Sentinel, page 5
The meal was a tedious affair for me. Conversation flowed and most people seemed to be having a good time, but I had the misfortune of being seated next to Melantha and the looks Rose was giving her were making me feel uncomfortable. Not that Melantha noticed; her eyes never left Tallis. Though he responded when she spoke to him, not once did he initiate the conversation. He seemed almost as uncomfortable as I was feeling.
Except when he was speaking with his parents. He couldn’t hide the joy he was obviously feeling at having them there. He acted so much like a normal person that I could almost forget what he was for a while. Until I saw his eyes. Then the feelings of dread he always filled me with returned.
As I was seated next to his father, I kept my attention on him as much as possible; anything to avoid looking at Tallis. I finally plucked up the courage to ask him some questions which I hoped he wouldn’t think were rude.
“Why do you look at your wife before speaking most of the time?”
He smiled at me, obviously not offended by the question. “She is my owner.” I have never heard the word ‘owner’ spoken with such affection. When he looked over at her, his eyes were full of love. Her eyes were no different when she returned the gaze.
“I know, but I don’t understand what exactly that entails.”
“Then let me enlighten you, my dear.” I liked the fact that he didn’t call me ‘your Highness’ or ‘Lady’. He was treating me as though I was part of his family and it made me feel good.
“I will answer your question first,” he continued. “As a slave, I have to seek permission to speak, unless I’m responding to someone who is speaking to me directly, as you are.”
“But what if your owner isn’t with you?”
“My owner is always with me. I am not permitted to leave the house without her, unless she temporarily hands me over to someone else.”
I was horrified. He wasn’t just a slave, he was a prisoner. “How can you bear it?” I asked.
Again he smiled at me. “We would constantly be together with or without the shackles, so what difference do they make?”
‘All the difference in the world,’ I thought to myself, but I remained silent.
Uninvited, Melantha joined in our conversation. “Balor is a bit of a legend back home. Never before has a magic user allowed himself to become a slave. Most women are jealous of Macha. Having a man adore you so much that he gives up everything for you is something most women can only dream about.”
She looked across at Tallis as she spoke and I could almost read her mind. She was hoping he would do the same for her. Something told me she was going to be disappointed.
“Mel is exaggerating,” Balor said. “Something she is prone to. She is the daughter of my wife’s best friend so I have known her all of her life. She has been like this since she was a child.”
He was affectionately teasing her, which caused her to smile. “It doesn’t mean I am wrong,” she said then turned her attention back to Tallis.
“Are you ever permitted to wear clothes?” I asked. “Don’t you get cold?” While the weather was pleasant in the spring, it could get bitterly cold in the winter.
Balor shook his head. “The collar I wear is not a normal collar. It is magically enhanced to put a shield over me, which protects me from the sun and rain and regulates my temperature. I am probably more comfortable most of the time than you are.”
“Like built in central heating.”
“Something like that.”
That made me a little bit jealous. It must be great to be able to go outside when it was colder without having to wear layers of heavy clothing. Then I remembered that he was naked and my jealousy evaporated.
“What about shoes?” I asked. “Does the shield also protect your feet?”
“It does. There is, however, a downside to wearing the collar. It can also be used to kill me.”
I had just taken a mouthful of water and began to choke.
“What!” I spluttered.
My reaction amused him. “All collars are programmed so that the slave’s owner can, with just one command, make them tighten, breaking the slave’s neck. It stops slaves from attacking their owners.”
“What stops the owner abusing the situation to make the slave do whatever they want, no matter how horrible or undignified?”
“Our laws. If slaves aren’t treated properly, they can request an investigation and will be taken away from their owners if it turns out they are being treated unfairly. Sentinels are used in the investigation so the truth always comes out. Anyone can report an abuse of a slave if they suspect it is happening and whenever a slave is killed, there is always an investigation to make sure it was justified. The owner is charged with murder if it turns out it wasn’t.”
Balor was a fascinating man and I could easily have spoken to him for hours, if it wasn’t for the fact that I could see Rose out of the corner of my eye.
“What discipline of magic does your yellow band represent?” I asked him.
He looked at his wrist as he replied, as though he had forgotten it was there. “I’m an Empath,” he said.
That explained a lot. When he glanced at his son as we were being introduced to him, he was probably reading Tallis’s feelings about each of us. Then a horrible thought occurred to me; it was likely he was doing the same to us. Did he know how much Tallis frightened me still?
The thought made me feel ill and the meal couldn’t be over soon enough for me
After we had finished eating, we left Tallis alone with his visitors; after all, they were there to see him not us. They were given rooms in the guest wing and we would see them again in the morning for breakfast.
“That bitch is not going to take my man,” Rose said the moment we entered the drawing room which we often used for family discussions. Other than my father, all of my family were there.
“Rose,” Etain said in shock. “You shouldn’t speak that way about a guest in our house.”
“Why not? She can’t hear me. The way she kept looking at him it’s obvious why she’s here.”
