Blood of the Fold (53 page)

“
She’s been dead from the first instant,” Jagang said. A slow smile spread on his lips as he fixed the black void of his gaze on Ulicia. “That wedge I told you about. Just like the one I have in your minds. What you see is her soul screaming. You are seeing her torment in the world of the dead. The Keeper looks to be displeased with his Sister of the Dark.”

Jagang lifted a finger and Christabel resumed her wild thrashing and screaming.

Ulicia swallowed. “How long … how long until she … stops?”

He licked his lips. “Until she rots.”

Ulicia felt her knees trembling, and through the link she could feel the other five on the verge of screaming in mad panic, just as Christabel was. This was the displeasure the Keeper would visit upon them if they didn’t restore his influence in this world.

Jagang snapped his fingers. “Slith! Eeris!”

Light shimmered against the wall. Ulicia gasped as two caped forms seemed to appear out of the dark stone.

The two scaled creatures glided silently around the table and bowed. “Yesss, dreamssss walker?”

Jagang waggled his thick finger, indicating the screaming woman on the floor. “Throw her down the privy pit.”

The mriswith flipped their capes back over their shoulders and bent, lifting the thrashing, shrieking body of a woman Ulicia had known for well over a hundred years, a woman who had helped her, and been an obedient servant to the Keeper’s wishes. She was to have had a reward for her service. They all were.

Ulicia looked to Jagang as the two mriswith left the room with their load for the privy pit. “What do you want us to do?”

Jagang lifted a hand and with two grease-slicked fingers motioned a soldier at the side of the room to come forward. “These six belong to me. Ring them.”

The husky man, draped in furs and hung with weapons, bowed. He went to the closest, Nicci, and with filthy fingers unceremoniously pulled on her lower lip, distending it grotesquely. Her wide blue eyes filled with panic. Ulicia gasped with Nicci. Through the link, she could feel the young woman’s stunned pain and terror as the blunt, rusty iron pick stabbed with a twisting motion through the margin of the lip. The soldier stuck the wooden-handled pick back in his belt and pulled a gold ring from his pocket as he held out her lower lip. With the help of his teeth, he spread the split in the ring and then shoved it through the bleeding wound. He twisted the ring around and used his teeth to close the gap.

The unshaven, filthy, stinking soldier came to Ulicia last. By then she was shuddering uncontrollably, having felt it done to each of the others. As he yanked on her lower lip, she desperately tried to think of an escape. It was like drawing a bucket from an empty well. Tears of pain flooded from her eyes as the ring was poked through.

Jagang wiped grease from his mouth with the back of his hand while he watched with amusement as blood trickled down all their chins. “You six are my slaves, now. If you don’t give me cause to kill you, I have use for you at the Palace of the Prophets. When I’m finished with Richard Rahl, I may even let you kill him.”

His eyes came up again, the sullen shapes in them shifting in a way that caught her breath. All traces of mirth vanished, leaving unbridled menace in its place. “But first, I’m not finished with your lessons.”

“
We understand quite well our alternatives,” Ulicia said hurriedly. “Please—you have no need to fear our loyalty.”

“
Oh I know that,” Jagang whispered. “But I still haven’t finished with your lessons. Your first one was only the beginning. The rest won’t be nearly so quick.”

Ulicia’s legs were in danger of giving way. Since Jagang had begun coming into her dreams, her waking life had turned into a nightmare. There must be a way to stop this, but she could think of none. She had a vision of herself, returning to the Palace of the Prophets as one of Jagang’s slaves, in one of those outfits.

Jagang glanced past her. “Have you boys been listening?”

Ulicia heard Captain Blake answer that they had. She started. She had forgotten all about the thirty sailors standing behind her at the back of the room.

Jagang gestured with two fingers for them to come closer. “In the morning you may leave. I thought, though, that for tonight you would like to have these ladies.”

Each of the six went rigid.

“
But—”

Her words were cut short by the way the floating shapes shifted suddenly in his mirky eyes. “From now on, if you use your magic against my wishes, even if it’s to stop yourself from sneezing, you’ll share Christabel’s fate. In your dreams I’ve shown you a small taste of what I can do to you while you’re alive, and you’ve now seen a small taste of what the Keeper will do to you if you die. You have but one path to tread. If I were you, I’d not put one foot wrong.”

Jagang returned his gaze to the sailors behind them. “They’re yours for the night. Knowing these six from their dreams, I know you have scores to settle. Do to them as you wish.”

The sailors’ voices rose in gleeful oaths.

Through the link, Ulicia could feel a hand grip Armina’s breast, another pull Nicci’s head back by her hair as the lace at her bodice was pulled loose, and another hand slide up the inside of her own thigh. She choked back a scream.

“
There’s some minor rules,” Jagang said, stopping the hands on them. “If you violate them, I’ll gut you all like a sack of fish.”

“
And what would the rules be, Emperor?” a sailor asked.

“
You can’t kill them. They’re my slaves—they belong to me. I want them returned in the morning in good enough condition so that they can serve me. That means no broken bones and such. You’ll draw lots as to which one you get. I know what’ll happen if I let you choose for yourselves. I don’t want any of them neglected.”

The sailors all chuckled in agreement, and all spoke up that it was more than fair. They vowed the rules would be followed.

Jagang returned his attention to the six women. “I have a gigantic army of big burly soldiers, and nowhere near enough whores to go around. Puts my men in an ugly mood. Until I have other duties for you, you’ll serve in that capacity for all but four hours a day. Be thankful you have my ring in your lip; it’ll keep them from killing you while they’re having their fun.”

