'Welcome to Shrevra, girls. I am the Colonel, you may recognise my face from amongst the small crowd of prospective buyers who watched you being displayed at Rouassa slave market.'
As the dust cleared they found a man facing them. He looked to be perhaps seventy or perhaps he was only fifty but had spent too long in a harshly sunny location that had wrinkled and tanned his skin so much it was beginning to look like a shrivelled prune. He wore a crisp white linen suit, a paisley cravat and a wide-brimmed Panama hat. He held a silver-topped walking cane in one hand and a pair of white leather gloves in the other. Two young shaven headed men in monks' attire flanked him on both sides.
'Shrevra is a closed religious commune and you have been brought here to serve the higher disciples and the masters. Our commune is founded on beliefs of worship and devotion. You will be taught to worship the masters and you will become devoted to serving them.'
'Bullshit!' Christy swore. 'When my papa finds out where the hell I am, you lot are gonna be in for it! And if you think I'm...'
'Take the American girl and give her a dozen strokes of the cane for voicing her desire to be disobedient. The sooner she learns what is expected from her the better!'
The two natives who had guarded the girls on the journey grabbed hold of Christy and dragged her to the end of the truck where the two young monks lifted her down and carried her across the courtyard. The Colonel looked critically at Zoe, a smile slowly forming across his face.
'Do you wish to voice any objections?'
Zoe hesitated, part of her wanting to avoid any trouble but she was seething with resentment. She had to bite her tongue or she knew she'd tell this arrogant man what she thought of him. He nodded thoughtfully as he scrutinised her then he pointed with his cane to where Christy was being bound between two poles in one corner of the courtyard.
'You feel just like her, but you are afraid to speak out like she has. You may as well share her suffering, then you'll better understand the wisdom of devotion and obedience.'
The man waved his cane in signal and the two monks, leaving the American girl tied between the two poles, returned to the truck.
'This one is going to punish the other girl. Untie her and equip her.'
Zoe was too shocked at first to realise what was happening but soon enough she was standing, unfettered, with a long supple bamboo cane in her trembling hand and staring at her naked and trembling companion. Christy looked nervously over her shoulder.
'Just do it. Just do what they tell you. If you don't they'll only punish both of us,' Christy encouraged her.
'I can't!' Zoe shook her head, gazing in despair at the girl before her. The two poles were about six or eight feet apart with brass rings bolted to them top and bottom. Heavy hemp ropes were tied to each ring and by these Christy was bound by her wrists and ankles and held spread-eagled. Zoe looked around her, trying to find a way out of the situation she had been placed in. Half a dozen young monks stood ranged around in a semi-circle watching and now two older men joined the Colonel. These men, who Zoe guessed must be masters, wore dark green robes as opposed to the brown robes of the young monks.
'Here at Shrevra you will come to understand that to fully appreciate life you must learn to embrace both aspects of our existence: pleasure and suffering. Now, look at me girl...'
The Colonel used the end of his cane to lift Zoe's head by her chin, encouraging her to meet his gaze.
'Christy is younger than you are and as her older sister you must take a hand in teaching her. When she arrived she believed that she would hate it here and she'd hate to serve us. We will now begin to teach her that she can come to love being here. First we must wash her mind with the cleansing fire of pain. A pain that will make her understand that her body is nothing more than an instrument to bring the masters of Shrevra rewards for their long devotion to our community. Give her a dozen strokes of the cane and hit her where she will link the pain to the meaning of her body; the provision of gratification to her masters.'
'I can't do it!' Zoe shook her head.
'Then perhaps, she should teach you?'
The Colonel walked across to in front of where Christy hung spread-eagled. Zoe could see that the young girl was still looking defiant but there was also fear in her eyes.
'My child, you may choose to receive pain or to give pain. Remember though before you answer, there is no escape from Shrevra and until you learn obedience every day will be a painful step on the path to fulfilment.'
'Let me down. I'll whip her!'
'But Christy... don't you see what they're doing?' Zoe blurted.
'Sure I see honey, but we've got a choice, don't you understand? I don't want to collect bruises even if you do!'
Zoe couldn't believe what was suddenly happening. The cane was taken from her grasp and no sooner had Christy been freed than Zoe was being bound in her place.
'Christy, they're manipulating us! Don't listen to what he says... we have to stick together on this! Don't you understand what he's doing to us?'
'Sure I understand Zoe. It's just like college. You have to play by the rules to get on. I've always played by the rules if it's worth it and right now it's worth it!'
Zoe stared imploringly at the young American girl as she circled her, the cane in one hand, her other dragging her tangled blonde hair clear of her face. She stepped close in front of Zoe and whispered to her.
'Listen Zoe, we could be here for ages, haven't you figured it out? As long as we give these guys a good time and play the devoted slave girls we'll be okay. Hell, it shouldn't be that bad.'
Zoe shook her head in dismay as Christy stepped back, swung the cane and brought it down across her breasts with a sharp thwack. She gave a scream of pain and jerked her arms angrily against the ropes that bound her wrists.
'It isn't so bad Zoe. Not from my perspective anyway!'
The cane swished through the air and hit Zoe across the inside of her spread thighs and she gave another howl of pain. She watched, trembling, as the young American girl danced out of her vision, moving behind her.
'Christy, please... don't!'
The cane smacked down across her rump making her jerk and pull frantically against the ropes.
'Good, well done Christy,' the Colonel encouraged.
The cane struck again where her thighs curved into her buttocks and she gasped as the pain travelled through her body like an electric shock. She was trembling uncontrollably with sweat running all down her tethered body by the time she'd received her first six strokes from the cane.
'How are you feeling Zoe?'
Christy stood close behind her and Zoe felt the cane touching between her spread legs.
'Uhh, please, do you have to hit me so hard?' she begged.
'Heavens sweetheart, they'd spot it if I didn't do a proper job. Besides, you know I'm kinda getting to enjoy myself here.'
Zoe groaned as the cane slid against the folds of her sex.
'Is your mind focusing yet on pleasure and suffering?'
'Uhh...'
Zoe felt the cane tap lightly against her sex, then a second time, more forcefully. She gasped in pain and tried urgently to close her legs protectively together but it was impossible. Again the cane flicked against her, then she felt the other girl slide her fingers into her sex.
'Say Colonel, I think she's beginning to get aroused by this. Is that good or bad?'
'It's good that she can appreciate pain and find pleasure in her suffering. Now, give her the next six strokes!'
Shrevra lay isolated, as Zoe had guessed, in the Himalayan foothills. The valley where the monastery was situated was owned wholly by the sect, as was most of the neighbouring valley. The fertile lower hill slopes were given over to tea plantations that the monks ran and profited from. They also grew and harvested from large fields of wild poppies whose cultivation Zoe guessed was for opium.