“Much better,” she cooed. “Most Mord-Sith don’t allow those in training to talk, or to ask questions, but I think that becomes boring. I rather like to talk to my trainee. As I said, you are lucky to have me.” She gave him a cool smile. “I’ve sent my men away. I no longer need them. They are only used for capture, and to hold the captive until he uses his magic against me; then they are no longer needed. There is nothing you can do to get away, or fight back. Nothing.”
“And why do I still have my sword, and knife?”
Too late, he remembered. With an arm he blocked her fist to his face. The act of stopping her brought the pain of the magic. The Agiel came up into his stomach. He rolled over on the ground, crying out in agony.
“Stand up!”
Richard choked off the anger to shut away the pain of the magic. The pain of the Agiel didn’t fade so quickly. He came to his feet with great difficulty.
“Now, get on your knees, and ask for my forgiveness.”
When he didn’t move quick enough for her, she laid the Agiel on his shoulder, pushing him down with it. His right arm went numb with hurt.
“Please, Mistress Denna, forgive me.”
“That’s better.” She smiled at last. “Stand up.” She watched him come to his feet. “You have your sword and knife because they are no danger to me, and perhaps someday you will use them to protect your Mistress. I prefer my pets to keep their weapons, so it can be a constant reminder that they are helpless against me.”
She turned her back to him, removing her glove. Richard knew she was right about the sword: it had magic, and she controlled that. But he wondered if that was the only way. He had to know. His hands reached for her throat.
She continued to slowly remove the glove as he fell to his knees, crying out with the pain of the magic. Desperately, he brought his mind to the picture of the Hartland Woods. The pain eased, and he returned to his feet when she told him to do so.
Denna gave an impatient look. “You’re going to make this hard, aren’t you?” Her face softened, the smooth smile returning. “But then, I enjoy it when a man makes it hard. Now, you’re doing it wrong. I told you that to make the pain stop, you should think something pleasant about me. That’s not what you’re doing. You’re thinking about some boring trees. This is your last warning. Either think something pleasant about me, to stop the pain of the magic, or I will leave you in the agony of it all night. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mistress Denna.”
Her smile widened. “That was very good. See? You can be trained. Just remember, something pleasant about me.” She took his hands and gazed into his eyes as she pressed his hands to her breasts. “I find most men seem to focus their pleasant thoughts here.” She leaned closer, still holding his hands against her, her voice becoming airy. “But if there’s anything you like better, please feel free to let your mind go there instead.”
Richard decided that he thought her hair was pretty, and that that was the only place on her his mind was going to go to think anything pleasant. The pain unexpectedly took him to his knees, tightening its grip until he couldn’t breathe. His mouth opened, but he could get no air. His eyes bulged.
“Now, show me you can do as you were told. Shut the pain off any time you wish, but do it in the way I told you.”
He looked up at her, at her hair. His vision was blurring. With concentration, he thought about how attractive he thought her braid was. He forced himself to think of it as beautiful. The pain lifted, and he collapsed to his side, gasping for air.
“Stand up.” He did as he was told, still struggling to breathe. “That was the proper way to do it. See to it that is the only way you dare to remove the pain in the future, or I will change the magic so you will be unable to remove it at all. Understand?”
“Yes, Mistress Denna.” He was still catching his breath. “Mistress Denna, you said someone betrayed me. Who was it?”
“One of your own.”
“None of my friends would do that. Mistress Denna.”
She regarded him contemptuously. “Then I would guess they aren’t really your friends, now, are they?”
He looked at the floor, a lump in his throat. “No, Mistress Denna, but who was it?”
She shrugged. “Master Rahl didn’t think it important enough to tell me. The only thing that is important for you to know, now, is that no one is going to rescue you. You are never going to be free again. The sooner you learn that, the easier it will go for you; the easier your training will be.”
“And what is the purpose of my training, Mistress Denna?”
The smile returned to her face. “To teach you the meaning of pain. To teach you that your life is no longer yours, that it is mine, and I can do anything I want with it. Anything. I can hurt you in any way I want, for as long as I want, and no one is going to help you but me. I’m going to teach you that every moment you have without pain is a moment only I can grant you. You are going to learn to do as I say without question, without hesitation, no matter what it is. You are going to learn to beg for anything you get.
