Mistress of the Air Ch. 12

Lady Sally spent most of the night in the gondola watching the descent of the airship through the storm, taking time out only to release the slaves from their bondage and send them back to their quarters. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning, after they had left the storm behind, that she retired.

Thanks to Captain Wyndham's skill and determination, they'd survived the ordeal. Once they were safely into Austria, he caught up with much-needed sleep, allowing his automaton co-pilot to take the controls until they neared their next destination, the palace of Schloss Schmegmabaum on the outskirts of Vienna. Lady Sally was visiting the Princess Maria Labiastein, the consort of the Crown Prince to the Austrian Emperor, and an old friend of her deceased mother.

Lady Sally's maid was still traumatised by the fresh encounter with lightning.

"Really Victoria, pay attention," she scolded. "I need help with my wardrobe. The Princess was a friend of my mother. We've never met before, and I want to make a good impression. She lives in one of the most splendid palaces in the whole of Austria."

Lady Sally gazed into her wardrobes, at the section dedicated to extravagant ball gowns. She was undecided on whether simple and elegant or flowery and flamboyant would be proper for tea with the Princess.

"One would like to make an impression," she commented on choosing the most outrageous dress she could find in her wardrobe. It was pure silk, the material decorated with large roses, with a huge bustle and a bow at the back, accompanied with a massive bonnet.

After the airship docked at the mooring mast, Lady Sally disembarked with her slaves as her attendants, dressed in silk knickerbockers and extravagant wigs. Her transvestite maid, dressed in her French maid's uniform, was also in attendance. The captain was relieved to be left behind to supervise the crew who were checking that no damage had been caused to The Corseted Domme by the storm.

Lady Sally was met at the tower by a horse drawn carriage. It would be unfair to describe the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the time as backward, though it certainly wasn't as technologically or industrially advanced as her neighbours, the Prussian Empire or the British Empire. That the Princess still used a horse and carriage, rather than a steam-powered one, or motorised charabanc, like Lady Sally's, was clear evidence of this.

The Empire possessed an airship fleet, but it mainly consisted of discarded Zeppelin class dirigibles not required by their more advanced northern neighbours. They would certainly not have seen anything as spectacular as The Corseted Domme, which was, of course, at the vanguard of airship technology. This was where Lady Sally wanted to place herself in this meeting, as the young, technologically aware lady of devices, to impress her older, aristocratic rival.

The park was exceedingly grand, Lady Sally had to admit, though she did not care for the formality of the gardens compared to the more naturalistic aspect of Rudston Hall. The palace was huge, and magnificent, a product of centuries of building work by the Crown Prince's ancestors. The entrance hall was in the grand baroque style with richly decorated gold carvings and embellishments. Victoria gasped in amazement at its dazzling richness, commenting to Lady Sally on how magnificent it was. But then, as she noted, her maid was easily dazzled by a bit of 'bling', that and large, latex coated breasts of course. Lady Sally's tastes were more delicate, and she considered the palace over the top, too lacking in the taste and refinement of an English country house like Rudston Hall, for her liking.

They were met in the grand entrance foyer by the Princess Maria Labiastein. She was a tall and thin, middle-aged woman with a haughty look. She was also dressed in magnificent gown and was accompanied by a coterie of attendants.

The footman introduced the party, "Princess, let me introduce The Right Honourable Lady Sally Rudston-Chichester of Rudston Hall, England."

The two women faced one another. There was an embarrassing silence. The two women still faced one another, the Princess obviously waiting for her younger visitor to curtsey. Lady Sally was having none of this. She was Lady Sally Rudston-Chichester, English gentlewoman, businesswoman extraordinaire, mistress of devices and premier dominatrix of the age. She expected everybody to submit to her, and she was not about to defer to anybody, even an Austrian Princess. They stared at one another, and Lady Sally was an expert at staring people down, as her piercing, blue eyes had an uncanny ability to bore through those of an adversary.

In the end, it was Princess Maria who relented, saying grudgingly, "Velcome to Schloss Schmegmabaum, Lady Sally."

"It's a pleasure, Princess Maria."

"Vot a delight it is to meet you at last. Your mother used to write such amusing letters to me, saying what a wild, wanton and disobedient little girl you were, and now look at you..."

Victoria rolled her eyes. This had not started well.

"Let me introduce you to my submissive gentlemen," said Lady Sally, deliberately intending to provoke, as she introduced the duke, bishop, judge and banker, "and finally, my transvestite maid, Victoria."

"Ah yes, ze English and their strange vays, ya."

They were led through several ante rooms, the ballroom, the dining room, the library, the yellow drawing room, the blue drawing room, and the pink drawing room, before ending up in the red drawing room.

"Schloss Schmegabaum is ze most magnificent palace in Vienna, if not the whole of Europe," boasted the princess.

Lady Sally turned her nose up, "Yes, indeed it is moderately opulent, but not to my taste. Do you have any steam-powered water pumping systems like Rudston Hall?"

"Nein,"

"Or aether-driven electrical lighting systems?"

"Nein, we prefer the old vays here in Vienna. Ve don't have any of these new technologies. Besides, I have an army of domestic staff to snuff the candles out at night."

Princess Maria invited them to sit at a table whilst one of the footmen set out a tall pot, cups and saucers and a cake stand plied with slices of apple strudel. One of them poured out a dark, brown liquid from the pot.

