Began here.

The castle was much as she had left it and it was with some apprehension that Elizabeth approached the gates. After all she had been out all night and all without permission. Since her father was already not best pleased with her, she was absolutely certain that her bottom was in for another long round of punishment. Her buttocks clenched and she swallowed hard. After the Krampus’s treatment of her she was confident that she would not sit down until spring.

It wasn’t until she got under the castle walls that she saw that there was some sort of activity among the guards. The soldiers at the drawbridge had swords drawn and the men-at-arms on the battlements were running to and fro as they yelled to one another.

“What is going on?” Elizabeth asked the leading gate guard.

“We have an intruder your highness, or so…” he looked at his fellow, “…someone was seen inside, but no one passed this way ma’am.” He looked confused.

“Where is my father?” she asked.

“He is out looking for you ma’am,” the guard told her.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and her heart sank. He would be worried, she thought, oh my lord, I am so getting a spanking. Then she hurried on across the bridge and through the gates.

She followed the sound of the commotion and found the captain of the guard and a dozen others gathering themselves for an assault on the great hall.

“Your highness, thank the lord,” the captain said, “Someone has breached the great hall and taken all the ladies of the court captive.” He broke off at the sound of a scream inside. “My God, what is he doing? We must hurry.”

“No Captain, wait. I think I know what is happening. I will enter first,” Elizabeth said with as much authority as she could muster.

“I cannot…” the captain protested.

However, Elizabeth was already pushing through the door and quickly closed it behind her. Inside she found the ladies of the court in various states of undress running around like beheaded chickens. There were many bare legs and even bare bottoms on show, although most were still mostly still clad.

In the middle of this melee was Krampus, at present holding the Lord Chamberlain’s wife over his knee and belabouring her bare bottom with a fresh birch rod. From the look of the angry purple-streaked stain on her naked rounds he had been thrashing her for some time. The poor woman was weeping and wailing as she kicked and struggled under the assault.

It was then that Elizabeth noticed several of the other women were sobbing pitifully and massaging their well whipped bottoms. All-in-all almost half the women of the court had been punished and the rest knew they were doomed.

Elizabeth for her part doubled over laughing, this was better than she intended all along and even if Krampus seized her again in the punitive mayhem she would accept that as the consequence of justice well served.

Then she remembered her sister and cousin. They, it seemed, had escaped and Elizabeth sighed in frustration.

“Mr Krampus, you have let two get away,” she called out.

Krampus dropped the sobbing Chamberlain’s wife to the floor and gave her a grin. “No one escapes Krampus; I will attend to all here before I move on to the rest of the kingdom. By Yule only the virtuous will be sitting for their festive supper,” he chuckled.

“All before Yule,” Elizabeth said doubtfully.

“Oh yes, time waits for no man, but he waits for me. Do you think the warriors outside are not mustering? To them they are but moments from affecting a rescue; but in here hours will yet pass as I deal out justice,” the demon told her with a wink.

Elizabeth curtsied to the creature and asked, “Have you finished with me or shall form the others into an orderly queue and then join it?”

“I am done with you… for now,” he grinned adding with a mocking bow, “Your highness. Why don’t you watch the fun?”

Elizabeth grinned. She believed she would.

*

The chaos had receded and now there was a line of bare-bottomed women all facing the wall in various degrees of misery. All had glowing red bottoms, but only half were crying. Elizabeth doubted that any of them would sit down for at least a week and that justice had well and truly served.

The last three girls had given up fleeing and now stood in a huddle watching a fourth turned over Krampus’s knee had getting the spanking of her life. Elizabeth knew the girl to be the proud and haughty daughter of the provincial lords sent to court for an education. Well she was certainly getting educated today, the princess chuckled to herself.

The girl, Dagmar, if Elizabeth remembered her name correctly, was bawling like the brat she was and kicked her legs in time to the various and several lashes that stung her bare bottom, which by now was hot, red raw and very, very sore.

