The Harlot's Stage or a Gilded Cage

6. The Fitting

***A/N This chapter has strong themes of exhibitionism, s****l submission, and s****l coercion/abuse. While reluctant/nonconsent fantasies are common, they should remain just that - fantasies. Any s****l relationship in real life should be consensual and based on communication and trust, especially when it comes to kink and/or roleplay. That said, so long as you are clear on the difference between reality and fantasy, enjoy! And if you're not really into those themes, simply skip the last scene of the chapter where the story switches to Anova. Happy reading!***

Elona woke up to sunlight streaming through the windows. It was already light? What time was it? She rubbed her bleary eyes as she looked around for some kind of indicator. If she were at The Aviary, she would have already been up a couple hours before light so that she could get started on breakfast and cleaning up the revelry from the night before. 

    While she was trying to rub the sleep from her eyes, she noticed a rhythmic swishing. What was that sound? It seemed vaguely familiar but she couldn’t place it. 

    As the swishing continued, she decided that it might be a horse’s tail. Did they put her in the stables? That would seem par for the course considering Madame Ritivia’s feelings about her so far. Although, she felt like she would have remembered walking into a stable last night... but honestly, after that debacle with the wine and the coat and the n*****s, she’d been trying to forget the entire thing. Otherwise, she might wish too hard for the earth to swallow her up. 

    Her visions finally cleared enough that she could take in her room. So far, it seemed quite normal and manure free. Actually, while manure-free was an accurate description, normal was not. It was infinitely more decadent than her cot in a corner of the attic at the aviary. Heavy aubergine velvet drapes hung from windows that soared above her head. Ornately carved settees and armed chairs upholstered with a decadent looking white and gold brocade occupied one end of the room. There was also a massive vanity with drawers so big they could easily hold all of the clothes in Elona’s chest two or three times over. 

    When Elona kicked her feet out of bed, her toes sank down into plush carpet. Its softness was rivaled only by the bed sheets she’d been sleeping in. There even seemed to be another bed on the other side of the room. 2 beds? Damn, nobles had some strange ideas about interior decor.

    Finally able to see, Elona tried to locate the sound of the swishing. She stifled a scream when she finally located the source. Kyera was brushing her hair in front of the vanity on the other side of the room. 

    So maybe the second bed wasn’t that strange after all.

    Elona gaped as Kyera calmly continued brushing her hair. Although she didn’t say anything, Elona could see in the mirror as Kyera rolled her eyes. Abruptly, Kyera set her hairbrush down and stood. She walked over to the armoire by her bed. The lightweight robe billowed after as she walked, as though she were in a hurricane instead of an enclosed room. The moving streaks of color reminded Elona of birds in flight, or her own adoptive aunts dancing sensually on the mainstage at The Aviary. 

    She was interrupted from this train of thought when Kyera slowly dropped the object of her contemplation to the floor. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath so Elona was able to witness the perfection of her body firsthand. First, the delicate bare slope of her shoulders emerged under the curly cloud of dark hair she’d just brushed. Then a perfectly straight back that nipped into her waist concealed most of her breasts from view, although Elona could still the sides spilling out on either side. Finally, a perfectly heart shaped ass sat on top of long limber legs. Elona thought Kyera might have been the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. 

    “Are you just going to watch me or you planning to eventually get up yourself?” Startled from her reverie, Elona jumped up and began rushing around the room to gather her toiletries. She rifled through her chest to find the most conservative option possible - a mostly sheer black negligee with feathers around the sleeves and neckline along with a pair of lacy black boyshorts - grabbed Tynan’s jacket for some extra coverage, and ran to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. 

    When she emerged in the outfit she’d cobbled together, it was clear to everyone else that she was uncomfortable. She kept pulling her sleeves down and tugging the sides of the jacket closer together. Still, many of the other Seeds did some combination of snicker and look at her in disgust. Kyera’s gaze felt especially penetrating as she sized her up. Elona couldn’t help but feel like Kyera’s scanning felt almost predatory, like the way the clients at The Aviary greedily drank in the sight of the Sparrows performing. 

    Thankfully, Camine took pity on Elona and offered to loan her one of her things. Elona gratefully agreed. The blush pink sundress she changed into felt much lighter and airier than anything Elona had ever worn - well, at least anything that was meant to be worn as actual clothes and not for bedroom purposes. 

