Ellie - In Search of .............. A New Story with Illustrations by A L Fielden

[Doragon]

Interlude – Poll 1

With everything that she has experienced, what do you think Ellie will do now?

1. Go to York to confront the Duke
2. Keep going past York and on to London to find a new life with a new man
3. Go to Bolton Abbey and become a nun
4. Get a job in one of the whore houses in York
5. Attack the castle single-handed and try to murder the Duke in his own bed
6. Find a quiet place in the woods and live out her life in peace and solitude

Please make your mind up quickly, the next chapter will be posted tomorrow. I hope you're enjoying it.

1 or 5.

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 7 – To the Castle

Ellie had been sat on the ground at the edge of the wood for hours. She had looked at the castle across the valley as day had turned to dusk, and dusk had in turn become night. Thin clouds had rolled in during the evening and had dimmed the light from the moon and the stars and so the night had become inky dark. The flickering lights in the windows of the third floor of the west tower had remained visible for some hours after all the other lights in the city had faded away.

At last, those lights too grew dimmer until the castle tower was in complete darkness.

Ellie sighed. The time had finally come.

Dressed in the same clothes she had worn on the morning her beloved husband Will had been murdered, and with her two daggers safely stashed in the inside pocket of her hooded cloak, Ellie kissed her cross and began picking her away through the darkness down the hill onto the floor of the valley. She stepped across the stream using her usual stones and crouched down on a rock at the water’s edge. Ellie untied the cord holding up her leggings and peed into the stream. As usual this everyday act was painful, and she grimaced as the stream of odorous yellow liquid splashed into the running water.


After pulling up her leggings Ellie sat on a rock and clawed a lump of muddy dirt from the edge of the stream and started rubbing it into her forehead, then her nose, her cheeks, her chin and her neck. She covered her hands up to her wrists, determined that no pale skin would show in the dark. She stared at her refection in the water. Satisfied, Ellie pulled her hood over her head and started climbing the bank up to the walls of the city of York.


She passed through the north gate and turned right, slipping silently through deserted alleys and side streets towards the castle walls close to the west tower. Ellie knew exactly where she was heading. She had identified a secluded section of the stone curtain wall where the joints between the stones were well worn, with easy hand and foot holds that would enable her to climb the twenty feet or so to the battlements on top.


The clouds had thinned, allowing light from the moon and stars to breach the darkness, and Ellie was easily able to see well enough to climb the wall with grace and strength until she could peer between two merlons onto the walkway behind the crenellations. She waited out of sight for the guard to pass her. She heard his footsteps coming from her left, from the direction of the west tower. She waited until he had passed to her right and then furtively glanced at him as he walked away from her. He looked to be quite short, for a man, though still taller than Ellie. He was stocky and walked quite slowly and with a rocky gait. Ellie watched as the guard reached the nearest bastion where she knew he would turn round and head back towards her.

Ellie crouched down behind a merlon and listened intently to the guard’s footsteps. She knew he was the only guard on this section of the wall at night and he would walk past her and all the way to the west tower some fifty yards away. Ellie heard the footsteps come closer and closer as her heart pounded louder in her chest. Her adrenaline was flowing strongly now, as she knew it must if her mission tonight was to be successful.

Ellie saw the top of the guard’s helmet pass in front of her. She counted to five and put her right hand up onto the top of the battlements and nimbly eased herself over the crenel and onto the walkway. She saw the guard about thirty feet away and quietly pulled one of her daggers from her cloak.


Ellie stalked the guard stealthily for a few seconds and he quickly became within reach. With her left hand Ellie grabbed the hairs at the back of the guard’s head, just below his helmet, and pulled downwards. A split second later, with her stronger right hand, Ellie reached up and plunged the razor-sharp blade of her dagger deep into the guard’s unprotected neck.


The guard’s knees buckled, and he fell to the ground as Ellie twisted her dagger in his neck before pulling it swiftly out. A spurt of hot blood arced into the night air and Ellie felt the warm liquid cover her right hand. The guard’s body twitched for a few seconds as a low gurgling sound emanated from his throat. Then all was silent, save Ellie’s heavy breathing and the rapid beating of her heart.

Ellie wiped the blood from the blade of her dagger on the guard’s coat and cleaned her hand and sleeve as best she could. She pulled her hood right back over her head and then manhandled his lifeless body onto the battlements and pushed him over the wall. She heard his body thud into the ground below, confident that it would not be found until her mission tonight had been fulfilled.

Ellie ran furtively towards the west tower and skipped lightly down the wooden steps into the bailey. She stayed close to the walls, keeping in the darkest shadows, until she could see the large double oak doors at the foot of the west tower. There was a guard to each side of the doors.

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 8 – At the Door to the West Tower

Ellie crouched down against the foot of the stone wall. She watched the guards for several minutes, wondering if one would leave his post and offer her an opportunity to strike. Both guards stood impassively. In the darkness Ellie could not tell how alert they were. For all she knew they may be sleeping, or at least dozing, even though they were standing up. Ellie waited, and waited, seemingly for an eternity, even though it was for less than half an hour. Eventually, the guard to the left, furthest from where Ellie crouched, shook himself and started walking around a little. He said something to the other guard, but too softly for her to hear.

Highly alert now, Ellie watched as the guard walked away. She had no idea how far he was going, or how long he would be gone, but Ellie was determined to strike now and make the most of this opportunity. Furtively, Ellie scuttled around the wall towards the doors to the tower. She could no longer see the first guard, so she hoped he had gone a good distance away. Ellie cowered against the wall just a few feet from the remaining guard. She tried to hold her breath so he would not sense her presence, but her thumping, fast-beating heart seemed sure to attract his attention.


