When Jake returned to his room a few minutes later, Mentor William and Novice William walked with him. William announced as they were passing down the hallway that he had decided to change the Novice name of William to Novice Will. Jake smiled at him and said he was glad. Jake looked briefly at the newly named Novice Will, but could not gauge from his expression what he may have thought of the change. This Novice - Will - was a strangely handsome boy with deep set, dark eyes. Jake would have been proud to have him as his Novice.

As the three entered Jake's room, Paul rose from his chair, head bowed, hands lightly clasped in front of him. Jake quickly looked at Will and noticed that Will was looking at Paul intently. Jake now knew why this might be. He wondered if William knew of the feelings Paul and Will shared for each other. He thought that William did not know but that he should be told -- perhaps tomorrow. Mentors wanted and needed to know of any relationships among their Novices.

"Paul," Jake said, "you will remove your robe." Paul immediately pulled his robe up over his head and folded it, placing it neatly on his chair. He turned and stood naked before Jake, William and Novice Will. Paul couldn't help but wonder which of the three of them was enjoying the sight of Paul's body more, he, William or Will? "Turn, Paul, and show Mentor William and Novice Will the marks you received today. Jake noted the tiny change in Paul's expression when he used Novice Will's new, shortened name. Paul turned slowly. Jake now watched the expression on Novice Will's face as he looked once again at the marks on Paul's legs. Although the marks of the switch Jake had used on Paul's butt had now disappeared, his buttocks were still red from the spanking Jake had administered a few minutes before. Will's eyes widened as he stared at his friend's backside.

"You forget, Jake, that Novice Will helped Novice Paul with his bath earlier."

"Yes," Jake said, "I did forget. Then we shall begin," Jake said seriously. "Paul I have invited Mentor William and his Novice Will to witness your punishment this evening. Since you know Novice Will, his presence should cause you additional discomfort. Your punishment is to be severe and painful. It should also instill a sense of humility in you." Jake turned to Paul.

"Go, Paul, lie on the bed, on your back." Paul quickly went to the bed and lay down. Jake walked over to the bed and motioned for William and Will to come closer. "Paul, you must be punished for your misdeed in front of the Ordinate this afternoon. A misdeed in front of the Ordinate is especially serious and your punishment will be harsh." Jake opened the drawer of the small table near his bed and removed a folded, white handkerchief. "Novice Will shall hold your legs firmly and Mentor William will hold your arms. You will hold this handkerchief in your mouth to stifle your cries. I will squeeze your testicles until I feel you have suffered enough to atone for your misdeed. I must warn you that the punishment may last several minutes." Jake look directly at Novice Will.

"You, Novice Will must hold Paul's legs firmly. If necessary you will get on the bed and sit on them. If you do not perform this duty well, I will extend the length of the punishment and Paul will suffer more. Do you understand?" As he knew he would, Will looked quickly at his Mentor for guidance. Receiving none, he turned to Jake.

"I understand, Mentor Jake." Will's voice was shaking. He appeared frightened.

"Good, don't make me have to warn you that you are not performing your task to my satisfaction. Again, Paul will be the one to suffer." Jake unfolded the handkerchief and wadded it up. He held it to Paul's mouth. Without being told, Paul opened his mouth while Jake stuffed the handkerchief inside. William walked to the head of the bed and took hold of Paul's wrists, holding them up over his head toward the top of the bed.

"His legs, Novice Will," William said. Will took firm hold of Paul's ankles.

"Hold his legs apart," Jake said and Will spread Paul's legs, leaning over the bottom of the bed to keep firm hold.

Jake checked the handkerchief again, looking deeply into Paul's eyes. Then he reached down and cupped Paul's scrotum in his hand and began to squeeze, gently at first but slowly increasing his grip. Paul arched his back as he felt the first stabs of intense pain. He screamed into the handkerchief and turned his head violently from side to side. Paul increased the pressure and Paul's body thrashed about as his screams increased in volume. Mentor William began to have difficulty holding Paul as he violently attempted to break loose of the hold on his wrists.

