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“I know you have no idea how to conduct yourself in these new circumstances in which you find yourself, but I know you do know how to be something other than a spoiled brat, and if you do not know, I will soon enlighten you.”
Sebastian drew in a short breath and uttered a single word. “Okay.”
Lucan let him go. Sebastian did as he was told and retrieved his water skin. He was still not in any mood to speak with Lucan. The unpleasantness between them lingered while he sipped the smallest amount of water possible, and nibbled the smallest piece of bread, obeying in deed, but not in spirit.
Lucan’s expression continued to cloud over.
“I thought we had an understanding.”
“I understand you hate me.”
Lucan looked at Sebastian with a frankly stunned expression. “You think I hate you. I am doing my level best to keep you alive, and the conclusion you come to is that I hate you.”
“You want me alive for the same reason my mother wanted me alive. I’m useful. Not in any really useful way, but in a way that makes the kingdom continue. I’m a walking bag of worthless semen, and if there was a way to impregnate a princess without me, then I wouldn’t be alive at all. You’re helping me because you want to believe in a kingdom that no longer exists.”
“Seb…”
“And I’m not going to drink when you tell me to drink or eat when you tell me to eat. I’m going to live my own life, god knows there might not be much of it left after yesterday. I don’t like being treated like some scamp. I’m not your page boy. I’m not your squire. I’m not anything anymore.”
“You are the Prince of the Kingdom of Force.”
“I’m not. I’m an orphan. A weak, pointless, foppish orphan. I know I’m nothing special. But I’m tired of doing what I’m told. This is the one time in my entire life when I might have some chance of doing what I want and being who I want to be. Which is all to say, I am not going to do a goddamn thing you say. Because I don’t have to. Because I’m not a prince anymore. I’m not anybody.” He delivered this little speech with a smirk, because he truly did not care.
Lucan seemed to think about that little speech for a long moment, before closing the distance between them with a rough vigor that gave Sebastian no time to breathe, let alone get out of the way.
With Lucan’s massive hands gripping him by the back of the neck and limbs, Sebastian felt his britches ripped down, and a branch pulled from a nearby tree, lashed across his ass. The wood was thin and whippy, and it met his already aching hide with a harsh lash that made him shriek in pain and surprise.
Lucan whipped his prince with grim determination. Sebastian was a spoiled brat. There was no denying that, and trying to deny it would only lead to worse problems further down the road. He intended to teach Sebastian respect, and if he could not teach him respect, he would settle for fear. His only aim was to get the prince to safety. If that meant Sebastian hated him, so be it.
He didn’t fail to notice the pain in Seb’s voice, and he didn’t miss the fact that Sebastian thought very little of himself. But Seb’s feelings weren’t as important as his actions at the moment. Lucan would have this spoiled prince’s obedience no matter what.
Seb’s wails as his ass was covered in increasing numbers of welts and stripes from the switch were plaintive and desperate, but Lucan had already tried to handle this gently and that had not worked. Sometimes a good whipping was needed.
“When I give you an order, you obey it,” he lectured. “When I tell you to drink, you drink. When I tell you to eat, you eat. You do not talk back, and you do not argue with me. Everything I am doing is to keep you alive. I will not tolerate disobedience.”
The prince started to sob, and if the memory of that smug little smirk had not still been so prominent in Lucan’s mind, then he might have shown him some mercy, but he decided not to. He kept thrashing until he felt as though to given even one more lash would be tantamount to extreme cruelty, and then he stopped.
Sebastian’s ass was bright red and very well marked. Riding was going to hurt, but they had to put more distance between themselves and Greenbelt. Poor little prince Sebastian was about to suffer not only the consequences of his misbehavior, but also of his punishment.
“Pull your breeches up,” Lucan said, slapping Sebastian’s ass as he released him from his grasp. “And mount up.”
