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Tales of the Cabal: Protecting the Mistress
by Tigger
Copyright 1999, All Rights Reserved.

Archiving and reposting of this work is permitted only on
sites where *no* fee (including so-called adult checks) of any
type is charged and provided that my authorship, the story
itself and this statement of rights are included and are
unchanged.

This story is based on the Cabal as I developed it in one of
my first stories, "Domination Games."  This story is archived
at the Nifty Archive.

Url:  www.nifty.org/nifty/transgender/by_authors/Tigger/

The file is Domination-Games.html

***********

Protecting the Mistress
by Tigger

Part 4: The Jury's Verdict

A quiet knock at his door brought Gerald back to himself. 
"Come," he ordered loudly.

The door opened to admit the same woman yet again.  "Lady
Gemma requests your presence in the courtroom, Sir," she said
softly.

Gerald stood, shrugged back into the jacket of the three-piece
"power suit" he'd decided to wear for this occasion (more for
his own benefit than for any hoped for effect on the Council
members) and indicated that she should lead the way.

When he entered the makeshift courtroom, he was surprised to
see that only the tall black woman and Mary were still there. 
They were quite a contrast as they stood to greet him.  Mary
barely broke five feet even in the sensible low heeled shoes
she'd worn for the hearing.  She looked like a white alabaster
statuette next to the six foot plus ebony goddess of the
Cabal.

"Mr. Harris." Gemma said in her pleasing low alto voice with
the unexpected Oxford accent.  "First, I want to thank you for
coming today.  Given the circumstances, it must have been
personally difficult for you."  Gerald nodded slowly to
acknowledge her remark, but otherwise held his peace.  "Yes,
well, I have asked you in here so that you, the primary
victim, will know the decision of the Council in the presence
of the perpetrator."

Gerald looked over at Mary and saw that she was visibly upset
and was fighting to control herself.  "What . . . what have
you decided?" he asked, feeling great trepidation for the
woman he still loved.

"Well, that is not quite determined yet.  Mr. Harris, would
you mind answering some personal questions before the sentence
is meted out?  It does have some bearing on what we decide."

Personal questions?  What kind of personal questions?  Still,
if it might help Mary . . . "All Right."

"Before you met Mary, were you involved in any dominance and
submission relationships?  Or was that something she
introduced you to?"

Confused, Gerald looked at Mary, but she refused to even look
at him.  Had he?  He had been pretty domineering in his
younger days, although he now knew that did not mean being
dominant.  Still, his lady-friends had pretty much done as he
wished or he found a new lady-friend.  Then there was . . . 

"Well, yes, although I thought of it more as bottoming.  I had
two relationships, both with dominant women.  One was with the
girlfriend who first introduced me to playing submission
games, and the other was with a professional domina who I went
to after my first Mistress left the area for a promotion. 
Neither of them compared with what I had with Mary.  With her
I began to learn submission.  Or at least, that is what I was
trying to do."

"Would you say that when you scened with either of these women
that it was fairly advanced, hard play or were you more into
the symbolism of the ceremony and the pageantry of the play?"

"Harder than most I've seen, but then, I haven't seen all that
much private play, only the public stuff which is usually what
is considered fit for general consumption, but when the scene
was over - it was all over." 

"Still, you would say you were a fairly knowledgeable, deep
player before meeting Mary?"

"Yes.  In fact, we met at a munch.  Later, we ran into each
other again at a play party held by a mutual acquaintance. 
Things just seemed to click from there."

"And have you played since the night when . . . you and Mary
had the incident."

What a question, he'd thought.  "No, I have not.  Haven't
wanted to."  Haven't dared to, he amended in the back of his
mind.

Gemma sighed.  "Well, there is a possible interpretation, Mr.
Harris, that greatly worries the Council.  It just might be
that the incident left you so traumatized that you are no
longer willing or able to surrender power in the context of a
loving dominance and submission relationship.  Obviously, that
aspect of your sexuality was important to you. Important
enough for you to give a great deal to the women who dominated
you, important enough for you to pay for it when your first
Mistress moved away.  Something you have not done after your
experience with Mary.  I must tell you that we find that
particular possibility especially distressing.  She could be
said to have taken from you the ability to express a vital
part of whom you are.  Our entire purpose as a group is to
give our members the freedom to express those needs. 
Therefore, our inclination is to expel her from the Cabal."

