Chapter Three: For Science!

For Science!

Their fitting complete the Headmaster placed one hand in the small of Emily's back, and a firmer one on Aurora's shoulder, them down the hallway in silence. The building was large but seemed nearly deserted as the trio passed through the hall, across a small lobby, and down a light of stairs. Deeper and deeper into the building, further from the party happening outside, towards the next stage of their admittance.

Apart from a custodian softly whistling as he swept, Emily didn't see another soul. This part of Rattangrove Academy was much newer than the Great Hall; the ancient oak and marble were replaced by plain white walls and industrial tile. It felt institutional rather than grand and inspiring. The effect was once of sameness and Emily wasn't sure if she could have navigated back to the room where she and Aurora had gotten their new cages; each hallway was so much like the last.

Eventually they arrived at a windowless door painted light blue, identical to every other that they had passed for some time apart from the small plaque that displayed the room number. The Headmaster opened the door and stood aside, waving them across the threshold.

Like the hallways the room was modern, well built, but very plain. White walls and a thin grey Berber carpet were functional, made for long-wear and easy maintenance rather than any real sense of aesthetic value. Light streamed from long narrow windows at the top of the room, illuminating ranks of long tables and ranks of chairs that faced a single dark wooden desk and a whiteboard.

The room was spartan: a pencil sharpener hung on one wall, electrical outlets were built into the floor under the rows of tables for students to plug their laptops into; a fire extinguisher hung next to the door. That was all as one expected, but this was Rattangrove. Next to the whiteboard on either side, where every student would be sure to see it if their eyes wandered from the lecture hung a pegboard that each held a variety of painful looking spanking implements.

The message was clear: Pay attention or pay the price.

Emily heard Aurora gasp as she entered the room. She had to know that this was coming, right? Emily had expected more privacy than this, but she had known that this part of her admittance was unavoidable. Why was Aurora so shocked by it? Was she easily frightened, or did she really not know what was going to happen next?

Sandra, the young woman whom Aurora had unintentionally tackled was waiting next to the desk with a clipboard in her hand. There was no warmth in her smile as she greeted the Headmaster though her tone was polite and deferential. Her eyes passed right over Emily, focusing directly on Aurora. With the Headmaster's back turned only the two girls could see her smile widen, seeming genuine for the first time. Genuine and frightening.

The fluorescent lights buzzed quietly as the Headmaster walked to the desk and took up a position to one side of it with a slight nod to Sandra, who clicked her pen, ready to begin. She didn't seem eager, at least not openly, but her eyes flicked to Aurora far too often to be simple coincidence or curiosity.

The Headmaster cleared his throat, addressing both Emily and Aurora, who fidgeted nervously in front of the desk. "Before I hand you off to the assembly, I need to administer our standard pain tolerance test. I rarely handle this myself anymore, but each of your parents wrote me to ask that I handle your test personally." He paused to let that sink in. "Are there any questions before we begin?"

Emily winced but shook her head. She had known about "The Test". It was in the Rattangrove guide and it was simply part of admission for every first year student. A half hour of deeply unpleasant "testing" to determine which of the Academy's motley assortment of paddles, straps, canes and other tools of misery were the most effective at bringing a particular student to tears. The fact that every freshman Rattangrove student faced it really didn't offer any comfort, but at least she wouldn't have to face this ordeal every year.

Emily had known it was coming, but the Headmaster himself administering the test? Her stomach sank. However bad it might have been with another professor, it was almost guaranteed to be more thorough and much more painful with the Headmaster. Instinctively her hands sought out her bottom, her body already anticipating the pain. She had been so well behaved this last summer before school, hadn't she?

She'd gotten the part time job her parents had wanted, she hadn't earned a really bad punishment in ages... Okay she'd been excited for school, guilty of having her head in the clouds a little, and she had ended up having one of their special "chats" once or twice, but was that enough to earn a personal session with the Headmaster himself? Nervously she glanced over at Aurora, expecting her to scoff at her nervousness, but Aurora's mind was clearly elsewhere.

