The Girl with No Name
Copyright 2013 by Edward -EC-
EC's Erotic Fiction - /~caligula97030/

(warnings: public nudity, sex between adults, corporal punishment, maledom, 
humiliation, war violence, occult, language)

Chapter Twenty-One – The Slave-Owner

As the Buláshckt family and Silvítya were fleeing south, the Grand Duke spent 
several days surveying the ruins of the capitol and listening to reports about the 
evacuation. The fire had gone as planned, leaving the entire area within the city 
walls completely cleaned out. The only structures left standing were the Great 
Temple and a few nearby ancient buildings, the main cathedral and two other 
churches built by the Roman Church during the 1300s, and a few stone armory 
buildings near the castle. However, not everything had gone perfectly and 
unfortunately there had been some casualties. As the day progressed, Royal 
Guards and workers searching the smoldering ruins found several burnt corpses. 

The Guards had no way of knowing who the bodies belonged to, with a notable 
exception. The captain of the detachment guarding the castle saw that Protector 
Alexándrekt Buláshckt was missing. He knew Protector Buláshckt had a nice 
house located within the city walls and decided to check its ruins. The men made 
the ghastly discovery that Alexándrekt Buláshckt and his entire family had 
perished inside their house. It seemed strange that someone as smart as Protector 
Buláshckt would not have made it out of the fire, but the guards speculated that 
his wife must have stayed in the house waiting for him and by the time he realized 
where his family was, the fire cornered everyone in the residence and they 
perished.

The Grand Duke took the news of Alexándrekt Buláshckt’s death stoically, but 
inwardly he was very upset. He lost one of his best guards, but even worse was 
the loss of one of his oldest daughters. It was regrettable that the girl was only a 
year away from being ready to be taken into the castle: she would have had her 
hair braided in just six years and be ready to marry off. The Grand Duke looked at 
the charred bodies, hoping his offspring was not among them. Unfortunately there 
was a corpse of a nine-year-old girl that corresponded with the daughter, so she 
had indeed been lost. That was most unlucky. The ruler ordered the bodies to be 
taken to the military cemetery and buried with honors. A Prophet from the Great 
Temple would lead the funeral, which was a privilege usually reserved for 
ministers and nobility.

When the Grand Duke returned to the castle two days later, there was more bad 
news waiting for him. His favorite concubine Silvítya was missing. No one had a 
clue what happened to her. The ruler checked her sleeping chamber, only to 
discover she had left behind her jewelry. 

The other women were extremely worried of course, and seemed to suspect that 
the ruler himself had been responsible for her disappearance. The Grand Duke 
said nothing, figuring it would be best to let the concubines speculate about their 
spokeswoman and wonder what she had done to displease him. The Grand Duke 
never directly asked anyone what happened to Servant Silvítya. If the other 
concubines were scared that he had killed her, then it was unlikely they had 
anything to do with her absence. The Royal Guards and the matrons also took it 
for granted Silvítya had somehow run afoul of the Sovereign’s temper and that he 
was responsible for her death. If he started asking a bunch of questions, it would 
be apparent that she instead had run off, and it would look like he had lost control 
of one of his servants and lose honor. So, it was better to let everyone think he 
had secretly executed her. Besides, even if she had run off, it was likely she 
perished in the fire, given that she would have had to cross the entire city to reach 
a gate. If that was what happened, searching for her body would be futile. It 
would be one of several severely charred corpses found in the ashes and would 
never be identified.

So, the disappearance of Servant Silvítya remained a mystery for the Grand Duke. 
Why would she leave the safety of the castle? How did she get out? Did she go 
looking for him? Was she trying to find Protector Buláshckt? Was there someone 
else she was trying to find? Well…whatever happened, it was best to stay quiet 
and use Silvítya as a “lesson” for the other concubines. When they did anything 
that even hinted at irritating him, the ruler commented:

“You know…it is most unfortunate what happened to Servant Silvítya. Hers is a 
fate you wouldn’t wish on anyone, is it not? But I trust you understand your Path 
in Life better than she understood hers.”

As for the ruler himself, he was troubled by the vanishing of his favorite woman, 
but life had taught him to hide his emotions, even from himself. Love always led 
to tragedy and the loss of Servant Silvítya was just one example out of many why 
it was best to avoid becoming too emotionally attached to anyone. The Grand 
Duke pondered that Servant Silvítya could just as easily have betrayed him as 
simply disappearing and that he had made himself ridiculously vulnerable. Well, 
he'd have to ensure that never happened again. He'd replace the girl with another 
"favorite", console himself by indulging with the remaining concubines, and 
move ahead with his plans for the Duchy.

----------

The speculation about Servant Silvítya’s fate showed up in the writings of several 
former concubines and castle staff-members. A popular poet wrote a fanciful 
story claiming that Silvítya was not killed by the Grand Duke at all, but instead 
fled the castle to escape the Destroyer. As she ran through the city, the “Profane 
One” pursued her and spread fire to prevent her from turning back. Thus, the 
“Girl with No Name” caused the Destroyer to pass through Danúbikt Móskt and 
was indirectly responsible for the city’s subsequent burning. A song-writer took 
the poet’s Destroyer idea and incorporated both the execution rumor and the story 
from Rika Héckt-nemát; that the Girl with No Name had called out to Beelzebub 
the Destroyer to save her from a second death sentence. Yes, she was indeed 
spared, but at the cost of another city, the Danubian capitol. 

