Part 2 (1/2)

The girl-because he could tell she was a girl now, not a cyborg, despite the strange oculars on her eyes-was staring at him with a look of shock and confusion on her lovely face. He still couldn't quite tell what color her eyes were but they were fixed on him and her entire body was tense. Could it be that she recognized him as he had recognized her?

”You,” he growled hoa.r.s.ely. ”It's you.”

Chapter Three.

”You're absolutely right, it's me,” Lady Pope'nose proclaimed, obviously misunderstanding the prisoner's meaning though he was clearly staring at Maggie. ”I've come to see if you're ready to submit,” she continued, frowning at the bound man.

”Never,” he rasped, switching his attention to Lady Pope'nose. He glared at her, his slitted blue eyes filled with a fury that was almost palpable. Maggie s.h.i.+vered, glad that his anger wasn't directed at her.

”Is that right?” Lady Pope'nose frowned. ”So stubborn, this one,” she said to Maggie. ”I've had him for weeks and still he refuses to acknowledge me as his mistress.”

”Um...uh...” Maggie didn't know what else to say. She was still stunned that the huge man in her dreams was somehow real. How could this be? He was exactly how she had dreamed him, right down to the last detail. Huge, mostly naked-he appeared to be wearing nothing more than a ragged loincloth- muscular and covered in that silvery-gray dust. His cheeks were rough with stubble which might have been black but it was hard to tell because of the dust. He was even kneeling beside a small, chattering brook which somehow ran right through the middle of his prison, just as he had been in her dreams.

Maggie wondered if he was thirsty-her own throat ached for him as she watched him kneeling there, glaring up at his captor defiantly. A phrase from some half-remembered poem came back to her-”b.l.o.o.d.y but unbowed.” Yes, that fit him exactly. Here he was with his hands chained behind his back, being held captive by the s.a.d.i.s.tic Lady Pope'nose but still he refused to submit to her. Maggie felt a surge of admiration but it was clearly an emotion her hostess didn't share.

Lady Pope'nose took a step toward her prisoner. ”Say the words, slave. Beg my pardon and kiss my foot as is your duty. The key to your chains is right here.” She indicated a large grey metal k.n.o.b hanging from a hook on the wall across from him. ”Your freedom from pain is within your sight.” There was a taunting note in her voice and a cruel little smile was playing around her thin lips. ”I leave the key here with him on purpose,” she told Maggie. ”To remind him how quickly he can be free if only he will submit.”

”Never,” the prisoner growled again. ”And if you put your foot in my face I won't kiss it-I'll bite it. So stay the f.u.c.k away from me!”

The smile left Lady Pope'nose's mouth and her face turned dark with fury. ”How dare you insult and threaten me in front of my guest?” She pointed at him with one long finger. ”Trab!”

At once the lights on the slave's collar lit up and began to blink. At the same time, he went rigid with agony, his face contorted in a mask of pain. The cords on his strong neck stood out and his huge hands knotted into fists. But though it was clear he was in anguish, he didn't make a single sound.

”Wait! What are you doing to him?” Maggie stepped forward, wanting to end this awful show. She had never been able to stand to see a helpless creature hurt or in pain. Once when she was nine she'd taken on three older boys who were torturing a small, defenseless dog. She'd gotten a black eye and a b.l.o.o.d.y nose before her protective older brother, Michael, found her fighting but the dog had lived. In fact, it had been her pet for years. Sc.r.a.ppy had been a fighter and so was Maggie-especially when it came to helpless creatures who couldn't defend themselves.

”I'm punis.h.i.+ng him.” Lady Pope'nose's face was twisted into a sneer of triumph. With a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Maggie realized that she liked this. That she was getting pleasure from it.

Sick! She's sick! she thought. She's not just hypercritical-she's a s.a.d.i.s.t!

”Well, stop it!” she said desperately. ”Whatever you're doing, stop!” She ran forward, her hand outstretched to the prisoner, as though she could somehow stop his pain. It was the same, blind impulse that had gotten her beaten up when she rescued Sc.r.a.ppy and it had a similar effect now.