“She’s a family friend. Tallis has known her for years. Maybe they have a little history,” I said. Was I purposely adding fuel to the fire? Maybe a little.
“History is in the past and that’s where she should stay,” Rose hissed.
“Tallis didn’t seem overly pleased to see her,” Olwen said. She always was the peacemaker.
Rose changed the subject. “I’ll tell you one thing. I hope that Tallis is as well-endowed as his father.”
The comment made Tephi choke on his drink. “You shouldn’t have been looking.”
“If there was a naked woman in the house, you would be looking.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
Tephi had no answer for that.
Sex
When I went to my room, I tried to read a book, but I couldn’t settle. Eventually I gave up, got changed into my scruffiest clothes, lit a lamp and entered the secret passageways.
I didn’t have a destination in mind, but I soon found myself spying on Tallis. He and his parents were catching up, the way family does. Melantha was sitting next to him and kept placing her hand on his thigh or his hand. Each time he moved her hand away. This was taking flirting to the next level and I was disgusted that she would do it in front of his parents. The look on his face suggested he felt the same.
I know it was rude to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t stop myself. I’m not proud of my actions.
They spoke of his brother. It sounded like he had built himself a reputation for being a ladies man.
Melantha hardly spoke. She was still at the academy and didn’t seem pleased that Tallis had already left. Her entire demeanour screamed that she wanted to be alone with Tallis, but nobody was taking the hint.
When Tallis said he needed sleep, I moved along the passageways until I reached the spyhole into his suite. He had only just arrived when there was a knock on the door.
Half expecting it to be Melantha, I was surprised to see Rose there. She was dressed in just her nightgown and had redone her makeup.
“Princess,” Tallis said, nothing more. No ‘nice to see you’ or ‘how can I help?’. With just one word he let her know how unwelcome she was. She was oblivious to how he felt.
“I just wanted to say how sorry I am that we all had to see your father so demeaned. It must have been embarrassing for you. I can understand you being ashamed of him.”
I couldn’t believe she had said something so awful. I couldn’t see Tallis’s face, but I could almost feel the anger rolling off him. “Do not speak of things you do not understand,” he hissed. “I am proud of my father and have no reason to be ashamed of him.”
Without saying another word, he slammed the door in her face. He then paced the room, clenching and unclenching his fists. I could understand how he felt. What Rose had said was horrible and I couldn’t understand what she thought it would achieve. Did she really believe he was ashamed of his father and would welcome her sympathy? I had no idea. What I did know was that anyone observing him during the meal would have known his true feelings about his father.
He still hadn’t calmed down when there was another knock at the door. I felt sorry for whoever was on the other side. Part of me hoped that it was Rose again.
Tallis yanked the door open and Melantha waltzed in, and I do mean waltzed. She walked so gracefully it was almost like dancing. Tallis didn’t seem impressed. “Why are you here?” he asked.
She smiled at him. “I think we both know the answer to that.” She placed her palm against his cheek. “I’ve missed you.” He knocked it away.
“I made it perfectly clear at the academy that whatever we had is over.” I was right, they did have a history together and it seemed they were more than just friends.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I’m a Sentinel. I can’t lie.”
She swayed her hips as she walked over to a sofa and sat down. She obviously thought it was enticing, but it had no effect on Tallis. “You still want me.” She sounded so sure of herself, so confident.
“No, I don’t.”
Melantha laughed. “You may have yourself convinced, but not me.”
“What is it you want from me? You know we can’t be together.”
“That’s not what you said at the academy.”
Tallis sat down, as far from Melantha as he could get.
“Don’t twist my words, Mel. The academy was just about sex and you know it. It was safe to experiment with each other.”
“So you used me.” The sorrow she put into her voice was so fake I almost laughed.
“We used each other. Stop trying to pretend it was anything more.”
“Why can’t it be more?”
“You know why. Are you saying you would be prepared to make yourself my slave?”
“Why would I have to be the slave? Your father seems happy with his choice. Or is the high and mighty Sentinel Tallis too egotistical to follow in his father’s footsteps?”
If she was trying to push his buttons, she succeeded.
“Leave my parents out of this,” he snapped. “And for your information, for the right woman, I would willingly surrender myself.”
Melantha frowned. “You’re lying. How are you doing that?” I had been wondering the same thing myself.
“I’m not. I would give up everything for the woman I love, but I won’t be allowed to.”
“Why not? What’s so special about you?” Melantha sneered.
Tallis held out his arm, revealing his coloured bands. “I’m a triple. The first one ever to have existed. Do you really think the Council will allow me to surrender myself to anyone?”
Melantha suddenly looked unsure of herself. Then a calculating look crossed her face. “Then why don’t I just give you what you need.”
He raised a quizzical eyebrow at her.
“Sex.” She purred the word rather than spoke it. I was shocked that a woman could be so direct.
“I don’t need sex, Mel,” Tallis stated.
