The main area of the Dungeon had been cleared of all activities. All portable devices and incidental furniture were removed as well to make the chamber even more hollow and desolate than usual. Flickering torches cast moving shadows on only two objects. One, was a leather and steel throne upon which Lady Arianda was sitting. Suspended from the back of the throne, above Arianda's head, was an ancient hollow-eyed skull, pierced through with a rusty sword. Similar adornments peered into the shadowed Arena from beneath the Lady's splayed fingers where her arms rested on the arms of the chair.

Lady Arianda was wrapped snuggly in black velvet from wrists to shoulders to low scooping bodice. The fine curves of her torso were caressed in the fabric as well. Only at her thighs did the dress part, the skirt falling to either side and contrasting her smooth pale legs. She idly bounced one leather slippered foot, although in this setting, it might look like impatient irritation.

The second object left standing in the Arena would be put to use as soon as aaron and layton arrived with their cargo. As Arianda thought she heard shuffling coming through the corridor, her foot stopped bouncing and she straightened her spine. It was time to begin.

The captive was not resisting. There would have been little use in it. He was neither a big man nor a small one. He could easily have been overcome by aaron or layton alone, much less the both of them. As the three men passed the large object, the captive let his gaze linger on it until layton jerked him back around. He had been stripped of his clothing and covered only at his crotch with the usual black leather thong.

When the man was shoved to his knees before the huge threatening throne, he looked up to see the Lady. His lips parted, perhaps to speak, or did his mouth simply drop open? Arianda leaned forward on one elbow and arched a brow at him.

"You look as though you might have something to say. Ere we begin, you have permission. Otherwise, you will only be permitted to answer direct questions."

For a moment the lost look on the man's face seemed to shift to one of more confidence. In fact, he grinned at Lady Arianda, almost sneered at her. He gestured with a nod to his escorts. "I no longer deserve Maxwell's handling?"

His smirking grin was slapped from his face before he saw her move, yet her voice was still calm with authority. "I decide what you deserve and when." With a curt nod to aaron, she set her two henchmen in motion. The captive was dragged backward to the large wooden structure and made to stand again. His arms had been chained behind his back. He was forced to bend as layton lifted his wrists into the slots of the lower stock. Aaron shortly locked the upper stock in place over them. The man crouched over, trying to ease some of the pressure on his shoulders, with his arms raised so uncomfortably high behind him, locked into the pillory. Aaron and layton then stepped back to await any further commands from Arianda.

She rose from her seat. The captive took notice as pale legs kept peeping from the long slit in her black dress. He sighed aloud as he found his face pressed and resting against the soft pale swells of her breasts and plush velvet. He was so distracted for a moment that he didn't notice Arianda had taken a sturdy flogger from a hook on the main post of the pillory.

Lady Arianda's fingers slid around the back of the captive's neck and pulled his face into her chest, while the other hand gently drew the leather strips of the flogger across his bare back. She felt him shiver against her. Her voice was quiet but he felt it against his cheek as she spoke. "What possessed you to steal from your prince, boy?"

He shivered again as the leather fingers of the flogger took another long gentle stroke on his back. "I did not, Mum. I did not steal from him."

She stepped back abruptly and pushed the grip of the flogger hard beneath his chin, causing him to grunt in pain as raising even this much twisted his shoulders again. His eyes showed his discomfort as they dared look at her stern expression. "But you were caught, boy. It's why you were sent here. Whom shall I believe? A prince? or a beggar?"

The captive swallowed hard against the stiff leather grip. Surprisingly, he voiced a response, though hardly a hoarse whisper. "The prince is a liar, Mum."

"Oh IS he now?" She leaned in as if to whisper against his ear but instead, used her shoulder to push hard against him, letting her body increase the painful pressure on his arms. His panting gasps were spent across her own shoulder as he felt his shoulders twisting in entirely the wrong direction.

When she released him to bend again, the echo of his wincing and sigh of relief followed Arianda around to the other side of the pillory, behind him. Her hand smoothed over his shivering cheek and slapped it then drifted over it again. She handed the flogger to aaron and put her fingers to work at undoing the straps of the beggar's thong, laced together at the small of his back. He shivered beneath her fingers.

Once the leather was loosened, she jerked it, stripping the pouch swiftly through his legs. It was enough force and friction to make the beggar hiss in sharply. Arianda tossed the leather thong out to the stone floor in front of the man so he might ponder his forced curl and his vulnerabilities, now dangling freely between his thighs.

"Open your hands." Arianda ordered, as she reached to layton for her riding crop. The beggar hadn't realized he'd clenched his hands into fists. The Lady watched his fingers uncurl. His hands were shaking and disembodied by the stocks, with iron shackles at the wrists and a heavy chain connecting them.

