The Contract

The wagon makes its slow steady progress along the hard pack road. The horse is moving at a pace somewhere between a walk and a trot. The man at the reins and the woman beside him stare blankly ahead as people tend to do when on a long journey. Behind are four, fresh mares, all young, fit. One of them is seventeen today, although she is unaware of it. Mares have no sense of time, nor day. Weeks, months, years mean nothing. They are under contract and the days pass, pass without noting.

The girl is naked as are the other three. She has a bridle with a bit wedged between her teeth. It is tethered to a corner of the wagon along with her teammates. A leather collar circles her neck, leather bands circle her wrists. They are attached to a wide leather belt she wears on her hips. Her hands are encased in leather pouches. And she has hooves. Rather like high, leather boots, arched to put her up onto her toes.

She is pale next to her companions who are uniformly light brown. Her hair is black. Appropriately it is done in a ponytail. The mares' hair and breasts bob in time as they step along, stride for stride.

Dearest Father,

I pray you are well. I have arrived. The journey was arduous, but uneventful. Mistress met me when I arrived at the inn. Her girl was with her. That is what she is called: girl. She seems to have no name. And she seems older than a girl, more like a woman. Names are rarely used I've come to find out. I am called Miss, which is unusual. The girl is just that - girl. Mistress is Mistress and all others ma'am and sir.

We spent the night at the inn. I slept on a pad on the floor, they shared the bed. And I cannot think of a delicate way of saying this, but they seemed to share something else, also. I have no knowledge of these things, Dear Father, but the inference is obvious.

The mares are everywhere, although at this juncture, where many heavy goods change hands, horses are a common sight. Not so in the city. In the city a horse is a rarity.

The trip took three days. Each morning we were given a fresh team and I have to say I found it unsettling to watch the mares. Naked women, collared and hooved, fixed to our cart, moving at a steady gate, matching stride. They do not speak and we do not speak to them. They know their job and need only minimal guidance with the reins.

The girl and I shares the chores. She shares Mistress's bed and I have a small closet of a room, but it is mine and is room enough. She rarely speaks. Does not engage in conversation. She will instruct me, but briefly, and correct me if I make a mistake. I am allowed a certain amount of time to walk about the city and the girl accompanies me, but in silence.

I will provide a more ordered account shortly as per our agreement. I find being indentured not as onerous as I would have thought. And, of course Dear Father, you were right. It is fitting I make my own way. I am nearly an adult and it is best that I learn the ways of the world.

I leave you now, but will write again soon.

Your adoring daughter,

Valine

 

Dearest Father,

I hope you are well. I am well and happy. Mistress informed me that we were going to a farm today. It is the sort of farm you spoke to me of. A place where mares are trained. Mistress hired a cart. They are everywhere along the street. Mares and carts standing under bright colored awnings to get some relief from the sun.

We arrived at the farm after a journey that took most of the day. It looked very much like home. There is a large house and a barn and perhaps an acre tilled. Clearly not a farm that relies on crops.

The first I saw was a girl harnessed to a plow. And when I saw girl, I mean mare. A man walked behind guiding her, but again, she knew her business and went about it.

As we approached the barn there were two mares taking exercise. They were tethered to something that looked like a wheel on its side with a pole and spokes radiating outward. They walked at a brisk pace, in stride, around and around.

Mistress and I left the cart and the girl guided it into the barn. A woman came out. Mistress addressed this other as mistress, so there must be different levels. The woman directed Mistress to Master. This is the man who you are considering doing business with, I think, with Mistress as your agent.

The woman (I shall call her that as the mistresses are getting confusing) told me she was wife number five. Master has nine wives. And being number five bears no status, it simply represents the order of marriage.

Knowing my mission, she spoke at length about how things are here. I will try to give you an accounting and not carry on overlong.

First, women outnumber men at something like ten to one, perhaps more. This will put what follows into some sort of context.

It is a matriarchal society. Men rule, but it is with the permission and guidance of the women. She said that ruling is an onerous task, so why not pass it off on the men.

And, naturally, men can have many wives. Even a man of modest means will have at least three.

The issue of children troubles me, but I will relate it. A woman is allowed two tries at making a boy baby. If she has a second girl she must give it up and she must not have another child.

As she described it, they have what might be seen as a well-run orphanage system where the children receive twelve years of education.

