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Inside Report: the Medieval Torture Room
- Thread starter Loxuru
- Start date
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
12.
After the reading of the verdict, things seemed to progress quickly. In front of the stake, orders were given to the team of executioners.
“Lox!” Marga said. “One thing! For what I am going to do now, don’t ask questions, and please, please cooperate! Hey! HEY!”
Marga beckoned the monk that had been assigned to me. He stepped forward on the plaster platform.
“Is there anything I can do for you, child?” he asked Marga.
“Yes, father! Can someone marry us!? Now!? Please!?”
“Huh!?” I asked surprise.
“I understand!” the monk said. “I will see to it!”
He stepped from the platform and consulted the surprised officials. There was a short discussion, some seemed to deny the request.
“Marga!? What are you up to!? That won’t help!?”
“Shht, Lox! Please!?”
“Marga, ‘will you marry me’, that should be my line!”
“Since you are so kind to ask : yes Lox, I will!”
“Marga! You are married!”
“I separated from him twelve years ago!”
“But you never formally divorced!”
“Lox! I wish you good luck in showing up here and now a marriage certificate from the year 1990! Come on, do me that last favour! Please!?”
The monk returned, shouting “I can do it myself!” to the officials. He stepped on the platform and said to us :
“There are a few there who doubt the validity of the procedure, but I do not see any problem, and with my ordaining as a priest, I am fully qualified to marry you! Just take in mind that kissing the bride, wedding night and honeymoon will have to wait until after…you know what! So, Marga, will you marry this man Loxuru present here!?”
“I do!”
“Loxuru, will you marry this woman Marga here!?”
“I do!”
“Then, you two are now married with God’s blessings! Despite the circumstances, all I can do is wish you is a happy life together in the good and the bad days!”
“Thank you father!” Marga said.
The monk left.
“Marga, what…”
“Oh, Lox, that’s my silly side! I always had that romantic fantasy, of being executed together as a married couple, even of getting married just before the execution, like Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in ‘The African Queen’! Thanks for making this fantasy come true!” While her hands searched mine behind the stake.
Progress was made in the preparations. Bundles of fagots were being moved. One of the manservants stepped on the platform behind me. I heard Marga utter a brief shriek there was some rustle of fabric, while I felt her pulling on the chains, and I realized, the manservant had taken off her loincloth and breastband. Then he came to me and ripped off my loincloth too. Our full exposure instigated some mocking in the crowd.
“All right! Here we are!” I said.
“Come, let’s ignore them all! Touch me a bit while we still can!” she said, “we are man and wife now, remember!?” while she tried to put her head on my shoulder from behind the pole.
Bundles of fagots were deposited around the plaster platform, close to our feet and ankles.
“Lox, there is something else I want to confess…”
“What, Marga!”
“Don’t you think… well, I think… mind you, I am very scared now, but on the other hand, isn’t it exciting? Standing here, being prepared for a real Medieval execution!? All this activity, procedures, the people, watching this… experiencing this! Unbelievable that I can live this!”
“For fifteen minutes of fame, it stand outs, I agree!”
“You know, Lox, I have been praying!”
“Praying, Marga!? You!?”
“That God would send a thunderstorm! A Biblical torrent of rain, that would quench the fire!”
“God probably has no ear for the wishes of two heretic envoys of the devil who had intercourse with Satan too!”
“Who knows, Lox!?”
A second, outer row of bundles was deposited against the inner one.
“Didn’t that deputy seneschal say that condemned to the pyre were always garroted, first? Not that I would look forward to that either, but…”
“That’s right, Lox! It should be done now!?”
“I hope, the guy normally tasked with the garroting has no leave today!?”
More bundles were put ready around the circle. The assistants of the executioner were holding torches in the fire basket.
“Marga! I think they want to slow burn us!”
“Oh no!? What do we have to do!?”
“Hope on enough toxic fumes before the fire reaches us! I read once that condemned to death to the gas chambers in America were told to take on deep breath, to fasten death, otherwise, they would suffer much more. Obviously it was about the guts to take that breath!”
