The Last Flowers Ch. 02

AUTHOR NOTE: Due to the site's formatting making it harder to discern between scenes in this particular story, scene breaks will be marked with *** and change of character voice will be marked with a pretty ~*~:~*#K#*~:~*~ first letter of their name.

============

A week later Sarielle was in the yard with her goats when Hevani came out of the neighbouring house to hang some washing. She'd also finished school the year before and now helped in her father's store. Despite being her cousin and living next door, she wasn't supposed to speak to Sarielle, but they often exchanged a few words when no one was looking.

Sarielle waved in greeting, but Hevani's hand only moved to wipe her eye.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she wandered over to the fence.

"No."

"What happened?"

She looked over her shoulder and leaned in to whisper. "They've done something to me."

"Who?"

"My father and that fat cow who works at the jeweller, the one who pierced my ears. They said it would be more comfortable than my chastity belt." She checked over her shoulder again. "Has anyone...put earrings in your..." She gestured to her groin.

Sarielle frowned. "No."

"I want to ask the other girls, but I'm scared by father will know if I leave. Can you bring them here?"

"Of course." Sarielle hurried off to collect a couple she knew would come. Kerensa only needed to see her frantic hand gesture to abandon her washing. She caught up to her down the street, where Sarielle was eyeing Abelia's house.

"What's going on?"

"Something bad. Can you go get Abelia? Her mother might not let her out of the house for me."

Kerensa ran over to knock on the door. It was Abelia who answered, but her mother must have been out as she came without consulting anyone. Sarielle walked as fast as she could without attracting attention, leading them home. She took them to the back of Hevani's house. Her father would be busy at the shop, so they shouldn't be bothered for several hours. The girl was waiting for them and she let them into the dwelling without speaking.

"Are we having a meeting?" Abelia saw Hevani's face. "What's the matter?"

Hevani sat down on her bed. Her room also had no door and was only just big enough for them to crowd around. Sarielle stared at her, concerned and waiting.

"At first I didn't want to tell anyone. But I have to know if they've done this to anyone else." She took a deep breath. "Has anyone else had a chastity lock fitted?"

The faces in the room looked confused and horrified. The smallest of the group waved her hand in the air.

Abelia's waving hand grew frantic and its owner gave up on being polite. "What is a chastity lock?"

Hevani blushed. "It's embarrassing, but I guess I could...show...you."

Sarielle gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and Hevani dropped her skirt to the floor. Her bloomers followed and she sat down on the bed to spread her legs. Three barbells ran through her outer labia and attached to each side of a U-shaped rod of metal.

"How did they even get that on there?" Kerensa asked.

"She soldered it together." Hevani closed her legs and covered herself back up.

Sarielle was a little disappointed as Hevani's vulva was cute and the device was both a horror and a curiosity. She reprimanded herself for thinking about genitals and focused on the conversation.

"He told me he had this thing that would be better than a belt. It wouldn't rub or cut me. That sounded good. He showed it to me and I was actually happy, because it looked so small. He didn't say it would go through my skin. He just made me smell something and I fell asleep. When I woke up that bitch was holding a bloody cloth to my..." She sniffled. "I didn't see what they'd done until later. If he'd at least told me, then I would have been prepared."

Sarielle rubbed her back. "He shouldn't have done that."

"He said it was to protect me from—"

"That doesn't matter. He hurt you."

Sarielle hated Hevani's father. Her uncle appeared a charming man and the adults all liked him, but he'd always frightened her and she'd never understood how they couldn't see what he was really like. She knew he beat Hevani when she was naughty. And sometimes when she wasn't. He sided with those who preached purity, so if this was their new idea it wasn't surprising he offered up his own daughter first.

"We should tell the patriarch," Abelia said. Although eighteen, she was naïve and too trusting in adults.

Sarielle sighed. "He probably already knows. It could even be his idea."

"What do we do?" Kerensa asked.

She shook her head. "I'm not sure."

***

Sarielle tied a blue ribbon at the end of her plaited hair and smoothed the skirt of her best dress. Her father followed her out of the house, shutting the door behind them. They joined the throng of people marching down the street. Every second Saturday the town met at the garden church in the afternoon to pray and make offerings. Families sat together on the grass or the wooden benches scattered around the square.

