a slave, he had no soul and no honour; and yet he slowly, and with dignity, sat back upon the floor before her cushions, his eyes mocking as he waited for her to name his fate. Revulsion not felt since she lay helpless beneath her brute of a husband made her shake.
Every fibre of her being cried out that this barbarian be made to suffer for the insult he had forced her to endure.
But what he had said gave her pause. His manner challenged her: call your guards, his tenseness seemed to say. Let them see the fingermarks on your flesh. Mara gritted her teeth against a shriek of pure rage. Her soldiers would know that this barbarian had held her at his mercy, and chose to let her go. Whether she ordered him scourged or executed, the victory would be his; he might have snapped her neck as easily as that of a snared songbird, and instead he had maintained honour as he understood it. And he would die with that honour intact, as if he had been killed in battle by an enemy's blade.
Mara grappled with a concept so alien it raised her skin to chill bumps. To vanquish this man through the use of superior rank would only diminish her, and to be shamed by a slave's action was unthinkable. She had trapped herself, and he knew it. His insolent posture as he sat waiting for her to act revealed that he had guessed to a fine point how her thinking would follow, and then staked his life on his hunch. That was admirable playing for a barbarian. Mara took stock of the result. Shaken again into chills, but Tsurani enough to hide them, she fought for composure. More hoarsely than she intended to sound, she said, 'You have won this round, slave.
By bargaining the only thing you have to risk, your own existence and whatever faint hope you have for elevation on the Wheel in the next life, you have put me in the position of either destroying you or enduring this shame.' Her expression changed from barely controlled rage to calculation. 'There is a lesson in this. I'll not forfeit such instruction for the pleasure in seeing your death - no matter how enjoyable that choice appears at the moment.' She called a servant. 'Return this slave to quarters. Instruct the guards that he is not to be allowed out with the workers.' Looking at Kevin, she added, 'Have him returned here after the evening meal tomorrow.'
Kevin mocked her with a courtier's bow, not obeisance due from a slave. His erect posture and confidant stride as he moved down the hallway forced her to admire him. As the door to her study closed, Mara returned to her cushions, battling chaos within. Shaken by unexpected emotions, she willed her eyes closed and ordered herself tot breathe deeply, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. She called up an image of her personal contemplation circle, a ritual first practised during her: service at the temple. She focused on the mandala's design and banished all recollection of the powerful barbarian as he held her at his mercy. Fear and anger drained away, along with other strangely exciting feelings. When at last Mara felt her body relax, she opened her eyes once more.
Refreshed, as always from such exercise, she considered the evening's events. Something might be gained from this odd man when all had been assimilated. Then another angry flash visited her. Mant This slave! Again she employed the exercise to calm the mind, but a strange and unsettled feeling lingered in the pit of her stomach. Clearly the balance of the night would hold nothing akin to tranquillity. Why did she find it so difficult to find her inner peace? Except for damaged pride she was unharmed. Early in life she had discovered that pride was a means of trapping enemies.
Perhaps, she considered, even I have pride I have not named.
Then, unexpectedly, she giggled. You can kill me, but you can't eat me, the barbarian had said. Such an odd expression, but one that revealed much. Caught by rising laughter, Mara thought, I'll eat you, Kevin of Zun. I'll take your free soul and heart and tie them to me more than your body was ever bound. Then the laughter became a choked sob, and tears trailed down her cheeks. Outrage and humiliation overwhelmed her until she shook in spasms. With that pain