"I don't have to like it, but if you have a plan, then you must be prepared for it," he said after a moment. "Be careful, Highness. Even the best plan can go awry."
She smiled and nodded, then left her bedchamber.
Kalina was sleeping in the extra bedchamber, she found out from Azakar, who was standing near the door with his sword drawn. He was taking his job of protector very seriously, and that made Keritanima feel a great deal better about leaving them alone. "Zak," she greeted with a nod.
"You should be in bed, Kerri," Azakar said disapprovingly.
"I need to be ready in case they-" There was a knock at the door. "Well, speak of ill winds, and they fill your sails. Enter," she called to whoever knocked on her door.
It was the Chamberlain. He stepped in and gave Keritanima a terrified look, then cleared his throat and drew himself up. "Princess Keritanima, King Damon Eram orders you to remove your clothes and accept the punishment he has already decreed. Be assured that there are no more laws preventing you from escaping your punishment. Please, for all our sakes, just take it and be done," he added in a very informal tone. "I'll arrange a priest to heal you, but please just get it overwith!"
Keritanima gave the Chamberlain a curious look. Spontaneous words from a Chamberlain? Chamberlains were famous for their strict adherance to their monarch's wishes. Maybe her father had made a mistake in taking this man for his Chamberlain. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.
"Of course, my lord Chamberlain," she said casually, daringly pulling her robe open and then letting it fall to the floor. She looked right at him, unblinking, as he gawked a bit at her slender form. That she seemed totally at ease standing naked before him seemed to surprise him.
All that time spent naked with her brother and sister in the baths had done wonders for her self confidence when unclothed. She didn't like being nude, but she found she could accept it and keep her honor, just as Allia always said.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to bite you," she said with a light smile. "Just obey my rules. Firstly, do not touch me. I'll kill anyone who lays a hand on me. Secondly, give me space. If my father wants me to walk to Market Square and back naked, then don't worry about my modesty. I'm a big girl, and I can handle it. Thirdly, I expect protection on the walk up and back. No less than twenty Royal Guardsman. Now then, let's get this overwith."
"I find your conditions acceptable, Highness," the Chamberlain said. "Guards already await you. I'll instruct them to keep a loose cushion around you, but not to touch you."
"Good man," she said.
With a shiver of her tail and a glance back at the others, Keritanima walked out to accept her punishment.
It was an exercise in total humiliation, she realized.
Her father had taken steps. He had seeded the path up to Market Square with spectators, had even called out the Watch to help maintain order. The warm, cloudless day made sure that there would be enough passers by to get caught up in the spectacle as well, and that formed a large crowd. Some of them shouted, some threw things-probably the ones hired by her father to whip up the crowd-but most of them just stood and watched. Many of them were appalled. But to a man or woman, they all noticed that Keritanima-Chan Eram, heir to the throne, walked with a calm demeanor and a stoic face. She walked as if she were garbed in the finest gown, walked as if she were strolling in the garden. The fact that she was being paraded through the capital of her kingdom naked seemed to have no effect on her at all.
It did, however. There was a tinge of humiliation, especially when some brash man shouted some rather unflattering or crude comments her way. Each step strengthened her resolve to face up to it with honor, just like Allia taught her, and keep up her appearances. It was vital that she appear before the people as someone in complete control in the face of such abuse, someone that was strong.
The path the Chamberlain led her, a path chosen by her father, was a seriously roundabout route that took them through the richest and the most populated areas of the city. Damon Eram was making sure that everyone saw Keritanima walking the streets of Wikuna naked. Everyone from carriage-riding nobles to rag-clad beggars saw Keritanima's glory, but more than a few noticed the pride she carried on her shoulders as well. They led her along the gardened avenues of the richest neighborhood in Wikuna, they marched her up and down the Boulevard, the main street in Wikuna that was packed with shops and businesses. The Boulevard ran from the northern road out of Wikuna to Market Square, the largest open-air marketplace in Wikuna, and also a place where decrees, proclomations, and public executions and punishments were carried out. Most prisoners and condemned were brought from the Black Fortress, a grim old castle that was now a prison, along Chain Way. An appropriate name, since the prisoners were forced to march from the prison to the square wearing leg irons. Keritanima too walked Chain Way, from just outside the prison and along the entire length of the wide paved street, until Market Square was visible.
It was a huge open area, usually filled with tents and collapsible stalls where merchants and peddlars hawked their wares to the people of the city. City law required all merchants and their tents or stalls to be out of the square by sunset, so the layout of the square changed every day, as peddlars raced each other to set up in the choicest spots at dawn the next day. The result was an ever-changing maze of small tents, lean-tos, stalls, and sometimes simple tables holding goods from all over the world. It was said that anything could be bought in Wikuna, and that was certainly true in Market Square. Cheap costume jewelry could be standing beside priceless jewels. It was like that because many people found Market Square convenient, where only one stop would allow them to buy everything they needed, so some merchants hired bodyguards to protect their goods and displayed expensive and rare items within the square. Generally, it was known that the better, richer, and more impressive the tent or stall, the higher prices and more expensive merchandise one would find if they shopped there.
The entire center of Market Square was empty, and in its place was the Block. It was a wooden platform erected for public punishments, so the public could get a better look. For executions, a gallows was built on top of it. A huge crowd had formed around the platform, eager for the day's spectacle, filling up the empty space between the platform and the closest tents and stalls. They shouted and jeered as the guards marched the nude Keritanima into the square, filling her ears with a garbled din where all the voices flowed together to create a singular unintelligible roar. But she walked calmly, slowly, making no attempts to conceal herself, giving them all an eyeful.
The Chamberlain stopped at the crude steps leading atop the platform, where three Wikuni waited. A cryer, who would read the sentence, a man to carry it out, and an official witness to the event. Keritanima didn't see her father, or the members of court, but she knew they were there, somewhere close by, watching. Probably in a special tent with bleachers, making wagers on how many lashes Keritanima could take before she passed out.
She would show them.
Keritanima brushed by the Chamberlain without a word, climbing the steps on her own and without being forced. She walked up to the three Wikuni, a lithe ferret Wikuni who wore the livery of a King's servant-the witness-a huge alligator Wikuni wearing the black leather of the Prison Guard-the punisher-and a swallow-necked stag Wikuni with a chipped antler, who was the cryer. Keritanima walked up to the exact center of the platform, then stopped and folded her arms patiently.