At age twelve a contract is signed. It is for ten years. The boys go into the army. At first they serve as attendants. At sixteen they are considered sufficiently trained to serve in a higher capacity. At eighteen they see full service as soldiers.

The girls are assigned certain guilds based on their aptitudes, abilities, and preferences. The mare's guild, she assured me, is the most admired and there is much competition. She was a mare, she said, which took me aback. I found it hard to believe this intelligent, mature woman running around naked pulling a cart. The girl I saw in the field, was in fact, her daughter and her contract was being transferred to the man as we spoke.

Oh, let me explain something. Whether schooled with the others or at home all children are contracted out at the age of twelve to begin their apprenticeship. At age sixteen their contract is purchased and the girls begin specific training according to their situation.

Given the rules of modesty under which I was raised I asked about relations between men and women, especially among the mares who spend their time without any clothing whatsoever.

She said that not only were there taboos, but strong laws. The mares are effectively helpless and molesting one is a serious crime. And then she said something that shocked me - one of the guilds tends to the physical needs of men. There is no reason for a man to have any desire for a mare when these services are readily available. Add to that that a bachelor does not remain a bachelor very long.

As for the farm, it is very much like a finishing school. It is not for all mares. (who, more correctly, are still considered ponies until their sixteenth birthday and enter into service) Only the best ponies are sent here for their final training and they fetch a very high price indeed.

Dear Father, I will end this now. I hope this has given you some idea of how things are here. The woman said she will enclose certain documents relating to the farm for your inspection.

Your loving daughter,

Valine

 

Valine stood, shocked. The woman held up a contract it was HER contract. It had been purchased and she would get a crash course in being a mare! And, she went on, this was done with her father's permission and approval. Speechless, stumbling, she was led into the barn. In a small room in the corner she was removed of her clothing, measurements and an impression was made of her feet and a leather collar and wrist cuffs were fastened on. The woman clipped a lead to a ring on the collar.

The woman led her past a row of stall. Valine was oblivious to the naked mares therein. She led Valine into another room. There were four closets, but she felt no urge to relieve herself. Realizing this the women guided Valine back into the barn proper, up to another door, a double door, a door like she was so familiar with from her father's barn. The woman opened the door.

It was the girl! She lay on a blanket on a mound of hay. When Valine hesitated she stood and took her hand. The woman closed the door. The girl, naked, collared as Valine was drew her down onto the blanket. It was then that the panic turned to fear and she sobbed horribly. The girl held her, stroked her, spoke soothingly.

Valine tried to find the words to speak, but none came, so the girl spoke.

"My contract, too, has been purchased. I was a mare once, but then Mistress purchased my contract and I became her housemaid. I was not happy. I know you do not understand, but you have been given a great honor."

"The Mare's Guild is the most powerful, the most respected, the most admired guild. Every girl in the world would kill to be chosen, kill to be a pony, then a mare."

"But I'm naked!" Valine sobbed. "And I wear a collar. And I'll soon be pulling a cart just like an animal."

The girl stroked Valine, rocked her.

"Yes, that's true. And, yet, it isn't."

"Mares are chosen not only for their intelligence and aptitude, but for their beauty. We are naked because we are beautiful. Have you seen an ugly mare? Hah! You would not be here now if you were not beautiful."

She chucked Valine under the chin and kissed her softly.

"And you are very beautiful."

Valine's sobs subsided. She sniffed and rubbed her nose.

"You were sent on a mission by your father. He sent you to investigate the situation, to see if there was a business opportunity. What better way to understand the business of mares than to be one?"

This set Valine to crying again. The girl held her while she wept.

"Would you be soothed if I caressed you?"

Valine sniffed and looked up at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Like this."

The girl kissed Valine softly, but fully, on the mouth. She stroked Valine's hair, lowered her hand and cupped her breast before lowering her hand still further, gliding it between Valine's thighs.

This was a new horror. Not only was she naked, but the girl was touching her in a most intimate way.

"No. Please...I...please, no."

"Alright. Should I just hold you. Would that help?"

"Yes...yes, please."

Valine fell asleep in the girl's arms. She woke several times during the night, shaking with fear. But the girl was there to calm her.

