“Those are not the words I would have used.” Robert hissed before letting the prince crumple to the ground. Prince Damron rolled himself over, feeling a strange lump under one shoulder to realize he’d landed squarely upon the red knotted bundle and smooshed the bread and honey as flat as a leaf. Seething with anger, he charged the witch. He tackled him backwards off his broom and the two went tumbling into the grass. They grappled and swung at one another. Some of their punches landed, most didn’t. The pair clawed at one another, each trying to gain an advantage. The Prince pressed his weight forward pinning Robert on his back. Prince Damron, eager to strike his opponent in the face, yanked the wide brimmed hat away before tearing the black scarf away from under his nose. When he saw what lay beneath, his blood nearly froze with terror. Robert, taking the moment of shock as a distraction, managed to land a solid punch to his assailants’ jaw, knocking him off.

  Prince Damron fell to his side and Robert leapt up before pushing himself on top of him to now pin him to the ground. He pushed himself high on the prince’s body and pinned his arms to his sides with his legs. The boy was incapacitated and he lay at the witch’s mercy. Damron’s eyes grew wide as the now uncovered face inched ever closer displaying the horror that had been hidden from view.

  What had been hiding underneath the low brim of the pointed hat came front and center: Robert’s face of mostly pale skin was half covered in a large purple birthmark in the perfect shape of an upturned hand with the fingers splayed so that the thumb was horizontal across his lips with the index finger running up the right side of his face and the others splayed around the side of his head. The skin on the other side of his face was a patchwork of ruined skin that had been burnt and turned to scar tissue. Twisting subtle lines of long since healed scabs created a type of ‘marbled’ effect of lazy lines beneath pink transparencies. The hair and eyebrows on that side of his head were completely missing from being scorched away.

  “Take a good look, your highness.” He whispered to him. “Isn’t it everything you thought it would be?” Prince Damron, horrified, couldn’t look away from the disfigured and purple painted skin that made up the Robert face. Now wonder he always kept to the shadows. “I wonder if I could make you look just the same…”

  “Robert! Stop it!” said the shadow girl slipping out of the prince’s pockets and into the folds of the witch’s robes. With control of the shadows within his clothes at her command, Robert was jerked backwards and pinned to the ground. Prince Damron

  “Get off of me!” He shrieked, fighting to get free. “Get off me or so help me I’ll burn everything so there’s no place for you to live! Get off!”

  “WHAT’S going on here?! Shouted another voice. Robert and the prince looked to see Ignatius and the others sprinting back to the grove. Siouxsie immediately rushed to her twin’s side and pulled the scarf back up to his nose before retrieving his hat from the ground. “What’s happening! What have you two done?” The tall witch demanded.

  “He started it!” both boys said at the same time, pointing at the other.

  “I find it highly unlikely you both chose to start battling at the same time.” Ignatius scowled

  “Perhaps I can be of some help.” Said the shadow girl. “Ignatius, would come close so that I may share your darkness?” The witch came close and a cold shiver of blackness crept up his leg to rest itself in the dark folds of his vest pocket. Small whisperings emerged from his clothes. The others couldn’t hear what was said but when the hushed words ceased Ignatius looked upon Robert with dismay.

  “You swear this is the unbiased truth, shadow? Your words will have consequences for my brother.”

  “I have no reason to lie.” She said. Ignatius looked to the prince.

  “He stole the food I gave you then withheld it from you? Tell the truth.”

  “Y-yes,” said the prince. “I was just trying to get the bundle back and he wouldn’t give it to me.”

  “Very well. If what you say is true then I’ve failed as an example for my little brother to fail and I must make amends. Siouxsie? Come and take this shadow from me.” Siouxsie approached and simply stuck her arm into the folds of Ignatius cloak before the chill raced up her sleeve to slither up her arm and rest beneath her hat.

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  “Hello.” It said to her.

