But, Jago was there first. He hurried to stand before the chair and bowed. “Might I remind your excellency that Shayla is an ignorant human of base purpose. She is merely here to feed the Hunger and does so willingly and well.” Jago bowed again.
“The law is clear,” the judge thundered. “She must be sentenced according to the scrolls of Hezara. She was caught misusing an oracle. This is tantamount to spying.”
“Excellency, she is not a spy, merely curious. She wants to understand us. It is a human occupation to gain knowledge.”
The judge snarled. “It is no excuse for her to do it in secret.”
Jago was silent. Kriss had to agree. There was little they could do to mitigate her guilt, which left them hoping the punishment would not be too severe.
“Human girl. Shayla. Prostrate your puny form at my feet and beg for mercy.” The magistrate slammed his staff on the paving stone by his chair. The boom echoed around the room.
Jago held Shayla’s trembling arm. When she lay down, the simple prison shift would barely cover her ass.
“It’s a formality,” Kriss said quietly. “All convicted must beg for mercy. It won’t be given. Because that would be a weakness, especially because you are an alien. Then, you must kneel and accept your fate with a brave face. This is how Hezara behave in adversity. So it will impress.”
She lay, spread-eagled. The cold floor offered no comfort.
“Please,” she said, her voice shaking. “I ask for mercy.”
The staff fell again and the clang reverberated around the chamber. “None is given.”
She rose to her knees and clasped her hands before her. “Please,” she mouthed. “Please, help me.” She spoke the soundless words to nobody.
The judge’s lips formed an ugly smile and he spoke with glee. “The punishment is set. The creature will be stripped bare, stood in the public arena, bound over the pedestal such that her position is of maximum humility. There, in this obscene pose, she shall be flogged, a hundred lashes. Then, if she is able to walk, she will be paraded around the arena, her stripes visible. From there she will be returned to the custody of her nestors.” He turned to face Kriss and Jago. “Oh, they shall be the ones to flog you. That is penitence for their failure to contain your wickedness.”
Shayla swayed, the color draining from her face. Jago grabbed her. “Sir, I must protest, this is too harsh. It is a punishment of a warrior. And you are quite aware that many elect certain death as an alternative.”
“Certain death,” Shayla repeated, and she covered her face.
“Warriors are always given the option of exile rather than public chastisement,” Kriss whispered into her ear.
Jago squeezed her shoulder. “To be sent to face the Violence, to fight the Beast, is always certain death. This human has no alternative but be humiliated. No warrior I know would subject themselves to this shame. Death is preferable.”
“I don’t want to die,” she wailed.
The judge was unmoved. “It is the law.”
Kriss sank onto one knee and pressed his palm to his chest. “Excellency. This human is a Gift from Earth. She is essential for our Hunger. While she is with us, we are virulent, so much so, we could father thousands of nestors. She is too valuable to treat so. This punishment will cause damage. Harm. She will not be able to quench our Hunger again. She is fragile, weak, can you not see that she is not like us. She is not to be damaged—is it not a condition of our treaty with Earth? Imagine the furor if she returned mentally unbalanced, possibly physically scarred.”
The judge leaned forward. “What would you have me do? Let her go?”
“No. I would suggest that we lessen the punishment such that it would be tolerable for a human form, but still shameful.”
“Then. You suggest her punishment.”
Jago stepped forward. “Have us paddle her bottom with our hands. It will ensure we can judge the effectiveness of the punishment and we shall be responsible for any unwarranted excess. We will alone face the consequences.”
Kriss shot a glance at Jago. He understood. The punishment had to look as severe as possible to satisfy the judge, but at the same time, had to leave Shayla unharmed and intact. It would mean testing Kriss’s disciplinary skills. Yes, she did deserve punishment—he wasn’t against the verdict, but now he also had to protect her.
He pictured her red ass, mottled with the marks of his hand. A hot, burning ass. The last time they punished her, she had become aroused and easily orgasmed. He had to protect her from the humiliation, the public spectacle of hundreds of Hezara men, many probably close to reaching the Hunger, their cocks hard and waiting for satisfaction.
Jago bowed again. “Excellency. Her nudity is paramount to the punishment?”
“Of course.” The judge gloated—he too would be there to watch, and although old, he was still a man with urges.
“And her binding, too?”
“Yes. That is my final verdict.”