 

Dearest Father,

I am bid to write to you. I know not what to say. My mind is no longer my own. You, our home are but a distant memory. How long I have been here, I do not know. The girl is here. She has been a great comfort. She is not here now. We shared a stall the first few days. Now I sit in a stall by myself. What day it is, I do not know. The days are the same without number. When I awaken the girl and I are led into a room where I may relieve myself. I am bathed, then fed. The food is very good. Excellent in fact. I eat with my hands as is the fashion here. I do not think I mentioned that. Not just the mares, but all eat with their hands unless the meal is a soup or stew. We are led outside to take exercise. Then there is practice. There is little instruction. Almost none. The girl said it's simply a matter of developing the proper cadence so that we can step in time. And I must watch my posture. There is nothing else. I no longer speak, nor am I spoken to. It has put me in a state of mind I find troubling. When I spoke to the woman she said she found it peaceful. I feel no peace. I will end this now. It has taken me all evening to write these few words, such is the state of my mind. The grooms are extinguishing the lights. Did I mention that the grooms are all women? All mares.

Your loving daughter,

Valine

 

Dearest Father,

I hope you are well. I am much better, happy even. I am in my new situation. We travelled three days to get here. The girl is with me as are the twins. Did I tell you of the twins? They were exercising that first day at the farm. I did not know they were twins as they wore bridles, but they are.

I share a stall with the girl and we are allowed to speak. I think it is a rule that the grooms turn a blind eye to. As long as we do not disturb the others. We do not speak to the grooms. They do not speak to us. And, of course, we do not speak to the other mares. But at night the girl and I will sit together and whisper. She makes a mound of straw in a corner and places the blanket on it. She sits and I sit back against her, she puts her arms around me and I rest my head on her shoulder and she tells me of her life and I mine. It is very pleasant and I have developed a certain affection for her.

I do not recall what I last wrote, or when. I am seventeen now. I did not mark the day. It was only when the girl and I spoke of our contracts I realized I had missed my birthday. And the girl is younger than I had thought. She seems more mature, more a woman, but she is only a year older than I.

The barn appears new. Everything is clean and fresh smelling. Our stall is deep with hay. We have a blanket to sleep on and another to cover us. There is a chamber pot in the corner and there is a ewer and bowl, mugs to drink from and towels.

I do not know who my master is. I may have seen him and Mistress, but I am not sure. They were in a carriage pulled by the twins. It may have been them or perhaps guests.

My days are the same with little variety. After eating we are hitched to a wagon for a trip into town. We spend the better part of the morning visiting various shops. After our midday meal we rest until it is time to take the children for their exercise. There are six, all girls of different ages. There is a woman. Their nanny or teacher perhaps? The girl and I are hitched to separate carts and we take them out about the grounds, out on the roads. It almost always ends with a race that leaves the younger girls squealing.

After our evening meal the girl and I talk. Or sometimes not. Sometimes we just sit and enjoy the silence and each other's company.

It is raining today, so there will be no race. We did go into town. We were fitted with hooded capes that reach near to the ground. It is intensely odd to be covered in cloth. The cloth is light and repels water, but we cannot wait to be back in the barn and be rid of them.

The grooms are handing out food so I will end this now. You have my prayers.

Your loving daughter,

Valine

 

"Do you recall that first night? The time you asked to caress me? What was that?"

"What was what?"

"The way you touched me."

"What of it? It is the way of women, is it not? I thought it might comfort you."

"It frightened me."

"Frightened? Why ever for?"

"It is not our way. That part of my body is for my husband and no one must touch me there but him."

"Surely you have needs, urges. You are certainly old enough."

"I am not sure."

"Not sure?"

"Sometimes... sometimes I have thoughts about these things and sometimes I have these sensations."

"And what do you do?"

"Do? I pray."

"Wait. You are telling me that your god, whoever she is, gave you these urges and you pray for them to be taken away? How very strange."

"Please, do not laugh at me!"

"I am sorry, but it does seem odd. I can understand wanting to save yourself for marriage. Well, at least when it comes to being with a man. But another woman? Next you will tell me that you do not even touch yourself."

"I do not. "

"What?! Now that is just silly."

"You do?"

"Often."

"Why?"

"Because it is pleasant. And sometimes these urges can be distracting."

"Distracting? How?"

"Dear girl, you certainly must know how I feel about you."

