Chapter 12

Clara

Nora knocked one more time. Gideon remained silent. He crossed his arms and stared at the wall.

I looked around for my dress, and saw that only a few shredded rags remained of it. I grabbed at a sheet to cover myself just as Nora stepped into the room.

“I’m sorry I missed dinner, Gideon love,” Nora said, and then stopped dead as she took in the room.

“What?” Nora breathed, looking from me to Gideon and back.

I shook my head and reached out, trying to sign some kind of explanation. Gideon didn’t even try to speak. He just looked at her.

Nora shook her head in disbelief. Tears collected in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she backed to the door.

“No,” she whimpered, once, before turning to flee the room.

“Nora!” Gideon called.

He ran after her, barely pausing to grab a robe to cover himself with.

I was left alone in the shambles of Prince Gideon’s rooms. I gathered up the rags of my dress. I sat on the floor, shivering and clutching the scraps to my chest.

My whole body ached. My earlier bruises had gained new life under Gideon’s wolf’s fervor. I clawed my way to my feet and began to straighten up the room. It was my duty, after all.

Once the room was cleaned of all the evidence of last night, I escaped back to my own room. I stole one sheet to cover myself. I would return it to the laundry later.

I showered and scrubbed until my skin was pink and raw. It didn’t help. I still felt filthy.

The butler found me after my shower. His face was grave.

I immediately assumed that I was going to be banished. The crime Gideon accused me of, drugging him and taking advantage of the situation to advance myself, was certainly serious enough to warrant that.

“Clara,” the butler said, “You have been accused of a crime of a somewhat delicate nature.”

I nodded. I hadn’t done it. Well, I hadn’t drugged Gideon. Not on purpose. I had no idea there was something wrong with the wine!

But I also knew that there was no point in arguing my side of things. I was never believed against other servants. Who would believe my word over that of a prince?

The butler sighed. “Do you have anything to say to explain yourself?” he asked.

I shook my head. We both knew there was no point.

“Very well. You will come with me.”

I glanced around. Wasn’t I going to be allowed to pack my belongings? Did they mean to turn me out as a Rogue with only the clothing on my back?

“Hurry up,” the butler said over his shoulder. “Stalling will only make things worse for you.”

How much worse did he think they could get? Sure, I could be executed. Honestly, though, banishment was the next thing to execution. I would not last long as a Rogue and I knew it.

The butler led me away from the servants’ quarters and down into the dungeons. I shivered. Was I going to be imprisoned again?

He kept going past the cells, though, and led me to a large, stone room with a pillory in the center.

“This is where punishments for palace staff are carried out,” the butler explained. “It is not seemly to drag a royal’s personal servant out to the courtyard for the lower ranks to witness the sentence.”

I looked from the pillory, to the butler, and lowered my head. What was going on? I thought I was banished.

“You are to receive ten lashes of the whip,” the butler explained.

I flinched. They were going to whip me before they cast me out? Couldn’t they just execute me cleanly?

The butler shook his head. “I realize the punishment seems harsh but you will have to bear it. You made a mistake. You must learn from it so that you may serve better in the future.”

What future? I signed that question, utterly lost.

The butler tilted his head. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Banished?” I signed, pointing to myself.

The butler shook his head. “No. You would have been banished on Prince Gideon’s order, but his current mistress pleaded for mercy in your name. Thus the sentence was reduced.”

I wanted to be relieved, and grateful to my friend. But I saw a guard approach with the whip. So all I could do was shiver as the butler led me to the pillory.

“I know you cannot scream,” he said, “but it is still customary to offer you this leather to bite,” he said. “It may help, some.”

I nodded and took the strap of leather while he tied my hands.

I heard another door open. I recognized Prince Gideon’s scent and the sound of his footsteps. He had come to witness my punishment.

“Begin,” Prince Gideon ordered coldly once I was prepared.

The lash fell with no more warning than that word and the slight hiss of leather through the air. At first I felt only a light sting, but then the line where it had struck my back began to burn. I knew it would only get worse. I braced myself against the pillory.

The second strike fell. The whip crossed over the first welt, and I bit into the gag as hard as I could. My knees felt week and my arms trembled. How was I going to survive ten lashes?

The third and fourth strikes landed one after the other, both crossing the previous welts. I sobbed, and slumped against the pillory. The ropes binding my wrists were the only thing holding me upright. The world swam and tilted.

The fifth strike landed, and my back arched away from the pain despite my efforts to stay still. The world went gray at the edges and my legs fully gave out. I heard the whip swish against the ground. I would have given anything for the ability to speak, to plead for mercy or just for a moment’s reprieve.

The whip rose again but I didn’t feel it fall. The world went dark around me as I passed out.

Gideon

I was fully prepared to banish that scheming maid. How dare she drug me and take advantage like that? I shuddered at the memory of the way the drug took hold and robbed me of my will and my reason.

It had left the wolf in full control. And it was clear my wolf did not have very good taste in bed partners.

Nora begged me to spare her friend. She insisted that Clara wasn’t like that. She said there had to be some other explanation. I asked her what it could possibly be. She had no answer, but she insisted that there had to be one.

I felt guilty for the pain I had caused her. Even though I was drugged, I had still taken another woman to my bed while I called Nora my mistress. That was wrong.

So, I gave in. Instead of having Clara banished to become a Rogue, I ordered her whipped with the lash.

As the First Prince, it was my duty to oversee the punishment. It was a strangely quiet process. The only sound was the swish of the whip through the air and the slap of leather against skin.

Clara flinched when the whip struck, but of course she could not whimper or scream. She could only bear it in silence. I noticed that she didn't try to move out of the way of the whip strikes. She took her punishment bravely.

I counted the strikes, and frowned as they reached five with no signs of stopping. This was her first offense. It should have ended at five. I turned to the butler and demanded he explain.

The butler was visibly confused, and said that the order had been for ten lashes. He assumed the order came from me. It did not.

At the pillory, Clara’s legs gave out and she collapsed. The guard wielding the whip paused, and reported that she had fainted. He waited for orders.

“Stop,” I ordered. “Give her a moment to recover.”

Within me, my wolf howled and raged. He insisted that this was our mate, bleeding at our feet. After that one night, he was sure we were fated.

I did not feel anything like that towards the maid. At the same time, I did agree that she had suffered enough.

So, I called an end to the punishment, and scooped her into my arms. I would take her to the servant’s healer. Hopefully that would silence my wolf.