Mindgames Ch. 22

Chapter 22: Knowledge

Mariah remembers

A portly, officious looking man found Master Cassender working in a field about two miles to the east of the cabin. "Making your rounds, Jonquil?" Master Cassender said to him.

Master Jonquil checked Mariah's chain, then drew Master Cassender away. He looked at Mariah as he whispered, but Master Cassender shook his head and said loudly enough for Mariah to hear, "She's a rag through and through. No need to worry about her."

Master Jonquil shrugged but stopped whispering. "Rag or no, she's your concern inside the wall but the hunters' if she gets out. You're fairly warned, in any event."

Mariah froze. Did the man know her thoughts? No, he was giving merely a general statement. He looked at her sharply, and Mariah lowered her eyes.

Present day

Animal sat cross-legged on the scaffolding in the revel room, staring at the newly cleaned section of the wall. He wanted this section to be something he had only recently thought of: a drawing from a slave's point of view. But what? His experience of slave life was limited; mostly he knew only housegirls, and then only for the small portion of their lives when they served as such, and only when they interacted with their masters.

Rose would help him. But she was at the exercise yard. That was a whole area of her life he barely knew. Perhaps he would go with her tomorrow to see what it was like.

He heard the clang of the door closing. When he saw who had come in he scrambled to his feet and half-climbed, half-jumped down to the floor.

Amalie crossed the room, looking as wary as Animal. But when she came close her expression suddenly changed. She threw her arms around him. "Let's not fight any more," she said.

Animal hugged her back. "Okay," he said. He kissed the top of her head before he let her go.

"That's settled then," Amalie said. She scanned the pictures on the wall. "You've made a lot of progress."

Animal inclined his head in acknowledgment.

Amalie continued to look around the room. Seeing a lone easel on the floor, she walked over to it. "New student?" she asked. "The lines aren't strong but the composition is interesting."

"Her lines will come," Animal said.

"If she keeps with it. Anyone I know?"

"Yes," Animal said. "Rose."

Amalie looked blank. "Who?"

"My housegirl. You've met her several times."

Animal watched Amalie's expression slowly change to one of recognition, then surprise, then shock. "You're teasing me, right?"

"No." Animal crossed his arms. "Are we going to fight about it?"

Amalie expelled a breath, and looked more closely at Rose's half-finished charcoal sketch of the scaffolding. "I told you, I don't want to fight any more." Her voice was low and controlled. "Tell me why you've done this."

Animal stood next to Amalie and looked with her at the sketch. He spoke cautiously. "A lot has changed since last time I saw you."

"The day we argued," Amalie said.

Animal nodded, but didn't continue. Amalie finally prodded him. "Tell me."

Animal flipped the pad on the easel to a clean piece of paper. He picked up Rose's chalk and began to sketch the same view of the scaffolding Rose had been drawing. He drew swiftly but without much thought. As the picture began to take shape, he recounted to Amalie how he had whipped Rose, how Gabriel, and Rose, had forced him to understand that she was as human as he was, as Amalie was, and how from that he had come to understand that all slaves were human. Then he described how Rose had asked to draw, how she had shown in just a few weeks that she loved the act of making art as much as anyone he had ever known, as much as he himself did.

When Animal stopped speaking his sketch was done, depicting not just the scaffolding but the room around it and the bright light shining in through the windows. He put down the chalk and turned to Amalie.

She had listened without interruption. Now she took his hand in hers. "You have unnatural feelings for her," she said, her voice flat.

"Weren't you listening?" Animal twisted his hand out of Amalie's grasp. "I love her, and she loves me."

"I'm sure she does," Amalie said sharply. "In the way that a slave can love her master. But, Animal, that's all she is. A slave."

Animal sighed with frustration. How many times had he had this same conversation with Gabriel, before?

Amalie continued, saying carefully, "You're my best friend. I know how deep your feelings run. If you say you love this girl, I believe you."

Animal nodded, relieved, but Amalie wasn't done. "You're other things beside my friend, though. The greatest, most dedicated artist of our generation." Animal inclined his head at that. Amalie picked up the chalk that Animal had put down, and added to his sketch. Her hand flew over the page, darkening a line here, sharpening a corner there. She stood back and they both looked at it. Whereas before the focal point of the sketch had been the bright sunshine reflecting off the scaffolding, illuminating it, after Amalie's additions the eye was drawn to the dark corners of the room.

