by Gail Gernat
“What about your sister?”
“She was sterilized several years ago. She got pregnant so often it was becoming a health problem to have all those abortions. She had them all aborted, you know. Therefore, they froze a dozen good eggs from her for when she wants children, if ever, and they sterilized her. I’m not going through that.”
Padr sat pensively in the corner.
After a long interval, he asked, “What is the third reason?”
“I have to know you really love me, that this isn’t being forced on you from circumstances or because you were coerced or tricked into the bonding.”
“I thought you could feel my love through the bond?”
“Oh I can, I truly can. It’s just that, well I don’t deserve it. I bought you against your will. I did many things to you, the guard’s training, everything against your will. You had no say. I even tried to control your attraction to D’Bara. Therefore, you can see I don’t deserve anything but resentment from you. I…I can’t believe you could love me because I …I’m so confused. I really need to be sure.”
“I can understand that,” Padr responded softly, “I felt that way myself, I can’t believe you could care for me after all I’ve been, but one thing the bonding has taught me is that if you open up and trust others, the love comes in. You’ll learn it too, but I’ll give you the time you need.”
Padr was silent. The time seemed agonizingly long. Max and Will lay in each prisoner’s mind growing more frantic with every minute. They finally resorted to playing children’s memory games to pass the time, with the growling of their bellies the only way to tell that much time had passed.
When they figured they were immured in the dungeon forever, the door creaked open, and a guard threw in their clothes and Radhya’s wrist comp. Grabbing that first and putting it on, Radhya dressed as quickly as possible in the dim light. The door complained again, only this time it opened wide. Radhya and Padr ducked through. Guards seized them by the arms and hustled them around a corner and up steep and narrow stairs. The lights grew brighter, hurting Radhya’s eyes. When they were pushed before a large wooden desk on a platform, hot stinging light flooded their faces, veiling the someone behind the light.
“Well, well! The reclusive Lady Death before my planetary court. How does miss high and mighty feel now?” whined a voice, femininely high pitched and yet masculine at the same time.
Radhya bowed, “My Lord Jabin, may I know what charges I answer?”
“In due time,” shrilled the voice. “I must say I like your handsome bodyguard. Shall we see what the two of you were up to in the holding cell?”
A life-sized screen descended from the ceiling to Radhya’s right. Jabin hit play. The scene from the cell appeared silently on the screen. Radhya was pushing Padr away. Jabin fast-forwarded and finally stopped at the picture of Radhya and Padr playing children’s games.
“So, you didn’t. I thought I left you long enough.”
“Long enough to grow faint with hunger Lord Jabin,” Radhya complained.
“Don’t you at all, or don’t you with slaves, or don’t you with men. You don’t seem to be attracted to any of the aristocracy.”
“My private life is private milord. Is my love life on trial here?” questioned Radhya with dignity.
A red stain appeared behind Jabin and whispered in his ear.
“Ah yes,” he uttered. “A large, serious matter concerns me. You sent three slaves to purchase certain other slaves for you at the sunset auction?”
“Yes, milord.”
“They did that and made me a teensy bit richer, but when your man Rory, foolish habit naming slaves, took the slaves away, it seems that a man named Kline was purchasing a small girl child, about five for his ah, amusement. Cute thing, the little girl, I should have had her myself, anyway, she was his by right of purchase, and he was describing to the vendor his use for her, asking how much could he get when he returned her tomorrow, when your slave, a cook, I believe, snatched the child from him and ran away with her and your big bodyguard to your ship. They are hidden there and won’t come out. Therefore, we seize you as owner of the miscreant slave. You bear the responsibility.”
“What does Kline want?” asked Radhya.
“He wished the cook flogged publicly, and the girl returned to him, in ah, virgin condition,” Jabin giggled.
“Milord, I promised the cook a child, for the kitchen, to train, and for menial chores. Perhaps she doesn’t understand how matters are conducted publicly.”
“The wife of my former accountant understands, Lady Death.”
“Then I counter offer four times the purchase price of the child for Kline and the purchase price on top of the court’s costs for you.”
