The Twelve Tables Ch. 11

"Could also make us look like we are worried she will fail instead of having faith in her," Lio said cautiously. "How long is she there for? I mean if she is gone for a month but some of that time will be with Papa at the sitting then how long is she with the Battaglia for the trial?"

"Two weeks," Josh said. "Two weeks intensive training with the Battaglia, two with the Twelve."

"Why two weeks at the sitting?" Lio asked.

"I didn't have time to ask a lot of questions," Josh said sullenly.

"Then the first thing anyone should do is call Papa and get the specifics," Lio said letting logic overrule the emotions in the room.

"Makes sense," Ben agreed. "Why don't you do that, Josh. Dante and I will go and make sure BJ hasn't learned any more bad words from his naughty Zio." He chuckled. "Lio can stay for support if you need it. He seems to be the only one thinking sanely tonight." He said with meaning holding the door open for Dante.

*****

Peri had spent the afternoon and early evening engaged in debate with Marco, who seemed to be studying every move she made. He had solicitously offered her tea which she had politely declined worrying about her already full bladder and how much longer it would be until she felt relief from it.

He had escorted her to the mess hall for supper and instructed that when she was finished, she may return to her room for the night and make her one phone call. She had tried to eat slowly and savor the food she had been given but knowing she would be able to hear Josh's voice made her gulp at the food in large mouthfuls until she realised how unladylike she would look. Being prim and proper and lady-like at all times seemed to be the basis of her trial at present, and she was determined not to do anything that could incur the consequence of losing her phone privileges.

She waited until she saw a few of the other women leaving their tables and moving toward the stairs before she stood and disposed of her tray. She was moving toward the door when Francesco, who seemed to have been waiting for her stopped her.

"Follow me," he instructed and led her down to the basement living quarters but rather than taking the main corridor where the cells branched off from he turned at the bottom of the stairs and walked along an identical corridor on the other side of the building.

"This is the room you will come to meet with me in," he opened a door leading to a large darkened room. The dull golden glow that came from the sconces on the walls seemed to cast shadows around the room, and he turned up the brightness slowly as her eyes adjusted to her surroundings.

Cabinets lined the walls, and a large four-poster bed sat in the middle of one wall. Peri considered it thinking it was odd that it had no canopy covering the wooden frame at the top of the posts. A large desk sat along one other wall with high-backed leather armchairs before it. There was a large amount of open floor space which she crossed to stand before his desk as he took a seat behind it.

"Men, in general, wish their wives to be a perfect lady in public and a perfect slut in private," he said without preamble watching her to gage her reaction and was pleased to see that this statement did not shock her. "I am sure you know Joshua Donati's sexual preferences better than anyone, however, it is my role in your trial to push you to find the limits of your sexuality and passion and then push those limits. We will discover what excites you and what is beyond your limitations. For some this is an enjoyable journey for others a harrowing ordeal," he continued to watch her carefully.

Peri said nothing. He had asked no questions, and she didn't know if a response was even needed as she took in what he was saying. She knew there would be some sex involved and nothing he said surprised her. She imagined that the Kept were trained in all manner of service much like the courtesans of history. She hoped that she was strong enough not to find any of it an ordeal. Josh used her harshly on many occasions, and she had found the bliss in the painful pleasure he gave her. She would just have to find that blissful place here too.

"I would like you to take a few minutes filling out these forms, so I have a better idea of your experience before our meeting tomorrow. It was unfortunate we missed our time today, but my fellow Marshalls have said that you have impressed them with your candour and openness today. I hope you will do me the same courtesy. He slid the forms across the desk to her. "You may bring a chair close enough to sit as you fill them in.

The forms began with broad multiple choice questions on sexual orientation and the role which she identified the most with. She answered based solely on her relationship with Josh as a heterosexual submissive. The following pages listed fetishes and she needed to grade them as curious about, into, soft limit or hard limit. The second set of choices for each fetish gave her the choice of giving, receiving, watching, wearing, While confusing, at first, she answered as honestly as she could while Francesco watched on.

Before now Peri believed she had a good knowledge of sexual fetishes, after all, her work with Josh on various books along those lines, but she struggled to understand what some of the terms meant precisely, so she skipped over those not wanting to give a response to something she knew nothing about. When she was finally done, she looked up at Francesco and explained her reluctance to answer some of the fetishes as she had no knowledge of the terms.

"We can work on that together this has given me enough of a guide to go on. You understand what it means to be Kept within our family?" he asked.

"Yes Marshall," she nodded. "I was told that this would be part of my trial," she admitted.

"Good. Then you will obey me in this room without hesitation as you obey all the Marshalls here," he said making clear his expectations. "Come and stand beside me," he said picking up the papers before him and tapping them on the desk to form a neat pile before replacing them as she came to stand beside him. "What I saw of your responses has been quite illuminating, I believe I will enjoy our time together." He reached up and pulled the material of her toga to reveal her right breast bunching the material that hung from her left shoulder. Clicking his tongue loudly, he stood and stepped behind her to release the strapless bra she wore beneath the toga.

"If you must wear underwear to your other sessions with the Marshalls you will remove it on entry to this room," he pulled the bra free leaving her breasts to bounce back into their natural shape. "Panties too," he held out his hand for them. He watched as she took them off immediately and handed them to him. "Obedience is a desirable attribute, so too is your obvious heat and excitement at being here with me," he smiled as his thumb smoothed over the damp crotch of her panties.

