He pushes hard and Lyra relents, mostly.

Jack strode to the front of the pillory, staring down at Marcus with a **** frown. He clearly didn't want to do this, his jaw clenched and his hands shaking, but with Lyra and her cronies watching him he started undoing his loincloth anyway.

"Please." Marcus whimpered, staring up at this big, scary man who seemed to be his only hope. "Help me." Jack froze for a moment, his gaze fixed on the young prince below him. Then he took in a sharp breath and turned to face his comrades.

"Lyra, this isn't right!" He began, uncertain at first, but his voice grew stronger with every word. "You want to punish him, fine. Hell, I agree with it, you know that. Who fought harder than me to bring his family down? But this isn't right! Do what you want with his parents, but he's a boy! You can't just let the whole town loose on him like this. It isn't what I fought for!" Lyra looked shocked for a moment, but then her one good eye flashed with anger.

"What's wrong with you?" The scarred woman sneered. "He bats those pretty eyelashes your way and suddenly what, you want to cuddle with him? His family butchered yours! Or have you forgotten that?" Jack stiffened, his eyes flashing with anger. Watching all this, Marcus gasped in shock. What did she mean? How could his family have killed Jack's? That didn't make any sense.

"I remember what happened to my family." The brawny man rumbled, muscles tensing under his armor. "I also remember six months ago I pulled you out of an ambush when the King's guards broke up one of our meetings. You took a crossbow bolt in the chest, and I hid you, patched you up. You would have died if not for me. This rebellion would have died."

"You really want to call in that favor now, for this spoilt little shit?" Lyra snapped viciously, but there was shock trembling in her voice too.

"I do." Jack nodded, and Marcus felt the first flicker of hope he'd had since they'd dragged him out of his bedroom what seemed like so very long ago. Lyra's lips were curled into a sour scowl, but he could see she was convinced, even if it was taking her a while to admit it.

"He's still paying off his debt!" The scarred woman spat at last. "All two hundred thousand crowns, and it's gonna take him even longer now!"

"Find some other way." Jack crossed his arms over his chest. "There's other things he could do, you know that."

"You're impossible, Jack." She grunted sourly, kicking at the paving stones. "Fine, but he stays in that pillory for the rest of the day. That's still just part of his punishment. Since you like him so much you can waste your time watching over him and make sure no-one damages him. They can toss stuff at him if they like, but I don't want him hurt too bad until he's paid off his debt."

"Fine." The brawny man nodded. Marcus shivered, almost collapsing with relief. The thought of being kept here naked like this for a whole day was just awful, but it was so much better than the alternative.

"One more thing." The scarred woman stepped forward, pressing one finger against his muscled chest. Her nail dug into his skin and he frowned slightly, but stood there still as a statue. "For saving his cute little hide, he's going to pay you back personally. The same way you just stopped him from doing for the whole town. Toss him some money if you like and it can go towards his debt, but I want to make sure you're not going soft on the brat." Her hand slipped down his bare chest, until suddenly she grabbed him between his legs, through the loincloth he wore. "I'm watching too, big boy. I want to see a prince **** on your cum. Or I'll have to find some other way to make him suffer for his sins, rather more unpleasant than just sucking one cock."

"Fuck you, Lyra." Jack snapped. "I'll do it, but get rid of the others." He tossed his head at the men standing stiffly behind her. Lyra's lip curled but she nodded to them, and they turned and strode away, including the smirking one still carrying that horrible sign. Still trapped in the pillory, Marcus was frozen in shock, his legs shivering under his bent-over body. He didn't understand, Jack had just saved him from getting **** by the whole town but...

"That's right, boy." Lyra sneered, giving him a vicious smirk. "There's still one cock you're sucking today, if you ever want to leave that pillory. Otherwise, I suppose I could just leave you there overnight, see who else fancies a piece while you're locked up and helpless." The young prince sniffled wetly, his lips trembling. She liked seeing this, miserable and broken. Well, maybe it was time he stopped giving her what she wanted. He took in a sharp, gasping breath, forcing himself to straighten in the uncomfortable pillory. Raising his head, he glared up at her with as much strength as he could manage. He was still shivering, his vision blurred with tears, but when he saw a moment of shock flicker through her one good eye he felt a moment of triumph that gave him the strength to keep going.

Then Jack moved back in front of him, a tower of brawny muscle. The man's face was regretful, but he clearly wasn't going to disobey again. Plus, the way his dark eyes lingered over the naked young prince, it was obvious he didn't see this as much of a chore.

"Sorry kid, but there's only so much I can do." Jack murmured in a low voice Marcus could only just hear. "She hates you...fuck, she's got good reason to. It's not my place to say what happened to her, but if you knew, you'd understand." The young prince bit his lip as he watched Jack unfasten his loincloth and slip the front open. He didn't much care what stupid reasons had made these people behave like this. They were monsters, but he was in their hands now. He had to survive, at least until he found his parents again. His Mother and Father were smart and brave, they had to be planning a way to escape and rescue him. If he could just get through this, they'd come for him, with all their soldiers and kill these awful people!