… She only had to sneak out the way she had come in.

---

When Felina was taking the necklace, she heard dogs bark outside. Then she heard the entrance door opening. Then she heard the maid in the corridor. "You are already back from the hunt?"

"Yes, one of the hunters fell from his horse, so they decided to end it. His lordship, will be in shortly. I have to inform the kitchen that they need to prepare a lunch." A male voice replied from done stairs. The maid walked done the stairs and went also to the kitchen. Leaving Felina alone on the upper floor.

Felina heard the main door open again and the sound of paws on the stone floor. "Come in with you." Some said. There was a bark, that was clearly coming from the inside. A servant had entered with two big hunting dogs. The dogs were lifting their nose and looking up to the first floor. One dog barked and began to climb the stairs.

 The rest of the hunting party was still outside, putting the horse in the stable. The nobleman was helping his wife out of a carriage.

---

As soon as she heard the barking, Felina knew her lucky streak had come to a halt. She was attaching the little bag to her belt when the dog entered the house and barked. Her blood froze in her veins. That was totally unexpected and very dangerous. The way she reeked, the dog would have no problem finding her. In fact, it had most probably already detected her footprints and that was why it was climbing the stairs. There was no time to lose. It would be upon her in a moment.

She leaped to the door and pushed it as fast as she could, only slowing down to shut it as silently as possible. There was a bolt on the inside, probably to preserve the couple’s intimacy in crucial moments. She pulled it. This should solve the problem with the dog and hopefully would also slow down other pursuers.

From the noise coming from the front of the house, that direction was blocked. A quick, careful glance confirmed it and also gave her a notion of who was there. but there was a window opening on the garden, on the back of the house. She ran to it and opened it. Almost immediately, she took a step back. There was the gardener tilling a flowerbed and another maid, walking hastily towards the back door. The way she was rearranging her dress and her tangled hair, the early return of the house master had also taken her aback. Thankfully she had not seen her.

At that moment there was a loud noise against the door as the dog crashed into it, then it started clawing at it with its paws. Felina’s heart was pounding hard now. She decided her chances were higher with the old gardener and the slutty maid. She just waited until the maid entered the house, then she climbed on the window sill and jumped from the first floor so as to land beyond the roses that had been planted all around the house. She landed with a low thud on the lawn, squatting and rolling to absorb the impact. She had already chosen the path she would take to beeline to the outer wall while avoiding the gardener and running away from the hunting party, if they chose to go around her house.

The outer wall was high but she was sure she would find a way to climb it.

---

"What? Who are you?" The gardener shouted, when he saw Felina getting up from her roll. He began to move in her way. He was not fast enough to cut her off. But his shout had alerted the stable hand, who came out of the stable and was closer to the wall than the gardener.

There was a door in the wall which was locked. But there were protruding stones around the door. There was also a big tree relatively close to the wall. The door was closer to the stable than the tree. The old gardener was closer to the tree than to the door.

From the window above there was the sound of a door breaking and loud barking. "Thief! There is a thief fleeing in the garden!"

---

Felina cursed through her teeth. She had hoped the gardener would not see her. Now he had alerted everyone and there was a man coming out of the stables, who immediately saw her. This guy looked younger and fitter than the gardener. He might run after her, even climb the wall, maybe?

The thief decided to run for the tree. She was sure to reach it before the stable hand. Outrunning the gardener should be possible too and she doubted he would try to climb after her.

She ran through the perfectly mowed lawn, leaping over flowerbeds to take the shortest path. Upon reaching the tree, she used her momentum to leap for one of the low branches and pull herself up with the ease of a cat.

---

There was a bigger branch of the tree, which had grown towards the wall. The branch would bend dangerously, if Felina tried to balance towards the wall, but it would not break, if she was quick. There were many smaller branches, that pocked at Felina, when she climbed higher and further out on the tree. They scratched her bare arms and legs. Also the rope around her waist got caught on a thicker branch and the knot in front was pulled out and the improvised belt began to slide over her hips.

Felina's assessment had been right, the old gardener did not climb up the tree behind her,  he stayed on the grass and yelled abuses to her. But the stable hand began climbing up behind her, when she was almost at the wall. The man broke any branches, which dared to be in his way. He was much heavier than Felina and when he tried to follow her to the wall. The branch broke near the tree trunk and he fell down. Almost on top of the gardener, who just managed to jump to the side in the last moment to avoid to be crushed by the younger man.

On the other side of the wall, the thieves had heard the noises in the garden. They had correctly assumed that Felina had been detected. So, Vargas had instructed the man with the reins, that they should leave. Either Felina was coming over the wall any second and she could catch up to the wagon or she would be caught, before she made it over the wall.

When Felina appeared over the wall, Vargas waved at her to get on the wagon, who was rolling down the street and picking up speed. From the other side the gardener was shouting for a key for the backdoor, because the thief had made it over the wall.

On the wagon Vargas told Felina to keep a low profile, so that she would not be spotted from far away. He draped a few more empty wheat bags over her body to hide her better.

When they had taken a few turns and the thieve did not spot any obvious pursuers behind them. Vargas relaxed and asked Felina."Tell me, that you at least got the necklace! You're burglary skills will need some training, if you want to get accepted into the guild. You almost got caught on your first and easy assignment."

---

The fear had washed away all the sores and aches of Felina’s restless night. After catching the lowest branch, she hoisted herself just as the gardener arrived. He was gratified with a perfect view up her dress, which did not prevent him from insulting her copiously. She continued to climb, ignoring the scratching and poking of the branches, even accelerating when the tree began to tremble under the efforts of the heavy-set stable hand. For a moment it seemed to her that he was actually trying to unroot the tree to make her fall!

Fast and agile as she was, she climbed quickly and sped over the overarching branch, her bare feet dancing on the bark almost as though she never touched it. One leap and she landed on the top of the wall, another and she was in the street. The wagon was just passing by. She ran behind it, grabbed the top of the cart and jumped in without even needing to step on the wheel. It was quite different from her pathetic escalade of earlier.

She lied down on the floor while dusty empty bags were layered very her. She was panting hard, and was covered in sweat, but she had made it. She smiled.

“Oh yes, I got it. And if they had not arrived unexpectedly, I would have stolen the entire cabinet! Here it is!”

She reached for her belt rope and her face turned pale. Her belt had disappeared. She was sure she still had it as she ran through the garden as she remembered her picks slapping against her hip.

“I… I must have lost my belt in that tree! We must go back! I’m sure I’ll find it! It will be entangled in a branch!” she said, in a panting voice. Then she remembered the guy who had climbed behind her. There was a chance he had found it. That was horrible! All those efforts and risks for nothing!

---

"What? You lost it!" Vargas was not screaming at her, but he was close to it. They had almost been caught and all that for nothing. "Don't be stupid, we cannot go back, they are locking for you now. We will drive home. There we will see, if can find some other job for you, where you can't not fuck it up." Vargas turned his back to Felina and did not speak again, until they had returned to the courtyard near the entrance to the hideout.

"You stink. Give me your bag, I will have to burn it. And go wash yourself at the well." The well was in the center of the courtyard. There was a bucket with a rope next to it. The well was also in view of the gateway to the street, there not many people on the street, but there weren't also none.

---

Felina tried to argue.

“We could go back at night. I would just have to climb the wall and the tree. That guy did not seem very bright, I’m sure he did not see my rope, or just ignored it. It’s worth the try!”

But Vargas would hear nothing about it and seemed to get angrier with every new argument she offered. He finally said he might send someone to investigate, but certainly not a clumsy thief as Felina.

Back in the courtyard, Felina was naked again, and forced to wash herself in plain sight of the street. She welcomed the opportunity to get clean because she really reeked but she would have preferred more intimacy and some warm water. She went behind the well so as to be partly hidden from the street, although Vargas and his companion did not even pretend to look away.

She turned the crank to pull up the bucket and the pulley began to squeal in a high pitched tone. Some passers-by looked to see what caused so much noise. She could have crouched to hide behind the well but her bucket would have plunged back all the distance she had lifted it. She just turned her back to the street and tried to ignore the catcalls and lewd comments. Thankfully, they were far enough not to see too many details and not be able to recognize her face.

Washing so much filth with cold water and without water was difficult. She needed three bucket loads to get reasonably cleaner, the last one used to wash her hair. By the time she was done, she looked more like a human and less like an undead witch. She shivered and her skin was covered in goosebumps.

Madame Rouge

When they had arrived, Vargas had sent a man into one of the buildings adjoining the courtyard. He came back, when Felina lifted the third bucket out of the well. He was accompanied by a woman with large breasts that were on the verge of popping from the top of the woman's corset. She wore a red dress with long slits on the side, which showed the high heeled, leather boots she wore. The woman greeted Vargas and they exchanged some words. Vargas pointed out Felina to the woman, who was washing her hair next to the well.

Vargas waved Felina over. "This is Madame Rouge. She has a job for you that is probably better suited for you." Madame Rouge studied Felina up close, she wrinkled her nose. "The girls still smell like a sewer. We have to clean her more thoroughly or the clients will not want her." The woman grabbed Felina's chin and turned it from one side to the other. "She has a pretty face, which will attract customers."

If Felina spoke , Madame Rouge would slap her face and tell her that she was not allowed to speak, unless she was asked a direct question. Any protest would result in another slap.

---

Felina blushed at the way Madame Rouge observed her. She felt like a piece of meat, and in fact that was exactly what she was in the eyes of that woman. Felina had a thought that made her grin. She had dubbed herself Princess of the Thieves. Madame Rouge was obviously the Queen of the Whores. Of course, the redhead kept that joke to herself.

However, when the Madame spoke about selling her to her customers, she protested.

“I’m not a wh… a prostitute! I’m a thief! I can’t AAAOOOW! Listen you must OUCHH!!!”

The Queen of Whores had a strong hand. Felina’s head rang from the pair of slaps and judged it better to stay quiet. There was still a chance that this was all a manipulation to scare her. If they really dared to bring her to a brothel, it would be ample time either to run away, or to “work” so sloppily that they would never send her there again.”

---

"That's a good girl." Madame Rouge gave Felina a fake smile, when she stayed quiet. "Follow me into my kingdom." She turned and walked back into the building she came from. Vargas gestured for Felina to follow her. And there were still the other thieves, who would like to help Felina to move along, if she did not do as she was told.

Madame Rouge let Felina through a room that used to be a kitchen into a corridor. "Come hurry up." Madame Rouge had looked over her shoulder. "We need to get you ready, before the first clients arrive." She led Felina to a room that looked like some kind of dressing room, or rather undressing room. There were women in the room. The naked one was helping the other to tighten a corset. The corset was the only thing the other woman was wearing. The men were staring from the door. The women seemed not to be bothered. "Hey Vargas, will I see you tonight." The woman in the corset asked and gave a wave in the direction of the door.

"Sally, Polly, we have a new recruit. She will work tonight in the front room." Madame Rouge explained to them. "Make her ready."

"Yes, Mistress." The woman replied in unison.

---

Felina had a brief hesitation when Madame Rouge invited her to follow her. The thieves were still around though, so she decided to obey. Her bare feet padded silently behind Rouge’s loud clicking of stiletto heels. As expected they arrived in the backstage of the bordello. Felina blushed. She had never been in such a place. The whores she had seen were poor creature selling themselves in the streets. Those she saw here were of a higher class. Still, they sold their body like all the whores, which filled Felina with spite, albeit she was wise enough not to show it.

“May I ask what my role will be?” she asked, looking alternatively at Madame Rouge and at Sally and Polly. She wondered what her preparation was going to be.

---

Smack. Smack. Madam Rouge gave her another slap and backhanded her too. "First, you address me as Mistress or Madame Rouge. Second, you don't get to ask questions here. But I will answer it anyway. Your job will be to attract and entertain customers in the main room." She turned to Sally and Polly. "Clean her with some soap, now! Vargas told me, she was crawling through the sewer and she has pissed herself too. I don't want her to put off potential clients. The two whores wrinkled their noses and snickered at Felina.

---

Attract customers? Felina wondered how she could do that… but she remembered to hold her tongue. She would discover what it was soon enough.

Sally and Polly led her to a bathroom where, miracle, there was a tub with steamy, bubbly, flower-smelling water. She plunged into it with delight. Sally and Polly were very efficient. One washed her body while the other did her hair. There was a fire in the chimney so that she could then be dried, combed and pampered.

Felina felt like a real human again. She also knew that it could only mean one thing: she would be exhibited to the customers, probably stark naked. She might even have to get raped against money. She decided it was time to show them all that she was still a thief.

During her bath, she had noticed a small window high in the wall, that allowed the steam to escape. As soon as she was ready, dried and pampered, she took the opportunity that she was alone with two weaker women to escape. Suddenly, she leaped, climbed the wall and leaped through the window.

Or tried.

