Mindgames Ch. 03

Chapter 3: Riviera

As he had promised, Animal let Gabriel tend to Rose's wounds. At Gabriel's direction she lay on the couch, trembling. Just as Animal had intimated, her cuts were not as deep nor nearly as dangerous as Gabriel had thought. Except for faded scars the rest of her skin was unmarked.

"I'll need clean cotton cloth," Gabriel said. Animal looked at him blankly for a minute, then flashed a grin and hastily strode through a door off a small hallway to the right. Rose shrank down to even an even smaller size and looked at Gabriel fearfully. Gabriel tried to reach for words that might comfort her, but could think only of what he had said to Hugo a lifetime ago, and regretted.

Animal came back into the room carrying three folded tunics before him as if they were trays. He thrust them at Gabriel, and stood back gruffly.

The shirts looked clean enough, although certainly not sterile. Gabriel set aside one dyed a deep purple with a concoction he could not guess, and tore the white one and the cream-colored one into strips with a practiced hand. At each tear of the cloth Rose gave a stifled gasp.

When he had made the bandages, Gabriel looked at Rose's back dispassionately. The cuts had mostly clotted already, and the bleeding had slowed to an ooze. Bandages and salve for a day or so would stop any infection, and then fresh air would do the rest.

Gabriel sat on the floor next to the couch and slowly raised an ointment-soaked bandage to put on the deepest cut. Rose breathed sharply and closed her eyes. "I won't hurt you, Rose," Gabriel said to her softly, hoping again he would not regret these words. He could feel Animal's heavy presence behind him. Rose opened her eyes, looked at Gabriel fleetingly, and gave him a smile so tiny Gabriel wondered if he had imagined it. Carefully he laid the bandages on her back. The blood oozed through the first layer but not the second.

He turned to Animal, who still hovered beside him. "Can you bring a cup of hot water?" he requested. Animal looked confused and a little offended. Rose moved as if she would get up, and Gabriel quickly put a warning hand on her shoulder, holding her down. "You need to lay still, or you'll open the wounds and spoil my pretty bandages," he said. For an instant Rose looked as if he had told her he was made of goat cheese, and then her face was carefully blank.

Animal clanged and banged in the kitchen area, cursing more than once, but eventually carried from there, carefully, as if it were precious, a mug of hot water. Gabriel took it with barely a nod of thanks, fishing through his medicine pouch for the proper herbs. The miniscule amount of relaxants Gabriel put in the tea he concocted for Rose had a stronger effect on her than he expected, and she fell fast asleep on the couch a few minutes after fearfully sipping it down.

Animal looked at Rose's sleeping figure bemusedly, then shrugged and pressed a button by the door to the hallway. A slave knocked a few minutes later, and Animal told him to fetch supper.

When the slave brought the food the smell made Gabriel's mouth water. Animal banged around in the kitchen, then came out with plates and utensils and sat down at the table. Gabriel felt suddenly uncouth and embarrassed by his filthy clothes. Animal, oblivious, piled a feast day's worth of meat and potatoes on Gabriel's plate, and a smaller helping of vegetables.

Gabriel was suddenly ravenous. However, after a few mouthfuls he found it increasingly difficult to lift his fork or to keep his eyes open. The next thing he knew, he was laying on the couch, covered with a blanket but fully clothed, the morning light bright on his face. Although his back was sore from the soft cushions, he felt amazingly refreshed. It had been the first night in a long time that he had not had to keep an ear cocked for marauding raccoons and worse. Without compunction he raided the icebox of the food Animal had evidently dumped there the night before, on the plates they ate off, and then took the longest, hottest, most luxurious shower he had ever had.

∞ ∞ ∞

Rose was afraid when she awoke the next morning. She knew there was something she had been supposed to do the night before, and she had not done it. What it was she could not recall, until she sat up and felt the odd numbness on her back where the bandages were. Then it all came flooding back to her: the beating by the Bearer, his order to take care of the strange new master - Master Gabriel was his name - who had been kind to her, falling asleep on the couch before she had done any of the tasks she should have done. She was not sure how she had ended up in bed. Master Animal slept beside her, snoring softly, and she gave another start when she realized that she had not satisfied him last night.

She was torn between waiting for Master Animal to wake and begging his forgiveness, or going to wait on Master Gabriel and begging his forgiveness. She heard a soft clang from the kitchen, and water running. She turned and looked desperately at the sleeping figure beside her. She knew that, as he had missed first light already, he might sleep for hours more.

