Ingrit woke up sleeping on a pile of old sacks in the old wine cellar below the kitchens. When she had heard the alarm bells late last night she knew that the plot she had been involved in was found out. Damn that Greyjoy, he was nothing was a flirt and trouble, she thought. Ingrit has panicked and hid in the dank cellar room rather than trying to play off that nothing was amiss. All she had done was talked that innocent, sweet, handsome guard to open the gate for the boys...Theon had given her a gold necklace and some more coin to keep quiet. He had tried to grope her, but she did fancy the guard Eyan, with his blond curls and mirthful laugh. Gods, she wished he was with her now, it was damp and cold. There had to be rats as big as direwolves down here.
"Ingrit? Ingrit? Where in the seven hells are ya?" Alira whispered, lighting knocking on the storage room door.
"Shh.." Ingrit whispered back as she stumbled to open the door. Her lantern had burnt out last night and it was as black as a wildings heart.
She slammed her shin on a crate, scrapping it and finally made it to the door.
"Gods be good," Ingrit exclaimed when she saw her friend's face. Alira looked worried and nervous even in the dim torchlight. Ingrit was a very pretty girl but looked exhausted. Her blue eyes were full of tension.
"That Greyjoy ward has done ya in now. The whole kitchen staff is on the lookout for ya. You need to come up with a story quick! They caught the Lord Stark's sons with the Greyjoy boy at that whore house near Wintertown." Alira cautioned.
Ingrit squeezed her eyes shut, she was afraid to ask, but had to.
"All the young lords also snuck out? I thought it was just Lord Theon, he lied to me. I did not think anyone would care about just him that much. Lads sneak out to the whore house all the time. What do they know?"
"I could not make out exactly was Cook was saying. Something about sleep tea and ya getting bribed by the Greyjoy lad. Then..., um, well...," Alira started, but stopping not wanting to explain.
"What, girl? Tell me!" Ingrit shouted. The walls were thick down here and no one would really hear much.
"Your man, the new one, Darick's friend, I heard they..caught him and he confessed to all," Alira said in a sad tone. "Darick told me that could hear him wailing all through the guard tower, he got such a thrashing."
"A thrashing, that all? I mean if the Lord Captain had a mind to, he could have sent him back to Wintertown or confined him in a cell. I wonder if he told them that the Lord Greyjoy made me do it?" Ingrit wondered aloud, almost to herself.
Alira said harshly, "Darick said it all came out. The boy spilt all and more as the Lord Warden whaled it out of him. I am sorry to say but Cook wants a word with you, as well as Mistress Ona. I am afraid that ya will not be able to talk your way out of this one."
Ingrit nodded. She should have known the risk of manipulating Eyan into risking his job. It seems like a small thing at the time. She didn't know the young heir and the bastard would also go. She should go into the godwood and throw herself at their mercy, but if Cook was angry, even the gods themselves couldn't save her.
Alira started out of the cellar. The punishment she was facing was perhaps not as horrifying as sleeping down here another night. Perhaps they had all calmed down? Truly, no harm had come if the lads were safe and sound.
Ingrit told Alira to get back to her chores and she would face Cook and the Mistress on her own, why get another person whipped?
Approaching the kitchen, she ran smack into Mistress Ona, who was as solid as the Wall.
"Well, Cook, look who I found! Our naughty little kitchen maid," she said gripping Ingrit's upper arm, as she squirmed.
"Please, Mistress, I can explain!" Ingrit cried, all of her courage failing her. Ona was fair, but strict. All in the kitchen had quite a lot of work to do and not much time to lounge.
"Oh, you will, young lady, over my knee, that is," the stern kitchen supervisor informed her, marching her into the hot kitchen.
Cook Gage was huge, he was wide and looked as if he was made of dough. His eyes got wide as Ingrit was dragged into his domain. Ingrit glanced down and noticed that her blouse was partially unbuttoned, exposing her ample bosom. Cook liked his food and had a sharp eye for the ladies as well. He knew that in the Stark keep he could look, but rarely touch the goods. Lady Catelyn was a stickler for moral order and would not tolerate licentiousness under her nose. But look he did, as well as a grope from time to time. He also tired to be near when the Mistress of the kitchen staff was doling out a licking to one of the young lasses. Privacy was a luxury even in the huge castle of Winterfell.
"Ah, Ingrit, you seem to have caused an uproar last night. The steward tasked us with handling this. He is much too busy dealing with more important matters! Mistress, let's chat with her in the gallery," Cook said putting down the basket of lemons he was carrying. Everyone knew that when they got lemons, Cook alway made Lady Sansa her lemon cakes.