Once again, her hips got stuck and she found herself with her upper body outside while her butt and legs dangled inside. She fiercely tried to push on her toes, to wiggle her hips. She felt hands on her ankles. They were not strong hands but they were enough to prevent her from pushing higher. At the same time, Sally and Polly’s high-pitched voices screamed for help.

---

The screams alerted the thieves and Madame Rouge, who had been sitting in Madam Rouge private lounge. They stormed to the bathroom and found Polly and Sally holding on to a pair of legs sticking out of the window. For the thieves it was easy with combined strength to pull her inside. "Where did you want to go? You haven't even started working yet." Madam Rouge slapped Felina's face again, while Felina was held by two thieves. "You are spirited, I like it. But every wild beast can be tamed." Madame Rouge turned around and while she walked to the exit of the bathroom she instructed. "Sally bring me a metal collar and a set of cuffs. Polly, get me my special tools. And you come with me!" The two whores nodded and hurried out of the bathroom before their Mistress.

Felina was escorted by the thieves to Madame Rouge’s private lounge. They did not wait long and Sally returned with a three centimetre metal collar that was hinged and could be fixed around someone's neck with a screw. There were also some D-ring located around the outside. Sally also brought a set of wrist and ankle cuffs that look similar to the collar only that they had a smaller diameter, but instead they were a bit wider. "Put them on her." Madam Rouge pointed at Felina. The thieves with Sally's help placed the cuffs and collar on Felina and screwed them close.  Sally had had a good eye, the cuffs were snug around her wrists and ankles.

Then Polly returned with a leather roll up etui. "Here, Mistress." Polly said as she handed it to Madame Rouge, who smiled coldly at Felina. "Hold her down real good. She won't like the next part. When Felina was pressed down on the ground by the thieves, Polly and Sally. Madame Rouge opened the leather etui and pulled out a fat needle. She knelt down on Felina's hair and trapped Felina's head between her knees. "You better hold still, I don't want to place the needle accidentally in your eye." Madame Rouge showed the fat needle to Felina. Then she pressed with her free hand on Felina's forehead, while she placed the needle against Felina's nasal septum. Madame Rouge pressed the needle through and pushed it halfway through the septum. She then got a ring with an opening out of her etui and pushed it after the needle through the fresh hole. Afterwards she used pliers to close the ring. The iron ring was rather large and several millimetres thick. It almost reached Felina's upper lip.

Madame Rouge was not done yet, she got a slightly thinner needle and used it to pierce Felina's nipples and decorate them with small iron rings. She smiled, when she looked at her work. "I would like to place more rings on you, but we will open soon. We will do it another time." She tied a cord around Felina's nose ring. "Come get up, I show you where you work." Madame Rouge gave the cord a tug.

---

Once Felina felt stronger hands on her legs, she stopped resisting. She had failed her escape and was now afraid of the consequences. She was pulled down, seized firmly and slapped once again by Madame Rouge. Felina looked down at her feet, not wanting to add to the Mistress’ anger.

She followed without resistance, or rather she was half carried to Madame Rouge’s lounge where she was collared and cuffed. Her shoulders slumped as the cold steel encircled her skin. For a moment she had hoped those would just be props for the show, but they were real restraints, sturdy, thick and heavy.

Felina did not resist either when she was put down on her back. Later she regretted it but at that moment she thought it better not to anger the Madame further. By then it was too late. She had the heaviest of the thieves sitting on her belly, his hands gripped on her breasts, another straddled her thighs. Sally and Polly each sat on one of her arms, holding them down tight.

Then she felt the imposing presence of Madame Rouge next to her head. Felina winced as her hair was pinned down to the floor and then her head was held like in a vice grip between Rouge’s strong thighs. There was no way she could move her head like that and when the thick needle came into view, she knew why. Her eyes grew wide, bulged out. She tried to escape, pulling on her limbs, twisting them, bucking her hips… all to no avail. The needle approached her nose. Felina panicked.

“No! NO! NOOOOO! Please not that! Not there! I’ll obey I promise!!!” she begged.

There was a sick crunch and her face seemed to explode from agony. Turning her eyes down, she saw the needle transfixed through her septum. She felt sick and almost lost consciousness. The pain was revived when Madame Rouge pulled her needle out, and then once again when she put the thick, ugly ring in place. Felina’s nose was throbbing while her mind sank into panic and horror. That was not a jewel, that was not a pretty decoration, that was a thick, big, steel ring. It was something used to restrain animals. It would be impossible to hide it. It would be sitting in the middle of her face for all to see. From the way it had been closed upon itself, she doubted it would be easy to remove without proper tools and technique. Tears filled her eyes and she was sobbing continuously, both from the pain and the mental shock. By comparison, the piercing and ringing of her nipples was nothing, even though it caused throbbing pain to her breasts.

Broken, Felina no longer resisted. She was yanked up to her feet by her hair and a string was attached to her nose ring. Madame Rouge did not even need to pull on it. Just the threat of doing it had the sobbing thief padding hastily behind her. She could not imagine the pain she would feel if the ring moved in her throbbing nose. As she walked, her vision blurred by her tears, she could feel her nipple rings dangling from her teats, reminding her of their presence.

Savage’s cage

Madame Rouge led Felina to the main room, which looked like the normal bar room until one saw the cages and other contraptions, like a pillory or whipping pole. There was a weird mix between a dungeon and a bar. Madame  Rouge stopped in front of the larger cages. She opened the door and pushed Felina inside. "Your job is to entertain the clients, who just come in here to have drink or two or are undecided what they desire." The madam pointed to a box with a slit on the top next to the cage. "This is your tip box. Your goal is to fill it. Polly will be in a similar cage on the other side of the room. After two hours we will compare, who has made more money and the person with less money gets sent to the backroom, the other person can stay. Your shift ends as soon as you have filled your tip box." Madame Rouge locked the door on the cage, then untied the cord from her nose ring, while Sally locked Polly in the other cage. "We open in ten minutes, get the other girls down her, Sally."

Over the next minutes more whores came into the main room. One was put in the pillory, another was chained naked to the whipping pole and a third crawl in a small cage. There were also tip boxes next to them. The whores mingled around the room. When the doors were opened,the first customers started to arrive in quick succession. Madame Rouge's establishment seemed to very popular.

---

Felina had to bend down a bit to enter her cage as the door was rather small, but once she was inside, she could stand normally. As the door was closed and locked behind her, she found that there was not much room to move. There was about the width of a palm between her body and the thick iron bars. The cage was cylindrical, its floor as well as its ceiling were made of bars too. As she stepped in, she realised that all the bars had small studs pointing inwards. They were not sharp enough to puncture the skin but she knew that with time they would get quite painful. Their purpose was to prevent the prisoner from remaining still. She would always have to shift her weight and move her feet, even if she was lazy.

The cage was hoisted by a chain leading to the ceiling, until the bottom of the cage was about two feet above the floor. The other girls were locked in the pillory and whipping post, making Felina realise she had it easy in her cage. Yet, she was decided to prove that she was not useful in a brothel. She would make sure Polly got more tips than her, so that she could be sent backstage earlier and get some rest. She wanted to be refreshed for her challenges, next day.

As the first customers entered the room, Polly began to dance sensuously in her cage. By contrast, Felina remained immobile, only shifting her feet to relieve the pressure of the studs into her bare soles.

---

Despite her not dancing, Felina attracted some attention from the customers, since she was a new girl. But Polly got her first tips and the whore showed her gratitude by kneeling pushing her breast the bars for the tipper to touch.

There was a scream form the pillory, when a tipper gave the girl in it a slap on her ass. The girl on the whipping pole had not attracted any clients yet. But two whores had already left with client up the stairs.

One man came closer to the cage and put a coin in her tip box. "Come dance for me!" He instructed her.

If Felina refused to dance or did not put much effort in her moves, the man would get angry and shout. "You bitch, I paid for you to dance! Shake your tits." His yelling would make a people turn their heads, but also attract the attention of Madame Rouge. The madame would asked the client, what was the problem. After he explained, her eyes narrowed. "I am sorry, she is very new to this. So, you refuse to dance. Excuse me for a minute I will be right back and I promise you she will dance." She told the disgruntled client. After a minute Madame Rouge return with to burning candles and placed them under Felina's cage. "Lower her cage a foot!"  The flames of the candles were now only a hand span below Felina's feet.

---

This was so shameful to be exposed like that in a cage, like an animal. Her steel piercing even added to this impression. Felina found it so degrading. She moved her arms slowly, trying to always have a hand in front of her crotch and an arm across her breasts. She could do nothing to hide her butt though and as there were men all around, they got a clear view of her body anyway. And now that guy, who thought she would dance just because he tipped her a few copper coins! Felina simply said “thank you” and made a lazy movement with her hips. It was true she was not a dancer. She had never danced actually and she hated it. Those two hours were going to feel long…

“Shake your tits, Savage!” he said angrily.

Felina blushed. She was not a slave to be ordered like this. Yet, she pressed her arm across her breasts and moved her chest in a vague mimic of what Polly was doing in the other cage. More customers got angry at her, which quickly attracted Madame Rouge, who quickly found a way to force her to dance.

With the flame of the candles just under her feet, Felina had no choice but to move her feet. There was no place on the bottom where they did not feel the heat. If she kept a foot for more than one second in the same place, it began to burn, so that she was constantly moving her feet from one spot to another, each time exposing to the flames a different side of a different foot. This was not really a sensual dance but it made her legs and butt shake, and that was enough for many customers.

Despite her “dancing”, the heat continued to hurt as her feet got warmer. She had to increase the pace of the dance. Worse, her rapid padding made her step harder on the studs, hurting her feet even more. After some time, the pain incited her to try to evade the heat. The cage had no horizontal bar she could have stepped upon to get away from the candle. She reached for the top of the cage with her hands, which forced her to uncover her breasts. That move attracted some catcalls and whistles. She grabbed two bars and hoisted herself, earning herself more lewd, approving comments. She did not listen. All that counted was that her feet were at last away from the heat.

“Yeah! Look at the savage! She’s quite agile!”

“Look at that ass, how it moves!”

“Oh, I love how her boobs bounce and those rings make them even hotter!”

“Shake your tits, Savage!”

She could not stay in that position very long though, as the muscles in her arms began to tire. Also, the studs on the top of the ceiling bars dug into her palms. Not wanting to go down yet, though, she tried one of her climbing tricks: she placed her feet on opposite bars and pushed, allowing her to put half of her weight on her legs. Doing so, she had also parted her legs, giving the crowd the first clear view of her hairy vulva. That triggered a thunder of applauses and approving comments.

“Yeah! Spread your legs, Savage! Show us your snatch!”

“She’s a true Savage!” Someone laughed. “Look how hairy she is.”

In truth, it was not that true. Felina’s vulva had a small triangle of hair on her mound but it was not a bushy mess. Yet, compared to the other whores who were completely shaven down there, it made a contrast.

“Is she pierced down there? I can’t see well with that bush.”

“No, she’s not. She has quite fat lips, they get out of her pubes and they are not pierced, that’s sure.”

Felina heard all those comments, made just in front of her, as though she could not hear them. She tried to clench her thighs to hide her crotch but that would have meant falling back on the flames.

“Look! The Savage has hair in her armpits too! Such a monkey!”

“Climb! Savage! Shake your hairy cunt for us!”

So much humiliation! Yet, Felina was more concerned by the tiring of her arms and legs and by the constant grinding of the studs against her palms and soles. Her limbs began to tremble. Sweat formed rivulets down her skin. At some point, she could no longer hold it and stepped down, immediately grimacing as the heat hit her poor feet again.

Her cage had now attracted a different public than Polly’s. They liked her more natural look, her more brutish movements, even though Felina did not do them with the purpose of entertaining them.

“Go on, Savage! Climb those bars again!”

---

Madame Rouge saw the small group that Felina had involuntarily attracted. The madame had observed her newest girl from across the room. Her experienced eyes also saw, that the men did not tip her as much as they should. Thus Madame Rouge walked across the room to Felina's cage. "Gentlemen welcome. I see you like our newest girl. She is a real wild beast, this morning she was still crawling though sewers." Madame Rouge grinned at Felina. "Sewage would be a more fitting name for her." Madame Rouge slapped the cage making it swing slightly. "Anyway, Savage does not respond well to commands, but I can give you something to motivate her to climb again."

Madame Rouge asked two luck men to hold Felina against bars, so that she could tie two cords to Felina's nipple rings. The cords were long enough to go up through the hook, from which the cage was suspended. Afterwards, Madame Rouge pulled on one cord showing the effect to the men: Lifting the tit on the other end it by piercing. "One cooper coin and you get to hold a cord for a minute. If you pay one silver, I had a other candle under her feet." There were immediately many cooper coins placed in the tip box and the first two men got to play with the the cords. They did not pull constantly, but rather gave the several several yanks, leaving little by little less slack. The group was cheering, when the saw the ringed teats bounce in response. 

