Mindgames Ch. 01

Jonquil said to Gabriel, "If your horse does not require further rest," he said, "I suggest we leave. The mansion is several hours on the road, and there is no sense in delaying." He looked hard at Gabriel, and his meaning was unmistakable.

Nevertheless, Gabriel turned deliberately and strode to Hugo, lowering himself to the ground beside the man. Hugo made no sound or indication that he was aware of his presence. After a long moment, Gabriel reached out and smoothed the slave's hair. Without moving, Hugo said in a voice so low only Gabriel could hear him, "Not kindness, master. Please not kindness."

Gabriel removed his hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered, and turned away.

∞ ∞ ∞

For a mile or more the path led through meadowland, lush and full of birds and mice. Nervous in wide-open spaces after so long in the forest, Gabriel was relieved to enter what he thought was woods, but the stand of trees was no more than thirty feet wide. On the other side was more meadow, and then the farmland began, spreading forward as far as his eye could see.

As they left the tree stand, Jonquil turned and looked back, as if to make sure they were alone. "Don't judge Nadia too harshly," he said conversationally. "The gatehouse is her first posting, and a punishment posting at that. She is very young."

Gabriel began to reply, but his throat tightened. When he was certain his voice would sound natural, he asked in imitation of idle curiosity, "What is she being punished for?"

Jonquil gave a half laugh, half snort. "She was too fond of a slave. Got into a fight over him with some people who wanted to have fun with him. Showed no respect for her elders." He added, as an afterthought, "Not uncommon in the young. It's done her some good to have time to think and reflect on her priorities."

Gabriel looked at Jonquil in surprise, both at the content of what he said and the lack irony in his voice. At length he asked, "What happened to the slave?"

Jonquil gave a bark of laughter. "Do us a world of good to have a rebel among us, I see. The slave was sent to the exchange, I expect." At Gabriel's puzzled look, he added, "A trading post, where those tired of their slaves leave them off, and those looking for new blood pick them up. You'll see it, I'm sure."

The road led them through a kale crop, and then tomatillos, and then peas. Gabriel wondered at each plant being kept discrete, which seemed an invitation to pests. In Harmony the farmers grew crops together, intensely cultivating the land and using the plants to fertilize and shade each other.

In the pea field he saw farmers in the distance picking the vegetables. As he and Jonquil drew near, Gabriel realized with a jolt that the farmers were naked. They paid Gabriel and Jonquil no mind, or deliberately ignored them, not even looking up when their horses passed near. In the next field, Gabriel watched a pregnant woman hoeing dirt into small hills the size to plant corn. Gabriel wondered at the strange tattoos on her skin, until, his heart in his throat, he realized they were scars.

Occasionally Gabriel also saw a person wearing clothes, clearly a "master or mistress", and if they happened to catch sight of the riders they nodded or tipped their hats. Mostly they seemed to congregate in the shade of buildings in the middle of the fields in groups of two or three, but some walked around, instructing the slave-farmers, examining their work, or, two or three times, administering a beating. The first time Gabriel saw this, a tall, slim woman was viciously kicking a very thin man, who, like Hugo, lay on the ground without attempting to shield or defend himself. Jonquil lifted his hand towards Gabriel warningly and said in a mocking voice, "Don't go trying to save that one too. The walls'll tumble before I'll live down interfering with Nadia and her rag."

They passed wagons, dragged by draft horses or slaves. Those that went past them towards the outer fields were empty or were loaded with barrels filled with something Gabriel could not guess. Those that traveled in the same direction as the travelers were laden with produce. Some of the horses whickered at Pegasus or at Aphid, Jonquil's horse, but, like the farmmasters, the drivers of the wagons would nod politely and go about their business.

In a peach orchard, Gabriel's attention was drawn by the sound of shouting to his right. Looking down a row of trees, he saw a man beating a naked woman with a heavy stick, surrounded by a half-circle of slaves. The man rained the blows mostly at the woman's breasts. The woman emitted shrill squeals through closed lips which were bleeding from her biting them. The ends of her long hair were tied tightly to a tree bough a foot above her head, so that if she moved to avoid the blows she would be hanging from her hair. Jonquil cleared his throat warningly. Gabriel averted his eyes from the scene.

