Too early to tell

It takes almost an hour for the **** on the citadel to move to the second stage. While you wait, you see the High Marshal organize the distribution and securing of all the lovely women that have fallen into the hands of the conquering army. This is important, you understand as most of these prizes are the wives and daughters of the most powerful families of the city, including some half dozen lovely captives related to the council members themselves.

There is a delay when it is discovered that the Regent's daughter is not among the captives. Lord Rastus and his intelligence officers spend time grilling the captured prisoners as they try to ascertain the location of this missing personage and half a dozen other coveted prizes that were not among the corralled group of beauties.

This interrogation, perhaps deliberately, is enhanced by the fact that when the women questioned are dismissed by these intelligence officers many of the lovely naked young ladies are dragged immediately to the heavy table on the dais where their captors spread open their legs and introduce them to their new role in life. It is evident that the screams and pleading in the background, provide a real incentive for others who are still being questioned to provide useful information for as long as possible. Eventually all the captives have been marched down from the heights; quite a large fraction of the younger ones have an awkward hitch to their gaits and the smears of blood on their thighs attest to the reason for their discomfort.

The war-captains and hoplites leading away their prizes are replaced by a fresh group of United Armies officers who will finish the **** and take their share of the feminine spoils. You are given a prominent position in this second group in recognition of the bravery demonstrated earlier in the day, arrangements are even made to provide an escort for Lady Relia back to her estates within the city walls. It is just as well, you decide; there is just too great a chance that she'd be mistaken for one of the Ladies of Athenapolis being claimed at an alarming pace.

Because of these administrative concerns, you have plenty of time to prepare for your search of the chambers below. It is made clear to you and the others in this second wave of soldiers that the vast stores of gold, jewels, spices, wines and artwork were not to be part of your looting, but the women below were fair game (limited to one per officer) and that incidental bits of plunder like the jeweled ring or necklace found while searching a private chamber or taken from one of those captured women would not have to be surrendered. There were perhaps fifty or so men waiting to break down the doors to the last bastion of Athenapolis, the thousands of other troops down below would have to be content with the plunder from the city estates below. You however were rewarded for your service to the United Armies by having the chance to plunder only the very best of the best.

All around you, the men are discussing where they feel the greatest chances of success will be; some believe that the higher up the honeycomb of excavated chambers in the citadel the more likely to find the rooms of the great families, others are convinced that the deeper you go the richer the plunder.

Unlike many of those around you, you do not have a plan you feel strongly about, but you realize as the battering rams start pounding on the doors that soon enough, you'll have to make a choice and stick to it. There are a limited number of prizes waiting to be shackled in these halls, and the best of the pretty young servants will be found by men willing to be decisive. If you decide to think over every move, once again you'll find yourself holding an empty collar. Thinking of Lady Relia's soft body and her responses to your touch make you smile easily - you could do a lot worse than settling for that eager young woman and the leather pouch of gemstones she carried around her neck.

And then, with a sudden clearly audible 'crack', one of the doors snaps in half, and its twin is smashed off its hinges with the very next blow. The mercenaries guarding the doors put up almost no fight at all and you rush past them to a large central chamber with a stairwell in its center and doorways leading outwards in twelve perfectly spaced corridors. This room is surprisingly well lit by a circular hole in the center of the ceiling that allows bright sunlight to spill into the central chamber. In one section of this great room, you see a group of a dozen or so young women already on their knees waiting for the inevitable. Judging by the skimpy clothing that these young women are wearing and how attractive most of them are, you suspect that many of them are pleasure slaves and are very familiar with what happens to women when they are taken by soldiers. With a roar of excitement, the men of the United Armies charge into the great hall, some heading straight for the collection of waiting women, others for the corridors leading to the outer rooms of the citadel, and many more heading for the stairwell.