Goblin Moon (16 page)

Sleep came surprisingly easy for Tearach. He'd heard Kathy enter the room across the hall and, for some odd reason, was glad she wasn't fooled by his actions. He hated pretending for Cairna's benefit, but it was the only option he had. The sun was almost up when, as he predicted, the Sorceress and her men came pounding on the cottage door. He quickly dressed, made his way downstairs and saw Kathy and Cairna waiting for him. The door was still closed.

"There's no sense in keeping Shayla outside. She'll open the door herself, if you don't,” he warned.

Cairna slowly opened the front door. Shayla walked in, her expression inscrutable.

"Why can't you just leave him alone?” Kathy asked.

"This matter doesn't concern you, Kathy.” Shayla turned to Tearach. “Will you come with us or do the guards have to bring you?"

Tearach shook his head. “No, I won't fight."

Shayla stood aside and Tearach walked out of the cottage ahead of her.

Cairna placed her hand upon the Sorceress’ arm, and Shayla patted it and said, “Rules have to be followed, dear. Your uncle's behavior has to be addressed. He's threatened the safety of others, shown the greatest insolence toward me and the Order. His disrespectful attitude can't be tolerated. I've had enough of his belligerence. If I let this go, worse things will happen in the future. He knows the rules as well as anyone."

Cairna nodded. “I wasn't going to ask you not to do this. I was going to ask if we can bring him home afterward."

Shayla's expression softened. “Yes, child. Once the punishment is done, it's history, if Tearach will stop fighting me at every turn."

Kathy watched Shayla leave and then gripped Cairna's shoulder. “What's happening?"

Cairna took a deep breath. He's being taken to the great clearing for punishment. When someone defies the Sorceress the way he has, the punishment is a public beating. Remember, she told you this would happen."

"Is this because I ran away? I thought Shayla said Tearach wasn't responsible for my knocking him in the head to escape."

"It isn't just that, Kathy. It's everything. Uncle Tearach has publicly defied the Sorceress and ridiculed her ideas. Then, there's the fighting and everything else he's said and done for months on end. To top it off, he left the sacred woods without permission. This was bound to happen. I just wish there was something I could have said or done to make him happier, to make him stop his misbehavior.” She hung her head and walked out the door.

Kathy followed, unable to believe such things happened. She'd just been shown a castle which boasted a modern, technologically adept people. Now, they were back in the Middle Ages again. The extremes in their society were maddening.

They walked for half an hour and came to a clearing surrounded by huge oaks. Kathy gasped at the number of people surrounding the area. Apparently, whatever Shayla was going to do was very public indeed. Kathy had no idea there were so many people living in the forest. If any of them were creatures of magic, they were in human form. All but the Goblins. They grouped together at one end of the clearing near two huge oak trees. Tearach stood between the trees, and two burly looking men tied thick ropes to his wrists. The ropes were then stretched and wrapped around the two tree trunks. His jerkin had been removed leaving him bare to the waist. She and Cairna moved closer. His expression was blank. He showed no sign of fear or anger.

A man with a leather horse whip approached Tearach from behind. Kathy's mouth went dry and she spun to face Cairna. “She's actually going to have him whipped?"

Cairna nodded. “It's our way,” she said simply. When Kathy would have moved forward to interfere, Cairna pulled her back and shook her head. “It'll only cost him more lashes."

"She can't do this. There are laws..."

"These
are
the laws here,” Cairna told her. “The sooner it gets started, the sooner we can take him home."

Shayla approached Tearach's stoic form. “Have you any words to say, Tearach Bruce?"

Tearach remained as silent and still as green Connemara marble. There was nothing left to say. And there were far, far worse things than a beating. Nothing she could do would hurt as much as his own wretched thoughts.

"Very well.” Shayla turned to the Whip Master. “When the sun reaches the treetops, give twenty-five lashes or until he cries out."

"He'll never cry out in pain.” Cairna looked at Kathy and lifted her head with pride. “He's still the leader of our people. He'll take all twenty-five and the Sorceress knows it. You'll see."

"Cairna how do we stop this? It's barbaric."

"We don't. Uncle Tearach wouldn't want us to."