"Please, Cook, I did naught wrong. Give me a chance to explain," Ingrit again tried pleading, as she made sure her chest heaved. Cook stared as her large chest as if transfixed, but then remembered that he had a busy kitchen to run.
"Turnip, love, go into the glass garden and get the rest of the fruit," Cook said to his daughter firmly.
"Father, I do not see why I have to do HER work because she takes off," Turnip snarked,pointing at Ingrit.
"You will do as you are told, Turnip, unless you want to go to the glass garden with a sore arse! Now, go," he yelled, looking around for his big wooden spoon, but realizing it was on the far counter. He stepped nearer to Turnip to give her a hard swat to get her moving, but she was already on her way out. The other servants had paused to see if there was going to be a bit of a show until Cook shouted at them to hurry up and bake the bread and chop the vegetables.
Mistress Ona was steering Ingrit into the dimly lit room off the great hall. Cook lumbered in, huffing and puffing. He was licking his lips with the hope of seeing Ingrit's bare behind. The girl was the shapely, no doubt. He loved watching the Mistress bare a lass's pert bottom and turn it cherry red. Only the comely ones, though. To his chagrin, no sooner than Cook got his large frame in the room, a kitchen boy came to fetch him. Someone had burnt the black bread or some such other crisis. Cook would have to settle with watching the next time Ingrit misbehaved, because with her, there was always a next time.
"Ingrit, you have brought a great disgrace on all of us in the kitchen with your deceitful behavior. Now, I want to hear exactly what happened from start to finish. I will kindly tell you that your comely guard will not be sitting comfortably for a while. You should be most grateful that he wasn't tossed back out of here on his arse. It's a shame because he is a fine looking lad. If I were but a few less years...Never mind that! Now, as I said before, you can be honest now and tell us...or tell us in between getting a good spanking and howling over my lap," the Mistress said plainly.
"I will tell you plainly, Mistress," Ingrit agreed, horrified. She knew there was no chance of escape. She had lied her way out of many deserved punishments. Now, she had involved Eyan. She knew she was really in for it.
Ingrit had been over that lap many times and none were pleasant experiences. She, for once in her life, told Mistress Ona the truth the first time. As she confessed, she realized that she had been played for a fool by a child. In turn, she had used the affections of a man she liked, to get him to do her bidding...for a boy just using her. By the end of the telling, she was crying softly, not out of fear, but shame.
Mistress Ona pulled Ingrit into her arms.
"Thank you for telling me the truth. I know that wasn't easy for you. You silly girl, you were played the fool. How many times have I warned you about all the flirting and lying? Hmm...I know you are sorry, but you need to be punished. There is no getting out of this one," Mistress Ona said with little sympathy.
"We need to get this over with so we can get luncheon on the table. Clearly, the staff cannot function without everyone doing their jobs. You could move up high in the kitchen staff some day. You have the intelligence, you just need to focus on staying out of mischief. As I will show you again, it only gets your sassy behind spanked, eh?" the Mistress said with tenderness. It was less years that Ingrit knew that Ona had been a kitchen maid herself.
"Go to the privy, clean up. Then, meet me in my chamber. I'm going to talk to Cook. You best have your bottom bared and be in that corner before I get there!"
"Yes, Mistress," Ingrit said respectfully. She was relieved that Cook at least wouldn't witness her shameful spanking.
No less than ten minutes later, Ingrit had hastily washed and bared herself. She immediately went to face the corner. Her face burned as she pulled up her dress to bare herself. Ingrit was known for her large chest, but she also had an ample bottom. The air in the small stone walled chamber felt cool on her backside, but she knew Mistress Ono would quickly heat it up. Her face burned with humiliation and sorrow. Had Eyan had to face that horrible strap in the guard barracks, because of her? She couldn't bear to think of him hurting like that. He treated her like gold and she had betrayed him for a gold necklace and a few coins.
Ingrit heard the door open and shut. Hard foot steps approached on the stone floor. She then heard Mistress say, "Come on, now. We have work to do."
Still holding up her dress, Ingrit made her way to the sitting Ona and stood in front of her.
"You know you are most fortunate that Steward Poole let us handle this, aye? If not, you would be getting a lot worse than almost a week of spankings!" Ona had been gripping the girls forearms, she carefully guided her over her broad lap. Ingrit knew to put her hands behind her back so Mistress could grip them. She was firmly pinned into place. Her breast hung down swaying. Thank the gods, she was glad that Cook wasn't leering at her while she prepared to take her well-deserved paddling.
