Red Feline was regaining consciousness, she didn't know how long she had been hanging there. It could've been hours, or days, there was no way for her to know, there was only a dim light below her.

She felt a sharp pain in her back, as if she was being stabbed or hit with a blunt instrument. The pain was intense but short, she was not able to resist it so she fainted again.

As she awoke, she felt the pain again but this time it was more like a numbing sensation as if her body was no longer trying to reject the nail in her back.She heard the steps of the man in black approaching.

The man untied the rope from the post and slowly lowered Red Feline to the wooden floor. As the pressure of the shackles on her wrists decreased, the sudden flow of blood brought a new pain to her arms.

She felt like she was floating and falling at the same time. Her mind was playing tricks on her, at once making her feel the slow lowering to the floor while, at the same time, making her feel the rush of the wooden floor approaching.

But the feeling was not unusual, her recollection of Piroska's experience had moments such as the one she was experiencing.

When Piroska was taken to her new master's palatial home, she was treated kindly. She walked through the passageways of the new city, the dirt roads that lead to the different buildings that were emerging almost daily.

She passed merchants and slaves hard at work, mostly carrying goods, some just walking behind their masters and mistresses. Piroska was familiar with those areas of the city, she often walked with her aunt, learning to haggle and to shop.

The new society was one where the rulers did little work, most of the work was carried out by slaves. That included shopping. Some of the merchants were freed slaves who won their freedom or purchased it.

That's one lesson her aunt taught her, that eventually she could be free, that if she pleased her master he or she could reward her with her freedom.

Piroska's' answer was simply "I'm not a slave, I'm the daughter of kings."

Red Feline hit the floor, the long fall was over.

She rested on the floor while the man released her hands from the tight bonds. She felt a bit of relief, was the ordeal over? Was he going to let her go now? Her body was numb.

She heard the sound of wood scraping the floor as the rectangular wooden frame was moved into position in front of the post, a sign that the orderal wasn't over.

She had a strange feeling of freedom, that she had some control over her fate. What if she just refused to continue? What if she just got up, left and went home?

Piroska entered the palace still wondering how she was going to act when the moment arrived. The words of her aunt were present in her mind."Let time do its work.", her aunt begged of the young rebellious woman. "Live...don't make them kill you...remember my friend, the one they nailed to the wood? She's dead and no one remembers her now...don't become her!".

Piroska was first taken to a bath in the palace where other young slaves were bathing. She first thought of fighting but soon she changed her mind, she would wait for her moment.

She was bathed and dressed in nice clothing, befitting a woman of nobility, by the orders of the governor himself. "He is making you his favorite, be careful.", one of the young slaves warned her. "He will first show you his kindness, but his wife will make him turn against you." "Please him, but not more than the others, don't become the favorite, it is dangerous, you won't last long.". Piroska was silent, she took her councelor's words inside but they did not affect her decision.