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Chapter Two � The Dishonored Outcast
In
the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia, all accused criminals had the right to
a trial. Serious offenders, people facing either the collar or the death
penalty, automatically were assigned a Spokesman. Spokesmen were court
employees whose duties included trying to find mitigating circumstances
and exculpatory evidence for trial, and then to manage a convicted
criminal�s life following the trial. Officially, the Spokesman assumed
custody of the criminal after conviction, and worked as their client�s
legal protector and mentor.
Petty criminals such as Danka always had a hearing to determine guilt
and the circumstances of the crime, but did not have the right to a
Spokesman. Their punishment only lasted a single day, thus in theory
there wasn�t much at stake, even if a person was wrongly convicted. A
day of public humiliation and then release back into the custody of the
family � no big deal. The reality was much more complicated, because a
person�s life, especially a woman�s life, often was ruined as the result
of punishment for a �petty� crime. Danka knew that, with her
unsympathetic family, she�d face a hostile reception after her release.
She knew that her life would never be the same.
Her trial lasted five minutes. The guard dragged her before a bored
local magistrate and explained her crime. Farmer Orsktackt, the trial�s
main witness, answered a single question; were the charges against the
peasant Danka Siluckt true. He sullenly responded that they were. He was
under oath, so he couldn�t say anything else. As much as he wanted to
complain about Danka�s treatment and argue that maybe she had been
punished enough and should be let go, he never got the chance. He was
dismissed and that was the end of his participation in the trial. The
sentence was what everyone expected: the peasant Danka Siluckt would
spend the night in a holding cell and the next day would spend about
eight hours on the pillory. At the end of the day she�d be released into
the custody of her family.
A court scribe copied the sentence and Danka�s name onto several sheets
of cheap parchment. One copy would be attached to the courthouse door,
one attached to the pillory in the city�s plaza, and one delivered to
the Siluckt household.
Guard Ann�kki led Danka to the holding cell. She untied the prisoner�s
hands, but then chained her wrists to the wall. She smiled coldly.
�You may think you were dishonored today, but you weren�t. You haven�t
experienced true dishonor. Tomorrow you will. I will humiliate you in a
way you never imagined. I will destroy your dignity, and destroy it so
thoroughly you�ll never recover. So, sleep well, Danka Siluckt. Tomorrow
will be the most horrid day of your life.�
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Farmer Orsktackt went home feeling very disgusted with himself. He
couldn�t believe something as simple as dealing with the theft of some
apples could turn into such a mess for both his conscience and his
reputation. He now felt responsible for the peasant Danka Siluckt, since
it was his complaint that got her into so much trouble. He now wished
with every bit of his soul that he had never talked to his friend the
councilman; that he had just dealt with Danka himself.
Protocol limited Farmer Orsktackt�s options for getting the peasant
Danka Siluckt out of the mess he got her into. Since he filed the
charge, he could not appeal for clemency, nor in any way be perceived as
trying to protect her. But he did have to help Danka if he possibly
could. His perception of morality and justice had been violated by his
own actions. Somehow he needed to set things straight. He went to bed
with his wife, but as soon as she was asleep, he got up, went outside,
and spent the night praying to the Lord-Creator for some guidance about
how he should handle the following day. The only response he received
was a very strong feeling that he needed to be present for the peasant
Danka Siluckt�s punishment and bear witness to what was about to happen
to her. He received no other insight. So, the next day he rode his horse
to the city gate and stabled him at the inn where Danka had sold his
apples. He bought a bottle of apple cider and walked into the city. He
took a look at the pillory and noted the peasant Danka Siluckt�s
punishment declaration. The chains swayed in the wind and two ladders
leaned against the frame, in anticipation of the day�s sentence.
Lord-Creator�what have I done?
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Danka spent a totally sleepless night. She was terrified of what would
happen to her the next day, but she also was extremely uncomfortable.
The welts and bruises covering her backside throbbed and made it
impossible to sit. However, she couldn�t stand up because the chains
restraining her hands were too short. If she lay down, she couldn�t
bring her arms down to her sides. She was hungry, and as the night wore
on, increasingly thirsty. When the next morning finally came, she was
totally exhausted. She waited in terror as it got lighter and lighter
outside.
Finally the cell door opened and Guard Ann�kki, accompanied by two male
assistants came into the room. One of the men unlocked her chains. He
pulled her to her feet and held her roughly while the other tied her
hands behind her back. Guard Ann�kki said nothing, but her cruel smirk
made it obvious that she had not forgotten her threat from last night.
��the most horrid day of your life.�
Guard Ann�kki took charge of the prisoner, firmly grabbing her arm and
digging her fingers into Danka�s skin. Danka did not resist. Her terror
had subsided into a numb depression and she was physically exhausted
from the ordeal of the last 24 hours. The group exited the courthouse
and emerged into Rika Heckt-nemat�s main plaza. Already a crowd of
curious residents had gathered near the pillory, anticipating the day�s
entertainment.
