A Distant Tomorrow (18 page)

“Go ahead!” Uma challenged Sirvat.

The Dominus’s sister did not hesitate a moment. Clapping her hands she called a female servant to her. “Bring the Punishment Mistress here at once.”

Wide-eyed, the servant bowed and hurried off. The garden became deathly silent as they waited. And then suddenly the Dominus appeared.

“Sirvat has called for the Punishment Mistress?” he said to Lara.

“It is Uma. She is angry and defies your sister’s authority, my lord Dominus.”

“I cannot have that,” he said quietly. “I will handle this myself.”

The Punishment Mistress arrived. She was a large, tall woman accompanied by two great dogs. Seeing the Dominus she bowed servilely. “I was told it was the Lady Sirvat who called for me,” she said.

“I did,” Sirvat said. “But my brother wishes to manage the situation. Please remain, however. He will need your aid.”

The Punishment Mistress bowed. “Yes, my lady Sirvat. You have but to instruct me, and I obey.”

Uma threw herself at the Dominus’s feet and looked piteously up at him.

Magnus Hauk smiled down at her coldly. Then his glance flicked to his sister.

“Tell this brazen creature her wiles will not move me,” he said coldly. “And tell the Punishment Mistress I want the wide leather strap with the knotted fingers.”

Alcippe and Felda had grown pale with fright. This was a side of the Dominus rarely seen. They did not like Uma, but they could not help but feel sorry for her.

“Must you?” Lara said softly to him as Sirvat spoke with the Punishment Mistress. “She fancies herself in love with you, and your favorite.”

“I cannot let it be said that I am weak, even with a woman,” Magnus Hauk replied. “Her behavior tonight is already being bruited about the castle. I must punish her so that no others follow her unfortunate example.”

“Other women?” Lara asked him quietly.

“Men or women,” he answered her. “Tomorrow you will begin to see the vastness of the Dominion, Lara. And I am its master. I must never be seen as vacillating or insecure in my rule. This is what it is to be the Dominus of Terah.”

She understood him perhaps better than any of the others. “Yes, my lord Dominus,” she responded with a bow. The faintest of smiles touched his lips. The moment was so brief she was not certain that she had actually seen it.

“Strip her and bend her!” Magnus Hauk said in a cold voice. He watched impassively as Uma, once again spitting defiance, was pulled to her feet, her gown drawn off, and then bent facedown, her shoulders beneath the brawny arm of the Punishment Mistress who held the woman steady. Though Uma struggled, the large woman’s grip was like iron. “Felda, Alcippe, go to your chambers,” the Dominus said. “You need not remain. I see the distress and fear in your lovely eyes, but you have always been obedient to my will. You need not fear me.”

Each girl kissed his hand in turn and fled.

The Dominus turned to his sister and Lara. “Will you remain?” he asked them.

The two women nodded silently.

Magnus Hauk now took the wide leather strap in his hand. One end of it had been divided into eight long fingers, which had been knotted several times. The strap would burn, but the knotted fingers would sting cruelly. “You will receive ten strokes of the strap, Uma,” he told her. Then raising his hand he brought the leather down on the woman’s full buttocks. Uma’s lips pressed tightly together, but by the third blow she was shrieking and begging Sirvat to ask for mercy.

The Dominus could not hear Uma’s cries, of course. All he heard was the snap of the leather and the crack it made when it hit the woman’s plump buttocks. The dogs barked furiously and strained at their tethers. He saw the scarlet marks of the whip on her flesh, and knew from her struggle, and the concerned looks on Lara and Sirvat’s faces, the burning pain the knotted leather fingers at the end of his strap were causing Uma. But he would not be defied by this creature. He plied the last three blows harder to make his point.

Sirvat remained silent throughout Uma’s ordeal. She was not a cruel girl, but Uma had been rude and overbearing ever since she had been brought to the castle. And because Uma was one of her brother’s women, Sirvat had not felt she had the right to punish her severely. She was not unhappy to see the bold woman now getting what she considered a just chastisement. And as by the fifth blow Uma was cursing her, Sirvat felt quite justified in her silence.

