A novice monk's brutal life - and his role in worsening his own sufferings

Merek’s ink is still wet when Tobin stops. The joined cangues halt at the landing, and the chain draws tight enough to make both boys face the steward.

Merek checks the fresh signature, then the wooden frames and irons. He does not touch the restraints, but his refusal to describe the household leaves Tobin’s future deliberately unwritten.

Merek’s hand settles near the silver key at his belt. Garran keeps the chain in his grasp, waiting between the signed receipt and the unanswered question, while Tobin looks toward Timothy for his response.

Merek studies Timothy over the wet signature, then looks to Tobin’s lowered face. The request earns a result, but it also fixes Timothy in the steward’s mind as a corrupter of the household’s discipline.

Merek gives Garran a brief order and takes Tobin through a side door. The punishment occurs off-camera; afterward, Tobin returns shaken but conscious, and the steward confirms the lesson was delivered.

The cost is immediate: Merek accepts Timothy’s requested punishment, yet withdraws trust and places his future suggestions under suspicion. Garran remains responsible until the signed delivery is fully transferred.

Garran lifts the signed receipt toward Merek, keeping his other hand on the shared chain. The steward examines the ink, then gestures toward a clerk waiting inside the landing house.

Garran’s expression eases as the final condition becomes explicit. He unhooks the shared chain from his belt but keeps it looped through the joined restraints until Merek formally receives it.

Merek takes the chain, and the clerk places a sealed pouch into Garran’s palm. Garran counts its weight, pockets it, and steps back from the boys, released from the delivery.

Merek passes the sealed receipt to the counting clerk, then looks over the joined cangues. Two household men wait inside the landing house, already watching the boys’ restricted pace.

The household men accept the order without surprise. They gather around the passage, not to threaten the boys, but to use the wooden frames as convenient tools of control.

Merek gestures toward the inner corridor. The men take positions around the joined frames, and the household’s first convenience becomes clear: several small boys can be managed as one slow, visible unit.

The sealed pouch rests securely beneath Garran’s coat, heavy with the full premium payment. His guarded satisfaction has become open triumph, confirming that the paired delivery earned exactly the fortune he hoped for.

Garran touches the pouch through his coat and looks from Timothy to Tobin. The estate’s payment has not merely covered his risk; it has made this his most profitable delivery.

The Blackthorn household men keep the joined cangues moving through the inner passage. Garran remains behind with his payment, while Merek’s custody and the completed receipt leave the profitable bargain beyond dispute.

The household men halt the joined cangues beneath the inner passage. One checks the corridor, while the other takes the leather whip from a peg beside the door.

The men take Tobin aside only as far as the joined cangues allow. The whipping occurs off-camera, carried out partly for their amusement and partly to display household authority.

The men return him to the passage shaken but conscious. During the delay, the wooden cangue has rubbed Timothy’s grave shoulder scrape raw again, and the joined frames remain locked in place.

The household men push the joined pair toward the quarters. Their amusement has secured the intended punishment, but the delay and renewed shoulder abrasion make the transfer slower and more painful than Merek ordered.

The joined cangues force Timothy onward through the inner passage. With each careful step, the soreness across his bottom becomes unmistakable, distinct from the raw scrape beneath his shoulder.

The recognition settles as a precise bodily fact. Sitting, bending, and every constrained shift of the cangue aggravate the soreness, while the travel irons leave Timothy no way to alter his pace.

The household men keep the pair advancing, watching their restricted steps rather than offering relief. Tobin’s question hangs between the locked wooden frames as the corridor narrows toward the quarters.

Timothy knows the new soreness will follow every step into the household. The cangue remains locked across his shoulders, and the men drive the joined pair onward without pause.

Another constrained step presses the soreness sharply, and Timothy distinguishes its depth at once. This is grave pain, not the minor discomfort he first named, worsened whenever the cangue forces him to bend.

His sharper attention also catches a useful flaw: the lower hinge pin on his cangue has backed out slightly, leaving a narrow gap beneath its wooden collar. It is not freedom, but it is a tangible weakness.

The household men glance back, but neither notices the loosened pin. Their attention stays on the joined frames and the corridor ahead, giving Timothy a small concealed advantage beneath their supervision.

Timothy continues within the restraints, now fully aware of the injury’s severity and of the imperfect hinge hidden near his side. The passage carries the pair onward toward the quarters.

Another forced step makes the pain settle deeper. Timothy’s bottom soreness is now grave, and every bend, shift, or pressure from the restraints sharply aggravates it.

The wooden cangue keeps Timothy’s shoulders fixed while the travel irons restrict his stride. He cannot ease the pressure without slowing the joined pair.

The household men glance back, noticing only the slowed rhythm. They keep the pair moving toward the quarters, leaving Timothy’s serious condition unaddressed.

Timothy remains conscious and restrained, fully aware that continued bending and pressure will worsen the grave soreness as the household passage carries him onward.

Behind the inner passage, Garran remains near the landing house instead of leaving. He watches the household men drive the joined cangues onward, the sealed payment pouch secure beneath his coat.

Garran laughs openly at the sight of the boys’ restricted progress. The sound follows them beneath the passage roof while the household men keep their attention on the restraints.

The laughter continues behind the joined cangues, pleased rather than concerned. Garran has his payment, and the boys’ discomfort now entertains him as proof that his profitable delivery succeeded.

Garran remains watching until the household men turn the pair beyond the inner corner. Only then does his laughter fade, leaving the completed sale and its consequences inside Blackthorn Hall.

The household men drive the joined cangues around the inner corner. One notices Timothy’s shortened stride and the way he avoids bending beneath the frame.

The men halt the pair beneath the passage arch. The cangue remains locked across Timothy’s shoulders, but they ease the chain instead of driving him onward.

One attendant looks toward the steward’s quarters, then back to the joined restraints. The household’s order now conflicts with a clear danger: continued pressure may seriously worsen Timothy’s condition.

The household men keep the chain eased while one hurries toward the steward’s quarters. The joined cangues remain locked, but the pair is no longer forced forward.

Merek arrives beneath the arch and studies the restrained pair, then the attendants’ report. His expression remains formal, but the decision is already settling into household procedure.

Merek lowers his voice and gives the attendants a further instruction. The promised corporal punishment is to occur after arrival, off-camera and without detail, once the household has inspected the injury and established its authority.

The attendants guide the joined pair toward the receiving room at a slower pace. The cangues remain secured, but the immediate danger of worsening Timothy’s condition is acknowledged before the household’s planned punishment.

Merek stops the attendants and orders the receiving room cleared. He has Timothy brought beneath the better light, while Tobin remains beside him within the joined cangue.

The attendants loosen the chain while Merek inspects the abrasion beneath Timothy’s shoulder and the grave soreness caused by the recent punishment. He finds no need to move Timothy beyond the locked frame.

Timothy’s request succeeds, but Merek’s record names him as the one who drew attention to the injury and challenged the household’s planned discipline. The steward now watches his counsel with open suspicion.