Trembling, Rose opened the bedroom door quietly and peeked out. She gasped. Master Gabriel was in the kitchen cubicle, washing dishes! She started towards him, turned back and quietly closed the bedroom door, then almost ran across the living room and skidded to a stop on her knees in the kitchen doorway. "Forgive me, master," she said, hoping that he would not hear her.

But he turned to her with a funny, apologetic smile. "I hope I didn't wake you," he said, and turned back to finish the dish he was washing.

"Please, master," Rose pleaded. Her voice broke. She was more certain than ever of punishment if a master was doing her own work.

"Please don't cry," Master Gabriel said. Rose bit her lip. His kind tone scared her more than his weird actions.

Master Gabriel watched her for a time. He seemed to breathe deep into his chest. Somehow Rose found herself doing the same. He said, "I never saw a faucet like this one, where endless hot water comes out." Rose looked up at him, confused. "It seems like magic to me. Do you know where it comes from?"

Rose surprised herself by answering evenly, "It comes from pipes from a boiler room, Master." When Gabriel waited, she added, "The boiler broke once when I worked in the southern wing. There was no hot water for two weeks."

Gabriel said, sounding genuinely interested, "The boiler must be huge to make so much hot water."

Rose nodded. "We saw it at the public torturing after it was fixed." She added, hesitantly, "They made the slave - he was so old - they made him stand under the pipe that had burst, and they opened it, and the scalding water came out, and he . . ." She felt the anger and disgust from so long ago. Then she remembered herself, and bit it down.

"That's horrible," Master Gabriel said. Rose's fear returned, and she prostrated herself. Gabriel just looked at her for a minute, and then asked, "The icebox with no ice in it - how does it stay cold?"

Rose trembled. Without looking up, she said, "Forgive me, Master." She began to shake all over. Then Master Gabriel's foot was raised, and Rose whimpered as she braced herself. But no blow came. Master Gabriel stepped over her, and walked out the door.

∞ ∞ ∞

Gabriel had begged hard, used every connection and called in every favor to be chosen for this journey. One of his arguments was that his proven woodsense would allow him to follow the route without getting lost, and for the most part he had managed that. But with neither sun nor breeze to guide him he found himself confused by the odd angles at which the indoor corridors of Riviera's mansion met.

A few people, all slaves, were about. Any he looked in the eye made obeisance to him, some more fearful than others. Finally he stopped a man who like Rose was not heavily marked, and asked him the direction to the entrance hall. If the slave thought it was an odd question he gave no sign, but answered courteously and clearly, on his knees, his eyes down. Gabriel was quite close.

The picture window faced north, and through it Gabriel saw the Lawn, still sparkling with dew, empty except for some groundskeepers cleaning litter. He pushed open the door, descended the few steps, and walked hurriedly across the grass towards the stable. He wondered with a sudden pang whether these barbarians had mistreated his horse in the handful of hours since he had left her. He remembered the pixie slave girl's face-what was her name? Jordyn-and her quiet, gentle voice promising the horse would be fine. Despite common sense, he was calmed.

Unlike the mansion, the stable was bustling when he arrived. A little shyly, Gabriel peered into the third entrance before going in. Throughout its length slaves were grooming horses. They nodded respectfully as he passed them. Jordyn was currying a speckled white mare, talking softly to it. When she saw Gabriel, she stepped just more than kicking distance away from the horse and fell gracefully to her knees, the rest of her body remaining firmly erect. "Can I serve you, Master?" she asked. The ends of her short auburn hair wisped into her face as she kneeled perfectly still.

Suddenly Gabriel heard a sound almost as familiar to him as his own breathing: Pegasus' whicker. Swiftly stepping around Jordyn, Gabriel practically ran into his horse's stall. Pegasus snorted and pranced. Gabriel crossed the few steps to the horse in a heartbeat and threw his arms around her neck, feeling that it had been years instead of hours since he had last seen her.

A man cleared his throat. Turning quickly, Gabriel saw Stefan in the doorway, a sardonic grin on his face. "I see we managed not to kill your horse overnight," he said.

Gabriel colored, realizing that his comment to Jordyn the night before must have gotten back to the stable's overseer. Stefan seemed to enjoy his discomfiture. Lazily he said, "Hope you'll let the horse rest up a bit before riding her over tarnation."

