Chapter 6
Peggy left her at about ten o'clock, and for the rest of the night Adrienne was unable to sleep. She knew punishment constituted something unpleasant at best, and whatever the man had planned for her, she would fight back.
She finally fell asleep at four in the morning, and when she did awaken, she realized the door to her room had been closed. When she tried opening it, she found it locked. He was sealing her in until he had time to administer whatever he intended doing.
When he finally did unlock the door, it was evening. She'd been given nothing to eat, though she'd been able to drink water from the sink in her private bathroom. She was weak, a little haggard, but one look at the iciness on his swarthy face and she knew he was angry.
"It seems you have to learn," Ibn Musa told her. "I treated you with the same deference toward which I showed my other women, yet you abuse my hospitality."
"You're the one who has to learn," Adrienne told him. "You're keeping me here against my will. I don't want to stay here."
"It is the will of Allah," he shrugged. "Your kismet."
"Bull!" she snapped. "It's what you want. If I had my hands on a gun, I'd put a lot of nice little round holes in you about now."
"We have to knock that nonsense out of your head," he shrugged. "At the same time we have to make it difficult, if not impossible for you to attempt escape again."
"I'll keep on trying," she insisted.
"Not if you're incapable," he assured her, and he clapped his hands.
Two huge eunuchs came in. On of them carried a wide board while the second one wasted no time moving to Adrienne. She got in one good kick, and then realized that such a kick would mean nothing to a eunuch.
He grabbed her shoulders, hurled her onto the bed, then grabbed her ankles. With thongs produced from his pockets, he tied her feet to the board the other eunuch was holding. Then he took a willow wand Ibn Musa had been holding, and at a nod from the Arabian, he proceeded to apply the willow wand to the soles of her feet.
"Yyyyy aaaa iiii...." Adrienne screamed. "Stop! Stop!"
"The bastinado," Ibn Musa told her as the eunuch continued beating the soles of her feet until they were bloody and raw. Each nerve-ending was filled with pain. "Now, dear lady, you understand what I mean when I say it will be impossible for you to escape. If you feel you can walk after this, then you're welcome to try and escape. I need hardly mention that if you're caught again, furtter punishment will be inflicted."
"I'll ... aaaaiiii ... killll ... youuuuuuu...." Adrienne screamed.
"You have to learn that I am the master and you are the slave," he told her. "What's more, further resistance on your part will be met by similar punishment."
He signaled to the eunuchs to stop. They did so, untying her feet.
Two of the concubines came in with water, soap, and antiseptic. They washed her feet and applied the stinging antiseptic to make sure there would be no infection, but her feet were not bandaged. When they left, Ibn Musa told her, "You'll have to stay off your feet except to go to the bathroom, for at least three days. At the end of that time, we'll see whether or not you're more amenable."
He turned and walked out, and Adrienne felt the tears flood from her eyes as she realized she was imprisoned by a monster. But her resolve to get away had only been strengthened.