In an apparent effort to distract Gabriel, Jonquil asked him general, polite questions about Harmony. Gabriel was surprised at how little Jonquil was able to tell him in turn about basic facets of life in Riviera. He was wholly ignorant about farming techniques, about how food was distributed, or even about who had woven the clothes he wore. At last Jonquil threw up his hands, laughing. "Ask me about border riding and I'll tell you all," he said. "Or about where to find the softest, freshest, blondest slavegirl to warm your bed and prepare your food. Or about the travails of my five wayward children. As to all other things I live in blissful ignorance." He kicked his horse into a trot to emphasize his point.

When they came to a good-sized river Jonquil suggested that they turn aside to rest and water their horses, and have their own late lunch. They didn't pause long, though. On the other side of the bridge they passed through several pastures, and then more cropland. The road was more travelled here, and several times Jonquil stopped to have a brief conversation with a rider or driver, but never introduced Gabriel, and they showed no curiosity towards him.

Despite the signs of increasing civilization, Gabriel jolted with surprise when the road brought them through a few rows of pine trees into a huge expanse of lawn, so enormous that Gabriel could not make out the edges of it to either side of him. Half a mile in front was the mansion itself. The largest building in Gabriel's home, Harmony, was Centric Hall, where the whole community came together to break bread on feast days. Gabriel could not even begin to calculate how many hundreds of times the Hall would fit into this mansion. As amazing to him as its expanse was its height, as it rose up four stories in places. In Harmony many families had attics in their houses for storage, or lofts for sleeping, but to put a building on top of itself like this was a marvel he had not imagined.

The lawn itself contained pockets of activity. Here, a group of masters and mistresses were catching the afternoon sun, sprawled on long, low divans, while slaves fanned them. There, a group of children listened to an adult reading to them. Here, a fierce faced mistress slapped a slave's bottom with a flyswatter as the slave leaned over and touched her toes. There, two slaves coupled as a mistress stood over them, watching them carefully. Here, a slave mowed the lawn while another raked the leavings nearby. There, a woman in a bright red tunic dozed as she leaned against a gnarled oak tree.

The lackadaisical, humdrum quality of the human torture that imbued this place was as horrifying to Gabriel as the acts themselves. Already he could feel himself beginning to become inured to it, as he had seen patients get used to chronic pain until it was no more than background like the noise of crickets on a summer night. He wondered despairingly how he could fight the numbness. He wished his father, or any of the elders of Harmony, were here to advise him.

Jonquil impatiently shifted in his saddle. Gaining Gabriel's attention, he reined his horse to the left, following a road that skirted the lawn. Gabriel clucked to Pegasus to follow.

"Horses aren't allowed on the lawn itself," Jonquil told him. "Some people are afraid of them, and they make a mess." As they rode, Gabriel continued to look at the scenes of life, and death, on the lawn. More than once he involuntarily tugged on the reins, as if stopping his horse would stop a stick from descending onto a slave's prostrate body, or stop a boot from reaching a slave's leg. With disgust Gabriel realized that he had already started thinking of these people as "slaves." He shook his head abruptly, trying to keep his thoughts clear.

They rode through the shadow of long, low barn on their left. When they passed it the turned off the road to the left. A huge stable was on its other side. The snorting and stamping of horses seemed to Gabriel the first friendly sounds he had heard since passing through the gate hours earlier. Pegasus seemed cheered as well, her ears pricking and her step livelier.

Gabriel calculated fifty horses could be housed against the outer wall. Entering the yard, he saw that there were three entrances, each with room for two rows of stalls. The logistics of caring for so many horses housed in such close quarters must be staggering.

Like the much larger lawn, the stable yard contained flurries of discrete activity. Horses, ridden and led by both slaves and masters and mistresses, crossed in various directions, stood for a brief grooming, or drank from troughs. Masters and mistresses spoke with slaves, or beat them, or ignored them. Where several bales of hay were stacked against one of the stable walls, a slave and his mistress were having sex.

Jonquil led him to the third entrance. He stopped and peered into the dim light. "Halloo," he boomed, and stepped slightly into the entrance.

Almost immediately, a heavyset dark skinned man came running out and skidded to his knees in front of Jonquil, bringing his head towards the floor. "Your servant, master," the slave said in a remarkably courteous tone for all that he was out of breath.

The slave was plumper than any others Gabriel had seen. Although he waited at obvious attention for orders, the slave's forehead did not quite touch the ground and he was not trembling. His backside was, however, covered with cuts both fresh and healing.