How. Fucking. Dare he. Aurora was livid. She let out a deep breath and forced her hands to unclench; she hated her father, she hated smug-faced Sandra, she particularly hated those awful pegboards on the wall and everything they represented... Her lower lip quivered and she looked over to see Emily looking at her. She forced her mouth into a scowl. She wouldn't let fucking Emily see her afraid.

But... she was definitely nervous. First the cage, then the infuriating old Headmaster and his holier-than-thou attitude, and now...

Well, she didn't know. That was bad enough, but Emily seemed scared, and while she was clearly hopeless she seemed to know what was coming next. That she was visibly afraid of it was probably a bad sign. Pain tolerance test sounded bad in any event. The burning sensation in her rectum was beginning to subside but it still burned and she would be damned if she was going to give Sandra any sign that she'd been... figged. She did everything she could to seem composed and nonchalant, but it wasn't easy under the circumstances.

The Headmaster didn't waste any time. "The test is fairly simple in its execution, if regrettably uncomfortable for you both. It consists of four parts: hand, paddles, straps, and the cane. You will be given a few strokes with each in order to give us an idea of your pain tolerance. Once completed, the results will be placed in your permanent file so that your professors will be able to refer to them as needed. Effective discipline requires that the punishment fit both the crime and the offender."

The Headmaster picked up a vicious little riding crop and tested it gently against the palm of his hand. "For those of you with a low pain tolerance, you will be treated more gently, regardless of the severity of your offence. For those of you with a higher tolerance, our professors will know that they need to take a sterner approach. Every one of you is a unique young woman in so many different ways; your ability to process pain is one that we must pay special attention to here at Rattangrove.

Emily groaned inwardly. The fact that she was painfully familiar with nearly everything hanging on the pegboard meant that she was likely to score high on this particular test. There were both wooden and leather paddles, a pair of hairbrushes, a traditional rattan cane, a long, thin metal yardstick, the riding crop that the Headmaster held, and finally to her dismay a pair of thick leather straps and an old-fashioned Scottish tawse.

The Headmaster followed her eyes and smiled, though Emily didn't find his expression comforting. "We will not need all of these today. For our standard test it's just the leather paddle, the wooden paddle, the brush, the junior and senior straps, the tawse, and the cane. We'll be done in no time."

For Aurora the list was terrifying. She had never gotten anything harsher than a hand-spanking from her parents, and she had kicked and fussed so much at even the lightest punishment that she hadn't been spanked by them in years. She'd still been spanked, of course, but they had handed the duty off to the butler: Mr. Weathers. He'd used a heavy paddle, but he'd worked for her parents since before Aurora had been born. She had grown up in front of his very eyes and he hadn't had it in his heart to swing the paddle full-force.

She had gotten the cane at school of course, but that was never more than a half dozen strokes over her panties. That was unpleasant, but compared to what was hanging on the wall behind Sandra and the Headmaster it seemed very mild. Was every classroom here so... equipped?

"Ms. Black, Ms. Idris, please remove your uniforms and bend over the desk." The Headmaster was firm and clear, he raised a single eyebrow when both girls hesitated.

"But... Sir... We only just got dressed..." Aurora began to protest, but the Headmaster smiled and waved off her question casually.

"Of course, pardon me. Normally the test would be done next door to where you were fitted with your chastity devices, but that room simply isn't equipped to handle more than one student at a time. However, I'm afraid I must insist. These tests are always done nude, and today will be no exception. Would you rather I had marched you through the hallways without giving you a chance to get dressed first?"

Neither girl was going to argue that. With a sigh the two young women stripped down; placing their new uniforms on the closest table: Emily's neatly folded, Aurora's in a jumbled pile, before bending at the waist over the solid wooden desk. The Headmaster walked around and examined their pale white bottoms with matching white chastity cages dangling vulnerably below.

"Remind you of your first day?" the Headmaster asked Sandra, who was standing slightly behind and to the left of the girls.