She said, "You're also a man who should be thinking of fathering children soon." Animal started to protest but Amalie continued, "What woman will have you knowing that you love a slave?"

Animal pointed at the mural panels he had painted, and at the empty panels that circled the room. "These are my legacy," he said. "They're all I need."

"Them and a slave you think is human," Amalie said drily. But at the end her voice gave way to a half-sob.

Animal took her hand. "Will you let me try to convince you? For the sake of our long friendship?" Amalie hesitated, then nodded slowly. "You still have those triplets, right?" Animal asked.

"Yes, but I don't love them, Animal; I don't even have unnatural feelings for them. They're just my houseboys."

"You don't have to have feelings for them," Animal said. "Just notice them. Talk to them. Ask them about themselves."

"And then, when I'm done, I'll ask my sofa about itself," Amalie said with a small laugh.

"Please Amalie," Animal begged her. "Promise me you'll try it."

Amalie looked at the sketch on the easel. "Okay," she said softly. She hugged Animal briefly, and hurried away as if afraid of what more he might say. But as she approached the door she stopped by the sign where Animal's had written, "This room is a no torture, no punishment zone." She looked back at Animal, shook her head, and laughed. He knew then that they would be all right.

Mariah remembers

As usual, as Master Cassender entered her he demanded that Mariah look him in the eye. When he finished, he said with a satisfied smirk, "You came twice."

Disgusted, Mariah rolled away from him. It was a small movement but she froze. Had he noticed?

It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep up the facade with Master Cassender. She had been here with him for weeks and she felt like she was rotting inside, from boredom, from loneliness, from the strain of pretending to be a rag.

She made up her mind.

She did not have to wait long. The next day Master Cassender announced a trip to the gatehouse.

When they arrived, Mariah was taken aback by Hugo's condition. He sat on the porch, rocking and crooning to himself. Master Cassender put up the horses and locked Mariah to the porch before knocking on the door. When Mistress Nadia answered Master Cassender asked, "What's the matter with him?"

Mistress Nadia shrugged. "He didn't like me drowning some kittens this morning. He's been this way ever since." She scowled.

"Why'd you do that?" Master Cassender asked sharply. "They keep the mice away."

Mariah didn't hear Mistress Nadia's answer as she shut the door, leaving Mariah alone with Hugo.

She expelled a breath. She had never seen a slave as skinny as Hugo. Did Mistress Nadia not allow him to eat? Such punishments were forbidden but not unheard of at the mansion.

Mariah sat down next to Hugo. He continued to croon and rock. She said his name, softly. He gave no indication that he had heard her. Mariah sighed a little. In her deceit of Master Cassender she would do the same thing. Was Hugo playing her game? She touched his arm and said his name again. Hugo continued to croon and rock.

Mariah waited, her hand on his forearm. It would be at least an hour before Master Cassender would come out. She could be patient.

Several minutes went by before Hugo looked at her. When he finally did, Mariah's nerve almost failed. But she had to try. She had no choice.

"I want to escape." She had carried those words inside her for so long, ever since Vancea had first told her that escape was possible. It was such a relief to say it aloud that all of a sudden she was crying.

Hugo kept rocking, but he stopped crooning. Mariah took that as a sign that she should continue. She wiped her eyes and took a breath. "A man came to Master Cassender. Master Jonquil was his name. He was warning Master Cassender that I might get outside the wall."

To Mariah's relief, Hugo nodded. But he didn't say anything.

"Please, Hugo," Mariah begged. "I'm at the breaking point." She hadn't realized that was true until she said it. She wrapped her arms around herself.

His voice was rough when he spoke. "He said the same thing to my mistress. But she laughed at him. Said I can't crawl to the end of my dick, much less seven miles"

"Seven miles? To where?" Mariah had spoken too soon, too eagerly. Hugo retreated back into himself.

"Please," she said in a small voice. "You couldn't save the kittens, but you can save me."

Hugo winced, then opened his eyes and looked at Mariah as if he had never seen her before. Slowly, he pointed in the direction of Master Cassender's cabin. "The hunters' gate."

"The hunters have their own gate?"

Hugo nodded. "The lock is broken," he whispered.

