Witchcraft: Guilty until proven innocent!

[MaidenFair]

Astrid looked up at him, expressionless. Her gaze fell to the ground once more as she crumpled into a heap on the ground, tears ran down her cheeks and onto the floor. How did her evening end up like this?

 

[Knightmare27]

"Let us begin, then....", he said, sounding slightly harsher, "First, I will show you all the instruments that are going to be used on you. You will get to try their bite and we will see if that makes you gain some sense. I really hope it will."

He really did. She was very pretty, and seemed so innocent. Witch magic, surely! But very powerful nonetheless.

 

[MaidenFair]

Astrid didn't look up. She brought her long slim legs from beneath her and pushed herself to her feet, her eyes remained on the ground, she didnt care about his little toys. She just wanted it to be over.

 

[Knightmare27]

He hesitated before continuing. It would be very hard to do all this to her, such an innocent young woman. Only she was not innocent, but she steadfastly refused to admit that!

"You will then have to strip naked, and I will be required to search all your openings for amulets... think about that! Do you want to be naked in front of me just for your lies?"

 

[MaidenFair]

Astrid glanced at him and felt her cheeks flush, her eyes dropped to the ground again and her lips parted as if to say something. Nothing came out though, she bowed her head, letting her long honey coloured hair fall infront of her face, hiding her embarrassment.

 

[Knightmare27]

"Then, I will have to shave the hair in your most intimate places so you can not hide anything there. And, yes, also search you in there."

She was blushing, befitting a virgin girl confronted with such terrible matters. Maybe it made more of an impression on her than all the threats of pain. Maybe he could get at her that way.

 

[MaidenFair]

Astrid glanced up once more at him, still blushing and still embarrassed, she gulped a little and raised her head more so he could see the redness spreading across the tops of her cheeks. She wanted to say something, anything, to fight but she couldnt, there was no use, any possibility of escape she could think of just resulted in death. She didnt respond to his words, just shied away.

 

[Knightmare27]

"And that is before the real pain starts!"

He went to one of the shelves and got the thumbscrews, two iron bars connected by a screw. "This will be the first instrument I use on you. When I turn this screw" - he demonstrated - "the bars will move closer together and squeeze your thumbs until they bleed."

 

[MaidenFair]

''I'm not a witch'' She looked from under her eyelashes at him, her fists clenching behind her as they were still bound tightly. She didnt care anymore, what use were thumbs if she was dead. ''You dont scare me''

 

[Knightmare27]

"I don't scare you!", he snorted, "your eyes tell me otherwise. Well, maybe this will scare you!"

He slid the thumbscrews onto her thumbs and tightened them just a little, enough for her to feel their bite, then a little further. "Are you scared yet? They can go much farther, if you keep saying dumb things like that!"

 

[MaidenFair]

Astrid whimpered as she felt the metal pressing against her thumb nails. She bowed her head and closed her eyes tightly, clenching her jaw. Tears welled in her eyes but she shook her head. ''I'm not a witch'' She screamed at him.

 

[Knightmare27]

"You are, and you will tell me so!", he screamed over her sounds of pain. This was not supposed to be the actual torture yet, so he only tightened it a little more before pausing: "Look at you! You are crying and screaming now already! Do you want more of that?"

 

[MaidenFair]

Astrid whimpered as he screamed at her, she retreated back into herself, hiding away from his shouting. She was embarassed and felt like a little girl with the way he was speaking to her. She gulped softly ''If I say I'm a witch what will happen?'' She looked back at him.

 

[Knightmare27]

"You will be given a chance to confess your sins, and your soul will be purified in the fire. Also", he whispered into her ear, "let me tell you a little executioner's secret: You will not feel yourself burn. I strangle repentant witches before they are burned."

Why was he telling this secret to a witch? He had no idea, but it just felt the right thing to do. He wanted as much to comfort her as to hurt her and get this all over with.

 

[MaidenFair]

''If I say I'm a witch you'll burn me? I thought you said...'' Astrid thought back, she thought there was a way out, a way she could live, how foolish of her. Of course they'd kill her. She looked at the Executioner once more.

''Whatever happens I'm going to die arent I?'' She asked softly.

 

[Knightmare27]

"You are a witch, and we are commanded not to let witches live. The most we can do for you is to allow your soul to be purified. And for that, your body has to burn. There is no way around it, but at least it saves you from hell, in which you would have surely burned if we had not found you."

The poor woman was afraid of dying - who was not? And even the reassurance that only her dead body would be burned did not much to help her with her fears...

 

[MaidenFair]

''I'm not a witch!'' Astrid shouted, her eyes brimming with tears. She gulped and sobbed quietly, her head bobbing as she did so. She looked around the room and out to the iron gate. ''Just get it over with''

 

[Knightmare27]

"So impatient for some pain?", the executioner asked as he took off the thumbscrews. The next instrument had the shape of two rounded plates with blunt spikes on their insides. He put one of them on her left leg and tightened the screw a little.

 

[MaidenFair]

Astrid gasped softly as she felt his rough hands run over the soft skin of her leg, past the hem of her dress. She whimpered as she felt the cool metal of the plates on the inside of her leg and gulped softly as he began tightening the screw.

''Please stop I'll do anything'' She whimpered through her tears.

 

[Knightmare27]

"We don't even want 'anything' from you, Astrid. Just that you go up there and tell the judge the truth. I would be much happier if you did just that and I would not have to see how many turns of the screw it takes to break your legs. Honestly, I would."

Her legs, long and shapely, felt very firm under his touch. A young, firm body which he could not wait to undress - yet he would only get to see her naked if she made the mistake of her life by not listening to him.

 

[MaidenFair]

''I am telling the truth even if I go up there and lie he'll kill me anyway! Or you will'' She looked back at the executioner, his eyes drifting over the pale flesh of her legs that were exposed by the torture device.

 

[Knightmare27]

He shrugged and tightened the screw just a little more, so that he could see the pale flesh around it turn slightly reddish.

"Yes, you will die. The only question is if you will die as a reconciled sinner and go to heaven, or die as an obstinate liar and go through hell both in this AND the other world!"

 

[MaidenFair]

''What does it matter i'm dead, what are they going to do in hell? kill me again'' The pain caused Astrid to whimper as the spike slowly pressed deeper into her leg.

 

[Knightmare27]

So stubborn! He shook his head and removed the boots. As they came off, he could see the pattern of angry red spots the spikes had left, some of them slightly bleeding.

"So you have decided wrongly. You will undress for the torture now, you little fool!"

 

[MaidenFair]

Astrid gulped softly as he reached down and removed her leather boots, revealing her slender calves. She saw the redness of her skin and the little spots of blood and let out another whimper. She looked back at the executioner as he spoke.

''Please I'm begging, I'll do anything you want!!'' She pleaded.