The Bandit Scout

Chapter 22 -- Stella Has Herself Tested

Around two months after the badlands incident, Frank Stevens started teaching a small private class late enough at night that most members of the class could come on most nights. The members of the class were Frank, Carmen, and Carlos. A month later, Frank allowed Stella to join the class. In another month, Stella was teaching a kendo class filled to capacity with Mounted Troops. By the fifth month following the incident in the badlands, Stella was teaching two kendo classes and one aikido class each day.

At the end of a late-night private class, they were leaving the dojo, and Frank said to Carlos, "It is wonderful how well Stella is doing. She can match her performance before the incident in any category that I can measure. She is training to exceed all of her past metrics. You should be very proud of her."

"I am, Medico. Thank you for all that you have done to make this happen."

When Carlos and Stella entered their suite in the big house, they sat next to each other to relax before bathing and going to bed. Carlos asked, "It has been a long time since you submitted to me, Stella. I haven't pushed you because I know that your ordeal in the badlands has caused you mental anguish in addition to the physical pain. The Medico praised your progress tonight, and it has been five months since your ordeal. I need to know where we stand. Are you going to submit to me again?"

"You have been beyond wonderful, Carlos. I did need time, and you gave it to me. Carmen has been a huge help in getting my mind squared away. I owe her for her help. However, the result is that I will soon be ready to resume my responsibilities as your life partner and mate. Can you give me a little more time before you ask me to submit to you? We can fuck as much as you would like in the meantime."

"Stella, most men would give everything that they have to have someone like you willing to have sex with them. Don't think that I don't appreciate that. I am bringing up your submission because I thought we both enjoyed it and believed that it enhanced our sexual experience. Am I wrong to think that?"

"No, you are not wrong. I want to get back to it soon, and I promise you that I will. Just another week should be enough time for me."

"I love you, Stella. If that is what you need, that is what you will get. Shall we call for our bathwater now?"

-----

Since Stella had started regaining her physical abilities, she and Carmen usually had lunch together. Sometimes they ate in their quarters, and at other times, they used the mess hall. The day after her talk with Carlos, she met Carmen at the mess hall and said, "Can we grab a plate and take it to my rooms?"

As they were eating, Stella said, "It is time for me to face the rest of my fears. Carlos let me know that he wants me to submit to him again. I told him that I would. Carmen, would you help me face them first?"

"You want to tie me up again? If that is what you need, you can do what you want."

"No, no, Carmen. I want you to tie me up. And not just any way. I fear being bound strappado with my hands pulled high, the way the Comanche did. The Medico has been having me do an exercise he calls "skinning the cat", which pulls my arms in that position. I have progressed to the point where I can hold myself in such a position as long as I want without it causing me pain. But I still fear being tied in that position. So I ask again, will you help me?"

"Stella, there are a lot of ways to tie you up besides strappado. I am sure that Carlos would want to skip doing that to you."

"You are right. Carlos would. But then, the fear would always be lurking. I want to get over my fear or settle the fact that I am mentally damaged. And Carmen, I want even more from you. When you get me tied in your tightest strappado, I want you to give me a good flogging, especially on my tits. If I can't handle it, I will ask you to stop."

Carmen said, "I don't want to do this, Stella."

"I know that you don't, Carmen. But you know that this will get me past my fear or settle that I am broken."

"Stella, I have said over and over that I would do anything for you. So I can't refuse you."

"Let me show you that the strappado will not harm me. You have noticed the exercise equipment Carlos had gotten in here for me." Stella walked under a bar. "This bar is high enough that I have to jump to grab it." Stella did and performed a skin the cat. Then she hung from the bar with her arms pulled almost vertical behind her. Her body was almost perfectly straight below her shoulders.

"Wow, Stella. That is impressive. Of course, I will do what you ask. How many lashes do you want with the flogger?"

Stella opened a drawer and pulled out bundles of rope and a flogger. She handed the bundles to Carmen. "Two on my back, two on my butt, and two on the back of my legs. Then continue with two on my front legs, two on my belly, and four on my tits. Not as hard as you can. I want the marks to go away by tonight. But hard."