Wait...A week? Did she say a week? She knew Alira once a whipping after lunch and a bedtime spanking for breaking an expensive piece of pottery when careless. Then again, she thought the second spanking was more for attitude after the first correction. In some great houses, servants could be cast out for much less. Jobs were hard to come by in the sparsely populated North. She had been threatened with a week of every other night punishments the last time she had been caught lying, but it had never happened.
Whack! Whack! WHACK! The spanking started quickly. Ingrit tried to shift her well-padded behind but there was no way for her to move. She was at the mercy of her kitchen supervisor. She would get spanked as long and hard as Ona thought she deserved, maybe even a little more. Smack! Crack! Smack! Crack!
"You are really going to have to start behaving yourself. Even Steward Poole will cast you out with another incident, do you understand, young lady?" Mistress said swatting down hard on the bared behind turning pink in front of her.
"Yes, Mistress!" Ingrit was trying to keep still, but it was impossible as the spanks rained down all over her buttocks. Swat! SWAT! Swat! Swat! Swat! The whacks got faster and harder until they paused. Ingrit was tearing up and starting to cry out.
She felt a cool, smooth object pat her sizzling rear. That felt nice for a moment, she felt a few more little pats, then CRACK!
"Owww! No! Please!" Whack. Whack. Whack. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.
The young kitchen maid tried to thrash around with all her might to avoid the onslaught of whacks.
"I thought that Cook's spoon on your bare bottom would make a good impression on you," Mistress said with a dose of pleasure at how effective the spoon was as a paddle. Cook usually just whacked the bottoms of anyone who displeased him as they when about their duties. He was too busy and out of shape to administer a full punishment.
Swat! Swat! Crack. Smack. Smack. Smack.
The large wooden spoon danced merrily over Ingrit's behind causing bright red, splotches to form. Pop! Pop! POP! Mistress Ona really did need to wrap this up and get back to work. She brought the spoon down lower on Ingrit's sit spots and upper thighs. The girl was crying hysterically and begging for the spanking to stop. Ona spanked her for another few minutes faster, but with a lighter series of swats. She knew that Ingrit would be eating her luncheon and supper standing. Ingrit was indeed learning a valuable lesson over her mentor's lap. . .CRACK!
"I won't even...ow. do it. Againnnn. Stop.. I am sorry, Mistress. Please!" Ingrit pleaded as the spanking seems to go on for ever. Ingrit had never had such a paddling even when she and Alira got in a food fight before the Lord's name day feast.
Mistress Ona put the spoon down and cracked her behind five times with the flat of her hand. Spank. Spank. Spank. Spank. Spank! Ingrit had stopped trying to move and just cried. Her long hair hung down and got wet from the tears pooling below the chair.
"It was all my fault! Ouch! OUCH! I was foolish. owww... Please forgive me...aww."
Ona stopped paddling down hard and rubbed the girl's back a bit.
"Almost over," she comforted. "Stand up."
Ingrit struggled to stand up without clutching her hands to her flaming buttocks. She did wipe away the tears from her eyes and her nose with cloth from the hem of her skirt.
Mistress lifted the skirt to inspect the backside. It was red and blotchy, almost bruised in small spots.
"I was going to follow up that spanking with a good whipping with the stick," she admitted. "However, your behind cannot take that now. I am going to grant you mercy and hold that off until your bedtime spanking tomorrow or if you aren't behaving, even tomorrow morn. No time for salve now. We have to help get luncheon on the table. You are serving," Mistress revealed.
Ingrit wanted to protest but she could not handle a single additional swat on her stinging behind. She nodded sadly. Maybe Mistress wanted the family to see that the girl had been punished. She would be walking stiffly and her face was puffy from crying.
"Look here," Mistress said pulling her down on her lap,"you took that well. It's almost forgiven. You are a good lass who did a terrible thing. You will need to make it up with that handsome lad of yours. And if I ever see you speak to that Greyjoy again, I will paddle the daylights out of you in front of the Gods and everyone!" Ona said hugging the girl tightly as she sobbed. She made sure there was no pressure on her tender backside as it hung in between her legs.
"So sorry. Thank you..." Ingrit cried. Mistress Ona was the closest thing she had to a mother. Her behavior had shamed them all.
"I know. Now let's go back to work. I will come to your chambers tonight to check on you," Ona said standing up Ingrit and patting her back.
"Mistress...Are you really going to spank me every other night this week?" Ingrit asked with big eyes.
"Oh, I didn't say who was going to be doing ALL the spanking, did I?" Mistress said with a glint in her eye. There was a soft knock on the door. Ona said, "Enter."
Eyan shyly walked in the room...