As the rest of the party dispersed, Seth turned and called back over his shoulder, "Come with me, Franz."

A little shiver ran up Franz's spine, but he obeyed the command more out of instinct than anything else. Following behind the general, he found himself nearly trotting to keep up with Seth's long strides. He wished the older man would take a slower pace: he was not in any hurry to reach this journey's end.

Once they had gone a little ways into the woods, Seth stopped and cast a cursory look around, "This will do. Franz."

Franz immediately straightened up and put on his most attentive expression as the general turned to him and spoke his name.

"I will return shortly," Seth pointed to a sizable fallen tree that lay across the small clearing, never breaking eye contact or allowing his voice to waver as he continued, "When I do, I want you in your smallclothes waiting for me here. Understood?"

The command brought a hint of pink to Franz's cheeks and made his stomach bunch into a knot; he knew where this was headed, and it was not good. But, the shame of his actions gnawed at his conscience, and he felt his general's disappointment like a lead weight on his chest, so he ducked his head to acknowledge the order and murmured out a melancholy "Yes sir."

As Seth turned and strode into the forest, Franz began slowly removing his armor, then his tunic and outer clothing. Once he had stripped down to only his undershirt and soft linen breeches, he perched on the edge of the log to wait for the general's return.

His thoughts raced as the minutes of waiting stretched on. He went over and over his actions in his mind almost to the point of obsession, berating himself for being so utterly foolish. He had let everyone down: his comrades, Prince Ephraim, his brother, the general…

Lost in his own miserable thoughts, he did not hear Seth approaching until the general emerged from the trees and came to stand before him. In his hands, he held a freshly cut branch of birch wood, around two feet long and about the width of one of his fingers, which had been stripped and made perfectly straight. Franz looked up at the older man with wide eyes and met a stern, unwavering glare.

"Stand up, Franz."

Franz rose slowly to his feet.

"I am going to discipline you for your irresponsibility and outright neglect for your duty," Seth's tone was level and commanding, requiring his listener's full attention, "Do you object?"

As usual, Franz found Seth's authority alone impossible to argue against, even without considering the way his actions chewed at his conscience. He hung his head and whispered "…No sir."

"Good," Seth nodded to the fallen tree, "Turn around and bend over."

Franz shuffled around to face the tree, then took a deep, steadying breath before bending to bring his hands to the mossy trunk. The tree had been quite a sentinel in life, and when his arms bent to rest his chest against the soft, damp surface his torso was just a few inches lower than his hips. He felt a tap on the back reminding him to keep his spine straight a moment before his breeches were pulled down to the tops of his boots. A tiny whine caught in his throat at how terribly exposed he felt, but he dutifully held himself in place and waited, trembling, for his general's discipline.

Seth positioned himself to Franz's left and brushed the switch across the tops of the young man's thighs, tapping it lightly just below the curve of his ass. A little gasp sprung from Franz's mouth, and he shuddered with anticipation as his fingers gripped into the moss and soft wood beneath him, waiting.

"Franz, what is your responsibility when you're given watch duty?"

Still feeling the smooth shaft of wood skimming across his skin, Franz wished to heaven that Seth would just get on with it. However, arguing with the general in this position was not even a possibility he could consider, and he answered in a meek tone, "To-to keep watch over the camp, and to make sure… to make sure nothing bad happens…"

"A simplified answer; but yes, that's right," for a brief moment, Franz thought he heard the hint of a smile in Seth's voice, "And how can you do that, if you're not present at the camp?"

Franz swallowed hard, "I-I can't, sir…"

"No, you can't," any trace of mirth was gone from the general's tone, "In choosing to leave your post, you left the entire party vulnerable. That is completely unacceptable, young man."

As he spoke, he brought one hand to the small of Franz's back, and with the last sentence drew the other arm back and cracked the switch down with considerable force across the boy's naked backside.

"Ahh!" Franz yelped at the terrific sting that exploded in a fiery line along the underside of his ass. A moment later, another equally painful stroke burned across the backs of his thighs, and he gritted his teeth as his eyes filled with tears, "Ngh…"

After all the time he had spent training under Seth, Franz had found the general proficient in practically every task he applied himself to, and administering a whipping was no exception. The switch itself had been expertly chosen and crafted for the purpose: thick enough to deliver a powerful stroke but smooth and flexible enough to ensure a clean, crisp sting. Every time the dreadful implement snapped against his exposed skin, a pitiful cry flew from his mouth and his body jerked in an involuntary response to the sharp pain.

It only took a few strokes for tears to begin trickling down Franz's cheeks. He shifted his weight back and forth between his legs, peddling his feet in a subconscious effort to alleviate the intense burning that was building in his backside. Every time a particularly sharp stroke caught the curve under his ass, he pulled one knee to his chest and wailed.

