Chapter 13

Warning: Minor character’s death.

~A Good Servant~

A soft humming sound was caressing his sense of hearing. He tried to open his eyes, but the eyelids felt heavy as lead. Just as the tongue inside his mouth; some unarticulated sounds came out, and he could barely register they were just half words he was trying to speak.

A warm hand came to rest on his forehead.

“Easy, you’re safe here,” he heard Lucas’s voice, low as a whisper.

Something sweet and moist was pushed past his lips and he allowed the intrusion. It felt good, cool against his heavy tongue. Soon enough, he descended back into his slumber.

Lucas rose and sighed. Recovery was going to take a while. With proper care, the marks on Cory’s back were going to heal. The ones in his heart were a different matter. And there was also the problem with the brand. The Head Trainer was not happy about it. He had clearly stated that letting a servant, damaged in such a manner, to continue to tend to a Master’s needs in Drena, was undesirable.

He had examined the burned flesh, barely containing the hatred he felt within. He had to focus on Cory’s recovery at the moment and on convincing the Head Trainer to leave the young man in his service. But the future, which he had always thought of as being set in stone, each day resembling the other, with no big surprises, no high hopes, now seemed muddy and a cause of unease.

There was a storm of emotions he was trying to cope with. Antoine escaping punishment without as little as a slap on the wrist, the Head Trainer’s conviction that Lucas had to see about getting a different servant, and the raw intensity of the deep hatred he was nurturing inside felt as too much. He had to do something about it. But as much as he wanted to picture Antoine being tortured to death, each time Cory moved in his sleep, he had to place everything aside and tend to him immediately.

Now he had been summoned again. He had a distinct sensation he was not going to enjoy meeting the Head Trainer.

~A Good Servant~

“We fail to understand why you are so adamant on keeping a defective item in your household,” the Head Trainer spoke slowly, as if Lucas was a child still rubbing his elbows against a school desk.

“I thought I was free to choose who do I want to keep or not,” Lucas answered sharply to the unspoken request.

“We would not normally deny such simple demands from our Rulers,” the grey hood bent slightly, as in apology. “But there is also the issue of the brand burned on the servant’s shoulder. It is still a mystery to us how the symbol emerged at such an inopportune time.”

“I do not understand,” Lucas murmured, for some reason feeling the chill in the room growing colder. “I have never seen the symbol and I do not see what importance it has.”

“Something from old times,” the Head Trainer gestured like he wanted to protect himself from some pesky insects. “It is the so called mark of a whore, and we find it simply distasteful. Keeping this servant inside the city walls will just remember everyone of a time when such barbaric acts were condoned. We believe punishment is love, and that it should be performed accordingly. Trying to shame someone is simply not done in a society like ours, and intimate activities are seen as natural for Masters and those who serve them to render the term ‘whore’ simply obsolete.”

Lucas frowned. The Head Trainer seemed to dance around the subject.

“He would be entirely covered by clothes in polite society. He is not a slave, so he would not be required to undress in public, either. The branded mark would not be visible.”

“The only one exposed to its ugliness would be you, Lord Lucas,” lifeless pools of darkness measured Lucas up and down, like they were trying to uncover some secret the man did not want to share.

“And I do not mind,” Lucas added quickly.

“It is not a matter whether you mind or not. We love all our children equally. Please do not see it like we want to deprive you of a preferred toy.”

It took Lucas all the self restraint he was capable of to avoid saying something he was certainly going to regret later. The Head Trainer continued.

“We want to offer you perfection...”

“Perfection is boring,” Lucas blurted out.

“Please do not be difficult,” the grey form moved with something akin with uneasiness in his chair. “We will give you time to adjust. We understand that you developed quite an attachment to this servant, so we will not take him away from you. At least not until you see the errors of your ways and decide to be in an accord with us.”

“What do you plan to do with him?”

“The same thing we do with all the servants who complete their service. He will be sent to work the factories. Or the mines. Seeing his condition, he is probably going to be better working underground.”

Lucas’s heart skipped a few beats.

“I would like to leave Drena. Could I take my servant with me? There are no such rules in Aeria,” he spoke, trying hard not to just storm out of the room, grab Cory and leave right away.

“Leave Drena?” the Head Trainer’s voice seemed disappointed. “At this time, we are afraid it is not possible. We have no other as brilliant as you to fill your position. As for your request, we hate to disappoint you, but as a person born here, Cory the servant needs to remain here.”

Small bits of thoughts whirled in Lucas’s mind.