The other unspanked women looked on nervously, but made no further attempt to flee, so that once Dagmar was set on her feet and sent to face the wall next to the line of other women, the next girl draped herself across Krampus’s lap almost willingly.

“That’s the way,” Krampus chuckled and began lashing the girl’s bare bottom with vigour.

It took another half an hour of subjective time for Krampus to finish the whipping last three girls and Elizabeth watched in glee as each one took her place facing the wall next to the elegant line of pert bare and very sore bottoms on parade there. Then it was over.

Just then the doors burst open and guards rushed in with a shout and brandished their swords at Krampus.

The demon only laughed and danced around; eluding each slashing sword until at last he leapt onto the window ledge and appeared to jump away.

“Summon the garrison, search the grounds,” the captain was yelling and most of the guards retreated back through the gates to join the pursuit.

“Ladies, I hope you all learned a lesson,” Elizabeth said brightly, “I suggest you don’t move until someone tells you too,” she added with a chuckle.

“What did we do?” Dagmar sniffed as her small soft hands massaged her very sore bottom.

“Oh I think you know, I think you all do. All those little sins that you hoped no one would find out about,” Elizabeth wagged her finger.

Several of the women bit their lips ruefully and remembered. The Lady Chamberlain even nodded her head sagely. None dared move from facing the wall, leaving a row of bare bottoms on display to amuse the guards and returning male courtiers. No one in authority had yet to think of telling them to cover their sore bottoms or to leave the chamber.

Finally satisfied, Elizabeth left them all too it and went to her rooms for a bath.

*

With Krampus apparently gone and the King still out looking for his eldest daughter, the castle was quiet. Elizabeth had luxuriated in a long hot bath and was now draped in a silk robe and reading a courtly romance.

The demon, she supposed, was out in the countryside seeking out naughty wenches and spanking them soundly for their seasonal sins. No doubt he would return and she just knew her own bottom would burn as it should, but at least justly this time. Perhaps once again before Yule, but certainly before next, she thought ruefully.

She remembered the rod stinging her bottom at the cave and where it was now. Would she really be compelled by magic to surrender it to a future husband, she wondered? She winced in anticipation. Justice was so hard on a lady’s bottom.

Just the she heard a squeal and then another. Surely not, she thought and gathered up a heavy velvet robe to cover herself. Them making her way down the passage she approached her sister’s chambers and saw the door ajar.

From inside were yelps and yells and the unmistakable sound of the thwick-swosh-thwack of a birch rod meeting bare flesh. Peering around the door Elizabeth was not surprised to see Astrid and Ingrid kneel bare-bottomed side-by-side on Ingrid’s bed while Krampus stood behind them and birched them soundly.

“I see you have come back,” Elizabeth chuckled.

“I told you I would,” the demon laughed.

Ingrid looked back over her shoulder, her face a picture of utter woe and begged Elizabeth to stop him.

The elder woman could see tears, henceforth a stranger to her little sister’s face, were now streaming down her cheeks and chin while the girl wailed and cried out. As well she might given the utter purple-red devastation being wrought at her other end. In fact both bottoms looked exceedingly sore and the small welts and grazes marring the skin seemed tender enough to almost garner little welts of their own.

“When I marry I shall pull rank,” Elizabeth said gleefully, “And these two bottoms will burn weekly until they learn some respect.”

“Oh, oh, please cousin, stop him,” Astrid sobbed.

“Perhaps,” Elizabeth said absently as she studied the punitive tapestry being wrought on her cousin’s pert bare bottom. “But it is good practice, for I mean what I say and if you won’t submit to my rod, I shall find a groom or a soldier to spank you oh so soundly.”

Neither Astrid or Ingrid were listening by this point as the Krampus gleefully went to work.

“They are so much naughtier than you,” Krampus laughed, “This could take hours.”

“Oh it could,” Elizabeth agreed and settled down in a chair to watch.

to be continued…