    When Elona came back to her and Kyera’s shared room to drop off her old clothes, she found Kyera perched in front of the vanity once again. She had three different boxes filled with jewelry open in front of her; it seemed that she was trying to pick out a second necklace to put on along with the earrings, bracelets, rings, and necklace she’d already put on. Noticing the direction that Elona was looking, Kyera pulled out a long silver chain embedded with sapphires and amethysts. 

    “What’s the point of pretty things if you can’t show them off?” she said as she fastened it around her neck. The chain dipped into the crevice between her breasts perfectly, drawing even greater attention to the mounds that were already prominently pushed up and showed off by the low cut neckline of the pale blue dress she was wearing. “This is the classy way to show off your t**s, by the way. No sheer panels or pasties so that you actually leave enough to the imagination to keep them interested.” Kyera swept out of the room before Elona could come up with a suitable response. 

    As it turned out, Elona would be getting some pretty things of her own today. 

    When Elona joined the other Seeds milling in the lobby where they’d been told to report each morning, she was surprised to see that not all of the supposed ladies from more noble families had chosen the same route as Kyera. In fact, it seemed as though Madame Divi might have personally curated some of the ensembles they were wearing. Elona internally shrugged and figured they were entitled to wear whatever they liked and pursue whatever strategies they felt comfortable with. She simply wasn’t comfortable showing so much of her own skin, but she applauded those who felt confident enough to choose that for themselves. At least, she hoped they’d chosen it for themselves.

    “Welcome to your second day at The Reaping, ladies. Last night made the importance of having a suitable wardrobe abundantly clear, so Prince Tynan has insisted that you all be provided with new attire as quickly as possible.” Elona could feel the gaze of Madame Ritivia and some of the others burning holes in her skin, but she focused on the knots in the wood of the doors behind Madame Ritivia. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of shrinking under their judgment. 

    “This new wardrobe has two main purposes. First, it will serve as equalizer so that none of you are disadvantaged by your potentially limited access to resources. As such, you will only be permitted to wear pieces from this wardrobe after you receive it. After all, we wouldn’t want a consort that was chosen only because they were able to secure the services of the best dressmaker in Waecaris, would we?” Madame Ritivia smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Elona had a feeling that she’d banked on just that and this new development had upset some of her best-laid plans. “Secondly, it will ensure that all of you are clothed in a way that becomes the potential future queen consort of Waecaris.” Here she took a break from staring down Elona to look disapprovingly at some of the other Seeds who had decided to take a more risqué approach to their wardrobe.

    “Normally, this would occur later in The Reaping to avoid the costs of clothing all fifteen of you, but you are lucky that Prince Tynan is a generous and giving partner. Please be diligent in appropriately showing your gratitude.” Aha! Elona felt vindicated. Madame Ritivia probably had banked on Kyera having more time to stand out in her designer dresses.

    “Now, if you’ll all follow me, there is a team of seamstresses waiting to take your measurements. You will be allowed to provide your own input so that your own tastes will be reflected - another way for the royal family to gauge how well you’re suited to being queen consort - but today will be mostly about taking the appropriate measurements so that the royal dressmakers can get started immediately.” 

    When they got to the Hall of Seamstresses, Elona was one of the first to step onto the platform to be measured. 

    “We need to measure the wingspan of your arms now, m’lady,” said one of the seamstresses as she wrote the previous measurement in her notebook. 

    “Okay,” said Elona agreeably. She hadn’t really been paying attention to the seamstresses as they did their work. Instead, she’d been daydreaming about Anova, wondering what she was doing at this very moment. 

    “I need you to spread your arms, m’lady,” the seamstress reiterated.

    “What?” Elona said as she was startled out of contemplating how her adoptive sister might be occupying her time.

    The seamstress gestured to her arms. “Spread ‘em.”

    “Spread ‘em.”

    At Madame Divi’s insistence that she comply with the clients’ demands, Anova bent over and pulled her asscheeks apart to show off the silver chain that nested in her ass crack. No one would ever say the bejeweled G-string was comfortable, but they’d also never deny that it made for a great show. Anova was just thankful that the chain and the embedded gems were small; she knew from experience that it could have been a lot worse.

    When Madame Divi had first started bringing Anova out to waitress for these exhibition nights to drum up interest in the Aviary’s newest Sparrow-in-training, Anova had tried every trick in the book to get out of it. If she claimed she wasn’t feeling unwell, Madame Divi would just reschedule for double the time later when she had miraculously recovered. If she claimed she had lost or broken her costume, Madame Divi would supply her with a skimpier replacement. If she refused, Madame Divi threatened to force Elona to take her place.

