Chapter 6
Chapter Six
CYPRIEN
At sunup, my stepbrothers barged into my room and dragged me out of bed.
I had suffered a sleepless night and was expecting them of course, but I still wasn’t ready for what awaited me outside.
The entire house, both family and staff, were lined up against the stone wall that ran along the back of the house.
A rope dangled from the branches of a nearby tree, and Octavius stood by it with a horse whip in hand.
Seeing him standing there shot my heart rate up to a thousand.
Panic setting in, I struggled against my stepbrothers’ grip, but they were too strong.
They hauled me over to the rope, forced me to my knees, and held me there while my stepfather’s steward secured my hands together, arms stretched painfully above my head.
He tied another rope to my feet. I didn’t know what it was connected to but combined with the one binding my wrists, it rendered me immobile.
I shivered in anticipatory fear, body trembling and tears streaming down my face.
“Are you not even going to beg me to be merciful?” My stepfather growled, yanking on the rope attached to my hands. “It wouldn’t do you any good, mind you, but I would like to hear it.”
“P-p-please,” I begged through sobs, “D-don’t.”
“Don’t what? Punish you for being a liar and for embarrassing this family in front of the royals? Don’t whip you until your back is a bloody wreck? I’m not going to do any of that to you.” He paused a beat before continuing. “Your stepbrothers are.”
I choked down another sob and hung my head.
Stefan and Sebastian chuckled behind me as I fought to control the trembling of my body.
This beating was going to be so much worse than I had imagined.
Neither of my stepbrothers possessed a working moral compass or a semblance of compassion. They lived to abuse me.
“All of you shall bear witness to this punishment with the understanding that it could happen to any one of you if you do anything to disrespect or embarrass me in front of the crown and its representatives.” I craned my neck to watch Octavius as he addressed his servants and handed the horse whip to Stefan.
“You will alternate five lashes at a time between the two of you until you reach thirty. If he cries out, that’s five more for each pathetic sound he makes. ”
My entire body jerked as if the beating had already begun. The onlookers laughed, deep belly guffaws. They expected me to cry out at every lash so that they could, quite literally, beat me to death. I would choke on my own blood before I gave them the satisfaction.
Once they regained control of themselves, my stepfather spoke again “You may begin.”
A flash of burning pain seared across my skin before the words even left his mouth. I jerked in response, but didn’t utter a sound.
Stefan muttered under his breath then struck again, harder.
I arched away from him as best I could, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip.
His next three lashes landed in quick succession and a scream caught in my throat.
I had a moment of respite while the whip was swapped to Sebastian’s hands, but it didn’t last long.
His lashes came hard and fast, taking my breath away and eradicating any chance to scream even if I wanted to.
The stinging cracks of the whip continued until my back dripped with the bloody evidence of the thirty lashes.
Antonia was sobbing by the time they were finished.
I hadn’t given them a single scream or cry of pain and I could feel disappointment radiating off of them as they circled me.
My body had given up fighting sometime within the first ten lashes, so I hung limply, my arms stretched to their limits.
I couldn’t even lift my head when my stepfather spoke.
“Well, you’re in no shape to work today.
Antonia and Jeb will take on your duties until you heal.
There is your mercy.” His voice held no emotion, no sense of regret or care for my wellbeing.
“Cut him down and take him to his room.”
His footsteps receded, and another set approached.
Someone knelt in front of me and raised my head–Antonia.
“I’m going to cut you down while Jeb holds your weight.
Then we’ll get you inside and clean you up.
” Her voice was soft but I could hear the fury behind the words.
Jeb knelt next to her, supporting me with one hand on my shoulder and the other on my flank.
Antonia disappeared behind me, and I felt the cool steel of a knife against my ankle before my legs were freed.
I toppled when my arms were cut down, but Jeb was there to catch me, avoiding the wounds on my back as best he could.
“I’ll be right back, Cyprien,” Antonia said, peeling sweat-drenched hair from my sticky forehead. “I’m just going to fetch a bucket of water and some rags. Jeb is going to stay with you.” She softly cupped my cheek, then hurried into the house.
“It ain’t right what they did to you.” Jeb whispered so low I thought I might have been hallucinating until he continued. “I don’t know how yet, but they’ll pay for this.”
“Don’t do anything stupid.” I breathed, voice cracking and raw from the screams I’d held back. “It’s not worth it.”
“It is to me,” He growled in response.
