Many changes had taken place in the town since Lord Diego had divorced his wife. Diego had always been harsh with his women, and as Lord of their settlement, he had set an example for the men and women to follow.
They were already a community of outsiders. Every man and woman in the settlement had already forsaken the outside world, which was why they had all moved down to South America to begin with. Lord Diego provided a place to escape from so-called “civilization,” where they would not be disturbed.
Yet something was different about the man lately. He had taken to hanging women outside, displaying them naked and in public. He made a great spectacle of the ordeal. He often called the people together to witness the women’s punishment in a town meeting.
“Behold!” he shouted to the assembled town’s people as Esmeralda swung before them. Esmeralda’s hair was split into 2 pigtails, which were suspended above her. She was positioned in such a way that her weight was distributed more or less evenly between her hair and the stake that was impaled up her ass. Esmeralda stared forward blankly, seeing nothing. Her sanity had given out long ago. She had always fancied herself a “strong woman” but her mind had turned out to be rather weak.
“This is how Justice will be done in our society from now on!” bellowed Lord Diego. “Errant, misbehaving women will no longer be tolerated, the women of this land WILL learn their place!”
The people exchanged some uneasy glances at each other. Several women in town were already considered slaves. The right to keep their women as slaves, if they so chose, was one of the primary reasons people had sought out Diego’s refuge in the first place. But something seemed different now.