Fearing imminent discovery, Ellie decided it was now or never. She looked at the gleaming blade of the dagger that she still held in her right hand, took a deep breath, and sprinted the few yards towards the left side of the guard. Just as she approached, the guard looked round at her. His eyes widened and his mouth opened to shout out just as Ellie plunged her dagger into his unguarded neck. Her left hand reached up to cover the guard’s mouth as Ellie twisted her dagger brutally in his throat, pulled it out and then in again forcefully into his chest, puncturing his heart. The guard’s body stiffened briefly and then went limp. He tried to hold onto Ellie to keep himself upright, but the girl backed away and fended off his clutching hands. All the time, Ellie was turning and twisting the blade of the dagger in the dying man’s heart.


The guard fell to the ground at Ellie’s feet as she withdrew the dagger from his chest. Her hand and sleeve were again covered in blood, but Ellie didn’t notice as she concentrated on manoeuvring the guard’s body deeper into the shadows. She breathed heavily with the effort, but just managed to do so before the other guard returned to his post.


‘Hey, Joe, where are yer?’ he called.

The guard opened the left-hand oak door and peered into the tower. After a few seconds he closed it again, just as Ellie struck!

Having sneaked up behind him, Ellie attempted to dispatch this guard in the same manner as she had the first one on the battlements. A grab of his hair with her left hand, followed a split second later by a swift, deep thrust of her dagger to his throat. Again, Ellie twisted her blade until blood spurted from the guard’s neck, covering not only her hand and sleeve, but this time splattering her grimly determined face as well. He tried to prise her fingers away from the handle of her dagger but could get little purchase and Ellie was able to pull her blade away and stab him again, this time in his flank, a few inches below his right armpit. The guard let out a short cry of anguish which was stifled by the blood that was already choking him. Ellie stabbed the guard again, a few inches lower down his flank, and then for one final time before he collapsed to the ground.

Ellie dragged the dead guard into the shadows to join his mate, Joe, and sat for a while to get her breath back and make sure her actions had not been noticed. She blinked the guard’s blood from her eyes and tried to wipe her face with her blood-soaked sleeve. That last guard had been much more difficult than the first two, but Ellie was pleased that she had succeeded. She also knew that the main doors to the tower were not locked and in a few seconds she could go inside and make her way to the Duke’s chambers. She smiled wryly to herself, wiped the bloody blade of her dagger on the guard’s leg and kissed the gleaming metal.

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 9 – Inside the West Tower

Ellie took yet another deep breath and tried to control her racing heart. Lots of adrenaline was fine, while she was attacking the guards, but she now needed a cool head for once she was inside the castle’s west tower.

After a minute or two she was ready. Ellie wiped her sweaty brow with her sleeve, and noticed that the sleeves of her cloak, and much of the rest of it, were now saturated in sticky, fresh blood.

Ellie opened the huge left-hand door to the tower just a fraction and furtively peered inside through the narrow crack. She could see nothing, except total blackness. Ellie opened the door a little wider and then sneaked inside, softly closing the door behind her. She stood just inside the tower and blinked quickly, as if trying to shoo away the pitch darkness.

Eventually, Ellie’s eyes grew a little accustomed to the darkness and she could just make out an entrance hall with a wide staircase in the middle, just a few feet in front of her. Ellie had been told that the ground floor of the west tower contained only a reception room that was used to welcome guests attending the large banqueting hall which was in the adjoining main castle keep. The Duke would regally entertain his important guests with a range of events from formal, sedate and staid dinners and balls through to men-only feasts with games that went on all through the night and often degenerated into orgies once darkness had fallen. Ellie took a deep breath and quietly climbed the large staircase up to the first floor.

According to her sources, the first floor contained rooms for the conducting of the Duke’s business; meeting rooms and conference rooms. Again, these were of no interest to Ellie, so she took the right-hand staircase of the two narrower staircases on each side of the tower. Soon, Ellie was on the second floor, which she believed to contain private rooms of the Duke’s closest aids; his personal physician, Jeffers, the Captain of his Guard, his treasurer, his valet, his head housekeeper and others, including his estranged wife, who still lived there to enjoy the comforts of the castle.

Ellie continued up the next flight of stairs towards her goal, the third-floor chambers that should be occupied by the Duke. As she approached the top of this staircase, Ellie paused. She expected this floor to be guarded. As she peered over the top step, Ellie saw that she was right. There was a large double door which must have been ten feet tall. On either side of the doors sat a guard holding a large pollax. Ellie stood still and watched the two guards as closely as she could.

For several minutes Ellie waited. Again, she could not tell if the guards were awake or asleep, for they made no movements and uttered no sounds. While she wanted to be patient to make the most of her chances, Ellie knew that the longer she waited the more likely it was that the guards she had killed would be found and the alarm raised. If that happened, her chances of success in her mission were very slim.

Ellie listened very intently to try and hear any noise emanating from the guards. She could hear nothing.

For a few more minutes Ellie waited. Then she decided to strike. Ellie skipped up the final few stairs and onto the flagstone landing. She stared at the nearest guard, who was sat to the right of the double doors as she looked. He did not stir as Ellie sprang at him, her lethal dagger gleaming in her strong right hand. Ellie drove the point of her dagger straight into the guard’s unprotected neck, just as forcefully as she had done to the other guards. She twisted the blade as fresh blood stained her hand and spurted onto wall and the flagstones below her. The guard made a brief gurgling noise as he tried to stem the flow of blood from his neck. He collapsed onto the floor in front of Ellie and his pollax toppled over, smacking to the floor with a loud crack.

The second guard jumped awake as Ellie pulled her dagger from the throat of his dying colleague. He grabbed his pollax as Ellie flew at him with her bloody dagger swinging round towards his neck. The guard just managed to deflect Ellie’s arm so she missed with her thrust. Ellie cursed under her breath, but swifty span around to stab the guard in his stomach. The man grunted and Ellie was scared he may cry out and raise the alarm, so she clamped her left hand over his mouth as she pulled her dagger out and quickly went for his throat. The guard dodged Ellie’s lethal dagger and grabbed at Ellie with his left arm and held her by the waist as Ellie desperately tried to free her right arm so she could find his throat with her bloodthirsty blade. The guard bit Ellie’s fingers, making her curse under her breath, but she would not loosen her hand from his mouth. The two grappled for a minute or so, the guard hampered by his injured stomach, and Ellie desperately trying to gain the necessary leverage to cut his throat. The guard’s pollax was worse than useless at these close quarters so he threw it to the floor to release his right hand to try and prise Ellie’s hand from his mouth and raise the alarm. He grabbed her wrist and started to twist it away from his mouth as Ellie squirmed and struggled in his grasp.