Several other poets and song-writers added their variations to the story and in 
doing so unwittingly served the interests of both Silvítya and the Grand Duke. 
The truth about the Great Fire of 1755 lay buried under increasingly thick layers 
of elaborate myth and fanciful tales.

----------

The former Royal Guard and the former Royal concubine entered the forest and 
spent the late afternoon walking through dense old-growth trees. They were still 
ahead of most of the other refugees and the road was mostly clear. However, they 
had lost precious time trying to find the parents of the children they rescued, so 
the guard insisted on walking as quickly as possible. As they moved along the 
road, Alexándrekt periodically whistled what sounded like a strange bird-call. He 
listened, waited several minutes, and whistled again. Finally his efforts were 
rewarded with a response. He changed the whistle, as did his respondent. He 
oriented himself through several more exchanges and led Silvítya away from the 
road. They arrived at a clearing, where a wagon and three horses were partly 
concealed by trees. An attractive woman dressed in a caravan outfit like Silvítya’s 
and a 12-year old boy stood guard with crossbows over the campsite and three 
children. The children, a girl and two young boys, huddled together under the 
wagon. Alexándrekt introduced Silvítya to his wife, Stepkakta, and a nephew, 
Nowáckt.

They moved out immediately and returned to the main road, even though it was 
close to sunset. The boy watched the back of the wagon while the former guard 
rode his horse in front. Alexándrekt’s wife took the reins of the wagon team and 
followed her husband’s order that she teach Silvítya how to drive. The three 
children, still bewildered from being taken out of their comfortable home, sat 
quietly with their older cousin in the back. After sunset the trip continued. 
Alexándrekt and Nowáckt walked up front, each carrying a crossbow. Silvítya 
and Alexándrekt’s wife had longbows within their reach.

Silvítya was dead tired, given that she had not slept at all for two days, but she 
forced herself to conform to the rigid military-style discipline of her traveling 
companions. It was obvious that Alexándrekt had trained both Stepkakta and 
Nowáckt in the use of weapons and army survival skills. The boy in particular, 
behaved as any ordinary Danubian soldier would behave: he carried his crossbow 
with ease and confidence.

The group traveled non-stop through the night and the following morning. They 
stopped midday, but only because Alexándrekt was monitoring the horses and 
calculated they needed to rest due to the heat. The group found a stream where the 
animals could drink and where everyone could bathe. Alexándrekt and the boys 
bathed separately from the women. The males and the girl went to sleep 
immediately, while the women stood watch over the camp. 

During the watch Stepkakta braided Silvítya’s hair. Silvítya was elated when she 
looked into the water and saw her reflection. Finally, after two years, her hair was 
braided and her public honor as a woman was restored. Now that she looked like 
any other decently-attired Danubian woman, she truly felt she had escaped the 
clutches of the Grand Duke.

After the afternoon meal Silvítya slept on a blanket under the wagon. It was her 
first opportunity to sleep in three days, and her first opportunity to sleep as a free 
woman in two years.

Later, throughout the trip Silvítya would provide an important contribution to the 
group whenever they were passing through a wooded area. In spite of her past as a 
university student and a concubine, she was not a spoiled city girl who would be a 
burden on the others. She had skills that she had learned when living in Babáckt 
Yaga’s settlement: she knew secrets of food gathering in the forest and could 
instantly spot and identify anything that was edible. While Stepkakta set up a fire 
and prepared a meal, Silvítya scoured the woods for food. The first time she went 
foraging, Stepkakta was just starting to grumble about Silvítya’s absence when 
her companion returned with a sack containing a banquet of mushrooms, roots, 
herbs, and berries.

----------

The group left the main road leading to the ruins of Hórkustk Ris shortly before 
the forest ended. They followed a road that was little more than a rough trail 
westward towards the East Danube River. When they approached the shore, they 
turned south to travel along the water’s edge. Fine flat beaches, exposed because 
of the low water-level during a drought year, made the trip both easy and pleasant. 
An unbroken line of cliffs, which comprised the Duchy’s western border, 
extended both upstream and downstream along the opposite side of the river.

At night the team moved in silence, but during the day there was time for 
conversation. Silvítya and Alexándrekt’s wife exchanged stories about their 
experiences as concubines and compared observations about the how the ruler had 
changed over the past nine years. Stepkakta had been one of his very first 
concubines, picked from a village when he was still just the heir to the throne. 
The young Prince saw her drawing water from a well as he was passing through 
with his hunting party and took a liking to her. Like Silvítya, Stepkakta entered 
the sovereign’s service as a peasant and exited with the manners and skills of an 
upper-class woman. As the Crowned Prince said at the time: “it’s always 
interesting to catch a crow and turn her into a dove.”

“Then…that explains…there’s a tapestry above the Duke’s throne…he’s got a 
tapestry…that shows a crow sitting in a cage and a dove sitting on top.”

“Yes. The tapestry must have been made after my time, but that’s what it would 
mean. His Majesty has many reasons for keeping concubines, but one of them is 
to use us to humble the nobility. He wishes to prove that noble families are not 
inherently superior to average citizens. Anyone can be taught to act like a noble, 
and therefore nobles have no special rights, and therefore, like everyone else, they 
must submit to the Royal House. By having us act as ladies of class, he is sending 
his rivals a political message.”

