Sophie has latent magical ability, but she must learn control. Master Finlay claims her as his own through a painful initiation. Now she too is a magician's apprentice - and can be punished as one.

Ius primae noctis, the law of the first night, gives a feudal lord the right to claim the virginity of new brides. To spare his wife-to-be, a young bridegroom offers himself to the lady of the castle instead.

Rehearsals for "The Taming of the Shrew" are not going well. The actresses keep bickering and forgetting their lines. Luckily, the director has ways of dealing with such distractions.