Jabin held a quick whispered conference.
“Unacceptable. The slave must be flogged. The child may be kept by you for the agreed price.”
“Lord Jabin, I appreciate your mercy, but the cook is an excellent one, and I prefer not to be without her if there is any way to avoid it.”
Jabin laughed, his huge belly jouncing in the blinding light.
“No one enjoys good food more than I do,” he announced. “It’s good to know you have some fleshly vices. However, I cannot have a mere slave snatch chattels from paying customers and disappear with them. I must publicly show the slave punished. I can call the proctors, if you refuse to punish such an errant possession.”
Radhya tasted bitter gall, Padr flinching from the pain of her emotions.
“So be it Lord, but I request the minimum strokes, for my palate’s sake.”
Jabin thought a moment, “I had planned on fifty, but in deference to your stomach, I will reduce it to ten, conditional on your attending my, ah, entertainments tonight.”
“Yes Lord Jabin,” Radhya answered meekly.
The tormenting lights faded to mere annoyance and Lord Jabin was revealed in all his greasy splendor. Slimy bangs framed his florid countenance, and a small black goatee punctuated his fat face. Greedy, little pig eyes roved possessively up and down Radhya. The great thick hand waved her to the accountant. Behind Jabin’s chair, slender and red, stood Lord Barone, a superior smile on his thin lips.
Radhya checked her wrist comp. Obviously, someone had tried to tamper with it, but Geo had programmed it, and he was the best in the galaxy. Radhya ran a diagnostic on it. Virus clear, it informed her someone had tried to break into it. She hit reset and paid her bills. One of Jabin’s slaves escorted her to another room. This room was laid for a banquet. Lord Jabin, of course, sat at the head of the table, with Radhya seated to his right. To his left sat a voluptuous blonde, and Lord Barone beside her. Padr stood behind Radhya’s chair, straight and tall.
The Lord waddled to his seat and plumped down. He clapped his hands, and the feast appeared immediately.
“How long were we down there, Lord Jabin?” inquired Radhya drinking water thirstily.
“Only three days. Unfortunately, several official inquiries made me hurry your case. I once kept Lord Sutherland a full week. But I had to give him water of course,” he laughed foolishly.
Radhya had Padr taste each dish.
“Are we distrustful?” asked Jabin.
Radhya nodded across the table, “An old friend taught me caution, at all times, even when dining with friends.”
Barone smiled sourly at her as Padr leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Radhya nodded and did not touch the food. She did, however, drink a great deal of water. The water pitcher was refilled. With her first sip, a warm tingling flowed from her lips down her throat, through her belly, creating a powerful arousal. She glanced at Jabin, who was watching her with narrowed eyes. She set the water down and watched the other revelers without partaking of food or drink.
Couples were beginning to slip from their chairs to the floor, engaging in orgies of passion. Averting her eyes, she called heavily on her spiritual bonding. Making a pillar of peace amid the prurient lewdness, Padr was there, as were Will and Max i
n a distant sense. Jabin rose and seized her hand in his sweaty paw.
He led the way from the banquet room to his Coliseum. Radhya felt her heart sink. To one side, Padr stood staunchly loyal and supportive, his hand occasionally brushing hers. The gross Jabin, kept leaning over, his hot stinking breath blasting into her face. He signaled his guards to begin.
His lions tore several slaves apart, and three men were torn in half by tying them between two untamed stallions. From there the entertainment deteriorated into even more depraved bloodlusts. Radhya sent her mind elsewhere, to Max’s golden light while Will’s violet glow enveloped Padr.
Jabin kept peering at her in more and more of a drunken stupor, becoming more aggressive, slobbering on her, until, finally he pinched her nipple hard. Radhya shot to her feet.
“Lord Jabin, your advances are not welcome. I will leave now!” she snapped at him.
He leered at her drunkenly.
“Ah, but our agreement, you mush shtay for the enertainmen. Or you can come back t’marra,” he said slyly.
“I kept my part of the bargain. I came to your banquet and your entertainment. That is all I agreed to.”