  “Hello, there.” Said Siouxsie. Ignatius then reached beneath his cloak where the sound of a buckle coming undone clipped loudly against a breeze passing the grove. His hand emerged bearing a long black belt that looked thicker than the others occasionally peeking out from his garments. He doubled it over in such a fashion that the length of the belt hung from his fist in a teardrop shape. The manner in which he held it left few questioning what was about to happen next.

  “I must apologize in advance for what my brother’s arrogance has made me do. Please stay here. Hoxley? If you have matters to attend to, I suggest you take care of them now before we return.”

  “Yes, Ignatius.” Said the faun girl solemnly. Ignatius turned to Robert who was situating his hat and held out his free hand to him. Robert hung his head but grimly reached out and took it before the tall witch led him over a small hill. The underbrush obscured what was going on beyond them. For the longest time, everyone in the group stood absolutely still occasionally making awkward eye contact with one another before looking at the ground again. Morell had no clue and looked to Siouxsie.

  “Siouxsie? What’s happening? I don’t understand.”

  ”Swackins.” Siouxsie answered. “Punishment to correct his undisciplined behavior.”

  “What kind of punishment?”

  “Just listen.” she said “It’s coming. Three…two…one…” A crack of leather split the air like a bullwhip in the distance. Robert’s shrill cry quickly followed. The sheer sound of the strikes was enough to make the prince and Hoxley grimace with discomfort. Morell turned white in the face and looked like he might faint. His knees wobbled and Hoxley grabbed him by the back of the collar to keep him upright. The whipcracks and yelps sounded time and again loud enough that everyone could hear. Five lashes, six, seven, eight….nine, ten……. No one said anything except for Siouxsie.

  “It’s over.” She said before digging into her pack. “Who wants a snack?” the prince looked upon her with shock that she should be so calm having witnessed such a thing. “Why are you so serious? It’s just swackins.”

  “That’s barbaric.” Said the prince. “How can you condone such a thing?”

  “The welts from the belt keep one mindful of oneself.” She sang like a rhyme. “Witch logic. Have you met an ill-mannered witch before my brother, your highness?”

  “I’d never met witches at all before I met you.” He replied.

  “Well, if you had, you would have noticed that almost all of us are very well mannered and treat others as we’d like to be treated. “The crackin’s of swackin’s make you shore up what you’re lackin.’” She rhymed again.

  “Have you had…swackin’s?” Morell asked her.

  “Oh sure, a few times. But after awhile, you learn you’d rather not act like a heathen then get the ol’ swackeroo. Robert’s hard-headed though. He gets swackin’s all the time. You’d think he acted up just so he could get the belt. Oh, here they come now.” The companions looked to the hill where the pair of pointed hat shadows emerged. The two were talking and stopped for a moment before Robert nodded his big hat. Ignatius then took a knee and the two embraced in a long hug. When they let go, the two walked back to the group and Robert approached Prince Damron. He bowed at the waist and spoke loud enough that everyone could hear:

  “Prince, Damron, please forgive me. I acted in an unacceptable manner. I hope you’ll forgive my trespass.”

  “It’s…it’s quite alright, Robert.” Said the prince. “All is forgiven.”

  “Thank you, your highness.” he said. Robert walked over to his sister who was holding his broom and snatched it out of her hand before rocketing off into the sky.

  “Where is he going?’ asked Morell

  “Probably to find a pond to cool his buns off.” Said Siouxsie with a grin. Ignatius returned to the group, his hands resituating the belt in his garments.

  “My apologies.” He said to everyone, giving an extra bow to the prince. “Now then, where were we? Hoxley have you asked the prince about the favor?”

  “The favor?” asked the prince. “What favor?”

  “There is a situation in town that needs to be attended.”

  “What kind of situation?”

  “A young man I’m remotely familiar with has been sentenced to death for committing a crime. Tomorrow the locals mean to hang him from a tree.”

  “What was his crime?” he asked.