Khadi's Story 11: Who can lead me to the Council? |
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The woman Sheema had said that she would tell me something about the Council of Mages if I went to her dwelling-place at night, so, that evening I went, along with the boy and the smith Elbry, who knew the way there. Elbry led us through large and busy streets. Of course, in Kehahn we have not these gaps-between-the-buildings, and if we did they would be unsafe because of the rocks and the dragons, but here they are open to the sky. It took me a long time to get used to this and to feel safe; at first I called them corridors. They do not always have smooth floors here, either: often they are ankle-deep in mud and refuse, and smell foul. Had I not the Power, I should have been filthy; Heesm's legs and feet were coated in black slimy mud, but this rarely seems to bother him. Perhaps, like an animal, he does not notice. At one point there was a wide open space that they call a square. It was over ten man-lengths on a side, and there were maybe twenty people crowded near one end. They were making a ring around one corner of the square, and chanting Kruddy Die! I Rose up a little, cross-legged, and saw a man cowering in the corner, wounded. He had lighter skin than the others, skin more like our own, but dark curly hair and not the red of Royalty. They were throwing rocks at him and jeering, and soon he was dead. The crowd started to disperse, but when they saw me levitating above them, they were afraid. I think perhaps it is against their laws to stone men to death. I asked them, What had he done? but none could answer, and whenever they thought I was not looking, they slipped away. Afterwards, Elbry told me that the Kruddies are hated because they will not work, and for their different skin colour. We continued on our journey to see Sheema, but I did not like what I had seen. Towards the edge of this Town called Thirty-six the streets become wider, and the buildings larger and further apart. Many of them have tall walls around each building, like an individual's fortress, and the building to which Elbry led us was built in this fashion. There was a large iron gate, with several soldiers standing by it. We walked around the back, over many sharp stones - I could feel the pleasant sensation of Heesm's pain as he trod on them - and found a smaller gate. But it, too, was guarded. I said that I would walk through the front, but Elbry warned that it might be a trap, and I should enter unseen. I shrugged, bade them await my return, and walked Through the wall. They are foolish here, and do not coat their walls with the paste we make from men's death throes. On the other side of the wall, much green stuff. They call this a guard-in, and there they keep many tall silent creatures with no souls. When these die, they can be used for building, for they are composed of a sort of soft stone. But they do not watch, and gave no warning of my passage. In the centre of this guard-in was a building, too large for one person's dwelling. Indeed, I Sensed perhaps twenty people within, but most had the dullness of servants and slaves. I sensed Sheema, for she has the Power. Her husband, the man whom I had earlier disembowelled, was not there: she had arranged to meet me without him. I did not know why. I walked to a side door of the dwelling and opened it; there was a metal latch holding it on the other side, which I Lifted. Sheema must be the only person to use that door, for without the Power it would not open. Within, there were many lamps. They do not use human fat for their lamps, and the smell of them is less pleasant than ours; also, they burn unenhanced, so they are not very bright. Even so, I could see that I had entered a sitting room; instead of slaves or boulders, they have chairs made of dead guard-in creatures. They are comfortable, and Sheema was sitting in one, with a goblet of wine next to her. Sheema stood as I entered. Her body was covered by a thin blue robe that went down to the floor; it left her head and neck exposed, and part of her chest. The people here do not think of women as being animals, as we do, but it is still strange to me to see a woman stand. Her feet were bare: I could sense that, and also that she was using the Power, but she was very weak. It was a Compulsion, she was trying to Subjugate me. I felt it carefully: it was designed to make me want her to control her, and to make me think her beautiful. Perhaps she did not know that we find only men beautiful, not animals. I dismissed her Charm, but I did not mention it. Perhaps I would pretend that it had worked, and see what happened. Indeed, when she spoke, she clearly assumed she had control over me: Kneel, boy, she commanded, and so I knelt, with my arms at my sides and my legs apart, and looked up at her, smiling softly. This is not a usual position for me, but I have seen others adopt it, of course. Then she started to give me her instructions. Most of them I shall not bother to recount, but here are the first of them: You have not come here to find the Council of Mages. They are nothing. They are not important. You have come here to give me pleasure. You will not mention the Council again for fear of displeasing me. (Sheema narrowed her eyes for a moment and thrust her chest-lumps forward, a strange pose she appeared to think sexually arousing) I know you don't want to make me unhappy. It is the Council that I had come here to see, not this power-hungry woman. But I kept up the pretence, and when she gestured, I kissed her feet, and permitted her to grasp my hair and lead me up a flight of stairs into her sleeping chamber. She used me sexually, and although I was able to satisfy her, I did it by thinking of Heesm, imagining myself peeling the skin off his legs and arms and bathing in the ecstasy of his screams. When she had finished with me, she commanded me to leave, and then gave me her "permission" to return in two days' time. I bowed deeply and left; once outside her guard-in wall, I vomited onto the stone floor of the street. Heesm and Elbry were still there, squatting together and talking one with the other. The boy rushed to lick up my vomit, and when he had finished we walked back to the smithy. I made Heesm bathe in cold water to get rid of the mud, and then warmed him before the forge for a time. When he was covered in sweat and bright red, I entered him deeply. It is a joy so far removed from the power play of the woman, but I did not think of her, only of the boy writhing and crying and moaning and begging for more. At sixteen he is starting to grow hair on his body, but he may yet be young enough for the castration to stop it getting any more. My own body-hair was burnt off and has still not grown back, although the hair on my head was not altogether destroyed and still reaches below my shoulders, and in places down to my waist. Heesm's hair is reddish-brown and fine and long and straight: sometimes I pick him up by it. When I had finished playing with the boy, I made up my mind and ran my hands over his whole body from the neck down, every inch, Tearing out his hairs. While he wept, I grew strong. When I had finished, though, I kissed him, and used the Power to Awaken him. It is not usually done to a slave, but I had already promised to free him, and he would be more useful to me if pain and cold and heat did not affect him so much. I taught him, then, a little, and found him to be a quick learner. I used him some more, and, sensing the need within him, permitted him to kiss my body, anoint me with oil and massage me. We slept together, and in the morning he brought me a breakfast, not of the beautiful excrement that I would have chosen, for none here have enough Power, but flesh at least, and water mixed with wine.
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