Worlds Collide [HeavenSundered x Inwiththebooks]

The Antaran Empress grinned victoriously at this bit of information offered to her, it was vague but she doubted she’d get much more out of Izumi. That was all she would need however as the intelligent Empress’ mind was working as she removed each needle from the foreigner. A traitor from their country… that might very well be of use to Antara. This eastern empire was distant for now but Selana was a forward thinker. Unlike Izumi this traitor likely had no loyalty to their former country so they might very well be willing to divulge crucial information regarding its inner workings. Information was the most potent weapon in warfare and it decided the outcome of wars.

Once each needle was removed from Izumi, Selana gestured to Shieh to follow her out of the room and up to the main floor. True to the Empress’ word the same physician from before appeared to dab at the woman’s tiny wounds before the guards hauled her back to her cell. Here she was given food and water, nothing fancy just some bread and some strips of salted pork. The Empress in the meantime had ordered her agents out to the eastern provinces to search out this traitor from Izumi’s homeland.

Selana also took the opportunity to have Shieh walk her through a few phrases in the strange language of Izumi’s people. It rolled awkwardly off her tongue and lacked the familiarity of Antaran. Still she intended to learn enough that she would not require translation eventually. To defeat one’s enemy one first needed to learn about one’s enemy. A bit premature to believe this empire her enemy at this point, however the Antaran Empire had faced adversity at all turns. If this empire also threatened it the Selana would not back down from the challenge.

The next few days Izumi was granted peace for the offered information as Selana needed to deal with the Senate as well as officially endorse Adelia for a seat in it. Not only that but there was the matter of appointing a Governor to East Lyca, no easy task considering the Senate had its own candidates to shove down her throat. The Empress found herself sitting at her desk one morning near the end of the week about ready to slump over dead. She had not slept one wink in several days and it showed in the dark circles ringing her eyes.

It was this day where she opted to call for Izumi to be brought before her throne, the Empress donning her crown and official robes for this matter. When the woman was brought before her finally the Empress would cross her legs and steeple her fingers out before her. She had Shieh on standby and had arranged for a six man escort for the prisoner. Selana did not want a repeat of what had occurred that first day in the torture room. Even bound the woman was extremely dangerous.

“Satō Izumi, I have done a bit of digging as to the actuality of your capture. It appears you killed not only one of my soldiers here but seven according to their commander’s report. Eight including the one in my interrogation room.” The woman said at length.

Selana held up the letter that had arrived by carrier pigeon. “I trust you realize that could have been avoided if you had used official channels rather than illegally crossing Antaran borders with a warband at your back? Or were you afraid this traitor might have information you would rather not get into our hands? Plans for invasion perhaps? It would certainly explain the lengths you would go to try and capture this traitor without Antaran involvement or knowledge.” The Empress continued.

“We will find this traitor, have no doubt about that and when we do I will know what he knows. That however, no longer will concern you. By all rights you could be executed for what you have done. However I am willing to offer you a chance at freedom. You will meet me in the Bloodpit on the morrow in combat. If you are victorious I will grant you a pardon and give you passage out of the country. If you lose, you will remain my slave for the rest of your natural born life. Sound fair?” Selana said, standing and staring down at the warrior.

Izumi never thought that she would actually be glad to return to the pitch black cage deep underground where the Empress was keeping her imprisoned, but she was proven wrong. After the unbearable torment that she'd just been subjected to, being anywhere but inside of that hellish torture chamber seemed like a blessing. Crumbling to the cold hard ground as soon as the guards threw her inside, Izumi felt around blindly for the bowl of water that they'd left. Holding the bowl with her palms instead of her aching fingers, she took a few long sips before putting it back down and curling up into a tight ball on her side having no appetite for food, she wished only to fall asleep so that she could forget about her failure and the awful pain coursing through her body for a few hours.

The next few days were mercifully dark, quiet and lonely, giving Izumi some time to start healing. Where not long ago she'd been incredibly eager to leave her cage, now she dreaded hearing the guards' footsteps every time they came down and prayed that they were only coming to deliver her meal, not to drag her back to that room.

Eventually, they did come to take her away, undeterred by her struggling and shouting. It came as somewhat of a relief when they dragged her back up to the surface rather than down to the place where the Empress had abused her, but Izumi doubted that it was to release her. She felt even more naked than she was under the tall ceiling of the massive throne room, just like she had the first day when she'd arrived at the palace, only this time she was also standing before the woman who'd broken her down into a crying, begging mess.

Izumi had never been terrified of any single person before Selana. One of the guards forced her to kneel at the foot of the steps leading up to the throne, and a frigid chill ran down her spine as she looked up at the Empress in all of her regal and imposing glory. From the woman's clothes to the phoenix heraldry surrounding her, everything suggested that Selana was some sort of embodiment of fire, but Izumi knew her to be more like ice. Izumi herself could kill someone in the blink of an eye when she had motive, but she would never have been able to do anything like what Selena had done to her on to another person. Only one possessed by a rare sort of evil or demon could be capable of inflicting such torment without remorse.

The Empress having learned that Izumi killed several soldiers before being captured came more as a given than a surprise. She expected to either be put to death or kept as a slave, but not once had she even considered the possibility of being released. Perhaps even more shocking was that the Empress was giving Izumi an opportunity to challenge her in a duel with the prize being her freedom.

She nodded in agreement without hesitation, although it certainly sounded anything but 'fair'. As terrifying and physically imposing as Selana was, Izumi could say with absolute certainty that no man or woman with the heavy burden of ruling an entire empire would ever be able to match her in single combat. The notion that Selana could have invested sufficient hours into martial training or seen a significant amount of real combat was simply absurd, and Izumi had never lost a duel in her life, not even against other warriors who devoted their entire lives to fighting.

"I will show you the mercy of a quick death which you did not show me," she declared, rising defiantly to her feet. Assuming that this wasn't all an act or a trick, then Izumi knew that she needed to remain vigilant for whatever ruse the Empress has planned. The woman hadn't attained and achieved that title by being stupid, so there was literally no chance for their duel to be just a simple and fair duel, but Izumi still believed that she could win, and it wasn't as if she had anything left to lose.

The Empress smirked at Izumi’s confidence, waving a hand to signal to guards to return her to her cell for the day. The woman had no doubt that in a fair fight the warrior would easily slay her, however she had not lived her life playing by the rules of others. What separated her from most others was her ability to shape the rules to suit her whims. There was no danger of her falling in this duel in her mind as she was already bending the rules in her favor. It was unlikely Izumi would suspect a thing in her condition, though if one ruse failed a dozen more would be in place to make her victory appear legitimate.

“I trust you have a reason for risking your life, Empress?” Came the voice of Maximus.

“Indeed. There is a fire within this warrior I have rarely seen in my short life. I wish to experience the brunt of her flames before I break her. Have no worry, old friend, I have no intentions of dying and will take the necessary precautions.” Selana replied.

