There was a long silence, then Mark hesitantly addressed the elves.
“I’m sorry, I know this is very difficult. I don’t… I mean I don’t understand why you’ve come to my camp for this, or why you would discuss these personal matters with me, or show me Talia’s memories like that.”
As he spoke, Talia stood and faced him, visibly trembling. Her expression was one that none there had ever seen before. “Mark… The curse… You must…” Her eyes fell. “I cannot say it. Please, someone tell him, and then the rest of you must go, quickly. It is fully upon me, and it is unbearable! It must happen soon! And I could not bear you seeing it!”
“Sweet source, how could I have so shamed myself?” Alilia murmured.
“Mark, Alilia cursed Talia to be raped by you until the end of days.” Nemia quietly stated.
Mark stared at her, his brows up and his mouth open. Then he shook his head firmly. “I won’t do it.” he stated flatly.
“You must!!!” Talia shrieked, and now her face held only agony.
“I CAN’T!!!” Mark yelled in return, his voice a mighty roar.
“See here! I must make you understand!” Yazadril quickly told him, desperate at Talia’s increasing distress. “The power that Alilia put into the curse was enormous! Enough to cast a Concussion spell that could reduce a small mountain to gravel and throw it all for a hundred miles in every direction! Look at that mountain there and think about that! And all of that power was passed into Talia with Alilia’s blow! And now it is affecting her, and it will do so increasingly, torturing her, and it may force her to do things that she does not wish to do, and it may affect reality in other ways until the curse is fulfilled! I dread this as much as you, but you must do it, or even more terrible things may happen until you do!”
“I can’t!” Mark returned, equally desperate to make them understand. “Look at her! She’s… She’s adorable, damn it! You may as well ask me to torture babies with red hot pokers!!! I couldn’t do it to save her life, I couldn’t even do it to save my own life!!! I just, can’t, do it!!!”
“Nothing you do can harm me, and nothing could be half as horrible as what I’m feeling!!!” Talia wailed as she stepped up to him and clutched two handfuls of his shirt in her shaking fists. “At least hurt me!!! Please!!!”
Mark stared at her, dumbfounded. Though he was seated cross-legged on the ground and she was standing, they were eye to eye.
Talia’s whole body shuddered. “I know that when a child of your people is violent or destructive, they are punished with blows upon the buttocks.” she gritted through clenched teeth. “Do that to me now. Do it hard. I’m begging you.”
“What? Spank you?” Mark asked incredulously.
“SPANK ME!!!” Talia screamed, and slapped his face with all her strength.
He was caught by surprise, and the blow snapped his head to the side a bit. “GODS!” he cursed.
She drew her arm back for another slap, and drew breath for another scream, but he was having none of that.
“FINE!” he yelled as he caught her arm and grabbed her around her waist, threw her face down across his thighs, and spanked her hard.
She screeched in pain, and instinctively tried to cover her behind with her hands as she thrashed upon his lap, but he seized her wrists and held them with one hand, pressing them to the small of her back to hold her down, then continued until he had given her twenty smacks.
