He walked into his sitting room and choked back the snarl when he noticed the visitor waiting for him.
Hepsabah turned toward him, a smile flickering on her lips, her flitting hands performing an intricate dance with each other. He loathed the hunger in her eyes and the muskiness of her psychic scent, but knowing he was required to play the game, he smiled at her and closed the door.
"Mother," he said with barely disguised irony. He bent his head to kiss her cheek. As always, she turned her head at the last minute so his lips brushed against hers. Her arms wound around his neck, her tongue greedily thrusting into his mouth as she pressed herself against him. Usually he pushed her away, disgusted that his mother could want such intimacy. Now he stood passively, neither giving nor taking, simply analyzing the lies that had made up his life.
Hepsabah stepped away from him, pouting. "You're not pleased to see me," she accused.
Daemon wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "As pleased as I usually am." There she was, dressed in an expensive silk dress while Tersa, his real mother, wore a tattered coat and slept who knew where. Despite Dorothea's and Hepsabah's efforts, Tersa had given him what love she could, in her own shattered way. Somehow he was going to make it up to her, just as he was going to repay them. "What do you want?"
"It would be
nice
if you could be a little more respectful to your mother." She smoothed her dress, running her hands over her breasts and belly, looking at him from beneath her eyelashes.
"I have a great deal of respect for my mother," he replied blandly.
Looking uneasy, she patted the air near his sleeve and said with brittle cheerfulness, "I've got your room all ready for you. Nice and comfy. Maybe after dinner we can sit and have a nice little coze, hmm?" She turned toward the door, swinging her hips provocatively.
Daemon's temper snapped. "You mean I should be more amenable to putting my face between your legs." He ignored her shocked gasp. "I won't be more amenable,
Mother.
Not tonight. Not any night.
Not to you or anyone else in this court. If I'm commanded to kneel while I'm here, I promise you that what happened to Cornelia will be nothing compared to what I'll do here. If you think the Ring can stop me, you'd better think again. I'm not a boy anymore, Hepsabah, and I want you
dead."
Hepsabah backed away from him, her eyes wide with terror. She snatched at the door handle and flung herself into the corridor.
Daemon opened a bottle of brandy, paused only long enough to probe it to be sure there were no sedatives or other nasty surprises added to the liquor, put the bottle to his mouth, and tipped his head back. It burned his throat and caught fire in his stomach, but he continued to swallow until he needed to breathe. The room swam a little but steadied quickly as his metabolism consumed the liquor as it consumed food. That was a drawback to wearing darker Jewels—it took a massive amount of alcohol to get pleasantly drunk. Daemon didn't want to get pleasantly drunk. He wanted to numb the anger and the memories. He couldn't afford a full confrontation with Dorothea now. He could break the Ring, and Dorothea with it. Over the past few years he'd become sure of that. What he wasn't sure of was how much damage she might do to him before he destroyed her, wasn't sure if he'd be permanently maimed by the time he got the Ring off, wasn't sure what other damage he might do to himself that might prevent him from ever wearing the Black again. And there was a Lady out there, somewhere, that he wanted to be whole for. Once he found her . . .
Daemon smiled coldly. The Priest owed him a favor, and two Black Jewels, even if one was Ringed, should be quite sufficient to take care of an arrogant Red-Jeweled High Priestess.
Laughing, Daemon went into his bedroom and dressed for dinner.
3 / Terreille
Chewing his lower lip, Kartane walked up to Daemon, who was studying a closed door. They hadn't been seated near each other at dinner last night, and Daemon had retired early—to everyone's relief—so this was the first time since their abrupt meeting yesterday afternoon that they were together without dozens of people to act as a buffer.
Kartane wasn't a small man, and even with his excesses he remained trim and well toned, but standing next to Daemon made him feel like he was still in a boy's body. It was more the breadth of Daemon's shoulders than the couple of inches in height, the face matured by pain rather than age that made Kartane feel slight next to him. It was also the difference between a long-lived youth and a male in his prime.
"Do you know what this is about?" Daemon asked quietly.
Kartane shook his head. "She just said our presence is required for an entertainment."
