"Pascal, why don't you take the girls to the market for a while? I need to discuss tactics with Asbel and Hubert."
The moment he heard Captain Malik speak, Asbel froze. The company of would-be heroes were resting in the rooms of a town inn, regaining their strength after a long, disastrous day's travel the day before. Though they were all keen to carry on as soon as possible, Malik had convinced the team that they could all do with a day of yrest and recovery. Gladly, they'd accepted.
Asbel wasn't so sure that a rest was what Malik had in mind now; a dreadful ulterior motive suggestive in the Captain's words. He watched the man warily as the girls filed out, ignoring his brother, who eyed him with curiosity from across the room.
"If this is about yesterday-" he began.
"Be quiet." Malik did not shout, his voice still a mellow, easy-going tone. "You will have to time speak soon enough."
Asbel blushed at the rebuke, pinching his lips together against any more unwise words.
"What's going on?" Hubert demanded haughtily, his arms crossed imperiously before him. "Clearly you are angry, Captain. I agree that yesterday's performance on some people's parts-" here he shot a glare toward his brother, "-was appallingly incompetant-"
Malik stood, his arms folded and his stance easy as he listened to the boy dig himself in deeper.
Asbel cringed, seeing the tell-take signs of impatience creep across the captain's features. "Hubert, shut up," he ground through gritted teeth.
Hubert whirled, prepared to snap an angry retort, but Malik spoke first.
"You would be wise to listen to your brother."
Asbel smirked at the look of indignant shock on his brother's face, but dropped quickly back to a nervous grimace when Malik turned his gaze toward his former pupil.
"Both of you could learn to listen," he said coolly, "perhaps then we would have saved ourselves such trying times in the past few days of travel. Because of you both the team was put under unnecessary risk on more than one occasion. It is only thanks to our life bottle supply that Cheria is still with us. Not to mention all the peach and apple gels we wasted."
"Captain, I agree those incidents were regrettable, but if certain people had followed my instruction-"
Before he could finish Malik had moved, too fast to see more than a blur. Within moments Hubert was upended over the captain's knee, his legs locked between the man's thighs as Malik took a seat upon the edge of a bed.
"What the-! What are you doing!?" Hubert demanded, squirming and writhing but unable to break free. "How dare you! Unhand me!"
"Asbel, what is the greatest crime a knight can commit?" Malik asked, making his hold over the boy look easy.
Asbel stepped back a pace, his cheeks flaming as he stammered a non-response. When he met the captain's eyes he swallowed, quickly blurting out: "To recklessly endanger your life or the lives of others without just cause, sir. But-!"
"And what is the punishment for that crime?"
Asbel met eyes with his struggling brother, the boy's face red with embarrasment and rage.
"Asbel!"
"A spanking!" Asbel squeaked in response to the barked order. "But I'm not a novice any more, Captain!"
"Yet you still address me as your superior," Malik said, placing his hand on Hubert's bottom. The boy stiffened, his breath coming fast as he resumed his struggle against the man's grip.
"This isn't like the castle walls," Malik said genially. "I'm on solid ground. Do you really think that you could beat me in a fair fight now? Boys, you have behaved deplorably in the days since we joined forces. Neither of you will bow to the other's authority. You're both loose cannons and a danger to this mission."
"But that doesn't give you the right to punish us!" Hubert snarled. He gasped as the Captian took hold of his shoulders, pulling him round until they were eye to eye.
"Doesn't it? Tell me, if you are not accountable to me, to whom should you hold yourself accountable? Yourselves? Neither of you have shown any remorse over the mistakes made this past week, you simply blame each other. Unless you receive this lesson now, how can I be certain that you are trustworthy to safeguard our friends?"
This silenced the brothers, Asbel biting his lips tight against the shame of Malik's truthful words. He'd been behaving like a brat, he knew, but still he couldn't help himself when it came to his younger sibling.
"Asbel, your brother has been trained by a noble house, which expects its scion to flourish as a general to its army," Malik said. "Don't you think his fighting stratagems may be sound?
"And Hubert, Asbel is a knight of Lancre. He knows better the fighting techniques of every monster we may come across. Do you not think that his council on how best to attack them might be wise?"
Hubert turned his head away, his torso still in the captain's grip but no longer struggling.
"Neither of you is ready to command an army," Malik continued. "The following weeks will be a steep learning curve for you both. But without cooperation none of us will survive to see you flourish."
There was silence in the room, just Hubert's rapid breaths which were quickly slowing as the boy took in all the captain had said.
"Captain," Asbel ventured, "Please. I know that we've both been jerks and I'm sorry, but please... Don't spank Hubert. He didn't know the rules and I did. It should be me getting spanked not him."