Just in time, Ellie got her right arm free and plunged her dagger into the guard’s neck, once, twice, three times in rapid succession. More blood covered her hair and face, making her splutter. The guard held on to Ellie as his life force drained away. She removed her left hand from the guard’s mouth as he slowly fell to his knees and finally lay on the floor in a large pool of blood next to the other dead guard.


Ellie leaned against the door, gasping as she tried to get her breath back after what seemed to her was an epic battle. There was no point trying to hide these guards’ bodies with all the blood on the walls, the doors, and the floor. With her cloak soaked in blood, Ellie decided its usefulness had now passed. She would not need its warmth any longer, nor its hood to avoid detection. Ellie cut the cord that fastened the cloak at her neck and let it fall off her arms to the ground. She retrieved the second dagger from the inside pocket and tucked it carefully in the waistband of her leggings.

With no time to waste, she opened the left-hand double door a crack and peered inside.

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 10 – Inside the Duke’s Chambers

Ellie had expected so see the Duke of York’s bedroom when her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. She peered into the gloom and tried to make out a bed, and maybe a couch. Instead, she only saw four walls, some chairs and another large set of double doors immediately in front of her. She realised she was in an anteroom, which was about ten feet square and acted as a buffer between the Duke’s bedroom and the landing. Ellie was relieved to see that there were no more guards in this room.

Ellie skipped silently over to the double doors and listened intently at the crack between the doors. She could hear nothing. Taking a deep breath, Ellie opened the left-hand door a fraction and peered in.

Ellie could see almost nothing through the crack she had made in the doors, except more darkness within.

Ellie opened the door slowly and silently, stepped inside and closed it softly behind her.

Ellie blinked her eyes and gradually some shadowy objects came into view. About ten feet in front of her and to her right was a large couch. A few feet further on, and against the wall on her left was a huge bed. Ellie approached the bed furtively and took in the details as she got closer.

The bed was an enormous four-poster with drapes between each post. Maybe ten feet square, the bed was made of dark wood, with ornate, curling carvings on the thick posts. The drapes were dark and heavy, designed to keep the bed itself dark all year, and cool in summer but warm in winter. They were closed on all sides so Ellie could not see who was lying in the bed. Ellie stood silently for a minute, trying to compose herself, and could just make out gentle breathing noises coming from the bed. There seemed to be at least two people asleep there.

Ellie removed her unused dagger from the waistband of her leggings and held it in her right hand, moving her used dagger to her left. With her heart thumping in her chest, Ellie carefully put the point of her fresh dagger between the drapes and parted them to look inside.


Nearest Ellie, and facing her, lying on her right side, was a young, fair-haired girl. Her long, blonde hair framed a pretty, youthful face and a slim neck. Her bony, bare shoulders were visible above the covers, as were the tops of her pale breasts. Ellie was sure she was naked. Ellie thought she was probably not yet twenty years old, and she looked familiar to her, though she could not recall instantly where or when she may have seen her.

Across the girl’s breasts was the slightly flabby left arm of an older man. He was lying next to the girl, with his chest pressed up tight against her back. His face was obscured from Ellie’s view by the girl’s head and the darkness of the room, but she was sure it was him – it was the Duke of York!

The two figures were right in the centre of the bed, and thus some feet from where Ellie stood. The Duke was not in range of her daggers; she would have to climb onto the bed to get close enough to him, but she did not want to hurt or endanger the girl, so Ellie started moving round the bed to the other side.

Just then, everything changed!

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 11 – A matter of Life and Death

Suddenly the doors behind Ellie burst open. The flickering light of torches invaded the room, along with loud, heavy footsteps.

The blonde girl woke with a start and looked in fear and shock at Ellie standing by the bed holding the drapes apart with a razor-sharp, shiny dagger. She screamed loudly, threw off the covers and scrambled away from Ellie, trampling over the slumbering Duke and into the darkness.

Ellie ceased her opportunity, the only one she would now have.

Staring wide-eyed and angry, Ellie climbed onto the bed and with an ear-splitting yell she launched herself at the naked, sweaty body of the Duke of York. The dagger in her right hand was her primary weapon and she swung her arm in a fast, wide arc with the point of her dagger aimed squarely at the Duke’s throat.


Ellie saw the look of horror on the waking Duke’s face as she struck. He just managed to raise his left arm enough to deflect Ellie’s lunge. Her dagger sliced his flabby forearm, and he cried out in pain as a deep, bloody wound appeared.

Frustrated, Ellie swung her left arm towards the man’s chest, aiming for a deep, penetrating wound between his ribs. Instead, her blade skated across his clammy skin, cutting the skin across his sternum until the Duke managed to grab her wrist and pull it away.

‘Get him off me!’ screamed the panicky Duke.

With her right arm still free, and his bleeding left arm protecting his throat, Ellie swung again, grunting with her exertions and aiming this time for the Duke’s fast-beating heart.

Ellie’s blade smashed into the Duke’s flank a few inches below his left armpit.

‘Die, you bastard!’ she screamed, her wide, green eyes sparkling in the light of the approaching torches.

The point of her blade struck squarely on a rib, and Ellie knew she just needed to twist the blade to find a path through to his heart. Just as she turned her wrist a strong, muscular arm suddenly appeared from behind her and grabbed at her forearm. The bloody point of Ellie’s dagger found the gap between the Duke’s ribs just a few inches from his beating heart, and she tried with all her strength to force the blade home.