“No one ever intends on dying, Empress. I assume you wish to spar leading up to this foolish test of arms? It has been a month since last you actually used that sword.” Maximus said, inclining his head to the ruler of Antara.

So it was that Selana spent the rest of her day sparring with the leader of the Phoenix Guard, though it was more apt to say she spent the day as his punching bag. She was grateful to have Maximus around; the lowborn soldier had always spoken his mind and never used kidgloves with her. Every other person she sparred with treated her as though she were made of glass or feared hitting her too hard would result in a painful death. The woman took each bruise as a lesson in failure and each blow blocked as progress with her somewhat rusty skills.

When the next day came Selana stood just within the gates leading out into the Bloodpits, a crowd cheering loudly at the chance to see the Empress in combat. The woman had arranged for Izumi’s food and drink to be altered slightly with a drug that drastically slowly reflexes and response times. Hopefully it would be enough to level the playing field with the warrior across the way. If not them the Empress had a few more tricks up her sleeve to handle the warrior, none of which would likely be argued. The crowd was here to see their leader win after all.

The woman was dressed in fine metal armor fitting a legionnaire, the plates forged by the finest craftsmen of the Empire. The massive tower shield on her left arm possessed the blazing Phoenix emblem upon it and the short blade in her right hand was nothing short of exquisite. Maximus handed her the Phoenix crowned helmet and stepped back to allow her chariot to roll out onto the Bloodpits proper before she stepped down from the device waited for her opponent to emerge. Naturally the Empress had arranged for the warrior to receive her weapons and armor, which she had noted did not include a shield. Another advantage for her it appeared.

With the duel having been set for the very next morning, Izumi was determined to keep herself on high alert and to take every precaution until then, which included skipping her meals. Not eating for a day wouldn't pose much of a problem at all, as she'd gone without food for longer than that on several occasions during the campaigns and missions which she'd been a part of. Dehydration was by far the bigger issue, but Izumi didn't expect it to effect her too drastically, since it was only for one day. It was definitely worth avoiding the risk of being poisoned or drugged, which she was more than certain the Empress was not above doing.

Her back had mostly already healed over the last few days, the process being hastened by the physician's salve, so as far as that was concerned, it was only the humiliation of being branded a slave which Izumi needed to contend with. However, her fingers and toes were a completely different matter, each of them still quite sensitive, especially when she put any pressure on them. Determined to win her freedom and repay the Empress for her treatment, Izumi spent hours forcing herself to walk in her cell and holding on to the iron bars similarly to the way she'd hold a sword or a spear. If she got accustomed to the pain, then it would be considerably easier to overcome it for the duration of the fight, which she didn't expect to be very long.

The next morning, Izumi was surprised to find out that she'd been granted the use of her own armor and weapons. The Antaran Empress' arrogance apparently knew no bounds. After a meticulous inspection of every weapon and piece of armor to convince herself that they hadn't been tampered with, she got dressed and ready for her match with Selana. The lamellar plates and scales of her armor were not as strong as the metal suits favored by the Antarans, more suited to deflecting glancing blows than absorbing direct hits, but it was also lighter, and few were the times where anyone had managed to score such a direct hit on Izumi - especially in single combat. She chose not to wear her full helmet, instead only equipping the red half-mask designed to resemble a demon's snarling visage which covered the lower part of her face from chin to nose.

The guards spared no precaution now that she was armed, transferring her into a smaller cage for transport to the bloodpits. She was left waiting behind a pair of heavy wooden doors, through which she could still very clearly hear the crowd roar, presumably in response to their Empress making her appearance. Izumi had to imagine that watching their ruler fight in the pits had to be quite a rare occasion. The crowd would obviously be in the Empress' favor, but that was of little concern to her. She wouldn't be able to understand their insults, if they had any, and whatever noise or shouting that they could produce would be no worse than the chaotic din of a real battle.

One of the many guards surrounding her cage unbolted it just as the wooden doors were opened, allowing Izumi to step into the arena. Across the sand, she could see the Empress, the woman's stature seeming even more statuesque now that she was adorned in a full suit of armor, the metal glinting under the sun's rays. Izumi decided to start off by wielding her long hafted naginata to test her opponent from a distance, leaving her katana, wakizashi and tanto blades sheathed until they were needed.

She walked to the center of the arena and bowed low towards the Empress. The injection of adrenaline that Izumi experienced in those moments leading up to the fight helped to mask whatever was left of the pain in her digits, so she felt more than ready. Holding her naginata out towards the side with one hand, blade pointed towards the ground and haft parallel with her arm, she waited for Selana to approach and make the first move.

Her initial strategy was to keep her distance with the reach advantage provided by her weapon so that she could test how effective her opponent was with that large shield. Selana's arm would tire from raising that slab of metal long before Izumi tired from slashing and stabbing with her weapon, so the pressure would be on the Empress to make something happen. The more of that pressure that Izumi managed to apply, the more likely it would be for Selana to make a mistake that she could prey upon.

Selana was actually rather impressed with how Izumi looked in her full armor, rather like demon of some barbaric legend. The Empress offered a slight incline of her head towards the samurai before readying herself with her shield pointed out before her and sword held at the ready. With some irritation she noted that the other woman’s movements were unhindered by the drugged food and water she had sent last night. So instantly there was a disadvantage for the Empress though she was confident she could recover from that with quick thinking. For now though she wanted to gauge her opponent’s skills.

She approached slowly, the noise of the crowd drowned out into a buzz in the background as Selana prepared herself. With the curved spear Izumi was wielding getting close would prove somewhat difficult, so the strategy now was to try and outlast her with an unbreakable defense. As such the tall woman allowed her tall shield to rest upon the ground to compensate for the weight she was lugging around. Her blade was meanwhile at the ready to deflect incoming blows her shield could not deflect. It was a common enough tactic for Antaran soldiers if they ever found themselves in single combat.

The Antaran military was less focused upon personal skill and more upon group cohesion. Selana was confident in boasting that no fighting force was the equal of the Antaran Legions for their extremely efficient styles of fighting. Her style reflected that of the military, being primarily focused upon practicality than flashy and quick movements. When she saw a chance to of course the woman would push out with her shield, using her whole arm in the task to try and throw her opponent’s weapon out wide. All in all though she was clearly focused on defense rather than pure offense, reacting and watching her opponent’s movements.

Izumi waited patiently for her foe to get within range before springing out of her almost relaxed posture and into action, swiftly raising her naginata before bringing it back down to slash at Selana's right arm. When the Empress deflected the blow with her sword, Izumi quickly pulled back only to strike out again before her opponent could close the gap. She mixed in stabbing and slashing attacks without any discernible pattern, testing different areas of Selana's defense.

A few glancing blows slipped through without doing any damage, which was fine, since Izumi's aim was mostly to shake her opponent's confidence. Selana did eventually manage to surprise her somewhat, knocking Izumi's naginata wide with a calculated and hard thrust of her shield. The samurai's experience was enough for her to expect an immediate counterattack, and her reflexes proved sharp enough to avoid it.

