Discipline: Braith.

From the bench in the centre of town, I sat watching Lars with intent. Good boy. A passive boy. Wouldn't harm a fly. But today I had a talk with him. Trying to teach this kid out to stick up for himself so the next time Braith trying to strong arm him, he'll give her a good fright with his fighting words, and if necessary, knock her down a peg or two.
"Give me your money, Battle Born!" Braith told him when he approached.
"um… no, No Braith. I'm not listening to you anymore"
I nodded. His confidence is lacking, but he said the words and already it was having an effect on Braith. I could see she wasn't expecting resistance. But something was off. She wasn't looking at him. I followed her eyes to a guard walking up the steps to the Jarl's home. Once he was gone, I heard a thump, and turned to see Lars curled up on the ground with the wind knocked out of him.
"Money, Now!" She demanded standing tall over the helpless boy.
I thought if I taught him to stand up to Braith I could avoid the confrontation with her, but alas. Ysolda has roped me into this. I even have permission from the girl's mother and father to do what I must. I punished my wife because she put herself in serious danger for no good reason at all. I decision I came to regret. But now, I can see faces looking down at me from the tavern. People waiting to see me do the same to Braith.
Things got strange when dragons returned. But now the world truly has gone mad. I had no intention on letting this be a public affair.
Braith was on her way to the market with her hands filled with Lars's pocket change. She didn't even look to happy about it. But with no further delay, I tapped her on the shoulder.
"What do you want?" She snapped looking up to me. My right hand flinched.
Her attitude was rotten. So although I still maintain it's not my place, I swallowed my pride and took the girl by the wrist and lead her to my home. With her kicking and dragging her heals with every step of course.

Once I had her inside I locked the door incase Ysolda came home early from her stall. No one gets to see Braith until the punishment is over, and she says ready to face other people. She may be a little brat, but for now she's my responsibility.
"Braith your behaviour has been unacceptable for too long. You bully Lars far too often. And it's high time it ends"
"Oh Yah? And what are you going to do about it? I'm not afraid of you, even if you are my elder"
"Are you afraid of a whipping young lady?" I asked her. "Being bent over a table, hands tide down, while your backside is beaten bloody with a switch?"
Her eyes suddenly displayed fright. Her mouth hung open as if she was about to call for help. Before she did, I sat down with her.
"I'm not going to do that Braith. But if your behaviour doesn't change and fast, by next year you'll be eligible for a ruled flogging. Your parents don't want that to happen. Nor do I. So before I can let you go today, you have to take a minute to really think about what you've done, and what you're going to do. I spoke with a guard about you, and he tells me… guess how many lashes he think's you'd have earned this week alone"
Her eyes were stuck on the floor when she asked me to tell her.
"Forty seven"
I saw her hands scrunch up the bedding. She was clenching all over from fear and imagining a lash of the jail master. She sniffed, then looked at me with wet but fierce eyes.
"I'm not afraid of anyone"
"Thats good" I told her. "Because I've not had much experience disciplining someone your size, it'll be easier for me if you don't struggle"
"Hey! What are you doing! No! Stop it!" Braith struggled when I put my hands on her, then went limp trying to be as awkward as she could. Sadly for her, being limp only meant she moulded to my lap quite well. "Okay! Okay… listen, I'll be nice. I promise"
I nodded at her.
"Thats all I wanted to hear" I told her patting her clothed bum a few times. She shivved a little with each tap but soon relaxed. "And if you hand't punched Lars, I might have let you off with a stern warning" *Fop!* *Whap!* *Whap!*
Braith tensed under my striking hand. She let out a long whine trying to push herself up from off my lap but I held her firmly in place. *Whap!**Whap!**Whap!* Eventually she stopped trying to escape and just lay there clinging to the thigh of my trouser leg. Her kicking stopped, aside for the reflex of my hand against her. She cried softly to herself as I continued to assault the back of her dress. *Whap!**Whap!**Whap!*
"Braith, I'm sorry for doing this. Are you alright?"
She nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes as her left leg pulled forward to stand up. I pulled it back down.
"Sorry, we're not done quite yet. I was just making sure you're fine. This is the quietest I've seen you"
*Sniff* "I'm fine…" She didn't sound fine. She actually sounded like a little girl for once.
*Whap!* "Good…" *Whap!* "This'll be…" *Whap!**Whap!* "over soon" *Whap!**Whap!**Whap!* Keeping my left had on her back to let her know we still weren't done, I reached down to her feet to grab the tail of her dress.
"No! You can't do that!" She yelled beginning her hassle trying to get free again. But lifting her dress was still rather easy. In fact, I lifted it so high that it actually swallowed her top half. Her tantrum intensified once her head was covered. Her naked lower back all the way down to her feet twisted and kicked to avoid the next hit she knew was coming.
*Smack!* "NO!" *Smack!**Smack!* "No, oo, ooo…" She cried loudly this time.
Braith was a tough girl. I didn't intended for the covered portion to be a warm up, but she took it as if it were. The final straw was when I felt her hips raise, as if she was lifting her bottom up for the next swing. I knew she was older than the other kids, but I never assumed she'd be at an age where this would be enjoyable to her. The whole point was to put her off, not get her off.
*Smack!* *Smack!* *Smack!* *Smack!*
Braith was in a full on cry now. Her bottom which was pale white when the dress got lifted was now darkening pink."Braith, why did I punish you?"
*sniff, wails* "Because I hurt Lars"
"Thats right *pat* "And you're mean to the other kids too. If that keeps up, I'll be seeing you again" *pat* I lifted her dress back up over her waist and down her legs again before giving her a last few pats. "Did you notice the stick over there?"
"uh-huh" She whimpered leaning away from it's direction.
"I was going to let you taste what that would feel like. Maybe I'll save it for next time you come over my knee, eh? "
Braith's little face pulled away from me. I wasn't at all serious about using the stick on her. I honestly didn't even know where it came from or why it was in the house. Braith was still sobbing into her hands. Ysolda likes hugging after discipline. I picked her up and held her tightly against me, I patted her back and clapped her hair down all neat again. I gave her face a quick once over with a soft cloth to dry off the tears and that runny nose she got.
"Why do you pick on Lars? He's a nice boy"
"I don't know… I mean, I know he's nice but…" The red in her face was just fading as I sat her up to have a final word. But now her cheeks were turning pink again, though not as pink as her little bum. "He just never talks to me, I always have to talk to him… why won't he just man up?"
"Oh, so you want him to talk to you, do you?"
"no" She lowered her face, hiding it from me. I held her head softly, slowly bringing her up to me.
"Braith, I know you can be a nice girl. I think you could be very nice to people, and be very well liked. It wont happen over night, you'll need to fight some bad habits. But I know you can get Lars to like you too, you just need to realise that he is soft. It's not for you to change that, but if you like him, maybe you can protect him? You'd get a lot of time together if you did. And one day, he might find the will to stand up for you, rather than needing to stand against you"
"Uh-huh" She whimpered staring off to the side.
"Braith, are you listening to me?"
"Oh sorry! sorry" She cried leaning back from me. "I'm sorry"
"I won't put you on my knee for nothing, silly. If you hurt another child, I might" I gave her a last big cuddle before standing her up. "Give Lars his money back too, okay"
"okay"

I walked Braith to Lars's house. She handed the money over and said her apology. She even smiled to Lars, and he invited her in to play.
Hopefully the start of something new for both of them.