Daemon took a deep breath. "Damn." He opened the door, then stood aside for Kartane to enter.
Kartane took a couple of steps into the room and felt the air behind him chill as the door closed. He glanced at Daemon's face, at the narrowed eyes suddenly turned hard yellow, and wondered, as he surveyed the room, what had provoked Daemon's temper.
It was an austere room, furnished with several rows of chairs arranged in a semicircle in front of two posts attached to the floor. Beside the posts was a long table with a white cloth pulled over it. Under and around the posts was a thick pile of white sheets.
Daemon swore viciously under his breath. "At least as the privileged son you can rest easy that you won't be part of the entertainment. You'll only have to endure watching it."
Kartane stared at the posts. "I don't understand. What is it?"
Pity flashed in Daemon's eyes before his face became impassive and his voice took on that toneless, bored quality he always used in court. "You've never seen this?"
"It seems a bit overdone if she's going to have someone whipped," he said, trying to put a sneer into his voice to hide his growing fear.
"Not whipped," Daemon said bitterly. "Shaved."
The look in Daemon's eyes turned Kartane's guts to water.
Daemon didn't speak again until they reached the first row of chairs. "Listen, Kartane, and listen well.
What happens to the poor fool Dorothea's going to tie between those posts is going to depend on how much you squirm. If you stay disinterested, she won't do any less than she's already planned but at least it will be done quicker, and you'll have to endure watching for less time. Understand?"
"Shaved?" Kartane said in a strangled voice.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you how they make eunuchs?" Daemon slipped his hands in his pockets and turned away.
"But. . ." Kartane tensed when Dorothea and her coven walked through the door. "Why this?" he whispered. "Why all these chairs?"
Daemon's eyes had a worried, faraway look in them. "Because they find it amusing, Lord Kartane. This
is
the afternoon's entertainment. And if we're both lucky, we'll only be the guests of honor."
Kartane looked quickly at Daemon and then at the posts. Dorothea wouldn't. She
couldn't.
Was that why Daemon warned him, because he wasn't sure if ... No. Not to Daemon. Not to
Daemon.
Kartane kicked a chair before dropping into another with his arms crossed and his legs sprawled forward, looking like a sulky child. "I have better ways to spend my afternoon," he snarled.
Daemon turned, one eyebrow raised in question. Dorothea walked toward them, her eyes flashing with annoyance at Kartane's behavior.
"Well, darling," she purred, "we'll do our best to amuse you." She settled into the chair next to Kartane's, and with a gracious gesture of her hand, indicated to Daemon that he should sit on her left.
Kartane sat up straighter, but kept a sulky look on his face. He flinched as the chairs behind him filled and female voices murmured as if they were in a theater waiting for the play to begin.
Dorothea clapped her hands, and the room became silent. Two massive, raw-looking guards bowed to Dorothea and left the room. They returned a moment later leading a slightly built man.
Daemon flicked a bored glance at the man being led to the posts, leaned away from Dorothea, and propped his chin in his hand.
Dorothea hissed quietly.
Daemon straightened in his chair, crossed his legs, and steepled his fingers. "Not that it matters," he drawled, "but what did he do?"
Dorothea put her hand on his thigh. "Curious?" she purred.
Daemon shrugged, ignoring the fingers sliding up his thigh.
Dorothea removed her hand, annoyed by the bored expression on Daemon's face. "He didn't do anything. I just felt like having him shaved." She smiled maliciously, nodded to the guards, and watched with great interest as they fastened their victim spread-eagle to the posts. "He's a Warlord but a valet by profession. Comes from a family who specializes in personal service to darker-Jeweled Blood. But after today, I doubt there'll be a male in all of Hayll who'll want him around. What do you think?"
Daemon shrugged and once more propped his chin on his hand.
When the man was securely fastened to the posts, one of the guards pulled the cloth off the table. There were appreciative murmurs from the audience as whips, nut-crushers, and various other instruments of torture were presented for view. The last things the guard picked up were the shaving knives.
Kartane felt ill and yet hopeful. If all of those things were being presented, maybe . . .
"No,"Daemon said on a spear thread, male to male."She'Il shave him."