Spinning quickly, she managed to dodge Selana's blade by mere inches while simultaneously slamming the butt of her weapon against the side of the Empress' head, hopefully hard enough to rattle her even through her crowned helm. Seizing the opportunity, Izumi pressed more aggressively, lashing out a few more times with her naginata before allowing it to slip from her fingers as she stepped forward and unsheathed her katana, following through with the motion so that it became a diagonal slash upwards.

Selana’s defensive approach proved to be adequate at first as Izumi’s attacks proved only to be able to glance off of her armor and shield. Her curved weapons were likely contributing to the difficulty in getting through her defense, unable to cut through the metal. The Empress found that when she tried to press the attack it proved somewhat effective as the samurai’s weapon was thrown out wide. Sensing an advantage the tall woman moved forward and slashed out with her shorter weapon. The blade slice through empty air as her opponent danced back and swung the curved spear’s butt into the side of her helmet.

The Empress could see spots dancing before her eyes as her head was filled with a ringing noise. By sheer luck she managed to raise her shield up to avoid to worst of the counterattacks from Izumi, though she was surprised when the woman drew her sword and slashed up. The blade managed to graze her right arm, drawing a hiss from the taller woman as she backed up slowly. Izumi’s movements were too fast for her to keep up with, eventually she was going to slip up from her defense in the face of the onslaught. Fortunately, the Empress had a few tricks up her sleeve today.

Selana waited for another attack to come her way, swinging out with her shield once more but allowing her arm to slip out of its holding straps. The device flew from her arm, hopefully providing the Empress with enough of a distraction to proceed with the second part of her plan. She turned and rushed back to the chariot, slicing the tethers that kept both animals held to the device and sending both of the animals running straight for the Samurai. The tall woman then stooped down to grip a fistful of sand; rushing the other woman and throwing the sand for the gaps in the samurai’s mask were her eyes were.

The Empress was not above playing dirty to win and the crowd was eating up the match itself. Antaran culture favored clever thinking more often than strength of arms. Indeed, the majority of Antaran heroes were not the strongest or the bravest but merely those who had been quick thinking enough to take advantage of certain situations. Selana felt no shame in what she did in order to win. A number of cultures she had encountered believed in a crippling form of honor, which more often than not led to their end.

Despite the Empress not showing any flashes of spectacular skill, her steadfast defensive style in combination with the exceptional armor that she wore made it quite challenging for Izumi to get through with any real damage. The good news was that she wasn't exactly receiving a great deal of counter pressure, so she still felt confident in her ability to outlast Selana until she eventually made a punishable mistake, but there was always the unknown risk of prolonging a fight on her opponent's home turf. Surely the Empress had something up her sleeve, Izumi just didn't know what, and the sooner that she put an end to their duel, the less risk of her being caught off guard.

Izumi's eyes were hard with determination as she pressed onward after her blade had bitten into Selana's arm, ramping up her aggression. When the heavy tower shield went flying from the Empress' arm on the next block, however, it was enough to give the samurai slight pause while she sidestepped the shield and momentarily adopted a more defensive stance. It came as a surprise for Izumi to see the Empress turn tail and run rather than rush her with a desperate assault now that her primary defensive tool had been lost. She actually thought that her opponent was abandoning the fight and running for her life until the moment when Selana's sword sliced through the tethers attaching the harnesses of the two horses to her chariot.

The animals had clearly been bred for war, immediately rushing towards Izumi in unison since they accurately perceived her as a threat to their mistress. She'd dealt with charging horses before, even when they were mounted by armed riders, so had it just been that, Izumi could have dealt with them adeptly enough. Unfortunately, she hadn't anticipated the clump of sand that suddenly hit her in the face, more particularly in her unprotected eyes, causing them to clench shut from the abrasive pain.

She lost track of the horses and dropped her concentration for a moment, so instead of slaying them one by one while avoiding their charge, Izumi found herself being slammed into by one of them with full force. Still blinded, she screamed out in anger as she was thrown hard on to her back before immediately being trampled, heavy hoof strikes pummeling her through her armor which wasn't designed to defend against them. Izumi let out another scream of pain as she felt her right shoulder nearly being dislocated, causing her to drop her katana.

Panic coursed through her entire being, threatening to paralyze her, but she managed to draw her shorter wakizashi with her left hand and blindly thrust up in desperation. Warm blood sprayed down on her as the blade sunk deep, and she rapidly stabbed the horse twice more for good measure before rolling away from the second one just a fraction of a second before one of its hooves battered the sand where her head had been. With considerable difficulty, Izumi was able to partially open one of her eyes, which was enough for her to slice through the second animal's throat before stumbling away from the falling carcass, faltering to one knee.

Reversing the grip on her sword, she used the back of her left hand to hastily wipe her eyes, finding it very painful and difficult to try moving her right arm. Still down on one knee, Izumi glanced around wildly, attempting to find Selana before the woman could catch her entirely by surprise.

Selana was not one to rest on her laurels and the second she saw her opponent go down she rushed forward, the screams of pain giving her a good feel on how the fight was shifting. The Empress felt confident her little trick had won her this fight and knew well that Izumi was more than likely at a disadvantage with half her vision and only that short blade. The tall woman dropped her own blade and picked up the fallen katana for its longer reach, the balance of the weapon impeccable. The irony of defeating the warrior with her own sword was also a nicely poetic ending to a duel.

She stood over her foe and sneered down at her, flipping the katana around so that she would strike with the blunted side. Killing Izumi was not the point of this duel, it was to prove that even her great strength and martial prowess was something the Empress could best. Beating her was not so important as much as humiliating her in front of a crowd. Torture could only go so far in breaking one like Izumi. The warrior already feared her to some degree, Selana knew that much, now she simply had to crush that fire within her.

The Empress unfortunately had not expected the woman to lunge forward and sink the curved short blade deep into her shoulder. Selana screamed at that and she was not ashamed to admit it as pain flared up through her entire body. That pain was quickly transformed into white hot rage as she drove the hilt of the katana in her other hand against the side of Izumi’s head hard. Hopefully it would be enough to knock her out or at least daze her long enough for Selana to steal the other blade on her person from her and toss it aside. With that she would step away from the woman and toss aside the katana to try and pull the short blade from her shoulder.

Guards waiting beyond the gates rushed into the Bloodpit, two grasping the samurai’s arms to restrain her and three others moving to attend to the Empress. The tall woman pushed them away as she slid the blade out from her shoulder with a sharp cry of pain, spots dancing before her eyes and a strange wooziness overcoming her. The Bloodpits fell silent at this sight, the Empress victorious but also bloody for the ordeal. She needed to salvage the situation before anyone saw this injury as a weakness on her part.

She cleared her throat and spoke, her voice ringing through the Bloodpits as she clutched her wounded shoulder. “Yes! Your eyes do not- do not deceive you. I bleed. Though the progenitors of my family were gods their descendants are merely men. Flesh, bone, and blood.”

