The Hidden Rose(Book One In The Rose Pedal Series) /✔

Chapter Twenty-Seven

i looked at Brandon as he turned on the wireless microphone and faced the crowd.

"ladies, and gentlemen. here, we have a fighter who has attacked me on no terms. there was no reason for the attack and it was unprovoked. so we are here, to give her, her punishment." the crowd went wild with bloodlust and i cringed in horror. how could these people not know what was going on? did they think it was staged? did they think the blood was fake? or did they actually want this? i shook in anticipation, waiting for the pain. i know what's coming.

i watched as Brandon handed the microphone to his guard and turned, picking up a whip from the table. i was the color of rust, and i know, it's not rust, but dried blood. they never bothered to clean it before using it. which makes the chance of infections go up. Brandon walked around me, making eye contact. i broke his gaze and stared out at the crowd. the guard lifted the microphone and spoke into it.

"she will get twenty lashings for disobedience and twenty more for attacking her commander. this will make forty in total." 

forty times will the whip hit my back. forty times, will my back split open, leaving bloody trails running down my back. forty times with my throat tighten with the need to scream. but i refuse to scream. the great Rose doesn't scream, or cry out. she faces the torture with a poker face. i guard switched off the microphone and the crowd sat on the edges of their seats, watching. waiting for the blood to spill. for my cries to echo in the arena.

the whip cracked as it hit my back, slashing my skin and drawing blood. i tensed, and firmly kept my mouth closed. he hit me again, leaving a slash in my skin. again. and again. again. again. again. he did this repeatedly until he got to 20 slashes. then he took a break and walked around me, looking at my face with disbelief. i glared at him, not daring to open my mouth. he clenched his jaw in anger. the crowd whispered as they watched me receive my next five lashes. blood trickled down my back and splattered my jeans, running  off them to the wire mesh below me which allowed the blood to flow to the concrete below. it dripped and the sharp crack of the whip echoed through the arena, but my cries and screams did not.

i did not cry out. i did not scream. i did not move. i didn't arch my back away from the whip. i know it's useless. the arena was deadly silent except for the crack as the whip snapped my back, tearing it to shreds.  the crowd and guards looked at me in shock. ten more lashes and i'll be free,

i stood there, staring at the crowd in defiance as they stared back in bewilderment. the whip stopped and Brandon stepped in front of me again, looking into my eyes.

"scream, you bitch." he spat.

"i will not give you the pleasure of breaking me. no one will break me. not even you and your air-headed cockiness." i looked away from him. i refused to break and my stubbornness was stronger than any whip. it was sharper than any pain. and it was louder than any screams.

Brandon looked at me and raised the whip to lash me. i turned my head away from him to avoid the worst of it and it struck my face, leaving a deep gash in my cheek and across my nose. it had barely missed my eye and the blood even seeped into my eye. i blinked the blood away and looked at Brandon.

"did that make you feel like a higher god?" i ask. i refused to let pain show in my voice. my voice didn't shake or quiver, and neither did my chin. every single part of my body was in agony, and yet i stood there as if nothing had happened. Brandon raised his hand again, the whip drenched with blood. but before he could lash my face again, a small hand stopped his. he looked down at the person who stopped him.

"Lily?"

"that's enough. you've given her forty-one lashes. that's one too many." she turned to me and undid the ropes, letting my arms hang down. i stared into Brandon's eyes and soul, recognizing the fear. he was terrified, because he couldn't break me. he had whipped me forty times, yet i didn't whimper or shudder. my voice didn't break or shake as i spoke and i looked at him intimidatingly. as if our roles had been reversed.

i walked behind Lily, the lashes in my back shooting pain throughout my whole body as i walked. I've seen stronger men than me be whipped forty times. they had had to be dragged away. i walked away, stronger than ever and showing, i will not break.

i will not break.

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i walked into my new, luxurious room compared to the prison like hospital room. the blood had been cleaned up, but now there was more of the irony, heavy smell of blood, thanks to the deep gashes in my back. Lily grabbed her bag and had me take off my bikini top so she could get to the cuts better. i sat on a stool, my arms covering my breasts as Lily began to clean off the access blood trailing down my back. she then proceeded to clean out the gashes, pouring peroxide over my whole back.

the peroxide did it's job and killed all the germs, but it also stung like hell, making the already agonizing pain worse. i clenched my teeth, knowing Lily couldn't see my face. she put bandages over all of my back and then handed me a loose t shirt that would cover me, but not hurt my back.

i put it on and she started on the cut on my face. she stuck out her tongue as she tried to clean it out without getting peroxide in my eyes.

she finally managed to do it and i thanked her as she left. i then turned to my bed and stripped out of my jeans, laying on my stomach and falling into a deep, but troubled sleep.

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ouch, that's gotta hurt, am i right? do you think Ashlyn will escape Brandon? will she even see Luke again?

don't forget to vote and comment to support me and my book!! it also helps other people read it. :)

❤ sillylovebug432