Stella was undressing as she talked. "You can throw a rope over the exercise bar to hoist my hands into the strappado." She turned away from Carmen and crossed her wrists behind her back.

Carmen tied her wrists and her elbows first. She followed with her leg just above her knees and her ankles. Coming around to Stella's front, she cupped her cheeks and asked, "You can back out at any time. Do you want to continue?"

"Yes, Carmen. Thank you."

"I hope you will still think that when this is over." Carmen returned to Stella's back and tied the end of a long rope to her wrists, and tossed the rope over the bar above them. Catching the end of the rope coming over the bar, Carmen pulled. This raised Stella's hands high above her head. She tied the rope back to Stella's wrists, locking her in the strappado.

Carmen picked up the flogger and stood to the side of Stella. "I want to make sure that you don't forget how to talk. Count the strokes. If you stop counting, I will know that you need to quit. Okay?"

"Okay, lay it on."

Carmen followed Stella's request, starting on her back. Stella counted, "One, two." Carmen paused about ten seconds between each lash and moved down her butt to the back of her legs.

"Three, four, five, six."

Carmen moved to the other side of Stella and continued with the front of her legs, and moved up.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten." The last two counts were jerky as the flogger struck her abdomen.

"You have proved your point, Stella. I can tell this is getting to you. You don't have to do anymore."

"No, Carmen. This is exactly where I have to do more. Do the last four on my tits slower."

Carmen continued.

"Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen." The strikes were about thirty seconds apart.

Stella looked at Carmen, and slowly a smile filled her face. "I did it, Carmen. Thank you so much. You can let me down now."

Carmen untied the rope holding her hands high and lowered Stella from the strappado. Then she untied her hands and elbows. "I never thought that I would be thanked for whipping someone."

Carmen had superb control over the flogger. Stella's skin had reddened from the flogging, but did not have any lash marks. Stella rubbed lotion on her breasts, belly, and thighs. Carmen helped by applying it to her back, butt, and legs.

"Carmen, you are the best friend I have ever had. You have indulged my weird needs, now and in the past. If there is ever anything I can do for you, just let me know."

-----

The morning after Stella's experiment with Carmen, Ralph continued his experiments in forging a katana blade. Ralph Rider was methodically working through combinations of clay thickness on different parts of a blade, as well as varying temperatures and heating times. It was inevitable that he would eventually determine a working combination of the factors involved. That day came. Ralph quenched a blade, and the crew gathered around to watch the blade as it emerged from the water. The shape was perfect. No apparent flaws were seen. Ralph sent a runner to get the Medico.

When Frank arrived, Ralph had cleaned the mud and clay off the blade. He continued to study it. Frank moved the blade outside into the sunlight and used a magnifying glass to inspect every centimeter of the blade. He could not find a flaw. Taking the blade back inside the smithy, he rapped it briskly on an anvil. It did not break.

Ralph had expert Hands in engraving, polishing, and sharpening swords and knives, and then assembling them. He sent for the senior of those Hands and gave him the blade. The Hand would engrave the Rider Ranch brand and the serial number 00001 on the nakago, or tang, of the blade. He will also cut a fuller, or blood groove, on the blade. The purpose of the fuller is not to allow blood to flow more freely from cuts made by a sword. It is to reduce the weight of the blade while keeping its structural integrity and strength.

After the engraving, polishing is a lengthy and slow process. Great care ensures that the polishing does not wear down too much steel or disrupt the blade's geometry. Polishing can take longer than the entire smithing process. The polisher has a large team of apprentices who will soon be working on the upcoming blades.

Ranch artisans have been working for years on perfecting the making of saya, or scabbards. Others worked on tsuba, or handguards, and tsuka, or handles.

Walter Holt had become a de facto industrial engineer. He turned his attention to streamlining and parallelizing all the processes, from folding to rapid firing and quenching, and so on. In a few days, the manufacturing processes will be wholly operational. In the meantime, they would build what they could.

That night, an exhausted but happy Ralph Rider returned to his quarters. "Carmen, today is the turning point. I finally have a true blade. It is currently being processed, including engraving, polishing, and mounting. That will take three or four weeks to complete. Then we will have the first Rider Katana."