Present day

Gabriel stared with fascination as the woman's face bulged and shrank, bulged and shrank, bulged and shrank. He thought that he should make a note of it so he could discuss it with Pieter, his mentor. Then he remembered that Pieter wasn't here, but back home in Harmony. Bubbles came out of the woman's mouth. He realized that the bubbles were words, and the shape-shifting was the woman talking. He was flooded with disappointment. He hadn't discovered a new medical condition after all. He turned away.

Now he was somewhere else. No, it was the same revel room, but he had somehow drifted to a different section. He was closer to the music. His heartbeat sounded alarmingly loud to him. Not his heartbeat; it was the percussion from the band.

A woman was touching him. She was insanely beautiful. She had glittering green eyes and was wearing a skintight costume, so tight she almost seemed naked. She was naked. She was a slave. She was unbuttoning his shirt and then kissing his stomach, sucking gently as she massaged his chest with her hands. It was heavenly. He was so lonely. She looked up at him. Her face became Pieter's, and Pieter was saying "No." Gabriel remembered he didn't make love to slaves, although he couldn't remember why. Sadly he backed away from the woman. She fell with a cry and he realized he had shoved her. Gabriel continued to back away, until he bumped into a divan. He fell onto it.

The music was different now. His head was pounding. After several attempts he was able to open his eyes. The crowd was thinner. People were gyrating in groups all around him. He would leave in a minute.

He opened his eyes again. There was no music. Slaves were cleaning up around lumps of sleeping people. Something was the matter with his shoulder. No, someone was shaking it. It was Animal. "Wake up," he said. "How much did you drink?"

"Not, not much. Just a few sips of punch." Gabriel sat up slowly, trying to bring the room into focus. The punch had tasted funny, musky almost. He had danced, and then...only flashes. "I was drugged," he said in a voice that would have sounded outraged if it wasn't so pathetic. He groaned, his forehead pounding.

Animal looked worried. "Let's get you home," he said. He sat down next to Gabriel, put Gabriel's arm around his shoulders, and lifted him up. Gabriel's knees buckled on the first try, but they managed it on the second. "Where's Mariah?" Animal asked.

"Didn't she go home?" Gabriel stumbled.

Animal steadied him as he shook his head, frowning. "You shouldn't have brought her here. I would have stopped you if you'd told me your intentions." Gabriel swayed. "You sit. I'll look for her." Animal pushed Gabriel down into an armchair.

Gabriel struggled back to his feet, but by the time he was standing Animal was out of his limited focus. He tried to concentrate past the dizziness and the pain in his head.

The revel room was the same size as the one Animal was painting. The detritus of the festivities littered the floor and the furniture. Slaves were cleaning up around the masters and mistresses who were passed out as he had been. One master stood near a paper mache tree. Gabriel blinked hard and saw that he was being given oral sex. The slave had dark brown hair, a little unkempt, like Mariah's. Gabriel tried to stumble closer.

Surely it was Mariah. She kneeled in front of the master, who grasped her head with both hands and held her face tight against his groin. Her arms were tightly hugging his buttocks. Her knees were spread wide. Another slave girl lay under her, her head propped up by cushions, and licked and fingered her. Mariah's hips bucked and she hugged the master tighter. He thrust deeply forward and moaned. Slowly he released Mariah's head and pulled his now half-limp cock out of her mouth.

Gabriel tried to move towards her, but his legs would not obey. He sank to the floor.

The master walked around to the slave girl who had been under Mariah. The girl rolled over onto her hands and knees.

"Shall I command this one to pleasure you?" he asked the slave girl, indicating Mariah.

"I would be so grateful, Master," the girl answered, pleadingly.

"Would you?" he asked, seeming to consider it. "How long has it been since I've let you come?"

"Please, Master, days and days," the girl said.

Gabriel saw it as if it were in slow motion. The master smiled down at his slave. Then he stepped back, pulled his right leg back, and kicked her in the left breast. The force of the blow sent her sprawling. Gabriel scooted back on the floor as if it were him who had been kicked. "Get back into position," the master snarled. The slave girl returned to her hands and knees.

The master turned to Mariah, who was still on her knees. "How long did I give her to make you come?" he asked her.

"Five minutes, Master," Mariah answered.

"And did you come in five minutes?" Mariah didn't answer. "It took you at least ten, didn't it?"