Zarek sat near one of his friends, so Sarielle plopped down beside him. The portly patriarch and the chancellor wandered over to the altar and everyone fell silent. The ceremonies went as usual, a communal prayer, an offering, personal prayers. Then came the community announcements. They were finally going to send a group to fix the road where it had partially collapsed.

"Lastly, due to the increase of immoral incidents in recent years, we will be implementing coloured ribbons to be worn around the neck as a way to besmirch those who choose to defile themselves and discourage others from falling into disgrace."

The crowd erupted into whispers. Zarek rubbed his chin, frowning.

"Will the following girls stand to receive their ribbons; Aster."

A tall girl with orange hair slowly rose from the ground. Head down, she skirted the assembly and came to stop in front of the patriarch.

Why were they doing this? This wasn't a city of strangers. Everyone already knew.

"Red is the colour of whores." He tied a red ribbon around her wrist and turned back to the crowd. "Sarielle."

She got up in a similar manner, but hers was to hide her anger. The patriarch tied a yellow ribbon to her wrist and made her stand next to Aster. She ought to bow her head, but she lifted it defiantly, sending a cold glare to all who judged her.

"Evadne."

"No, please!" begged a short blonde. The chancellor pulled her to her feet and dragged her to the altar. "I've repented! I—"

"You shame your family by not accepting your punishment."

Evadne broke into tears, but stood limply, allowing the yellow ribbon to be wrapped around her wrist. She joined them in the line, shoulders trembling as she wept. Sarielle stroked her arm to comfort her, but she pulled away, flashing her a hateful look from under her hair.

"The other girls may wear a white ribbon to symbolise their purity if they wish." He shooed them away.

Sarielle was in such shock it took her a second to move. What about the boys? Aster didn't fuck herself.

She returned to her father, fuming. He didn't say a word and refused to look at her the whole way home.

***

The next morning Sarielle had to fetch some oats from the store. She stopped on her way out to snatch the ribbon off her dresser. Her father saw her tying it around her neck and frowned.

"You don't have to wear that."

"Really?" She paused, then tore it off. "Thank you!" She threw her arms around him.

He brushed off her hug, but she left the house happy, running out the gate with her basket.

The grain store sold all manner of things for baking; flours, grains, even rice. It had a sweet, floury smell and unlike the other goods store owned by Hevani's father, Sarielle could actually shop there.

The woman behind the counter gave her a nod. "Sarielle."

"Good morning, madam. A bag of oatmeal please. And half of sugar."

She'd see if the orchard had any fruit for her and make her father a pie to thank him for his kindness.

The woman measured out the ingredients into paper bags and Sarielle handed over her coins. On her way out she stepped aside to let a man pass, but he blocked her.

"Where is your ribbon?" he demanded.

"My father told me I don't have to wear it." She stepped around him and pushed open the door.

Part way down the street a hand clamped around her arm, the force spun her to face the patriarch. With him was the man who'd tattled.

"Your ribbon, girl."

She tried to pull away. "I don't have to, Father said."

"Hmf!"

She would have come quietly, but he chose to pull her by the arm through the streets to her house. Her father answered the pounding on the door and the patriarch forced her inside ahead of him.

"Your daughter was out in public without her ribbon. She claims you allowed this."

Zarek glanced at her and shook his head. "I did not."

Sarielle stood in shock, staring at the man who'd just betrayed her.

"Then she must be punished."

"I'll see to it she is." He showed them the door and stood there for a moment without looking at her. "Go milk the goats."

Sarielle ran for the door, slamming it behind her. She walked towards the herd, her eyes going glassy. "Stupid girl."

She was naïve for thinking he was being kind about the ribbon. He didn't want her wearing it because it shamed him.

She blinked back the tears and patted one of her favourite goats. "No pie for him, right, Greta?"

***

"Where are you going?" Sarielle asked her father when she saw him getting ready to go out one night.

"Out for a drink."

That wasn't what Kerensa had said earlier. Drinks might be involved, but the reason they were gathering was to have another meeting.

Sarielle waited for him to go before setting up her cover story and putting on her coat. Kerensa and Abelia were both huddled on the roof when she got there. The word had spread and more young women listened in from various places around the building. The first item on the agenda was of no interest to them, but the second was chilling.

