33

33

Master Damien walked us into a part of the compound I'd never been

in before. He led me up a ramp and attached my wrists above my head

to a wide wooden post. My breasts were forced against the grain of the

wood and wrapped around either side of it. I was glad for the leather

cover. Rubbing my mound on the wood would have been

uncomfortable.

Master Evan braided my hair and moved it so it hung over my shoulder.

He had tied it with a thick leather strap that weighted it down. I

guessed getting your hair caught in a whip was miserable. After they

were done, they all left.

I stood with my head against the wood and waited for forever. I felt the

sun as it changed position and rose through the sky. Warriors and their

slaves must have been wandering through the courtyard. Several men

threw taunts at me daring me to look at them. I'd learned my lesson on

that front, my eyes stayed closed.

The excitement in the yard grew as the hour got later. It sounded like

more and more people were coming and less were leaving. Peaking

through mostly closed lids I saw a yard full Warriors. Some had slaves,

some didn't, but they all looked like they were there for a party.

I knew the main event was coming when the yard got quiet. No one

ever talked when the General was around. I tried to remember that

breathing technique Rose had talked about. It seemed like I was just

hyperventilating right now. When a hand moved down my back, I

flinched.

The General spoke from behind me, "Slave, you took twelve steps away

from your Masters after they told you to come. I will administer a lash

for each step you took. Think of each lash as a footfall and remember

this next time you decide not to listen,” he said.

Rose was right, I thought, time to breath through the pain. The sound

of the whip cutting the air was electric. It cracked across the left side of

my back and I was too shocked to scream. The pain was enormous.

There was the burn along the length rapidly followed by the deep ache.

A cheer went up from the Warriors.

I thought of Rose's face behind my closed eyes and tried to imagine her

coaching me on my breathing. I should have counted the blows, but I

didn't think about it quickly enough. Before I knew it, my nose was

running and tears were dripping off my face. I tried not to scream and

not to panic. Focus on the steady in out of the breath, think about

Christof, how he was worth it.

I lost control at some point and the first scream came out. The General

had laid the whip across a mark he had already made. The torture was

unbearable. My legs weren't holding me up anymore and I sagged

against the bonds at my wrists. I tried to get my composure back, but it

was too late.

The next lash was delivered on fresh skin, but it didn't matter. I couldn't

stop the shriek of pain. I pressed my face against the wood and

breathed in the scent. Before I could rearrange my focus the next lash

came. My cry was muffled by the post.

My back was on fire. I didn't know how much more I could take when

Master Damien called a halt to the General. Fighting for some amount

of dignity I tried to stand, my back just hurt so much. I couldn't tell

what part felt worse. It all just felt like an inferno.

As my hands were lowered from the posts I stifled a scream, moving

was unthinkable. I partly walked and partly was dragged back down the

ramp. Hands held me under my arms. I just prayed they wouldn't touch

my back.

The hands supporting me dropped me into a kneeling position on a

pad. I sat there dazed, as the tears and snot were cleaned off my face.

My whole body was wet with sweat and they also attempted to clean

some of that.

I heard Rose's voice in my mind and I tried to regain some composure

through breathing. It worked somewhat. The pain was still near

unbearable, but at least I could focus on what was going on around me.

I heard Master Damien call my name and I looked blearily up at him. He

was standing several feet away looking imposing with his arms crossed.

All I could think was how grateful I was to him for stopping the General.

"Yes, Master Damien," I croaked out. My voice was hoarse and cracked.

"Come here, Ciara," he ordered.

It took a minute to organize my limbs, but with some assistance I got

up and took three shaky steps toward him. I came to rest in front of

him.

"Were those difficult steps Ciara?" he asked me.

"No, Master Damien," I said.

"Were the nine lashes you took to your back difficult?" he asked

looking at me pointedly.

I didn't have to think about that at all, "Yes, Master Damien."

"Next time I tell you to come to me, I suggest you just take the steps

toward me and not the lash. Do you understand?" he asked.

“Yes, Master Damien."

I knew I'd take the lashing again, I'd do it for my friend. There was

absolutely no way I was going to tell Master Damien that though.

Master Evan laid my kneeling place down and I sank back into it.

Master Kein put a jug of water to my lips and I drank. Other Warriors

wandered over and stood talking to my owners. I stayed silent and tried

to steady my breathing.

Someone commented it had taken six throws for me to start screaming.