“After a few days of training here, and I think you have made enough progress, then I will take you to another place, where there are other Mord-Sith, and I will continue training you there until I’m finished, no matter how long it takes. I will let some of the other Mord-Sith play with you, so you can see how lucky you are to have me. I rather like men. Some of the others hate them. I will let some of them have you for a while, so you can see how gentle I really am.”
“And what is the purpose of this training, Mistress Denna? To what end? What is it you want?”
She seemed to genuinely enjoy telling him these things. “You are someone special. Master Rahl himself wants you trained.” Her smiled widened. “He asked for me. I would guess he has something he wants to ask you. I will not let you embarrass me in his eyes. When I’m done with you, you will beg to tell him anything he wants to know. When he is finished with you, then you are to be mine, for life. However long that may be.”
Richard had to concentrate on her hair, had to fight to keep the anger down. He knew what Darken Rahl wanted to know; he wanted to know about the Book of Counted Shadows. The box was safe. Kahlan was safe. Nothing else mattered. Denna could kill him, for all he cared. In fact, it would be doing him a favor.
Denna walked around him, looking him up and down. “If you prove to be a good pet, I may even choose you for my mate.” She stopped in front of him, put her face close to his, gave him a coy smile. “Mord-Sith mate for life.” Her smile showed her teeth. “I’ve had many mates. But don’t get yourself too excited by the prospect, my pet,” she breathed. “I doubt you will find it to be an experience you enjoy, if you live through it. None of the others have. They all died after a short time as my mate.”
Richard didn’t think that was anything he had to worry about. Darken Rahl wanted the book. If he didn’t find a way to escape, Darken Rahl was going to kill him, in the same way he had killed Richard’s father, and Giller. The most he would learn from reading Richard’s entrails was where that place was—inside Richard’s
head—and there was no way any amount of the reading of his entrails was going to read the book out to him. Richard only hoped he could live long enough to see the look of surprise on Darken Rahl’s face when he realized he had made a fatal mistake.
No book. No box. Darken Rahl was a dead man. That was all that mattered.
As for the question of him being betrayed, he decided that he didn’t believe it. Darken Rahl knew the Wizard’s Rules, and he was just using the first, trying to make him afraid of the possibility. The first step to believing. Richard decided that he was not going to be tricked by the Wizard’s First Rule. He knew Zedd and Chase and Kahlan. He would not believe Darken Rahl over his friends.
“By the way, where did you get the Sword of Truth?”
He looked right into her eyes. “I bought it from the last man that had it. Mistress Denna.”
“Is that so? What did you have to give for it?”
Richard gazed into her eyes. “Everything I had. It would appear it is to also cost me my freedom, and probably my life.”
Denna laughed. “You have spirit. I love breaking a man with spirit. Do you know why Master Rahl picked me?”
“No, Mistress Denna.”
“Because I am relentless. I may not be as cruel as some of the others, but I enjoy breaking a man more than any of them. I love hurting my pets more than anything else in life. I live to do it.” She arched an eyebrow and smiled. “I don’t give up, I don’t tire of it, and I don’t ease up. Ever.”
“I am honored, Mistress Denna, to be in the hands of the best.”
She put the Agiel against the cut on his lip and held it there until he was on his knees and tears ran from his eyes. “That is the last flippant thing I ever want to hear from you.” She took the Agiel away and kneed him in his mouth, knocking him sprawling on his back. She pressed the Agiel against his stomach. Before he passed out, she pulled it away. “What do you have to say?”
“Please, Mistress Denna,” he managed with the greatest of effort, “forgive me.”
“All right, get up. It’s time to begin your training.”
She went to the table and retrieved something. She pointed to a spot on the floor. “Stand there. Now!”
Richard moved as fast as he could. He couldn’t straighten himself; the pain wouldn’t allow it. He stood on the spot, breathing hard, sweating. She handed him something with a thin chain attached. It was a collar made of leather, the same color as she wore.
