"You think you'll still have need of me?"
He looked down at the papers before him. "We have a bargain. You promised me a child, and I won't be cheated."
She didn't have to leave him yet. The relief she felt was frightening in its intensity. She turned hurriedly away and moved toward the curtained alcove. "You won't need a child now."
"I'll decide what I need." A hint of ferocity tinged Galen's voice. "And what I'll take."
Raw anger and frustration vibrated in the tent, and for the first time Tess became conscious of the air of suppressed violence surrounding Galen. "You won't take anything that—"
A scream tore through the night!
Tess went rigid.
Another scream. A woman's scream of agony.
"Stay here." Galen was on his feet, running toward the entrance of the tent.
She was supposed to stay and listen to that poor woman screaming?
Dear God, what if it was Viane?
Galen was already several yards away when Tess reached the entrance of the tent.
Another scream.
Half-dressed men streamed out of the tents, lanterns were being lit.
Tess darted across the clearing toward Viane's tent.
"Tess, what is it?" Viane, her maid at her elbow, held back the tent flap. "That scream…"
"I don't know."
However, Galen seemed to know. He was striding through the tents toward the north end of the encampment.
Tess hurried after him. They were now passing through the area of the El Kabbar, but no one was coming out of these tents.
Another scream… closer.
She rounded the corner and almost ran into Galen, who had stopped and was standing watching something occurring before Hakim's tent. "What's happening?"
Galen didn't look at her. "I told you not to come."
A slight black-gowned figure was kneeling in the clearing. The woman was still fully veiled, but her back was bare, the flesh striped with livid weals and bleeding cuts. Hakim stood over her, a bloodstained whip in his hand. As Tess watched. he lifted the whip to strike again.
"No!" Tess started toward them.
Galen grabbed Tess's wrist and jerked her to a stop. "Don't interfere."
"Don't you see? She can't—"
"Galen." Hakim looked up and scowled. "I suppose my wife's screams woke you. I apologize for disturbing you, but the girl's not only clumsy, she has no courage." He shrugged. "She's only thirteen. I suppose she has time to learn."
Galen didn't look at the kneeling girl. "We all need our rest if we're to perform well in the carobel. Perhaps her punishment could be postponed until after the race?"
Hakim shook his shaggy white head. "She shattered my favorite carobel, and has three more lashes to bear. Women must be punished at the time of the offense if it is to be effective. They're like hounds or horses, too stupid to remember for long." His gaze moved to Tess. "Pay heed to my words and actions, and you may yet make a true woman of that one."
Fury soared through Tess, and she took a half-step forward. "If you didn't beat them, perhaps fear wouldn't make them so clumsy that—"
"Silence." Galen's hand clamped over Tess's mouth.
She started to struggle, but he lifted her and slung her over his shoulder and started back through the encampment.
"That's right!" Hakim called after them. "Well done, Galen. Never let them speak without your permission."
Tess pounded on Galen's back. "Let me down!"
She heard Hakim's voice fading away as they neared the El Zalan section of the encampment.
"Don't worry, there will be no more disturbance, Galen. I will gag her."
Galen didn't let Tess down until he had entered their tent. He dumped her on the divan and then strode back across the tent and tied the flaps closed.
Tess jumped to her feet and ran toward the entrance.
"No!" Galen turned to face her. "Try to leave and I'll tie you up until morning." He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Listen to me, if you interfere, I'll be forced to punish you as Hakim's punishing that poor child. He would consider it an insult, and retribution would be the only action he'd understand."
"With a whip?"
"Better at my hands than Hakim's. I can't afford a disruption now."
"He's a beast, an animal." Her voice was shaking with anger. "Dear Lord, over a pottery jar!"
"Hakim's very proud of his horsemanship and performance in the carobels."
"You defend him?"
"No, I'm merely explaining that a carobel is more than a pottery jar. "
"You could have stopped him."
"If I'd wanted to destroy my hopes for unity. I need Hakim to influence the desert tribes."
"You told me once your people didn't beat their women."
"I was speaking of the El Zalan. Hakim's tribe has other customs, other laws."
"And you can do nothing?"
"Not without unity, not until we have common laws."
"So women will be beaten and stepped on like animals until then?"
"Do you think I enjoyed seeing that girl hurt?" Galen asked fiercely. "Do you know how many times I've seen it and been able to do nothing?" He paused, struggling for control. "And I won't lie to you. Even after union it may take years to change the laws regarding the treatment of women. I can't change in a day what's been going on for centuries."
"We aren't animals." Tess's hands clenched into fists. "Someone should punish him. Someone should make him see."
"Yes." He turned wearily away. "For God's sake, cease. I told you I can do nothing about it. Not yet. Perhaps not for a long time." He began to gather up his papers that had fallen on the floor when he had run out of the tent. "Go to bed."
"Oh yes, I should be able to go right to sleep. After all, he's gagged her, and we can't hear her screams."
He muttered a curse and wheeled to face her. "Why does it so disturb you? Your own father beat you until you bled, and you've told me you accepted the beatings without protest."
"Because I was a child, afraid and believing I had no choice but to accept. I've changed."
"But you cannot change the world."
"Why not? Isn't that what you're trying to do?"
"That's different. I'm—"
"A man? And I'm only a woman, to be beaten and caged like an animal." She threw up her hands. "Sweet Mary, you're as much a barbarian as Hakim." Suddenly, her anger lessened, faded as she saw the expression that flitted across his face. She had hurt him. She had used the one word that could wound him.
The vulnerability vanished, and his expression hardened. "If I were a barbarian, you wouldn't have heard that woman scream." He smiled recklessly as he moved forward to stand before her. "You would have been screaming yourself as I drove in and out of you." His fingers tangled in her hair. "I should have thrown you down when you walked into the tent tonight and kept you too busy to think of anything but pleasure."
"I would have fought you."
"But would a barbarian care?" He jerked her head back and smiled down into her eyes. "Wouldn't a barbarian merely enjoy the battle?" He reached out and began stroking her arched throat. "There were moments when I would have enjoyed having you on your knees. Perhaps Hakim's right, and I should—" He drew a deep, shaky breath. He slowly released her and stepped back. "No." He turned and moved across the tent. He undid the flap closure with shaking hands and threw it open.