Ellie groaned loudly as she struggled to drive her blade into the Duke’s heart, but the hand on her arm was just too strong. A second hand grabbed her arm and pulled her dagger away from the wounded Duke and another strong arm put her in a headlock, squeezing her throat tightly so she could not breathe.

Thick fingers prised the dagger from her right hand, and a few seconds later the dagger in her left hand also fell silently onto the bed.

Ellie was dragged backwards off the bed by many strong arms and she was forced face-down onto the carpet next to the bed.

‘Get him over here!’ she heard the Duke’s voice order.

A panting Ellie was manhandled towards the foot of the bed and dragged to her feet between two tall, strong guards. Another guard ran his hands over her to check for any further weapons, squeezing her breasts as he did.

‘I think you’ll find ‘tis a her, Sire,’ he said, with a sneer.

The guards threw Ellie roughly to her knees and one of them grabbed Ellie’s blood-soaked hair and pulled her head back to make Ellie look up at the Duke, who now stood directly in front of her. He had put a robe over his body, so Ellie could not see how badly she had wounded him.


This was the first time Ellie had been able to look at the Duke at close hand. She thought he looked like a flabby, almost plump, middle-aged man. ‘Too much fine food and drink paid for by the taxes of the honest workers,’ she thought to herself. ‘A few hours out in the fields in the hot summer sun would kill him!’

‘Get the bitch on her feet!’ the Duke ordered.

When Ellie thought about what he’d done to her the rage grew again deep inside her. She struggled with the guards holding her and tried to kick out at the Duke.

The Duke made a fist in his left hand and swung it at Ellie’s face. The rather feeble blow glanced off her right cheek onto her nose but was enough to send her head snapping to the side. Ellie felt a trickle of blood from her right nostril and licked it off her top lip.

 

[Davec5299]

Interlude – Poll 2

The Duke of York and his guards have captured his would-be assassin alive. What should he decide will be her fate?

1. Summary execution by hanging in the city square that day
2. Hand her over the city magistrates for trial and sentencing
3. Listen to her story and let her live, but banish her from the county, whipped to the border tied to the back of a cart
4. Take her to the castle cellar for questioning by the Duke himself
5. Send her to the city gaol for skilled interrogation by the city gaoler
6. Execution by slow torture in the city square over the weekend as a deterrent to others

Please make your mind up quickly, the next chapter will be posted tomorrow.

 

[Hugin&Munin]

Interlude – Poll 2

The Duke of York and his guards have captured his would-be assassin alive. What should he decide will be her fate?

1. Summary execution by hanging in the city square that day
2. Hand her over the city magistrates for trial and sentencing
3. Listen to her story and let her live, but banish her from the county, whipped to the border tied to the back of a cart
4. Take her to the castle cellar for questioning by the Duke himself
5. Send her to the city gaol for skilled interrogation by the city gaoler
6. Execution by slow torture in the city square over the weekend as a deterrent to others

Please make your mind up quickly, the next chapter will be posted tomorrow.

Since the Duke prefers an independent court, I choose 4.
However, the duke will write a letter to the city jailer telling him what confession he wants before she is sentenced to death.

 

[Boris Spider]

6. It's a cut and dried case, an immediate and definitive deterrent is needed to protect the Duke.

 

[montycrusto]

I vote 5!

 

[Barbaria1]

I vote 5!

God-emperors don’t vote, they decree! Do I have to teach him everything?

 

[montycrusto]

God-emperors don’t vote, they decree! Do I have to teach him everything?

Then I decree that Barb shall shut up and the Author shall pick whichever option he originally intended

 

[Migoz2]

Then I decree that Barb shall shut up

Did you miss the class in How To Be A God-Emperor 101 where they taught you that a wise God-Emperor only issues decrees that have some chance of being followed?!

 

[montycrusto]

Did you miss the class in How To Be A God-Emperor 101 where they taught you that a wise God-Emperor only issues decrees that have some chance of being followed?!

I believe in demanding the impossible!

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 12 – Questions are Asked

Ellie tasted her own blood in her mouth as she glared up at the Duke. She spat a mixture of spittle and blood at him, but fell well short of her target, dribbling most of it down her own chin.


‘Sire, the four guards at t’west tower are all dead and one of t’guards on t’wall is missing,’ said another man who had run into the chamber.

‘What?’ exclaimed the Duke. ‘This little bitch must have had some help. Make sure the guards are replaced and search the castle to make sure there’s nobody else here. Double the guards for the rest of the night. But don’t tell anyone why, just tell them it’s an exercise.’

‘Jeffers,’ the Duke said, looking towards one of the men in better quality clothes than the others. ‘Send a guard to fetch my physician – NOW!’

‘Yes, Sire.’ Jeffers nodded at a guard near the door. ‘Go and fetch Doc Martin.’

The Duke then grabbed Ellie’s jaw and put his face right up close to hers.

‘What’s your name, you dirty little whore?’ he snarled.

Ellie glared back, making no attempt to answer, the Duke’s stinking breath making her cute nose twitch.

‘Where are you from?’ The Duke shook Ellie’s head from side to side.

‘Who helped you tonight? I want their names………. NOW!’

Ellie stared back at him, teeth gritted and lips tightly shut.

‘If this is a plot, we need to nip it in the bud straight away,’ stated the Duke, staring at Jeffers.

Ellie glanced at Jeffers, as one of the guards handed her daggers to him. He looked quite distinguished, had an air of superiority and confidence, she thought. She had known men like that before around the town, but often found them to lack real intelligence and depth.

‘We’ll take her to the city gaol,’ responded Jeffers. ‘We’ll get the gaoler out of his bed. He’s got all the equipment and skills he needs to make this little bitch tell us everything soon enough.’

‘No!’ retorted the Duke immediately, his anxiety obvious. ‘If you take her there, the magistrates will find out and the whole city will know. Her accomplices will be long gone, and others might think it’s a good idea to try. No, we must keep this to ourselves. Make sure all your men know that they mustn’t mention this to anyone. Anyone who does will be considered a traitor.’

