Savage Games of Lord Zarak (8 page)

Sarah saw that a struggle was going on in Roland.
It's probably the first time he's ever had to take such an order,
she thought.
But he'd better do as she says, or he'll die down in that foul place.

“Well, what shall it be?” Lady Lara said. “Quickly! Choose!”

Roland Winters bowed stiffly. He might not be accustomed to showing this kind of submission, but the memory of the stench of their foul cell would be very painful for one who had known the outdoors all of
his life. To be caged like an animal was no doubt more than he could bear. “I will do as you say.”

“You may address me as ‘my lady.'”

“Yes, my lady. I will do as you command.”

Lady Lara laughed. “I thought you might,” she said. “Take him away and clean him up. We'll let him begin by cleaning the stables immediately.”

“Yes, Lady Lara.” Two guards stepped quickly forward. Gripping Roland by the arms, they drew him outside.

When the door slammed, the king chuckled. “You will have good sport with that one, daughter. He has spirit, I see.”

“We shall see if his spirit or mine is the stronger.”

Lord Zarak looked unhappy. “He might escape from the stables. Then what?”

“I will be responsible for my servants, Lord Zarak,” the princess said coldly.

“And what about these other two?” the king said. “Are they not for the Hunt?”

“I think not, Father. There is work for many slaves in the castle,” she said.

“Your Majesty, I protest! To give spies so much freedom—these prisoners could be dangerous!”

But the king chuckled again. “Ah, these two are but children, Zarak. You are too cautious.”

Sarah felt a quick wave of relief. At least they were not going to be the quarry in the Hunt of Death.

“Give word to my chamberlain that these are to do his bidding.” The king nodded to a guard.

“Let them be given, then, the harshest, dirtiest work possible,” Zarak urged.

“As you please, Lord Zarak,” the king said carelessly. “Now, my daughter, we shall have our ride
together.” He nodded to the guard. “Turn the prisoners over to the chamberlain.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As Sarah and Josh were led out, he whispered to her, “At least we're not going to be hunted down. Not yet anyway.”

Sarah could not answer, for the guard jerked her roughly by the arm. “No talking,” he said. “You are slaves now. Keep your mouths shut!”

Discouragement swept through Sarah, but she remembered that many times in the past they had endured dark hours.
Goél will not fail us,
she thought.
Somehow we'll endure all of this. Endure and survive.

H
urry up! Get a move on!”

Roland Winters felt a stick strike him across the shoulder, and he blazed with anger. He straightened up and whirled, but then he saw the sneer on the face of the soldier guarding him. The man was as broad as a barrel and had huge paws for hands. Roland swallowed hard and nodded without saying a word.

“Go ahead. Why don't you come at me? Try it. Maybe you could put me down.” The soldier stood waiting, almost eagerly. “Come on. Take a try. Maybe you can pull my sword out and take off my head.”

Roland was strongly tempted to do exactly that, but out of the corner of his eye he saw two other guards loitering in front of the stables. They stood watching with grins on their faces.
Even if I did get this one,
he thought,
those two would be on me before I could get away.
So he simply stood there, quietly waiting.

The guard rapped him sharply on the crown of his head with the stick. The blow stung, and the man laughed. “You're just a real meek pussycat, aren't you? I thought maybe you'd give us a little fun. The last one that tried to get away from here did fairly well. He got out of the castle, but the dogs tracked him down.”

Roland continued to stand and wait. He had learned that all the guards liked to poke fun at him. They enjoyed seeing him flare up with anger, and at first he had given them that satisfaction. But he had
soon learned better. Now he simply clamped his lips together and stared blankly over the soldier's shoulder.

“Well, you've got no spirit. I can see that.” The guard seemed to consider striking him again, but then laughed shortly and turned away. “Clean up the rest of these stables! I want 'em as clean as the princess's rooms. Mind you what I say!”

