Chapter 14
Late in the evening, the door opened in a rush of fresh air and lowering sunshine. Made shadows that lingered in the shed and frightened me with its dramatic entrance before Jennessa’s father came in. He carried a tray of food---meat and vegetables piled on a wooden plate with mounds of purple potatoes, a huge hunk of fresh bread liberally spread with honey butter. My mouth drooled at the smell and I watched with avid eyes as he set it down on the worktable behind my head. I could smell but not see it.
“How are you feeling?” he asked cranking up my bed frame so I could see out the door. A slice of life, soft grass lanes between rows of fully laden apple trees. Heavy with fruit. I could hear the lazy droning of bees, saw both red and yellow fruit. Some were as huge as melons, others as small as crabapples.
“Okay. Tired,” I answered. I drifted in and out, the hold of their drugs and spells stronger than my will to remain awake.
“I saw.” At my surprised look, he added, “We check in on you during the day. My name is Agenor Brightblade. I am a half-blood, like you.”
“Half-bred? I’m a half-bred what?”
“Do you know where you are, boy? This is the Midden, the heart of the Border as the human kind call it. Here, we take in those that have survived the crossing.”
I nodded. “I suspected so.”
“Do you know who you are? Remember anything at all?”
I shook my head carefully so I put no strain on my back and for the first time, I was able to move my hands and arms. I brought them around to rest on my stomach, looking at the scarred flesh and lumpy bones. They had not only been broken but clearly shattered yet were healing properly, straight and even.
“Well, I have to call you something. How about Reuven?” He asked me and I automatically translated the word to mean ‘fallen from a great height’ in Valesch.
I snorted. “Appropriate, isn’t it?”
He smiled. “It’s also a small, ferocious hawk that flies to great heights.”
“Oh.” I tried to crane my neck around to see the tray of food. He brought the platter to my bedside, popped open a set of legs and served me in bed. The plate held thick slices of meat, beef still dripping with blood and the sight made me lean forward licking my lips. My teeth ached and I opened my mouth with eagerness. He paused with the fork laden and stared, muttered a word that I’d never heard before and popped the chunk into my gaping maw. I didn’t even chew it; I simply sucked the juices out until there was nothing left but a flat piece of meat. I ate mostly meat, taking only a few bites of vegetables, potatoes and bread. He ate with me finishing what I hadn’t touched.
“Do you want a drink?”
“Water or milk if you have it, please,” I said. “I’m not that big on wine.”
“Cider? We have that in abundance. Soft or hard,” he returned and held the tankard for me. I drank half and then I needed to go which turned out to be a less complicated process than I thought. He rolled me onto my side and slid an oddly shaped pan under my butt end, waited for me to void and then, matter-of-factly wiped me clean. It hurt as I strained and felt like I was passing a watermelon but was only a bit bigger than a hen’s egg.
“Tomorrow, you ought to be able to get up. Take a bath if you want,” he said. “Jennessa will show you where and how.”
“Is she your only child?” I asked comfortably full and sleepy with my full belly.
“No. I have two sons, both rangers in the forestry service. One is a Hunter and the other a Guide. My wife cooks and cards. Jennessa takes care of the chickens and goats when she’s not tending you. I have ten…slaves that work the woods, fields and stables.”
“Ten…slaves?”
“This is one of the largest farms in the Middens, Reuven. I was going to market last week to purchase another five to finish harvesting but when Jenny found you; I postponed it until I knew you were going to survive.”
“Are you saying I’m a slave?” I asked my mouth dry as cotton.
“Yes. You have no Freeman’s mark, no family and no name which automatically makes you slave property to whomever finds and records you.”
“I’m no man’s slave!” I shouted and felt the glorious heat of rage give me the strength of a crazed demon. He spoke a word of power and I was pinned against the frame so that the only thing I could move was my eyes. I couldn’t even curse him; it was all I could manage just to breathe. His voice was flat and definitive. “You are a slave, Reuven. Cursed too, if I’m any judge. In this land and in my hands, you are property, bound and indebted to me until I declare otherwise. Do not force me to show you how a master treats an obstinate slave. There are worse things than what put those scars on your back. We have broken men much stronger than you.” So saying, he left me there and I wasn’t able to move until nearly half the night was gone.