---------- 

The Buláshckt group proceeded along the river for several days, passing to the 
south of Hórkustk Ris and the squads of Royal Guards stationed there to receive 
refugees and push them further south. Alexándrekt would go around the ruined 
city to the west, then turn directly east and follow a series of rough roads 
southeast. He had seen some properties close to the southern border that interested 
him, but the family would have to move quickly to ensure they occupied the land 
before any other Danubians arrived to stake a claim.

The Buláshckt family would have an enormous advantage of having the tools, 
horses, and cooking utensils needed to set up a household upon arriving at their 
destination. They also had blank letters from the Grand Duke granting them rights 
to the property they would be taking. Stepkakta and Silvítya practiced forging 
signatures and finally decided that Silvítya should be the one to attempt to forge 
the names. She signed several officials’ names and made the documents look 
authentic. 

One of the letters would be for Silvítya. Alexándrekt had taken for granted the 
assumption she would be content owning and farming a small plot of land for the 
rest of her life. The property title planted doubts in Silvítya’s thoughts about what 
she wanted for her future. She could indeed operate a farm, but there was no way 
living off a plot of land appealed to her. Maybe… maybe if she had a partner or a 
family… she could be a farmer, but to do it alone?

---------- 

The family turned away from the river and crossed a region that had been a war-
zone the previous year. The area already was occupied by recently-arrived 
Danubian settlers, so signs of both destruction and recovery were everywhere. 
Alexándrekt talked in detail about the skirmishes between the Royal Guards and 
garrisons of the Lord of the Red Moon’s men as they passed through villages and 
manors. They arrived at the same town where Mirjana’s captors had sold her 
relatives. The slave market was still active, selling off captured refugees from the 
Kingdom of the Moon. All of the slaves were women or girls, all of them were 
collared and naked.

Silvítya’s illusions about Alexándrekt suffered a severe blow when she watched 
him purchase four slaves. He bought two middle-aged women to work in the 
fields, a younger one to help his wife in the household, and a girl who would be 
the personal servant of Nowáckt. Silvítya was horrified when she saw the naked 
foreigners kneeling next to the wagon. Alexándrekt had talked incessantly about 
his freedom, his step-daughter’s freedom, and Silvítya’s freedom, but had no 
qualms about keeping foreign women as slaves. 

Silvítya was most troubled by the girl that had been given to Nowáckt. The boy 
was 12 and his new servant was only slightly younger. He would shave his head 
in a few years and would want what any teenaged boy would want. Silvítya even 
overheard Alexándrekt discussing the purchase with Stepkakta: “…yes, I know 
she was expensive, but I need to keep that boy out of trouble. We’ll have enough 
worries as it is, so I don’t want him wandering off looking for adventures.”

---------- 

A group of displaced families from the capitol joined Alexándrekt as his family 
and slaves departed eastward. They all had titles to landholdings, but so far every 
place they had seen already had occupants. Alexándrekt explained that the best 
remaining property would be along the southern border. There were several 
abandoned villages within sight of the Kingdom of the Moon. If the others joined 
the Buláshckt group, Alexándrekt would teach the men how to fight so they could 
defend both the Duchy and their new land. The men agreed, elected Alexándrekt 
their mayor, and a large column of families proceeded towards the border. 
Originally there were 13 families, but by the end of the journey they had been 
joined by 15 more.

Three days later the group arrived at a village containing some refugees from the 
Kingdom of the Moon. The Danubians chased out the foreigners and quickly set 
up their new town. Alexándrekt didn’t bother to find out if the empty settlement 
had a previous Danubian name; he simply called it Malénkta-Gordnáckta because 
it was located next to a small hill with a dilapidated watchtower at its summit.

The Buláshckts, along with the four slaves and Silvítya, established their 
household in Malénkta-Gordnáckta’s nicest residence. Alexándrekt left his wife, 
the three children, and the two younger slaves in the town, but took his nephew, 
the two older slaves, and Silvítya to establish ownership of a large plot of 
farmland outside the village. Forested hills lay immediately to the east of the 
property, and a small river that was recognized as the border between the 
Kingdom of the Moon and the Duchy formed a small portion of the boundary to 
the south. It was a risky location, but someone would have to live along the 
border and stake out the land for the Duchy. I suppose a former Royal Guard is as 
good a man for that duty as any, Silvítya thought to herself.

Alexándrekt handed a switch to his companion and told her to have the slaves 
start clearing one of the fields. Meanwhile, he would go with several of the men 
to divide up the rest of the land around Malénkta-Gordnáckta. Later he would 
have to organize some hunting expeditions in the woods. The fields had been 
abandoned over the previous year and there was very little food in the area. The 
situation would improve after the next year’s harvest, but until then the new 
residents of Malénkta-Gordnáckta would have to live by hunting and gathering.

As she stood in the field, holding her switch and watching the two wretched 
naked women sweat and struggle with their task, Silvítya felt despair sweep over 
her. What am I doing, watching over another person’s slaves? Why did the 
Ancients lead me here, to the edge of the Duchy, to this abandoned location? Is 
this truly my Path in Life? Is this why I escaped the capitol and the Grand Duke? 
What am I doing, just standing alone in a field?