Wearily Roland began to shovel the muck out of the stables. He had always loved horses and had not minded caring for his own, but there were many stables here and many horses within the stables. He also suspected that the other stable slaves had been moved to other jobs so that he would have to do them all.

“They haven't broken me yet,” he muttered under his breath as he filled the wheelbarrow. Then he wheeled the load toward the garden where it would be used for fertilizer. He dumped it onto the pile that he had begun there. Then he straightened up and took a deep breath.

He had been up well before daybreak. The sun was just beginning to rise even now. As usual, his breakfast had been revolting, but he had learned to gulp it down, knowing that he needed the strength it would provide. For a week now he had done nothing but clean stables, and every ounce of fat was pared off him. Because of the hard exercise, though, he had to admit to himself that he was stronger and in better shape than he had ever been before.

Roland's gaze ran around the wall of the castle, and he thought,
There's got to be some way to get out of here!
With a sigh he glanced at the towers that rose high in the air. His eyes took in the ramps where armed guards paced back and forth continually, and doubt and discouragement came over him. Still, though he
was not accustomed to being a slave, he had not let what was happening to him break his spirit. He felt good about that.

As he wheeled the empty barrow back to the stable, Roland noticed the Lady Lara coming out of the castle door that led to the royal apartments. He quickly looked down and hurried by, for he disliked having her speak to him. She never failed to make fun of him.

But the king's daughter saw him and stopped abruptly. “You there, slave! Come here!”

With a sigh, Roland set down the wheelbarrow and started toward her. She was wearing a green riding habit, and a small cap was perched on top of her black hair. Her dark blue eyes seemed to sparkle as he approached. But then she held up her hand. “Stop! That's close enough!” she said. “You surely smell worse than the pigs. Don't you ever bathe?”

Roland knew she was well aware that there were no facilities for slaves to bathe. He gritted his teeth and stood waiting, keeping his face as blank as possible.

“Get my horse and saddle her at once.”

“Yes, my lady.”

He had learned to answer at once and to obey quickly. He walked rapidly into the stable, where he chose the white mare and put a saddle on her. He led the horse out to where Lady Lara stood waiting.

“Well, help me up, you oaf!” she ordered.

He put out one hand to support her and felt the weight of her foot. As he propelled her upward, he was tempted to heave her all the way over the horse, but he managed to restrain himself.

She seated herself and then reached down with her riding crop and tapped him on the cheek. “I understand you are not happy cleaning stables.” She waited,
but Roland did not say a word. She laughed, then said, “Well, you have learned your place, I see. Get on with your work.”

Roland watched her ride away.

 

At the castle gate, Lord Zarak was waiting for Lady Lara to join him. They rode across the drawbridge, followed by a pack of dogs.

Zarak said, when they had slowed their horses to a mere walk, “You look beautiful today, my lady.”

“Thank you, Lord Zarak.”

“Do we have to be so formal?” he complained.

She laughed at that. “Certainly. I believe in formality. Oh, and did you happen to see the slave that I've made into my groom?”

Zarak was able to conceal his anger. “Yes. And I still don't trust him.”

“He's harmless enough. He will be a good manservant for my father, perhaps, once he learns obedience.”

“He'll never learn that. Don't you know that, Lady Lara?”

She gave him a surprised look. “Why?”

“Did you look into his eyes?”

“I don't make it a habit of looking into the eyes of slaves.”

“No, and that is the reason you do not know them. If you had been in the world as much as I have, you would learn to recognize rebellion when you see it. I once had a horse,” he said, “that behaved very well most of the time. But then suddenly—when he got a chance—he would kick the brains out of any man who came close to him.”

“So you think Roland is being a good slave just to get a chance to strike out, or perhaps to escape.”

“I know it, my lady!”

“And I think you're wrong. But the next time, Lord Zarak, I shall look deep into his eyes.” Her own eyes twinkled. “I'll report to you what I see there. Come, White Cloud, let's go!”

Lord Zarak had to spur to keep up with the king's daughter. She was a wonderful horsewoman.

