"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.
"Heh. Let me tell you another rule of the Crowe Tribe."
"Once the Three Ordeals begin, nothing can stop them. No exceptions. That rule has stood for a hundred years."
"Should've behaved from the start. You brought this on yourself."
The man spat in my face. Then he snapped his fingers and two others dragged me toward the Cactus Pit.
"AHHH!"
My scream tore through the valley.
Countless needles punched into my skin all at once. Every square inch felt like it was being stabbed, a dense, suffocating wave of pain that nearly dragged me under.
I stumbled out of the cactus pile on shaking legs. The spines on the soles of my feet had driven in so deep that cold sweat poured down my temples with every step.
I collapsed on the ground and began pulling the thorns out one by one. Each one came free with a bead of blood. Tears rolled down and mixed with it, dripping off my jaw.
That was the cruelty of it. Constant, grinding pain that wouldn't kill you. Just broke you down from the inside.
The Crowe men stood around me like spectators at a sideshow, laughing one moment, hurling insults the next.
Then Barrett's phone rang. He glanced at the screen and his expression changed instantly, tension snapping across his face.
"Young master, you're back?"
"Already at the gate? I'll come meet you right now."
Declan. Was it Declan?
He was back. I was saved.
I lifted my head. For the first time in hours, something like hope flickered in my eyes. But the next second, Barrett's boot slammed into my face.
