The weight of Red Feline's body pulled her arms, the shackles dug into her wrists, but she didn't react, she floated in another universe, one where pain found relief. Piroska lay on the dirt floor of the large cell while her aunt covered her wounds with herbs and a paste she prepared from the plants, the seeds and the juices her assistant brought with her. The young assistant stood to the side as the woman practiced her art of healing.

Red Feline was pulled away from the cave by the sounds of the feared steps approaching her. The Man in Black was back and he was holding his whip.

Red Feline didn't open her eyes, she didn't have to, she was looking down from her resting position between the dark room and the cave. Her two wounded bodies were very clear to her and she knew that from this moment on she would feel both of them at the same time.

Red Feline felt her weight pulling her skin and opening her drying wounds, a few drops of blood trickled down her chest. She slowly twisted in midair, her feet just a few inches away from giving her relief. But the floor still looked so far away. She turned slowly and her tormentor saw her in profile as he walked slowly, whip in hand.

He raised the whip, flung it back and made it cut the air, whistling a sharp tone which Red Feline did not hear. Her head remained down, her eyes closed.

Piroska shook as her aunt placed a large leaf on top of a wound on her breast. The young slave reacted as if the whip had fallen on her instead of Red Feline who did not react to the first lash.

Piroska's aunt had covered the young slave's wrists and ankles with plants and a thick paste and wrapped them with pieces of her own garments. "This will heal you quickly.", she whispered to the young, tortured woman who did not hear, she was busy hanging in a far off room in some other time.

The whip fell on Red Feline again, she did not react, she did not moan, her body twirled, pushed by the force of the lash. Piroska reacted instead, moaning in pain while her aunt kept covering each of the lashes she bore on her chest and legs.

Red Feline was in between both worlds, watching one body twist in the air, shaking in pain at every lash. Her other body lying on the floor, healing. She was no longer one, she was two and it was a strange sensation because the two were very distinct.

Time was not normal. To her it appeared that time in the cell was going faster, while the time in the dark room was going slowly.

The aunt had only one day to complete her work and she wondered about the intention of the Governor. But there was one thing she knew, one thing that she had learned down in the cave while healing Piroska. That this was meant to be. The gods had decided this fate long ago.

Red Feline read the woman's thoughts. It was as if she was making her think. Another lash fell on her waist and Piroska reacted in pain and again, Red Feline did not. She just turned around in midair, as if she was dancing to the tune of the whip that was whistling a sad song of unanswered pain.

Piroska's chest and legs were covered. With the help of her assistant, the aunt turned the young woman's body around to heal her back. Piroska did not react, her back was scored by the deep marks of the whip, the blood almost dry. The healer washed the wounds before applying the paste. Her soft hands caressed Piroska's wounded body but what she felt instead was the sting of the lash falling on Red Feline's waist.

Red Feline turned slowly as the whip returned to hit her beneath her breast.