Antonia’s footsteps returned, and a couple of thuds sounded behind me. When she spoke it was full of venom. “I can’t believe they did this. There is no excuse for it! I don’t care how embarrassed they were. Brace yourself, dear. This is going to sting.”
My body was still limp, refusing to obey my commands. “Just do it,” I rasped.
Cold water splashed onto my back and I hissed, finally able to tense my muscles again.
“This is gonna hurt too, Cyp.” Antonia murmured as she began patting at my back with wet rags.
I winced when she hit the worst of the damage just above my ass.
They were aiming for my spine with that blow–hoping to disable me, I assumed.
I closed my eyes and relaxed, letting the pain roll off of me with the rivulets of water dripping down my back.
The patting of the rags stopped and I heard shuffling behind me as Antonia stood.
“Alright, my boy, we’re gonna get you on your feet and into bed.” Jeb’s gruff voice startled me out of my meditative haze. I tried to stand with him, but my feet had gone numb from the ropes. The muscles in my legs quivered from the effort. “Take it slow, take it slow. I’ve got you.”
There was a bit of awkward shuffling but eventually, Jeb was positioned on one side of me and Antonia on the other.
They practically dragged me into the house and up the stairs while muffled low moans of pain escaped me.
They gently laid me face down on my bed, head facing the door.
Jeb left the room quietly and Antonia pulled out a jar from her apron.
“This is a salve my mother used to make. She always said it had magical properties. It’s going to burn, but it will help you heal.
” Kneeling by the side of my bed, she opened the jar.
I felt the burn as soon as she touched my skin with the cream but I laid there quietly as she smoothed it all over my back.
By the time she was done, the burn had transformed into a soothing sensation, and I was finally able to relax.
“Thank you, Antonia.” I croaked, shifting myself into a better position. The skin on my back bunched and cracked when I moved, sending shocks of pain through me. By the time I was remotely comfortable, I was sweating and panting.
“You’re such a stubborn boy.” Antonia muttered, shaking her head and getting to her feet. She moved for the door, turning back just before she closed it behind her “I’ll be back after breakfast to check on you.”
She may have said something else, but I was already passed out.
ALARIC
I woke up with the most excruciating erection that I had ever experienced.
Every muscle ached from the workout I had given them the previous night.
My sheet was stuck to my skin in several places and the entire room stank of sex.
When my servants arrived for my morning bath, I was miserable, mortified–and still frustratingly horny.
They prepared the bath, laid out some lounge wear, then quickly left the room as none of them were allowed to lay hands on me.
My father had decided to deprive me of all human touch during my confinement, except for when the tailor came to check the fit of my costume for the ball…
and that wasn’t happening until the following day.
Besides, it would be quick and clinical.
I craved the friction of skin on skin, the body heat of another human being.
My passions were not spent and as I slipped into the steaming water, the heat prickling over my skin aroused me once more.
I allowed my hands to slowly wander my body beneath the surface.
It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. I was going to go insane if I wasn’t allowed relief soon.
My own hands stimulated me but could never satiate me, not since I met…
Him. Those gorgeous emerald eyes, that perfect body, the lips of a god practically begging me to slide my dick into his mouth.
Damn me to the River’s icy depths, I needed that man.
My fingers curled around my stiff member and my eyes fell shut.
That way, I could pretend that my stroking and teasing were as a result of him touching me.
It didn’t take long before I was on the edge of the precipice.
On quivering legs I pulled myself up onto my knees and blindly grabbed for a rag with one hand, the other shuttling over my cock.
I barely got the rag in place before I came with a shout, stroking myself through the release until I quivered from sensitivity.
My body slid limply back into the tub and I tossed the soiled rag onto the floor.
I wasn’t sated, not even close, but I could think well enough to clean, rinse, dry, and dress myself. It was slow going, with my muscles uncooperative, but I finally got myself into some sense of order and stepped out into my sitting room.
There were several servants waiting there, one setting out my breakfast and the rest hurrying into my bedchamber.
None of them spoke to or even looked at me.
I was too spent to try and force the issue and instead nibbled on the spread of fruits and pastries next to me while staring into the fire.
In my mind’s eye, he was there in the flames, reaching for me, burning as hotly for me as I did for him.
It was so mesmerizing that I barely noticed the servants moving to and from my bedchamber with linens and cleaning equipment.
Each time they came to swap out food or stoke the crackling flames, I barely registered it, because he was there with me.