---

Felina’s arms were seized by two men in the audience and she was yanked forward until she was pressed against the bars, her breasts protruding out of the cage. In that position, she was totally helpless to prevent Madame Rouge from tying her nipple rings, despite how painful the manipulation was for her freshly pierced holes. She moaned and gasped but did not dare to protest while the Mistress had her pitiless fingers on her nipples. Then, one of the brothel muscle guys climbed on top of the cage, making it swing and spin wildly. He threaded the two lines through the ceiling ring and back down to their female boss.

“While you are up there, hook Savage’s wrist cuffs to the top bars. We don’t want her to pull on her own strings,” Rouge ordered him.

The two customers who held Felina’s arms forced them up so that the brute could grab them and hook their shackles to the cage ceiling, wide apart from each other. He had used short chains to do so, allowing Felina a bit of freedom, preventing her from lowering her hands lower than the top of her head.

Felina found herself now much more vulnerable. Two grinning customers held her nipples in their control and she could no longer cover or protect herself. Besides, despite her continuous foot dance across the cage floor, her feet were already starting to burn. There was a tug on her left nipple, then on the right one. She gasped in pain. The yanks continued, without any rhythm or synchronisation, so that her breasts began to dance haphazardly, being pulled and dropped in a strangely lewd and cruel choreography. At the same time, she kept shifting her feet widely, like in a clumsy valse, trying to avoid the flames.

Her breasts moved up and down, higher and higher with each pull, until she was forced to stand on her toes. Tears ran down her cheeks, ruining the make-up that Sally and Polly had patiently applied to her eyes. This seemed to revive the sadistic instinct of her spectators.

“Climb Savage, climb! Or we tear the rings from your tits!”

“Yes, climb and spread your whore’s legs. I want to sniff your stinking hairy cunt!”

Felina had no choice: pulled up by her nipple rings, burned from the bottom, she grabbed the ceiling bars, braced her feet against the cage walls, and pushed herself up, eliciting another thunder of laughs and catcalls. Once she was in that position, they tightened the nipple strings, forcing her to climb even higher. They continued their cruel game until she was pressing her breasts against the ceiling while her ringed nipples protruded on the other side. The position was horrible and exhausting. Her feet and hands hurted, her nipples throbbed. Yet, she could not let herself slide down from fear of having the rings torn from her nipples.

“Please, please, let me go down! I can’t hold any more!” she pleaded, her face pressed against the top bars too, unable to look at her tormentors.

“Wiggle your butt, Savage, and we’ll let you down,” barked someone.

Burning with shame, she shook her butt as much as her position allowed, eliciting an enthusiastic response from the crowd.

“Push your cunt forward, I want to sniff it!” ordered another voice.

Her arms and legs trembled from exhaustion and she was glistening with sweat. She did not know how long she could continue. She pushed her hips forward as much as she could, offering her widespread vulva to the crowd. Her fat labia, long enough to emerge from her pubes, were parted by the split position, discovering the hole of her vagina. Several hands reached through the bar to touch her, to pinch and stretch her lips, to pull her hair. She yelped and pained helplessness.

“Pleaaaaaaase! I’m going to let go! I can’t hold it any longer!”

At last she felt the tension on her nipples line being released and she slid down, panting and puffing, until she was hanging by her cuffed arms. Only then did she realise that she had not been released out of pity but because the time was elapsed and the two customers had to relinquish control to new tormentors.

Involuntarily, Felina had inaugurated a new business model for the brothel. Her tips were not buying actions from her part but props that could be used to force her in action. Soon there was a queue for the right to pull on her strings and the floor under her cage was filled with candles.

---

For the next two hours, Felina was made to dance in her cage almost continuously. At first, her tits were constantly stretched by the ring pulled upward. But after awhile, she got longer breaks, when everybody had had a chance to pull on the lines, but also there were now more candles under her cage, so she could not stay on the bottom for long without risking her feet to be burned, even if nobody was pulling her up.

From across the room Polly saw the growing crowd around Felina's cage and the whore was getting more and more desperate to generate tips of her own. Polly started to shake her tits and ass more provocatively at the clients, who passed by her cage to see what the new attraction was on the other side of the room. Polly let them touch her free in the hope of a copper coin. And she loudly announced that for a silver, she would get down on her knee to give a blowjob. Polly really did not want to be sent to the backroom.

Madame Rouge returned after the two hours had elapsed. She had the candles blown out and the cords slackened for the moment. "Let's see, how much money you made." The opened the tip box and counted the coins. 16 silver coins and 153 copper coins had been accumulated. Madame Rouge pocketed the money and she moved on to count Polly's earnings. Only 7 silver coins and 67 copper coins. Madame Rouge gestured for the muscle guys to take Polly out of her cage. "Please, Mistress, give me another chance! I can do better." Polly whaled. "Take her away. Sally get in the cage!" came the cool reply by the mistress.

Madame Rouge walked back to Felina. "Congratulations, you earned two more hours in the cage." She had her helpers change the setup. Instead of Felina's hand begin chained to the top of the cage, her ankles were chained to the bottom. Her hands were locked together on her back, before her nipple rings were connect by another chain outside of the cage, one vertical bar of  the cage was between Felina's sternum and her connected nipples. "Listen up. Form now on. Savage will get a weight hung from the chain for a minute." Madame Rouge held up a small lead weight and hooked it the short chain between Felina's piercings. "For one silver coin we place a burning candle on her cage." Madame Rouge had burning candle places on top of the cage, so the was would drip down onto Felina.

For the first few minutes, Madame Rouge oversaw the new setup personally. Quickly, there were many weights dangling from Felina's tits. And soon also hot wax was starting to drip done frequently from the candles place on top of the cage.

---

At the end of her first shift, Felina was both exhausted and devastated. Her nipples throbbed continuously while her feet had turned to red and a few blisters had appeared on her soles. She looked even more like a savage now, her body covered in sweat, her matted hair sticking to her face and shoulders, her make-up running down her cheeks. Her spectators enjoyed that look. It was novel, it changed them from the pampered prostitutes they usually saw. Only the richest could afford a painslut and Felina was a cheap version of it.

When Madame Rouge came after two hours and had Felina’s arms released, the caged thief could at last get a chance to rest. Unfortunately, the cage was too narrow to allow her sitting or kneeling. All she could do was to rest her back against the cage while wedging her knees in between bars in front of her. It looked a bit like half-sitting on an invisible high-chair. Except that it was very uncomfortable. The studs pressed into every piece of skin that touched them and as her soles had already been tenderised and pre-heated for two hours, they hurt like hell.

“Good news, Savage,” Rouge announced after having counted the tips, “You won the competition with Polly and you can stay here for another shift. You were quite successful. Our customers loved your performance. I’m sure they will enjoy part II even more.”

Felina was devastated. She had hoped that cage time was over for her, as promised by the brothel Mistress. Alas, the public had very much enjoyed seeing her suffer. What shocked her even more was to hear the amount of money she had earned in those two hours. She would have to be very lucky to make that much with pick-pocketing. If only she had managed to bring that necklace… because at the moment, she had proven being much more rentable in the brothel than in the streets.

Felina was prepared for the second shift and that was the end of her break. The new settings gave her much less freedom of movement. She could back up a little but very quickly she was stopped by the short chain connecting her nipples. The weights stretched them down, their swinging reviving the pain and making sure she could never get used to it. If only she was able to rest herself against the cage… but no, the studded bars made that option a temporary one before the pressure points got too painful. This forced her to shift her position regularly, causing the nipple weights to dance madly and to yank on her tits.

From the top of the cage came a rain of wax drips, most of which falling on her head and shoulders, thankfully protected by her curly mane. Only the fattest drops made it to her scalp, then eliciting yelps of pain from her clenched mouth. A stalagmite of white wax rose on her head, with congealed rivulets spreading in all directions. On rarer occasions though, a burning drop splashed on the top of her breasts, on her face or on her butt and then she moaned in agony. She had found that the way was less hot if she was lower so that she tended to squat as low as the narrowness of the cage allowed, until cramps in her muscles forced her to stand up to rest. However, the squatting position meant that her back and butt were more exposed to the burning shower.

All in all, Felina’s suffering was not less intense than during the first shift. She was constantly gasping and yelping and her sweating body obviously trembled from pain and exhaustion. As time passed and more weights were added to her chain, her nipples got stretched longer and longer, and even the shape of her breasts changed from apples to pears. This was the cruellest of her predicament. Pain throbbed through her entire chest and she hardly dared to breathe. The agony grew worse all along the second shift.

However, as cruel as it was, her suffering was less graphic. She hardly moved and only those in the first ranks could enjoy the grimaces of pain on her face. The customers had much less control too. They had found it amusing to tug on her nipple to make her dance. Hooking a weight soon grew boring after the first excitement. Only a few sadists continued to pay, wondering how many weights it would take to tear her rings out. Thankfully, the piercings were thick, Felina’s flesh was strong and the holes had been pierced near the base of nipples. Still, they remained, adding weight after weight.

“Look how her nipples are long now!”

“And the shape of her areolae! Like tiny tits on her boobs.”

“Another one! I want to know how low we can get those udders go. I bet we can have her nipples level with her navel.”

“I wonder if they will recover their former shape or stay sagging forever.”

Felina cried from pain and terror. Were they really ruining her breasts? She could not lower her face to look at her breasts without having to pull back from the bars, which increased the unbearable pull on her teats.

---

Long before the two hours were over, even the last sadist lost interest in Felina. The weights were removed from the nipple chain, one by one after no new copper coins were dropped in the tip box. The candles though were slowly burning down, dripping hot wax down on Felina for the entirety  of the two hours.

When Madame Rouge opened the tip box after two hours, she looked disappointed inside. "Only ten silver and less than a hundred copper. I don't even have to check Sally to know that you lost. Take her out of the cage." Madame Rouge went to Sally anyway to count her money, 13 silver and 231 copper. While the mistress was checking the other whore, two burly man freed Felina from the cage, and escorted her to the door to the backroom, where they were joined by Madame Rouge. There was  a small  corridor with a cashier in front of the entrance of the back room. He nodded to Madame Rouge, when she open a small side door next to the entrance.

The backroom

Before Felina was ushered in the side room, she got a glance into the back room. In the room were several whores partially visible. The only thing Felina could see were legs and hips and crotches sticking out of the walls. The feet either standing on the ground, ass sticking out and the rest of the body hidden behind the wooden wall. Or with their legs tied up high an spread, lying on the back the upper part of their body also hidden. There were several man in the room, who take the advantage of the anonymous pussies and asses.

When she entered the side room, Felina saw the upper parts sticking out of the other side of the wall. There where short benches to which the whore tied to on their stomach or their back. One of the whores on her stomach was Polly, who was grunting in her gag, because a client was using her ass at the moment. She gave Felina hostile look. The whore had spent the last two hours stuck in the wall, getting her ass slapped and fuck countless times thanks to the new girl.

Madame Rouge led them to unused opening that was smaller then the others but also at hip high. The upper part of the hole could be lifted up, so that a head could pass though the hole.  "You will spend the rest of the night here." The upper half was lifted and Felina's head was pushed thought the hole, then the upper part was lowered back down over her neck. Her head was now in the back room. Someone grabbed her arms and pulled them up against the wall on the other side and secured them above her head. Also her nipple rings are tied to some rings at the foot of the wall, stretching the abused nipples anew. There was a slap on her ass, then heard people walking away.

But Madame Rouge was not done with her, she came into the backroom to place a ring gag in Felina's mouth. "I can't have you bite my customers." If Felina refused to open her mouth, Madame Rouge would grab her nose ring and pull it up until Felina had to open her mouth. The nose ring was tied to the ring above Felina's head, so she was forced to look forward. "This is the backroom. The clients pay a fee of a few coppers at the door and in return they can use any orifice, they find in this room for ten minutes." Before she left, Madame Rouge, pulled a few pieces of cooled wax from Felina's hair.

Outside of the room, there was already forming a queue of men, who had seen a whore being brought to the backroom. This usually meant that there was at least one fresh and clean hole available for the next few minutes. The first man came into the room and walked straight to Felina. He grinned, while he pulled down his pants. "Got something for you to suck on." He pushed his meaty cock in to her open mouth.

---

When at last Felina was allowed to leave her cage, she was wrecked with cramps and exhaustion, her body covered in a thick sheen of sweat. A musky smell emanated from her body, as befitting a true savage. She was relieved to be at last let out of that hellish cage and allowed to rest in the backroom. The two burly men had no problem leading her to the back, only having to help her walk as her soles were aching so much.

It was only when she recognized Polly, and then saw the empty bench waiting for her that Felina realised she would not be allowed to rest. She had been on display duty, here was where the real prostitution work was done. At that sight, Felina’s heart clenched. That was contrary to all that she believed. There was no way she would work here!

