“In her chamber,” Felda said.

“Fetch her, for she must hear this, too,” Sirvat said.

Felda arose and ran off, returning a few minutes later with Lara.

“What is it?” Lara asked.

“Sit down with the others,” Sirvat said. She might be only sixteen, but she was in charge of her brother’s house, and had been for almost two years now. “I have news that concerns you all. Uma, Alcippe and Felda, the Dominus has decided to find husbands for you, and he will also dower you quite generously.”

“No!” It was Uma who spoke. “I wish no man but the Dominus.”

“Be silent!” Sirvat said severely. “You will do what you are told, Uma. For you it will be a man of high caste, for you came from a high caste. For Alcippe a man of intellect and wit, for she has both. And for little Felda, a land owner’s heir, for she is worthy of a fine young man who will appreciate her sweetness and good nature. Your dower portions will include silver plate and gold coins, among other things. You may keep any jewelry the Dominus gifted you with, and you will each have a horse of good breeding. It is a very generous benevolence my brother shows you.”

“I am more than content,” Alcippe said.

“And I certainly am,” practical Felda agreed.

“I am not!” Uma snapped. “And what of Lara? What plans has the Dominus for her? Who is her husband to be?”

“Lara remains here,” Sirvat said sweetly. “It would seem my brother favors her above all other women. He does not feel he needs three woman to attend him any longer, Uma. But I will not argue with you. I am but the messenger. My brother will now speak with the three of you in his gardens. Go!”

Uma rushed from the chamber, followed at a more sedate pace by Alcippe and Felda, who chattered with each other as they went.

“Why did you need me here?” Lara asked Sirvat.

“I hoped by telling them the news with you in attendance they would not hold you responsible for the Dominus’s decision. Did you know of it?” Sirvat asked curious.

“I did not know what he would do,” Lara answered carefully. “I did suggest to him that these women might be better off with husbands.”

Sirvat laughed. “You are very devious,” she said.

“Nay,” Lara told her, “but if your brother wishes to share pleasures with me, he cannot share them with others. Surely the men of Terah do not keep several women for pleasure in their households.”

“There are no laws against it,” Sirvat said. “Some do, but most cannot afford more than one wife. The few who can prefer to keep several Pleasure Women for their own private amusement. We have more women than men in Terah. Those who cannot find husbands have little choice. Some sell themselves publicly for pleasures. Other join the Daughters of the Great Creator, a religious community of women. Sometimes I think it must be a great relief to be in a family of only women.”

“Will you marry one day?” Lara asked Sirvat.

The younger woman smiled. “If I may have my heart’s desire, yes,” she said.

“Who is he?” Lara was curious.

“You know him,” Sirvat said with a small smile. “It is Captain Corrado.”

Lara smiled. “You have chosen well. He is a good man, and was most kind to me. Does your brother know?”

“Nay, but when he is able to hear me tell him in my own voice, I will,” Sirvat said. “Sometimes I write things to him that I cannot communicate otherwise, but not this.”

“It is not a certainty that I can lift the sorcerer’s curse from the men of Terah,” Lara said. What if she could not?

“You will find a way. I know you will,” Sirvat insisted.

Alcippe and Felda returned.

“The Dominus has been most thoughtful of us,” Alcippe said. “And our dowers are much more than generous. They will assure us all fine husbands.”

“Where is Uma?” Sirvat wanted to know.

“Trying to seduce the Dominus into changing his mind. Perhaps, Lara, you should go to him,” Felda said softly.

“Did he request my presence?” Lara asked them.

“No, but she is being so aggressive,” Felda fretted.

“If he has not asked for me, I shall not go. Magnus Hauk can well take care of himself,” Lara replied as Uma angrily burst into the gardens.

“I will not be parceled off like some heifer cow,” she shrieked. “I will sell pleasures in the streets first! I will pledge myself to the Daughters of the Great Creator, and never offer my body to a man again!”

“If you choose such a fate rather than accept a husband, then that is your decision, isn’t it? And a very poor decision, too, I think,” Lara said quietly.

“You!” Uma turned her anger directly toward Lara. “This is all your fault, faerie woman! Until you came the Dominus was content with us. Now suddenly we must be sent away from the castle.” Her eyes narrowed, and suddenly she flung herself at Lara.

Lara raised a single hand, her palm up, and facing Uma. “Come no farther!” she warned the angry woman.

Uma stopped, confused.

