Chapter Four: Role Reversal

WHACK! Aurora grimaced and sucked in her breath as the tawse swung down. The vicious leather fingers bit deep into flesh that was already hot, puffy, and sore. She had seen how badly Emily had suffered under this same strap just a few minutes earlier and she fully appreciated why the skinny brunette had begged for mercy.

WHACK! Aurora whimpered as her whole body shook. With Sandra now wielding the tawse, there would be no mercy for her.

WHACK! She still clung tightly to Emily's hand as she fought to hold her position. Despite the pain, Aurora was acutely aware that her efforts not to give Sandra a show had failed. Her makeup was ruined, her bottom a mess, and she was crying out loudly after each stroke.

WHACK! She was doing her best not to give Sandra the tearful performance she clearly wanted, but Sandra had won.

WHACK! SNAP! Sandra gave her the final two strokes in rapid succession, drawing a scream from Aurora. She sagged over the desk and cried with pain and humiliation. She could take comfort that she had not resorted to begging Sandra for mercy, but that was a tiny victory indeed.

Unlike the Headmaster, Sandra didn't let them up off the desk after their strapping. "No time to waste, girls." She said, in a poor imitation of the Headmaster's tone. "We need to get you to the assembly, and we still have Ms. Idris' punishment to take care of."

Emily swallowed hard. She wasn't scared of the cane, not after having faced the trio of straps. Certainly not compared to that tawse. She would crawl over hot coals or walk on broken glass rather than ever feel that awful strip of leather again.

Sandra hadn't let them up, but she hadn't objected to Emily very gently rubbing her bottom with her free hand. The skin was hot, and she could feel the welts from the straps beginning to form. With her other hand she still held on to Aurora.

As she massaged her skin she tried to imagine herself in poor Aurora's situation; to be facing a punishment even after all this. Emily could take a spanking, and growing up she had taken more than her fair share, but the test had been more intense than she had expected. When she had gone through the brochure it had sounded unpleasant, but not much more than a formality. She hadn't expected a slap on the wrist... er... bottom exactly, but this had really hurt.

Emily studied the bratty girl next to her as she cried and clung to her hand. Aurora's pain tolerance was so much lower than hers, and to be facing an actual punishment when the test was over... Emily was just glad she wasn't in Aurora's shoes.

It didn't look like Aurora was in any position to explain how she felt about it. Her quiet sobbing, free hand bunched into a fist on the desk in front of her told the story. She hadn't tried to rub her bottom, she hadn't released her grip on Emily's hand. She hadn't even opened her eyes.

Emily stole a glance at the Sandra as she wrote on her clipboard. She seemed cool and confident now that the Headmaster was out of the room. It was a stark change, and it made Emily uncomfortable. The Headmaster had held back, this was only a test, would Sandra do the same?

It was only a few minutes before Sandra put down her clipboard and took the cane down from the wall. Emily arched her back, presenting her bottom the way she had been taught. Aurora might be a bully, but she wasn't entirely wrong in the things she said. Emily really was a good girl at heart and she pushed her bottom out compliantly without a whisper of resistance.

To her surprise Sandra ignored her entirely and stopped behind Aurora, who was still crying and oblivious to the world. She tapped the cane against Aurora's round and striped bottom to get her attention.

Aurora shuddered with her whole body and a fresh bout of sobbing burst from her. She had just been calming down and neither girl had expected her to be up first. Aurora's hand squeezed Emily's hand tight as she braced herself for the worst.

Tap tap tap. Sandra rapped the girls gently on the knuckles with the cane. "The Headmaster may have allowed such inappropriate fraternization, but I won't. The two of you are to stay in position, hands flat on the desk."

Emily saw Aurora's mouth open to protest, this was so petty. The Headmaster hadn't objected, what right did Sandra have?

Emily squeezed her hand painfully tight over Aurora's and locked eyes with her. She flicked her eyes back towards Sandra. "Shut up" she silently mouthed to her.

Aurora's eyes widened and she looked confused for a moment before Emily saw the realization dawn. Sandra was trying to provoke her. To make it worse for herself. Aurora took the hint and closed her mouth, releasing Emily's hand reluctantly.