“Madame Rouge! Please, there must be a misunderstanding! I’m not a whore! I’m not going to do that job. I’m sure Mr Vargas must have told you.”

As she spoke, she was firmly planting her sore heels into the floor, trying to stop her progress, shaking her head in disbelief. Madame Rouge stopped her pleading with a pair of loud slaps that disoriented her. The burly men easily lifted her from the floor and walked faster to their destination. As she was carried to her fate, Felina got a glimpse of Polly’s grin. Squirming and protesting, she was thrown unceremoniously upon the narrow bench.

“NOOOOO! NOOOO! PLEASE NOOOO! VARGAAAAAS!” she screamed.

She was fighting frantically and the burly men had some difficulty to push her head through the open hole as she kept pushing against the wall with her hand and bracing her feet against the floor. They had to grab her ankles, pull her feet up and hook them to the end of the bench to deprive her from the use of her legs. She was now resting on her belly on the narrow bench that passed between her breasts, against her pelvis and continued a bit further, with her legs folded and her shackles hooked at the end. With her legs out of the way, one of the men held Felina’s arms immobile while the other pushed her forward. Her head slid into the other room and the panel was pushed down and secured, blocking her in that position.

She was still furious and desperate, alternating between threats and pleads, her ruckus disturbing the customers. Madame Rouge was quick to put an end to it. Rushing into the backroom in a gallop of heel clicks, she grabbed Felina’s thick nose ring and pulled up. The poor redhead howled in agony and lifted her head, following the yank. Quick as a snake, the Mistress shoved a large ring gag in her gaping mouth. She then held it with both hands and twisted it, forcing Felina’s jaws apart, until the gag was in a correct position, at which point she secured it with a very tight strap that stretched the corners of her mouth and elicited another moan of pain. A few moments later, her head was totally secured, her nose ring tied to a nail above her head, forcing her to keep her neck bent at an uncomfortable angle. She grimaced, curling her lips and tongue in vain attempts at dislodging the wide ring gag that spread her mouth to the verge of dislocation. Madame Rouge gave her a gentle tap on the cheek, a cruel grin on her face.

“All ready. Was it really worth it to make so much trouble?”

As she left the room, Felina had already started to drool on her chin.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the partition, her body had been properly secured, with her arms strapped to the wall, forming a right angle above her body in a very straining strappado position. Combined with the nose string, it put her neck and spine in a very stressful position. The strain grew even worse when her nipples rings were anchored to the floor, totally immobilising her torso while stretching again her throbbing mammaries.

Felina was now totally helpless, secured in an uncomfortable position, unable to complain, with her mouth at the mercy of anyone entering the backroom. Tears ran down her cheeks from her bulging, stressed eyes.

Precisely, a new john arrived. Felina tried to turn her head to look at him and winced as this yanked on her freshly pierced septum. She gasped in pain and had to wait until he entered her field of view to see his face. She was about to look at him with pleading eyes in the hope he would take pity for her… but she recognized one of the few sadistic guys who had kept adding weights to her nipples, when she was in the cage. She knew for sure that looking pitiful excited his cruel pulsion, so she just looked down, sobbing and sniffing as he unlaced his crotch.

A strong smell of musk and sweat and pee reached her nose, disgusting her. His cock was already erect, pointing at her face. She had never seen a cock from so close and she thought it was the ugliest thing on earth. The smell was even worse at this distance. Once again she tried to turn her head away, and her nose ring painfully reminded her she could not do it. The next thing she knew, the man had shoved his dick in one swift movement all the way to the back of her mouth, making her gag and retch. Her eyes bulged out, her stomach heaved in and bile flooded out of her gaping mouth, mixed with bubbly throat mucus, while inhuman grunts escaped her larynx.

---

The man kept his dick deep in Felina's mouth. But when nothing happened, he pulled out and grabbed her hair with one fist, while he backhanded her. "You. Will. Lick. My. Cock." Each word was accompanied by another slap. He shoved his smelly prick back into Felina's mouth and waited for her to suck and lick on it. But he was still not satisfied with Felina's performance her pulled out again. "Okay, listen closely, you uncivilised savage. I will put my cock back into your mouth and pull it only out, when I like the way you suck me. It's your choice, give me a proper blowjob or suffocate."

---

Felina felt the foul-tasting cock filling her mouth. She had trouble resisting her gag reflex and kept uttering ugly noises. The man did not move while she gagged. He was not fully in, thankfully. Her nose was about one inch from his belly and she could breathe more or less freely, except that the air she took in was stinking. After a moment, her gagging calmed down.

At last he pulled out and she took a deeper, cleaner breath… but she was brutally yanked by her hair, the back of her head banged against the partition and she backhanded with a force that dwarfed Madame Rouge’s. She was glad he held her by her hair or her nose would have been yanked again. More slaps landed on her cheeks, from opposite directions, until she was all dazzled. And her mouth was plugged again, this time a little deeper.

The gagging and dry retching came back as he was now directly pressing against the entrance of her throat. Breathing was more difficult. Yet she tried to move her tongue. It was trapped under the shaft of his cock and not easy to move, in particular as she was still gagging helplessly. At least she tried, despite his nasty taste. Did he ever wash his dick?

The cock pulled back, followed by a cascade of mucus as she retched uncontrollably. More slaps made her skull ring as he explained what he was going to do. She tried to plead, to explain she could not move her tongue but nothing intelligible got out of her wide-stretched mouth.

Then he penetrated her, this time all the way. Her nose was now pressed into his pubes and clammy flesh while his greasy testicles enveloped her drool-covered chin. His cock head had been forced into her throat, totally blocking her airways while sending her entire body into a desperate battle against suffocation. Her throat clenched and unclenched while producing quarts of mucus, her stomach revulsed to send up more bile. She fought with her torso too, yanking on her stretched nipples in the process. She tried to scream but of course most of it was muffled by the thick male organ.

What could she do? Her head could not move, her lips were stretched wide apart and her tongue was flattened under his cock. Her bulging eyes looked up, trying to see him but her face was too close from his fat belly. Horrible noises came out of her bubbling nose. Again, she desperately tried to move her tongue, to curl it around the shaft, without much success. Her body continued to try to expel the intruder, adding more mucus that go either sent back down to her lungs or pushed up her nose to pour out of it.

Her face turned to a deep red and her struggles turned from fierce to frantic, to incoherent, to erratic and weak. Her vision darkened. In the back of her mind, she realised with horror that her thief career was about to be snuffed in a lowly brothel. She was such a failure.

---

Felina's frantic struggles for the man to start cumming in her mouth. He did not pull out immediately, he belly against her forehead until his cock was limb then finally pulled out. He slapped Felina's face to have her focus at him. "I'm very disappointing by your sucking skills. I will tell the madame, that she should arrange for some education for you how to suck a cock." With a final slap the man, closed his pants and left.

He was replaced with a new man, who just used her mouth as fuck hole, while he held on to her head by her hair. Thrusting his cock in and out of Felina's gaping mouth, until he exploded on her tongue. The third man, that replaced him afterwards had an other job for Felina. "Clean my cock." The man had been fucking Polly and he wanted Felina to clean his dirty penis. He pushed it against her face.

The room started to fill with more and more men, all trying to get a turn with Felina. Some waited, while stroking their bulges in their pants. Others could not wait that long and used one of the other whores first and came to Felina to either just come in her mouth or over her face, or to have her clean them before they left.

Obviously with time Felina's face was cover in cum, mucus and snot. "You need some cleaning." The men, whose turn it was, said. He step back and aimed his penis at Felina's face and began pissing. "Come and help me wash her face." He encourage the others in the room to do the same.

---

Just as Felina was about to pass out, she felt the cock grow bigger. The man pushed even further, smothering her face into his belly fat. The cock began to throb and burst, projecting wave after wave of cum down her throat. Some of it was pushed into her mouth and found a way out through her nostrils. Finally he pulled out, his limp organ leaving a sticky trail behind on her tongue.

Felina was groggy. Even keeping her head up was difficult so that it half hanged by her nose ring. She was drooling mucus, bile and cum all over her chin. She was still retching when he slapped her hard to wake her up. She tried to focus, only to hear that she would be reported for a bad job. She shuddered, wondering what could come out of that.

She had no time to recover before the next customer used her mouth like a vagina, yanking on her air while fucking her senseless. Then all got blurry. Her life was just a succession of cocks of all sizes and tastes. The worst were those that were just coming out of a whore’s ass and she had to clean. At some point, she had so much cum in her eyes that she could no longer see clearly. Her belly was bloated from all the sperm she had swallowed, her face and hair was caked with cum, her throat was aching. Her voice had been broken by all the brutal throat fucking.

She was waiting, drowsy, for the next oral rape when a warm liquid sprayed her face. Surprised, she opened her eyes, only to receive a strong stream of pee right into it. It washed some of the sperm but it also burned like hell. More men joined the first, all aiming their pee at a different target, until her face was totally clear of sperm but was dripping with urine. The smell was atrocious and her degradation had reached a new low.

---

After all the filth hand been washed of Felina's face by urine, the face rape continued. But the stench of piss did deter a few men from abusing her mouth. It was hard to say, how much time had passed, but at some point the room began to empty slowly. And then suddenly there were no more men in the room, after the last came in Felina's throat.

 Five minutes later Madame Rouge and two muscle men were in the room. The men started to tie the legs of the whores. Madame Rouge went straight to Felina. "I've heard that a few clients were unhappy with your efforts. I will give you a chance to show me that they were wrong." Madame Rouge untied the string, which attached the nose hook to the wall above Felina's and also removed the ring gag, then she hiked up her skirt and exposed her hairless pussy to Felina. "You have three minutes! Or for your next shift you go to the basement level."

Madame Rouge ginned. This poor girl had no chance to make her orgasm in three minutes. She just wanted to an excuse to assign her to a more profitable spot the next time. In the basement of the brothel the clients paid ludicrous amount of money to see a women suffer. Madame Rouge had stop grinding her crotch against Felina's, as she was getting awfully close to an orgasm thinking about they would do to the red head in the basement.

After four minutes Madame Rouge reluctantly pulled Felina's head away from her wet sex. "You failed again. So you end your day, how you have started it, as a failure." She knocked against the wall. "You can untie her now. Sally and Polly will escort you to the bathroom, so you can clean up then they will show you the dormitory. Vargas will pick you up in the morning."

---

The shift continued with more rapes, more choking, more humiliation. Felina had lost all notion of time. Her spine was aching so hard that it was obscuring her mind. Her neck was so cramped and so tired that she could no longer hold her head up so that its weight rested entirely on her nose ring. That was quite painful but that was not enough to make her lift her head.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Madame Rouge was back in front of her, slapping her to wake her up and threatening her about sending her to the basement. Felina had trouble imagining something worse than this very room but she had learned to fear the Mistress threats.

Her nose ring was detached from the wall and her ring gag removed. Immediately, her head fell forward as she was too tired to keep it up. Rouge grabbed her hair with one hand and lifted her dress with the other, immediately grinding her shave vulva against the thief's face.

Felina moaned and tried to turn her head. Madame Rose’s sex must have been visited by countless cocks, back in the time when she was a mere prostitute. It was sloppy, gaping, with nether lips that dangled down by several inches. Worse, it reeked like rotten fish. Felina understood that she had limited time to make her cum with her tongue. She reluctantly stuck her tongue out and ran it up the nasty slit, reaching for her clitoris. It was easy to find, being so big and fully erect. Rouge was incredibly wet, smearing Felina’s already filthy face with her juices, grinding her clit against her lips. Felina had never yet pleasured a woman and that first experience was quite traumatic. She did not know much about what to do, except what she did to herself with her fingers.

Her clumsy ministrations were not enough to give an orgasm to the Mistress in due time, earning herself a shift in the basement. Felina was filled with dread but was relieved to learn it would not happen that night. She still had a chance to convince Vargas never to send here again.

Sleepless night

Rough Hands began to untie Felina's body from the narrow bench. At last the wooden board that held down her neck was lifted and she was pulled back in the side room. The muscle men leering at her naked body. Polly and Sally came to pick her up. "Come, Savage. We get you cleaned up." They helped her to walk to the bathroom, cleaned Felina. They tried their best to remove most of the pieces of wax form her hair. But there were still some smaller pieces in Felina's hair, when they showed her the whore's dormitory. A room with a few simple beds, too few for all the girls working at the brothel, so there were three or four women sharing a bed.

---

Felina was too groggy to react much after the ordeals of the past six hours. The last two had been particularly taxing on her sanity and stamina.

“My name is Felina, not Savage,” she had the strength to protest, but otherwise she allowed herself to be led and directed as the two girls wanted.

