“Rellis, do not leave me so,” I sobbed, putting my hands out to him. “Should it be true that my actions last darkness caused shame, I have been well repaid. Do you wish me to plead for your use? I will gladly do so. Allow me to touch you and I will plead in any way you wish.”
I reached toward him where he sat at the edge of the bed furs, wishing I could use my mind instead of my hands, but even my hands weren’t permitted near him. He caught my wrists between his own hands with a smile, and slowly shook his head.
“It is not my use you must beg,” he said, raising one hand to smooth my hair. “There are two who await you who will be pleased to see you, and all you need do is ask. Which of them, I wonder, will you approach first?”
I closed my eyes and lowered my head, whimpering at the need I felt, knowing I would have to go on that way. I’d die of shame if I had to ask one of them to ease me, and I’d sooner die of need. Somehow Rellis seemed to understand my resolve, and a flash of annoyance touched his mind as he snorted.
“So you believe you will approach neither of them, do you?” he said, holding my wrists in a one-handed grip. “Do you need to be coaxed further into the fire before you have the good sense to seek water?”
“No, do not touch me again!” I choked, stretching back away from his reaching hand. “How might I approach one without giving unnecessary pain to the other? I do not wish either of them, yet begging their use is a poor way of convincing them of it. ”
“Do you truly expect me to believe that you wish neither of them?” he asked, annoyed but drawing his hand back again. “Had that been so, you would already have found another to face them for you. With the aid of your power, even darayse would have found it possible to best them. No, wenda, it is clear you care for them both, yet the question remains as to which of them you care for more. Undoubtedly this journey will provide the answer—as well as prove to you your inability to withdraw from them. Come now; we have delayed long enough.”
He pulled me off the pile of bed furs, made me brush my hair fast, then hurried me out into the corridor by one arm. Only two sets of twenty warriors waited for us outside, and we led a parade up one corridor and down another, passing marble walls and occasional ribbed windows, the morning light managing to break through the thin, scattered clouds in the sky. I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone, so when we rounded a corner and came upon a slave down on hands and knees wiping one of the marble floors with a cloth, I was startled. When we stopped not five feet from the slave, I was more than startled; the naked woman on her knees, working under the critical eye of a large l’lenda holding a broad strap, was none other than Aesnil. Her long blond hair was braided to keep it out of her way, and even that early in the morning she seemed exhausted.
“Well, well, Aesnil, how pleasant to see that you are being kept from boredom in my house,” Rellis said, looking down at her. “How pleased you must be at the feeling of such accomplishment. ”
Tears welled in Aesnil’s eyes and her mind filled with misery, but she didn’t look up or stop wiping the floor.
“Have you no words of morning greeting, Aesnil?” Rellis pursued, his thoughts grimly pleased. “Will you not ask after my sleep in the polite manner?”
“I may not cease my task without permission, uncle,” she whispered, still moving the cloth across the floor. “Should I do so I will be strapped, and made to begin again from the beginning. ”
“I see,” Rellis said, and then moved his eyes to the guard standing over her. “How often has it been necessary to strap this slave and begin her again?” he asked.
“Two times it was necessary to strap her and begin her again, my Chamd,” came the answer, accompanied by a grin. “It has taken all of the darkness for her to see to her task, and it is nearly done.”
“And through it she has learned some measure of wisdom.” Rellis nodded in approval, looking at Aesnil again. “I am pleased that you show yourself able to learn, Aesnil, for your position in this house is as unique as your position in your own house. Here you are the sole female slave beneath my roof, and must comport yourself accordingly. I am told you find great pleasure in consigning others to slavery, therefore must you relish your position more than another would. Learn well, Aesnil, and perhaps I may be persuaded to recall that we are kin.”
He stood another moment looking down at her, but when I took a step forward and tried to bend and touch her, he pulled me away by one arm and resumed our trek through the corridors. Her mind had been sunk in such deep misery and humiliation that I’d had to try comforting her, but Rellis wasn’t prepared to allow that. He’d tried hurrying me away before I could wreck what he considered good work, but I’d caught the flash of gratitude in Aesnil’s mind, showing she knew what I’d wanted to do. I got a short lecture on not interfering with a well-earned lesson, but I ignored most of it as I sent Aesnil as much strength and support as I could. I didn’t waste my breath saying anything, but if Rellis had been able to feel Aesnil’s mind the way I’d felt it, he might not have considered what he was doing to her such a good idea.
Our walk took us to the end of a corridor that had a single door in it. Behind the door was a stairway leading down, but it had nothing in common with the stairway Dallan and I had used in Aesnil’s palace which led to the slave quarters. This stairway was marble rather than cut out of rock, wide rather than narrow, well-lit rather than dark and dank, and guarded rather than deserted. We led our parade downward a good thirty feet or more, and finally emerged in a wide-landing or room—which held a single, metal-bound door. Two more guardsmen stood at the door, but they were being kept company by Dallan and Tammad, who had a number of leather-bound bundles at their feet. All four watched us leave the stairway, but the humming in the minds of the two men waiting for me topped everything else for quite some distance around. I didn’t realize I was trying to hang back until Rellis’ hand tightened on my arm, pulling me forward closer to where they stood.
“A wait proving its worth,” Dallan said, moving forward one step from the door and the bundles. “Your presence will brighten the darkness, Terril.”
“And perhaps warm it as well,” Rellis said, thrusting me forward ahead of him. “You have taken what was necessary?”
“Indeed,” Dallan nodded, gesturing back toward the leather bundles. “Enough to feed us there and back, water to drink, furs in which to sleep, a sip of drishnak to ease the boredom. We will be no longer than the time necessary to reach the resting place of the Sword and return.”
“You will be a bit longer than that,” Rellis answered, but gave Dallan no time to ask the obvious question. “As you are completely prepared, you had best depart.”
“The thought has come to me that perhaps it would be best if we were to leave the woman here,” the barbarian said, stopping Dallan as he bent for one of the bundles. “There is no true need for her presence, and she will surely slow our pace. This matter is one between l’lendaa, and not to be given over to the dabbling of wendaa.”
Although I really didn’t want to go with them, I could feel myself stiffening in resentment at the barbarian’s attitude. I might not be as ridiculously big as he and Dallan, but I wasn’t entirely helpless! He made me sound as competent as a two-year-old, and I resented it like hell.