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

the woman had never been taken to even if she happened to be a real servant in the palace. The woman
was too self-assured to have ever been given a girlтАЩs punishment, and that could be the key to breaking
her silence.тАЬPut her in the stocks,тАЭ Mayne directed once they all entered the punishment area. тАЬFrom this
side, of course, facing her toward the wall.тАЭ
The guardsmen had hesitated, having no experience with putting girls in position for punishment, but once
Mayne had given them the necessary directions they didnтАЩt hesitate. The woman they held struggled even
harder to escape, but that didnтАЩt stop her from being bent over the padded bar before her head and
hands were closed into the frame of the stocks.
One of the men in charge of giving kitchen girls the proper punishment came over to help, so there was a
lot less trouble getting the female assassin placed properly. When the man began to take down the
womanтАЩs trousers, she tried to struggle even harder.
тАЬYou bastards!тАЭ she screamed as her trousers and drawers were lowered to her ankles and her shirt
lifted up. тАЬIf you donтАЩt do this to men, you canтАЩt do it to me!тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩd be willing to wager gold that your predecessor in assassination would have chosen this method of
questioning in an instant over what was actually done to him,тАЭ Mayne commented. тАЬThatтАЩs the real reason
why he was put to the question in his way, and youтАЩre being questioned like this. Our doing something
youтАЩll have no trouble resisting doesnтАЩt make much sense. If you change your mind about talking, weтАЩll be
right here watching.тАЭ
The woman screamed again in rage, but escape just wasnтАЩt possible. She was bent over the padded bar
with her head and hands trapped by the stocks, her surprisingly well-rounded backside perfectly
positioned for the man who had fetched a strap. The leather strap was only a little more than an inch
wide, but there was no doubt that it would do the job that needed to be done. When the king nodded his
permission to the man holding the strap, the odd questioning was immediately started.
But at first there was no real response. When the first stroke reached the female assassinтАЩs backside she
jumped, but after that she seemed to be gritting her teeth. The strap struck her bottom again and again,
each time leaving a reddened track of its presence, but it wasnтАЩt ordinary questioning she was resisting.
It was a girlтАЩs punishment the assassin was being given, nothing that came even close to being fatal, and
that was the point Mayne was counting on to reach her. If sheтАЩd been given true hurt she would have
been able to hold out using the terrible pain as a barrier to hide behind, but the pain being given her by
the strapping wasnтАЩt the same thing at all.
Better than a dozen strokes of the strap fell one by one on that round seat, turning the womanтАЩs nether
cheeks more and more red, but not a sound came out of her. Mayne was certain that the male assassin
would probably be begging to talk by now, but the woman was stronger than that. SheтАЩd obviously
decided to hold out against what was being done to her, so Mayne made a decision of his own to help
matters along.
тАЬI think we need to bring a few more people in here,тАЭ he commented to his father in a loud enough voice
that the woman would have no trouble hearing him even over the smack of the strap being applied to her
bottom. тАЬOnce the man in charge of discipline finishes giving her the fifty or sixty strokes he usually gives,
weтАЩll want enough people on hand to continue with the тАж questioning.тАЭ
тАЬAnd I know just who those others should be,тАЭ the king agreed at once, obviously understanding
MayneтАЩs objective and helping out with it. тАЬThe members of my court who were present when this female
tried to murder my sonтАж TheyтАЩll enjoy seeing an assassin being treated like this, and theyтАЩll also be
delighted to help out.тАЭ
тАЬNo, you canтАЩt!тАЭ the woman screamed, and it was possible to hear the pain she felt in the tone of her
voice. тАЬThose parasites will laugh their useless heads off, laugh at me when they see whatтАЩs being done!
You canтАЩt bring them in here!тАЭ
тАЬI can and I will,тАЭ the king disagreed calmly, ignoring the hiss of pain forced out of the woman by the
continuing punishment. Having the strap continue to land on her bottom was getting harder for the woman
to bear, now that her concentration had been broken. тАЬYes, my people probably will laugh at you, and
most will likely keep laughing even while they take their turn at using the strap on you. But whatтАЩs done