    Ultimately, that last threat was what persuaded Anova to swallow her protests. She hated being at Madame Divi’s beck and call, yes, but she would hate herself even more if she sold out her adoptive sister to save herself. Besides, there was no guarantee that Divi wouldn’t find some other way to coerce her back into training anyways. At least if Divi had Anova, she would focus on training her and not scheming up ways to drag Elona into this business, too. 

    “What a ssssiight - I’m sure she has much morrrre to show. Any chance we could appreeeeeciate some of her other asssssets, too?” leered a man from the couch. The glass in his hand along with all the other empty ones nearby explained his slurring speech. Anova dreaded the thought of having to serve him another round tonight. She had noticed his thinning salt-and-pepper hair and the thick gold rings on his fingers, which meant he was probably one of Madame Divi’s more important patrons. While Madame Divi had been good about making sure no one touched her while she waitressed on these exhibition nights, Anova wasn’t sure that Madame Divi wouldn’t let him get away with a bit more to secure his business. 

    “Patience, sir,” purred Madame Divi. Anova let out a sigh of relief. “Patience is a virtue, is it not? Such a virtuous creature deserves some virtue from you,too.” Anova felt anything besides virtuous dressed in her bikini top and g-string made of jeweled chains, but she knew Madame Divi’s insistent remarks on “virtue” were thinly veiled references to her virginity more than anything. “And besides, waiting makes the pleasure that much sweeter. Wouldn’t you agree?”

    “How long will we have to wait for this pleasure you mention?” asked another man from a different corner. He only had one glass, still mostly full, and he ran his finger around its rim as he regarded Anova through hooded eyes. Since he’d chosen the darkest corner of the parlor and she’d only served him once, Anova hadn’t been able to glean much about him. She just knew that his piercing gaze felt like it was going right through her. “Can you tell her to keep her head up and push her chest out, too? I know she’s showing off her other jewelry right now, but I’m more of a breasts man myself.”

    “You heard him, Anova. In fact, why don’t you turn to face him so he has the best view.” Madame Divi patted her ass to get her to rotate towards the mystery man. Normally, Anova would look at the wall or the ceiling, but she couldn’t help but keep eye contact with the man as she jutted her breasts in his direction. He didn’t break eye contact with her, either. Anova finally ended their staring contest and lowered her gaze when Madame Divi began to speak again. 

    “As for further opportunities, I haven’t set a date for her auction yet. She’s grown up here nearly all her life, so I can assure you that in all the important ways, she’s as innocent as they come. Of course, we have been giving her some other training to ensure that she’ll satisfy her potential clients as well. All of her firsts will be up for grabs - she’s never even been kissed.”

    The mystery man regarded her curiously. “Is that true?”

Anova nodded.

    A feminine voice piped up from behind her, outside of Anova’s line of sight. “I look forward to it, my friend, but are you sure there’s no way we could get a little peek tonight? Not even for me?” Anova recognized the voice of Mistress Reinea, an infamous domme and one of The Aviary’s most lucrative and loyal patrons. 

    “For you, my friend, perhaps I could arrange something. Anova, stand up and turn around.” Anova did as she was told, her heart beating in her mouth in anticipation. How much more of herself could she lay bare? The chains of her g-string and bikini top already didn’t hide much which was why she was wearing silvery pasties underneath as well. Would Madame Divi tell her to remove those? As scantily clad as she’d been before, she’d never been truly revealed in public. Her areolae and nether regions had always been covered, even if not much else had been.

    “Let’s see, what shall we have you do tonight?” Madame Divi tapped her finger on her chin in fake contemplation. The audience played along with this show of indecisions and started yelling out suggestions.

    “Take off those panties!”

    “Show us your t**s!”

    “Touch yourself”

    “The crowd certainly has some intriguing ideas. I could have you take off your pasties so that they could see your sweet pink nipples.” A low roar of approval began to emanate from the crowd.

    “Of course, there is still the matter of your bikini getting in the way. You’ve been rather naughty this week. Perhaps I should take you over my knee and give you a good spanking and let them watch as I pinken that white ass?” The crowd got louder, hungry for Anova’s humiliation. Madame Divi wasn’t done yet, though. 