Emily relaxed, but there was still the problem that Aurora was in no condition to be caned immediately after her taste of the tawse. Sandra was clearly eager to see Aurora suffer, but could it be more than just spite? If Emily was right, this was about more than punishment for Sandra...

Hating herself a little for it Emily arched her back even more, pushing her bottom out in what she hoped was an appropriately inviting way. She spread her legs, offering Sandra a clear view of her rounded bottom, her cage, everything. She put on her most innocent face. This probably wasn't going to work anyway, but it definitely wasn't going to work if Sandra was suspicious.

"Please, Miss?" Emily said, trying to make her voice seem both innocent and inviting, maybe even a little sensuous. God she was bad at this. She felt ridiculous, and she could feel a blush entering her cheeks. She tried to dial it back just a little. "I just want to get this over with and get to the assembly. Couldn't I get my strokes first..." she swallowed her pride. "...Miss?"

Emily considered trying a little smile, but that was probably overselling it. Sandra was quiet for a worrying long amount of time as she studied Emily. The temptation to blink, to look away was powerful but Emily fought to hang on. She swayed her hips just the tiniest bit, a minuscule movement she hoped looked unconscious. She saw Sandra's eyes move to her bottom.

"Ha! You see that? Emily's got more balls than you do!" She gave Aurora's dangling orbs a none-too-gentle tap with the cane before stepping back behind Emily. "Not like she can really use them for much." She gave Emily a tap in the same place, making her wince.

Emily bit her tongue. At least I can still be unlocked, you sadistic bitch! She thought silently.

Sandra was only getting started. "Oh but don't let one little punishment stand in your way, Miss Idris. You're really going to show us all a thing or two here at Rattangrove, aren't you? Going to take us all down a peg, because nobody's smart enough to catch you, are they?"

SNAP! She whipped the cane down onto Emily's bottom to emphasize her point, eliciting a sharp yelp form Emily. She hadn't been expecting the caning to start mid-lecture! This was still a pain tolerance test, right?

"Oh and you're no better Miss Black. Such a nice, obedient, empty-headed little thing. I'm surprised you're even here, girls like you are just made for the collar." Sandra laughed, tapping the cane against her palm. "Yes Miss! No Miss! Please cane me first, Miss! It really is just the absolute saddest thing."

SNICK! She snapped another stroke across Emily's bottom, getting a sharp hiss as Emily sucked in her breath with a wince.

Emily shared a look with Aurora. Yep. It was definitely a sex thing for Sandra.

"So which is worse? The stupid little rebel who thinks all her stupid little plans are bound to work? The one who will get herself punished over and over again because she's so used to being Daddy's Little Princess that she never learns?"

SNAP! Emily dug her fingernails into the wood of the table. Sandra was really swinging the cane!

"Or the girl so broken she doesn't even consider fighting back? The one who got a taste of the cane so often she learned to like it?" Sandra laughed.

SNAP! She cracked the cane across the backs of Emily's thighs this time, getting a high-pitched moan as Emily's foot lifted off the ground.

Sandra ran her hand across Emily's bottom, relishing the feel of both the welts and the hot, tender skin between them. She lingered on the places where Emily would still be feeling this long after.

SNAP! "The answer is that it doesn't really matter." This time she had hit a part of Emily's bottom that was mercifully already numb. Emily grunted, but she barely winced.

Unsatisfied, Sandra struck again in exactly the same spot, much harder.

CRACK! Emily squeaked and her left hand left the top of the desk momentarily as her eyes filled with tears. A second stroke right on top of the first burned like a red hot iron being pressed into her skin.

"The truth is Miss Idris, it doesn't matter whether you rebel or not. You can fight it all you like but sooner or later you'll end up just like Emily here. Broken, subservient, willing to do just about anything to be allowed to hump your little fist once a month."

She gave Emily's bottom a thorough inspection and nodded approvingly. "Not bad, Miss Black. I can see you're going to need the strap when you step out of line; not like you'll need it often. Not much fight left in you, is there?"

Emily gritted her teeth. She had fooled her, and her bottom was safe- but she wanted to turn around and slap that self-satisfied smile off Sandra's face so badly. "No, Miss. May I be excused to go to the assembly?"