Lara watched the discipline being administered impassively. She understood quite well the reasoning behind Magnus Hauk’s actions. But she also remembered long ago, when she was to be sold as a Pleasure Woman by Gaius Prospero, the slave woman Tania telling her of those who gained pleasure from giving pain. Yet that did not seem to be the case here. The Dominus was severe of face, and did not look as though he was enjoying himself at all. Still she was relieved, and she could see Sirvat was, too, as the final blow fell. By this time Uma was sobbing piteously.

Magnus Hauk laid the leather strap aside, saying tersely, “Attend to her.” Then without another word, he departed.

Uma’s back and buttocks were covered in narrow red weals.

“I will care for her,” the Punishment Mistress said in her gravelly voice. She loosed her hold on Uma but a moment, catching the woman up in her arms. “Where is her chamber?” she asked Sirvat.

“This way,” Sirvat said, leading the Punishment Mistress and her dogs off.

Lara remained behind in the garden, her eyes upon the sky. There were two moons above, each in a different quarter. The other two moons would soon rise. In Terah, as in the Outlands, the moons were silvery white. She wondered why only the moons of Hetar rose in brilliant color.

Sirvat returned, and sat beside Lara. “Uma is being attended to, but to hear her cries almost brought me to tears. The Punishment Mistress is dressing her wounds with a special ointment to numb the soreness. Uma must remain on her face for the next few days until her welts are less swollen and painful. Why did you remain? I had to, as head of my brother’s household, but why did you?”

“The Dominus needed reliable witnesses. Had we not stayed, I am quite certain Uma would have lied to any who would listen, and told them that she cajoled him from his purpose with her female wiles. She cannot say that now. Several people have viewed her punishment. Not just you and I, but servants watching from behind the pillars. Undoubtedly she has mistreated them, and they were glad to see her being chastised,” Lara said. “If she had plied him with her charms and we were not here to observe what transpired, they would have not dared to speak. But now the servants will tell their tale with great relish.”

“I will have to find a strong man to husband her,” Sirvat said. “It will not be easy, but her dower will entice, and her beauty is well-known. And to be given one of my brother’s women for a wife is considered quite an honor.”

“Then Alcippe and Felda will be easily matched,” Lara said. “But how will you choose their husbands?”

“The Dominus’s desires will be conveyed to several important women. They will bring me their recommendations, and then we will discuss each prospective suitor. When we have narrowed the field we shall bring in each girl separately and discuss it with her. Then the choice will be made. Because our men cannot hear us, they do not consider how much we hear. We are almost invisible and learn a great deal that way,” Sirvat said with a small smile. “It makes it easier to find out the truth about the men. It will be better, however, if they can regain their hearing and finally hear us.”

“You will be able to gain equality with them then,” Lara agreed.

Sirvat laughed. “I think we are already superior to the men. The disadvantage is theirs, not ours. Terahn women have always held a certain amount of power. Even when they could hear our voices we were strong. Had we not been, one of our sex could not have overcome the sorcerer. It is true he struck back at us with his dying breath, but now your faerie magic will help us to overcome his curse.”

“Have you ever been to the Temple of the Great Creator?”

“I’ve never left the castle grounds, and I will not until I go to my husband’s home,” Sirvat said.

“I cannot guarantee I will be able to lift this malediction,” Lara told her friend. “And I have not said I could. I can only try. I wish you had been to the temple, and could tell me about it. We call the god the Celestial Actuary.”

“How perfectly Hetarian,” Sirvat responded. “You are a people controlled by your commerce. While I have not visited the temple I can tell you something about it. The high priest is called Aslak. He is very old and, I have heard, prone to being narrow in his thought.”

Lara nodded. “Yes, he would be, of course. Is there another I might approach if this man is obdurate in his ways?”