“Head Trainer,” he spoke loud and clearly, “I must say that I am disappointed with how this was handled. First, my property is damaged, and no retribution is exacted, second, my wishes are condemned in your eyes. On top of everything, there is no investigation going on, searching for an explanation how the symbol you are talking about fell in the hands of my servant’s attackers.”

“An investigation?” the Head Trainer seemed intrigued.

“Yes. At least I can demand answers. If you have no intention to do so, I will ask the slave myself. Where did he get the iron branding cane from?”

The Head Trainer seemed to ponder. “In this respect, you are correct, Lord Lucas. We will see to finding answers. After all, it was an unfortunate event, and if Lord Arnaud had not been so attached to his slave, some punishment would have been in order.”

Lucas knew when a meeting with the Head Trainer was over. He rose, bent rigidly and left. The uneasiness inside him was growing stronger. He had being pushed against his will. It was a matter of time until they would take Cory away from him. Even if he was to beg, he knew the Head Trainer was not going to revise his position in that regard. For the first time in his life, Lucas was starting to question everything he believed in.

~A Good Servant~

Good relationships with traders were not only required of Rulers, but they were also useful. Carefully rolling the paper and placing it in a beautifully ornate stylus, Lucas waited for the merchant to appear. He was not particularly fond of Vacchiari, but, in time, he had learned he was a man to be trusted. Within reason. There was a small cipher locking the stylus so that the merchant could not find the content of the message.

He handed the middle aged man the stylus and a small card. “Please see that professor Edgar receives this. It is very important that you give him this gift directly,” Lucas looked Vacchiari in the eyes. “No one else must know.”

The trader nodded and palmed the stylus and the card on which some boring greeting like words were printed. Vacchiari had been in the trade for a long time to know when a good deal could be struck from keeping secrets.

A few days later, one professor Edgar in Aeria, Lucas’s old friend and confidante, was studying the card and the stylus with a frown on his face. He scratched his head and sniffed the stylus then played with it, rolling it between his bony fingers.

“A good game of hide and seek like back in the days, Lucas?” he spoke out loud, making his tomcat stare at him with condescendence. It was just something the cat did whenever Edgar was talking to himself.

It had always been entertaining to play those games with Lucas. His leaving for Drena had not meant the end of their friendship, though. A click was all that was needed to make the stylus open. Edgar rolled the small paper on his mahogany desk, way too overcrowded with papers of all shapes and sizes, filled with his small, tormented scribbles. He stared at the symbol while tapping his fingers against the wood.

“And what exactly is this supposed to mean?”

Lucas’s message was clear. “Edgar, please tell me what this symbol is all about.”

“Yes, Lucas, and that is easier said than done,” Edgar straightened his back, making a few vertebrae pop. He was anxious for a new challenge. Working all day and all night on improving the new gate system had felt him a bit unsatisfied lately. Now he had something to play with.

~A Good Servant~

“It is a wonderful morning,” Lucas spoke while helping Cory to get up and wake slowly to sit in a rocking chair in front of the window.

Cory didn’t need words to let him know what his lover felt. His handsome face had become a little gaunt and there was a deep frown on his forehead that Cory knew too well it had not been there before.

“How are you, Lucas?” he spoke hoarsely. He was still getting adjusted to speak again. It felt a bit unnatural.

“This is something I should ask you,” Lucas said with tenderness, while caressing Cory’s hand as if it was made of some fragile material, bound to break at the slightest wrong move.

“That would be redundant,” Cory said wistfully. “You’ve cared for me all this time, haven’t you?”

Lucas’s strong fingers curled with tenderness against Cory’s smaller hand.

“What happened? You know, to ... them?” he asked with difficulty.

Lucas shook his head. Containing the rage and anger he felt within was taking its toll on his sanity as it was. Cory understood without words.

“Don’t worry. It is as expected. When will they send me away?” he asked, while staring out the window.

“They won’t,” Lucas’s voice sounded hollow. “I won’t let them!”

Cory moved his hand to grab Lucas’s fingers tightly. “I knew it was not going to last. For what is worth, it was a beautiful dream, Lucas. I will always have this, for the days to come.”

“Don’t talk like this!” Lucas almost shouted. “I’ll do everything! They say I can still keep you!”

“Lucas,” Cory spoke tenderly. “It is not like how we were taught. We break the rules. We pay for it. We knew it very well, both you and me.”

“What are you talking about? No one tells a Master, a Ruler even, what to do,” Lucas’s voice vibrated with emotion. “There are no rules.”

“But there are. Servants are nothing but a commodity to be moved around. My time here is done.”

