Lady Tether and the 3 Little Discards

by A. P. Damien

28 paused to pour another cup of coffee. "I really don't think age is important. Looks are. But I think my skin is getting dry. One year, maybe two. Then she'll discard me." The brunette did look a little more mature than the other two. Her only clothes were bright red vinyl boots, gloves, and a bikini bottom.

"And your life will be, too. Doesn't that matter to you?" 272 was a brand new slave and seemed fascinated by 28's upcoming death.

"Yes, of course it does. But service is more important. Until you understand that — really feel it inside you — you won't be giving Mistress the absolute best you can."

"Could you explain a little more? I want to serve Lady Tether, but I also want to go on living, as long as she'll let me." 233 was still young, with striking strawberry blonde hair and gray eyes. Her bright orange vinyl "clothes" emphasized her natural colors. "But it does sound like you're on to something important."

"Ah, bullshit! You girls are kidding yourselves. Lady T bought us, so we have to serve her or get killed — even if she does use euphemisms like 'discarded'." 272 was a colorful sight: red hair, blue eyes, in bright green vinyl. "Besides, I'm beautiful, and Lady T likes me. She says something nice almost every time she talks to me, and she gave me a pat on the bottom just last week. I figure on living a long time. Too bad about you, 28."

28 could see that 272 wasn't the least bit sorry. But that wasn't what bothered her. If she could just get 272 to understand, this discussion wouldn't be a total waste. Even a small glimmer of understanding might later...

233 spoke up again. "But how does this 'service' thing work, anyway? Are you saying it's more important than living?"

"Yes, exactly. Lady Tether allows me to serve her. Someday she'll discard me, and she'll take pleasure in killing me. So I'll be doing her one last service with my death. It's not that I'm not afraid, it's..."

"You're disgusting," 272 interrupted. "You're just whistling in the dark, pretending you're not afraid when in fact you're utterly terrified. I would be too, if I were as old as you. You think a little experience makes you so special?"

"Why don't you just put a boot in it?" 233 answered. "You think your beauty and a few kind words make you immortal or something. You were gloating over the short time left for 28 — I bet you'd like to watch Lady Tether kill her. Well, don't get too sure of yourself. Nobody but the Lady knows who will get discarded. Anybody who thinks different is..."

The rest of the sentence was cut off by 272's angry shriek. She jumped onto 233 and slapped her, hard. 233 screamed in rage and boxed 272's ears. 272 tried to scratch 233's face, but found her hands held against the wall by 233's unexpectedly strong grip.

28 hadn't meant to start a fight when she talked about her philosophy. And if the two younger girls marked each other up, they'd both get discarded — a real waste. She was about to step in and break it up when she thought she saw a reflection in the polished chrome of the breakroom counter. Blonde hair and black vinyl, maybe. Lady Tether would be in the room in seconds, and then....

28 didn't hesitate. She pulled 272 free of 233 and threw her against the side wall of the room, then jumped on 233, wrapped her hands around the younger girl's neck, and started shaking her. "How dare you accuse me of getting wrinkled? I may not have long to live, but it's (shake) cruel (shake) to (shake) remind (shake) me (shake) of it."

"Ahem." Lady Tether leaned lazily against the doorframe, surveying the three slaves in the breakroom. "Just what do you think you were doing?"

"Oh, er, Lady..." began 28, quickly releasing her grip on 233's throat. If she said the right thing she might save the two younger slaves.

But 272 interrupted her angrily. "These two were trying to feed me a line of shit. They think they can put me on just because I'm new to your service."

"I... see...." The blonde woman in black vinyl top and bottom looked amused. "I don't recall ordering a fight in here. I didn't call for anyone to slap 233, and leave red marks on her face, or to choke her. I'm amazed at you, 28. Surely you know that privilege is reserved for me." She reached out and grabbed the round metal tag on 28's collar, squeezing until... a small click, an electronic "beep", and the number 28 flickered out and changed to a black "X". She did the same to 233. Then Lady Tether paced casually over to 272 and clicked her tag as well.

