56 The First Act

"They'll begin as soon as you take me on a tour of the Northern Palace." She gestured toward the locked door, hoping to escape her imprisonment. 

"Of course." He smiled. "It's only polite for a student to take their teacher on a tour of their home." 

Daphne narrowed her eyes in suspicion. 

"The Northern Palace consists largely of two parts, the Old Palace and the New Palace. The Old Palace is where the throne room is, and it's now mostly used for meeting with officials. Your room is a part of the New Palace. It's in the Northeastern corner of the palace and directly faces the imperial courtyards." 

"Where the public beatings take place?"

Daphne could still remember the wails of horror that sounded from below as streak after streak of the iron whip mercilessly fell onto the girl's bare back.