"Sayemontess: The Musty Dungeons." #ReedsyTalk

Trigger Warning: This short story contains Mature Themes, some Strong Language, Sexual Content, Nudity, brief Suicidal Ideation, Alcohol Use, and Violent Content.

“Sayemontess: The Musty Dungeons.”

I thank the Lord for saving me from the dungeons. I was there for less than a day caught up in the labyrinth. I became heartbroken at the sight of many tortured corpses. I prayed. I prayed for my God to help me. How long must I stay here? Then I remembered I had absinthe. A gift. The perfect gift. I ingested the entire bottle straight. I could not feel my face. I wanted to cry tears of relief and sadness. Oh, Sayemontess, will you truly be mine? My nipples hardened at the thought. I got goosebumps all over. I quickly became overwhelmed with sexuality. I touched myself here and there. It changed my life. I had never made myself feel so good. Completely intoxicated, I wept. Then, thank you sweet Jesus, an angel appeared.

“Prepare yourself. Sayemontess soon shall be yours. Go ahead and touch yourself for once you are the ruler- you will be touched by many. It will be your duty to produce an heir.”

I did as instructed and it felt great. I went to rinse off in the shower and I heard voices in my head.

“She hates us straight men. She's openly expressed that she wants to fuck us with dildos to make us submissive.” said one voice.

Then I heard another voice say-

“Let’s get her when she’s alone.”

What was going on at Sayemontess? I had to get back there!

———

It is true. Sonja was going to overwhelm the male population with sex. Sex. All day every day until one produced an heir. The next baby, any baby, would get the crown upon their thirteenth birthday. She was not joking around. If there was no heir, then it would be off to the gallows with her.

———

Richard. It was Richard who found me lost in the dungeons. I would have died down there if he had not searched for me. How did he know I was down here in hiding? Maybe it was Great Leader. Maybe she was alive? Maybe she didn’t join the men on the battlefields. Oh my! Oh goodness! Could she still be… could she still be alive? I asked Richard-

“How is our Great Leader? Tell me of Sayemontess. Please! Please, Richard! Tell me!” I ordered as he led me straight out of the dungeons. His torch was finely made. It shown bright.

I cried as I smelled the fresh air. The dungeons were so moldy. So musty. I could not stand it much longer. Had I stayed down there any longer, I would have slit my wrists longways- for that was the right way to end things. Longways. Slice through your veins and your tendons. Cut them up! I was thinking to myself. Cut them up.

As Richard and I reached the higher ground level of Sayemontess, I shed a tear. I instantly left Richard. I could not help myself. I had to see my Great Leader, and I did! I saw her huddling with the masses. They were praying to God for the forgiveness of their sins, though they were the ones attacked. I interrupted their prayers. There would be no more asking for forgiveness.

“Beautiful women! What you did today was not wrong. Halt your voices. Halt your madness. You have reached victory today, and you have saved Sayemontess!”

Then Great Leader approached me. Then all of the women, and Richard, rushed over to me.

They cheered me on with adulation.

“Oh, Great New Leader!” Said Samantha, and I screamed-

“No! I am and will always be Sonja! And Richard is always to be my guide. My Great Protector. My Knight in chainmail armor. Oh, glorious young knight, Richard, will you join me in my new chambers after I rinse myself, please?” It was time to get busy. “Ladies, to the showers! Perhaps we can all make Richard our King… Umm, Martha… You were a great leader, but, now, can you find new chambers? To sleep?”

“Ah. Uh. I shall find somewhere else to sleep. It is cool weather. Perhaps I shall grab some blankets and sleep on the hard, concrete bench next to the fire pit since there are no more rooms available in Sayemontess except for in the dungeons!” Martha raised her voice at me- her new leader. I was stunned.

Why would she do such a thing? I loved Martha, but she did send me to the dungeons when she could have just locked me in the wardrobe up in the attic. She could have had someone deliver me food and water, or she could have done it herself!

“How dare you raise your voice to me not one minute after giving me all power over Sayemontess! How dare you! I could send you off to the dungeons for a night or two or twenty or more. See what you think of it. While I was down there, I saw your predecessor. She was cuddled up next to a corpse. Is that where you want to end up? I think not. To the gallows with you!” I ordered, and just like that, the beautiful women went from loving Martha, to hating her.

“Tar and feather! Tar and feather! To the gallows with her!” Shouted the women in unison.

———

In Sayemontess, you never disrespect your leader. It could be punishable by just the stocks for a lesser offense, then the gallows, then it was execution- much easier than a week in the gallows without food or water. You would pray for rainfall, and not get it. Pure and intense suffering, and the mosquitoes at night would make you wish you had never been born. Stuck in your own filth, you could cry out to God all you wanted, but not even He could unlock the locks in the stocks.

———

“Strip her and search her right here on the spot! Then lock her away in the gallows until her death!”

“Wait!” screamed Martha, but it was too late. They ripped off her dress, and everything else. They had to drag her through the mud in the rain all the way to the gallows. Sludge covered Martha. She looked disgusting and pathetic. The stocks first. The hands second, and the head was locked in third.

“Lick at the rain water. You’ll die slower.” I said. Then we abandoned her. We went back inside Sayemontess out of the rain, and we rinsed off in the showers. We met Richard in my chambers, and we all had a good time. Perhaps this would be my good reckoning. Perhaps sweet Richard could give us an heir. I just wish he had a better nose, and stronger thighs. Not the best in the bedroom. Richard would die soon at the age of nineteen, but that is a story for a different day. Goodnight.