Chapter 21

Part 3

There was a long moment of silence before Talia replied, her shaking voice barely above a whisper.

“I understand what you did. Your son had just died, and from his last Reading, limited as it was to those last few moments, it seemed that I was responsible. Were I in your place, I also could not let such a thing pass, and I may have done the same, or worse.

“And Bezedil was my destined love. He truly was. And those few moments were all I had of him. He should have been my husband, but I was too cowardly to speak to him before Dalia did. You should have been my mother-in-law, and we should have grown to love each other dearly.

“And… And too, I have to do what Bezedil would have wanted. He would not have wanted there to be dark feelings between you and I.”

She took a deep, shaky breath and wiped away more tears, so distraught that she was barely able to speak.

“I forgive you, Alilia. You owe me nothing, except that there be peace between us.”

Alilia bowed her head and buried her face in her hands. “Please, do not forgive me!” she sobbed. “I cannot bear that you should be so noble, after I have been so vindictive! I cannot simply bear this on my conscience! There must be some penance or restitution, something I can do so that I can feel that I have atoned for what I have done!”

After a moment, Talia nodded. “All right. I leave it to you to decide on something appropriate.”

Alilia dropped her hands to her lap. “I will. Thank you.” she whispered, her throat too constricted to speak fully.

“Wisely done.” Theramin murmured to Talia.

There was a long silence, then Mark hesitantly addressed the elves.

“I’m sorry, I know this is very difficult. I don’t… I mean I don’t understand why you’ve come to my camp for this, or why you would discuss these personal matters with me, or show me Talia’s memories like that.”

As he spoke, Talia stood and faced him, visibly trembling. Her expression was one that none there had ever seen before. “Mark… The curse… You must…” Her eyes fell. “I cannot say it. Please, someone tell him, and then the rest of you must go, quickly. It is fully upon me, and it is unbearable! It must happen soon! And I could not bear you seeing it!”

“Sweet source, how could I have so shamed myself?” Alilia murmured.

“Mark, Alilia cursed Talia to be raped by you until the end of days.” Nemia quietly stated.

Mark stared at her, his brows up and his mouth open. Then he shook his head firmly. “I won’t do it.” he stated flatly.

“You must!!!” Talia shrieked, and now her face held only agony.

“I CAN’T!!!” Mark yelled in return, his voice a mighty roar.

“See here! I must make you understand!” Yazadril quickly told him, desperate at Talia’s increasing distress. “The power that Alilia put into the curse was enormous! Enough to cast a Concussion spell that could reduce a small mountain to gravel and throw it all for a hundred and sixty kilometers in every direction! Look at that mountain there and think about that! And all of that power was passed into Talia with Alilia’s blow! And now it is affecting her, and it will do so increasingly, torturing her, and it may force her to do things that she does not wish to do, and it may affect reality in other ways until the curse is fulfilled! I dread this as much as you, but you must do it, or even more terrible things may happen until you do!”

“I can’t!” Mark returned, equally desperate to make them understand. “Look at her! She’s… She’s adorable, damn it! You may as well ask me to torture babies with red hot pokers!!! I couldn’t do it to save her life, I couldn’t even do it to save my own life!!! I just, can’t, do it!!!”

“Nothing you do can harm me, and nothing could be half as horrible as what I’m feeling!!!” Talia wailed as she stepped up to him and clutched two handfuls of his shirt in her shaking fists. “At least hurt me!!! Please!!!”

Mark stared at her, dumbfounded. Though he was seated cross-legged on the ground and she was standing, they were eye to eye.

Talia’s whole body shuddered. “I know that when a child of your people is violent or destructive, they are punished with blows upon the buttocks.” she gritted through clenched teeth. “Do that to me now. Do it hard. I’m begging you.”

“What? Spank you?” Mark asked incredulously.

“SPANK ME!!!” Talia screamed, and slapped his face with all her strength.

He was caught by surprise, and the blow snapped his head to the side a bit. “GODS!” he cursed.

She drew her arm back for another slap, and drew breath for another scream, but he was having none of that.

“FINE!” he yelled as he caught her arm and grabbed her around her waist, threw her face down across his thighs, and spanked her hard.

She screeched in pain, and instinctively tried to cover her behind with her hands as she thrashed upon his lap, but he seized her wrists and held them with one hand, pressing them to the small of her back to hold her down, then continued until he had given her twenty smacks.

When he stopped, she continued to thrash and cry out for another moment, then she suddenly relaxed exhaustedly and panted to catch her breath.

Mark then realized that her reddened cheeks were almost completely exposed, as most of the white strips that had covered her there were awry. He also realized that the ‘dress’ of gauze strips was the entirety of her clothing.

“Stars above! You’re practically naked!” he exclaimed in completely mortified embarrassment, and whipped his hands away like her skin had burned them, then slapped them over his own eyes.

Talia actually chuckled a bit. She rose to her knees, still catching her breath as she tried to hug him, but her arms went less than halfway around him. She giggled and stood, so she could wrap her arms around his neck and lay her head on his shoulder.

“Thank you.” she murmured sincerely. “It’s over. For now at least. I know it will be back, though I know not when. But for now I am free of the curse. Thank you so very, very much.”

“Please, don’t thank me for that.” he muttered, embarrassed and ashamed at what he’d done. “I’m glad you feel better. I’m sorry I lost my temper. I’m glad I didn’t have to… you know… do the other. Ahf! I feel like a clod!”

“I’m so sorry, Mark. I’m sorry that I struck your face. I’m sorry that you have to do this for me. I did not enjoy the spanking you gave me, but the powerful relief I felt when you took the curse from me was heavenly. It’s as if you had a dislocated shoulder that hurt a great deal, and you went to a Healer who resets the joint for you. The moment when the joint is popped back into its socket is when the pain is greatest, but then it fades almost completely and the feeling of relief is strong and pleasurable.

“You have to be my Healer, Mark. You have to give me pain, because it is the only way to end the other pain, like you were setting my dislocated joints. And my joints are weak, so you will have to set them regularly.

“You must accept this! We must keep the curse from acting! The very best we can hope for is that we find a way to live with this, and accept it, and somehow find a kind of happiness together. Only then can we know that we are still wholly ourselves, that the curse is not influencing our thoughts and behavior without our realizing it! In order to prevent that, you must… You must give me my treatments as soon as I notice the activation of the curse within me.”