Sandra sucked in her breath with a hiss and took a small step backwards. She was clearly both surprised and insulted by the question, but she held her composure. "Seems like only yesterday, Headmaster." The young woman's voice was cool, but a touch strained. Emily supposed that it wasn't unusual that Sandra had attended Rattangrove herself, but why would she be so touchy about it? The test promised to be unpleasant, but it was universal, a rite of passage, certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

"I'm ready to begin when you are." Sandra prompted the Headmaster, clearly not inclined to encourage further conversation on the topic.

The Headmaster nodded, taking off his tie and folding it around his hand before tucking it into a pocket of his jacket. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and rolled up the right sleeve. It was going to be a far more strenuous experience for his two students, but it required no small effort on his part as well. Emily noted that despite his grey hair his forearm was still well-muscled and lean. Any small, fragile hopes she might have harboured that the Headmaster wasn't up to the task were immediately dashed.

His voice was clear and firm. The warmth he had showed them to this point had cooled. There was no welcoming joviality or paternal familiarity now. Whether they had done anything to earn it or not, he clearly knew how to deal with a bared, vulnerable bottom in an efficient manner. "Try to relax, you two, and stay in position. This will be over soon enough if you cooperate." The Headmaster gave Aurora's trembling bottom a gentle pat; "Let's get that plug out of you before we begin, shall we?"

Aurora nodded mutely, grateful to have the awful thing out of her, even if Sandra was in the room to see it. It wasn't really burning anymore but it still left her feeling uncomfortably full, a reminder that even after her test, she was still owed extra punishment.

The plug slid free with a small whimper from Aurora. The Headmaster pulled a plain white cotton handkerchief from his pocket, wrapped the plug carefully in the cloth, and then set the small bundle on a corner of the desk.

"We will begin with 15 swats per side with my hand, and then 15 more, much harder. Ms. Black, I believe we will begin with you." The Headmaster said, taking off his dark brown jacket and hanging it on the back of the chair that was tucked into the desk.

With no further delay, Emily's test began: The Headmaster drew back his arm and sent his hand snapping down into Emily's bare, vulnerable bottom. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth as the first handful of painful spanks rained down: SLAP! SNAP! SLAP! The Headmaster spanked at a brisk pace, alternating cheeks, taking no time to lecture or inspect his work.

It wasn't so bad, Emily reasoned as she gritted her teeth. Both her parents spanked her a lot harder than this, but then the test was only beginning. The Headmaster was clearly holding himself back, and Emily couldn't imagine this being terribly painful to anyone who had grown up in a strict household like she had. She could take this, but being tested with three different straps? That was the part she was really worried about.

Aurora couldn't believe Emily's control and stoicism as she took her first set from the Headmaster. She winced and squirmed a little but she didn't cry, she didn't fuss, she didn't even whimper. Suddenly her smarmy wisecracks about Emily getting spanked at home felt hollow; the skinny little brunette was going to have a much easier time of this than she was. Aurora's upbringing hadn't prepared her for this. Not for any of this at all..

When her turn came Aurora did indeed have a much harder time of it. She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut as the first set landed home on her soft, spoiled cheeks. She had a rounder, fuller bottom than Emily did and she could feel it bounce back each time as the Headmaster's hand came down over and over again. She wasn't going to give Emily, the Headmaster, or that cocky bitch Sandra the pleasure of seeing her cry from the first set, but she knew she wasn't taking it nearly as well as Emily had.

"Hmmm... most informative. Most informative indeed." She Headmaster said as he took the clipboard from Sandra adding his own notes. "Ms. Black your pain tolerance is impressive. I fear that light punishments are simply not going to have much effect at all." Emily could hear the scratch of Sandra's pen on paper as he spoke.

"As for you Ms. Idris." The Headmaster's tone changed, now with a slight hint of mirth. "Under the circumstances, I do hate to ask, but is this your first experience with corporal punishment?"

Aurora began to push herself off the table, tears of humiliation and anger stinging the corners of her eyes. As she rose she saw the look of delight on Sandra's face and stopped herself. She wasn't going to accomplish anything apart from making her own punishment worse like this. With a defeated sigh she begrudgingly lowered herself back into place, simmering with anger.

"Going somewhere, Ms. Idris?" there was no mistaking the amusement in the Headmaster's voice this time. Aurora bit her tongue, swallowed the answer already forming on her lips and sulked for a short moment before answering.