The moment her hand touched his naked shoulder, Maggie felt a jolt of pain lance through her. She gasped and went rigid-it was as though she's been suddenly struck by lightning. Agony ripped through her, setting her nerves on fire, making her feel like she was going to die.

”Krelb!” Lady Pope'nose shouted, ending the pain. She rushed forward to pull Maggie away from the chained man. ”Are you mad?” She shook Maggie roughly. ”What's wrong with you, getting so close?”

”I...I...” Maggie couldn't think-could barely even breathe. The pain was gone now, as though it had never happened. Not even a faint tingling remained. But she remembered it well-it was the worst thing she had ever felt even though it had lasted less than five seconds. How long did the prisoner have to endure it every time Lady Pope'nose came to torture him? ”That...that was awful,” she finally managed to gasp.

”Of course. The collar is set to maximum.” Lady Pope'nose shook her head. ”That was a very foolish thing you did and not just because you gave yourself a nasty jolt. This prisoner is extremely dangerous-even bound and restrained he could kill you if you get too close.”

Maggie looked again at the chained man. His huge, muscular body had gone limp and he sagged, his knees splayed apart. His head hung down and he was panting like a wounded animal. He didn't look like a threat to her-not in his current state, anyway.

”Why did you do that?” she demanded. Now that the pain was gone, she was so upset tears had come to her eyes. She took off her gla.s.ses and swiped at them angrily. ”How could you? He's helpless! How could you hurt him like that?”

”My dear Lady Jor'don.” Lady Pope'nose frowned. ”I'm simply trying to break him so he can be of useful service. And I'm not doing anything he doesn't richly deserve. Remember, my dear, he's a murderer many times over.”

”I don't care what he did,” Maggie said firmly, replacing her gla.s.ses. ”No one deserves to be tied up and tortured.”

Lady Pope'nose looked at her blankly. ”But my dear, it is the only way to break a defiant slave. Just think-he would be dead if not for me. If I hadn't bought him, he'd be rotting in a shallow grave somewhere with no one to mourn his loss. At least in his way he may be made to be useful...if he will ever learn manners.” She frowned at the still panting slave who was looking up again, studying Maggie's face.

Anyway, Maggie hoped it was her face he was looking at. The dinner gown that Lady Pope'nose had loaned her was positively indecent. It was a dark green velvet and it dipped low-very low-in front, barely covering her cleavage and then clung to her hips like a second skin before falling to her feet which were stuffed into the crazy high heels her hostess had insisted that she wear. For some reason, even though it was the prisoner who was half naked, Maggie felt completely undressed when he looked at her.

”Just...don't hurt him any more,” she begged, turning back to Lady Pope'nose. ”I can't stand to see that. We don't treat our, uh, slaves this way back home. I'm not used to it.”

”So I see,” Lady Pope'nose murmured dryly. ”Apparently you come from one of those misguided societies where they believe in being lenient with their slaves. More's the pity.” She sighed and shook her head. ”Well, I suppose everyone must have their own view.”

”Yes, well...” Maggie wanted to say that in her view, torturing helpless people was brutal and s.a.d.i.s.tic but she still didn't have the doc.u.ments she had come for. Reluctantly, she decided to hold her tongue.

”I was hoping to have him broken by now,” Lady Pope'nose mused, still looking at the bound man. ”I'm going off-planet to a retreat at the Lo'thian spa tomorrow morning quite early. It would have been quite a mark of status to have such a dangerous prisoner as my personal body-slave.” She frowned. ”That is not to be, I see. I shall have to pick another slave or maybe just make use of the slaves they have at the spa.”

Seriously? A spa? Was the s.a.d.i.s.tic Lady Pope'nose going to take time off of her busy schedule of torture and persecution for a spa weekend? Maggie felt hysterical laughter bubbling up in her throat and swallowed it down with difficulty.

”You're going to a spa?” she asked, instead.