"And I am very fond of you, also."

"And being with me, being held by me, being stroked and kissed has no effect?"

"It...yes. Yes it does."

"So you pray."

"Please do not mock me."

"Oh, dearest, I was not mocking you. Just stating a fact."

"Yes I pray."

"Do the prayers work?"

Valine chuckled.

"Not nearly half as much."

"Shall I teach you?"

"Teach me?"

"Yes. There is much to learn. It is not like being with a man. You have seen animals coupling, I know."

"Yes. Well, it is much like that with a man. They are simple beasts. But with us it is different. There are many ways of giving and receiving pleasure. We do not focus simply on the one act. I mean we do to a degree, but there is so much more. May I show you something?"

"What?"

"I will kiss you and touch you and you will see for yourself if it is pleasant or not."

"I have never kissed another...not on the mouth."

"Then I shall teach you that first. Kiss me as you know, but on the lips."

Valine turned her head and kissed the girl, kissed her several times.

"There. That was easy. Was it pleasant?"

"Yes."

"Now open your mouth. No, not that wide. Just a bit, just so I can put my tongue into your mouth and touch it to yours."

As the girl kissed her she placed her hand on Valine's breasts, kept it there for several more kisses.

"And that?"

"Very nice."

"But?"

"But?"

"I sensed a but. Let me guess. You want to know how kissing you and stroking your breasts can cause something to happen down there."

Valine nodded.

"Yes."

"I have no answer. That is just the way it works. Can you reach the spare blanket? Good. Oh, damn!"

"What?"

The girl gestured. There came a groom with their food.

"Just as well. The next part is better kept from public view."

After they ate they sat in the corner and talked. The girl told Valine about the ways of women. How every part of a woman's body feels good in one way or another. How sometimes it is pleasant to simply kiss and stroke each other, while other times it leads to a release.

"Release?"

"Yes. You have seen animals do it, the males I mean."

"Yes."

"Women do, too."

"Truly?"

"Not in a messy way like them, but, yes, we do."

"How...how does it happen, this release?"

"There's a bit of a trick to it. I think it is very much like a sneeze. The sensation builds until it is no longer tolerable and-"

"So it is painful?"

"Oh no, no. It is very pleasant, but very intense. But you have to learn how to do it. How does it go when you sneeze."

"You feel the urge and it builds until it just bursts out."

"It is something like that. And what if you try to stifle a sneeze? It just stays there pestering you. Same thing if you try to force it. It will resist. You have to let it build to a certain point, a point of no return, and it will happen of its own accord."

"And, like a sneeze, sometimes it takes more than one."

"You can have this release more than once? But the animals-"

The girl chuckled.

"That is their problem. With us we can have as many as we choose to have until we are satisfied."

"Here. Pull the blanket up a bit further. Give me your hand. Before you can experience it you have to know what is down there and how it works. Close your eyes as if you are dozing and I will guide you. Open your legs very wide and draw your feet in."

She touched Valine's finger to her most delicate bud.

"This is the source of the release."

The girl squirmed.

"Yes. It is sensitive. But everything down here is connected to it, so no matter how you touch yourself it responds."

"But when you touched my breasts I felt it here. I felt something anyway."

"Again, I do not know how it works, just that it does. Here. Cup your hand like this and rub the folds of skin around your bud. Rub in a circular fashion."

Valine gasped and squirmed.

"Now, those feelings you have felt before, those feelings you prayed about and the feelings you felt when I kissed you and touched your breasts, it is the same is it not? Only more intense."

"Yes."

The girl guided Valine's hand as she explored her most intimate parts, between the inner and outer lips, between the inner, a gentle probe inside. Valine's chest flushed as did her cheeks. The girl held Valine's hand, guiding her until Valine gasped and yanked her hand away.

"Perhaps you are not quite ready for that."

"It felt...it felt..."

"Remember the sneeze. You must learn to let it build and build until you lose control."

The groom came by, lights dimmed. The girls rearranged their lounge into a bed. And then it was dark.

"Now I will show you something that I think you will like. A man is concerned with only a few things, a few parts of your body. That is his focus. But we women know that we are more than those parts. In fact, caress us anywhere and we may swoon. Have you not noticed that when women are together they are always touching each other? It is because everything, every touch feels nice. It is not as intense as the release, but it is very, very pleasant."

