Chapter 50 The Flogging
The courtyard had been transformed into theater. Hundreds of people packed the space, nobles and servants pressed together to witness justice. A wooden post stood at the center, smooth from use, dark stains soaked into the grain. How many others had been bound there? How many backs had bled against that wood?
Dawn light painted everything gray and cold. Lila's breath misted in the morning air as guards led her to the post. The crowd watched in silence, their faces showing everything from pity to satisfaction to ghoulish excitement.
Councilor Thorne stood on a raised platform, the whip coiled in his hands. Leather strips that looked soft but would tear skin like claws. Thirty strikes. Thirty times that leather would bite into her flesh.
"Lady Lila Hartwell." Thorne's voice carried across the courtyard. "You have been found guilty of Queen Celeste's murder. The sentence is thirty lashes followed by permanent banishment. Do you have final words before punishment is delivered?"
Lila looked at the assembled crowd. At the faces that hated her. At the nobles who'd already decided her guilt. At Maya crying in the back. At Margot and Garrett standing together, their expressions carefully neutral.
"I'm innocent." Her voice rang clear despite her fear. "I didn't kill my sister. But I accept this punishment to prove my king's justice is fair, even to those falsely accused."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Thorne's mouth tightened. "Turn her. Bind her. Prepare for punishment."
Guards pulled her to the post. Removed her outer dress, leaving only a thin shift that exposed her back. Bound her wrists high above her head, stretching her body tight. The wood was cold against her cheek. She could smell old blood, old pain, old suffering soaked into the grain.
Through the bond, she felt Adrian's absolute horror. Felt him approaching, each step torture. Felt his wolf battering against his control, demanding he stop this, protect his mate regardless of consequences.
But his footsteps kept coming. King instead of wolf. Duty instead of instinct.
He took the whip from Thorne. The leather strips dangled from his shaking hand. His face was carved from stone but his eyes betrayed everything. Pure devastation looking at her bound and waiting for his blow.
"Your Majesty." Thorne's voice was formal. "Deliver justice. Thirty lashes. Make them count."
Adrian stood behind her. She couldn't see him but felt his presence through every nerve. Felt the bond between them pulled taut as the ropes holding her wrists.
The first strike came.
Pain exploded across her back. White-hot. Shocking. Worse than anything she'd imagined. Lila gasped, biting her lip to keep from crying out. She wouldn't scream. Wouldn't beg. Wouldn't give the crowd that satisfaction.
Through the bond, she felt Adrian's agony matching hers. Felt the strike tearing him apart as much as it tore her skin. They shared this. Shared everything. Even this terrible moment.
The second strike fell. Then the third. Each one worse than the last as pain layered on pain. Blood ran down her back, soaking into the thin shift, dripping onto stone. The crowd watched in silence, bearing witness to justice.
Adrian's hand shook worse with each blow. She felt his struggle through the bond. Felt him fighting his wolf, fighting himself, fighting everything natural to deliver punishment duty demanded.
Strike five. Strike six. Her vision blurred with tears she refused to let fall. Her back was on fire, every nerve screaming. But she stayed silent. Stayed strong. For Adrian who was breaking behind her. For the bond that demanded this sacrifice.
Strike seven. Eight. Nine. Adrian's wolf was winning. She felt it through their connection. Felt the beast rising, demanding he stop, demanding he protect instead of harm. His breathing came in harsh pants behind her. His control fracturing with each strike.
Strike ten.
Adrian dropped the whip.
The sound of it hitting stone echoed through the silent courtyard. Lila heard him collapse behind her, heard his harsh breathing turn to sobs, heard three years of control shatter completely.
"I can't." His voice broke across the watching crowd. "I can't do this. I can't hurt her anymore. I can't."
The courtyard erupted. Nobles shouting. Councilors demanding he continue. The crowd divided between those who thought he was weak and those who thought he was right to stop.
Through the bond, Lila felt Adrian's soul splitting. Felt him drowning in what he'd done. Felt him unable to pick up the whip again, unable to deliver twenty more strikes to his mate's bleeding back.
She tried to send strength through the bond. Tried to tell him it was okay, she forgave him, he'd done enough. But he'd locked himself away again, sealed behind walls built from guilt and horror at what duty had made him do.
"Your Majesty." Thorne's voice was cold. "The punishment is not complete. You must continue or face consequences for defying the council's judgment."
"Then I face consequences." Adrian's voice came from ground level. He hadn't stood. Couldn't stand. "I won't touch her again. Won't hurt her further. Do what you will to me. I don't care anymore."
"If you won't complete the punishment, she faces full penalty. Death by hanging. Immediately." Thorne's voice was implacable.
"No." The word tore from Adrian. "No, you can't. I delivered punishment. Ten lashes. That's justice enough."
"Justice is what the council decides, not what you determine sufficient." Thorne gestured to guards. "Take Lady Lila to the gallows. Since the King refuses to complete punishment, we proceed to execution."
"Adrian!" Lila's voice finally broke. "Adrian, please! Pick up the whip! Finish it! Don't let them hang me! Please!"
Through the bond, she felt him try. Felt him reaching for strength. Felt him wanting to save her. But his hand wouldn't obey. His wolf wouldn't allow it. He'd reached his limit and couldn't push past it.
Guards moved toward her. Moved to cut her down, to drag her to waiting gallows. To end this in death instead of survival.
Then Maya's voice rang across the courtyard.
"STOP! I have evidence! Evidence that changes everything!"