Peri blushed deeply at his words and watched as his thumb moved over the evidence that she was aroused. She knew though that her arousal came from memories of Josh introducing her to those fetishes she had marked that she enjoyed, but she said nothing.

"It shouldn't surprise me that a Donati has introduced you to the painful pleasure of true submission," he began to play with her exposed nipple, but I will admit I was not expecting that or your reaction to this talk," he pinched the hard pink nub between his fingers. His eyes bored into hers as she gasped. "Widen your stance," he instructed as his other hand reached under her toga to run along her wet slit. His fingers delved deeper rubbing over her clit roughly as the fingers of his other hand continued to play with her nipple.

Peri's body reacted to this man even if her conscious mind didn't, and she found her breathing shorten to panting, and the tell-tale tremors in her thighs begin. He continued to play with her body until she finally begged in a weak breathless voice, "May I come please, Marshall?"

"You may," she smiled impressed that she had known he would require her to ask for a release before coming or be punished for her lack of respect. He watched as she arched unsteadily, her body tensing like a strung bow before crying out in loud whimpers as she crashed over the edge. He moved his hand from her breast to her back to support her and slowly removed the fingers that were now coated with her cum. Once she had regained some focus to her eyes, he lifted his hand and fed her those fingers to clean.

"Donati has taught you well," he said finally. "You may take your underwear and return to your cell. You may have your phone priveledges tonight. You will not discuss the details of your trial, but you may reassure your family that you are well cared for here."

"Thank you, Marshall," Peri said quietly taking her underwear from the desk and walking toward the door.

*****

The two brothers went to look in on BJ, who was fast asleep. Then Ben indicated they should walk back through the house. He led Dante out to the back patio before saying what was on his mind.

"So how long have you been in love with Peri?" Ben asked pulling no punches.

"I'm not!" Dante immediately denied the accusation. "It's just a bad situation. They should have been told and given a chance to think about what they agreed to."

"How long?" Ben asked again.

"I'm not in love with her. I care about her. She's tough and smart and sassy, and if Josh ever threw her away, I would consider her as more than a sister, but I don't. I am jealous that Josh found a girl that loved him enough to become part of this fucked up family," he admitted, "but it's not love, its affection." Ben gave him a sceptical look. "Look I know what happened to Lucy at the Battaglia facility. I wouldn't wish that on anyone I care about, not even Nik though there was no other choice."

Ben was startled. Even he didn't know the details of why Lucy had been sent or what had happened to her. He considered Dante again. He had suspicions about Dante's feelings for Peri before this, though. His mood had brightened considerably since she had gone to work for him and over the holidays, he had been overly protective of her when Josh wasn't close by.

"You can fool the others, you can even fool yourself, but I know you better than most D. They are committed and devoted to each other. Don't set yourself up for more heartache, you feel that jealousy for a reason." Ben said gently. "Let's go and see how that phone call went," he said deciding not to push Dante any further.

They walked slowly back to the study in silence. Dante considered his brothers words. He would have to be crazy not to feel affection for Peri. They were friends and worked together. He treated her like a sister or, at least, he tried to. He may be jealous of Josh, but he would never step over that line regardless of his feelings. He wasn't in love with her he told himself again but now that the idea had been voiced he worried that maybe he did care more than he should about what was happening to her

"I didn't call," Josh announced as they reentered the study."I have to trust that Papa has the family's best interest in mind in agreeing to this. What if this is like a trial for me as it is for Peri. I need to show I can be a loyal family man and obey the rules of the trial. She agreed to this for me, and I don't want to be the one to mess it up by being a whiny child in Papa's eyes. He said he would keep me informed, and when he does I will ask the questions then if I still need to."

"Okay," Ben said slowly looking to Lio for an explanation.

"Josh just needed someone to listen to him instead of rushing in to fix things their way," Lio shrugged. "Did either of you ask him what he wanted to do?"

"Don't go down there on my behalf," Josh said even though he would love some information on how she was from his brothers. "Let Papa handle it, he promised he would watch over her. I have to believe she loves me enough to endure it."

"But you don't know what it's like down there," Dante said in a pained voice.

"No, but Lucy does," Josh patted the large envelope holding her manuscript that he had brought with him absently. "I'll go and see her again tomorrow." He gave a half smile. "It's getting late, and I have meetings in the morning as do you, so I'm gonna head off."

He stood and embraced his older brother but as he was leaving his phone came to life singing a familiar tune. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, he looked at for a moment before answering it in an alarmed voice, "Peri?"

"Yes, I miss you so much already," she said happily hearing the alarm in his voice and wanting to reassure him. "I have my phone and will get to make a call occasionally at night. Have I interrupted anything?"

"No! It's so good to hear your voice. I was worried when you left the way you did," he wanted to reach down the phone and hold her close.

"I'm fine honestly. There is no need to be concerned. I am well cared for here. I just miss you already and wanted to hear your voice," she said keeping her voice cheerful because of the worry she could hear in his. "Tell me you love me," she said smiling into the phone.

"Always and forever," Josh responded smiling with the relief of hearing her voice.

*****