Lucas let go of his hand.

“Is this what you want, Cory? What you really want?”

“A servant’s wish is not important.”

“There is no one else but you and me here. Tell me what you want and I will change the world,” Lucas spoke passionately, while pacing the room behind Cory.

Cory’s heart grew smaller in his chest. “A good servant never questions his betters. A good servant never speaks out of turn. A good servant never falls in love with his master,” words grew thinner, weaker in his mouth.

Lucas came to kneel next to his chair. Green eyes searched blues once serene as the summer sky.

“What are you speaking of, Cory? Tell me right now.”

A thin hand caressed Lucas’s face, imprinting every feature in its wake. “Is it that hard to understand? I love you, Lucas, and for this, I will have to leave. You cannot jeopardize your position for someone like me.”

“Someone like you?” Lucas’s hands closed over his. “There will never be someone like you. No one has ever made me feel as alive as you do. For a while, I thought I was simply infatuated, but not anymore. They had to hurt you to make me realize...”

Thin fingers pressed against Lucas’s lips to silence him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. They dragged me here, and now they send me back. And you will be fine, too. Me staying here will only cause you pain and unhappiness. At least, outside of Drena, enemies come straight at you if they have something against you. They do not lurk in shadows. At least, that was what I knew.”

“I will protect you,” Lucas begged Cory with his eyes.

“And they will all laugh at you. They will wear you down, day after day. And will I be safe, really? By now, I suppose what happened is all over Drena. I doubt I would make any new friends.”

He forced a small smile. “Not that I had many to begin with. But that is not what I’m worried most.”

“Then what is it?” Lucas’s eyes were filled with worry and regret. “I should not have left that day, leave you alone...”

“Lucas, it is not the slaves who are the most dangerous,” Cory spoke softly. If it was one thing Lucas didn’t know about was how he had laid so many hours on his suffering bed, thinking.

“Antoine,” Lucas hissed.

“Not even him,” Cory grimaced and closed his eyes tightly. “He did not do it because he hated me. Or, better said, not only because of that. They said something ... something strange. I remember well how he wavered when I tried to reach him. It was one split second, but it was like, if it was on his own accord, he would have just pushed me around at best. Not...” he drew a deep breath, “not all this. They told him to ‘stick to the plan’. It was all staged. It was not just a random episode of violence. It was prepared. Do you really see Antoine being capable of acting on more than mere impulse? You must not forget I have known him for a while.”

His other hand traveled to his shoulder, as if he was trying to feel the brand with his fingers through his shirt.

“And this,” he added softly. “For Antoine and the rest, it would have been enough to beat me up. Why this?”

“It is something I am trying to find out,” Lucas spoke.

“What do the Trainers say?” Cory questioned. “They hold the truth.”

“Not this time, it seems.”

“How ... how does it look like? I feel like my shoulder is getting better.”

“You are going to heal.”

“I know. I could not see it very well. I would like to see it,” he said, staring into Lucas’s eyes.

He was helped to his feet and moved slowly in front of a mirror. He drew a deep breath as Lucas gently unbuttoned his shirt and took the sleeve on his right arm off. He looked into the mirror.

“It looks like a flower of sorts. Why did they do it?”

“Apparently,” Lucas helped him get the sleeve on again, “it is supposed to be shameful.”

“What is the point? I do not know what it means.”

“The Trainers say it is the main reason why I should consider sending you away. They say it is ... distasteful. A remembrance of times past.”

“Times past? I thought the world was always like this. I do not understand.”

“Me neither. But I don’t care. If there is something that someone is trying to keep away from me, I will do my best to find out. Now, please, you must return to bed. You are yet to fully recover.”

Cory turned and let his forehead rest on his master’s shoulder. “Can I ask for a favor?” he spoke softly.

“Of course you can,” Lucas caressed his head with infinite tenderness.

“Please stay with me at night.”

It was a request so simply spoken, yet containing so many unsaid words, that Lucas felt his heart growing smaller. He took Cory’s hand and guided him towards his own bedroom. If Cory was to be sent away, at least he could do was to keep him close for the remaining time they had together.

~A Good Servant~

“Mister Whiskers,” Edgar pointed his pencil towards his cat that was watching him from his vantage point on top of the cabinet, “I think we have something interesting to transmit to Lord Lucas in Drena. What do you say? Do you like a good story?”

To demonstrate his total disinterest in his master’s intellectual tribulations, the tomcat closed his eyes and stretched lazily.

