The Girl with No Name Ch. 29

Danka was exposed to a lot of information about the workings of the Vice-Duchy during her first week at the palace. She sat taking notes in meeting after meeting for 12 hours each day. When she wasn't taking dictation, she was transcribing correspondence, including some letters between the Vice-Duke and foreign leaders. She discovered the Vice-Duke was worried about the Grand Duke's consolidation of power over the western half of the Duchy. The Vice-Duke also expressed in correspondence that he was jealous of the Grand Duke's popularity, given that he was little more than an uncouth military leader and understood nothing about acting like a nobleman and enjoying cultured activities.

By the end of her first week in the palace, Scribe # 8 already understood much about the Vice-Duchy and how its ruler contrasted with the Grand Duke. It was obvious the Vice-Duke was completely absorbed in his own world of western royal culture. It also was obvious the Vice-Duke had none of the Grand Duke's virtues as a ruler. He surrounded himself with expensive art and a ridiculous palace and was totally cut-off from the realities of life in the Vice-Duchy. He wanted to live a sumptuous lifestyle worthy of western kings, without understanding that luxury and a fancy palace did not equate legitimate rule.

In contrast, the Grand Duke moved among his subjects and through interacting with normal people was very aware of conditions around the western valley and Hórkustk Ris province. Apart from keeping up his castle, he did not spend much of the Duchy's treasury on the Royal Family. His one extravagant expenditure, maintaining a harem of concubines, had a specific purpose, to eventually augment his control over the outer regions of the Duchy.

Danka had always feared and hated the Grand Duke because of what he did to her. However, seeing how odious and incompetent the Vice-Duke was, she was able to view the Grand Duke in a more objective manner. Whatever his flaws as a man, the Grand Duke was a competent ruler who surrounded himself with competent advisors and was genuinely concerned about the safety and physical well-being of his subjects. He took personal responsibility for his actions and decisions. Whenever he could, the Sovereign led his army into battle and had placed himself at great physical risk on several occasions. In doing so, he had earned the admiration of his men and the loyalty of the western half of the country. Meanwhile, the Vice-Duke assumed he deserved the loyalty of his subjects because of his birthright, without having to do anything to improve their lives or earn their respect.

----------

On the eighth day of her internment in the palace, a guard she had never seen before approached Scribe # 8 with a letter his commander needed transcribed. Following protocol, she knelt while receiving the assignment. To identify himself, the guard handed her a package containing the items she had kept inside the lining of her nun's dress. They exchanged nods to acknowledge each other's membership in the conspiracy.

"My commander will be very eager to receive the transcription of his letter. My other commander, the one to whom you owe a debt, is anticipating the correspondence you have prepared for him. You have prepared such correspondence, haven't you, Scribe?"

"Yes, My Protector, I have."

Danka reached into her portfolio and handed the guard the 10 sheets of finely-printed notes. The guard quickly glanced at the papers and hid them under his vest.

"You have done well, Scribe. I will return for the letter this afternoon."

"Yes, My Protector."

Danka stood up, enormously relieved to have finally received communication from her co-conspirators and verification she was where she needed to be. She spent the rest of the day transcribing notes about the Bishop's efforts to identify people likely to be sympathetic to the Old Believers, and working on the letter in her spare time. Thinking the Church information might be important, she made an extra set of notes to hand over to her contact when she saw him in the afternoon. The letter for the commander was legitimate, so there would be no concern about the guard and the scribe being seen together. The guard returned to pick up his commander's letter just as Scribe # 8 was leaving the conference room for dinner. She knelt as the guard took the letter and looked it over.

"This document will be satisfactory. Next time please leave more space along the right margin. The other commander is quite pleased with your efforts and wishes to thank you for your dedication. You have done well, and your information about the Bishop and His Excellency's troubles with tax evaders is most useful for the future harmony of our fair land. Also, as we all know, women are the source of much evil, especially women with fine clothing and idle hands, which the scripture has warned us about. Gossip and intrigues can be most harmful to a royal house. Is that not so, Scribe?"

"Yes, My Protector."

"Very well, Scribe. When my commander needs another letter, I will ask you to perform the favor of transcribing it."

"Do you know when that might be, My Protector?"

"No, Scribe, I do not. Tomorrow it might rain, or the sun might shine. The right to make that decision belongs to the Lord-Creator, not to me."

"Yes, My Protector."

So, as she ate with her silent companions, Danka was satisfied that at least she had an idea what kind of information she needed to collect. She had been correct to gather everything she could about the Bishop and his activities. Information about tax collection efforts turned out to be more important than she had previously thought. She had a new tasking, to attempt to overhear gossip among the women and report on any feuds or intrigues among the Vice-Duchy's favored families.

So, for the next month Danka's life mostly centered on long hours spent with a quill in her hand in the Vice-Duke's study or the officials' conference rooms. She transcribed several meetings between the Vice-Duke and various Church officials as they negotiated how much tax money the ruler had to pay in exchange for full support from the True Believers. There was talk of identifying and executing sympathizers of the Old Believers and renegade Followers of the Ancients. Whenever possible, Scribe # 8 noted the names of targeted people, hoping her contacts would collect the information in time to warn the suspects or take other actions to prevent their arrests.

----------

The palace entourage continued their sexual humiliation of the former nuns throughout the time Danka was known to Rika Chorna as "Scribe # 8". The women bathed every 48 hours, and every single time they entered the washroom they had to endure soaping and fingering each other in front of an audience of men and boys. Then, of course, they had to bend over and submit to "inspections" and more fondling.

Danka managed to put off doing "unimaginable things" with Scribe # 1 for a week by massaging her to sleep every night. However, two nights after she sent off her first intelligence report, Danka's bed partner was less tired than normal and refused to accept a relaxing massage. Instead, she ordered Scribe # 8 to massage her between her legs and run her fingers through her pubic hair. She rolled over and ordered the newcomer to kiss her bottom and lick the area around her sphincter. It was very fortunate she had just bathed before forcing Danka to stimulate her there, or else Danka would have become sick. Scribe # 1 then flipped on her back and ordered Danka to put her face between her thighs.

"You'll have to learn how to do this, and do it properly if you don't want the whip and the pillory. The next time we bathe, His Excellency will want to watch us perform... to do the unspeakable for him. So, you'll need to do it to me. I am not doing it to you. I've dishonored myself enough and now it's someone else's turn. Now, start kissing and licking me. Put your tongue inside. You'll need to figure out how to satisfy me so you can do it again when we bathe tomorrow."

It was fortunate Danka had so much experience with sex, because even though she had never touched any other woman apart from Antonia, she knew what sensations aroused a typical female. Ignoring the fact she was doing the most dishonorable thing imaginable for a woman, she pushed aside her disgust and misgivings and concentrated on the task of making Scribe # 1 climax as quickly as possible. She avoided sticking her tongue into Scribe # 1's vagina. She used her fingers instead and concentrated her tongue on her partner's clitoris. Within less than two minutes Scribe # 1 climaxed, moaning as the scent of her arousal filled the inside of the bed's canopy. Danka then massaged her to make her go to sleep. She opened the curtains to let out the stench while she went to the wash basin to rinse off her face and clean the taste from her mouth.

No, she would not be crying or show herself as mortified the following evening. She'd simply do as she was told, make Scribe # 1 climax in front of their audience, and get the whole thing over with as quickly as possible. It was nothing more to her than a disagreeable tasking, just like everything else she had to do in that awful palace.