26

Orion woke two hours later with a nightmare. he had not cried out. Even in his sleep, he had trained
himself not to be loud if he had a nightmare; he got in trouble if he made too much noise and irritated a grumpy
taskmaster. When he opened his eyes he saw the room was empty. The two others that had been there were
gone, having been tended and allowed to rest for a little while. Orion mercifully never found out, but one of
them had died from his sickness. After Tamarin, he just might have been the last straw for his overstressed
mind.

He fell asleep again.

It was several hours later when he awoke. The boy had slept for fourteen hours, longer than he had ever
slept living in the hellpit Blackmoor called his compound. Groctis was back, and he watched the Mutant
silently, with terrified eyes. After a moment, the healer noticed he was being watched and smiled. "How are
you feeling, Orion?" he asked him.

Too afraid to speak, Orion shrugged and looked down. He was curled up cautiously under the blanket.
He hurt.

Groctis sighed quietly and slowly approached the boy. He had seen him several times before, and they
knew each other fairly well. Blackmoor hurt him more than most the others, and Groctis was the main heeler for
the slaves. But even so, Orion cringed back form him. He had never done that before. "Easy," he whispered,
and pulled up a chair so he wouldn't be towering over the little Thunderian. Carefully, he laid a hand on Orion's
head. "It will be all right. It's over now."

Shaking, Orion nodded his head, feeling tears burning his eyes. He put his thumb in his mouth, something he had not done in a few years.

"Hey," said Groctis in his low, gentle tone. "Will you let me trim your mane a little bit, and brush it
out?" The child's mane was growing long, and usually it was chopped off by an ill- wielded dagger when it
got that way. Blackmoor and his taskmasters didn't care what he looked like, just so the mane wasn't getting in
their way, or Orion's when he worked.

Orion hesitated for a moment. Understandably, he didn't trust any of the Mutants around him with anything sharp. But after a moment he did nod his head., Groctis never made him answer up or call him sir...and now he was grateful for it.

Groctis smiled. "Okay Hold still, Orion, all right?" He retrieved some medical scissors and sat down
once more. He did not make Orion sit up, only began to carefully trim hid matted mane away from his eyes. He
cut it somewhat short. he knew Orion didn't care what he looked like, and that way it would take longer for it
to grow out. Then he wouldn't have to put up with some exasperated taskmaster getting clumsy with his blade
doing it himself. He gently moved Orion's head so that he could get the back, and the other side. When he was
done, he took a brush from another drawer and began to brush his mane out. It took a while, but the medic was
a patient man.

Tense at first, Orion closed his eyes tightly, But he knew Groctis would not harm him, and after a
moment relaxed a little. So rarely did he received any care...he knew that Groctis probably felt sorry for what he
went through. The gentle brushing made him want to sleep again.

Groctis did not mind. He patted the boy's head when he was finished and swept the cut hair into a wastebarrel.
When Orion woke once more, it was to the unpleasant sound of his master's voice. Then he was wide
awake, his eyes opening in fear. He whimpered and cringed on the bed when the jackal entered the room.

Groctis was still in the room and raised a brow. "I thought he was to be given twenty-four hours?" he
asked in a mild tone. It had only been twenty.

"I came to see what condition he's in,. When can he go back to work?"

Groctis sighed. "If you give him light duty, he can go to work in a couple of days. I would not start him
with the heavy stuff for at least a week. And you really should feed him better if you want any kind of efficiency."

"He'll be fed enough." he reached forward and grabbed Orion's shortened mane. The child whimpered. "What's this?"
"I cut it sir, so you wouldn't have to bother."

"I see." Blackmoor looked coldly at Orion. "Get down on the floor and kneel, wretch."

Groctis frowned in disapproval, but said nothing, as Orion bit his lip and whispered his answer. He
painfully climbed down from the medical table, biting back an outcry as he stepped down. But he knelt silently
on the tile floor. He closed his eyes tightly, shaking from the pain his broken leg was sending up.
"Lick my boot."

Oh gods not again... Orion thought the words, but even as he thought them, he crawled forward to do as
he'd been commanded. but Blackmoor didn't make him do it for long. He laughed and kicked him lightly in
the side. The child lost his balance and fell over on the floor. "Good slave." He narrowed his eyes. "Get back
on your knees!"

With a terrified, stammered apology, Orion got back up into the kneeling position that Blackmoor demanded of his slaves.

"That's better." He then turned to Groctis. 'He can stay here for tonight, But at midmorning I will
comer to see how he has behaved, and then I want him in the cells. When he's able, I want him in the dining
hall cleaning tables." Blackmoor's dining hall was not used only for special occasions, like for the king's visit,
but was normally used for an actual restaurant. one of Blackmoor's many businesses.

"Yes, sir," the medic told him, and watched him leave. Once he was gone, he knelt by Orion. "You can
get up now, Orion." He had always made a point of calling the slaves by their names, instead of "slave" or
"wretch" or anything along those lines. Even "little one" and other usually kind names sounded demeaning to
him.

Orion let himself be helped back up onto the table, but he didn't look at the medic. He was too ashamed. But Groctis understood. "It's time for supper," he said. "I'll go get you something, all right?" Blackmoor had not said he couldn't eat supper, after all.

After a simple dinner of a somewhat bland stew (the medic didn't want to overwhelm the boy's
stomach), Groctis turned out the light in the room. But at Orion's frightened cry, he turned it back on. "All
right, all right, I forgot." Orion was not usually afraid of the dark, but when he couldn't see how big the room he
was in was, and after his ordeal, he was sensitive. "We can keep it on." He grinned and whispered conspiratorially
to the cub, "Tomorrow before he comes back, I'll get you some painkillers. Can't give you pills or anything,
but I have a few salves." he winked as he left, locking the door behind him.

Again, Orion fell asleep.

Chapter 27

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