Chapter 23: The Punishment
Dinner time was rather gloomy, without any conversation between the couple. Half of the steak was still lying on the plate, untouched.
Anna fed the meat into her mouth. But the more she tried to eat, the more she lost her appetite. Her mind drifted away, thinking of Kyren’s last words before leaving her earlier today.
’The punishment... What could it be?’ she wondered nervously.
The word ’punishment’ alone had made her breath uneasy. Her palms were sweating as she held the cutlery, thinking about the impending discipline she would face.
Unable to run away from the fear, Anna’s tension was bottled up. Ayden, her new ’student’, did not drop by today, leaving her anxious. If the assistant healer had come, at least, she would have had someone to talk to and let it out.
Nevertheless, that did not happen. The princess’s dinner ended without her finishing the meal.
It was the other way around for Kyren, who greatly enjoyed the dish. Being out on duty for several weeks made him miss the delicious meal at the camp. The food served to him was always good, as most of his knights who frequently travelled and were away from home had developed good cooking skills.
The commander had yet to reveal the sentence or its exact time. He had not talked much since returning from his task in the afternoon.
Noticing the traces of blood splattered on his clothes, Anna could only watch in fear. She kept her mouth shut in the dangerous atmosphere and let Kyren clean himself without disturbing him.
The princess bit her lower lip nervously. This time, she imagined what would happen to her.
In the kingdom of Ardel, it was a custom for the head of the household to beat his wife or family members as corporal punishment. The most common discipline was beating with a stick or flogging with a whip.