The Courier
Copyright 2008 by EC
EC's Erotic Fiction - /~caligula97030/

(warnings: erotic discipline, sex between adults, medical fetish, public nudity, 
public humiliation)


Chapter 22 – Anyia’s transformation

As soon as Cecilia and Maria Elena departed for Merchant Victor Dukov’s 
house, Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna asked Officer Vladik Dukov to drive her 
to the Central Police Station. She ran upstairs and returned to her office with a 
list of tasks that she needed to accomplish to be ready for the next day. She 
began by notifying the former servants’ respective Spokespersons of their 
release and that they needed to show up to court the next morning to re-
assume custody of their clients. The other Spokespersons, in turn, would have 
to notify their clients’ family members and make sure each had a home to go 
to Monday night. Former employers also would have to be notified, to make 
sure each of the 30 criminals was gainfully employed within three days. 

After notifying her co-workers, Kim called the Ministry of Justice doctors and 
the single psychiatrist who worked at the Central Police Station. Before 
returning to court the criminals needed to have their medical histories 
updated… and the women needed to be checked for pregnancy. Kim 
desperately hoped the Royal Couple or Anyia’s two Lords had forced the 
female servants to take birth-control pills, but she had no way of knowing for 
sure without seeing whatever medical records had been kept at the Royal 
Residence. 

The psychiatrist had a busy night ahead of him, because he would have to 
interview all 30 criminals before 8:00 the next morning. There were a bunch 
of psychological issues to work out. Kim reflected that an outsider such as 
Cecilia might have felt that it was unfair to keep the former Royal Servants 
overnight in the Central Police Station, but she remained convinced they 
needed to have at least one night of transition before returning to their 
previous lives. Some of Anyia’s slaves had not used their voices for over a 
year, so even the simple act of talking or participating in a conversation would 
be difficult at the beginning. Most of them were traumatized and full of fear or 
hatred, some more than others. She knew that some would be full of self-
loathing and might contemplate suicide.

Six of the former Royal Servants had been Kim’s clients. She felt that she 
needed to see them right away, so for her there would be no rest upon 
finishing her phone calls. She went into her outer office, opened six case files, 
and asked one of the cops on duty to go to the holding cells and bring up her 
clients. All six were foreigners; five young women convicted of drug charges, 
and one young man who had been part of a clandestine missionary group and 
was convicted of proselytizing a foreign religion. The six clients quietly knelt 
while their Spokeswoman explained what had happened.

“I don’t think anyone would have imagined that one person could have done 
so much harm in the position of Grand Duchess in such a short time as Anyia 
Dukov. I don’t know what to say to you, because that woman’s behavior went 
way beyond dishonorable. I’d like to be able to hold out some sort of reward 
for you, but I can’t offer much. I will tell you that the conditions of the 
remaining part of your sentences will improve. Tomorrow each of you will get 
a collar with a brass ring, which means you won’t be restricted to the 
Danúbikt Móskt collar zone. Also, the Ministry thinks you’ve had enough 
whippings, so that’s over as well. All of your remaining scheduled switchings 
will be canceled.”

Most criminals would have been elated to be told that they would be issued 
brass rings for their collars. Criminals who wore brass rings were the most 
privileged of anyone under ownership of the Ministry of Justice. The brass 
ring normally was issued under special circumstances to criminals considered 
exceptionally trustworthy or who had performed an act of heroism, or to 
criminals who in some way had assisted the Danubian police. Criminals who 
wore brass rings were forced to remain naked (nakedness was automatically 
required of anyone wearing a collar) but they were free to move about 
Danubia and did not have to worry about corporal punishments. A criminal 
wearing a brass ring essentially held the same status as a person performing 
Public Penance.

Kim looked at the reactions of her clients. The former servants looked at their 
Spokeswoman impassively, their faces devoid of any expression. She was not 
surprised, because Royal Servants were forced to hide their emotions. It 
would take several weeks and some counseling to convince them that it was 
all right to express themselves. She continued:

“You’ve been through a lot, and I think that issuing brass rings is the least we 
can do to compensate you. Now, you will understand that in spite of your 
brass rings, you are still criminals serving sentences. I expect you to 
remember that. If any of you violates protocol, the conditions of your original 
conviction and sentencing will be restored.”

The tall German girl with the tattoo on her ankle shyly raised her hand:

“Spokeswoman, Lee-Dolkivna, I request permission to speak.”

“Yes Criminal # 100904?”