Gabriel bit down annoyance. He no more needed advice on how to care for his horse than he did on how to tie his shoes. Seeing his reaction, Stefan looked, if possible, more smug than before. "No insult intended," he drawled.

"You have a pasture?" Gabriel asked coldly.

Stefan nodded. "The girl can show you which field," he said, indicating Jordyn, who had stolen up behind her master and stood nearby, attentive.

In a deliberate attempt to cut Stefan, Gabriel turned his back towards him and began grooming Pegasus. He felt warmth beside him, and turned, annoyed that the man had come back to laugh some more. But it was Jordyn, holding a clean curry brush in her hand. Gabriel took it. "Thank you," he said.

"Master, may I speak?" Jordyn asked shyly. When Gabriel nodded she asked, "Do all your horses have a jaw like that, where you come from?"

Automatically Gabriel replied, "The shape comes from her sire, a mustang." He suddenly realized that Stefan had asked him the same question the day before, and glanced quizzically at the girl. She immediately looked down and fell to her knees.

"Please don't do that," Gabriel said.

"Master?"

"Don't fear that I'll hurt you. I wouldn't..." Gabriel faltered. He had been about to say that he wouldn't even know how, but he remembered his threat to this same slavegirl the night before. Of course he would know how. How hard is it to punch a naked, defenseless woman, or to use a whip on one? Lamely, he said, "I'm not a cruel man."

"I know you're not, Master," Jordyn said softly.

"You believe me?" Gabriel asked, almost incredulous. Tears stung his eyes.

Jordyn smiled up at him, and looked over at Pegasus. "A cruel man couldn't train a horse like this."

"Maybe I didn't train her," he said perversely.

Jordyn smiled. "Shall I show you the pasture?"

Gabriel nodded, and put a harness on Pegasus. As they exited the stable, Gabriel was aware that the slaves gave him covert glances, although whenever he looked straight at them they looked down and fell to their knees. Several of them were badly whipped on their backsides, and all, including Jordyn, had layers upon layers of scars like cobwebs. None of their wounds were infected though. Gabriel shook the thought away, disgusted that he had come so easily to distinguish between gradations of torture.

Jordyn led him and Pegasus out of the stable and away from the mansion, past two fenced pastures each taking up a few acres. She stopped at the third. A few horses grazed lazily. Gabriel looked at them with trepidation, wondering how Pegasus would fit into their social structure.

Jordyn whistled low and steady, and one of the horses, a light tan mare, ambled over to her. "This is Mercy," Jordyn explained to Gabriel. "She has the stall next to Pegasus. They made friends last night." To prove her right, the two horses touched noses. Jordyn giggled. "Everyone loves Mercy," she said, and she affectionately and unselfconsciously kissed the mare's nose.

After assuring himself that Pegasus would have space and shade and water and everything else she could need, Gabriel reluctantly followed Jordyn away from the pasture. He was still nervous about leaving the horse, but he knew that was in part an excuse. He just did not want to go back to the mansion and face the ugliness there. He reminded himself sternly that his task was to try to heal the Bearer's daughter. He reminded himself of the promises he had made to the elders, to be unbending in pursuit of his task.

"Can I do anything for you, Master?" Jordyn asked so kindly that Gabriel felt ashamed once more. "Master Stefan says you've been on your own for a long time." When Gabriel merely looked at her, she added, "Before I came to the stables I was fully trained as a housegirl."

Gabriel suddenly realized that she was offering to have sex with him. Yet it was obvious from the pained expression on her face that she had no desire for him. Had Stefan put her up to the suggestion? Under threat of punishment or torture? "I'm not a rapist," he practically shouted. What was wrong with these people?

Jordyn turned away from him. "You're very kind, Master," she said in a low voice.

They were approaching the stable. The yard was still full of slaves scurrying back and forth, but few masters. Jordyn turned to Gabriel, repeating her words of last night. "Pegasus will be fine. You'll see." Gabriel wished he could believe that anyone, beast or person, could ever be fine here.

∞ ∞ ∞

As Gabriel found his way back to Animal's suite he was surprised again that the huge mansion seemed so empty of activity. In the entrance hall, with the light streaming through the window, he saw that the whitewash on the walls and ceiling was badly peeling, and cracks seemed to go through the paint and into the walls themselves.

