Chapter Three: For Science!

Mostly, she cried because it had been so very, very long since the last time. Once she got started there was suddenly so much that she needed to get out.

It was awful to watch, and Emily looked back over her shoulder to see a sight she wouldn't have believed possible: The Headmaster actually looked heartbroken at seeing Aurora cry this way. He seemed to have no idea what to do, so Emily decided to try to help instead. Still squeezing Aurora's left hand tightly in her right, she stood and gently stroked her auburn hair. It was what her mother did when Emily was crying after a tough spanking. It had always made her feel better, and she thought... she hoped that it would do the same for Aurora.

At first it made no difference, but after a few moments Aurora's sobs turned to hiccoughs and finally to slow, deep breaths. She didn't open her eyes or say anything, but it was encouraging to see her begin to calm down. Emily let her cry it out. It took a few minutes, but eventually Aurora's breathing stilled and Emily looked back to the Headmaster, hoping that this might have meant some slight reprieve.

It hadn't. The Headmaster's face was grave but determined and Emily swallowed a groan for Aurora's sake when she saw what was in his hands. Emily hated the tawse more than all of the other implements combined. She shivered as the Headmaster tapped the heavy, well-oiled leather strips against his palm as he approached. She knew that the slits between the tongues of the tawse would give it the bite of the thinner strap combined with the weight of the larger. The tawse somehow managed to combine the worst qualities of both light and heavy straps into one vicious tool.

Emily took her place beside Aurora, determined to just get it over with. The Headmaster didn't make her wait.

The leather bit deep into Emily's already-tender flesh and she felt like screaming from the very first stroke as she gripped Aurora's hand as tightly as she could. The tawse was a source of scalding, searing pain that blotted out all conscious thought.

The pain tore the very air from her lungs. She clung on to Aurora's hand so tightly that it had to hurt. But that pain was nothing compared to what Emily felt. The tawse burned the already-inflamed skin of her bottom. It sent tendrils of pain deep into the muscles of her bottom, and it set every welt, every mark from the paddles and earlier straps aflame with a new intensity.

She couldn't think, couldn't protest, it was en effort even to cry. She managed to get through the first two strokes but the third had brought her past the point where she could bear any more.

Without really even hearing herself say the words she had let go of Aurora's hand and reached back with both her palms; "Mercy, Sir. Please..." she begged between sobs. She wasn't capable of anything more cogent or lucid than begging, and so she begged. "Please no more...."

The Headmaster clucked his tongue and crossed his arms, the tip of the tawse hanging next to his hip. "An impressive pain tolerance, Ms. Black. I was worried that you might be a real problem for our professors, but it appears that the tawse is most effective at getting through to you. As I said to Miss Idris earlier, bear in mind that all of your professors will know the effect it has on you should you find yourself tempted by misbehaviour."

He looked over to Sandra, and nodded. "I believe we can safely mark that particular tool down as a full ten on the efficacy scale and move on, Sandra. There is nothing more we can learn from additional strokes."

It was just at that moment that the intercom above the door chimed. "Headmaster? Can you join us for the assembly? We are nearly ready to begin introductions."

The Headmaster checked his watch. "Hmmmm. Of course. Pardon my lateness Professor Willoughby. I will be there presently." The intercom clicked off as the Headmaster re-buttoned the top collar of his shirt and fished his tie out of his jacket pocket. Brusquely he knotted his tie around his throat and slipped on his jacket.

"My apologies, girls. It appears that time has made a fool of me this afternoon and I am required elsewhere. Sandra, you will complete the test, deal with Ms. Idris' correction, and see to it that they are on time for the orientation part of the assembly." It was a statement, not a question.

"Of course, Headmaster." Aurora's hair stood on end at the sound of the tall young woman's voice. Her awful smug confidence had returned. "It's no trouble at all..."