After losing to Phoenix Wright in court, Nahyuta is brought to the Queen’s audience chamber for punishment. Trigger warnings for blood, flogging/whipping, and violence. Nsfw for violence. Approx. 2000 words. Unedited.
“Prosecutor Sadhmadhi. Her Eminence has ordered us to bring you to the audience chamber.”
Nahyuta was not surprised when two guards came to retrieve him in the middle of the night; even though it was well past midnight, he was wide awake and dressed. He figured it was only a matter of time; his defeat at the hands of Phoenix Wright in court had made his aunt quite furious. Foolishly, he had faintly hoped that she would have given him 24 hours to at least process what had gone on in those chambers, but that would be showing a level of graciousness that deep down he knew she did not possess.
So he just nodded to the guards, knowing there was no way out of this situation, and followed them through the palace. He walked with his hands behind his back and his head held high, as he always did. It didn’t matter how much shame and guilt and fear he held in his heart. As long as his outward appearance showed a stoic and loyal follower of the Queen then he could keep those he loved safe.
It was no surprise that only the royal guards were present in the audience chamber when they walked through the large doors. After all, Ga’ran had set this up at this particular hour so that no public would be able to witness what was going to occur. His aunt was a smart woman, unfortunately. She knew that punishing Nahyuta – a beloved figure among the common citizenry – in front of a large audience might cause some to lose faith in her and give more credibility to the rebellion.
So the only witnesses were those loyal to her. Those with such unwavering faith and piety that they would not question her choices or her orders.
After all, she was the mouthpiece of the Holy Mother. She was of the divine.
Nahyuta was brought in front of the throne, and he bowed his head in front of the Queen before slowly falling to his knees to show her the deference she was owed. She was dressed in her normal attire, which made her look more like a merciful goddess and less like the devil he knew she truly was.
Silence passed, and no one moved or said anything. It was as though everyone was afraid to even breathe.
“…We are very disappointed in you, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi.” When Ga’ran finally spoke, Nahyuta still did not lift his head; he was being admonished, and it would be incredibly rude of him to look at her without first being given permission.
He had learned these things over the years.
“I deeply apologize, Your Eminence,” he said, his voice monotone but not insincere.
She laughed a little as she stood from her throne, and the sound of it almost hurt his ears. It was a grating, terrible noise, her laugh. Most people would find it angelic, but he knew better.
“You apologize? My dear…” She descended the steps and stopped in front of him. Nahyuta felt her long nail graze the bottom of his chin as she silently gave him permission (or perhaps commanded him) to finally look at her. There was a small smile on her face; her façade was truly as good as his own. To everyone else, she appeared patient and wise and merciful. They couldn’t – or maybe they did not wish to – see what was behind her regal mask.
“Your sins are far too grave for us to forgive with just a simple apology.” She sighed, pretending to be upset with this whole predicament. “It was one thing to lose your case when you were in a putrid foreign court. After all, they refuse to acknowledge how filthy these criminals and their attorneys truly are. Barbaric, really.”
She held his chin as she began stroking his cheek with her thumb, and Nahyuta sometimes wondered if a day would come where she would pluck his eye from its socket with one of her nails, which had begun to resemble claws over the years. No…no, he didn’t have to worry about that. It would be a visible injury, and she needed to keep her prized prosecutor looking pristine to the world.
“But to lose here, in our most sacred halls of justice…you have allowed that sinful defense attorney to sully the minds of our subjects.” She shook her head, looking more like a disappointed parent than anything. Unfortunately Nahyuta could see the hatred and anger behind her eyes. “You have soiled your own soul in a most heinous fashion, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi, and you must be punished in a way that will allow your soul to once again be cleansed.”
“Of course, Your Eminence. If it is your will, then it is our Holy Mother’s will…and I am nothing but your humble servant.” It was a stock phrase he had used over the years, and it seemed to please her. Perhaps by acknowledging fully her power over him, she would go easy on him and would leave the ones he was protecting alone.
“Excellent. We are happy to hear that you will not beg us for mercy.” She beckoned over a few guards, and two of them suddenly pulled Nahyuta to his feet and began roughly stripping him of his jacket and shirt. While he was surprised, his face showed no emotion. He wondered what her plan was, and hoped that it would at least be quick.
He saw another guard bring something over to Ga’ran. When she took it from his hands, Nahyuta saw that it was a multi-tailed leather whip…nine was the tradition number of tails for these things, was it not? Fear suddenly gripped him, and he was somewhat tempted to now beg her for mercy. But that would probably backfire on him, so her just stiffened slightly.