    “Or...and this is a truly interesting idea....maybe I’ll just have you pull your panties to the side so they can see how wet you are. Just a sneak peek of what they could buy for themselves soon.” The crowd became absolutely rabid at this suggestion, cheering, clapping each other on the back, hoisting their drinks in the air. Madame Divi crossed her arms and smiled. This had been her endgame the entire time. 

    Anova stood rooted to the spot, immobile. Bare her most secret place? So this crowd could devour the sight of her secret shame? 

    “You heard me, Anova. Show us how much you like your training to be a Sparrow. And make sure my special friend Mistress Reinea here has a good view. Otherwise, I’ll have to punish you, and neither of us wants that.” Madame Divi picked up her new favorite toy - the cattle prod. While the invention of electricity a couple of decades ago had led to some incredibly helpful things like electric lighting and machines, it had also been used to develop some other less wholesome contraptions. The cattle prod was one such contraption.

    Originally when Anova was willfully disobedient during her training, Madame Divi would spank her, sometimes trading the flat of her hand for something in her collection of floggers and paddles. Now, her go-to was the cattle prod. She liked that it was just as effective in bringing about the desired results but didn’t leave a mark.

    Anova heard the telltale buzz of it charging up but she still couldn’t move to comply. Only the shock in the middle of her rib cage startled her from her statue impression. “Make me wait any longer, and there’ll be more and much worse,” threatened Madame Divi as she brandished the cattle prod.

    The crowd began to clap and chant. “Take it off! Take it off!”

    Slowly, Anova hooked a finger around the side of her G-string and pulled it to the side. She was no longer able to hide how her arousal glistened on her s*x. 

    “Mmmm, she’s sopping, isn’t she?” remarked Madame Reinea as she reclined in her armchair. “She puts on a good show, but deep down, it seems she likes all of this.” Anova kept her head down, unable to look at Madame Reinea’s smirk dead on. 

    She wanted to disagree, but the truth is, she couldn’t. The evidence was pooling between her thighs where she stood. 

    The truth was, as much as she hated Madame Divi and how she treated her, Anova did like parts of her training. She liked knowing she turned people on. She liked knowing she had the power to make people feel pleasure just by revealing herself. 

    “While we’re at it, why don’t you just slide your panties down entirely? Give everyone here a much better view.” Madame Divi gleefully remarked. She hadn’t been expecting this to go so well, but she knew a good business opportunity when she saw one. Perhaps Anova was more ready for auction than she’d thought.

    Mutely, Anova slid her panties down her legs and stepped out of them. She held them out to Divi.

    “Why don’t you hand them to your admirer in the corner? I know he said he’s more of a breast man, but surely he could appreciate these, too.” Swallowing down the objections that welled in her throat, Anova turned and walked over to the mystery man. She held her panties to him as she quivered with the weight of all the eyes on her. He reached out to grab them, but as she let go, he loosened his grip so they fell through his hand.

    “Oops. Forgive my clumsiness. Be a dear and pick those up for me?” As Anova bent down to pick up the panties on the floor, a new round of catcalls broke out. She knew that all the clients behind her had an excellent view of her wet slit, and all it did was make her even wetter. 

    This time when she went to hand the man her panties, she made sure to hold them over his lap so he couldn’t pull the same trick twice. He seemed to know he wouldn’t get another shot, either, because he took them from her hand this time. “Thank you, Anova. You may return to your stage now.”

    Anova’s eyes widened in surprise at hearing her name. No one but Madame Divi ever addressed her by name at these exhibitions. 

Madame Divi was getting impatient. “Anova, return to the stage one last time to show everyone how wet you are.” Mutely, Anova did as she was told.

       After dropping this final humiliation, Madame Divi finally dismissed her. Anova ran up to her room. She was angry with her parents for putting her in this situation, at Madame Divi for putting her through all of this bullshit, at Madame Reinea and all of the clients for egging her on...but mostly, she was angry at herself for enjoying some of it. 

    The truth was, if she was doing this with someone she actually cared about and who cared about her, she could imagine choosing this herself and being truly happy. But she couldn’t be remotely happy when she was doing this because Madame Divi had threatened Elona with the same fate if Anova didn’t agree to undertake this training. Right now, all she could be was thankful that Elona had lucked into a way out, and hopeful that maybe she’d be able to come back for Anova, too, so that they could live out their happily ever after.