Jake released the pressure suddenly and Paul fell still, his chest heaving as he breathed deeply. Once again Jake squeezed and Paul immediately began thrashing about. He screamed, closing his eyes tightly. Jake relaxed his grip only to tighten it again a few seconds later. Paul again screamed and even with the handkerchief muffling his cries the screams filled the room. His face was now covered with a combination of sweat and tears and he continued to tug against William's hold. Jake's gaze shifted quickly between Paul's contorted face and his testicles. He looked up at William briefly and saw that William was looking at his Novice, not Paul. As he continued squeezing, Jake looked over his shoulder to see Novice Will with tears rolling down his face. His grip on Paul's ankles was strong, turning the skin around the knuckles of his hands white. But Will stared straight ahead at some point high on the wall, not at his friend whose legs he held. Jake relaxed his grip once again and then squeezed and relaxed, squeezed and relaxed, three times. Watching Paul's legs, he noticed that they remained relatively still while he pulled and twisted his arms wildly. Jake realized that not looking at Paul's face helped him continue this torture but not seeing his face did not lessen the sounds of Paul's screams. Jake knew he could not continue and he suddenly released his grip, pulling his hand away from Paul's scrotum.

"It is finished," he said, looking at William. William released Paul's wrists. Jake and William looked at Novice Will. He continued staring at the wall, his grip of Paul's ankles undiminished. It was as though he didn't know the punishment was over.

"It is finished, Novice Will," William said. Will suddenly looked at his Mentor, aware of his surroundings again. Looking at Jake for permission, he slowly released Paul's ankles. Paul lay on the bed relaxed now but breathing deeply with his eyes closed. He reached down with one hand, covering his genitals. The entire punishment had taken less than a minute, although it seemed much longer to everyone in the room.

"Stand." Jake said and Paul slowly swung his legs to the floor and stood. Jake went to Paul's chair, took up his robe and then helped Paul slide it down over his head and shoulders.

William looked at his Novice. "How do you feel, Will?" He asked as he noticed the color drain from Will's face.

"I think I shall be sick, Mentor," Will said steadying himself by placing an arm on the foot of Jake's bed.

"Quickly, Paul," Jake said, "put your sandals on and take Novice Will to the closet. Can you do it?"

"Yes," Paul said as he slid into his sandals and placed Will's arm over his shoulder. They quickly left the room through the door at the back leading to the water closet. Paul's steadying arm seemed to be the only thing preventing Will from stumbling and perhaps falling. Jake waited until the two Novices were out of sight and the door closed before speaking.

"I know why you look at me that way," Jake said.

"I know that I suggested you punish his balls, Jake, but so hard? Why, Jake," William said. "I have never known you to be so cruel. He is a new Novice, Jake. He has been here only some three days - and hardly that. You treat him as though he were a hardened, fully-tutored, intractable second-year Novice. I have never known you to be so cruel. He is only a few hours from his Initial Ordeal and you heap this travesty upon him. I expected you to squeeze firmly but gently, to cause him pain but not agony, Jake. I don't know what occurred in front of Selig. It is none of my affair, but surely...."

"I was that cruel only to be kind, William. I gave me no joy to put Paul through that."

"Why then, Jake? Why so severe?"

"It is true that Paul deserved to be punished, as you yourself said and advised me to do. It is also true that I wanted Novice Will and you present for Paul's punishment. And I had good reason."

"I can not imagine what, Jake. So we could watch your Paul in the throws of pure agony?" Jake could see that William was truly upset. "I will tell you Jake that I will not have Novice Will observe such a punishment again. You saw him. He was afraid to look at his friend, as I would be. You have driven him to the point a nausea."

"Here me out, William." Jake said attempting to calm his friend. "Here are the reasons for my proceeding as I did. Listen!" William said nothing. "Paul has told me something which I, at first doubted. I doubted his feelings, not his honesty. He told me, William, that he has strong feelings for his friend William, your new Novice. He said William has similar feelings for him. He said that he loved William. He asked that William not be made to witness his punishment since neither of them enjoyed seeing the other in pain." Jake had William's full attention now.

"I thought, last night," William said, "that William was about to tell me something along these lines as well. But he stopped short. I wanted to spank him to allow him to spill his feelings but, Jake, William has bitterness growing in him. I was afraid that a spanking would only harden him toward me." William and Jake sat side by side on Jake's bed. "Are you certain of this 'relationship' between them, Jake?"

