The Punishment Fits The Crime

Writers: Suzee, Paula, Eimi, Ames, AL
Date Posted: 6th March 2011

Characters: Benani, Wirnan, Zathris, Sirgin, Valar, Rosid
Description: The boys are punished by the Lord Holder.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 12, day 5 of Turn 5

Benani

Wirnan

Zathris

Zathris was not looking forward to this. It was, of course, one of
his duties as a Lord Holder, but he still didn't like it. He wished
he lived in a world where such things were not necessary. Maybe some
day. That day would not be today. They would arrive any moment...and
then the hammer would come down.

Benani stood solemnly and quietly behind her husband's shoulder. She
took a deep breath and let it out slowly. No resident of this hold
would doubt her support of his actions or dare think there would be
any division between them in this matter. She straightened her
shoulders and waited.

Wirnan stood on Zathris' other side, supporting his Lord. He had seen
Wodi just moments after the attack and the sight had turned his stomach.
The poor boy was lucky to be alive considering all that had happened.
Wirnan turned back to the door, waiting for the boys to be brought
before this tribunal. They would face their punishment this day.

Two burly guards dragged Rosid in. He was trembling. Out of fear or out
of anger, he wasn't sure of which himself. Of bit of both probably.

Valar was pulled in just a few paces behind Rosid. His head hung low.
His eyes refused to leave the ground. His mind was numb. He chanced a
glance up as the guards dragged him in and instantly regretted it. Valar
wanted to lose his last meal right there on the floor. He managed to
swallow the bile taste in his mouth as the guards dropped him on his
knees before the waiting Lord and his auxiliaries. He knew Rosid and
Sirgin would be with him, but in that moment Valar felt as though he was
alone in the world and that the fires of darkness would devour him at
any moment.

Sirgin stood up straight and walked in by his own power though he had a
guard at each elbow. He had family sent to the mines before and they
all came back ok. If that was his fate, so be it. He had tried to
learn a craft, an honest living, but maybe it was just in the blood.
Whatever his fate was, he knew he'd come out of it all right.

Zathris hadn't let her see the boy Wodi. He'd had the healers tend to
him and told her to stay away but she'd heard enough to know that
these three had nearly killed him. Benani was horrified at the
description and all the more determined to support her husband in
whatever punishment he felt necessary to mete out. Her gaze was hard
as stone.

Zathris was tall, taller than most men. And now, straightened to his
full height, he towered above the boys whose sentence he was about to
give. "Rosid. Valar. Sirgin." He called each name, each syllable
hammered with disapproval and distaste. "You stand here today because
the three of you knowingly, willingly set yourself upon a young man,
Wodi. You beat him. You kicked him. He has sustained a multitude of
injuries at your hands." The Lord Holder glanced at his Steward, his
expression grim.

Rosid straightened up, he was no sharding way going to show any
weakness. His expression was defiant, although his eyes showed too
much of whites. He didn't even glance the direction of his parents. He
didn't want to know how they reacted. He could guess that his mother
was weeping anyway. "The little pervert sharding deserved it," he
muttered quietly.

Wirnan nodded towards Zathris. They had discussed the punishment and
both firmly agreed with it. Just seeing the look of defiance still on
the one boy's face made Wirnan clench his own fists. Oh, how he wished
to show him what a fool he was. Taking a deep breath, he forced
himself to unclench his fist.

Valar had heard Rosid's mumbles. He had been strong around Rosid
before, but now, standing before the room of intent, angry eyes, Valar
could no longer maintain his charade. He'd only done what Rosid had
asked. He'd never been smart enough to come up with plans of his own,
and now during this dire moment, Valar would have abandoned it all if
he didn't have to face whatever punishment lay ahead.

There was a difference in the boys standing before them. One was
defiant but the others seemed scared and knowing her husband they
should be. Her father had been a strong Lord and she'd admired him but
her husband was strong in a different way. Benani held herself
still... watching.

"No one deserves to be treated in such a matter." Zathris' temper
flared up and his hands clenched into tight fists. For a moment, it
looked as if he might rush the boy and punch him. But he didn't.
Instead, he went silent, cooling himself before announcing, "I now
pronounce your sentence. Each of you will take twenty lashes. It will
be much less that what you gave to that young boy. For a turn, you will
serve as drudges in the Hold. If you are crafters or wish to craft, you
will not be able to do so for that turn."

That was it? Sirgin thought, rather pleased that the mines weren't going
to be punishment. Drudges had rights, at least. And twenty lashes was
on par with his Pa in a liquored up fury. He could handle that.
Casting a glance at the others, he wondered how well they'd fare.

Wirnan watched the proud one, Rosid, his name was, with a scathing
look on his face. He showed not even an ounce of remorse for his
actions and that alone made his blood boil. In his mind, he saw the
broken and bruised body lying on the cot in the infirmary. They
deserved to feel the same fate they meted out, but he knew that such a
punishment would be unjust and make them no better than these bullies.
Gritting his teeth, he continued to write the proceedings for the
records.

Valar looked up with wide-eyes. A drudge? A worthless drudge for a
year? Pushed around and ordered around like he hardly existed. He
glanced to Rosid for the first time and saw the look in the leader's
eye. They'd talked before about possibilities of punishment while they
waited, and this wasn't one they had discussed. Rosid had been sure
they were being sent to work in the mines. Valar thought he could have
handled the heavy labor better than being looked down upon as a vile
drudge, so much like his mother who had been nothing but a ball of
dirty rags when she bore him. He had despised her then and he still
despised her now, even though she was long gone from this world. He
would run away. That's what he would do. They would never find him. As
soon as they left them free to get water or do some other task, Valar
would vanish, taking his chances in the wild rather than be demeaned
to the task of servant to those he hated.

Rosid couldn't believe his ears. Drudgery? He was not going to live
with that humiliation. He was going to be a laughing stock of whole
hold. His career was ruined! His cheeks burned with anger. He would
rather run off and become a holdless!

Benani shuddered at the pronouncement. It was harsh yet they seemed
unbowed and unrepentant. She didn't know if her husband saw those
looks and she was behind him. She cast a quick look of concern at the
steward.

Wirnan _had_ seen the looks and it left him feeling sick to his stomach.
He was to be in charge of making sure these three hooligans followed their
punishment and from the way they had reacted to their punishment he knew
he was in for a much more difficult time with these three than he had
wanted.

Zathris had seen them too. Those looks, the mixed reactions, the
anger and the defiance, they did not go unnoticed. "You will check in
with the Steward every morning before you eat breakfast. You will be
supervised at all times. You will check in with the Steward before
you go to bed. If you fail to comply, harsher punishments will be
given." A motion was made toward a man, a guard with a whip in his
hand drew up to Rosid. The guards at his side forced him onto the
ground and his shirt over his head.

A whimper escaped from Rosid's lips. A real terror was creeping in
when reality set in.

Benani felt herself begin to shake and her hands formed into fists to
fight against the tremor. Her teeth clenched as the man raised his
hand and the whip lashed out. Her eyes closed but that didn't shut out
the sound.

Zathris stood and watched on, eyes unblinking. With every flick of the
whip, every smack of it against skin, every cry of the boy who endured
its punishment, he remained solid, unblinking in the wake of the
punishment. Even when the movement of Benani darted in his peripheral
vision, even when his wife left, unable to bear the sight, he was
unmovable. The judge watched his judgment meted out.

Last updated on the April 27th 2011

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The Punishment Fits The Crime