Oh God, please don’t hang her. Please. This is going too far.
My father then spoke. “The belle will hang for ten minutes and nine seconds. You have the choice to hold her up if you so choose. You can offer her breath, but at a cost. The entire time you hold her up, the Elders will beat you with the canes. Your comfort or hers. How far will you go to protect the belle? How much will you sacrifice? Do you have the strength to endure?”
The Elders on the platform held on to Grace’s arms again, and the hatch opened. They held her, not allowing her to fall.
Her feet dangled, and the only thing preventing her from dropping below were the men.
My father pushed me toward the gallows. “I suggest you go catch her.”
Without hesitation, I ran toward the hatch and stood below with open arms as the Elders holding Grace released her. If I hadn’t been there, I feared the satin noose could have snapped her neck, or at the very least, seriously hurt her.
But instead, I was able to break her fall. Although I wasn’t tall enough to fully hold her. I was able to wrap my arms around her calves and did my damnedest to keep her lifted high so the least amount of strangulation would occur.
But as I looked up at her, I could see her hands holding around the noose, trying to keep the fabric off her neck.
The pearl necklace remained intertwined in her fingers, and even though it was clear she struggled to breathe, I knew she would have to become unconscious before she would release the strand.
“You drop those pearls the minute you can’t breathe!” I shouted up at her. “You hear me, Grace? Drop those fucking pearls if you have to!” I stood up on tiptoes and lifted even higher when I could hear her wheezing for air.
“Ten minutes and nine seconds,” I heard my father say.
The Elders surrounded me, and the first strike of the cane hit my lower back.
The surprise of the blow had me nearly releasing my grip of Grace’s legs, but I quickly tightened my hold and lifted her even higher.
Another hit on my ass, and then on my thigh, and then on my back once again. Blow after blow, the canes came down on me. There was a cadence to their strikes. An organized assault that had a rhythm as if they were a morbid orchestra creating a symphony of agony.
If I let go of Grace, I knew the beating would stop. But I also knew she wouldn’t be able to breathe without my assistance. Even with my assistance, I could see she struggled for air.
Sweat dripped off my forehead and burned my eyes as I remained focused on her face. If I saw even the slightest sign of true distress, I would release my hold enough so I could rip those pearls out of her hand myself.
I blocked out the strike after strike of the canes and focused on Grace alone. This was about her. Her only. I would take a beating far longer than ten minutes and nine seconds if I had to. Anything to protect this woman. Anything.
Tears fell down her cheeks and she clung to the satin the best she could to save the pressure against her trachea, but I knew the tears weren’t for her own discomfort or fear. She was too selfless to cry over her own agony. She was crying for me.
I watched how she flinched every time a cane came in contact with my body. I saw how her fingers loosened on the necklace each time I was hit.
“Don’t watch this! Close your eyes if you have to. I’ll be fine,” I called up to her, even though my body was ablaze in fiery pain. “Don’t you dare release that necklace for my sake. I can take this.”
A particularly hard strike connected with my shoulder blade, forcing me to nearly drop Grace. The action was enough that Grace began to claw at her neck, writhe and kick her legs involuntarily as she struggled to breathe. I needed to get her higher now!
Ignoring how another cane connected with my calf to try to throw my balance off even more, I lifted her with all my might. Over and over, the beating continued, but I refused to budge.
I would never let this woman down. Never.
The Elders would have to beat me to death before I would allow them to break me or to break my belle.
And then finally the beating of my body switched to the beating of the floor. All the canes that had been walloping on me, were now in perfect sync as they pounded the white ballroom marble.
The trial was complete.
Ten minutes and nine seconds endured.
My body felt battered, but nothing I couldn’t handle.