----------

Alexándrekt’s training in the Danubian military manifested itself in every detail 
of his behavior as he organized his new community. He assessed each man under 
his command to determine his strongest skills or talents and made sure each of his 
subordinates was doing his best to further the interests of Malénkta-Gordnáckta. 
By the end of September the town had a fully operational blacksmith’s shop, a 
glass-blower, a cobbler, and a weaver. There was a shortage of livestock, but a 
group of teenagers snuck across the border, raided a farm, and brought back some 
live chickens and a pair of sheep. That was hardly enough for village of 300 
people, but at least it was a start.

Alexándrekt knew that Silvítya had training from the Cult of the Ancients for 
living and foraging in the woods, so he employed her to lead gathering 
expeditions into the nearby hills. Both he and Stepkakta had been very impressed 
with her talent for finding anything edible during the first days of their journey, so 
it was logical to place former Follower in charge of foraging expeditions. The 
commander ordered each family to send at least one woman or girl to the plaza 
with bags and baskets, with the understanding they were to follow Silvítya into 
the hills and do exactly what she told them to do. Anyone failing to follow her 
instructions would face a public switching in the plaza upon returning. The severe 
command was necessary because most of the women were guild wives or field 
workers that had no experience collecting food in the forest. As long as the 
women were accompanying Silvítya, they would be under her command, no 
questions asked.

Silvítya was not particularly religious when she was in a “civilized” environment, 
but when she was in a natural setting, she did feel the presence of the Ancients. 
Her religion might no longer have formally existed, but the spirituality she had 
learned with the Cult stayed with her and influenced her view of the world. 
Therefore, as she led others into the woods, she insisted on maintaining the 
practices of the Old World. She shocked her companions by stripping and 
ordering the others to undress as well. The oldest woman in the group would 
stand watch over the dresses, but the others would show respect to the Realm of 
Nature by entering the forest as the Great Spirits had created them. Noting the 
reluctance of her companions, she snapped:

“If you want your families to eat, they will only do so with the blessing of the 
Ancients. The Ancients will only give you their blessing if you respect the ways 
of the Old World. That’s the way your Paths in Life will be whenever you are 
with me. I am a Follower of the Ancients, I am a woman of the Old World, and 
you will obey, just as I obey the Ancients. If you disobey me, the wrath of the 
Ancients awaits you in the woods, and the switch awaits you in the Plaza.”

So…the naked ex-concubine led her equally naked companions through the 
forested hills, gathering a multitude of roots, berries, mushrooms, herbs, and fungi. 
The women were surprised by how many items previously unknown to them 
could be gathered and prepared. Silvítya led the women to various streams to 
catch fish and collect freshwater mussels. The streams offered a respite from the 
constant wandering when the guide and her companions relaxed along the shore 
and swam in the cold water. The women became used to traversing the hills in the 
nude and eventually started to enjoy it. The cool breezes felt comfortable on their 
uncovered skin and it was nice to not worry about damaging or soiling clothing 
that was both expensive and difficult to replace.

The trips to the woods offered a welcome break from Mayor Alexándrekt 
Buláshckt’s increasingly rigid militaristic rule over Malénkta-Gordnáckta. He 
insisted that all men and boys engage in constantly practicing both fencing and 
archery. The males practiced for war as much as they worked their fields, while 
the women wore themselves out foraging and preserving food for the grim winter 
that lay ahead.

----------

As the weather started to become colder, the foraging expeditions into the 
mountains ended, along with Silvítya’s temporary authority over Malénkta-
Gordnáckta’s other women. She had taught her companions what she knew about 
finding unusual food items and innovative methods of preparing meals, but now 
that her knowledge had been dispensed, the other women saw no need to continue 
following the orders of someone who looked no older than 17. Silvítya became 
known around the town as “the Cult girl” as the women increasingly resented her 
efforts to impose her beliefs on them. The other women dismissed her and her 
strange religion as soon as they no longer needed her. By the end of October their 
gratitude for what she had taught them was forgotten.

There were other changes in Malénkta-Gordnáckta that troubled Silvítya, 
especially in the house of her hosts. Stepkakta discovered she was pregnant in 
October and became even more ill-tempered than she had been over the summer. 
She was very unpleasant to be around, so Silvítya avoided her as much as possible. 
Nor did Silvítya approve of Stepkakta’s treatment of the house slave. On several 
occasions she had witnessed the mistress tie her servant to the kitchen table and 
give her severe switchings, while Nowáckt’s servant was forced to watch “to 
learn her place”. 

Stepkakta never beat the younger girl, not because of her age, but because of her 
value. However, already there were numerous signs that Nowáckt was not going 
to treat her well. Throughout the fall and winter he and Alexándrekt’s step-
daughter bullied his servant and forced her to do humiliating things. For example, 
at the end of October, Nowáckt and his cousin “punished” the girl by cutting off 
part of her hair and then forced her to look at herself in a mirror. When she cried 
at seeing her reflection, all four of the Buláshckt children ridiculed her.