“Do you want me to call the Punishment Mistress?” Sirvat said.

Alcippe and Felda grew pale at her words.

Uma whirled now to face Sirvat. “My lord Dominus would not permit such a thing,” she sneered.

“In this part of the castle,” Sirvat said, “my word is law, Uma. Never forget that. Now I will ask you again. Do you want me to call the Punishment Mistress?”

“Go ahead!” Uma challenged Sirvat.

The Dominus’s sister did not hesitate a moment. Clapping her hands she called a female servant to her. “Bring the Punishment Mistress here at once.”

Wide-eyed, the servant bowed and hurried off. The garden became deathly silent as they waited. And then suddenly the Dominus appeared.

“Sirvat has called for the Punishment Mistress?” he said to Lara.

“It is Uma. She is angry and defies your sister’s authority, my lord Dominus.”

“I cannot have that,” he said quietly. “I will handle this myself.”

The Punishment Mistress arrived. She was a large, tall woman accompanied by two great dogs. Seeing the Dominus she bowed servilely. “I was told it was the Lady Sirvat who called for me,” she said.

“I did,” Sirvat said. “But my brother wishes to manage the situation. Please remain, however. He will need your aid.”

The Punishment Mistress bowed. “Yes, my lady Sirvat. You have but to instruct me, and I obey.”

Uma threw herself at the Dominus’s feet and looked piteously up at him.

Magnus Hauk smiled down at her coldly. Then his glance flicked to his sister.

“Tell this brazen creature her wiles will not move me,” he said coldly. “And tell the Punishment Mistress I want the wide leather strap with the knotted fingers.”

Alcippe and Felda had grown pale with fright. This was a side of the Dominus rarely seen. They did not like Uma, but they could not help but feel sorry for her.

“Must you?” Lara said softly to him as Sirvat spoke with the Punishment Mistress. “She fancies herself in love with you, and your favorite.”

“I cannot let it be said that I am weak, even with a woman,” Magnus Hauk replied. “Her behavior tonight is already being bruited about the castle. I must punish her so that no others follow her unfortunate example.”

“Other women?” Lara asked him quietly.

“Men or women,” he answered her. “Tomorrow you will begin to see the vastness of the Dominion, Lara. And I am its master. I must never be seen as vacillating or insecure in my rule. This is what it is to be the Dominus of Terah.”

She understood him perhaps better than any of the others. “Yes, my lord Dominus,” she responded with a bow. The faintest of smiles touched his lips. The moment was so brief she was not certain that she had actually seen it.

“Strip her and bend her!” Magnus Hauk said in a cold voice. He watched impassively as Uma, once again spitting defiance, was pulled to her feet, her gown drawn off, and then bent facedown, her shoulders beneath the brawny arm of the Punishment Mistress who held the woman steady. Though Uma struggled, the large woman’s grip was like iron. “Felda, Alcippe, go to your chambers,” the Dominus said. “You need not remain. I see the distress and fear in your lovely eyes, but you have always been obedient to my will. You need not fear me.”

Each girl kissed his hand in turn and fled.

The Dominus turned to his sister and Lara. “Will you remain?” he asked them.

The two women nodded silently.

Magnus Hauk now took the wide leather strap in his hand. One end of it had been divided into eight long fingers, which had been knotted several times. The strap would burn, but the knotted fingers would sting cruelly. “You will receive ten strokes of the strap, Uma,” he told her. Then raising his hand he brought the leather down on the woman’s full buttocks. Uma’s lips pressed tightly together, but by the third blow she was shrieking and begging Sirvat to ask for mercy.

The Dominus could not hear Uma’s cries, of course. All he heard was the snap of the leather and the crack it made when it hit the woman’s plump buttocks. The dogs barked furiously and strained at their tethers. He saw the scarlet marks of the whip on her flesh, and knew from her struggled, and the concerned looks on Lara and Sirvat’s faces, the burning pain the knotted leather fingers at the end of his strap were causing Uma. But he would not be defied by this creature. He plied the last three blows harder to make his point.

Sirvat remained silent throughout Uma’s ordeal. She was not a cruel girl, but Uma had been rude and overbearing ever since she had been brought to the castle. And because Uma was one of her brother’s women, Sirvat had not felt she had the right to punish her severely. She was not unhappy to see the bold woman now getting what she considered a just chastisement. And as by the fifth blow Uma was cursing her, Sirvat felt quite justified in her silence.