Varian whimpered as the guard pulled him out of the cabin. He didn't know what was about to happen, but he knew it couldn't be anything good.
He wanted to go home. He wanted to be with his dad. They could leave Corona behind them forever and forget about the deceptively cheerful kingdom. Varian had no idea where they could go, but he didn't care. Anywhere was better than Corona, just so long as they were free and they were together.
But it wasn't to be. Varian was a slave. His dad was trapped in amber. He wanted to be hopeful about finding a way to escape, and to free his father, but his hope was faltering. He didn't have a plan, and it was hard to accomplish anything when it seemed like the entire kingdom of Corona was doing everything in its power to push him down when he thought he'd already reached his lowest point.
Varian tried to look over his shoulder to see if Andrew was coming behind him, but the guard squeezed his arm painfully, bringing his focus forward again.
"If you think that so-called prince is going to do anything to save you, you're sadly mistaken." The guard said. His tone made it difficult to tell if he was feeling frustrated or amused. Varian felt a rush of panic at his tone. What was about to happen, that he would need saving from it?
Glancing around, none of the other slaves looked as panicked and confused as Varian felt. They looked like a disaster was about to happen right in front of them. Something that they knew was coming, but either couldn't prevent or didn't want to because that would mean putting themselves in harm's way.
Varian was afraid that he didn't have a choice in the matter. Whatever was about to happen, Varian was caught right in the middle of it. As he was pulled past the gathered slaves he saw a slightly raised platform with several sets of rusty cuffs chined to the ground on it. There were a few tall poles that had chains attached to them. Varian imagined that this was where they restrained slaves for punishment or discipline.
As Varian was pulled closer he saw muddy red spatters all across the platform, but especially around the poles and cuffs on the ground. Varian swallowed thickly and felt suddenly lightheaded. He took several deep breaths and averted his gaze. He tried to tell himself that the smudges were just remnants of rust and not something else. Now was not the time to faint just because his body didn't know how to handle seeing blood.
At least the stuff that was hopefully just rust was brownish and dry. Varian knew that if it was red, warm, liquidy, and flowing, he would already be out like a light.
Varian had the terrifying feeling that he was about to be dragged onto that platform, and that whatever was about to happen to him was going to be seen by everybody else. If Varian wasn't so used to being the center of unwanted attention, and if he wasn't so terrified of what was about to happen to him, he would feel absolutely humiliated.
Most of the slaves stared at Varian as he was pulled past them. Their slightly annoyed, slightly pitying, and incredibly cautious expressions fell to looks of horror. It did nothing to make Varian feel any better.
What few slaves weren't watching Varian were looking towards the only other slave that was being dragged along by the guards. He had tangled dark hair and pale yellow eyes that didn't look human.
The man was absolutely wild. Five guards were pulling him along and trying to subdue him, but it still looked like he was about to overpower them. The man thrashed, screamed, and tried to scratch at the guards, even as they punched and kicked at him as they pulled him along.
One of the guards threw a chain around the dark-haired man's legs as they pushed him onto the platform. He staggered and fell to the ground. He quickly tried to get up, but the guards were quicker. Two of them jumped onto his back, pinning him down. Two other guards grabbed the man's hand and pulled it out, holding it against the arm.
The man's screaming and thrashing increased, but the guard's hold was firm. The four guards held him still enough that the last guard had the opportunity to wrap one of the cuffs on the ground around his wrist. He pulled the chain tight, pulling his wrist against the ground. The guards moved on to doing the same to his other wrist.
The man kicked and strained against the cuffs, but with his arms stretched out as far as they could go on either side, he was effectively pinned down, even after the guards got off of him.
Varian couldn't help but notice that the distance of these two cuffs on the ground were at just the right distance to hold this particular man down. Had they been put right here for just this man? How often was he brought up onto this platform, and why?
Varian was pulled to the front of the crowd, right in front of the platform. The woman who had held him down when he'd been branded walked right onto the stage. If Varian hadn't already thought that she was the one in charge here he would know at this moment that she was the warden that the guard had mentioned before. She held herself with far too much confidence and superiority to just be a common guard.
