Liliana forbade me from doing any more work that day and ordered me to rest in my room while she waited for Trevor to come back. As far as she was concerned, after what he had done to me there was no need for either of us to do anything for him. Despite what I told her about what he can and has done to me with the collar, it seemed she still thought of the situation from the perspective of a free woman, as if I had the ability to make my own choices. However, Trevor did order me to obey Liliana as I would obey him, so if she ordered me to not do anything then by his word that was what I had to do. I hoped the excuse would work. This little act of rebellion felt good, but at the same time I feared the consequences.

When lunchtime drew near I heard Trevor's footsteps approaching the house, long before Liliana could hear them, and went to the master bedroom to warn her. Henry was playing happily on the carpet with a stuffed toy, repeatedly putting it in his mouth and then taking it out to look at it while making cute little noises.

"He's coming", I said. Liliana nodded.

"Wait here with Henry", she said and went downstairs. From the sounds I heard her make I knew that she went to the sitting room. It was the room that the front door directly opened in to.

The front door opened and Trevor entered. There was some quiet talking. I couldn't discern the words they were saying. Curious, I moved out of the master bedroom closer to the head of the stairs. I could still watch Henry from here.

"I saw you with Vivian in the kitchen yesterday". Liliana spoke calmly.

"What of it?", Trevor didn't even try to deny.

"I know what you are doing to her and I want you to stop", Liliana said.

"It's no concern of yours. Will you tell me how to drive my cart next?", Trevor bristled.

"Vivian isn't your cart. She's your sister and my friend, and you must stop", Liliana was beginning to lose control of her temper.

"She is not my sister. She's an animal and she's my property, and I will do with her whatever I damn well please", now it was Trevor who was getting angry. Liliana took a deep breath to calm herself then tried again.

"Even if you don't want to acknowledge your relation, please, for my sake don't hurt her anymore", she tried pleading with him.

"I always loved how kind and empathetic you were towards all living beings, even the littlest animals, but in this cast your sympathies are misplaced. That creature doesn't deserve your kindness", Trevor replied.

"Please, I'm begging you. Give her to me, or give her back to her father-", Liliana tried again.

"He is not her father", Trevor snapped, incensed once again. "She is merely a creature he made. Animals can't have humans for parents".

Liliana couldn't control her temper anymore and shouted back.

"She is George's daughter! You are raping your own sister!"

"You can't rape an animal, and don't insult me by placing one on my level!", Trevor yelled angrily.

"If she's such an animal why even bother? What's in it for you, huh?", Liliana shouted again.

"Teaching her a lesson for all the wrong she had done", Trevor's voice turned cold.

"And what did she do to deserve this?", Liliana asked.

"She was conceived", Trevor said. This was answered with a loud slap.

"I don't know who you are, but you are not the man I married", Liliana said quietly, then came up the stairs with her shoulders slumped. She saw me standing in the landing and hugged me. Her body sagged as her knees stopped supporting her. Fortunately as a beast-kin I was about as strong as a human man so I could easily withstand her slight weight.

For the next few days Liliana tried to persuade Trevor in any way she could think of. She tried pleading, threatening, bargaining, arguing, but all that did was cause Trevor to become even more stubborn about his right to hurt me. He even started doing so when Liliana was in the house, as if to punish Liliana for trying to intervene and to assert his own freedom. His behavior could have been laughably juvenile if not for the particular form it had taken.

Liliana refused to share a bed with him and moved herself and Henry to another room. He responded by sleeping with me in my bed, robbing of even having a safe time of day. On the good nights he'd merely grope me. On the bad nights he'd rape me. It was difficult for me to sleep while he lay by my side, and so my nights became restless and full of anxiety, leaving me tired the following day.

Liliana's attempt to force his hand by denying him the basic services of a home didn't work either. Once Trevor realized what she was doing he simply ordered me to resume my chores and ignore any order from Liliana to the contrary. He also ordered me to work on Saturday like any other day. I didn't dare not to obey.

In the end all of Liliana's efforts to help me only caused my situation to worsen, but I was still grateful that she tried. Just knowing that she was fighting for me gave me comfort. I heard her crying alone every single day, no doubt from a broken heart.

In the last few days Liliana would leave the house immediately after breakfast to visit her parents with Henry, and wouldn't come home until supper or even later. I was sure this odd behavior was being noticed, but since Trevor no longer allowed me to leave the house I couldn't see for myself how the people of the village were reacting to the news that such a young wife was avoiding her husband. I could only hope it was causing Trevor some trouble.