Several of the Warriors had laid money on when I would start making

noise. A lot of them had lost their bets. After watching me at the posts

they thought I would have cried out sooner. I'd have to give Rose credit

for that.

When the Warriors with slaves came over the slaves knelt in front of

me. The ones I knew took my hands. We never said anything. Rose

came over and laid her cheek on mine. She looked like she had been

crying, so I hugged her. We sat like that until her owners took her away.

The fire in my back had muted somewhat to a dull burn and an ache.

Absently, I wondered if the marks would scar or if I was bleeding.

Without thinking I turned my head to look at my back. The movement

re-ignited the fire over one side and I flinched. Glancing at the shoulder

I could see thin lines of blood. Some of the slashes had left shallow

open wounds.

They had marked me and I would scar. Honestly, I was in too much pain

to give it much more thought than that. I just stared at the dirt in front

of me and tried to escape the pain.

A hand reached down to stroke my head and I looked up at Christof.

He looked absolutely miserable. As much as I'd worried about him the

last couple of days, it looked like he had been worrying about me.

Again, I had to think he was worth it. No one else treated me the way

he did.

"It's still early brothers,” Master Bane announced, "some of the other

Warriors have a game in the arena if they can get enough families.”

A murmur of consensus went through the group and we made our way

to the grassy area they played in. We stopped at a place inside the

compound first and Master Bane picked something up.

When we made it to the slave's tent Christof fed me what they had

bought. It tasted like dried meat, but at least it wasn't worms. He

offered me a long drink of something cool and then went to join his

brothers. He still looked tormented.

I tried to find a more comfortable way to hold my back, but that was

impossible. The dull ache was a constant and the intermittent burn

when I moved wrong made me crazy.

Fuji and Rose showed up and I was glad for their companionship. They

asked if there was anything they could do to help me. I laughed and

asked them if they had an ice pack.

"Don't get caught,” I heard Rose whisper as Fuji scooted closer to me.

She had laid her arm across my back. I tensed at first, but the cool

helped a lot. I seconded Rose's opinion though

"Fuji, it's not worth it. If you get blood on you and they'll know what

you are doing. You'll get caught and then there will be two of us like

this. I couldn't stand to see anyone else miserable. It's bad enough

watching how bad Christof looks.”

Fuji didn't move her arm away, just moved it to a new spot. "First, the

blood is dried and second what do you mean he looks bad?" she asked.

"He didn't want them to punish me and he feels guilty about it," I

answered, carefully watching the game for any sign the Warriors had

noticed her.

The girls sucked in a collective gasp and I glanced at Rose, she looked

shocked. "He doesn't agree with his brothers? That isn't possible. Ciara,

watch the game they are looking at us,” she commanded.

I looked back and could see Master Damien's head turned in my

direction. When he turned away I begged Fuji to stop, they were going

to find out.

"My Warriors did not instruct me not to do this and yours don't know

what I'm doing. You worry too much, Ciara. You have to explain it to us

though. How is it that Christof feels differently from his brothers? They

think with one mind," she said curiously.

"Oh, no," I moaned dropping my head in my hands, "please don't tell

your Warriors what I said. I didn't know that was weird. I don't know

how to help him. I'm just so frustrated,” I said.

Fuji's arm moved away from me and Rose was whispering for me to

look up. I was too late. Master Damien was in my face a moment later.

"Are we not interesting to you, Ciara?" he asked cooly crouching before

me

"I'm sorry Master Damien, it won't happen again,” I stuttered out. I

prayed he wouldn't take me back to the whipping post today.

"You did not answer the question, slave,” he breathed ominously in my

ear.

"You and your brothers are very interesting to watch, Master Damien,” I

said with a faltering voice.

He strode out of the tent without another word. The girls acted like he

hadn't even come in

"I won't say a word to my owners about what you said Ciara,” Rose

promised as Fuji slid closer and put her arm on my burning back. "It

isn't normal though and I'm not sure what you can do to help him. Do

you know what happens when their bond is damaged?" she asked.

"Master Damien told me it would weaken them and I would be taken

away," I answered honestly.

"I've only seen it one other time and it was awful. The men lost the will

to live when they couldn't depend on one another. The women came

and picked them off one by one from inside the compound. What

happened that damaged them?" she asked.

"I'm afraid to talk about it," I said honestly.

"If you want to help them,” Rose said, "he has to re-bond with his

brothers. I'm not really sure how they do that. Most of the bonding

happens when they are still very young.”