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Alexándrekt proved his talent as a soldier by training and organizing the town’s 
men into a competent platoon-sized militia within just two months. No group of 
soldiers from the Kingdom of the Moon could have entered Malénkta-Gordnáckta 
without sustaining casualties. However, the mayor knew the town’s preparation 
for combat remained totally inadequate. The men had a mis-matched collection of 
personal weapons, there was no extra iron ore, and the community only had six 
horses, of which four belonged to the Buláshckts. Adding to the mayor’s worries 
was the lack of salt, which was needed to preserve meat in an age when there was 
no refrigeration. For Malénkta-Gordnáckta to survive and prosper, the inhabitants 
would have to trade for the goods they needed, but unfortunately they had nothing 
to offer.

The town’s fortunes changed when a group of refugees from a manor immediately 
south of the border fled from a group of soldiers loyal to the Lord of the Blue 
Moon. The manor owner was loyal to the Lord of the Red Moon, so he and his 
family: women, children, and house servants included, were hung outside their 
house on the Kingdom’s infamous impalement hooks. The field workers did not 
stick around to see what was going to happen to them. Yes, they had heard that 
the Danubian Duchy no longer was a safe place, but they were panicked and had 
nowhere else to go. So, reluctantly they crossed the river and fled north.

Alexándrekt set up a trap for the refugees as soon as he found out they had 
crossed the border. The townsmen waited until the foreigners were moving 
between two hills. They were set up with crossbows on both sides of the road, 
while the mayor and five mounted companions charged the group from the front. 
The refugees scrambled up the hillsides, only to fall to the crossbows of the 
Danubians. The mayor had ordered only the foreign men to be killed, while as 
many of the women as possible were to be captured alive.

The townsfolk caught 36 women and girls. They herded their shivering, naked 
prisoners northward and sold them at the same market where Alexándrekt had 
bought his slaves several months before. The men triumphantly returned to their 
town with new horses, new crossbows, a pile of crossbow bolts and arrows, two 
muskets, gunpowder, and several barrels of salt. The town celebrated their good 
fortune as Alexándrekt trained several of his men to ride their new horses and 
Stepkakta distributed salt among the town’s women. Already there was talk of a 
new raiding expedition to capture more slaves and how much easier that would be 
now that more of the men had horses.

Silvítya felt sick. She couldn’t figure out if Alexándrekt had changed or if she 
never knew him in the first place. Instead of the thoughtful devoted family man 
she had seen in the castle, the Alexándrekt in front of her was a brutal raider and 
enslaver. Not only was he a slave owner, but he was killing refugees and actively 
catching and condemning women to a lifetime of servitude. Of course, everyone 
else totally adored him because he was doing everything necessary to ensure 
Malénkta-Gordnáckta’s security and prosperity. However, at what price? What 
kind of community was he creating? Certainly not one where Silvítya would want 
to live.

---------- 

The grim autumn turned into an equally grim winter. The salt barrels and hunting 
expeditions ensured that Malénkta-Gordnáckta would not actually starve, but 
throughout the end of the year food would be in short supply. The men were gone 
most of the time, not only hunting animals but pursuing rumors about groups of 
refugees. During the bleak months of December and January they captured a total 
of 24 more foreign women and took them to the slave market. The additional 
trading netted some iron ore, crop seed, tools, and cave charcoal. 

Additional families entered Malénkta-Gordnáckta and claimed ownership of the 
remaining parcels of vacant land. Silvítya decided to sell the title of her plot to 
one of the newcomers, given that she had no desire to farm or settle in the area. 
Hers was one of the last properties available, so she received three-and-a-half 
gold pieces, which was a good price for a plot that size. As soon as the weather 
became warm, she would go into the hills and continue with her travels. 
Everything about her neighbors disgusted her and she longed never to see any of 
them again. 

Meanwhile, the vicious civil war to the south dragged on. Silvítya periodically 
climbed into the watchtower on the hilltop overlooking the border and talked to 
the sentry. Occasionally she could see plumes of smoke in the distance and knew 
some ghastly atrocity had just been committed by one of the warring factions. She 
thought about her odious neighbors and the senseless southern warlords. More 
than any other time in her life, she questioned the goodness of the cosmos and 
wondered whether people had ever done anything to deserve their place in the 
Realm of the Living.

“Where is the Creator? Where are the blessings from the Ancients? The only 
presence I ever feel is that of the Destroyer. I don’t feel anything else.”

----------

Stepkakta’s fourth pregnancy turned out to be her most difficult. Her health had 
suffered from traveling and adjusting to a new environment, so by February she 
had to spend most of her time in bed. She was more unpleasant than ever as her 
shrill voice echoed throughout the mayor’s residence. However, that was good 
fortune for the house slave, given that the Mistress was too weak to administer 
any more whippings. Silvítya, who until that time had been little more than a 
family guest, took on many of the duties needed to run the household. By the late 
winter she no longer sympathized or cared about anyone in Alexándrekt 
Buláshckt’s family, but she did not want the children running amok and 
tormenting the servants. 

As a condition for helping out, she insisted on taking control of the girl originally 
purchased for Nowáckt by telling Alexándrekt there was no way she could 
operate a household including a sick pregnant woman and four rowdy children 
with a single slave. She would have to bring the girl into the kitchen and teach her 
how to cook and perform other household duties. Silvítya was furious upon seeing 
the condition of Nowáckt’s servant. The young captive was a truly pathetic sight, 
with insults written on her body, her head partially shaved, her remaining hair 
dyed red and blue, and her expression traumatized by constant bullying. 