The assistants put the outer ring on fire. Slowly the fire crept through the bundle, spreading in a circle. To my horror, it was clearly dry wood that gave few fumes. Crackling, the red flames gained terrain. The hot air started blurring the view on the square. A monk stood close to the fire, holding a crucifix on a long stick over us, while he prayed. Through the blur, I could see that more bundles were ready to feed the pyre.
The outer ring was now fully ablaze, the flames rising above it. The fire now started to ignite the inner ring. I could feel the radiating heat now very well, while the air was getting warmer and warmer, and heavier too. Breathing was getting difficult.
I felt Marga’s fingers grabbing mine. I closed my grip on them.
Suddenly I noticed something very strange. Was it the hot air above us, or…
“Marge! Is that a thunderstorm?”
“Lox! Must be the smoke! The sky is blue!”
“No! Above us! Look!?”
“I cannot look up, my neck is still cramped!”
“Come on! Give us a shower of Biblical proportions!?”
The fire in the inner ring was spreading. The heath became unbearable!
“Lox! My feet! It is getting hot under my feet!”
“Marga! I know!”
(to be continued)
After the reading of the verdict, things seemed to progress quickly. In front of the stake, orders were given to the team of executioners.
“Lox!” Marga said. “One thing! For what I am going to do now, don’t ask questions, and please, please cooperate! Hey! HEY!”
Marga beckoned the monk that had been assigned to me. He stepped forward on the plaster platform.
“Is there anything I can do for you, child?” he asked Marga.
“Yes, father! Can someone marry us!? Now!? Please!?”
“Huh!?” I asked surprise.
“I understand!” the monk said. “I will see to it!”
He stepped from the platform and consulted the surprised officials. There was a short discussion, some seemed to deny the request.
“Marga!? What are you up to!? That won’t help!?”
“Shht, Lox! Please!?”
“Marga, ‘will you marry me’, that should be my line!”
“Since you are so kind to ask : yes Lox, I will!”
“Marga! You are married!”
“I separated from him twelve years ago!”
“But you never formally divorced!”
“Lox! I wish you good luck in showing up here and now a marriage certificate from the year 1990! Come on, do me that last favour! Please!?”
The monk returned, shouting “I can do it myself!” to the officials. He stepped on the platform and said to us :
“There are a few there who doubt the validity of the procedure, but I do not see any problem, and with my ordaining as a priest, I am fully qualified to marry you! Just take in mind that kissing the bride, wedding night and honeymoon will have to wait until after…you know what! So, Marga, will you marry this man Loxuru present here!?”
“I do!”
“Loxuru, will you marry this woman Marga here!?”
“I do!”
“Then, you two are now married with God’s blessings! Despite the circumstances, all I can do is wish you is a happy life together in the good and the bad days!”
“Thank you father!” Marga said.
The monk left.
“Marga, what…”
“Oh, Lox, that’s my silly side! I always had that romantic fantasy, of being executed together as a married couple, even of getting married just before the execution, like Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in ‘The African Queen’! Thanks for making this fantasy come true!” While her hands searched mine behind the stake.
Progress was made in the preparations. Bundles of fagots were being moved. One of the manservants stepped on the platform behind me. I heard Marga utter a brief shriek there was some rustle of fabric, while I felt her pulling on the chains, and I realized, the manservant had taken off her loincloth and breastband. Then he came to me and ripped off my loincloth too. Our full exposure instigated some mocking in the crowd.
“All right! Here we are!” I said.
“Come, let’s ignore them all! Touch me a bit while we still can!” she said, “we are man and wife now, remember!?” while she tried to put her head on my shoulder from behind the pole.
Bundles of fagots were deposited around the plaster platform, close to our feet and ankles.
“Lox, there is something else I want to confess…”
“What, Marga!”
“Don’t you think… well, I think… mind you, I am very scared now, but on the other hand, isn’t it exciting? Standing here, being prepared for a real Medieval execution!? All this activity, procedures, the people, watching this… experiencing this! Unbelievable that I can live this!”
“For fifteen minutes of fame, it stand outs, I agree!”
“You know, Lox, I have been praying!”
“Praying, Marga!? You!?”
“That God would send a thunderstorm! A Biblical torrent of rain, that would quench the fire!”
“God probably has no ear for the wishes of two heretic envoys of the devil who had intercourse with Satan too!”
