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"You did not see me give him this, Aedus," warned Zhura menacingly as she placed the small object in my hand. "He is my responsibility and I won’t have him missing a tongue or some such." Her tone invited no comments, nor were any given. "You will have several chores tonight," she told me. "I will enumerate them when you are returned." Her eyes lingered for just a moment on me. I returned the gaze, knowing that my mind was already withdrawing from the sensory world. Zhura dropped her eyes and spun.

"Bring him back in one piece Aedus," she called over one shoulder. "He is my responsibility. If anything happens to him in your care, it will be myself that you ’go one on one with.’ I assure you it would not be pleasant for you." Zhura disappeared into the wagon. I merely turned from my inexplicable desire to watch Zhura walk away.

I viewed my new ’caretakers’ with something akin to trepidation. They knew where I was going, and for what reason. The leather-wrapped wooden dowel went into my arm sling.

"This way," said Aedus curtly. He strode off, with myself in tow. Guards flanked me on all sides, but with my arm damaged and with no gear; I wouldn’t get very far. The tent of the D’Shan hove into view and I could hear the tambour music and drums already. Torch light was steady, but shadows skirled across the nearby wagons. The three D’Shani were holding feast - apparently the dealing had gone well enough for them to spend one more night in each other’s presence. We were stopped outside the clearing - the one I had seen earlier - by another set of guards, but they simply waved Aedus in. I followed the man through the picket of guards and two of our entourage came through behind me, taking up positions where they could keep an eye on me. With all the torch-light, that would not be difficult.

It was warmer tonight than the night I had taken my fall. Several dancers, all barely clad females, whirled and undulated to the beat of the drums. I was intrigued by the muscle control and the fluid movements. the sheerness of their ’garments’ only heightened the imagination, as they only just hid the girls’ figures. Food was everywhere. Large flagons - of wine - I supposed, were nearly at every elbow. Cushions were in great abundance, as there were no chairs. Even the D’Shani had chosen huge pillow banks to take their ease upon. I was the center of attention the moment I walked into the light. The two guards that had followed my progress made their up to my side.

Dhras, seeing his man Aedus approach, waved his hand and roared for silence. The sudden lack of noise was deafening. The dancers, hardly breathing hard, slowly sat at the edge of the crowd. Several people gathered close to watch the spectacle. It was the glittering expectancy in several peoples’ eyes that made me take their note. They would be the ones to look out for.

"Here is the man you have asked for, D’Shan," stated Aedus. He cast a backward glance over his shoulder and I could see that he was dreading the next few minutes more than I was. I, on the other hand, had already begun the Thirteen Stepping Stones.

"Asked you to bring a slave, Aedus, not a man," the rotund man laughed, and several people laughed along with him. "Prepare him!"

"He is already, prepared, my D’Shan," stated Aedus as he motioned to his men to begin to strip my tunic-blouse. "And he is no slave, despite how you would paint him, D’Shan." The man’s words swept a ripple of muted conversation through the crowd - even the two beside me froze. Probably afraid they’d be caught in the fallout. Across and to my right, I saw Malachi’s face darken at Aedus’s words. The narrowed gaze told me he did not like me being in Dhras’s camp at all. The other D’Shan, Lakash, if I remembered correctly, was too drunk already to see my potential suffering as anything but hugely entertaining. He filled his tankard with a gushing rush of red wine.

I held a shallow smile as Aedus turned back toward me. He made to go past, but saw the small item I had to give him. He paused. "You will need it," he whispered. "No man is so strong as to take many lashes without the potential for hurting himself. Use it, outlander."

"I will not give this man the satisfaction, Aedus," I heard myself say. Why I get these attacks of bravado, I know not. I neither want nor deserve them. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I have a point to make here."

"Try to breath evenly between lashes," he then hissed more quietly. "Do not try to hold it in, the expectation will start to play on your mind. They will come slowly at the D’Shan’s signal. Do not expect it to be quick."

"I thank you," I said honestly, taking in the commiseration in his green eyes. "Might I ask a favor?" I knew I was asking a lot, given the spot I was in, but. Aedus’s curt nod prodded my quiet question, meant for no one but his ears. Hearing me, he nodded, and gave me the strangest look.

"Aedus!" thundered Dhras. "Get on with it!"

"Pash, Thram, strip him!" My rough slave tunic was split up the back by a knife. I heard the expected intake of breath.

I imagined seeing my back in the guards’ eyes. I had long pale weals striping my back already. The tissue had long since healed, but the marks of a flogging are never left behind. Mental or physical, I mused. I strode forward and took my stance upon the anomalous plain block of wood. In the riotous wash of colorful silk and fine linens, my perch stood like a bulwark. I felt at ease as I slipped off my sandals and my bare feet touched the simple material. Let us begin at the beginning. To learn of the path.