He made no gesture whatever, which would seem to draw attention to the palpable fact of his condition, and the Prince totally ignored it, merely holding out his hand to receive the rod, while Katushka knelt with unconscious grace and kissed the weapon, at the same time thanking his master in another set phrase for correcting him. Having done this, he retired to the further side of the room where he unostentatiously wiped himself and took his place among the others but did not resume his clothes.
Having thus been reassured as to the character of the punishment, I experienced only a sense of curiosity when the Prince called Sergei up for correction on account of some trivial offence – I forget what – which he had been guilty of.
He underwent the same treatment as Katushka as Sacha and Mikail again acted their parts in assisting while the sentence was being carried out. He was also a finely proportioned boy, as were indeed all the pages, no doubt having been specially selected on this account by the Prince from among the numerous vassals of his Russian estates.
He appeared, however, to be of a more volatile temperament than Katushka and took his birching with much less composure, writhing and uttering sharp screams, which only aroused the Prince to a greater show of energy, so that Sergei's large, rounded bottom presented a mass of pink weals, crossing and re-crossing one another, where the Gourkadoff had finished.
After witnessing the result on Katushka, I was prepared for something similar in the case of this boy and I was not terrifically surprised to find that his cock had given down its liquor; but I had hardly expected it to be quite to the extent to which it was, for indeed such a flow had outpoured itself that his thighs were literally bathed, and drops of the essence fell onto the carpet as he finally came towards us.
This bodily state that he was in forced itself into too much prominence to be overlooked, and even the Prince deigned to notice it, commanding the lad sternly to cleanse himself and prepare to receive a further dose of the rod.
This time the castigation did not take long, the Prince quickly tiring, while Sergei, when he advanced for the second time in order to give back the rod to his master and take his dismissal, did not on this occasion display the same physical control that he had before exhibited.
The Prince now called forward another of the pages. “I'm sorry Ivan, to have to display great severity to you, but after the warnings you have repeatedly had, it cannot be avoided and you must take the consequences. I trust it will have the good effect of curing your evil habits of laziness and sloth.”
These words sounded ominous, and I fell to wondering what form the lad's chastisement was to take. Two of the other pages, whom the Prince addressed as Vasili and Fyodor, were called upon to assist, and they began to strip Ivan of his bravery of velvet and silver.
He was a handsome boy, as were his companions, and his figure was equally well made in its way as those of the others, for all these Russians seemed to be of exceptionally good physique. He had a fairly good sized cock. It was not stiff, although I had expected it would be after the foregoing scenes, which had been exercised. No doubt custom had hardened him to these sights. He kissed the rod just as Katushka and Sergei had done and sought the Prince to punish him.
Then he was taken to the middle of the room and stood upon a stool. I had noticed two long chains, with swivel hooks at the end, hanging from the ceiling, and had been at a loss to understand the reason for their presence.
The riddle was soon solved, for a strap was buckled 'round each of Ivan's wrists and the chains were then fastened to these. The stool being removed from under him, he swung it mid air, suspended by his hands and in this position awaited the ministrations of the Prince.
The Prince brought down the rod on poor Ivan. The unhappy Ivan cried and groaned, kicking with his legs until he swayed backwards and forwards like a gymnast, while the pliant rod hurtling through the air did fall on his unprotected buttocks and legs in a smarting shower, his skin glowing crimson under the rapid circulation of the blood thus set up, while his cock swelled and stood out at a right angle to his body.
Towards the close, the Prince shifted his stand, going to the other side and applying some effective and well directed blows on his belly and thighs, making him cry out with redoubled force, while his swollen member fairly curled upwards, describing the arc of a circle, in the stress of his anguish.
At last the Prince's righteous sentiments were satisfied and Ivan was set free – after he had made his act of submission and dutifully kissed the rod, being allowed to stand back in his place and to do his best to soothe his ruffled feelings.
Next on the princess' list came two other pages, Vladimir and Dimitri. These were not made to go through the same course as Ivan, their offence being ostensibly more trivial, but after they had undressed and the usual preliminaries conducted, Vladimir was made to get on Dimitri's back, holding him 'round the neck, while the other grasped him 'round the legs, in this way receiving his castigation.
This was a much better manner, I thought, than that of Ivan's punishment, and there was no doubt some pleasure in it for Vladimir as he wriggled around Dimitri's warm back under the Prince's strokes. And I fancy the latter was not so severe either as in the case of Ivan.
Neither did Vladimir let any cries escape him, but only betrayed his perturbation of body by pantings and writhings. Once again, I was not prepared for eventualities, and it was with a corresponding wonder that I observed, when the Prince had ceased and Vladimir got down, streaks of moisture on the low part of Dimitri's back. I at first thought that this was only perspiration, but a closer look on moving a little nearer showed me that it was semen, and I saw Vladimir's member, which was inflamed, with a drop of white liquid exuded from the top, putting me in mind of a lozenge-shaped pearl. I can tell you that on seeing this, I almost envied Vladimir, so much did I want to satisfy the longings of my own cock.
It now came to Dimitri's turn and he had to mount Vladimir's back. This finished the series of floggings. All those who had felt the rod were called up and examined by the Prince to see that no serious injury had been done to their epidermis, and when he had satisfied himself as to this, he delivered them into the hands of Sacha and Mikail, who rubbed them well with salving ointment.
The Prince himself superintended this operation, and while it was going on, I spoke to Cecil in private. I told him that I had been very much interested in what I had seen, with one exception, and I said that I thought Ivan had been too cruelly treated.
“I think so too,” he agreed, “But it would be useless to say anything to the Prince, he is so arrogant – and it appears that he misbehaved himself very much, otherwise the Prince would not have used the form of punishment which he did. It is as the Romans used it to flog their slaves in a similar manner, only in their case it was much worse, as a heavy weight which they called 'centupondium' was attached to the poor creature's feet. There is as much pleasure as anything else in the punishments which take place here.”
The Prince returned to us and we went back to the salon. Some time elapsed before at length he beckoned me to him. Taking my hands in his, he looked at me with a glance of approval, and turning to Cecil, said, “Gaston has such a nice body. I quite envy you your intimacy with him. I should love to whip him! Nothing gives me so much pleasure as to practice on a young and tender body like his.”
“I am afraid, Rodya, that you must forego your wish. I do not think our young friend is pleased at the idea. And I would not have you hurt him for the world.”