Ianto stood at the bottom of the stony path that led to the Harkness house. Mrs. Harkness had decided that his punishment was seven lashes in front of everybody in the house. He didn't know whether Jack was being made to watch or not. People were starting to gather around the path. Sam was there; his face was red and looked moist. His eyes were puffy and he couldn't look at Ianto. Ianto watched him for a moment; it was obvious that Sam felt both guilty and sorry for his friend. It wasn't only Sam who looked upset; every servant was present and every one of them looked towards the ground with saddened expressions. All of them thinking the same thing; put one two out of like and it could be any of them getting seven lashes.

Mrs. Harkness appeared at the doorway. Looking smug. Ianto was the first servant she was going to punish properly and he was going to be made an example of. Hopefully it would deter others from going against the rules. She looked around at the small but significant crowd and decided that it was time. Coughing gently to clear her throat and grab the attention of the crowd, she looked directly into Ianto's eyes and gave him a mocking smile. Turning back to the crowd she began her much practised pre-punishment speech.

"First of all, I would like to thank everybody for being here. I also think it is fitting that I remind Ianto Jones why he is being punished today and let everyone else know that this is what disobeying orders results in." She paused for effect and her eyes surveyed the crowd. Mr. Harkness stood silently at her side, his eyes never leaving Ianto. A clear look of disgust plastered across his face. "Ianto Jones, you are being punished today with seven lashes in front of an audience because you disobeyed my orders and started mixing with high class people such as my son. You knew what was expected of you and you still chose to disobey. Let the punishment commence!"

A heavily built man approached Ianto and tied his hands together in front of him with thick rope. Ianto sighed. He was terrified of what was about to happen but still found himself thinking of Jack and worrying about how he was coping by himself. A tear fell silently down his cheek as the whip was raised.

********

Jack started to pace the room. He glanced over at the clock; it had been around half an hour since Sam had locked him in his room. That meant that Ianto would be getting his punishment now and Jack was finding it unbearable to sit helpless in his room while the love of his life was getting beaten for a something that wasn't his fault.

"Argh!" Jack slammed his fist against the bedroom door. He couldn't decide what to do. He was glad in a way that he was locked away from watching the punishment; seeing Ianto get beaten would be too much to bear but being stuck in his bedroom while Ianto was suffering all alone was just as bad.

Jack flung himself on the bed and buried his face in the pillow and continued to shout in rage. He eventually calmed down a bit and started to think logically. If he couldn't help Ianto right now, he could start to plan a way to stop his wedding with Jessica.

Jack had always been friends with Jessica for as long as he could remember and he was almost as close to her as he was with his Auntie Cassandra. Ianto was more important to him than anything. Hopefully Jessica would see that and understand; she might even be relieved that she didn't have to go through with the wedding. Together and with a reason it would be a lot easier to convince their parents that they couldn't marry. But if she didn't see it the way Cassandra and Sam did...he didn't even want to think about what would happen then.

********

Ianto had planned on appearing brave at his punishment; didn't want to give Mrs. Harkness the satisfaction of seeing him cry but he the tears had started to fall before it had even begun and it was impossible to stop when it started. He took every lash with a small cry-like yelp but didn't move. His head remained facing the stony path until the last lash where he looked up and glared directly into Mrs. Harkness' eyes. He intended the glare to be as menacing as he could manage and he hoped that she would be able to read in his eyes that she had not won and a mere punishment would not be enough to keep him away from her son; the man he loved. However, he couldn't be sure how his glare looked but he guessed it was pitiful from the pain.

Mrs. Harkness grinned at Ianto's reaction. She didn't know how she would feel knowing that she was causing someone else pain but considering that this boy had disobeyed her and stopped looking after her son when it mattered to her most, it felt quite good. She enjoyed watching him get what he deserved.

"Thank you all for coming and I hope you all enjoyed watching justice as much as I did. Ianto Jones, you will be relieved of your duties tomorrow but the day after, I expect to see you working to the usual standard and not to disobey me ever again. You may return to your sleeping quarters now." She nodded curtly, turned and headed back into the house.

Mr. Harkness stood for a moment longer, still glaring at Ianto, the hate obvious in his eyes. He turned suddenly and walked at a brisk pace until he caught up with his wife where his steps fell in time with hers. He held his arm out and she robotically linked hers with his. It seemed to Ianto like a practised move for public appearances only.

Sam stumbled over to Ianto; he was clearly shaken up from watching his friend getting beaten. He wrapped an arm around Ianto's shoulders to help hold him steady as the colour drained from Ianto's face.

"Yan? Are you okay?" Sam choked.

"Umm." Ianto moaned. His back stung in several places and he was tired; he just wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

"Come on, we'd better get you back to our room before you collapse." Sam started leading Ianto back towards the house. "She's a cruel woman! Who would enjoy watching somebody in pain? It's wrong! I can't believe it Yan..."

"Umm." Ianto said again. He didn't feel like talking.

They struggled up the steps and into the kitchens where most servants had already started working again and some sat around the table staring blankly into space. Probably just as shook up as me, Sam thought and turned his attention back to helping Ianto to bed.

He closed the bedroom door shut behind them and lowered Ianto gently onto the bed. Ianto groaned and slowly leaned back onto his pillows. Sam looked at him with pity; he didn't deserve this, he had done nothing wrong in the 13 years that he had worked here and the one time he finds something that makes him happy, they ruin it. Sam shook his head in an attempt to forget everything and started removing Ianto's shoes so he could sleep comfortably.

"Before I forget Ianto, Jack said to ask you to go to his bedroom as soon as you can." Sam placed the shoes neatly by Ianto's bed.

"I'll go in the morning; right now I just need to sleep." Ianto closed his eyes and quickly drifted off.

Sam sighed. "Goodnight Ianto." He turned the light off and changed into his night clothes. The rest of the servants would have to manage without him for tonight he thought whilst climbing into his bed; it had been a long day and he too could do with a good night's sleep.