“Though I am but a woman I strive to be more. I strive to be a unifying symbol of this great empire, to be worthy of the blood of gods flowing from me. In order to be worthy… sometimes that blood must be spilt. I gladly spill my blood against people like this woman, barbarians that seek to rob each and every one of you of the light of Antara. I will continue to do so until there is no more blood of mine to spill.” Selana said, the pain throbbing but her voice remaining clear and loud.

As she weaved her words an idea popped into her head fueled by vindictive rage towards the samurai. She half turned to her guards. “Chain her up in the center of the pit.”

“Allow me to demonstrate the fate of those who face the might of Antara. Those who try to tear down the empire built upon the blood of our ancestors and maintained through the blood of the current sons and daughters of Antara.” Selana said, allowing Maximus to try off her wounded shoulder in a rough field dressing.

Her eyes still irritated and her vision still poor, Izumi failed to spot the Empress until the woman's shadow finally gave her away as she towered over her from the side. In a last ditch effort, she used her remaining strength to push herself up with the knee that she had on the ground, twisting her body around so that she might lunge up at Selana. The samurai's intention was to run her wakizashi right through Selana's heart, trusting that the tip of the expertly forged blade would penetrate the exquisite breastplate, but the woman managed to flinch just enough to receive it in the shoulder instead.

Izumi desperately tried to wrench the blade loose, but before she could follow through, a heavy blow to her head caused her to lose her grip as she fell face first on the ground. Dark splotches marred her vision as she told herself that she needed to get up, but her body reacted only with uncoordinated writhing, sand slipping though her fingers as she clawed at it futilely. Countless sets of heavy footsteps seemed to pound the ground all around Izumi before hands began to grab at her from all directions, like demons wanting to pull her into the abyss.

Instead, as she started to regain consciousness, she realized that it was Selana's soldiers dragging her back to the middle of the pit. "NOOO! NOOOOOOOO!!!" she screamed in frustration and despair at having her only chance for freedom stolen away from her. "NNNNNGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Struggling with all of the strength of a kitten, Izumi could only moan in agony as one of the soldiers manhandled her injured right art, tugging it away from her body into position to be chained.

Two soldiers hammered a pair of long stakes into the ground several feet away on either side of to which Izumi's wrists were chained without any clack, forcing her arms to remain extended outward. Meanwhile, another soldier bound her ankles to either side of a long iron bar which would keep her legs spread wide open. Chained and on her knees, they left here there at Selana's mercy.

If the Empress had wanted to kill her, she would already have done so instead of only knocking her out, so Izumi could only shudder at the thought of what more the cruel woman could possibly do to her.

Selana pushed Maximus aside once the wound was properly bound and somewhat dressed, her physician would no doubt hand this with ease when she returned to the palace. Her left arm was out of commission for the moment however she had no doubt she could manage her desired task with only one arm. She walked over to the bound samurai, picking up the fallen katana once more and taking her time in closing the distance between them. She wondered what fears were playing out in the samurai’s mind. Dismemberment? Death? Neither were to Selana’s particular tastes however she opted to leave her guessing.

“Remove her armor and hand me the scabbard to her longsword.” The Empress commanded.

The soldiers set to work picking apart every piece of armor and clothing and taking it away. The last piece to be removed was the mask over her lower face, leaving Izumi naked once more. The Empress took the offered scabbard and placed the blade within, tying it off with a string of cloth to insure it would not come loose. This done she reversed her grip upon the weapon so that she was holding the scabbard where it met the hilt and pointing the long hilt to Izumi. She knelt down on the ground beside the other woman and placed the thing between her legs.

The Empress allowed her former opponent to realize just what was about to happen to her today, the crowd most certainly did for they watched everything in a spellbound state. Slowly she brought the hilt closer until the thing was just outside Izumi’s womanhood. The foreigner’s fate was already sealed and she would be the Empress’ slave for the rest of her days, however Selana suspected that she had not had the point driven home yet. It also had the added benefit of making up for her getting injured in front of the citizens of Antara.

Finally she pushed the hilt in, moving slowly and deliberately. The weapon’s hilt was slender for a weapon but still thick enough that she expected pain. Regardless the Empress pushed on in with the hilt, before reaching in so deep that she penetrated the cervix. The woman withdrew the thing after that before pushing it in again, showing no intention of stopping and in fact was getting faster as time went on. This was exceptionally rougher than she usually was with these acts, however in her enraged state it was needed to temper the desire to remove Izumi’s head.

Izumi had managed to phase out the crowd's shouting and cheering during the duel, but now that it was over and that she was chained in the middle of the arena like some sort of petty criminal sentenced to public punishment and humiliation, their roaring only amplified the shame of her defeat that much more - as unfair as it may have been. She couldn't even bring herself to struggle when the Antaran soldiers began stripping her of her armor and underclothes at their Empress' command, not that it would have done her any good regardless. Izumi could only hang her head as she was left completely nude once again, this time as a distraction for thousands of fanatic Antarans who by the sounds of it wanted nothing more than to see what Selana had in store for her.

Tilting her eyes up while keeping her head hung, she could see the woman's imposing armored figure approaching with her katana in hand, although it was now in the scabbard that the guards had removed while stripping her. Still doubting that Selana had any plans of cutting her torment and degradation short, Izumi could only assume that she was claiming it as a trophy for her victory, knowing how much it would irritate her. The samurai only finally realized her fate when Selana knelt by her.

The position that she was chained in was extremely awkward with her legs spread wide by the bar and her upper body pulled slightly forward and down by the chains bound to her wrists. In order to remain mostly upright, Izumi had no choice but to arch her back and push out her rear quite far, which gave the Empress an easy angle to penetrate her exposed sex from behind. There was a silent plea for mercy in her eyes as she turned her head towards Selana and made eye contact, but the refusal was more than clear when she felt the hilt of her own favorite weapon force her inner lips apart and push into her.

She shut her eyes and grimaced with discomfort and humiliation as the slightly rounded hilt was thrust deeper. The texture of the ray skin wrap on the hilt was worse than the size, since it was selected for grip and therefore caused a great deal of friction and irritation as the Empress abused the most delicate part of her body with it. However, even that was nothing compared to the mind-numbing anguish of having the tiny opening of her cervix suddenly bashed open by the hard wooden hilt like a battering ram.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Izumi let out a high-pitched squeal as she fell down roughly on to her face and chest with her arms still extended outwards, no longer capable of struggling to maintain some dignity by keeping herself upright. Being face down with her ass up only made it that much easier for the Empress to violate her, which she did with increasing vigor, ripping squeal after squeal from the helpless and writhing samurai.

"STOP!! NNYYYAAAAHHHHHHH!! STTOPPPPP, SSSTOPPPPPP!! NYYYAAAHHH!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" she howled in between increasingly tortured squeal, sand getting into her mouth as tears began streaming down her face once more. It felt like her inner walls were being rubbed with sandpaper while her cervix was being stabbed by a hot poker, but there was simply nothing that she could do but cry while taking it until the Empress decided she'd had enough.