It was fortunate that Alexándrekt had obtained a horse for his nephew, because 
over the winter the boy was absent most of the time, tasked to learn everything 
needed to become a mounted soldier. Nowáckt accompanied his uncle whenever 
the men went out, whether it was on a routine patrol or a slave-raiding expedition. 
The boy’s soul was becoming hardened and callous towards anyone weaker than 
himself, but the inhabitants of the household were spared from having to deal with 
him very much. The other children were still young enough to be intimidated by 
Silvítya, so she was able to establish order within a few days. 

She learned the names of the two house slaves, Marla and Isauria. Up until that 
moment she had only known them as the “Kitchen Slave” and the “Young Slave”. 
The substitute house-mistress cut off Isauria’s ruined hair, evened the stubble on 
her scalp, and gave her a headscarf to hide what had been done to her by 
Alexándrekt’s step-daughter. Silvítya was thoroughly disgusted and promised 
herself that when she left town, she would somehow try to take the adolescent 
with her. Anyhow, at least Isauria was now under her control and for the time 
being would be spared any further bullying. 

----------

As much as she was disgusted by Malénkta-Gordnáckta’s reliance on slavery, 
Silvítya was impressed by how quickly Mayor Buláshckt had organized an 
undisciplined group of refugees and a collection of abandoned houses into a fully 
functioning community capable of feeding and defending itself. Over the late 
winter additional slave raids allowed the town to purchase a wagon-load of cheese 
and barley; another wagon full of beets, carrots, and potatoes; and several 
pregnant breed-sows. In the early spring the entire community turned out to plant 
the fields, including everyone in the Buláshckt household, with the exception of 
the still bed-ridden Stepkakta.

The planted fields and green hills reminded Silvítya that it was time to fulfill the 
promise she had made to herself and leave. She correctly assumed that had she 
simply asked for permission to depart and to take Isauria with her, the mayor 
would have denied the request. Silvítya was too valuable to the household and he 
would consider her trying to leave before his wife had her baby a dereliction of 
duty. 

Silvítya prayed about her dilemma to the Ancients. The answer she received was 
to conduct a test of Alexándrekt’s character to see how loyal he truly was to his 
wife. If he passed the test of character, she would have to stay. If he failed the test, 
then she would be able to coerce him into letting her have everything she wanted.

----------

Silvítya knew that Alexándrekt had a favorite spot in the hills immediately to the 
east of his estate. It was a rocky overlook that included a large flat stone upon 
which it was possible to sit, lie, set up a spyglass, or use as a firing position. There 
was a brook nearby with a small pool that was large enough for two people to fit 
comfortably and take a bath, or for a horse to take a drink. A horse could be tied 
near the water and still be within sight of the rock, so it was an ideal location for a 
military man to rest with his horse.

Silvítya returned to her old habit of searching the forest for edible items as soon 
as the weather was warm enough for her to run around the hills in the nude. She 
took advantage of the stone shelf as a location to offer up her prayers to the 
Ancients and as a place to spread out her mushrooms and herbs so they could dry 
in the sun. She knelt and prayed in archaic Danubian, hoping that eventually the 
Ancients would answer her prayers.

Alexándrekt spent several days observing the young Follower, fascinated by her 
naked figure as she prayed in the bright late spring sunshine. Yes, in the Grand 
Duke’s castle she had been constantly naked for two years, but that had been 
forced upon her. Now she was in her natural environment, willingly sharing 
herself and her body with the lost soul of the Old World. Hearing her singing and 
praying in the Old Language and surrendering herself to the Realm of Nature 
made her seem mysterious and sinister, but at the same time made her very sexy.

A week after he started observing her in his favorite spot, Alexándrekt 
approached Silvítya. Her skin was starting to tan and her sweat glistened in the 
warm sunshine. She remained on her knees as she silently looked back at him, 
waiting to see what he would do.

“You’re a strange girl, Silvítya. You’re different from anyone I’ve ever met. 
Different, and far more interesting.”

Silvítya remained on her knees, looking at the mayor, but still with no answer. 
Alexándrekt became nervous at her silence, but the sight of her was making him 
increasingly aroused. He had not had sex with his wife for over six months, so the 
girl in front of him looked sexier to him than ever. He badly wanted her and she 
was well-aware of what was going on in his head. Finally, still keeping her silence, 
she stood up and put out her hand.

She bent over the rocks in the submissive position as he caressed her body and 
struggled out of his clothing. It had been a long time for her as well, so at least she 
could enjoy what was about to happen before she set off her trap. She sighed as he 
massaged her bottom and ran his fingers between her legs. She became wet as she 
positioned herself and welcomed his hard penis into her eager body. He took his 
time with her… if nothing else at least he was a good lover. She abandoned 
herself to the moment and allowed herself to climax.

The couple swam in the pool and made love again. She lay on her back on a batch 
of clover as he pushed into her. He was rough and vigorous as he thrust, but a lot 
more considerate than the Grand Duke had been. 

They made love in the same spot over the next several days. Eventually Silvítya 
worked him into the position she wanted as she got him to lie on his back and she 
straddled him. The mayor climaxed into her as she relived her old fantasy of 
being Lilith. 