Sister Cecilia spread her hands. She glowed with a kindly, innocent smile. “Emperor Jagang, your men are young and strong. I’m afraid they would find no enjoyment being with an old woman such as myself. I’m sorry.”

“
I’m sure they’ll grin with delight to have you. You’ll see.”

“
Emperor, Sister Cecilia is right. I’m afraid I, too, am too old and fat,” Tovi said in her best elderly voice. “We would bring your men no satisfaction.”

“
Satisfaction?” He took a bite of the roast on the point of his knife. “Satisfaction? Are you daft? This has nothing to do with satisfaction. I assure you, my men will enjoy your warm charms—but you misunderstand.”

He waggled a finger at them, the greasy rings on his fingers glinting in the firelight. “You six were Sisters of the Light, and then Sisters of the Dark. You’re probably the most powerful sorceresses in the world. This is to teach you that you’re little more than dung beneath my boots. I’ll do with you as I please. Those with the gift are my weapons, now.

“
This is to teach you a lesson. You have no say in it. Until I decide otherwise, I give you to my men to use. If they want to twist your fingers and take bets on who can make you scream the loudest, then they will. If they want any other sort of pleasure from you, then they’ll have it. They have quite varied tastes, and as long as they don’t kill you, they’re free to indulge them.”

He shoved the rest of the piece of meat in his mouth. “After these fellows are done with you, anyway. Enjoy my gift, boys. Do as I ask, follow my rules, and I may have use of you in the future. Emperor Jagang treats his friends well.”

A cheer for the emperor went up from the sailors.

Ulicia would have fallen when her legs buckled had not an arm circled her waist to pull her back tight against an eager sailor. She could smell his foul breath.

“
Well, well, well, lass. Looks like you ladies are going to come out to play after all, and after you were so nasty to us.”

Ulicia could hear herself whimper. Her lip throbbed in pain, but she knew it was only the beginning. She was so stunned by what was happening that she couldn’t form a clear thought.

“
Oh,” Jagang said, stopping everyone. He gestured with his knife to Merissa. “Except that one. You can’t have her,” he said to the sailors. He waggled two fingers. “Step forward, darlin.”

Merissa took two strides to the fur. Through the link, Ulicia could feel her legs trembling.

“
Christabel was mine, exclusively. She was my favorite. But she’s dead now, just to serve as a lesson for you.” He glanced to where the sailors had already pulled her dress open. “You will take her place.”

He returned his inky gaze to her eyes. “You did say, if I recall correctly, that you would lick my feet, if you must. You must.” At Merissa’s look of surprise, Jagang smiled that deadly smile of his, framed by the little braids at the ends. “I told you, darlin, you dream things you’ve said when you’re awake.”

Merissa nodded weakly. “Yes, Excellency.”

“
Take off that dress. You might need something nice for later, if I choose to let you kill Richard Rahl for me.” He looked to the other women as Merissa did as she was ordered. “I’m going to leave the link on you for now so you can each feel the lessons the others get. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on any of it.”

When Merissa had finished, Jagang turned the knife between a finger and thumb, and pointed it down. “Under the table, darlin.”

Ulicia could feel the coarse fur rug against Merissa’s knees, and then the rough stone floor under the table. The sailors leered at the sight.

Through sheer force of will, from her reservoir of hatred for this man, Ulicia tapped strength and drew resolve. She was the leader of the Sisters of the Dark. Through the link, she spoke to the others. “
We have all been through the ritual. Worse than this has been done to us. We are Sisters of the Dark; remember who is our true Master. For now we are slaves to this leech, but he has made a huge mistake if he thinks we don’t have minds. He has no power of his own except to use ours. We will think of something, and then Jagang will pay. Oh, sweet Master, will he ever pay.
”

“
But what are we going to do until then!
” Armina screamed.

“
Silence!
” Nicci commanded. Ulicia could feel the probing fingers on Nicci, and she could feel the white heat of her rage, and she could feel her heart of black ice. “
Remember each face. They will each pay. Listen to Ulicia. We’ll think of something, and then we will teach them all lessons only we could envision.
”

“
And don’t any of you dare dream any of this,
” Ulicia warned. “
The one thing we cannot afford is to let Jagang kill us, or all hope is lost. As long as we live, we have a chance to earn our way back into our Master’s favor. We’ve been promised a reward for our souls, and I intend to have it. Have strength, my Sisters.
”

“
But Richard Rahl is mine,
” Merissa hissed, “
Any who takes him in my stead will answer to me—and the Keeper.
” Even Jagang, had he been able to hear her, would have blanched at the venom in her warning. Through the link, Ulicia felt Merissa push her thick hair back out of the way. She could taste what Merissa tasted.

“
I’m done with you… .” Jagang paused a moment as he drew a breath. He waved the knife. “Be gone.”

Captain Blake snatched Ulicia by the hair. “Time for payback, lass.”

She blinked as she looked down the length of the rusty sword held at her face. The point was no more than an inch away.

“
Really, is this necessary? I told you that you could steal what you wanted and we wouldn’t do anything to stop you, but I have to tell you that you’re the third band of dangerous outlaws who have robbed us in the last couple of weeks, and we’ve nothing of value left.”

By the way the lad’s hand was shaking, he didn’t look to be very practiced at his craft. By the way his skin clung to his bones, he didn’t look to be very successful at it, either.

“
Be quiet!” He snuck a look in the direction of his companion. “Have you found anything?”