"I have seen you at school. You're the priest's pet, right?"
Alysanne bit her lip and told herself to be polite. When someone showed up at your doorstep, you couldn't just shout at them, whatever they happened to say and however smug they looked. She just nodded and admitted that yes, they probably had seen each other at school.

"Yeah, that's great. Hey, do you know the joke about the priest and the three kittens? Since you must know so much about priests?"
Mertin came out with not just the one joke but a whole string of rather silly ones, mostly about priests and nuns. Alysanne laughed politely. Some of the jokes were even actually kind of funny...

Most of the time, she was groaning inwardly, however. Mertin obviously thought her an impressionable hussy just because she spent most of her time alone of only with Alvin. He was loud, offensive...

...and Alysanne couldn't get rid of the impression that he smelled of sweat.
He refused to take the hint that she was not interested, however, and when he finally left and Alysanne could devote herself to the tasks father Ambrose had set his pupils for the next day, it was already growing dark.

Dorian's relations were much smoother and more pleasurable. Spring and the nicer weather it brought meant more reason to go out - and more excuses to go to one particular place. And Lianrin was eager to use all of them. The beautiful elf just couldn't get enough of Dorian's embraces and by that time neither of them knew what was a real relationship, what was pure enjoyment and what was Dorian's calculation.
Their affair still unnoticed, they felt themselves above all possible troubles and just couldn't imagine anything going wrong.

Until everything broke, as it was bound to sooner or later.
When Liam passed Dorian's house that day, he was just doing a usual round of the county, not even intending to deal with the peasant originally. Maybe check if he was doing anything unsavoury to remember for later, but most probably nothing more than that.
Until he saw the dirty insolent peasant kissing his wife, in broad daylight, in full view of anyone who might happen to pass by. Not only had he dared to touch something that was his and his alone, belonging to the lord, but he even didn't care to hide himself? The cheek, the impudence!
Liam stormed in to confront them and Lianrin flinched in pure horror as soon as she saw his face.

He slapped her across the face, hard, not even listening to her broken apologies and explanations. She was as guilty as she was terrified and she would be dealt with later. She at least realised her guilt and was willing to grovel.
Liam just ordered her to go home and wait for him and his judgement and then he turned to the dirty peasant, who hadn't shown any fear yet.

"Do you have anything to say before I have you arrested? Anything that would add to your just punishment?" He asked coldly, before almost screaming: "How DARE you touch my wife, how dare you fraternise with NOBILITY, you PEASANT, for this I will have you whipped like a dog, more than that, I will..."
It was only this outburst that broke the shock that had been holding Dorian frozen in place. He desperately wanted to shout something back, but somehow he managed to bite his tongue. As much as he hated the arrogant brat, the situation was bad enough without him making it any worse.
"Your wife came to me, my lord." He had started meek, but as much as he tried, he couldn't keep the irony out of the last words and of his bow. "I was merely trying to satisfy my lady, in the way she requested me to."

The arrogance!
Faced with such a provocation, Liam could no longer speak. He just slapped the man hard, then again and once more.
"We will see how you will like my requests, peasant. I will have you punished, you will see." He growled and then he turned away to call the guards.
He would deal with his wayward lady and her "requests" first. And then... he was going to enjoy this very much.

When he returned to the castle, his disobedient wife was pacing across the room with tears standing in her eyes. He approached her sternly.
"I... I can..."
Liam wanted to slap her again, not only for shaming him but also for choosing the one man who would make this betrayal as insulting as possible. "How long has this been going on?" He asked instead.
"I... we weren't... only a... please forgive me. I will do anything you ask, just please..."

Ask. Requests. Liam's fury boiled over.
"How dare you. I made you a noble. You were a lord's wife and you chose to fraternise with an insolent peasant. Requested him to, as I was told."
"Please..."
He didn't hear her anymore. "I therefore have only one request for you, lady. Get out of here. You are no longer a noble. I am sending you to a convent where you will be treated as the sinner you are."
"My lord, please, not..."
"I would have you whipped, but I am sick of looking at you. Just get out of my sight."

Lianrin turned to leave, but she only made two steps before she broke down in bitter tears.

Dorian still couldn't believe what had happened. His back was on fire, even hours after the absolute agony that was his punishment. But now it was starting to abate enough for him to be able to notice his surroundings. The straw on the floor was dirtier than he had ever seen, the whole cell stank terrible and the rats were not even afraid of him.

It was this what finally broke him, or the realisation of his future fate the dirt and smell brought. This was for real and for the first time in his life, he had no plan, no idea how to save himself.

The prison guard made very sure Dorian would understand the rules and his new situation - if the heavy ball on his leg didn't make it clear enough.
"You are dirt and if you step out of line - or if you don't work enough - you will be treated exactly like you deserve. These are the lord's orders. Is everything clear, or do you need a demonstration right away?"
Dorian mutely shook his head.

He reluctantly walked over to the quarry rock, his whole body still incredibly sore from the punishment he had received. But instead of getting his pick axe he stopped in front of the hard-looking stone and begun to weep silently.
"Listen, it sure is hard for all of us, but it gets even harder when we don't get enough ore."
Dorian looked in the direction the voice came from and saw another prisoner, pick axe in hand, his face not entirely sympathetic but at least not overtly hostile.

When he finally started working, however, it was agony no matter how careful he tried to be with his injured back.
And the idea that he would have to live like this, day after day, month after month, at the mercy of the guard...
Just few hours were enough for Dorian. The pain, the humiliation... and he could feel the guard watching him and smirking. Trying to gain favour with his brat of a "lord" for sure...

He just couldn't bear it.
The brat who got him in this wasn't there but his loyal servant was and Dorian just couldn't endure it any longer. He waited for the guard behind the smelly tents prisoners were supposed to sleep in and there, relatively out of sight, he confronted him.
"You should watch who you're dealing with, you..." unable to find a suitable word, Dorian just growled as he shoved the surprised guard backwards.

And then, when the man was off balance, he jumped him, hoping to take his keys and escape from the dreadful place. In his rage, he even ignored the pain in his back.

After mere minutes it turned out he shouldn't have. Forgetting the pain alone would have been all right, but forgetting the general lack of strength the whipping and later hard work left him with was a much greater mistake.
The fight was short, but hard and painful enough and when he was thrown down for the last time, with the other man standing victorious above him, Dorian just closed his eyes in impotence. He didn't even want to imagine what must come next.

Dorian didn't know how he survived the next hour, only that the guard must have been even harsher than usually. He screamed, pleaded, promised he had learned his lesson... nothing worked. In the end he only screamed.

And then it was finally over and Dorian was left in chains over the night to "think about his lesson."
He wished nothing more than to strangle the guard, together with the other prisoners for not helping him, but when morning came and he was finally released, he went quietly. Even in his red-hot hate he knew deep down he would only gain more punishment by trying anything.

Lianrin wasn't met with any more warmth than Dorian was, even though she escaped the whip.
Relieved of her fancy gowns and her luxurious long hair she was so proud of, she was put in the hands of Mother Superior Agatha, who made it immediately clear what she thought of her.
"The wedding vows are a sacred thing and in breaking them you have committed a sin not only against your noble husband, but also against the Watcher. You are here to repent and I will make sure you do not get away lightly."

Lianrin prayed hard, just as she was told to. She prayed for someone to save her from the Mother Superior's watchful gaze, from her tiny cell and hard bed and, most of all from the itchy ugly habits and the length of hair required of a penitent.