Of Crows and Songbirds

She dipped her head. "I'm going to start cutting without warning, alright? The poppy will keep you relaxed, but lack of expectations will keep you from tensing up."

“Yes’m.” His chest was tight with an unfettered fear like he hadn’t felt since he’d been a man. He’d vowed never to feel like this ever again in his life. And yet here he was. With nothing standing between him and the loss of his body parts. He was tense already.

Sera set about preparing cauterizing equipment, then neatly clipped off his pinky toe and staunched the blood flow.

Aleth hissed in pain, entire body jerking. His stomach turned itself over. Heat rushed to his face. “Fuck!”

He panted loudly, breathe shaky and labored as his entire body trembled.

Tadaaki and Ky gaped.

Aleth was… touchable? He… could be hurt? And not hurt you in return?

Aleth spluttered for a long moment trying to get the pain under control. His gaze drifted towards the others. They looked away instantly, flushing. They weren’t allowed to be staring.

Sera let him recover for a moment as she dressed the toe and made sure it wasn't bleeding too badly. Then, when he was breathing more steadily, she cut the second one.

He let a whimper out at that one, suddenly coldness dumping across his face as the blood drained from it. He collapsed against the pillows, doing his best to pull his foot away. “No more! We’re done.”

Sera held on to his foot as she cauterized and dressed the wound. "I'll give you five minutes and then we need to go again. You've got two more to take care of."

Aleth shook his head vigorously. “No. No more.”

"I know you're in pain, but I can't give you any more poppy. Take five minutes; you'll get gangrene if these toes don't come off. You still might."

Aleth panted shallowly, feeling faint. And angry. “Way to sell it.”

Ky risked a quick glance at him then looked back at her knees. He wasn’t doing well at this whole pretending to be a slave thing. Evidently he didn’t remember how to act when he was in pain; he hadn’t experienced it in a while.

Sera frowned at him, brow furrowing. "Take five minutes," she said simply, and sat down.

He closed his eyes and panted, brow coated in a cold sweat. He felt like he was dying. Like he was seven again, tied up in the corner of the cage. Unable to sit up. Think. Speak.

Tadaaki and Ky got progressively more uneasy. One of them was going to pay for this later. Maybe both of them. Probably both of them… definitely both of them. Once he recovered enough, he’d come after them. And he’d get away with it, too, since the bruises would just blend in. They needed to hope this woman didn’t embarrass him too terribly. That made the beatings so much worse.

"I'm going to have you three stay in the infirmary for about a week," Sera said as she waited. "We'll see about your injuries after a week and then we might be able to move you to private rooms."

“Yes’m,” Ky and Tadaaki answered reflexively. But their stomachs sank. A week in the same room with Aleth with no reprieve. Gods. It was going to be one of the longest weeks of either of their lives. At least when they were at home Aleth would leave them be for a few hours before he came back in for more threats. Now there was nowhere to go. No way to lower their guard even a little. And he was going to be in pain this time.

"I know you may have grown close," she said. "But Lord Ash will very likely want you all on separate floors, though. We have a strict security policy here, particularly for newcomers. It's nothing against you as people, of course."