The Priest by Monica La Porta Read Free Book Online Page B

to pick him
up, he was still dazed by the events of the night before. He also
hadn’t slept at all and he felt hunger beyond bearing, but he
smiled at the tall woman who still regarded him with disdain. He
followed her to the depository room and even managed to fill the
cup as requested. He didn’t make it back to his cell, though. Black
spots danced before his eyes when he stood up and then fainted.

Chapter 5
    “What did I tell you regarding this semental?” Several voices talking at the same time woke Mauricio
up, but only the Priestess’ voice overpowered all the others. He
lay quietly and awaited his fate, while trying to assess where he
was. The place was unfamiliar—too clean and too bright. He half
closed his eyes, too curious to shut them down, but cautious enough
not to let the women know he had come around.
    “Your Holiness, I was just following the
rules. The slave wasn’t producing at all, and I punished him by
giving him less to eat,” the tall guard said.
    Mauricio, even lying down, was still
lightheaded. He followed the conversation, thinking the whole
situation would have been rather amusing if the women hadn’t been
talking about the propriety of starving him to death.
    The Priestess shook her head. “You obviously
don’t understand, do you? You can’t reduce his food without asking
my permission.” She was talking exceedingly slow, accentuating
every word.
    “My apologies, Your Holiness. I thought
that… the handbook says to punish slaves if… but I realize now I
should have known better given that he is—” The tall guard lowered
her head to stare at the floor when the Priestess raised one hand
to silence her.
    “You are demoted, immediately.” The
Priestess’ voice was calm. “From now on, I will personally hire all
guards for the semental wing.” She was now talking to another
guard.
    “As you wish, Your Holiness.” The guard, a
woman Mauricio hadn’t seen before, lowered her head in
deference.
    “What I wish is to have guards with an
education for a change. How can you hire someone who doesn’t know
anything about slaves?” the Priestess asked the audience, betraying
her anger. “Did you, at least, give him his daily ration of water?”
She singled out the tall guard, who was trying to disappear near
the back of the room.
    The tall guard briefly looked at the
Priestess, her face twisted in a terrified expression. “I’m… not
sure…” she answered, voice broken.
    “You aren’t sure, or you know you didn’t
give him his daily ration of water?” The Priestess’ voice boomed in
the room.
    “I might have… reduced the water.”
    “Have you even read the handbook you
mentioned? Do you know what it says regarding withholding
water?”
    “I…” The tall guard began sobbing.
    “Get her out of here. I can’t bear
stupidity.” The Priestess waited as the woman was escorted outside,
then looked around, giving each and every guard left in the room a
piercing stare and then continued, “The handbook clearly states
that it is critical, I repeat, critical not to reduce the
amount of water allotted daily to slaves. The slave’s productivity
suffers from lack of water in their bodies. Semen production
suffers without proper hydration. Now, do you have the slightest
idea of what I am trying to say here?” She paused and low murmurs
filled the silence.
    Mauricio heard the words ‘this semental’,
‘the President’s daughter’, and ‘semen’ repeated several times by
the scared guards.
    “Exactly! I see that you aren’t completely
useless. So, my question is, if the President’s daughter loses the
baby, what are we going to do without his semen?” the Priestess
stated.
    At the Priestess’ words, Mauricio almost
revealed he was full awake and listening. This isn’t possible…
what she’s saying… did I hear correctly?
    “I need him fully functional, and quickly.
Give him something to hydrate him and, instead of three meals, give
him six small meals