"No," I said. "You didn't give him the wererats. You won." I touched Jean-Claude's shoulder, and he put me down. I could stand. Yippee.
"Very impressive, Ulfric," Padma said, "but let's see just how impressive you can be, shall we? Thank you, Rafael, for spoiling the surprise. I will return the favor someday." The gloves, as they say, were off. Padma's power thundered through the room. I staggered, and only Jean-Claude's hand kept me from going to my knees.
Richard screamed and did fall to his knees. We were just getting the backwash of Padma's power. Richard was getting the full treatment. I expected him to do with Richard what he'd done with me, but he didn't. He had other plans.
"Change for me, Richard. I like my food with fur."
Richard shook his head. His voice came out strangled, as if the words were being dragged through his throat. "Never."
" 'Never' can be a very long time," Padma said. I felt his power like insects marching over my skin, ants with red-hot pokers taking bites. It was what he'd done to the wereleopard, Elizabeth, when he punished her.
Richard didn't writhe on the floor like she had. He said, "No." He got his feet under him and took a staggering step towards the vampire.
The burning got worse, the red-hot bites closer together like a continuous sheet of tiny fires. I made a small sound, and still Richard stood. He took another staggering step.
The rush of power stopped so abruptly that the absence of pain brought Richard to his knees nearly at Padma's feet. His breathing was loud in the sudden silence.
"Pain will not bring you to me," Padma said. "Shall we dispense with the games, Ulfric? Shall I feed now?"
"Just get it over with," Richard said.
Padma smiled, and there was something in his smile that I didn't like. As if he had everything under control, and everything was going as planned.
He stood behind Richard and dropped gracefully to his knees. He smoothed his hand down the side of Richard's neck, turning his head to the side for a good clean strike. One arm slid across Richard's chest, pinning him to his body; the other hand pressed his face to one side.
Padma leaned over him and whispered something in his ear. A spasm ran the length of Richard's body. He tried to break free of Padma, but the vampire was amazingly quick. He slid both arms under Richard's, fingers clasped behind Richard's neck. A classic full Nelson. Richard's struggles ended with him on the ground and the vampire on top of him. If it had been a wrestling match, Richard would have been pinned, lost. But no referee was coming to say "time."
"What's happening?" I asked.
"I warned Richard," Rafael said, "but he's always been so strong."
"What?" I asked.
"He is calling Richard's beast, ma petite," Jean-Claude said. "I have seen him do it before."
Richard's body spasmed so violently, his head hit against the floor with a sharp crack. He rolled on his side, but the vampire stayed on him, whispering, whispering.
"Did he manage to call your beast like this?" I asked Rafael.
"Yes."
I looked at him.
He stared at the show, not meeting my eyes. "He called my beast like water pouring over my skin, then drained it away. He did it over and over, until I passed out. I woke as you found me on the rack, being skinned." His voice was neutral as he told it all, as if it were a story about someone else.
"Help him," I said, turning to Jean-Claude.
"If I enter that circle, Padma will use it as an excuse to challenge me. If it is a duel, I will lose."
"He's baiting you, then," I said.
"He is also enjoying himself, ma petite. Breaking the strong is his greatest joy in this existence."
A scream poured from Richard's mouth. A scream that ended in a howl.
"I'm going to help him."
"How, ma petite?"