Thirty Eight

The next few days were amazing, the words which I used to described my horrible first day back at the capital to my husband, he made sure of it and although, he could now stand Cale being around him, he refused to allow Cale come close to me and when he did see Lillian, nobody knows what went passed between them but since then Lillian has been scared to be kin the same room with me, the only time that she was in the same room as me was when the noble ladies where gather and even then, she refuse to talk when I was talking, meet my gaze or sit anywhere close to me. Estrid was annoyed at her friend decision to protect her head, she made annoying comments about me and was slowly testing the limits of her boundaries. If Gwenn was present when she said some of the things that she made in side comments, Estrid would have been close to death right now from what Orel will do to her.

“What are you thinking of.” Orel said from behind me as he kissed my cheek and wrapped his arms around my chest just beneath my breasts.

“How lucky I am to have you.” I replied instantly as I leaned more into his touch.

Orel snorted at my words. “Nice try but it would not work.”

“That is what I am really thinking of.” I repeated but he laughs.

“Oh, Themis, how many times have I told you that you are a terrible liar?”

“I will have you know that my lies are legendary and not easily discovered by others, except you.” I replied in a self-important tone.

“Of course.” Orel said smothering his laughter but not really succeeding in doing that. “What was really going through your mind?”

“Estrid and how I will deal with her.” I peeked from my side to see Orel reaction to my words.

Orel face relaxed as his eyes went calculative. “Her crime?”

“She insults me, spread false information about me, the dressmaker made was all too helpful in telling me what kind of horrible character I have after telling me I was not welcome in her shop.” I complained. When I got back from the dressmaker yesterday, I passed Gwenn and Orel sparring and went to lay down under the guise of not feeling too well. It was the dressmaker words, they had cut deeply into me. The only reason I didn’t allow tears to fall was because I knew that Orel will soon check up on me and it was harder explaining my tears to him than explaining my health, I was right. It wasn’t long after I lay down that Orel came into the room to check up and me, he knew something was wrong and to distract his questions from popping out of his mouth, I dragged him down for a fumble on the sheets, he was too tired after that to ask more questions.

“So that was what happened yesterday.” Orel asked as I nodded. “Estrid is the cause?” I nodded again as he smiles.

“Then punish her.”

“How?” I asked cautiously, not liking the smile on his face, it was too sinister.

“By whipping her publicly. That is enough to make her docile and never attack you again.”

“That seems like too much.” I argued.

“She made you cry, she ignored the warning from both of us and continued with her hurtful ways.” Orel said.

“Still, I cannot stomach her being whipped for ignoring us.”

Orel shook his head at me. “You still don’t realize the power that you have. She is not even supposed to talk back to you and I know that is a regular occurrence. Isn’t it true?”

“True but…” I started only for him to kiss my words away.

“Most times, as leaders we have to set an example doing things we don’t like, if we don’t, others will see it as okay to insult us. Make the right decision Themis and don’t allow others to suffer for it because they will suffer if they mistakenly act that way to Lillian, Catherine or Mary Ann.” Orel said as he put his hand under me to lift me up and carried me over to the bed. He was right, I might not want to give Estrid that extremely punishment but it was what she was asking for.

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The next morning when Elison arrived, I ran into his embrace to hug him before Orel took him and locked both of them in his study, probably telling him about Gwenn marriage before he heard it from somewhere else, I knew that Elison will be angry with me too just as Orel was, so I busied myself with arranging for his bathe and food to eat and that was when I heard the snarky.

“She is whoring it for commander Elison, it is clear from the way she hugged him, and she could not respect the warlord enough to show her emotions for Commander Elison in private when she is cuckolding the warlord.” I heard a maid said as I walked into the kitchen.

“Who said that?” I demanded with my cheeks red with anger although it might be taken as embarrassment. The laughter and gaiety in the kitchen all stopped as the maids stared at me in horror. “Who said that?” I repeated

When nobody answered my question, I took in a deep breathe to control my anger “That person better step forward before I tell commander Elison or the warlord what I just heard.”

A maid shakily stepped forward as she lifted her chin to me defiantly. “Well it is the truth. I didn’t say anything wrong. “Lady Estrid told us, besides you were less than us before the warlord chose you so you need to stop acting all high and mighty.”

I nodded at her words as tears burned my eyes but I refuse to show them. This was indeed what Orel warned me off last time, this was the last straw. I will not be disrespected in my husband house even though I feel the pangs sometimes like I was living a life not meant for me. “And if you think I am on the same level as you, why didn’t you make the warlord interested you, you have been his maid, longer than I have been his wife.”

“Because, I have a sense of what is right, I will not go after another woman man, no matter what position he holds and I also have decency not to use every trick in the book to land a husband.” She said haughtily with her chin lifted up.

