33


    33


    Master Damien walked us into a part of thepound 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 d for the leather cover.


    Rubbing my mound on the wood would have been ufortable.


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


    I knew the main event wasing 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 hyperventting right now. When a hand moved down my back, I flinched.


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    The General spoke from behind me, "ve, you took twelve steps away from your Masters after


    they told you toe. I will administer ash for each step you took. Think of eachsh 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 hadid 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 myposure back, but it was toote.


    The nextsh 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


    nextsh 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 someposure 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 nineshes 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 toe to me, I suggest you just take the steps toward me and not thesh. Do


    you understand?" he asked.


    "Yes, Master Damien."


    I knew I''d take theshing again, I''d do it for my friend. There was absolutely no way I was going to


    tell Master Damien that though.


    Master Evanid my kneeling ce 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.


    Someonemented 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 ves came over the ves knelt in front of me. The ones I knew took my


    hands. We never said anything. Rose came over andid 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. ncing at the shoulder I could see thin


    lines of blood. Some of the shes 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 thest 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


    yed in. We stopped at a ce inside thepound first and Master Bane picked something up.


    When we made it to the ve''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 morefortable 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 d for theirpanionship. They asked if there was anything


    they could do to help me. Iughed and asked them if they had an ice pack.


    "Don''t get caught," I heard Rose whisper as Fuji scooted closer to me. She hadid 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 nced 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 exin 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 toote. Master


    Damien was in my face a momentter.


    "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, ve," 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 evene 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."