Only Two minutes

Dark Lady

Ratings: NC-17
Warnings: Maul and a queue of original female characters.  No romance.
Disclaimer: This is absolutely nothing to do with Lucasfilm, and resembles his characters not one whit!
Summary: Lord Sidious arranges a trial for Maul, on a lonely planet in the outer rim of the galaxy.
Feedback: I don't think I dare ask for it. This is not beta-read.
Acknowledgement: May I thank MaulMaus and all the visitors to the dmeb2 for the plot bunny, which arises from reading the Celebration II thread..

Only Two minutes

Seated involuntarily upon the small carved wooden throne in the centre of the clearing, Maul glared at the queue of females waiting patiently.  They stood in a long line, almost as still as he was, hands demurely folded in front of them, heads bowed.

The dais built of polished bones shifted and grated a little under his weight, as he shifted once in the chair, and the girls looked up, startled, as if they were a flock of migratory birds suddenly about to leap into the air.  Then they bowed their heads again as a communal sigh escaped their many mouths, and they became still again.

The first girl was prostrate in front of him, hands on her head and face in the dust in token of total submission, murmuring some string of words in which his name featured large.  He wondered idly whether it was a prayer of some sort and bestired himself to glance along the line of women, wondering also what motivated them to come here and worship him.  The girl behind the prostrate one knelt, with head bowed, holding a white cloth and a silver bowl in her hands, and the calm and smiling woman behind her was, he realised with a shock, very old in years. She was an ancient crone.  Her teeth were crooked and her shoulders bent, her fingers gnarled and her hair grey.  He shuddered,  hoping the ceremony would not be too intimate, and looked onwards, to the three girls behind her.  They were young and pretty, and surely but maidens, looking from side to side in agitated nervousness, clasping and unclasping their hands, unable to be still.  There was a clutch of garishly dressed women, peeking at him slyly from beneath their eyelashes, and another dressed in veils, with tiny bells that tinkled as she swayed her hips gracefully to some inner music of her own, and many more, very many more.  There was a long line of women, all ages, all types.  Some were beautiful, some were not, some would have generously warmed him on a cold night, others were thin like rails and reminded him of the skinny Witches of Dathomir.

He stifled a yawn and waited for the ceremony to begin, wondering, fleetingly, just what that ceremony was.

"A trial," Sidious had said, "a trial of control and stamina, Apprentice.  We are their god and must therefore be worshipped in some simple ceremony appropriate to their nature as women."

Maul had expressed a desire to know more but Sidious had demurred, and turned away from Maul, who was kneeling in front of his Master in humble submission to his least and every whim. "Let events guide you," said Sidious, "but remember that to move during the ceremony, is forbidden, forbidden."  And he blessed Maul in Sithly and priestly manner, allowing his hand to rest in benediction upon the horned head of his pupil, before dismissing him to his task.

So here he was, disembarked from his Infiltrator - called a 'Heavenly Chariot' by his gentle captors - lauded with lilting songs and, to his dismay,  garlanded with pretty flowers.

Bid as he was to be motionless, Maul tapped his nails upon the wooden arm of the throne for amusement, reckoning that the ceremony had not yet started.  However, remembering his Master's dictum, he stopped when an older woman in purple regalia and carrying a staff wound with ribbons, tapped that staff upon the hard dirt floor. The clearing in the forest became silent, and nothing stirred. Maul became motionless likewise, and sat like the Sith Lord that he was, and watched, looking arrogantly down at the gathered multitude of women.

The priestess, or mistress of ceremonies, turned to him and bowed, then turned back to the assembly and spoke in a soft and soothing voice which carried clearly to the gathered throng.  Sometimes she turned to Maul and bowed as she did so, then she continued her diatribe.  After some minutes, with a flourish, she retrieved an hour glass from within her voluminous robes, shook it at the women, and placed it on the ground in front of her.  She gestured to the first girl.  "Two minutes!" she commanded, and gave Maul a very broad smile as she stood and watched.

*****

She who lay in front of him, rose from her prone position and approached, and knelt between his booted feet.  Her chest came just up to his knees.  With reverence she unclipped his sabre and passed it to another girl behind her.  He nearly protested at this, for he was never parted from his beloved weapon, but remembered Sidious' instruction and remained as he was, seated.  As she leaned forward to undo his belt he could smell her faint perfume underlaid with a female musk that disturbed him a little.  He put the thought from his mind as she parted his tunic and pulled it to one side.  He gazed thoughtfully down the neckline of her simple gown, wishing that she might fall forward into his hands, which, alas, he could not move

The girl holding the white cloth and silver bowl stepped forward to the side of him.  Her Basic was more than adequate but heavily accented.  Strawberry blonde hair which was a riot of curls tumbled about her shoulders, and she looked longingly at his thighs as she moved towards him.  Then she modestly looked at the dirt floor again and sighed.

