At first glance, given the number of people present in the square, everyone had to be there. Probably summoned by Charles to attend the "show", I thought with disgust. People spontaneously moved away when they heard me coming, contrary to what I expected. As I walked through the crowd, I took the time to look at the faces around me and realized that I was not the only one who was repelled by this spectacle. They would do nothing to stop me because, somewhere inside them, they hoped I could put an end to this horror. But was I even capable of it?

I looked back at Charles as he watched me approach with a smug look on his face and he even had a satisfied smile, the whip dragged in the dust at the end of his relaxed arm. Everything in his casual stance, including the blood flecks on his clothes and forearms, showed that he enjoyed the game. I only wanted to make him swallow his smile with a punch in the face. My instinct was to throw myself at him to rip that monstrous whip out of his hands, but my reason reminded me that those same hands were capable of turning into deadly clawed paws in a split second and that, rage or not, without a weapon I would be no match.

All my thoughts and frustration at not finding anything concrete must have been visible on my face, for Charles' smile widened further and, before I could say or do anything, he whipped Jude as hard as he could. If he had so far succeeded in moderating his screams, he was no longer able to do so this time. The sound he made tore my heart almost as much as the sight of blood flowing abundantly from the deep wound that ran down his back and to see him collapse in his bonds, his legs no longer holding him. Charles laughed before he looked at me with contempt.

- 'Well, well, well... what have we here? The little human has decided to play in the big league! You're no match for me and you know it. But you can attend the end of his punishment if you want, it doesn't bother me at all. Nevertheless, I have a question before I continue.... Who told you about this?'

At the end of his speech, his voice was no longer mocking and was even frankly threatening. My esteem for Adam and Hannah skyrocketed, but I was so mad that the words got stuck in my throat.

- 'It doesn't matter. I'll know who it is and they'll get the punishment they deserves. So will Hannah, who should never have let you through.'

- 'No one warned me. Actually, it's your fault!' I said with a mean smile. 'Since you were not answering my many calls about the panther, which I obviously had the stupidity to untrust you with, I got tired of waiting and decided to come and see for myself. Obviously, I chose my day well! It was precisely the fact that Hannah was trying to keep me out that tipped me off. You should check on her, by the way! Because the last time I saw her, she didn't look very well.'

I tried to sound casual and confident despite my shaky voice and my worried look that kept going back to Jude no matter what I did.

- 'Why were you afraid that I would be warned and why would you prevent me from entering if I am so insignificant to you?' I asked bravely as I continued to advance towards the centre of the small square.

- 'Go ahead, little girl, brag all you want. Maybe it's a coincidence... although it seems a little big to me. Anyway, whether you're here or not won't change anything. Or rather,' he continued with a nasty smile on the corner of his lips. 'He'll be even more humiliated. So it's up to you whether you want to leave or stay.'

With these cruel words, he was about to strike Jude again, when my body, overtaking my brain, interposed itself between him and the whip. As I suspected, Charles didn't even try to deflect or cushion the blow. Fortunately for me, I kept some of my reflexes and succeeded, I don't know how, in putting myself in semi-profile while curling up to protect myself. My arms, as well as my left flank, took the biggest hit.

I only felt the shock then, which shook my whole body. So much so that I lost my balance and fell on Jude, only to end up at his feet, lying on the right flank, with my arms always raised above my head in anticipation of another blow. The pain came later, and it was equal to my fears. Sharp and throbbing. I felt like my arms and ribs were on fire, while blood was flowing from my wounds. I barely retained a moan, but could do nothing about the tremors. I heard Jude trying to stand up in a growl of pain and whisper "no".

- 'It was brave, I must admit, but stupid if you thought it would stop me. You have a minute to get out of there!' he threatened me in a growling voice.

I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to curl up even more in anticipation of the next blow. Instead, I stood up with difficulty, trying to hide the pain that was consuming my limbs, and then stood, as straight as I could, between Jude and him, without taking my eyes off him for a single second. There was absolutely no way I was going to move. I knew it was stupid, but I didn't have a plan B or a dazzling genius idea! Nevertheless, I wouldn't give in and leave Jude to that psychopath.

