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“Nearly Christmas,” Shirley said to Valencio. They were at the far end of the enclosure, in the baking heat of early afternoon.
Valencio squinted at the first of the dividing fences. “Time me,” he said. “To No. 1 toilet block and back. I want to know how long I take.”
Shirley smiled indulgently. Did he really think he’d have a chance to intervene if the guards started killing them?
He glanced at her, “I might not be able to stop them, but if I have the slightest chance, I’ll make them pay, at least a little.”
Shirley blinked, surprised, and said, “Carol’s right. You do have some telepathy. You just answered my thought.”
“Nonsense. It was totally obvious what you were thinking. You were looking so very superior and understanding.”
Shirley grinned and said, “On the count of three, then,” and on the count of three, Valencio ran, running at the six foot fence from an angle, jumping, landing on his back on the manicured lawn, rolling, and back on his feet and on to the next one.
But as he came to his feet after jumping the second fence, he propped to a halt. Abensur and two other guards had all whirled and were aiming their wands. Carol was with them. He shrugged and said casually, “Sorry to frighten you. I didn’t know you were here.” He crossed his fingers they wouldn’t decide to search him. As well as the usual shiv in a seam, he had a penetrating weapon in one pocket and his knife in another. Part of the exercise was to land without cutting himself.
Abensur lowered his wand. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
Valencio replied casually, “Just something to do,” and started to move away. Of course Abensur hadn’t known. He only practiced when he thought none of the wizards were at all likely to be close. Someone should have whistled to warn him.
Abensur was regarding him with a frown on his face, then glanced at the fence and the ground that he’d landed on. Firmly, he said, “Come here, Valencio.”
Valencio put on an impassive face, and did as he was told. The other two guards still had wands raised, aiming.
Abensur ordered, “Take off your shirt, and turn around.”
Valencio hesitated. A Killing Curse in the back?
Abensur glanced at the guards, who lowered their wands, and then said patiently, “I want to see how badly you’re bruising your back when you play your foolish games.”
Valencio took off his shirt and displayed his back, but there was a blade in his hand and he was very tense. Abensur stroked across the side of his back where he’d landed each time. It was swollen, and he flinched at the gentle touch.
Abensur ordered, “Go and put anti-bruising lotion on, and please refrain from hurting yourself. You’ll be working again soon.”
Valencio asked, surprised, “Who?”
“Their names are Tahar and Hamza. They returned three days ago.”
“I heard a couple of young ones returned. They say they left before they were Sorted.”
Abensur’s reply was curt. “They’re Kobi-Wynn, and it’s none of your concern whether they were Sorted or not.”
“Yes, Abensur,” and this time he was allowed to leave.
Carol watched thoughtfully. Abensur had stroked tenderly, almost lovingly. It was the first time she’d seen that expression on his face. Could his fondness for Valencio have something to do with their survival?
In the morning, Abimael made the grass on either side of the fence, grow long and soft. Carol grinned when she told Valencio the reason, that Abensur had given orders to Abimael, because he knew that Valencio was far too stupid to stop hurting himself.
Valencio was rueful, “Abensur knows me very well.”
But the next time he practiced, he did hurt himself. Slowed down by long grass on the take-off, he didn’t make it over, snagged a foot and hit his head. Even on soft grass, he saw stars, before coming rather slowly to his feet and deciding to lie down for a bit. It was obvious that his being able to get from one end of the enclosure to the other, very quickly, was not going to make the slightest difference if they were to be killed. It wouldn’t stop him trying. One had to try....
It was work again for those in Enclosure 2 for the next four weeks, although Abensur did allow them a day off for Christmas. It was the first time that had happened, but word soon spread who was responsible, and Brigitta preened herself. She was wanting to try and exercise her power, but Helene warned her to be very careful. “He might seem kind, but they think we’re far beneath them. You cannot trust a wizard.”
“Valencio invariably refers to them as bloody wizards.”
Helene laughed. “Valencio knows!”
“They’re not very good,” Valencio said to Carol. “In the old days, they’d be issued with the yellow of a servant, without a question.”
“Well, they’re certainly not about to sterilize them now. They have no other fertile males.”
