Education of an Ambassador
Part Three
The following day again started with fine weather; I am surprised that I did not sense the gathering storm.
I leapt from my bad, washed in the waiting bowl, and dressed in a white tunic, white underpants and flat soled sandals with laces that extended most of the way up my calves.
I examined myself in the mirror; my raven tresses fell below my shoulders, and highlighted a strong, well constructed face. I hesitated to call myself beautiful, especially next to the classical looks of my Mother, but I saw nothing displeasing in my countenance, and my body overflowed with youth's energy.
I bounced on the balls of my feet for the sheer joy of being healthy and fit. My whole being was bathed in the delight of simply being.
Strolling to the breakfast room I was alone; Mother had been busy latte into the night and would not arise for some time yet. I broke my fast with bread and honey, washed down with chilled fresh water. It was a meal fit for any princess.
I left for school at my usual time, my evening's work safe inside the small pack that swung from my shoulder.
After a short time I came across Artemis.
"Hello, my friend. Did you steal Aerial's clothes last night?"
Artemis stared at me with something close to contempt.
"After you let me down? I did not. Mischief is much less fun alone. Perhaps tonight though…?"
"I am sorry Artemis. I am determined to be good. I have good reason, and one day you will understand."
"Gods, Diana! You are becoming so… prissy! I cannot stand to be with you!"
With that she turned and began to storm away.
I grabbed her right arm, and pulled her back. I could not let her go like this.
Artemis however misunderstood my gesture, and spun around, ready to fight. Her other arm, lying by her side, rocketed up, fist clenched, and smacked against my nose.
Amazons were taught to fight; however I felt about Artemis my reflexes could not let her assault go unanswered. Holding the arm that I had grabbed I twisted her, pulling the arm up behind her back. Pushing as she became unbalanced, I forced her down into the road, lying on her face with me lying on her back.
She wriggled beneath me, but could not free herself, as the dust rose up around us, coating our tunics with a dull layer.
After a time she stopped trying to fight me, and then I realised she was shaking. At first I though that I had really hurt Artemis, and that she was crying. Then, seeing that she was in fact laughing uncontrollably I released her and rolled aside.
"Gods, Diana" she panted "I thought that you had gone away. I was terrified that you would turn the other cheek when I struck you. I was never so happy to be tossed to the ground."
I bit my lip; I could not hope to succeed in my task unsupported by my friends. I needed at least one other person who would understand when I backed down, and who would not think I had suddenly become a teacher's pet.
Mother had not sworn me to secrecy exactly, although I knew that she wished to keep my fate quiet for as long as possible. I did not think that she would wish me to be ostracised by my best friend.
I organised my thoughts, and, haltingly at first, but then more steadily as I continued, I told Artemis the entire story, leaving out only Mother's beatings at Aphrodite's hands.
When I finished Artemis nodded as though this was what she had expected.
"I always knew that the Gods meant you for something special. Diana, I am your friend. I will support you in your great undertaking. But sometimes, you know, I will still get you into trouble. It is my nature. I will….suppress it, as best I can."
She reached over and hugged me, which I returned joyfully. I had an ally.
We sprang to our feet, and Artemis pointed out something that had not occurred to me.
"I fear that I have already gotten you into trouble. We are late."
I cursed. She was right, and with a class of only six it was not possible for 2 girls to sneak in unseen.
We set ourselves and ran to school, our long legs eating up the distance. Even so when we reached the classroom the other girls were seated on their stools, heads down, and completing a problem that Aerial had written on the large slate at the head of the room.
"Ah girls. At last. And look at you; your appearance is not acceptable. You are covered in dust, and dishevelled. I can do nothing about the latter, but I believe that I can help remove the dust, from at least a part of your bodies.
"Come here both of you." She picked up the sandal from her desk.
We walked reluctantly to where she had seated herself on her raised stool. She took hold of Artemis first, and drew her across her lap. With no hesitation she raised her sandal and whacked it down; it seemed to me she used rather more force than usual.
Artemis grunted as it struck, and a cloud of grey dust puffed up from her backside. The sandal fell again, and plumes of dust arose, like those from a volcano as it snorted prior to eruption.
Aerial added three more very firm slaps, and Artemis twitched at each. She was then returned her to her feet, and when Artemis rubbed at the offending area she seemed to do so with more urgency than was usual.
