The Comte and the Peasant: Chapter Two
Hana Yori Dango is property of Yoko Kamio, Toei animation, etc. It does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form. I am merely borrowing the characters for my fanfic J. Now, on with the story!
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The sound of the whip against flesh was more horrible than Thadea could ever have imagined. The crowd had fallen silent immediately after the announcer had appeared on the platform, and the soldier with the whip had taken his place behind the pitiful man.
As the whip was raised and cracked against his back, the convicted made a pitiful cry as the leather ripped through skin and muscle. The wet squish as it slid through the poor man's blood made Thadea bend over and gag involuntarily. Mirielle who had just a moment ago been cheerfully talking about the F4 let out an involuntary cry of horror. She covered her mouth with her hands, and her already pale face turned stark white at the sight before her.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Thadea cried as she regained her composure and her stomach. She grabbed Mirielle's wrist and the two of them began to fight their way back through the crowd.
"Pardon me, coming through, so sorry about that," Thadea muttered apologies left and right as she tried to make her way out of the throngs of people. Many people threw them angry looks and shouted curses at them for interrupting their show, but Thadea didn't care. She could still hear the loud, disgusting crack and squish of the whip as it came down again and again, and her mind and stomach reeled with every lashing.
"Fifteen….sixteen….seventeen…….eighteen….." The crowd counted along with the soldier as he delivered blow after blow with a steady hand.
Thadea could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and became slightly panicked as the crowd got tighter and tighter around her. "I've got to get out of here!" she fairly screamed as she tried to elbow her way through, "Let me pass damn it!"
Mirielle too was beginning to panic as the crowd surged forward, fighting to get closer to the platform. "Thadea!" she cried as she lost her grip on her friend and the dark haired girl immediately disappeared into the multitude of unfamiliar faces. She felt herself being pushed back towards the platform and struggled helplessly against the force of the crowd.
Thadea looked back to find Mirielle being swept away towards the platform. "Hold on!" she cried as she tried to struggle back, but found that she was jammed in too tightly between three other people. Her eyes searched the frenzied mass, trying desperately to catch sight of Mirielle, but when she finally spotted the green ribboned straw hat, it was too late.
With horror, she watched as the comte's horses began to panic at the sight of the excited villagers crying and pushing around them. They whinnied and with a start, began to run straight towards where her friend and a few other people were gathered. With a desperate urgency, she kicked past the annoying villagers and made a bee line as fast as she could through the crowd to Mirielle.
As the horses and coach neared, Mirielle panicked and began to run blindly away from the crowd. She tripped on a raised stone and fell forward with a startled cry. Desperate to stop her fall, she reached out for something to grab onto. She felt her grip tighten on something soft and velvety and heard a distinct ripping noise as she tore it from wherever it was hanging and landed on her side on the hard cobblestone ground.
"Ouch! My butt!" she cried in pain as she rubbed her bruised backside. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she noticed Thadea running towards her.
"Are you okay Mirielle?" Thadea cried as she neared her friend, but her brown eyes immediately widened at the sight before her.
"Yeah, I'm okay. But my butt really hurts!" Mirielle cried as she reached out a hand for Thadea to pull her up. When Thadea extended her hand, her wide eyes were locked on something behind her.
"What's up with that weird expression Thadea?" Mirielle asked as she stood and began to brush the dirt off her dress. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Thadea made no reply, but just pointed towards something behind Mirielle. "Huh?" Mirielle turned her head and immediately she felt her body grow cold. There behind her stood Tiernan Doumet, the only son of the Comte de Champagne, a look of pure anger on his dark face.
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"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Tiernan Doumet growled as he pointed to the large wine stain on his beautiful red tunic. The dark purple of the wine was already bleeding through the fabric, making a large ugly mark on the once perfect shirt.
"I….I…." Mirielle stuttered, her face as white as paper, "I didn't mean to! It was an accident! I tripped on a rock and I was trying to steady my fall…"
"SHUT UP!" Tiernan yelled at her. "I don't care to hear your pitiful excuses! You've already ruined my tunic! Just how are you gonna pay for that huh?!"
By this time, the crowd had gone dead silent and was watching intently at the awful scene unfolding between the young lord and the country girl. The soldier who had been carrying out the flogging had also stopped his whip, and was now watching with a sadistic glimmer in his eyes. The convicted man was already near death as far as he could tell, and it would be delightful to perform another lashing on the same day.
Mirielle began to cry as she repeatedly muttered "I'm sorry" to the angry Tiernan Doumet. He looked upon her tears impassively and turned to his three companions who had come to stand behind him. "Well, what do you think we should do with her? I have never been so insulted in my entire life! Ruiz, I demand you punish her for her disrespect!"
Before the future comte of Troyes could open his mouth, the crowd began to chant "flog her, flog her, flog her" in loud excited tones. As the cries grew higher, Mirielle cried out in terror and buried her tear stained face in her hands.
Thadea stared in disbelief at the bloodthirsty masses and then at the malicious young lord who was grinning maliciously at the poor girl who was cowering at his feet. It was just like some horrible nightmare! A nightmare far worse than anything she could ever have imagined. As Thadea's mind slowly began to clear, she felt a rush of red hot anger flow through her veins. She glared with contempt at the crazed crowd and then turned to face the arrogant Lord Doumet. With slow, steady steps she walked over and placed herself between the crying Mirielle and the young lord. Glaring up into his face, she began to launch an angry tirade against him and his companions.
"You cruel bastard!" she shouted as she jabbed a finger in his face. "How dare you terrify my friend like that! It wasn't her fault that you spilled wine all over yourself! Blame it on your own clumsiness and stupidity!"
A look of surprise passed through Tiernan's face as he registered what this little peasant girl was saying to him, but he quickly replaced it with an angry scowl.
"How dare you speak that way to me you dirty peasant!" he cried, narrowing his dark eyes and glaring at her, "Do you even know who I am?"
"Yes, I know who you are," Thadea shot back, "and I don't give a damn! So you're the son of the Comte of the county! So what? You didn't do anything special to earn that title! It was handed to you, just like everything else in your life! You've accomplished nothing on your own and you think that deserves respect?! The way I see it, you're nothing but a spoiled little brat!"
As Thadea glared into the shocked faces of the F4, her mind slowly began to realize the severity of what she had just said. As the young Lord Doumet's eyes narrowed, she knew that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.
The End of Chapter Two
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Well, hope you all liked the second chapter. Please send feedback to delphigirl.geo@yahoo.com. It might take a while for me to get the third chapter out, but I've been trying to get my fanart site up and running again so that hasn't given me much time do write ^_^. If any of you like online fan manga, please visit my website at:
http://dreamcatchers.envy.nu
*lol* I know, I'm shameless ^_^.