(After both of them bathed)
Ray nearly walked out when he realized that Kai wasn't following him.
"Can you just play along with me for a while?"
"No."
"Just stand or walk behind me."
"No."
"Please!"
Silence…
"Please!"
After going on like this for about half an hour, they finally left the room.
They arrived at the table to find everyone already seated.
"Pardon me." the second youngest prince apologized and sat down quickly to avoid any trouble.
"I heard that you had some trouble."
"Yes father."
"See me in my room after dinner."
His 2 older brothers snickered.
"Jun neng, Zheng Wei, do you want to be punished!"
They quickly returned to their dinner, not wanting to anger their father more.
(After dinner in Rui qi's room)
When the door closed behind them, Ray's heart beat at 1001 times per second.
He knelt down in front of the King as did all the rest of the people in the room, all except one.
"You slave! Kneel down before me!"
Kai stood upright near the door, not budging.
"Get him to bow down before me!"
The three guards nearest to the defiant boy stood up. Two grabbed him by his arms and another kicked his legs.
Still, he stood there just like nothing happened.
That angered the King very much.
The guards were intimidated by his furious look and continued to work on getting Kai to kneel down, avoiding eye contact.
More guards came over to help but to no avail. No matter how hard they tried, Kai just didn't give in.
"Give him 80 strokes!"
/Of what/ Kai questioned Dranzer.
/You'll see soon/ Dranzer answered vaguely.
Two men took out two of something that looked like the oar of a boat.
The guards all tried to get him to lay face down in the center of the room now.
"Useless! Why can't you even manage a small bastard like him!" His majesty stood up as he said so, blazing with fury. Smoke coming out from his ears was nearly visible.
He unsheathed the sword he was armed with as he walked towards the two-tone haired boy.
He swung his sword and it contacted with Kai's thighs.
A gash appeared horizontally across the layers of skin that's around his femur.
A guard kicked his newly formed wound, taking Kai by surprise. Kai fell as a result of that.
The guards quickly took this opportunity to drag him to the center of the room (walking behind the King). A trail of blood followed at the back as its master was dragged along. They pushed him down face first and pinned him down firmly.
The King settled in his comfy chair, the frame made of redwood and the cushions stuffed with cotton made with genuine silk. He put his sword aside, ordering a guard to wash it for him. That appointed guard hastily went to fulfill his masters' 'desire'.
"That's much better. Now start." (The King)
Kai learnt that those oar-like things were no child's playthings. They hurt you when used for torture.
After the agonizing beatings, Kai was finally allowed to get up and leave.
Kai could barely get up. He stumbled on his first step, nearly falling down. Ray walked over to provide help but Kai's pride disallowed him from accepting it. He gathered up the strength and tolerated the pain. With determination, he managed to walk out of the room without any help.
"Why do you have so much trouble with him? Resort to violence if you have to…" The King started after Kai was no longer visible to them.
"I did but…"
"Don't interrupt me! You shall be punished for this."
"Fine."
'How amusing this would be!' Kai thought. He was merely sitting outside the room. He couldn't conjure up the strength to go back to his room so he sat outside for some rest before continuing with his task.
Ray shut his eyes tightly and braced himself for the first stroke.
It was exceptionally painful.
He guessed that his father had ordered him to do it.
When it was all over, Ray was unable to get up.
His father just left him sprawled across the floor and went to his bedroom.
Kai hesitantly got up and went in, somehow knowing that Ray needed help.
He picked up Ray with much difficulty, letting out a groan after Ray was in his arms (no dirty thoughts, this will strictly have no yaoi!)
The unconscious was in the elder's arms all the way to his extravagant room
Kai lay Ray down on the bed and searched for some cream (or something like that) that could ease the pain.
Finding it, the former took the 3rd oldest child's pants off (like I said before, no dirty thoughts!).
Kai started with his chore.
However, once he made contact with the bruised area, Ray became conscious.
"What are you doing?" Ray asked, startled.
Kai didn't answer and just continued with his devoir.
Ray winced from time to time as Kai proceeded.
Completing his task, Kai went off to bathe.
Before Kai went for a bath, Ray said, "Sleep in the other room."
Kai just continued walking and didn't even stop for a second.
When he went out, he saw his master sleeping sideways.
He smirked and proceeded on to the next room.
He didn't want to sleep so he took out a book and started reading.
At 3am, he decided to sleep.
Unlike the other, he slept face up in his usual posture.
He had a horrible nightmare, which woke him from his sleep at 4am however.
Not wishing to have that nightmare again, he went out to practice in the palace gardens.