[Admund]
"I'm sorry about this, Admund," Konrad says quietly, "I didn't think I'd be doing this again. I'll do it quick and neat, don't worry."
The muttering of the assembled watchmen is getting louder. At last, Captain Kratz enters the courtyard, his face set into a stern expression of command. "Quiet!" he shouts, "show some respect! Sergeant Auerswalder hasn't been a watchman long, but he's done more work than most of us could manage in a lifetime."
"Why's he getting the lash then?" Someone says. It's Fritz, from Admund's patrol.
"I don't like it any more than you do," Kratz says, "but Commander Schutzmann himself has ordered half a dozen lashes for insulting the honour of the Knight Eternal."
"What, that shiny-suited fool? Bugger that!" Fritz says. An approving murmur rises from the other watchmen.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Kratz says. "whatever we think of the Knight Eternal, we respect Commander Schutzmann. I don't agree with him, and I'll be seeing him as soon as I can to tell him so - which I don't expect him to be happy about. But I'm going to do what he ordered all the same. I expect all of you to keep quiet out of respect for Sergeant Auerswalder. Anyone who doesn't will be next at the post. Right, Sergeant: six lashes, and don't hold back. This is a punishment, and we're going to do it properly. Begin!"
Konrad cracks the whip in the air a couple of times for practice. Then he lashes Admund, very hard, across the back. He feels it cut from his left shoulder, diagonally downward, like a burning knife.
"One." Someone shouts.
The next lash falls, parallel to the first.
"Two."
Then the third. Admund's body shudders under the impact, but he keeps silent.
"Three!"
There's a brief pause. Then the lash falls again, this time striking from his right shoulder, crossing the previous lashes. Admund feels the blood begin to trickle down his back.
"Four."
Another lash, parallel to the fourth.
"Five."
Then the final lash hits. Konrad seems to put a lot of effort into it - the whip hits so hard that Admund almost thinks it's going to cut right through his back.
"Six! And done!"
"The punishment is complete," Kratz says, "now, raise a salute for Sergeant Auerswalder!"
Everyone salutes. Admund is still standing with his arms above his head, holding onto the post. Blood runs down his back.
[Admund loses 2 wounds]