”Not just any spa,” Lady Pope'nose a.s.sured her with a superior smile. ”The Lo'thian spa. They specialize in very particular treatments for the relaxation and pleasure of their guests. It's lovely, I hear. I've never been before because I'm always so busy. But this year I decided to make time and go.” She smiled brightly. ”Of course, I don't want you to worry, my dear Lady Jor'don. I'm certain we can finish our deal before I have to leave tomorrow.” She turned to the prisoner. ”And then you will be singing a different tune. Once you're fitted with the Hurkon collar, you'll beg to kiss my foot and call me 'Mistress.' Just wait and see.”

He didn't answer in words. Instead, a low, menacing growl rose from his thick throat. The sound made the hairs on the back of Maggie's neck stand on end. Was Lady Pope'nose crazy, trying to tame a man like this? Clearly he would rather die-or kill-than submit. Unless the Hurkon collar thingy was even worse than the pain collar he had on now...The minute the question entered her head, she had to ask it.

”Why is the Hurkon collar so effective?” she asked, turning to Lady Pope'nose. ”I mean, I've never seen it in action-how is it different from what you've got on him now?”

Lady Pope'nose put a hand to her narrow chest. ”Oh, my dear-a Hurkon collar is vastly superior to anything else on the market today. Why, it's actually sentient. It feeds on the pain of the prisoner so it's constantly coming up with new and different ways to cause distress. In fact, I'm told that even if the slave behaves himself, it still gives out periodic shocks when it gets hungry.” She t.i.ttered, as though she found the idea amusing. ”Keeps the slave on his toes, don't you know. Also there's a switch on the remote that's capable of knocking out a rebellious slave-a failsafe or 'kill switch' as it's called. Very useful for security reasons, I'm sure you'll agree.”

”Of course,” Maggie agreed dully. Inside she felt sick. What kind of horrible torture device had she just delivered to this s.a.d.i.s.tic b.i.t.c.h? How could the Kindred have let her do this? She sent up a silent prayer that Jonas would never find the remote. She couldn't bear the thought of the chained man being tortured with an even worse device than the one he already wore.

”Well...” Lady Pope'nose sighed. ”I supposed we should go. I'll just let the thirst work on this miscreant a little longer and come check him after I finish at the spa.”

Her words brought the other part of Maggie's dream back.

”But...what do you mean thirst? He's right beside a stream-within easy reach of the water.”

”Indeed, but the verium keeps him from ingesting it. Speaking of which...” Lady Pope'nose walked over to a small wooden barrel which was directly under the hook with the strange round, k.n.o.bby key. She pulled on a glove which was obviously provided for the purpose and scooped up a handful of silvery-gray dust from inside the barrel. Then she took two careful steps forward, reached out and sprinkled the dust over the top of the prisoner's head.

”Why did you do that?” Maggie looked at her doubtfully.

”It wears off in time.” Lady Pope'nose removed the glove carefully and dusted her hands together. ”Verium is extremely useful for sapping strength and suppressing power but you can't forget to renew it from time to time. That should hold him for a week, while I'm off to the spa.” She gave a decisive nod. ”Well, let's go see if Jonas has managed to find that remote yet. I swear I'll have his hide nailed to my front step if he hasn't.”

Maggie reflected that before the savage display she had just witnessed, she would have thought that Lady Pope'nose was joking. Now she was pretty sure the s.a.d.i.s.tic mistress was speaking literally. If the hapless Jonas couldn't find the remote, he was literally going to be skinned-probably while still alive. But if he did find the remote, the prisoner who was also the man in her dreams was going to live out the rest of his life in unspeakable agony.

I have to do something, she thought as she followed Lady Pope'nose out of the dungeon. I can't leave him like this-can I?

Turning her head, she cast one last look behind her at the chained man. To her dismay, she found that he was staring right back at her, his pale blue eyes fixed on her every move. As she watched, he nodded at her gravely, a look of respect on his strong features.

Maggie gave a quick, jerky nod in return-she didn't know what else to do. Then she turned back to the door and fled.