For ten days, any man in the tribe could enter the woman's room at any hour, day or night. A doctor examined her daily. It continued until she was pregnant.
"No, please, I'm begging you..." I was on my knees, slamming my forehead against the ground over and over.
"Begging now? Too late for that!" Barrett grabbed my chin and forced it up, shining a high-beam flashlight directly into my eyes.
The light seared through my eyelids. I couldn't open them. All I could do was cry.
"The young master. I need to see your young master." I screamed it through my sobs, praying I could reach Declan.
"You really don't give up, do you? Fine. Our young master's coming back tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, you'll get to see him."
"That is, if you can survive the Three Ordeals..."
Before I could process what he meant, hands seized me and I was hurled into the Itch Pool.
I hadn't expected them to start the punishment so soon.
The water was a murky, oily green. Three seconds in, my skin began to itch.
It started on the backs of my hands. I scratched lightly and the skin flushed red instantly.
Then my arms. When I pushed up my sleeves, angry welts had already erupted across both forearms in thick, raised clusters.
The rash spread everywhere within minutes, especially my face. The itching was so intense I couldn't keep my eyes open. My entire face swelled until it was barely recognizable, burning and crawling at the same time.
"Look at her! Doesn't she look just like a monkey?"
"Ha ha Haha! "
The men circling the pool roared with laughter.
I lost all control. I ground my body against the dirt, clawing at myself to make it stop. My nails tore through skin. Across my face, I raked bloody lines one after another.
But I was past caring. The itching was unbearable.
Three hours later the welts finally began to fade, and by then I was unrecognizable. I'd ripped out fistfuls of my own hair. Patches of my scalp were bare. Every inch of exposed skin was raw and stinging, the itch replaced by a searing, white-hot burn. I knelt there in the dirt, kowtowing to anyone who would look at me.
"I was wrong. Money, whatever you want, I'll give you everything I have."
"Just stop. Please stop. I'll do anything you say..."
I couldn't bring myself to imagine what the next two ordeals would be.
I'd been telling myself to hold on until Declan came back. If I could just last that long, he would save me. But my body was giving out.