The abrupt turnabout of Aesnil’s speech brought confusion to all of us, her guards included, and not excepting Daldrin. We all stared at her as though she were crazy, but Daldrin also flushed with annoyance and insult.
“I was instructed to see to a matter for you,” he said, his voice tight with anger. “The matter was seen to to the best of my ability. I had thought, Chama, that you were pleased with my efforts.”
“I had not realized how displeased my honored guest was.” She shrugged, then sat herself on the end of my bed. “I am told by those more interested than I that you are well enough endowed to make any woman writhe. Any woman, that is, foolish enough to find herself in your arms. If this is so, I cannot fathom the reason for my guest’s dissatisfaction. As it cannot be she who is at fault, the error must be yours. The only thing for it is that you repeat your performance here and now, and my guards will remain alert for what mistakes you make. You may proceed.”
She settled herself more comfortably on the bed, while I stared at her in disbelief. The guards were guffawing where they stood in front of the doors, finally understanding that they were in for some fun. Daldrin was still angry, but he was also groaning inwardly and furious with me for causing the mess. Aesnil hadn’t liked my previous attitude toward her, and she’d found a way of getting even—or at least she thought she had. I thought it was high time she found out what she was fooling with.
Slowly and deliberately I rose to my knees on the carpeting, then climbed to my feet. Aesnil’s eight guards were staring directly at me, their minds growling with interest, their eyes saying they wouldn’t have minded if they were the ones to use me instead of Daldrin. They weren’t expecting me to stare back at them, so when I did a faint shadow of doubt ghosted across their minds, the sort of shadow that leaves a perfect opening behind. Into that opening in each of their minds my projection went, comprised of repugnance and horror and backed with the strength of anger. The eight men were standing close to one another, bunched up in a way that seemed purposely set for the needs of projection. Their faces twisted when they felt the repugnance, but when the horror followed quickly in its turn the experience was too much for them. They backed away almost as one, slowly at first and then more and more quickly, falling over one another and shoving at one another in their haste to get to the doors and out. Nothing but gasps and grunts came from them, showing they were brave men, and once they were gone and the doors slammed closed behind them, I turned off the projection and turned to look at Aesnil.
The Chama still sat at the edge of my bed, but her body was no longer relaxed. She sat bolt upright with a tense, unnatural stiffness all through her, her face pale, her eyes wide, her mind filled with ice-tinged fear. When she saw my eyes on her her breath caught in her throat, but she’d been too important for too long a time to easily conceive of the concept of personal harm.
“Your power will be of more use to me than I had at first thought,” she said in a scratchy voice, looking up at me with distinct evidence of triumph beginning to enter her mind. “I will have the fearful obedience of every denday in my country, especially those who now laugh at me as nothing more than a mere female.”
She took a deep breath and got to her feet, then turned her head to look at a silent Daldrin.
“See that she eats well of the fresh food sent to her,” she told him, the snap of command back in her voice. “Also see that her body is well pleased, else you will lose what you fail to make acceptable use of. I will not have her in a foul temper from bodily demands she has grown used to having tended.”
She gave Daldrin a final glare, sent me a radiant smile filled with much warmth, then took herself off toward the doors, her mind already twisting and spinning with plans and ideas. I frowned as I watched her go, not quite believing she could dismiss me that easily, but once the doors closed the question of belief became secondary to the overwhelming weariness I’d been holding off while Aesnil was there. The strength needed for the projection sent to her guards had completely drained me, but I hadn’t wanted Aesnil to know that. I’d wanted her to think of herself as threatened, but all she’d seen was a demonstration of how valuable I could be to her. I let myself sink back down onto the carpeting with a silent groan, stretching out fiat as Daldrin made a sound of annoyance.
“It is she who needs her bodily demands seen to,” he muttered, his eyes still on the doors. “It is whispered among the serving slaves that the Chama has never been taken by a man, thus the reason for her constant intemperate behavior. You took a foolish chance, girl, and nearly saw yourself used for the amusement of Aesnil and her guard. Were you mine, you would now face punishment for such foolishness.”
I glanced up to see him staring down at me, the annoyance in his eyes as strong as it was in his mind.
“Leave me be,” I groaned, turning my face away from him. “I no longer have the strength to argue male evaluation of my behavior. Let me rest.”
“So you need to rest, do you?” he mused, reaching over to turn my face back to him. “What would have occurred bad others come to replace the guard you sent scurrying? Would you have been able to do the same to them had they meant you harm?”
I didn’t answer him, but he didn’t need an answer; I could see in his eyes that he knew I hadn’t particularly cared what happened to me, as long as it was fast and clean.
“The death of one who attempts harm to the Chama is designed to be neither swift nor easy,” he told me harshly, his light eyes angrier than they bad been. “Should you continue as you do now, you will soon learn the truth of the matter. Take your rest now, but think upon my words, for they may save you a good deal of agony.”
He let go of my face and got to his feet, but the churning in his mind didn’t stop beating at me until he had walked to the other side of the room. I was too played out to do the sort of thinking he wanted me to do, and didn’t think it wise to mention the archers Aesnil had warned me of. He would have pointed out that they weren’t close enough to do me much good, and I didn’t need him to point out the obvious.
A short while later a discreet tap came at the doors, and Daldrin opened one to reveal a female slave carrying a tray. The naked girl hurried inside, put the tray down on the first available table, then turned and knelt to Daldrin, putting her forehead to the floor at his feet. As neither one of us had dressed again, the girl had taken it upon herself to assume that Daldrin was the proper inhabitant of the room, I no more than another slave sent to entertain him. Daldrin grinned at me over the girl’s body before sending her on her way, but I saw nothing amusing in the situation. That, on top of everything else, was almost enough to make me a supporter of Aesnil’s cause.
I felt too washed out to be interested in eating, but Daldrin refused to take no for an answer. He insisted he’d been commanded to see me well fed, then proceeded to stuff me with whatever the tray contained. It takes a certain amount of strength to fight off a man with food in his hands, but when brawn is lacking, brain is sometimes a superior substitute. When I reached the point of being just short of exploding, I took advantage of a momentary lull and suggested that Daldrin help finish the stuff off. The servant-slave hadn’t been fed anywhere near well enough to resist an offer like that, and went at it with abandon after no more than a token hesitation. I could tell he was wondering whether I’d had enough, but the amount he’d stuffed into me plus the demands of his own needs worked together to overcome his doubts. This time he finished the food to the last bite, and I managed to have my revenge for the way he’d pushed me around. A light wine had been included with the meal, but all he got to do was taste it. I finished the rest of it myself while he glowered at me over my insistence that I needed it to build up my strength again. For some reason, I don’t think he believed me.