All three were now Discards.

The redheaded Discard, formerly called 272, sat down heavily and started crying. The strawberry blonde (formerly 233) looked shocked. The older brunette just stood there, waiting.

"I'm going to be busy all morning, so I can't take care of you three right now." Lady Tether, still looking amused, spoke crisply to her new Discards. "Besides, I could use a little exercise. I want you three to go into the hills; I'll finish this later. But I don't feel like chasing all over the place looking for you, so stay together. I want to find the three of you pretty much in one place." She turned on her heel and left the room.

The brunette Discard (previously 28) went over to the redhead and helped her to her feet. "Come on. The Lady said she feels like a walk, so we'd better get going. She paused a moment in thought. We can't use our former numbers because we've been discarded, and the names we had before our slave training just aren't right anymore. And "hey you" just won't do. How about if we use our hair colors for nicknames. I'll be 'Brownie', you're 'Red'. You with the strawberry blonde hair will be 'Straw'. How's that?"

"OK, I guess."

"Red... I... I'm not sure" The red haired Discard had stopped sobbing, but her face was still contorted with emotion, and tears streaked her cheeks.

"Well, let's get started." The brunette headed for the door, but was interrupted.

"This is all your fault," blubbered the redhead. "If you hadn't started in on all that business about 'service' we'd still have our numbers. Now I'm going to die slowly. It's not fair, and it's all your fault!"

"Hey, wait a minute," answered the strawberry blonde Discard. "It was you who started the fight. I don't understand what she was getting at, but she wasn't trying to make things hard for anybody. It was you who was secretly gloating over her losing her looks and giving her a hard time about her philosophy.

"But I wonder..." she went on, turning to the brunette, "Why did you jump into the fight and start strangling me? I didn't attack you or make fun of you. What was all that about?"

"It's part of what I was trying to explain earlier," Brownie told her. "Look, what would have happened if I hadn't jumped into the fight?"

"The two of us would have fought for a little, then Lady Tether would have walked in and discarded us. But you would have been safely out of it."

"Exactly. Red here was partly right, she is really beautiful and carries herself very well. That's worth something to Lady Tether. I tried to make it look like the whole thing was my fault. Then maybe Mistress would have just discarded me. I only had another year or two left anyway. She could have gotten years of service from you two. Or maybe she would have discarded just the two of us she found fighting — that would still have kept Red around."

"So you sacrificed yourself to save our snotty redhead?"

"Yes. But she wasted it!" Brownie sounded bitter. "I tried to save her to keep serving Lady Tether, but she had to open her big mouth and throw it all away!"

"Why you..." The redhead was gasping with rage. "You... you... apple polisher" She turned and punched the brunette in the mouth, then began slapping and scratching her until Straw grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms. She struggled for another minute or so, then gave up, crumpled to the floor, and started crying again.

Brownie gave Red a couple of minutes to recover, then sat down and hugged her. "Come on. Lady Tether said for us to go off to the hills. It's a beautiful morning, we might as well enjoy it. From the way she talked, she may not get around to us until at least mid-afternoon. Come on, get up and let's go for a nice walk."

"Don't wanna go for a walk. I don't want to go anywhere. I don't wanna do anything. Oh.... I don't want to die!"

"No sense getting worked up about it, Red. We don't have a choice. The only question is what we do with the hours left to us. Now come on, it's just perfect outside."

"Well..." Red got to her feet and started walking shakily to the door. "Hey, I know. Let's split up, go in different directions. Lady T can only chase one of us at a time. Maybe one or even two could get away."

"You're deluding yourself, Red. Everybody knows about Lady Tether's slaves, for at least a hundred miles. You can't get your collar off; the first person to see you will know you're one of Lady Tether's Discards and turn you in. And then the Lady will be really mad. Hmmm... I guess you haven't been around long enough to remember the last time a Discard got her mad. But you remember, don't you Straw?"