“Themis, there you are, I heard that Elison is around, I have missed his annoying little self.” Gwenn bounced into the kitchen with a gleeful expression on her face, chuckling to herself based on the joke she just made, you font use the word little when referring to Elison , the only person I have seen that looked close to Elison stature is my husband.

“Gwenn, I want you to take this maid outside and send for my husband and Elison to come to the yard where she will be tied to a whipping post.” I watched the maid not taking my eyes away from her.

“What happened?” Gwenn gleeful voice turned hard as she noticed the tensed atmosphere in the kitchen.

“She called me a whore for hugging Elison, beneath her for coming from a tribe and also said I had no decency. Orel is right, I have been too lenient.” I replied Gwenn who nodded with a hard look in her eyes as she dragged the maid away. I started into every of the maid in the room until they were too uncomfortable to stare back at me and dropped their eyes to the floor. “The warlord chose me as his bride from the hunt, before then I have never seen the warlord before in my life, for you all to allow rumors to spread and made no attempt to defend your mistress, for that. You will not be paid this week.”

Protests rang from their mouths as they complained about me not having the right to do that. “Oh, I don’t have the right, you will not be paid this month, if you open your mouth to complain again it will be two months and then I will suggest that you find new employments if you think I am being unjust. This is my house and as the mistress, I can do what I please.” With that I glared at them. “Get Lord Elison food ready, he will be famished after whipping your friend.” With that, I turned and left the room, leaving silence behind me.

I walked to the yard where I saw that she was tied and Gwenn even went a step ahead to tear the cloth off her back. I nodded my head in approval as Gwenn approached me. How many should I give her and which of the whip should I use?

“I was hoping for Elison to do the honors.” I tell her as her features changed into a frown.

“What honors?” Elison confused voice asked behind me as I turned to see him and Orel walking to me and Gwenn, Elison eyes went to Gwenn to access her if she was alright before facing me again, he did it unknowingly and I smiled, he did the same thing with Orel too. Their bond was strong.

“Whipping the maid who said that I was your lover then proceeded to tell me that I am nothing next to her.” I said as the maid started crying and calling me a liar that she never said anything of such.

“Silence.” Orel ordered as her words died in her throat, he looked at me as I cleared my throat.

“She has been listening to the counsel of Estrid, she and others. They hate me so I decided to earn their hate, I removed a month of their salaries but she is going to be whipped, I need to get used to it as I prepare for Estrid own.” Orel nodded at me.

“How many strikes.” Elison asked as Orel shook his head.

“No, Elison will take care of Estrid own, if Gwenn do it, Estrid will die. Gwenn should take care of this one and I will order the sequence.” Orel said as I nodded.

“Gwenn as from tomorrow, I want to learn how to use the whips, I have enough knowledge on swords.” I said, Gwenn looked at Orel and when Orel gave a chin jerk she bowed to me.

“As you wish lady Themis.” Gwenn said as my lips twitched despite the gravity of the situation. As Orel and Gwenn moved to select the whip to use, I saw Dyane approaching us from within the house.

“It is better you go back inside.” I say to her steeling myself for the look of disgust to come to her face.

“No. I heard what happened, I am here to show my support. They were the ones who had me punished.” Dyane said with a smile as I looked at her mildly shocked, she seems to have a little bit of a Dark side in her. The part that seeks retribution.

“Commence.” Orel voice echoed in the now quiet yard, the warriors around, settling to watch the show. Gwenn whip hit the girl face as it tore into her skin, she started trembling and begging for forgiveness.

Gwenn drew her hands back and flicked the whip so quick that I didn’t see it, what I saw was a red mark across her back as she cried out. “Is this okay.” Gwenn asks, I didn’t know what she was talking about until Orel replied.

“Yes, five marks on her back, hit a particular spot three times.” Orel commanded as Gwenn went around with do it.

“How is this possible?” I whispered as I watch Gwenn administer the whip and not making a mistake, following Orel orders right on point.

“Gwenn name when it comes to torture is the Mistress of Whips. She is the best when it comes to whip control as far as Dar is concerned.” Elison explained to me.

“A lot seems to be going on, I have a lot of catching up to do.” Elison said as my body went cold.

“Yes, you do.” I said softly.

“I know about Gwenn marriage, it wasn’t your fault Themis, don’t beat yourself up.” Elison said looking straight head not even turning to look at me when my wide eyes swung to him. “When I mean a lot to catch up on, I meant about you and Gwenn being friends and more tolerating each other presence.”

“We are not friends.” Gwenn shouted at the same time I snorted the words. Orel laughter sounded besides me but Elison shook his head as if he knew something that we didn’t.