"We do not all like to swallow, my Lord," and she shyly draped the towel over his thighs and stood at the side of the throne, holding the bowl, which, he saw, contained water scented with sweet smelling herbs.

Swallow?  Swallow what?

He suddenly felt very vulnerable as the first girl draped his loincloth to one side and deftly undid his breeches.  Had she practised?  The girl continued to unfasten him, deft fingers swiftly removing the protective cup and she sighed as she stroked him and laid his proud length against the crease of his thigh.  The girl bearing the bowl looked, sighed, and blushed, then she modestly averted her gaze once more.

For all his sworn obedience and the instruction of his Master, Maul was excited, and it showed.  His fist clenched involuntarily as the assembled women gazed in fond adoration at their object of worship, and sighed, collectively.  He wondered whether he would survive this trial.  He saw the old crone lick her lips and shuddered, wondered just how far duty lay.  He closed his eyes in resignation to his fate and the direction of his Master.

Whilst his attention had been diverted by the clever ministrations of the two pretty girls, some twenty or so of the remainder had formed a circle, with the priestess at the centre holding his sabre and the glass.  "Let the festivities begin!" she announced, placed the sabre upon the ground and stepped outside the circle, to squat comfortably, facing him.  A woman leaned forward and spun the sabre flat against the ground.

While it spun there was total silence and concentration.  Twenty women stared intently at the weapon perhpas murmuring prayers, or willing it to stop, or spin a little faster, as long as they were the chosen ones.  Sidious had said nothing about using the Force.  Maul willed the weapon to stop and point at one of the pretty maidens.   The sabre duly slowed, and stopped.

Two had been chosen.  The sabre was picked up and examined.  Both ends being the same, the two girls quickly discussed in soft tones how they might proceed, and rose from the circle.  They walked towards him, eyes cast demurely down, but smiling broadly.

Maul struggled between the bonds of obedience and the desire to flee, as he saw the hungry look in the eyes of the two girls.  He saw their sharp teeth and as the first knelt and bent her head to pleasure him, he closed his eyes - surely Sidious would not deny him this.  Her clever mouth and devilish fingers quickly pulled from him his release within the allotted time; she swallowed, he shivered.  "You are sweet!" she said in a surprised tone, as she washed him with fresh water from the bowl and dried him.  And she shyly pulled his loincloth over his body to  hide his glorious red and black nakedness.

The priestess grinned and he saw her gesture to the second girl, and as she knelt between his feet and took him into her mouth, the priestess turned the glass over and the sand began to trickle through.

The second repeated the ministrations of the first, only with subtle variations, and she did not swallow.  She spat delicately onto the clean cloth, and washed him as had the other, and as before, gracefully pulled the loincloth over him.

In the meantime, the sabre spun, and women both demure and flagrant, waited their turn to service him.  Maul soon discovered that there were more variations upon this delightful theme than even he could imagine, but even so, as the women came, so did he, and time started to weigh heavily upon his hands.  He amused himself by keeping tally of those who swallowed and those who did not.  About 60 to 40 he reckoned.

The time came when a girl was disappointed, and all her subtle arts of mouth and fingers, lips and tongue, could call forth no more Sithly emissions.  A single glistening tear slowly fell upon her downy cheek as she washed, dried, and sadly refastened his garments.  The cup she tucked into a pocket in his tunic, being unable to fasten it, the sabre she clipped back onto his belt.  Thwarted of her ambition she kissed him, long and passionately, full on the lips.  The priestess glared at her but she did not appear to care.

"'Ceremony over!' thought Maul.  "The old woman was best!" he hissed viciously at the departing girl who burst into tears at her inability to pleasure him.  She fled, he stood, pulling his heavy black tunic down over his hips.  Indeed the old woman had been the best.  She had taken no account of time, ignoring the hissed protests of the priestess as if she did not exist.  Why, the things she had done with her tongue and his... He cleared his throat and quickly adjusted his dress lest excitement show and the ordeal recommence.

*****

"Forty two Apprentice?" Sidious coughed and tried hard not to sound surprised  "And how many swallowed?"

"Sixty percent Master." said Maul, cautiously.  He was kneeling to the side of Sidious, who was sat in his favourite armchair sipping at a fine wine before retiring to bed.

"Yes yes, and that is..."

"Twenty five point two Master."

Sidious glared at Maul.

"or so..." Maul added hastily.

"Rounded down of course!" commented Sidious, loftily.

"Indeed, my Master."  Maul waited as Sidious was silent for a while.

***

"Forty two Apprentice!" Sidious moved closer to the younger man and slid his hand under his loincloth.  Maul felt his whole body stiffen under Sidious' touch, expert as always.

As Sidious' hand touched his bare flesh, and stroked his most delicate skin, Maul closed his eyes and purred.  The trial had been a duty.  This would be pure pleasure.

END