She caught the look of fear and betrayal at being left alone on Aurora's face, but what could Emily really do? She couldn't hold Aurora's hand, couldn't (and wouldn't, given the option) take her punishment for her, and more than anything Emily just wanted to be out of this awful place and away from Sandra.

"No, I don't think so." Emily couldn't see Sandra's face as she walked behind her, but she could hear the self-satisfied smile and she hated it.

"Since you two are so very close, you should stay. Maybe help your little friend Aurora pull her panties back up when I'm done with her? Wipe her tears? Maybe rub the sting away? I know what you little locked sluts get up to in the dorms after dark, you know..." Sandra's voice dripped with condescension.

Emily saw Aurora's eyes widen with horrified disbelief, and then her expression harden. Emily shook her head as a warning but it was too late. Aurora pushed herself up off the desk and whirled on Sandra. She was more than a foot shorter than the sadistic brunette and much slighter but she was beside herself with fury.

"How fucking dare you?!? How dare any of you do this to me?!" Aurora was shouting. Sandra was trying to keep a brave front but she took a single step backwards.

Emboldened, Aurora took a step forwards and her voice rose further. "I'm not supposed to be here!" She whirled and pointed at Emily. "She's supposed to be here! She stuck her ass out for the cane like she wanted it!"

Aurora wasn't finished. "You can't just let her watch! Why would you even want her here? Just for your own sick enjoyment or for hers too?! You're just as locked as we are, you can't even go back to your room and jerk off to it like a normal person! I... I -" Aurora struggled for words.

She hadn't expected to get this far without being interrupted or cut off and her mouth had run well past the speech she had prepared. Sandra had just crossed her arms and let her go, and Aurora's argu

ment faltered before falling off completely. She realized she hadn't been terribly convincing, even to herself.

"Finished?" Sandra asked contemptuously. "Let me summarize your argument for you: You're somehow special. Emily deserves this treatment -- craves it even, but not you. She didn't desperately cling onto your hand because the strap hurt so much. She didn't beg for the Headmaster to show mercy. She's just another locked student, not like you and your bag full of dirty money, right?"

Aurora swallowed hard. "Um... what money?"

Sandra laughed. "That's why we search the bags, idiot. Look at you: So confident that Rattangrove has never seen anyone quite like you, that your plan was so original that we'd never see it coming."

She looked down her nose at Aurora, and she seemed even taller and more commanding. "At least you had the dignity to try and buy your way out of it. Some girls try to fuck their way to freedom. Not that you'd have tried that, right?" Sandra clearly knew the answer to that question.

Aurora stepped back like she'd been slapped. Was she that obvious?

Sandra was fully in control now. "Let's cut right to the heart of it, you spoiled little brat. You need to believe that you're above all this don't you? Because if you're not, then you're no different than Emily here."

Aurora's stomach dropped as she saw an awful smile spread across Sandra's face. "Poor submissive, stupid little Emily. Who saw you suffer through all of this. Who saw you humiliated, who saw you cry. Who held your hand. The one who saw everything."

Aurora stood rooted to the spot as Sandra's smile grew wider. "You're going to make her life a living hell, aren't you? Because to maintain your little fiction that today never happened, she has to be destroyed, doesn't she? If she gets bullied, never has any friends, maybe even drops out, then there aren't any witnesses are there?"

Aurora turned and looked back at Emily. That... That wouldn't...

Aurora hung her head.

That really was what probably would have happened.

Emily had held her hand and tried to help her through this awful ordeal, just as Aurora had helped her. Unfortunately, that meant that she had seen far too much. Every time Aurora saw Emily in the halls she would remember today. It would be so much simpler if she just wasn't around...

"I... Well..." Aurora couldn't look at either of them, and she stared down at her bare feet. "I don't know..." she said.

The answer was yes. Sandra had her dead-to-rights, but while she was willing to admit that bitter little truth to herself she certainly wasn't going to say it out loud. Looking down at her feet she couldn't avoid seeing her bright white new cage, and it reminded her of just how different everything was from this morning.

Sandra relaxed. Winning against girls like these two was far too easy. "I think an apology is in order, don't you?" She asked.

Aurora hated it, but she was done. She had lost, Sandra had won, and she still had six strokes of the cane to suffer through plus... her eyes filled with tears once again imagining what nightmarish punishment Sandra had contrived for her afterwards.