Mary's eyes slammed shut as she visibly fought to maintain
control, causing Gerald's protective instincts to flare hotly. 
Angrily he snarled, "I *told* you during my testimony before
your damnable kangaroo court that none of what she did that
night was specifically prohibited in our contract.  I did not
safe word, even though I was not gagged and could have done. 
How could she know what was going to happen when I didn't?
Christ, what do you people need?  She is not omniscient, thank
God - she doesn't see-all, know-all.  But you people *know*
her, or at least, you damn well should know her.  How can she
prove she is still the caring, loving Domme she has always
been?"

Gemma sat up straighter and clasped her hands on the table in
front of her.  His tone had angered her.  "You say that,
Mister Harris," she retorted in clipped, icy tones,  "And yet,
you have not gone back to her yourself.  If it was not her
fault, why have you not forgiven her?  Obviously, you care for
her - at least enough to dare riding up to a place such as
this with her as your only way home - just to give testimony
on her behalf.  Why have you not at least tried to communicate
with her?  You are an experienced player.  I should not have
to tell you the importance of an open dialog between two
partners in this type of relationship."

Pain flashed across Gerald's face.  "Damn you!" he rasped, "I
told you it is *me*, not her.  I have not given myself to
anyone, and most especially not to her, because the failing
was ... is mine.  I don't know what happened that night so I
cannot trust myself not to do something like that again.  I
loved her.  I still love her - too damned much to take the
chance of letting myself hurt her again.  As to playing with
others, hell, she knows me, better than I know myself most
times.  How could I safely play with someone who does not know
me as well when I have the capacity for that type of rage-
driven, unexpected and unexplained violence?  So I don't
play."

"I see." Gemma said after a long pause. "That does pose a
problem for Mary.  We cannot afford to have an untrustworthy
dominant in our group, Mr. Harris.  All it would take would be
just one really abusive scene, just one session where someone
gets badly hurt and the Cabal dies under the weight of tabloid
trash.  You say that you are the one whom you cannot trust. 
Unfortunately, it could be just as true that it is her you
don't trust.  So, unless we can assure ourselves that it is
you and not her who is the risk, we cannot afford to let her
remain one of us."

"So, that is it?  You are just going to turn your back on her,
when, as I just told you, she has done nothing to deserve it?"

Gemma slowly shook her head, denying his assertion of Mary's
blamelessness. "She organized the scene, Mr. Harris.  She
chose to involve another person without warning you.  Those
were her decisions as the dominant and we must accordingly
hold her responsible for making them and for the outcomes of
those decisions. However, the Council is willing to be
convinced that she is still trustworthy."

Thoroughly confused now, Gerald could only stare at the regal
woman.  "How are you going to be convinced if my word of
honor, under oath no less, is not sufficient?"

A soft smile lit the smooth dark features.  "By proving to us
that *you* trust her, of course.  Mr. Harris, if you agree to
what the Council has asked me to propose to you, and if you
carry out the dictates of the Council without harm coming to
either of you, then we will accept your testimony as the true
facts of the matter and will exonerate Mary. If you do not
agree, or if you cannot meet the requirements I will set forth
to you, then Mary must leave the Cabal, never to return."

A cold chill shook him as Gerald tried to understand what the
woman meant by "proving".  Still, he had promised himself that
Mary would not be deprived of her rightful place here if there
was anything he could do to prevent that.  "All right, what do
you want me to do?"

Gemma handed him a sheaf of papers.  "What you must do if you
want us to support and accept your former Mistress is outlined
in that document." She stood and turned to leave.  "I will
leave you two to discuss this between yourselves.  Both of you
must agree to those provisions, *without* exception.  We will
give you one week to reach a decision and to start the trial. 
Your bags have been packed and put in Mary's car which, by
now, should be out front.  That door," and she pointed to the
conference room door, "and the front door are unlocked from
the inside, but will lock from the outside when the door is
closed.  All other doors in the building and on the grounds
are locked so that neither of you will have access to any of
our facilities until you agree to the provisions of that
contract."

Gemma walked over and took Gerald's hand, and then Mary's
hand.  "I am the last one here, besides yourselves.  Mary, you
know how to reach me when you've reached a decision.  I wish
you both the best."  And then, she was gone, leaving both Mary
and Gerald staring at the papers and at each other.

End Part 4


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