"Oh don't you worry, kid, you're next," Malik said with a chuckle. "So what does Hubert say to this, hmm?"
Hubert gave a snarl and kicked his legs as much as he was able. "I'm not an infant! I am no longer your brother, Asbel, I do not need your pity."
A frown wrinkled Malik's brow. "As you wish," he said, reaching for the hem of Hubert's trousers and pulling them down with a swift jerk. Ignoring the boy's violent protests he lifted his hand and brought it down with a mighty crack upon Hubert's upturned bottom.
Asbel winced, remembering many a time when Malik had administered the same hearty dose of justice to his own backside. Instinctively his hands went to protect his tingling rear, mindful of Hubert's pained squeak, not doubt surprised by the sting that the mild-mannered captain could produce with just one spank. Nevertheless after the first Hubert had screwed his eyes tight, clamping his jaw and refusing to utter a sound as Malik's hard hand came down again and again.
Asbel realised he had held his breath as the initial blows fell, unable somehow to tear his gaze from the sight. He had never seen his little brother disciplined before; back home it had always been Asbel who had incurred their father's displeasure.
The captain was not a gentle disciplinarian. He kept up a fast, steady pace of scorching blows, making sure to cover all of Hubert's bottom, quickly turning it from a pasty white to a healthy pink. Soon the pink began to turn red and it was at this point that Hubert began to squirm.
"I see that my point may finally be getting through your stubborn hide," Malik said, not in the least out of breath. "Perhaps after this you will take a greater responsibility in your actions."
"Captain," Hubert huffed, "with the greatest respect, I do not want to hear that from you!"
Malik made a noise in the back of his throat that was somewhere between a chuckle and a grunt. Hubert's eyes snapped open in suspicious surprise as he felt te captain shift his legs, dropping one whilst raising the other and tilting his captive to the floor. The following crack to Hubert's tender undercurve rang about the room in tune with a pair of in-drawn breaths from the brothers. Malik's hand traveled down the boy's thighs, then back again before focusing on the sensitive crease of skin where thigh and bottom met, quickly turning it red.
Asbel stared, horrified by the transformation, yet impressed with his sibling's resolve. In Hubert's situation, Asbel would have been bawling by now.
Malik seemed to be having the same thought. "Stoic little boy, aren't you?" He said cheerily.
"I am not- a little- boy!" Hubert huffed with some effort, his hands clenched to fists as they braced upon the floor. "Whenever I brought disgrace on my father'a house I got caned - don't think this is anything in comparison!"
"Hmm," was all Malik said to that revelation, his lips pinched in a tight frown of displeasure. Asbel too was shocked at the news. Caned? So that's what Hubert had to endure in the Oswell house.
"Perhaps you don't understand what is happening here," Malik said grimly, still spanking a backside that was now glowing red. "The punishment will continue until I believe you are truly penitent of your actions."
Saying this Malik withdrew a vial from his jacket, pausing briefly to uncork it and then dripping it on the boy's tenderised skin. Instantly the colour changed from an angry red to a light pink and Hubert let out a shudder of relief. It didn't last long however when Malik began spanking again, and he let out a squeak of surprise when the blow landed.
"Tender, isn't it?" the captain said. "Your skin has healed but the flesh remembers, I'd say that that your bottom is no less sore than it was before the potion. All I hve achieved is a prolonging of your punishment, if I am still not sayisfied at the end of this I will simply begin again tomorrow, without allowing Cheria to heal you."
Hubert let out his held breath in an explosion of chargrin. "That's not fair!" he wailed.
"What isn't fair is your endangering your life and the lives of your friends over a petty rivalry with your brother," Malik said firmly, his hand travelling the length of Hubert's bottom in a flurry of hard swats. "This will continue for as long as I deem necessary."
Finally reaching his breaking point, Hubert burst into tears. He gave up his struggling, laying limp against Malik's knee and resting his face in the crook of one arm, sobbing deeply.
Malik gave a dozen quick smacks and then righted the weeping boy up into a hug. "There, there, it's not over yet," he murmured into Hubert's ear, causing him to cry all the harder. "I want you to go stand where Asbel is now and wait until I am done with him."
Asbel' stomach dropped in dread. He watched Hubert shuffle pliantly away from the captain, his trousers still about his ankles. His younger brother did not look up from his sniffling as he took his place beside Asbel but that was fine with him; the less Hubert saw of the next few minutes the better.
He crossed to Malik without being asked but then stood before him, unable to move from under the captain's eye.
"Asbel."