Carmen flew into his arms. She did not wait for him to kiss her. She latched onto his mouth with hers, kissing deeply. "That is such wonderful news. What do you want to do to celebrate?"

"For months, every few days, you have insisted that I tie you up. I know that you were trying to give me a distraction from katana making. Only rarely have I had the energy to fuck. Often, I fall asleep and wake to find you have escaped or spent the night tied up. I don't know how you have put up with me, Carmen. This is no way for you to live. And it isn't over yet. But the end is now in sight.

"Tonight, I am elated about the Rider Katana. I may be weary to the bone, but I'm also high on adrenaline. But you don't have to ask me to tie you up tonight. I want to do that and more. I know that I am still exhausted and might fail you. Are you with me, knowing I might fail to provide you with full satisfaction?"

"You know that I am. Sit down here and eat the plate I have for you. I'll get your bath ready while you eat." She rang for the hot water as Ralph sank into his chair at the table.

By the time the staff filled the tub, he had finished eating. He headed toward the tub, dropping dirty clothing as he went. He did not wait for Carmen to bathe him. He rapidly scrubbed off and left the tub, then dried off. When he reached the bed, Carmen had shed her clothes and was kneeling on the bed waiting with coils of rope laid out beside her.

"How do you want me?"

"Kneel in the center of the bed near the headboard. Face the foot of the bed and put your hands behind your back, and you will be fine for now, darling." She felt the familiar sensation of rope tying her wrists together. This time, he had her wrists crossed, forming an X. Then, he pulled her elbows tight. She had been working hard on her kendo training and had also been doing various exercises with Stella. One reason for her workouts was to give her more endurance and flexibility in her submission to Ralph.

Her chest harness was very different tonight. Ralph used a shorter rope than usual, doubled with the bight between her shoulder blades. He ran the rope under her right armpit, around to the front of her shoulder, then behind her neck to her left shoulder. The same pattern was repeated on her left side, working from top to bottom. When he brought the rope under her left armpit to the bight between her shoulder blades, he threaded the rope through the bight and ran it up to the loops behind her neck. He cinched the bight to the neck loop and tied it off.

"That feels very different. I am wondering what your plan is," Carmen said.

"You will see soon. Fall forward, face down." Ralph picked up her thighs and scooted her backside toward the headboard until her knees were touching it. He tied her forelegs to vertical posts in the headboard. Ralph took three ropes. One, he braided in her hair. Another, Ralph hooked to her rope harness between her shoulder blades. He fastened the last one to her hands. The headboard had a sizable horizontal post between the corner vertical bedposts. This had been sanded with fine sandpaper and varnished until it was very smooth and slick. Ralph passed the three ropes over the top of the horizontal post above her feet.

Holding the ends of the three ropes in front of her head, he had an improvised pulley. By pulling on all of the ropes at the same time, it pulled Carmen up and back. He stopped just before he thought that it would be cruel to continue. Ralph adjusted the rope to her hair until she was facing forward and tied off the three ropes.

"This is interesting, Master Ralph. I suspect you have been thinking about this a lot. And, I'm beginning to get an idea about why you haven't gagged me yet. Do you think that I am on the right track?"

Ralph knelt before her. He bent down and kissed her with passion. Before the kiss ended, Ralph began playing with her tits. When he broke off the kiss, he continued to manipulate her breasts. "I could play with you forever, you know. I wouldn't want you to think that you have had no say in our play tonight. What would you like me to do next?"

"Ralph, my love. You can keep massaging my tits as long as you want. But if I am not mistaken, I see that you are now sporting an erection. In my position and tied as I am, I think it would take you too long to get to my pussy. Could I suck on your erection instead, please?"

"There has never been a woman like you, Carmen." Because her head was pulled so high, Ralph had to grab a couple of pillows for his knees to reach her mouth with his hips. Carmen did not have any freedom to move her head back and forth. Ralph had to guide his member into her eager mouth. Then he had to supply the motion to move it in and out. Carmen was not passive, however. She applied all of the suction that she possibly could after sealing her lips around his cock. Then she used her tongue to increase the stimulation on him.

