CHAPTER THIRTY-NINEUnmitigated Cruelty
They forced me to watch. The guards shackled Limah to rings hammered into the ceiling of the tower, spreading his wrists and ankles. Blood soaked into his breeches from the thigh wound and he bled from many cuts to his face. I admired his stoic calm as the men rained callous blows upon his head and used a lash to tear the skin from his back. His shirt lay in shreds at his feet and he made no sound. His face remained passive as though he waited for rescuers who would never arrive.
Galveston watched Limah like a hawk and his men held my head. If I tried to avert my eyes from his torture, they slapped my cheeks until I faced him. I pushed my bewitching pheromones into the atmosphere, but they were weak. Kuiti’s former soldiers loosened their grasp but
