“Now,” he said, “we shall have a little talk. Or rather, I shall talk, you will listen.”
Cressida struggled uselessly against the chain. She could move her legs this way and that, but there was a mere six inches of chain connecting her to the wall, so that she could barely manage to turn round and look at him. She hated the gag worst of all. It rendered her a mere thing, or a dumb animal; without the power of speech she could not feel human.
“You have done a very foolish thing tonight,” Sandhu said. “In the time before you are punished, you will have ample time to reflect. In the first place, you have insulted your master by your insolence to his guest. Hospitality is prized very highly in these parts. You have brought shame on Ruslan as a host by daring to strike a blow at a man whom he