The stiff crop stung across the beggar's palms and made him cry out. His fingers curled again instantly and his fists shook til the sting dissipated. "Open your hands, boy." Arianda's voice was calm but firm. Slowly again the fingers uncurled only to be shocked once more by the crop's sting. "You are a thief. Your prince is displeased, but more than that... I am displeased."

His jittery "Yes, Mum." came after a hard swallow. He glanced at the leather on the floor then let his eyes take in his own member against his thigh. He gulped again, seeing that he had a partial erection, growing, as he wondered what the Lady might do to him before she was through with his punishment.

The beggar's thoughts were brought back suddenly as he felt a sharp snap of the crop to his buttocks. Naturally with his wrists in the stocks, his ass was readily available in the space beneath the wooden binding. A sigh escaped the beggar's lips as warmth wrapped in velvet pressed against his wounded cheeks. Arianda purposely brushed against him as she traded her crop to aaron for the flogger. Try as he might, the beggar could see nothing of her. His view, even if he could turn, was only the wooden slabs of the pillory and, if he looked down, his member working to stiffen.

The first lash of the flogger across his lower back and cheeks was not painful but surprising. The second lash however caused the beggar to jerk away, shooting pain through his twisted shoulders too. Lady Arianda waited for him to relax then struck again. She knew full well just when to whip him. Just as the pain from one lashing subsided but before it dissipated entirely, that was the time to strike. His skin would still be tender but recovered enough to feel the renewed anguish she inflicted. "Confess, thief. You stole from your prince. You deserve to be punished."

The beggar bit his lip and shook his head violently. Hearing no confession, Arianda lashed his cheeks again. The thick leather strips of the flogger were beginning to leave marks of color on his smooth ass. His whole body tingled, from her punishment of his buttocks to the ache in his shoulders. He felt his member throbbing now as well.

"Tell me, thief. Confess what a worthless wretch you are. Tell me how your prince should have you condemned." Arianda's hand smoothed over the reddened skin and shivered the beggar again. As she heard a soft moan from him, she let the next touch be the sting and snap of leather.

"Please..." the beggar hissed out.

"Please? Please, more? Please, stop?" The Lady flogged him again and saw his cheeks quiver. The motion traveled up his body. "Confess, wretch!"

With his hoarse husky voice, the beggar confessed. "I am truly a wretch. Worthless, indeed." He swallowed against his dry throat as his legs shifted. The throbbing in his proud member now had more of his attention than the soreness of his cheeks or tortured shoulders. "I have deserved punishing, Mum."

Lady Arianda smiled to aaron as she handed back the flogger on her way around to the front of the pillory.

Weary eyes saw the drapes of black velvet appear, with the hint of pale softness peeping between. Arianda looked at her captive. His wrists disappeared into the wooden stocks. His shoulders were flexed, still fighting the awkwardness of his position. His naked body was curled over his now proud member. His gaze slowly rose up to meet Arianda's imperious grin. "You have something that belongs to your prince. In deference to him, I intend to take it from you, boy."

There was a look of confusion from him but Arianda stepped forward. He half feared she would shove him back against the arm-breaking stocks again, but instead, her softness pressed against his bare chest. Her warm breath soothed across his shoulder. Her tender fingers slid down his side and reached in to wrap around his hardness, causing him to twitch in her hand.

Her voice whispered warmly against his ear, "Pearls, boy... give me your prince's pearls." She let her words sink in a moment. As she felt his swallowing against her shoulder, she tilted her head and sucked a kiss to the beggar's neck.

As her kiss became a punishing bite, her fingers flexed around him, coaxing him. At last he moaned aloud while his body jerked against the stocks and against the Lady's body. The beggar released the 'property', as commanded.

Arianda stepped back and smiled to the dazed, slackened man bound to the pillory then turned to leave his disposition to aaron and layton. They would see that he was cloaked and ushered from the Castle.

In the evening, as dinner was nearly over in the great hall, a messenger arrived. Maxwell spoke quietly with him a moment then allowed the courier to approach the Lady Arianda. The well-dressed lad bowed courteously and delivered a small scroll and black velvet pouch to her. He then bowed again and took his leave.

Arianda turned the small velvet pouch in her hand. Terin arched a brow at the fine gold embroidery shimmering from it as she waited for Ari to share what this was about. After setting the velvet pouch down, Arianda broke the wax seal on the scroll and read it with a smile, then handed the small parchment to Terin, who read it aloud. "Our appreciation for this afternoon's amusement." Terin then recognized the seal and signature as that of a princely acquaintance from a neighboring realm. "Oh, you had an appointment with the prince today?"

Grinning to Terin as she took up the pouch again, Arianda drew open the strings. "Indeed. I shall have to tell you of it. Next quarter, it's your turn to amuse him." She poured the pouch's contents into an empty saucer on the table and laughed aloud then stirred her finger in more than a dozen large perfect pearls.