Beaten and Abused ~Kanna and Kolath~

A loud bang sounded at the door to the tiny room that she had to herself. Avalon bit her lip and shivered, wrapping her arms around herself moments before the door was kicked open and she was dragged out to the courtyard. Another day, another beating. Another day of agony and new scars. It wasn't like it was the young girl's fault...but rather the princess she served. For some reason, the princess never learned when the other girl was beaten. All she did was stand by and laugh as the whips came down on Avalon's back time and time again. This was the life she knew. The young girl, maybe sixteen at the oldest, had been beaten since before she could remember...all for the princess's punishment.

As soon as they reached the courtyard, she was tied to a post, her clothes stripped off of her barely healed back, and the charges against the princess were read. Today, it seemed, that the princess was found in bed with a stable hand. It seemed so unfair to Avalon, and she sighed. She knew her place in the hierarchy of the castle. She was the lowest of the servants, below even the stable hands that mucked out the stalls of the horses. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the sharp crack of the whip, never once showing pain, since that only encouraged the princess to do more to make her hurt even more.

Zander chained Avalon to the post pushing the soft wooden knot into her mouth so she had something to bite down on. He stripped the back of her dress down making even the front drop exposing her from hips to neck. He turned walking back to where the whip waited for him slowly uncoiling it and letting the length out. It pained him every time he was forced to do this, he hated to see such a poor girl beaten for the slut of a princess that couldn’t keep her hands to herself.

What hurt even more was that it was his fault that she was being beaten again. If only he hadn’t been there at that time..the princess got away with so many secret affairs why couldn’t this one have been secret as well. He sighed and cracked the whip once before sending it out over the yard snapping across the innocent girl’s back. She might have been the lowest servant in the house hold, he was the opposite, he was the princess’ body guard, and his job to make sure her virtue remained as clean as possible….problem was the princess was a slut and slept with anything that had a cock…almost. The only one that hadn’t given in that she had tried to get in her bed was Zander.

She bit hard into the knot as the first crack snapped across her back. Avalon had slowly learned to trust Zander, far more than the two other bodyguards that had done this before. He was always somewhat gentle with her, at least as far as the near daily beatings went. Her eyes remained closed tightly, and she bore each strike on her back. After a moment, she started counting her breaths outside of the strikes, doing everything she could on her own to avoid showing the pain she was in. Previous wounds on her back were torn open again by the whip, criss-cross marks patterned across what would have been soft skin if she had been born to any other life.

Zander fell the score and four marks that were the punishment for the princess’ transgression. He then coiled up the whip still holding it in his hand waiting for permission to set it down and tend to Avalon. The king turned to his daughter a look of disgust on his face. “I hope my daughter you will have learned your lesson this time.” Before the princess could say anything the king turned and walked away leaving his daughter to trail after him.

Zander knew that was permission and placed the whip down and moved to Avalon wrapping his cloak around her shoulders before unchaining her. Slipping his arms under her knees and around her back he gently carried her over to the small cottage that was her quarters. Laying her down on the soft bed that she had been given, that was one of the nice things about being the whipping girl, your quarters were more comfortable than normal servants because you had to heal fast.

Avalon waited until everyone was gone, and she was in Zander's solid arms before she finally showed the pain she felt. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and she whimpered softly. Her face buried in his neck, clinging to him and knowing that he was the only person that had ever shown her any kindness, despite the actions that he was forced to do to her. She gasped as he lay her down on the bed, the wounds on her back causing sharp pain to radiate through the rest of her body. It took all her strength to roll over onto her stomach, but it allowed the worst of the pain to leave her.

Zander moved over to the small fire place, putting a pot over it as he added some water and herbs into the mixture. He needed to get the medicine into her as fast as he could knowing she was going to be in horrid pain until he did. Allowing the herbs to steep he added another pot with water which he quickly got to a boil. Ladling out some of the hot water he added in a powder from one of the many jars along the mantle. Mixing the water with the powder he made a paste before coming over to her and gently smoothing some of the paste over each cut. Taking some of the clean rags that were brought out here for her he dipped them into the steeped water and after ringing them out he laid them over her cuts. The steeped herbs would take the large amount of the pain away, and the paste would help the wounds close quickly.

She was so used to this routine that she simply closed her eyes and did her best to focus on anything but the pain. Her arms were folded under her head, and she looked like she was nearly asleep. However, the pain pushed its way through the edges of her concentration and had her shaking. The relief of the herbs and paste couldn't come soon enough for her. A soft whimper escaped her lips when she felt his hands touching her back, before the herbs and paste started to work to numb and heal her wounds. Avalon didn't want to move, afraid that it would cause her pain to return once more.

Zander went about finishing up the healing duties that he needed to tend to her. He was the only one allowed to see her except when she was being beaten, so it was his duty to be sure she was well. He came back over ot her after making a draft and lifting her head gently before helping her drink it. He didn’t need to say anything, she knew what he was doing for her since they had done it so often for the last years since he took over from the last bodyguard. After she had drunk he bound her wounds lightly and then left going to be back in a few hours after his other duties were done knowing she would sleep till then.

Avalon drank the draft, knowing that getting some rest was probably the best way for her to heal. It didn't take her long to fall asleep after her wounds were wrapped, and he left her alone for some time. She pulled a blanket up against her body to keep herself warm enough as she slept soundly. It was still strange to be able to trust Zander, though he had been beating and healing her for a few years now. He never moved to hurt her outside of when he was forced to, and he never tried to use her while she was incapacitated. She slept soundly until he returned.

He gathered some things from the kitchen after his duties were done and then headed back to the cottage that Avalon was sleeping in. he pushed the door open before taking the things he had brough back from the kitchen on the table and settled into making her a meal for when she woke. A pot was on boiling and soon the smell of a stew started to fill the air. As it simmered he watched her sleeping sighing softly he always spent some time here every time after he beat her just watching her, she was so beautiful even under all those cuts and bruises, and dirt and grime. She passed even the princess in beauty, and there had been many times that he had been tempted to take advantage of her like all the other care takers she had before him had done.