The guard forced Danka to get on her knees while she gave a speech that
she had prepared specifically to humiliate her prisoner as much as
possible. She mentioned Danka Siluckt�s full name over and over. She
talked about Danka�s ridiculous desire to have a dress and to pretend
she was something other than what she was: a dishonored menial worker.
One of the male guards pointed a crossbow to her stomach, letting her
know that if she resisted, he�d shoot her and she would die an agonizing
death. Danka obediently climbed up the ladder when the moment came. The
guards secured her wrists and stretched her arms over her shoulders.
Tears flowed down the dishonored girl�s cheeks as she felt the ankle
irons wrap around her legs and heard the locks click shut. She was
completely exposed, with her arms spread over her head and her feet
resting on small platforms a half a fathom apart. She felt the chilly
morning air blowing between her spread thighs against her exposed vulva.
She could feel hundreds of eyes studying her body. Against her will she
listened to various comments about her appearance and had to endure a
multitude of sexual jokes.
Danka said nothing as the sun rose higher and the air became much
warmer. Her arms and legs started cramping from being forced to hold an
uncomfortable pose for hours on end, without being able to move. She
could move and flex her arms a little, but she couldn�t move her feet.
Increasingly her body was protesting against what she was enduring. Her
back and shoulders started hurting along with her legs and arms. She
thrust her head back and forth and heard the laughter of some of her
spectators. She didn�t care. By mid-day the cramping was so unbearable
throughout her entire body that she no longer cared about the crowd
watching her.
The cathedral bell announced noon and Guard Ann�kki called up to her in
a tone of feigned sympathy.
�Do you need a break, Danka Siluckt? Would you like something to eat? To
drink? You are due a short break, you know��
�Please Guard Ann�kki��
�Yes, poor girl. We will accommodate you.�
To Danka�s surprise, the male guards actually climbed the ladders and
unlocked the pillory�s cuffs. They actually were going to let her down
for a while. The men rubbed her shoulders for a few seconds to get the
circulation going in her arms. The prisoner was hugely relieved. She
knew that the afternoon would be much worse, but for the moment she was
on the ground and had the use of her arms and legs. She was horribly
thirsty and drank a large cup of cold well-water.
Guard Ann�kki waited, ready to play a horrible trick on the culprit. In
her hand she held a freshly-baked bread roll. It looked like an
innocuous snack, but the bread was full of strong spices that would burn
Danka�s mouth as soon as she bit into it. The bread was important for
the guard�s plan to totally humiliate the peasant Danka Siluckt and make
it impossible for her to ever have a normal life in Rika Heckt-nemat,
even as a dishonored day-laborer.
The guard calmly watched as Danka drank he first cup of water. She set
down a large pitcher next to the cup before handing her the bread. Danka
was so hungry that she took two large bites out of the roll before the
burning started in her mouth. The burning quickly became unbearable and
Danka instinctively reached for the pitcher. She drank cup after cup of
water, desperately trying to calm the fire in her mouth and throat. She
drank so much water that her stomach became stretched. As soon as the
pitcher was empty, the Guard Ann�kki told her companions to grab Danka�s
arms and force her back up the ladder. A few seconds later the culprit
was restrained spread-eagle, her arms above her head and her feet
resting on the two small platforms.
Now the truly horrid part of the worst day of Danka�s life was about to
begin. She had a pitcher of water in her stomach, water that very
quickly would settle into her bladder. The pressure started building
within half-an-hour of her returning to the pillory. The unhappy girl
realized that she had been horribly tricked, but there was absolutely
nothing she could do about it. Her muscles had started to cramp again,
but that discomfort was nothing compared to the agonizing pressure on
her bladder. She looked down at the guard, who held up the pitcher and
smiled in triumph.
At first Danka thought, that if she put every bit of effort into holding
her urine, she�d be able to make it until the end of the day. However, as
more and more water seeped into her bladder, she realized that wasn�t
going to happen. The cathedral bell struck one. It was just one o�clock.
That meant she had three hours to go. No, there was no way she would
make it.
The crowd watching her was much larger than it had been in the morning.
2000 residents, a tenth of the city�s entire population, crowded the
plaza after having finished their mid-day meal. Danka grit her teeth in
a futile effort to avoid pissing in front of all those people. It was no
good. The only thing she managed to do was make the rush much worse when
it finally came.
Danka sobbed as a torrent of urine poured out of her and splashed on the
paving stones at the base of the pillory. The flow was loud and copious,
clearly visible to anyone who happened to be watching at that moment. To
the Danubians, who were the most fastidious of all the Europeans when it
came to that sort of thing, there was no way that Danka possibly could
have disgraced herself any worse than relieving herself in front of so
many spectators.