The girl bent and kissed Valine, played tag with Valine's tongue.

"I think you are getting the hang of things."

She kissed Valine's face, her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks and nose and chin. Her throat and neck and shoulder. She kissed her way down Valine's arm, took her hand, kissed and licked Valine's palm. Valine shivered.

"Yes, that's one of the nicer spots."

She kissed her finger, sucked each gently in turn. She moved over to Valine's other hand and reversed the journey. Then she cupped and stroked Valine's breasts, kissed them gently, licked her nipples.

"There are ways of a caress that is merely pleasant and ways to arouse. I will not arouse you, although I could."

So saying her nibbled on one of Valine's nipples, sucked it into her mouth. Valine gasped.

"Truly I could."

The girl worked her way down across Valine's belly, down her thigh, down to her feet. She treated her foot as she had Valine's hand, kissing, licking, sucking Valine's toes, then moved to the other foot and worked her way back.

She settled between Valine's thighs, tugged her nether lips open, and kissed them thoroughly. she finished by gently licking Valine several times.

"Turn over."

The girl kissed Valine's shoulders and back, her buttocks, the backs of her legs, her calves, her feet again. She spread Valine's buttocks and ran her tongue between. Valine tensed.

"I know. You might find that strange. Some women enjoy it, some not. But there is no way to know if we do not try. Yes?"

"Is...is that all?"

"All?! Dear, I just placed my lips on every inch of you. Did I miss a spot? What else could there be?"

"No. No. I just meant is there something else you wanted to do?"

"Yes. Now that you mention it. I would like you to do that to me."

"That was what I was going to ask."

"Take your time and be thorough."

"I shall."

And she was. Even to the point of kissing licking the girl's nether regions and running her tongue between the girl's buttocks.

"Do you like that?"

"I do."

"Then I shall do it again."

And she did.

"Alright. Enough. That is one of the things that I find most arousing and I do not think you are ready for the next step just quite yet. Besides it is late. Come let me hold you."

"You still have not told me your name."

"We are mares. Names do not matter."

"Yes."

"But you can give me a name if you wish. It will be just between us."

"Truly?!"

"Yes. I have already chosen your name."

"What is it."

"Kiri."

"What does it mean."

"I means nothing. It is a kind of bird. A small, delicate white bird, much loved by us."

"Then I shall be Kiri. But you? I had not thought of this. Oh! I know! Sharet."

"Sounds pretty. What does it mean."

"Do not laugh."

"Why would I laugh."

"It is silly. It sounds silly. But it is a term of affection we hold most dear."

"Well then, tell me. I promise not to laugh."

"It means little turnip."

"I am glad it is dark."

"Why."

"Because I am laughing."

"I am sorry."

"No. No. It is precious. I shall be your little turnip."

 

Dearest Father,

I pray you are well. I am torn. I spoke to a groom and she told me the date and it seems my time is very nearly up. A few weeks at most. I have grown quite fond of the girl and she of me and it would break my heart to leave her. And so I have a plan.

When we made this arrangement it was agreed that I would serve one year under contract and then I would find some form of employment until I had enough money to come home. That would take another year. But if I extended my contract here for two years, I can buy out her contract and still have enough for the journey and she could join me. I know you would come to love her as much as I.

Please advise me, Father. It would mean yet another year away from home, away from you, but when we spoke we had made no definite plan as to how long I would remain.

There is nothing else to report. As with my other letters that seem to be getting shorter and shorter. So I'm going to end this now so that I can get this to you as soon as possible.

Please know that I love you and miss you.

Your loving daughter,

Valine

 

They had returned from their trip to town, had their bridles and mitts removed. They ate lunch and then sat quietly together as they did most days. A groom walked by leading two mares. Valine knew they were from the same farm. there was something about the way they carried themselves, about the way she carried herself.

The groom approached the stall. She opened the gate and held out a cape. Valine gave the girl a quizzical look which was returned. It was not raining. They had run their errand. But she pulled the cloak over her head and followed the groom out of the barn. There was a man and a woman standing there.

"Father!!"

She leapt at him.

"Oh Father, Father. It IS you!"

"Oh curse this robe! I cannot embrace you."

The man chuckled. Valine recognized the woman.