“What’s going to happen to the Grand Duchess?”

“Well, her parents will have to deal with her. To be honest, with the way they 
feel about her, I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes. The Prime Minister is so 
mad that he wanted her to be sentenced to Life without Honor. That won’t 
happen, mainly because of the public scandal that it would cause. The Grand 
Duchess is going to have some restrictions in her life, however. A lot of 
restrictions, from what I understand.”

----------

Maritza Ortskt-Dukovna spent the afternoon locked in a guest bedroom with 
her daughter. She wanted to talk to Anyia about her situation, but the only 
thing the younger woman wanted was a dress and to be let out of the room. 
Several times Anyia demanded a dress and her crown, props that could have 
given back some of her self-confidence and feeling of authority. However, 
Maritza repeated the ominous news that it was unlikely she would ever be 
allowed to get dressed again. The Grand Duchess found that hard to believe. 

If Maritza was not willing to quit blocking the door, Anyia had nothing more 
to say to her. For a long time neither woman said anything, so the room was 
full of tense silence. Maritza finally gave up trying to communicate. She 
simply sat reading, with the hope that her presence would keep her daughter 
from trying anything stupid. 

Anyia remained shocked and incredulous that her mother would have been 
capable of punishing her with a belt on her own whipping post in front of her 
household staff. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her soul burned with 
humiliation. She sat on a chair looking out the window, every so often shifting 
uncomfortably on her bruised backside. She hated her mother for the crime 
committed against her, but said nothing because for the time being she was 
concerned about suffering another punishment. She wanted to avoid that, but 
as soon as the Grand Duke got home and could straighten everything out, she 
fully planned to get even with her parents.

Maritza could tell by the girl’s behavior that she did not feel any remorse over 
what she had done, but instead harbored a smoldering rage that fueled 
fantasies of revenge. She sadly shook her head. Anyia, you just don’t get it… 
it’s over.

----------

Shortly after Cecilia and Maria Elena left the Royal Residence, Vladim Dukov 
approached the room where his wife was watching over his daughter. He 
knocked. When Maritza opened the door the Prime Minister whispered to her 
everything that had transpired that afternoon, concluding that he and the 
Clergy members were ready to confront Anyia. Maritza whispered back that it 
was obvious that she still did not recognize how serious her situation was. He 
pushed open the door and raised his voice.

“Our daughter does not think I am serious. Very well, I will persuade her 
otherwise.” 

The tone of her father’s words unsettled Anyia. What happened next unsettled 
her much more. Vladik and his partner entered the room, grabbed the Grand 
Duchess, and cuffed her hands behind her back. Anyia struggled and 
screamed indignantly. Vladim stepped out for a moment and returned with a 
finely crafted leather switch. It was her favorite switch, the one she kept with 
her at all times so she could punish her servants on the spur of the moment. 
He held the switch to her face, touching it to her cheek like she had done so 
many times to her servants. Anyia took the warning and calmed down.

“Grand Duchess…” (He pronounced the title using a contemptuous tone of 
voice… ) “… you will come. I believe you wish to see your two advisors.”

With her brother and his partner firmly grabbing her by the arms, Anyia was 
led out of the room and downstairs to the main entryway. She felt her heart 
stop when she saw two prostrate figures in burial robes lying near the door. 
She was terrified and did not want to go any closer. Vladim signaled to his son 
to force her forward. The Grand Duchess struggled to get away, but she was 
no match for Vladik and his partner. They lifted her off the floor and carried 
her to the bodies. 

“NO! You murderer! You…”

Anger swept through the Prime Minister. He trembled with rage as his 
normally quiet demeanor snapped:

“Take a look at them, Anyia! Take a good look at the dead traitors! Take a 
look at my enemies, the enemies of my government, the enemies of our 
people, the enemies of Danubia! Take a good look at men who betrayed 
Danubia, who attempted to sell this country for Euros!”

“No… NO!”

“Take a good look, Anyia! These two are dead, because they wanted to sell 
our country! Sell it, Grand Duchess! They negotiated a selling price for 
Danubia and they signed a contract with Mega-Town Associates!”

Dukov grabbed a folder that had been taken out of the car belonging to one of 
the Lords. He pulled out an official-looking document. He held it in front of 
Anyia and pointed to a figure in the text, an agreement that the two Lords 
would receive five hundred million Euros in exchange for conceding 
Danubia’s natural resources to Mega-Town.