I was seized next, and fell forward across the awaiting thighs. As before there was no delay; the sandal spoke its song, thwacking across the width of my rear. It certainly had more force than I recalled; there was an immediate throb, and the second blow, when it came, forced an involuntary gasp from my mouth.
As she slapped me a third time the dust that her first blow had raised began to fall around me. I really had been covered in it!
The fourth spank caught the underside of my buttock cheeks, and this really stung. I almost cried out. The fifth returned to the centre of my bottom, which already ached, and so did the sixth. I did not recall such a thorough slippering.
I was allowed to stand, and my hands found their way to my behind with no conscious though. Aerial nodded at a job well done, and replaced the sandal.
"Back to your seats girls."
We sat gingerly on the hard wooden stools; their rough surface only served to intensify the discomfort that we felt.
We turned to the problem that Aerial had set the class, and worked quietly for a while.
Then Aerial began to lecture us on Greek history, and my mind slipped away a little. I could not help picturing the disappointment on Mother's face when she read today's note from my teacher, and I wondered if she would use the switch, or whether I might escape with just the paddle.
I paid no attention to class as I tried to work out the reasoning Mother would follow, and I was, therefore, deeply surprised when I suddenly felt Aerial grasp my ear as she pulled me to my feet.
"Diana, I have called on you three times! Are you asleep girl? Where is your mind today? Come with me."
With this she dragged me out to the front of the room, and placed me in the usual position. This time the sandal fell with its usual force, but it fell twelve times, and on my already sore cheeks.
Had I been but two or three years younger the spanking would have brought tears, but I managed to suppress them. As it was I shuffled back to my seat in some discomfort, and, had the option been available, I would have much preferred to finish the morning class standing up.
Time passed far too slowly, and, when Aerial called for our evening work just before we broke for lunch I was very relieved. I reached down to my pack to find the completed essay, only to find that it was not there!
I looked around the floor, beneath my desk, but could not find it. In fact I could not remember having it since before my fight with Artemis. I must have left it by the roadside.
I put up my hand for attention, and Aerial called on me.
"Aerial, I have lost my pack. I must have dropped it on the way into school. Can I go and look for it during lunch break, and hand it in afterwards?"
"And how do I know you have done the assigned work? You might spend lunch writing the essay that you should have written last night."
"Aerial, I give you my word. I have written the essay. I have merely lost it. Somewhere."
"I do not doubt your word. I believe that you have written the essay. Perhaps you lost it doing….whatever it was that caused you to be late this morning. Still such carelessness is worthy of punishment of itself."
She turned to the class. "Girls, go to lunch. I will see you in one hour, for riding practice. Diana, stay in your seat."
My classmates left as they were instructed, many of them with a sympathetic glance back at me.
Once the last of them had left the room Aerial walked across to her desk, and opened a long thin draw that lay beneath its lip. From it she removed a ferrule; a three foot long whippy stick, perhaps half an inch across.
"Diana, I am sorry to do this, but you have given fault on three occasions in one morning. The punishment for this is 6 strokes of the switch. No doubt you genuinely lost your homework, but your behaviour today has been…unsatisfactory. Bend across your desk."
This was a new experience for me, although I knew that Artemis had been switched on two or three occasions, and had always well-behaved for some days afterwards. But I was sore already. It wasn't fair.
I stood, pushed my stool away, and bent face down over the desk. I gripped its far side, and placed my head on one side, so that I could see Aerial as she walked around behind me.
As usual there was no lecture; I heard a swishing noise, and then a line of fire flared across my bottom. I yelped, and my body shook. Gods, that had hurt.
The switch fell again, just below the still burning first line. The sensation was identical, as was the noise, and I yelped again.
The third stroke continued the progression down my buttocks, and it now felt like I had three strands of flaming string stretched across my rear. I felt my eyes begin to prickle as tears formed.
The fourth stroke was a little above the first, and the fifth one split the two. Aerial's aim was uncanny; each stroke found fresh areas to burn. As the sixth fell, swooshing through the air and whapping against my behind I was wriggling uncontrollably, and actually sobbing.
I had not, however, attempted to rise, or to protect myself with my hands.
"Diana, you took that extremely well; I shall note as much in my report to your mother. Come, compose yourself. Wash your face, and then join your friends. I suspect that you will have an uncomfortable afternoon; riding is never easy with a sore backside, as I recall from my own childhood."
With that she left the room, and I rubbed, as hard as I dared, at my blazing rear end.
I was not looking forward to the afternoon, but even more, I dreaded that evening's interview with Mother.
