“Come you here, wenda!” he ordered sternly “You must emerge from there at some time, so this action avails you naught! The denday has gifted you to me for the present, and with me you shall be!”
“The denday may fill your furs himself.” I called in answer. “I shall not! Think you to deal with this wenda I stand beside as easily as you deal with Rapan? You may make the attempt if you wish, Kennan, but I shall not leave here!”
Kennan put angry fists on his hips, but I was answered from another quarter. “You shall leave here, wenda,” the barbarian said as he came into the corral behind Kennan. Rapan stayed at the fence and watched us all wide-eyed.
The barbarian started toward me, ignoring the warning rumble of my seetar, slapping his hand sharply against his thigh. Suddenly his saddle mount appeared next to him, and the big male let his nose be rubbed with a good deal of satisfaction, then joined his rider in advancing toward me.
It all happened so quickly, I barely had time to see it, let alone anticipate it. I stood to my seetar’s left, and the barbarian walked to his seetar’s right. When the two males were three feet away, my seetar charged the man with a squeal of rage, but the male seetar moved unbelievably fast to block her. The man darted around the two seetarr grabbed me before I could even blink, threw me up on his shoulder, then raced out of the corral. His male was having a hard time stopping my female without hurting her, and when Kennan slammed the gate closed behind us, the male seetar simply got out of the way. My female came crashing into the fence, but the heavy, reinforced wood held her weight, and she was helpless to keep the barbarian from carrying me back into the house.
I was taken to his sleeping room, and wasn’t put back on my feet until the door was closed firmly behind us. The barbarian stood and studied me, so I folded my arms and stared back at him.
“Again you disobey me,” he said with a curious lack of anger. “Kennan shall have you for as long as I have Rapan.”
“The Ratanan will be long since forgotten before she gives you up.” I snorted. “I didn’t come here to settle down with Kennan.”
“I am aware that you came only to serve me, wenda.” He grinned, enjoying the double or triple meaning. “Yet there are other services to be performed, and you shall obey me in all things. Return to Kennan and ask his pardon.”
“I won’t do it,” I said with a headshake. “Why do you always have to include me in your bed-hopping? If you want me out of the way, just say so. I wouldn’t dream of interfering in your- affairs of honor.”
“The matter with Rapan is more important than it seems,” he said softly, coming over to run his hand over my back beneath the imad. I shivered slightly and moved away, but he just grinned a little. “Sooner would I have you in my furs, l’lenda-wenda, yet I must wait until Rapan is seen to. I cannot give her child, but must do all possible to give her freedom from the attraction she still feels for me, if not for her sake, then for Kennan’s. Go you now to Kennan in obedience to my word.”
“I refuse,” I answered, steeling myself for the beating I knew was coming. I would not go willingly to any l’lenda.
The barbarian shook his head with a sigh, then took my wrist and towed me out of the room. Kennan and Rapan stood a short way down the hall, and we stopped in front of them.
“My wenda is now yours,” he said to Kennan, pulling me closer to the big l’lenda. “You have my permission to punish her lightly for the insult she gave you. It is more fitting than punishment at my hand.”
“The insult shall be totally wiped away” Kennan grinned, getting a good grip on my arm. “Come, Terril, and we shall discuss the giving of insult—and its consequences. Rapan, go you with Tammad.”
Kennan dragged me back up the hall past the barbarian’s room, and I turned once to see the barbarian standing there watching us, seemingly totally oblivious to Rapan who gazed up at him lovingly. Once again, someone else had gentleness to look forward to, while all I had in store was punishment. I looked away from the man who had put me in chains, and didn’t look back again.
Kennan’s sleeping room was no different from the barbarian’s. He threw me down on his sleeping furs, then crouched to tell me what would have happened to me had I been male and spoken as I had. He didn’t leave out the least gory detail, and when he was through, he stood again to remove his haddin.
“Rejoice that you be wenda, Terril,” he summed up, throwing the haddin from him. “You may not lose your life through insult, yet still shall you regret your words. The darayse of your land do not dwell in ours.”
He caught me as I tried for the door, then proceeded to make me regret what I’d said. My imad and caldin were quickly removed, and he used me as l’lendaa do, but he also used me in the most embarrassing and humiliating of ways. I was helpless to stop him, my tears of frustration and shame simply giving him greater pleasure. He felt himself morally right, and there was nothing that would change his mind.
I lay in misery next to him as he rested, asking myself what he would do next, when the door to the room flew open and Rapan ran in. She threw herself into his arms sobbing wildly, and his surprise was genuine.
“Rapan, what ails you?” he asked, holding her tight to comfort her. “What has happened?”
“Take me away from here!” she begged, trying to get even closer to him. “I had thought him gentle, but Terril spoke truly! He—he—caused me such pain, Kennan! Please take me away!”
“As quickly as I am clad,” he assured her with a gentle hug, then disengaged himself from her viselike grip. He dressed fast, added his swordbelt, then helped her to her feet and out of the room. His emotions were tender concern, great happiness, and deep gratitude. He had also completely forgotten about me.
I tried to soothe down my own emotions, but often that’s too much like a medic trying to fix a wound on his own back. I could calm myself in times of crisis, but ordinary emotional upheaval was too much to work through. My own emotions blocked my control, and made the effort a waste of time.
“So Terril spoke truly!” a quiet voice said from behind me. “And why did Terril not say to me that which she said to others?”
“Would it have made a difference?” I asked tonelessly, not even turning to look at him. “What do you care about what happens to me as long as I’m here and healthy enough to attend the Ratanan? I’m a useless female, wearing your bands only because you have no other choice. Ahresta wenda.”
“You are not ahresta!” he said angrily “If you were truly unwanted and kept only out of pity, five bands would not be necessary. I have already been asked many times if I have tired of you as yet! Such does not occur with ahresta wenda!”
“That’s only because they don’t know,” I said, lowering my check to the furs. “Maybe if you give me away often enough, they’ll begin to believe you.”
“It was my duty as host to gift you to Kennan,” he said harshly, moving toward me. “Also you must learn to soften your words with l’lenda lest they take insult! Too long have you been used to the men of your world who—”
He had unexpectedly crouched down to turn me to face him, and my gasp cut his sentence short. I’d been unprepared for the sudden movement, and the pain had gotten away from me. I controlled it quickly but not before he had seen.
“What has been done to you?” he demanded with a frown, looking me over carefully “Kennan was told he might punish you lightly. Did he mistake my meaning?”
“He understood you.” I told him stiffly. “What he did wouldn’t have hurt so much if it hadn’t been for—”
“My use of you earlier,” he finished heavily when I didn’t. “It is now completely clear to me why you seek comfort and protection from seetarr. You have no l’lenda you may turn to. Lie still until the pain has passed.”