"Yes. She lasted over two weeks. Not for me!"

"Yeah. Mistress tied her to a frame and started whipping her. After a day nearly half the skin was gone from her back. After two days there was hardly any skin left on her breasts. At the end of a week she was a mass of scabs and exposed muscles — only her face and the area her bikini bottom covered were untouched."

"Oh..."

"Mistress could have whipped her to death in a couple of hours, but instead she would whip her a few minutes, go off and do something else, then come back and do some more. A couple of times Lady Tether really got into whipping her, and she might have bled to death, but Mistress seared the open veins with a hot flame, then sprayed her with salt water to close up the capillaries. Lady Tether gave her water twice a day and bread once a day. After twelve days the whip had gone clear through her chest muscles in a couple of places. She was having trouble breathing by then because of air leakage into her chest.

"I'm not real sure if she died of blood loss, infection, or just couldn't breathe enough anymore. But it took 15 days. Believe me, much better to just spend 10 or 15 minutes dying than two weeks."

"OK, Brownie. We'll do it your way."

"Not my way. Lady Tether's way. That's what I was talking about earlier — you always do what Lady Tether wants. Even if she wants to kill you."

"Whatever. Let's get going."

"OK. Let's grab some box lunches and go for a walk."

The three Discards set off under a beautiful, clear sky. There was a slight touch of chill in the morning air, but walking quickly warmed them up. Mindful of Lady Tether's instructions, they took the shortest path through the gardens and orchards, up to the beautifully landscaped hills.

They chatted of various things as they walked: their respective backgrounds, anecdotes drawn from their service to Lady Tether, gossip about other slaves, but also about the Lady herself. The fifth time that Straw mentioned Lady Tether, Red turned to her angrily. "Lady Tether this, Lady Tether that. Can't you talk about something else? I saw the way you used to watch her when you thought she wasn't looking. I bet you wanted to be Lady's Pet."

"I've seen the way Straw looked at Mistress, too. But I think you don't quite understand. She wanted to be more than just a favorite, I'd guess. Straw, you really had it bad for her, didn't you?"

Straw turned bright red and started to stammer. "W-well, I-I.... I guess so."

"That's OK, honey. It's too bad you didn't get to stick around long enough for it to happen, is all. The last time one of her slaves bonded to her, things were a lot easier all around. For over a year she didn't discard as many as usual."

"But now she's going to... to... k-k-kill me."

They had to stop and rest while Straw cried her eyes out. When her sobs had faded to hiccups, Brownie helped her to her feet. "Come on, that's water under the bridge. But let's talk while we walk. You may be almost ready to understand part of what I was talking about earlier."

"I don't know."

"Remember when Red suggested we split up and try to escape? What was the first thought that came into your head?"

"Oh... I thought: Oh, no! The Lady told us to stay together!"

"You see? You thought about Lady Tether before yourself. Now let's consider an imaginary situation. Suppose Lady Tether came over that rise and told you she'd decided to be merciful. We all know that won't happen, but just imagine. Suppose she gave you a choice: stay and she'll kill you, or else be sold to someone who will give you much the same work but not kill you on a whim? What would you choose?"

"I, uh... uh... Why I think... I'd... stay!"

"Right. You consider Lady Tether's pleasure more important than your own life. Right now it's only lust that's fueling that, but maybe you can start to see what I've been driving at."

"Yeah... I think I do..."

By early afternoon they had walked several miles. They stopped for lunch shortly after midday, and again Brownie tried to explain her notion of service.

"It's only complicated when you don't understand it. Straw wants to serve Mistress because she loves her, or at least lusts after her. She wants to serve so much that she would stay even if she _could_ escape. Lady Tether will derive pleasure from strangling her to death, and she wants to please Lady Tether."

"I still think she's crazy," Red looked scornful.

