Lessons in Manners

Markas woke up slowly, although it was warm in the sheets he could feel that overnight the room had frozen over. There was something he was supposed to remember, maybe accidentally forgotten and left somewhere. Then he recalled, although he let Ellie sleep on the foot of the bed she was still naked without any covers, while he was having this thought he turned over.

The proper bed for a noble is big; way too much for one person and Markas always kept to one side, so really someone else could sleep without even bothering the other. He didn’t know if it was intentional or she did it unconsciously, but there she was sleeping soundly in the covers on the other side of the bed. Ellie was still naked, with the dog collar around her neck, but she looked warm and happy in the big sheets.

Markas stared at this for a moment; blinked a few times and then decided that it was time to face the cold. He got out and dressed quickly, but not loud enough to wake her. It was strange, why did she willingly sleep under the covers with someone that willingly beat and humiliated her? Markas moved his head back and forth, it was going to be one of those days that simply made no sense, naturally he would have to deal with her later, but it could wait for now.

Markas went to his office, and looked out at the snow that was pilling up, soon it would be hard to open the doors to the outside. A light knock came only a moment after he entered the room, which was expected.

“My Lord,” said a servant, “may I get you anything?”

“Yes, a sandwich and a glass of wine, the chef will know what I like.”

“Very good m’lord.” And the servant was gone as quickly as he came in.

Markas didn’t move, he was still staring out at the snow, absorbed by the sight and his own thoughts, eventually he noticed that the food was already on his table.

“Drinking so early in the morning m’lord, what’s the occasion?” Sir Steven said, walking in with a handful of papers.

“You know I often wonder how many sheep have to die in order to satisfy your thirst of parchment and records, and what kind of business could there be anyway? The roads will soon be impassable.”

“There will always be business, such is the fate of all rulers, well all that would like to live for any length of time. But that aside you look troubled sire, and as you so pointed out traffic has all but stopped, so it has to be some matter within the castle.”

Markas nodded, and took a drink from his wine, “Yes, right now I would welcome a peasant uprising, and least such problems are straight forward.”

“So, I’m guessing you’re in love with her, right?” Steven said, still going over the documents.

Markas leaned back in his chair and put his hand to his chin in thought, “Yes…. I suppose that is the emotion isn’t it. But it’s not like in the poems or stories, it’s more like what I would feel for a favorite pet.”

“Ah, one of the best loves of all.” Steven said, putting down his papers.

“Oh really, please if that sounds a little hard to believe.”

“No no, romantic love is a fleeting affair, and inevitably it makes even the greatest of men stupid until it passes. But you are her master, it is only right that you should hold dominion over her; it is the natural order. It is much akin to the love a good ruler should have for his people. A benevolent guardian that will do what is best for their interests.”

“A wise point, the bards and poets would probably want to hang you for it, but they know nothing of the real world.”

Steven nodded, “Well I will let you get back to your personal affairs, remember to just feed her every day and scratch behind her ears, the rest will take care of itself.”



Markas finished his unusual breakfast and after taking care of some business went back to his room. It was still fairly early, only a couple of hours passed since he left, but considering that usually servants were supposed to be up before daybreak it was strange that he got up before her.

When he walked into the room she was fully awake, searching desperately for her clothes.
“You won’t find them you know, the maids are very diligent about laundry, I’m sure it’s already in the wash.” Markas said, closing the door behind him.

Ellie was startled upright, still completely naked except for the dog collar, and her obvious hope to sneak away while he was gone was unfulfilled.

“S-sorry Sire, I’m already so late, the taskmaster will be angry with me I’m sure, sorry to bother you…..” Ellie said.

“I will take care of the taskmaster, but that is the least of your worries. Strange when I got up this morning do you know where I found you?” Markas said.

“Uh… well… you see I have no idea how I got there, maybe in my sleep, it wasn’t intentional…..”

“In my bed of all places, you can imagine how startled I was- a servant, a peasant in a Lord’s bed, how strange is that?”

Markas started to move closer, and she started to back up like a frightened animal.
“A person should know their place, a good dog may enjoy the privileges of the master, but at no time is that animal ever even close to being equal to him. If such a dog ever got that idea then she should be shown her place quickly, don’t you agree?” Markas said, coming even closer.

Ellie backed into the foot of the bed, and Markas was now too close. She leaned back so far that she nearly fell backwards onto the bed. Markas stopped and gave a bit of a sigh, and looked up.

