Then he lifted her like that, in one hand, tilting her hips with the flick of his wrist, and she found herself suspended spread-eagle by silver thread, attached from her restraints to the ceiling. She had time to wonder how things had turned upside down- the string had gone from manacle to floor just moments before-but the strain on her arms and legs, carrying the fullness of her weight, grew painful almost immediately.

“I’ll be as gentle as I can.” He whispered the words into her ear, which was at mouth-level as he stood beside her. “But she is watching.”

“It hurts,” Alice gasped, trying to turn away from or into the pain in her limbs.

“It’s supposed to!” The Red Queen sang from somewhere below them. How could she possible see? Alice wondered. They were far off the ground and she was down there. She turned her head from side to side and then she saw it, a glimmer of light below-another transmission, this one showing the scene above displayed on the wall. Out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw herself suspended, nude, helpless.

The king made some motion and Alice sighed in relief as the strings holding her up drew closer together on the ceiling. She couldn’t see where they were attached, no pulleys or levers. They seemed to disappear in to the red and white material above with no fastening at all. The affect was both good and bad. Her limbs were still holding her own weight, but they were drawn together now, arms parallel with her legs and perpendicular to the floor. It left her body jackknifed and her unable to see, except peripherally, what was going on around her.

“Such sweet skin.” The king had something to pet her with. She couldn’t tell at first what it was, the touch was so light over the backs of her thighs, behind her knees.

“Like peaches and cream.”

But when the first blow fell near her hip, she recognized the implement immediately. A riding crop. It was one of Wade’s favorite toys.