"I am now. I just tested it." Jake said looking at William. "You - perhaps rightly - accused me of unduly punishing Paul just now. But I needed a harsh punishment to judge Will's reaction. As you said, he did not have the heart to look at his friend during the punishment. He stared at the wall, rather than watch Paul in such pain. That goes against human nature, William. Most Novices take a perverse pleasure in watching one of their peers punished. I've seen it many times and so have you."

"Yes, I have seen it. I have seen it and I have participated in it. As a Novice, I secretly enjoyed Weekly Ordeal. I enjoyed seeing my fellow Novices paddled, I must admit. But we all did."

"Yes, to be truthful, I did too, as do most Novices. But Novice Will intentionally averted his eyes as I tortured Paul. He could not bring himself to see Paul in pain. If he could, he would have stopped his ears too, in order not hear Paul's screams."

"I did see that, Jake. You're correct. But I didn't know the reason."

"And even when Paul's punishment had ended, Will was oblivious to the fact, so intend was he on not seeing or hearing. He had succeeded in blocking out what was happening around him, so unpleasant was it to see his friend in pain. His grip on Paul's ankles remained steadfast lest he cause his friend additional pain. These things tell me that Will's feelings for Paul are at the very least sincere and that they probably run deep. I do believe the two are in love, William."

"Why did I miss these signs?" William said.

"Because you had no reason to look for them. I did. And William, did you notice that Paul, even in severe pain, and thrashing about, attempted to move his legs very little while he tugged and pulled wildly at you grip on his wrists?"

"So?"

"I think Paul did not want to accidentally break loose of Will's hold. He feared that I would interpret it as a laxness on Will's part and had I extended the punishment as a result, Will would have felt himself responsible. Paul wanted to preclude that possibility as much as he could. Even under severe pain, Paul was thinking of Will as was Will thinking of him. I think that may define love."

"I believe you are correct, Jake. I don't believe I was ever in love as a Novice. I was 'in lust' for one or two of my peers - you, for example - but not love. Can these boys who are _s_e_x_ual objects to many of their superiors and perhaps to each other really feel love?"

"You may wish to press Will on it. I suspect that at this very moment Paul is telling Will that he told me of their feelings for each other." Jake said.

"You think Will was feigning being sick just now so they could confer in private?" William asked.

"No. I saw the color drain from Will's face. He came close to fainting before he spoke out. No, Will is sick, sick at his stomach and sick at heart. This does not preclude the two from conferring which is what I suspect is occurring right now. It is good that they do. If they are in love, William, they can prove helpful to each other."

"Perhaps. This is a problem, Jake. Love affairs between second-year Novices is one thing - and common enough - but this could seriously affect Will and Paul's training."

"I agree. And that is why I had to be certain of the depth of their feelings toward each other. Questioning them would not have told us what we have seen ourselves just now." Jake stood. "They sacrificed for each other in their way."

"Let it rest, Jake. If necessary we can take the problem to Mentor Robert. He may need to know and he may know a solution."

"Perhaps," Jake said.

"Will has his Initial Ordeal tomorrow afternoon. After this evening, he may not be prepared for such an ordeal."

"Why do you say that, William?"

"You know how brutal Selig can be, Jake."

"Your Will can endure it, William. I think he has a strong heart."

"Should we allow the two to be together?" William asked.

"What? So that you can watch them _f_u_c_k_ each other, William?" William started to object but Jake stopped him. "I know you too well, William. I know you would enjoy seeing these two Novices _f_u_c_k_."

"I must admit it, Jake. And knowing that they are truly in love and not merely "in lust" with each other would make viewing their coupling very exciting."

"They should be allowed to enjoy each other. And I would also enjoy watching them. But it is too soon. If they do have the strong feelings for each other that I feel they do, depriving them of each other's bodies will only cause their desire to grow." Paul smiled slightly and looked at William. "Are we being too harsh and perhaps too selfish?"

"I think not, Jake. The test would be this. Would you let them be together and deny yourself the pleasure of watching them?"

"I would."

"I wouldn't."

"Then we will wait." Jake said.