The warden strode up to the slave chained to the ground. Despite his surely uncomfortable position the man tilted his head back and glared up at her. She knelt on the ground and clenched her fists in his hair. The man snarled, which soon turned to a grunt of pain when she shoved his head harshly on the ground.
"You are making this much more difficult than you need to." The warden said. "The rules are simple here. Even one as foolish as you would be able to pick up on them after all this time." The warden stood up. The man tried to lift his head again, but she put her foot on top of it. He tried to twist away, but that only made her increase the pressure. The man grunted in pain.
Varian's legs shook as he watched the scene in front of him. He felt like if he wasn't being held up by the guard he would have fallen to the ground. How could everybody else seem so indifferent about what was happening?
"I've given you more chances than you deserve, Hector." The warden said. "But you just don't learn your lesson. No matter how much we punish you, or your fellow slaves, or even your beloved family, you continue to defy me."
Hector's fingers curled and stiffened, pushing against the ground in a way that just didn't look natural, let alone comfortable. He was breathing harshly. He looked furious. Varian knew that if Hector wasn't pinned down he would be trying to choke the life out of the warden.
"You will not break me." Hector growled.
"We'll see." The warden sneered at Hector before she looked towards the crowd and stared directly at Varian. The boy shuddered under her cold gaze and tried to shrink back, but the guard holding him didn't let him move. "Bring up the boy."
"No!" Varian cried out instinctively. He tried to twist away from the guard holding him, but it did no good. He was pulled onto the platform. Now everybody's eyes were on him, but the only person that Varian could look at was Hector, who was watching him curiously.
Varian was brought right in front of Hector and forced down to his knees. The warden lifted her foot off of Hector's head. She knelt next to Hector and pulled his head back in a way that looked painful. She forced Hector to look at Varian.
"Do you know who this is?" The warden asked.
"Should I?" Hector asked. He sounded more inconvenienced and annoyed than anything.
The warden looked at Varian. "Show him your mark, boy." Varian grimaced and lifted his hand, showing off his still very painful brand. Hector's eyes widened. He stared at the mark for a long minute before his gaze shifted and he looked Varian in the eyes.
"What is this?" Hector asked.
"Y-you tell me." Varian stammered. He was trying to put on a brave face, like Hector was.
"Tell him who you are." The warden said coldly.
"U-uh, Varian." The boy said. The warden gave him an expectant look. She was looking for more. Varian grimaced. What did she want from him? "S-son of Quirin." It was how the warden had addressed him when he'd arrived.
The reaction was immediate. Hector paled and looked like he was going to be sick. He stared at Varian for a long minute, silent and frozen, before he lashed out. Hector squirmed and kicked, twisting his hands in the cuffs. If he kept this up he was going to end up hurting himself.
Hector growled and shouted, cursing out the warden, the guards, and everybody who had ever set foot in Corona. Even chained down Varian thought that this man was incredibly dangerous, and he would feel terrified if he was the warden, but she looked in complete control.
"Listen carefully, Hector." The warden said. "You tried to escape again, and you know we can't let that kind of behavior go unpunished. I'm going to give you a choice here. Either the boy will be punished on your behalf, and we'll take it easy on him, since it's just his first day, or you will take the full brunt of your punishment, and I'm sure you remember as well as I do what that will look like. So, what will it be?"
The tension in the air was thick, and for the first time Hector actually looked scared. He was quiet for a long moment as the warden waited for an answer. Varian was terrified of what would be said. On the one hand, he didn't want to get hurt at all. But on the other hand, he definitely didn't want somebody else to suffer. Especially since it was clear that Hector would be suffering much more than Varian would.
Varian imagined that the punishment for a runaway slave would not be pretty. It had to be pretty bad if Hector looked so scared, but then why wasn't he saying that Varian should take the punishment? It was clearly the lesser of two evils.
Finally Hector sighed and lowered his head as much as he could while the warden was holding him. The tension in his shoulders and hands relaxed and his legs stilled as he stopped trying to escape.
