“Get up, for God’s sake,” said Terry. “I’m not going to kill her. But if I can’t get through to her, you are going to take her out of this town bound and gagged in the back of your cart first thing in the morning.”

Remdell looked like he was going to sag back to his knees in relief.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

“Now, where is she?”

Remdell took him to another room, hesitated, and then opened the door. Mira and Harena were sitting on a bed. Tovan was on the floor, tossing a small ball between his hands. Mira started to smile when she saw Terry, but that look faded when she saw the expression on Terry and her father’s faces. Harena tried to put on a haughty expression that immediately cracked into one that bordered on fear. Terry looked at Mira and Tovan.

“I need to talk to your sister. Privately. Go with your father.”

Mira nodded woodenly, grabbed Tovan’s hand, and pulled her confused brother past Terry into the hall. Harena’s eyes shot to her father.

“What is the meaning of this, father?” she demanded.

He looked at her with a little guilt and a lot of resignation on his face. He shook his head.

“You brought this on your own head. I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”

A look of true panic crossed Harena’s face as Terry shut the door.

“Why so concerned?” asked Terry, “Oh, you didn’t think you’d actually have to face me, did you?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said rising to her feet and trying to put on a brave face.

“Be quiet, you ungrateful little girl.”

“I am not a little girl!” she shouted, fury displacing her fear for a moment.

“Yes, you are. Only children repay kindnesses with slights.”

“Doing what’s right isn’t a slight,” she said and lifted her chin in defiance.

“Grow up. This isn’t a game where you get points for being the most self-righteous. You’re playing with people’s lives. My life. A life I’ve already risked for you. The lives of the people the church will send after me. Except, you aren’t the one who will have to live with that blood on your hands. Well then, if you’re in such a hurry to see me dead. Do it yourself.”

Terry drew one of the swords and held it out to her. She stared at it like it was made of poison.

“What are you doing?” she demanded backing away.

“I’m just cutting out the middle man. What you’re doing only ends with someone dead. I’m just making sure that you’re the one who has to live with it. Take the sword.”

“No. No! That isn’t what I want. You’re twisting it all around.”

“Not thinking things through to their inevitable conclusion. Another mark of a child’s thinking,” he said, thrusting the sword’s hilt closer to her. “If you’re not ready to do the killing yourself, maybe you should be a little less eager to make it happen.”

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“You’re not going to trick me. I know what’s right.”

“Oh, I see the mistake I made now,” said Terry, putting the sword back into its scabbard. “I tried to talk to you like an adult. Well, since that didn’t work, I’ll just have to punish you for your misbehavior like the little girl you are.”

Harena’s face twisted in confusion.

“Punish?”

“Yes. Punish. You don’t get to play God with other people’s lives and go unpunished.”

Before Harena could make sense of what was happening, Terry grabbed her by the scruff on the neck. She froze in place, stunned by the rough treatment. It was only after Terry sat down on the bed and bent her over his knee that she finally understood what was happening. She started thrashing like a wildcat, but Terry didn’t hesitate before he brought his hand down on her ass. Hard. She yelped, thrashed some more, and yelped again when his hand came down again. It’s a primitive world, Terry told himself. You have to go in for primitive punishments. Not that the thought really helped anything. Spanking hadn’t been a thing when he was growing up. The context he knew it from was more on the kink side of things, and even then it was mostly theoretical for him save for a couple of online videos he’d seen.

That fact that Harena looked a bit like a college co-ed didn’t help either, just ramping up how inappropriate the situation felt. It didn’t go on for all that long, maybe a minute or two, but it felt like a million years to Terry. He expected that it probably felt just that long to Harena as well. When the whole thing reached his maximum discomfort level, he just stood up, which dumped Harena on the floor. Her cheeks were bright red and tears streamed down her face. He couldn’t tell if it was shame, pain, embarrassment, or rage. Probably all four, knowing her, thought Terry.

“Not much fun, is it? Having someone else decide what’s right and act on it. Having someone else take all of your choices away.”

He met her eyes steadily, and she lowered her head. That was definitely shame, thought Terry. Good. He walked over to the door, paused, and looked over his shoulder.

“You should be glad it was me.”

She glared up at him from the floor and said, “Why is that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Anyone else probably would have killed you rather than risk the possibility of having the church launch a manhunt for them.”

Apparently, it had not been obvious to Harena based on the way her eyes went all wide, and she suddenly lost all of the color in her face. Well, maybe she’ll think a little more and self-righteous a little less the next time she’s faced with a moral decision. Terry opened the door and walked into the hall, only to come to an abrupt halt. Remdell, Mira, and Tovan were standing in the hall. Remdell looked past Terry to the still-breathing Harena and heaved a shuddering breath of relief. Mira looked at her sister with a mix of confusion and something else that Terry couldn’t quite pin down. Tovan just looked baffled and a tiny bit afraid. Terry closed the door to give Harena a modicum of time and privacy to compose herself. He looked at Remdell.

“I think I got through to her,” he said. “Even so, you should keep a very close eye on her.”

Remdell stared at the door as though he was still seeing Harena.

“What did you do?” asked the farmer.

“We talked. Then, well, she probably isn’t going to sit comfortably for a while.”

Mira’s eyes went wide as she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Terry wasn’t sure just how much Mira and Tovan knew about the situation, so he didn’t want to say too much. Remdell looked flabbergasted.

“You didn’t,” said Mira when she had herself under control, her eyes gleaming with amusement.

“Oh, I did. If I were you, though, I wouldn’t tease her about it. There’s a good chance she’ll claw your eyes out.”

Mira made a pouty face but offered a reluctant nod. Tovan looked between the adults with that same baffled expression. The mystery ultimately proved too much for the little boy's curiosity.

“Tease Rena about what?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Remdell going into full dad mode. “You shouldn’t be teasing your sister about anything.”

Terry looked up and down the short hall. He saw a few people who had stuck their heads out to try to get a peek at the commotion. As soon as Terry made eye contact, they all started vanishing back into their rooms. There was a slight burning in his eyes that told him he was beyond that point where he wanted sleep and well into the zone where he needed some sleep. Nodding to Remdell, he walked back to his own room. He worried that Mira might try to follow him and launch her octopus attack, but it seemed that fate was smiling on him for once. He told himself he should take the time to remove all those swords, but just couldn't talk himself into it. As he dropped onto the bed again, a thought occurred to him. Speaking of misbehavior, that woman at the guild set me up. I think maybe I need to pay her a little visit and negotiate an appropriate payment.