“Who knows, Lox!?”
A second, outer row of bundles was deposited against the inner one.
“Didn’t that deputy seneschal say that condemned to the pyre were always garroted, first? Not that I would look forward to that either, but…”
“That’s right, Lox! It should be done now!?”
“I hope, the guy normally tasked with the garroting has no leave today!?”
More bundles were put ready around the circle. The assistants of the executioner were holding torches in the fire basket.
“Marga! I think they want to slow burn us!”
“Oh no!? What do we have to do!?”
“Hope on enough toxic fumes before the fire reaches us! I read once that condemned to death to the gas chambers in America were told to take on deep breath, to fasten death, otherwise, they would suffer much more. Obviously it was about the guts to take that breath!”
The assistants put the outer ring on fire. Slowly the fire crept through the bundle, spreading in a circle. To my horror, it was clearly dry wood that gave few fumes. Crackling, the red flames gained terrain. The hot air started blurring the view on the square. A monk stood close to the fire, holding a crucifix on a long stick over us, while he prayed. Through the blur, I could see that more bundles were ready to feed the pyre.
The outer ring was now fully ablaze, the flames rising above it. The fire now started to ignite the inner ring. I could feel the radiating heat now very well, while the air was getting warmer and warmer, and heavier too. Breathing was getting difficult.
I felt Marga’s fingers grabbing mine. I closed my grip on them.
Suddenly I noticed something very strange. Was it the hot air above us, or…
“Marge! Is that a thunderstorm?”
“Lox! Must be the smoke! The sky is blue!”
“No! Above us! Look!?”
“I cannot look up, my neck is still cramped!”
“Come on! Give us a shower of Biblical proportions!?”
The fire in the inner ring was spreading. The heath became unbearable!
“Lox! My feet! It is getting hot under my feet!”
“Marga! I know!”
(to be continued)
PeterVl
Magistrate
I'm beginning to wonder if there's a support group for people like me: I eat my ice cream and read, and I devote myself to reading, and I don't enjoy my ice cream, and I'm left wondering what will happen next, but that's okay, I'll console myself with my ice cream, but... the ice cream ends the moment the chapter ends. What is this @Loxuru, a chapter coordinated with my ice cream bowl capacity?
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
13.
“That was close! Fortunately, the system had located us!”
“It would not have worked if we had not been standing closely together at that burning stake!”
The ’thunderstorm’ had in fact been the bearer wave that would retrieve us. A recovery team awaited us and we got a quick medical check, before being sent home. A debriefing was scheduled for the next morning, where more explanation would be given. Marga took her car and drove us to her apartment.
Before she changed, she had given me a copy of the famous, never submitted PhD thesis, she had mentioned when we were prepared for burning. I started browsing it, while she was away.
As she returned, I remarked :
“No wonder, the faculty dean was worried! It contains explicit matter and illustrations, like this one here!”
“Which one, Lox!? Show me!?”
I showed her and saw a surprise on her face.
“But, I have never seen that engraving before!”
“It’s in your PhD thesis, Marga!”
“Lox, I swear, I never have seen it before!”
The engraving showed a public execution, the preparation of two condemned to the pyre. A man and a woman, chained back to back to the pole, with an assistant executioner and a monk standing next to the condemned. Around the stake stood public with officials, some in conversation with each other. Meanwhile, assistants were laying down fagots around the condemned. The man and the woman chained at the stake were both stark naked, as was shown explicitly by the engraving. The woman was leaning her head backward to the man, who bent a bit forward.
“Marga! That engraving, it shows our own execution! That’s you and me, there!”
“Come on, Lox, that’s impossible!”
“No Marga, it is us! That explains why it only now is in your thesis!”
“But how…!?”
“I think, time travel has not yet revealed all its mysteries and secrets!”
Marga stared at it, in disbelief!
“We have been there, Marga, so we have become part of history! Schrödinger’s cat lives!”
“I get it! The wave function through which we travel in time! We got burned and we did not get burned!”
“Indeed! And we are those who didn’t get burned when we got transformed in a wave function!”
“So, maybe no one on that square has noticed that we vanished, while the fire was starting to blaze! They really saw two people being burned alive!”
“That’s most likely what happened!”