"Maybe, she is. But both of us? Now I don't have quite such a strong emotion driving me. But I've been serving Lady Tether for so long, I've come to see that as my main purpose in life. Without that, what do I have to live for? Today she wants to kill me, so, in dying I'm fulfilling my purpose. Why go on living for no purpose? Besides, I've come to like Mistress in my own way. Not the kind of strong sexual thing that Straw feels, but I want to make her happy."

Red didn't reply, but she looked thoughtful. The subject turned to gossip about the other slaves, and they went on.

They were approaching the crest of the nearest range of hills when they stopped again to rest their sore feet and look over the beautiful vista of Lady Tether's estate. Straw, looking back down their path, gave a startled cry. "L-look!" She pointed, and the others saw Tether walking comfortably up the hill, still in her black vinyl outfit.

"OK kids," said Brownie. "Rest stop's over. Let's get going. Mistress told us to walk. If she wants us to wait up, she'll yell and say so. I'll take up the rear, so I'll be closest to Lady Tether when... well, you know. Maybe she'll take me first. Now Straw, if you still feel that way about Mistress, I'd suggest you sit down and cuddle next to her while she kills me. I don't think it'll get you any better treatment, but you'll be close to her and it's your last chance. Red, you go in front, you can live a few minutes longer if that really matters to you."

"But... she never gave me permission..." Straw looked stunned.

"So? What do you think she'll do to you? Discard you?"

"Oh."

It was less than half an hour later when Tether put a hand on Brownie's elbow. "That's it, kids. Time to stop." After giving the three Discards several hours head start and then catching up with them, Tether wasn't even breathing hard.

The three Discards obediently stopped and turned to face her. The brunette's expression looked resigned, but somehow satisfied too. The redhead looked scared. The strawberry blonde had a peculiar look about her; Tether wasn't sure exactly what to make of it, but the Discards didn't look likely to bolt so she gave the brunette a little shake. "Alright, on your knees. Cross your wrists behind you."

Tether got smoothly down on her knees as Brownie obeyed these orders. She tied Brownie's wrists together with a short piece of rope. Then she twisted a red leather strap around Brownie's neck.

Brownie took a deep breath as she followed Lady Tether's orders. Then she felt the strap pull tight around her neck.

The other two Discards just gaped. Less than five seconds from the first command until Brownie was strangling.

As soon as Lady Tether started strangling Brownie, Straw came over and nestled against her side, enjoying the feel of the Lady's skin against hers. Tether spared her a quick glance but said nothing.

The strap around Brownie's neck hurt, but not a whole lot. "Should I struggle," she wondered. "Would struggling add to Mistress's enjoyment?" The she remembered some conversations she'd overheard. Mistress wanted a slave to be obedient, with no sense of separate self. "Might as well 'relax to the inevitable,' she decided. But she soon found out that her body had its own ideas.

After less than 30 seconds, Brownie was getting very strong messages from her body about the state of the air in her lungs. She tried to exhale but her neck was closed. Her chest muscles heaved and her back arched with the effort. Using all her strength, she blew the stale air slowly past the constriction around her neck, then tried to breathe in. Nothing.

She tried to get her hands free to pull at the strap around her neck, but her wrists were tied tightly. Her shoulders hunched, her nostrils flared, and her mouth opened wide in a reflexive attempt to breathe. She started thrashing convulsively, her body fighting for air. Her teeth clenched with the effort and tears streamed from her eyes. But she refrained from fighting her assailant. Not only would it be useless, but she didn't think it would amuse Lady Tether. She began to shake and her tongue protruded. She didn't even notice the trickle of blood when her convulsions dislodged the scab at the corner of her mouth.

Straw grew excited from her contact with Tether, and also oddly from watching Brownie's struggles. Even the knowledge that she was probably next didn't keep her from getting aroused.

Brownie's body went slack, but she was still jerking a little. Blood and saliva dribbled from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes bulged, then glazed over and she was still.

Tether kept the ribbon tight around Brownie's neck, until...