“Those two tried to sell Danubia for five hundred million Euros! They tried to 
sell the Realm of the Ancients, the land of your ancestors, the home of the 
people who love you, who are naïve enough to think you care about them! If 
only the public knew, Anyia! If only they knew what a vile, contemptuous, 
dishonored creature you have become!”

The Prime Minister moved in front of his daughter and slapped her hard 
across the face.

“Oh! Did I defile your Divineness? well… just so there is no doubt… let me 
defile your Divineness again!”

Dukov laid a second fearsome slap across the young woman’s face. Before 
she could react, he grabbed her by the back of the neck and forced her face 
within centimeters of the grayish face of Lord Vidmarkt.

“Maritza, go get her crown and bring it to me!”

A moment later Maritza returned with Anyia’s finely-crafted crown. It was 
not the antiquity traditionally worn by Danubian Grand Duchesses; it had 
been special-ordered the year before from a jeweler in Monaco for a 
scandalous price. 

Dukov released Anyia’s neck, but Vladik and his partner still held her arms 
tight. What the Prime Minister did next shocked everyone in the room. He 
threw Anyia’s crown on the floor and repeatedly stomped on it. He kicked at 
the pieces, scattering diamonds and sapphires. 

“If you think you will avenge yourself against me, Anyia, you are sadly 
mistaken! You will not have me killed, because no one will ever follow an 
order from you… ever! Dishonored traitors like you are not in a position to 
issue orders!”

To prove his point, Dukov grabbed Anyia’s switch and viciously struck her 
across her thighs. Anyia screamed from pain and fright. The Prime Minister 
struck her four more times before tossing the implement across the room. As 
Anyia continued to sob with terror, her father screamed:

“And that’s just the treason! How do you justify defiling your servants? How 
do you justify destroying Church documents? How do you justify trying to 
have your own parents killed? How do you justify spitting on your own 
mother? How do you justify all that? With your crown? Take a look at your 
crown! Take a look at what I did to it!”

Everyone present stood in terrified silence. In all the years he had served in 
public, first in the courtroom and then as Prime Minister, no one had ever seen 
Vladim Dukov lose his temper. He paused, noting the reddening welts 
crossing his daughter’s bare thighs. He took a deep breath and tried to calm 
down. He felt ashamed of his outburst, but he knew there was no way to undo 
what he had just done.

However, everyone noticed a change in Anyia. She slumped in the grip of the 
two police officers. Tears were streaming down her face as she contemplated 
the corpses of her friends and the scattered jewels of her crushed crown. Her 
father may have felt ashamed of his behavior and striking her across her legs, 
but it turned out that was precisely what was needed to break her. The illusion 
she had of her own grandeur melted away in an instant. Dukov noted the 
change as well. He resumed his normal tone of voice.

“Take my daughter to the sitting room and present her to Grand Prophet # 4.”

As Anyia was being led away the Prime Minister turned to the various 
servants and cops standing in the room

“Officers, please remove the corpses from this property and return them to 
their families. And gather up those jewels and crown pieces. They need to be 
taken to the Ministry of Finance and secured in the vault.”

----------

Vladik and his partner dragged Anyia into the smaller reception room where 
the Priestess, Grand Prophet # 4, and several other Clergy members were 
waiting. The Prime Minister and his wife followed. They immediately 
approached Grand Prophet # 4 and knelt, touching their heads to the floor. It 
was strange to see a man in a business suit and a woman in a formal dress 
kneeling before a member of the Clergy, because normally anyone not 
performing Penance would be wearing a prayer robe. However, under the 
circumstances at the moment prayer robes were the least of anyone’s concerns. 
The Grand Prophet blessed the First Couple and told them to rise and take a 
seat. 

Vladik and his partner forced Anyia to kneel. The Clergy members 
immediately noted the same change in Anyia that the cops and staff in the 
main reception hall had noticed, that the Grand Duchess’s spirit had broken. 
She no longer was the cruel imperious mistress of the Royal Household, but 
instead a miserable and frightened young woman who was just beginning to 
understand the awful consequences of everything she had done over the past 
three years. 

The Priestess rose, carrying a folder full of confession statements from the 
Royal Servants, as well as statements from several members of the salaried 
staff who also had requested interviews with the Clergy. She picked out five 
of the statements, the ones that she considered the worst examples of abuse 
that Anyia had inflicted on those tasked to serve her. 