‘Yes, Sire. You can trust us.’

The Duke turned back to Ellie.

‘For your own good, you should answer my questions now.’

Ellie noticed the Duke was sweating more than ever. He was also a little breathless. Was it just his anxiety, or was it something more? Some blood was seeping through his robe, on his chest, his flank, and his arm. She hoped he was more seriously wounded than he was making out.

‘What’s your name?’

Ellie simply stared back, remaining tight-lipped.

‘Where are you from?’

Another pause followed.

‘Who else is involved in this plot?’

Ellie stood unmoving in the firm grip of the guards.


'Answer the Duke, you fuckin' whore,' shouted one of the guards, bending her neck back by her hair. Her dirty, blood-spattered face with her piercing green eyes looking disdainfully up at the Duke.

‘You’ll regret this, you little whore,’ he muttered with an air of exasperation.

Turning again to Jeffers he said, ‘Take her down to the wine cellar. Make sure she doesn’t escape, obviously, but keep her unmolested there until I arrive.’

‘Yes, Sire,’ replied Jeffers, looking a little puzzled.

‘Get a good fire going.’

‘Yes, Sire.’

‘You’ll find some things down there we can use. Get them ready for when I arrive.’

‘Yes, Sire.’

‘Send someone to the stables. There’s plenty of useful things there. Fetch whips, crops, straps and such, and ropes of course.’

‘Yes, Sire.’

‘And have them look at the farrier’s tools. There will be useful items there. Nippers, pullers, rasps, knives, pliers, hammers and pritchels. Tell them to bring a good selection.’

‘Yes, Sire.’

‘Well, get on with it then! I want eight men there with you and me, Jeffers. Make sure that they won’t be squeamish about what we are going to do to this little bitch. Because, believe me, I’m going to make her suffer like you’d never believe. And get that bloody physician here, NOW!’

Ellie was frog-marched swiftly out of the Duke’s chamber, her fierce glare remaining determinedly directed at the Duke.

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 13 – Down to the Castle Cellar

Ellie was taken down the same stairs she had climbed so furtively earlier in the night. Then, it had been dark and she had been alone, trying not to be seen. Now, there was one guard in front of her with a torch, guards either side of her with a very firm grip on her arms, Jeffers, Captain of the Guard, right behind her and another guard with a torch bringing up the rear. As they passed the second floor landing another guard was stood with another older man.

‘Is this the would-be assassin?’ asked the older man.

‘Yes,’ replied Jeffers. ‘She’s stabbed him a few times. You’d better get up there. The Duke’s lost some blood and he’s in a foul mood.’

The older man nodded and hurried up the stairs. The guard followed the group going down to the cellar.

When they reached the ground floor the guard at the front opened the main doors and they pushed Ellie outside. Ellie noticed two new guards were now stationed at the doors. They scowled at her as she passed.

Ellie was taken through a guarded gate to an inner courtyard and onwards to a large, locked wooden door in the wall of the castle keep. Jeffers took a key from his belt and unlocked the door, opening it to reveal a steep, narrow stone staircase descending into darkness below. The first guard with the torch slowly walked down the first few steps, being very careful with his footing. The stone was damp, as was the wall on the left of the staircase. He kept very close to the wall as there was no rail to prevent a fall from the steps into the cellar below. As he descended Ellie could hear the scampering of dozens of rats running from the approaching light into the darkness.


The two guards holding Ellie turned their backs to the wall and all three descended the staircase sideways, one step at a time. Ellie thought for a moment about trying to free herself and jump to her death, but she did not know how high the cellar was and the thought of merely injuring herself put her off.

In the event, the cellar was only about ten feet high and they were soon on the puddle-ridden flagstone floor of the castle’s famed wine cellar. The cellar was large, too big to see all the walls in the dark, and smelt of damp, wine and ale. The ceiling was held up by dozens, or maybe even hundreds, of stone columns, each about eight feet from the next and stretching in rows into the gloom.


Ellie was taken across the cellar towards one of the walls, where a large hearth was sited. It contained the remains of past fires with about half a dozen cold fire irons lying in the ashes.

‘You two, get the fire going,’ ordered Jeffers. ‘Make sure it’s big and strong, like yourselves,’ he quipped.

‘You, light some torches and put them on these four columns.’ Jeffers pointed to the four stone columns in a square right in front of the fire. ‘Then light some of the other torches and candles.’

‘You, go down there and find some rope,’ he pointed into the darkness as one of the guards who had been holding Ellie disappeared into the gloom.

The last guard remained with Jeffers holding Ellie.

As the guards dispersed around the cellar, Ellie thought about escape. Only one guard was holding her right arm. This might be her last chance.

Ellie wrenched her arm out of the grip of the guard and dashed for the steps.

‘Oi!’ yelled the guard in alarm as he scrambled to catch her.


Ellie reached the bottom of the stairs and scrabbled up the first few steps on her hands and knees. The guard was right behind her, followed by Jeffers and the others. Ellie reached the top of the stairs and pushed at the heavy wooden door. It opened with a creak and Ellie found herself again in the inner courtyard. Although it was still dark, Ellie quickly found her way to the gate that would lead outside. The chasing guards were just a few feet behind her. Ellie pulled the gate open as the guards behind her called out the alarm. Just as she stepped through the gate, two large pollaxes came down in a cross to bar her way, followed a second later by two grim-faced guards.

The chasing men quickly grabbed Ellie and dragged her back into the inner courtyard.


‘You’ll regret that, you little whore,’ gasped Jeffers, doubled up, trying to get his breath back. ‘Take her back to the cellar and tie her up this time.’