He had no idea how long the dreadful ordeal stretched on, but when a fiery stripe cracked down across the backs of his legs - over skin that was already blazing from previous strokes - his knees buckled, bumping up against the log as he let out a desperate cry. Tucking his head down, he sobbed unrestrained into the cool moss beneath him, "Sorry… S-Sorry… 'm so sorry, sir…"

He heard Seth sigh, then felt movement beside him as the older man settled onto the log and brought his hand to rest on the back of Franz's head.

"Franz, I hope you understand how wrong - and how dangerous it was to leave the camp unattended. When you're on guard, your companions are trusting you with their lives, and to abandon that duty is a complete breach of that trust."

Franz felt like his heart was going to drop right out of the bottom of his stomach, and his voice shook with miserable sobs as he groaned, "Yes sir… I-I know… I'm so… so sorry…"

"Good; I'm glad of that, Franz," the hand resting on his head stroked softly through his hair, "Are you ready to take the rest of your punishment, then?"

A whimper was all Franz could muster as he pressed his forehead into the damp wood.

"Come Franz; we are almost finished."

It was unmistakably a command, but there was a gentleness in the general's voice that eased a little of Franz's anxiety. Slowly, shakily, he straightened his legs again, lifting his ass back up to the required position.

Seth patted his head as he murmured a quiet "Good boy." Standing once again, he repositioned himself beside the young man and whipped the switch across his raised backside.

"Ahaah!" The brief respite had done nothing to lessen the sting of the thick birch shaft as it smacked down again over the welts it had already created. If anything, disrupting the rhythm of blows had only made him more aware of just how much each stripe hurt. He cried and wailed unreservedly while doing his best to keep his body in position in spite of the way his limbs jerked and spasmed with involuntary movement at every blow.

Seth adopted a much slower pace, giving Franz a moment to recover from each devastating stroke before bringing the next one down. Up to this point he had delivered the whipping in silence, but after settling into the first few swats he once again addressed his errant young cavalier, using the sharp touch of the switch to make his points more clearly.

"Franz, your actions last night were extremely childish and irresponsible," he began, punctuating the two adjectives with two searing strokes to the boy's ass, "Whether we like it or not, we're in the middle of a war, and immaturity is a luxury none of us can afford. You're a member of the Frelian army, and I expect you to act like it. Understood?"

"Ye-Yes! Yes sir!" Franz bawled, his body jerking and dancing about frantically in spite of his efforts to hold still.

With one final, resounding crack! the discipline was over. Seth let the switch fall to the ground and returned to sit beside the sobbing young man, murmuring softly "Alright, we're done now. You did very well, Franz."

With a long, shaky sigh, Franz once again let his knees buckle and collapsed over the log. He felt Seth's hand run slowly up and down his back, and he allowed the soothing pattern to melt all the tension from his muscles.

For a while, the only sound in the small clearing was Franz's broken sobs. Seth continued to rub the boy's back in silence, allowing him a moment to cry out the guilt and pain uninterrupted.

As the tears began to slow, Franz took a shaky breath and managed a trembling murmur, "General, sir… 'm sorry for… for dis-disobeying you…"

"You're forgiven, Franz," Seth reassured, "Let's move forward, and plan to do better in the future."

"Yes sir!"

"Good," smiling, Seth moved his hand to pat the back of Franz's head, "We should head back now. You ought to get some rest before we head out again."

Franz sniffed and turned his head to meet his general's steady gaze.

"Besides, I think you still have a few more apologies to make, yes?"

The list of people he had worried, inconvenienced, and endangered paraded through Franz's mind, and he grimaced, "…Yes sir."

Slowly, he brought his hands against the log and pushed his torso up. He pulled his trousers gingerly back into place as he stood, whimpering as the fabric slid over his blazing skin.

Seth stood along with him and brought one hand under his chin to tilt his head up while the other gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. There was a softness in his eyes as he questioned "Are you ready?"

"Yes sir," Franz felt a warm pressure in his chest at the calming gesture and gentle words. This moment was exactly why he had chosen to follow the general in the first place. It was true that Seth's fighting prowess and tactical skill had earned him praise and recognition in the military, but it was his genuine care for those he fought alongside that had earned him the respect and devotion of every soldier who served under him, including Franz.

"Good. Gather your things; let's go," Seth nodded to where Franz had draped his armor and outer clothing.

Franz scampered to obey the command, but, reluctant to actually don the extra layers again, he gathered them into his arms and turned back to the general.

Seth's hand on his shoulder prompted him to walk alongside the older man, and the two of them left the clearing and headed back to camp together.