“What about Haru? He’s Kobi-Wynn. Surely he would not have been sterilized.”
Carol frowned, trying to remember. She was a similar age to Haru, and had been around a long time. Finally, she said uncertainly, “I’m not sure it was him, but there was a scandal years ago, when one of the young ones refused to fight. Insisted there was no point in it. It was just a story one of the wizards told me. He said he must have had a dud sire.”
“Narzu-Han told me once, that the status of Kobi-Wynn is hardly ever revoked. But maybe they sterilized him then.”
That evening, flame-headed Bridget led her client to talk about what would happen if a Kobi refused to fight.
“If a Kobi refused to fight!” laughed the young man. “That’s what we do. If we’re good enough to be Fighters, we fight!”
“But what if? What if it was a Kobi-Wynn? Would he be sterilized and made el-Kobi?”
Salo-Zar answered uncertainly, “I think the women are often sterilized if they want to leave and Riza doesn’t need them any more. I suppose the same could apply to the men. And it can be convenient of course, to be sterilized. Most of us would never have wanted to be bothered with children.”
His words didn’t ring true, and Bridget set herself to make him forget the conversation. Bridget was like Valencio - she considered most of the Kobis not too bright, but she took pleasure in using them as best she could, and Salo-Zar was a good source of information.
To the surprise of the slaves, Tahar and Hamza, brothers aged seventeen and eighteen, were not even able to do a reliable stun spell to begin with. Once they appeared to master it, they were told to stun all fifteen of the subjects and that they’d be left to revive naturally. Haru wanted to check that the subjects would not simply revive within a few minutes.
Gloria told Valencio later, sheepishly. “They’ve never done that before, and I panicked. I thought it was death. Tried to attack Haru and was punished for it.”
Valencio squeezed her, “All right now?”
“Two minutes, but by the time it was over, another half-dozen were under semi-paralysis. I wasn’t the only one worried.”
“You woke up, though.”
“We all woke up, and Abensur was there. He gave us a stern rebuke like we were little children. He told us that there was nothing to fear. That we should trust him. That there had been not the slightest reason for such a ridiculous panic.”
The students mastered paralysis and the simpler vidi-curses without a great deal of difficulty, but then they were up to the Pain Curse. Ten subjects, as each one should not take too much of it. Valencio was in the group, and time and again, both Hamza and Tahar would have the women in pain, and Valencio staring away from them and maybe flinching when he felt a prickling.
Haru suddenly aimed his wand, and Valencio fell in unendurable agony. He only held it a few seconds, and spoke scathingly to the young men, but in Japanese.
Shirley said to Valencio as he stood again, putting on his indifferent face, “Just natural born bullies, I guess. They’re frightened of you.�
�� She used German, and Haru, irritated, silenced her. The subjects were not supposed to talk in lessons, and especially a language he didn’t understand.
Carol caught a few words of Japanese that she thought she understood, heard Valencio’s name, and made a guess at the rest. If she was right, it was worthwhile. Anything to weaken their power, even a little bit. But she conferred with the Committee before putting her idea to Valencio.
Valencio laughed when she put the plan to him. He very much enjoyed the thought of making a fool of any bloody wizard.
Carol asked, “Can you still cry when you want?”
Valencio grinned and nodded.
Carol grinned too. “Show me?”
“I’ll need a reason....”
“We’ve had no new books for six years.”
Valencio took a shuddering breath, “No new books for six years? No new books?” And Carol watched him, fascinated, as his eyes began to run with tears, and then he wiped them away with a trembling hand and his breath caught as he said, very sadly, “No new books.”
Carol laughed, “You’ve got me sorry for you now! I’ll ask Abensur again. We need new books!”
The following day, just two subjects were required, but Haru specified that Valencio be included. Mildred whimpered in fear, but Valencio whispered to her and she cheered up. Poor Mildred was brought down quickly and easily by Hamza. And then they turned their attention to Valencio. He gave Hamza three tries, the second time sagging to his knees and whimpering, the third time screaming and thrashing about on the floor. The painful tingling eased, and he lay panting on the floor, his eyes leaking tears.
