“And risk another Burning?” she asked. “Never.”“I’ve changed the spell. There won’t be another Burning.”“Oh, yes, your new ritual, t...he one that makes you the final arbiter of all who wield magic. What gives you the right?”“It’s unfortunate but necessary,” he said smoothly. “It’s the only way.”“It’s certainly a convenient side effect, giving you supreme power over all mages. Do you really think anyone’s stupid enough to believe that story?”“It doesn’t particularly matter whether you believe it. Slavery is fairly common in all the lands as are servants. Servants aren't necessarily slaves but are dependent upon the employer/master for almost everything. There was little real difference except a servant was technically able to pick up and leave. In reality, it didn't happen in the Angel territory. Sex was freely available, sometimes for free and sometimes for pay. Miranda was exceptional for her status in any of the nations. Most women not mated either became servants or slaves. Few made. In the end, the time lapse between her letters got longer and longer, until Sam just didn’t write back one time. Surprisingly, over the next couple of years, I’d get the odd letter from Tammy. It was she who informed me that Winnie had given birth to a little girl. And just over a year later, Winnie had a second one. And of course I got Christmas cards for a few years from Winnie and Joe. They usually had a brief ‘keep me up to date’ note in them, but that was all. Then quite suddenly it all. " Things like what?" Well, there are Mistresses who are into causing pain to their slaves, and they like to demonstrate it on new slaves. Margo's fingernails are one example. She loves to make a slave come by scraping a fingernail back and forth over her clit, and I have actually seen her draw blood because she keeps the nails filed to very sharp edges. There's another Mistress who uses acupuncture needles. She pierces different locations with them; they don't cause any damage because they're.