Edgar pushed his thin rimmed glasses back on his nose. He carefully rolled the small map together with the text he had written for Lucas. An unfamiliar ticklish sensation was making him excited and nervous in the same time; it was not like him to do something against the rules. But as he and Lucas often said, knowledge was always worth breaking the rules.

~A Good Servant~

Lucas waited patiently for the door to close after Vacchiari. He unlocked the stylus and took out the two papers.

“La fleur de lys,” Lucas murmured, looking thoughtfully over the text written in Edgar’s chaotic handwriting.

He took a seat. As he was reading, a play of emotions animated his face. Surprise, disbelief, worry, and finally, determination lit his face. The Trainers were not going to send Cory to the mines outside of Drena. He was going to do that.

He looked at the old map and traced the barely visible lines. He then returned to the symbol and pressed the tip of his fingers against the three petals.

“For those who work, those who fight, and those who pray,” he repeated the words written by Edgar right under the symbol.

~A Good Servant~

An appreciative whistle made Xavier turned with an affronted look in his beautiful grey eyes. He probably missed a few things from Drena. Such as his privacy when taking a shower. He could not say he really minded, although the playful slap across his buttocks that followed made him grind his teeth a little.

“You could knock,” he murmured and turned back to see about washing his body, while trying to ignore Ayn’s radiating heat.

“And miss having you in a hissy fit again?” Ayn grabbed his waist and pressed his naked body against Xavier’s. “I love it when you’re angry. It makes the sex so much better,” he drawled the words into the other’s ear, while biting it.

“You are so full of yourself,” Xavier rolled his eyes, a bit miffed at how his own cock stirred to life, as Ayn’s rough hand brushed over it, with seemingly no intention to actually grab it and give it a good rub.

“I learned from the best,” Ayn whispered seductively in his ear, letting his hands roam over Xavier’s perfect torso until they found purchase in erect nipples that grew instantly harder when pinched.

“You are developing quite an obsession,” Xavier’s breathing grew rugged, as Ayn began twisting his nipples between his fingers, sending jolts of electricity straight to his cock.

“Just admit it. You’re into this big time,” Ayn teased, while placing a trace of small kisses on the man’s right shoulder.

“No,” Xavier denied a bit too quickly.

“Xav, baby, you’re absolutely fucking lying,” Ayn rubbed his own growing erection against Xavier’s perfect buttocks.

Xavier pushed back to allow the intrusion. It was, after all, what he truly wanted. No matter how much he hated to admit, and he would have been caught dead rather than do that, Ayn had proved to be a skillful considerate lover. The fact that the man had learned everything from wooing girls was not sitting well with him, but he had to swallow it. At least, he had been the first man in Ayn’s life, and that had to count for something.

“Xa-vi-er,” he spelled stubbornly, as Ayn used his fingers, coated with something slick and wet to open him and then push inside slowly. “And don’t call me ‘baby’. It’s cheesy.”

Ayn grunted with satisfaction, as he buried himself deep inside Xavier’s compliant body. It didn’t matter than the man was still running his mouth about not wanting it.

“How should I call you, then? My darling? My love?” Ayn punctured each one of his words with slow, torturous thrusts.

It was not the word bothering him, but the fact that Ayn was saying it so casually.

“No,” he said again. “Xavier would suffice.”

“That won’t do,” Ayn said simply. “You’re Xav to me, because no one else has ever called you that. And no one else should dare unless they want to piss me off.”

Naming was taking into possession, Xavier thought as one of Ayn’s hands descended on his neglected cock and started jerking it, while its owner continued his pounding. It made him feel so incredibly aroused to be manipulated, taken like that, as if Ayn didn’t give a damn who Xavier was or who he pretended to be.

Their moans mingled, bouncing against the walls of the small bathroom. All the riches in the world meant nothing, Xavier thought, as he was fucked by Ayn so totally, so thoroughly, that he could not even start to think what it meant.

He came first, spewing his load on the wall in front of him, and he felt Ayn stilling himself and shouting his release. It always felt as a victory for Ayn and as some kind of sweet surrender on his part.

What mattered most was that each and every time, Ayn was making him turn to kiss him some more even if both were spent and satiated. Xavier felt like this was counting for Ayn, and he was more than happy to oblige, during their moments of bliss.

“You’re an amazing kisser,” Ayn praised, as they eventually broke the contact so they could breathe. “Even back in that city of assholes, I still loved your kisses.”

Ayn caressed Xavier’s cheek, his eyes glued to the man’s lips. “And a great cocksucker, too,” he added, as he bent and stole another kiss.