- 'Christina, don't just stand there.'

Jude's anguished murmur came to me, despite the noise that was beginning to rise around the small square. Despite the irresistible desire I had to turn my head to answer him, I abstained. It was more prudent if I wanted to be able to hold on. I had acted instinctively, emotionally, and I was afraid to run away if I started thinking.

- 'I'll recover better than you. Please don't stay there,' he continued in a whisper, but with a pleading voice.

- 'No way I'm going to leave you,' I whispered to him, moving my lips as little as possible, without ever taking my eyes off Charles.

He held my gaze without blinking and began to arm his arm to give me the next blow, a bigger and bigger smile stretching his lips with each additional second. I felt more than I heard the spectators hold their breath. Was he going to hit me in cold blood? Would I have the courage to stand there and wait? Despite my determination to remain stoic, I began to shake. Finally, his arm relaxed and he struck. But he was surprised, like everyone else, by the dry order that echoed in the silence as he struck his blow.

- 'Now that's enough, Charles!'

So much so that it reached me with much less force than expected but managed to tear out a scream and cut my left cheek. I heard Jude swear and pull his chains behind me, as he urged me to give up and leave as soon as possible. I was shaking so much that my legs were having trouble carrying me. So I preferred to sit on the ground at the foot of the pole, rather than collapse in front of everyone.

- 'I think she understood that you won't give in. Let her go.'

The voice, now less confident, which rose again to my right was nevertheless full of determination and courage. And it took a lot to dare to stand up to this man! I finally dared to lower my arm and risk a glance, to discover that it was Charles' own wife who had just spoken. She was standing in the first circle of spectators next to Daphnee, who seemed quite comfortable.

- 'I am only enforcing the law and you know it very well since you participated in the vote,' he growled furiously at his wife.

- 'Which should have been open to all, as you have the power to do and as I suggested! This case concerns the whole community and all those involved should have been present. He has been punished. You made an example, let's leave it at that. These barbaric practices should no longer take place.'

She shook her head and sighed as if it was a recurring argument between them and that she knew that no matter what she did or said, it would not change anything. Her intervention had certainly saved me a long and painful ordeal, but it would not spare Jude. I understood it when I saw the comprehension on Charles' face. Continuing to hit me would be a mistake, but giving in to his wife was unacceptable to him.

- 'Although there is no reason for me to justify myself to a "human",' he spat out as if it was the worst insult and approached so as to dominate me, 'I will still explain what is happening. Jude is accused of treason for revealing our existence to humans, which is an extremely serious crime. Perhaps one of the worst for our species, because the survival of all of us depends on it.'

A murmur of approval ran through the crowd.

- 'I could even have killed him for that. But out of respect for the help he gave us, I eased his sentence and he accepted it. So he will receive ten lashes in public, and if you don't get out of my way, I will be the one to move and I won't hesitate to aim at anything but his back. It would be a shame to damage such a beautiful face, don't you think?'

He had such a victorious smile when he said these words that not only did I know he would do it, but that he would also enjoy it even more. I stood up with helplessness and rage in my stomach and struggled to move away and reach the edge of the square. I couldn't help but cry when I saw Jude's eyes, who looked more worried for me than for him. But before another blow came, I decided to risk it all.

-'You're wrong, he's not a traitor!' I said as loudly and clearly as I could, so that everyone could hear me, even if I spoke directly to Charles and the board members.

- 'He didn't say anything to the inspector until Aria was kidnapped and you asked him for help. That he granted you without hesitation, even though you already thought he was a traitor and knew what he would face. Inspector Worth had decided to help us without asking too many questions and we had managed to dodge what little he asked of us. If he finally told him, he did it for you, to save Aria, Adam and me, and we hoped the others too. Also, the inspector covered your tracks, putting his career at risk for you, and nothing was discovered. So all this violence is useless and you are punishing a good and loyal man for nothing. Well, in fact.... For helping you! You are nothing more than a monster who takes pleasure in dominating and humiliating others.'