"Ah, good, good," Jonquil said to the slave. "Find Master Stefan and tell him Jonquil is here with a stranger."

The slave bowed lower and then immediately rose to his feet, hurrying down the long, narrow stable. Gabriel saw that he was more muscle than fat, and he walked with both grace and confidence. He also saw that the scars travelled from the man's neck to his ankles.

"Fine slaves, these," Jonquil said to him. "I'd take any one of them for my own, when I'm not border-riding, if Stefan would part with them. He never will though. Too fond of 'em, though he won't admit it. Unnatural, almost."

A man stepped out of a stall into which the slave had just disappeared. He was on the short side, with skin the color of redwood bark. His somewhat faded beige open necked tunic and tan riding pants accentuated his broad shoulders and fine physique. The knees of his pants were covered with mud and straw, and dirt was spattered all over him. Gabriel guessed him to be about his own age.

The man nodded politely. "Jonquil," he said, "I trust the latest horse was satisfactory." There was no questioning tone in his voice, and the right corner of his mouth turned down in a small sneer.

"Excellent horse, excellent," Jonquil said. "Yours always are, Stefan. Not like from some stables. So I've brought you one more." At Stefan's look of annoyance, Jonquil added, "Fine horse, shouldn't be no trouble to you."

Stefan's brow puckered. "Practically full up here," he said.

Jonquil held up both arms in mock surrender. "My dear man," he said, "Most special circumstances here. Wouldn't bother you for anything less." He turned and beckoned to Gabriel, who stepped forward, shy at the trouble he was causing. Jonquil continued, "This young fellow is Gabriel. Came here all the way from Harmony, just to look at the Bearer's daughter. Came ahorseback of course. The lad's not with him, nor his mount, so you've a spare room." He added ingratiatingly, "Horse needs the best care. You can give it to her. Fine horse, too."

Stefan's lips formed a tight, white line for a moment, and his hand fondled the whip attached to his belt as he looked at Gabriel with cold eyes. "Rudy is well?" he asked in a cold voice, implying that he had better like the answer.

Gabriel nodded. "The horse is better than the boy," he said. "The boy had pneumonia, but Rudy just needs some time to get his legs back. It was the horse's nose that brought them safely to Harmony at the end."

Stefan looked mollified. As he glanced beyond Gabriel to Pegasus his expression changed entirely. He took a step towards the horse and then stopped abruptly. "May I?" he inquired of Gabriel, who, with a touch of misgiving, nodded assent and handed him the reins. Standing about eighteen inches in front of the horse, Stefan held the reins for half a minute, motionless, staring into Pegasus eyes. His hands moved minutely as he let the reins down, so they dangled from the horse's bit towards the ground. He slowly raised his hand to her neck and petted her. Pegasus pricked her ears forward but otherwise did not move. Stefan stepped back and stood in front of the horse again. She whickered and laid her chin on his shoulder, then backed up.

Gabriel fought jealousy. Stefan gave him a half smile that was almost sympathetic. "I never saw a horse with a jaw that shape," he said. "Do you breed them that way on purpose?"

Gabriel shook his head. "We sometimes mix our horses with feral ones that run the plains a few days from Harmony. Pegasus came out of a mare that was more pet than workhorse. Her sire was a plains stallion. She gets her temperament from her ma, and her stamina and her jaw line from the stallion."

Stefan frowned. "Horses don't get their temperaments from their begetters," he said sharply. "They get them from the people who raise them or break them."

Jonquil stepped between the two men. "Gentlemen, gentlemen," he said. "Very interesting debate, I'm sure. You must continue it some other time. But let's get this poor horse its supper, and ours as well."

Stefan accorded the man a cool look. Then he turned with considerable more warmth to Gabriel. "You'll want to see her stall, and the slave who will care for her, I assume."

"Oh, no," Gabriel said hastily, to which Stefan responded with a surprised frown. "I mean," he said, "I take care of my own horse. I appreciate your stall no end, but I've no use for your slave."

Jonquil sighed vehemently and tapped his foot. Stefan turned to him. After a moment he drawled, "No need to bore you. There's a chesty young thing in my office waiting for her master's return. No bracelet. Help yourself, and I'll let you know when we're done here."

Jonquil shrugged but looked cheered. "Mighty hospitable of you," he said. "Border riding's dry work." Glancing in the office, he evidently approved of what he saw. He tied his own horse to a bar and hurried inside, closing the door with such eagerness that it slammed.