"No, Headmaster." She replied, trying to keep any hint of sass out of her voice. Aurora sank back down to her elbows, resting her lower arms on the desk, and losing her taste for either fight or flight. "To both questions." She added, bitterly.

She gritted her teeth with aggravation as her answer drew a small laugh from Sandra, removing all doubt as to her motivations in Aurora's mind. The Headmaster was perfectly capable of taking his own notes; she just wanted to see Aurora suffer. Well fuck her. She would endure this test just as bravely as Emily, if not more so. Sandra seemed so smug, how had she felt when she was the one bent over the desk?

The Headmaster patted her warm and pink bottom with a mixture of consolation and condescension; "There's a good girl. I think you'll do quite well here once we get that attitude under control. I believe we will start the next set with you."

Despite the next set being much harder Aurora found herself able to keep her composure much more easily. The tears still stung the corners of her eyes, but she would be damned if either Emily or Sandra was going to see her cause a fuss. She hated every second of it, but she got through it without making a scene. This was about as hard as she had ever gotten it at home though; she had thought her punishments had been monstrously unfair and horribly painful. It appeared that she had a lot to learn in that department, unfortunately..

"A great improvement, Ms. Idris!" The Headmaster praised her warmly after finishing the set. Aurora let out a long, slightly shaky breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. "Now for you, Ms. Black..." the Headmaster said with a smile, walking around to Emily's side of the desk to deliver the next set.

Round and round it went, through the wooden paddle, the leather paddle, and finally the hairbrush. Each girl would take a painful set of around ten to fifteen strokes per side, Sandra would record the results, and then it would be the other girl's turn. The strokes weren't delivered at full force, but the purpose was not to correct their behaviour, but to gauge their reactions to different implements.

Emily gritted her teeth through the wooden and leather paddles. They hurt, but the sensation was familiar. Her high school had preferred paddles over canes, so the pain was an old familiar friend. By the sound of things Aurora was having a much harder time of it, but Emily struggled to find any real empathy for her. She was a brat and a bully, and Emily had other things to worry about, especially the awful hairbrush. That one had her squirming and kicking no matter how many times she had felt it's equal at home.

Aurora was more than just squirming and kicking. It wasn't just the physical pain, although she had loathed that awful wooden paddle with the holes drilled into it. Far more painful was the smirk on that tall, smug bitch's face every time she walked in front of the desk. The Headmaster with his peerless manners and propriety didn't seem to take any pleasure from this; his earlier mirth was a distant memory as each stroke was delivered in near-silence.

On the other hand Sandra was nothing short of gloating. Her eyes glimmered with delight at every sound Aurora made, and she could feel Sandra's eyes on her every time she squirmed, kicked, or even winced. She was certainly watching and recording Emily's results as well, but it was clear that her attention was purely on Aurora.

By the end of the paddle test both girls were red-bottomed and gasping. They had endured, though neither were confident about facing the straps or the cane. Aurora was crying openly and Emily was well into sniffling and hopping after each stroke. The Headmaster clearly had not applied any of the implements at full force but their bottoms were heating up just the same. Emily and Aurora shared a miserable look as they bent over the desk. They might not like one another, but shared suffering made for strange bedfellows..

"Well done girls, that concludes the paddle portion." The Headmaster had taken the clipboard back from Sandra and was adding his own comments. "You may take a five minute break; I realize that bending over the desk can be uncomfortable after a while." Both Emily and Aurora stared daggers at the Headmaster, not seeing the tiniest scrap of humour. He merely smiled at his little joke and made small talk with Sandra as both girls took a break.

Despite the Headmaster's incredibly poor taste in humour their backs really did need a rest and after rubbing the sting out of their bottoms both girls took a moment to rub the knots out of their lower backs as well. Aurora felt a little proud of herself as she watched Emily rub her sore backside. Emily had definitely taken it better than she had, but clearly she wasn't immune to the paddle, whatever her pain tolerance. It gave Aurora hope. Maybe she really could get through this ordeal without giving Sandra too much of a show.