Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind [338]
It was long since dark out the window, but thankfully the lamps were lit and at least he didn’t have to stand in the dark. The two bells announced the end of evening devotion. Still Denna was not back. His training time came and went. Still no Denna. Richard was fraught with worry.
At last, he heard the door push open. Denna’s head was bowed, her posture stiff. The braid was undone and her hair disheveled. She laboriously pushed the door closed. He saw that her skin was ashen, her eyes wet. She didn’t look at him.
“Richard,” she said in a small voice, “fill my bath for me. Please? I need a bath, I feel very dirty right now.”
“Of course, Mistress Denna.”
He dragged the tub in and ran as fast as he could to fill it. He didn’t think he had ever done it more quickly. She stood and watched as he brought in bucket after bucket. When he was finished, he stood panting, waiting.
Her trembling fingers started unbuttoning the leather. “Help me with this? I don’t think I can do it by myself.”
He unbuttoned it for her as she shivered. Wincing, he had to peel it off her back; some of her skin came with it. His heart was pounding. Denna was covered with welts from the back of her neck to the back of her ankles. Richard was frightened, and he ached with hurt for her, for the pain she was in. Tears came to his eyes. The power roared up in him. He ignored it.
“Mistress Denna, who did this to you?” he demanded.
“Master Rahl. It is nothing I did not deserve.”
He held her hands and helped her into the tub. She let out a little sound as she sank slowly into the hot water, sitting stiffly.
“Mistress Denna, why would he do this to you?”
She winced when he put the soapy cloth to her back. “Constance told him I was being too easy on you. I deserve what was done to me. I have been lax in your training. I am Mord-Sith. I should have done better. I received only that which I deserve.”
“You do not deserve this, Mistress Denna, it is me who should have taken the punishment. Not you.”
Her hands trembled as she held the sides of the tub and he carefully washed her. He gently wiped the sweat off the white skin of her face. She stared ahead the whole time he worked, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.
Her lip quivered. “Tomorrow, Master Rahl will see you.” His hand stopped washing for a second. “I’m sorry, Richard. You will answer his questions.”
He glanced up at her face, but she didn’t look back. “Yes, Mistress Denna.” He rinsed her off with water cupped in his hands. “Let me dry you off.” He did it as gently as he could. “Do you wish to sit, Mistress Denna?”
She gave an embarrassed smile. “I don’t think I would like that, just now.” She turned her head stiffly. “Over there. I will lie on the bed.” She took his hand when he put it out for her. “I can’t seem to stop shaking. Why can’t I stop shaking?”
“Because it hurts, Mistress Denna.”
“I’ve had much worse than this done to me. This was only a small reminder of who I am. But still, I can’t stop shaking.”
She lay facedown on the bed, her eyes on him. Richard’s worry made his mind start working again.
“Mistress Denna, is my pack still here?”
“In the cabinet. Why?”
“Just lie still, Mistress Denna, let me do something, if I can remember how.”
He pulled his pack from a high shelf in the cabinet, laid it on the table, and started rummaging through it. Denna watched him, the side of her face resting on the backs of her hands. Beneath a carved bone whistle on a leather thong, he found the package he was searching for, and laid it open on the table. He pulled out a tin bowl, took his knife from his belt, and laid it, too, on the table. He stood and took a jar of cream from the cabinet. He had seen her spread it on her skin. It was just what