"I'll take it." Hector said quietly. There were quite a few gasps and mutterings in the ground by stunned slaves and even guards. The warden didn't seem bothered by the noise in the crowd. Her attention was focused on Hector. She smirked.
"I thought you might." She released Hector, letting his head fall to the ground. She knelt and began to undo the cuffs around his wrists. "But understand this. If you try to escape again, or if you fight us, your punishment will go to the boy, and we won't be as forgiving as I offered to be."
She uncuffed Hector, and yet he continued to lay still on the ground, even after nothing was there to hold him down. "Get up." The warden said. Hector took a deep breath and slowly pulled himself to a kneeling position, and then he stood. Hector's gaze was glued to the ground.
"Look at me." The warden ordered. Hector hesitated for a very brief moment before he obeyed. The muttering in the crowd quieted in an instant as they just watched what was happening.
"Very good." The warden sounded far too pleased with herself. Hector's hands and face twitched with barely restrained fury. "Now go to the pole and let the guards chain you." Hector didn't move. The warden raised her eyebrow. "I would hurry if I were you, before I change my mind"
Hector took a deep breath and did as he was told. He held his hands up, letting the guards restrain him. The warden moved to stand right in front of Hector. Varian thought that he would kick at her, but he didn't move. She scoffed at him. "And here I thought you said that you wouldn't be broken."
The warden turned towards the crowd, who were all watching with bated breath. "Pay attention. This is what happens to those who think they can defy us." Another guard stepped onto the platform. He was massive and looked like he could snap Varian like a twig without even trying. To make things worse he was carrying a leather, multi-stranded, barbed whip.
The warden stepped aside, giving room for the guard with the whip. There were no more taunts or preparations. The guard just brought the whip back and cracked it against Hector's chest. It whipped through his shirt and slashed at his skin. Hector hissed and drew back as much as he could. He was given very little respite. The guard moved to hit him again.
Varian saw scratches and droplets of blood already showing up. His breath quickened. He closed his eyes and ducked his head, trying not to see the blood. This was an even worse time to faint than before. The warden looked away from Hector just long enough to move to stand just behind Varian.
"Pay attention, boy." The warden said. "I've heard a lot about you and your defiance of authority. It would do you well to see what happens to those who step out of line here."
Varian knew that he couldn't watch this. He was already starting to feel dizzy, and he just knew that he was going to be sick or worse if he continued to watch, and that would just make everything much worse. But he was scared of what would happen to him if he didn't do what the warden said. So Varian watched Hector, forcing himself to stare at his face.
Hector met Varian's gaze. The two of them just stared at each other. Varian wondered if Hector needed both a grounding method and an escape from reality like he did.
Varian didn't know how long this went on for. He didn't know how many times Hector was whipped. It must have been a lot though, because eventually Hector couldn't help but scream with every new hit. After what felt like forever even Hector's scream's began to die down. His eyes became unfocused. He was still looking towards Varian, but more often than not it felt like he was looking past him and not truly at him.
Finally, when Hector looked like he was barely supporting himself, and would have fallen to the ground if it weren't for the chains holding him up, the warden held up a hand and the guard stopped.
"Hopefully that will be enough for you to have learned your lesson." The warden said to Hector, who looked so unfocused Varian wouldn't be surprised to learn that he didn't hear a word she said. "But I'm afraid we're not done yet. This was your punishment for being defiant, but you still need to be punished for trying to run away."
Hector tried and failed to lift his head. "P-please."
"As much as I enjoy hearing you beg, your words are useless." The warden looked to yet another guard, who handed her a thick beating stick. The crowd began muttering again as she wielded the weapon and eyed Hector with cold, heartless eyes. "You knew this was coming. You have nobody but yourself to blame."
The warden raised the stick, and too late Varian realized that she was aiming right for Hector's knees. He had a bad feeling that he knew what she was about to do, and he was horrified, and he wasn't the only one.
