Chapter 33 - I Don’t Like Change…
Medoferro woke up stiff, stretching out a little as he tried to make himself move. Nearly two weeks of spending his mornings doing lessons with Insegniferro, his afternoons taking beatings from the old man and his evenings learning new methods of pleasure from Marina and other members of the house staff were beginning to take a toll on him.
Marina, for her part, seemed to be oblivious to the problems as she slept through Medoferro standing up and groaning as he put pressure on his knees. Deciding he didn’t want to stay in his room he headed downstairs and went into the kitchen, finding Marianna performing her usual morning food preparation duties.
"How are you, Medo?" she asked him, beaming the smile that had made her Massimaferro’s favorite for years.
"Sore," Medo said, "You wouldn’t have any suggestions for that, would you?"
"Hot tea can’t hurt," Marianna told him, "There’s a fresh pot on the stove."
"Thanks," Medo nodded and went to pour himself a cup.
He took the hot liquid and walked out barefoot onto the stone tiles of the courtyard. The back courtyard was about the only ground level place that the Mullinix could go and not see people or walls. Built onto a hill behind the palace it afforded them a view of most of the countryside as well as a bit of privacy.
Insegniferro, as was his usual custom, was spending the morning reading a book on a chair on the courtyard. The chair was two times too large for him, having been built many years before for an extremely oversized Mullinix. Medoferro noticed it pretty well engulfed the small man, but looked extremely comfortable. Medo himself found a moderately sized wooden chair and sat down, figuring that the way he felt it wouldn’t matter anyway.
Insegniferro didn’t notice his presence for a few minutes until Medo got yet another cramp in his leg and nearly dropped his tea. A few grumbles from Medoferro brought Insegniferro out of his book and looking at the younger man.
"Sore again today, eh?" Iggy asked him.
"Yeah," Medo nodded, "This pace is killing me."
"Need to calm down at night some until the lessons with the old man slow down," Iggy observed.
"Yeah," Medo grinned sheepishly, "But what else am I supposed to do? Not like I can get a night life of my own."
"There’s more to life than hedonism, Medo," Iggy said, smiling a little.
"Not according to Massy and Simon," Medo chuckled, "Though you are more like a monk than a ruler. Do you ever relax?"
"I’m relaxing now," Iggy chuckled, "But I long ago stopped spending my time on the hedonistic pleasures."
"Why is that?" Medo asked him, "I mean… Do you enjoy sleeping alone?"
"Not particularly," Iggy said, "But without my beloved, it would be little but empty exertion for me. That’s why I no longer take part in it. I’m happier without."
"Sounds like a lonely existence," Medo said.
"Well," Iggy said, sitting up and trying to put it in perspective for the young man, "I notice that you seem to spend the lion’s share of your intimate time with Marina. Why is that?"
"I like her," Medo said honestly, "I guess I don’t like change."
"Much how I felt," Iggy nodded, "I just can’t see the point in going off with someone I don’t care as much about."
"I guess I can see that point," Medo said, wondering if he’d ever feel the same for anyone, "I like Marina a lot and feel comfortable with her, which is why I’m usually with her, but sometimes that girl is rather distant. Makes me uncomfortable at times."
"Marina is a good girl, Medo," Iggy said, "But she went through a lot. That’s part of why she is here. A number of the girls here are here for the same reason."
"I never did learn how they were chosen," Medo said, "Care to impart some of that wisdom?"
"Most of them have been abused in some way," Iggy told him, "Almost all of them are unable to handle a normal relationship, many with a psychological detachment or inability to handle true love."
"So why do they choose to do this?" Medo wondered.
"We aren’t a threat," Iggy said, "They have each other to watch out for and they take care of us. We always treat them with respect and they know they can have physical pleasure with us without the long-term baggage. It keeps us both sane."
"So how did you end up with your beloved?" Medo asked him, "If the women who come here are all like that, how did you break the mold?"
"Sometimes things work like that," Iggy said, "She had gone through some horrendous things, but we just clicked somehow. Once we’d discovered each other we never once had the urge to be with anyone else."
"Sounds nice," Medo sighed, "I guess Massy never found anything like that."
"Nope," Iggy nodded, "But even he has his favorites. So will you. Whether Marina will continue to be that favorite, who knows? Things will change. You will change. That’s the nature of the world, Medo."
"So that is why she at times appears to be a little cold," Medo said, "Because of what has happened to her?"
"That’s it," Iggy nodded, "The psych people could probably make some more sense out of it for you, but it is essentially emotional detachment."
"I don’t know how we’re expected to live like this," Medo said, voicing the same thing he’d thought over and over.
"You mean this is living?" Iggy asked him.
"Point," Medo chuckled.
"When you’re actually working as Mullinix you don’t have time for anything more involving," Iggy said honestly, "I never got to spend as much time as I would have liked with her."
"Great," Medo said, "With that, I think I’m going to take a hot shower and try to work out these joints."
"Word of advice, Medo," Iggy told him, "Don’t get too attached to anyone while in this job. You will not have time to make it work."
"I’ll remember that," Medo nodded, "Anything else?"
"Yeah," Iggy grinned, "Take it easy at night for a few days like I said and you’ll get to beat Simon roundly, because you know he won’t."
"Might be worth it in itself," Medo laughed as he headed inside, "Take it easy, Iggy."
Iggy sighed as he watched the young man go inside. He knew it was a lonely existence being a Mullinix and that Medoferro was taking to it faster and better than either he or Massimaferro ever hoped. That didn’t mean he liked having to do it to the young man. He just hoped that Medo managed to keep some perspective through the process, perspective that he could have used at that age.
The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension Page 35