"You don't know for sure."
"You can't have the entertainment end too quickly."
Kartane swallowed hard."You don't know for sure."
"You'll see."
Dorothea raised one hand. The guard went to the far end of the table and raised the first whip. "What shall it be today, Sisters?" Dorothea called out gaily. "Shall we whip him?"
"Yes, yes, yes," a number of female voices yelled.
"Or ..."
There was applause and laughter as the guard, looking more nervous, raised the nutcrusher for their viewing.
"Or . . ." Dorothea pointed, and the guard lifted the shaving knives.
Kartane studied the floor, trying not to shake, trying not to bolt for the door. He knew he wouldn't be allowed to leave, and he wondered with a touch of bitterness how Daemon could sit there looking so bored. Maybe because Sadi didn't have any use for those organs anyway.
"Shave him, shave him, shave him!" The room thundered with the coven's voices.
Kartane had been to dogfights, cockfights, any number of spectacles where dumb animals were pitted against each other. He'd heard the roar of male voices urging their favorite to victory. But he'd never heard, in all those places, the glee he heard now as the coven urged their decision.
He jumped when Dorothea's hand squeezed his knee, her cold smile letting him know she was pleased by his fear.
Dorothea raised her hand for silence. When the room was absolutely still, she said in her most melodious purr, "Shave him." She paused a long moment, then smiled sweetly. "A full shave."
Kartane's head snapped around in disbelief, but before he could say anything, Daemon turned his head just enough to look at him. The look in Daemon's eyes was more frightening than Dorothea could ever be, so Kartane swallowed the words and slumped a little farther in his chair.
The Healer and the barber entered the room and walked slowly to the table. The barber, a cadaverous man wearing a tightly cuffed black robe, had a receding hairline, pencil-line lips, and dirty yellow eyes.
He bowed to Dorothea and then bowed to the coven.
The Healer, a drab woman retained to handle the servants' ills since she wasn't well versed enough in her Craft to attend to the Blood aristos, called in a bowl of warm water and soap. She held the bowl while the barber washed his hands.
Then the barber leisurely soaped his victim's testicles.
"Why?"Kartane sent on a spear thread.
"Makes them slippery,"Daemon replied."Harder to get a clean cut the first time."
The barber picked up a small curved knife and held it up for them to see. He positioned himself behind the man.
"So everyone can see,"Daemon explained.
Kartane clenched his fists and stared at the floor.
"Watch, my dear," Dorothea purred, "or we'll have to do it again."
Kartane fixed his eyes on one of the posts just as the barber pulled the knife back. A moment later, a small dark lump lay on the swiftly reddening sheets.
The Warlord tied to the posts let out a howl of agony and then clenched his teeth to stifle the sound.
Kartane's stomach churned as a disappointed murmur swept through the room. Mother Night! They'd been hoping for a second cut!
The barber set the bloody knife on a tray and washed his hands while the Healer sealed the blood vessels. When she stepped aside, he took a straight knife and positioned himself in front of a post. He pulled the man's organ to its full length, turned to his audience, shook his head sadly, and said, "There's so little here, it will hardly make a difference."
The coven laughed and applauded. Dorothea smiled.
Kartane expected a swift severing. But when the barber laid the knife on the Warlord's organ and leisurely sawed through the flesh, each stroke of the knife accompanied by a scream, Kartane found himself mesmerized, unable to look away.
They deserved what he did. They were foul things only fit for breeding and a man's pleasure. It was right to break them young,
good
to break them young before they became things like the ones sitting here.
Break them all. Destroy them all. Blood males should rule, must rule. If only he could kill her. Would Daemon help him rid Hayll of that plague carrier? All of them would have to be killed, of course. Then break all the young ones and train them to serve. It was the only way. The only way.
The silence made him blink.
Dorothea rose from her chair, furiously pointing a finger at the Healer. "I told you to give him something to make sure he wouldn't faint on us. Look at him!" Her finger swung to the man hanging limply from the posts, his head dropped to his chest.
"I did as you asked, Priestess," the Healer stammered, wringing her hands. "I swear by the Jewels I did."