She gazed at him coldly for a minute then commanded one of his slaves to lead them from the maze of Jabin’s palace. They returned unmolested to the Arrow.
Chapter 18
Aninya met her at the door.
“Milady, I am so sorry, milady forgive me, I can explain, I am so sorry...”
Radhya waved her silence.
“In the morning guards will come and take you to the public square. You will be flogged ten times. I could only get it reduced that much.”
Aninya raised hands to her horrified face.
“Milady, you can’t permit...”
Radhya whirled on her angrily, sparks flashing like lightning in her eyes.
“My whole plan is in jeopardy because of your rash action. Jabin could legally have me drummed from the aristocracy because I have allowed you to run wild. Technically, he could require your death. That fat slug reduced your punishment from fifty lashes to ten because he thought to copulate with me tonight. You do not realize what your life costs me Aninya. I had to sit through his ‘entertainments.’ Watch out Aninya.”
Aninya backed away from the fire in Radhya’s eyes.
She continued, “Padr and I haven’t eaten in three and a half days, and I want to eat. Then I’m going to sleep, and you can explain yourself in the morning.”
Radhya stormed to her room.
“The name Lady Death suits her when she’s like this,” Padr smiled to Aninya.
Stricken, Aninya stood.
“Try to understand how much she’s been through these last three or four days. She hated the incident with Barone on the ship. She hates this place and buying slaves. We were imprisoned together in our skivvies and believe me, that wasn’t easy. Then she spent all night watching an orgy, starving with food in front of her and fending off Lord Jabin while people were dying in front of us. I think her nerves are shredded. Fetch a meal; I’ll take it in to her.”
Radhya answered the tap on her door ready to storm at Aninya again. When she saw Padr, she opened the door wider and let him in. Sitting at the desk, she gestured him to the bunk.
“She just forgets you know,” he spoke to her softly.
“I know, but the horrors of Jabin’s entertainments, and the feel of his slimy hands, oh Padr, I can’t even endure the memory of it.”
Radhya burst into uncontrollable tears, sobbing into her arms on the desk. Padr rose and put his arms around her. He could feel the black horror and terror rise up in her.
“Yes, you can and you will,” he stated emphatically. “You won’t let people like that get the better of you. You’re stronger than that. Trust me I know. If you need anything I can give you, I’m here.”
Turning, she burrowed into his strong shoulder. He sent her a flash of emerald presence. She returned a wash of clear blue gratitude and love. Smiling gratefully at him, she wiped the tears from her dirt-streaked face. Padr left her, went to the tiny washroom and returned with a damp cloth. He wiped her dusty face and hands gently. She sent him a giddy burst of lust, and giggled.
“You’d best be careful. I said I’d give you time, but I’m only human,” he warned with a smile.
They demolished the long-delayed meal. Padr left with the tray, and Radhya rolled into her bunk. She wrapped mental tendrils of green, gold and violet around herself and was thus able to sleep soundly without nightmares.
Radhya was already in the shower scrubbing until her skin was raw, when the banging came at her door. Slipping on a robe, but still dripping she answered, opening the door as Max raised his fist to pound again.
“Radhya, the guards come in an hour. If you wish to talk with Aninya...” he trailed off.
“Be right there,” she answered him.
Max gazed at her with a sharply furrowed brow. She could feel his anxiety.
Patting him on the hand, she said, “Don’t worry. I think I have this figured out. Just be ready with your projects.”
Max nodded and left. Radhya came behind him, dressed and fortified for the day. In the foremost seat, Aninya shook and trembled, her eyes red and swollen.
“Tell me,” commanded Radhya.
“We went to the auction,” began Aninya in a tremulous voice, “and we did what you asked, bought all the slaves you had designated. Then Rory was paying for them, and Dave was herding them to get something to eat, and there was a man, a reeking filthy man, holding this little girl by the hair. And she looked just like my daughter. She had the biggest, saddest, brown eyes, and he said as how she was a virgin, and he was asking the vendor how much she would be worth tomorrow when she was not a virgin. I lost my mind. I just grabbed her, and I ran all the way to the Arrow. The guards chased me, but they couldn’t catch me. I’ve never run so fast in all my life, but I just had to save her. Stane turned the turret guns on them to keep them away. He did not fire, just threatened. They let Rory and Dave and your new slaves in to talk sense to me, but I wouldn’t listen. I know you, Lady, you love children. You wouldn’t let that happen to an innocent child. Please, Lady, you can’t give her back!”