All the time I ranted, which seemed endless, I never took my eyes off Charles. A stony silence followed my little speech.

- 'Do you have any proof of this?' Daphnee asked me coldly.

- 'Yes,' Adam suddenly intervened, standing next to me. 'I witnessed the police officer's work to help us remain anonymous. He is a good and trustworthy man. Jude was right to trust him, otherwise they would never have found us in time.'

People around the square were getting restless and the rumble of their questions was getting louder and louder. Daphnee observed the crowd for a few minutes in silence, then addressed Charles.

- 'In light of this new information, which we did not have at the time we made our decision, I suggest that we reduce the sentence. What do you think, brother?'

Through her eyes and voice intonations, she made it clear to Charles that she was absolutely not deceived by the fact that he was aware of it from the beginning, but she allowed him to avoid a major crisis and to save face on top of that. A true masterstroke! The latter, pale with rage, struck me with his gaze, his fists clenched and his knuckles whitened.

- 'Since our secret was not revealed as we feared and this betrayal was made in order to help our people... we will therefore abandon the prison sentence followed by banishment. But Jude still broke our most important law, so he will receive the ten lashes as planned. Does that seem fair to you?' he asked in a loud voice as he scanned the crowd around him.

A murmur of consent came from all gathered and Adam strongly grabbed my hand as I was about to take a new breath to speak. He nodded indicating that I should keep quiet. I held back with great difficulty and realized that what I had achieved was already very good. However, I could hardly bear the thought of having to stand there doing nothing while he was about to be tortured in front of me. Because for me, it had no other name. What convinced me the most to keep my mouth shut was the little imperceptible sign from Jude. If he also wanted me to keep quiet, who was I to refuse?

The next few minutes seemed like hours and I couldn't help but close my eyes all along. I don't care if I look like a wimp. The sounds were already going to haunt my dreams for years, adding the images was really too much for me.

When it was finally finished, Charles nonchalantly went to the post, where he cut the ties that held Jude's to it. He collapsed at his feet without even trying to hold him back. He stood there for a moment staring at him with a contemptuous look, then he turned his heels and walked away with a step as quiet as ever, without a look back, leaving him there.

I watched in amazement as all those present walked away one after the other without even trying to help him. Even if I knew that in the current state of things, the best thing to do was to keep quiet, I couldn't help but react when I saw them all passing in front of him without even giving him a look. Adam must be getting to know me, because before I even had time to make a sound, he bent over to whisper in my ear.

- 'They don't help him because that would be disrespectful. As a metamorph, what he has just undergone is very humiliating and painful at first, but he will recover very quickly. The fact that they ignore it is a kind of consideration sign.'

I couldn't help but shake my head with an incredulous look. I was really in another world! Or I had gone back in time to the Middle Ages for all I knew. So I kept quiet and waited with Adam for everyone to leave. Looking at Jude, I couldn't understand why he wasn't trying to get up. As it didn't seem to worry Adam, I thought it must have been part of their weird social codes and decided to stay out of it.

Hannah's appearance in my left field of vision distracted me temporarily from my shocked contemplation and I turned slightly to be able to look her in the face. She wore a beautiful black eye and a nasty cut on the edge of her scalp. Blood had run down her temple and stuck her hair, making it seem rather orange-rusty and disgusting. No doubt, I had done my job well! Contrary to the hostile look I expected, I was greeted with a shy smile, as well as a small nod with a surprise look, when she saw the deep cut left by the whip on the left side of my body and on my cheek. If I wasn't mistaken, coming from her, that was the closest thing to a thank you. I remained speechless and astonished. She looked away at Jude, a long shiver running through her skin, then she began to frown and I saw anxiety passing over her face.

- 'Is it normal that the fact that he has not yet got up only surprises me?' she said in a voice she hoped to be detached.

I turned abruptly to Adam who confirmed with a single look that no, it was absolutely not normal. Without even consulting each other, we rushed towards him as one.