Rome, 1737
He was on his hands and knees and stripped of his clothing. He didn't commit the crime, but they let their prejudice towards his mother and the dragon species cloud their minds. He looked down at the stairs, then at the bowl of scolding hot water. He looked at those elegant windows, three on each side and the giant door to divide them. The bright morning light shone in beautiful rays, but to him everything seemed gray. He looked at the water again and his eyes became teary.
Ashuton gritted his teeth, ready to receive the worst pain of his life. She slowly poured the water onto his back, and he couldn't refrain from yelling. Camella hated to watch him in pain, so she turned her head away from the scene, but she found it sadistic that she was thinking his yells of pain were seductive. Ida wanted the pain to last long. She wanted him to suffer.
Ida spoke cruelly, "You heal fast. Don't worry if the water scars your back. Those will be gone, just like your mother."
Once it was empty, Ida lowered herself to his level.
"Hopefully now you will realize who you need to respect, Scalebreath."
Ridley did nothing to stop the treason and neither did the maids. Ashuton couldn't hold himself; he fell on the cold floors. The feeling of the water made him cringe. He couldn't turn his eyes fully red nor green. Only his pupils turned a faded red color and his tears trickled into his mouth. The sting of the water, the agony, the shame, it all felt like needles piercing into his back and stealing away droplets of his life.
"Take him away." Said Ida.
The swordsmen grabbed the boy by his arms and took him out of the Praying Room.
This was the life that Ashuton had become accustomed to when his mother and father were away on political business. He couldn't seem to muster up the courage to tell them about how they tortured him.
Thomas and Charlie, his caring older brothers, rushed to their crying brother as he was carelessly hauled into the bedroom. The door slammed shut, causing a rude awakening in Thomas. In the room, in the seclusion of the comfort of his brothers, Ashuton could cry out his pain.
Charlie comfortingly spoke to his brother as he cried hysterically in his arms, "One day, pieto, one day, they will pay for all the hell they caused you."
Thomas shook his head in shame and tried to suppress his oncoming anger, "they make a mockery of us. If they truly knew what we could do, errrr...sarebbero morti per mano del drago! I have to kill them...I have to...I must!"
Thomas bawled his fists as he contemplated the decisions floating in his mind.
"We must abide by the rules of the Moral Code," said Charlie, "A dragon must never kill."
Thomas angrily protested, "Why should I have to abide by those rules? Look at how they are torturing us—torturing Ashuton—it can't go on."
"You may be right; Tommy, but we can't risk it. The council could have us thrown into the ca—"
"Stop it."
Ashuton gazed at Charlie with those ruby red eyes of his.
"Please, stop talking."
Such a simple command had a very deep meaning. That simple command gave notice to how damaged Ashuton was becoming. The three boys would stay in that room all day until Aaron and Seraphina returned. They would never speak of the recent events, nor would they mention a sliver of it. Their other siblings would never know...
_________________________________________________
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