“Your Eminence…please forgive me for speaking out of turn,” the guard said after Ga’ran took the tool from him. “But would you like for me to administer the punishment? For you to dirty your hands-”
She put her hand up to silence him, and he shut his mouth immediately.
“While we appreciate your concern for us, it is our duty to purify sinners ourselves. The Holy Mother’s mercy and grace is most powerful in us, so we must do this in order to have the best chance at saving Prosecutor Sahdmadhi’s soul.”
What a load of crap. Nahyuta knew she just wanted to do it herself because she would get a sick pleasure out of it.
But of course, the guard immediately accepted her explanation, and backed away.
The two holding Nahyuta spun him around so that his bare back was to the Queen, and held tightly onto his arms. They had no intention of letting him escape…not that he would be able to go very far if he tried. One of them moved Nahyuta’s hair so that it rested in front of him; it would be a shame for his lovely lavender strands to become tangled in the mess, really.
Nahyuta felt Ga’ran’s hand on his back. He held his breath as she moved her fingers up and down in a slow motion.
“You have such lovely skin, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi. Flawless, really. It is a shame we must mar it, but your body must break in order for your soul to be saved.” She sighed, as if she truly was lamenting the fact that she had to do this to him. “We order you not to scream. If you do, we will be forced to add on more.”
It happened immediately after her sentence.
A harsh crack echoed through the chamber and Nahyuta felt nothing but pain.
He wanted to scream as soon as those tails made contact, splitting open his skin as easily as though he was made of butter. It was unlike any other physical pain he had experienced, and he didn’t even have time to process it fully before he felt the whips crack against his back a second time. Since it was over the first wounds, the second time hurt worse, and he was unable to stop himself from making an anguished noise.
A third guard approached him and stuffed something into his mouth. A cloth of some kind.
“We told you not to scream.”
Nahyuta didn’t know how many lashes would be added…since Ga’ran never gave him the courtesy of knowing how many he was to receive in the first place.
As she hit him a third, fourth, fifth, sixth time…he could feel tears falling from his eyes. He did not want to cry in front of her or her dogs but it was involuntary at that point. His entire body was shaking, and the only thing keeping him on his feet was the fact that the two guards were still holding him up. He was practically limp in their arms and could feel blood trickling down his back. He wondered how stained his white pants were. How stained the Queen’s robes were with his own blood. She would probably like it, in her own way. She had absolute power over him, and those stains would just remind her of that.
There was no way out for him.
He lost count after fifteen…or was it sixteen…?
It was a strange sensation; he was both in agony and numb, as if his body was trying to shut down his nerves in order to prevent him from going into shock from the pain.
After some time, he began to silently pray.
He prayed that the Holy Mother would end this quickly. He apologized to her for the sins he had committed. Not the ones that Ga’ran had accused him of, but ones far more grievous. Sending people to death for crimes he knew they had not committed…pushing his father and Apollo away, condemning both of them. Losing what remaining hope he had, and allowing himself to be Ga’ran’s puppet…he knew his soul was tainted, but he still apologized. He did it all for those he loved…but it didn’t make it right.
If he suffered…in this life or the next…it was fine, as long as Rayfa and his mother did not have to endure the same fate.
The room began to spin and Nahyuta could swear that he was about to black out, but he heard Ga’ran speak before that could happen. He didn’t hear exactly what she said; he had tuned out any outside noise some time ago. But he could infer her words based on the fact that the two guards holding him suddenly let go, and Nahyuta ungracefully dropped to the floor. He landed on his stomach, and he wished he had been able to pass out, but unfortunately he stayed conscious.
Ga’ran walked over to him, and he felt her heel under his chin, lifting his head up to look at her.
“Now, you will be brought back to your chambers. We will send in medics to treat your wounds, but you will fast for the next twenty-four hours and you will not leave the palace. After that, your soul will have been cleansed of your sins.”
Nahyuta just wanted to sleep. He tasted blood in his mouth and smelled it in the air, and it made him feel nauseous. He could feel each place on his back where his skin had been split open…it was so much that he vaguely wondered if she just had skinned him from his neck to his tailbone. That was how it felt, anyway.
“Thank us for what we have granted you, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi.”
“Thank you, Your Eminence,” Nahyuta replied, feeling sicker the moment the words left his mouth.
She smiled and then nodded to the two guards. Nahyuta felt them lift him up to his feet, but he had no energy to stand on them, so they just dragged on the floor as he was brought back to his bedchamber.
He blacked out before they reached the door.
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