“All right, Lox! I get it! Now I am hungry!”
“I took my home keys from the office! Do you bring me home, soon!?”
“No, Lox! You are not going out! You stay here, with me!”
“But…!?”
“Loxuru! May I remind you, that today was exactly the five hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our wedding! It is because it has been a busy day, that I am in a forgiving mood! Other women would take such a far-reaching negligence more seriously! The next time you forget, you sleep a month long on the couch, is that clear!?” she said with some irony!
(Shit! That marriage, I had already forgotten indeed!)
“It is too late for a restaurant or for getting something, but I have some fine food and a bottle of good champagne in reserve, in case there should be an occasion to celebrate! I think, this is one, right, dear husband!?”
“I guess it is!” I replied.
“Good! And after five hundred and fifty years, it is time for some intimacy too! When the champagne is open, and we have toasted, we could start…telling each other exciting tales from the torture room! Does that sound a good closure of the day?”
“Are you still candidate for that journey to a Roman crucifixion?” I asked her.
“Why not! Don’t tell me you got second thoughts now, Lox!? It could be another exciting experience!?”
“What are you planning, Marga! To have yourself crucified!? I don’t think that would be part of the mission plan!”
“No, but, well, maybe things could go wrong again!?”
“Marga! Getting crucified is a really cruel torture!”
“I know! But I always imagine how it must feel, up there, being nailed, naked, in public..”
“Marga!?”
“And we return in the same condition as we departed! That’s what this journey has proven! Wouldn’t you like to be crucified next to me, Loxuru!? Imagine, both of us, with some company, all crucified along the beautiful Via Appia!? The Italian weather, cypresses, a crowd of Roman citizens watching our agony! Wouldn’t that be romantic?”
I closed the discussion by not replying, she with a defying smile on her face! I bet, she was capable of doing what she desired!
I wondered about my suspicions I had earlier, that the communication loss could have been staged, behind my back. After all, our rescue had come just in time! I even started wondering whether Marga had not been in that conspiracy? Maybe I will inquire her about it.
But not now!
In good time, perhaps!
THE END
“That was close! Fortunately, the system had located us!”
“It would not have worked if we had not been standing closely together at that burning stake!”
The ’thunderstorm’ had in fact been the bearer wave that would retrieve us. A recovery team awaited us and we got a quick medical check, before being sent home. A debriefing was scheduled for the next morning, where more explanation would be given. Marga took her car and drove us to her apartment.
Before she changed, she had given me a copy of the famous, never submitted PhD thesis, she had mentioned when we were prepared for burning. I started browsing it, while she was away.
As she returned, I remarked :
“No wonder, the faculty dean was worried! It contains explicit matter and illustrations, like this one here!”
“Which one, Lox!? Show me!?”
I showed her and saw a surprise on her face.
“But, I have never seen that engraving before!”
“It’s in your PhD thesis, Marga!”
“Lox, I swear, I never have seen it before!”
The engraving showed a public execution, the preparation of two condemned to the pyre. A man and a woman, chained back to back to the pole, with an assistant executioner and a monk standing next to the condemned. Around the stake stood public with officials, some in conversation with each other. Meanwhile, assistants were laying down fagots around the condemned. The man and the woman chained at the stake were both stark naked, as was shown explicitly by the engraving. The woman was leaning her head backward to the man, who bent a bit forward.
“Marga! That engraving, it shows our own execution! That’s you and me, there!”
“Come on, Lox, that’s impossible!”
“No Marga, it is us! That explains why it only now is in your thesis!”
“But how…!?”
“I think, time travel has not yet revealed all its mysteries and secrets!”
Marga stared at it, in disbelief!
“We have been there, Marga, so we have become part of history! Schrödinger’s cat lives!”
“I get it! The wave function through which we travel in time! We got burned and we did not get burned!”
“Indeed! And we are those who didn’t get burned when we got transformed in a wave function!”
“So, maybe no one on that square has noticed that we vanished, while the fire was starting to blaze! They really saw two people being burned alive!”
“That’s most likely what happened!”
“All right, Lox! I get it! Now I am hungry!”
“I took my home keys from the office! Do you bring me home, soon!?”
“No, Lox! You are not going out! You stay here, with me!”