 

The guards kept Roland working steadily at cleaning the stables and grooming the horses. From time to time he thought about the two imprisoned Seven Sleepers. He had not had a glimpse of either Josh or Sarah since they were separated, and he wondered what had become of them. But there was no one he could ask. He kept his ears open listening for a reference to them, but none of the soldiers ever spoke of them.

“And what are the
rest
of the Sleepers doing?” he complained under his breath. “The least they could do is try to get us out of here. That's what I'd do if I were out and they were in!”

With one part of his mind Roland knew that this was not so. He knew how virtually impossible it was for the Sleepers and Goodman to stage a successful rescue. The castle was too well guarded. It would take a long siege and a powerful army to bring it down.

The sun was high overhead when the rattle of the chain that lowered the drawbridge caught Roland's attention. He saw Lord Zarak and the Lady Lara ride in across the moat, and he hurried at once to take her horse. At the gate, he reached up to take the bridle, then hesitated.

“Well, help me down, you stupid slave!”

“My hand is dirty, my lady,” he said.

Lady Lara sniffed. “I'm wearing gloves. I can throw them away after I've touched you.” She took his hand, and he helped her to the ground.

“Thank you for the ride, my lady. It was a pleasure as always,” Lord Zarak said. He gave Roland a hard look, then rode away toward the stables where his own mounts were kept.

“Give White Cloud a good rubdown and an extra portion of grain,” the princess ordered.

“Yes, my lady.”

“After that, I have another job for you.” An impish smile turned the corners of her lips upward. “I know you don't take baths, but I do. As soon as you've rubbed down White Cloud, bring hot water to fill my tub. I shall tell the guards you will be coming. The kitchen will furnish the hot water.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Roland took away the mare and walked her for a time until she cooled down. He was still thinking about Lady Lara's orders as he cared for the horse and whispered in her ear, “If I could just see that gate open for one minute, I'd be on you, White Cloud. And then we'd see if they could catch me.”

The mare whinnied and reached over to nibble at his hair.

He smiled and patted her nose. “You're much better tempered than your mistress. I wish she had some of your good nature.”

After finishing with the mare, he went to the kitchen. “The Lady Lara says she wants a bath, and that I'm to bring her hot water.”

A huge woman with mannish features glared at him. “Well, why don't you get at it, then?” “I don't know what to do.”

“You heat water in that big pot over there. Make sure it's steaming hot. Then you carry it up to her chambers.”

“How many does it take to fill up the bath?” “As many as she says. Now I'd suggest you get started.”

Roland built up the fire under the huge pot and waited until the water was hot. He poured it into a large earthen carrying vessel. Then he refilled the pot and put it back over the fire.

The effort to lift the heavy water container to his shoulder made him grunt. Picking it up required all of his strength. He was pleased to think that not many men could have carried it as easily as he did.

Roland asked where the stairs were and made his way up two flights. The steps were steep and treacherous, and he knew that there would be broken bones if he fell.

On the third floor he said to a soldier, “Hot water for the Lady Lara.”

“Down the hall—where the guard is standing.”

Roland went on down the corridor to where another sour-looking guard faced him. “Lady Lara ordered hot water.”

“Stay there. I'll see if you can go in.” The guard approached the heavy oak door, spoke to someone inside, and then returned. “In there, fellow,” he said.

When Roland carried the water container inside, he was astonished at the luxury he saw. The chamber ceiling was high, and the walls were decorated with beautifully colored tapestries. His gaze fell on one that amazed him. It was at least twenty feet long and twelve feet high. It portrayed a hunt of several men and one
woman on horseback. They were chasing a stag. He saw that the woman looked very much like Lady Lara.

“Well, don't stand there! Pour it into the tub!”

Then Roland saw the lady herself standing and watching him. She had changed clothes, and the gown she now wore was light blue. She motioned toward a large, raised marble tub behind purple curtains that were drawn aside. Carefully, he swung the jug from his shoulder and emptied out the steaming water.