Stefan gave Gabriel with tiny, abashed smile. "Let's get your horse to stable," he said. "Couldn't be needier than Jonquil but some sweet cultivated oats after weeks of leaves and meadow grass would probably go down fast." Turning into the dimming recesses of the stable, he barely raised his voice as he called, "Jordyn. Here. Now."

A slavegirl hurried toward them. Little more than five feet tall, she had auburn hair cropped short that threatened to fly in all directions at once. Taut muscles outlined her thin limbs. Her downcast eyes were fixed on Stefan's boots, but she did not fall to her knees before him. She stood quietly and without trembling.

Stefan looked at the girl, expressionless except for the slightest twitching of the right corner of his mouth, before saying, "Rudy's stall is clean?" His tone indicated that there was only one acceptable answer.

For an instant the girl looked up. "Yes, Master," she replied in a slightly breathless tone that sounded surprisingly like happiness to Gabriel.

Stefan blinked and then sighed rather than spoke a soft, "Oh." There was no fear in Jordyn's eyes and she seemed to be fighting a smile. "Rudy's not back yet," Stefan said gently. "I'm putting another horse in his stable."

"Oh." Jordyn seemed unaware that she was echoing Stefan. Her smile faded.

Stefan indicated Gabriel. "This is Master Gabriel, and his horse, Pegasus," he said.

Jordyn looked immediately to Gabriel's feet and bowed her head, showing humility and great dignity at the same time. Then she looked up and beyond him to Pegasus. When the horse snorted and tossed her head, Jordyn smiled. "Taking care of your horse is an honor to me." She said it with such feeling that Gabriel wondered if she might not actually mean it.

Stefan said quickly, "You are not to care for Pegasus, Jordyn." She looked him full in the face in confusion. "Master Gabriel will provide for the horse himself. You will provide him with any assistance he needs, but you're not to go near her without his express permission."

Jordyn's eyebrows furrowed as she said, "As it pleases you, Master."

"You are excused from the lottery tonight," Stefan said. "See to Master Gabriel's needs and then go to the loft."

Jordyn nodded. "Yes, Master."

Stefan stepped passed Jordyn, half turning to Gabriel. "If you've any complaints about the girl, let me know." His tone was harsh but, almost as if he did not realize it, as he walked by Jordyn he squeezed her elbow softly with his hand.

Gabriel watched Stefan's retreating figure walk towards to dim rear of the building, his footsteps quiet on the packed dirt floor. Jordyn said, "It would be my privilege to show you to the stall, my lord." She looked at him briefly full in the face as he nodded assent, and then turned and slowly led him into the stable. As Gabriel followed, leading Pegasus by the reins, he caught a glimpse of a variety of horses, from small ponies to restless stallions. Some were being tended to, by slaves or masters.

Jordyn stopped and turned to a stall on the right. Gabriel led Pegasus into it, pleased to see a largish, clean space, with a trough for water and a nice size wind hole with a sliding panel so it could be opened or closed. The side walls were shoulder high on Pegasus, so she could visit with her neighbors if she had a mind to.

Gabriel let Pegasus' reins drop, and he leaned his forehead against hers, breathing in her smell, softly rubbing her cheek. He closed his eyes, suddenly exhausted.

Embarrassed, Gabriel looked around to the slave girl, but she had disappeared. He unloaded his saddle bags and placed them near the stall door, taking out only the curry brush. He unsaddled Pegasus and removed the protective blanket, which was practically grimy. Slowly, beginning with her forelock, he began to comb her. She seemed to know that they were at journey's end, and stood quietly, as tired as he.

Gabriel took his time, checking carefully the various bramble scratches Pegasus had on her legs, and examining her hooves with great tenderness. When he finished, he opened the windhole, which looked out onto a thin strip of open space before the next stable. He was surprised to see that dusk had fallen. He had lost track of the hours that day.

When he turned around the slave girl was approaching Pegasus with a clean blanket, as if to throw it over her. "Stop it," he said, much more harshly then he intended, his voice positively gravelly with fatigue.

Jordyn fell to her knees with a thud where she stood, holding the blanket in front of her like a platter. "Forgive me, Master," she said, and Gabriel heard fear in her voice for the first time. Guiltily, he took the blanket from her.