The crowd started laughing. The mocking laughter seemed to go on
forever, especially when Danka lost control of herself a second time and
sent another stream splashing on the pavement. When the laughter
died down, the mood of the crowd quickly became much uglier, especially
among the women. The spectators whistled low and hissed to express their
disapproval at the dishonored criminal. A group of boys ran out the gate
and in a few minutes returned with bunches of stinging nettles tied to
the ends of long poles. Guard Ann�kki nodded her permission and the boys
began rubbing the poisonous leaves over Danka�s skin, especially between
her legs. As the stinging intensified, she screamed.
By the time the boys tired of tormenting the captive with the nettles,
several workmen had brought in wheelbarrows full of sewage and pig
manure. They positioned their disgusting cargo in front of the pillory.
A group of vagrants who didn�t mind getting their hands dirty picked up
handfuls of the sewage and flung it at the hapless criminal. The crowd
clapped and whistled their approval every time a handful of excrement
hit Danka in the face. By far the worst insults came from the women
standing in the crowd. How dare this filthy dishonored slut try to
become one of them�how dare she...
The clock struck two. Danka�s punishment still had two hours to go and
the crowd was trying to think of something else that would further
degrade the pathetic girl chained up in the pillory. Guard Ann�kki
quietly left the plaza and returned to the courthouse. Her task of
ruining Danka Siluckt�s life was now completed, so she saw no point in
sticking around. She figured that the crowd might kill the peasant, and
if they did, she didn�t want to be present to take any responsibility.
Farmer Orsktackt was completely distressed over the spectacle in the
plaza. Already the girl�s life was ruined, but now the spectators,
especially the women, had worked themselves into a frenzy. He had seen
this happen a couple of times before; the darkest and ugliest side of
humanity, the lynch mob. 2000 people had the chance to direct all of
their anger and frustration in their lives against a single hapless
target, an ignorant peasant girl who had no chance of defending herself.
Tightening his lips and cursing himself for having caused the hideous
affair, Farmer Orsktackt realized it was up to him to put an end to it
and take custody of the criminal. He approached a trio of city guards.
�Listen! I will not have my property and my name dishonored! If you
can�t dispose of that criminal with dignity, then I will! Take her down,
put her in a wagon, and take her to my property! I�ll deal with her!�
Farmer Orsktackt did not give the guards time to rebuff him. He placed a
half-silver piece in each of their hands.
�As you wish, Farmer Orsktackt.�
�Yes, it�s what I wish! Put that girl in a wagon without injuring her,
and take her to my property!�
With their cross-bows drawn, the three guards stepped in front of the
pillory. They screamed at the crowd to step back, threatening anyone who
did not obey with an arrow to the chest. Bewildered and angry at the
guards� sudden change of attitude, the mob pushed backward, murmuring in
protest.
Danka was pitiful sight, as she hung limply in her chains and the slime
from rotting garbage and sewage dribbled down her body. Her filthy hair
covered her face. The guards ordered a servant to bring buckets of water
and pour them over the culprit before taking her down, so they wouldn�t
dirty themselves too badly when they threw her into the wagon.
Danka was only partially aware of what was going on, but the cold water
splashing against her body and over her head brought her back to her
senses. Rough hands tightly held her arms to prevent her from falling as
the guards un-cuffed her and lowered her to the ground. The guards tied
her arms behind her back and dragged her towards the south gate. Her
limbs were numb and she could barely move. In spite of her escort�s
kicks and threats, she couldn�t get her legs to work. So, two guards
carried her, each grabbing her by an arm and by her hair. Some of the
spectators wanted to follow, but the guard covering their departure
pointed a crossbow at the townsfolk and ordered them to stay back.
�We�re taking her to the river! The show�s over! Go home!�
The guards hoisted Danka into a cart normally used to haul pigs to
market. After dumping her face-down on filthy straw and fermented
manure, they tied her feet together. They concealed their cargo with a
horse blanket and set out for Farmer Orsktackt�s property.
Trying to avoid drawing attention, Farmer Orsktackt picked up Danka�s
boots and bucket while everyone else was distracted. He hid both items
in a sack and followed the wagon out the gate. Then he got on his horse
and rode ahead to his farm.
A few minutes later, three city guards arrived at Farmer Orsktackt�s
orchard in a very smelly cart carrying an equally smelly occupant. They
untied the girl�s wrists and ankles before dumping her on the ground.
They saluted the farmer and returned to the city. The went to the same
inn where Danka had sold her stolen fruit, got drunk, and invented a
story about how they threw the dishonored apple thief into the Rika
Chorna river. They claimed that they had killed a truly evil criminal,
because the dishonored girl cried out for the Destroyer Beelzebub to
save her before drowning. The men got so drunk and told their version
with such convincing detail that they ended up believing it themselves.