It was Melantha’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Really. Now why don’t I believe you? You may have convinced yourself that you’re speaking the truth, but you won’t convince me. It’s not as if you are getting any here. You wouldn’t take the risk and we both know it.”
I had no idea what risk she was talking about. I added that to the list of questions I wanted to ask the Sentinel, though I was sure I would never pluck up the courage to do so.
“You’re right,” Tallis said. “But that means nothing. I don’t need to have sex with someone. I don’t crave physical contact with another human being the way you obviously do.”
I didn’t understand how she could be right. Rose had seen him visiting a brothel so he must have had sex. He had to be lying, but he said he couldn’t lie. Or had he been lying when he told me that? Melantha seemed to think he couldn’t. Had he found a way? I was so confused.
“I don’t need or want sex, Mel,” he said.
The smile dropped from her face. “Well I do,” she more or less shouted at him. “I haven’t been with a man since you left. It’s been months, Tal, months.”
I watched Tallis cross his arms as though he was putting up a barrier between them. “So this is about you, not me. Why am I not surprised? It’s not my fault you haven’t had sex, Mel. There are plenty of men at the academy who know how to block their minds and I know from experience that you are more than capable of seducing someone to get what you want.”
Melantha pouted. It was not a good look for her. It made her go from being a beautiful young woman to a spoilt child. “I don’t trust anyone else.”
Tallis glanced across at me. Yes, I know he couldn’t have done as I was the other side of the wall and he didn’t know I was there, but that’s what it felt like. He looked like he was trying to make up his mind about something.
He sighed, then looked back at Melantha. “Alright,” he said in a resigned tone. “But this means absolutely nothing. We are not getting back together. And this will be the last time, do you understand?”
A look of glee filled Melantha’s face and she threw her arms around him. Then she kissed him, passionately. It took him a moment to respond. I know I should have looked away, but I couldn’t.
With one hand, Tallis drew down the zip of her dress. Then he waved his arm in my direction. The next thing I knew his enchanted curtain had fallen into place. I could see and hear absolutely nothing.
There was nothing I could do except return to my room. I went to bed and fell asleep pondering whether I would tell Rose what I saw or not.
Hair
Needless to say, I said nothing to Rose about what I had seen. The next morning, Melantha looked like the cat who had gotten the cream, while Tallis appeared to be avoiding her. Neither of them spoke about what had happened between them, though I suspected that Tallis knew that I knew. I wasn’t the only one to breathe a sigh of relief when she departed.
It was many months later that I got to witness for myself the Sentinel’s skills. It is not something I will ever forget.
I was called in to see my father one morning. Lord Penbroke, who lived in one of the northern provinces, would be arriving that day, along with his son, Akar. There were rumours that the northern provinces were thinking about claiming independence and my father wanted to form an alliance with this lord through marriage.
“You will be dining with us tonight and you will, for once, wear a dress. And I don’t mean one of your summer dresses you put on when it’s too hot to wear trousers.”
“Why?” I asked. “It’s not as if Akar would be interested in me once he has met my sisters.”
“He is to have the choice.” His tone of voice suggested that he was not going to back down about this. I tried to make him anyway.
“So he gets a choice and we don’t? How is that fair? Are your children just commodities that you can trade?”
His answer shocked me. “Yes,” he spat at me. “Now make sure you obey me on this. You won’t like the consequences.”
I stormed out of the room, seething. How dare he say that we are just commodities. We are people, people who deserve a say in what happens to us. I always knew that I would have an arranged marriage, but I didn’t like being treated like livestock a potential buyer might be interested in.
Would I obey him and wear a dress? Of course I would; not only was he my father, but he was also the king and, despite the way he came across sometimes, he always had the best interests of his kingdom at heart. But I was going to go down fighting.
I went to my room and slammed the door behind me. Then I rummaged through my drawers until I found what I was looking for. For one of my father’s failed attempts at getting me interested in dressmaking, he had bought me a pair of scissors. They had only ever been used once. I made such an appalling attempt at making a dress that the poor seamstress who was trying to teach me walked out and never returned.
I walked over to my mirror, took a bunch of hair in one hand and cut.
It didn’t take long to cut it all so short I could be mistaken for a boy. It was haphazard and looked a mess, but I didn’t care. My father wanted to put me on display like a painting and I was determined that I was not going to be the one to be purchased.
Tephi was the first member of my family to see what I had done and took me into an empty room. I thought he was going to shout at me, but instead he burst out laughing.
“You look terrible,” he said.
“That is the general idea.”
“Father is not going to be pleased.”
“I know. That’s the point.”
He folded his arms and looked at me, scrutinising me as though he was trying to work out what to do with me.
“Come on,” he eventually said. “You should at least get it tidied up a bit.”
He took me out into the city to visit a hair stylist. The poor woman almost fainted when she saw what I had done. It took a long to time to convince her I wasn’t there to buy a wig.
