Aquagirl (Fem. Percy x YJ)

99

"You are hereby, by order of the crown and council, sentenced to fifty lashes and death in the manner prescribed for by law." The administrator rolled up the scroll and tossed it to the side. I swallowed, nodded, and turned my back to him to face the others.

It would hurt, I knew, but only fifty? Did my king try to intervene? To get the council to lower the---

I gasped as the whip bit into my skin with a crack. Mother turned into Father's chest, hiding her face away. I stumbled with the next blow, earning a quick sharper one as punishment. Garth clenched his jaw. Percy was not here.

Neither was my king.

The cord burned across my shoulders. My eyes moved away from Mother, not wanting to watch her flinch and grasp at Father. Dinah stood next to Oliver, near one of the Zeta Tubes. She had one hand on---I gritted my teeth as he hit the same spot. Stars danced in my vision.

My breath hitched. Stay standing. Take the punishment like a soldier. Do not--- Don't worry Dinah. Don't disgrace Mother and Father.

Don't disgrace Poseidon.

 I wanted to call out to him as the whip struck again. He would make it better. He would hold me. He hadn't saved us from torture before, but he didn't know I was his then. I didn't. Just as I did not call out to Dinah. If I did, I knew she would interrupt. She would spirit me away to her home and bundle me in blankets.

Earther culture could be so much softer than ours at times.

The promise of warmth and cookies, of hugs and soft kisses, it was already so far out of reach. I'd never taste Mother's kelp cakes again. I should have asked her to make some. The water to my left rose and fell like breathing. I tried to match mine to it.

My choked inhales were forced out. They sounded too much like a sob. How many lashes were we at? Ten? Twenty? I had lost count. My vision began to swim. The thin material of my shirt stuck to my back. I could no longer feel my fingertips.

It's fine. It's fine. How many times had I been through it before in that cell? How many times in those dreams? The monsters simply decided to offer more hope that I had been truly freed before ripping it away again. And if it's real, I'd die soon. Everything would be over. And this was nowhere near the punishment I deserved. It was no different than what the monsters did. I should tell him that.

That wouldn't make a difference. He probably didn't want to do this anyway. If he did, if he thought I truly deserved punishment, there would be other things here. He'd use a different whip. He'd have added to it, brought iron rods or heated brands. This was a formality. Punish me with the fastest and least painful of the available punishments, refusing to even let the whip bite as deep as it could, then let me put an end to my misery. It was more mercy than I deserved.

With any luck, the man would not hesitate with the second part. I knew what would happen in the execution. The golden knife was already in place in front of me. As soon as my punishment was over, he'd force me to kneel and take it up. I'd stab myself in the stomach with the jagged blade. He'd press his foot against my back to drive me deeper onto it.

Dinah would try to stop it, that was also something I knew, but I would not let her.

I should have talked to her before, called her and apologized, because for all that I have told her that I would not kill myself, that I would not do it in front of her, that was what was about to happen. Would she hate me for that? Or would she understand that this was not a choice I could make? I could not demand for her to leave. I have no rights to make requests.

Maybe it was misleading to tell her it was a trial. There would have been one had I not turned my back and accepted the penalty. But the king would have to get involved, more than he already was. Percy would have to be involved, called to denounce me and declare my acts. I could not do that to her.