Selana continued the torment for some time to come, drawing wails and anguished screams from the fallen warrior with very little concern. This was worse than any beating she could deliver, more brutal than any torture she could commit, and certainly more scarring than just beating Izumi. The Empress knew well what she was doing was one of the worst things that could happen to another woman, but in her enraged state of mind she could not bring herself to care over much. In Antaran history there were a number of humiliations heaped upon fallen enemies, the Empire was not a merciful enemy by any means.

The tall woman thrust in again and again, the rough hilt working hard and deep against the fallen Samurai. There were no cheers from the crowd at this; they only watched the entire act in spellbound silence as the screams echoed through the Bloodpits. It was the fate of Antara’s enemies to be humiliated and Selana was enacting that upon this barbarian. This woman that had spilt the sacred blood of the imperial family, she exemplified the dangerous enemies in the outside world. In wounding the Empress Izumi had only provided her another way to increase her grip over her own people.

Finally the tall woman withdrew the weapon for the last time and let Izumi recover from the brutal assault. She handed the weapon over to Maximus and held on tightly to her wounded shoulder as she moved over near the samurai’s face. The Empress knelt down and stared hard at the warrior, golden eyes blazing with rage. Part of her wanted to simply slay her now for the pain she had caused her, to remove her head and toss it to the bloodthirsty crowd. However even that seemed too merciful a fate for the samurai.

Selana knew the words would not be understood, but still she spoke. “You are mine, slave. I will use and abuse you every day you draw breath until it ceases to amuse me. Fight me all you wish but my will is never something you will overcome.” She said, standing up and walking back to Maximus.

“Put her back in her cell for now. Gather up her weapons and have them melted down into a collar and a matching pair of cuffs for her wrists and ankles.” She ordered.

As she departed to arena the crowd started cheering once more, chanting her name as though it were some holy word. A tiny smirk crossed her lips as she met her escort back to the palace as it appeared Izumi did more good than harm. As for the samurai… she’d give her a couple of days to stew over her loss before her breaking in truly started. Selana intended to hand her over to the head of her personal harem for a few weeks. The woman certainly knew how to break new pleasure girls in, the Empress would never admit it but even she was a tad terrified of her. As such she did not envy Izumi.

Izumi could practically feel the tattered remnants of her dignity being entirely annihilated by Selana as she continued to mercilessly and publicly rape her with the hilt of her own most treasured possession - almost an extension of herself. Her self-worth as a samurai, as a woman, even as a human being was torn down as she lamented herself loudly, but the Empress kept ramming the sword hilt into her until it felt as if her inner walls had been burned and her cervix had been stabbed with a knife.

Sobbing, coughing, wheezing, thighs shaking uncontrollably, Izumi could only remain in her face-down position when Selana finally stopped, coming around to lean down and snarl something closer to her ear. Tilting her eyes up at the evil woman, Izumi could only glare, her eyes wet with tears and filled with suffering and loathing. She'd just been wounded worse than she could have been by any conventional weapon, perhaps even worse than by the Empress' branding iron, whip and needles.

Still the woman did not kill her, so she knew now with certainty that her ordeal as Selana's slave was just beginning. She was weak and lifeless as the guards finally took her back to her cage, away from the countless eyes intently observing every second and detail of her ultimate humiliation. This time, there was no physician to help undo the abuse inflicted upon her womanhood, nor to mend the emotional damage which was worse by many times over.

With no more possibility of freedom to strive for and only the prospect of more agony at the Empress' hands ahead of her, Izumi lost all hope as she was left to stew in her cage again for several more days. She even cried by herself in the dark at times, not from physical torture this time but simply out of sadness, something that she hadn't done since she was thirteen or fourteen when the boy that she loved rejected her for one of her best friends.

With resignation, she allowed herself to be taken away when the guards eventually returned to escort her somewhere else, presumably so that she could feel the Empress' wrath yet again. Izumi didn't want to, and she knew that she was going to suffer, but the situation seemed to bleak and hopeless to bother fighting anymore. Perhaps the feeling was only temporary and that she would regain her willpower and defiance, but at the moment she simply felt broken.

The chambers the guards brought Izumi into were bathed with colored light from a sunroof of painted glass above. The air was scented with sickly sweet perfume and all around naked or nearly naked women of all types and backgrounds lazed about. From the main room the guards dragged the fallen warrior one of the adjacent chambers and simply tossed her onto a plush bed. Once this was done they simply left, closed the door, and slammed home the deadbolt. For the next couple of hours the woman was left unbound and completely alone in the new room of the Imperial Palace.

The room was nicer by far than the previous prison cell but it was certainly a cell of a different sort. The bed was covered in rich crimson sheets and was unbelievable soft to lie upon, each pillow fluffed to perfection. There was a small table in the corner with a couple of chairs at it and a stocked wardrobe with a number of robes within. Everything within the room was luxurious and was most certainly a very nicely gilded cage. So much so that a number of slaves might very well dream of possessing such a room regardless of the acts required of them within.

After some time the door opened and in swept a woman slightly taller than Izumi flanked by two women nearly as tall as Selana, both possessing bodies bronzed by the sun and eastern styled armor. The lead woman was exceptionally beautiful and looked as though she had been sculpted by the hands of some goddess of lust. Her coffee brown skin was unmarred and smooth and her form was the definition of perfection. She wore a robe patterned in orange and red in a similar style to the Empress though hers revealed more than they showed. Her dark hair was styled up in a bun and her black eyes were hard as stone.

She looked Izumi over as though looking over a particularly offensive piece of failed art and turned her gaze to a young woman shuffling in behind her. Shieh’s apprentice in the art of language, fortunately the woman had been assured she knew as much about the woman’s language as the court translator. She flinched under her gaze though the translator was a free woman and the head of the harem was a slave it was obvious who was the more intimidating. The woman whirled around on the foreign woman and sighed in disgust.

When she spoke the young translator repeated her words in Izumi’s language. “You are what the Empress had sent me to work with? Unacceptable. You look positively disgusting and unfit to so much as touch the divine flesh of the Empress.”

“My name is Ophelia, Head of the Imperial Harem and First among the slaves of the Empress. The Empress wishes to have you broken into the arts of pleasure giving for her personal use and I am to instruct you. Obey and learn and I will treat you fairly. Disobey and defy my and whatever torments the Empress delivered upon you will pale to what I am capable of. Now stand before me and let me see everything.” Ophelia commanded, her tone as sharp and demanding as any military general inspecting her troops.