What followed was a formal hearing that would strip Anyia of her Royal 
Immunity. For the next two hours, the Priestess read the five statements in 
their entirety. She only interrupted when she came to a particularly grievous 
action or order the Grand Duchess had given, asking her if indeed the 
statement was true. Anyia, who knelt quietly with tears still streaming down 
her cheeks, repeatedly answered: “Yes, Priestess, that statement is true.”

Anyia’s parents and brother listened in appalled silence to the steady stream of 
protocol violations and bizarre behavior that had constituted Anyia’s daily 
routine since she assumed the crown. Listening was especially painful to her 
parents. They had known for several weeks what was going on in the Royal 
Residence, but to hear the details made them physically sick.

After two hours, the Priestess concluded by asking:

“Anyia Dukov, do you feel that your servants did anything to deserve the way 
you treated them?”

“No, Priestess, they didn’t. They didn’t deserve it.”

“Then… why? Why did you constantly beat and defile people whose only 
wish was to serve your desires and needs? Why were you so desperate to treat 
your servants as sexual toys and strip away their honor? How can you justify 
what you did to them?” 

“I can’t justify what I did them, Priestess. I just did it because it was what I 
enjoyed doing. That’s the only answer I can give you.” 

The Priestess looked hard at the Grand Duchess. Anyia’s simple response, 
along with her subdued behavior, indicated that the young woman’s 
transformation already had begun. The shock of her detention, being punished 
by her parents, seeing her co-conspirators lying dead, and finally hearing her 
own actions read to her by a member of the Danubian Clergy, had broken the 
imperious view of herself that she had developed over the past decade. There 
was no need to break her any further.

The Priestess read a series of passages from the Texts of the Ancients 
concerning the plight of evil rulers. According to the Texts, it was clear that 
Anyia had violated the trust the Creator had placed in her. The violation of 
that trust superseded the Royal Protocol that had protected her up to that 
moment. Therefore Anyia’s Royal Immunity would be canceled. She would 
return to being an ordinary citizen, and thus be subject to trial.

“There are two separate sets of violations that you have committed. The first 
is the one that has brought you before me, the way you treated your servants. 
The Church will cancel your Royal Immunity so your father can address the 
second issue, the fact that you provided assistance to the enemies of the 
Danubian people.”

Dukov spoke next.

“Anyia, you will recall that four years ago Danubia was invaded by Mega-
Town Associates. We placed the leaders of that operation on trial. Do you 
remember what happened to them?”

“They were sentenced to Life without Honor, Father.”

“That is correct, Life without Honor. A life of serving the pig. Do you 
consider their crimes against this country any more heinous than what you and 
your confidants were planning? I consider what you planned worse, because 
your predecessors attempted to take over the Realm of the Ancients through 
an honest force of arms. Nations have done that since the beginning of time. 
But your plot was not through force of arms. Your confidants wanted to sell 
Danubia. Sell it. And you intended to use your title and your relationship with 
your husband to assist that sale. So, my daughter… answer the question. Can 
you think of any reason you should not be put on trial, your actions and 
intentions publicly exposed, and you sentenced to Life without Honor?”

Anyia cried. For the first time she truly understood what the two Lords had 
been planning. They had befriended her, but the purpose of that friendship 
was to use her to take over the country so it could be sold, for what was a 
paltry sum of money. Five hundred million Euros for an entire country… 
really that was nothing.

“I… I don’t want to continue with my life, Father… I… couldn’t… couldn’t 
you have me executed instead?”

“But do you think you deserve something as simple as a clean execution? 
Because I don’t. What you deserve is not a simple separation of your body 
from your soul, Anyia; what you deserve is to spend the rest of your life 
serving the pig.”

Anyia sobbed and nodded. Dukov turned away, because his own eyes had 
filled with tears. He had said what he needed to say to his daughter, but it 
didn’t make him feel any better.

The Priestess realized that Dukov would not be able to speak again without 
his voice cracking. She came to his aid… with the offer from the Church that 
would spare Anyia her life, her title, and most of her honor.

“Anyia Dukov, you need to listen to me. You need to fully comprehend what 
you have done, and the extent to which the Destroyer took over your life. You 
need to understand the fate that you deserve. I believe you do understand.”

“I… I don’t know what to say, Priestess. I don’t know whether I understand or 
not… why… what happened to me…”

“I believe you understand more than you realize, which was one of many 
requests I had for the Creator that concern you. Now, there is something else 
that you must understand. The door has not closed on your life, Anyia Dukov, 
at least not yet. For a person with a damaged soul, you are extraordinarily 
lucky. You have a chance to be spared from everything you have done. Few 
people with damaged souls have such an opportunity. You do.”