Mildred helped him up and he staggered as he stood.
Thuli watched him, just a touch suspicious. It was the wet eyes, Valencio suddenly knew. He should not have done that.
Hamza had no doubts, and stood triumphant, a broad smile on his face.
Haru was relieved. Finally! “Once more,” he ordered Hamza. “This time hold it until I say.”
About three minutes, Valencio estimated, longer than they were ever normally punished with it just for practice. Was Haru suspicious? Or maybe he was just taking the opportunity to hurt him. How long should it be before he got up this time? He lay for ten minutes as Mildred knelt beside him and looked accusingly at Hamza, who now looked uneasy. He didn’t really like doing this.
Tahar next. And again, they started with Mildred. Even with Mildred, Tahar needed two attempts, and Valencio suspected that she was pretending now, as well.
“Valencio now,” ordered Haru.
He always referred to the women by number, but there had been strict instructions from the first that he was to use Valencio’s name. Valencio shuddered slightly, and wondered how he could make himself look white. He should be pale and sweaty after the punishment he was supposed to have taken. Tahar must have gained confidence, it appeared, as Valencio went down straightaway that time, and even though it was a short bout, took a long time again to pull himself up.
Tahar refused to look at him. Did he really have to do this?
Haru gave the subject time to recover, giving a lecture about the necessity for timing when there were any lengthy punishments.
“How long does it take to kill?” asked Hamza.
“That depends on the subject,” said Haru. “Even ten minutes can kill someone like the woman, for instance, a strong man might take fifteen minutes, but that’s about the maximum.”
Valencio stood, swaying slightly, Mildred holding his arm.
Haru spoke to Thuli. “Was Valencio ever punished for very long?”
“He nearly died under punishment after attacking Wynn Faheem, though I don’t remember how long that was for. Also he was taking five minutes a day for a week early on, to teach him not to run. By the seventh day, that was nearly fatal as well.”
“He would have been just a child at that time,” Haru said. “That’s very severe for a child.”
Valencio just stood, looking at the floor.
Haru said, “Tahar, we’ll give him three minutes. I’ll time.”
Kofi-Zee decided to make a complaint to Abensur. Three minutes was not for teaching. Three minutes was punishment. But Haru was Kobi-Wynn. Could Abensur do anything to stop him?
Three minutes, and Valencio’s throat was beginning to be sore. He allowed his screams to die down a little, and his struggles became more feeble.
Haru indicated, and Tahar lowered his wand. Valencio lay inert and Mildred knelt again beside him. Maybe she should try and do something, as she would if he were really being nearly killed. She swore at Haru, who gave her a casual glance, put her under semi-paralysis, and moved her body out of reach of Valencio, who was now making feeble attempts to get up.
“Just one more time, Tahar,” ordered Haru.
“Now?” queried Tahar.
Haru nodded curtly, and Valencio felt the tingling resume, barely uncomfortable, but again he screamed and threw himself about. Haru pointed his wand, and the difference was discernible immediately. The screams were genuine, tortured.
Haru lowered his wand and snapped, “Valencio, get up.”
Valencio got to his feet and again looked at the floor. Haru considered, and then asked one of the guards to ask Zola for two pain monitors. “He’s been pretending,” he explained to his puzzled students, although the guards were looking amused. It had been a good pretence.
For the rest of the lesson, both Mildred and Valencio were magically blinded and deafened, and a pain sensor was strapped to their foreheads.
Zola had come too, curious as to why Haru should require pain sensors. She glanced at Valencio when Haru explained, but then asked casually that the sensors be returned when he was finished. Valencio was surprised. She wasn’t showing it, but she condemned the men as barbarians. What did that make her? She’d hurt them as well.
Tahar and Hamza felt more vicious after Haru’s contemptuous words, and put all their efforts into punishing those who had made them look fools. They learned, although Haru had them do it repeatedly, just to make sure.
Mildred was spared a little, but by the time it was over, Valencio had considerable difficulty coming to his feet. Kofi-Zee tried to help him, but he snarled at him to get away from him. The old guard was just as much a bloody wizard as any of them.
Kofi-Zee shrugged and left him to struggle, swaying uncertainly, though Thuli helped Mildred, who’d also taken far more punishment than was normal.