He scrutinised the wood pattern of the floor, following the whorls on their way across the boards, until they came to a wet patch beside the captain's boot, clearly to point where his brother's head had lain.
"Asbel!"
He jerked his head up, biting his lip as he met Malik's calm gaze.
The Captian studied him for a moment and then sighed, snatching his arm and jerking him over his lap. Quickly and efficiently Malik undid the boy's belt, pulling down his trousers until they pooled about his ankles. Then he trapped Asbel's legs in the same manner as the boy's brother, snatching hold of the hand that came up to cover the exposed rear.
"Asbel..." he warned.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Asbel said quickly, pulling hand back and planting it firmly in the floor. His head hung lower than his torso and it was becoming light with the rush of blood, helped no doubt by the healthy blush that he was cultivating.
"There will be time for sorries when we are done, recruit," Malik said, finishing the sentence with a mighty crack to the centre of Asbell's rear. Over and over he struck until Asbel's bottom was a dark, red glow.
He tried, Asbel really tried to keep quiet. All the same he was ashamed to hear the small grunts and squeaks of breath that escaped through his clenched teeth as the assault on his rear went on. He thought of Hubert, who endured his punishment in relative silence and on a whim he looked up.
Asbel's eyes locked with his brother's.
Hubert was watching!
The boy's red-rimmed eyes were squinted sorely and by the twitching of his hands his backside was aching terribly, but still Hubert was watching Asbell getting spanked!
Asbel quickly looked away, his face flaming as hotly as his backside. This was so unfair! Involuntarily his body gave a kick, which must have surprised Malik because the man lost his grip and Asbel tumbled forward off his lap, only stopping himself from falling with his arms.
Malik looked down at his charge, only his legs now upon his lap, and gave a shrug. That'll do just as well," he said before laying into the boy's tender thighs. Asbel howled, ignoring his undignified position and his brother looking on. The skin of his undercurve was stretched tight and when Malik focused there he began to scrabble desperately to try to escape, hot tears running down his cheeks.
When Malik stopped Asbel let out a whimper of relief, quickly allowing himself to be lifted and embraced by the captain. He didn't resist as the man put him on his feet, trying hard but failing to wipe away his tears.
The sound of leather being drawn from around Malik's waist brought his self pity to a halt. With wide eyes he stared at the belt in Malik's hands, his chest clenching in panic.
"Captain, you can't mean to beat us-" Hubert began, regaining some of his previous authority.
"Not you, Hubert," Malik said calmly. "Just Asbel."
Asbell stared mutely at the leather, as wide as the captain's hand and as thick as a razor strop. Never before had Malik used such a thing on him, and it began to dawn on the boy that the captain was very angry indeed.
"Isn't that what you wanted?" Malik asked him. "You are the leader of his team after all, shouldn't you be held most accountable?"
"No!" Hubert cried out, quickly shuffling between the captain and his brother. "Captain that is not fair, if you do this it will be an injustice."
"Hubert..." Asbel said softly.
"If anyone is to blame for this then it is I," Hubert declared with as much hauteur as anyone could with their trousers about their ankles and a red bottom on display.
"You're saying you will take his place?"
"Yes."
"No!" Asbel cut in. "I deserve this," he stammered. "I understand that now. But leave Hubert alone."
"You're giving me orders?" Malik said with a quirk of his brow.
"Yes," said Asbel without hesitation, ignoring the way that Hubert was gawping at him. "If it comes to that, I'll take his share."
"I absolutely refuse that option! Captain Malik, I demand you chastise me instead of Asbel!"
Malik startled the irate pair with a hearty chuckle. "No need for melodramatics, I'm not going to "beat" either of you, as you put it, master Hubert. But this is the first thing that the pair of you have agreed upon since the start of this quest so I will so you a degree of leniency. Both of you go and lean over the bedpost. Now," he ordered when it looked as if Asbel would argue. "The longer you take the more swats your brother will get."
That moved them quickly, shuffling with some degree of difficulty in the hobbles of their trousers.
Grimacing with distaste, Asbel leant over the bed rail, the height of it raising his scorched bottom to a perfect height for the swing of Malik's belt. He felt Hubert positioning himself beside him and looked over, a tinge of regret tweaking at his heart.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to his younger brother as Malik got into position behind him.
Asbel heard the swishing of the belt and braced against the pain.
A blazing stripe of agony ripped across his bottom, and he let out a yell, burying his face into the blankets.
The pain was unbelievable, throbbing hotly over his already scorched rear. He muffled a sob, mortified that his brother was seeing him this way.
The sound of the belt whistled through the air and Asbel tensed, the snap of the leather striking flesh making him cringe. When the pain didn't come he jerked his head up, realising that it was Hubert that was on the receiving end of the blow.