Ellie was escorted quickly back down to the cellar. One of the guards had found some rope and Ellie was pushed down on her backside with her back against one of the columns next to the four that had been designated by Jeffers. The guards pulled her arms behind the column and crossed her wrists. They tied the rope around and between her wrists, pulling it very tight and making Ellie wince. One guard knotted the rope, and another checked it.

‘She won’t get out of that!’ the guard reported to Jeffers.

‘Good, now let’s get things ready.’ The guards set about their allocated tasks.

‘You,’ said Jeffers to the guard who had been holding Ellie and was now without a task. ‘Over there, see that barrel with the drainpipe coming down from the grate at the top of the wall. That barrel collects rainwater. Fill a pail and bring it over here.’

The guard walked off to fulfil his task as the others gathered wood for the fire and lit torches as they had been directed. After a few minutes the guard returned with a full pail and Jeffery motioned him to put it down next to Ellie.

Jeffers crouched down and put a filthy rag in the water. He looked at Ellie.

‘Let’s see what you look like under all that dirt and blood,’ he said.

Jeffers grabbed her hair with his left hand and started wiping her face with the rag. The water felt very cold and the rag was rough as he rubbed it hard across her forehead. The cold water streamed down her face as Ellie scowled.

Jeffers rinsed the rag and scrubbed her left cheek until it was clean but sore. He rinsed it again and used it on her nose and mouth. After another rinse her scrubbed her right cheek even harder, turning her head away to get full purchase. Finally, he washed her neck, allowing the cold water to trickle down her chest under her smock.

‘That’s better. I’m going to enjoy seeing your pretty face when we get started on you.’

‘Pour the rest of it over the bitch,’ Jeffers ordered the guard. ‘Then fill it up again for next time.’

The guard picked up the heavy pail and started pouring the freezing cold water over Ellie’s head. The girl gasped and shivered as the water drenched her hair and face and soaked through her clothes. As a final touch, with an evil grin, the guard threw the last of the water directly into Ellie’s red face.

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 14 – Waiting in the Castle Cellar

The fire had been lit and was smoking well. It was being carefully nurtured by two of the guards. The heat so far was minimal and did nothing to stop poor Ellie shivering. Her clothes were soaking wet, and she was sitting in a large puddle now. Her hands had gone numb from the tightness of the rope binding them behind the column. Above her head burned one of many torches, but it was not enough to deter the rats that sniffed at Ellie’s clothes and nibbled at her bound hands. Ellie fought them off as best she could. The other torches and candles illuminated the area in front of the fire with a flickering, smoky orange light that allowed Ellie to view the preparations that were in hand.


‘Go to the barracks and fetch three more men,’ Jeffers instructed. ‘Get Sutty, Christie and one other like-minded fella. Go to the stables and collect anything useful. You heard what the Duke said? And bring plenty of torches. We want to be able to see what we’re doing.’

‘Yes, Captain, ‘twill be a pleasure.’

The guard gave Ellie a knowing smirk as he passed her to reach the stairs.

Two guards were deployed to carry a large bench across the cellar to the area near the fire. They disappeared again into the darkness and returned rolling a large barrel, kicking up yet more dust and soot. It must have been three feet in diameter at the centre and was made of rough, dark oak with half a dozen rusty metal hoops. They placed it in the middle of the four stone columns that had been adorned with torches. Jeffers supervised its final position, pacing out the distances between the barrel and each of the four columns. Once in the correct position a guard placed wedges under the barrel to keep it in place.

Ellie watched all the preparations from her position tied to the column. Being sat on the floor, she started choking in the thick dust that had been disturbed by the guards. After the barrel had been put in place, one of the guards approached her and poured a second pail of freezing cold water over her, throwing the last of it in her face as before. Ellie shuddered as the water soaked her. The guard laughed at her and walked off to fill the pail again.

‘Stop whingeing, yer dirty whore,’ he sneered. ‘We’ll soon have yer out o’ yer wet togs.’

As Ellie shivered in her soaking wet clothes she suddenly remembered where she had seen the girl that had been in the Duke’s bed. The girl had approached her a few days previously while Ellie had been talking to a cloth merchant’s wife in the market. The woman had mentioned Maxie and the fair-haired young girl had overheard them. The girl had asked them if they knew where she could find Maxie. The merchant’s wife had warned her against seeking out the trader and told her she didn’t know where Maxie could be found.

A few minutes later Ellie heard the door to the cellar open and heard voices on the stairs behind her. She watched as four guards walked past her. One was the guard from earlier, but three were new. They all looked like particularly tough men, unshaven or bearded, unkempt and they left a strong, putrid odour as they passed her. Ellie watched as they all placed armfuls of implements on the large bench by the fire. Barely a few feet from her, Ellie recognised some of the items as they were arranged on the bench, under Jeffers’s supervision. A long, coiled horsewhip was brought, as was a riding crop. There were several hanks of rope and various leather straps and other tackle. Ellie was also familiar with the tools of the farrier, having watched them at work in the town over the years. She had seen pliers and nail pullers used on horses’ hooves, but when she saw them being placed on the bench, she tried not to imagine how they might be used on her.

One of the new guards, a rough looking man with an unwashed, black beard, walked over to Ellie holding a pair of hoof nippers. The rats all scattered as he crouched down with his face close to hers.

‘You murdered some of me best mates, you fuckin’ whore!’ he snarled, his beery breath hitting her full in the face. ‘I’m gonna enjoy watchin’ everyfin’ that we do to yer! I’m gonna enjoy every scream, every squeal, every cry yer make. An’ if yer dare beg for mercy after what you’ve done, I’m just gonna hurt yer even more. Every drop of blood yer spill, and there’s gonna be lots, will be just a very small payback for t’lives of t’good men yer took.’

‘Sutty! Leave it for later,’ shouted Jeffers at the guard.

‘Most of all, I’m gonna enjoy squeezin’ these nippers on yer cute, little nips, yer filthy bitch.’ Sutty opened the sharp jaws in front of Ellie’s terrified eyes. He rubbed the nippers across her right nipple, erect again after her second soaking, and made sure she could feel the sharpness of the hard metal blades even through two layers of clothing.