It was obvious that Polly resented her for having won the first shift and sent her for four hours in the backroom. Her friend Sally did the same at a lower level. Both of them perceived the thief as a rival. Thus, they washed her a little more thoroughly than needed, yanking on her hair when they shampooed her, pinching her nipples, pulling on her her three rings to pour soap into the fresh wounds, massaging soap into her eyes. Felina tried to resist but she constantly had one of them sitting on her chest in the bathtub to pin her down, while the other harassed her.

When she was clean and dry, Felina felt a little better. She followed the two friends to the dormitory but when she realized it was the brothel bedroom, she refused.

“I don’t want to sleep here. I’m a thief from the Guild. I want to sleep with my companions. Lead me to Vargas immediately!”

---

"Oh, you think you are better than us. After you spent the last two hours licking cocks that have been in my ass." Polly said with a sneer.  "But fine, we will find you companions, thief. Come this way." Polly led Felina back to the corridor to the backdoor, through which Felina had entered the brothel hours ago. They walked across the courtyard to the stable. Polly opened the door and gestured for Felina to enter the dark stable. "After you."

---

Felina smiled as the two girls obeyed her. Of course, they were whores, they were used to obey. You just had to show them who the alpha female was. She followed them out of the brothel, letting out a deep sigh as she exited the brothel. She vowed never to come back to that place, whatever happened. She would just go back to Mr Geoffrey and apologise for having failed his mission.

She entered the stable but had some doubts.

“Are you sure that’s the way to the Guild?” she asked, a bit nervously.

---

Instead of answering Felina's question, Polly and Sally jumped Felina from behind. They wrestled her to the ground. Sally got a hold of one nipple ring and savagely twisted it, while Polly groped for Felina's nose ring. The struggle was short and ended with Polly pulling on Felina's nose and sitting on her back. The two whores were panting heavily. "Connect her cuffs together." Sally struggled to tie Felina limbs behind her back. But after a short while Felina was in a hogtie. Her wrist and ankle cuffs tied by a short rope. Polly tied a string to Felina's nose ring. "Time to show your new sleeping place." She began to pull on the string to make Felina follow her. "What's the matter? Oh, you can't walk. Not my fucking problem, thief." Polly yanked at the string. "Sally, can you get a lock from the house, while I get her into the horse box."

Polly had Felina wiggle to one of the horse boxes. In the box was a horse looking prancing nervously around in the small box, eyeing at what the women were doing in the stable. Sally returned in the moment, Felina had finally reached the door. to the box. "Look, what I found." Sally held up a thief-shackle, a cruel invention by the Guild. "I thought that would be fitting for her, after all she claims to be a thief."

With Sally's help Polly pushed Felina into the horse box. The horse stomped nervously with its hooves. Sally locked the thief-shackle around Felina's thumb and big toes. Polly added a big padlock to the rope to secure the hogtie even more. Polly calmed the horse and guided it closer to Felina, then she tied the string form the nose ring to the bridle to the horse. At the moment the string had some slack, but not much. "You better stay quiet, you don't want to make the horse nervous again." Polly and Sally left horse box. The horse turned its had looking after them pilling on Felina's nose ring.

---

Felina felt something was wrong but she had expected the danger to wait inside the dark stable, not from the two whores. They attacked both at the same time, by surprise. Felina was stronger than each of them but the two together was a bit much, in particular how tired she was. One of them kicked her behind the knees, making her crash down. There was some confusion as Felina tried to defend herself. Her combat training and strength almost gave her the victory… until they gripped her rings. The nose one was particularly vicious as any twist or pull sent lightnings of agony up her nose, almost blinding her. In no time, Polly had the thief grovelling, pleading for her to stop torturing her nose, crying with her face tugged into the rotten straw. Polly straddled her back and that was it, Felina was under control. Moments later, she was roped and padlocked in a hogtie, a string connected to her nose held by Polly who held it taut. The redhead did not dare to move.

Then, Polly nastily tugged on the string, forcing Felina to crawl on the splintered planking and straw. It was not easy to crawl while hogtied. That was the purpose of that bondage position. Yet, by alternating between pushing on her knees and pulling on her breasts, despite the caused by her nipples rings, Felina could inch forwards, always keeping her head straight up to avoid pulling on her nose. Whenever, tired, she stopped, or just slowed down, Polly tugged harder, quickly obeyed by her prisoner.

“Please, Polly, that hurts like hell. I’ll go wherever you want, no need to hurt my nooOOOOOOOAAAAH!”

“Shut up bitch, and crawl faster!”

By the time Felina reached the horse stall, she was once again covered in sweat, her front all dirty, straw sticking to her body and entangled into her hair. She was exhausted. At that point, Sally came back, brandishing a thief shackle. Felina’s blood froze in her veins at that name. She had never seen one but had often heard about it. It was the bane of escapers.

Polly squatted in front of Felina, one finger in her nose ring, ready to twist or yank.

“Don’t move, don’t resist, do everything Sally commands you, or I’ll twist your nose so hard you’ll pass out,” she hissed.

Felina had no choice but to obey. The thief shackle was a kind of stockade, made of two pieces of metal. One was straight, the other had four half-circles. Both parts had little serrated dents to ensure a good grip. The two parts were connected by a pair of wingnuts allowing them to be pressed together. Sally pushed Felina’s thumbs into the two middle slots and then her big toes in the external slots. In her hogtie position, the toes went in one direction and her thumbs in the opposite. She then twisted the wing nuts until the two parts had clampled the four digits into a grip of steel. The wing nuts being beyond the toes, they could not be reached by the fingers. Moreover, once tightened, the wing nuts were held in place by a cotter pin, making them impossible to turn without removing the pin first. Felina was now locked in a totally inescapable position.

Once her nose ring was tied to the horse head harness, she knew she was in for another sleepless night.

“Please, I regret what I have said. I’ll sleep in the dormitory with you. I’ll do whatever you want. But please, don’t leave me like that.”

But Sally and Polly headed for the exit.

“Wait! Wait! Listen to me! If Vargas finds me like that tomorrow, he will deem me as a useless thief… and he will send me back to the brothel forever. If you don’t want me to work there… you should release me and lead me to him for real.”

---

The horse begin to move its a head nervously, agitated by Felina's voice. Polly looked back over hear shoulder. "You have nothing to offer to me. I don't care, what happens to you, if Vargas finds you here. And from what I have seen today. You will be spending a lot of time in the basement anyway, if the guild send you to the brothel. You can be lucky, if Mistress Rouge let's you out to see the sun once in a while." Polly chuckled." You got a few hours, until some one will come. So I would try to get some sleep as long as you can." Polly closed the stable with a loud bang, which made the horse move to the side, pulling the string connecting it to Felina tight.

---

Felina moaned as her nose was yanked up and to the side, forcing her to turn her head and shuffle her body forward in the dirty straw. Stars flashed in her eyes as the pain was so strong. She hated that nose ring that made her so vulnerable that even a horse could control her.

Polly’s words devastated her. What was that basement? What happened there? Why would she not be let out if she went there? She had so many questions to ask but the two whores left, banging the door behind her, which caused another brutal yank to her sensitive nose cartilage.

She cried softly, unable to rest her chin down. The presence of the horse loomed over her. It was scary. What if the animal stepped on her during the night? Or lied down? She would be stamped or crushed. Besides, her position was very uncomfortable. The filthy straw itched her skin, her arms were contorted in a straining position, cramps were building in her limbs and she could not lower her head by fear of having her nose ring tugged. Her neck and spine ached from their current position and all the strain accumulated during her shift in the backroom. Her stomach felt bloated with all the cum she had ingurgitated and she frequently burped, which brought back nasty smells and tastes to her mouth.

She made a few attempts at freeing herself but the thief shackle proved it deserved its name. There was nothing she could do to escape it. Besides, having her nose tied up limited her movements a lot and there was always a chance that her squirms would scare the horse, followed by a cruel punishment to her nose.

The few hours of night remaining for her were mostly sleepless. Whenever exhaustion overcame her, her head sank, her nose ring tugged painfully on her septum, pulled the horse head down and it reacted by snorting and yanking, painfully waking her up. The straw was infested with bugs, spiders, flies, that crawled on her sweaty skin, adding to her misery.

When at last she saw the light of dawn filter into the stables, her eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep and her body was stiff with cramps. Snot and blood ran from her martyred nose. She was made with the need to scratch herself.

How long before someone came to release her? Did the thieves even know where she was?

---

Air was already getting hot and stuffy in the stable, when finally someone open the door to the stable. The horse lifted its head to see, who the newcomer was. It was Vargas together with another thief. "I was surprised to hear from Polly and Sally, that you decide to sleep alone in the stable." He began but stopped to laugh, when he saw Felina hogtied in the horse box. "But now I see that didn't tell the whole truth." He got into the stall, which made the horse move back, pulling on Felina's nose ring a final time, before Vargas untied the string from the piercing. "Today we have some training for you, after the shit show yesterday. It's clear that you need some training first, before we even can consider using you again as a thief." He nodded to his companion. "Help me carry her to the crane, we will untie her downstairs."

Vargas and the man both placed a hand under Felina's armpit. They half carried, half dragged her out of the stable. Her knees caps frequently dragging along the uneven ground. They cross the courtyard  and entered the warehouse with the crane and the shaft, which led down to the Guild's hideout. They dropped Felina next to the open pit of the shaft, which looked like a bottomless dark hole from above. The other man hooked the rope of the crane on the rope, that held her cuffs together, then he stepped in the wheel, that worked the crane, and he began to walk slowly. Felina was lifted of the ground by her wrist and ankles behind her. Vargas pushed her over the hole and the brakes on the crane were disengaged and Felina began to rapidly descend in the hole. "See you down there." Vargas cold after her.

With a jolt, Felina's descend in to darkness stop and she was hanging midair in the dark shaft. Barely able to see the wall in front of her. The only dim light source was high above, the twilight of the warehouse coming faintly down from the top of the mine shaft.

---

As the sun rose in the sky, the heat inside the stable grew uncomfortable. It troubled the horse too, which moved nervously, yanking on the poor Felina’s year constantly. Things got worse when it had to pee, spraying an endless shower of pungent urine all over her body. Things got even worse when the stench attracted countless flies, including huge horse flies that began to crawl over the bound thief’s naked skin. She could not move enough to scare them away and they started sucking her blood through her filthy skin.

At last she heard footsteps passing next to the barn. She even recognized Vargas’ voice. She tried to call for him but her voice was dead after the countless brutal deepthroat of the previous night. She could only whisper. He passed by, going directly to the brothel. Felina remained alone with the flies, cursing Sally and Polly for the vicious trick they had turned on her.

After some time, Vargas came back and finally found her. He and his companion could not stop laughing at the pathetic and disgusting sight Felina offered. He gently pulled on her three new rings, grinning.

“I see you won some jewellery? Nice indeed, but I doubt the nose ring was a good idea for a pick-pocket…”

They put a dirty bag on her head and attached it before half-carrying, half-dragging her to an unseen location, without even untying her. She tried to totter on her knees as they held her under the armpits but could not move fast enough so that for most of the trip her knee caps were just dragged and bumped against the ground.

“Vargas! Please, untie me! I can’t feel my limbs!” she whispered frantically, unable to speak louder. That gave her request a lack of seriousness that did not compelled the master thief to rescue her.

At some point she felt lifted up by her wrists. She dangled for a moment, painfully arched backwards with her securely bound hands and feet pulled up above her spine. She spinned uncontrollably. Her ribs and hip bones seemed about to pierced her skin. She had to breathe in shallow gasps.

Suddenly she felt herself falling. She fell for much longer than just hitting the floor and suddenly she was yanked to a stop. She hissed in agony as her arms and legs were almost pulled out of their sockets. She remained like that, sobbing, spinning and swinging in the darkness, having no idea where she was. At time she felt cold, damp walls brushing against her nipples or her knees.

“Vargas?” she whispered anxiously, but her voice could not reach the top of the mine shaft.

---

Suddenly there was a hand stopping Felina's spinning body. It was Vargas hand, he and his companion had taken the stairs down to the level of the hideout. They lifted her body up, to relieve the stress on the crane rope enough, so that they could unhook her from it. They dragged the tied Felina in to the common room, where other members of the Guild were sitting around the large table. "Look, who we found in the stable next to the brothel. You can see, she got some new jewellery, unfortunately not the necklaces she was supposed to steal." The thieves around them laughed and more of them came to see the piercing up close. "You can untie her now." Vargas said to the other man, who then unscrewed the thief-shackle and undid the hogtie. At last the bag was pulled from Felina's bag.