Having no reason to expect that she was being dragged anywhere other than to the hellish chamber of tortures again, Izumi was surprised and even curious when they brought her to an entirely different area of the palace, wondering what new nightmare was in store for her today. The area that they finally brought her to turned out to be almost the complete antithesis of the torture chamber. The decor was delicate, feminine, the entire large room characterized by a soft and warm color palette. Rather than being dimly lit with torches, it was engulfed in sunlight altered by panels of painted glass built into the ceiling, and the stench of death was replaced by an overwhelmingly sweet aroma that made the samurai feel a touch lightheaded.

Izumi wondered what purpose the Empress had for bringing her there while her eyes bounced from one nude or mostly nude woman lounging about to the next - pleasure slaves, if she had to guess. Rather than leaving her in that main area, the guards threw her into a smaller room, locking her within and leaving her there alone. If nothing else, it was a marked improvement over her dark, cramped cage. The bed that they'd tossed her on felt so divine after all of the hardships that she'd endured and sleeping on the cold hard ground for nearly two weeks that Izumi couldn't even bring herself to get up and inspect the room immediately.

Turning over on to her belly, she sunk her face into one of the pillows that may as well have been clouds for how soft they were and didn't move for the better part of an hour, actually finding some peaceful rest. At some point, Izumi forced herself up and took a look around, though there wasn't that much to discover. She was, however, more than glad to slip on a black silk robe that she found in the wardrobe. It reminded her slightly of the kimonos that she generally wore back home whenever she wasn't donning her armor, and it felt good to finally be anything but fully nude.

Some time later, she jump out of the bed that she'd been laying down on again when the door to the room was unbolted, several women barging in suddenly. The first three were all impressive and intimidating. The scantily clad one in the center looked like she could be the envy of all women in the world and practically dripped sexuality, though she also possessed a very distinct and menacing aura about her. As for the pair of woman flanking her, they disproved Izumi's theory about Selana being some sort of exception from nature, both of them towering over her just like the Empress did. Their skin and armors marked them as hailing from the east, though not as far east as Naginaryu. They seemed imposing, to be sure, but Izumi had dispatched men far heavier and more robust than them, such as the guards down in the torture chamber.

A fourth, much more ordinary woman followed, translating the stunningly beautiful one's words. Immediately, Izumi's earlier resignation was replaced with bitter anger when Ophelia expressed her intentions, informing her that she would be expected to pleasure the Empress. The very same woman who's enslaved, branded, tortured and raped her in public. The insults about her appearance were meaningless net to that.

"I have no desire to touch your ignoble Empress' flesh unless it were to snap her neck, so how I look should be of little concern to you, harlot," Izumi hissed back venomously, her eyes hardening as she made no move to obey by disrobing. "And I will do the same to you if you dare step any closer. I am a samurai of the Imagawa Clan, not some Antaran cunt's pleasure slave," she added with indignation and obvious disdain for Ophelia.

Ophelia’s eyes narrowed immediately and dangerously as she gestured the two warrior-slave’s forward, who sprang into action almost immediately. The two were on Izumi in an eye blink, grasping her arms and kicking her legs out from under her. The translator flinched at the sudden motions and watched everything with a frightened expression. The leader of the harem on the other hand was far from daunted and stepped forward with confidence. She curled her fist and moved to cuff the warrior. She was certainly not pleased by this particular assignment, the woman did not even speak Antaran which was another thing that needed correcting.

“By the time I’m finished with you, you won’t remember your own name. You’ll only think of pleasing the Empress. Twenty slaves I have trained to serve her, including the two holding you now. You are simply number twenty one.” Ophelia hissed.

Another slave entered in behind the translator, bearing a case which contained and exquisite metal collar and a couple of sets of cuffs for one’s wrists and ankles. The head of the harem took the collar and moved in over in her fingers, savoring the cool touch. The metal work had been extremely well done though she had heard the smith who had done it had protested most vocally. When the Empress herself had visited him with promises of an absurd amount of money though he had managed to swallow his protests. It was good work really. Pity it was wasted on one who could not appreciate the Empress.

“A gift from the Empress. Your weapons had outlived their usefulness to you, so she had these made for you instead. Rather nice no?” Ophelia said at length.

The guards would help place the items on the slave though the head of the harem herself wanted to place the collar around her neck. Once everything was in place she stepped back and admired the look, nodding to herself. It was an improvement but there was still work to do as the guards tried to remove her clothes so a good look could be had of her. Really she looked somewhat decent and certainly exotic. Well-muscled which was certainly a bonus but still an exercise regimen would not be amiss, the Empress enjoyed fit slaves.

“You aren’t terrible physically. Scarring here or there but the Empress had a taste for that. It’s your attitude that needs adjustment. If you don’t change your mood quickly then I’ll have these women tie you down and rape you until it bores them. They have excellent stamina so that might be a while.” Ophelia said, the threat leaving her lips with ease.

Izumi didn't hesitate to strike at one of the tall warrior slaves when they lunged at her like a pair of attack dogs, but she found them to be considerably more competent in hand to hand combat than the Antaran guards what she'd faced previously. The first slave blocked her fist while the second one knocked the wind out of her with a quick hard punch to her stomach while she was distracted. She started to double over, and they were already upon her, holding her arms extremely firmly while kicking her behind her knees, forcing them to give out so that she was kneeling.

She glared up at Ophelia with fiery rage in her dark eyes after the woman had snapped her head to the side with a hard slap. The hit itself was inconsequential, but the sensation of being powerless, inferior and dominated was not something that Izumi had ever tasted prior to her venture into Antara, and it was not something that she knew how or wanted to accept.

However, her struggling and defiant attitude were suddenly snuffed out when Ophelia had a set of metal cuffs and a matching collar delivered to her by another slave. Before the woman had even said a word, let alone had it translated, the samurai's heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach. She knew, she could feel it, she could feel the loss of her weapons as if they'd literally been an extension of her own body. The look of dismay on her face was akin to what would be expected from someone finding out that a parent or sibling had just perished.

Izumi felt like she was about to be sick when they put the cuffs on her, Ophelia saving the collar for last. Every time she felt as if Selana couldn't possibly hurt her any worse, the evil bitch kept finding a way. And after the brutal rape that the Empress had subjected her to, the prospect of these two other giantesses doing the same to her sent a terrified shudder through her body as they ripped off her robe, leaving Ophelia to study and judge her nude form.

"What do you want from me?" Izumi asked, voice thin as she hung her head, her dark brown locks hanging down in front of her chest. She was ashamed of herself for not resisting further, ashamed of herself for how fearful Ophelia's threat had made her, but she couldn't bring herself to endure another rape. Her captors were succeeding in breaking her, taking her from being a proud samurai and turning her into a weak, helpless woman, and there was nothing that she could do to stop them.

Ophelia was pleased and now knew exactly what pain point she needed to hit in order to reduce her resistance to nothing but air. She pondered letting the two women have their go anyway but opted instead to reinforce obedience with reward. Ika and Riza would be disappointed no doubt but she had no doubt with how difficult this one could be that they would get their chance eventually. The head of the harem patted the side of Izumi’s face in a patronizing manner before bending to eye level. The two chips of obsidian that she called eyes bored into the fallen Samurai.

