WARNING: This chapter contains extreme physical abuse. Do not read if you can't handle that kind of thing. Slight sexual content, but mostly not.

Chapter 9: The Punishment

Again, she woke up from a nightmare of nothing. This bothered her, not being able to remember her dreams. She did remember last night however. Loki came to her room, and asked for her hand in marriage, yet again. He gave her a choice. If she married him, she would not be punished and Thor would get to come home. He even presented the ring once more. But even with the pleading of her friends from earlier that day, she still refused the king. So today, she was to be publicly punished.

Just an hour before she was scheduled to show up, a ladies' maid was sent to her room. She brought the appropriate clothing for such an event. The top of her dress could be opened completely from the back, without revealing her front. The skirt was unattached to allow easy removal later on. After she put on the rough white material, her hair was braided and pinned atop her head. She wore no adornments, no shoes, and no smile. As she left her room, she watched as other ladies prepared her bed with towels and medicines. They traveled to the grand opening of the palace. There, almost all of Asgard waited, quietly for the woman who slapped the king. It may seem silly, but this was something unacceptable.

She walked towards the side of the group, where a large wooden pole stuck out of the ground. There, Loki tied her hands in front of her to the pole, and opened the back of her dress. "This," he exclaimed for all to hear, "is the punishment, you will receive if you deny the commands of your king! This woman, Celestrial, daughter of Jacob and Anja, has not only refused my commands, but has physically slapped my face! For this, she shall receive twenty lashes!" He turned to her and said, "If she begs for mercy, I shall lessen her punishment to ten lashes!" He bent down and asked her, "Do you want mercy?" She slowly turned her face to meet his eyes, and spat at his feet. He quickly raised and yelled out, "She shall have twenty-five," and raised the whip in his hand high over his head.

She cried into her pillows as the nurses dabbed medicine into her deep gashes. Loki showed no mercy as he ripped into her soft flesh with the leather whip. Even though he counted out each one, nobody in the crowd counted with him. They usually would whenever somebody was being whipped, but they stood with quiet tears. When one nurse finished, she gently stroked her head, and whispered, "You did not deserve that. Let me know if you need anything." As soon as they left, Sif walked in with some information, that would make her happy. "I know you may not care at the moment, but I got your letter to it's destination." She stopped when she saw Cellie's back. She had seen lashing before, but has never seen the end result up close. Quickly running to her side, she stroked her arm, and calmed her down with her good news. "Your family is fine. They reside with your mother's sister, and your father was proud that you could decode his notes."

That night, after the nurses and all of her guests had left, Celestrial finally had some time to herself. She slowly raised from her bed, and made her way to the table with some food on it. Volstagg had brought it earlier, but she didn't have the appetite at the time. Now, she was starving. She wolfed down the Hog's leg, cherry tomatoes, soft cheese, and bread. When she was done, she slowly walked back to her bed. She was in a lot of pain. After slipping into a fitful sleep, a loud knock came at her door. Barely able to move, she called out, "You may enter." The door opened and Loki stepped in with a goblet in hand. Smirking, he looked over her back, proud of his work. He walked over to her bed, and gently ran his hand along the deep wounds. She hissed with pain, as his smirk grew into a crazy grin.

"My dear, how are you," he asked with as much 'sympathy' as he could muster. "Go away, please," he heard her say into the pillows. "But, I have brought you drink. It will help ease the pain, better than some local medicine." She painfully sat up, and drank slowly from the cup. It was honeyed wine. Enjoying the taste, she sipped more of it. Almost instantly she started to feel dizzy. "Is this poisoned," she asked with concern in her voice. Chuckling, Loki put the goblet on the table by her bed. Then reached down and gently touched the side of her face. He leaned down and kissed the side of her head, trailing small kisses to her ear. Nibbling on her ear lobe, he whispered, "Your punishment is not over my love. That was just for the public. What I am about to do to you, will make you beg for my forgiveness. Only when I have finished, will I accept any apology you may come up with."