A low murmur started through the crowd. Kathy looked around to see what might have started the commotion. “What's wrong now?"

Cairna swallowed back tears, “They're just realizing no one has ever been given more than ten lashes."

Kathy's heart fell into her stomach. Movement from behind them caused both women to turn. Lore and some other men approached. One of them, a huge, handsome young Goblin with flowing dark hair, accompanied them.

"Cairna, I've only just got back from Salisbury. I came as quickly as I could,” the Goblin said. “Tearach doesn't deserve this."

Cairna ran to him and embraced him as a lover would. “Rome, thank Herne you're here. Everything's been so crazy."

"There now, sweetheart. I'll talk to the Sorceress. Perhaps I can get her to lighten the punishment a bit. Twenty-five lashes is unheard of. The man just doesn't deserve that kind of beating."

"I've already talked to the Sorceress,” Lore spoke up. “Tearach apologized to my men while he was being led from the castle. No one wants this. If he publicly apologizes to Shayla, I'm sure the Sorceress would end this right now. She doesn't want to see him beaten any more than the rest of us. That's why she gave him an opportunity to speak."

Cairna pushed away from Rome. “Let it be. Both of you. You'll end up shaming him in front of everyone. I don't think he'll ever apologize to her, anyway."

"Isn't that better than risking his life, darling?” Rome rested his hands on Cairna's shoulders. Cairna didn't respond, except to move into his embrace again.

Kathy watched the two young Goblins. It was obvious they were in love, but no one had ever mentioned Rome's name. Perhaps Cairna had been keeping a few secrets of her own.

Kathy turned back to the clearing. The sun was just above the tree line, and the Sorceress gave an imperceptible nod. The Whip Master moved forward. The hulking giant hesitated and said something to Tearach that was too low to overhear. The whip wielder's face appeared contrite.

Kathy heard Tearach say, “It's all right, Legion. You've nothing to apologize for. It's just the way it is."

The large man shook his head, as if he was reluctant to begin, and then he rolled up his whip and walked to where he was facing Tearach's back again. He looked toward Shayla, who nodded yet again. Legion raised the whip.

Before he could strike, Shayla's voice echoed through the woods. “Stop! I was hoping for some public sign of remorse. Seeing none apparent, I won't make a martyr of a man who wishes with all his heart to accept that role.” She moved forward and beckoned the Whip Master back.

Kathy felt her own breath leave her body in relief. She heard others around her murmuring thankful prayers to different gods and goddesses.

Shayla held her hand high and spoke again, using her powers of amplification so all could hear. “Tearach Bruce, others came to me in the night and begged forgiveness on your behalf. Were you half the leader you once were, you might have realized how your friends have been affected by your behavior and the grief you've caused."

Tearach kept his gaze pointed straight ahead, but her words seeped into his mind nonetheless.

"Your family would be shamed by your actions were they alive to witness them. Your self-pity has certainly earned you the beating, which is the ancient punishment for your behavior. But I will commute your sentence for the sake of those who love and care for you. Your actions were thoughtless, and you put all the members of the Order in danger. Still, they pled for leniency on your behalf. To that end, I relent and bestow another, lesser sentence. It will, however, be a duty that is commensurate with your actions while aiding those you harmed."

Kathy chewed her lower lip while anxiously waiting for what the Sorceress would say next.

"You will be assigned the most base, vile duty I can mete out,” Shayla said. “You will, by yourself, dig and clean every septic system within the Shire and take the effluent to the treatment plant at the border of the woods. Then, you'll start over and do it again until every tank, line and drainage field is perfect. You'll test the microbe levels in the tanks and be responsible for fixing any problems. I'll assign guards to watch you, but they are forbidden to help. You won't go home until all the work is done. When you need rest and food, you'll take breaks in an assigned room at the castle."

Tearach saw flashes of red in his line of sight. He'd literally be cleaning the crap from each cottage septic system to suit the Sorceress’ demands. Her new sentence was far, far worse than the beating might have been. The last vestiges of his dignity and any prestige his position held were trampled beneath the Sorceress’ feet. Like an onion, she'd peeled away the last layer of his pride right in front of everyone.

