The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida

Chapter Twenty-Three

I had to stand beside Dalsharan as his consort while he punished Alsand. Since the whole thing was about Al disrespecting me, I couldn't avoid it. And I was really fucking pissed about it. I understood, but I was still pissed. I crossed my arms and stared straight ahead of me, refusing to look at Alsand as he was brought before Dalsharan.

“Do you deny insulting my consort?” Dalsharan asked Alsand.

Alsand paled. “It was just banter on the training field, my lord.”

I looked at Dal beseechingly, but he ignored me.

“Was it?” Dalsharan cocked his head at the soldier.

All around us, the army stood, watching solemnly. Men and women, hardened soldiers, exchanged worried glances. Dal said there was no difference between men and women consorts, but I could see that there was. That everyone thought there was. Men could take banter like that and shrug it off. Women had other issues to deal with—those words weren't banter for them. Calling a woman a whore has more cruelty behind it—more history and hatred and subjugation. Men use such talk with each other all the time without truly meaning it. At least, soldiers do.

“It was, my lord,” Alsand stammered. “Truly, I meant no disrespect.”

“Hawk Lord,” I said gruffly, “I would ask for leniency this one time. We soldiers can be crass, especially in training. I took no offense.”

“I watched you knock him into the dirt, Consort,” Dalsharan growled. “And yet you say that you took no offense?”

“I was upset for other reasons and used the excuse to fight.” I shrugged.

Oh, Dal was pissed. He'd given me plenty of time to argue my case in private, but now I was airing our dirty laundry in public. I saw immediately that it was a line I shouldn't have crossed. But for Alsand to pay for something he didn't intend to do... I just couldn't stand there and watch.

“So it was banter?” Dalsharan looked around at the other soldiers. “Do any of you think it's appropriate banter to call my chosen consort a whore?”

“No, Hawk Lord!” every person there shouted.

Everyone except Alsand and I, that is. I stared at him apologetically, and he widened his eyes at me, begging me to help him. Fuck. I was gonna pay for this but...

“Please,” I said. “He's my brother-in-arms. He made a mistake. I hold no ill will toward him. Please, Hawk Lord. I'll take the punishment on his behalf.”

People gasped. Fuck, that was the wrong thing to say. Dalsharan turned to face me slowly, that dark part of his soul rising to glare at me through his eyes.

“Shut your mouth right now,” he said under his breath.

I clenched my jaw and looked away.

“What do you have to say about that, Alsand?” Dalsharan focused back on him. “My consort, the new Valorian, has just offered to take your punishment.”

Alsand hung his head. “I am deeply ashamed, my lord. Please do not punish him in my stead. I spoke without thought. I didn't consider his status. Please forgive me. I will take whatever punishment you decree proper.”

The other soldiers went tense around us.

I sent Dal a pleading look and whispered, “Don't do this.”

“Five lashes,” Dalsharan declared.

I winced but then let out a relieved breath. A punishment of five lashes was brutal for a human, but a fae would heal quickly. It would be painful but not unendurable.”

“Thank you, Hawk Lord.” Alsand stood and lifted his chin. “I'm deeply sorry for offending you and disrespecting your honorable consort.”

“You are forgiven.” The Hawk Lord nodded to him and then to the guards at his sides.

The guards motioned the crowd of soldiers back and a circle was formed before us. Alsand was taken to its center, where he removed his shirt and stood, waiting for his punishment. No pole to chain him to, nothing for him to hold onto. He would just stand there and take it. A guard appeared with a whip in his hand but before he could start, Dalsharan strode up to him and took the whip from him. Alsand flinched, bent his head, and hunched his shoulders. He knew he was about to be made an example of.

It was one thing for a warlord to order a punishment but quite another for them to mete it out personally. The fact that the Hawk Lord himself was wielding the whip meant that he had taken deep offense to the crime. It meant that if it were to occur again, the offender would die. No mercy. No explaining. This was not just a punishment, it was a warning.

“Fuck me,” I whispered as I stared at my furious lover. All this because some soldier had called me a whore. How many times had I called other men that? How many times had I jokingly called myself it? I had been acting as if nothing had changed when Dalsharan claimed me, but I was wrong. Everything had changed.

The Hawk Lord was magnificent in his fury. His face became terrifyingly handsome, drawn into cruel lines. His eyes flashed with magic and vengeance as he drew back the whip, then flung it at Alsand.

I clenched my hands into fists so I wouldn't flinch.

Alsand grunted and a bright red line appeared on his tan back. A shiver ran through the crowd. That single blow had made Dalsharan's message clear. No one in the Hawk Army would ever dare to insult me again, not even behind my back. Part of me loved Dal for it. Loved him for making a spectacle to protect me. For making a display of how much he valued me. But another part of me hardened as I finally understood what it meant to be the consort of a warlord.

I was losing friends with every blow that landed on Alsand's back. Not their friendship exactly, but their willingness to show it. I saw it when I caught Kevin's eye and in the way Frederick wouldn't meet my gaze at all. My fellow soldiers would be more careful around me now. No more pranks, no more jokes, no more laughter. I had just become the Hawk Lord's completely. Alsand's blood and pain had sealed my fate. Dalsharan was not merely cutting into Al's back, he was also slicing away pieces of my life. I wasn't a soldier anymore. Not like everyone else there. I was the Valorian, Consort to the Hawk Lord.

I lifted my chin, watched my lover vent his fury on my behalf, and pushed down the pain of losing the only family I had.