‘They don’t call me ‘The Yorkshire Nipper’ for nuffin’, yer know,’ he smirked.

With that, Sutty walked away and placed the hoof nippers on the bench before looking over his shoulder back at Ellie cowering and shivering on the floor.

Ellie took some deep breaths and tried to compose herself. In all her planning, she had never really considered the possibility of being captured alive, and the likely consequences. She had been mentally prepared to die in pursuit of her mission, and she still would if she could kill the Duke. Now, it seemed that she had failed, and worse, she was about to suffer a slow, agonising, humiliating death in this hell of a wine cellar at the hands of her sworn enemy and his devilish helpers.

Suddenly, the pain in her groin attacked Ellie with renewed vigour. She had hardly noticed it for the last few hours. Ellie gasped and moaned under her breath as sweat formed immediately on her cold, wet brow. She longed to hold her sex, to somehow dissipate the agony a little, but with her hands tied behind her she couldn’t. Ellie grimaced and hoped the guards would not see her anguish.


As Ellie gradually calmed herself, the guards were distracted by the opening of the cellar door. Ellie looked round and saw the Duke entering the cellar. He scowled at her as he walked rather stiffly past her to meet Jeffers and the guards.

Two guards were just finishing tying long ropes around the four columns that surrounded the barrel. Two of the ropes had two-foot-long poles, maybe old broken broom handles, tied behind the columns. Ellie knew enough about ropes to realise the poles could be turned to twist and shorten the length of the ropes.

‘Is everything in place?’ the Duke asked the Captain.

‘Yes, Sire. We can do as you command. We can string the bitch up and whip her if you like. Christie is our best flogger, Sire. Or we have a very good fire, and the irons are already very hot. Sutty is expert with the red-hot irons. Or we can stretch her over this barrel. We have lots of tools to use. What is your preference, Sire?’

‘Very good, Captain. Get the whore over here and we’ll see if she’s going to be more talkative before I decide.’

Two guards approached Ellie and untied her wrists. They grabbed her arms and dragged her the few yards to the bench where they stood her in front of the Duke.


Ellie was still shivering in her soaking wet clothes, and her hands were tingling as the circulation returned. She did notice, though, that the fire was indeed now burning very strongly, and she was grateful for the heat. She also noticed the irons were now in the centre of the raging fire, right where the fire is hottest. The smoke from the hearth was drifting across the cellar, adding to the gloomy atmosphere. Ellie noted absentmindedly that it would eventually find its way out of the cellar through the grates near the ceiling above the water barrel. Those grates must be just above the outside ground level. Ellie also noticed that it was just starting to get light outside.

She looked at the Duke and tried to stop herself shivering. He was now dressed in a clean white smock and black leather breeches, but she could see that he was heavily bandaged under his smock. He was already starting to sweat again, and his face looked flushed yet pale at the same time. Ellie smiled to herself. Maybe her mission was not over quite yet.

The Duke stared directly into Ellie’s stunning, green eyes. They seemed even brighter in the flickering light of the torches.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Where are you from?’

‘What are the names of your co-conspirators?’

Ellie remained tight-lipped and silent. She felt ten pairs of male eyes staring at her with a mixture of hatred, lust and anticipation. There was no doubt she was in the hands of arch enemies. The tension was palpable as they all waited for her response, and then the consequent reaction of the Duke.

The Duke picked up one of Ellie’s daggers from the bench.

 

[Davec5299]

Chapter 15 – A Decision to be Made

The Duke fingered Ellie’s dagger, which still retained some blood stains from its recent use.

‘Yours, I believe,’ he said, looking at Ellie again. ‘An interesting weapon. I don’t recall seeing one quite like this before.’

‘I’ve seen one,’ piped up Jeffers. ‘They are of Irish origin, I believe, Sire. Called a skean.’

‘Is that so? Well, girl, do you have Irish blood in you?’

Ellie remained unmoved, determined to give absolutely nothing away.

‘She has the look of an Irish peasant with those green eyes. Maybe a potato farmer,’ added the Duke sarcastically.

‘She ‘as the look of a filthy Irish murderer, Sire,’ chimed in Sutty. ‘She’s no good. We need to get ‘er to talk before we has ‘ordes of rampagin’ Irish gypsies ‘ere in York, slaughterin’ our good folk, Sire.’

‘Patience, Sutty. All in good time,’ admonished Jeffers.

‘I can’t wait to make that fithy whore of an Irish bitch pay for what she’s done tonight. I’ll make ‘er scream so loud ‘er ancestors will hear ‘er all the way over in Ireland.’

‘Enough! You’ll get your turn,’ snapped Jeffers.

‘Yes. You certainly will, if she doesn’t answer my questions.’ The Duke sneered at Ellie. ‘I’ll ask you once more. What is your name?’

Ellie swallowed hard but said nothing.

‘Where are you from? Is it Ireland?’

Ellie clenched her jaw closed even tighter.

‘Who else helped you?’

Ellie snarled a little, determined to show her defiance to all the men who surrounded her.

The Duke replaced her dagger on the bench, next to its pair, and then stepped to one side to give Ellie an unobstructed view of the large bench.


‘You see these tools on this bench. You recognise many of them. You’ve seen a long whip in action, punishing thieves at the whipping post. You’ve heard their cries of agony as the whip tears their skin. You’ve seen their bloodied backs. You’ve seen whores branded with red-hot irons. You’ve smelt their burning flesh as the breast rippers have closed on them. You’ve heard their wailing screams. You’ve seen the weeping, vivid red scars on their soft skin.’


Ellie stood impassively, trying not to listen.

‘Maybe you’ve not seen the farrier’s tools used, except on a hard horse’s hoof. Think what we can do to your weak flesh with these pliers, or this pritchel, or this knife, or these nippers.’

Ellie stood still, trying not to focus on the tools laid out before her. The guards had gathered closely around her.