Hide and seek

Vargas was looking down on her. "I have heard, you had an eventful night at the brothel. Madame Rouge was very disappointed, when I told her that you get to spend the day with us." The thieves grinned and Vargas continued. "After the fiasco yesterday. We thought it best that you get some training. We will play a game of hide and seek. You are the thief and we will play the city guards. You get a head start and then we have an hour to find you in the catacombs. If we catch you before the hour is up. We will use the rest of the hour to test your resistance to questioning. The same would happen if you get caught by the city guards. We will measure time with the hourglass that stands on the table. If the hour is up and we have not caught you, we will ring a bell. This means that we all return to this room."

---

Felina, blinded by the bag, had no idea who carried her and where she was led. Only once she lied on the large round table did she recognize some voices. She blushed under her blindfold listening to the comments, feeling hands touching her nipple rings. At last the bag was removed and she saw where she was.

On one hand, this room brought very bad memories of her humiliation, but on the other hand, she was relieved to be back at the Guild. Everything was better than the brothel. Still, her situation was quite humiliating: she was naked, surrounded by male thieves, she stank of sweat and horse pee, she was all dusty and had a lot of straw sticking to her hair and skin. With the bag gone, a lot of thieves commented about her ugly nose ring.

At last she was released from her strict bondage. She saw everyone suppress a wince when the thief-shackle finally fell on the table. She sat up and curled her legs up to hide herself, flexing and massaging her sore limbs, rubbing her chafed wrists and ankles. Meanwhile, she listened to her next challenge. It seemed easy enough. She did not know these catacombs but from what she had seen, it offered a lot of hiding spots. She should be able to succeed, despite her state of tiredness due to two sleepless nights. Besides, she was fast and supple and knew how to walk silently.

“May I have some clothes for that challenge, she asked?”

---

"Not from the start. If you evade us for an hour you get clothes as a reward." Vargas said, while the other thieves leered at her naked body. "For now you get nothing to help you. You can request one item after each round you win. If you lose, we will take something from you."

Vargas handed her a decorated goblet from the table. "Imagine you stole this and you are now chased by the city guards. You have to hide it somewhere and if you get caught we will question you about the location."

Vargas walked to the door that led to the catacombs. "As soon as you step out of this door, I turn the hourglass and count to a hundred, and then we start hunting you." Vargas held the door open for Felina. "Good Luck."

---

Taking the goblet, Felina leaped from the table and jogged towards the door. On the other side was the tunnel she followed after her escape challenge. There were two torches on the wall. She took one of them and ran up the tunnel to the room she had been tied in. There, she picked the tunnel on her left and ran in it, eager to cover as much distance as possible before they started running after her. Each time she met an intersection, she chose the smallest tunnel or the one that went down.

In her head, she was counting to 100 so that she could look for a hiding spot once she reached 150.

---

The tunnel in the room to Felina's left, had a tripwire spanned across the ground connected to bells. If Felina did not see the tripwire and she pulled on the string, the bells would chime and giving the thieves a hint, she was going as the three tripwires in the main room had different bells.

The thieves did not wait for Vargas to count to hundred but started slowly moving to the room, as soon as Felina turned the first corner.

In the left corridor, the next intersection came after a few meters, when the tunnel split into with two equal looking tunnels. The right went for about twenty meters before ending in dead end after a corner. The left went around a corner and there the thieves had placed another tripwire without bells and beyond that they scattered tiny sharp pebbles, that were no problem for someone wearing shoes but might slow down a person without.

---

Thanks to the light of the torch, Felina saw the little bells and, puzzled, found the tripwire connected to them. She carefully avoided it and continued down the tunnel. At the next intersection, she took to the left. She was now more cautious, looking for little bells. Alas, without them to attract her attention, she walked through the next tripwire. She cursed, as a net made of thin string fell upon her She tripped, her legs and arms entangled in the wide holes of the net. She almost snuffed her torch in her fall.

It took her some time to disentangle herself, trying to do it as silently as possible. Once free, she continued along that tunnel, bringing the net with her for later use. She took random turns whenever there was an intersection. A little later, she reached a narrow spiral staircase that went up from the side of the tunnel she was following. Reaching under it, she hid the goblet all the way back of the wedge-shaped space between the first steps and the floor. She pushed some ruble and broken bones over it.

Then she climbed a few steps, dropped the net where it could just be seen from the main tunnel, hoping this would lead her pursuers in a false direction. As for her, she continued along the tunnel, as fast as she dared to move without making too much noise.

Shortly after another intersection, the floor was covered with broken human bones. As she walked through it, she winced as her soles stepped onto sharp-edged little pebbles. They were hard to see at the light of the torch because of all the bones scattered around and projecting shadows. A few more steps on those painful pebbles and she yelped as something sharper pierced her foot. Thankfully, with her broken voice, the moan came out as a whisper. Cursing through her teeth, she looked at her sole and found a little metal ball prickling with nasty points stuck into her flesh. It hurt like hell until she managed to tear it out.

She was now sure of it. Those pebbles had been put here on purpose, like that nailed ball. She decided to progress more slowly, shuffling her feet to push the bones, pebbles and balls to the sides harmlessly. She gasped again as a powerful rat trap suddenly snapped onto her toes. She hissed in agony as she worked to pull the nasty, spring-loaded jaw open. She continued her walk even more prudently, limping a bit.

At last she reached the end of that bone-littered section. She could now hear footsteps. It was difficult to judge how far they were. She started walking faster again until she stopped dead in her tracks. She had almost stepped on a wooded section on the floor. Crouching, she lifted one of the planks and peered under. There was a big hole filled with water. Another trap!

Felina decided to use it against her pursuers. She snuffed the torch, reducing it to a smouldering stick, which she threw as far ahead as she could. Then she slid herself silently into the trap hole, putting the planks back in place over her head. She sat in the cold water that reached almost to her neck and waited silently, resolute to stay here until she heard the bell announcing her victory.

---

The thieves hadn't heard any bells in the first room, thus they had to split up. Vargas and two men took the tunnel to the left. At the first intersection they went left, knowing that the other was a dead end with no hiding spots, so if Fellina had gone there first, she would have had to double back losing precious time. The first indication they found, that they were in  the right tunnel, was, when they found the net missing for the tripwire. "She was definitely here. The rats hardly stole the net. Get the others to help us search this tunnel here."

While one thief headed back to call the others, Vargas went futher, intently studying the ground for any tracks at the next  intersection. He saw nothing at the first intersection, so he sent the man, who was the last with him, to the left, while he went right. Vargas was not far into his tunnel, when the other man called him back.

The thief was standing at the foot of  the spiral staircase pointing at the net lying on the steps. "She went up here." "Possible, but I don't think, she is so careless to leave an obvious clue. But go up and look around, if you can find her there!."

Vargas went further in the tunnel to the next intersection. He was about the turn back and go up the stairs too, when he spotted an area with disturbed bones ahead. He knew, that this mist have been one of the areas, they had put metal spikes on the ground.  He looked closer and he found what he was looking for. A bloody foot print.

 It was now easy to follow Felina's trail, which stopped at the rim of the covered well. Vargas grinned, Felina had found a good hiding spot. If it hadn't been for the foot prints, she would have probably not been found until the bell rang.

Vargas moved past the covered well, until he found Felina's discarded torch on the ground. He placed his torch on the ground and sneaked back towards well. In the twilight of the distant torch, the rats came back out from their hiding spot. Vargas grabbed one fat specimen by the tail and then lifted the cover of the well a hand span and threw the squealing rat into the water with Felina.

"If you give me the goblet, I will help you up. Otherwise there are many more rats up here."

---

Shivering in the cold water, Felina waited, listening to the approaching footsteps. She grinned as they continued, stepping over the planks she was hidden under. The next sounds confused her. What was happening? What about that rat squeak? Suddenly, a plank was lifted and something was thrown into her pit, which splashed in the water.

Felina cursed. She had been discovered. She heard Vargas’ threats but she shrugged. She was no longer so scared of rats. She heard the rodent swimming panickedly in the water, brushing her with its wet fur. She curled her legs tighter against her chest to avoid the disagreeable touch while trying to control her fear.

The rat could not climb the walls and was getting more frantic. Felina had to push it away constantly as it tried to climb on her. This was not something she was ready to accept. Another rat was thrown, then another, and more of them. The water seemed to boil as they swam around. Felina was their island, their only support and they tried to climb her from all directions. She brushed them away but they clung to her skin desperately with their sharp little claws. While she pushed one, another climbed from the opposite side. One of them managed to reach her hair and entangled itself in it. The squeaking little monster bit and clawed at whatever came in its reach, yanking painfully on her scalp. More rats climbed her and reached her hair.

Felina let out a hiss of fear and stood up, beating herself frantically, three rats scrambling in her hair while others tried now to climb her thighs. Panicked, she reached for the top of the pit with her hands to hoist herself out.

---

Vargas saw Felina's hands reach up to the rim of the hole. "What do you think you are doing?" He stepped on both her hands, trapping her fingers under his boots. "You get out when you tell me the location of the goblet." The thief grabbed another rat and held it by its tail above Felina's head. "Where is it?" He asked, while he slowly lowered the struggling rat.

---

Felina hissed and grimaced in pain as her fingers got crushed under Vargas’ boots. She tried to pull them out but he only put more weight on them, threatening to break her finger bones, which would mean the end of her career as a thief.

Meanwhile, the rats were climbing the back of her thighs, reaching her butt. She tried to kick, to shake her butt but they planted their claws deeper in her skin to resist. They drenched fur against her flesh freaked her out. Vargas added to her cringing by lowering a rat towards her scared face. She could not protect herself and the rat was in a panic too, biting and squeaking and clawing at the air in front of it. Soon it would come in contact with her pretty face. She pulled her head as far backwards as she could. Surely, Vargas would not ruin her beauty?

She was not ready to take a bet on that though.

“Under the stairs!” she whispered urgently. “I hid the goblet under the spiral staircase!”

---

"Is that so?" He lowered the rat a bit further, before he flung it into the water behind Felina. He also  lifted his boots from her fingers.

From the tunnel behind Vargas came one of the thieves, carrying a torch. "Back there is a staircase, she hid the goblet at the base. Go check it." Vargas looked down at Felina. "You stay in the pit with the rats, until he returns and you better hope you told the truth."

A short while later, a grinning thief returned holding the goblet. "Okay, let's go back and see how much time is left to punish you, for failing to evade us and giving up the goblet early." Vargas let Felina finally climb out of the well. He grabbed her arms and secured her cuffs together behind her and marched her back to the hideout like a prisoner.

They were joined by a few other grinning thieves, who had already heard that the search was over. Back at the hideout a thief rang a large bell, the sound echoed through the tunnel, to recall the others. The hourglass was still running, a bit more than half of the sand remained. "Look at that you lasted less than half an hour." Vargas mocked her.

"Place her on the donkey, so she can rest until the next attempt." Vargas instructed the thieves. Who brought out a wooden horse. Felina was lifted up to sit on the sharp edge. The thieves added two stones of ten kilograms to her ankles on a short chain, so that the weights did not touch the floor. "You will have to sit on it, until the timer runs out."

---

Her arms shackled behind her back, led like a prisoner, Felina’s mood was morose as they walked back to the main room. She had failed this challenge in so many ways. Did she really deserve to join the Guild? If only they could let her get a full night of sleep. Right now, she was not at her best.

She recoiled at the sight of the wooden donkey. She had seen convicts condemned to it in the public place. She had heard their screams and pleas for mercy. If only she had lasted a little longer.

With her arms locked behind her back, she could not resist when they seized her and hoisted her to the devilish device. They pulled her legs apart and sat her on the narrow wooden wedge, spreading her labia to make sure she was sitting directly on her slit. She hissed in agony as her vulva took her weight. When they chained the heavy stones to her ankles it became even worse.

She tried to flex her legs so that her feet would reach the flanks of the donkey and brace on them but the weights were too heavy. All she managed to do was to grind her sex against the woo, adding to her torture. She could not use her arms to support herself, she could not get down, every movement she made just added to her torment. She grimaced and perspired. The unbearable pain spread from her slit to her entire crotch. Her broken voice would not let her moan normally, but she hissed and gasped and grunted, even trying to plead for pity in whispers.

The pain kept growing, as though she were being split apart. It propagated down her thighs and up her belly and there was absolutely no way to escape it.

---

When the upper half of the hour glass was completely empty, Vargas slowly approached Felina. " It looks uncomfortable, we get you down in a second. But first you get this as your first handicap for being caught." Vargas grabbed her left nipple piercing to lock a small bell to it. He did the same to her other nipple ring. Afterwards Felina was lifted from the donkey. A thief knelt down to unlock one of the weights. "The second you get to keep. It is your second handicap, you gave away the goblet too easily."

"When you are ready we start again." Vargas gave her the goblet and pointed to the door.

In the tunnels waited more traps for Felina. The thieves had reset and even relocated some of the simpler traps. On Vargas' instruction they also had scattered more spiked balls in the tunnels around the first room.

There were many tripwires that released nets,  that were connected to snares, or that released an itching powder, which burned in the eyes and nose. There were more hidden pits. There was also a quicksand trap on a lower level.