Her voice lost its pleasant quality. “Put it on.”
Richard was in no condition to ask questions. He realized that he was starting to believe he would do anything to avoid the touch of the Agiel. He buckled the collar around his neck. Denna picked up the chain. The end of it had a loop of metal, which she slipped over the post on the back of the wooden chair.
“The magic will punish you for going against my wishes. When I place this chain somewhere, it is my wish for it to stay there until I remove it. I want you to learn that you are helpless to remove it.” She pointed at the door, which stood
open. “For the next hour, I want you to try your best to make it to that doorway. If you don’t try your hardest, this is what I will do for the rest of the hour.” She put the Agiel to the side of his neck until he was on his knees, screaming in agony, and begging for her to stop. She took it away and told him to begin, then went to lean, arms folded, against a wall.
The first thing he did was simply to try to walk to the door. The pain buckled his legs before he was able to put even a little tension on the chain, and stopped only when he scooted backward toward the chair.
Richard reached for the ring. The pain of the magic cramped his arms until he was shaking with the strain of reaching for it. Sweat ran off his face. He tried backing to the chair, then turning, but before his fingers could touch the chain, the pain took him to the ground again. He pushed against the pain, straining to reach the chair, but couldn’t get there past the pain, the effort causing him to fall to the ground, vomiting blood. When it ended, he held himself up with one hand, tears dripping from his face as he held his stomach with his other hand and shook. From the corner of his eye, he saw Denna unfold her arms and stand up straight. He started moving again.
What he was doing was clearly not going to work. He had to think of something else. He drew the sword, thinking to lift the chain. For a brief instant, and with the greatest effort, he managed to touch the chain with the blade. The pain made him drop the sword. He was able to stop the hurt only by putting the sword back in its scabbard.
A thought came to him. He lay down on the ground, and in a quick movement, kicked the chair out from under the chain before the pain could paralyze him. The chair skidded across the floor, hit the table, and fell over. The chain fell from the post.
The victory lasted only the briefest of moments. With the chain off the chair, the pain elevated to a new height. He choked and gasped against the floor. With all his effort, he clawed his way across the stone. Each inch he moved only increased the pain until he was blinded by it. His eyes felt as if they would explode from his head. He had managed to move only about two feet. He didn’t know what to do; the pain wouldn’t let him move, and it was keeping him from thinking.
“Please, Mistress Denna,” he whispered with all his strength, “help me. Please help me.” He realized he was crying, but didn’t care. He only wanted the chain back on the chair so the pain would stop.
He heard her boots walking toward him. She bent and picked up the chair, righted it, and replaced the loop. His pain lifted, but he couldn’t stop crying as he rolled onto his back.
She stood over him with her hands on her hips. “That was only fifteen minutes, but since I had to come help you, the hour starts over. The next time I have to come help you, it will be two hours.” She bent and pushed the Agiel against his stomach, making pain bloom inside him. “Understand?”
“Yes, Mistress Denna,” he cried. He was afraid there was a way to escape, and afraid of what would happen to him if he found it, and afraid of not trying. If there was a way, by the end of the hour, he had not found it.
She came and stood over him as he rested on his hands and knees. “Do you
think you understand now? Do you understand what will happen if you try to escape?”
“Yes, Mistress Denna.” And he really did. There was no way for him to ever get away. Hopelessness closed around him, feeling as if it would suffocate him. He wanted to die. He thought about the knife at his belt.
“Stand up.” As if reading his mind, she spoke softly. “If you should think you would end your service as my pet, think again. The magic will prevent it, the same as it prevents you from moving the chain from where I put it.”
Richard blinked numbly at her. “There is no way for you to escape me, not even through death. You will be mine as long as I choose to let you live.”
“That won’t be long, Mistress Denna. Darken Rahl is going to kill me.”
“Perhaps. But even if he does, it will only be after you tell him what he wants to know. What I want is for you to answer his questions, and you are going to do what I want without hesitation.” Her brown eyes had the hardness of steel. “You may not believe that right now, but you have no idea how good I am at training people. I have never failed to break a man. You may think you will be the first, but you will soon be begging to please me.”