Carol was involved in a Committee Meeting when Valencio and Mildred returned. Mildred went straight to her room, but Valencio just sat for a while in the dining room. His room seemed too far away. After a while, he went to report to Carol. Carol apologized, and said they’d best not attempt anything like that again.
Haru spoke to Abensur afterwards. “They know too much. It will compromise the lessons if they pretend.”
“Can you blame them? It’s very hard on them when the Spell of Pain is taught?”
“What if they pretend in other lessons? I think we need to do away with these and get in a fresh supply only when they’re needed, and I don’t suppose that’ll be for years.”
“There’s Valencio, remember. And Narzu-Han’s still alive. I heard recently. He could come back, take over, and if Valencio is not alive and well, we would suffer!”
Haru shuddered, and decided not to say anything more.
Abensur lied. There had been no word of Narzu-Han, nor of Ahjmed, Adil, or Faheem. They’d found where Iyad had lived for a few weeks, but he’d been killed, possibly not realizing that he could no longer fight.
Neither Carol nor Valencio knew that that he had any remaining protection, and Carol was horrified when Haru’s suggestion filtered back to her. Her idea had put all their lives at risk. They had to be so careful! There would be no more pretending.
Haru used one of the girls from Enclosure 1 that night, but Amber said that when he gave her orders, he called her No. 11, that he only ever took fiv
e minutes, and threatened to silence her if she irritated him by speaking. Haru was not a promising prospect for planting a Favorite.
Tahar and Hamza were better prospects. And when they saw that Hicham’s Mariabella was often with him in the day, as well as all night, they ordered that the Favorites they’d settled on, Eva and Tiffany, also have their wristbands and allowed them to be with them in the days. Eva and Tiffany became as important as Brigitta and Evita in Helene’s ‘Network.’ But it was Nikola that came back with the news that four freia had been kidnapped in order to be mated with the brothers. Four young women from prominent families of wizards, two from Holland, one from Sweden and one from England. “Not as young as the last two they kidnapped. In their twenties, I was told.”
Carol was confused when Eva reported that Tahar mentioned they’d be commencing lessons again soon. Abensur usually kept them informed, but the days went by and although he called in now and then, he said nothing about forthcoming ‘work.’ They concluded it must simply be things like conjuring, things that did not require human subjects.
Abensur was pleased with how well his methods were working with the inmates of Enclosure 3. Even after the first deaths, a combination of memory change spells and false reassurances were keeping them calm and obedient. The healers were becoming very skilled indeed, but Tahar and Hamza seemed incapable of learning some of the serious curses. Progress was much slower than usual.
Evita reported that Ryuichi had sighed about the declining standard of Kobis, but a few days later, her colored wristband was removed and she was back to general duties. It was a blow. Evita had been an important part of the network. The prisoners’ precarious survival seemed to now rest almost entirely on the thin shoulders of Brigitta, who had to keep Abensur happy at all costs. Luckily, she and Abensur were very much enjoying each other, and Brigitta had to make an effort sometimes to remember not to trust him. There was Mariabella with Hicham, but Mariabella said that he had a strong tendency to hide whenever there was any hint of dissension. She didn’t think him capable of standing up for them. At least, he was a good source of information.
A gleeful piece of gossip spread quickly. Two of their Fighters, including Pervez, were in an English prison for attempted kidnap. They’d thought they’d found the children that Tristan’s mother had taken years before, but it hadn’t even been the right children!
A few weeks later, there was more. Another two were in an Italian prison, again for attempted kidnap, but this time, it was said, it was Zhor and Najia Kobi-Wynn, now young women, and using the enhanced power of the Kobis to work as spell-breakers. They’d been taught by John Bellamy and called themselves Zoe and Najia Kasey.
“Mariabella found out that John Bellamy’s working again as if nothing had happened to him. Only that he was very ill for a few years.”
“We heard that ages ago, but they said it was impossible. That the damage done was irreversible. His mind was destroyed, the same as if a limb was vanished.”
“It was information from Hicham, and he gets told things, even now.”
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A Change of Fortune Page 9