Chapter 18

“Whoa!” I exclaimed. “Yes, I’ll know right away.”

She laughed. “Usually, this communication is done with a gong tone, but I like these better. Only you and I will know.” Her smile lit the room. “Don’t get too addicted to it, though, or I’ll have to punish you. When you feel that, come to me immediately, don’t make me press this twice. Understand?”

“Of course. I didn’t know these did that,” I gasped.

“Most do not. These are especially made for me.”

“Ah.”

“Now, Michiko, have you felt pain lately?”

“No, Joō-sama. Not since I was with you in Portland.”

She smiled. “Then we must reproduce that to celebrate your slavery.”

She led me to a wall at the foot of her room. There were three hooks; one held a hank of black rope, the other two held floggers. She pointed up to a bamboo rod on the wall, about six feet high.

“Hang onto that.”

I reached up and grabbed the rod. She had the rope in her hands and bound my wrists to the rod.