 In the first tunnel was a single,burning torch remaining next to the doorway to the Guild's hideout.

---

Felina was crazy with agony when at last the hourglass was empty. Her sex throbbed, all bruised and scratched, while her stiff legs seemed to have been stretched by several inches. She was not released immediately though. Vargas added a bell to each of her nipples. The combined weight of the padlock and the bell forced her nipples to stretch and point downward.

Finally they lifted her from the donkey and it felt like her crotch exploded as blood rushed back to her squashed vulva. Her legs were too weak to support her and she dropped to her knees in a jingling of bells, bracing against the donkey. She grimaced and hissed, trying to cope with the pain.

Only one weight was removed from her legs. How was she going to escape while jingling like a cow and dragging a leg behind her?

After a time, her legs recovered enough strength to carry her and she left the room, holding the goblet in one hand. With each step, she had to drag the stone behind her right foot, which caused the shackle to bite into her flesh while causing a grinding noise. The bells dangling from her nipples rang at the least movement. Even breathing too deep could trigger them.

She left the room, taking the last torch on the way, and walked in that pitiful way until she reached the tomb room. She immediately hid the goblet in the shallow grave, covered by bones. Then, now that she was out of sight, she changed her tactic. She pressed her left arm, the one holding the torch, against her nipples so as to muffle the bell. She then bent down and grabbed the stone by its chain with her free hand. She lifted the heavy stone from the ground and started moving again. She had to remain bent down as the chain was not long enough to let her straighten herself. It was a back-breaking position but at least she could move a bit faster and she would not be making all that noise and leaving grind marks behind her.

This time she took another tunnel that left the tomb room, one she had never followed. She was forced to walk more slowly and as she was hunched down, she was closer to the floor to detect traps. She knew better what to expect now and was extra careful. It looked like they had thrown more of those nasty spiked balls all over the place, which was another reason to progress more carefully. She detected and avoided several tripwires, and a few pits along the way as she kept turning in a random direction at every intersection.

All went rather well, except that her hand holding the stone was getting cramps, until she triggered a trip wire that had been set-up at chest height. As she was intently looking at the floor, she did not see it. Suddenly she was engulfed in a dense cloud of red powder. Before she knew it, she had breathed it. Her mouth and lungs began to burn. She coughed and sneezed uncontrollably while her eyes were on fire and tears ran down her cheeks. She held her respiration as well as she could and shuffled forward blindly to get out of the cloud. Not knowing how far it went and not wanting to risk opening her eyes, she continued like that a bit. That was when she stepped on one of those hellish spiked balls. She hissed in pain, lurched, shaking her foot to get rid of the nasty caltrop. She lost her balance, stepped to the side to recover it, and tried to brace against the wall…

… but there was no wall. Instead there was a staircase going down. She tumbled down in slow motion. Her bells rang loudly, echoing among the tunnels. The stone jerked her leg in all directions as it banged and bounced against the steps. The fall lasted a long time and when it came to an end, she lay in a heap, all dazzled. She had dropped her torch at some point and was now in total darkness at the bottom of the stairs. Sounds could be heard coming from above. That way was blocked, she had to go forward.

She stood up with difficulty and started to follow the wall with one hand while scanning the air with the other arm, while her free foot scanned the floor in front of her. She was now dragging the stone again and let her bells ring. They knew where she was anyway. She had to find a hideout as soon as possible.

Under her soles the stone floor was wet, even muddy. The walls were moist too, mildewy, and droplets kept dripping on her head. Suddenly, the brick wall stopped, replaced by some natural cavern wall. The floor turned to pure mud into which she sank ankle deep. She decided to leave the wall and go straight ahead, in the hope of finding somewhere to hide. With each step she had to pull her feet out of the sucking mud. It was quite exhausting. She had to drag the stone behind her as she did not have the strength to lift it out of the mud. She managed to silence the bells by packing the clay-like mud into them.

The mud got deeper, reaching her knees. Walking was increasingly difficult. She decided to go back to find a firmer ground. That was when she saw torch light in the distance. Her pursuers had just emerged from the tunnel. Their light projected eerie shadows on what looked like a natural cave. Blinded by their own torches, they could not see her but they allowed her to see around herself. The first thing she noted was that her footprints had already disappeared, swallowed by the mud. She also noticed a kind of hole to her left, maybe the entrance to another part of the cave. If she could reach it, she would be well hidden.

She headed for it and sank to mid thigh. Another step and she was down to the hips. By then, she could no longer really progress. She decided to flatten herself into the mud and wait, hoping they would be reluctant to dirty themselves and come here. At least not before one hour had passed.

---

Vargas did count to a hundred this time, thinking that Felina would not get too far ahead with the weight around her ankle. But when he reached the tomb room, the trail for the weight vanished, giving him no clues, which tunnel Felina had chosen. So, Vargas had the thieves split up to search all the tunnels.

The thieves only found empty tunnels and intact tripwires, until a loud noise came from one tunnel. "Ha, she must have triggered a trap." The thieves all began to quickly head in the general direction of the sound. "Down here. I hear bells."

The thieves followed the tunnel in the direction of the bells. Then it stopped suddenly, they couldn't hear Felina anymore. "Where did she go?" One thief asked. "Spread out, she cannot be far." Vargas said. And he was right, less than twenty metres away Felina began to sink deeper into the mud. The weight anchoring her in place as it began sank faster and deeper. At this rate, she would be submerged completely in the mud, long before the hour was up.

---

Despite her low profile, Felina was found. Vargas and his men did not approach though. She then tried to reach her destination again, trying to move her legs. The resistance of the mud was terrible but she managed to push her left leg forwards. The right one was anchored in place by the weight. She could feel herself sink a little more. That was when she understood why they remained away. She had walked into some kind of quicksand.

This brought her back years earlier, when she was barely a teen and she followed her father through the forests and moors. She remembered what he had told about bog pits: “Don’t struggle, don’t panic, lay flat and try to swim”. Those memories brought tears to her eyes. Now she was here, she had been prostituted, she was chained and pierced and naked and fighting for her life in some underground mud pit.

Then a pale smile appeared on her face. Vargas did not dare to approach. Maybe he did not know the trick? How could he? He had probably been born in that city. He didn’t know anything about survival in the wild.

Following her father’s advice, she lay flat, spread her arms, tried to “swim” forward, resisting the urge to move her legs. She felt that it was working. She was crawling forward and her legs followed, her butt was already less deep. Only her right leg, anchored by the stone, remained as it was. She just dragged it, continuing to inch forward. She could see the mud colour changing a bit in front of her. Soon it would be firmer. She could get out of this and disappear in the other cave while her pursuers did not dare to follow her.

---

"There I see something move in the shadows." A thief shouted, when spotted Felina in the mud. He was about to ran after her, when Vargas held him back. "Stop, you don't want to get stuck in the mud."

"You two, try and find another way to the other side. And you three get some planks." Vargas said in a low voice. Then he raised his torch high. "Felina! Stay, where you are. It's dangerous, we will come help you!" Vargas wanted to stall her, until either they got some planks or they found a way around the obstacle.

The hole Felina had spotted was tight, but large enough for the two squeeze through. It was pitch black on the other side, when it opened up. Felina could not see it, but she was in other man-made corridor. There were some planks on the ground with rusty nails pointing upwards. And there was also a light breeze coming from the left, which would lead her back closer to the hideout and the tunnels with more traps and the thieves searching for her.

---

Inch by inch, Felina progressed through the mud until she felt some firmer ground under her left foot. It took her some more effort but finally she was able to drag her right leg and its stone out. She was exhausted though, covered in mud from toes to neck and her right ankles was aching from having been badly sawed by her shackle.

She flip-flopped through the last metres, still calf deep in the mud before reaching the hole. In the pale light, she realised it was returning into the catacombs. She had no other choices though. So she entered the new tunnel. It was pitch dark so she progressed prudently, exploring the zone in front of her with her foot and arm. She was again carrying the stone in her right hand. Her toes touched a plank, probably to avoid the mud that was all around the floor. As she walked along it, she suddenly felt a transfixing pain in her left foot. Her toes had failed to detect a nasty nail protruding vertically. She hissed in agony and dropped the stone to massage her wounded foot.

That was bad. She now had one wounded leg and another chained to a stone. Her progression became much slower. She was exhausted anyway. The mud sticking to her skin was heavy, adding to her exhaustion. She decided to go back to the natural cavern, taking the plank along with her.

Vargas and his men had left the cavern, plunging it into darkness. She put the plank in the mud in the direction of the quicksand she had just escaped from. However, she followed the natural wall, away from where the thieves used to be, walking where the mud was firmer. After a short time, exhausted, she lay on the ground and tried to rest, hoping the thieves would not find how to access her position in the maze of the catacombs. At least not before the hour was passed.

---

Vargas had made the mistake to leave the tunnel, after he saw her slip through the crack. Not thinking that she would return, he went to looking for another way around the mud pit. The thieves did find the other corridor after while, but they didn't notice the missing plank or the faint foot steps, that led back to the hole. So when the bell sounded to thieves were still looking for Felina in the wrong area.

Vargas had returned to the main room of the hideout, in the hope that someone else had found the new recruit. But when the hour glass had stopped running nobody had found her. So they all waited for her to return. If she did not show up after ten to fifteen minutes, they would start looking for her again, suspecting that she was trying to leave the catacombs though another exit.

But if Felina returned, Vargas would congratulate her. "Well done, you earned a reward. You get one item of your choice for the next round."

---

Felina waited, lying in the mud, listening to her heartbeat as it calmed down. She was so tired that she actually fell asleep. It took her some time to wake up as the loud bell echoed through the catacomb tunnels. She smiled in the dark. This time she had made it!

She stood up, followed the wall back to the hole and then she tried to walk along the tunnel in the direction of the bell. There were still traps so she had to be careful, in particular as she could not see anything. After some time, she heard footsteps and voices calling her name. She called in response and soon she was escorted back to the main room. Her naked body was hidden under a thick crust of drying mud.

She was glad to have marked a point. As for her reward, she requested a pair of boots.

---

"Oh, the princess wants a pair of fancy shoes." One of the thieves mocked. "Have you stepped on something pointy in the tunnels?" Vargas looked irritated at the man. "Baldwin, go and see if you can find a pair of boots for her!"  Grumbling Baldwin left the room.

A few minutes later Baldwin came back grinning. "I think they will fit her nicely." He held up a pair of over the knee boots made of thick leather and with five inch heels. The other thieves chuckled. "Come sit on the table and I will help you to put them on." Baldwin suggested. If Felina protested, Vargas would tell her that she can either take them or go without boots. If Felina accepted the ridiculous boots, Baldwin and another thief would place them on her feet over the ankle cuffs and lace them all the way up, securing them with several knots on the way. For the weight on her ankle, they would cut a small hole in the side of the boot to reattach the weight afterwards the ankle cuff.

Vargas handed her the goblet. "Let's try this again." He pointed to the dark tunnel to the catacombs. There were no more torches left next to the door.

---

Felina waited for her boots to arrive, satisfied that she would no longer have to fear for her feet. However, when they brought her a pair of whore boots, she gasped.

“What? I can’t walk with such things on my feet!” she whispered in her broken voice.

She realised she should have been more precise in her request. She thought for a moment whether she should continue barefoot or accept those high heels. Her soles still felt the various nasty things she had stepped on, so she decided the boots would be better than nothing.

However, once they had been put on and tied tightly, with a knot between every grommet, she realised she might have been better continuing barefoot. Those were too small for her feet. They were so pointed that her poor toes were crushed together. The leather was so thick and so tight it was difficult to move her ankles or flex her knees. The worst though were the huge stiletto heels that pushed all her weight on her aching toes while making her balance very precarious. Added to the heavy stone still chained to her right ankle, it made her quite helpless.

Goblet in hand she walked towards the closest torch inside the room. Her first steps confirmed how handicapped she now was. Moreover, it was totally impossible to walk silently. The heels clacked loudly and there was no way around it. Her nipple bell, which had been cleaned by the thieves, rang again, adding their chime to the boots staccato.

---

When Felina staggered to the torch inside the room, Vargas began to count loudly. "One... Two..." He was already almost at twenty, when Felina turned around the corner at the end of the tunnel in front of the door.

It had not been necessary to reset many traps this time. But again the thieve had change the location of most basic tripwires, so that Felina could not learn the location of the traps with each repetition.

When Vargas arrived at one hundred the thieves stormed out of the door in to the tomb room. To listen in which direction Felina was trying to go. Towards the tunnel to the left with the pit. Towards the stair, that led to the quicksand. Or did she pick the third tunnel that led steeply down deeper in to the ground, with water dropping from the ceiling making the uneven stones slippery.