“But…!?”
“Loxuru! May I remind you, that today was exactly the five hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our wedding! It is because it has been a busy day, that I am in a forgiving mood! Other women would take such a far-reaching negligence more seriously! The next time you forget, you sleep a month long on the couch, is that clear!?” she said with some irony!
(Shit! That marriage, I had already forgotten indeed!)
“It is too late for a restaurant or for getting something, but I have some fine food and a bottle of good champagne in reserve, in case there should be an occasion to celebrate! I think, this is one, right, dear husband!?”
“I guess it is!” I replied.
“Good! And after five hundred and fifty years, it is time for some intimacy too! When the champagne is open, and we have toasted, we could start…telling each other exciting tales from the torture room! Does that sound a good closure of the day?”
“Are you still candidate for that journey to a Roman crucifixion?” I asked her.
“Why not! Don’t tell me you got second thoughts now, Lox!? It could be another exciting experience!?”
“What are you planning, Marga! To have yourself crucified!? I don’t think that would be part of the mission plan!”
“No, but, well, maybe things could go wrong again!?”
“Marga! Getting crucified is a really cruel torture!”
“I know! But I always imagine how it must feel, up there, being nailed, naked, in public..”
“Marga!?”
“And we return in the same condition as we departed! That’s what this journey has proven! Wouldn’t you like to be crucified next to me, Loxuru!? Imagine, both of us, with some company, all crucified along the beautiful Via Appia!? The Italian weather, cypresses, a crowd of Roman citizens watching our agony! Wouldn’t that be romantic?”
I closed the discussion by not replying, she with a defying smile on her face! I bet, she was capable of doing what she desired!
I wondered about my suspicions I had earlier, that the communication loss could have been staged, behind my back. After all, our rescue had come just in time! I even started wondering whether Marga had not been in that conspiracy? Maybe I will inquire her about it.
But not now!
In good time, perhaps!
THE END
thecuriousone
Governor
Just love it. And just hope someone makes a pdf out of it, because right now I am too lazy to save all that different chapters in a single text file.
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
"Inside Report : Roman Crucifixion"!? Some idea to work on!?
torquemada66
Magistrate
torquemada66
Magistrate
torquemada66
Magistrate
torquemada66
Magistrate
torquemada66
Magistrate
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
Especially for @Barbaria1 and @Loinclothslave , who wondered about it:
The castle on which the story is inspired is not located in Germany, but it is a must-see for all fascinated by torture and ancient justice instruments.
It is actually the Count's Castle in Ghent, Belgium. Built by the Counts of Flanders in order to remind the unruly people of Ghent of whom was the real boss in the country, it became a court and prison in the 14th century.
This is a front view of the gate building. On the square on the left, executions took place.
The courtyard, with on the right the gate building. The door left of it, is the front entrance of the former stables, later used as torture room.
The location I described as 'the backyard entrance' of the torture room, where the prisoners were brought in. The torture room is located along the enceinte. The barred window is the place from where the Loxuru character was forced to watch Marga's torture in episode 6.
The inside of the torture room, as seen from the backyard side. Impressive place to get tortured, isn't it? 
The water well, according to the caption dug in 1551 for the interrogations.
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
I have some ideas about a sequel, but I have to write some from scratch.
So, not tomorrow, I am afraid.
Meanwhile, I have this for you:
The famous engraving that popped up after the return from the past in Marga's dissertation.
It is based on two pictures. One shows the execution of William Tyndale in 1536:
On my pic, 'Tyndale' is half hidden as a monk.The other one is an illustration of the rescue of Sophronia and Olindo from the pyre by Clorinda, a scene from Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata.
I just made the two condemned look older, as they are in my story.
PeterVl
Magistrate
Sufficient material for a pdf. Shouldn't this be in the library? (Not familiar with the CF's format but i could try to make a pdf with your permission. Then, we could buy off @Barbaria1 to convince her to put it in the library. We could have a fundraiser in CF to buy 2-3 barrels of riesling, or a mustang - restoration service, or something).
Madiosi is the mod who handles the site’s archive and ebooks. I’m sure he’ll get around to it.
torquemada66
Magistrate
torquemada66
Magistrate
