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Elizabeth was barely conscious as she was pulled from the coach and half-dragged through a
courtyard and into a high-ceilinged hall.  She was released abruptly to sprawl face down
on the flagstone floor.  Before her eyes were booted feet.  As she raised her gaze, she
saw, lounging at his ease and smiling gently down at her, the upstart Baron, Frederick
Harzel.

“I trust you had a pleasant journey, Princess,” he said.  “Although perhaps it was
lacking in some of the comforts to which you are accustomed, hmm?  In any event, I have
but one question…”

Elizabeth burst out, “You swine!  You upstart!  You… baron!”  She said the last as if it
were the sorest insult of all.  “You would dare abduct a Princess?  My father will have
you flayed alive if you do not return me home this instant!”

“Well now, my dear Princess, I cannot imagine that you would care to make such a long
trip so soon again, would you?” he returned mildly.  “In any event, you’ve just arrived
and have not yet had the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of Castle Hildeshiem.  But
before we can begin to enjoy your delightful company, I must ask you a question.  Your
parents have already graciously agreed to the match, so I wish to know if you would
consent to marry me and become the Baroness of Rhinesfort.”

“Me marry a low-born son of nobody?  You are practically a commoner.”  She laughed.  “I
would as soon espouse a swineherd’s youngest son as you.”

The Baron took the refusal philosophically.  He sighed and said, “I suspected as much. 
Oh, well.”

He gestured to someone behind Elizabeth.  Suddenly, she was seized by many hands at once.
 The assailants lifted her bodily in the air and began to carry her.  Someone jammed a wad
of cloth in her mouth and rapidly secured it there by placing a bandage over her mouth and
tying it behind her head.  Looking wildly around, Elizabeth could see that her attackers
were servant girls.  She struggled, but there were too many for her.  The girls carried
her across the room and fastened her to a wooden trestle.

She was forced face down on the trestle.  Her hands were secured to the front legs by
leather straps at the wrists.  Another strap was tied over the back of her neck, holding
her head down.  More straps tied her thighs and calves on the back legs, forcing her legs
straight.  Finally, a rope was tied around her waist, pushing her midsection flat on the
top of the horse, and making her back bow sharply upward.  There was a ripping sound, and
Elizabeth felt a breeze on her legs and buttocks.  She had been rendered naked from the
waist down, helplessly bound with her bottom and privates exposed.  Although she could not
move her head sideways, by shifting her eyes she could see for the first time that the
hall contained a considerable crowd, all of whom must have witnessed her confrontation
with the Baron.

“I invited some of my people in, Princess, to either meet their Baroness-to-be, or…” he
paused for a moment, “to behold a haughty Princess being well chastised.  None of them has
ever seen royalty birched, nor, come to that, have I.  I thought it might provide a little
harmless entertainment on an otherwise uneventful day.”

Elizabeth tried to give the Baron her opinion of the “entertainment”, as well as a few
choice comments on his ancestry, but the gag kept her from producing anything more than
unintelligible grunting and squeaking noises.

The Baron continued, “Here is someone from home you may remember.  She assures me that
she well recalls her beloved Princess.”

Elizabeth now saw before her someone she recognized.  It was a former maid, a girl named
Lilly.

Lilly was rather too low born for the position: she was the illegitimate offspring of a
knight and a commoner.  The knight had somehow prevailed on the King to place this
daughter in a post at the castle.  Elizabeth had been having difficulties in obtaining and
keeping personal servants, and was thus forced to settle for this common slut.  Lilly did
not last long in service.  On the first day, she prepared the Princess’s bathwater.  The
bath was so hot that Elizabeth was practically scalded.  Elizabeth slapped the girl a few
times, but graciously gave her another chance.  On the very next day, Lilly clumsily
spilled a full goblet of wine on the Princess’s best silk chemise.  The girl was promptly
discharged, after Elizabeth made sure that the little fool received twenty lashes on her
naked bottom in the public square.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as Lilly smiled and held up a slender four-foot wooden rod for
the Princess’s inspection.  Lilly bent the rod nearly double to demonstrate its
flexibility.

“Lilly fondly remembers the time she spent in your employ, and begged me to give her
leave to be your personal attendant,” said Harzel.  “I have granted her request.  Fifty
strokes to begin with, and slowly, if you please, Lilly.”

Up to this moment, even tied to a wooden horse, her naked bottom in the breeze, Elizabeth
had not truly believed that the Baron would dare to have her beaten.  She changed her mind
when she heard a swish, and then felt a terrible line of pain like a long wasp sting
across both of her exposed nether cheeks.  The pain was so sudden and unexpected that
Elizabeth tried to launch herself forward to get away from its source.  However, she was
so firmly secured that she did not move at all.  The only result of her effort was a
slight creaking sound from the wooden horse.  At the same time, she tried to command the
Baron to stop.  All that emerged through the gag was a high-pitched squeal.  The crowd
murmured in approval.