"I'm sorry, Miss." She said. She surprised herself in realizing that it was actually true, even as she hated every last syllable.

"Not to me, idiot. To Emily." Sandra's voice was harder now.

The tears poured down Aurora's face. She couldn't face Emily so she just looked down at her toes. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"I'm sure she accepts your apology." Sandra answered before Emily could say a word. "Now in the spirit of fairness, I think that rather than you taking out your frustration on her, I'll let her take hers out on you."

"Wh-what?" Aurora was confused. She couldn't mean...

"Miss Black will be handling the final stage of your pain tolerance testing, and handling your punishment. You want to make it up to her, don't you?"

Aurora's stomach dropped. Having Emily witness her punishment was intolerable. Having her actively participate it was much worse. She opened her mouth to protest, but after a moment, she closed it again mutely.

What good would arguing do? Sandra held all the cards and whatever she said she would only make things worse for herself. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, so she simply returned to the desk and assumed the position once again.

Emily stood behind Aurora with the cane in her hand. She hadn't been allowed her clothes back, and she wasn't about to ask Sandra for them. Emily had been on the receiving end of the cane plenty of times but actually using it on someone else? That was both novel and frightening. She didn't want to hurt Aurora -- at least not more than necessary, but she had no idea what she was doing.

Sandra stood in front of the desk where she could see Aurora's face as Emily caned her. She clearly planned on enjoying every last moment of this. Tentatively, Emily gave the cane a few tentative swings through the air. She really didn't have a real reference point for how hard to swing, but the cane whooshed through the air if she swung hard enough.

Emily knew that sound from being caned herself, but she wasn't really sure just how hard it needed to be. She took a few more test swings, trying to get a feel for the softest stroke that would make a convincing noise.

"We are waiting, Miss Black. You both have an assembly to get to and there is no way in hell I'm letting the two of you get me in trouble by being late." Emily took up her position behind Aurora and tapped the cane gently against her bottom. Aurora shivered but she tried to push her bottom out a little. Emily surveyed the damage done so far.

The tawse marks stood out in stark relief against Aurora's skin. Six bright red welts against a background of mottled pink. Clearly Sandra hadn't held back in the slightest, but otherwise it wasn't as bad as Emily had feared. Despite the paddles, brush, and straps Aurora's bottom was only deep pink with only a few dark red welts. Emily relaxed a little; she wouldn't be doing permanent damage.

She also couldn't help but notice... other things. Like how round and full Aurora's bottom was, especially compared to her own; and how smooth her skin was. Her eyes lingered on the white steel ring wrapped snugly around Aurora's orbs, and ran down her long legs.

Despite herself she felt her cage tighten a little. She couldn't help picture how Aurora's skin would feel under fer fingertips. How she would smell; how she would taste. Maybe even... if she was unlocked... With Aurora bent over, submissive to her and Emily being allowed to slide her incredibly sensitive member against that soft, warm skin.

Emily bit her lip as her cage stood away from her body, her clit straining against the metal. Without the cage, maybe she could even feel what it was like... inside? Feeling the wet, tight slickness of Aurora's hole against her incredibly sensitive skin, the feeling of thrusting inside, Aurora's hips matching her timing as she...

"Miss Black? Earth to Emily!" Sandra snapped her fingers and looked at her with irritation. "Assembly? Short on time? Is any of this getting through to you?" She tapped her foot impatiently.

"Er... yes Miss. Of course!" Emily hoped that her arousal wasn't obvious and she raised the cane hesitantly; swinging it down with what she hoped was a convincing amount of force. The cane whistled slightly through the air and slapped against Aurora's bottom, eliciting a tiny whimper. Emily could already tell it wasn't hard enough.

"That's why we don't let you girls punish each other. You suck at it. Swing it like you mean it or you can join her." Sandra was impatient and bossy but she either hadn't noticed Emily's 'excitement' or she chose not to comment on it.

Emily drew back the cane and snapped it down harder this time, letting her wrist follow through the stroke. This time the cane cracked loudly against Aurora's bottom as the sassy brat let out a high pitched squeak of pain. Emily could see a thin red line blooming on Aurora's skin. She looked to Sandra, who gave her a tiny nod of approval.