Mindgames Ch. 22

The tip of Mariah's nose slowly turned red, and she blinked her eyes rapidly. She stared stonily ahead, unmoving.

Gabriel had been lost in his own bitterness, but when he glanced over at Mariah he was shocked by the look on her face. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Of course you didn't," Mariah snapped. "You would never mean to hurt someone's feelings." Gabriel started to respond but Mariah was still talking. "That would be beneath your dignity. You are good and kind." Gabriel shook his head. "You are good and kind and smug and sanctimonious," Mariah said. "You think that because you have choices in your life that slaves have choices in ours. And maybe we do. Maybe I could have avoided catching that master's eye, or directed him back to his own slavegirl. Maybe I just wanted to feel the touch of someone else for the first time in months. Maybe I was jealous of Kishamie."

Mariah stood up and faced Gabriel. He had to force himself to meet her glowering eyes. "But for you to judge Jordyn, for choosing to do what she has to do to work in the stables . . .." Mariah seemed momentarily at a loss for words. "I don't see her every day as you do," she said, "but even I know how much she loves the horses and riding them, how she cares for the other stablehands and even for Master Stefan." Gabriel opened his mouth and then shut it. Mariah continued, ruthlessly, "You've never been faced with a choice between tortures, and you never will be. You will never understand. You couldn't live a slave's life with one tenth the grit that Jordyn has. And yet you pronounce her unworthy!"

Abruptly Mariah fell to her knees. "This slave begs permission of her master to return to his apartment." When Gabriel did not reply, Mariah sprang to her feet, and walked away.