"What's this?" exclaimed Lady Sally.

"Vy, it is coffee," replied the princess.

"Coffee! But have you no tea?"

"Nein, but ve alvays have coffee with our apfelstrudel."

"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm feeling faint."

Victoria bustled around her mistress, and started fanning her, "Oh dear, she's hyperventilating."

"I'm fine, Victoria, stop fussing. But, it's three-thirty in the afternoon, it's tea time!"

"Ya, in England maybe, but here in Austria ve take coffee."

"I will partake of a piece of apple strudel, but will pass on the coffee, Princess Maria. It tends to upset my stomach."

Lady Sally took a pastry; it was indeed a fine slice of apple strudel. If relations between the two women had developed in a more cordial manner, Lady Sally may well have asked for the recipe for cook.

She fished around for a subject on which they might converse, "Do you ride, Princess Maria?"

"Ya, ve have the finest horses in the world here in Vienna. Lipizzaner horses are bred and trained here at Schloss Schmegmabaum for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna."

"How intriguing. I breed the purest, sleekest, black Arabic stallions. I ride them myself of course, and race them too. My horses have won the Derby on many occasions and the Ebor Shield at York races six out of the last seven years though I was cheated out of victory on that one other occasion."

"How very interesting, Lady Sally, though I prefer the elegance, refinement and control of the Lipizzaner."

"On the contrary, I find riding a fine stallion terribly invigorating, indeed, I have to confess it makes me rather horny. Does riding make you horny, princess?"

"Nein, certainly not."

Princess Maria Labiastein switched the conversation to the ladies' respective domestic arrangements.

"Do you have only the one maid, Lady Sally? He, or is it she?" she added disdainfully. "He could do with more discipline. Look, his petticoats are somewhat untidy."

Lady Sally was fuming, Victoria hadn't dressed herself to an acceptedly high standard. She didn't consider the trauma of last night's storm adequate excuse for such slap-dash standards which reflected badly on her mistress, but she was not about to concede that point to the princess.

"We had rather an adventure travelling through the storm, and she has not quite recovered from the experience yet. She is extremely loyal and will do anything for me, won't you, my maid?"

"Yes, absolutely anything, madam."

"Here in the palace I believe in total discipline and obedience for the household staff."

"I couldn't agree with you more, princess. I too am strict on my servants. I believe corporal punishment is essential for the control of the male species. Consequently, my servants carry out any task I need from them. Perhaps princess is willing to enter into a little wager to see how far her servants are prepared to go for her," Lady Sally suggested with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"I don't understand what you mean, Lady Sally," replied the princess, suspicious of what she was plotting, and reluctant to fall into a trap.

"Well, let me see, I can get any of my male slaves to suck cock for me at my command. Would your servants do the same for you? Let me demonstrate. Victoria roll up your petticoats and pull down your knickers for me."

Princess Maria's servants looked on in horror. Was their mistress about to ask them to do the same?

"Such is the discipline and control I wield over my servants, I can make a duke suck a maid's cock," exclaimed Lady Sally triumphantly as she took Victoria's penis between her fingers, manipulating it into an erection.

The duke, fully aware of what was required of him, and in the full knowledge his place was to serve Lady Sally in every particular, was already on his knees. Once she had massaged her maid's member to its full hardness, she offered it to the duke.

She threaded Victoria's cock into his mouth, and the duke started sucking.

Princess Maria looked upon the spectacle in disgust. Her footmen gasped both in shock and concern that their mistress might require them to do the same.

The duke entered into the spirit of the task with gusto, grasping the erect penis in his fists and running his lips along its shaft energetically to the sound of Victoria's moans of pleasure. He sucked hard and fast until the maid approached her climax and, anticipating when she was about to come, withdrew his lips and finished her off with several hard pulls with his fist. Victoria came over the thick-piled carpet woven with the Labiastein family coat-of-arms.

The princess was indignant with rage.

"I have never seen such a disgusting display... and from a fellow member of the European aristocracy! I'm speechless. You and your entourage are not welcome in Schloss Schmegabaum, Lady Sally. I'm afraid I must ask you to leave immediately."

Lady Sally did not appear overly distressed at her ejection from the palace. Indeed, she took a certain pride in demonstrating the depths of submissive behaviour her servants were prepared to plunge to for her.

Captain Wyndham was surprised at how quickly the party returned, expecting they would be moored for at least a night before setting off for their next destination.

Victoria rolled her eyes, "We've been thrown out of the palace!"

"But what happened?" the captain asked.

"Don't ask," she replied. "Madam had one of her moods."

Lady Sally followed, greeting the captain with a tirade of indignation.

"She had no tea! Well, I've never been so insulted. The apple strudel was good though... but, honestly, not to serve any tea. And it was tea time! How uncivilized. I'm appalled. I shall never visit Vienna again."

Having got that off her chest, Lady Sally turned to Captain Wyndham.

"Is all well with The Corseted Domme?"

"Yes, madam. The crew have done a thorough check. They've examined every inch of her external coating and the hydrogen bags, and I've checked the engine rooms. There's no damage. She's ready to fly."

"Well, in the circumstances it's best if we set off straight away. I can't possibly stay in Austria another minute without a decent cup of tea!"