The young woman who had been standing beside the wheelchair kneeled down in front of it. At a signal from the old man, she lifted his voluminous silk robe and all but disappearing under it, knelt between his legs. The Emir nodded to the old woman who reached into the case and brought out what looked like a fencing sword but was actually a very thin three foot length of rounded spring steel attached to a leather handle. Carefully, she slid a sleeve of black leather over the steel whip and tied it to the handle. I started to rise, but Frank quickly gripped my arm and forced me back into my chair. The woman moved slightly to one side of Lisa and holding the terrible whip up, swished it through the air several times. Lisa’s eyes widened in fright.
The woman drew its pointed tip over an