"Mistress."

"No. Call me Parma."

Valine noticed she was fidgeting with her hand. Then she saw the ring.

"We are married," her father said.

"Truly?"

"Yes. Two weeks now."

"I wish I could have been there."

"It was not much, a simple ceremony. We shall have a proper celebration now that we are all together."

He reached into his coat and withdrew a piece of paper. He unfolded it so that Valine could read.

"Is it today? I thought it was not for a few days still."

"I bought the remaining last week."

And reality set it.

"Father, did you get my last letter? No. No you couldn't have. There's...there's a girl. We've grown quite close and I had written you with a plan to work another year or two so that I could buy out her contract and then we could both come home."

"I read your letter. Parma always received your letters and added her own notes before forwarding them to me. She kept this one and I read it when I arrived."

"Valine, I am very proud of you. I was not sure how this would turn out. To be honest, it was a test of sorts. Most girls in your situation would be home chasing down a husband. But you indentured yourself and fulfilled the terms of your contract. I am well pleased."

"Oh father! Curse this robe. Double curse this robe!"

The couple laughed and the man pulled another paper from his coat.

"Her contract! You purchased it?! All three years of it?"

"And provided two replacement mares."

"Those were yours?"

"Yes."

"Wait. Her name is Lebin?"

"Yes."

"She never told me. We have pet names for each other. I am Kiri and she is Sharet."

The couple exchanged glances.

"Kiri is a small, white bird, much loved in these parts. And Sharet?"

"It seems silly, but it is a term of the deepest affection. It means little turnip."

While the couple were discussing that Valine gazed to her left, noticed the wagon with four mares tethered behind.

"What is it?"

"What? Oh. Sorry, Father, but we arrived here very much like them. Are they yours?"

And now it was the father's turn to look embarrassed.

"You see me there, do you not, like them, tethered..."

"Yes...yes. I...I have not become completely accustomed to the idea of using girls as mares. There are those back home who would do it for sport, but horses did the work. Here it is almost exactly opposite. This truly is the other side of the world."

"As you said, at home I would be considered a woman and taking my place in society. This is theirs."

"Yes."

"What is your plan?"

"What it was all along. I see opportunity here. Not so back home. The country is expanding, money will be made, and there will be a need for quality mares. Parma has given me much information, but you have experienced it, been trained at one of the finest farms around, worked as a mare for almost a year. I will establish a farm further to the east where new cities are being built. I will handle the business side and you and Lebin will be my grooms. Then-"

"Lebin is coming also?!"

"Yes. Of course. She is under contract to me for three more years."

"Oh, Father! I must go tell her!"

"No. Go fetch the blue bag from the wagon. There are clothes in it for both of you. They should fit. Get dressed and we shall be on our way."

"Today?! Now?!"

"It will be a long trip and we are wasting daylight, daughter."

"Yes, Father. It will be only a minute."

Valine ran to the wagon, grabbed the bag, an raced into the barn. She swung the stall gate open.

"Come!"

"What?"

"It is my father. Come! Come1 We are leaving!"

"But-"

"He has purchased your contract and he is going to establish a farm and we are to be the grooms - and he is waiting and he is most certainly not a patient man."

 

An hour later, a couple of miles down the road, the girls sat on a cushion, arms about each other's waist, watching the mares trot along, thinking the same thought.

"My feet twitch."

"My bottom is sore."

"Father! Stop!"

He reined the horse.

"What is the matter."

"We are mares and sitting in a wagon is both uncomfortable and boring."

So saying both girls jumped over the side.

The man jerked the reins, the horse plodded forward.

"Father!"

He reined the horse to a stop again.

"What is it?"

"It is warm and I fear our new dresses will become soiled. May we remove them? Our underwear is quite modest. As modest as any nightgown I've worn."

Without waiting for an answer the girls stripped off their dresses, folded them, and set them in the wagon.

"Alright, but stay well back."

"We will, Father. We will stay out of your sight."

Once again the horse moved forward, the wagon and the mares followed. The girls took a place behind them.

"Something is not right."

"Hooves?"

"Hooves, clothes."

"But we are together and always will be."

Valine took her hand, kissed it. They burst out laughing and took up their place behind the mares.

 

You can also leave feedback & comments for this story on the Plaza Forum

08.09.16