dara had been held in position for at least an hour, her long, dark hair tied into a bun at the back of her head to avoid interference with the strap on her back, with not much to do but study the source of pain she'd soon be feeling before subservient led Master Mike down the dungeon stairs to join the party.
A brief, quiet conversation with Him revealed to me that subservient had adequately briefed Him on the situation here. When I asked if He would like to take over, He allowed that I seemed to have things in hand and to continue - including the punishment of subservient for her omission of instruction to the other staff about their attire.
I took the strap from its hook in front of dara's face and handing it to subservient, took one last look at the terror in dara's face before the order: "begin, 20 strikes on her back. I'll count. One." Unable to hide a bit of a cruel smile, subservient slowly swung the instrument back, then brought it around hard across dara's shoulders. Obviously the young newbie hadn't experienced much pain before, as her body shot forward to the limit of her bonds accompanied by a piercing scream. I stepped in front of her to observe the pain registered on her face when, surprisingly, she kicked out at me with one bare foot, fortunately missing her target.
"you two, bind her ankles together allowing about two feet of rope between them," I ordered two of the observing slaves.
That done, I ordered subservient "This time, don't hold back. Two."