Animal was eating breakfast when Gabriel entered the suite, steaming vegetable omelets that made Gabriel's mouth water despite his own breakfast. Animal waved with his fork, his mouth too full to speak. He swallowed ostentatiously. "I'll call for Rose if you want some," he said after wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "She said you ate leftovers this morning." He looked amused. "Not her fault she overslept," he added, a trifle defensively. "Those drugs you gave her knocked her out cold."

"I know," Gabriel said, relieved that Animal was not blaming Rose. He added, "I thought I'd see about the lass before the day gets too old."

"The lass?" Animal asked, puzzled. Then he laughed. "The Bearer's daughter. Trust me, my friend, the Bearer will not welcome you to his quarters before high noon." Gabriel frowned. "Tell you what," Animal continued. "I'll show you the mural walls you've bought me with your timely arrival."

"A wall?" Gabriel said, puzzled. "I heard you discussing something about a room - in trade for your hospitality."

"I forgot that you missed the Bearer's grand humiliation of me," Animal said. "It's not the room I want, but its walls for painting. I'll explain it all if you'll come." Although Animal's his tone was desultory, Gabriel understood that he would be disappointed by a refusal. He nodded his assent.

Animal jumped up. "I bet Rose would like to see it, too," he said. "You don't mind, do you?" Without waiting for a reply, he went out the sliding glass door leading to a courtyard behind the living area and whistled shrilly. Rose appeared at once from an identical sliding glass door across the courtyard to the left, ran nimbly to her master, and fell to her knees.

"Enough scrubbing!" Animal said. "We visit the revel room!"

Rose said in her small voice, "The suite is not ready, Master."

Animal laughed expansively. "Gabriel doesn't mind," he said with assurance. "Probably prefer to clean it himself. Anyway, plenty of time for that later, or tomorrow." He strode to the front door and down the corridor. Gabriel and Rose hastened to catch up.

Animal continued his quick pace, once in a while glancing back at Gabriel, the corners of his mouth, practically hidden by his unkempt beard and mustache, twitching in what Gabriel understood to be enthusiasm. He walked so fast that the corridors went by as a blur for Gabriel, and he wondered if he would be able to find his way back without help. For the third time that morning, Gabriel was struck by how empty the hallways were.

Animal entered a foyer similar to the entrance hall, and came to a halt before a huge set of ornately carved wooden doors that were nearly two stories high. He reverently touched one of the carvings on the door, a squatting gargoyle glaring out hostilely. Animal turned to Gabriel. "Do your carvers in Harmony make such things?"

Gabriel stepped forward to examine the gargoyle more closely, and as he did so the gargoyle's eyes seemed to follow him, glittering. With a forefinger he touched the creature's fur, in which every hair seemed outlined against the wood. He answered slowly, "We have a woman, Teanine, a furniture maker, who is known for her fine woodwork, so that a chest of drawers from her is considered a handsome joining present. She decorates them with carvings - but I don't think she could do anything near to this creature."

Animal sighed. "Then the art is lost forever," he said. "No one in Riviera can match this ancient, either." He pushed open the door. It gave a hideous groan, as if the hinges had not been oiled for an age or more.

The room inside was enormous. A few steps led down from the door to a parquet floor covered here and there with groups of tables and chairs. The high ceiling had skylights in it. The room jutted out like a peninsula onto the great lawn, and all three of those walls had large windows spaced throughout.

Animal walked to the middle of the room and turned around slowly, lost in thought, his companions forgotten. Gabriel followed him slowly, not anxious to disturb his reverie.

"There," said Animal suddenly, jabbing his towards the middle of the far wall, "That's where it will begin. The first focal point will be just opposite the main door, capturing revelers as they enter. Their eyes will be drawn by the lines from one scene to the next, inevitably." Suddenly he laughed.

"But what will you paint?" Gabriel asked, mystified.

Animal threw his arms wide. "What will I paint? Everything! The cycle of life! Birth, here," and he pointed again to the opposite wall. Slowly he rotated in a circle, pointing as he spoke. "Infancy, childhood, youth, all the way into dotage and death. I told the Bearer, how we live will be recorded here. The generations will know us!"

He turned suddenly to Gabriel. "Tell me," he said, "do your painters have permanent pigments, or do they fade after a few years?"

Gabriel said uncertainly, "My father has a picture of my grandfather as a young man, but it is faded and cracked."