The Priestess and the Prime Minister exchanged glances. He wanted her to 
continue:

“You will understand that the Danubian people do not know anything about 
your behavior and your intentions for the country. They are under the illusion 
that you are an honorable sovereign who cares about the well-being of 
Danubia above anything else. You have the opportunity to make that illusion 
become reality. You can assume a simple life of service to your country and to 
the Church and escape from who you have been up until this morning. You 
can set an example of humble service by accepting a collar from the Temple, 
an example for your fellow countrymen to follow. If you take the collar, you 
will escape from your sins, because you understand that once you are collared, 
no one will ask you about your misdeeds. You will be protected from yourself, 
from your own past.”

Performing Public Penance had been the farthest thing from Anyia’s mind, but 
she realized it did offer her an opportunity to escape from the multitude of 
crimes she had committed over the past several years.

“If you submit to Penance, you can remain in this house and continue your life 
as Grand Duchess. Your relationship with your subjects will be preserved. In 
fact it will be strengthened, because you will show yourself as a servant of the 
nation. You have the opportunity to redeem yourself.”

Anyia was silent for a long time. Finally she asked:

“Father, if you say what I deserve is serving the pig, that I am unworthy of 
even being executed, then… why are you sparing me?”

Dukov turned back to face her. His eyes were still full of tears, but he 
managed to maintain control of his voice.

“I can justify sparing your title by saying that the Danubian people have 
suffered many changes and many traumas since I became Prime Minister. 
Right now is not the time for our nation to lose the Royal Family, not on top 
of everything else that has been lost. I can say that, but that is not the main 
reason. The main reason is that you remain my daughter. In spite of 
everything, you are still my child and I still love you.”

“Even though I tried to have you killed?”

“Your mother and I are hurt, but… I want to forgive you. I can forgive you if 
you make yourself worthy of being forgiven. I believe you can do that, if you 
wish. That is why we are sparing you.”

Dukov changed the subject slightly.

“I think… we all need to start over… and you need to start over with your 
husband. Redeem yourself and then go meet him for the first time. He is a 
weak person, but he loves you and is willing to sacrifice for you. No matter 
what you do, he will strive to accommodate your desires. You are destined to 
influence him and the future of the Royal Family. Why not make that 
influence something from the Creator instead of from the Destroyer?”

Anyia sobbed again, but managed to respond:

“Yes, father… I’ll do… what I can… to help my husband. I… what do I have 
to do?”

The Priestess responded:

“Anyia Dukov, you will come with me. We will walk to the church that is just 
outside the Royal Residence. We will arrive before daybreak so no one sees 
you. Tomorrow night we will walk again, and the night after that we will walk 
yet again. On the third night we will arrive at the Temple of the Ancients. 
Once we arrive at the main Temple, you will submit to the collar. During the 
days you will rest, but we will also talk to you, so that you understand what 
the Creator is asking of you. You will not assume the collar until you are 
ready. That is the purpose of our journey. During three days and three nights 
of traveling, you will prepare yourself for your new life.”

Dukov spoke next.

“I will tell your husband where you are and what you are doing. I don’t think 
you should see him until you have completed your journey and assumed the 
collar.”

“Father… will anything happen to him? Please… he didn’t do anything… I 
was the one…”

“You will be held responsible for your own transgressions, but your husband 
has committed transgressions as well. He will have to come to terms with his 
actions, just as you will come to terms with yours.”

The Priestess and three Priests stood up. Vladik un-cuffed his sister and 
helped her to her feet. She was unsteady after having knelt for such a long 
period of time. After a short prayer, the four Clergy members led the naked 
young woman to the door of the Royal Residence. They stripped off their 
garments, folded them, and handed them to Anyia to carry. The group silently 
set off into the darkness, walking in single file, to a small church that was 
about ten kilometers to the west.

As they watched the departing group vanish into the night, Grand Prophet # 4 
addressed the Prime Minister:

“Your daughter will be traveling with my Clergy for three days, Prime 
Minister. I understand that during that time you will be promoting your 
constitutional changes for the Royal Family?”

“That is correct, Grand Prophet. Three days should be enough. The Grand 
Duke already assured me that he will accept my proposals. I’ll have the 
legislation passed before Anyia returns to this house.”

The Grand Prophet smiled slightly.

“You didn’t think it would be this easy, did you Prime Minister?”

