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He put his effort into doing everything she wished, hoping he would please her. He was hoping, too, that he would be given something to eat. He hadn’t eaten since she had captured him. He wondered which he wanted more—sleep, or food. He decided that what he wanted the most was for the pain to stop. Or for him to be allowed to die.
He was at the end of his strength, felt his life slipping away from him, and awaited the end with longing. De
When at last she unhooked the shackles from the beam, he thought it must be night again—he had no sense of time anymore. He waited for her to hook up the chain, or throw it on the floor and tell him he could sleep. She did neither. She instead hooked it over the chair, told him to stand, and left. When she returned, she was carrying a bucket.
“On your knees, my pet.” She sat in the chair next to him, took a brush from the hot soapy water, and started scrubbing him. The stiff bristles brought a pain all of their own as they worked into his wounds. “We have a di
She worked with an odd sort of tenderness. It reminded him of the way a person would care for a dog. He fell against her, unable to hold himself up. He wouldn’t lean against her for support if he had the strength not to, but he didn’t. She let him stay where he was as she scrubbed. He wondered who the di
De
He only nodded, not having enough strength to speak.
Queen Milena. So they were in her castle. He guessed that didn’t surprise him. Where else would she have had time to take him? When she was finished, she allowed him one hour of sleep, to rest for di
She woke him with her boot instead of the Agiel. He almost cried at her mercy and heard himself thanking her profusely for her kindness to him. She gave him instructions as to his behavior. He would have his chain hooked to her belt, and was to keep his eyes to her, speak to no one unless they spoke to him first, and then only if he looked to her first for permission to answer. He would not be allowed to sit at the table, but would sit on the floor, and if he behaved himself, he would be given something to eat.
He promised to do as she wished. The idea of sitting on the floor sounded wonderful to him: to be able to rest, and not have to stand, or be hurt. And to be allowed something to eat, at last. He would make sure he did nothing to displease her, or to keep her from giving him food.
Richard’s brain was in a fog as he followed behind De
In the room with other people, De
He found himself thinking about how beautiful her hair really was, how much finer she looked than any of the other women at the di
Richard bowed and stayed bowed while De
As she sat at the table, De
“Since you don’t eat meat,” the Queen said to De
De
“For my pet,” she told him, interrupting her conversation only briefly.
The man took the bowl from the tray and handed it down to Richard. It was some sort of gruel, but to Richard, as he held the bowl in his trembling hands, preparing to drink it down, it looked like the best meal he had ever seen.
“If he’s your pet,” Princess Violet said, “why do you allow him to eat like that?”
De
“Well, if he’s your pet”—the Princess smiled—“he should eat off the floor, without his hands.”
De
“Put it on the floor,” Princess Violet said, “and eat it like a dog, for us all to see. Let everyone see that the Seeker is no better than a dog.”
Richard was too hungry to do anything to lose his meal. He concentrated on a mental image of De
After the Queen and her guests had finished eating, a man in chains was brought in and made to stand in the center of the room. Richard recognized him. He was one of the men Kahlan had freed from the dungeon. They exchanged a brief look of understanding, despair.
There was talk of crimes and foul deeds done. Richard did his best to ignore it—he knew it was merely a pretext. The Queen gave a short lecture on the man’s crimes, then turned to the Princess.
“Perhaps the Princess would like to pronounce this man’s punishment?”
Princess Violet stood, beaming. “For his crimes against the Crown, one hundred lashes. Then, for his crimes against the people, his head.”
A murmur of agreement swept the room. Richard felt sick, but at the same time he wished he could exchange places with the man. The one hundred lashes would be easy, and there would be an axe at the end of it.
Princess Violet turned to De
“Stop down anytime you wish.” De
When they were back in the stone room, De