Florianne gingerly walked into the Herald's Rest Tavern, wincing at every step she took. The harlequin outfit she wore was deeply humiliating to her, as it was intended to be, but it wasn't the makeup, tights, or various bells on her outfit that bothered Florianne the most. No, it was the shoes. They were colorful, curled upwards at the toes and were completely flat. There was no heel on them whatsoever! It was unacceptable. Orlesian ladies did not appear in public without heels. That was for common women. Florianne had been wearing high heeled shoes for years and years. Having her heel touch the ground felt completely...wrong.
Florianne had girded herself for another day of standing around in the Inquisition main hall, trying to keep a hold on the few tattered shreds of her dignity, when Josephine had sent her to the tavern with orders to report to some woman named Minvaela. That sounded like a suspiciously elvhen name to Florianne's ears, but she had no choice. With ill-grace, Florianne had walked out of the main hall with the sound of her bells drawing the attention of all she passed.
The common rabble in the tavern noticed Florianne's humiliating outfit just as much as the more sophisticated people in the hall had, but this rabble did not have their sense of propriety and reservation. Instead, many laughed and pointed at Florianne, who grimaced as she walked over to a dwarf who seemed to be running the tavern.
"Is Minvaela here?" Florianne asked in a very clipped tone.
The dwarf swung his head to indicate a corner of the tavern, where a red-headed elf woman sat at a table. The elf had noticed Florianne's presence but had not gotten up from the table. The nerve! Florianne walked over to where the elf sat. Even when she had reached the table, the elf still did not stand up to address her. Instead, the elf woman sipped from her glass and regarded Florianne with an even gaze.
"Well, elf? What is it?" Florianne asked with clear impatience.
"My name is Minvaela. I was going to tell you to call me that, but it seems that your attitude is in need of some adjustment. You will refer to me as Miss Minvaela, then." The red-headed elf woman said in a clear, no-nonsense tone as she set down her glass.
Florianne's eyes narrowed. Just because she had been sentenced to be a source of endless amusement for the Inquisitor and his supporters did not mean that some random knife-ear could speak to her that way. She was still Florianne de Chalons, cousin to the Empress of Orlais. She was not going to kowtow to some gutter-born elf.
"How dare you speak to one of your betters in such a way, elf!" Florianne said, stomping one foot on the ground for emphasis.
"I can see that this will be a time-consuming process. Let us begin, then." Minvaela said, standing up from the table.
"Josephine has asked me to provide you with some training and motivation. She is tired of your sullen presence in the main hall and wishes for you to fulfill the role the Inquisitor has designated for you. Which is to provide amusement as a jester. From today forward, that is what you will do." Minvaela said in the same firm tone as before.
"So I must learn to sing and juggle? Tell Josephine to provide me with an acceptable tutor, then, elf. I am leaving." Florianne said with a sneer as she turned her back on the infuriating elf.
"I'm giving you one chance." Minvaela said in a relaxed but threatening tone from behind Florianne.
"Are you now?" Florianne asked derisively, looking back over her shoulder at the elf.
"If you give me a sincere apology and refer to me as Miss Minvaela, then I will forgive your disrespect. This one time only." The red-headed elf woman said, leaning back from the table and fingering her belt.
Florianne looked down at the elf woman's belt and saw an unusual item hanging from it. It was not a weapon or anything one would use to fight with. Instead, it seemed to be a kind of wooden paddle. Was this elf threatening her with that? Her, Florianne de Chalons? The sheer ridiculousness of the idea made Florianne laugh.
"You should be the jester, I think, elf. Very amusing." Florianne said dismissively, turning her head back around.
Florianne tried to walk out of the tavern, but the next thing she knew, the elf had bounded behind her faster than she could react. In a moment, Florianne had her right arm seized and held painfully behind her back. She struggled as well as she could, but the elf woman's hold was like iron. Soon Florianne felt herself being pushed forward toward an empty stool near the center of the room. Minvaela then stepped in front of Florianne and swung her in a circle. The end result was that the elf managed to sit down on the stool with Florianne's momentum causing her to pitch forward over the elf's lap. Florianne struggled again, but the elf's hold hadn't weakened at all. She could do nothing but kick her legs, and even that was denied moments later after Minvaela moved one of her own legs to trap Florianne's between her's. The commotion had drawn the attention of every eye in the tavern. Everyone on the first and second level of the tavern was now watching the pair.