‘Look at the men here. Don’t you see how much they want to hurt you. You’ve killed five of their friends, five of their best mates. It could just as easily have been them we are burying today. They would do anything to be left to their own devices with you. They want to rape you, bugger you, whip you, burn you, slice you up and let you slowly bleed to death………… and they want to laugh at you and spit in your face while you die.’

Ellie swallowed hard. She knew the Duke was right.

‘So, what’s your name? Tell me now or it will be too late.’

Ellie fought back a tear, but held her head up, lips tightly sealed.

‘Where are you from?’

‘Fuck you,’ Ellie muttered under her breath.

‘What? Where?’

‘Fuck you!’ Ellie screamed. ‘I’m from FUCK YOU!’


The guards looked on intently as the Duke returned to the bench and picked up one of Ellie’s daggers again. He poked the very end of the blade against Ellie’s left cheek.


‘Maybe I should give you a deep, red scar right here, across your pretty face. That might curb your insolence and make you more compliant,’ he sneered.

Then he tapped the end of the blade on Ellie’s chest, where her dirty, freckled skin peeped between the laces. Ellie stood her ground, even when the point of the dagger threatened to cut her. She glared back at the Duke, trying as hard as she could not to show her fear.


The Duke looked at Ellie’s long plait that had fallen forward over her left shoulder. The end fell past her heaving left breast. He used the dagger to hack it off at her collar bone and let the wet strands fall loose. One of the guards picked her plait up off the floor and tossed it into the roaring fire.


Next, the Duke looked at her small cross. He handled it and looked at it closely. Then he looked directly into Ellie’s glaring green eyes. With a smirk he sliced through the cord, spat on the cross and tossed that too into the dancing flames.

After a further pause, the Duke untied the black, leather belt at Ellie’s waist and pulled it away, throwing it to the floor. He then grabbed the hem of Ellie’s long, dark green sweater and inserted the point of her dagger behind it.

‘Hold the bitch tight,’ he said as he moved the blade upwards, allowing it to cut slowly but easily through the soaking wet material. As he cut higher, more of Ellie’s wet smock became visible, but none of her fair skin so far. Her long sweater was soon split to the neck and the guards holding her pulled if off her arms and threw it to the floor.

Ellie stood between the guards in her smock and leggings as everyone waiting for the Duke to cut away the rest of her clothes. Instead, he put Ellie’s dagger back on the bench and grabbed the hem of her smock with both hands. The guards spread Ellie’s arms away from her sides as the Duke slowly pulled her smock up, revealing her sunken belly button and very slightly rounded tummy. He stopped and looked again into Ellie’s fiery eyes. Ellie tried very hard to maintain her composure and show no fear or embarrassment. She had never been naked before other men, but she was determined not to show the Duke any weakness. She held her head up high and thrust her firm jaw out as she tried to stare him down.

The Duke sneered as Ellie’s face flushed slightly. She wasn’t as hardened as she tried to make out.

The Duke pulled Ellie’s dark green smock up over her breasts, allowing ten lustful pairs of eyes to take in their perky shape, their smooth, pale, freckled skin and their pink nipples, not so erect now as they were after her dousing with freezing cold water.

‘She’s got nice tits for a skinny whore,’ laughed one of the guards.


‘Shut up, you fool,’ snarled Jeffers.

‘They’d look better with some stripes from my whip across ‘em.’

‘Enough, Christie.’

The guards pulled Ellie’s smock over her head and off her arms and threw it to the floor. For a few minutes the Duke left her like that, naked to the waist with her face, neck and the top of her chest flushing crimson in the flickering light of the torches.

At last the Duke untied the cord holding up Ellie’s brown leggings and pulled them down over her hips. He paused. All eyes were fixed on Ellie’s crotch as he slowly pulled her leggings further down her thighs, bringing the top of her hairy mound into view, then very gradually the rest of her crotch.

The Duke paused again for a few seconds and then pulled her leggings down sharply over her knees until they puddled on the floor at her feet.

The guards holding Ellie grabbed her elbows and pulled them back to push her breasts out towards the Duke. Two of the guards brought torches nearer to better see their naked captive. Ellie could hear the guards’ appreciative murmurs and see their lustful smirks in the torchlight.

Then they released Ellie and moved away from her to ensure all the men had an unobstructed view. Ellie quickly covered her breasts and sex with her arms.

‘Put yer fuckin’ arms down, you filthy whore!’ growled Sutty, causing Ellie to look over her left shoulder.


The Duke picked up Ellie’s dagger again and tapped the point against her chest. Ellie felt the keenness of the blade, but she was determined not to flinch.

‘Arms down, now!’ he demanded.

Ellie thought about resisting, but there seemed little point now, choosing to put her arms at her sides and to stand up straight-backed, proudly and defiantly instead.


‘I’d love t'chance to flay that skinny back with me bullwhip. That'd make ‘er talk.’

‘I said enough, Christie. Shut up, will you. And put the whip back!’

The Duke stepped aside so Ellie could once again see the bench with all its evil implements.

‘What’s your name, whore?’

Ellie snarled back at him.

‘Right! She’s had enough chances. Let’s make this murderous whore talk, men.’

 

[Davec5299]

Interlude – Poll 3

The Duke of York has given Ellie every chance to answer his questions, but she is still denying him. What should he decide will be the first method of persuasion he should now use?

1. Gather the men in a circle around her and soften her up with leather straps
2. Get the guards to hold her while the Duke extracts revenge for his injuries using one of her own daggers
3. Hold her tight and let Sutty get to work with the hoof nippers
4. Tie her to a column arms over her head and let Christie have free reign with the horsewhip
5. Tie her spreadeagled over the barrel on her back and start with a gang rape while she’s still very responsive
6. Tie her down over the barrel face down and brand her ass with the red hot iron

Please make your mind up quickly, the next chapter will be posted tomorrow.

 

[Boris Spider]

5, then 6...