“A loving master must train and treat his bitch well, it is my duty after all.” Markas said.
He grabbed her by the wrist, she didn’t really struggle but flinched as if expecting to be hit or slapped. Instead his other hand came up to the back of her head and held her in place.

Markas kissed Ellie, not tenderly but hard dead on the lips. Then his tongue pushed its way past her teeth and started to explore her tongue and molars. Ellie’s body went limp as he continued to press his lips to hers, and it seemed like forever before he broke it.

Markas then pushed her, being unbalanced already sent her backward. Moving around he pulled her up until she was in the center of the bed, and then started to pull off sheets and tear them into strips.

“Stay.” Markas said, as he continued with his work
She did stay, not moving an inch, but she didn’t have to wait long as he was soon done. Taking one of the strips he tied one end to her wrist, making sure the knot was firm he then pulling up the arm and tied it to the bedpost. He proceeded to do the same with the other arm, pulling her arms into a Y shape. Then Markas proceeded in the same fashion with the legs until she was tied face up on the bed with her arms and legs spread apart.

“You look frightened,” Markas said, “But discipline is for everyone’s benefit, and there may even be a treat for you at the end.”

Taking another strip he placed it over her eyes, and tied it firmly around her head. Ellie started to whimper loudly as she was now blinded to everything around her. Markas looked around and quickly found the leash from the night before, which had a good weight and was made of leather.

She felt his hand on her leg, soft, barely touching at all; then as soon as he pulled his hand away down came leash like a whip. It snapped and Ellie cried out in pain, as the leather made a red mark on her flesh. Then she felt his hand on her arm, the softest of touch, but then just as quickly the leash came down where the hand had been. He moved on, bringing swift punishment to wherever he touched, like a messenger the whip was always followed by the hand. Her legs, arms, chest, soon everything was covered in red strips.

She felt his hand on her breast, she knew what was coming and then started to jerk around, but the knots held. He held it firmly, caressing the nipple with his thumb, but she started to whimper almost to a scream. Then the leash came down hard right over her nipple, and she did scream. After some sobs she realized that he wasn’t doing it anymore, but had to lay there not knowing what would come next.

Then again Markas was kissing her, but now he was also on top of her. Ellie could feel the warmth of his skin all over her, being pushed on every body part. She could feel his hand holding her on the hip, and the other cupping a breast as he kissed her sometimes gently, but then also rough.

Then Ellie felt something hard being pushed in between her legs, first it was just pushing but then it began to go inside. At first she thought he was inserting the leash, but this was bigger and it had its own warmth. This thing was completely new and strange, but whatever it was went deeper then anything else. There was a sharp pain and she cried out from it, everything was being stretched to accommodate whatever he was putting in.

She sobbed, it was really big and she didn’t know what was going on. But then he started moving it, in and out, in and out, at first very slowly. As she started getting used to it then it started to feel good in a strange way. Then he suddenly went faster and she took a deep breath, it started to feel even better and she moaned from the feeling.

Ellie could hear his breathing getting faster too; it must be taking a lot of effort to continue to do whatever he’s doing. But the speed continued to increase, and the motion started to drive her into the bed. In and out, in and out, she felt her body getting ready for some sort of conclusion.

Suddenly all her muscles tensed and she arched her back up as a great deal of tension was building. Then Ellie screamed, louder then ever before, but it was not from pain. Suddenly the object was removed and she collapsed onto the bed, she suddenly felt exhausted and she was drenched with sweat. Ellie could still hear him breathing, even as he got up and walked a bit away.

She turned her head to hear better but to no great effect, but soon her arms and legs were being untied. Ellie pulled her limbs close to herself and felt how deep the sheets had dug into her skin, before she didn’t even notice how much they hurt. Realizing that her hands were free she pulled off the blindfold, Markas was fully dressed, but was sweaty, like he had done something physically tiring. Ellie moved her hand over her stomach, and discovered a white substance all over it.
If she wanted answers she wasn’t going to get any, as he already made ready to leave.

“The chambermaid will help wash and dress you, I have already sent a message to the taskmaster that you will be delayed. It will be a long winter, but I’m sure both of us will find ways to be entertained.”



To loopypants, ladyconnor and Anon: I’m flattered by your statements, and I assure you I intend to write more. I’m feeling this arc is coming to a conclusion in the near future, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop creating new stories of one idea or another.