Hubert's face was white, his mouth gaping open in a shocked, soundless scream. His whole body was rigid and he was clearly suffering the same pulsing agony that Asbel was.
Without thinking Asbel snatched his brother's hand, threading his fingers together with Hubert's and gripping tightly.
I'm here for you brother. You don't need to be strong. Let me help you through this.
CRACK
Asbel's feet jerked up and he buried his head into the sheets again, gasping through the pain and managing to keep quiet this time. He felt Hubert squeeze his hand, giving him comfort and reassurance against the pain. Hissing into the bedsheets he quickly swiped away the tears that had fallen and turned his head toward his brother, giving him a lopsided grin.
Hubert looked surprised for a moment. Then he bit his lips together, his eyes misting with tears.
CRACK
Hubert leapt sideways, gabbing hold of Asbel's arms and burying his face in his brother's shoulder. He let out a long wail, shuddering and shaking, suddenly much younger than he had been acting since the brothers had been reunited.
"Sorry! M'sorry!" he wailed. "Sorry As'bl. Sorry big br-br-brother!"
"It's ok, Hubert," Asbel said gently, trying to keep his voice from shaking as he comforted the boy. "It's ok. We messed up but it's almost over. You're being so brave, lil' bro, I'm so proud of you."
"Can't- can't-" Hubert sobbed, "-can't take it, As'bl. Can't."
"You can, lil bro. You're strong. I know you can," Asbel said, taking hold of Hubert's shirt and squeezing him tightly to his chest. He felt a hand on his back and flinched, but when he looked up he saw Malik standing above them, his arms empty.
"Don't hurt him any more!" Asbel snarled. "You stay away! I won't let you hurt my little brother!" He must be a foolish sight, some same part of his brain told him. Face a mess from crying with a bottom fairly scarlet from being spanked, still on display. Who'd be threatened by that?
"I don't intend to," Malik said soothingly. "You both did very well, and I'm proud of both of you." Saying this he stepped closer, placing a hand on the boys' heads and ruffling the hair. Hubert continued to snivel, seemingly unaware that their punishment was over.
"Rest now," Malik said, and for the first time Asbel saw the pain in the captain's eyes, and what it had cost the man to hurt them. "I'll be outside the door. No one will come in until supper, I promise."
Under his arm, Hubert sniffed several times and the chocked a feeble: "thank you, sir Malik. I'm sorry we were such b- b- bother."
Swiftly, Malik strode forwards, snatching Hubert up and taking his place upon the bed, cradling the boy gently in his arms.
"You are no bother, Master Hubert," he said in a voice that was both kind and stern. "I did this because I had to, not because of duty or for our quest. You boys need to find that place in each other's hearts again, not for the sake of your friends or for me, but because you are brothers and nothing should drive brothers apart."
"Y-y- you're our friend," Hubert said defensively, his scarlett face buried in Malik's shirt.
"Yeah, kiddo, I am."
Asbel watched this scene play out with a mixture of envy and confusion. He bit his lip, turning away from the pair and their intimate moment, one which he was clearly intruding on. He felt a tug on his hair and jerked back, flushing when he saw Malik watching him with a careful smile.
"Come here before I roast your willful bottom again, recruit."
Unable to resist this order, Asbel flew into his captain's embrace, pressing tight against the man's side. His "willful bottom" was still clearly on display and throbbing with agony, but as Malik pressed him tighter to his chest the pain seemed to lessen.
"I'm sorry," he sniffled, as even more tears ran down his cheeks. "I promise not to fight with Hubert again."
"Now, now," Malik scolded. "Don't make promises you can't keep. He's still your brother, you know, and you're both as stubborn as each other."
"I'm not lying!" Asbel said hotly then yelped and bit back a wail as the captain aimed a swat at his undercurve. It was only a light tap but the burn was intense. Asbel decided to stay quiet for a while, enjoying the captain's embrace instead.
"Just do your best, little warriors," Malik said, patting their heads and running soothing hands down their backs. "That's all we ask of you."
It took ten minutes for the boys to be deeply asleep. Malik extracted himself from under them and headed for the door. Turning back, he could not help smiling at the pair; arms about each other as they lay on their stomachs, their glowing bottoms on display. They would sleep for several hours at least, if he was any judge, probably to wake embarrassed and snippy when they found themselves in such intimate a state.
He grinned, chuckling at the thought and closed the door behind him. Setting up a chair before the door, he took out his swords and began to clean them. His hand stung a little from its workout and he shook it absently. Really, those boys had bottoms as hard as their heads!