“No Aninya,” sighed Radhya wearily, “she won’t go back, I’ve already paid five times her asking price for her, but now that man has the means to buy four little girls instead of one, and Jabin has profited as well.”
“Oh my Lady,” cried Aninya stricken. “We were so worried when you didn’t come. It was all my fault.”
“Yes,” interrupted Radhya, “it was. Now I’m going to put this on you.”
She showed Aninya a large bottle of brown liquid.
“This will raise welts lasting about twelve hours. That is, so they think that I beat you. It is to save my life; yours and I can’t count how many other slaves in the future. It will hurt, but that cannot be helped now. So strip.”
Radhya applied the liquid in streaks across Aninya’s face and brow. She made long weals across her breasts down her side to the hips. She crisscrossed her legs with stripes, but her upper back and arms were untouched. When she was finished the cook looked like raw meat.
Troopers hammered on the hatch. Radhya threw a sheet to Aninya to cover herself. Clothes would have been far too painful. The troopers took her and marched her away. Radhya followed with Padr, Max, Will, and Rory in tow. The early morning sun had scarcely peeked above the horizon when they arrived at the public square of the largest sunrise auction. The morning was a bearable temperature.
Jabin squatted on his throne, a raised platform, high above the crowd. He wore a jeweled robe of silver and royal purple. Like a red crow, Barone perched at his shoulder, looking shocked to see Radhya there, though he nodded to her graciously.
At Jabin’s signal, the guards took Aninya to two poles stationed before the platform. Tying her to the uprights, they stripped off her sheet. The gathering crowds gasped in horror at the sight of Aninya’s tortured flesh, even as
accustomed to Lord Jabin’s taste as they were. Crowing and smiling in delighted surprise, he clapped his hands and bowed his head toward Radhya. He signaled to begin. The heavy leather lash, braided with pieces of sharp bone, whistled down and tore into Aninya’s back. The heart-stopping wet rip of tearing flesh contended with her screams in the heating morning air. Again and again, it struck. Radhya stood impassive, eyes fixed on the grisly scene, face still. Finally, after an eternity, the tenth and last time struck. Aninya hung limply from the posts; the whipper lowered his arm. The guards who brought Aninya regrouped around Jabin’s platform.
Radhya nodded to Will and Rory, and they cut Aninya down and laid her bleeding body on the sheet. Not a centimeter of skin remained that was unabraded on her body. They carried her back to the Arrow face down. Radhya turned to follow when a slave from Jabin restrained her with a hand on her arm. She stiffened and turned on him furiously. He instantly removed his hand.
“My Lord Jabin requires a word with you,” he stammered.
Turning, Radhya glared at the obese sadist on the throne. Then she marched to his platform and up the steps to stand right in front of him.
“You require more milord?”
“Oh no, my small requirements are satisfied. I just have a few unanswered questions.”
“Which are milord?”
“Last night you seemed to have no appetite for the entertainment, yet you come to watch your own slave beaten? Then, too, obviously, your cook received some attention from you, judging by the marks, probably last night?”
“What is your question milord?”
“Do you or do you not enjoy watching the pain of others? I hear that you positively gloated over our friend Barone’s pain and yet last night I could have sworn you were as disgusted as the others of your unique genetic heritage.”
“Well milord, I don’t know about what heritage you speak, but it, first of all, depends on whose pain. Some are more enjoyable than others are, then I am surprised that you can’t tell boredom from disgust. I personally prefer a more hands-on approach. As for my cook, I prefer to do my own disciplining when necessary. I know certain people accuse me of being soft, but they do not know me. Now is that it? I have business to attend to,” Radhya said turning to go.