“I want your willingness to learn. Whatever you were before this cast it from your mind. Whoever you served before is irrelevant. Now you serve the Empress of the Antaran Empire. I will teach you how to obey her. How to please her. How to be pleased by her.” Ophelia stated.

“There are two methods by which I can teach you. Both are effective. One, you cooperate. You learn and submit to the rule of your mistress. Two, I will force you to learn. I will have each and every day you lie awake be tied to this bed. I will let each girl here take turns with you. Some of the slaves here have… dark tastes for chew toys. As long as you are returned to the Empress with all your limbs and digits she won’t care.” Ophelia said at length.

The second method was by far the more common method she taught by. The harem women tended to get bored as they waited for the Empress to cycle through them, so a stress toy was always nice. Typically the new defiant slave was the target of the hazing. It was remarkable how much the tune changed after being the stress reliever for a harem full of restless pleasure slaves. Ophelia was not one who cared overmuch about psychological damage as long as the slave submitted to the whims of the Empress.

The head of the harem placed her fingers along the collar adorning Izumi’s neck, tracing the symbol of the Phoenix etched upon it. Two Empress’ she had served. Selana’s mother had been a boring woman really, a dry woman more than happy to plump herself up on the throne. Cute but rather airheaded and had let the Senate walk all over her. The daughter was a different story. Only five years she had been Empress and she was proving to be one of the greatest in the past century. Ophelia did not love her… she worshiped her. She was powerful, radiant, and commanded respect just from her presence.

“I leave the choice to you. Will you learn from me willingly? Or will you resist the inevitable? It matters not to me. You will serve the Empress. It is your choice whether it can be with dignity or as a broken toy.” Ophelia said, her eyes never wavering from the Samurai.

Tilting her head back up as Ophelia patted her cheek and crouched down in front of her, Izumi made no effort to mask the disdain upon her face, although she listened silently, offering no further resistance. The more that the woman spoke, the more disgusted she became with the prospect of serving - and even worse, pleasing - the Antaran Empress, but she didn't see what choice she had other than accepting a fate of endless torture and rape at the hands of these sadistic devils.

However, Ophelia was delusional if she believed that she could make Izumi forget who she was and convert her into a mindless pleasure slave. That realization planted the seed of an idea into the samurai's mind, however. She could use Ophelia's delusions against her, convincing her that she was indeed willing to learn. Not only would it avoid her further torment, or at least lessen it, but it would get her close to the Selana.

Perhaps her revenge was still attainable if her willpower managed to hold out long enough and she did an adequate enough job of acting. It was all that Izumi had left to cling to. She would play Ophelia's game until then, but she needed to be careful not to make it obvious. That meant not suddenly having a change of heart, it needed to happen gradually and grudgingly.

"I am willing, if it means keeping these animals away from me," Izumi said coldly, her tone full of resentment as she nodded towards one of the tall women who were still firmly keeping her arms secured before locking her eyes back on to Ophelia's. "You waste your time and effort if you think to mold me into your Empress' pleasure slave as you claim, but I shall humor you."

Ophelia smirked at this and turned to the slave that had brought the cuffs and collar with her. She motioned to the bed and the woman bowed her head low and removed her robes without speaking a word. Her form possessed a few scars upon it and was rather fit much like every slave in the harem was expected to be. She offered Izumi a tiny smile as she passed, getting into the bed and lying on her side. The first lessons should be of how to please before moving on to how Selana herself preferred to dominate her partners in bed.

“Your first lesson is simple. I want you to pleasure her with your hands first. Then I will bring another girl in and you will pleasure her with your tongue. Then I will bring in your last one today who you will pleasure with your feet. I shall correct any errors in your technique that I see. These three forms will be something you will become very familiar with this next week. When the week is up you will demonstrate them upon me. If I find them adequate I will show you how to handle being on the receiving end of pleasure. If not then you will be punished.” Ophelia explained at length.

The head of the harem sat down beside the bed and motioned for the guards to release Izumi so she could go about her new task. Ophelia knew full well this new slave would be difficult to mold properly however the Empress had granted her a month to shape her into a pleasure slave. She especially hated this task as she had used the word ‘concubine.’ The position of Imperial concubine had been open since the new Empress had ascended. Ophelia herself had wanted the position but now she was considering this… upstart for the position.

The woman said nothing about this to Izumi of course, she’d find out eventually when the month was out. For now she simply needed to learn how to properly pleasure another woman. With luck the Samurai was familiar with giving pleasure to other women. If not then Ophelia suspected she had a long road ahead to make her acceptable to the Empress. Failure was most certainly not an option in this instance. The Empress was rather cruel when she needed to be and the thought of being on the receiving end of her wrath was certainly not desirable.

“Don’t worry about her, by the way. Each woman here has done the same thing you are doing and has had it done to them multiple times.” Ophelia encouraged.

Izumi would have loved to smack that smirk off of Ophelia's arrogant face if she wasn't being restrained, though it was probably for the better, since the momentary satisfaction gained would not be worth the punishment that she would be forced to endure. It also wouldn't have been a very good start to her plan of acting compliant.

Yet another slave entered the small room, which was beginning to get rather crowded by then. Izumi watched the young woman silently disrobe before giving her a smile that she actually found to be rather enchanting and climbing into the plush bed. The girl was also very pretty, the handful of small scars upon her body not taking much away from her beauty. Izumi appreciated the female form in a somewhat objective manner, though she'd never had any romantic feelings for another woman or considered being with one.

She knew that she would have to now, however, even before Ophelia's exact instructions had been fully translated to her. Izumi had always been relatively liberal when it came to sexuality, so the thought of touching and pleasuring the slave didn't repulse her on its own; it was being forced to do it that bothered her, but there was little choice. Izumi needed to swallow what little pride she had left and attempt to pass Ophelia's tests.

Hesitantly, she joined the slave girl on the bed once her arms had been released, a flush creeping up her neck and face as she felt all of the pairs of eyes observing her. She'd never actually had anyone watch her have sex, and before even starting she was already finding it to be more unnerving that she'd expected, but at the same time it also made her more determined to perform well. Even in this, Izumi's competitive attitude which made her want to succeed in everything that she undertook carried over.

Quivering very slightly with nerves, she got on her knees next to the slave and put her hands on the girl's warm thighs, gently rolling her over on her back. After slowly parting the slave's legs, Izumi started to lightly massage her inner thighs, in part with the intention of getting the girl warmed up and in part to stall while she worked up the nerve to go further.

Finally, after staring at the slave's completely shaved and bare womanhood for a short while, she dared to move her hands further up her thighs, stroking the girl's outer lips with her thumbs. Izumi was amazed by how smooth and soft they were, actually finding the feeling of touching them quite enjoyable. She continued for a bit before sliding one of her thumbs high enough to rub lightly around the girl's clit for a few seconds before moving it back down. This time, Izumi used her hands to part the slave's womanhood slightly so that she might stroke her fingers along her delicate inner lips.

