"Sharon Green - [ebel 01 - Rebel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Sharon)

screaming out loud and destroying things. тАЬAt this point I donтАЩt much care which he chooses, because
when he announces the choices his sons have made I intend to refuse the тАШhonorтАЩ if my name is
mentioned. But that doesnтАЩt mean you have to do the same, Elmini. We all know Aleena wonтАЩt refuse, so
-тАЬ
тАЬSo I can keep my head on my shoulders by keeping quiet?тАЭ Elmini said with that faint smile back again.
тАЬItтАЩs fairly obvious IтАЩve been a coward most of my life, but thatтАЩs all over with now. My father canтАЩt claim
that he doesnтАЩt know I donтАЩt want to be married, not when IтАЩve said it so often. If my name is announced
along with yours, Adair, theyтАЩll have two of us refusing.тАЭ
тАЬAnd then we can walk out of here together,тАЭ Adair said, finding it impossible not to show her own smile
before turning to Nossa and Lisni. тАЭBut you two had better remember weтАЩre just speculating. If you really
have your heart set on being married to one of the princes, forget about what we just said and go for it.
Even if your efforts donтАЩt work, at least you ought to have fun trying.тАЭ
тАЬNo, I donтАЩt think IтАЩll be joining in an effort like that,тАЭ Lisni said with a smile while Nossa grew happily
thoughtful. тАЬI suppose I like the princes well enough, but somehow they strike me as being тАж too young,
I guess you could say. WeтАЩre all pretty much the same age, but I tend to find greater attraction in more
mature men.тАЭ
тАЬThen maybe I ought to mention that my grandfather is now available,тАЭ Nossa said, still wearing the smile
of enjoyment sheтАЩd developed a minute earlier. тАЬMy grandmother died ten years ago, and last week my
grandfather announced he was thinking about looking around for a replacement for her.тАЭ
Lisni laughed while Elmini said something about how interesting a match that would be, but Adair was still
too out of sorts to join the banter. Knowing her father had betrayed her again didnтАЩt come as much of a
shock, but the added bitterness was something else. If he liked betrayal so much, theyтАЩd see how well he
liked her versionтАж
***
Mayne followed behind the group of guardsmen dragging the assassin along with them, but once they all
reached the punishment area of the palace there was a delay in continuing on to their destination. There
seemed to be conflicting orders about where the assassin was supposed to be taken, some of the orders
originating with MayneтАЩs father. So while a messenger was sent to the king with a request for clarification,
they all stood in the punishment area and waited.
Sounds of crying were coming from a room to MayneтАЩs left, a room that had a wide archway rather than
a door, so Mayne walked over to see what was happening. The first thing he saw to the right was a
kitchen girl bent over, her skirts and apron held up high, her drawers down around her knees. One of the
men responsible for discipline in the kitchens was using a light switch on the girlтАЩs bottom, causing the girl
to jump and yelp every time the switch reached her seat.
Mayne knew that the light switch was used for first-time offenses and moderate punishment, and the girl
under the switch never got more than ten strokes. Even as he watched, two more measured strokes of
the switch ended what the girl was obviously supposed to be given. The girlтАЩs seat was red, of course,
but not as red as it could have been. Still, when the girl was told to replace her clothing she began to cry
harder even as she obeyed. Once her drawers were pulled up and her skirt and apron were back down,
sheтАЩd feel the punishment even more sharply than she did right now.
But it wasnтАЩt her crying that had originally taken MayneтАЩs attention. A second girl was being punished to
the left, but this girl wasnтАЩt standing up. The man administering the punishment sat in a chair with the girl
draped over his lap, her skirt raised and her drawers down around her knees. This time, though, it wasnтАЩt
a light switch being used on the girl. The man held a flexible wooden rule, and it was the wide rule that
struck the girlтАЩs bottom over and over again.
The girl howled even when the rule wasnтАЩt striking her clearly aching seat, the tears running down her
face showing that the punishment had been going on for a while. This second girl must have done
something more serious than what the first girl had done, but not something serious enough for her to be
put in the small stocks and have a strap used on her. A girl in the stocks was strapped by everyone and
anyone coming by, the punishment lasting for as long as she was kept in the stocks. Since people made it