“Why have you all come here without first speaking to me?” he asked in his calm way as he stopped between me and my visitors, his eyes probably just as calm, absolutely nothing like his mind. Inside he was outraged and annoyed, and I saw Deegor and Relgon wincing and sighing together. “This treda has been badly hurt, and now requires rest and care. ”
“Hestin, this treda is able to speak for herself,” I said to his back, feeling more than annoyed myself. “When I am weary and wish them to go, I will say so.”
“Such a decision is not yours, girl,” he told me over his shoulder, letting me see that his eyes really were as calm and easy as his tone. “You will eat considerably more from the tray I brought earlier, and then you will sleep.”
Hestin didn’t seem to hear the four gasps merged into one at the way my temper flared, but that was because he was being deliberately insensitive. He refused to hear anything that would interfere with his precious healing, but he couldn’t say he hadn’t been given the choice. Without even stopping to think about it, I touched him a third time.
Have you ever, for one reason or another, gone without food for a period of time? After a while it isn’t so bad, but the first day is unbelievably hard. Once the hunger pangs get going, all you can think about is food and eating. Visions of the best meals you’ve ever had rise up to haunt you, and you can actually see them and smell them and taste them. Nothing you do distracts you from knowing how much you’re missing and how much you want it, and it doesn’t take long before you know you’re about to starve to death. That’s Hunger with a capital H, and that’s what I gave to Hestin.
The big man hesitated when he felt my projection, not really understanding why he was suddenly starving, and made a sincere attempt to quiet the need and brush it aside. If the feeling had been natural he would have made it, but he didn’t stand much of a chance against the power of a Prime. Pure physical hunger grabbed him by the throat and stomach and shook him, but he really was a very strong man. Instead of attacking my tray and swallowing it down whole, he simply ran out, heading for the kitchen. As soon as he was out of hearing range, Deegor, Relgon and Siitil burst out laughing together.
“Ah, poor Hestin,” Relgon commiserated as the other two continued to laugh, her own amusement very much evident. “Fortunately for us all, Terril, even anger and outrage fail to bring you true cruelty. Although perhaps the healer would not agree.”
“What was done to him?” Leelan asked, having felt the surge of power without being able to interpret it. “Was he harmed?”
“Not nearly as badly as a woman in his place would have been,” Deegor said, still chuckling. “He was made to feel a great, overwhelming desire to consume all things edible in this house, and will be quite a while at making the attempt. He should not have given Terril such insult.”
“The fault was not entirely his,” Siitil said, momentarily softened by the seldom-felt laughter and enjoyment she’d just experienced. “He is a man, and men turn inexplicably strange when in the presence of a wenda such as Terril. His desire to have her obey him was of such a strength that even I nearly took insult.”
“The power of her is not only to be found in her mind,” Deegor put in, glancing around at her sister in amusement. “Also does the lack of a visible weapon affect men, as Relgon and I learned in our youth. There are few who are able to tell us apart, yet was she far more often sought after than I. In curiosity we strove to understand, and found that when she donned the weapon and I did not, it was I who stirred the interest. Men, it seems, have a great need to protect the helpless.”
“And what more helpless sight than a badly used wenda abed,” I said, finally understanding why I was having so much trouble. “Leelan, I will be greatly in your debt if you are able to provide me with a bath and some clothing. I have had enough of this lying about.”
“Terril, Hestin has said that you are not yet healed,” Leelan protested with a frown, her mind worried. “To leave your bed now would be foolish and dangerous.”
“And to remain in it would be even more foolish,” I countered, not about to be talked out of getting up. “Once before I was hurt in such a way, yet found myself quickly able to return to moving about. Hestin’s fears for my safety have affected his judgment, and therefore must his opinions be ignored. Will you assist me?”
She hesitated a very long time, her mind flashing this way and that while weighing everything involved, but there were too many reasons against her refusing. Three other minds and six pairs of eyes watched her juggle, and then she sighed and nodded slowly.
“Very well,” she grudged, not terribly happy about it but seeing no other way out. “You shall have your bath and clothing-provided you are able to finish the meal which was brought you. Lack of appetite indicates illness which may not be ignored.”
“With the prospect of bathing and dressing before me, I will happily finish the meal,” I agreed, meaning every word. Sitting around doing nothing isn’t designed to rouse the appetite, and that was another reason why I had to get up.
Once we came to an understanding, everything began moving quickly. Leelan took the other women to another part of the house, and she hadn’t been out the door five minutes when two women who were clearly servants carried in a big, wooden tub. Under normal circumstances I would have bathed in the kitchen, but with Hestin in there still stuffing his face, an alternate location was much more politic. I finished everything on my tray while the water was being brought in-everything but another serving of that thick, yellow, too-sweet custard—and then joined the water in the tub.
It felt so good to be on the way to being clean again that I had no trouble ignoring my aches, and had to be careful not to broadcast my pleasure. I sat cross-legged in the narrow, round tub, the water up to my breasts, my arms resting on the outside rim, my head back, my eyes closed. All the problems in the universe lose their importance and urgency in the presence of a warm bath, which is why meetings of state are held in formal board rooms around tables. If they all stripped down and made themselves comfortable, there would probably never be war again.
Much as I would have liked to take forever I didn’t have the time, so after just a few minutes of soaking I washed my body and hair and then got out to dry. One of the serving women was there to help me, and she flinched inwardly when she saw my right side. More often than not the tail of Roodar’s whip had caught me there, and the bruise was wide and colorful. For my own part I ignored it as best I could, and went to get into my new clothes.
Seeing the two serving women wearing imadd and caldinn but no bands-led me to expect something familiar in the way of wearables, but what had been laid out on my bed was an outfit like the ones my visitors had been in, breeches and shirt in light blue, with a pair of sandals on the carpet fur. For some reason I didn’t much care for the clothing, enough so that I hesitated in front of it, but then I realized how much more practical it was, especially in the rain. I was going to need every bit of help I could get that night, and that was the only thing to be considered.
Getting dressed wasn’t particularly involved, and the knots came out of my hair with less brushing than I thought it would take, so it wasn’t long before I was being led through the house to where the other women were waiting. Wearing breeches instead of a skirt-even breeches that were tight and rather a good fit-felt odd, but my attention was distracted from that by the house I was being conducted through. By everything I saw, Leelan had done rather well for herself, with a large, well-made and well-furnished house filled with more than just the two servants I’d seen. The walls, floors, and ceilings were wood and stone, dark, light, and gray, with enough touches of color from drapes and such to bring the color level up from somber to comfortable. It was clearly a woman’s house without being in the least frilly, but one part of it was faintly embarrassing. Leelan had male servants as well as female, and when I found myself checking them for bands, I blushed with embarrassment and riveted my eyes to the woman I was following. I hadn’t found any bands, but my unthinking stares had produced a number of grins and hums of interest.