Glancing up at the girl's youthful face, Izumi tried to gauge how she reacted, her own eyes softening somewhat. This girl had never done anything to her, and Izumi could definitely empathize with her after spending just a couple of weeks in slavery as well, so in a way she actually wanted to make her feel good, which made it all a bit easier and more natural.

The slave smiled encouragingly up at Izumi and rolled onto her back as directed quite without resistance. She let her legs be spread and sighed in pleasure as the foreign woman started to rub her hands up and down her inner thighs. Ophelia watched it all with the careful gaze of a hawk though she did not interrupt the affair yet. So far the slave was showing some aptitude for some foreplay which was encouraging. The Empress tended to like build up to the main event so Izumi was doing everything right so far though it remained to be seen if that would last.

Beneath Izumi the pleasure slave squirmed slightly and bit her lower lip as the warrior toyed with her. Her eyes opened wide and her lips parted in a gasp as Izumi toyed around her clit, enjoying this training greatly. Ophelia nodded to herself slight as the show went on, her expression conveying little emotion as the acts were played out before her eyes. She cared little for such matters in terms of how they aroused her. The head of the harem only had eyes for the Empress and whomever the Empress commanded her to pleasure in those few events.

When Izumi parted the slave’s outer lips she would find them quite moist from her teasing and her inner lips were nice and sensitive. The young woman’s fingers curled into the plush sheets, grabbing handfuls as the new slave continued to tease her. It was still not nearly enough to get her to burst with pleasure and it was here that Ophelia opted to interject with Izumi’s process. Her eyes were narrow and her arms crossed over her chest as she shook her head in disapproval. Drawing things out like this would not do, it was not what the Empress liked.

“You are being too gentle. Some teasing is nice but the Empress prefers it a little rough. She enjoys both conquering and being conquered. The weight of ruling lies heavily upon her shoulders and it is our duty to relieve that weight when she requires it.” Ophelia stated.

“Your position for instance is too… tame. Lying on her back is not what the Empress will want most often. She likes primal acts, rough ones. Flip her over and take her from behind. Grip her and handle her. Gentle acts have their place but you need to be ready to take control in bed.” The woman said.

The head of the harem gestured to one of the warriors to get on her knees and the woman did so without a second thought. Ophelia then had the other one place her hand where the kneeling warriors womanhood would be, providing a visual for Izumi. The woman beneath Izumi did not seem overly concerned by the demand of the switch in positions. Likely it was a commonality for her.

“Try it like that and don’t be afraid to grope her. Take her. Make her yours. Make her feel like she is your conquest.” Ophelia finished, nodding for Izumi to continue.

Surprisingly, Izumi found herself getting some enjoyment out of watching the slave's react quite positively to her touches, encouraging and motivating her to continue. Allowing herself to become absorbed into the moment for a short time, she even forgot about the unpleasant circumstances that had brought her where she was, only to be yanked back into grim reality by Ophelia's disapproving voice.

Learning that the Empress could enjoy being roughly handled and sexually dominated on occasion didn't come as much of a shock to Izumi, who had a similar penchant herself. Having to always make herself indomitable and without weakness in training or on the battlefield, it could be an incredible relief to let go and allow herself to be vulnerable with a lover in an intimate setting. By far the more unexpected piece of information was that the Empress might desire to be 'conquered' by her, which seemed extremely odd given what she'd seen from the woman thus far.

Izumi didn't feel like the demonstration that Ophelia put on with her two guards was necessary, but she watched and listened silently until being given the nod to continue. Ophelia's intervention reminded her exactly where she was, and that she was pretty much being trained to be a whore, but currently the only alternative was worse, so she would have to bear it.

Returning to the task that was quite literally at hand, Izumi firmly rolled the pleasure slave over on to her stomach before grabbing her by the hips and pulling her up on all fours. Kneeling to the right of the slave, Izumi brought her left hand to her mouth and stuck two fingers in, coating them in her her saliva before bringing them back to the girl's already moist cunt and easily sliding them in. As the girl's warmth engulfed her fingers, her scent - which was not unpleasant, as it turned out - filled Izumi's nostrils, and the Samurai actually felt a slight tingle between her own legs.

She started pumping her fingers into the slave at a decently fast pace from the get go this time, hooking her fingers so that they pointed downward and rubbed firmly against the girl's front inner wall with each stroke. Meanwhile, Izumi licked two fingers on her right hand as well and reached her arm beneath the girl, finding her clit which she started working in a circular motion, quickly escalating from slow to hard and fast in only a matter of seconds.

As her own womanhood's unlikely yearning began to nag at her more insistently, Izumi grounded herself better on the bed, spreading her knees further apart for stability while she vigorously pleasured the slave girl with her hands, determined to succeed in making her climax.

Ophelia watched as Izumi found the correct position and smirked at her process before actually beginning, her fears being slowly eroded. The woman was not entirely stupid it seemed or inept in matters of giving pleasure. Perhaps in a month’s time she might be ready to please the Empress herself after all. She still need to be kept at a strict health and training regimen of course, that she was a former warrior helped things but Selana only wanted the best. In a way it reflected her own ego, only the most fit could conquer the might Empress between the sheets.

The slave Izumi was granting attention to moaned in pleasure, her voice filling the room with the sounds of enjoyment. She responded to the Samurai’s touch easily and with much eagerness, clearly one who enjoyed her work. Her hips ground into the woman’s fingers and her walls hugged the digits and tried to draw them in deeper each time they were plunged within her. Her breathing picked up and her hair hung over her face as she was taken from behind. Her eyes widened when Izumi started to toy with her clit, her moans turning to cries at this stage.

As the Samurai’s attentions grew more and more rapid the slave continued to climb higher and higher on her cloud of pleasure. She was clearly taking as much enjoyment out of this as possible and possessed incredible stamina. Even with all the stamina in the world however she only lasted a minute longer before she reached her breaking point. A long cry was torn from her lips as her body tensed up before she found a release, coating Izumi’s fingers in her juices. The woman let out a shuddering sigh of satisfaction, resting for a moment before standing on shaky legs. She bowed to Ophelia before wobbling from the room.

“Hmm… not bad. I’ll teach you more techniques at a later date. For now we’ll move on to the next test.” The head of the harem said.

Taking the departed slave’s place was one of the guards, who unfastened her armor easily and loosened the robe underneath so that her womanhood was bare. As with the other slave hers was clean shaven and her form was in peak condition. She smirked down at the samurai and beckoned her down from the bed. Ophelia rolled her eyes, both harem guards were notorious for their lasting stamina and were quite difficult to please. They were in fact twins and ones that the Empress took at one time.

“Ika will be your second test. Get on your knees and pleasure her with your mouth. She can be a tad… rough and overpowering so she should be a fine test as the Empress can also be very rough.” Ophelia said, reclining back and watching everything play out with a hawklike gaze.