Removed for content.

I wasn't ready for the hand that cracked across my backside. I jumped, so startled that I tried to struggle out of Master's hold, but he was having none of it. He held me still with one hand as he delivered nine more stinging blows with the other. I was panting by the time he was finished with tears streaking down my face. But a spanking was certainly better than being taken dry or being beaten with the crop. It was certainly better than I deserved.

When he finished he had me step out of my pants and let me lay on the small sofa as I collected myself. I laid on my side, my head in my hands as I tried to stop my panting, so I could only hear Master leave the room and return with a towel for me to wipe my face with. I couldn't look at him as he handed it to me, I was so ashamed with myself for betraying the trust of such an amazing master. I had thought Master would leave once he saw that I was calming, but he merely set at his desk and watched me in silence for several moments.

"Quatre, do you know why you were just punished?" he asked after a bit.

"Because I betrayed you. I chose my friendship with Trowa over my servitude to you and I disobeyed you when you told me to capture him," I said emotionlessly, knowing that it had been wrong, though I couldn't seem to get my emotions to match this knowledge. No matter how many times I looked at the scene in my memory, I couldn't seem to find it in myself to capture Trowa. I knew it was wrong because I knew Master was trying to help, I knew Trowa couldn't get away, I knew it was my duty to obey Master, and I trusted Master. But no matter what, every time I saw Trowa's terrified face in my memory all that logic was gone, and I all I could do was stare in fear.

"You were punished now, not because you disobeyed me earlier, but because you usurping my power by forcing me to punish you," Master said. I stopped dead in shock, not even breathing. Could it be that by trying to atone for my earlier error I had made yet another mistake? How could I be so useless as to even mess up a punishment?

"I'm so sorry, Master," I whispered brokenly. "It was not my place to decide such things. Please, I'm so sorry."

"Enough," Master commanded, but his voice was soft yet strong. "You have already been punished for your error in judgement, and I am certain you will not make the same mistake again. However, you also seem to have another mistake which I cannot ignore. You did disobey me when I commanded you to catch Trowa, and if I had not caught him Trowa might have been seriously hurt. So, as punishment for that you will have two hours of your free time removed every day for the next week, and you will have to do chores during that time. Do you understand?" he asked.

"No," I whispered softly, "I don't understand at all. I don't understand why you're being so kind to me, after all the bad things I've done."

Instead of answering, Master sighed and rose from his seat. He came over to me and I tensed, expecting another spanking, but he merely sat down beside me and pulled me into his lap as much as he could without hurting me.

"Do you think I should want to hurt you?" he asked softly, but I couldn't answer. Should he? Probably. Did I want him to? Of course not. Did he need to? Maybe. I couldn't really say. I was only a slave. I couldn't think like a master.

"I don't, you know," he said finally, giving up on my answer.

"You're not my child or my pet. You're my lover and my subordinate, and as the first I need your strength, and as the second I need your obedience. I know you're strong, or I never would have chosen you to become one of my own. And you're beautiful, anyone can see that. But you won't be of any use to me if you stop obeying orders and begin to think of yourself as the master. I know you were afraid for Trowa and that's why you didn't obey me. You didn't think about what you were doing, so you didn't purposefully disobey me, and so your punishment fits that. But you weren't afraid when you decided to come here to make me punish you, and you had plenty of time to think about it. For a worse crime you deserve a worse punishment, little one, and that's why I spanked you. I don't want to use pain as a punishment, but I won't deny how useful it is in teaching a lesson."

"I am sorry," I told him again, knowing just how badly I had messed up. "I really didn't mean to do anything wrong."

"I know, kitten, but your intent doesn't matter so much here as what you actually did, and what you actually did was wrong. And, anyway, you're getting off light, so don't try to get out of it. One week of two extra hours of chores which you can spend fixing the barn. Now, you'd better get to the kitchen. You have to make dinner tonight without Trowa's help," Master told me.

"Thank you," I whispered as Master began to rise. "You are far too kind to me."

"I'm sure I'm not," he responded lightly, though I could sense a hidden seriousness in him, "I'm sure you deserve quite a bit more kindness, but you'll just have to make due with me for now," he told me, then left me alone to redress.

As it turned out, I later found that Master's punishment was not so kind at all. It was extremely light, but I almost would have preferred another spanking instead. I had gotten used to having a lot of free time every day to spend with the others, and suddenly having almost all of it gone for chores, lessons, and now my punishment was very difficult. On top of that it was also very hard to go outside and work while everyone else was sitting inside having fun. I knew it was my own fault, and I knew it was a light punishment, but that still couldn't keep me from sulking my was out to the barn for two hours every night. And to make matters worse Master told Trowa that he wasn't allowed to keep me company while I was being punished, saying that it wouldn't be a punishment if I had help. He was right, of course, but that fact didn't make me feel better at all.