Sirvat nodded. “Our mother’s brother, Arik, has already been chosen to succeed Aslak when he dies. This succession is always planned in advance when a high priest reaches old age. Aslak has already lived a hundred years. It would be my counsel to approach Arik first, seek his advice, and then allow him to guide you.”

“The high priest would not be offended?” Lara wanted to know.

“Not if Magnus pays his respects first. Aslak need not know of you until you find what you seek. And if you do not, he need not know of you at all.”

“How clever you are,” Lara said with a small chuckle.

“It is time for change,” Sirvat told Lara, “but Terah plods along as it has for centuries. Nothing will move forward until the women of this land can once again be heard. It is time we knew more of what is beyond our borders.”

“We are much alike,” Lara remarked. “And I agree with you. Hetar has much to offer to Terah, but Terah in turn has much to offer Hetar.”

“What could we possibly offer Hetar besides the luxuries we provide?”

“It is not yet time for me to speak,” Lara told her friend. “Let us first solve the problem of the curse. Then I shall tell you what thoughts swirl about in my head.”

“It is, I am told, a long day’s ride,” Sirvat said.

“I am used to riding. I enjoy it,” Lara told her. “And my own horse, given to me by Kaliq of the Shadow Princes, came this day to Terah to join me. My mother gave him wings so he might fly.” She laughed. “Andraste and Verica will be happy to know this. The horse is called Dasras, and he speaks.”

Sirvat’s turquoise-blue eyes grew round. “A horse that converses? This is great magic, Lara.”

“Sometimes when I was out riding Dasras, I would speak on the matters that concerned or troubled me. He is a good listener, and an even better advisor,” Lara said.

“You are advised by an animal?” Sirvat looked dubious.

“Animals have much wisdom, and often see things we mortals do not,” Lara explained to her friend. “Listening to another’s opinion can be helpful.”

“I should like to meet this creature,” Sirvat said.

“Come with me to the stables in the morning then, and I will introduce you,” Lara promised her.

“What time will you depart?”

“The Dominus has not yet said. Perhaps I should send a servant to him requesting that information,” Lara considered.

“Better you let him tell you,” Sirvat advised. “Actually speaking with a woman must be quite an adventure for Magnus.” She giggled. “Do not let him learn too quickly that you are wiser than he, Lara. Your mission must not be compromised in any way.”

“Then perhaps it is best we both seek our beds,” Lara considered.

Sirvat nodded. “I’m glad our rooms are nowhere near Uma’s chamber. She will be moaning and groaning all the night long, I suspect.”

Finally alone in her own chamber Lara spoke with Andraste, drawing her forth from her scabbard, and laying her faceup upon the bed. Verica stood upright in a corner, and at his mistress’s request opened his eyes, which only made him look fiercer.

“My mother has sent Dasras to join us,” Lara said. “Tomorrow we will ride out from this castle with the Dominus.” She went on to explain to her two magical companions the nature of their quest.

“It will be good to get out of this castle,” Andraste said. “We have been confined for too long. Another day and I should become as irritable of nature as Verica.”

“Indeed, singer of death and drinker of blood,” Verica agreed. “I shall be equally glad to feel the wind on my face again.”

“As the Dominus has not told me when we depart, I can only assume early in the morning,” Lara told them. “Sirvat says it is a long day’s ride to this temple.”

A gentle knock sounded upon the door, and opening it revealed a woman servant.

“The Dominus requires your presence, my lady,” the servant said.

“I will come at once,” Lara replied, and hurried from her chamber. She knew her way through the castle well now, and quickly reached the apartments of the Dominus where Magnus Hauk awaited her. Smiling, he took her hand to lead her to his bedchamber, but Lara pulled her hand from his.

“Your sister says it is a long ride to the temple, my lord Dominus. If we are to depart just before the dawn then we need our rest,” Lara said to him. “If you need a woman for pleasures call Felda or Alcippe. Uma, I fear, is yet indisposed.”

“You are refusing to share pleasures with me?” he said, and she could see he was surprised, and perhaps just a little offended.