Finder: First Ordinance, Book One by Connie Suttle Read Free Book Online Page A

senseless. And this after I'd already hit her in the dining hall. She's in my mother's suite this morning, helping the maids dust and clean as part of her punishment."
    "I don't know what else you could do, my Prince. Had you held back, they might suspect that she is a bargaining chip and bring their own harm against her to get to you."
    "You think I don't realize that?" Amlis rose from the seat behind his desk and walked to the window. At least the weather was relenting and snow was melting on the ground two floors below, making a muddy mess of the courtyard.
    "It's this way, always," Chen sighed. "She won't meet your eyes from here on out, so don't expect it unless it's ordered. Wolter didn't notice it for the longest time, and now he harbors regrets."
    "Did he know how beautiful she is?" Amlis turned away from the window to ask.
    "No. And honestly, neither did I. She kept herself covered in ash and soot. We never looked past that."
    "Rodrik hasn't spoken to me since," Amlis muttered, staring out the window again. "It's as if I've had both beaten."
    "Life happens as it will, my Prince," Chen whispered. "I must go."
    * * *
    Muscles in my back and arms ached as I rolled up the heavy rug, preparing it for transport to the back garden where it would be hung by menservants and beaten to get the dust out. Maids laughed and gossiped around me, but I was mired in my own misery and ignored most of it.
    I did not take comfort in Irdith's death, although it was deserved and long past due. How can I explain that? The answer is simply that I cannot. If I were offered a riding whip and the opportunity to hit both Amlis and Rodrik, I could not. The whip would be tossed away and I would take my leave.
    Rumblings had begun in my head, however, over why I stayed and accepted abuse. Perhaps it was because there was no other place to take me, where I would not be in just as much danger.
    "Finder, come." Rodrik was inside Amlis' suite when my day of cleaning the Queen's old quarters was over. I stared deliberately at his chin—he'd beaten me. I would never search his eyes again. I would know everything I needed to know without it. His riding crop was in his hand and truly, I expected a second beating wherever he was taking me. That, as it turns out, was the stables.
    Garth waited there, with a tub filled with hot water inside the stablemaster's quarters, located at the rear of the lengthy building. A fresh uniform waited for me as well, draped over a wooden chair, scraped and scarred from many turns' use.
    "Clean up," Rodrik commanded. "Garth will put salve on the wounds afterward." Rodrik stalked out, leaving me with a puzzled Garth.
    "I'll step outside," Garth offered. Giving him a curt nod, I waited until he was gone before removing my clothing. My neck had ached all day, and when I'd rubbed it, my hand had come away bloodied. Rodrik had broken skin in several places, leaving crusted blood behind.
    I'd washed as much of it away as I could that morning, but cleaning the Queen's suite had broken the wounds open again and in places, my clothing had to be painfully peeled away. My back and neck were the worst—I wanted to moan as I forced the fabric away from my body.
    Lowering my frame into the tub came next, and it was nearly as painful as removing my uniform. A brush was provided to wash my back, and I was forced to wash the brush, afterward, as the bristles were bloody when I finished with it. The towel was wrapped about me when Garth knocked, and he came in with a pot of salve.
    He had no words as he rubbed salve into the back of my neck first, and the medicine stung so badly it brought tears to my eyes. My talent informed me it was the same he used for the horses, but I was a worthless servant after all, and a horse would bring more at market.
    Garth pulled the towel lower to get to my back and drew in a gasp. Fingering the bone spurs that reappeared every turn, he rose and walked away. Without a doubt, I knew he was going to Rodrik with