#first saw this kind of punishment in a period k-drama

[lovelizards]

"You beat her hard, Meres, or I assure you I will beat her harder."

Iska aimed her nervous glare at the ground as her wrists were bound on the other side of a wooden beam. The skirt of her dress had been pulled up to reveal her calves, which left no mystery to what kind of pain she would be enduring.

"I..I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I - "

"Will you stop apologising, Meres? You're seriously pissing me off."

"Ah - yeah, s - sorry - I mean - ah -"

Meres fumbled over his words, today more than usual, but she didn't bother helping him. Why should she be magnanimous to the man helping his master torture her? What did it matter that he was sorry about it?

If he wasn't going to stop, then he shouldn't apologise at all.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Iska finally asked.

"Just - wanted to let you know. About the - you said it was enchantment magic. I've been trying. Trying to break it."

Iska's head shot up from where she'd been resting it against the beam, and she stared into Meres' eyes - surprising him.

She could still see it, the faint glow of magic behind the honey brown of his eyes. But, trying was better than outright refusal. Is that why he seemed so nervous?

"It's hard, isn't it?" She said after a long silent moment.

"...Yeah, it's hard," Meres agreed.

"Like trying to wake yourself up from a dream you didn't even know you were having. Like trying to catch a shadow always lingering in the corner of your eye."

Iska didn't remember where she'd heard that from, but it was in her mind as easily as recalling how to breathe.

"He...he found out..." Meres whispered.

Iska hesitated. A spell of that magnitude would definitely alert the caster if it was failing, so it's not like it was a surprise...

"It's okay," she said, flinching as she found her fingers brushing against his hand while he secured her binds. But instead of pulling her hand away, she grabbed hold of his hand tightly.

If for no other reason than to stop her own from trembling.

"I - Iska..."

"It's okay, Meres. No matter what happens, you have to keep trying."

"Iska, I -"

He was interrupted by the door opening, and Iska pulled her hand away quickly, her shoulders setting and her body tensing in an instant.

The slender man hummed approvingly as he crossed the room, but Iska bit back the heated comments that popped into her head. Anger drummed in her ears, but the threat of the experimentation room still hung over her like an ominous cloud.

It was too recent a memory to risk lashing out and ending up there again, but fighting her own temper sometimes felt like fighting the ticking of a clock. Eventually, no matter what, it would always strike midnight.

"Here, take this, Meres," she heard the slender man say behind her.

"M - my lord?"

"As slow as ever. You are still due your punishment."

Iska tried to strain over her shoulder to see the two of them, but they were just out of her eyeline. What did he mean punishment? Was Meres going to be tortured too?

She didn't want to hear him screaming and crying any more than she wanted to hear herself do it. If he had more courage, Meres could tear the slender man apart limb from limb before he ever laid a hand on him.

"I...I - I ..." Meres stuttered, grunting as whatever it was he didnt want to take was shoved into his hands.

"Yes, you. This is how you discipline children when they are misbehaving, you take a dried reed to the back of their legs. I think two-hundred should be sufficient."

"Two...two-hundred?"

Iska could hear the dread in his voice, because the same sense of dread was washing over her, too. It wouldn't be as bad as whipping, surely. And no matter what, it wouldn't be as bad as those three days of being experimented on. She could endure it.

"Why don't we have Iska count them out?" The slender man suggested, "Did you hear, Iska? Make sure not to lose the count, or we'll have to start from the beginning again. The same if don't stand up properly for it."

She gritted her teeth, a headache coming on from how hard her forehead was pressed against the wooden beam. So frustrating! No, she had to keep her head! Agh, but what was she supposed to do in this scenario?! It was so hopelessly infuriating!!

"Iska, I asked you a question." The slender man snapped.

"Yes, I heard you - you fucking cunt!"

There was a long, agonising moment of silence.

Stupid! Stupid! Her temper would get her killed one day!

Finally, the slender man spoke. Not to her but to Meres - in a voice that was low, and so poisonous it could kill.

"Make it three-hundred. And you beat her hard, Meres, or I assure you I will beat her harder."

Iska held her breath.

The first strike was the worst.

A sharp line of pain that bit into her calf, and hurt worse because it took her by surprise. She let out a long, trembling groan, and said:

"One..."

Whack!

"Two..."

Whack!

"Th - three..."

Meres and his damn strength. Each whip of the reed sent a jolt of pain up her legs, and made the flats of her feet sore just from having to keep upright through it. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and her counting faded from indignant mutters to choked sobs.

But she didn't lose the count.

And she didn't lose her footing, until she finally reached 'three-hundred' with a barely-there whimper, and sank to her knees with sob of relief. Her whole body trembled, and her legs were on fire with stinging stripes of pain from just under her knee all the way to her ankles.

"Very good, Meres," the slender man said once it was done, "now go stand her up again. Bind her ankles nice and tight so she doesn't fall."

"Wh - what...?!" Iska cried, "What?! But I -! I - I did what you asked, th - three hundred, you said -!"

"Three hundred lashes was Meres' punishment," the slender man sighed, "now it's time for yours."

"No! No - please, no more I - !"

Her arguments dissolved into panicked sobs.

Like a husk, Meres moved around her, pulling her back up onto her feet with little care for her wounds. She struggled and pulled against him, but as always, he proved too strong. He bound her ankles and knees against the beam, and then disappeared from her view.

"Start again from the top, Iska. I haven't decided how many yet, so make sure not to lose the count."

"Bastard..." Iska sobbed, "you bastard!"

The first of his strikes caused her to scream, and each one after it, too. Some of the lashes caught her right in the divot behind her knees, or on the side of the ankle near the bone.

There was a taste of bile in her mouth, and blood from where she'd bitten her tongue. A cold sweat wet her hair against her forehead and neck. The lantern lights glared in her eyes, sore from crying.

Meres was nowhere to be seen.

And Iska kept count.