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It occurred to Seline that the other woman was much brighter than she let on. She had a carefully crafted image of a bubbly sex-kitten who was always ready to drop to her knees for her Master’s cock, but right now she sounded more like a lawyer arguing a case. A rush of gratitude overcame her and she wished she could thank Lovely, though she knew saying anything else without being asked to speak was highly inadvisable.
“Hmm…” Master Lendrex appeared to be thinking hard. He nodded at Lovely. “Very well, my sweet—then what punishment do you recommend if not the Ghost Box?”
“Well…” Lovely nibbled her lower lip, looking like she was thinking hard. “Here is my feeling—Seline has a very lenient Master—one who almost never punishes her. Why, she told me he never even spanks her!” she added, provoking murmurs of surprise and disapproval.
Of course, Seline had never said any such thing, but she could tell the other girl was working up some story to get her a lesser punishment. So she kept quiet.
“In light of that,” Lovely went on. “A simple beating with a cane or a crop by her own Master should be sufficient to teach her a lesson.”
There were murmurs of disagreement and Seline heard some of the men grumbling that a simple beating wasn’t nearly harsh enough. But Master Lendrex seemed to be listening to Lovely.
“She isn’t used to any pain at all, Master,” she insisted. “A thorough beating will set her right.”
“Well…all right. You’ve convinced me, Lovely.” Master Lendrex nodded. He turned to Nox. “The punishment is this—that your pleasure girl will be strung up by her wrists at the whipping post and you will give her a thorough beating—back and front. Only then can her debt to our society be considered paid.”
Seline turned to look up at Nox and saw that his face was darker than ever.
“What if I do not wish to beat my female?” he demanded.
“Why, then she can go into the Ghost Box after all.” Master Lendrex shrugged his golden-scaled shoulders. “It makes no different to me which punishment she receives as long as she is punished.”
Seline grabbed Nox by the forearms and looked up at him anxiously.
“Master, please!” she begged. “Please—I can’t go into the Box—I can’t!”
“But you’re asking me to beat you—to hurt you when I have sworn only to protect you!” The look on his face was one of abject agony now.
He’s definitely having emotions—he must be, Seline thought. And he hasn’t learned to hide them because he’s never had any before. God, this must be killing him!
And yet she had to ask. She would recover from a beating—she didn’t think she could come back from being repeatedly raped by angry ghosts.
“Please, Nox,” she whispered. “I know it’s bad—but being put in the Ghost Box would be so much worse!”
“I…understand,” he said at last, heavily. “But I will not use the cane on you,” he added, lifting his eyes to glare at Master Lendrex. “The crop will be more than sufficient.”
Master Lendrex nodded.
“That’s fine—as long as you beat her hard enough to leave marks. If you try to get away with a light punishment, I will take the crop to her myself and let her know the true meaning of pain and punishment.”
Nox’s eyes went red again and he took a step forward, his big hands balling into fists. Uh-oh—this seemed like a bad sign. Seline had heard of Kindred warriors flipping into some kind of psychotic state when the women they were protecting was threatened—she didn’t need that happening here. Looking up at him anxiously, she put her hands on his chest.
“Master? Master, please,” she said. “This has to be done. Please?”
At last he seemed to come back to himself—and to her. He didn’t look happy—but he no longer looked like he was going into a murderous fury either.
“Very well,” he said at last, stiffly, looking at Master Lendrex. “Where is this whipping post I am supposed to tie Seline to?”
“This way—I had the servants bring it out early this morning. Everyone, move to the sides.”
Master Lendrex made a motion and the crowd of people who had come to see Seline get punished moved. There, in the middle of the punishment room, was something that looked like a hangman’s tree. It had a sturdy wooden base with a single thick wooden arm jutting out from the top of it, which ran parallel to the floor.
There was a single metal hook attached to the end of the arm and Seline guessed that was where her wrists were going to be tied.
No sooner had the thought gone through her mind than a servant wearing the same livery as the ones in the Banquet Hall was beside her, trying to put a pair of leather manacles on her wrists.
“Stop!” Nox growled.