----------

That night, Silvítya packed her bucket and put on her trader’s outfit. She served 
dinner and brought Alexándrekt a bottle of ale. Then she changed her entire 
demeanor. In a cold voice she ordered the children to leave the room and told the 
slaves to return to the kitchen. She placed her hands on the table and stared hard 
at the surprised mayor.

“You know, Alexándrekt, there have been only three men in my life for whom 
I’ve ever had any respect. One of those men was a farmer who taught me the 
importance of atonement. The second man was an Elder from my Cult who taught 
me about overcoming one’s fear. The third man I admired was you. I thought you 
had taught me about the importance of one’s family. However, I was wrong about 
you. I don’t know whether you changed or if I just didn’t know you, but either 
way, I don’t like what you’ve turned into. So, I’m leaving. I am taking my bucket 
and I’m walking out of this town.”

“Very well, if that’s how you feel, then go.”

Silvítya reached into her belt and pulled out her coin purse. She placed three gold 
coins and five silver coins on the table.

“What’s this?”

“Payment for Nowáckt’s slave Isauria. I’m taking her with me. I understand that 
you paid four gold pieces for her, but if you’ve noticed, your nephew and step-
daughter reduced her value by ruining her hair. It’s a fair price that I’m offering. 
You wouldn’t receive three-and-a-half gold if you tried selling her at the market 
in her current condition.”

Alexándrekt smiled and pushed the money back, but Silvítya stepped away from 
the table.

“Don’t be a fool, Mayor Buláshckt. The Ancients are trying to protect you from 
scandal. You don’t think people in Malénkta-Gordnáckta aren’t talking about 
Nowáckt and the slave you gave him? The Ancients are giving you a path out of 
your predicament. They are giving you an opportunity to recoup most of your 
investment and put an end to your family’s disgrace. I take the girl off your hands, 
leave without saying anything, and we’ll be forgotten in a few days. Any other 
choice will fill your Path in Life with dishonor. If you don’t believe me, then pick 
up your sword, strike me down, and see what happens.”

Alexándrekt said nothing more, but he realized his companion was right. He had 
nothing to gain either by killing her or by refusing to sell Isauria. He saw the same 
cold determination in Silvítya that he had seen when she confronted the Grand 
Duke in Sumy Ris. She was offering him the chance to get rid of two problems 
simultaneously. So, he reached into his shirt to take a key off his necklace. He 
took the coins off the table and unlocked a sturdy metal box that was bolted to the 
wall. He tossed in the coins and took out a piece of parchment. It was Isauria’s 
ownership certificate. He crossed out his name and added a note stating the girl 
had been re-sold.

“What’s your name? Your real name? The one the Church called you when your 
hair was braided?”

“Danka. It doesn’t really matter, but that’s my name. I guess you can put my title 
on that paper as Peasant Danka, because that’s what I am.”

The mayor handed the paper to Danka.

“Very well, Peasant Danka. Take your servant and get off my property.”

Danka went into the kitchen and called Isauria. The girl followed her, not yet 
understanding what had just happened. They stepped into the plaza and passed to 
the back side of the town’s church. Danka handed a trader’s outfit to Isauria and 
told her to put it on. She handed her bucket to the girl and they continued to a 
shed where Danka had been hiding a crossbow and some stolen bolts. She took 
the crossbow and satchel, along with a traveling backpack containing supplies and 
tools for living in the forest. Then she exited Malénkta-Gordnáckta to set off with 
her servant towards the hills. The travelers followed a path that led northeast, 
away from both the border and from the province of Hórkustk Ris. 

They walked in silence in the darkness as the quiet girl struggled to keep up. 
Danka had not yet explained anything, but Isauria realized that she had been sold 
and her new mistress was taking her away from Malénkta-Gordnáckta. More 
importantly, she was being taken away from those horrid children who had spent 
the past eight months tormenting her. She was very happy at the thought of never 
seeing them again. She had no idea where her new mistress and her Path in Life 
would lead her, but just escaping from the Buláshckt children was good enough 
for the moment.

At daybreak Danka entered the woods and looked for a place to set up camp. She 
found a spot near a stream. Isauria was tired, but there would be no rest until the 
two travelers had gathered enough food to sustain them over the next couple of 
days. Danka taught her servant how to find berries and edible forest plants and 
how to prepare them. The weather was sunny, so she was able to use a 
magnifying lens to start a fire. The woman and her servant stripped off their 
clothing and waded into the stream so Danka could teach her ward how to catch a 
fish.

As they ate, Danka looked at her purchase and wondered what to do with her. She 
had no desire to keep Isauria, but realized finding a safe place to leave her would 
be difficult. The girl’s cropped hair presented a problem because it made her look 
like a boy. It would take at least two years for it to grow back to a length that 
would be considered acceptable in Danubia for a young woman. In the meantime 
Danka would either have to keep Isauria in the woods or keep her head covered if 
they went into a settled area. She wished she could just take the girl to the border 
and let her go home, but there was no home for her to go to. Her village was burnt, 
her family was dead, and her country was being destroyed by conflict. The civil 
war and the ongoing atrocities were the main reason the enslaved foreign women 
in southern Danubia stayed put, even most could have reached the border just by 
walking a few hours. Servitude was their reality in the Duchy, but rape and 
impalement hooks were the reality that awaited them to the south.