"If you will not amuse people as a jester, you will amuse them like this." Minvaela said with an air of regret, using her free hand to pull down Florianne's tights.
"You will unhand me right now, elf! I command it!" Florianne shrieked as her cheeks bloomed with color.
Perhaps Minvaela did not know that Florianne wore nothing beneath her tights, but the elf woman said nothing when Florianne's pale bottom came into view. The same could not be said for the tavern occupants. Florianne burned with anger as she heard gales of laughter around her. This could not be happening to her! She could not be humiliated in such a way in front of these low-born scum. And certainly not by an elf. Anyone but an elf!
Florianne's thoughts were cut short as she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Minvaela raising the wooden paddle. Fear filled Florianne, who, until that moment, was certain that Minvaela would not dare to use that on her. Now though, she knew that it was really going to happen. Florianne only had a split second to whisper a desperate prayer to the Maker before the paddle came down hard.
*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*
Florianne shrieked in pain as all of her illusions came crashing down along with the paddle. Despite everything that had happened so far, Florianne had still considered herself superior to all here but the Inquisitor and a handful of his followers. Now though, Florianne was confronted with the plain truth; she was not superior to anyone. Minvaela and her paddle had stripped any notion of superiority from Florianne completely.
"Stop! Stop, please!" Florianne begged as soon as Minvaela paused her paddling.
"Please is a good start. But you have more to reflect on. The first five was not calling me Miss Minvaela. The next ten will be for referring to yourself as anyone's 'better'." Minvaela said without a trace of sympathy, raising the paddle once more.
Florianne paled the moment Minvaela said 'ten'. Her bare bottom already burned fiercely after five. She could not take ten more! But evidently, Minvaela felt that she could.
*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*
Florianne was a crying, moaning mess after the tenth smack. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks, marring the white makeup on her face. Crying in public was absolutely not done in The Game, and it had been one of the first lessons Florianne had learned as a girl. Try as she might, however, Florianne could not stop the flow of tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me, please!" Florianne sobbed desperately, willing to do whatever was necessary to forestall any further smacks.
"Almost, da'len. Who am I?" Minvaela said, archly.
"M-Miss Minvaela! Please forgive me, Miss Minvaela!" Florianne said in a rush, tripping on the honorific just a hair at first.
Minvaela released Florianne's arm and allowed her to get off from over her knee. As soon as she could stand, Florianne began hopping in place from the searing pain from her bottom. This caused the various bells on her harlequin outfit to ring, but Florianne didn't care how amusing the onlookers might find it. Minvaela's opinion was the only thing that mattered to Florianne at that moment.
"I hope this will not be necessary again. But having known human nobles in the past, many such corrections will likely be needed. For now, I want you to go to the courtyard and wait for me to arrive. Your outburst made it so that I did not get to finish my drink." MInvaela said, standing up from the stool.
"I-I am sorry, Miss Minvaela." Florianne said quickly, surprised at her own meekness.
Minvaela's face softened for a moment as she studied Florianne.
"Perhaps it will not be so difficult for you, da'len, if you can maintain that attitude. Go on, then." Minvaela said with a trace of a smile on her face.
Florianne took a hold of her tights, but waited for a nod from Minvaela before she pulled them up. Florianne would never have expected her pride to be so thoroughly shattered in such a short time, yet that exactly what had happened. Florianne had been so determined not to deal with her situation, so committed to maintaining the illusion that this was a minor, soon-to-be changed situation, that when the truth had hit her, it had done so with the force of a dam breaking inside Florianne. Her haughtiness had been washed away clean.
As Florianne walked out of the tavern, she could still hear laughter around her. But it felt different to her now. Florianne was still humiliated by it, but it wasn't as threatening as before. It wasn't chipping away at her fragile sense of self-regard anymore. Whatever sense of self-regard Florianne had now, it was too small to be harmed by something as slight as laughter. In a way, that was freeing, wasn't it?
And needless to say, Florianne's shoes no longer bothered her at all.