Chapter 87
As my hands were Lowered from the posts I stifled a scream, moving was unthinkable. I partly walked and partly was dragged back down the ramp.
Hands held me under my arms. I just prayed they wouldn’t touch my back.
The hands supporting me dropped me into a kneeling position on a pad. I sat there dazed, as the tears and snot were cleaned off my face. My whole body was wet with sweat and they also attempted to clean some of that.
I heard Rose’s voice in my mind and I tried to regain some composure through breathing. It worked somewhat. The pain was still near unbearable, but at Least I could focus on what was going on around me.
I heard Master Damien call my name and I looked blearily up at him. He was standing several feet away looking imposing with his arms crossed.
All I could think was how grateful I was to him for stopping the General.
“Yes, Master Damien,” I croaked out. My voice was hoarse and cracked.
“Come here, Ciara,” he ordered.
It took a minute to organize my limbs, but with some assistance I got up and took three shaky steps toward him. I came to rest in front of him. lere those difficult steps Ciara?” he asked me.
“No, Master Damien,” I said.
“Were the nine lashes you took to your back difficult?” he asked looking at me pointedly.
I didn’t have to think about that at all, “Yes, Master Damien.”
“Next time I tell you to come to me, I suggest you just take the steps toward me and not the lash. Do you understand?” he asked.
“Yes, Master Damien.”
I knew I’d take the lashing again, I’d do it for my friend. There was absolutely no way I was going to tell Master Damien that though.
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Master Evan Laid my kneeling place down and I sank back into it. Master Kein put a jug of water to my lips and I drank. Other Warriors wandered over and stood talking to my owners. I stayed silent and tried to steady my breathing.
Someone commented it had taken six throws for me to start screaming.
Several of the Warriors had laid money on when I would start making noise. A lot of them had lost their bets. After watching me at the posts they thought I would have cried out sooner. I’d have to give Rose credit for that.
When the Warriors with slaves came over the slaves knelt in front of me. The ones I knew took my hands. We never said anything. Rose came over and laid her cheek on mine. She Looked Like she had been crying, so I hugged her. We sat like that until her owners took her away.
The fire in my back had muted somewhat to a dull burn and an ache.
Absently, I wondered if the marks would scar or if I was bleeding.
Without thinking I turned my head to look at my back. The movement re-ignited the fire over one side and I flinched. Glancing at the shoulder I could see thin Lines of blood. Some of the slashes had left
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They had marked me and I would scar. Honestly, I was in too much pain to give it much more thought than that. I just stared at the dirt in front of me and tried to escape the pain.