Shayla turned to the crowds. “Any man, woman or child who's caught so much as handing him a shovel will answer to me. The Goblin Leader has chosen to make a foul excrement of his life. For having hurt those of you who begged for mercy, he'll be humbled. It's my hope that once his work is done, and done to my schedule, he'll reevaluate his attitude. If not, the beating will most certainly be forthcoming, along with confinement for thirty days and removal from the rank of leaders."

Kathy watched as Shayla regally stalked away with her minions following. She wasn't sure what to make of the new punishment assigned, but she had a notion that Shayla would have never beaten him in the first place. Still, Tearach had days of unbelievably difficult work ahead of him. It was better than seeing his blood flow because of the whip, but she didn't think he'd view it that way. He was being belittled in front of the entire Order.

Men rushed forward to untie Tearach. He was led toward the castle, and didn't even have time to speak to Cairna or Kathy. No one spoke to him, though they might have had he taken the time to even look up. His embarrassment was such that he kept his gaze lowered and walked quickly. While each household was responsible for the upkeep of their own septic system, he was now in charge of that less-than-desirable duty. Until he could complete this odious punishment, he wouldn't be the leader of the Goblins, a noble and old race of warriors and craftsmen, but Lord of Excrement. He wished, with every step he took, that the Sorceress had just gone ahead whipped the hell out of him.

Without acknowledging another living soul, Tearach worked day and night for the next few weeks. He took very little rest. Every time he thought the entire job was finished, the Sorceress would find some minor detail he needed to inspect or another line or pipe to install. It was the filthiest job in the world made worse by an injury that wouldn't heal.

While digging one day, he scraped his left hand and arm. Working with effluent should have made him more careful, but he wanted to see the disgusting job to its end. He ignored the minor warning signs of an infection and kept laboring. He didn't think about anything but digging and cleaning. There were times when he wished he was dead, but never more so than when the once minor wound became so badly infected that a fever developed. The fever got worse, as did the wound. It throbbed and ached horrifically every time he moved. He wrapped it or wore long sleeves to conceal the injury so the Sorceress couldn't accuse him of being weak. She'd already done that by assigning his current duties and besmirching his leadership before his people. Still, he kept up his pace.

Once angry and heartily resentful over Shayla's choice of punishments, he decided to beat her at her own game and refused to complain. Neither she nor anyone else would get the satisfaction of hearing him whine about anything, including his infected wounds.

He was burying the last of the tanks he'd cleaned twice when a bout of nausea and dizziness hit him hard. If the smell of excrement hadn't been enough to sicken him, his wounds now did. He dropped his shovel and reached for a water bottle as a grayish darkness narrowed his vision. Someone shouted, but he didn't know why. He felt himself hit the ground and remembered nothing more.

Lore was the first to reach his side. “Tearach, can you hear me?” He saw the beads of sweat on his friend's face and quickly pulled Tearach's jerkin off to cool his body. When he did, he saw the length of gauze wrapped around Tearach's left arm and slowly unwound it. “Someone get Shayla,” he shouted.

When Shayla heard the summons she responded quickly. After seeing the serious extent of Tearach's wounds, she ordered him taken to his cottage immediately and sent for the physician. But Kathy was the first to meet her at the door.

Alarmed by Tearach's pallor, Kathy glared at the Sorceress. She refused to vent her anger over what had caused his illness, and decided to watch in tactful silence as he was taken upstairs to his room. There, the men undressed him and lowered him to his bed as they explained his wound. She could see Tearach was sweating profusely, and she worried over the depth of the infection. Taking a cursory glance, she grit her teeth and considered the job it would take to clean the arm. Whatever she could do for him before the doctor arrived might make the difference in his recovery. She'd sent for Cairna and hoped the girl got here in time. Tearach could very well be in septic shock. If that was the case, she didn't know if he could be dragged from unconsciousness. She had no antiseptic and didn't know the extent of the Order's pharmacy.

Someone handed her a steaming bowl of soapy water and a clean cloth. She sat these on a nearby table, ready for use, but still said nothing to the Sorceress. Finally rolling up her sleeves and gathering the courage to take a much better look, she shouldered her way through those standing around Tearach's bed, and gently took his arm in her hands.