"No, don't!" A woman shouted from the crowd. She sounded more terrified and desperate than Varian felt. Hector blinked and looked towards where the voice had come from.
"Sister?" Hector said breathlessly. It was almost inaudible. Varian was sure that he and the warden were the only ones that heard it. The warden scowled in annoyance as she glared towards the watching slaves.
"Lock her in solitary confinement." The warden said. "The false king as well." She turned her attention back to Hector, pulled the beating stick back, and swung it against his knee. There was a terrible cracking sound that rang in Varian's ears, though it was nowhere near as horrible a sound as the screaming that echoed in his head.
As weak as Hector was, the pain was so much that he couldn't help but scream. Varian was sure that his sister was screaming and shouting as well even as she was dragged away by the guards. Varian thought he heard a third voice shouting, though it might have been just his ears playing a trick on him. He'd been hearing so many screams, cries, and shouts these past few days that he didn't think he'd ever be able to get the sound out of his head.
The warden slammed the stick against Hector's other knee before she unchained him. He collapsed to the ground, whimpering in pain when his hurt knees slammed against the ground. Hector's eyes rolled to the back of his head as the pain finally became too much and he fell unconscious. Varian stared at him with wide, tearful eyes.
What…what had just happened?
The warden tossed the stick aside and looked back towards the silent crowd of slaves. "I hope I've gotten my message across. Now, get inside. Curfew is in ten minutes, and presentation or not I don't want to see anybody outside after dark." She gave Hector one more satisfied look before she strode off the stage and made her way back to the main building.
Varian swallowed thickly and wrapped his arms around himself. The screaming had stopped. The torture was over. The warden was gone. He should feel relieved, or at least dread, but all Varian could feel was numb. Even his sore body and painful hand felt distant and disconnected. He was aware of the feeling, but it didn't feel like it really belonged to him.
"-arian? Varian!" A hand grabbed his arm. Varian blinked and turned to see Andrew looking at him in concern. "Kid, we need to get inside. They take the curfew really seriously here." Andrew pulled Varian to his feet. The boy was tempted to just let Andrew pull him along, as it seemed a lot easier than controlling his own body himself, but he couldn't leave.
"W-what about Hector?" Varian asked. Everybody, guards and slaves alike, were leaving. It didn't look like anybody was going to be grabbing Hector to get him treated, or at least on a comfortable bed. Varian liked to think that they wouldn't just leave him lying on the ground, but he wouldn't be surprised if they would. And Varian doubted that Hector would be forgiven from curfew just because he was unconscious. If he wasn't brought inside he would just be punished even more, and that didn't feel right.
Andrew looked at Hector. "Look, kid, as much as I want to help this guy, I don't know if we can."
Varian stared at Andrew. He drew back from him slightly. "Why not?"
Andrew sighed. "You heard the warden. We have less than ten minutes to be inside. I don't know how to move someone who's hurt without hurting them more, let alone quickly and without any help, because I don't know if you noticed, but my people aren't really jumping at the chance to help your people."
Varian looked around. Andrew was right. The Saporians were hurrying away. Some of them sent panicked, pitying glances their way, but they hurried on without a word.
"My people?" Varian frowned. "Your people? Why can't we just be people?"
Andrew shook his head. "I don't know, kid." He reached out for Varian again, grimacing when the boy drew away from him. "Come on. We don't have time for this."
"I'm not leaving him." Varian insisted. His voice trembled. "I know how we can move him without hurting him, but I can't do it alone. I'm not strong enough." Varian had been taught all kinds of first-aid from his dad, so he had the knowledge, but it didn't matter how much he knew when the person he was trying to move was twice his size.
Andrew looked conflicted. He glanced towards where his people were escaping. Where his father was leading the way back to the cabins. Varian felt dread build up in his chest.
"Can you help me?" Varian asked, though he was scared to hear the answer. Was Andrew just going to be another royal who made empty promises that he broke the second it became an inconvenience?
For a long moment Varian was sure that Andrew was going to leave him, but the man squared his shoulders and gave him a determined look. "Just tell me what to do, kid."