The patriarch was on stage, but it was Hevani's father who came up to speak. "As you know, a few of us have been working on a solution to the issues caused by belts without having to compromise the assurance of chastity. It was proposed that a cage of sorts could be fitted directly to the female anatomy to prevent penetration. Thus, eliminating the need for bulky metal strips and the associated irritation."

That had some people interested, and they looked at his example with curiosity.

"How does it stay on?" Kerensa's father asked.

He had a drawing to show them. "It's threaded through six piercings like this."

A murmur broke out at the mention of piercings. The girls on the roof all shared a look. A whimper came from someone around the back.

"This seems a touch extreme," one man said.

"It's a bit more than extreme. It's borderline mutilation, "Abelia's father added.

The patriarch stepped forward. "You have a daughter. You've seen how she suffers with rashes. She would be asleep while her lock is attached and once healed it would never cause her pain again. It's light and allows for free movement. And after she's married and it's removed the holes will close right over."

"I've already fitted one to Hevani, and she hasn't once complained," the girl's father boasted.

"Because you'd fucking slap her," Sarielle muttered.

He went on. "I know the truth scares you. But they will turn their backs on this community if we don't stop them. They can't fight their urges. Like others before them, they will run away to the city to become whores. Every night they'll spread their legs to be filled with the emissions of man and beast alike. Is that what you want for your daughters?"

Sarielle could hear the girls at the back of the building getting distressed. If they didn't shut up, they were going to get them all caught. She jumped off the roof and gestured to them to come away. They hurried around the corner of a shop and huddled up. All of the girls over eighteen were there besides Evadne, who was too 'good' to sneak out, and Hevani, who was too afraid to. With what they'd just heard, Sarielle was glad none of the younger ones were present.

"Have the men in this town gone completely mad?" Aster said in outrage.

Kerensa shook her head. "They want to protect us from violation by violating us themselves?"

Sarielle folded her arms. "We knew this was coming. Whatever they do to one of us, they'll do to all of us."

Abelia was close to tears. "I don't feel safe."

They all exchanged glances. It was true. This didn't feel at all right.

One of the nineteen-year-olds, Arletta, spoke up. "Maybe they have gone mad. Back when I was allowed go to the city we learned about a town out west where everyone started laughing for no particular reason."

It did sound like some form of mass hysteria, the way it escalated so suddenly.

"Has anyone checked if the wheat is mouldy?" Kerensa suggested.

"If it were a toxin wouldn't we be crazy too?" Nessa argued.

Aster added, "Perhaps it's a hex."

A sound made them jump. The meeting had finished and the men were pouring out into the street. The women scattered, all racing the long way to beat their fathers. Sarielle got there just as Zarek was getting to the door. She snuck around the back and jumped into the goat pen.

"Sarielle?" he shouted from inside. The side door opened. "Sarielle?"

She came out of the shadows of the milking shed pretending she'd just extinguished the lantern in her hand. "Oh, Father, you're home. Petunia jumped the fence again. I heard her out here knocking things over. I had to chase her around half the paddock to get her back with the rest." She sat the lantern down and came to the door.

"Petunia's going to be sausages if she doesn't watch it." He put his hand on her back, guiding her inside. "You know you're not supposed to go outside at night."

"I know."

He fished a key from his pocket and she stood still so he could undo her lock. "Would you like it if you didn't have to wear this anymore, if there were something smaller that didn't rub?"

If he'd asked her last week she would have screamed yes. Now...

"I don't know."

***

It would be several days before the topic was raised again. Zarek brought it up while locking her belt one morning.

"I asked Borhs more about this new chastity cage he's made. It does seem like a better option. You wouldn't get blisters or sores anymore. It wouldn't hurt you or get in the way when you work. You wouldn't have a bulky belt to sleep in when I go away and I could take longer trips without worrying."

"Mmmm."

"Two of the girls already have them and they don't even notice they've got them on."

Two? Who the...? —Evadne. It had to be. She probably bent over and pulled her bloomers down at the very mention of it. Sarielle had asked Hevani how she was doing and she definitely still noticed. But she didn't say it was worse.