Brownie twitched once, nervelessly, then was still again. Tether tied the ribbon off, then took a knife and cut the rope binding Brownie's wrists, leaving her lying face up on the hillside. Her dead eyes were half closed, as if she were ready to go to sleep. In spite of the blood at the corner of her mouth and the tear drops on her face, she looked oddly contented.

Tether sighed, then seemed to notice the Discard cuddled up against her for the first time. She turned and gathered Straw into the crook of her arm. "Hmmm," she purred, "that was nice. Now... what about you, youngster?" she asked. "Rather impertinent aren't you, cuddling up to me without an invitation." She paused a moment, thinking. "Is this the reason you were looking at me like that?"

"Yes, Mistress. I... I can't help it, it's just the way I feel."

"Hmm. Too bad. This might have turned into something nice, but I can't let you off, you know. I never un-discard anyone; it's bad for discipline."

Tether paused again. "Hmmm.... Hmmmmmmm.... Yes, of course. It would be against my rules to grant you any leniency, but I can allow _myself_ a little latitude, and you are a sexy little thing, aren't you?"

Tether tied Straw's wrists together between her legs, one in front, one behind her back, the short rope passing through her crotch. Then Tether allowed her hands to wander over Straw's body, feeling her bare belly and along her ribs. Her hands lingered on Straw's breasts, then lightly tweaked the Discard's nipples. In less than a minute, Straw was breathing heavily. Even Lady Tether had a slightly dreamy expression on her face.

Then Tether wrapped a ribbon around Straw's neck, leaving the ends dangling in back. She stood in front of the Discard, letting her hands caress Straw's neck lightly, then reached around and gently pulled the ribbon taut.

"No!" screamed the Discard. "Please, Mistress, I don't want to die! Let me serve you. I want to be with you! Please..."

After strangling one Discard and groping another, Tether was in an unusually mellow mood, so she took a moment to reassure Straw. "Stop that nonsense at once." She ordered. "It's not that bad. Everyone dies someday."

"But not so young. I could serve you for years."

Tether hugged Straw tightly as she went on. "It doesn't hurt nearly as much as childbirth. And the bad part lasts less than two minutes. After that it actually gets easier. Believe me, I've killed many Discards, so I know."

"But look at me. I'm young and beautiful. Sexy, you said so yourself."

That doesn't let you off. Just remember, you'll feel me pressed against you the whole time. Besides, _I_ want you to die."

"Ohhhh...."

Think of the pleasure you're death will give me. You _do_ want to please me, don't you?"

"Uhh.... Yes, but..."

"No buts. Remember, it will be _all over_ soon." Tether pressed her cheek against Straw's and said "Get ready."

Straw, still breathing hard from Tether's caresses, just nodded her head and panted.

Tether gripped the ribbon firmly and pulled it tight around Straw's neck. Feeling Straw's body tense as she gasped for air, Tether hugged her tightly and murmured, "There, there. I'm here, holding you."

Straw felt Tether hugging her and relaxed a little. But it was hard. The ribbon hurt her neck, and very soon she felt an intense need to breathe. She wanted to die well, but she soon found herself struggling and twisting her body against the strangling ribbon. She tried to pull her hands free, to loosen the band around her neck, but the rope kept her hands down.

Her back arched as her chest muscles tried to pull in some air, forcing her breasts against Tether's chest. The ribbon constricting her throat forced her tongue to protrude from her mouth. The need to breathe got more intense, and she didn't think she could stand it. She wanted, _needed_ to breath. Her body writhed and squirmed and her hands twisted.

After a while, though, it seemed not to hurt as much. She heard a ringing in her ears and saw little sparks twinkling against the sky. She became aware again of her mistress's arms hugging her tightly and her breasts pressing against Tether's chest. And the rope between her legs was having an interesting effect on her. Her writhing struggles gave way to a series of twitches, then she felt a small explosion between her legs. Her eyes widened as she realized she was dying, then everything dissolved into a grey, ringing void.

