Westminster Academy (Part One)

twenty-two

To my surprise, Henry didn't lead me to the punishment rooms, but to his dorm. I wondered whether that would mean that the punishment wouldn't be as severe. He was unlikely to have a cane in his room, right?

I was nervous. A different kind of nervous than when he had taken me to those horrible rooms to cane me. Thinking back to that first punishment, I understood why he had done it the way he had done it. Henry was smart. He had known that it would be difficult to make an impression on me and gain my respect. I probably would have laughed at him if he had just spanked me a bit. His mission had been to "make the roles clear". And it had worked, in the sense that his threats actually scared me now and then.

But right now was different. I wasn't scared, because Henry wasn't scary in an "I'm seriously worried about my personal safety" way. He was just...intimidating. He had a real talent for creating tension, suspense, anticipation.

Henry opened the door and let me enter first. He seemed amused, as if the plan he had in his head already gave him the satisfaction he wanted. I took three steps into the room, turned around and eyed him suspiciously.

"So what's going on here?"

Henry walked over to his bedside table without saying a word. He turned on a small light that bathed us both in warmth.

"Henry, talk to me" I urged. The tension was unbearable.

"Someone's nervous" he said, his voice calm and relaxed. He sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I'm not nervous, I just...I'm confused" I replied and watched him unbutton the sleeves of his shirt. The gesture created a weird feeling in my abdomen.

"How fortunate that I'm planning to give us both some clarity, then" Henry lifted his head and met my gaze. His eyes were dark and impossible to read. "Come here."

"Why?" I asked, hesitantly.

"Come. Here." He repeated, sterner this time. I gulped.

What's happening here?

Henry's energy was so...different. But I didn't feel like running away. For the first time, I didn't want to leave, I wanted to find out what his plan was. So I slowly walked towards him until I was less than two feet away. It was weird that he was sitting down and I was standing. He usually towered over me.

"Good. Now kneel."

Of course.

"I'm not going to...I can't..."

Dammit. My head felt too foggy to do my usual argue-and-resist-thing. The way Henry looked at me seemed to make it impossible to form full sentences.

"Yes, you can. Kneel."

I didn't have much of a choice. It helped that Henry sat on the bed. If I got down on my knees, it would only mean eye level. I tried to convince myself that that made it less humiliating.

I kept my gaze fixed on his as I lowered myself to the ground. Henry's eyes were full of...I didn't know what it was. Desire? Maybe.

"So what now?" I asked as I knelt before him. I tried to sound unbothered, but it didn't really work. Henry didn't reply immediately. He lifted his right hand to slowly brush a strand of hair behind my ear. The gesture was almost loving. I closed my eyes briefly.

"I will spare you the lecture. You know that your behaviour wasn't appropriate, there's no need to emphasise that. But I have decided to take this as an opportunity to clarify one thing once and for all."

I opened my eyes again and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"That you're a masochist."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Oh, that again."