Danka thought that a logical place to leave Isauria might be with the Danubian 
Church. However, Isauria was an illiterate slave from the Kingdom of the Moon 
who barely spoke any Danubian. What use would she be to the Clergy? Especially 
with a shaved head? 

There was the option of her former lover Káloyankt. There was no question he 
could take in the girl and probably would. If she could somehow make it to 
Sevérckt nad Gorádki and contact Káloyankt, that would be the best option for 
Isauria, but it would not be the best option for Danka. She still felt guilty about 
the way she treated him and was humiliated from having been a concubine for 
two years. She didn’t know how much her fellow cultists knew about her fate 
when she left the university and did not want to find out. Taking Isauria to 
Sevérckt nad Gorádki would have been the best alternative for safely disposing of 
her, but Danka couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Danka decided it was early enough in the year to put off making any decision 
concerning where she should go or what she should do with Isauria. So, she 
would simply take the girl further into the wild country and teach her everything 
necessary to live off the land. There would be some time to teach her to speak 
proper Danubian and how to read and write. 

Danka looked around her. She felt the presence of the Old World, the forest as it 
had been when the Ancients decided to depart the Realm of the Living and leave 
humans to sort out their own fate. She wanted to believe the Ancients were all 
around her. Maybe it was time to take a break from the civilized world of the 
Christians and try to re-connect with the world that had preceded them. She had 
tried to teach her fellow women from Malénkta-Gordnáckta to appreciate the 
wisdom of the Old World, in an effort that failed miserably. However, she would 
be able to teach some things to Isauria. Along with learning how to live alone in 
the forest, Danka would have time to make her appreciate the Ancients and 
instruct her in the ways of the Realm of Nature.

Danka still wanted to eventually get rid of Isauria, but increasingly she 
understood that by purchasing her, she had taken on an important responsibility. 
Before they parted ways, she had to ensure the girl could take care of herself and 
have the skills necessary to successfully pursue her Path in Life in the Duchy.

----------

Alexándrekt Buláshckt’s soul gradually changed after Danka left his household. 
He had always liked her, so the circumstances of her departure greatly upset him. 
At first he felt betrayed, but as he thought over the situation, he understood why 
she had become so disgusted with him and his family. Yes, it was true that the 
family had treated the house slaves in a completely dishonorable manner. It was 
true that the Young Slave would be much better off with Danka than with his 
nephew. And when Stepkakta had her baby and recovered, he would have to 
ensure she would not return to beating the Kitchen Slave.

Nowáckt was livid when he found out that his uncle had sold his servant. He was 
determined to go after Danka and recover his property, but Alexándrekt told him 
that the sale was legal and final, and that he had good reason to sell Isauria. He 
had bought the girl to teach Nowáckt to learn responsibility and how to wisely 
exercise authority over others. By mistreating his servant, defacing her 
appearance, and reducing her value, he had failed the test of character that 
Alexándrekt had given him. (The explanation was not entirely true: the original 
reason for purchasing Isauria was to keep Nowáckt from getting into trouble by 
chasing after neighbor girls. However, it was true that Alexándrekt became deeply 
disappointed with how his nephew had treated her.)

Malénkta-Gordnáckta prospered over the summer of 1756 and more Danubian 
settlers moved in. All of the land around the town was taken, but the farms south 
of the border in the Kingdom of the Moon were vacant. The inhabitants had been 
massacred or driven off by the Lord of the Blue Moon’s army and the fighting 
had since moved elsewhere. It was risky, but several families of Danubians took 
over properties on the southern shore of the river and Alexándrekt Buláshckt’s 
authority expanded into an area that was not officially part of the Duchy.

The mayor of Malénkta-Gordnáckta did not lead any more slave raids against 
foreign refugees. They had stopped coming into that part of the Duchy anyway, so 
the town would have to live by more honest means. Over time Alexándrekt 
regretted his behavior and knew that he would have a lot to answer for when he 
held up his mirror before the Creator. Perhaps he could justify his actions as a 
Royal Guard under the Grand Duke as following orders, but the slave raids had 
been entirely his responsibility.

Alexándrekt wrote extensively about his former friend and the moral dilemmas 
she had presented him. He wasn’t sure whether to refer to her as Silvítya or Danka. 
Like others before him, he simply omitted her name altogether. 

Nowáckt also wrote about Danka, making up stories about a pretty witch sent by 
the Destroyer to seduce and steal from from young boys and destroy their dreams. 
As he grew older, he shared some of his tales as campfire songs with his friends. 
The other teenagers started making up their own stories and the Girl with No 
Name became an increasingly loathsome and cruel temptress in the minds and 
songs of young men on the Duchy’s southern border. 
 

----------


Note: During the eighteenth century women in Europe generally could not buy, 
sell, or own property. However, the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia was an 
important exception, due to the country's history. The tradition of women owning 
property started in 1534 when King Vladik's successor faced the dilemma of 
defending the Duchy after most of its men had been killed in combat. He solved 
the crisis by recruiting unmarried village girls to organize into squads of guerilla 
archers to fight for the Duchy. The teenagers were called Nymphs and the reward 
for three years of service was title to a piece of property. After a generation the 
Duchy's population recovered and women lost many of the temporary privileges 
they had enjoyed during the mid 1500s, but a woman's right to own property 
remained part of Danubian law and tradition.

- Maritza Ortskt-Dukovna -