Tether held onto the ribbon until she felt the twitches fade away, then there was one massive convulsion and the Discard's body relaxed in her grip. She let go her grip but left the ribbon twisted around Straw's neck. Lady Tether just stood there for several minutes, holding the Discard's body tightly, her breasts pressed against the Discard's nipples, a dreamy smile on her face.

Tether shook herself, sighed happily, and cut the rope binding the Discard's hands, then let the body gently down to the ground, legs and arms splayed out, head turned to one side, and erect nipples pointed toward the sky. She took another moment to appreciate the sight, then turned to the last Discard.

"Well, after that experience, you're almost superfluous. But I never leave a task unfinished, so come over here. I don't think I'll get very much out of this, so I'll make it quick." At a gesture from Lady Tether the Discard sat on the ground and put her hands behind her to be bound.

Tether was surprised when the Discard began laughing softly. "What's so funny?" she demanded. "I'm going to kill you quickly, which is as close as I ever get to merciful, but that hardly seems cause for mirth."

The red-haired Discard was still chuckling. "Oh nothing much, Mistress. It's just that I got into a fight with the Brunette there about her strange notions and got us all discarded, and since then I've been taking orders from her. She convinced me not to try running away..."

"A wise decision," put in Lady Tether.

"...And _she_ chose our route up here, and _she_ decided to be closest to you when you came up to us. She figured you would kill her first. And she had me out in front, furthest away from you, so I could have a few extra minutes of life. It just seems so pointless. It's so ironic... If I didn't laugh, I'd cry."

Tether looked disgusted. "Well, you _were_ a stupid little twit! I won't buy any more slaves from _your_ trainer -- you started out with the wrong attitude. The older Discard, the brunette, had the right attitude, she understood what I require of my slaves. With your attitude you've managed to get yourself and two other slaves discarded. So now you can die happy, right?" Tether's voice dripped sarcasm.

"I don't suppose there's any point in begging you to spare me, so...."

Tether knelt comfortably behind the Discard and twisted a ribbon tightly around her neck.

Red felt the ribbon tighten suddenly. Her lungs were empty; Tether had caught her right when she finished talking. The ribbon bit into her neck and *hurt*, her chest felt tight and was rapidly getting tighter. She really wanted to get some air into her lungs, but her throat was completely closed. She couldn't even make the thin whining noise that was trying to come out.

She fought for air, her chest muscles straining, her back arching with the effort, but the ribbon was too tight. She knew it wouldn't do any good, but her body kept trying. The effort was so great that tears started to leak from her eyes. She thrashed and wriggled, trying to escape, to breathe, just one small breath. But it was hopeless.

Then it hit her. Brownie had been right all along. Her eyes widened with the realization. She _was_ here to serve Tether. Before today, she had served with her beauty and graceful movements. Now she was serving by dying. Each was appropriate in its time and place. Now she understood, but it was too late to do much good. She was dying; already she could feel herself getting weaker. It wouldn't be long now.

The relentless squeezing of her neck forced her tongue out of her mouth. She saw spots, then everything started to grey out. Her eyes rolled up and she relaxed, unable to fight any longer. She knew death, and welcomed it. Then the world went away and Red stopped thinking.

Tether sensed the change in this last Discard. There was no dramatic ending this time, so she kept the ribbon tight while she counted to 500, then left it around the last Discard's neck. For the third time that afternoon she cut the rope and let the Discard sprawl out between the other two.

Tether rose to her feet and dusted off her hands. She surveyed the scene with satisfaction. It had been years since she'd enjoyed herself so much in one afternoon. She made a mental note to send a photographer up with the body disposal team. She wanted a picture of this for the wall of her office. She turned and started down the hill, thinking about a nice glass of chilled wine when she got back.

This story is based on  dque003.jpg, by D. Que. It shows a blonde strangling a redhead with a piece of strap, while two other girls lie dead nearby with straps around their necks.

The background for this story comes partly from a story by D Que, "An Afternoon at Lady Tether's Estate" and partly from more detailed info he sent after seeing the first draft.