"It's not her fault, Master," Mariah said.

"Silence, cunt!" The man unhooked his whip from his belt, and handed it to Mariah. "Whip her ass," he commanded.

Gabriel saw Mariah look calmly from the whip to the master, who towered over her. "I don't whip slaves," she said.

"What?" The shout was so loud that it woke up a nearby mistress, who grumbled and turned over. The master pulled Mariah to her feet by her hair and then threw her sprawling on the floor. Gabriel tried to stand up but his limbs wouldn't work. The whip was more ferocious than well-aimed, but it caught Mariah on the shoulder blade and left a weal. The next stroke curled around her lower back.

"No, no, no." Gabriel's word were mere whispers, and he knew no one could hear him. But then, rescue. Before another blow could fall Animal's hand was laid on the master's shoulder. "Excuse me, friend," he said. "You must have missed my girl's do not molest bracelet."

The man pulled away from Animal and turned to face him. "Excuse me, friend," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Your cunt sassed me and I'll not allow it."

"Surely not?" Animal said, his voice full of surprise. But why, Gabriel wondered. Mariah sassed everyone, all the time.

Animal walked over to Mariah and turned her over with his boot. "You stupid slut!" he said to her angrily. "Maybe an hour in the mosquito cage will teach you to behave! Now get up and apologize!" Gabriel didn't understand it. Could he still be hallucinating? He was sure he wasn't.

Mariah rose to her knees and then bowed her forehead to the ground near the master. "This slave humbly begs your forgiveness," she said.

"If I ever see you again I'll give you the beating you deserve," the master growled.

Animal pulled Mariah to her feet. They waited as the master glared at his housegirl, contemplating what to do with her, and then turned and walked away. The girl looked at Mariah and shook her head a little before she scrambled to her feet and hurried after him.

Animal turned to Mariah, the look on his face so angry that for a moment Gabriel feared he might whip Mariah as well. "What were you thinking?" Animal said, his voice low but harsh. "Don't you know he could have been killed you?"

Mariah pulled away. "He asked me to whip his slave. I don't whip slaves!"

"You stupid, stupid girl!" Animal looked thunderous.

Gabriel finally found his feet. "Leave her alone," Gabriel he said weakly. He stumbled, and Animal and Mariah rushed to him. He put his arms around their shoulders, vaguely aware that he was leaning on one of Mariah's new whipmarks. She said nothing, but held up his weight.

Mariah remembers

Master Cassender had come out of the gatehouse sooner than Mariah had expected. He took no note of the whispered conversation she was having with Hugo, but Mistress Nadia looked at them with narrowed eyes.

On the ride back to Master Cassender's cabin Mariah turned over in her mind everything that Hugo had told her. The hunters had a gate, a few miles past Master Cassender's cabin. You wouldn't see it unless you knew to look for it; it was little more than a small door in the wall. One of the hunters had turned the key with too much force, breaking it in the lock. They couldn't get it out, and now the gate was unlocked and would remain so until a metal worker arrived from the mansion, which would take days.

Only days. Mariah would need to make her move soon. She felt a pang for Hugo, left alone with his misery, swaying and crooning.

Present day

Gabriel's head pounded rhythmically. His tongue felt like it was swollen to three times its normal size. He wasn't sure whether he needed to throw up again.

There was worse. He tried to avoid thinking about what he had seen in the revel hall, but the memory kept pushing its way to his consciousness. With an oath he sat up and reached for his boots. The room tilted around him but he ignored it.

His living room was empty. That wasn't surprising; he recalled that he had snapped at Rose for hovering over him. Even Animal had buzzed around him like a gnat, demanding that Gabriel recount exactly what had happened. He only allowed Gabriel to go to sleep when he was satisfied that Gabriel had not been seriously harmed, and that no one but the slave girl he had shoved away had touched him.

Rose had left a glass on the table, filled with the same stuff she had insisted that Gabriel drink while he was answering Animal's questions.

He took a gulp of the mixture. Too fast; he had to take deep slow breaths to keep from puking it up.

When his stomach somewhat calmed he forced himself to sip the rest of the drink. He rested for a few minutes and then, feeling marginally better, made his way to the door.

He wondered suddenly where Mariah was. Then, shrugging, he kept going.