“My name is Syn,” he began, then pointed to Golden Eyes who held the ax. “This is my brother, Gabriel, but while we’re all here together, you will simply call us ‘Sir’ when you are addressed — and only when you are addressed. You will be fed and clothed as long as you obey and do as you’re told.” He paused and glanced at me briefly. “Now, as I said earlier, obedience is rewarded, disobedience punished — and punished harshly.”#p#分页标题#e#
When he returned his attention to me, I was surprised to see he wasn’t smiling or gloating. He looked incredibly serious, almost as though he wasn’t enjoying himself. But I wouldn’t believe that.
His gaze ran the length of me. “What’s your name?”
I looked from him to his brother and back, unable to answer until he shook me once.
“Name.”
“Evangeline… Eva.”
“Eva will be punished for her earlier disobedience. I suggest you all take her lesson to heart. I don’t assume any of you have seen someone birched before?”
Birched?
My eyes grew wide at that, understanding what Syn meant to do, how he meant to punish me. The twigs the man had collected would be used as switches, bundled together and made into a birch rod. I’d then be whipped with them.
Panicked, I tried to pull my arm free of his grip, but he only squeezed harder, making me yelp.
“Take off your dress, Eva.”
My heart pounded in my chest, a rushing sound in my ears.
“No!” I tried again to free myself, but he held tight. “Please don’t. I didn’t know.”
“I realize that, but you’ll know after this. Dress, Eva. Take it off. If I have to do it for you, it will be another show of disobedience, just to be clear.”
I couldn’t help but glance once more at the branches the man still held, my mind already working to count the number of sticks.
“Last chance, Eva.”
My fingers trembled as I reached back to unzip my dress, but the zipper caught half way down. I looked at the women all standing in a row, watching, some already crying. The men at the periphery also watched, wide-eyed, their gazes lecherous, wholly different from those of the women. But I couldn’t think of them, not now. I turned to Syn.
“It’s stuck.” Why did my voice sound so pathetically small?
He turned me around without a word and tugged on the zipper until it slid open. Then, without waiting for me to do it, he pushed the straps off my shoulders. All I could do was stand and watch as the once fine silk pooled at my feet in the dirt. I immediately covered my breasts with my arms as I wasn’t wearing a bra, and my tiny thong left most of the rest of me exposed.
“Pretty,” he said from behind me, a finger tracing the lace of the thong. He leaned in close, his face nearly touching mine. “But go ahead and take it off anyway.”
The whispered words made me shudder.
The way he had positioned me kept me facing the others I’d been brought here with. Even as I knew they were not enjoying my shame, my cheeks still burned with embarrassment. But more than that was the knowledge of what was to come — the birching itself. I feared the punishment, the physical pain, but knew there was no way out of it. It was happening. It felt like this great bump in the road I had to climb over, that there was no way of circumventing, and it filled me with dread.
Trying not to think, I pushed the thong from my hips and stepped out of it to stand fully naked in front of everyone.
Syn walked around me, taking his time. Gabriel stood stoic in the background. Out of the two, Gabriel was bigger, stronger, but Syn with his leaner build and black eyes, seemed the crueler.
Once he’d enjoyed my naked form from every angle, Syn stood in front of me once more, his face inches from mine. I kept my gaze on his, wanting to show courage but fearing my trembling would give me away.
“Since this is your first time, I’ll let you choose who takes the birch to that pretty little ass of yours — me or my brother.”
He was letting me choose? I looked at the birch the soldier still held, then from Gabriel to Syn.#p#分页标题#e#
“Your brother.” It took me two tries to say the words without my voice breaking, and I glanced once more in Gabriel’s direction, hoping I’d chosen well.
Syn narrowed his eyes, but one corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk. “Too bad. But I imagine I’ll get my turn soon. Kneel up on the tree stump, facing the others.”
I went to the stump, unsure how he would position me, how much it would hurt, how humiliating this punishment would be, and I knelt on top of it, my gaze on the ground a few feet from me as I still tried in vain to cover myself.