Her captor alternately pulled and pushed Tina Lackov along as he went from room to room on his manor’s ground floor, checking that all the doors were locked and all the windows shuttered. When Tina feebly mewed, objecting to so much leading around, the Baron yanked sharply on the thong around her wrists. Once when she whimpered he slapped her and she stopped.
“That will delay the village mob as long as we need,” the Baron cheerfully declared as he led her up the stairs to the first floor, past a thick teak door with six devil faces carved into its ornate panels. He paused to admire it. “I brought this over from Wolf’s Lair,” he murmured to Tina. “No better inspiration for evil than those folks.”
He waved his hands in a mystic way once again and the eyes of the devil faces opened. “Angry men will confront you soon,” he told the faces. “Don’t let them pass.” Carefully locking that door behind them, the wizard took her through a secret panel in the library onto the hidden stairs to the second floor.
The stairs led up into a large ballroom, lit by bright moonlight streaming from a line of windows on the east wall. Its hardwood floor was covered with a deep layer of undisturbed dust. Columns with alcoves between, thick with masses of cobwebs, lined both sides of the room.
The Baron strapped Tina’s wrists high above her head, to a staple in a column near the center of the room, with a small brazier near her. The wizard left her there, gagged and helpless, while with a wave of his hand he lit several small lamps, a little fire in the hearth at one end of the room, and Tina’s brazier. The bright flash startled the girl and she struggled momentarily, then stared fearfully at the irons starting to heat in the lively flames.
The Baron brought up his hands and waved an intricate mystic sign in her direction. His brow furrowed in concentration as, slowly at first and then more rapidly, the lacing down the front of Tina’s bodice was undone by magical hands. When the laces finally fell to the floor, she gazed down and watched the same invisible hands spread the bodice apart, revealing her soft, silken-white blouse. Then with two rather quick gestures the Baron removed the gag and released the straps holding Tina’s wrists, so that they hung from the rope above her.
She gasped and stood still for a moment, rubbing her freed wrists and working her mouth. Then she glided up to the Baron, slid her arms up his arms, around his neck, and embraced him passionately. He returned her embrace.
“God! You do distant, regal, and sinister so well!” she murmured. “And those irons in the brazier … you really had me worried.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, my dear,” he returned, with comic undertones. Tina covered his mouth with hers.
Even as he leaned into the deep kiss that she had started, the wizard again gestured behind him. The fireplace end of the room became a sumptuous Arabian setting, with piles of silks and furs, many large and small pillows, and hanging tapestries inside the walls of a large tent. Low tables were set with fruits, meats, cheeses, and—flouting the teachings of the Prophet—wines. A large hookah stood among the tables, and a single eerie flute played in the background.
After they came up for air, the Baron lifted Tina. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his ear. With a deep hearty laugh, he carried her off into his harem.