Trying to be brave, she asked, "But is the wine poisoned?" He grabbed the cup and took a large swig of the honeyed wine. "If it was, then would I have done that? No. It is a simple nerve enhancer." She furrowed her eyebrows in question. "In other words, the pain you feel now, is about to multiply. Every nerve will feel ten times what it normally does. For you, it means a lot of pain. For me, it's pure pleasure." Her eyes widened. Was he going to rape her again? She closed her eyes, and begged, "Please Loki, don't. You have hurt me enough today." "No I have not. This, shall be part of your true punishment." He flipped her onto her back, making her arch her back, and scream in pain. The scream never made it out of her mouth, for as quick as he flipped her, he had another cloth cutting into her delicate face.

He climbed on top of her, and let his weight lay completely on her. The muffled screams were not enough for him. So he turned her over once again onto her belly. Looking around, he saw the medicines the nurses had left and decided to see what was available. He found something useful, suture threads, and a needle. Without any local numbing agents, he started sewing her deep gashes shut. He did so with a ragged pattern, ensuring large and unsightly scars. Since his hands were not clean, he knew the wounds would also shortly become infected. She started kicking and punching the bed trying to make noise. He bound her feet and arms to the large posts of the bed frame, and continued sewing her now black, purple, and bleeding skin. Halfway through, she was about to pass out from the pain, so he stopped for a while. He wanted her to feel everything.

The pale king sat at her small table, and sipped a glass of water. He looked over her body, admiring his finished work. Her bed was covered in blood, her back already swollen with infection. When he was done, he allowed her to fall asleep. When she wakes up however, he has so much more that he will do to her. Sitting there, he thought of everything that had happened since Thor's banishment. He found out that he is really adopted. The son of Laufey, king of the Frost Giants. Odin fell into the Odinsleep before his questions were answered. He was now king of Asgard, although he did not mind that. The woman he loved had disobeyed him, even slapped him. He could not explain it, but before, he could not stand to see her get hurt. And now, he was purposely causing her pain. It thrilled him, to see her scream. Watching her cry, beg, and scream in pain actually gave him pleasure.

When she finally woke up, she noticed she was still tied to her bed. Loki was still at her table, but he was looking outside, admiring the stars. She tried to move, but anytime she did, a large wave of pain washed through her, making her scream in pain. "Don't try to resist love," he said without tearing his gaze away from the sky. "Just accept it. I am king, and you are supposed to do as you are told." She turned her head away from him to keep from making eye contact. He stood from his chair, and walked slowly to the foot of her bed. He gently untied her leg restraints. Carefully, he then went to untie her hands. She looked up at him as tears rolled down her cheeks.

After untying the sash around her mouth, he cradled her face in his hands. He wiped her tears, kissed her cheeks, then put the sash back over her lips. Her eyebrows raised in shock as he turned her onto her back. Again, she screamed a muffled cry as he retied her hands and legs to the bed. He went to the washroom, and brought back some damp and dry towels. As he changed the towels on her bed that were drenched in blood with dry ones, he dabbed the dried blood from her sides with the damp towels. Rolling her just a little to glance at her back, he took another moment to admire his work. She already had infection starting to ooze from her sutures. He laid her back down, and kissed her forehead.

Grabbing the goblet, he carefully moved the sash on her mouth, and poured the liquid over her pale lips. She had no choice but to drink it. Estimating she had enough, he gulped the rest of the sweet wine. He carelessly tossed the cup aside as he moved towards her like a predator to its prey. He removed his shoes and his shirt, and climbed onto her. Trailing his hand along her body, he could not wait any longer. "Now, my love," he said with that low growl in his throat, "Now, you shall know true pain."

Author's Note: Unless I know you want more M rated content, I won't be uploading the next chapter. It's basically the entire chapter. I will though, continue with the more family friendly content. Reviews=love! Thanks for reading!