In turn, Ralph ran his hands up and down her back. He reached around and cupped her tits. Pinching and pulling on her nipples let him return some stimulation to Carmen. His ejaculation exploded. Carmen kept her grip with her lips and alternated sucking and swallowing.

Carmen finally let him withdraw. "Ralph, the thing that's wrong about you tying me in this position is that I can't snuggle next to you right now. I'm not complaining, you understand. You can leave me this way as long as it gives you pleasure to do so."

"You make me wonder what I would have to do to displease you. What about a good flogging? Or maybe tying you spread-eagled between two posts? Or what about trying your hands overhead and pulling you up until you are suspended? Even better, what about doing the flogging while you are suspended like that?"

"Ralph, I am your mate, and I will be submissive to you if you do any of those things to me. When I first saw you, I was tied to a stake waiting to be burned to death. I saw you, and my biggest regret was that I would not get to make love to you before dying. We do make love often. We have tonight. I have everything that I want. You can have anything from me that you want."

"What if I want to keep you tied up all the time?"

"It will be awkward going about doing Ranch business with my hands tied behind my back. But if that is what you want, I will try to make it work."

Ralph was untying her hair rope. "I've already said, there has never been a woman like you before." He let her head down until it rested on his chest as he removed the rope from her hair. "You gave me the energy for tonight. I'm going to hurry and get you untied."

"Leave my hands and arms tied. After I sleep for a while, I can practice escaping again. You have me extremely helpless, though. I might not be successful this time."

Soon, they were positioned once again with her butt in his groin. His arms were around her, cupping her tits, pulling her into him. Her bound hands were playing with his balls and cock. In minutes, Ralph was asleep.

When he awoke before morning twilight, she was in the same position. Her hand was still on his cock, which had responded in his sleep with a morning erection. She tightened her grip, letting him know she was awake. He slid to the side, allowing Carmen to turn on her back. Ralph moved between her legs and made the proper use of his morning wood.

-----

Four days after the first true blade was forged, more than a dozen blades had passed through the finishing processes of engraving, polishing, and assembly. Ralph Rider is planning a historic celebration in four weeks. He has sent invitations to Chief Dan Brooks of the Bucks and Chief Garcia Gomez of the Comanche. From Round Rock, he invited Sheriff Matt Crosby. He had even sent word to Master Lee Chang of Unihold in Kennedy.

Ralph had asked Carlos to review their logs and journals and compile a report on the Katana Project. It was to include the details of the process and its history of development. Carlos agreed and said that he would do that from his quarters in the big house.

Stella was not expecting to see him when she returned from her morning training. "Carlos, how wonderful. I don't think I have seen you at home during the day since the incident in the badlands. What can I do for you?"

"Now that we know how to forge a true blade, a lot of things will be different. For at least a week, I will work from here, writing a report. I will have to make short trips to the smithy to check logs and journals. Most of the next week, though, I will be right here."

"Can I help? Do you want me to make any changes to my schedule for this week?"

"Since you mention it, yes. I'm not good at report writing, and you could be a big inspiration for me. Who do you need to see to clear your schedule?"

"Just the Medico and Carmen. I can go do that right now if you like."

"That's great. Could you stop by stores and bring back a ream of paper and a couple of bottles of ink on your way back?"

"Sure, I can. And it is getting near lunchtime. Can I bring us back lunch as well?"

"See, you are helping already."

Stella headed out, stopping by the supply room to pick up the paper and ink first. Then she went to the mess hall, hoping to run into Carmen. She did.

"Carmen, Carlos is going to work from home for the next week. I am canceling everything to be with him and help where I can. Would you let the Medico know what I am doing?"

"That is fantastic, Stella. Maybe this will be your chance to get back in your groove with Carlos, just to keep him inspired. I told you that Ralph has been a different man. It is wonderful to have him back. He is doing things to me to make up for lost time."

"You described a couple of your nights with Ralph to me. Very hot! And yes, I am ready to do whatever Carlos wants to do. I'm going to grab two plates of food and get back to the big house."