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Finally, as the laughter and the ritual began to wane, Davis moved to the center again, gavel in hand. Assuming he was about to proclaim the end of these festivities, I was moving toward the door, about to leave. To my surprise, I heard him call my name.
“Maid Galen!” He spoke sharply and the crowd immediately quieted.
“Sir!” I turned to him, expecting more of the jovial good humor that had characterized this night, only to find his expression uncommonly grim. The other men mirrored his mood; and the women, like me, were stunned and quieted, too.
“Join me here,” he gave the command.
Once gathering my wits, I tottered uneasily toward the front of the tent. “Sir?”
“Did you think your offensive mood has gone unnoticed?” It was KC speaking as he stepped from the corner. I kept my eyes facing forward, afraid to look at him. I couldn’t think of anything to say. “Speak to me, Maid Galen.” His voice sounded like thunder in my ear and yet he didn’t raise the volume one decibel above his normal speech—his was a theatre voice that could carry into the wind with vigor even when he spoke in a whisper.
Trembling so, I didn’t turn his way, but answered, “I didn’t realize that I was any more testy than the rest of this company.”
I heard some “ahs” from the crowd, and realized that my response had been a little too brusque for a collared woman, though there was no way to take back my words. A prickly feeling rose up my spine no doubt coming from KC’s unaltered gaze.
“Look at me,” he ordered.
I turned slowly. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“You offend my friends and my life here to be so brassy.”
I wondered just how serious this game was. I heard other wenches tongue-lashed in similar fashion, but there was no underlying mirth in KC’s delivery at all. Maybe he was just a better actor than his friends were.
“My apologies to all,” I said politely.
“Apologies aren’t enough, Gail.” He was in me now, as though no one else inside the tent mattered but the two of us.
But they did matter to me. It mattered that this was a private affair and all these eyes were staring at us, and listening to the reprimand, and hearing my heart beat anxiously, and sensing my crotch pulsing.
“I think it’s time you took your turn before the company. Obviously, you haven’t learned enough in humility and surrender.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you’re asked to bare your soul, Gail, whether in public or private, you will. Is that understood?”
“Yes.”
“You will not hide yourself as you have these last few days. You will not lie to me, or speak falsely, or ungraciously. Is that clear?”
“It is.”
“If you want to mend this sorry state, you’ll atone right now.”
He nodded to the table, now empty of wenches sporting crimson asses. I guess I’d do this alone.
I shuddered more. I was almost faint. There was not a vein in my body not pounding as blood rushed to my head and into my crotch.
Taking my place, I bent over the table; and then reaching behind me, I slowly drew my skirt up over my hips, baring my ass—just as I’d seen the other women do. KC stepped forward with a belt in his hand. He stood to my left, close enough so that our bodies grazed slightly when we moved. It seemed as though electricity was raining off us in sparks. I felt his physical heat as much as I felt my own. Working quickly, he leveled the leather on my ass, the doubled belt smacking me sharply. Nothing sweet about this punishment. He was all business. KC paused once, but that was only to adjust his position so he could place his hand at the small of my back. More control.
He continued until my ass was blistered raw and he was getting some righteous pleas from me for him to stop. He went right on even longer, for a least a minute more, and then finally stopped. I slumped to the table exhausted.
“I’m finished with her gents. Feel free to add to my lady’s misery.”
He had done enough and stalked off, reaching the far doorway of the tent with my eyes following each step he took.
If only I could have run after him; but that was impossible. I was forced to endure the efforts of several more brutish fellows laying on their best before I was allowed to rise. By then, the entire company had truly tired of this long day. And finally, more from fatigue than any just finale, the event petered out until there was no one else who cared to punish me.
“Go to him,” Davis almost whispered to me.