"I'll be back later. After you've done your chores why don't you ask Evadne how comfortable it is?"

That would not be happening. Did he pay her so little attention that he hadn't noticed Evadne hated her?

Sarielle went outside to start on the milking. Once she'd herded the goats into the smaller pen by the shed, she led one in to the hitching rail and tied her up. Sitting at her stool, she set a pail under the doe and started to milk. Her belt was pushing at her vulva, but she tried to ignore it while she worked through the herd. She emptied the bucket into a big jug and brought in the next doe. The goat nuzzled in the empty feed tray, looking for food. Sarielle stepped over the hitching rail, sitting on it to reach the chaff bin. The feeling of the wooden pole between her legs made her stop. She felt all itchy down there and slime was leaking from the slit in her belt. Leaning for the bin made her hips roll and she let out a gasp, unable to stop herself from doing it again. It felt so nice, but she could not do this naughty thing with the goat watching her. Her hand untied the rope and shooed the doe away.

"Go on, get!"

It wandered off, leaving her to filthiness. Like a buck mounting a doe, she humped the rail. How strange it was to be on top when she'd been taught to lie supine, but she liked feeling in control.

Sarielle rode her wooden horse hard, rocking faster and faster. It groaned beneath her, but she kept going, fucking her way to her goal. Strings of goo linked her to the wood like spiders' silk. Wet sounds and the jingle of her padlock filled the shed. Soon it was joined by her heavy breaths, and tiny whimpers.

"So close..."

Her orgasm hit like a rolling wave. Her toes curled in the dirt, her body flinching, striving to keep fucking. When it passed, she sat panting, looking at the mess over her thighs.

"Forgive my weakness," she mumbled.

She jumped off the rail and pumped some water into a bucket. Half of it she poured over the railing, using her hand to clean the slime off. The rest she used to clean herself the best she could with a damp cloth. Her father was right. She couldn't control herself.

Feeling ashamed, she went outside into the pen to re-catch the goat. Over the fence, a door hit its frame and Hevani came outside to tend to her garden. As usual, Sarielle waved to the girl instead of speaking. If her uncle were home Hevani would shake her head and turn away. Today she came over to the fence.

"Good morning."

"I don't know about that. My father keeps talking about that new lock you've got."

She looked sad. "They want all of us to have them."

"I know. I heard them. What's it like? I thought it would be horrible, but they're making it sound better than a belt."

"It is better than a belt. It doesn't give me rashes or cut me. It's more comfortable too. It's just...ugly. And it hurt at first."

"But not now?"

She shook her head.

"They're saying we won't notice it."

She snorted. "You will. But not as much as a belt. I can forget it's there sometimes."

Sarielle looked out at the paddocks. "What do you think our mothers would have thought of all this?"

Hevani sighed. "Sometimes I wish she'd come down from heaven and take me back with her."

Sarielle missed her aunt. She loved going over to her house to play as a kid. It was like getting her mother back for a while. She thought she was a bit strange back then, not understanding why her aunt would suddenly shoo her home or tell her she couldn't come over today. Now she knew. Zarek didn't like her going over there either. He was the only adult she knew who saw through her uncle's charming guise. Sisters talk after all.

When Sarielle first found out her uncle hit her cousin, she'd told her father. She watched him frown and continue what he was doing. He'd known, he didn't deny it when she confronted him, just told her it wasn't his place to interfere with another man's household.

"It's going to be all right, Hevani." Sarielle looked up at her cousin. She didn't know how, but she was going to get her away from him.

***

That evening, Zarek didn't get up from the table when Sarielle collected the empty soup bowls. He was still there after she'd washed up when she sat down with a cup of tea.

"I've asked the jeweller to make you a chastity lock. His wife's coming tomorrow to put it on you."

Her head flew up. "I didn't say I wanted one."

"Sarielle, you're my daughter," he said gently putting his hand on hers. "It's my job to protect you. I want what's best for you. I'd like to let you run around without a belt, but it's just too dangerous. Between forsaken creatures and your own nature, you need to be confined. All the girls do. But you're deemed high risk. Do you want to be a lady of the night?"

She shook her head.

"A lock would keep you protected at all times without any of the problems of a belt."