“No, Grand Prophet, to be honest, I didn’t. I was convinced Anyia would put 
up more resistance.”

“Then maybe you didn’t know her as well as you thought, Prime Minister. 
Did it ever occur to you that, in her conscience, she knew that her soul had 
been occupied by the Destroyer, and that perhaps she was deeply frightened? 
That maybe, even as we speak, her spirit is uplifted with joy at having been 
released?”

“I don’t know, Grand Prophet. I don’t know what is going on in her head right 
now. I’m sure she is relieved at being spared a fate of serving the pig, but I 
don’t know how much remorse she really has.”

“Remorse… no, Prime Minister… that will come later. But I can tell you that 
over the next three days she will feel the joy of being liberated from the grip 
of the Destroyer. I believe… that she must have felt she controlled everything 
around her, but in reality it was everything around her that controlled your 
daughter. Now, we have removed all those burdens and the only thing Anyia 
needs to worry about is herself. She will control nothing, and nothing will 
control her. That is the understanding she will achieve during her walk.”

“Grand Prophet… the thought of my daughter worrying only about herself is 
nothing new. Throughout her life, the only thing Anyia has ever worried about 
is herself… she never gave any thought to anyone else… or anything… unless 
it brought her pleasure”

“Ahhh… but when you say that your daughter only thought about herself, 
what truly concerned her was the material items in the Realm of the Living 
she could control. I repeat, she now controls nothing of the material world, 
and thus the material world has completely released its grip on her. When I 
say she will worry about herself, what I mean is… really worry about 
herself… her soul… the meaning of her presence in the Realm of the Living. I 
believe that will be a new experience for her.”

Dukov did not reply… he found it hard to accept that he did not know his 
daughter as well as he had thought, that perhaps his negative opinion of her 
was not justified. Noting his skepticism, the Prophet concluded:

“Three days from now Anyia will stand in front of the Temple of the Ancients 
and she will perform her first act of service to the people of this nation. Right 
after her Public Penance begins, she will present herself in front of a camera 
and speak to the Danubians. Following the advice of my Priestess, the Grand 
Duchess of the Danubian Republic will tell our people that she is wearing the 
collar to escape from the control that the material world attempted to place on 
her. The public will accept that explanation and respect her even more than 
they do now. Your daughter will be happy and liberated, not subdued and 
miserable as you anticipate. Most importantly, by presenting herself as an 
example of austere and honest living, she will assist you in your battle against 
Mega-Town Associates and everything they stand for. She will become an 
enemy of consumerism, and in doing so help move this country even further 
from what your enemies envision for its future.”

Dukov contemplated what the Prophet had just told him.

“You will witness illusion as it becomes reality, Prime Minster. Your daughter 
has been cast down, but now the Creator will lift her up. She will serve our 
people in ways you never could have imagined.”

----------

Anyia followed the four naked Clergy members away from her house, across 
the Royal Grounds, and finally through the gate that led to the outside world. 
Her backside was still sore from the punishment her mother had given her 
earlier that morning. The welts on her thighs continued to burn. She could feel 
the aching numbness in her cheek where her father had slapped her. Her legs 
were tired and her feet hurt from walking barefoot on open ground. Her arms 
started to ache from carrying the clothing of the Clergy members who were 
leading her away from her old life and towards a new one. None of that 
mattered.

In spite of her fear and her physical discomfort, Anyia was increasingly happy 
as her journey progressed. She had never been outside in the country at night 
before, so everything she was experiencing was totally new to her. Bats 
chirped over her head and owls hooted in the distance. There were few lights 
during that first leg of her trek, so she could see the stars in their full glory. 
The cool night breeze caressed her bare body. Her life was one of pain and 
pleasure, and now a life of silence and peace.  


For the first time in her life Anyia Dukov felt that she could clear her mind. 
She no longer controlled what was happening to her, so she could let her spirit 
relax. For the next three days her Path in Life would to obey whatever the 
Priestess told her to do. Finally she would arrive at the Temple, take her collar, 
and start over with her life.

After a night of peaceful walking, Anyia could see a small church in the 
distance, the first stop in her three-day journey. She was immensely tired, but 
happy. The words spoken to her earlier in the evening repeated themselves in 
her mind:

“The door has not closed on your life, Anyia Dukov, at least not yet. For a 
person with a damaged soul, you are extraordinarily lucky. You have a chance 
to be spared from everything you have done. few people with damaged souls 
have such an opportunity. You do.”