---

Felina was forced to take tiny, careful steps, trying not to lose her balance while pulling on the stone. She tried to carry it as before but as she bent down to grab the chain, she felt she was about to fall forward. She abandoned that idea and just continued, the sound of her heels echoing throughout the tunnels, followed by the sound of the dragged stone. She muffled her nipple bells by holding her forearms on them.

Arrived at the tomb room, she took the tunnel she had not yet taken. She could already hear the thieves coming out of the main room. Soon they would be on her. They just had to follow the sound of her heels. Yet, becoming more accustomed to the heels, she hastened her walk. Her toes were killing her and cramps were building in her arched feet and she wished she could just sit down and rest her feet.

The tunnel soon began to slope down. Water dripped from the ceiling, making the cobblestones slippery. A hasty, clumsy step sent Felina in the air, followed by a loud fall on her butt, while her nipple bells jingled merrily to applause that acrobacy. Standing back up was not easy with knees that could not bend completely and tall, unstable heels. She had to brace against the wall. The thieves were almost upon her, judging by the sounds. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run…

---

The thieves heard Felina fall in the tunnel in front of them and they just turned around the corner in time to see her get back on her feet pulling herself up the wall. "There get that lousy thief." Vargas shouted in a poor imitation of guard, but that did not stop the others to rush forward to seize Felina. There was a lot of unnecessary touching of her body, but they ignored her protests. Vargas bent down to pick up a slightly dented goblet. "Mmh, I think I don't have to question you this time! Let's get her back. Maybe she wants to have another ride on the donkey."

The thieves escorted her back to their room. Two of them held her by the arms to help her back up the slippery stones in her boots.

Back in the room, the thieve connected a spreader bar to her ankles and tied her wrist together behind her back. Then they pulled up her wrist behind her with another rope going to the ceiling, placing Felina in a strappado. "We will release you, when the timer is up. In the meantime, we have some fun placing these on your body." Vargas showed her a bucket full of different clamps, most of them cloth pegs, but there were also a few metallic clamps that could only be opened and closed by screw. Vargas picked a clothespin and placed it on the flesh of her left tit. Then he handed the bucket to the next thief, who picked another clothespin and placed it on Felina's body. And so it went on, thief after thief placed a clamp or clothespin on her body.

When it was Vargas’ second turn he took one of the metallic clamps and placed it on her labia, screwing it shut tightly. Soon Felina's body was covered in clamps and clothespin, dangling from her eyebrows, lips, ears, tongue, nose, armpits, arms, tits, nipples, labia and the soft flesh of her inner thighs. Vargas placed the last metal clamp with small teeth on Felina's clit. He checked the hour glass. "We will take them off in about 30 minutes."

---

Felina cursed her boots. They had doomed her and the irony was they were of her own choosing, with some freedom of interpretation from Vargas. They made her so slow that the thieves did not have the patience to wait for her on the return trip and instead half-carried her or pushed her.

Back at the round table room, Felina’s toes had been turned to jam and the cramps in her insteps and calves throbbed to the point of bringing tears to her eyes. There was no way she could stand on her feet… until they tied her arms behind her back and connected them to the ceiling. As her hands were pulled up, she lifted them, then bent at the waist to ease the strain on her shoulders, until her arms were almost vertical. The spreader bar kept her feet wide apart, adding to the difficulty to keep her balance. She now had to choose between mashing her toes further into her pointy boots or nearly dislocating her shoulders. That was a decision she kept changing her mind about. After a time hanging by her arms, the pain in her shoulders grew so strong, her sinews got stretched and twisted so much that she was sure her humeri would pop out of their sockets, thus she transferred her weight to her feet. Then, the cramps in her calves and feet started growing again, knotting the muscle fibres into nodules of agony, while her scrunched toes had again to carry most of her weight.

While she oscillated between those two torturous alternatives, the thieves added clamps and pegs to her sweat-pouring skin. She complained and begged but as she could only do so in whispers, they somehow lacked urgency and failed to spark whatever pity the guildsmen had in their heart. Early on Vargas got annoyed by her low-voice begging and added one of the biggest and heaviest clamps to her tongue. Felina hissed in agony and tried to pull her tongue back in but that was impossible: at first, the clamp was too wide to fit into her mouth, and soon she just no longer had the strength to pull it up. Her speech organ remained stretched out, drooling abundantly, unable to do any other function than to send pain messages to her brains.

Following that clamp, more were added to her face, until she was almost unrecognisable, her features stretched, wrinkled, distorted, subjected to intense torture. The way they had clamped her upper eyelids prevented the crying Felina to lower them, and they had also placed several tiny pegs on the lower ones, stretching them down. She could not longer close her eyes which gave her an horrified expression that was not so far from what she really felt. Four nose hooks stretched her nostrils wide open, further changing her face to an inhuman one.

Her breasts were another favourite target and were compressed and pinched and deformed by the clamps. Weighted, serrated clamps had been placed on her nipples to stretch her boobs down. A string of pegs mounted from their sides up to her armpits to follow the inside of her arms. Every movement she made revived the pain they caused, adding to her torture.

Vargas had been particularly vicious with her crotch. The first clamps were heavy ones, added to her inner labia. They had already been somewhat puffy but they had now been stretched  down by several inches. They swung left and right with every one of her jerks. The last one he placed, directly on her clitoris was pure hell and she almost fainted when he put it on. They even managed to push six pegs into her ass in a way that clamped her anal ring, keeping it open and sensitive.

When they finally had used all the clamps they had. The hourglass was still half full. That half hour was absolute hell. Pain kept growing Felina’s her entire body and every attempt she made to get some relief only made things worse. As agony grew to unbearable levels, she would have begged to be sent back to the brothel if her horribly clamped tongue and lips had been able to utter anything but incoherent grunts.

---

For the clothes pegs on Felina's armpits, her breast, stomach and inner thighs, the thieves had placed a string between the peg and her skin. So when the sand ran out, one of the thieves stepped up and yanked the strings away. Ripping the countless pegs from Felina's skin. Leaving only dented impression in the skin, where it had been compressed for the last 30 minutes or so by the pegs.

The other clamps, the thieves took off more slowly, but not much more carefully. Vargas told them to leave three clamps, one heavy clamp on each inner labia and the one on her clit. "That is your first handicap for being caught."

He gestured for the thieves to release her from the  strappado and the spreader bar. He then took Felina's wrists and locked them to her collar on either side of her neck. "That's for us getting the goblet! You forgot to hide it, that earned you a third handicap."

Vargas took a string threaded it through her nose ring and nipple rings, before he connected it to the serrated clamp that was crushing her clit. He tightened the string, so that Felina had to lower her head and bend her back.

Vargas pressed the goblet in her hand. And gave her ass a hard slap, intending to send her towards the dark tunnel. "Off you go! One... Two..." He began counting.

---

By the time the hourglass was empty, Felina had been reduced to a shuddering mess. Her face was covered in tears, snot and drool, her grimacing lips shivered, causing the many pegs attached to them to click together. Her eyes, forced open for so long, were bloodshot and dry after having cried all the tears of her body. Her entire body was just an entangled knot of suffering nerves.

Yet, when she saw Vargas take hold of the strings connected to many of her clamps, she grunted desperately and shook her head, creating another concerto of bumping clamps. This did not stop him from yanking on the strings. All those lines of pegs were suddenly ripped from her skin one after the other, multiplying the pain by 10 in an explosion of agony that managed to force a throaty grunt out of her larynx that was louder than a whisper. She remained sobbing and trembling and gasping for a long time, while the remaining clamps were removed.

“You idiots! I had told you to leave those on her clit and lips!” Vargas barked.

“Sorry boss, we’ll put them back right now.”

Felina let out a long hiss of extreme agony as her most sensitive pieces of female flesh were clamped again. Her vulva throbbed so much she had trouble to think straight. Her labia had been stretched ever further down. As she reached down with her hands to try to soothe the pain, they were grabbed and locked to her collar, making them useless.

The worst, though, came as she was forced to bend down when her nose and nipple rings were attached to her clitoris clamp. Another throaty grunt gurgled out of her panicked mouth. Unable to keep her balance on her high heels in that position, she crashed onto her knees, sobbing and hissing, shaking her head slowly in disbelief.

“Please, no! That’s too much. I’d rather go directly to the brothel than going through that again,” she whispered pathetically.

Vargas would not have it. He put a goblet in her hand, next to her head and sent her on her way.

She began to crawl on her knees towards the exit. With her feet severely arched by the steep boots, this was not an easy way of making progress. Besides, each step caused the heavy labia clamps to swing, reviving her torture.

When Vargas counted 100, she had just entered the tunnel. She was a shivering mess, covered in sweat, gasping and panting with every step.

---

Vargas didn't even bother to go after her personally. He just sent two thieves after her to drag her back by her ankles. He looked down on his miserable recruit. "Maybe this is too much for you." He undid the string connection the clamp to her piercing. He folded her legs, so that he could tie her ankles to her thigh. Felina's heel were now pressing against her buttocks. "Let's see, if we find something to eat for you, you must be hungry."

Vargas locked over the table and picked up a slice of bread. He tore off a piece and showed it to Felina. Then he threw it on the ground about two meters from her.

If Felina crawled over the floor getting the bread, the thief would grin and throw another piece of breed a bit further away. He would repeat this process a couple of times, then he would place a bowl with water on the ground for her to drink. "Good, girl!"

---

With her ankles bound to her thighs, she was now totally unable to stand up. She was more helpless than ever.

Vargas brought a piece of bread in front of her. Her mouth began to water immediately. Her stomach growled. She had not eaten anything but sperm since the tavern and she was very hungry. As he tore a chunk of bread, she heard the crust crack under his fingers, the smell of fresh bread reached her flared nostrils. She opened her mouth… only to see him throw the piece of bread away on the floor.

This was so frustrating. And then she understood his vicious plan. He wanted her to crawl like a bitch to eat it. She was hungry, but not to that point. With a frustrated face, she turned her head away so as not to have to see the bread.

---

"Oh, so you are not hungry. Did you eat well at the brothel last night?" Vargas mocked her, while he ate the slice of bread himself. "Suit yourself."

"She is missing something." Baldwin picked up a large carrot with the greens still attached to the top. He approached Felina from the back and pushed the carrot in her ass. "Now, the bitch got a tail. See how she is wagging it. She looks like a happy dog."

Baldwin tied a string to Felina's nose ring. "Let's go for a walk." He led her around the room, constantly tugging on her nose ring. The men in the room were cheering and laughing. They also liked to kick Felina's knees and elbows out from under her, so that she crashed to the floor.

After a few rounds in the room Baldwin led her to a bucket. "Piss in the bucket like a good dog." If she refused, he would grab her piercings and twist until she released a trickle of urine in the bucket.

Afterwards he let go of the leash and picked up a bone from a plate. "Let's play some fetch." He threw the bone at the other end of the room. "You better bring me the bone quickly."

If she did not obey, Baldwin would grab the leash,  drag her over to the bone, yell at her to grab it with her mouth, then drag her back by the leash. "Let's try this again." He let got of the leash and threw the bone again.

---

The sight of the carrot also made her salivate… until Bladwin had shoved it up her ass. She grunted and tried to expel it but it was a thick vegetable and it had been shoved all the way in, with only the leaves emerging. It was painful and difficult to push out. “What if it got stuck in me?” she thought in horror.

She was then led around the room by a leash attached to her nose ring. The pain it caused when pulled gave her no choice but to follow, awkwardly crawling on her knees and elbows. It was both difficult and painful. The stone floor was rough on her elbow bones and knee caps. As she tried her best to follow without having her septum yanked, her breasts bounced in all directions. This was horribly degrading. It became worse when they started kicking her limbs from under her, making her smash her breasts against the floor, or tug on her nose leash.

Then came the game of fetch the bone. Mortified, she crawled to the bone, her green tail flailing. By now, her elbows and knees were all bruised and scratched and each step was a torture. Yet, she did not dare to disobey. She grabbed the thick bone with her teeth and brought it back. Around her, everyone was laughing, or joking, or behaving as though she really was a dog.

Something struck her mind. How would they ever come to respect her after such degradations? They had been poured on her from the beginning. It would be impossible for her, and for them, to forget all that. Even if she did manage to finally pass their tests, they could never look at her without remembering everything that had been done to degrade her. In fact, she realised, they had never really intended to let her join the Guild. They only wanted to have fun with her… and a pretext to send her to the brothel.

Her mission for Mr Geoffrey was a failure. She had never had the least chance. Or maybe, she would have had one if she had not made that terrible mistake of jumping on their table by surprise. Maybe she had not completely failed though. She could go back to her mentor earlier than planned and tell her all she knew. She knew a lot after all. That could probably be helpful to his plans. With that, she decided to run away at the first occasion.

For now though, she continued to play their humiliating game, moving back and forth while holding a bone in her mouth.