Page 94 of A Brat's Tale
I wore only a pair of pants, boots, and the collar when Corrik took me before the king and queen. He led me in on a leash and I was instructed to kneel on a large, purple pillow before them, so they could hand down my sentence. I knew to bow low from my lessons with Strobavik. They weren’t just lessons on sexual etiquette, but general Mortougian decorum. “Thank you for coming, Kathir,” the king addressed me. “This is a punishment I don’t want to give out, but I must. Please understand how grateful we are to you for bringing our son home, but you broke several rules, and we cannot overlook that. However, in light of your service to our kingdom, I can exercise some leniency. You will take thirty-five with the punishment strap to your bare bottom publicly rather than the standard fifty as per protocol for such a transgression. We’re not angry with you, but we were worried.”
Their worry more than anything is why I was punished, I’m sure of it. It was a bit of a ‘never run away from home again,’ spanking.
I was brought to the wall on the south side of the palace, which was high enough it kept me out of the crowd below, but low enough to be witnessed by anyone who wanted to see. My pants were removed, and I was placed over and strapped to a leather-padded bench. One of the straps holding me down was thick as my waist—figures it would be total overkill with Elves—and my wrists are cuffed and secured, extended to two separate columns attached to the bench.
Not how I wanted to spend my day, but I was grateful the king let me off lightly. I’ve had a strap taken to my arse plenty, but this particular strap was thicker and meant for formal punishment; I knew before it touched me how much it was going to fucking hurt. Plus, it was embarrassing. Everyone was going to see my arse scalped.
Corrik remained by my side, his face sullen. I knew he felt this was his fault. Corrik’s never lost any sleep over me getting discipline for anything, but this was different, just protocol and not earned in his opinion.
Alrik had another opinion. “Ah, there you are, laid out nicely for me,” he said rubbing my bare arse with his large hand.
“What are you doing here, Alrik? Come to gloat?”
“Oh no. I’m here to dole out your punishment.” I caught sight of the nasty looking strap in his hand, wide, thick, brown leather, unforgiving. “I requested it because I knew only I would give this punishment properly.”
I worried a little at that point, a pit forming in my gut. With all his threats of what he’d like to do to me, I was concerned that now would be his chance to exact revenge. But as we all know, I’m the stubborn sort and I wasn’t going to let him see my fear. I did set my eyes to scorching though.
“Everyone else—Mother, Father, even Corrik—has agreed that this is only to satisfy a formal penalty, but I disagree; this was earned. Maybe they don’t know it, but deep down, you do.”
“What are you talking about, Alrik? I saved your brother. If not for me, he would be dead.” Even in that moment, saying it did something to me. It does something to me still, it breaks my heart to think I almost didn’t have this time with Corrik.
“Do not misunderstand me. I will be forever indebted to you for returning my brother. I’m glad it happened, but I was responsible for you and I trusted you to be where you were told to be. You don’t yet understand what that means to an Elf, but you will. Corrik, tell him. Even if it cost your life, would you have preferred for Tristan to remain safely where he was?”
Corrik was quiet, but eventually, he nodded. “I can’t help it, Tristan. I’m sorry. I would not have chosen for you to risk your life for me. I’m glad you did, but the truth is, it would not have been my choice.”
Alrik’s face was smug. “There you have it. You will not do this again, Tristan. You will stay where you are told to stay, or I will happily discipline you.”
“Then I gladly pay the consequence,” I told him.
“You do, but it’s more than that. You long for this Tristan. A broken rule is a broken rule to you. You’ve done a noble thing, but youbroke the rules to do it and that doesn’t sit right with you as much as you’d like it to. You know others suffered, while you left without a trace.”
I hated him in that moment, absolutely loathed him, because he was right.
There’s a score to keep and my body does it well. I knew how people would feel about me racing off as I did, and the Gods help me I had to do it, but I didn’t like who I had to lie to and deceive in the process.
His cool hand reached for my balls and I jumped. He secured them in leather. “Don’t want these nice bits to suffer any damage, even if we can heal them.”
I’d been stunned into silence. No more litigious snark came from my mouth; I was only in awe of him. I learned that day what a complicated creature Alrik was. He’s not who everyone thinks he is; he sees people, understands them, but because he’s a huge arsehole a lot of the time, it’s easy to forget all the dimensions he has to his character.
He ran a hand into my hair and gripped me by the roots. He bent down by my ear. “Relax.This will hurt, but only as much as it’s supposed to. Do you remember your lessons?”
“Yes, sir.”
He nodded. “Good. Breathe and you will be fine. I want you to count and thank me after each one. Ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
I heard the strap whistle through the air.Thwack!It took a moment for my brain to tell me that hurt, so my cry was delayed, but the pain came hot and shocking. “Ahhh! One. Thank you, sir.”
The pain was unlike any before it and while I still wouldn’t think twice about saving Corrik if need be, I will forever be cautious of earning that strap and pissing Alrik off.
I pulled on my bonds, trying to get away, but I couldn’t. His hand came to my back. “You didn’t breathe properly.”
“Because it fucking hurts, Alrik.” That so wasn’t protocol; I’m still surprised he didn’t add to my total for that.
“Shhhh. Inhale when you hear me pull back, exhale as it lands. Itwill still hurt, but distantly. Breathing will help you let go and then you’ll be in a place where this will be easier to manage.”
I nodded. It took all my will to do as he instructed and not think of the wild pain that thing unleashed, but I did it. The second time it sailed through the air I inhaled, then exhaled when it struck. The pain radiated from my arse down my legs and while it didn’t feel any different, he was right, it was easier to take.
