After a time, he heard the bell, calling them to the evening devotion. Denna came back in, squatted down next to him, put her arm gently around him, and helped him to his feet.
"We are not allowed to miss a devotion," she explained in a quiet voice, hooking the chain to her belt.
The sight of his blood all over the white lather was shocking. There were strings of it across her face and in her hair. As they walked to the devotion, people who usually spoke to her averted their eyes and gave her wide passage. Kneeling with his head to the floor hurt his ribs, making it hard to breathe, much less chant. He didn't know if he was getting the words right, but Denna didn't correct him, so he just went on. How he stayed upright the whole time, without tipping over, he didn't know.
When the bell rang twice, Denna rose, but didn't help him. Constance appeared, a rare grin on her face.
"My, my, Denna, looks like you've been having fun." Constance backhanded him, but he managed to stay on his feet. "Been a bad boy, have you?"
"Yes, Mistress Constance."
"Very bad, it would appear. How delightful." Her hungry eyes turned to Denna. "I'm free. Let's go teach him what two Mord-Sith can really do."
"No, not tonight, Constance."
"No? What do you mean, no?"
Denna exploded. "I mean no! He is my mate, and I'm taking him back to train him as such! Do you wish to come and watch when I lie with my mate! Do you want to watch, too, what I do when I have the Agiel between my teeth!"
Richard shrank back. So that was what she had planned. If she did that to him tonight, as badly as he was already hurt…
People in white robes-missionaries, Denna had called them-were staring. Constance glared back and they hurried off. Both women's faces were red-Denna's from anger, Constance's from embarrassment.
"Of course not, Denna," she said in a low voice. "I'm sorry
I didn't know. I will leave you to it." She gave Richard a smirk. "You look to be in enough trouble already, my boy. I_ hope you are up to' your duties."
She gave him a jab in the stomach with her Agiel, and walked off. Dizzy, Richard put his hand across himself with a moan. Denna's hand come up under his arm, holding him up. Denna glared after Constance, then started off, expecting him to follow. He, did.
When they were back in Denna's quarters, she gave him the bucket. He almost collapsed at the thought of filling her tub.
Her voice was quiet. "Go and get one bucket of hot water."
Richard could have died with relief, knowing that he didn't have to fill a tub. He retrieved the water, a little confused. She seemed to be angry, but Wasn't directing her anger at him. After he set the bucket on the floor, he waited with his eyes cast downward. Denna brought the chair over. He was surprised she didn't have him do it.
"Sit down." She went to the table by her bed and came back with a pear. She looked at it in her hand a moment, turning it around and around, rubbing it a little with her thumb, then held it out to him. "I brought this back from dinner. I find I am no longer hungry. You had no dinner; you eat it."
Richard looked at the pear in her hand as she held it toward him. "No, Mistress Denna. It's yours. Not mine."
"I know whose it is, Richard." Her voice was still quiet, "Do as I say."
He took the pear, eating it all, even the seeds. Denna knelt down and started washing him. He had no idea what was going on, but the washing hurt, although it was nothing to compare with the Agiel. He wondered why she was doing this, when it was time to train him again.
Denna seemed to sense his apprehension. "I have a backache."
"I'm sorry, Mistress Denna, I've caused it by my behavior."
"Be quiet," she said gently. "I want to sleep on something hard, for my back. I will sleep on the floor. Since I will sleep on the floor, you will have to sleep in my bed, and I don't want your blood in it."
Richard was a little perplexed. The floor was certainly big enough for the two of them, and she had certainly gotten his blood in her bed before. It had never bothered her in the past. He decided it was not his place to question, and so didn't.
"All right," she said when she had finished, "get in the bed."
He lay down while she watched him. With resignation, he picked up the Agiel from the side table and held it out to her, the pain from it hurting his arm. He wished she weren't going to do this to him tonight.
Denna took the Agiel from him and returned it to the table. "Not tonight. I told you, I have a backache." She blew out the lamp. "Go to sleep. ."
He heard her lie on the floor, whispering a curse to herself. He was too exhausted to think, and was asleep in a short time.
When the peal of the bell woke him, Denna was already up. She had cleaned the blood from her white outfit; and had fixed her braid. She said nothing to him as they walked to the devotion. It was painful for him to kneel, and he was glad when it was finished. He didn't see Constance. Walking behind Denna, he began to turn toward the training room, but she didn't, and the chain pulled taut. The pain brought him up short.
"We're not going that way," she said.
"Yes, Mistress Denna."
She walked awhile, down halls that stretched forever, then gave him an impatient look. "Walk next.to me. We're going for a walk. It's something I enjoy doing occasionally. When my back hurts. It helps me."
"I'm sorry, Mistress Denna. I was hoping it would be better by this morning."
She glanced at him, then looked back to where she was going. "Well, it's not. So we will go for a walk."
Richard had never been this far from Denna's quarters before. His eyes took little journeys to the new sights. At intervals, there were places just like the one where they went for their devotions, opened to the sky and the sun, each with a rock in the center, and a bell. Some had grass instead of sand, and some even a pool of water that the rock sat in. Fish glided in groups through the clear water. The halls were sometimes wide as rooms, with patterned tiles on the floor, arches and columns all about and ceilings soaring high above. Windows let light stream into these places, making them bright and airy
People were everywhere, most in robes of white or some other pale color. No one ever seemed in a hurry, but most seemed as if they had a place to go, although a few sat on marble benches. Richard saw few soldiers. Most people walked past Denna and him as if they were invisible, but a few smiled and exchanged a greeting with her.
The size of the place was astounding; the halls and passages stretched out of sight. Wide stairs led up or down to unknown parts of the great edifice. One hall had statues of naked people in proud poses. The statues were made of carved and polished stone, mostly white, some with gold veining through it, and each was twice as tall as he. Richard never saw one place that was dark, or ugly, or dirty; everything he saw was beautiful. The sound of people's footsteps echoed through the halls like reverent whispers. Richard wondered how a place as large as this could even be conceived of, much less built. It must have taken lifetimes.
Denna led them to a sprawling square that was open to the sky. Full-grown trees covered the mossy ground, and a path of brown clay tiles meandered through the center of the indoor forest. They strolled along the path, Richard looking up at the trees. They were beautiful, even if they were bare of leaves.
Denna watched him. "You like the trees, don't you."
He nodded, looking about. "Very much, Mistress Denna," he whispered.
"Why do you like them?"
Richard thought a moment. "It seems they are part of my past. I can dimly recall that I was a guide. A woods guide, I think. But I don't remember much about it, Mistress Denna. Except I liked the woods."
"Being broken makes you forget things from before," she said quietly. "The more I train you, the more you will forget the past, except specific questions I ask you. Soon, you will remember none of it."